Darkzdragon: Hey, guys. It's uh… been a while. Hope everyone is doing okay. *Sheepishly chuckles while scratching the back of his head*

DarkFoxKit: I had to push for updating, due to… certain reasons that will not be named. Right now, the update schedule is sporadic, so I apologize if you guys are waiting too long, but suddenly see more updates. That is if anyone's reading this anymore. ^^' But regardless, we will keep to our schedule on whether or not we update this. Hopefully one day we'll get pretty far with the updates.

Darkzdragon: The reason that won't be named is that writing, editing, and all things creative have been a bit of a challenge for me lately. On top of running out of my meds, I've been struggling to get into the writer's mindset. Though I am starting to get the feel for it again. Hopefully before long I will fully be back in the swing of things.

DarkFoxKit: Everyone, please be supportive until we can both get back into the swing of things.


Chapter 6: Making Friends

Meanwhile, Echo had decided to follow Danny and Danielle himself. He knew running wasn't going to cut it, and Juliette wasn't here. Glancing around to make sure it was safe, Echo decided that it should be safe for him to use that form to keep up with Danny. It wasn't very often Echo used that form, because it felt too pompous of him to use, even if it wasn't real.

Echo sighed before he called forth the power. Gray rings burst on his torso, splitting in two, much like how Andrea's rings did. Echo's shirt, jacket, and pants were turned into a hazmat suit, much like Danny's. The main difference of Echo's outfit was the lack of an emblem on it. By the time the rings finished his transformation, Echo had white hair, though the rest of him was still gray.

Echo flew up into the sky, his feet turning into the spectral tail to help him move faster and navigate easier. At this speed, it didn't take long for Echo to reach Fenton Works, where Danny and Danielle were laughing.

"I told you I got faster," Danielle bragged.

"Yeah, but you've still got a lot of work to do before you're as fast as me~" Danny grinned as he rubbed Danielle's hair.

Andrea was floating next to Danielle in her own ghost form, and she took notice of Echo floating there.

"Oh? So you have a ghost form as well?" Andrea asked.

"Um… I guess you can call it that," Echo replied a little hesitantly. "Though it's more of an imitation of Danny's ghost form than the real thing."

"Uh huh… like I'm gonna believe you can simply imitate a ghost's abilities." Andrea nodded, a look of clear suspicion and disbelief on her face.

"Whatever. You can believe what you want to believe," Echo grumbled. "I wouldn't know how else to explain it. It's not like I actually am a halfa. All the things that happened to Danny to cause his ghostly nature never happened to me, so I'm not actually a halfa. I'm just imitating the basic abilities and form."

"Or maybe you were supposed to become a halfa and that's why you have the abilities," Andrea reasoned.

"That still doesn't make any more sense than just imitating it," Echo pointed out. "First of all, how the heck did I 'become' a halfa? Is it because I was supposedly supposed to be one? Turning into a halfa isn't just something that happens to you, not to mention it has to somewhat kill a living being in order to create a ghost within that being. If I don't exist, and I can't die, then how would I have the necessary life to be killed in order to create a ghost half? It makes even less sense than how one could be half alive and half dead in the first place. Second, while it's true that people who were supposed to exist, but didn't, end up in this dreary, colorless place, that doesn't mean every single thing that was supposed to exist would end up here too, and even if it did, why the heck would these 'ghost powers' come with it and to me specifically?"

Andrea didn't say anything for a moment.

"... Andrea…?" Echo waved a gloved hand in front of her face before pulling back. "... Oh my gosh, I think I broke her…"

"You're… overthinking it, Echo. Like seriously overthinking it. To the point where I'm actually kinda impressed by how much you're overthinking it. If there was an award for overthinking things, you definitely would win," Andrea finally replied. "Simply put, what is meant to be, but does not happen, happens in the Void. Meaning if you were alive and supposed to get powers of a halfa but never did, you would have them as you are now. Your Void self is what you were supposed to be by this point in time, not what you were when you entered the Void. Meaning that if you were a living being at one point, which I'm not exactly sure how that would work since nobody ends up in the Void after already existing and living, you would be a halfa at this point."

"How would the Void even know what we'd be like at this point in time?" Echo frowned.

Andrea sighed, rubbing her temple with one hand. "I don't know, but… umm… Danny was in that accident, right? Did you remember anything specific that happened to you during that time?"

Echo blinked, before thinking back to when Sam recreated the accident that turned Danny into a halfa again. Echo had been watching from outside the portal, because despite his status of being a Void Walker, he didn't want to chance what could happen when an interdimensional portal suddenly opened up with him inside it. Echo felt incredibly nervous that day, far more nervous than usual.

Then, Danny pushed the 'ON' button inside the portal. When the portal burst to life, everything went green. Echo remembered hearing Danny's blood curdling screams, and Echo, he suddenly felt an immense amount of pain. Echo didn't know what was happening to him at the time, but he came to the conclusion that Danny's pain was so severe that he was likely sympathizing with the pain. It was so much pain that he even found himself screaming along with Danny. It was the type of pain Echo had never felt before, or after, ever since. Not even when the most vicious of Void Creatures ganged up on him.

When Danny stopped screaming, that was when the pain subsided. Echo was shocked to see that he was suddenly in a hazmat suit of his own, and was able to float. Though he wasn't sure if he could go invisible or intangible, as he was already both those things in the Void. Echo knew he could fire ghost rays out of his hands though, as he had used those against Void Creatures before, they were similar to the heat blasts he used as Foxfire.

Echo never tried to think about what happened that day, as the memory was not just physically painful, but also mentally taxing. Out of everything that happened, Danny's screaming was what haunted him the most and it nearly caused him to fall to the Void Creatures a couple times early on.

"I see…" Andrea softly acknowledged. "So it was possible that you were supposed to go through that recreated portal incident with Danny. Perhaps it does lend credence to you possibly having lived at one point…"

"Wait, what? Did… did you see my thoughts?" Echo asked, surprised. "I mean I knew we could see the living's thoughts, but I could never see Juliette's, so I just assumed we couldn't see other Void Being's thoughts."

"Yes, I saw your thoughts, but that's because you have no mental barricades," Andrea explained. "Your thoughts and memories flow out of your head like the waters of Niagara Falls."

Echo groaned. "Well, I had no reason to cover them up before, obviously! Before you and Juliette came along, I was the only Void Walker here. Every other Void Being were either Void Creatures or Void Spirits. Oh… dear lord, does that mean Juliette was able to hear my thoughts?"

"Perhaps you should learn to put up some barriers," Andrea recommended. "Also, probably. And… likely the Void Creatures and Void Spirits heard your thoughts as well."

Well… that might explain how some Void Creatures managed to track me down despite me running and hiding. Echo thought to himself in an annoyed tone.

"Wait a minute, we're not talking about that!" Echo loudly stated, getting back to the topic at hand. "Actually, maybe it's best that we drop the subject entirely, because Danny and Danielle took off without us."

"Yeah… I saw that," Andrea sighed. "Let's get going. At least Danielle is a bit of a show off and wants to show Danny her new 'Ghost Trail'."

"Ghost Trail?" Echo repeated questioningly.

"Yeah," Andrea confirmed before she pointed a little bit to Echo's right. "If you look to your right, you'll see a faint glittering trail. That's Danielle's new Ghost Trail. It can be useful for exploring places without getting lost. And thankfully it deteriorates and disappears after 15 minutes."

"Probably not the safest to use in Amity Park, considering the ghost hunters," Echo muttered. "At least Valerie likes her, so that's one less ghost hunter after her tail."

As Echo and Andrea began flying after their self-respective charges, they heard Danny and Danielle talking some more.

"So how long will you be around in Amity Park this time, Dani?" Danny asked.

"I may stay for the rest of the week, but I shouldn't stay long. Vlad lives here, and you know how he is," Danielle sighed. "I'd like to pay Valerie a visit too while I'm here. I spoke with her on the phone the other day, and she told me how she was able to take down a huge taurus ghost, it sounded awesome!"

"Yeah, I saw that too," Danny chuckled. "Make sure to say hi to her for me."

"You could come with me. Maybe… maybe you could tell her…?" Danielle suggested, hesitating a bit towards the end.

Danny shook his head. "I can't, she… she may not be able to handle the truth really well."

"They have this conversation nearly every time Danielle visits," Andrea informed before looking at Echo. "Though you probably already know that."

"Yeah… well, from what I've heard over the phone anyways," Echo sighed. "The other times Danielle visited after Danny fixed her up, they usually met in the Ghost Zone. I'm not sure why they have to meet there though. Danny occasionally talked about some kind of ghost party or event or some other happening, but he never goes into much detail about any of them. I know the most recent visit was some kind of… holiday party. That's probably why you and I never met until now. I refuse to follow Danny into the Ghost Zone."

"Oh, you must be talking about the Solstice party they went to last year. It was great, the ghosts there, they really like ghost kids. I've heard they even have a 'Children Day' there. There are artist ghosts at the party that draw pictures of every ghost kid at the party. Those artists then hang those pictures up in… some part of the Ghost Zone. I think some kind of Ghost Zone version of a museum," Andrea informed.

Echo raised an eyebrow. "Why are ghost children such a big deal?"

"I guess you never heard it from Danny," Andrea noted, her tone becoming softer and more somber. "First of all, the obvious, kids… you know, if they're ghosts, that means they died at an early age."

"O-oh… yeah, right…" Echo frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable at the subject.

"But there is a little more to it than that," Andrea spoke up, catching Echo's attention. "Not everyone who dies can become a ghost. Most of the time, they just turn into wisps or their souls end up somewhere else depending on their beliefs in life; Heaven, Nirvana, the cycle of reincarnation, Elysium. To become a ghost, you'd have to have a strong will for the life you had. Children, more often than not, don't have such strong wills until they become much older. So even if… let's say 50 children died at the same time, only 3 out of those 50 may become ghosts. And, ghosts themselves, while it is possible for them to give birth to children ghosts, it's very rare and hard for them to do. Much, much harder than the living could. Something about the compatibility of cores, the maturity of cores, and a bunch of other stuff that makes it super challenging. So yeah, ghost kids are really rare in the Ghost Zone, that's why they're highly appreciated and sought after for adoption."

"I remember Danny saying he was technically adopted by Clockwork, but it's kept a secret," Echo mumbled.

"Right, because once a ghost claims a ghost kid, then they take responsibility for that kid. They become more… um… I guess possessive is a word for it? And protective, yeah, that works better. So if someone were to kidnap Danny, they can use him to blackmail Clockwork, not that it's wise to cross the Master of Time himself in the first place," Andrea chuckled.

"That's so very true," Echo agreed. "Wow, I never knew this about ghost children, and how rare and valuable they are in the Ghost Zone. You learn something new every day. But what about aging? I mean, how does aging work with ghosts? Danny doesn't look like he's gotten any taller or older since the accident."

"Some think that ghosts age much much much slower," Andrea responded. "Though when ghosts get old, they can apparently consume ghost cores to become young again."

Echo blanched in disgust at that, and shivered.

"Yeah, it's pretty disturbing," Andrea agreed. "And apparently there's some kind of… ritual, I guess…? In the Ghost Zone for it. Danny doesn't know about it though, Danielle found out, but she's been pretty tight-lipped about it. I don't think she wants Danny to know that such a thing exists."

"I can't say that I blame her," Echo remarked. "Danny wouldn't be too happy if he found out that there's some kind of ritual where ghosts can eat other ghost cores."

Then the two of them stopped flying when they realized they had lost Danny and Danielle again.

"We've got to stop distracting each other," Echo groaned. "Those two can fly fast, and disappear quickly when they want to."

Andrea chuckled again and nodded. "Yeah, let's go catch up to them again. I will say though, I'm surprised you ditched your strange friend."

"I didn't ditch her… I told her I'd be back. Besides, she's busy with her job right now. I'm sure she won't miss me for an hour or two," Echo shrugged.

The two of them began to look around Amity Park for their charges, then Echo chuckled. "It's kind of funny though. I mean Clockwork pretty much claimed Danny, yet here I am, looking after him like some sort of Void version of a guardian angel."

"While Clockwork may be able to keep Danny safe from ghosts and the like, I don't think Clockwork can keep Danny safe from Void Creatures," Andrea commented.

"Sad but true, only Void Beings can affect other Void Beings," Echo sighed as he flew between buildings, then a thought came to him. "Hey, Andrea… if you could get a chance to come out of the Void, and live in reality with Danielle, would you take it?"

"Well… that's a good question," Andrea spoke up. "You would think I'd jump at such an opportunity, but when you stop to really think about it… that would cause some complications."

"Good, so I'm not the only one who thinks that," Echo said in relief.

"Even so though… I still wouldn't mind the chance at the very least," Andrea admitted. "I would like a chance to maybe talk to Danielle, interact with her, see how she would interact with me, even if it was just for one day…"

"Really?" Echo blinked.

"Yeah, really," Andrea replied. "I know I'd love to give her a hug, try to talk to her about everything she goes through and everything she bottles up. I'd simply want to be there to support her while I could."

Echo remembered how he reacted when Danny saw him, even though it was only in Danny's mind at the time.

"I'm sure that, even though you tell yourself you don't want it, you'd probably do the same with Danny," Andrea remarked, looking at Echo.

Echo huffed, not wanting to admit that Andrea was right about that, despite his insecurities of actually talking to Danny, the real Danny in the living world, he did have a desire to, at the very least, talk to him.


Where… am… I…? These were the first thoughts in my head when I became aware. I slowly started to open my eyes to see I was inside some kind of floating, teal colored liquid. Everything around me was teal due to the liquid I was in.

Who… am I…? That was the second thought I had as I slowly moved my eyes around, trying to see details. I'm… Arte… no… that's… not me…

I closed my eyes again, seeing a strange image in my head. It was the image of being in a beautiful place, filled with others like me. Or so I thought.

I opened my eyes again, seeing something moving. It was moving just outside the liquid I was in. I felt my ears twitching. Despite being in liquid, I could hear a voice.

W-who… is there…? I reached out, hoping the voice would come closer.

"Hmm… she's moving… she's conscious…" The voice noted as they did actually come closer.

I noticed the being that came close was huge, and they were looking at me with a piercing eye, as if they were judging me.

I'm… a she… a female… I noted. Who… am I? Who are you? Where…? What…? Why do I exist…?

The being stopped looking at me, and was looking at shiny things that were around instead.

"Brainwaves are normal so far. She seems to be stabilized. Perhaps after a few more days I can try taking her out of the tank," The voice said to nobody in particular.

Stabilized… brainwaves…? I couldn't help but repeat questioningly. Did… something happen to me…? Were my brainwaves… not normal? Or… was I unstabilized…?

The being noticed something, and walked closer to me again. It spoke directly to me, in a soft, gentle voice. "Don't worry, Artemis, I'll let you out of there soon. Just hang on a little while longer, okay?"

But… I'm not… I started before I twitched. But… am I? Was… I?

"Once I know you're stable, I can begin the transplant of memories into your brain," The being calmly explained.

I… lost… my memories…? I frowned, beginning to feel tired. What… happened… to me…?

I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I closed them, drifting back into darkness and oblivion.

I was awoken by a sudden jolt.

What's going on?! I wondered as my eyes shot open.

I saw the teal liquid around me was gone. It was so strange, I didn't know what to think. Then something metallic was on my head.

My mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of 'danger' 'escape' 'fight' and 'must survive'. I began to shake my head, trying to get free of whatever was on my head, but I was too weak… too frail to do much.

"It's okay, it's okay, Artemis," The being from before quickly spoke up. "Don't fight it, this will help you."

I could see the being clearer now without the liquid, they appeared to be a huge dragon, with a jewel green coloring to them. Their wings were like a butterfly and fairy together. I felt like I should know this being.

"H-who…?" I muttered aloud, my throat sore and pained.

"I am a friend. You will remember my name soon, Artemis. Just don't fight it, and relax," The friend stated gently.

Friend…? I asked before my eyes were covered by something.

"For now just sleep," The friend instructed. "Let the helmet do the work."

Sleep… I repeated as I began to drift off once more.


"Julieeeeeeette~ Julieeeeeette~ … Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiitty~?"

Juliette grumbled as someone was calling her out of her nice and comfortable sleep.

"Do I need to feed you while you're sleeping then?"

Juliette let out a yawn before her eyes began to open a little. "Whassat?"

"Oh good, you're finally up!" A playful voice giggled. "I just finished cutting a mouth hole in the costume's head while you were sleeping."

Juliette groaned a little before a wet feeling between her legs brought everything back to her.

"Oh gosh!" Juliette gasped before she shot up. "Hannah, I'm so so sorry for how I acted before, please don't fire me!"

Hannah blinked at Juliette for a moment before giving a smile. "Well, you were acting quite feisty, but due to the fact you got stuck in the costume I made, I think I can let it slide."

"You… made this costume…?" Juliette asked, feeling a little ashamed that Hannah had to cut it up because of her. "I'm… sorry."

"Well, believe it or not, you're not the first person to get stuck in that thing," Hannah admitted sheepishly. "I still have a few bugs to work out with it, such as using a zipper that won't melt in the heat."

"Perhaps… just get a metal zipper?" Juliette suggested. "Plastic zippers are the only ones I know of off the top of my head that would melt in the head."

"Oh, great idea, I'll have to write that down. Though I'll have to find one that blends into the costume or can easily be hidden as I don't want to make it obvious that it's a costume," Hannah mused aloud. "For now though, I got you a big bag of food you can take home with you. And I have a big bowl of food for you here."

"A… bowl of food…?" Juliette repeated questioning.

Hannah held out a big doggie bowl with meat flavored kibble inside it. "Now I know what you're thinking… but these are made from actual meat, not meat flavored. So they're the genuine thing."

"You… want me… to eat… kibble?" Juliette asked as her stomach growled. W-why does… it actually look… and smell… so appetizing…?

"Of course. Just because you're an anthro doesn't mean your diet is all that different from your feral counterpart. Now I know a kitsune isn't a dog, but it technically is part of the canine family. And, well, this is the best compromise I could get considering the situation. I like to eat cat food myself," Hannah explained.

Juliette didn't know what she was thinking, but she dropped to her knees and lowered her head to the bowl, sniffing it.

It… smells so good… Juliette thought as her mouth watered. Just… a bite couldn't hurt.

Juliette lowered her head even more before she took a testing bite of the kibble.

The kibble, surprisingly, tasted really good. Once Juliette got started, she couldn't stop, she began to eat faster, no longer caring she was eating like a wild animal in front of her boss. Hannah seemed amused though.

"Good kitty~" Hannah smiled as she rubbed the back of Juliette's head.

At least Echo isn't here to see this… Was the only comforting thought going through Juliette's mind right now.

"Once you're done with that, I have a huge bag of it for you to take home, that way you'll have some nourishment until you have some spending money for other food," Hannah explained. "I even packed a bowl for you to use with it, and I threw in a squeaky toy cause I know a lot of my canine anthro workers love squeaky toys."

I'm not a pet… Juliette inwardly pouted as she stopped eating. Though… I guess you wouldn't know that by looking at me right now… wearing a diaper, a collar, a giant cat costume, and eating kibble out of a bowl while on all fours…

Juliette resumed eating, not wanting to think about those thoughts.

"These dog foods are filling for dogs and anthro canines, so you should be good to last for a while on this." Hannah smiled. "It's packed with nutrients as well."

Before Juliette knew it, her bowl was now empty, she had eaten every last bite of kibble that was in the bowl.

Juliette let out a small disappointed whine before she shook her head. No… I'm not an animal… Juliette then stood up.

"Your bag and squeaky toy are just beside the door. Make sure you take those with you. I packed all of it into a bag so you can carry it discreetly. I also put in a copy of your work schedule and the contract you have to sign in order to be officially hired by PetSmart," Hannah informed.

"T-thanks… Hannah…" Juliette softly said, legitimately grateful for Hannah's kindness. "I don't want to bother you any more than I already have… but is there a back way out of the store…? I'd rather not walk through the place in a cut up costume while knowing I'm wearing a wet diaper…"

"Of course," Hannah answered. "I'll help you sneak out."

Juliette nodded in gratefulness before she reached outside the door and picked up the bag Hannah had arranged for her.

Hannah led Juliette to the back, opening a door to the outside. "There, you should be able to get into the streets unnoticed from here."

"T-thanks…" Juliette muttered. "Um… I guess I'll see you tomorrow… or whenever my next day is scheduled."

"Don't be late, I want to make sure your uniform fits," Hannah replied.

"Uniform…? It didn't look like anyone else was wearing a uniform. Just a shirt with the store name on it and a nametag," Juliette pointed out in confusion.

"You'll see when you get it, my lovely kitty~" Hannah smirked. "I just hope you'll be able to get out of that costume at some point."

"I'll try getting out of it tonight… without tearing it," Juliette responded. "Let's just… hope I can sneak through the city in all of this."

"Where is your home by the way?" Hannah inquired.

"The old Amity Park Opera House," Juliette answered. "My… mother purchased it, renovated, and refurbished it. That's where I'm currently calling home."

"Oh wow, that's pretty much across the city," Hannah noted, giving a small grin. "Try to stay safe on your walk back, Juliette."

"Right…" Juliette sighed. "See you later, Hannah."

As soon as Juliette walked away from PetSmart, she wondered if she should step into the Void just to be invisible from the world.

I guess I could step into the Void now. Juliette thought to herself. I hate to admit it… but that kibble really helped reenergize me, so I'm definitely capable of going into the Void and defending myself if I have to. Though… perhaps I should wait on going into the Void and see how tough my route home is. Perhaps I can take alleyways and side streets to avoid attention.

As Juliette began to walk, however, she could already see people looking at her. Some of the kids pointed at her, asking their parents why the big blue kitty is away from PetSmart.

Juliette blushed at that before she ducked down a dead end alley. Okay… Void it is.

Juliette concentrated on her static heart, before she took a step forward, bringing herself into the Void. Now that she was safely invisible to everyone, she began to steadily make her way home. However, she paused on her way there as she noticed two flying figures in the sky. At first, she just thought it was Phantom and Danielle again, but when she looked again, she noticed they were gray, and 'Danielle' was a lot taller than she should be.

Oh no… that's Andrea and Echo… Juliette paled before she tried to hide herself under an awning. Wait… that was Echo and Andrea… both flying… Juliette peeked out a little. Yeah… Echo is definitely flying… So does that mean he has a ghost form like Andrea? If so… that may help solidify my theory that Andrea is Echo's clone.

"Okay, I think I've figured out where Danny and Danielle went," Echo spoke up as he flew over to Andrea. "After all that flying around, they're bound to have gotten pretty hungry. Especially since they did fight off a few ghosts together. So they're either at the Nasty Burger, or at the park with the Wisps."

"Most likely Nasty Burger," Andrea responded. "Danielle… isn't all that keen on feeding off of Wisps."

"Then let's head on over to Nasty Burger," Echo remarked before he and Andrea flew off together.

Awww… they've already bonded~ Juliette giggled to herself as she looked up at Echo and Andrea. I do have to spend some time tonight trying to figure out if Echo's real name is Andrew or Andy or Andreas or Andrias or whatever else it could be… Perhaps… I could test it tomorrow when Echo isn't around.


Echo and Andrea landed in the Nasty Burger. They looked around for their charges, until Echo tapped Andrea on the shoulder and pointed at Danny and Danielle, in their human forms, eating at a table. But they weren't alone, Valerie was sitting with them.

"It's great to see you here again, Dani, though I'm surprised you knew Danny," Valerie remarked.

"I see Danny as a cousin, just like Phantom," Danielle answered as she munched on her burger. "I mean he's very similar to Phantom in a lot of ways, you know."

"I'm sure she gets it, Dani," Danny said, trying not to show too much of a response.

Echo looked over to Andrea. "Hey, Andrea, what do you usually think when you see the living eat?"

"I get a little envious as I'd love to eat. I'm especially curious as to what food tastes like," Andrea answered. "What do you think?"

"I'm more fascinated by the process itself," Echo admitted. "I'm not really sure why though. It's considered weird or gross by most people. It might also be due to the fact that we can't eat ourselves."

"Ahh so you try to observe what people do and dissect it in a scientific way, huh?" Andrea surmised.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Echo chuckled before he looked back at the group.

Then Echo frowned as a vision came to his head. Sometimes a vision would come if he just looked at something or someone, likely the cause of whatever might make an impact on the future.

Echo could see that they were in the Ghost Zone. Valerie had Danny, as Phantom, at gunpoint. Echo wasn't sure where in the Ghost Zone they were, but Danny looked injured, and likely too low on energy to try to get away from Valerie. Valerie had the gun right against Danny's chest, where his core resided.

Echo gasped as he came out of that horrifying vision. "Oh-no…"

"What's wrong?" Andrea asked as she looked at Echo, noticing his worried expression.

"I…" Echo frowned, contemplating if he should tell Andrea or not.

"I can hear you contemplating," Andrea pointed out.

Echo grumbled. "That is going to get annoying really fast. Okay, well, I can see into the future, well more like possible paths of the future. Most of the time I can control what I want to see, but sometimes, though rarely, I get visions of a person or object that will have some sort of impact on the future."

"Wow… that's… wow," Andrea remarked, a bit speechless. "That sounds like one of Clockwork's abilities. Though why would you have it?"

"Ugh, don't mention that I may or may not have stolen one of Clockwork's abilities. I don't need him hounding me if Juliette, by some miracle, succeeds in bringing me out of the Void," Echo grumbled before his face grew serious. "I couldn't tell you why or how I have it, I just do. And anyways, the vision I just saw is what scares me. There's been a few scary futures that I'm really hoping to avoid, but they are very likely to happen."

"I very much doubt any being could steal an ability from Clockwork," Andrea pointed out. "Perhaps he gave it to you at some point or was supposed to give it to you. Anyway, what happens in the future you just saw?"

"I'm not sure, it might not be wise to share. It could worry you," Echo warned.

"Why? Is something bad going to happen to Danielle?" Andrea asked worriedly.

"No, I haven't seen any futures concerning Danielle yet," Echo answered. "But the ones I saw might affect her badly if they come true. The future I just saw was of Valerie. She and Danny were somewhere in the Ghost Zone, and Valerie had her gun pointed directly over Danny's core. Danny himself looked too injured and tired to try to escape. If Valerie… chooses to pull that trigger…" Echo stopped there.

"Valerie in the Ghost Zone?" Andrea raised a brow. "She… never goes there. She is worried that if she goes in there, she'll be trapped for eternity."

"That's another thing that worries me…" Echo frowned. "Valerie wouldn't be in the Ghost Zone, unless… unless Danny was hit by the Fenton Mortifier. That would end up creating a Ghost Portal in front of him that ends up sucking everyone in the auditorium into the Ghost Zone, and Valerie as she would also be in the auditorium. That seems like the most likely path that would lead to Valerie holding Danny at gunpoint."

"Fenton Mortifier?" Andrea raised a brow.

"It… Well supposedly the Fenton Mortifier forces a ghost to relive their death, which can mess them up mentally depending on how bad it is," Echo explained. "It's something Maddie and Jack are making. I asked Juliette if she could destroy the Mortifier so that particular future doesn't come to be. I thought that by asking her, the future visions of that would start to slow down, but they've been ramping up more and more lately, and I can't figure out why."

"Okay, just relax now," Andrea said smoothly. "Jeez, having the ability to see into the future is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"And a lot more stressful. Considering our situation, I can't even directly warn Danny of it," Echo grumbled.

"Tell me more about this kitsune I've already heard about~" Danielle chuckled. "She cute? Your type, Danny?"

Danny nearly spat out the fries he was eating at Danielle's question. "D-Dani! What kind of question is that?"

"I don't know, Dani, he might only have eyes for Sam~" Valerie teased.

"I do not!" Danny argued. "Sam and I are just friends. And Juliette is a very nice kitsune, she's also quite unique in her own way. She seemed to need some help with science, so she asked me to tutor her."

"'Very nice' he says," Danielle chuckled, using air quotes for emphasis.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny narrowed his eyes.

"Oh nothing~" Danielle smirked.

"Uh-huh," Danny glared.

Valerie laughed. "You two act more like siblings than cousins."

Echo gave a small sigh, feeling that same cutting feeling he did when he saw Jazz and Danny hugging. Andrea gave a sigh of her own, likely feeling the same way. Echo could sense Andrea's feelings were similar to his as they watched their charges interact with each other. Echo didn't need to read Andrea's mind to know what she was thinking right now:'Why can't that be me?'

I wonder if this is the feeling of envy? Or… maybe it's more of a jealousy feeling… Echo wondered.

"So, Valerie, what do you think of Juliette?" Danielle asked.

"I haven't interacted with her much," Valerie answered. "But from what I've seen of her, she's kind of shy, trying hard to fit in. Though she seemed to have hit it off with Danny's group."

"That's mostly because nobody else would talk to her," Danny commented. "Everyone was too scared of her on her first day and every day since."

"Maybe you could introduce me to her before I have to leave~" Danielle suggested.

"I'll talk to her about it on Monday," Danny promised before throwing an unused straw at Danielle. "Now stop with the teasing."

Valerie chuckled again before she stood up. "Well, it was nice talking to you two, but my break is almost over, I better get back to work."

"Okay, see you later, Val," Danny waved.

"I'll come by later so we can talk some more." Danielle smiled.

Valerie nodded before she walked away. With Danny and Danielle left alone, Danny looked over at Danielle.

"You know, Danielle… it's a shame you can't stay. I mean I've had a much easier and enjoyable time taking out ghosts with another half ghost beside me," Danny remarked. "It definitely makes the weight of the world a lot more bearable on my shoulders at least."

Danielle gave a small sigh. "I know, Danny… but you know why I can't stay. Vlad, your parents, not to mention the possibility of the Guys in White."

"You could stay with Juliette," Echo offered before he looked down, remembering he couldn't actually communicate with anyone besides Andrea right now.

"Heh, don't worry, I make that mistake too sometimes…" Andrea empathized.

"I know…" Danny sighed.

"But Danny, you shouldn't try to take on everything yourself either. Sometimes I get worried when I sense you getting weak and tired over our link," Danielle spoke up. "I'm sure Amity Park can survive if you let a ghost or two go."

"I wonder about that sometimes…" Danny said softly. "But I can never ignore a cry for help, you know that."

"Yes. Yes, I do," Danielle sighed as she patted Danny on the back.

Echo sighed as he looked back at Andrea. "Danny does deserve another halfa helping him. I think Danielle would make a good partner for him."

"Yeah, or one of us," Andrea chuckled. "So, why did you ask me that question earlier? The one about leaving the Void?"

"Oh… I asked because Juliette-" Echo stopped suddenly. "Wait… how long have I been gone from Juliette's side?"

"Well, considering it was about noon when we fought and the sun is now starting to set… I would say quite a while," Andrea answered.

"Oh crap!" Echo yelled. "We'll have to talk about this later, I need to go check on Juliette!"

"Do you?" Andrea asked, raising an eyebrow. "She seemed like she could take care of herself. What does she mean to you?"

Echo frowned as he never actually thought about what Juliette meant to him before. She was just someone who came into his non-existent life, then announced that she wanted to release him from the Void.

"I guess… you can say that she's a friend," Echo answered before chuckling. "... A friend… heh, never thought I'd hear myself say I would have a friend."

"Ahh, okay, then yeah, you should probably go check in on your friend," Andrea acknowledged with a chuckle of her own.

"Thanks, Andrea, maybe we'll meet up and talk again later some time." Echo grinned before he floated up and took off through the ceiling.


Juliette, who had reached the opera house a while ago, was looking down at a small sheet of paper which had her schedule on it, contemplating on what she should do in regards to Echo's possible name. How she would go about testing it, and what possible effects that could have on the world.

I could mention it to someone like Danny… no… I should start smaller, perhaps one of the people at school like Sam or Tucker. Juliette pondered. Since they are Danny's friends, most likely they would've been friends with Danny's brother. From there I can step it up, perhaps mentioning it to Danny's family like Jazz or Maddie… definitely not Jack. After that, I can move onto Danny. Unless Vlad wants me back at his mansion… in which case I could also possibly test it on Vlad.

These all seemed like good ideas, and Juliette just hoped that she wouldn't screw something up. She would've liked for Echo to check the future for any potential disasters, but she couldn't mention this to Echo as it would be dangerous.

"Juliette?" Echo spoke up, making the unaware kitsune jump a little. "I didn't see you at PetSmart, so I kind of thought maybe you came back here…"

Juliette gave a nervous chuckle. "O-oh, hey, Echo… please don't come close… I'm… in an embarrassing situation."

"What? What could you possibly be in that you wouldn't want me to see you? I've seen a lot of people do weird and kinky things in my short non-existence," Echo stated. "Not to mention, are we talking about the same crazy girl who'd jump into an inferno if she thought it was a good idea?"

"I'm… please just respect my wishes…" Juliette softly replied. I don't want him to see me wearing a diaper… or this suit…

Echo suddenly got quiet, then he cleared his throat a little. "O-oh… huh… wonder how that happened…"

Juliette frowned, wondering what Echo was muttering about.

"Juliette, can you please let me in? I know you're embarrassed, but… um… maybe I can help you out of your… current situation?" Echo asked hesitantly.

"Nooooo…" Juliette whined, having a sinking feeling in her gut. "You looked into the future… didn't you…?"

"Sometimes I can't stop these visions! You were also worrying me! What was I supposed to do?" Echo argued.

Juliette let out a long sigh. "Fine… come in… but don't comment… just help."

"Alright, I'm coming in," Echo warned before he walked through the door.

Juliette was a little surprised to see Echo in his ghost form this close. The last time she saw his ghost form this close was in Danny's mind, and she hadn't been sure if Echo actually could use his ghost form or if it was just something Danny's mind did. Echo's ghost form looked almost exactly like Danny's, only gray, and there was no logo on his chest.

"Can you… try turning this costume intangible?" Juliette asked softly. "I want to get out of this diaper that Anise put me in… I shouldn't have cancelled that damn deal…"

"I can try. Truth be told, I've never used intangibility before, I never had to," Echo sheepishly admitted. "I'll see what I can do though, it shouldn't be too hard, it's a basic ghost ability."

Echo walked up to Juliette, put his gloved hand on the costume, and tried to focus on the intangibility power. Juliette let out a yelp as she fell through the suit suddenly.

Juliette blushed when she squished against the floor. "T-thanks… I should uh… probably get out of this thing and go shower… I'd rather not have a rash."

Echo looked at Juliette's diaper. "… I won't say anything if you won't."

"I wasn't going to say anything…" Juliette growled softly. "You were the one who said something…"

"Hey, I needed some reassurance," Echo shrugged before he summoned white rings that turned him back to his more human self. "And remember who you're dealing with, the guy who loves to say everything on his mind."

Juliette raised an eyebrow.

Echo turned away from her. "Oh, and just know this in case you were getting ideas, I am not a halfa, I just imitate Danny's form and powers. Nothing more, nothing less. Now go on about your day."

"I call bullshit, but I won't push for now," Juliette said as she slowly stood back up. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, get out of this thing, take a shower, and change into clean, regular underwear."

"Sure. And uh… sorry for disappearing on you like that," Echo sheepishly apologized, with his back still turned.

"You owe me one," Juliette remarked as she began to walk towards the bathroom. "You could've helped me not fall for Anise's crap and possibly helped me out of this suit earlier."

"Jeez, can't leave you alone for a few hours…" Echo mumbled.

"Guess not." Juliette shrugged before she opened the door to the bathroom. "I'll probably take a bit, so if you want to go do something for an hour, feel free."

"You sure I can leave you alone for an hour?" Echo asked.

"Considering I'll be in the shower, yeah," Juliette answered. "Anise has never shown up when I was taking a shower before. I don't see her having any reason to start now."

"Alright then, have fun in the shower," Echo stated. "Huh… another advantage to being in the Void; you can't get dirty."

"Yeah, but you can't get clean either," Juliette countered before remembering Echo's torn shirt. "Perhaps next time I go into the Void I should bring a needle and some thread to fix up your outfit."

Echo turned to Juliette, raising an eyebrow at that. "What? You can do that? Bring objects from the world of the living into the Void with you I mean."

Juliette pointed at the gray costume.

"Well, that's because you were wearing it," Echo stated. "I didn't think you could just bring anything into the Void that wasn't on your body."

"Would you mind bringing that suit over to the door, by the way?" Juliette requested, now hiding herself behind the door. "I need to bring it back to the real world so I can return it to Hannah on Tuesday."

"Yeah sure," Echo answered with a sigh.


"Don't get comfy, students," Mrs. Heart, the homeroom teacher of Juliette, Sam, Danny, and Tucker, said. "We will be heading to the auditorium soon for an assembly."

Echo, who was sitting on the floor between the desks of Danny and Juliette, suddenly snapped up at the announcement. If his heart was beating, it would be thumping harshly against his chest.

"W-WHAT!?" Echo screamed as he got up to his feet. "An assembly? RIGHT NOW!? No! No, no, no, no! It's too soon! There was nothing about an assembly for the Fentons today! WHY THE HELL IS THERE AN ASSEMBLY TODAY!?"

Juliette reached up and rubbed her right ear a little as it was ringing from Echo's screams.

"You alright, Juliette?" Danny asked.

"Yeah… my ear is just ringing a little," Juliette replied.

Echo, however, was anything but okay. He pacing back and forth, going through the desks and students. "Oh gosh, oh gosh… this is bad! This is really bad! It can't all be happening now!"

"What is the assembly about, Mrs. Heart?" A student inquired.

"Principal Ishiyama wishes to introduce the students to a new therapist that will be working with our school," Mrs. Heart answered.

When Mrs. Heart said that, Echo stopped pacing, and blinked a few times. The answer took a while for it to sink into Echo's frantic mind, until he finally realized it was just AN assembly, not THE assembly. Echo let out a sigh of relief, feeling like he was on the edge of a meltdown earlier.

"And don't worry," Mrs. Heart chuckled. "This one has been thoroughly vetted. They have a few PhDs as well as decades of experience in their respective fields."

"Good, that's more of a chance they're legit," Tucker noted.

"Still not an impossibility that they may not be," Sam whispered back.

Echo sighed as he sat back down on the floor between Juliette and Danny. "The assembly with the Fentons hasn't even happened yet, and I'm already getting PTSD from it…"

"Do you think they'll be a ghost?" One of the students asked.

"Maybe… there are a few ghost workers in Amity Park that Phantom seems to be okay with," Another student replied. "If the new therapist is a ghost, they probably got pre-approved by Phantom. Though the chance of us having two therapists in a row that are ghosts are pretty low."

"Was the last school therapist a ghost?" Juliette questioned, glancing over at Danny.

"Yeah, she was one of those emotion eater ghosts," Danny answered. "She loves to feed on misery, apparently it makes her younger. The school hasn't hired another school counselor since then."

"Yeesh," Juliette remarked.

Echo frowned to himself. "That was also when Jazz found out Danny's secret."

When the bell rang, everyone started getting up..

"Okay, class!" Mrs. Heart smiled. "Line up behind me at the door and we'll head to the auditorium."

The class all lined up to follow Mrs. Heart to the auditorium. Tucker, Sam, Juliette, and Danny were at the back of the line. Danny always stayed at the back of the line, so he could run off in case his ghost sense went off.

Once the class got to the auditorium, people split off to sit in their own cliques.

"Yo, Juliette, you should come sit with us," Sam said as she looked at Juliette, who was looking around.

"Thanks for the offer, Sam, perhaps we can all sit up in the front? The row is barren," Juliette responded.

"Sounds good to me," Tucker agreed.

The four of them walked to the front of the seats, sitting down on four empty rows. Echo sat down in front of Danny on the floor.

"This feels a bit too uncomfortably close to THE assembly…" Echo muttered to himself. "As long as there's no last minute 'oh hey, the Fentons are also here' surprises though, we should be fine."

"I doubt Danny's parents are here," Juliette whispered to Echo, making sure Danny and the others couldn't hear her. "There are no gadgets on stage and I feel like it would take a little bit for them to set up."

Danny gave a quick glance to Juliette, but didn't seem suspicious, most likely he noticed her whispering.

"Juliette, don't talk, or even whisper to me when Danny's nearby," Echo warned. "He has heightened senses even as a human. I doubt he can actually pick out your words in his human form, but he will definitely know you're whispering."

Juliette gave a frown before she brushed something off her skirt. "I swear, it's like this skirt attracts the dirt to it… Need to start using dryer sheets…"

"Maybe you should wear darker colors, they don't attract as much dirt," Sam suggested.

"No way, she looks fine the way she is now," Tucker argued.

"I think it's because right now we don't have any dryer sheets at home, so my clothes get a bit staticky," Juliette said as she looked at the others. "Sadly not enough money in the budget."

"Really? But dryer sheets cost only a couple bucks," Tucker remarked.

"Yeah… sadly that's a couple bucks we don't have to spend." Juliette sighed. "At least not yet."

"Yet?" Danny raised a brow.

"Yeah, I got a job at PetSmart yesterday," Juliette informed. "I'm hoping to be able to buy a few necessities that we're currently lacking."

"What's your job's schedule? Would you be able to make it to tutoring today?" Danny asked.

"I work Tuesday through Friday and Sunday," Juliette answered. "At least for this week."

Sam gave an approving smile. "Working at PetSmart, huh? That's an awesome place to work at. Not just because of the animals of course, but apparently the boss treats her employees really well."

"Heh, yeah…" Juliette muttered, her gaze looking down at the ground. "I know that all too well…" I need to remember to bring the costume and the bag of food back to Hannah tomorrow… I'd really rather not eat it… it makes me feel… feral… unevolved.

"Okay students, settle down!" Principal Ishiyama called out, quieting the talking students. "We're here today, to introduce the new school counselor. He is a highly respected therapist in his field, and has a few PhDs, so I expect you all to treat him with respect."

Juliette looked up at the stage.

A youngish man wearing a black shirt and beige pants, with short brown hair, walked onto the stage.

"This is Thomas Carbon, the new school counselor," Ishiyama introduced.

"Please, just call me Tom," The young man smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet everyone. I hope that over the school year I will get to meet each and every one of you personally and help make sure you're in the best mental attitude possible."

"I'm already liking him better than Spectra," Tucker quietly said to Danny, but Juliette still heard.

"Yeah, he isn't overly cheery and has a predatory smile on his face," Sam added.

Danny gave them both a nod of acknowledgement. "My… you-know-what isn't going off either, so that's a positive sign."

Echo shook his head a little, but didn't say anything. Juliette glanced down at Echo, wondering if he knew anything about Tom. Echo could likely already hear his thoughts and feelings, he could even see into the man's future, so there wasn't much of a chance the man could hide much of anything from him. If Echo wasn't giving any warnings, perhaps Tom was safe.

Or perhaps if Echo says something, it might lead to events that could cause something to happen. Juliette noted.

"Thank you for that brief introduction, Mr. Carbon," Principal Ishiyama said before she stepped forward. "Since I have everyone here, I would like to let you know that next week on Wednesday we will be having another assembly."

"That… is that the one from my vision…?" Echo wondered aloud.

"The assembly next week will be hosted by Mr and Mrs. Fenton who will be teaching the students and the faculty about what to do and what not to do in the case of a ghost attack," Principal Ishiyama continued. "I am letting you all know as it will be open to the public and if your parents would like to attend, they can. Mr and Mrs. Fenton would like as many people as possible to know how to properly respond to a ghost attack."

"Dude, aren't you worried?" Tucker asked Danny.

"About my parents hosting an assembly? Yeah, a little bit. But I do agree that the school should be able to better defend itself from the ghost attacks," Danny answered softly. "It's not like whatever's going to happen will kill me, right?"

Echo gave a loud groan at that.

Really trying to jinx it, aren't you Danny…? Juliette mentally sighed, having a feeling that she was sighing for the same reason that Echo was groaning.

"Probably best not to tempt fate, Danny," Sam pointed out. "Didn't you say some of their inventions could really hurt you?"

"It's fine, I can handle most of them. The most dangerous ones were already sabotaged by Jazz or me," Danny reassured his friends. "I mean there is that new one they've been pretty tight lipped about, but as long as there's no reason for me to… you know… then it should be fine. They'll announce what it does at the assembly, then we can decide if it's dangerous enough to get rid of it."

You won't need to. Juliette inwardly chuckled. I'll be doing my damndest tonight to make sure that thing won't work… it would be hard to smash it and make it look like an accident, so perhaps I could drown it or spill something on it that stops it from working.

Echo looked over at Juliette, and gave her a small nod, likely silently giving his support to her destroying the Fenton Mortifier.

The assembly had concluded, so all the students left the auditorium to go to their next class.

The school day went on as normal, with the exception of a few ghost attacks that Danny had to handle. Juliette decided it was best not to push the fire alarm, though she still needed a better way to get everyone out without them panicking or hurting each other during these attacks. Thankfully, Danny was able to take care of the ghost relatively easily and quickly with as little collateral damage as possible.

Then they had their last class of the day, a class that Juliette, Danny, and Echo dreaded. Anise was teaching the class about embracing their kinks. However, she did approach the back of the class while the students were writing down an essay on what kinks they had discovered in KinkQuest and why they liked or didn't like those kinks.

"Danny, Juliette, I've noticed that the two of you haven't logged on into KinkQuest as much as the other students. Juliette especially, you still haven't even logged on at all. Danny, you've been logging on less and less. I'm starting to get concerned, if you two keep this up, you may fail this class," Anise warned the two softly.

"Mom… I'm not going to play the game…" Juliette sighed, not wanting to use the word 'mom' with Anise. "Most likely you've done something to my helmet or my game that will hypnotize me or trap me in the world or make me your plaything or something…"

"I haven't done anything to your helmet. You just don't want to log into KinkQuest." Anise answered back with a frown.

"I haven't been able to find a lot of time with the… homework," Danny replied, hesitant on calling it 'homework'. Not to mention all the kinks I found so far just disturbed or haunted me.

"Well, if you guys don't play the game as I have assigned, I'll have to consider a different kind of make up work that will keep you two from failing," Anise informed.

"What kind of make up work?" Danny asked.

"I am not sure just yet, but it would be easier if you simply wore the helmets and played the game as I assigned," Anise replied. "Most likely the make up work would be practicing kinks outside the helmets."

Danny gave a sigh. "Ms. Rosescale, I understand that you have the best of intentions, but you can't force us into kinks we don't like. The world may have accepted kinks, but that doesn't mean we have to indulge in those ourselves."

"Actually, Danny, I do have the ability to force you as long as it is for educational purposes," Anise informed. "Trust me, I have read all the laws and rules inside and out. Why do you think Juliette was wearing that leather outfit on the first day of the semester?"

"Didn't you say that if the class isn't working, we could be transferred to another?" Danny pointed out.

"Yes." Anise smiled. "I said, and I quote 'If you can make it through 3 weeks of this class and still feel the same way about being uncomfortable with kinks or this class in general, I will write an email to Principal Ishiyama and have you transferred out of the class.'. You have only made it through 1 week and you haven't even done the full week's worth of assignments. You have to make it through two more weeks, while still doing assignments, in order to meet my requirements for a class transfer."

"You realize that if you leave the class, we'll still be here, Danny," Tucker pointed out.

"I just don't know if this class is for me though," Danny sighed. "How can I pass something I can't understand?"

Juliette gave a small nod of agreement, as she and Danny were the only ones in class struggling in Anise's class.

"It could be that you're just trying the wrong kinks," Anise suggested. "You know what… I have an idea that should help you two. I'll get working on it and inform you two later if I've made progress."

Both Danny and Juliette looked at each other, not sure what Anise was going to do, and they both dreaded whatever it could be. Echo was laughing to himself, but he had been pretty quiet since the assembly, which was unusual for the boy who always spoke what was on his mind.

"Hopefully whatever Mom is planning isn't too bad…" Juliette grumbled.

"Considering she had you in a leather outfit on the first day of school… I'm very concerned as to what she has in mind for us…" Danny groaned.

"I can assure you, it won't be anything unhealthy or dangerous," Juliette comforted.

"So how are we going to write this essay? We don't have any kinks we like…" Danny frowned, looking at the blank sheet of paper on his desk. "Just when I was finally getting better grades in school, I find another class to fail at…"

"You can fill out the essay by writing what you didn't like about the kinks you tried," Juliette offered. "After all the essay is about what you liked and didn't like about the kinks you tried."

"I guess that's true," Danny sighed. "Maybe if we're lucky, we might find something we'll like, maybe…"

Danny started writing in the essay, while Juliette looked back at her own paper and started to write as well. Echo stood up and looked at Danny's paper as he was writing. There were a few things that caught Echo's attention. Echo started to chuckle a little.

On Juliette's paper, Juliette was simply writing in 'I did not try out the game or any kinks. Therefore I cannot answer' for all of the questions.

"I wonder if you would ever find a kink you actually did like," Echo remarked as he looked at Juliette. "Or maybe you might've found one, but you were too uncomfortable with it to realize you might've liked it."

Juliette raised an eyebrow at Echo.

Echo shook his head. "Sorry, I've been getting all these people's thoughts in my head, and it's been hard keeping track which ones are my own."

Juliette nodded a tiny bit.

"You should hear some of the stuff they think," Echo shivered. "It's times like this I wish I couldn't hear their thoughts. I feel so dirty."

Juliette lowered her mental barriers a little to let Echo hear. Echo, if you want to block out their thoughts, simply imagining building mental walls between you and them. Imagine it, visualize it, I know it sounds crazy but it actually does work.

At first, Echo didn't react to Juliette's thoughts, and Juliette wondered if he heard her. Then his head snapped over to Juliette with a look of surprise.

"Wait, did I just hear your thoughts?" Echo asked, shocked.

Yes, I brought down my mental walls in the hopes you would be able to hear me. Juliette confirmed. I want to try and help you block out the thoughts of others. If you can learn to do what I just explained and control it, you can block off certain people while leaving yourself the ability to hear everyone else. For instance, you could potentially block out the whole school but leave it so you can hear me, Danny, Sam, and Tucker. The same principle also works for you putting up walls around your own mind so others can't hear.

"Oh… I think Andrea said the same thing…" Echo remembered.


When the last bell rang, everyone turned in their essay to Anise, packed up their stuff, and headed out the door.

"See you at home, Mom…" Juliette muttered as she walked past Anise's desk, putting down her essay.

"Oh, I'll be seeing you later, alright, Juliette." Anise smirked.

Just my fucking luck… Juliette grumbled, her mental walls now back up.

"Hey, Juliette," Danny spoke up, walking up beside her. "Would you like me to walk you to my house? Or do you plan on coming to Fenton Works later?"

"I'd like to walk with you if you don't mind," Juliette answered with a smile. "I want to make sure I don't possibly get lost."

"Heh, okay. Though my house is pretty big with the Ops Center sticking out of it, so it's pretty hard to miss," Danny chuckled. "Come on, I just have to get a few books out of my locker before we go."

"We'll see you later then?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, I'll call you and Sam later," Danny promised.

"Be sure to tell us how this goes," Sam said. "I'd like to hear how well of a tutor you could be."

"Of course," Danny chuckled. "See you guys later."

Tucker and Sam waved as they walked down the hallway. Juliette and Echo followed Danny to the lockers, where Danny was trying to open his locker. Juliette saw one of the jocks, the one with blond hair, starting to approach them. Echo looked at the jock.

"Oh boy…" Echo sighed. "Brace yourself."

Juliette eyed the approached jock, who she quickly remembered was Dash Baxter.

Just as soon as Danny opened his locker, it was suddenly slammed shut by Dash's hand, surprising Danny.

"Hey! What?" Danny frowned.

"Hey, Fenton, I can't help but notice how much you and your loser friends have been hanging out with the new kitsune in school lately," Dash stated.

"Yeah, so?" Danny asked in an annoyed tone.

"Don't you think you should stop hogging her so much? Don't you already have that goth chick as your girlfriend?" Dash pointed out.

"W-what- why does everyone always assume Sam and I are going out?" Danny groaned. "And Juliette hangs out with us because she's our friend, Dash."

"I've also noticed that I haven't stuffed you in your locker in over a week now, so it's about time we get back on schedule," Dash added, smashing his fists together. "If you don't want me to, then just try to stop me."

Danny frowned at Dash.

Juliette, who Dash apparently hadn't noticed yet, cleared her throat. "Sorry, did you just say you were going to stuff Danny into his locker?"

"Oh, Juliette!" Dash nearly sputtered. "Oh, well, you see, this is how our relationship usually goes. I give Fenton a hard time, and he deals with it. It helps toughen him up."

"Danny, are you okay with that kind of relationship?" Juliette asked.

"No," Danny responded. "But around here, when an A-List wants you, you have to do what they want or get pummeled."

Juliette raised a brow. "'A-List'? What do you mean?"

Before Danny could explain, Dash spoke up. "An A-List is the highest ranking system in the school, not counting the adults of course. The jocks and cheerleaders are often at the top. We get our own nerds to do our homework, as well as get free desserts in the school cafeteria."

"I see…" Juliette gave a thoughtful nod. "Where do I fit in the ranking system?"

"Right now, you're an unknown," Dash pointed at her. "Though your ranking placement isn't too good with how much you've hung out with the lowest of those in school; the outcasts."

"Well, up until now, only Danny and his friends have talked to me," Juliette pointed out before looking at Dash's finger. "And please don't point, it's rude and seen as aggressive in some places I've been."

"I suppose you have a point," Dash remarked, putting his hand down. "But are you sure you want to keep hanging out with the outcasts? I'm sure if you cut ties with them, the A-Lists will treat you like a queen, next to Paulina's level. She's the hottest girl in school."

"I'd love to hang out with others in the school," Juliette started.

Which made Danny and Echo frown a little.

"But… I've been raised that if you act rude by abandoning friends to 'move up', you will ultimately pay a steep price. So I wouldn't want to abandon Danny, Sam and Tucker," Juliette finished.

Danny gave a small frown to himself.

Dash looked a little hesitant, but then he just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you wouldn't understand. As for you, Fenton…"

Dash opened the locker, picked up Danny, and threw him inside before slamming the door. "There, now you can get those books easier."

With that said, Dash walked away.

Echo looked over at Dash. Juliette expected for Echo to hate Dash for the way he treated Danny, but Echo just looked sad, he seemed to pity Dash more than being angry with him.

Juliette walked over to the locker and pull the lever, opening it. "It's a good thing Dash didn't scramble the code."

As soon as Juliette opened the locker door, Danny fell out of it, and hit the floor. "Ow… Thanks, Juliette…"

"You're welcome," Juliette chuckled. "Wasn't going to leave my tutor in his locker."

Danny stood up and stretched his back out a little. "I have to say, your mom must've really taught you well for you to have resisted the temptation of being an A-List. Except for Sam, just about everyone in this school would jump at the opportunity to be one of the A-List."

Juliette sighed. "Sadly, despite turning Dash down, I doubt this will be the end of it. He seemed… fairly determined to get me to ditch you, Sam, and Tucker in order to join him."

"Dash must like you then," Danny replied as he began to take out his math, history, and literature books. "He usually only goes after the A-List girls, but if he likes someone who isn't an A-List, he'd try to tempt them to leave their friends to come to the A-List with him. It's a typical A-List move really. Paulina kind of did the same thing with me before."

Juliette raised a brow before nodding a little. "Sadly, from the few times I've seen her and what I've heard of her, she's a bit shallow."

"She is, and also high maintenance, she's clingy too," Danny sighed, remembering his experience with her. Even though she was overshadowed by Kitty at the time, Kitty only used what was already there to begin with so nobody would suspect Paulina was overshadowed.

"We should get going before Dash decides to come back this way," Juliette suggested. "I think he forgot his backpack in the classroom."

"Yeah, good idea, I don't want to have to deal with him anymore than I have to," Danny grumbled as he put his books away into his backpack.

Danny, Juliette, and Echo walked out of the school. Danny lead Juliette down the block.

"Thankfully we don't live too far from Casper High, even if it is a bit of a walk," Danny stated. "I can't wait to introduce you to my sister, she'll like you. But my parents are… a little harder to introduce."

"I've already got most of that covered," Echo laughed.

"Oh?" Juliette raised a brow. "I know that your mom is a world famous inventor."

"She sort of is," Danny chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "She and my Dad mostly focus on ghost hunting these days, so they make a lot of devices meant to combat ghosts. A lot of them work a little too well though… those types of weapons could obliterate a ghost, which wouldn't kill them, but it would make them have to reform, which could take years depending on how complex their form was. But the weapons I'm mostly worried about are the ones that directly affects a ghost's core. If a ghost's core gets damaged, it… well, they wouldn't be quite right anymore. And if the core gets destroyed, the ghost would fade away for good. While ghosts do like to cause mischief and attack the town, most of them are just people like us. So I can't say I approve of my parents trying to permanently cripple or destroy them."

"Perhaps you should talk to them then," Juliette offered. "Explain to your parents how ghosts are just trying to live their own lives… cause it honestly sounds like your parents… may be on the bad side when it comes to ghosts."

Danny gave a sigh at that. "I've tried, Jazz tried, heck our teachers tried. Our parents are set on the mindset that all ghosts are evil, and since ghosts don't have a nervous system, they 'can't feel pain', which makes it okay to torture the ghosts and destroy them in their book. No matter what we tell them, they'll always believe they're in the right, and that the rest of us just 'don't know any better', because we let ghosts like Phantom 'trick us into believing some ghosts are good'."

There was clear frustration in Danny's tone, likely having had this conversation with his parents on several occasions.

"This is unfortunately true," Echo sighed. "Nothing Danny will do or say will convince them otherwise. Unless he reveals his identity to them, which doesn't even guarantee a good path for him or everyone else."

"Well… perhaps you could pray to a god or goddess to talk to them and tell them to stop," Juliette suggested after pondering what options there may be. "I mean your parents may not listen to you or your sister or even other adults, but they might listen to divine beings."

"No they won't," Danny pouted.

"How can you be so sure?" Juliette asked.

"Because they're my parents. And they're Fentons. They won't listen to anyone except themselves, they have to 'see it to believe it', and even then they'd be super suspicious of even the nicest ghost, and will judge even the smallest thing they'll do," Danny groaned before shaking his head. "But you shouldn't worry about that. I think Sam's animal rights activism is getting to me. While they may hate ghosts, they love meeting new people, especially anthro and chienthrope people since they're still relatively new to us."

"Will they be okay with me though…?" Juliette hesitantly questioned. "After all… I'm not a standard anthro, I'm a kitsune."

"Even better, that means you're exotic… uh, excuse me if that sounded offensive, I'm not used to talking to anthros that much," Danny replied. "They'll love to meet you, don't worry. Just excuse some of their eccentric behavior, especially my dad's, he can get pretty… childish and hyper when meeting new people."

"Do I have to brace myself for anything?" Juliette inquired. "They going to take fur samples? Stick some scientific instruments in my face? Do a full body scan? Take a saliva sample?"

"They shouldn't do that. I mean you're the first anthro I'm taking home- uh… taking to my house with me," Danny rephrased.

Juliette blushed a little when she remembered her collar that had no name on it. I still need to have Anise take that off…

"They know better than to scare off people, even if they are anthros. Besides, they're more interested in experimenting on ghosts," Danny reassured.

"Oh, they'll be interested alright," Echo commented.

Juliette lowered her mental barrier a bit so echo could hear her. They're totally going to do awkward things with me… aren't they?

"They won't violate you or anything like that if that's what you're worried about. But you should brace yourself for some embarrassments," Echo answered.

Will they do anything I said? Fur or saliva samples? Scans? Scientific instruments? Juliette mentally asked.

"Danny's talking to you," Echo pointed out.

"-thing specific in science you've been struggling with?" Danny questioned.

"Oh… uh…" Juliette frowned. "It's… mostly the formulas and the chemicals I think…?" Simply yes or no question, Echo. Will they or won't they?

"Couldn't really say. They do a lot of different things in different paths, but they'll all be awkward for you," Echo clarified.

"Okay, I might be able to help you a little with that. I'm mostly better with biology though. I don't know why though, I just suddenly had an interest in biology a couple of years ago, I didn't used to like it," Danny mumbled the last part.

"Biology is fascinating, how can you not like it?" Echo deadpanned.

If you want to know, Echo… I actually don't need Danny's help. Juliette silently chuckled. I could be ace-ing all my classes minus the kink one, I just don't want to be one of the 'Straight A' students.

"Probably a good idea, cause then you would've been part of the Nerd cliques," Echo noted. "They tend to get used a lot by the A-Lists."

"Oh wow…" Juliette remarked as the Danny's house became visible. "That's… something…" It's kinda cool to see it during the day. And I kinda want to break the school's ranking system. Any paths where you see that's possible?

"Yup, it's home," Danny chuckled. "My family is weird, but I kind of like that about them, it makes our family unique. Though, believe it or not, I used to hate it. I just wanted to be normal, and Jazz hated it as much as I did, maybe even more. Kind of funny how much can change in just a few years."

"The school's ranking is definitely going to change after…" Echo paused. "Though if it doesn't happen, maybe we can find other ways to change it. More… peaceful ways."

I'd prefer peaceful to whatever the alternative may be. Juliette mentally replied. "Time can change even the most stubborn of souls."

"Yeah, but those are very… very unlikely paths," Echo admitted. "I'll try to study them some more though, maybe I'll find something that can lead us to those unlikely paths. Really wish I could write them down, that would make it so much easier…"

"True," Danny chuckled. "Now then… shall we?"

Danny walked up the door steps, before he took out his house keys from his pocket, inserted it into the doorknob, and opened the door. "Mom! Dad! I'm home! I brought over the friend I was telling you about!"

Danny walked into the house. "Okay, so you might have about 12 seconds to brace yourself."

Juliette peered into the door before she hesitantly took a step in.


ChloeTheKitsune: Darkzdragon: We plan to get back to updating this. Unfortunately writing, editing, and all of that has been a bit of a challenge for me lately. But I'm getting back into the swing of things.

mysteryfan4ever: DarkFoxKit: Yes.