The police tapes hadn't been up for long when they had arrived.

The officers were trying to keep the civilians clear of the alleyway, a black fabric had just been put over the body, and the forensics team was still putting on their gear.

"Hey! No civilians past this point!"

Atsushi blinked at the officer who had blocked his path, but before he could try to explain, a stern voice commanded the man to stand down.

The silver-haired eighteen-year-old turned to see his coworker, Kunikida, walk up to them with a hastened step. "We are with the Armed Detective Agency. We've been given authorization to examine the crime scene in order to conduct our investigation. Do I need to present the proof to you, or are you going to let us do our damn jobs?"

The silver-haired teen let out a nervous chuckle as the officer got flustered and quickly allowed them to pass through.

Over the last few weeks, tension had started to rise within the Detective Agency due to several unsolved murders.

Each victim was found to be in peak health before their untimely deaths, with no medical records and clean backgrounds. They simply were alive one day and dead the next. To top it off, none of the victims seemed to be connected like those of a serial killer. Each had a different background, different lives, and even lived in completely different areas.

It was only after not being able to find a connection that the police requested the Agency's help, and yet…

"Anything Ranpo?"

"Patience Kunikida, I can't exactly think with all your talking."

Usually, Ranpo would be boasting about how he already knew the answer and how everyone else was an idiot for not seeing it. But ever since the previous crime scene, Ranpo has been antsy and off-put by something. He originally scolded the police for messing with the scene and blamed it on the forensics team, which is why the Agency decided to show up as soon as they got word.

Atsushi watched as Ranpo walked around the alleyway inspecting the ground, the walls, and even the body.

Right… the body.

His attention went to the covered body and his eyes turned sorrowful.

This makes the sixth victim.

A sixth person that, if they were connected to the others, would show no external injuries, no previous medical conditions, and only have signs that they were attacked via drag marks.

"Hey, kid!"

Atsushi was jolted out of his thoughts by Kunikida.

"Y-yeah?"

"Go talk to the police and see if there were any witnesses."

The teen nodded and pulled out a pen and notebook and quickly went to work.

They remained there for an hour more before gathering again.

"Did you find anything Ranpo?"

The man crossed his arms as he frowned. "No, it's just like last time. Only this time we know for a fact that the idiotic forensics guys had nothing to do with it."

Atsushi heard a door open and turned to see officers and a medic team putting the body into the back of an ambulance.

A shiver went down his spine as he had a passing thought.

"It's almost like a ghost got to her…" He muttered.

He felt Kunikida go rigid next to him.

"What did you say?"

Atsushi blinked as he was surprised to have had Ranpo ask the question.

"Uh, I said that it was almost like a ghost got to her."

Ranpo's eyes widened and after a beat, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Time to get back to the Agency! We've done all we can here!"

The silver-haired teenager looked between Kunikida and Ranpo, awed by the latter man's change in attitude. "Um, am I missing something?"

Kunikida sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know for a fact yet, but it better not be what I think it is. Otherwise… there's going to be a lot of paperwork involved."

Paperwork?

"Come on Atsushi! Pick up the pace!"

"Coming!"

They then returned to the Agency Headquarters where Ranpo dismissed himself to see the President, leaving Kunikida and Atsushi to work on their reports and fill everyone else in.

After Atsushi finished recalling Ranpo's reaction to his comment, the younger members started to theorize what it could have meant.

"Perhaps an infamous assassin? Sometimes people refer to infamous assassins as a ghost but in a metaphorical way."

"What about an ability like Demon Snow? She's technically a ghost, right?"

"I don't think an ability spirit is a ghost. A ghost is something different," Kyouka retorted.

"Ooo what if it was a real ghost?" Kenji added with a smile. "Back in my village, the elders often had many stories about vengeful spirits or malevolent ghosts that would haunt the living."

They turned to Kenji with unsettled expressions.

"Yeah, but aren't those meant to scare little kids into not going out at night and stuff like that?" Tanizaki commented unsurely.

"Oh no, we all believe that ghosts are very real and should never be underestimated," Kenji explained with a small smile.

"Do you believe in ghosts Atsushi?"

Atsushi chuckled nervously. "Well, I-"

"Everyone listen up."

All present agency members immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the president who now stood in front of his office.

"Due to new evidence brought to light from the recent crime scene, I am afraid that there is not much we can do from here. We are simply not qualified for these types of investigations."

Atsushi furrowed his brow. Did that mean they were giving up on the case? Were they just going to drop it? But what if more people got killed because they couldn't solve it? What if-

"What do you need us to do?" Dazai asked.

Athsusi blinked. Wait what?

The president looked stern.

"Kunikida," he began as he handed over a letter he had had in his hand. "I need you to deliver this to Katai as soon as possible. Yosano, restock the infirmary of anything we may need. Atsushi, Tanizaki, and Kyouka, I need you to finish those reports from today and the previous cases and send them over to Naomi and Kirako. Kenji, Dazai, I need you two to go and investigate any recent sightings of anything unexplainable. Kenji, Dazai will give you more information as to what you'll be looking for. As for me… I'll need to call in an old friend."

The older members of the agency went still.

"Are you sure? He only said to call if a situation gets out of hand." Yosano warned, a certain look in her eye that he couldn't quite pin.

"Tell me…" Fukuzawa turned with a scolding look, catching Atsushi off guard. "If six people dead isn't out of hand, then what is?"

The room remained silent but no comment was made.

"That is all, everyone get to work!"

The president returned to his office and everyone immediately set out to do what they were tasked with.

Atsushi had never seen the president that way before. Nor the other members.

A shiver went down his back.

Just who was this person the president wanted to bring in? were they dangerous? Are they on good terms? Based on everyone's reactions, he could only guess that this mysterious person had to be a force to be reckoned with.

"WHOA! OOF!"

CLANK! CRASH!

"Ooowwww…"

The seventeen-year-old groaned as he stared at the tiled ceiling of his parent's basement.

"Danny?!"

Danny Fenton groaned again as he slowly pushed himself up so he was sitting upright.

He heard rushed footsteps and saw a flash of orange and teal dive towards him.

"NO WAIT I'M FI- OOOMMFFF!"

The wind was knocked out of him yet again as his parents barreled over him, his dad picking him up in one fluid motion and throwing him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

"Which ghost was it, honey?!"

"I bet it was that good-for-nothing Ghost X again!"

Danny finally managed to get his bearings. He closed his eyes as he focused on turning transparent and quite literally slipped through his dad's grasp. He landed silently on the tiled floor below and rubbed the back of his neck with an irritated sigh.

"It wasn't a ghost, I just lost my footing on the ladder and fell. And for the 100th time Dad, it's not Ghost X, his name is Skulker."

His parents immediately put away their weapons, his dad pouting more than his mom.

Jack and Maddie Fenton. Both experts and inventors in the field of spectrology, or the study of ghosts/specters. While they do dabble in the study of the Gifted and their Abilities from time to time, they usually only study things that manifest themselves into spirit-like beings. Other than that, they were, in a way, ghost hunters.

"Sorry Danny, we just got really worried when we heard a loud sound and thought another ghost attacked you."

Like father, like son. Or in this case both of his parents. He got roped into his parent's research just by living with them. Though to be fair, most of it was indirectly in the beginning years of his life. It didn't become direct until he had a lab accident three years ago that caused him to develop ghost-like abilities.

His parents had built a portal to an interdimensional space called 'the infinite realms', or the ghost zone as called by his parents. Unfortunately, as cool as it was, a portal worked two ways, so after it had been turned on, ghosts and spirits alike started to appear more frequently. The ghost attacks that his mom was referring to was a common occurrence. Due to his uniqueness, many ghosts have tried to either capture him, kill him, or use him for their nefarious plots to take over the town and/or world. But due to his abilities, he's been able to hold his own for a while, even before his parents knew about his new uniqueness. Thankfully he didn't have to take on the specters alone all the time thanks to his friends.

The teen couldn't help but smile appreciatively at his mother. "It's alright Mom. I can understand the worry, especially since there haven't been as many attacks lately."

"Speaking of which are you sure you don't want us to leave some extra ecto-weapons behind?" his dad asked.

Danny turned to see his dad had picked up the box he had been trying to get down. His parents were almost done packing for their trip. They had been invited to a high-tech convention and conference where they were going to have the opportunity to show off all their newest inventions and share some of their research.

The teen turned to Dad with a confident smirk. "I think I can handle them enough as is. Giving us extra weapons is just poor sportsmanship."

The large man blinked before howling with laughter. "That's my boy! I'll go put this with the rest of the stuff!"

His dad practically bounced back up the basement steps with excitement and pride.

"Was this the last of it, sweety?"

The teen couldn't help but chuckle at his parent's antics. "Yeah, that's the last of it, Mom. Did Dad remember to pack extra clothes?"

"Oh, I made sure he did. This was not going to turn into another Spitoon trip!"

He followed them outside to the RV, or what would be an RV if it wasn't dressed head to toe in ghost-hunting tech.

His dad was working on putting the last box in the back, and his mom turned to him and hugged him.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? I just don't want you to be overwhelmed with having to deal with the ghosts and the lab while we're gone."

Danny gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be alright. Besides, all recent orders have been handled and shipped. And the ghosts don't come around as often thanks to the new door on the portal."

His mom didn't look convinced.

He sighed and crossed his arms and gave her a serious look. "Between me, Sam, Tuck, and Valerie, the ghost situation will be under control. And if anything gets out of hand, I'll call you."

His mom stared down at him for a moment more before sighing and giving him another hug.

"Alright then, in that case, we'll see you in a few weeks. Be sure to call us now and then to check in, okay?"

"Of course, love you guys."

"Aww, we love you too sweetie!"

As soon as his mom let go his dad pulled him in for a bear hug, knocking the wind out of him yet again.

A few more farewells were exchanged and his parents took off.

As he walked back up the stairs he noticed the corner of some mail sticking out of the mailbox.

He raised an eyebrow before opening the mailbox and saw that there was only a single piece of mail, an envelope to be exact.

"Huh, they must've forgotten to check it this morning."

He grabbed it and went inside, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Danny went over to the couch and looked over the envelope noticing it was addressed to him, but with no return address, only a stamp with a picture of a city port.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he found the stamp familiar but was unable to identify it right away. He cautiously turned the envelope over and opened its contents to find a handwritten letter. Upon opening it, two smaller objects fell into his lap. One was what looked to be a plane ticket, the other a USB drive. He looked at these objects curiously before deciding to read over the letter to see if it would offer any answers.

Danny,

It has been a long time since we have last spoken. While I would prefer to be writing to see how you are doing, I'm afraid I must keep this brief. We require your assistance on a recent case. Travel expenses have been taken care of. Within the envelope, you should have received a boarding pass that will take you directly to Yokohama. There we have arranged a hotel room for your stay. You also should've received a USB that contains data regarding our newest members and everything we've managed to gather on the case so far. You may choose to decline if you wish. At any point, if you feel that it is too big of a risk, or you feel unsafe, then we can arrange for you to return. The last thing any of us would want is for your safety to be compromised.

Your Friend,

Yukichi Fukuzawa

The teen rubbed the back of his neck as he sat back and sighed, the letter now discarded to his side.

"Well, shit…"