Rooftop, Casper High, Amity Park
The spirit of music sat on the roof of Casper High, trying to wrap her head around what she watched.
Ember was unnerved, to say the least.
Phantom may have been a sarcastic quippy brat, but underneath the heroic bravado that was the infamous halfa of Amity Park was a tormented boy with decent intentions who was a victim of a horrible accident. Sure, his sister came at the end to help him, but the dead punk rocker couldn't help but compare the lab accident to her…
…Her death.
Unbeknownst to her fans, Ember's song, You Will Remember, was both a reflection of her obsession and a reminder of her death in 1974. In all honesty, she could relate to Danny. Like him, Emily Pyre, was a dorky loser at school who wanted to try and find a path of her own. Her parents were workaholics and had been bullied for being unremarkable compared to her older brother. But like Danny, she had a dream of being a famous musician.
She constantly tried to hone her skills as an aspiring songstress to make it big like her idols such as David Bowie and Gene Simmons of KISS fame. One of the faculty suggested that Emily join a talent show as a means to show her fellow classmates what she was capable of. She ended up beating all of the contestants with her cover of American Woman by The Guess Who. And from this surge of popularity, she was asked out by her crush, who was the hottest guy in the school.
…But like popularity after high school, Emily's fifteen minutes of fame did not last.
Her date stood her up on the night she was promised a date. This hurt Emily, so she confronted the popular boy, only to find the boy she liked in the arms of the talent show runner-up who was the Queen Bee of the school. When Emily faced the boy, he didn't even remember her name. As it turned out, he blew her off for the popular girl.
Emily skipped the rest of school to wallow in her home. Her parents hardly spent any time at home. But the notable difference between Emily and Danny was her lack of a support system. Without this, Emily was much more vulnerable emotionally and physically.
While the news reported Emily's death to be an accident, that was far from the truth. As it turned out, the Queen Bee of the school purposely seduced Emily's crush to spite her. On the night when Emily ran back home in tears, the popular girl and her group of friends drove to the Pyre Residence while Emily's family was working late. Out of jealousy and hatred for losing to the geeky girl in the show, the Queen Bee and her cronies firebombed her house before quickly fleeing the scene.
By the time Emily got up, she was already burning to death. Like a small wick, her life dwindled, and she became a spirit who re-emerged in the Spirit World with no knowledge how how her death came to be. At first, she didn't realize what had happened to her, but after seeing the condition of her home, the memorial service (with the lack of people outside of her family), and her high school moved on, her obsession solidified and pledged to make people remember her the only way she knew how.
…Thus, Ember McLain was born.
Since her death, Ember was never used to people showing genuine interest in her as a person or her music without being affected by her hypnotic powers. So, when Skulker approached her, her being was filled with hope, something that she hadn't felt in decades.
It felt like she had a chance at a proper comparison. Maybe even something more. That was, until she was stood up again, and then lied to.
In contrast, each time Ember has fought the Ghost Boy, he's been open and honest with his intention, about himself, and most importantly, to her. That's why she could always look forward to their occasional rumbles despite the brat shoving her in the thermos and sending her back to the Spirit World.
And now that she knew how he became and why he acts as Phantom, Ember's conflict with him began to dwindle. She wasn't exactly on the best terms with the boy, but she no longer had the desire to attack him out of hostility.
Thinking about the fragments of her old life that she recalled, her toxic relationship with Skulker, and her rivalry with Phantom, she came to a decision.
"To hell with that puny little blob of ecto goo! We're finished!" Ember huffed. "I'd rather mess with Babypop and hang out with Kitty or Desiree! The bastard can skulk his way to the Unworld for all I care."
BOOM!
In a nearby building on campus, Ember found many people running out of the library. She could sense the ecto-energy signature of both Phantom and her ex-boyfriend spiking in the same direction.
"That idiot! Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me!" Ember whispered before turning invisible and flew in that direction.
School Library, Casper High
Students of all grades along with faculty were running out of the building, filling the halls of the library at the seams.
Some of the notable students who escaped the battle were Sam Manson and Tucker Foley.
They were currently heading to the gymnasium in the main school building. Apparently, one year ago, the amount of ghost attacks had caused the parents to complain to the Public School Board and the local high school district, as they feared that the safety of their children was in jeopardy.
This bleed into the general population of Amity Park, which led to the mayor and Casper High finally calling on the Fentons for their expertise and, more importantly, their anti-ghost inventions/equipment.
Thus, the school had a Ghost Shield Generator installed, courtesy of Jack and Maddie. And since its installation, once a month, students and faculty are required to undergo ghost drills to practice procedures in case of situations such as this.
"Come on, Sam!" Tucker ushered as he ran in front of the goth girl.
"I'm going as fast as I can, Tucker!" Sam shouted. "Besides, Principle Ishiyama's going to turn on the Ghost Shield anyway, so we'll be fine anyway!"
Looking around, Tucker made a complete stop, causing Sam to stop running as well.
"Tucker, what the hell!? Why are you stopping!?" Sam questioned.
"Sam, I don't see Danny anywhere." Tucker said, concerned about their wayward friend's absence.
Sam was not happy with the sound of that kid's name. Ever since the first day of Freshman year, her friendship with Danny had begun to decline. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when it started, but Danny's reclusive behavior took a turning point during freshman year. He was more quiet spoken than usual, was constantly looking over his shoulder as if someone was out to get him, and would randomly bail on Sam and Tucker, only to give a flimsy and half-ass excuse after returning.
Sam, being the assertive person she was, kept on pushing for a proper explanation for his behavior, but Danny either deflected or shut Sam down to avoid a heated confrontation entirely. Another thing that was off about Danny in Sam's opinion was that half of the time, he would go through school, trudging like a zombie and falling asleep in class through lectures. There was this sense of constant fatigue that was clearly present, yet Danny wouldn't open up to Tucker or her about what he was going through. And neither Jazz would tell them, nor did the Fenton couple have a clue what was going on with their son.
They honestly chalked it up to the start of his so-called "rebellious phase".
Regardless, Sam had retained her ever-growing affection for the youngest Fenton due to him (and Tucker to a lesser extent) allowing her to express her true self. Danny's presence was something she looked forward to when escaping the claustrophobic and authoritarian background of her parent's household. He listened to her gothic and ultra-recyclo-vegetarian interests and was patient and considerate enough to value her (and Tucker's) choices. For years, this infatuation grew into a crush that endured all throughout middle school and entered her high school life. Of course, Danny had been clueless about it and never noticed the obvious hints she threw at him in spite of her refusal to tell him directly.
But with the help and support from Tucker, Sam took the opportunity to dance with Danny in the fall formal last year and confess her feelings.
…However, her greatest fear reared its ugly head as Danny rejected her on the spot. And out of instinct, hurt, and anger, she not only slapped him across the face but unloaded her repressed frustrations regarding her friendship with Danny and ultimately threw it back at his face before running out of the building with tears in her eyes.
Since then, Sam had held out to this grudge and sent Danny away a few times, with one time threatening a restraining order. Outside of organizing protests against animal cruelty, brushing up on her interests of the occult, and going to Dumpty Humpty concerts, all she had been doing was glare at Danny whenever he was present. This forced Tucker to split his time between the two indefinitely until he could find a way to salvage what the Mysterious Trio once had.
And so far, no progress has been made.
Sam scoffed and grabbed Tucker's right wrist and said, "Seriously, Tuck? Now? Fenton is fine! He's probably hanging out with his new little replacements right now."
"Replacements? Are you fu-" Tucker uttered in rage before shaking his head. "Nope, I'm not doing this with you right now, Sam! Look, I get why you're pissed, but frankly, I don't give a damn right now! DANNY was with Valerie and the new kid, sharing a Study Room at the farthest end of the library! That's when that freaky ghost robot came out of nowhere!"
Sam stopped her brooding and stand-off nature for a second to think about what the skinny techno geek was saying.
"Oh shit!" Sam gasped.
"Exactly!" Tucker exclaimed with a serious expression. "Now are you coming with me to get some hel-wait where are you going!?"
Sam ran toward the library again as she screamed, "THERE'S NO TIME, TUCKER! WE GOTTA GET HIM OUT OF THERE BEFORE HE GETS KILLED!"
"But we don't have anti…ghost…weapons…" Tucker weakly pointed out before sighing and quickly followed the goth behind. "The things I do to keep this friendship alive. WAIT FOR ME!"
-With Skulker-
While intangible, Danny jumped through several bookshelves with Valerie and Mason in his arms while they screamed. This was to avoid a blue ecto ray shot from a staff Skulker pulled out.
This caused multiple bookshelves to get scorched and incinerated in the process. Then, Danny managed to bring his friends to a hiding spot while dropping the Fenton Thermos on accident. Meanwhile, Skulker slowly walked around the main library like a serial killer in search of his opponents.
"Hiding, are we, Ghost Child?" Skulker said while chuckling. "Good. This only invigorates my need to hunt. This time, you and your cohorts suffer the same fate. With your pelts being claimed as my reward."
In the supply closet, Mason heard Skulker's threat and grimaced.
"Ah, sick!" Mason whispered. "He's more disturbing in person."
Valerie looked up at her red and black wristwatch and said, "He's asking for an ass beating."
"Hold on, Val. " Danny said. "I know that you're trigger-happy, but we need a plan."
"Come on, Fenton! We've been Skulker before," The cocoa-skinned girl pointed out.
"Yeah, but that doesn't make him any less of a threat." Danny retorted, causing her to frown. "He gets harder to take down the more he and his suit adapts to our strategies and equipment."
"...I hate it when you're right." Valerie huffed. "What do you have in mind? Because I'm pretty sure the principal will be calling your folks here."
Danny sighed, saying, "Don't remind me. Do you have your thermos with you?"
"What? I thought you had yours with you!" Valerie said.
Danny sheepishly admitted, "Well…I sort of dropped it on our way here."
"Are you serious, Dude!? How are you gonna catch him?" Manson said after facepalming.
"Hold on! Just let me think for a second!" Danny said as he closed his eyes, then opened them. "Look, Skulker doesn't care who he hunts out of the three of us, but I bet my lunch money that he'll gun for me first. I'll give Valerie some cover so she can change and join in the fight with me."
"Works for me!" Valerie said with gusto.
"Fair. Why don't I get the Fenton Thermos?" Mason suggested.
"What? No way! That's out of the question!" Valerie protested.
"What? Aw, come on! This isn't the first time I've dealt with spirits!" Mason countered.
Valerie scoffed and said, "Kid, there's a difference between backwater spirits and Ghost-Kraven! He will fry you like a trout the moment he finds you!"
"Oh yeah? And what are you without that ghost-made suit, huh?" Mason said, getting under her skin. "Well?"
"Guys, now's not the time to arg-" Danny tried to remind the two, only for Mason to cut him off.
"-No! I'm tired of people treating me like I'm incompetent or helpless, so I'm settling this right now!" Mason fired back as he stared at Valerie. "I dealt with that all my life, and I don't need it here! I've been helping Danny since the beginning, and I didn't need any fancy ghost gear, just my mind, Jazz's support, and his ingenuity! And I've survived ghost attacks without having to brawl them. Without that little upgrade from Technus, you're a normal human just like me! So don't you DARE look down on me, Gray!"
Valerie and Mason had a stare-down, and the girl could see that the teenager from the West Coast was not backing down. She was angry that he had talked back, but she also admired his determination to prove himself.
"...Alright, Piedmont. Go and get the soup can. But you better be careful or it's your ass." Valerie said with a serious tone.
"Yeah, I know." Mason said, rolling his eyes.
'...Sheesh, she sounds like Paz.' Mason thought as he and Danny nodded to each other.
Danny used his hands and made the wall intangible, allowing Valerie to run outside.
"Hey, Mase. You wanted to see the thing, right?" Danny smiled.
Mason gasped, "YES! DO IT! Say the thing!"
"Okay…I'm goin' ghost!" Danny said, holding his arms up.
In a flash of light, two rings traveled up and down Danny's body. Standing before Mason was the Phantom of Amity Park.
"...Awesome!" The brown-haired boy exclaimed.
Phantom smirked and said, "I'm counting on you, Mase!"
"Same! Do your thing." Mason urged, causing Phantom to nod and fly through the door with his intangibility.
Out in the main library, Phantom managed to strike Skulker in the back and send him flying into two computer desks.
"Hey, Bonehead!" Phantom taunts. "Looking for me?"
Skulker got up to see his arch-rival and cackled.
"Finally, you came out of hiding, Ghost Child," Skulker said, summoning his jetpack to hover. "Now we can continue our battle uninterrupted."
Phantom found himself forming his ghost tail and stretching himself to form an "O" to avoid an ecto blast from Skulker's shoulder cannon.
"Woah!" Phantom exclaimed while he used his speed to avoid a barrage of anti-ghost missiles Skulker fired from his back rocket barrels.
After seeing the amount of property damage being caused by the Poltergeist, Phantom decided to try and disarm Skulker. So, he reformed his legs, channeled energy in them, and swung them in arcs, creating arcs of green energy that cut his mounted wrist guns, launchers, and cannons.
From there, Phantom and Skulker decided to ditch the long-ranged attacks and began pounding each other's faces in hand-to-hand combat.
"Okay! I'll bite!" Phantom quipped while weaving around punches. "What's with the extra aggression? Did you get dumped or something?"
"That is none of your business, Whelp!" Skulker growled, going for a kick that Phantom easily blocked with his forearm.
"Ha! I bet you I'm right!" Phantom snorted as he grabbed Skulker's fist and wrist, then flung him across the room. "Then again, who in their right mind would want to be with a lousy and obsessive hunter like you?"
The spectral hunter growled, then stuck out his hand and activated another cannon which spun a net. This net caught and electrocuted Phantom, causing him to scream in pain as the familiar sensation stunned him for a moment.
"I am the GREATEST hunter in the Spirit World!" Skulker bellowed and slammed him onto several hard surfaces to further injure the ghost boy. "And I'm certain to be more competent than you and your entire bloodline."
Skulker then reeled Phantom and grabbed him by the neck to stare him in the eyes with a wrist blade to his neck, "And once I present your flayed husk to my other half and the rest of the plane, they will all think twice than to doubt my prowess. None will ever cross me, not even Plasmius."
Phantom felt a chill run down his spine, but couldn't help but recall all the times he had been rejected by popular girls in his grade like Paulina and Star. And given what he learned from Ember, Skulker's behavior was giving Phantom Plasmius vibes.
And that didn't sit well with the Ghost Kid.
A strong surge of ecto energy manifested from Phantom's determination, causing him to break free from Skulker's net and grasp.
"Really?" Phantom said as he raised his right hand and charged an ecto ray. "Get over yourself."
Skulker was then met with a face full of ecto energy which launched him to the roof.
Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker managed to enter the library, only to gape at the amount of property damage caused by the ghost intrusion.
"Shit, the ghost really did a number on this place." Tucker remarked in surprise.
"Whatever attacked this place turned it into a war zone. Come to think of it, don't you find it strange that the spirits in Amity Park have been allowing themselves to be seen? Totally not typical spectral activity." Sam said as she looked through the damaged library. "Not to mention none of them even make an effort to be unseen by humans."
"Yeah, I thought normal people couldn't see ghosts, yet everyone always seems to witness these ghost attacks happening." Tucker said curiously.
The two braved further down the hall in search of Danny, unaware of the scale of the threat ahead.
Suddenly, random areas of the ceiling were bombarded by stray missiles, causing the building to shake and debris to fall. This jolt startled Tucker and Sam as they screamed and held each other.
But before they could get crushed by the falling debris, Tucker and Sam were pulled to safety. And now, they were face to face with the new kid, Mason Pines, under the table of one of the group desks.
"Huh? The new guy?" Tucker uttered.
Sam immediately glared at the Californian and said, "What are you doing here!?"
Mason rolled his eyes for the twelfth time, sarcastically stating, "Oh, hey Mason! Thank you for saving us from an early tragic death. It's no problem, guys. I'm just looking out for the well-being of my classmates!"
Ignoring the passive aggressiveness, Tucker said, "Err… not to sound ungrateful or anything, but it's dangerous in here, Man. Our school has a ghost shield that keeps spirits out and protects us from shit like this!"
"Good to know. Believe it or not, I'm actually in my element right now." Mason stated. "And it's not my first situation with the paranormal."
"What are you even here for!?" Sam questioned.
"Research," Mason answered easily. "I got an important thing going on, not that it's any of your concern."
"Whatever. Where's Danny?" Sam questioned with a sharp tone. "You and Gray were the last ones that saw him!"
'...Wow, if I hadn't known him for two years, I would have assumed she was D's scorned ex-girlfriend.' Mason thought.
Seeing Sam getting up in Mason's face, he simply pushed his face back by a few inches and said, "First off, back off. You're too close. And second, he's fine. I saw Phantom taking him to safety."
Before Sam could violently react, Tucker sighed, "Oh, thank God!"
"At least we know that Danny's safe and sound, right Sam?" Tucker said, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder while she sighed in relief.
Ironically, Bad Luck Tuck's sentence and timing aligned as Phantom was tossed over their table and crashed into a nearby wall while screaming.
Hearing that, Tucker and Sam immediately said, "Phantom!"
The two called out of the table and stood up to find the Phantom of Amity Park taking serious hits from Skulker.
"Crap! Skulker has the upper hand!" Tucker pointed out.
Sam's expression turned concerned as she said, "We have to do something!"
Skulker then held Phantom against the wall with a glowing blade pointed at the teenager.
"Your pelt is mine, Ghost Child!" Skulker declared.
"I DON'T THINK SO, FREAK!"
Skulker was shot down by a new challenger. Flying on a gray high-tech glider-esque hoverboard was a female ghost hunter wearing a full-body battle suit. The suit was mostly black with red high-tech circuits that were powered by ecto energy. The visor glowered red which concealed the girl's face and had a built-in voice modulator that masked the woman's voice.
This was the Ghost Huntress, Valerie Gray's alter ego.
"Alright! The Huntress is in the house!" Tucker cheered.
"But why is she helping Phantom!?" Sam said out of confusion. "Wasn't she out for his…ectoplasm? You know what I mean!"
"I don't know about all of that," Mason said while inspecting the Ghost Huntress. "But she sure knows how to make an entrance,"
Back in the fight, Phantom floated toward his partner and said, "Well, am I glad to see you."
"Sorry I'm late. I had to give the cops the slip. Did ya miss me, Spooks?" The Huntress questioned.
"Heh, you wish, Sparky," Phantom bantered as he glared at Skulker. "But, I could use a partner again."
Skulker stewed in his jealousy and said, "ENOUGH! I shall have both of your pelts!"
The ghost hunter morphed his hands into cannons and began to spread fire at both Phantom and the Ghost Huntress with the intent to murder them.
"WOAH!/WOAH!" Both Phantom and Ghost Huntress yelped before flying out of the way.
While flying in sync, the girl said, "What's with him, Spooks? He seems more grouchy than usual!"
"Heh heh! You'd be on edge too if you've been dumped," Phantom heckled as he conjured a small rectangular ghost shield to deflect an ecto ray.
"Wait a second! Who would ever go out with his sorry ass?" the Ghost Huntress asked while avoiding a blast and accessed a bazooka from her glider.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but get this," Phantom said. "She didn't know about his armor."
"Oh, he did not catfish her!" the Huntress said as her anger reached its boiling point. "You know what? I'mma nail the bastard for that poor girl!"
"You took the words right outta my mouth!" Phantom said, preparing to double-team Skulker.
'They may be stronger together, but Skulker is still more experienced. If they don't end this quickly, D and Gray will be in serious trouble.' Mason thought.
Mason turned to his messenger bag, pulled out two Fenton Wrist Rays, and put a Fenton Wrist Laser on his right wrist.
"You guys want to help Phantom, right?" Mason questioned. "Put these on, shut up, and follow my lead. There's something we need to get first."
While putting on the equipment, Tucker asked, "What is it?"
"...The Fenton Thermos," Mason said. "Ever seen Ghostbusters? It sucks up spirits, condensing their size within the thermos like a pocket dimension so they can be sent back to their world."
"Cool! But why a thermos?" Tucker asked with a brow raised.
"I don't know, ask Mr. Fenton if you ever get the chance." Mason replied.
"Hey, focus you two!" Sam yelled, getting the group back on topic. "How do we use this thing?"
"You take off the lid, point it at the ghost, press the button, and hope the polarity beam ensnares them and drags their ass into the thermos." Mason explained. "While Phantom and the Huntress take on Skulker head-on, we'll provide support and once that metalhead is vulnerable, we'll capture him."
"Sounds good to me!" Tucker said, only for Sam to interrupt.
"Hold on! This guy is no joke!" Sam pointed out. "I've seen him fight off Phantom and the Ghost Huntress at the same time, not to mention he's a walking arsenal! Even with this tech, how are we supposed to contend with that?"
'...Arsenal…Tech…That's it!' Mason pondered before recalling a special feature that Skulker had.
"Wait, you may be on to something, Manson," Mason said as turned to Tucker, "Say, how good are you at hacking?"
Tucker smiled and said, "I don't like to brag, but I'm the best in my craft."
"Well, I'm gonna need a big favor," Mason said before the three began to search for the thermos.
Meanwhile, Phantom was providing the Ghost Huntress cover by playing the defensive. He did so by counting blasts of ecto energy with ghost shields and circling around the antagonistic spirit. Skulker retaliated by releasing a dozen ectopusses to keep Phantom occupied, but this did little to hinder Phantom's movement. The Huntress, on the other hand, was completely offensive, firing blasts of energy from the bazooka she held and the built-in small blasters from her hoverboard with the intent to deal damage to Skulker.
Initially, this put a lot of pressure on the metallic ghost given that he could not split himself in two like Plasmius. So, this forced him to change his strategy.
"I grow tired of these games!" Skulker said before turning invisible.
Phantom and the Ghost Huntress floated in mid-air, stopping themselves to search for Skulker.
"Huh? Where did he go?" Phantom questioned as he looked around.
Suddenly, Skulker appeared behind the Ghost Boy, which the Huntress' interface picked up.
"Phantom behind you!" She shouted.
However, just as Phantom's Ghost Sense went off, he was shot and electrocuted by Skulker's wrist-mounted taser gun, prompting him to let out a painful scream.
As Skulker made himself visible, he reeled Phantom in, slammed his fist into the Ghost Boy's gut, and threw him onto the floor away from the battlefield.
"Phantom!" the Ghost Huntress shouted, recalling the video she watched.
"I would worry about myself if I were you, Girl." Skulker said with a vicious grin, blasting and destroying her bazooka.
The Huntress' eyes narrowed before charging at Skulker with her hoverboard. At first, Skulker managed to grab the hoverboard, but he was electrocuted by an electric shock emitted by the space in the middle of the two prongs.
From there, her battle suit materialized two back cannons and unloaded consecutive blasts onto Skulker. However, Skulker managed to tank the blasts, then released an ectoplasmic pulse that pushed the Huntress and her hoverboard back. The Huntress took out shuriken-like anti-ghost disks and threw them at Skulker with the intent on cutting him.
"Child's play," Skulker muttered as he materialized ghost blades and cut through the disks with ease.
This escalated with the ghost swinging these blades at the Ghost Huntress. Not wishing to lose her head or any important body parts, her hoverboard activated an anti-ghost shield that protected her. However, Skulker began to channel ecto energy into his swords, causing it to manifest as red fire as his eyes turned into a blood-red color.
From there, the interface began to detect it as "ECTO ENERGY THREAT LEVEL: CRITICAL" while the anti-ghost shield had begun to crack. The pressure of these two forces caused the Ghost Huntress and Skulker to be blown in opposite directions.
The Huntress sprawled toward Phantom's direction while her hoverboard crashed elsewhere. Phantom, while still injured, managed to get up first and help up his ghost-hunting partner.
"Hey, you alright?" Phantom questioned.
"I think so…" The Ghost Huntress winced under her mask. "That blast hurt like hell."
Their short conversation was cut short when the two were mounted to the wall while covered in ectoplasmic goo, courtesy of Skulker's ecto launcher.
While the two struggled to move, the Ghost Huntress grunted, "ARGH! W-We're stuck! Can't you phase us outta here?"
"...N-No! My ghost powers aren't working!" Phantom uttered in panic. "He must have modified the goo to affect them somehow!"
Within the smoke that was clearing Skulker let out a low and malicious chuckle while his back ectoplasmic goo launcher had been revealed on his left side.
"You'd be correct, Ghost Child." Skulker said as he stepped closer to them slowly. "And as for my new trick, I merely channeled more spectral energy into my weapons and gave them a bit of a negative charge. I believe that red-haired shadow wench called the release of this power…Madness."
Meanwhile, on the hunt for the Fenton Thermos, Mason, Tucker, and Sam managed to injure the occasional ectopuss with their anti-ghost weapons. This invigorated the two returning Casper High Students, who never experienced any form of ghost hunting.
While Sam and Mason were busy firing at ectopusses, the girl said, "Do any of you see anything yet?"
"Other than flying green cephalopods with gaping mouths? No!" Mason yelled while blasting one in the eye before avoiding getting drenched in ecto goo. "Hey!"
"Tucker! What about you?" Sam called out to her friend. "Tucker?"
Unbeknownst to the two, Tucker dropped his glasses during one encounter with an ectopuss and cursed under his breath since he had to take his time looking for them.
"Stupid ghost squid! Do they have any idea how expensive those things are?" Tucker said before finding his glasses on the ground by crawling for a moment. "Aha! Come to Daddy…"
However, while putting his glasses back on, Tucker also found something that was against his foot.
It was the Fenton Thermos.
"Alright!" Tucker cheered before calling out to Sam and Mason. "SAM! MASON! LOOK WHAT I GOT!?"
"You found it? Sweet!" Sam said, jogging over to him, high-fiving the coca-skinned boy.
Tucker then passed it when Mason followed behind Sam.
Mason smiled and said, "Good eye, Tucker. Now, watch and learn, you two."
When five ectopusses surrounded them, Mason took off the cap of the thermos and pressed the button. From there, a blue stream of energy shot out of the thermos and was aimed at one of the ectopuss. It pulled the spirit in while the being struggled and failed to escape its capture. This continued until all five entities were sucked in. Once that was done, Mason pressed the button to turn the thermos off and put the cap back on.
"Dude, that was awesome!" Tucker gushed while placing a hand on the brown-haired boy's shoulder. "You made that look easy!"
"Yeah, no kidding." Sam said, cracking a smile grin. "You're not half bad, Pines."
"Don't celebrate just yet," Mason said as he spotted Phantom and the Ghost Huntress being threatened with two swords against their necks.
"NO!" The brown-haired boy screamed as Tucker and Sam gasped at the sight.
In Skulker's location, he asked, "Game set, children. Any last words?"
Before Phantom could say anything, Phantom gasped as his Ghost Sense went off while a familiar ecto signature appeared on the interface of the Huntress' visor. This caused both the ghost boy and his ghost-hunting partner to turn to each other and smile.
"You're a lousy hunter/you're a lousy hunter," Both heroes said with a smirk.
Skulker growled before being struck by an ecto-powered music note, sending him sprawling to the ground. Everybody turned to see the Spirit of Music in front of them, Ember McLain.
"And a lousy boyfriend!" Ember growled as her hair burned in aggression while holding her guitar.
"Ember!" The Huntress, Skulker, Mason, Tucker, and Sam all said at the same time.
The Ghost Huntress turned to Phantom and said, "Skulker was with Ember!? Why didn't you say anything?"
Phantom shrugged, explaining, "That wasn't for me to tell."
"I appreciate that, Babypop. And sorry for the mess I made," Ember said, approaching the two as she used her unique ectoplasmic rays to superheat the goo and get them out of it. "Care to help me clean up?"
Phantom and the Ghost Huntress smirked at her before all three of them turned to Skulker with their weapons of choice active.
Sam wondered out loud, "A-Are they teaming up to fight Skulker?"
"No way…!" Tucker whispered in excitement.
"It seems so," Mason said. "Which gives us a chance to support from the background, right Tucker?"
Sam and Tucker smirked before the beanie-wearing boy took out his PDA, ready to get to work.
Needless to say, Skulker got trounced. He could feel his suit beginning to pass around like a hardcore game of Hot Potato. The Ghost Huntress would use her nearly spawned hoverboard's backside to smack him to Phantom, Phantom kick him to Ember, and then Ember would hit Skulker with a fist made of ecto-energy which was launched from her guitar.
Meanwhile, Tucker began the process of hacking Skulker's tech suit with his PDA.
This was where a thought passed through Sam's mind.
"Hey, how are you getting into his system when he's a spirit?" Sam questioned.
"It doesn't seem to matter. Tech is tech and I'm breaking through with relative ease," Tucker said smoothly as he messed with his handheld device.
"Ghost-X is a ghost, but his body is just a suit of armor," Mason explained. "Which means it's susceptible to hacking."
Sam raised an eyebrow at the name and repeated, "...Ghost-X? Seriously?"
Mason gave the goth a deadpan look and said, "Don't look at me. That's what the GiW calls him so I've been calling him that for a minute. Besides, it's not too bad."
"Whatever. Anyway, can you fork over that soupcan real quick? I can see an ectopuss eyeing me the wrong way." Sam asked.
Mason gave Sam the thermos and watched her catch two more ghosts with some effort and then went to get the remaining four to be thorough.
Mason whistled out of being impressed and thought, 'Not bad, Manson.'
Currently, Phantom and Ember were beating Skulker with their fists, overwhelming him as he felt his spectral energy slowly running thin due to the overexertion of spamming his plethora of ghost-hunting weapons. The hunter took a punch to the face from Phantom, an uppercut from Ember, a chest shot from Phantom, and a knee attack to the face from Ember, before getting his arms held down from both to take a flying kick from the Ghost Huntress who jumped off her speeding hoverboard.
Skulker skidded across the floor on his back, breaking his jetpack before flipping over and barely managing to land on his legs.
Now, Ember, Phantom, and the Ghost Huntress stood in front of them.
"It's all over for you, Creep!" The masked woman stated.
Overwhelmed, Skulker fell to one knee and told Ember, "...D-Damn you! To think you'd join forces with the Whelp and his cohort… I should have never taken an interest in a miserable attention-seeking brat like you!"
"You talk big shit for such a little twerp. Why don't you ditch the suit and face me like a real man!" Ember scoffed before setting her guitar to the soundwave option and fired a powerful sonic blast at Skulker.
Skulker grunted as he was launched back, yet retained his real body as it absorbed a bit of the ecto-energy, shocking Phantom, Ember, and the Ghost Huntress.
"What the hell!?" Ember shouted. "That should have fried his suit!"
"Surprised?" Skulker grinned as the flames that made up his mohawk and goatee changed from green to red along with his eyes. "You shouldn't be. After all, a hunter always learns and adapts."
With that, he summons a ghost blade, then swung it as it created an arc of red ecto-energy that struck Phantom, Ember, and the Ghost Huntress and sent them sliding on the floor.
Phantom did his best to stand up. The Huntress lifted her head as her suit administered a recovery function to heal her wounds as fast as possible, rendering her out of the battle for a brief moment. The two watched as Skulker blitzed Ember and grabbed her by the neck with the glowing red blade mounted on his other arm.
"You need to be reminded of your place. Since you were foolish to leave, I shall skin you alive and place you above my fireplace so that you never leave my side!" Skulker said, grinning in glee as fear formed on Ember's face. "What do you think of that, Dear?"
"GUYS, SKULKER'S ABOUT TO SKIN EMBER!" Sam said, watching the ordeal.
"Tucker! What's taking so-"
"-I'M IN!" Tucker said, cutting Mason off with good news. "What do you want me to do?"
"Skulker has a self-eject feature in his suit. Activate it now!" Mason said.
"Got it!" Tucker said, pressing a few buttons for Skulker's suit to run the program.
Right before Ember could be mutilated, Skulker received a message from his suit which he viewed on his blade arm's screen.
"Auto-Eject activated!? What no, no, no, no, no-!" Skulker panicked.
Suddenly, Skulker's true and minuscule body was shot out of the small round area of the gray belt that was over his bodysuit's chest. This caused the suit to fall to the ground.
Sam, Tucker, and the Ghost Huntress were in awe at this revelation, with Tucker trying and failing to repress his laughter.
"...You got to be fucking kidding me," The Ghost Huntress muttered, shocked beyond belief.
"Oh god," Tucker chuckled. "L-Look at the little guy, he's so tiny!"
"Wow," Sam snorted with an amused smirk. "There's overcompensating, but this is just embarrassing."
"Understatement of the decade," Mason droned.
"No! NO! This can't be happening!" The squeaking-sounding and tiny green blob with hands and feet that was Skulker said as he looked at his suit. "I need to get back to my-!"
Skulker's mechanical suit was then blasted to smithereens by the ecto gun of Valerie and the ecto ray of Phantom, who were both pointing their weapon and hands toward him to corner Skulker.
"U-Um…" Skulker stuttered.
"Boo/Boo." Both the ghost boy and the hunter girl said simultaneously, causing Skulker to try and fail to flee.
After all, he was stopped by the right hand of Ember McLain who grabbed him with a vice grip. Now, they were truly face-to-face.
"Not so bad without your fancy threads, huh?" Ember taunted while she gave Skulker the meanest glare.
"C-Can't we all talk about this?" Skulker asked, hoping for mercy.
Ember's face deadpanned as she crushed Skulker in the palm of her hand, saying, "Talk is cheap, bastard. We're finished."
She then turned to Phantom and asked, "Where's your little soup can?"
Phantom was about to respond when a familiar voice called out for him.
"PHANTOM!" Sam called, gaining the ghost boy's attention as she ran, Tucker, and Mason ran his way. "Catch!"
Suddenly, Phantom watched the Fenton Thermos getting tossed his way. He jumped in the air and caught it in a flip.
Ember, deciding to try something fun, threw Skulker in the air for Phantom to catch him in mid-air. The flowing white-haired ghost boy opened the lid, pressed the button, and caught Skulker in the Fenton Thermos with ease, ending the ghost threat.
Phantom turned the feature off, closed it, and then locked the thermos before sticking the landing.
"Phew!" The ghost boy sighed. "That was too close."
"You said it," The masked hunter girl said before turning to Ember. "Sorry about your ex. Ghost or not, no girl should have to go through that."
"Thanks." Ember said with sincerity as she turned to Phantom. "Sorry that I broke the truce. This whole thing was kind of my fault anyway."
"You didn't break it. If anything, you were owning up to your mistakes and helped us out. So you're fine." Phantom assured. "But If I were you, I'd keep some better company around."
"Yeah, definitely. Catch you on the flip side, Babypop," Ember said as turned intangible and flew away.
"Aw man! She's gone!" Tucker said as Sam and Mason arrived next two the heroes. "I was gonna ask her to sign my beanie!"
"Tucker, Ember already signed your beret last year." Sam reminded Tucker with an irritated expression.
"...True." Tucker pouted.
"Are you three alright?" The Ghost Huntress questioned. "You're not hurt by any chance, are you?"
"Nope!" Tucker chirped as he leaned over to the Ghost Huntress. "No ghost can keep this man down. My initials are TF, which means Too Fine."
The Ghost Huntress raised an ecto gun casually, "...My guns can hurt humans, you know?"
"Right! Shutting up, now!" Tucker said, shuffling back to Sam, who rolled her eyes.
Sam walked over to Phantom shyly while placing one hand on her arm. Since the ghost boy would usually be away from the girl, he never noticed her crush for his superhero persona. But
"Hey…Thanks for the save, again and stuff…" Sam said humbly as she lightly blushed and stared into his glowing green eyes. "You were awesome…"
Phantom instinctively averted his eyes as if he was Danny Fenton until remembered he was in ghost mode and cleared his throat. Now, given that he had never directly spoken to Sam in nearly two years, let alone as Phantom, he decided to utilize his spectral power to distort his voice to throw her and Tucker off.
"...I should be thanking you," Phantom said with his echoing voice distorted how he sounded naturally just enough to not stand out. "All of you."
This sort of freaked Tucker and Sam out, but they nodded to their local hero after he smiled at them. Of course, Sam didn't believe that this was Phantom's actual voice but rolled with it anyway.
However, the moment was cut short by two authoritative voices boomed through the destroyed room.
"FREEZE, GHOST!"
Phantom raised his hands as Jack and Maddie Fenton entered the room with their Fenton Bazookas aimed at him while Mr. Lancer and Principal Ishiyama trailed behind them.
"Aha!" Jack Fenton shouted. "I knew you were no good! You pose as a hero to fool the masses, but in reality, you're no different than any spectral schemer scouring for innocent schoolchildren!"
"And you're not going anywhere, traitor," Maddie said, pointing her gun at the Ghost Huntress. "With the charges you'll be facing, you won't be getting out for a long time!"
The Ghost Huntress leaned over to Phantom and said, "Remind me not to make her mad when I'm over at your place."
"Gotcha," Phantom replied in a whisper.
"WAIT!" Mason screamed as he, Sam, and Tucker ran to stand in front of the ghost boy and the hunter girl. "DON'T HURT THEM!"
"LORD OF THE FLIES!" Mr. Lancer shouted. "Mr. Foley, Ms. Manson, Mr. Pines! Move out of the way this instance!"
"Not a chance!" Sam protested. "These two saved our lives, how is it fair that they get punished for helping us and saving the school!"
"Children, it's not safe out here," The principal spoke, trying to de-escalate the situation. "Just come with us and let the Fentons do their job."
"But we know what happened! You have eyewitnesses!" Tucker reasoned. "There's no more danger, so let them go!"
This turned into a small back-and-forth between the adults and civilian teenagers. From there, Mason slightly turned his head and gave the two a small wink, letting the two costumed heroes a chance to escape.
Nodding, Phantom summoned an invisible duplicate arm from his back that stretched over to the Ghost Huntress' control pad on her left wrist. With a press of a button, the Huntress' hoverboard activated and flew in front of the adults. It then performed a protocol where it produced a smokescreen thick enough to separate the two factions.
"N-NO!" Maddie shouted through coughing.
Jack coughed, "S-SMOKESCREEN! T-THEY ARE GETTING AWAY!"
This allowed the Ghost Huntress to mount her board and for Phantom to turn invisible. With the Huntress activating her cloaking device, the two invisible heroes went through a hole in the wall and flew off. By the time the smoke cleared, the three teenagers were all that remained.
Maddie and Jack lowered their weapons but all of the adults gave Sam, Tucker, and Mason disapproving glares.
While none of the teens regretted anything, each of them recognized what the look meant but didn't need to vocalize it, as the adults said at the same time.
"You're in a lot of trouble!"
Nasty Burger, Amity Park
Thanks to Mason, Sam, and Tucker's interference, Danny and Valerie managed to make it through the ghost shield and sneak into the gym without anyone suspecting a thing.
Unfortunately, Sam, Tucker, and Mason were sent to the office and were given a week-long afterschool detention to serve as punishment for endangering themselves. And while the Fentons and the principal were frustrated with the kids' advocacy of controversial figures at the expense of their safety (and common sense according to Mr. Lancer and the Fentons) such as the Phantom of Amity Park and the Ghost Huntress of Elmerton, their stories had decently lined up with the salvageable footage found in the tapes of the library's security systems. This reduced the hefty punishment the three were about to receive.
An hour passed since the final bell rang from Casper High. This allowed Mason, Sam, and Tucker to finally leave the main building. Sam and Tucker were picked up by their parents, who were not happy with the turn of events at the library.
Sam's controlling folks denied her any extra activities outside of school for two weeks while being grounded within the duration. It was a bitter pill to swallow for her, but she had to bear it for the sake of her morals and for her devotion to her ghostly hero.
Tucker was given a slap on the wrist in comparison, with his internet access having a strict new eight o'clock curfew and being grounded for only one week with no video game access. While torturous for Tuck, it was mildly tame.
Mason, on the other hand, had a much different conversation with his guardian over the phone while heading to the meeting spot with Danny and his friends.
"...So you managed to help them neutralize the ghost?" An elderly, yet articulate and strong-toned male spoke through the other line of Mason's blackberry.
"Pretty much," Mason stated. "But judging from what Danny said about his parents and my first impression of them, they're not exactly the most coherent when it comes to logical reasoning."
"Of course not! The Fentons merely proved the existence of spirits, but those eccentric yahoos are so caught up in proving their absurd narratives to be bothered with actual research."
"Yeah, I felt the prejudice oozing off of them when they aimed to shoot at Phantom." Mason said, recalling previous events. "I kind of feel bad for the guy watching it in real-time."
"All the more reason to keep an eye on him, Mason." The man said over the phone. "He's going to need someone to trust and to watch his back."
"I know."
A sterner voice was taken as the man said, "...Still, you shouldn't have gotten caught so easily. If it wasn't for the kids you met standing with you, the situation could have gotten worse for you!"
"But-"
"-No buts! Education is important and Casper High is the only school available in this town! You won't be able to find one unless we move to Chicago and I cannot afford to move again!" The man stated. "We made an arrangement, Mason. If you are thrown out of school-"
"-I get shipped back to California. Yes, I know." Mason sighed.
"And I don't want that." The man expressed, allowing himself to be important. "Look, it won't be long until I kick the bucket and I have nobody to share what I've learned. My knowledge, what we're doing, it's important. More than any of us realize, and I need someone to pass my notes and carry on when I'm gone. I need you, here. With me."
"...I know, Grunkle Ford," Mason whispered with a small grin. "I'm not going anywhere, not when there are people who need me."
"Then be careful next time. We cannot have anybody jeopardize our operation." The man, now identified as Ford Pines. "Understand?"
"Yes sir," The younger Pines nodded.
"Good. Come back to the house by seven o'clock, okay?" Ford Pines instructed.
"Got you." Mason complied. "I'll be hanging out with my friend and his sister at the local burger joint."
"Very well, but I'd advise you to watch your diet. Too much of that crap only leads to four things, weight gain, laziness, diabetes, and a fatal stroke. You don't want to end up like your Grandpa Shermie, do you?"
"Wait, that's how Grandpa died?" Mason gasped.
"That's what Stanley said, apparently. Poor bastard couldn't watch his cholesterol intake." Ford said before a quick awkward pause. "...Anyway, see you at home!"
With that, Ford ended the call, allowing Mason to stuff the phone back in his front left pocket to focus on walking to the local Nasty Burger location near Casper High.
When he entered, Mason spotted Danny sitting at a table with Jazz and Valerie in the middle section of the dining area. Valerie was the first to notice him.
"Well, well, look who got out of parole." Valerie quipped.
"Yeah… Sorry for the wait, guys," Mason apologized sheepishly. "Mind if I join?"
"No way, Man," Danny called out. "Come right in."
Mason smiled and sat next to Danny, while the two sat across Valerie and Jazz.
"This is the guy, huh?" Jazz asked Danny and Valerie. "The pen pal, right?"
"Seriously? What time did you come from, the seventies?" Valerie quipped.
"He's not a pen pal, you Spazz!" Danny said with mock anger. "Jazz, this is Mason Pines. I met him while playing a video game but he kept in touch through his website."
"Wait, you own a website?" Jazz gasped.
Mason shrugged, saying, "My dad works for Microsoft,"
"Impressive," Jazz stated with a smile as she extended a hand to the brown-haired boy. "I'm Jasmine, but you can call me Jazz."
"Oh, I know who you are. I've heard a lot about you from Danny," Mason said, taking and shaking the elder Fenton's hand.
"Is that so…" Jazz said before giving Danny a small glare. "I hope they were good things!"
Danny stuck out his tongue childishly while Valerie shook her head at the siblings' antics.
"Trust me, from what I gathered, you're basically his rock since forever." Mason said, complimenting the girl. "And I really appreciate your support for him, especially considering 8/4."
"He knows?" Jazz asked, turning to Danny.
"He's been our guy in the chair since the beginning." Danny explained proudly.
Valerie added, "He and Danny showed me the tape on his laptop during Study Period today. I didn't know about the portal, but Piedmont here seems to be the reason why DJ's been hero-ing."
Jazz gasped and looked at Mason, asking, "That was your idea?"
"Well, I had to figure out a way to compensate for his obsession before he drove himself off the wall with anxiety." Mason shrugged. "It was an experiment, to be honest. I didn't think it would be so effective."
"...You really did your due diligence with research." Valerie noted.
"Unlike the rest of you, studying the paranormal and all things weird will be my career path." Mason proudly stated. "Of course, I'm going to pull off all the stops for this guy."
"And he did that today," Danny pointed out as he turned to Valerie. "For the both of us."
"Hey, you did alright back there," Valerie admitted, acknowledging Mason's skill. "Better than I assumed. You even taught Manson and Tucker a thing or two."
Jazz smiled at this and said, "Did you now? Well, we could use another Einstein in the group."
"No kidding. We can't rely on you and my dad all the time," Valerie noted.
"...Is this an inauguration?" Mason said, realizing what was going on. "Wait, are you inviting me?"
"That is if you want to, Mase." Danny suggested.
"I'm in!" Mason shouted with his eyes shining in excitement. "I always wanted to be on a superhero team!"
"Alright! Let's go, Ghost Getters!" Jazz said, showing her childish enthusiasm much like her father.
Jazz was then met with silence as the trio of sophomores glanced at her strangely.
She said, "...What?"
"Seriously, Ghost Getters?" Danny said, raising an eyebrow.
Jazz responded, "Uh, yeah? It's our team name."
"I did not agree to that," Valerie retorted in a monotone voice.
"What's wrong with Ghost Getters?" Jazz said, frowning at the hunter girl's attitude.
"Other than it sounding like a dollar store brand Ghostbusters?" Danny said, pointing out the obvious. "It's just uninspired."
"I don't see any of you workshopping any names," Jazz huffed.
"Jazz, you seem like a cool girl and all but let's face it," Mason stated. "That name sucks."
"Hmph!" Jazz huffed while crossing her arms. "...I like the name,"
"...Now you're sounding like Dad." Danny pointed out with an amused smirk.
"Shut it you suffering spook!" Jazz hissed.
From there, Danny began to laugh, causing everybody to join in on the fun.
Needless to say, the day turned out to be relatively great.
Museum of Natural History, New York
The American Museum of Natural History, built in the year 1869 by naturist Albert S. Bickmore to store and catalog various pieces of American history and beyond. However what wasn't known to the public and most people in general is that Bickmore wasn't just a naturist, rather he belonged to a secret and ancient order dedicated to ridding the planet of extraterrestrial and supernatural creatures since the late Middle Ages.
They were known in whispers as "The Organization", but their forces, their members, were the Forever Knights. At the moment, about a dozen high-ranking knights were meeting in the backroom of the museum.
One knight had a slim build and had his entire armor colored with red metal, known by his colleagues as "The Red Knight". Another was tall and broad-shouldered and wore a helmet that exposed his lower jaw. Two other knights that were standing against the wall wore comedy and tragedy masks (left to right respectively) while covering their heads in a chainmail hood, over their chest plate was a red tabard with the Forever Knights emblem and a large spike on both of their pauldrons. The rest of the knights had standard grey armor but with dark grey thorn crowns on their helmets to signify their status as officers.
However, the whole meeting was entirely side-tracked when one of the officers went on a long rant about how unsatisfied he was with the new leader, feeling as though the order had been derailed from what it once was. Suffice it to say, all the other knights were beginning to grow tired of this conversation that was getting them nowhere, with two of them ready to draw their weapons. What was unknown to the officer, however, is that someone was entering from the double doors and slowly made their way towards him.
"If you expect me to lead my men into this-AGH! Ughhh…" The officer was cut off and gagged as the life from his body escaped after a wave-shaped blade of red energy had pierced cleanly through his chest plate.
His body was then pushed off the blade and slumped onto the war table, which then fully revealed the figure that was behind him.
She was the only woman in the room, with her armor vaguely showing her feminine figure. The armor itself was colored black and had thin gold outlines. Her helmet had small bat wings on the side of her helmet and had her neck exposed along with her long, brown braids running down her back. The top half of her visor had small diamond holes to view out of while the bottom half had gold ridges. Her left pauldron was bigger than the one on her right, her gauntlets had golden claws at the end of her fingertips, and she had a long red cape with fur around her neck. On the sides of her waist were faulds and underneath the faulds, was a cloth with large diamond studs. Underneath the rest of her armor was a red gambeson, and she wore brown boots covered by her greaves. And in her hands was an ornate hilt with a golden cross guard, and a flower-shaped pommel with long petals and a lime-green gem in the center.
This was Lady Blackstone, the Forever Queen of the Forever Knights.
"Now we can speak freely." She said casually before deactivating her blade.
"Well, that's a relief." The knight wearing the comedy mask sighed.
"We're all your humble servants, Lady Blackstone." The Red Knight said with a slight bow.
"So, what is the real plan?" Another thorn-crowned officer asked.
"War." Lady Blackstone simply stated, gaining a few murmurs of confusion from the other members before she spoke up again. "We will wage a simple war. One to restore the purity of the planet."
"Purity, Milady?" The comedy-masked knight questioned.
"Indeed," Lady Blackstone nodded. "Could somebody tell me what species is the most dominant on Earth currently?"
"Humans, of course." The large knight answered.
"And yet, these outside forces, these…invaders come here as if this planet was already theirs. Integrating, as if they are equal to us." Lady Blackstone said as she pulled the dead officer's corpse off of the table. "And while there are very few of them walking among the living, the Earth is on the verge of unleashing the floodgates of undead souls and inhuman spirits, disobeying the boundaries between the physical and spirit realms entirely."
"How are these unholy specters pouring into our world so frequently?" The large knight inquired.
"Man has made many strides in history to achieve the impossible," Lady Blackstone stated. "Rumors have it that we even solved time travel over fifty years ago. But one that has yet to be replicated by humans is the ability to access the spirit world. …At least that's what I believed until I noticed the outbreak of rampant spectral activity in a place known as Amity Park."
"Someone was foolish enough to build a spirit world portal?" The tragedy-masked knight groaned.
Blackstone then placed down a magazine that read, "Scientist of the Year: Gateway to a New Realm", and just underneath the main text were the pictures of the two scientists with their own set of text: "Jack Fenton", a large man with black hair and blue eyes while wearing an orange jumpsuit with black gloves and boots. "Maddie Fenton" has violet eyes, shoulder-length auburn hair, red lipstick, and was wearing a blue jumpsuit.
"Jacob Fenton and Madelyn Fenton née O'Connor, paranormal investigators, inventors, and the world's leading experts on spirits, commonly referred to as "ghosts". According to my research, they figured out a way to create the first man-made gate to the spirit realm within a span of twenty years. And given what central intelligence has gathered on the trajectory of most spirits and their activities, it would seem that they are the likely source of this ongoing… investigation."
"What?" The large knight gasped. "Have these people gone mad? Wouldn't these spirits know that the Fentons' portal would be accessible much easier?"
"Good, you're thinking. I like that," Lady Blackstone mused in delight. "Now, you can only imagine the chaos millions upon millions of souls could cause if they decided to flee their realm in a swarm."
"Dear God." The Red Knight whispered in horror. "...They would be unstoppable."
"And that's not factoring in the undercover aliens that settled here, or those accursed witches from the Ledgerdomain." The tragedy mask-wearing knight uttered.
"Yes." Lady Blackstone spoke as she stared at the magazine. "The so-called delicate balance orchestrated by the UN, the order of witches, the xenophiliacs, and those idiots wearing white is on the verge of deteriorating, only being held at bay by a dead child who's better at fending off his own kind than a specialized branch of professionals and the world's leading experts. But he's delaying the inevitable…"
"...But this can be a good thing." Turning to her men, the Forever Queen stated, "This is a chance to destroy the facade of peaceful coexistence and bring out the best of humanity. An opportunity to provide this world's salvation."
"What are you proposing, my Queen?" The tall knight queried.
Lady Blackstone placed her arms behind her and said, "What I propose is a simple solution. I say we enact a cleansing. A crusade, if you would."
This prompted mutterings and murmurs amongst the lower-ranking knights, astonished by the bold proposition.
"The balance will be destroyed whether or not we get involved. And I would much rather be prepared than to be bombarded by these filthy spirits and outsiders. But when the dust settles, our organization will emerge from the ashes with the power to seize the world and purge the anomalies and aliens that survive." The queen expressed with utter glee. "With our combined might, we shall take our world back and ward off any threat!"
"Even with all this in mind, we cannot hope to trigger war everywhere at once." The Red Knight stated.
"Oh, no no no no. Of course not." Lady Blackstone said. "All we have to do is prepare and bide our time. In the meantime, there's much work to be done for our army to grow, and equipment to gather."
The knights once again murmured, but this time it was in agreement with Lady Blackstone's plan. They were silenced once Lady Blackstone had decided to speak up after a couple of seconds.
"Remember our creed, Forever Knights: In Secret, We Serve Man." She spoke.
"For Now and Forever!" The other knights said before stating the final part of the motto along with Lady Blackstone.
"Aeternus Fortis, Aeternus Vigilans!"
"DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT! DEUS VULT!" The Forever Knights chanted afterward.
Underneath her helmet, the Queen grinned.
'...It's only a matter of time.'
To Be Continued…