#Hazafic

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Ghost of the Cards

This was written for a "back to school" fic challenge on a DP server I'm in. It was beta read by HeroineofTime!

For the challenge, we had to write a fic that was around going back to school, and had to include in some way homework, detention, backpack, friends, and bells.

(ao3 here) (ff.net here)

Danny knew that Dash and the A-Listers would probably try to find some way to make his life miserable, but he had to admit this was actually kind of funny.

Danny huffed as he ran up to the school doors. Yes, he could have just flown in using his ghost powers while invisible, then pop out of one of the bathroom stalls or something, but after the summer vacation, and the multitude of close calls of almost being caught by… well… everyone… (no Jazz, he was not being careless because he wanted to be caught and freed from the burden of secrecy) he decided not to risk using his powers at school today.

In retrospect, that didn't help anything.

Danny walked through the school doors, he was greeted by the sight of one of the lunchroom tables laid out in the school entryway. Star and Paulina were sitting at the table, greeting all the students as they came in, and handing out little boxes.

Danny resolved himself to ignore it, but he didn't get a chance to.

"Hey! Fenton!" Star called out. Danny sighed and walked over. Star glanced over at Paulina and the two of them started giggling.

Danny already had a bad feeling but now it was worse. "Hey, Star," he greeted.

"Hello!" Star said, sitting up straight. Her posture was perfect, not leaning in any friendly manner, but she wasn’t leaning away like she normally would. (At least, while people could see her) "Here! Take this!" she said, handing him one of the boxes. Her voice was oddly chipper for a typical interaction with him. "The art club kept meeting over the summer, and we came up with something fun! The teachers are all helping out with this!"

"Uh… thanks? What is it?" Danny asked, tilting the box over in his hands. It was a cardboard box that was printed to look like the outside of Casper High, with a large ‘TCG’ floating over the school's name. There was also a piece of masking tape on the back, that Danny noticed wasn't on the others.

This box had been marked for him.

"It's a card game! You should know all about those!"

Danny sighed. "Not really? Look, I know I'm a nerd, but I like video games and space." Danny shook the box around. "Card games haven't been my thing."

Star rolled her eyes. "Whatever, look, I gotta keep handing these out." She looked past him and raised her hand. "Kwan! Over here!"

Where Kwan was, Dash soon followed, so Danny dashed away.

Danny checked where his locker was supposed to be, before running up the stairs to the top floor. Fighting the urge to pump a fist as he did so. Not only was it the top floor, but it was close to a janitor closet, and in a dead end part of the school. Not many people would be coming by here unless it was specifically to drop stuff at their locker, or go to the history teacher's room that was on the other side of the wall.

And more importantly, Sam and Tucker were apparently next to him as well.

Thank Clockwork for small mercies.

"You're welcome," Tucker said as he took a stack of cards from Sam.

"Don't mention it, I don't want to see it, I don't want to hear about them, and the moment I’m allowed to get my hands around Paulina’s little neck I’ll-"

Danny jogged up and interrupted their conversation. "Whoa, what's going on?" he asked. He couldn’t help but be proud of himself, this was about as far as you could get from the school entrance, and despite jogging the whole way, he wasn’t out of breath at all. Apparently, the early morning jogs with Sam were actually helping.

Sam whirled toward Danny, and then zero'd in on the box in his hands. "It's that stupid card game that Star and Paulina started.” she spat, pointing at it with about as much hate as she had for the pink dresses her mother kept buying her. “They started with- hey wait, Danny, don't-"

But, Danny kept opening the box. "I just want to see what the big deal is." He opened the box as Sam stammered. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times before giving up and biting down on a knuckle.

The box contained several booster packs of cards, each wrapped up in foil, and a booklet that was probably the game rules. In all honesty, Danny was impressed. He wasn't a connoisseur of playing cards or anything, but this seemed very much like the cards he'd see at the big box stores.

Danny tore up the first pack and looked at the cards. He frowned when he saw the first card that greeted him was a picture of Dash. It was a picture of his bully at what was probably last year's homecoming football game, with two golden stars above it. Underneath the picture were two boxes, one with a red sword along with a 5, and another with a blue shield with an 8. At the bottom of the card was a big box saying, "Teamplayer, for every other card on the field with the text teamplayer on, this card gains 1 power and 1 toughness."

Danny rolled his eyes and flipped through the cards. Obviously the reason why this box was marked wasn't because he was supposed to see Dash's ugly mug. Sam continued to stare nervously as Danny went through the cards.

Danny paused on another card, this one wasn’t a photo, but a drawn art piece of Ember. Instead of the stars, there was a green letter ‘G’ above the picture. Ember had a 10 for the sword, and the shield had a 10 as well.

At the bottom of her card was a similar box as Dash’s card. “Leader, when this card is played, take a card from your hand and put it in one of the lanes next to this card. It must follow normal summoning rules.”

Danny huffed. “Ember would hate this card, she doesn’t do duets.” The comment got a laugh out of Tucker but Sam continued to look nervous. She wouldn’t be worried if it was a ghost (other than him) being upset, that meant this wasn’t what had gotten under her skin. So, Danny continued flipping through the cards.

Then he found it.

It was a picture of him, looking panicked. Danny recognized it as around one of the times Skulker really had it out for him from last year during prom. His card was lacking any of the stars, but it also had a big fat 0 next to the power and toughness stats.

The only saving grace to his card was the bottom text, which Danny read aloud. "Moving on, when this card dies, play another card."

The hall was silent for a moment as Danny processed what he was seeing. Sam reached out carefully towards Danny, almost like she was afraid he'd break down in front of him.

Danny couldn't take it anymore.

He started laughing. Full blown laughs, the ugly ones that made you wheeze cause you weren't able to breath properly.

"Danny?" Sam asked, bewildered.

"Oh my gosh, this is perfect!" Danny got out before gasping for air. "I can't believe- oh my god- they did- I can't- I can't breathe, oh my god I can't breathe! I'm laughing too hard!"

"Okay, Danny, seriously…" Sam said, folding her arms and tapping her foot against the ground. "This isn't funny."

Danny took several big gulps full of air. "Sam, it's really funny." Sam continued to glare and Danny leaned forward and whispered. "Sam, my card's power is going ghost." He frowned. "Wait, do you think-"

"That the A-Lister's know?" Tucker interrupted, shuffling his cards around, "Nah, if they did, Dash would be worshiping the ground you walk on, not talking about how he can't wait to see your face when you see your card."

"I think he's gonna be pretty disappointed."

Sam huffed and leaned against the lockers. "You're both taking this pretty well considering the school is basically systematically bullying Danny." She turned toward Danny and her eyebrows rose slightly. "I'm gonna be honest. I'm not okay with this. I'm not. I know you're saying it's funny, but Danny… the school made a card that said your only purpose is to die… That's really messed up."

Danny shrugged and checked that no one was coming down the hall before shoving his hand through his locker door and hanging up his backpack. "I mean, they're not wrong."

"Danny!"

Danny turned to face Sam. "Sam, I'm a straight D student… I'm also the-" Danny checked the hall again and still didn't see anyone coming around the corner, "-the local super hero. Literally, my superpower is to die on command. It's really exactly wrong... Also, where is everyone else? School starts in like… thirty minutes doesn't it?"

Sam's eyes narrowed and she turned toward Tucker, Tucker however was laughing. "Jazz moved your clocks ahead so you'd make it on time. We got like an hour and half."

"What! I can't believe she'd do that!" Danny paused then shrugged. "Well, actually I can and I think that's worse."

Sam reached over and pulled on Danny's arm. "I'm not letting this drop," she said, holding eye contact with Danny and holding onto his wrist. Her grip was surprisingly tight, and her arm was shaking slightly. "It's not okay that the school did this, you know? You're allowed to be mad about it."

"I'm not though! Sam, I really don't care."

"Well, fine, but I do… I'm not okay with them doing this. I'm gonna tear the school a new one," she said, grabbing Danny's arm with her other hand. "When I get home, I'm talking to my grandma and I'm finding the best lawyer I can and then Mr. Lancer can kiss every bonus he'd ever get goodb-"

Danny sighed and put a hand on Sam's shoulder, interrupting her litigious rant. "Sam, aren't you the one always telling me not to worry about what other people think?" His hand slid from the top of her shoulder as he ran his hand up and down her arm, trying to get her to calm down.

Sam shook her head, though she leaned into his touch. "This is very different, and you know it,” she whispered.

"Hey, guys?" Tucker interrupted from his spot on the floor. "I hate to end this tender moment, but it gets better." Tucker waved the booklet around in front of Danny and Danny snatched it out of his hands.

Danny read for a few moments before his eyes went wide. "Oh… oh!"

Tucker smiled and started nodding. "You're seeing it too, aren't you?"

"Dude, there's no way-"

"I read the whole thing back to back, yeah, no, it's EXACTLY what you're thinking it is!"

Sam frowned. "What on earth are you guys-"

"Danny!" The trio turned around to see Jazz marching up to them. "Danny, did you-" She froze as she saw the rule book in Danny's hands. "Oh, you opened the pack, didn't you?"

Danny waved the cards around. "Yeah, I did. Why?"

Jazz frowned and straightened her back. "Cause I did too, and I got one of your cards."

Danny perked up. "Really? Can I have it?"

Jazz took a step back, and folded her arms across her chest. "Uhh…" She glanced up at Sam who walked over to Jazz's side. "No?" it shouldn't have sounded like a question, but it definitely did.

"He's already seen it," Sam groaned. "I'm telling him he can be mad about it-"

"Guys, guys, listen, my card's power is dying. It's objectively hilarious."

Jazz glared at Danny. "No, the card is… I mean… it's…" Jazz's righteous anger slowly fizzled out as she stammered, unsure of exactly what she was saying. Obviously she knew the implications of what the card was saying, but she didn't want to say it herself.

"Wait, wait…" Danny interrupted, shaking his hands about in the air. Before he pointed at Jazz and raised his voice. "You moved my clocks forward! I could have been sleeping!"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "You'll be thankful since you can actually get your textbooks because you got here on time." She huffed and ran a hand through her hair. "Danny, I really don't think you're getting how serious this is."

This time it was Danny's turn to roll his eyes. "The A-Listers made a stupid card game, tried to make a joke about me being useless, accidentally made a joke that is so accurate that probably every single one of us has wondered if the secret is out." At that, everyone else suddenly refused to make eye contact.

"I mean…" Tucker began scratching under his beret.

Sam coughed. "Paulina for all her faults is pretty observant."

Jazz huffed. "It's better than what this actually is."

Danny just raised an eyebrow at them and folded his arms. The silence stretched for a moment before Sam walked up to Danny. "Danny, you're my best friend. Sorry Tuck, no offense."

"Some taken," Tucker responded cheerfully.

"And because you're my best friend, I don't care if you are or aren't bothered by the stupid card. 'Cause I am. The school told my best friend he was worthless, and I'm not okay with that. Maybe they didn't mean that, maybe it just slipped through. But that's what this looks like to me, and probably looks like to all the kids in the school."

"Except for all the card nerds," Tucker chimed in.

"What?" Jazz asked, turning towards Tucker. "Why?"

Instead of an answer, the four of them jumped as screams came from down the stairs. The four exchanged glances before running down the stairs. They followed the screams and fleeing students back towards the school entrance, where almost everyone was fleeing from a terrifying ghost.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

Terrifying if you hadn't been paying attention the entirety of last year, that is.

Five students groaned, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz all turned to see that Valerie had appeared. The four of them froze as one, realizing they were not as alone as they thought they were, and they started to think about how to get the others to leave so that one of the two ghost hunters here could fight the ghost in peace.

Except Danny was not having it.

"For the love of fudge and Clockwork!" Danny shouted, marching towards the Box Ghost. He snatched up one of the card boxes as he marched toward the floating annoyance. "You, Box Ghost. I have a box here, a shiny cardboard box. I give you this, you leave. Okay?"

The Box Ghost floated closer to Danny. "That is indeed a splendid box most shiny…" The Box Ghost mused as he rubbed his chin. Inspecting the box for blemishes and appropriate squareness.

Danny reached up and grabbed the Box Ghost by his shirt, pulling him down to eye level. He then whispered to him, "If you don't take the box and make like a ghost and disappear, then the next time Phantom sees you, he's gonna shove his fist so far down your throat you'll be tasting rubber for the rest of your afterlife.” The Box Ghost’s eyes widened, perhaps sensing that Danny was very much serious. He snatched the box out of Danny’s hands before floating back out of reach. “HA HA, the BOX GHOST accepts your tribute! He shall now go far away and uncover the secrets of your mysterious cardboard-!”

“We get it,” Danny growled.

The Box Ghost jumped back about three feet, before shouting, “BEWARE!” as a final farewell, and then flying through the walls.

Danny huffed and wiped his hands on his jeans before turning back towards his friends. He took two steps before he heard someone say, “Fenton?”

Danny turned to see Star peeking at him from behind an overturned table, apparently that was the source of the spilled boxes that Danny had picked from. Good to see that the training from the last year or so had stuck when dealing with ghosts. Danny reached down and picked up a couple of the boxes. Of the three he grabbed, one had masking tape on the back of it, like the one that had been given to him.

Danny juggled the boxes around to get a free hand to lift the table back upright. “I don’t know why you two are freaking out, it’s just the Box Ghost…” At their incredulous looks and Jazz clearing her throat behind him, Danny coughed and quickly added, “I mean… even I’ve stopped running from the Box Ghost over the summer.”

Star and Paulina looked at each other as Danny put the boxes down, though the marked box he kept. He ran his fingers over the masking tape and then gave a pointed look at each of them. Paulina looked at the box then at Danny, before recognition lit up in her eye. It was replaced a moment later as she realized that he knew what that meant. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Danny’s friends. Tucker and Valerie were picking up boxes, but Sam and Jazz were steadfastly not.

If looks could shoot ectoblasts, Paulina and Star would have gone ghost right there.

Paulina took a step back as Star held out a hand for the box, giving him her nicest, warmest, and fakest smile. “Well, thanks, Fenton!”

Danny pulled back and said, “I’m keeping this one.”

Star’s smile dropped just slightly. “Oh? But you already got one?”

Danny tapped on the masking tape with his index finger. “It’s got my card in it, doesn’t it?” At that Star’s smile dropped and her eyes went wide. Danny turned around and started walking away. He walked over to where Valerie, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam were all talking. “Hey, Valerie!” Danny greeted.

Valerie shifted uncomfortably. Glancing between him and the others.“Hey, Danny,” she greeted back hesitantly. Before he could ask what was bothering her, she barreled on. “What’s that about your card?”

Jazz turned toward Danny as he started tearing into the box. “The school made that card game, and everyone has a card.” She explained. “The A-Listers used the opportunity to try and bully Danny.”

“What?” Valerie gasped.

“Sweet!” Danny exclaimed after tearing open the packs. “I got two of mine!” He held them up in victory, but Valerie snatched them out of his hand. “Hey! Give me those! I fought a ghost for them!”

Valerie scoffed. “Yeah, right. Anyone with a brain can deal with the Box Ghost.”

“Which explains why the A-Listers were hiding from him.”

Valerie did not continue the quippy back and forth, instead her jaw dropped as she read the card. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

“I don’t make a habit of lying,” Sam lied. Lying was second nature to all of them at this point, though Danny would admit he still wasn’t good at thinking on his feet. “The card’s only purpose is to get on the field and die.”

Danny snatched the cards back. “Guys, you’re making it out to be so much worse than it is.”

Valerie whirled on Danny. “Danny! This is awful! Look, I’ve looked past a lot of Star and Paulina’s stuff, but this is bad…”

Danny shuffled through the cards. “Guys, seriously drop it. I’m sure the A-Lister’s weren’t thinking, cause if they were they wouldn’t have made my card so strong.”

Everyone except for Tucker, who had actually read the rule book, looked at each other confused and managed to ask, “What?”

Then the doors of the building got thrown open. Some people screamed and dove for cover, others started running without thinking, while a few others turned to look at the new threat.

Maddie Fenton walked into the school building with fire and fury behind her. Her eyes sweeped the entrance hallway before falling on Jazz and Danny. She marched over to them, and Danny immediately went ramrod straight as he recognized just how pissed she was. He hadn’ seen her this mad since he had broken the vase she had bought.

(In his defense, it was haunted.)

“Jazz, sweetie,” she began, her voice icy cold. “May I see what you were calling about?”

Jazz produced one of the cards and handed it over to her mother. “Yeah, I got one right here.”

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it as he saw the look on his mother’s face. She growled and turned. “Come along kids, I’m going to have a talk with the school principal, right now.”

No longer in his mom’s sight, Danny found his voice, though his feet followed after her like a duckling. “Mom, please, listen to me. This is not that big of a deal!”

“I think I’ll be the judge of that, sweetie.”

“No, seriously!” Danny turned to Jazz as his mom marched through the school halls. “Jazz, please back me up!”

Jazz sighed and gave him a look like he should know better. “Danny, I’m the one who called her over this.”

Danny tried to argue his case with both of them, but made no progress. It wasn’t much longer before Danny was running a hand down his face as his Mom towered over Principal Ishiyama. “I would like to speak to whoever was in charge of the school’s card game.”

The principal looked behind her at Danny (who was mouthing an apology) and Jazz (who was trying to develop ghost powers to immolate someone with her brain) before meeting her gaze. “Uh… is there a problem?”

“Yes,” Maddie stated. “The teacher?”

“Well, the card game was made by the school’s art club so-”

“The art club has a supervisor. Who. Is. It.” There was no inflection in her words, Danny had heard her speak kinder to the ghosts she had captured.

The principal wavered for a moment before reaching over to her phone. She pressed a few buttons before the school’s P.A system turned on. “Would Mr. Lancer please come to the principal’s office immediately?”

“Sit, children.” Maddie ordered, and Danny and Jazz jumped into the chairs that were set across from the desk.

Once they were sitting, Danny frowned and noticed something. “Uh… should we leave a chair for Mr. Lancer?”

Maddie didn’t break eye contact with the principal. “No.”

They sat in an awkward quiet with Maddie glaring at Principal Ishiyama the entire time before Mr. Lancer stepped into the office. “You wanted to see me?” He asked, “I’m still setting up for class, so-”

Maddie turned toward him. Slowly and insidiously, Danny wouldn’t have been surprised if he heard the sounds of hinges creaking as her head carefully and measuredly turned toward his teacher. “You were in charge of the school’s card game?”

“Uhh, in a manner of speaking? I was just supervising, ensuring the students weren’t misusing school property, or fielding questions.” Lancer answered as he walked over toward the principal’s side. By the looks on their faces, neither knew what this was about.

“Hm,” Maddie vocalized, and Danny winced. That was not a sound of acknowledgement, but the sound of you-have-done-exactly-as-I-expected-you-would-and-now-I’m-disappointed-in-you which was a lot of information given in a single syllable but he was quite familiar with it. “And just how were the card’s strength and health determined?”

“Well, the rules are using power and toughness, but a card’s power was how many clubs and after school activities a student was in, while toughness was a base of 5, with an additional 1 for every grade of B or 2 for A, and a loss of 1 for every detention that a student had.”

The principal leaned forward and cut in. “Ms. Fenton-”

“Doctor,” Maddie corrected, and both Danny and Jazz winced. Their mother usually didn’t care about her title, stating she was a mother and wife first and foremost. She only insisted on being called doctor when she wanted to make a point.

It obviously threw Ishiyama for a loop. She cleared her throat and continued. “Dr. Fenton, perhaps you should explain what exactly-”

“Ms. Ishiyama, were you aware that Mr. Lancer here allowed the school to produce a card that implied my son had no benefit? That all he could do was die?”

Mr. Lancer’s eyes widened. “Excuse me! That is-”

Maddie refused to look in his direction. Instead holding up a hand to cut him off. “And that my son’s special ability is called moving on.”

At this point, Danny jumped up. “Hold on, can I get a say in this?” Danny waved his hands and stood next to the principal, who was beginning to turn pale. “Mom, that’s an inside joke of the school. You know I’ve had to go to the bathroom a lot ever since the accident, so when I have to interrupt class to, Mr. Lancer will give me permission and then say, ‘Moving on’. I know it looks bad, but it’s just an inside joke of the school.”

Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow. “Thank you, Mr. Fenton, I-”

Maddie whirled on him. “Shall I also point out that you are also exposing students’ grades to everyone as well? You must have shared them if the cards are a reflection of their grades.”

Mr. Lancer folded his arms. “I did not, the students asked for a formula for making the numbers, and I ran it myself. The students don’t know anyone’s grades.”

“Yet, you have my son having a zero for his health?” Maddie snapped.

“Even if he had turned in all his homework with 100% grades, which everyone in this room knows he has not, with the number of detentions he has received the last year, he’d still be at a zero.” Mr. Lancer said, shooting Danny a look.

Maddie slammed her hands on principal Ishiyama’s desk. “Do not blame my son for this!”

The principal raised her hands. “Dr. Fenton, I acknowledge that we have done you and your family a major disservice. Even if it was an inside joke, the context is important,” she said, shooting Mr. Lancer a withering glare. “Dare I say, our English teacher should be more than aware of something like that.”

Jazz cleared her throat. “May I ask a question?”

Maddie leaned back and answered for everyone. “Go ahead, sweetie…” even as Danny was shaking his head no.

“Mr. Lancer, did you have any inkling of what was going on?”

“Excuse me?” He said brow furrowing.

“Were you or were not aware that it was very likely that the A-Listers, Star, Paulina, Dash, and Kwan were using this as an opportunity to bully my little brother?”

Mr. Lancer opened his mouth to respond before taking a moment to clear his throat and respond. “I did not know that they were intending to do this, no.”

Maddie frowned and Ishiyama let out a sigh of relief. But Jazz continued, “But did you suspect it? Did you have reason to believe that they were going to do this?”

Lancer was quiet and didn’t answer, instead he chewed on his lip for a moment.

It was a moment too long, and Maddie turned to the principal. “I want him fired.”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement that doesn’t-”

“He’s either fired, or Fentonworks stops funding the school repairs and anti-ghost tech.”

Danny put his fingers to his lips and blew a shrill whistle. “Okay! Okay! No! Mom!” Danny clapped his hands in front of his chest before pointing at her with them. “They can’t fire Mr. Lancer, the school already is having enough trouble finding new teachers because they’re quitting the moment they hear about ghost attacks. Not only that, but if you stop helping the school, the school is gonna have to shut down!”

“Daniel,” Maddie started, her voice deceptively calm and collected. “If this school is not a safe space for my children, then it can burn for all I care.”

“OOooookay!” Danny shouted, holding up his hands. “I understand you’re upset, but-”

“Daniel. I get upset when your father eats more than his share of the mashed potatoes. I get upset when my experiments get ruined by ghost attacks. I get upset when you kids forget to do your chores.

“I am not upset. I am furious.”

“But I’m not,” Danny groaned, pointing at himself. “Look, I know what the card looks like, seriously, I do. Everyone is telling me to be mad about it, but…” He trailed off as he looked out the door and he ran to the door. “Hey! Hey! Mikey! Yeah, come over here real quick.”

He led the quiet nerd into the office and then closed the door behind him. “Okay, this is gonna be quick. You got the school game, right?”

Mikey adjusted his glasses. “Uh, yes, Star gave me a box this morning when I walked in.”

“Right, okay. You read the rule book right?”

“Of course! Front to back three times! I wouldn’t be a proud member of the game club if I didn’t!”

“How many Danny Fenton cards do you have?”

“I’ve gotten my hands on ten so far.”

“How much would I need to pay you in order to get you to give me those cards?”

“If Paulina came in here and asked for a date in exchange, I still wouldn’t give them up. You can pry them from my cold dead and nerdy hands.”

“No, seriously. I think I got like forty bucks in my pocket-”

“No.”

“Thank you, that is all.”

The principal frowned and watched as Danny pushed Mikey out the door and closed it again. “What was the point of that?”

Danny took a deep breath. “Mr. Lancer… do you have a deck?” At his teacher’s nod, Danny then asked a question. “You have several of my cards in your deck, don’t you?”

Mr. Lancer threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t. The art club wouldn’t let us cheat and build our decks with the cards we wanted. We had to draft them.”

“The point?” Maddie said huffing.

Danny sighed. “Yes, Dash, Star, Paulina and Kwan… I’m not sold on Kwan here, all tried to bully me by making a bad card. They failed so so hard.” Danny blinked. “In all honesty? The card is very accurate. The card game is about fighting ghosts. So, obviously I’m the most intelligent person in the deck, the moment ghosts show up, I’m outta there.”

“Into the graveyard,” Jazz snipped.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Fine, how about this? They can release a new rule book, one where the graveyard is called the discard pile instead?”

Maddie pursed her lips. “Danny, you’re really insistent this doesn’t change. Why?”

“Because I’m not gonna be happy if I don’t get to beat my bully at literally his own game.” The school bell rang and Danny started inching his way to the door. “Okay, Mom? You can hash it out with the principal, but no asking for Mr. Lancer to be fired, no threatening the school, and definitely no changing my card's effects? Okay? Please?” Danny thought for a moment and then tacked on, “I love you?” The fact that sounded like a question probably didn’t help his chances in getting her to calm down.

Maddie sighed and looked toward the ceiling. “Alright, alright.” She stood up. “I will let Principal Ishiyama here discuss with Mr. Lancer what they should do, but tomorrow I will be back. This time, with my husband as well. And I assure you, he won’t be as calm as me.”

The threat definitely worked, as both of them paled as they thought about what a rampaging Jack Fenton would be like.

The Fentons left the room together, and Maddie handed Jazz back the card. “I really don’t like this.” She said, though she didn’t seem surprised when Danny snatched the card from Jazz and put it in his pocket. “But you… seem to know what you’re doing?”

“The only request I have is that Jazz records it when Dash realizes how dumb he is.” Danny turned and then started running back down the hall. “Gotta get to class! I’ll see you guys later!”

Danny ran back to his locker, put the cards in his pocket away, and then ran to class. He turned the corner before a hand grabbed his shirt and slammed him into a locker. “Heard you went crying to mommy, Fenturd.”

“Dash, we have got to stop meeting like this.” Danny said, rolling his eyes. “And for the record, I didn’t. You pissed off Jazz, who then called my mom. I tried to tell her it was not a big deal.”

Dash hesitated, trying to slot the square peg into the round hole. Danny could practically see the thoughts slip out of his head before he got mad again. “Well, I guess I gotta crush ya before your mom ruins the fun. Lunch time, bring a deck.”

“See you then!” Danny saluted. His hand fell back to his side and he looked down. “Dash… aren’t you gonna put me down?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“Well, I know this is gonna be hard, but can you think faster? I want to be on time to class for a change.”

A few moments later, Danny phased his way out of the locker he had been stuffed into. He sighed and brushed off shirt. “Man, I really hope I start taking more after my dad soon. I would love to not fit in lockers anymore.”

***

Lunch time came around, and Danny walked in with his head held high. Mikey might not have traded his cards for a date with Paulina, but Phantom signing the Phantom card (which was a 10/10 by the way, with both Teamplayer and Leader keywords) was worth the trade.

It seemed like the entire school was there waiting for this fight. Danny walked down an aisle flanked by students on either side of him that closed around him as he approached Dash sitting at a lunch table.

Danny stopped at the tablet. “Seriously, did you really pick the table furthest from the door? Are you sure you’re not one of the drama kids?” He turned toward Star, who was actually looking pretty uncomfortable. “Star, you’ve been in the school plays right? You should totally try to get Dash to join in this year, looks like he’d have fun with it.”

Star didn’t answer; instead she stepped behind Kwan, who looked a little sick, and Paulina, who was shifting around as the entire school stared at them.

“It’s time to duel, Fenton.” Dash said, slamming his palm against the table.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Alright alright, if you’re that ready to lose” he said, sitting down at the table. Danny took his deck out and started shuffling it. It wasn’t much to shuffle; the deck size was only twenty cards after all.

Dash frowned, but then drew his starting hand. “Good, I’m ready. As the cool one, I’m going first.” He smiled at Danny. “Okay, for my first card, I’m playing Danny Fenton!” He threw the card on the table, “Oh, whoops! He died.” He laughed and Danny looked over at the other A-Listers who were taking a slight step back.

“Well, moving on,” Dash chuckled. “I get to play another card. So I play Mikey! A 3/10 with supporter!”

“Ooh, look at you, already talking like a card gamer!” Danny crowed.

“Shut it, Fenton! I’m not a nerd like you!” He folded his arms. “It’s your turn now. I can’t attack on the first turn.”

Danny nodded and raised an eyebrow. “Did you remember to draw at the end of your turn?” Dash quietly reached over and refilled his hand before Danny made a show of thinking. “Hmm… which card, which card…” He tapped his chin and then shouted. “Ah! I know!” He put a card down in front of Dash’s card. “I play Danny Fenton!” He paused. “Oh shit! I died! Oh well. Anyways.”

Dash blinked. “You really used your stupid card?”

“Hey, it’s my turn still! Jeez, I can still do something awesome!” Danny thought for a moment longer. “Oh, okay, let’s try this! I play Danny Fenton!” Dash’s brow furrowed as Danny continued. “Oh shit, I died again! I hope it was a quick one! Like maybe my neck snapped. I’d hate for it to be a slow one.” The rest of the A Listers took another step back and tried to blend into the crowd as Danny made a big deal of his card dying. “It’s okay, thanks to moving on, I get another shot! Umm… Okay, okay, I got it. I play Danny Fenton!”

Dash scoffed. “You really put three of your cards in your stupid deck?”

Danny laughed. “Three? No. Dash, my deck uses fifteen of them!”

Dash looked around, seeing confusion on most of the nearby students. “Wait, wait, you really used half your deck for your dumb worthless card?”

Danny stared at Dash for a moment. “Okay, Dash, you wanna repeat that in your head and see where you went wrong?” Dash froze like a deer in headlights before Danny sighed. “Okay, I’m pretty sure your card is bunk because wow are you bad at math. That’s not half my deck, that’s three quarters.”

“Why?”

“Tucker, please explain to the man.”

Tucker stepped out of the crowd holding up the rule book. “Cards are broken down into four categories, zero star cards, one star cards, two star cards, and ghost cards. In order to play a one star card in a lane, that lane must already have a zero star card in it. In order to play a two star card, there must already be a one star card in that lane already. Ghost cards require a total of three stars worth of cards in the lane. For every card in the graveyard, the number of stars needed for a ghost card to be summoned is reduced by one by removing those cards from play.”

Danny pointed at the three Danny Fenton cards in his graveyard. “I needed fifteen to ensure my draw chances are good enough. Which they obviously are. Oh, and by the way… moving on. You know her, you love her, let us hear you scream her name-”

“Please don’t.” Sam called out from the sidelines.

“It’s Ember McLain!” Danny shouted as he put down an Ember card slightly to the right of the Mikey card. “Ember has the Leader keyword, which lets me put down another card. So let’s hear it for her backup singer, Danny Fenton!” he said, putting down his card again. “Oh, shit, she killed him! That bastard! Oh well… moving on.” Danny held up his hand. “Now, I only got one card left, so I have to play it, it’s Danny Fenton!”

Danny paused as he put down his card. “Okay, so I’m hoping you’re seeing where this is going.”

Dash stood up. “Hold on, you’re out of cards!”

“Tucker?”

“In a situation where you are asked to play a card but don’t have any in hand, then you draw another card.”

“So, I draw and let’s see, am I feeling lucky? Dash, can you do math? What are the chances of me drawing a Danny Fenton card? Come on, I know you can do it.”

“Fuck you!” Dash shouted, beginning to move around the table.

“What’s the matter, Dash?” Valerie called out. ��Can’t win a card game?”

“A card game you helped make?” Sam jeered.

Dash froze, and Danny took the opportunity to draw. “Yes! I indeed drew a Danny Fenton card! So, let’s continue…” Danny flipped through his deck, drawing his card multiple times, before finally he drew a different card.

“Sorry Mikey!” Danny shouted, “You’re about to get stepped on by Ember!”

“Awesome!”

Danny pinched the brow of his nose. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that. Alright, Ember’s card doesn’t actually play a card, it’s using special wording so I guess that’s it.” He snapped his finger. “Oh, wait! It isn’t! I attack! Ember steps on Mikey, removing him, and then Ember swings and hits you in the face.” Danny smiled and leaned back. “Now it’s your turn.”

Dash stared down at the table, which hadn’t had his Mikey card removed yet. But it didn’t matter, because he couldn’t beat Danny. Danny had, on his first turn, effectively defeated Dash. The game wasn’t over, and it wouldn’t be for a while. It’d take multiple turns for Danny to win the game. But anything Dash could play would be immediately doomed to be crushed under Danny’s ghost team.

The rest of this game would be Dash getting wailed on as Danny chunked his health over the course of several turns, with the entire school watching.

Dash scoffed. “It’s a stupid game anyways,” he said, turning around and pushing his way through the crowd.

Danny stood up and grabbed Dash’s deck and waved it up in the air. “Wait, wait, Dash! Don’t you want your deck?” Dash predictably didn’t respond. Danny scoffed as Sam and Tucker approached him. “Yeah, that tracks,” he said, grabbing the hand Dash had left on the table.

“So, did Dash fill his deck with A Listers?” Tucker asked.

“Well, let’s see…” Danny said, flipping through Dash’s deck. He continued until he came across one card. “Oh come on!”

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, looking over his shoulder.

Danny held out the card that was bothering him. “There’s an Inviso-Bill card!”

Sam gave Danny an unamused glance. “Really? You’re bothered by that, more than the fact that Dash set up a card that you instantly die?”

“Well, yeah!” Danny said, “My name’s not Inviso-Bill!”

“What do you mean your name?”

Danny turned toward the speaker. And as Star stared at him confused, he realized that he had completely forgotten people were watching. “What? I didn’t say that. I said his name isn’t Inviso-Bill.”

“Wait…” Valerie said, stepping forward, pushing a finger into his chest. “Is that what you meant by your superpower is to die on command?”

Danny turned toward Sam, who was the best liar out of them. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, do you?”

Valerie folded her arms. “My locker is just around the corner of the hallway where your locker is. I heard you say that.”

“And my cards! Phantom was asking for them earlier!”

Star gasped. “Wait wait wait, is THAT why you’re not scared of the Box Ghost?”

“...Uh oh…”

[kapturkaptur]

///PROTECT OUR PLANET///

///SMASH YOUR LOCAL TERRAFORMING PLANT///

the saga of soviet alien posters continues

font is hazaf 5*9 origin taken from fontstruct

[louandhazaf]

Happy 8 years to Lou&HazAF

[szepkerekkocka]

Sosem gondoltam volna, hogy a világ talán legtekintélyesebb nemzetközi-geopolitikai agytrösztje, a Council on Foreign Relations, a globális biztonságot fenyegető tényezőként bélyegzi meg az olimpiákat.

Nincs itt semmi látnivaló, nézzétek csak tovább az EB Olimpia közvetítést.

[islamdusunuru]

BU GECE BEDIR ASHABININ ISIMLERINI OKUMAK ICIN COK GUZEL BIR GECEDIR ISTIFADE EDEBILMEK DUASIYLA...🌹

MURADI OLAN DİLEĞİ OLAN

17.GECE, BEDİR ZAFERİNİN GECESİDİR.

Yarın, Enfal Suresi: 41. Ayette geçen Hakla batılın ayrıldığı FURKAN Günüdür. Başta RASÛLULLAH (Sallâllâhu Teâlâ aleyhi ve sellem) ve 313 Arslan gibi Sahabe-i Kirâm ve Cebrail, Mikail, İsrafil (Aleyhimüsselâm) komutasında 3000 melekle RABBİMİZİN yardımıyla Kazanılan Zafer Gecesidir!

Gafil olmayalım Bu gece ne hayırlı muradımız varsa o niyetle Ashâb-ı Bedr'in isimlerini tevessül ile okuyalım ve dua edelim Rabbimiz mutlaka kabul eder. .

! BEDİR EHLİ İSİMLERİ VE OKUMANIN FAZILETLERİ

Bu mübarek isimlerin okunuşu sırasında herbirinin adı söylenince, Radıyallahü anh "Allah ondan razı olsun" demek lazımdır.

01. Seyyidüna ve nebiyyüna Muhammed el-Muhaciri (Sallallahu teala aleyhi ve sellem)

02. Seyyidüna Ebû Bekir Sıddıyk el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

03. Seyyidüna Ömer ibnü'l-Hattab el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

04. Seyyidüna Osman ibn-i Affan el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

05. Seyyidüna Aliyy ibn-i Ebi Talib el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

06. Seyyidüna Talha bin Ubeydullah el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

07. Seyyidüna Zübeyr ibn-i Avvam el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

08. Seyyidüna Abdurrahman bin Avf el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

09. Seyyidüna Sa'd bin Ebi Vakkas el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

10. Seyyidüna Said ibn-i Zeyd el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

11. Seyyidüna Ebu Ubeyde bin Cerrah el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

12. Seyyidüna Übeyy ibn-i Ka'b el-Hazreci (R.A.)

13. Seyyidüna el-Ahnes ibn-i Habib el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

14. Seyyidüna el-Erkam ibn-i Erkam el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

15. Seyyidüna Es'ad ibn-i Yezîd el-Hazreci (R.A.)

16. Seyyidüna Enes Mevla Rasülillah el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

17. Seyyidüna Enes ibn-i Muaz el-Hazreci (R.A.)

18. Seyyidüna Enes ibn-i Katadet'el-Evsi (R.A.)

19. Seyyidüna Evs ibn-i Sabit el-Hazreci (R.A.)

20. Seyyidüna Evs ibn-i Havli el-Hazreci (R.A.)

21. Seyyidüna İyas ibn-i Evs el-Evsi (R.A.)

22. Seyyidüna İyas ibn'il-Bükeyr el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

23. Seyyidüna Büceyr ibn-i Ebi Büceyr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

24. Seyyidüna Bahhas ibn-i Sa'lebe el-Hazreci (R.A.)

25. Seyyidüna el-Bera bin Ma'rur el-Hazreci (R.A.)

26. Seyyidüna Besbese bin Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

27. Seyyidüna Bişr ibn'il-Bera el-Hazrecî (R.A,)

28. Seyyidüna Beşir ibn-i Said el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

29. Seyyidüna Bilal ibn-i Rebah el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

30. Seyyidüna Temim Mevla Hıraş el-Hazreci (R.A.)

31. Seyyidüna Temim Mevla Beni Ganem bin es-Silm el-Evsî (R.A.)

32. Seyyidüna Temim ibn-i Yuar el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

33. Seyyidüna Sabit ibn-i Akram el-Evsi (R.A.)

34. Seyyidüna Sabit ibn-i Sa'lebe el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

35. Seyyidüna Sabit ibn-i Halid el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

36. Seyyidüna Sabit ibn-i Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

37. Seyyidüna Sabit ibn-i Hezzal el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

38. Seyyidüna Sa'lebe bin Hatim el-Evsî (R.A.)

39. Seyyidüna Sa'lebe bin Amr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

40. Seyyidüna Sa'lebe bin Aneme el-Hazreci (R.A.)

41. Seyyidüna Sıkf ibn-i Amr el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

42. Seyyidüna Cabir ibn-i Abdullah bin Riyab el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

43. Seyyidüna Cabir ibn-i Abdullah bin Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

44. Seyyidüna Cebbar ibn-i Sahr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

45. Seyyidüna Cübr ibn-i Atik el-Evsi (R.A.)

46. Seyyidüna Cübeyr ibn-i İyas el-Evsi (R.A.)

47. Seyyidüna Hamza bin Abd'il-Muttalib el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

48. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Enes el-Evsi (R.A.)

49. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Evs bin Rafi' el-Evsi (R.A.)

50. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Evs bin Muaz el-Evsî (R.A.)

51. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Hatib el-Evsî (R.A.)

52. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Ebî Hazme el-Evsi (R.A.)

53. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Hazme el-Hazreci (R.A.)

54. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Simme el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

55. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Arfece el-Evsi (R.A.)

56. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Kays el-Evsî (R.A.)

57. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

58. Seyyidüna el-Haris ibn'un-Nu'man ibn-i Ümeyye el-Evsi (R.A.)

59. Seyyidüna Harise bin Süraka el-Hazrecî (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

60. Seyyidüna Harise bin Nu'man el-Hazreci (R.A.)

61. Seyyidüna Hatıb ibn-i Ebi Beltea el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

62. Seyyidüna Hatıb ibn-i Amr el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

63. Seyyidüna el-Hubab ibn-i Münzir el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

64. Seyyidüna Habîb ibn-i Esved el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

65. Seyyidüna Haram ibn-i Milhan el-Hazreci (R.A.)

66. Seyyidüna Hureys ibn-i Zeyd el-Hazreci (R.A.)

67. Seyyidüna el-Husayn ibn-i Haris el-Muhaciri (R.A)

68. Seyyidüna Hamza bin el-Mumeyyir el-Hazreci (R.A.)

69. Seyyidüna Harice bin Zeyd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

70. Seyyidüna Halid ibn-i el-Bükeyr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

71. Seyyidüna Halid ibn-i Kays el-Hazreci (R.A.)

72. Seyyidüna Habbab ibn'ül-Eret el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

73. Seyyidüna Habbab Mevla Utbe el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

74. Seyyidüna Hubeyb ibn-i İsaf el-Hazreci (R.A.)

75. Seyyidüna Hıdaş ibn-i Katade el-Evsi (R.A.)

76. Seyyidüna Hıraş ibn'is-Sımme el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

77. Seyyidüna Hureym ibn-i Fatik el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

78. Seyyidüna Hallad ibn-i Rafi' el-Hazreci (R.A.)

79. Seyyidüna Hallad ibn-i Süveyd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

80. Seyyidüna Hallad ibn-i Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

81. Seyyidüna Hallad ibn-i Kays el-Hazreci (R.A.)

82. Seyyidüna Huleyd ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.»

83. Seyyidüna Halife bin Adiyy el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

84. Seyyidüna Huneys ibn-i Hazafe el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

85. Seyyidüna Havvat ibn-i Cübeyr el-Evsî (R.A.)

86. Seyyidüna Havli bin Ebî Havli el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

87. Seyyidüna Zekvan ibn-i Ubeyd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

88. Seyyidüna Zü'ş-Şimaleyn ibn-i Abd Amr el-Muhaciri (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

89. Seyyidüna Raşid ibn-i Mualla el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

90. Seyyidüna Rafi bin Haris el-Hazreci (R.A.)

91. Seyyidüna Rafi' bin Ğunecde el-Evsî (R.A.)

92. Seyyidüna Rafi' bin Malik el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

93. Seyyidüna Rafi'ibn'ül-Muall el-Hazrecî (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

94. Seyyidüna Rafi' bin Yezîd el-Evsi (R.A.)

95. Seyyidüna Rib'ıy bin Rafi' el-Evsî (R.A.)

96. Seyyidüna er-Rebi'ibn-ü İyas el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

97. Seyyidüna Rabia bin Eksem el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

98. Seyyidüna Ruhayle bin Sa'lebe el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

99. Seyyidüna Rifaa bin Haris el-Hazreci (R.A.)

100.Seyyidüna Rifaa bin Rafi' el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

101.Seyyidüna Rifaa bin Abd'il Münzir el-Evsî (R.A.)

102.Seyyidüna Rifaa bin Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

103.Seyyidüna Zübeyr ibn-i Avvam (R.A.)

104.Seyyidüna Ziyad ibn'is-Seken el-Evsî (R.A.)

105.Seyyidüna Ziyad ibn-i Lebid el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

106.Seyyidüna Ziyad ibn-i Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

107.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn-i Eslem el-Evsi (R.A.)

108.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn-i Harise el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

109.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn'ül-Hattab el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

110.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn'ül-Müzeyyen el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

111.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn'ül-Mualla el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

112.Seyyidüna Zeyd ibn-i Vedia el-Hazreci (R.A.)

113.Seyyidüna Salim Mevla Ebî Huzeyfe el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

114.Seyyidüna Salim ibn-i Umeyr el-Evsî (R.A.)

115.Seyyidüna es-Saib ibn-i Osman el-Muhaciri (R.A)

116.Seyyidüna Sebre bin Fatik el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

117.Seyyidüna Süraka bin Amr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

118.Seyyidüna Süraka bin Ka'b el-Hazreci (R.A.)

119.Seyyidüna Sa'd Mevla Hatıb el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

120.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn'i Havle el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

121.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn'i Hayseme el-Evsî (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

122.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn'ür-Rebi el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

123.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Zeyd el-Evsi (R.A.)

124.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Sa'd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

125.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Sehi el-Hazreci (R.A.)

126.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Ubade el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

127.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-u Ubeyd el-Evsi (R.A.)

128.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Osman el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

129.Seyyidüna Sa'd ibn-i Muaz el-Evsi (R.A.)

130.Seyyidüna Süflan ibn-i Bişr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

131.Seyyidüna Seleme bin Eslem el-Evsî (R.A.)

132.Seyyidüna Süleym ibn-ül-Haris el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

133.Seyyidüna Seleme bin Selame el-Evsi (R.A.)

134.Seyyidüna Selît' ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

135.Seyyidüna Süleym ibn-ül Haris el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

136.Seyyidüna Süleym ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

137.Seyyidüna Süleym ibn-i Amr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

138.Seyyidüna Süleym ibn-i Milhan el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

139.Seyyidüna Simak ibn-i Sa'd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

140.Seyyidüna Sinan ibn-i Ebî Sinan el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

141.Seyyidüna Sinan ibn-i Sayfi el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

142.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Huneyf el-Evsî (R.A.)

143.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Rafi' el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

144.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Atik el-Hazreci (R.A.)

145.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Kays el-Hazreci (R.A.)

146.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Vehb el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

147.Seyyidüna Sehl ibn-i Rafi' el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

148.Seyyidüna Sevad ibn-i Zerin el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

149.Seyyiduna Sevad ibn-i Ğaziyye el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

150.Seyyidüna Süveybıt ibn-i Harmele el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

151.Seyyidüna Şüca' ibn-i Ebi Vehb el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

152.Seyyidüna Şerik ibn-i Enes el-Evsî (R.A.)

153.Seyyidüna Şemmas ibn-i Osman el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

154.Seyyiduna Sabiyh Mevla Eb'l-As el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

155.Seyyidüna Safvan ibn-i Vehb el-Muhaciri (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

156.Seyyidüna Şuheyb ibn-i Sinan el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

157.Seyyidüna Sayfi bin Sevad el-Hazreci (R.A.)

158.Seyyidüna ed-Dahhak ibn-i Harise el-Hazreci (R.A.)

159.Seyyidüna ed-Dahhak ibn-i Abd-i Amr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

160.Seyyidüna Damre bin Amr el-Hazreci (R.A.)

161.Seyyidüna et-Tufeyl ibn-i Haris el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

162.Seyyidüna et-Tufeyl ibn-i Malik el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

163.Seyyidüna et-Tufeyl ibn-i Nu'man el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

164.Seyyidüna Tuleyb ibn-u Umeyr el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

165.Seyyidüna Asım ibn-i Sabir el-Evsî (R.A.)

166.Seyyidüna Asım ibn-i Adiyy el-Evsî (R.A.)

167.Seyyidüna Asım ibn-i Ukeyr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

168.Seyyidüna Asım ibn-i Kays el-Evsi (R.A.)

169.Seyyiduna Akıl ibn'ül-Bükeyr el-Muhaciri (R.A.) (ŞEHİD)

170.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Ümeyye el-Hazreci (R.A.)

171.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Bükeyr el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

172.Seyyiduna Amir ibn-i Rebia el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

173.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Sa'd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

174.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Seleme el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

175.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Füheyre el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

176.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Muhalled el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

177.Seyyidüna Amir ibn-i Yezîd el-Evsî (R.A.)

178.Seyyidüna Ayiz ibn-i Maıs el-Hazreci (R.A.)

179.Seyyidüna Abbad ibn-i Bişr el-Evsi (R.A.)

18O.Seyyidüna Abbad ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

181.Seyyidüna Ubade bin Samit el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

182.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Sa'lebe el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

183.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Cübeyr el-Evsî (R.A.)

184.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Çahş el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

185.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibnü'l-Ced el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

186.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn'ül-Humeyyir el-Hazreci (R.A.)

187.Seyyiduna Abdullah ibn'ür-Rebi el-Hazreci (R.A.)

188.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Revaha el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

189.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Zeyd el-Hazreci (R.A.)

190.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Süraka el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

191.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Seleme el-Evsi (R.A.)

192.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Sehi el-Evsi (R.A.)

193.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Süheyl el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

194.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Şerik el-Evsi (R.A.)

195.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Tarık el-Evsi (R.A.)

196.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Amir el-Hazreci (R.A.)

197.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Abd-i Menaf el-Hazreci (R.A.)

198.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Urfuta el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

199.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Amr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

200.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Ümeyr el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

201.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Kays bin Halid el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

202.Seyyiduna Abdullah ibn-i Kays bin Sayfi el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

203.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Ka'b el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

204.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Mahreme el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

205.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Mes'ud el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

206.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Maz'un el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

207.Seyyidüna Abdullah ibn-i Numan el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

208.Seyyidüna Abd-i Rabb ibn-i Cebr el-Evsî (R.A.)

209.Seyyiduna Abdurrahman ibn-i Cebr el-Evsi (R.A.)

210.Seyyidüna Abdet'el-Haşhaş el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

211.Seyyidüna Abd ibn-i Amir el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

212.Seyyidüna Ubeyd ibn'ut-Teyyihan ey-Evsî (R.A.)

213.Seyyidüna Ubeyd ibn-i Zeyd el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

214.Seyyidüna Ubeyd ibn-i Ebî Ubeyd el-Evsi (R.A.)

215.Seyyidüna Ubeyde bin Haris el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

216.Seyyidüna Utban ibn-i Malik el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

217.Seyyidüna Utbe bin Rebıa el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

218.Seyyidüna Utbe bin Abdullah el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

219.Seyyidüna Utbe bin Gazvan el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

220.Seyyidüna Osman ibn-i Maz'un el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

221.Seyyidüna el-Aclan ibn'ün Nu'man el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

222.Seyyidüna Adiyy ibn-i Ebi Zağba el-Hazreci (R.A.)

223.Seyyidüna İsmet'übn'ül-Husayn el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

224.Seyyidüna Usaymet'ül-Hazreci (R.A.)

225.Seyyidüna Atıyye bin Nüveyre el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

226.Seyyidüna Ukbe bin Amir el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

227-Seyyidüna Ukbe bin Osman el Hazrecî (R.A.)

228.Seyyiduna Ukbe bin Vehb el-Hazreci (R.A.)

229.Seyyidüna Ukbe bin Vehb el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

230.Seyyidüna Ukkaşe bin Mıhsan el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

231.Seyyidüna Amman ibn-i Yasir el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

232.Seyyidüna Umare bin Hazm el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

233.Seyyidüna Umare bin Ziyad el-Evsî (R.A.)

234.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i İyas el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

235.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Sa'lebe el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

236.Seyyidüna Amr ibn'ül-Cemuh el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

237.Seyyidüna Amr ibn'ül-Haris el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

238.Seyyidüna Amr ibn'ül Haris el-Muhacirî (R.A.)

239.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Süraka el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

240.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Ebi Şerh el-Muhaciri (R.A.)

241.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Talk el-Hazreci (R.A.)

242.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Kays el-Hazrecî (R.A.)

243.Seyyidüna Amr ibn-i Muaz el-Evsî (R.A.)

[quranhacks]

6 steps to I must undertake to immerse myself in the Qur'an:

1. when I read Qur'an, I must be able to identify

ISM FEIL HARF

2. I will put effort to equip myself with VOCAB

(start with popular ism, 100 verbs, vocab log)

3. identify common fragments (2-words):

-harf jarr isim majrur

-idhaafa

-sifah mausuf

4. I must know whether the ayat is jumlah ismiyyah or fe'liyyah

5. Know the formula for jumlah ismiyyah & fe'liyyah (sentence str)

5a J.Ismiyyah

= Mubtadah (R: usu ma'rifah) + khabar (R: multi-faceted: mufrad nakirah, fragment, jumlah ismiyyan or fe'liyyah), + muta'alliq [connector] bil khabar (usu: harf jarr isim majrur or zorof or idhafar)

J.Ismiyyah audience can either accept the news, doubt, or ignore and deny it.

5b J.Fe'liyah

= feil + fail + (sometimes) maf'ul + muta'alliq bil feil (usu harf jarr isim majrur or zorof or idhafa)

6. I must be able to identify the various types of sentence structure.

6a. Normal sen str (follows the sentence format of the above point)

6b. Abnormal sen str (switching of position= whatever thats brought forward is of importance highlighted by Allah)

6c. Complex sen str

(omission [mahzuf/hazaf] of any parts of the sentence formula = shortening the speech to make it more impactful - Quiet! vs I want all of you to be quiet!)

6d. Intense sen str

(repetition of certain words - demanding attention)

[zaksal]

gyerekneveles nyers valosaga

“Zaki, ne mutogasd a segglyukad az asztalnal!”

Az ovodabol hazafe gyakran a temeton at vezeto Green Chain Walk-on keresztul jovunk. Salamon egyszer csak elkezdi az egyik sirt utni egy bottal, hogy “Picsa, picsa!”

Az orvoshoz menet, nem felelembol, hanem mert vidam rohanasban voltunk, Zaki bepisilt. “Mit fogok most mondani az orvosnak??” “Hogy The receptionist (=reception class pupil) has accidentally weed in his pants.”

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - I see what you'll become

(ao3 here) (ff.net here)

This was written for @valentines-core-exchange. I've been wanting to write a story like this for a while, though I'll admit this is outside my comfort zone. I've never written a story like this before, but I definitely had fun writing it.

Written for @pennerjones (who for some reason tumblr will not let me @)

Most thought Clockwork had always existed, he was the Lord of Time after all. It made sense. Clockwork was content to let people think that. But Clockwork didn't always exist, there was someone before that.

Cassius flew through the forests. The scouts were wrong. The enemy had encroached so much farther than they had thought. A dozen ghosts, infected and corrupted by the Avatar of Malice, were chasing him through the woods. Cassius was fifteen minutes out from any of the outposts that Dark had set up to watch for the encroachment, but hopefully he could make it.

The internal clock in his head told him he only had a minute till he was caught.

Above the treetops, enraged spirits let out screeches as they clawed at each other. Too filled with hate to even recognize that they were clawing at who should be their allies. Behind him, the Infested scrambled along the ground, their arms and bodies distorting as they all tried to chase him down while also trying to tear into each other.

Even though they recognized Cassius as something they wanted to destroy, it only marked him as slightly above each other.

Cassius felt something grab his cloak. The cloak was of a good make, it held firm even as it forced Cassius to stop suddenly. Cassius cried out as his body impacted against the ground, and for a brief moment, he saw the infinite green of the realm of the dead above him.

Before the Infested blocked his view.

“No! No! No!” Cassius shouted. He swung his staff around trying to beat off the infested. Their bodies had been so infected, that the ectoplasm had turned red, and hardened their skin. Each movement they made was enunciated with a cracking sound that rang sharp, and their clawed fingers tore apart Cassius’s armored clothes, making short work of the token protections he wore.

But there was one part of Cassius that was not even protected by those.

Cassius saw the hands above his face, glowing red eyes forming in their palms as they searched to try and find a weak point so they could tear him apart. The same way they once had been.

It happened so quickly, Cassius hadn’t had time to recognize what was going to happen.

He only felt it.

He let out a guttural scream that tore his throat as the hands reached into his face, tearing chunks out of it. The first Infested had struck quickly, shoving its fingers deep through one of his eyes. But it wasn’t the only one, and they all wanted the pleasure of tearing him apart to themselves. The next infested tore into Cassius’s face, trying to pull away the first so it could have the release of destroying something. Its claws didn’t sink in as deep, but in a wider area.

Then a third followed suit, digging into the cracks the others left behind.

Cassius didn’t so much fight back as thrash about in pain. He screamed and screamed. “Help me!” He cried out, futilely. “Please someone!”

A roar shook the ground and rattled the trees. The infested recognized a threat to their existence, and hesitated. A moment later the ground next to Cassius cracked, as mace crashed through the piled up Infested. Their armored hides did nothing to stop them from being smashed into pieces.

Cassius was ripped off the ground as one hand cradled him to an armored chest. His savior roared and screamed, with enough anger in him to match those contorted by the Avatar of Malice itself. He was pressed further into the arms of the one who saved him, as they swung their weapon about.

This continued for a minute and fifteen seconds, before there was the sound of spears piercing the ground, and everything went still. Cassius was shifted, finally able to look up. “Dark?” He whispered.

“I have you,” Dark said, cradling Cassius in his arms. “I have you. You’re safe now.”

“Dark, they… they tore into me,” Cassius cried, “I’m… I’m going to-”

“No, you’re not,” Dark cut him off. “That is an order, you will not be corrupted. Understand?” Dark twisted and started marching through the woods. “Fetch the healers! All of them! The Frozen Tribes want to swear allegiance? Fine! They can prove their worth by saving this man!”

Dark pulled Cassius in closer to his chest. Even though they were all dead, Cassius could still feel a rise and fall of his king’s chest through the armor he wore. Dark’s steps grew faster and faster as Cassius tried his hardest to keep his eyes open.

Or rather, his remaining eye.

It was futile, darkness had taken him over before the warrior gave up on walking and began to fly.

***

When Cassius came to, it took him three and a half seconds before he recognized where he was. The stone arched ceilings weren’t something he often looked at, usually in this room he watched his king. However, the crimson banners gave him a clue to where he was.

Cassius sat up, causing a cry of shouts to begin to ring out. He was helped up to a sitting position by a large furred man. “Careful,” he said, a low baritone voice echoing out in a calming manner, “Do you know where we are?”

“Dark’s keep,” Cassius said, tearing his eye away from the man. “How did I get here? We were on the outskirts of the kingdom.”

“Ghosts are creatures of emotion, when we want something, when we desire it. We can do much more than we’d expect. The king was quite insistent.”

Cassius tried to see the throne, but he was surrounded by too many healers. He turned toward the one who was helping him. “I’m afraid I don't recognize you… but your form looks familiar.”

“Yes, I am from the Far Frozen, I am one of the many yetis who have come to rally against the Avatar.” The yeti reached over and a piece of ice materialized in his hand. “You may call me Frostbite.”

“Frostbite, thank you.” The yeti hummed as he pressed the ice against Cassius’s head. Cassius let out a gasp as the chill, greater than even death, sunk into him. Pain he hadn't even recognized began to fade as the ice pressed against wounds. Cassius took another breath before he tried to speak again.

He didn't get a chance to, instead a bellowing cry of “Enough!” rang out. The entire throne room grew quiet as the sea of healers began to part. Cassius turned to look and saw Dark trying to push his way through, too impatient to wait for the healers to move. There must have been at least two dozen of them surrounding his bed.

Dark forced his way through. And Cassius gasped as he saw him. A feeling of relief washed over him, as he realized that, yes, he did survive, and he got to see Dark again. He tried to memorize the sight of Dark approaching him. After four seconds, Dark had made his way through and knelt down next to Cassius’s sick bed. “Cassius, my Cassius, you’ve awakened.”

Cassius had to turn more, further than he would have had to before the loss of his eye. He looked down at his hand which was encased by the much larger Dark’s. Cassius felt his chest twitch as he mentally caught up with what was happening.

“Dark…” he whispered. He smiled at his lord and met his gaze. Dark’s lips thinned as two eyes met one. “Dark, I believe you’ve missed several meetings.”

A laugh burst out of Dark's mouth, curving his lips into a smile. “I think I have bigger concerns than a few unimportant meetings.”

Cassius huffed. “Dark, unless I’m wrong, I've been unconscious for 13 days and 7 hours. Which means that you should be meeting with Lord Nocturn-”

Dark squeezed Cassius’s hand possessively. “Cassius, I’ve told you not to call any other Lord or King by their title. You serve me, not any other Lord.”

“Lord Nocturn- and his army of dreamers. They are just as needed to fight this threat as any.”

Dark scoffed. “And what point is there of any of that if the ones I care about are left by the wayside.”

Cassius couldn’t think of anything to say to that. So, he didn’t. Instead, he simply decided to continue staring into Dark’s eyes and squeeze back with a smile on his face..

There was a clearing of a throat, and the two of them looked up at Frostbite. “I hate to interrupt, but there is something important we need to address.” He turned toward Cassius and fixed him with a look. “This treatment was very experimental, and it won’t be without consequences.” His face fell. “I would hope it’s already obvious, but your form has been damaged. Permanently.” Dark raised a hand to turn Cassius’s face toward him. Cassius watched through one eye as Dark’s eyes roamed over his bandages and his lips turned into a frown.

Frostbite’s stern look turned soft and he gave them both a smile. “But, other than the loss of your eye, you should fully recover. The rest is up to you, and bed rest.”

Dark stood. Cassius turned to listen to his announcement, the others in the throne room hadn’t quite caught the way his stance widened, or the set of his shoulders before he gave a demand. “The healer has spoken, Cassius needs rest. Everyone, unless you are a healer, a messenger, or one of the ancient lords, get out.”

Cassius raised his hand and grabbed Dark’s. “Dark, I can sleep in our chambers.”

Dark’s hand squeezed, practically crushing it. Dark’s eyes snapped to Cassius. “No.” The statement was final. There was enough force behind it that Cassius was reminded just why everyone was flocking under his banner. “I nearly lost you. Once in that forest, and once under the doctors’ hands. You’ll stay right here in front of me, where I can see you.”

Cassius felt his mouth dry as Dark continued to focus on him. “As you wish…”

Heavy footfalls approached the two of them, and Dark turned to face him. He addressed the knight that approached them, “What is it?”

“My Lord, what of the captured Infested?”

Cassius blinked. “Captured? We took some of them prisoner?”

Dark didn’t turn, but answered him. “Yes, the healers had said it would help them figure out how to cure you.” He turned toward the knight and waved his hand. “We have no need for them anymore. Bring them to the dungeons.”

Cassius sat forward. “Could they be cured?” He hadn’t intended to shout, but many of those who hadn’t yet left turned to face him.

Dark turned and looked at him, his eyebrows raised. Even the knight seemed surprised Cassius had asked. “Well,” Frostbite began, “It’s not impossible. It’d be much more difficult, you only had a small infestation of malice, and those ones are completely taken over.” Frostbite raised a hand and pointed to a corner of the room. Now that the hall was clearing, Cassius could see the cage holding them.

It wasn’t as large as he would have expected, in fact, it was quite small, it would take Pariah two steps to cross the short side, and three to cross the longer, and it wouldn’t even have reached up to his shoulders.

But the unique thing about it, were the spikes that were pointed inward. Even in the dark of the throne room, he could see them glowing. Not quite the same dark green that permeated the ghost zone, but bright and sharp. Just looking at it made a chill run through the entirety of Cassius’s body that Cassius would never forget.

It was the chill he felt as he lay dying.

“It’d be a long shot,” Frostbite continued, ignorant of Cassius’s discomfort, “but we could theoretically cure them.”

Cassius barked out a laugh. “That’d be great! We might be able to save them!” He turned toward Frostbite. “I doubt we’d be able to reunite them with anyone, but… at least they’d have a chance?” He turned back Dark. “It’d be nice to do something good after all this.”

Dark hummed thoughtfully, and reached over and ran his thumb along Cassius’s jaw. “It would, wouldn't it?” He turned back toward the knight. “Still though, they can’t stay in the throne room. Bring them to the dungeon.”

The knight bowed and turned to follow orders. Dark turned and walked up the steps to the throne. He glanced at Cassius, and raised his fist. The bed Cassius was sitting on began to shake, and Frostbite shouted, before Cassius was raised up, and a horde of skeletons carried Cassius up to Dark’s side.

Dark reached over and placed his hand on Cassius’s shoulder.

“Now then, who needs to be heard first?”

***

The next several hours were a long slog of conversations, the longest of which was a very long conversation between Dark and one of Nocturn’s messengers. With that one, Cassius had to get involved quite often to calm Dark down, as Nocturn had demanded an apology and if there was one thing Dark gave out, it was not apologies.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the dead did not need rest. Physically at least, so 53 hours later, Dark had managed to answer everyone who had come to him.

The moment the last messenger had been dealt with, Dark called in for Frostbite.

“What do you need of me?” Frostbite asked as he approached the throne. He gave Cassius a soft smile before turning back to Dark and turning serious again.

“I want you to check on Cassius’s health.”

Cassius rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, my lord.”

Frostbite scoffed. “Between the three of us, who’s the one with any medical training?” He asked, before bending over Cassius’s bed. His large frame covered all of Cassius’s remaining vision. “Dark is doing the right thing. He’s being cautious.”

This time Dark scoffed. “Cautious? No. I’m being proactive. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this war, it’s that victory favors action.”

“War? Is that what we’re calling it?” Frostbite voiced sadly. “I thought it was a fight for survival before the Infinite Realms are cleared out for the next age.”

“Exactly, a fight I intend to win.”

Cassius felt something touch his face and he jerked. Frostbite leaned back at the same time that Dark’s head snapped in their direction. “Sorry,” Cassius said, shaking his head, “That… surprised me.”

Frostbite shook his head. “No, that was my fault, I should have announced what I was doing. I’m taking off the bandage around the remains of your eye.”

Dark’s lips flattened into a thin line. “Are there options?”

Frostbite paused as he unwound the bandages, just for a quarter of a second. He continued unwinding the bandages. “Options? To fix the eye? His form is damaged, it is not an easy thing to fix.”

Frostbite bit his lip as the wraps came off. “Well, you certainly are a tough one. This is much better than I had even hoped. I’m going to touch your face here to inspect the scar here.”

Cassius glanced at Dark and uttered quietly. “Well, my lord gave me an order to recover from this.”

Frostbite chuckled. “Well, that would do it…” Cassius sat still as Frostbite poked and prodded. He leaned back and shook his hands and dusted them off, clouds of snow drifted off of them with each movement. “Just to confirm, you two know nothing about necromantic medicine?”

Cassius shook his head as Dark leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “The only information I have on the subject is about how to destroy.”

Frostbite nodded. “Humor me, tell me what you do know.”

“Unlike our mortal forms, our forms are not a physical construct. I could flay the skin off any ghost and they’d be able to recover eventually. But, if I strike with enough intent, when I want to crush and kill, their forms can be broken. That being said,” He glanced at Cassius for a brief moment before looking back at Frostbite, “We still feel like we use our senses. We don’t truly have a form, but we think we do, so we do. So if one were to do enough damage to a ghost to the point that they feel like they have been torn to shreds, and keep them there in a period of time, they’ll be destroyed even without the intent.”

Frostbite nodded. “Excellent, that’s a perfect spot to start.” Frostbite put a hand to his chin and stroked his fur (or perhaps that was his beard? It was a bit long compared to the other Yetis). “The term infested for these wasn’t chosen randomly, they quite literally have a piece of the Avatar of Malice shoved into their forms. And even the Avatar of Malice’s most passive intents are enough to overwhelm most ghosts.”

Frostbite began to pace in front of them. “The operation we did was to excise that infection out of you, but to put it frankly, we had to remove the concept of an eye out of Cassius’s form.”

Dark leaned back, surprise quietly clearly written on his face. “That’s something that can be done?”

Frostbite smiled. “We are the best healers for a reason.” The smile quickly turned into a frown again. “But to that point, Cassius’s form subconsciously feels that he should not have an eye so therefore he doesn’t. I was fearing that there’d be more damage done to his form, but we were cleaner than even I expected, the excess damage is minimal.”

Cassius began to reach up to touch his own face, but Dark’s hand shot out and stopped him. Cassius looked down at Dark’s hand, before reaching up with his other hand and gently prying it off his wrist. “May I see?”

Frostbite nodded and held out a hand. Ice formed in hand taking the shape of a hand mirror. He handed it over to Cassius. He held it up and looked at his reflection in the perfect ice.

Cassius felt his throat seize as he looked at the wound. There was no weeping ectoplasm, or anything of the sort that would indicate this was an injury, but he could see into part of his face. It was like someone had sliced out a chunk of his head, like one would slice open a cake. He could see a static barrier of ectoplasm that acted like a facsimile of skin, but it glowed brightly as compared to the rest of his pale skin.

“Oh…”

“So, options.” Dark demanded.

Frostbite huffed. “Well, going back to your comments about intent. It’s theoretically possible, but-”

“But what?” Dark interrupted. “What would I need to get you?”

Frostbite huffed. “I was getting to that. What we would need is to fill Cassius’s form with something. We removed the concept of an eye from Cassius, so we’d need to put it back in.” Frostbite waved his hand about in the air, “It’s not like we can just create such a thing. Much like to forge a sword, you need to find the ore first before forming the blade, we’d need to find the material to create that concept. That material is a concept, a part of someone’s identity.” Frostbite sighed and ran a hand over his head. “So, in order to fix Cassius’s eye, we’d have to rip it out of someone else.”

“I can have my army go out and capture a thousand ghosts.” Dark dismissed with no hesitation, “Finding someone to take it from is a trivial task.”

Frostbite’s jaw dropped, as Cassius turned. “No, that’s not… I don’t want anyone else harmed for my sake.”

“If it’s for you, I’d send my army into the Avatar of Malice’s clutches myself.”

“Regardless,” Frostbite said, a bit of panic leaking into his voice. “Even then, it’s not so simple.” Frostbite held out his arms as if to try and get Dark’s attention on him, though nothing would tear it away from Cassius. “If it were a simple matter of a transplant from one host, willing or otherwise, to another, that’d be one thing.”

Frostbite lowered his head to look up at Dark and took a step closer. “There’s also the fact we are splitting someone’s soul. That isn’t something to be considered done trivially. If the donor is too weak, it’d be overwhelmed by Cassius’s own will and it’d be like we did nothing. Too strong, and it’d overwhelm him and change him permanently. It’d have to be of equal power to him… or back to the concept of intents, be given willingly.” Dark’s eyes narrowed and Frostbite reiterated. “If it was given willingly, if the donor was stronger and had the intent of giving Cassius his eye, then it’d take with minimal damage.”

Dark let out a hum. “I see… that makes sense.” Dark sighed. “Is there anything else of note that you’d like to share?”

“No, I think that covers it.”

“Then you are free to go.” Cassius cleared his throat and Dark grimaced. “Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure.” Frostbite said bowing.

As Frostbite left, Cassius turned to look at Dark. Dark’s eyes never left Frostbite’s back before he exited the door and stayed fixed on the exit as it closed. Cassius reached over and grabbed Dark’s hand. Carefully, he removed the gauntlet off of it as Dark watched his fingers entranced. Once the metal was gone, he linked his fingers with Dark’s.

“Does it bother you?” Cassius asked. “My appearance now?”

“You being hurt bothers me, not your appearance.” Dark clarified. “You could look like the good doctor for all that it matters to me, but I don’t like seeing you wounded.” His lips tightened and he swallowed. Cassius could hear it clearly in the silence of the throne room. “It does bother me, it reminds me that I nearly lost you. That I let you go on your own into a land my scouts said was safe, and that I had stayed behind and nearly got you killed.”

“You did nothing of the sort. It was my decision to be alone for a bit.”

“And it was my decision to not send any soldiers with you. I should have known better.” Dark sighed and stood up, not letting go of Cassius’s hand but turning just the same to face him. He sat down on the bed and scooped up Cassius into his arms and sat him on his lap. “I nearly lost you, and I was playing king.”

Cassius leaned into Dark, but pressed gently against his chest. “I may need to remind you, the doctor said I should rest.”

Cassius could feel Dark’s face shift into a smile against the top of his head. “That’s why we are here on your bed. Besides, he also said you’re recovering well.”

“I suppose that he did.”

***

It was 26 hours later when Nocturn arrived. It was herald by the endless green void darkening to the point that even the oldest ghosts remaining remembered the night sky from their lives. Some marveled at the change, the Infinite Realms were not known for change after all, but most grew restless as the entire realm began to accommodate the Lord of Dreams.

It took another hour and a half for the Ancient to arrive. The doors burst open and a dark mist spilled out. Some of Nocturn’s sleepwalkers marched in, their sackcloth forms forming a corridor. They knelt down as Nocturn entered.

To say he walked in wouldn’t be quite right, the Lord of Dream’s form was more like a mass of darkness than anything else. He slid into the room, ducking his head underneath the doorframe and then stretching up to the full height of the room.

The darkness spread to the foot of the throne, a few torches keeping the dark at bay. Nocturn stopped just outside the light. “So, you are the one called Dark.” Nocturn looked him up and down. “I am not impressed.”

Dark scoffed. “Considering how few can destroy the Infested, you should be. If we counted how many warriors outside of your army can defeat them, we’d still have a hand left.”

This time Nocturn scoffed and bent down, “Yes, let’s ignore the greatest defenders of the Infinite Realms. Are we ignoring the Ancients who survived the last Calling as well?”

“The point is that if we hope to survive this, we should be working together. Or are the stories of the fallen ancients just that?”

Nocturn stood back up. “No. No they are not.” Nocturn looked around the room, at all the ghosts that had fled to Dark’s banner. “Even if I dislike it, this is beyond any of us. If we wish to survive, we’ll all need to work together.” Nocturn turned toward Dark and pointed his finger at him, “Make no mistake, I have heard stories of you, Dark. Stories that I hope are just stories. Stories of how you treat your men, stories of how you treat your allies, stories of-”

“He’s not like that.” Cassius interrupted. “Yes, he can be terrifying, but he’s been keeping us all safe.”

Nocturn turned toward Cassius, then glanced at the bed he was resting on. His gaze shifted towards Dark, before he looked back at Cassius . “Forgive me if I don’t find your words convincing.”

Before Cassius could say anything more. Dark spoke up. “I don’t care if you like me. I’m not here because I was liked, I am here because I am strong.”

“Not strong enough,” Nocturn said, folding his arms. “You speak of strength, but your strength only extends as far as your arm. Unlike me. If it were not for Helios telling me to visit you, you’d be beneath my notice.”

Cassius could see Dark’s jaw work as he bit his tongue. Cassius knew that Dark had much to say about that, but none of them should have been antagonizing each other. Cassius knew Dark though, and knew exactly how to keep him from snapping back. “Helios? I don’t know this name, though it feels familiar.”

Dark’s jaw loosened immediately and turned to Cassius. “Another Ancient,” he began explaining, to ensure that Cassius never felt lost in his presence. “Nocturn is the Lord of Dreams, Helios is the Lord of Vision. He sees much. If he is forcing us to work together, then it is the best chance we have.” Dark huffed through his nose and turned back to Nocturn, “If you have a suggestion, I’m all ears.”

Nocturn laughed. “If you could, oh mighty king, you’d have an army to match mine. No, your royal army doesn’t carry your strength.”

Dark stayed quiet for a moment. “Explain that.”

Nocturn looked down at Dark, confusion spreading across his face. “Explain what, it’s a simple concept.”

“What does kingship have to do with the armies?”

Nocturn frowned, and for two and a quarter seconds, Cassius thought he wouldn’t answer. Then Nocturn reached into the darkness swirling about his feet. “Simply put,” he said, drawing out a sleepwalker from the mists. “This soldier here, carries my intent. He is my hand, carrying out my will. You don’t have enough intent to have your troops carry it.”

Dark leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “So… if I were a king, my troops would all be able to fight the Infested?”

Nocturn froze. “If you were a king?”

“I am not a king, I am just a warrior who others have been following. This castle wasn’t made for me, it was where I found a handful of fearful ghosts hiding from the Infested. It suits our purposes as a lair, but I have never called myself a king. It is others who call me king.”

Nocturn shrunk down so that he wasn’t towering over Dark. “And how many of those are also capable of fighting the Infested?”

Dark glanced at Cassius, and Cassius refused to meet his eyes. There was a reason he was injured. He was not suited for battle. He hated that, he wanted to stand with Dark as an equal, but what could a ghost who had a knowledge of time do?

“Of those that go into battle? All of them.” Dark stated.

“Exactly… as a king, as a ruler, they carry your intent. If you intend to destroy the Infested then they can too.”

Dark stood up. “Frostbite,” he demanded.

Immediately the Yeti made his way to the front of the crowd that was gathering around the edges of the room. “Yes?”

“I have another task for your craftsmen. I apparently find myself in need of a crown.”

“We’ll have it ready soon. Is there anything else?”

“No, that’s of utmost importance. If we can go from 5 warriors capable of fighting the Infested to a thousand, we will have a chance.” Frostbite bowed before turning and running out the door.

“Another order?” Cassius asked, “What was the first?”

“Nothing of importance. Just a token for myself, a promise to never let you get hurt again.” Dark said, turning to Cassius. He placed his hand on Cassius’s head before moving to cup his cheek.

Nocturn grumbled. “Cute, but we still have matters to discuss.”

“Vortex.”

“He won’t listen to you.”

“Will he listen to you?”

“It’s possible, but unlikely. He’s…”

“Volatile?”

“I was deciding on stubborn, but yes, that as well.”

“I might have a plan, though I’d like to know what someone who fought with him in the past would think of it before deciding on any decisions.”

“What plan could possibly force him into the fight?”

“The yeti’s have a metal, it causes a feeling of fear in those who are in close proximity-”

Nocturn rolled his eyes. “You seek to use that on Vortex? Each of the Ancients can resist such paltry-”

“I don’t intend on using it on Vortex, I intend on using it on the Avatar of Malice.”

Every single ghost in the room, including Cassius turned toward Dark with various levels of incredulity on their faces. “Dark,” Cassius began, “How could that possibly work?”

Dark smiled. “I have fought many of the Infested, and I know one thing. They still have fear. The Avatars of Malice will tremble as I crush them beneath my heel. I have reason to believe that the Avatar of Malice does as well. Aren’t some expressions of malice born of fear?”

Dark stood up. “Additionally, a Calling happens in a place of calm, yes?” When Nocturn didn’t correct him he continued. “If we scatter the spaces where the calling can occur, we can shift it. Pushing it to the nearest stable realm.”

The room was silent as everyone processed the plan. Nocturn never broke eye contact with Dark for thirteen seconds, “You wish to force the Calling to happen in Vortex’s realm.”

Dark nodded. “He will fight, whether he wishes it or not.”

“I don’t know if you’re insane, foolish, or both. This idea could only come from a madman…” Nocturn paused as he thought a bit more. “But it could work.”

***

After that proclamation, the castle broke into a flurry of activity as orders began to be given. Nocturn’s sleepwalkers weren’t the talkative type, but they were quite efficient as messengers carrying written orders to and from the castle. Even better, they didn’t feel fear, so they were quite helpful in moving in spreading the metal that the yeti’s were providing.

Cassius was taken away from the throne room and brought back to his bed at Frostbite’s insistence. Dark practically threw a fit over it, but Frostbite pointed out the fastest Cassius had healed was when Cassius was sleeping and at peace as compared to the last several days of being in the throne room. Convinced of its importance, Dark carried Cassius to their chambers himself.

Cassius threw himself in his bed – big enough for both him and Dark to have plenty of room in – curled under the blankets, and slept for 16 hours straight.

He would have slept longer, but he was awoken by a knock at his door. It would not have been Dark, as Dark would have just entered their chambers. Cassius thought about ignoring it, before there was a second knock.

“Come in,” Cassius called out, not getting out from under the blankets. The door creaked open and heavy footfalls echoed in the chamber.

“Comfortable, are we?” Frostbite chuckled, standing somewhat near the bed.

“Very,” Cassius stated. “And though I am dead, I feel quite warm under here.”

“Unfortunately, I’m going to ask you to scoot over this way and come out from underneath. I am not going to sit on Dark’s bed to get close enough to check your wounds again. I fear our king would splatter me against the walls if I were to be in the same bed as you.”

“He would not, he is a just man.”

“Hmm…” Frostbite hummed.

The sound dragged Cassius out of the bed. “Do you not believe so?” He demanded.

“He is protective of you, very much so. I think when you’re involved, reason flees him, as it does anyone in love.” Cassius felt himself blush at that. He knew Dark loved him, but Dark would never say such a thing outright. “But also, he is a warrior first, and a king second. Even though many called him a king, he refused to accept that title.”

Cassius nodded and sighed. “He called what he was doing playing king quite often. He’s probably quite unhappy to actually have that title.”

“Yes, well, that’s why Dark is having me check on you. He wants you by his side at the coronation.”

“That’s already happening?” Cassius asked, scooting over to the edge of the bed. “It was only twenty hours ago that he gave that order.”

Frostbite nodded, a grim expression on his face as he knelt down. “I’m going to be touching your face here,” he warned. “But yes, apparently after I left to come here, Helios appeared to my tribe. He told them that a crown was needed, and gave them the orders to forge it. I have yet to see the crown myself, but…”

The fact that Frostbite trailed off while inspecting Cassius made him nervous. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything is fine. The rest has done wonders. I think at this point you’re as healed as you can be.” Frostbite said standing up. “I hear the crown was made to Helio’s specifications. It’s not just a crown, but an artifact.”

“Forgive me, but I don’t know what the importance of that is.”

“An artifact is… it’s something that brings out more potential. For example, there’s a gem somewhere in the infinite realms that can alter something else’s form at will. It can make someone’s intent so strong that nothing can stand against it.”

Cassius narrowed his eye at Frostbite. “You did not mention that before when Dark was asking about ways to heal me.”

Frostbite gave a quick nod. “I would have if it was within reach, but it fell through a portal into one of the living realms. It’s out of the reach of any ghost. Even if one were to escape into the living realm to find it, there’s no telling if they made their way into the living realm before or after it, and then it’d be nearly impossible to find their way back, and for all we know, they’d wind up before even the very first Calling, or after this one.”

“So quite impossible.”

“Indeed.” Frostbite took a step back from Cassius and looked him over. “You’re handling this much better than I’d have ever expected. Most would be quite bothered by any damage to their form, let alone as much as you have received.”

Cassius chuckled and indicated his good side. “Well, as you can see, I am lucky to have a spare.”

The door opened again, the wood crashing against the stone and making both occupants of the room jump as Dark strolled in. “Are you well?” He asked.

“I am, thank you.” Dark reached out and took Cassius’s hand. Cassius was brought to his feet and then pulled next to Dark’s side. “Frostbite just gave me a clean bill of health.”

“As clean as it can be, at least.”

“Then let’s not delay any longer,” Dark said, scooping up Cassius.

Cassius pushed on Dark’s chest. “Did you not hear the man? I’m healthy, I don’t need to be carried everywhere!”

Dark laughed. “Need to, no, but I do want to.”

“I’d like some dignity, thank you very much!” Cassius protested, though he did stop fighting to be carried.

“Cassius,” Frostbite interrupted, “I’ll have you know that most of the keep is more terrified of you than Dark. No one truly fears a chained beast, they fear the one who can release it.”

Cassius sighed. “I guess there is no getting out of this is there?” He groaned, placing his head against Dark’s chest. Though he could feel Dark breathing, there was no heartbeat.

None of them had one anymore.

“No, there is not.” Dark chuckled carrying Cassius. Though eventually he did put him down, once they could hear the sounds of a horde of warriors.

Dark held Cassius’s hands in his. “Cassius, I have a favor to ask.”

“Anything.”

“I want you to be the one to crown me. I had no interest in being a king, I was content to battle through all the Infinite Realms before you came into my life. I think it’s fair to have you place the crown on my head.”

“I already told you, I’ll do anything you ask. You don’t need to explain it to me.” Cassius chuckled. “Where is it?”

Another yeti walked forward, holding black box. The box was much smaller than Cassius would have expected. Cassius moved to take the box when the yeti opened it.

Cassius froze as he stared at the crown. Immediately, he knew that there was something to Frostbite’s claims of this being an artifact. A feeling of unease swelled up in his chest as he looked at the unassuming metal.

It was simple, just a golden crown with a few gems inlaid in it.

But as Cassius’s fingers touched it, he knew that this was nothing but simple. This was it, the way for them to survive the Calling. To actually make this a war, not just a desperate fight to survive another day.

“Cassius?” Dark asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Cassius grabbed the crown and looked at Dark. “We will survive this.”

Dark smiled. “When this is over, you’ll need a crown yourself. I believe as a king it is within my right to declare anyone married.”

Cassius froze at that and his eyes widened. Cassius had been content to never put a name to what they had. It was just what it was. Yes, he wanted more, but he was content. There was so much going on that thinking of the future felt like a fool’s task. But… he dreamed.

Dark leaned down and placed a kiss to his lips before Dark turned and walked out onto a balcony. “Denizens of the Infinite Realms!” He shouted, raising his voice so that it could be heard.

Frostbite pushed on Cassius’s shoulder. “Come on now, you can come to grips with the fact you're apparently now betrothed to one of the most important ghosts besides the ancients later. For now, you have a job to do.”

Cassisu stumbled out onto the balcony, and realized that Dark’s statement before that he had a thousand troops was underselling it. He did not just stand above a thousand men. The green of the Infinite Realms sky was blocked by so many bodies, and the ground beneath them was similarly hidden by all the troops.

Dark turned toward Cassius and knelt down, snapping Cassius out of his stupor at the sight. He went to place the crown on top of Dark’s head.

He hadn’t had the time to realize that this crown was tiny compared to Dark, before it stopped in place slipping out of his fingers. The moment his hands came away from the crown, it lit on fire, and the air shifted.

There was a weight to it now, like a pressure waiting for something to just snap. When Dark rose, the already tall ghost felt larger. His presence was unmistakable and impossible to ignore. Dark turned towards the army and threw his fist out in the air. “Now go! Destroy the Infested! Let not a single one claim another! This is my first order as the King of All Ghosts!”

His order was met with screams and cheers and every ghost started flying off to do what he ordered. Dark turned and marched back into the castle. They hadn’t gotten far when Nocturn stepped out from the darkness behind the curtain. “King of All Ghosts, quite the title you’ve claimed for yourself.”

“It's far too late to come up with another one,” Dark snipped. “You had plenty of chances to suggest a better one.”

“Hardly, between the moment you decided to become a king and you receiving the crown, we had much more to discuss than titles or speeches.”

A knight marched into the room, “My Lord! You’re needed in the throne room at once!” Dark turned to say something, possibly to demand who thought he could give him demands, when the knight continued. “Helios is here!”

Dark glanced at Nocturn for just a second before they set off, leaving Cassius and Frostbite to chase them. They made their way into the throne room to find the Ancient of Vision standing there. Cassius couldn’t see his face due the high collar around his neck until the Ancient turned to face them. A golden halo floated behind his head giving the inside of his collar a golden glow, and he stared at them with three eyes.

“Dark, Nocturn, it is good you are here.” He brushed the grey cloak that covered most of his form before he held up a hand in Cassius’s direction. There was an eye on his palm that looked over Cassius’s shoulder. “Frostbite, you are taller in person. And Clockwork…”

“Who?” Cassius asked, looking behind them to see who he was referring to, but there was no one.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot, my vision of you is a bit… scattered. A side effect of how time affects you. We have not met quite yet, but I know you quite well.”

Dark stepped between Cassius and Helios. “Helios…” There was a coldness to his tone that Cassius couldn’t quite place, but he recognized the way Dark stood in front of him. Cassius placed a hand gently on his back, letting Dark know that he was there with him.

Helios turned. “Greetings, King of All Ghosts.”

Dark folded his arms. “From my understanding, it is your idea that I take this title.”

Helio’s head tilted slightly and his eyes roved over him as if he were observing Dark. “It wasn’t my idea, though I was involved in it.” Cassius felt Dark’s shoulders tense the way they always did when he was unsure. Helio’s head titled the other way and he continued to explain. “I see all; things that will happen, things that are happening, and things that have happened. It was already set in the timeline that I’d help you.”

“Do we survive this?” Nocturn demanded. Dark’s head snapped towards Nocturn sharply, which made Cassius jump at the sudden movement. His hand pulled away from Dark for a moment. Dark whirled and swept his arms around Cassius before looking back at the two ancients.

Helios didn’t answer at first. “I… believe you do.” He said quietly.

“Believe?” Dark snapped. “Didn’t you just say you see what will happen?”

“I do, up to a point.” Helios turned toward Dark, a frown marring his features. “I see things that will happen, up until my destruction.”

“Oh…” Cassius was unsure of who spoke, it could have been Nocturn, whose shoulders slumped, it could have been Frostbite who was covering his expression with a large meaty paw, or it could have been himself.

But it never could have been Dark.

“So you’re just giving up?” Dark growled, his hand slid from one of Cassius’s shoulders to the other across his back as he stepped forward. “You’re just going to-”

“If you think I am merely lying down and dying like a dog, you can bite your tongue,” Helios interrupted, his tone dropping with his face. “I am doing what I can to ensure things move along the path it is supposed to.”

“If it weren’t for you and the other ancients’ existence, ghosts would say that we’re intended to be wiped out.”

“We’ve survived a Calling before, and you will do so again…” Helios trailed off before turning to Nocturn. “Though, Nocturn, I’d ask a favor of you. If you would be so kind as to send a message to Undergrowth. He will listen to your message.”

“I’ll… send one of my sleepwalkers immediately.” Nocturn began, his tone soft like a dream. “Are you-”

“I’m alright,” Helios interrupted again. “I’ve known this would happen since I gathered strength to fight the previous avatar.” He let out a slow breath. “I think we all have much to talk about.”

“Would one day be acceptable?” Nocturn asked. “If you don’t expect to survive this then…”

Dark nodded. “I think that should be expected,” he turned toward Cassius. “I have some things I need to get in order as well.”

Helios nodded. “As expected, come Nocturn… And Frostbite? If you’d join us?”

“Me?” Frostbite’s eyes widened in shock as he pointed toward himself. “You wish for me to join you?”

Helios nodded. “I think we have much to discuss as well, as two ancients to a future one.”

Frostbite started moving forward, though his face didn’t change its expression. But, Cassius hadn’t had time to react to that. Instead, Dark pulled him along the halls towards their chambers. When Dark closed the doors behind them, he breathed deeply.

Cassius put his hands on Dark’s back. “You wished to talk.”

Dark straightened and turned around, taking Cassius’s hands in his. “Yes… It’s…” he stopped and steeled his expression. “What kind of crown do you want?”

Cassius laughed. “Is that what you wanted to ask? Really?” Cassius tilted his head and gave Dark his biggest smile. “You know, you never let me answer the question you were asking.”

“Does it need to be?” Dark asked.

Cassius looked down at the ground. “No… I think… I think we both knew this was where we were going, but I thought you were content to leave it be and just let everyone make their assumptions.”

Dark pulled Cassius into his chest. “No, I never intended to leave it. I found you, and I intend to keep you, forever. Death can’t take us apart.”

Cassius squeezed Dark tightly, tighter than Dark was holding onto him. “No, no it can’t.”

***

Twenty three hours later, Cassius was back in the throne room, though now he no longer rested on a bed and instead stood at Dark’s right side. Helios and Nocturn were standing in a corner, partially hidden by the shadowy mists that followed Nocturn everywhere.

Dark had just sent away another messenger – one with good news that Dark’s army was now truly making headway into the calm areas of the Infinite Realms – when a yeti walked into the throne room.

Cassius frowned as he observed his approach. Even without announcing his presence, people gave him distance. He stopped some distance away before opening the box. “Your…” the yeti glanced at Cassius before looking back down at the box, “... ring… sire.” Dark waved him forward and the yeti approached the throne. Dark reached into the box and pulled out the ring.

It was all Cassius could do to not step back away from it.

When the crown was given to him, the feeling of awe was overwhelming, but it wasn’t truly fear that he felt looking at it. But this? The band was solid green, with a gleaming skull on the top. While the skull was a bit morbid – though not unusual in the realm of the dead – that wasn’t the problem.

There were two red gemstones inlaid in the eyes that made the wound on Cassius’s face itch. It was a deep crimson. They seemed to glimmer in the light, but then Cassius realized that it wasn’t the flickering fires from the crown that were causing this, but a facet of the gems themselves.

“Dark…” Cassius began, as he tried to find a way to explain to him that he felt this was a bad idea.

Dark took the ring and slipped it on his own finger. He did not take off his gauntlets to do so, the ring was sized for him to wear it on top of his armor. When it settled into place, everyone jumped as the flames from his crown intensified.

Then he stood, his eyes’ gaze burning. “The Avatar of Malice wishes to inflict us with rage. I’ll admit, it succeeded. So, let’s show it what rage means. Malice only knows anger, it doesn’t know loss, it doesn’t know desperation. I want everyone to go out and make it understand.”

The throne room exploded into a flurry of activity again. Cassius looked out across the throne room as everyone began running around, though he could see that Helios and Nocturn weren’t moving at all. Cassius turned toward Dark and reach over to get his attention, “Dark-”

The moment his hand touched Dark, he whirled to look at him. A snarl was on his face and his eyes were full of hate. Cassius took a step back as the sudden stranger appeared in front of him. Dark realized it was Cassius trying to get his attention and schooled his features. He gave Cassius a soft smile and reached over to touch his face.

With the hand wearing that ring.

Cassius flinched as the hand approached, as he felt a shiver of something run though him. He gasped and took a step back. Dark gaped at Cassius before his hand dropped to his side. “What is it?” Cassius shook his head. “Can’t you feel it, Dark? There’s something wrong with that ring.” Dark looked at the ring on his finger. “I… what is that? That’s not just a normal ring. Even now I feel…” Cassius paused as he tried to describe what he felt. He felt agitated, like there was too much noise around, or that he was waiting on something that should have been completed a while ago. “...angry,” he finally landed on.

Dark clenched his fist. “I am aware, but I won’t turn my back on this.” He held up his hand next to his face. “This ring is a reminder to myself. To make sure that I never let what happened to you happen again. You are mine, and I will never let anyone hurt you.”

“Dark… I’m worried that that will hurt you.”

“It’s not up for discussion,” Dark said tersely. He took a deep breath and looked at Cassius. “Speaking of…” he turned and barked, “Frostbite!”

Frostbite pushed his way through the crowd, running up to them. “Here!”

“What you said before, about one with a powerful intent and willingness? Would I suffice?”

Cassius frowned as he tried to think about what he was referring to. Frostbite got it first. “Sire… are you sure?”

“I now have twenty thousand men under my banner and more are flocking to it by the day. My intent to crush the Avatar of Malice is strong enough that each and every one of them is capable of destroying his Infested. I think it’s fair to say I have strength to spare.”

It finally clicked for Cassius. “Wait, Dark, are you giving up your eye? I don’t need it! What good is giving me an eye? I’m not a warrior and-”

“You are mine, and I refuse to leave you imperfect,” Dark said curtly, before turning back to Frostbite. “Well?”

“You certainly have the power for it, and you quite obviously are willing.”

“Then we shall start this tonight.”

“Dark! I don’t want-”

Dark turned toward Cassius. “Cassius… Helios called you Clockwork…” Frostbite froze as Cassius’s brow furrowed. “He called you something else… you’ll change.” Dark sighed, and turned back to Frostbite. “Frostbite, you said that taking something from a more powerful ghost would possibly change Cassius permanently, correct?”

Frostbite stared at Dark for a moment before he slowly nodded. “Yes, that would be the outcome if you were to try and steal a piece of a greater ghost.”

Dark turned back to Cassius. “I don’t want you to change. I want you to remain as you are, but if you must change, I want it to be because of me. Is that acceptable? I ask this of you…”

Cassius felt his throat tighten, even as his words from earlier echoed from his mouth. “I’ve told you before, I’ll do anything you ask…”

***

Cassius watched himself as he stumbled through the encampment. A handful of ghosts sharing the light of a fire with their backs turned toward it. Each of them watching the woods for signs of Infested. A ticking feeling in the back of Cassius’s head told him this was one year, three months, twelve days, and six hours from where he should be.

The first time he met Dark.

There were twelve warriors, Dark among them. At this time, he wasn’t the great lord that he was now. He was just one face amongst many. There were five others, Cassius was one of them. The five were scurrying about the camp like rats, trying to put together and repair weapons and armor for the fighters. It was a hopeless task, one couldn’t forge a blade without aid, but the five did what they could.

Cassius was stumbling amongst them. Unlike the others, he had a perfect understanding of how long they all had waited, and each second felt like another gamble. Cassius ran toward Dark, though he hadn’t known his name at the time.

“Sir!” Cassius shouted, as he approached.

“Silence! Or do you want the Infested to find us?”

“Your weapon…” Cassius said, handing it over.

Dark had taken the weapon, and then looked back at Cassius. His eyes widened as he took in his appearance. Cassius laughed as he watched himself flounder under Dark’s gaze. “What’s your name?” Dark asked.

“Cassius, sir.”

“You’ll take care of my weapons from now on,” Dark demanded.

Cassius looked down at the weapon. “But… what if I didn’t do a good job?”

There was a screech from outside the camp, and Dark pushed Cassius back, taking the mace in both hands. A pile of Infested pulled themselves along the ground, rapidly approaching. Dark heaved his mace high up into the air before bringing it down on top of it before, smashing it into pieces with one fell swoop.

Dark inspected his mace before turning. “You’ll take care of my weapons from now on.”

“A-as you wish…”

***

Cassius gasped as he woke up. Seeing out of both eyes again. Frostbite was leaning over him. “Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?”

“I-I I can,” Cassius blinked. The Frostbite he knew was no longer there. His fur was longer, and his arm was gone, replaced by a structure of ice. Another blink, and Frostbite was helping him up. “What’s wrong with me?”

“It’s… Dark is way stronger than we thought. Your forms are merging, your own essence and purpose are growing stronger.”

Cassius processed that information as he looked up at Frostbite. “We’re merging?”

Frostbite blinked and pulled back. “Yes, I was just about to explain that.”

Cassius put a hand on his chest, and he could feel… something. Something inside of him, it seemed like sand falling, with each grain hitting the bottom with enough force to shake the universe.

“Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?” Cassius blinked and looked up, Frostbite was leaning over him.

“I can.” Cassius stated, letting Frostbite pull him up. “I’m merging with Dark?”

Frostbite blinked and looked at the other yetis in the room. “Yes, that’s what we think is going on… how did you know?”

“You told me, just a moment ago I-”

“Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?” Cassius’s eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly. “Whoa, careful! You just got done, there was a-”

“I’m changing. Merging with Pariah…”

Frostbite frowned. “Who’s Pariah?”

Cassius blinked, that name… it felt so familiar and yet, he didn’t know it. It rolled off the tongue like he had used it for a millenia. “I… I don’t know.”

“Cassius, Cassius-”

“Stop!” Cassius opened his eyes to see Helios pushing Frostbite away. “You can’t help here anymore, go calm Dark down.” Helios looked down at Cassius and turned his head to face him. “You’re observing too much. Focus, you must silence the rest. There is the present, that is it. Think of this moment right now, don’t try to remember.”

Cassius nodded. “This moment…” he breathed.

“What are you feeling? Tell me.”

“The table beneath me, it’s cold and solid. Your hands, I can feel the eyes in your palms searching…”

“Good, good, try not to-”

***

Cassius watched himself as he entered the tent, four months after Cassius had met Dark. It had taken a bit of convincing with the others of this unmerry band that bringing such a large tent was worth it, but the twenty warriors in the group found it useful.

Though, of the original twelve, only four remained.

The eight in the tent looked up to see Cassius enter. One of them, one that made even Dark look small, towered over Cassius. “This is not a place for the likes of you.”

“I-it’s soon for a change in the watch,” Cassius said, trying to step away from the larger ghost. “The others said that last time the change was late and they had to stay longer than they should.”

The giant stepped toward Cassius and brought up his club. “Who are you to-”

“Enough.” Dark’s voice echoed in the tent. It was loud enough that Cassius could feel his chest rattle. Everyone turned to look at Dark as he came around. “Changing the shifts is important. We all find it tiresome, and a tired guard is a dead one. We’ll go change the shift now.” Dark grabbed the ghost that threatened Cassius and pushed him out the tent. He turned and smiled at Cassius. “Thank you, Cassius…”

***

“Focus on the now!” Helios ordered. “Stop looking in the past, you’re needed here, and now.” Helios pulled Cassius up and held his hands up, the eyes in his hands staring into Cassius’s. “You shouldn’t look back there yet.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because you won’t like what you see.”

“What would I-?”

***

Cassius hadn’t been here before. In fact, he couldn’t place this moment. Oh he knew exactly when it was, it was four months and two days after he met Dark. He was floating next to the giant ghost from before.

The ghost was looking out into the infinite void, searching for any sign of the Infested. He huffed. “Nothing,” he muttered to himself. “I suppose that’s good but…”

Cassius turned, knowing that something important was going to happen in a few seconds from now. Dark came out of the woods, his mace held tight in his grip. Stealthy he was not, and his footfalls rang out.

The giant turned. “Dark, has it been that long? I thought I had another hour or two before the shift change.”

Dark didn’t say anything, instead he approached. The warrior knew something was wrong and brought his club around, but then Dark smashed right through it, breaking it into splinters. The giant didn't have a chance to react before Dark smashed his legs with enough intent to destroy them, and the man screamed. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“You raise a hand against my Cassius,” Dark explained simply, as if one were explaining that water was wet. Before he brought the mace down and crushed his chest. Cassius floated there transfixed as Dark smashed him over and over again, until there was nothing left but a wet smear of ectoplasm on the ground, before that too disappeared.

***

“You knew?” Cassius asked, looking into Helios’s eyes.

“I see all, Clockwork.”

“I’m not Clockwork.”

“You will be.”

***

Cassius didn’t recognize where he was, though he knew the time. It was four hundred and thirty two years after the Calling, but not truely. Something about what he was seeing was off. He could tell it was off, but he wasn’t sure he could describe how.

It felt like he was watching something, but his head was skewed to the side, or like he was hearing something that wasn’t there. It was all off and made his eyes water.

Despite the strangeness, Cassius knew what he was seeing. It was a timeline that could happen, but wouldn’t.

The green sky of the Infinite Realms was blotted out. Not like Nocturn’s darkness, where the realm was listening and bending to a being of great power. This was smoke from a thousand forges. Cassius stood in the middle of an encampment, he couldn’t see where the encampment ended and the ground had been trampled till the ground was as hard as any stone.

Warriors, wearing armor in Dark’s colors, were carrying a ghost. Cassius couldn’t tell anything about the ghost, not because he couldn’t see it, but because its form was so weak. The poor thing had been beaten down so much that it no longer looked like it had once been a person, but instead was a shapeless ball.

Cassius intended to follow them, to see where they were taking it, but then it faded away entirely into a mist. The two warriors looked at each other and then shrugged, going on about their day as if what had just happened wasn’t a great tragedy. The encampment continued doing what it was doing.

Preparing for the next invasion.

***

Cassius shook his head and pressed his hand over his new eye. “I will survive the Calling?”

Each of Helios’s eyes blinked and he leaned back a bit. “I had guessed, but I wasn’t sure. I can’t see beyond my own destruction.” Cassius started pulling his hand away, but Helios reached out and put it back. “No, keep it covered for now. Seeing out that eye is what’s causing your vision to run amok.”

Cassius glared at Helios with his own eye. “Couldn’t you have started with that?”

Helios smiled sadly. “No, and for once. I know why. You did need to see what you have.”

The door burst open and Dark entered the room. A bandage wrapped around his head, wet with ectoplasm that dripped down his face. “How is he?” He shouted, making the entire castle shake.

Cassius turned and felt an infinite number of responses pour out of his mouth with each having an infinite number of consequences attached to them, not just for this moment, for thousands of years afterwards. Some resulted in the destruction of everyone in the room, and some resulted in them failing to survive the Calling.

But Cassius knew Dark.

“It seems there was a minor problem, Dark, but nothing we should be upset about,” Cassius began as Dark marched over to him. “You were too powerful, and as such, I am much stronger now too.”

Dark knelt down next to Cassius’s bedside. “How?”

“Dark, you are the strongest ghost in all of our histories, and now, I have a part of you inside me. We should have seen that this could have consequences.”

At those words, Dark whirled toward Helios. “You… you should have warned that this would have happened!”

Helios tilted his head. “This is how things are meant to be, but… even if I could have changed it, I wouldn’t have. Cassius must be by your side in order for us to survive the Calling.”

Dark raised his fist, and Cassius could see the multitude of consequences echo out across eternity, and he brought them all to a close by simply standing up. Dark whirled around. “Cassius, you should rest!”

Cassius pulled his hand away from Dark’s eye in his head. “I’m fine, I can already see how-” then he glanced at the ring on Dark’s finger.

***

This wasn’t long ago. It was after Cassius had woken up after Frostbite had removed the infestation from him. Frostbite and Dark were standing outside the hall so they could talk without bothering Cassius as he rested. A knight went up to Dark, “My lord, what should we do with the Infested in the dungeons? Containing them is an arduous task…”

Frostbite hummed. “Well, like Cassius suggested, we could try to cure them. If we could we-”

Dark cut him off with a simple, “No.”

“No?” Frostbite repeated.

“No, even if you were to pull them back, how much of them would there be? They wouldn’t be of much use, partial pieces of weaker ghosts. No, they have no value cured.” Dark straightened his back and he looked down at Frostbite. “I want them destroyed, crushed into tiny pieces so that they’d never harm anyone again, but you, yeti, I hear that your kind have many skilled craftsmen. I want you to take those pieces and forge them into a ring for me.”

“A ring?”

“Yes, one that can fit over my armor. So that I can always look at it and remember what I let happen to my Cassius.”

“That… can be arranged.” Frostbite began hesitantly.

“See that it does.”

***

“-how i will recover…” Cassius got out, schooling his features. He wasn’t well practiced in it, and he thought for sure Dark would notice that something was wrong.

But Dark thought he knew him. He believed that Cassius would never lie to him. Sixteen hours ago, that would have been the truth, but now…

Cassius looked at Helios behind Dark, a grim frown on his face.

No, it still was the truth. Cassius would never lie to Dark.

Clockwork however, would.

Clockwork reached up and stroked Dark’s face. “I’ll be okay, Dark. I promise you.” Dark leaned into his touch. “Your Cassius is as fine as he can be. But… I’ll need some time. Your power is… much. I don’t understand how your form can contain it all. I need to rest, to let it settle within me.”

Dark smiled. “I got used to it.” He kissed Clockwork’s palm before pulling his wrist away. He picked him up and began to carry him. “You’ll be more comfortable in our bed instead of this cold room.”

“Thank you, Dark.”

***

Clockwork awoke to something entering his room. It was not through a door or window, but instead very fabric of the realm beneath them shifted. He sat up and looked at the glowing blue ring of light in front of him.

And out came himself.

“I forgot I used to look like that… it has been ages.” Clockwork took his appearance in. He still wore his favorite cloak that was a gift from Dark, and he could see a scar down his face where Dark’s eye had been implanted. But just when he thought he could recognize himself in the version in front of him, he shifted. Turning from a young man to one that looked older than any ghost he had seen in the zone.

“How long has it been?”

“Long enough for us to get a handle on all our powers,” his future self frowned. The long beard covering up much of his face vanished as he turned into a child. “Forgive me, but until we have them under control, we need to be careful. I’m sure you’ve already felt the reach of our actions.”

Clockwork bit his lip for a moment, but unlike before he couldn’t see the infinite possibilities of every action he could take. “Yes, I could, but I can’t right now.”

“You could say this event is scripted,” his future self began. “I am controlling the outcome of these events. Helios can see the past, present and future, but he doesn’t see all the twists and turns it can take. We can guide it like a river.”

“That sounds impossible. Changing the course of a river?”

“Oh, it wasn’t in your time, but eventually, yes it is.” His future self turned back into a young man again after that statement. “But that’s not the purpose of my visit. For a being that controls time, we have very little of it. And you need to have a grasp of some of them before the Calling.”

“Is that… transformation part of them?”

“A sacrifice to use some of our powers, but I won’t tell you about them yet.” He looked morose for a moment before turning to him, “You’ll want to discover them after…” He sighed and held out his hand. “Come, I’ll show you what we can do.”

***

Dark walked into the room five hours later. He froze at the door frame as he looked at Clockwork. “Cassius?”

Clockwork put his staff down on the ground. “Ah, Dark, right on time.” He gave him a smile as he pulled his cloak about his shoulders. “I’m glad you kept my cloak. I’ve missed it since I got injured.”

Dark closed the door behind him. “Yes, well, it was one of my first gifts to you. There was no way I was going to let anyone else touch it.”

“I’m surprised it survived the Infested.”

“I had it repaired, it had been torn to shreds.” Clockwork walked across the room and pulled Dark down into a kiss. Dark’s lips curled into a smile underneath Cassius’s. “Well, it seems that this was very much a good thing in the end. You’re taking what you want, I like that.”

Clockwork stepped back and looked up at Dark, trying to ensure he memorized his face. “Yes, well, I can understand you a lot more now.” Dark was now sporting an eyepatch instead of bandages, but it seemed that the damage to his form was minimal. Clockwork supposed that Frostbite was overzealous with him, and was much more careful with Dark.

Dark’s face fell. “Speaking of… there was a reason I was checking on you.”

“The Calling is soon, isn’t it?”

“We might have a week. The plan seems to be working, the calling is happening in Vortex’s realm.”

“Then you should hurry.”

Dark twitched under Clockwork’s hands. “Helios… made it sound like you’d fight with me…” There was a soft undercurrent of disappointment in that statement, though it was also cloaked in relief. Dark might have enjoyed the idea of Cassius being behind him in battle, but he’d prefer to keep Cassius in the castle, safe and unblemished.

Clockwork smiled from ear to ear to hide the frown that wanted to form. “Oh, I will, but…” He reached over and touched the top of his staff. “Time out…”

Dark looked about as the world shifted around them. “Is this a power of yours?”

“I can stop time for a while…”

Dark laughed. “In that case… Maybe I can take some time before we leave for the battle?”

“I believe you just read our future.”

***

Three hours later, Dark had left the castle with his army. But Clockwork didn’t leave quite yet, instead, he went down underneath the castle. He never went here before, he never had a need to. The dungeons were not a place he was ever brought to, Dark wouldn’t have let him.

After what he had seen, he knew why Dark kept him from here.

It was also a good spot for those who didn’t want Dark to find them to talk.

He opened the door to the dungeons. The hinges of the door creaked as it slowly opened. He walked down deeper into the dungeon where there was a room meant for the guards to get some time away from the prisoners between shifts. As he approached the door opened, revealing Helios.

“Welcome,” Helios greeted.

Clockwork didn’t acknowledge him as he entered, but he took a place along the wall with the other five members in the room. “Him?” Nocturn spat, “Dark’s little pet?”

“Cassius died on that table,” Clockwork interjected. He turned toward Frostbite. “No fault of your own, but the one who woke up was not him.” Cassius turned to face all the occupants of the room. “Call me Clockwork.”

A mass of vines and leaves rose up from under the table. “And just who are you?”

“I was, as Nocturn put it, Dark’s pet. He kept his nature secret from me, but he gave me his eye, and with it, a chunk of his power,” Clockwork’s hands tightened around his staff. “Like Helios, I was able to see the past, and I can see what will become of us under Dark’s rule.”

Helios turned. “Oh? I can only see what will happen. Not other possibilities. What did you see?”

Clockwork looked up at the ceiling. “Dark will not stop once the Calling is ended. He will start to expand his realm. Conquering along the ghost zone. Thousands… millions of ghosts will be fed into his war machine. Those who can’t fight will be forced to work and those that can’t work will be destroyed. Dark will not stop until he is destroyed but…” He shook his head and looked at Frostbite. “The ring that was made, it was made out of those that he had destroyed. He’ll feed off every single destroyed ghost. He’ll grow too powerful for anything to stop him.”

“I… I can confirm what he’s saying. We didn’t know what was being forged until it was. There’s intent behind forging an artifact… and it was forged with pieces of the Avatar of Malice.”

“How could you be so foolish?” A four armed woman in armor cried out. “Frostbite, you’ve seen what my box is meant to contain! It’s meant to stop things like this!”

“I wasn’t there Pandora. If I had known what was going to be forged, I would have stopped it.” He sighed. “The intent was to forge something that could hold Malice back. But… it was corrupted in the process.”

“And you still gave it to him?”

Frostbite threw his hands up in the air. “I wasn’t informed! The carrier brought the ring directly to Dark, his favored knight intercepted him and brought him straight to Dark.”

Clockwork turned toward her. “What’s done is done, we shouldn’t be fighting amongst ourselves. It’s good to meet you, Pandora. This would not be possible without you.”

Pandora opened and closed her mouth a few times. “I see. I think I can see why you say that you are like Helios then.”

Nocturn looked between them. “What makes her so special?”

Pandora straightened to her full height, the top of her helmet scraping the top of the room. “I am the guardian of what’s known as Pandora’s Box. I created it to try and seal as much evil in the Infinite Realms as I could.”

“If anyone can seal Dark, she can.” Frostbite vouched. “I’ve inspected the box myself with the ghost that apprenticed me. It’s a fine artifact.” Frostbite’s face fell, “If there’s any ghost here that should have doubt cast upon them, it’s me. I am just a healer. I am a warrior too, yes, but I don’t have the strength to be compared to one who controls nature, or one who commands an army.”

Helios shook his head. “You’ll have a very important task to do when the battle comes. You’ll be ready for it when it comes.” Clockwork nodded in response, though it didn’t seem to comfort Frostbite any.

“We don’t have much time,” Nocturn said, his presence looming over the others. “We’ll have to get Pandora’s sarcophagus to the site of the battle. Our best chance of stopping Dark will be right after the Calling… if we win. Are we all in agreement?”

“We will…” Clockwork stated. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “And yes, we are…”

“Good,” Nocturn said. He pulled himself away from the wall and made for the door, “Then let’s declare him a Pariah and get on with it.”

***

Clockwork approached Dark, and stood next to him. “You’re staying this far back?” He asked as he looked over the expanse in front of them. Here, in this part of the Infinite Realms, land was scarce. In front of them nearly as far as the eye could see there were storm clouds, swirling about with a calm spot in the center. The army float in the space around them, but they stayed far enough away that Dark and Clockwork had some privacy.

Dark turned toward him and raised the eyebrow over his missing eye. “I thought you said you can now see the future?” The question was laced with concern, and Dark reached over and pushed off Clockwork’s hood to see him better.

Clockwork smiled. “I can, but while Helios sees one possibility, I see many.” He leaned into Dark’s side. “I can see many choices that you could have made, I don’t just see one… path… I see thousands. I’m still experiencing this moment with you.”

Dark let out a hum and reached up and grabbed Clockwork’s shoulder. “I’m glad. Part of me hated the idea of you being like Helios and doing whatever he wanted because he believes that’s how it’s supposed to be…”

“The other part?”

Dark smiled and squeezed Clockwork tighter. “Part of me hoped you were, because it meant that you were meant to be here.”

“What’s better? To force someone to do something? Or to have it be given willingly?”

“Hmm… a good question,” Dark said. Clockwork raised an eyebrow as Dark didn’t answer. Dark pointed ahead, at the center of the storm. “To answer your earlier statement, the Calling is going to happen in the center of Vortex’s storm. Any closer though, I’ll be within his realm.”

“And… you care what he thinks?” Clockwork asked.

The incredulity in his voice must have been apparent because Dark laughed. “No, no I do not, however,” the smile slipped off his face and was replaced with a sneer. “Vortex refused to come to help, even Nocturn came, and though Undergrowth never spoke with me, my troops told me of the Infested he fed to his plants.

“No, I’m not waiting here because I am afraid of Vortex, I want the Avatar of Malice to attack him before we go in for the kill.”

Clockwork was saved from having to respond, when the realm shook. Not physically, but every ghost could feel something inside them quiver. A wave passed through them, shaking them to their very soul. Some of Dark’s army immediately turned tail and fled.

“Tch,” Dark spat, “I’ll track them down and deal with them later.” He held up a hand and shouted, “Hold!” The order echoed down the line as his commanders repeated his order to their own men. Then he turned towards Clockwork, “It’s almost time,” he said, leaving a kiss on his cheek.

Dark started marching forwards and stopped next to one of his knights. “My lord?” The knight asked, looking down from his horse. “Is there something you need?”

“You’ve served me well, and so, I have a gift for you… and a task.” Dark reached down to his hip and pulled a sword out of its scabbard. The ghosts nearby all took a step away instinctively, before turning to look to see what made them so uncomfortable. Dark handed the glowing green sword to the knight. “Take this blade, it’s forged from the same metal we used to push the Calling here. It’s pure, stronger than any other weapon in the army. Go behind the troops, and if any turn and flee, cut them down. Strike fear into them.”

“Understood, my king,” the knight said, taking the blade before turning his steed around and flying overhead.

Clockwork approached Dark. “Was that necessary?”

“The cowards in this army need to know that fleeing the battle won’t save them.” Dark didn’t explain more, instead looking up as the realm began to change color.

The green skies began to change, they began to darken before turning to a deep crimson. In the center of the storm, the space between began to distort. Wisps of something that looked liquid in nature began to flood out, seemingly out of nowhere as something pushed through.

“Hold!” Dark shouted one more time. A few ghosts turned and began to run, the unlucky ones were caught by Dark’s knight, who flew across the sky and cut down any ghost that he caught. They weren’t cut in two, but instead they screamed before vanishing.

That stopped the tide of fleeing ghosts.

The waters continued to pour into space, slowly beginning to fill an invisible vessel. Eventually, a giant red orb floated in the center of Vortex’s realm, and then the water shot out in ribbons snaking their way into the clouds around it.

The storm instantly came alive with lightning and a furious roar echoed out.

“Hold!” Dark shouted one more time, as bolts of lightning shot from the storm. They impacted against the surface of the sphere before spreading across the surface. It seemed to have done nothing.

But every single ghost felt it, as a spike of rage rose in their hearts. Even Clockwork was not immune, he had to stop himself from raising his fist against the closest ghost near him.

“Charge!” Dark screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. He had totally forgotten that he wished to wait till Vortex was hurt, now he only cared about destroying the thing that was making him angry. This time the order was not echoed, as every ghost broke their formations intent on riding forth and sinking their blades into the avatar in front of them.

The hordes of ghosts flew forward, weapons drawn. Glitters of green speckled the sky in front of Clockwork as they drew their weapons designed to strike fear into the Avatar of malice.

Dark turned toward Clockwork, “Cassius, come!” he shouted before taking off. Clockwork chased after him following behind. It did not take long to cross the distance, but by the time they arrived the troops had already made it.

And thousands had fallen.

The Avatar of Malice didn’t kill. It inflicted those it struck with the water gushing out of it with a Malady of rage. One Infested could turn another.

One became two, two became four, doubling over and over again as the enraged army sought only to try and kill the Avatar of Malice, choosing destruction over their own safety. The safest ones were surprisingly those closest to the avatar itself. Instead of choosing to attack their neighbor, the new Infested kept their focus on what they already hated and tried to tear into the Avatar of Malice instead. They’d splatter themselves against its side trying to tear into it, swiping and slashing the entire time they were absorbed into it.

Then the sky darkened even further, Nocturn’s sleepwalkers charged in themselves, picking up the weapons dropped by Dark’s falling army.

Clockwork and Dark were handling themselves. Clockwork could not stop the avatar entirely, even when he brought time to a standstill the avatar could still move. But he didn’t need to just stop time. Dark and Clockwork dodged around the ribbons that sought them out, their own time slowed down. What seemed like what couldn’t be dodged was instead moving slower than a leisurely walk.

Not just for them though, it was them and every ghost in a hundred meter radius around Clockwork.

“My Lord, our weapons have no effect!”

“Don’t be daft!” Dark shouted back as he continued to hack and slash at the parts attacking him. “You can feel the thing twitch with every blow!”

Someone else down the line shouted back, “But how do we kill this?”

“We don’t!” Dark answered. “This thing was never alive and can’t die. It can only be made so uncomfortable that it determines that it doesn’t want to be here anymore.” Dark grabbed a weapon out of another ghost’s hands and then began stabbing with a weapon in both hands. “So get back to work!”

True to Dark’s words, Clockwork could feel something in him shiver with each and every strike someone made against the surface or the water’s gushing out from it. Though both he and Dark knew it wouldn’t be enough on its own.

Clockwork reached across time, and pulled every ghost he could down a hundred meters, as something sailed through the air above them. A giant bolt, five meters across the shaft, stuck out from the Avatar of Malice.

Pandora’s weapons were a sight to behold.

More bolts began to fly through the air, and this time the avatar reacted. The whips of water that had been corrupting the armor flipped through the air attempting to knock the ballista bolts off course. It succeeded with some, others were stopped as they impacted against trees that sprung out of thin air.

First one struck true, then another. Over and over again until fifteen bolts stuck out from the surface of the Avatar of Malice. Suddenly every ghost fell, as the rage and anger they had been feeling suddenly left their bodies. Some ended on the spot, vanishing into thin air, along with every Infested that had been attacking everything in sight.

The parts of the Avatar that had come through into the Infinite Realms began to fade, losing their cohesion and turning into what looked like a vapor before disappearing entirely. Dark scoffed. “Someday, I’ll find a way to hunt that thing down and end it for good.” He turned and looked over the remains of his army. “It came and slaughtered all my men. I’ll have a chunk of its hide for that.”

Thunder boomed, and Dark brought his weapon up to block a bolt of lightning that was coming for him. He was thrown back several feet as a voice screamed, “DARK!” Clockwork looked up to see Vortex flying at them. “You brought this into my realm?”

“He wants to challenge me? Fine. I wasn’t quite done fighting today.” Dark yelled back as he threw himself towards Vortex. The two met for a moment, Vortex’s hands pushing against Dark as Dark tried to bring his weapon around.

Then Nocturne’s sleepwalkers attacked.

Dark changed targets, striking a sleepwalker in the head and instantly killing it. He frowned for a second, as he wondered why it was there. Then, the others started pouring in. Dark out a scream of rage as he realized that both Nocturn and Vortex were attacking him.

Dark started swinging wildly, crushing each and every sleepwalker that approached. Vortex, even though he didn’t know why Nocturn was joining him, gave the sleepwalkers space so they could surround Dark.

The sleepwalkers were many, but each one was fragile. Dark eventually let out a scream and swung his mace in a wide arc, sending off a wave of ectoplasm that killed many of the sleepwalkers.

“What’s the meaning of this, Nocturn?” Dark shouted.

Nocturn didn’t answer, instead he sent another wave of sleepwalkers at Dark. More rose up to form a wall between Dark and the other ancients, their sole purpose to hide the approach of Pandora and Frostbite, holding a sarcophagus between them.

“He’s distracted, go,” Nocturn ordered. The two of them split, Pandora taking the bottom half while Frostbite took the lid. Nocturn glanced at Clockwork, “Any chance you’re going to help out.”

Clockwork bit his lip as a million possibilities unfolded in front of him, but only a handful had the outcome he wanted. “I’ll only have a moment.” He explained, “Each one of us except for Frostbite is too powerful for me to stop fully. If he realizes I’m betraying him too early, he’ll grow stronger.”

“Likely,” Nocturn spat, but didn’t force the issue. Instead choosing to focus his attention on controlling his forces.

Then Undergrowth struck, his vines snaked through in between the sleepwalkers and wrapped around Dark’s limbs. Immediately Pandora and Frostbite began to close in, moving as fast as they could with the intent of sealing Dark inside the coffin. They weren’t fast enough, Dark roared in rage and with all his strength broke one of the binds holding him. With one arm, he stopped Frostbite’s in his place. “So you all are betraying me? Fine!” A flame enveloped him, burning away Undergrowth’s vines and burning Frostbite. “I’ll destroy you all!”

And he ripped Frostbite's arm from its socket.

Frostbite screamed in pain, as another complication came in. “Sire!” His favored knight shouted, coming in fast with the intent of stabbing Pandora in the back.

And then Helios was in front of him.

The blade pierced right through Helio’s center, and Helios screamed. Though he didn’t disappear. He curled around the blade grabbing onto the knight’s arm. When it seemed he couldn’t scream any louder, his back began to bubble.

It was like he turned into sea foam. Dozens of forms flew out of him, each wearing his robes, as his form shrunk in size. Eventually, they stopped, when there was nothing left of the original form of Helios.

The knight looked up at the things that had circled around him, each one staring at him with a single unblinking eye. “What is the meaning of this?” he shouted.

“Now!” Clockwork shouted, and all the ghosts turned to look at him. Dark back at Clockwork, a snarl on his face before he realized what he was looking at. Clockwork reached across time and dragged it to a stop around Dark. “Time out!”

Dark had an intent powerful enough to fight back against the Avatar of Malice, he was capable of powering through Clockwork’s power. Slowly, he continued to move. The snarl on his face slowly fell off it, replaced with confusion. He knew he was looking at Clockwork, but he didn’t know what the significance of that meant.

Then his jaw slackened, as he realized that it wasn’t just the ancients that betrayed him.

But, his Cassius did as well.

Frostbite slammed the lid into place, shutting Dark within. The sarcophagus glowed, as it began to try to work its powers on Dark, but the lid shook as Dark pounded against the inside. It was well made and thick, the walls able to stand up to Dark’s strength.

But Clockwork could still hear inside. “Cassius! Cassius, why?”

Pandora reached around, jammed a key into the lid and twisted. Their forms shook as the artifact began to work, and they all winced as a blinding light came off of it. But two seconds later, the area was still once again.

“Why have you done this?” The knight shouted, turning his blade toward them. “I’ll have your-”

He cried out in pain as a shadowy hand reached out and grabbed his head. “Let’s have you sleep for a while, shall we?” Nocturn mocked. Immediately the knight’s eyes closed, but Nocturn wasn’t done. Slowly the knight's form began to change, until all that was left was a gourd.

Nocturn raised an eyebrow. “This… is what he wishes to dream about?” He chuckled as he grabbed the sword. He raised it high and then stabbed it through the vegetable.

“There was no need to kill him,” Pandora spat.

“I didn’t, but do you have a sheath for this blade? It was meant to inflict fear into the Avatar of Malice and instead this Pariah had his man turn it on his own troops. I don’t have a desire to leave it out.”

Clockwork glared at Nocturn. “He has a name.”

“Not to me he doesn’t.”

Frostbite groaned and everyone turned to him. Pandora reached over and picked him up. “Frostbite! Are you okay?”

Frostbite looked around, looking down at his missing arm and the ectoplasm smeared across the front of the coffin, before turning and looking at each of the ancients. Eventually his gaze landed on Clockwork. He smiled, “I’ll live, fortunately I’ve been given a spare. I’ll be able to continue my work despite this.” His smile fell. “What about you?”

Clockwork could have answered truthfully. “I’m fine. In some ways, I’ve had more time to process this than the rest of you.” Frostbite’s lips flattened into a frown. Clockwork shrugged. “I can see into the future, and I can see into the past. I didn’t just learn my powers in a day, I had to learn how to unfreeze time again before I could continue moving through it.”

“I see…” Frostbite said quietly.

Undergrowth spoke up, “What do we do with this now?”

Vortex spat on it. “I say we destroy it.”

“No,” Pandora shot down, “destroying it would just let Dark out again.”

“I know where to put it,” Clockwork interjected.

Nocturn laughed, and it was all Clockwork could do to not punch him. “Leave Pariah with you? His little pet.”

Clockwork glared at Nocturn. “Pandora,” he said, “You made this, could any one of us destroy it individually?”

Pandora hummed for a moment, “Well, Undergrowth or Vortex probably could. And I, as the creator, would know how to take it apart. I don’t know about… them.” She admitted glancing up at their observers.

“We have no interest, nor ability, to damage that thing. We are here to observe. Nothing more.”

Clockwork didn’t take his eyes off Nocturn. “What about you two?” he asked, addressing Undergrowth and Vortex. “Do either of you want to release him?”

“No,” Undergrowth growled.

“Maybe a little,” Vortex admitted. Nocturn snapped his gaze to him and he huffed. “Fine, fine!”

“I’ll hide the sarcophagus, Nocturn, you take the key. None of us will have the ability to open it on our own that way. Will that make you happy, Nocturn?”

“Nothing will,” Nocturn admitted. He snatched the key out of Pandora’s hand. “But I’m done with this.” Nocturn seemed to fold in on himself before disappearing a buff of black smoke.

Pandora looked down at Frostbite. “I’ll bring him to his people so they can heal him. Or… heal him as much as they can.”

“That… would very much be appreciated.”

“Good good!” Vortex shouted, “Get outta my realm! All ya!”

Clockwork grabbed the sarcophagus and picked it up. He maneuvered it under an arm and brought his staff around. “Time out,” he said, leaving the two ancients in place. It wouldn’t be long before they broke out of his power, but by then he’d be long gone.

Clockwork dragged the coffin into Dark’s keep, bringing it down into the dungeons. He’d take it to the throne room later but for now…

Cassius wept.

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 4

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

Tucker waved at Danny as he approached him in the park. He’d rather have met at a fast food place, but Sam had shut that down quick. Of course, Danny didn’t see him.Danny was too busy frowning at something on his phone, so Tucker added a shout as well, “Hey man!” Danny’s head whipped up and turned to face Tucker. Tucker stopped walking for a second as he took in what he was seeing. Danny seemed to recognize something was wrong and ducked his head and turned away. His hand slowly reached up before stopping a foot away from the side of his head.

Tucker shook himself out of it, before forcing a smile on his face. He quickly sidestepped a man wearing overalls and was standing in the center of the pathway and jogged up to Danny. “Yo,” he said, sliding into the picnic table. He tried to feign as much nonchalance as he could in the action. He thought he was pretty smooth about it, but Danny just frowned harder.

Tucker chewed on his lip as Danny weakly waved at him, but he didn’t say anything else. Tucker glanced at Danny’s open lunch box and smiled when he saw the plastic ziplock bag in it. The only content left in it was a few crumbs of a sandwich, probably a ham and cheese.

Sam might have been trying to turn them both into vegan nut jobs, but at least Danny was still seeing reason.

He slammed down a bag from the best fast food place in town, the Nasty Burger, and leaned over the table. Tucker wasn’t ever really the tactful one, that was Sam’s thing. So, he addressed the elephant in the park the best way he knew how. “Sick head trauma, dude.”

Danny laughed despite himself and rolled his eyes. “Thanks man.” He eyed the bag on the table and sighed. “Sam’s gonna flip.”

“Sam can deal,” Tucker snipped. He immediately regretted it when he saw Danny flinch, but he was already tired of this vegan thing Sam had going on. He was fine with it at first, Sam hadn’t been pushing him to change, but then she went and took away the beef stroganoff. That wasn’t cool. Sam wanted to be a vegan, fine, she could make mistakes.

But making him change was crossing the line.

He tore open the bag and pulled out two nasty melts, double juicy lucy patties with slices of cheese, mayo, ketchup and mustard with bacon. He slid one over to Danny. “Here dude, I got one for you too.” Danny blinked as Tucker waved it towards him. “Come on, what Sam doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Danny shot Tucker an unamused look, but grabbed it anyways, opening it up almost as fast as Tucker. “She’s gonna see the bag.”

It took a lot of Tucker’s effort to not let his frustration show. He didn’t understand why Danny was so bothered by this. Sam was taking away his food too! It was stupid. Things were going great. Everyone was fine. Nothing needed to change.

And then Sam started doing this thing…

“She can deal,” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. Okay, so he didn’t keep his frustration completely in check. He was human, sue him. He took a bite into the cheesy, gooey mess, before frowning. “Aw, dude, I asked for no pickles.”

“A vegetable isn’t gonna kill you.”

“It might! I might get e-coli or one of those brain eating worms!” Danny glowered at Tucker, but any threat he had was lost in the grease that was dripping down his face. “I’m serious! That’s real! Look it up!”

“I’d rather not, I got enough going on right now.”

“Anyways,” Tucker said, going back to what he really wanted to get to. “Sam isn’t gonna die if we eat meat.” Danny looked like he was about to say something, but Tucker cut him off. “So, what’s the story with the head wound? Cut yourself trying to trim your hair into a style Sam’d drool over?”

“Ha. Ha.” Danny said with no inflection. He huffed and took another bite. He pulled the burger away and stared at the tasty meat for a while. “No, it’s… you know how school’s shut down right?”

“Yeah, something about renovations? The email they sent out didn’t say much..”

Danny took a bite and shook his head. “Nah,” he said with his mouth full. He chewed a couple more times and swallowed before continuing. “I mean, yeah, they’re gonna renovate stuff, but it’s because some kind of monster attacked.”

Tucker raised an eyebrow. “A monster… seriously?”

Danny pointed to the wound on his head. “Do you see this? Do you think I’m joking.”

Tucker leaned back. “You know dude? Yeah, I do.” Danny dropped his hand to the table and Tucker continued. “Look, alright, I know you’re saying magic is real, and though I haven’t seen anything other than that candle trick, I’m gonna go out on a limb and believe you. Ghosts? Okay, that’s starting to push it. But now you’re telling me there’s monsters out there? Is bigfoot really just low res in real life and that’s why we can’t get a good picture of him?”

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but then he looked past Tucker. “Can we help you?”

Tucker turned around to see that man he had stepped past earlier had approached them. Now that he wasn’t focused on Danny, he saw that the man looked strangely pale, and his eyes looked like they were bulging.

“Box…” The man whispered.

Tucker scooted away from the crazy man. “What?” he asked, glancing at Danny for help, who was slowly standing up.

“Box!” The man shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “BoxBoxBoxBOX!” Tucker at this point was jumping away from the table, when he heard a sickening crack. His eyes widened when the man’s arm snapped in half in the middle of his forearm, making an almost ninety degree bend.

And that was just the start.

The cracking continued, and the man’s leg snapped back, popping out of his hip and twisting until his heel was by his ear. His head then began to shake back and forth until his neck snapped and his head twisted and fell off his neck. Tucker could see a part of his spine poking up from the skin of his neck.

The process continued with his other leg snapping up in front. He should have fallen, but instead he floated there in the air in front of them. His lower half snapped backwards, right into the middle of his stomach. Then it happened again, this time, vertically. Then he was folded in half again. This repeated over and over like someone was folding a piece of paper.

Tucker watched this all happen. His eyes were seeing it, but his mind was not comprehending it. It felt like he was watching a movie. It was just too unbelievable. His mind went blank as he tried to process what was happening, but the sounds of the body breaking in front of him were too sharp and crisp for him to think that this was anything but real.

This.. thing… folded over and over in front of them. Bones and flesh were crushed and pulverized until all that was left was a box with a human face on it.

The cube fell to the ground. The quiet thump felt comical compared to the horrific crunching sounds that had been ringing in Tucker’s ears. The box quivered and shook until an arm snaked out of the box and started to pull itself along the ground and then up onto the table.

The arm reached into Danny’s lunch box, and flung everything that was in it out onto the table, before finally pulling itself into the box, grabbing the lid, and sealing itself shut.

Danny calmly reached over, and locked his lunch box.

“Dude,” Tucker began, his tongue felt thick in his mouth. “What the hell?”

“Well what was I supposed to do?” Danny shouted.

***

Danny looked up as Sam was approaching, fortunately from his good side. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her. He and Tucker had spent the last 30 minutes in silence and it had long past the moment that the silence had been uncomfortable. Tucker didn’t even finish his burger. The grease in it had begun to cool and congeal back into fat, which given his recent experiences was really unappetizing.

Thankfully he had finished his burger before that happened to his.

Sam sat down and looked at Tucker’s burger. Her eyes narrowed, and a grimace smeared across her face. “You know those things are gonna give you a heart attack someday.”

Tucker didn’t respond. He just sat there, elbows on the picnic table and his hands pressed together in front of his face as if he was praying. For all Danny knew, he might have been.

Sam looked between the two before turning back to Tucker and sitting next to Danny. “What’s wrong?”

“Monsters are real,” Tucker stated. He didn’t open his eyes or shift at all.

Sam turned toward Danny “What? What are you… Danny, why is your lunch box duct taped closed?”

“Monsters are real.” Tucker repeated.

At that point, the box rattled and jumped over the table. Danny slapped his hand down on the box and held it in place for a minute before it calmed down. He huffed and pulled his hand away. The box rattled in place before a very quiet, and muffled, contented sound came out of it. “Boooooox…”

“What on earth? Do you guys have an animal trapped in there?”

Tucker shook his head just slightly. “Monsters are real…”

Danny turned toward Sam to explain, as much as one could explain something like this. But before he could even begin Sam gasped and reared back. “Danny!” She said behind her hands covering her mouth, “What happened to you?”

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, uh, so after school yesterday. I was going to do my labs with Mr. Falluca, but then we heard a sound. We went to investigate, and it turned out to be this…” Danny paused, as he realized that Sam would probably NOT want to hear that the monster was made out of meat. “Giant blob monster thing…” Sam didn’t react to that news at all, instead her gaze was focused solely on the side of his head. “It attacked us. That’s why school is canceled for a while.”

Sam gently pulled her hand away from her mouth and gently reached out toward Danny. Danny tried not to react as he felt her fingers press against his face, before pushing through it. It felt like she was pressing through his skin and bone. Her fingers were piercing him and pushing all the things that made him him aside.

Before her fingers made contact with the side of his head, gently stroking the side of his head. He could feel her fingernails gently caressing the area below the giant wound. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Danny hated this.

He didn’t get it. He knew that Sam wasn’t being completely truthful. He didn’t know why. It had been bothering him ever since Sam had started going vegan. There was something inside him that twisted every time she said she had a problem with meat. It hurt. It was like something inside his chest was tearing.

But he had no clue why this was happening.

“I’m okay, Sam, it’s just a flesh wound. It’s gonna heal up pretty soon.”

Sam smiled softly, in a way that didn’t quite feel right. The way her cheeks lifted up and crowded her eyes made him think she was just shy of crying. She pulled her hand away from his face and he felt her hand start pulling itself out of his body. She held her fingers up to cover up the wound. “You know, it’s a good look on you.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah… yeah it is.”

“Monsters are real…” Tucker repeated. Sam jerked back, the action making Danny gasp as he felt her hand rip its way through his other face. Tucker finally put his hands back down on the table and opened his eyes. “Magic is real, and monsters are real. But instead of getting hippogriffs or invisible horses, it’s monsters straight out of Call of Cthulhu…Wait... are werewolves real?"

Danny gave Tucker an unamused glare. "I've seen your deviant art, I don't know, and I'm not gonna help you of all people find out."

"Fuuuuuckkk…” Tucker groaned as he slammed his head into the table, "Then there are no upsides to this, are there?" The impact of his face against the wood made the lunch box rattle and start off another instance of the creature inside freaking out. Danny slammed his hand on top of the box before giving Sam an apologetic smile.

“Do I want to know what’s in there?”

“No,��� Danny and Tucker said at the same time. Danny let out a slow breath as Tucker sat back up. Tucker closed his eyes and shook his head, the action reminded Danny of a dog trying to shake off water. It was like Tucker was trying to let everything that happened today just roll off him so he could go back to normal.

Which meant he picked up his burger and started eating again.

“Ugh, do you really need to?” Sam lamented. She twisted away, and Danny felt that tearing feeling coming back in his gut. He watched her face twist as if she were about to vomit.

Tucker on the other hand started chewing loudly. “Yes, Sam, I need to. I’m hungry.” The feeling inside Danny got stronger as Tucker continued to chew. He swallowed and then continued. “Mmhmm. Good old bacon and cheese. A perfect combination if there ever was one.”

“Stop, Tucker!” Sam shouted.

“No. I’m not going to!” Tucker shouted back. “Look, Sam,” he continued at a much more reasonable volume, “You can make whatever decisions you want, but the line stops at me. You don’t get to make me change. I don’t want to change. I want us to all keep being friends but you’re pushing this vegan thing on me, and I don’t like it.”

The twisting feeling reached a peak, Danny felt like his entire insides were being cracked open, and ice was pouring out. As Danny tried to hold onto his own countenance, Tucker turned toward him. “Danny, back me up on this!”

Danny grimaced and looked at Sam. Sam wasn’t looking at Danny or Tucker. Her gaze was focused on the ground behind Danny. On one hand, Danny agreed with Tucker, but on the other hand…

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong, and Danny didn’t know what it was. Sam’s vehement anti-meat stance didn’t feel like a whim or a decision made lightly. There was something there. He didn’t understand anything that was going on with Sam. She wasn’t explaining her sudden shift.

But he knew that meat, of any kind, was causing her some sort of pain.

“I think…” Danny began, and he could see Tucker’s face begin to fall. “That it’s easy for us to eat before hanging out with Sam.”

“Dude!” Tucker shouted. “Come on! I know you like burgers as much as me! Come on man, she’s taking it too far!”

Sam jumped up from the table and ran away. Danny jumped to try and follow her, but out of the three of them, Sam was the fastest. (There was a reason why he couldn’t outrun a sentient wad of meat after all) He didn’t even get two steps before he realized it was a lost cause. He groaned and turned toward Tucker.

“Dude…” Danny began.

“Don’t dude me!” Tucker said, throwing his arms wide. A chunk of cheese, or maybe it was fat, flew off into the grass. “I’m right!”

“I know, I know-”

“Nah, man, forget it.” Tucker said, getting up. “I get it, she’s her and I’m me. Of course you’re gonna side with her.” Danny tried to get a word in edgewise, but Tucker turned around and started walking away. “You go calm her down or whatever… I’ll see you later.”

Danny stared at Tucker’s back as he walked away. His insides felt like they were being torn apart. His veins filled with ice, and his skin felt clammy and loose. His breathing began to quicken, and even though there was no sound at all, it felt like the world was too loud and-

The box on the table rattled.

Danny’s gaze snapped toward the box. That creature was the reason why they were arguing right now. Danny and Tucker could have easily finished eating before Sam had gotten there. It was its fault.

Danny reached out and grabbed the box. Only, he didn't. His hand was a foot away from the box. But he could feel the metal underneath his fingers, the roughness of the tape that they had used to close it compared to the smoothness of the metal. It was like he was holding it in his hand.

Danny lifted his empty hand, and the box rose up with it.

Danny roared and threw the box. He watched it arc across the park before impacting against the building that housed the park’s toilets. The box landed on the ground, with the lid bent slightly open. The creature inside slipped out from the crack, and then scuttled off into the woods.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that…” Danny muttered to himself. He definitely should have given that to his parents instead.

“Hell of a throw there, kid.”

“JESUS CHRIST!” Danny shouted, jumping away from the man who had spoken right next to him. The man stood out quite a bit, wearing a long trench coat. “You scared the crap out of me…” Danny looked him up and down as the man looked at him with an amused smile. “Did you see…”

“I heard you yell and saw that lunch box sailing through the air, that got a lot of air time. Your football team must be proud.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head. It seemed like he hadn’t quite seen the part where Danny wasn’t actually holding onto the box “I… uh… don’t actually play any sports.”

“Good, Casper’s sport teams are fucking stupid.”

Danny looked him over again, on closer inspection, even though he had a bit of goatee going on, it was faint enough that he didn’t quite seem that old. In fact, Danny couldn’t quite tell what side of 18 he was on. “I… don’t recognize you from Casper?” Danny started.

The man huffed. “Yeah, it’s called dropping out for a reason.” He held out a hand. “Name’s Johnny.”

“Danny,” he offered back, taking Johnny’s hand in his and shaking it. “Sorry about the yelling, it’s just…”

When Danny didn’t continue, Johnny raised an eyebrow. “This have something to do with the cute goth chick that I saw running out of the park?”

Danny groaned. “Yeah, she and my other friend got in a fight and-”

“You’re caught in the middle defending your girl or the one who’s in the right… I’ve been there.”

“She’s not my girl.”

“Ah, my bad. Well, good news is then, you don’t have to just side with her. If she was your girl, I’d have told you to just agree with her next time. Makes your life a whoooole lot better if your girl is happy with you.” Johnny hummed looking Danny in the eye. “You wanna talk about what’s bothering ya?”

Danny looked up to the sky and sighed. “Nah, no offense to you or anything but…”

“You need a moment or two to process it yourself?” Danny’s head snapped back to Johnny and Johnny chuckled. “My girl’s a self described empath, I’ve picked up a couple uh.. what’d she call it again? Emotion intelligence? Emotional? Whatever. Point is, like I said, been there.” Johnny said, waving goodbye. “Anyways, Imma let you keep throwing boxes. See you around kid.”

Danny waved goodbye himself and he started walking over to his lunch box. He picked the thing up and…

He wasn’t using his hands.

In fact, he hadn’t been using his entire body for the last few minutes. He had been on autopilot for a bit there and that was when it was nearly impossible for him to remember which was his body and what wasn’t.

Johnny had looked him in his eyes.

He was looking above Danny’s head, and into the eyes of his other face. Hell, Danny couldn't even be sure if he had shook Johnny’s hand with his real hand or this ghostly one.

Danny turned around to look for Johnny. He saw him get on a motorcycle before racing off. The engine roar echoed across the park, loud enough that it almost felt like it was coming from inside his head. Johnny raced out of the parking lot long before Danny could even think to wave him back down.

Danny swallowed as another thought entered his head.

Why did looking at Johnny with the wrong face feel so natural?

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 2

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

Tucker tried to pay attention in math class, he really did. It was just… so boring. The way the class was taught just didn’t work for him. Oh, he did enjoy it, it was one of his easiest classes so that was great. It was just that once he learned the formulas he needed, he simply programmed them into his calculator. Once he had figured out how to do that, the rest of the class was easy.

So that left him sitting here. Bored.

He glanced over at Danny who was staring at the board like his life depended on it. He had offered to hand over his programs to Danny, but he had declined. He had said that if he were in space, he might not have access to a calculator. He needed to understand this.

Tucker could respect that. Understand that, no, but he could respect it.

Tucker glanced back at the board as their teacher – a brand new teacher to school named Ms. Angelis – continued to explain to the class how to solve the quadratic formula. She was standing at the front of the classroom and conducting the class in singing a little ditty to help remember the formula.

Tucker dutifully sang along with the rest of class (even though he didn’t need to ‘cause computers are awesome), “X equals negative B, plus or minus the square root, B squared minus four-A-C, all over two A…”

There were some giggles as some of the other teenagers felt uncomfortable singing in the middle of the class. Ms. Angelis walked over to her desk to turn a couple of her dozens of plants and push them closer to the glass to let the uncomfortable kids relax a little bit.

But something didn’t sit right with Tucker, and it took him a second to realize that Danny was not singing. He should have been able to hear him, he could always hear Danny, even in the lunchroom. He stole a glance at his friend to see that he was still staring at the board. Danny had to have been breaking a staring contest record.

If Tucker hadn’t seen him breathing, he’d have thought he died.

Then Tucker realized Danny wasn’t breathing.

“Dude?” Tucker whispered.

Danny jerked suddenly and he turned. “What?”

“You good man? You were staring pretty hard there…” Tucker asked quietly.

Danny tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “What?” he asked. “I was singing along with the rest of you?”

Tucker knew for sure that wasn’t true. There was no way he wouldn’t have been able to hear him. Danny had a unique sound to his voice, hell, he had a unique way about him. Danny sometimes felt slightly elvin, like Brickolass or whatever his name was from Lord of the Rings. Sam was the one who loved fantasy. Tucker was more of a sci-fi kinda guy.

The only series they could agree on being good was Star Wars.

The point being that Danny was unique and impossible to ignore. Danny had not been singing.

“Uh… dude? You feeling alright?”

“Yeah? Wh–” Danny gasped suddenly. Both Tucker’s and Danny’s eyes widened as a very clear trail of vapor left his mouth and began to float up in front of him. It was quite obviously not smoke, it was too thin for that. It was just like his breath had become visible for a second.

Like the temperature had suddenly dropped.

Danny’s head then snapped toward the window, as did most of the class a second later as everyone saw one of the planters on the outside shift. It fell off the outside of the window, falling the few feet to the ground.

Ms Angelis rushed over to the window and opened it. “Oh dear,” she said, looking down. “Give me a moment kids… I thought I had screwed that in pretty well! That’ll be the last time I buy from that store…” She rushed out of the classroom, leaving the students a moment to relax and stop thinking for a little bit.

Tucker looked back at Danny, who was still staring at the window. He now had a clearly pained expression on his face, like he just bit into a vegetable. Tucker glanced at the window before focusing on Danny again. “Dude… you’ve been out of it for a bit. Like, you were staring at the blackboard, and you were definitely not singing.”

Danny swallowed before leaning towards Tucker. “I… I was singing, or at least I thought I was. It’s been… weird.” He chewed on his lip and looked at the door Ms. Angelis had not quite ran out of. “It’s… I dunno. It’s like lately I’ve been feeling like I’ve been getting pulled out of the back of my head…” He shook his head. “No, it’s more like I’ve been slipping out. Like I’m just being poured out. I usually don’t even notice it at first but…”

“So… you’re not okay?”

“I’m fine,” Danny said, shaking his head vehemently. “I’m fine it’s just–”

Tucker reached over and rubbed Danny’s shoulder. “Hey man, I feel ya. I get the same way after gaming sessions sometimes.”

Danny gave Tucker a weak smile and Tucker let it drop. Danny was saying he was fine, so he probably was. If Danny wasn’t worried, he wouldn’t be. The image of Danny lying on the floor with his skin blackened and Sam performing CPR flashed in his mind. Tucker shook it off and focused on his friend’s smiling face.

Danny was fine.

Tucker rubbed Danny’s shoulder as Ms. Angelis appeared in the window and started looking at the planter. She picked it up and inspected it, frowning and then looking down and picking up a screw meant to affix the planter. “What do you think happened?” he asked, mostly just to change the subject.

“I could see my breath…” Danny whispered quietly. If it had been anyone else, there would have been no way for someone to hear him, but Tucker’s ears were quite attuned to his best friend’s voice. “It was like a chill just went through me…” He chewed on his lip again before looking at Tucker. “When ghosts show up, supposedly sometimes they make the temperature drop…”

“You’re saying a ghost did it?” Tucker joked, turning toward his friend.

And Danny turned haunted ice blue eyes toward him. “You saw my parents’ basement...”

Tucker did. He saw the room bathed in green light, so blinding that he had thought the silhouette of his best friend falling out of it would be burned in his eyes forever.

Tucker would not think about that. Not anymore. Danny was fine.

Tucker smiled. “Yeah, okay, I guess if magic is real, ghosts can be too…”

***

Sam held onto her paper tightly. Her knuckles were turning white as she tried to ignore how crinkled the paper was. She needed a distraction. She knew that there was a possibility of being asked to present the proposal to the principal, but she had expected to be brushed aside. Apparently though, Mr. Lancer liked her idea. So she was sitting here, waiting for Hannah to finish her pitch, alone in the hall.

She couldn’t help it. She was nervous. Especially looking at the first page of her paper.

All the red ink that Mr. Lancer had left on it was staring back at her. He was telling her she was heavy handed, that she was appealing to emotion too much, that she would push people away with her phrasing. It was all doled out and explained in a striking red pen.

Sam refused to change a single word of it. She could have. Mr. Lancer had suggested to her and Hannah that they’d make updates based on his suggestions before they gave the proposal to the principal and the other teachers.

But these were her words, her feelings. Not his.

The door clicked open, and Hannah walked out. She gave a goodbye to Mr. Lancer before walking away, leaving the door open for Sam to go in. Sam hesitantly walked up to the door. When she got close enough to the door that she’d cast a shadow in the entryway, she heard Mr. Lancer call her in. She stepped in and walked up to the teachers, who were all sitting in a semicircle.

“The floor is yours, Ms. Manson.”

Sam nodded and took a deep breath. She didn’t need to look at her paper to recite it. She had already memorized it before she had turned it in. “I believe… that all life is sacred.” Mr. Lancer rolled his eyes, obviously upset she didn’t listen to his corrections. He didn’t say anything though, instead he shifted in his seat, making himself comfortable. She tried her best to ignore him and continued. “For me, the thought of eating meat, which had once been a living breathing creature like me, is a disturbing thought.

“I want to convince you all that we shouldn’t be serving meat at the school cafeteria. Eating meat is eating an animal that could have lived a long and fulfilling life that we humans cut short for our own selfish desire to consume.” Sam’s throat closed up as she remembered the feeling of Danny’s ribs bending under her hands. She licked her lips and continued, “They have a right to life, just as we do. Living my life, knowing that I could die tonight in a freak accident is a terrifying idea. Society attempts to make life safer for all of us. With laws to punish those who drive recklessly, programs to keep people from being desperate to attack others, a requirement of healthcare to keep me healthy, but society is failing the animals that live among us.”

Sam could see the teachers’ eyes glazing over as they rapidly lost interest in her proposal. A few glanced at Mr. Lancer with raised eyebrows. Only the principal remained focused on her, which was fine by Sam. Only she mattered here.

“But I know that most people do not care as much about animals, about life, as much as I do. So, to them, I bring them a different argument, one that does not appeal to our sense of righteousness. The average vegan meal is twenty-five to thirty percent cheaper than a meal that contains animal products. They’re also easier to prepare, with less risk of foodborne diseases from undercooked foods. The school meals here are about three dollars, and twenty five percent of three dollars is not a lot, only three quarters, not quite pennies but close enough for many.

“But, that’s not looking at the bigger picture. It's not looking at the community instead of a single individual. There are about eight -hundred students in the school. If only half of them have a meal each day of the week, which I know is a low estimate. In my own experience, my friends sometimes buy more than one lunch. Also, over the week I wrote this just in my own lunch period, I’d on average count only twenty students out of a hundred bringing their own lunches. That’s over four hundred students a week, three quarters per student per day comes out to about three hundred and twenty dollars per week. With thirty-three weeks of school, the school's total savings would come out to just over ten thousand dollars.”

Sam felt a little piece inside of her break, as that’s when the teachers perked up. The teachers began looking at each other with more interest. Mr. Lancer cleared his throat. “For comparison's sake, that’d cover the cost of updating the football team’s equipment.”

Of course that’d be what the teachers cared about, about sports not the cause of life. Sam wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t been that much better up until recently.

The principal smiled brightly. “That’s quite an impressive number… I guess that’s what they mean by a penny saved is a penny earned. I do want to look into this more. You’re right, more than half of the students buy lunches. It’s closer to eighty percent. So that’d put it at what… fifteen thousand about? That’ll save us quite a bit in the long run.” She turned to Mr. Lancer and nodded.

He nodded back before turning to Sam. “Very good, Ms. Manson. You’re free to go. Congratulations on your extra credit!”

Sam nodded, lips tight as she tried not to let her frown show. She had hoped one teacher would have cared about the life aspect of her proposal, but for the life of her, she didn’t know why she bothered to hope. Life was all about the money as her parents had demonstrated so many times.

She turned and began the long walk out of the school. By the time she got to the car, her disappointment had just turned to anger. She wasn’t wrong. Life was sacred, and she had to make people see that.

She got into the back of her car. Her mom was picking her up today. She was in the front seat talking to someone on the phone. She paused the conversation. “How’d it go, Sammykins?”

“Fine,” Sam said, as she threw her backpack across the back seat. “I got the extra credit.”

“That’s great! Why do you sound so upset?”

“They only cared about the money part, not because eating meat is wrong,” she said, folding her arms and leaning against the car door.

Her mom gave her an amused look from the front seat. “Well, the important thing is you got your way. Sometimes the wrong reason for something works just as well as the right one.”

Sam tried not to react. She really didn’t, but she couldn’t stop her mouth twisting. Her mom raised an eyebrow as she backed up the car. Sam huffed. “I guess, I just don’t like it.”

Her mom patted her knee before pulling her phone up again. “Sorry about that, Oswald, I just got my daughter from the school,” she said as she went back to her conversation. Sam let out a sigh and stared out the window the entire ride back.

Which meant that as they pulled up in their driveway, she looked on with horror as she saw her dad standing by the grill on the patio. Sam’s mom didn’t even pull all the way into the garage, choosing to stop right by her dad and rolling down the windows.

“Heya, ladies!” her dad said, waving at them with the spatula. Besides the shine of the metal, Sam could see some sort of liquid smeared on the metal. The sight of it made bile rise up in her throat long before she could smell the meat cooking. “I’m thinking burgers tonight!”

“That’s great, honey!” Sam’s mom cheered, before pausing. “Oh, but…”

Sam unbuckled her seatbelt. Her fingers shook as she fumbled for the buckle. She winced as the hard surface compressed under her hands and she jumped out of the car. “I’m sorry!” Sam said, running past her dad, trying to cover her mouth and nose.

“Sweetie! How long is this phase going to last?” her dad called out after her. “It’s been months!”

Sam didn’t answer, but she could hear her mom consoling her dad as she ran past. Her stomach heaved as the smell assaulted her, and she felt sweat form on her neck as the sizzling sound came from the grill. “Dear, we can just order some food for her. You don’t need to take it personally.”

Fortunately the door opened for her as she approached. Her grandma moved out of the way and shook her head. “That idiot son of mine…” she muttered as Sam ran by. She might have wanted to say something else, but Sam ran right past her.

Sam dashed up the stairs, slamming the door behind her. She didn’t go to her room. No, she ran to the bathroom. She threw herself at the toilet and heaved. The scent of chemical cleaners cleared out the smell of the grill. They slowly chased away her heaving breaths, keeping her from vomiting into the toilet. Her reflection stared back at her in the waters, and each breath into the bowl made the water ripple. The ripples let her pretend there weren’t tears running down her face, and the chill of the porcelain was a grounding force bringing her back into the present.

When she was no longer at risk of throwing up, Sam stood up and turned on the fan in the bathroom before sitting against the door. She tried to keep her sobbing quiet and muted, so as not to let anyone know something was wrong.

It was better than letting her mind wander, because she knew exactly where it’d go. It’d go right back into that basement, with her lips pressing to Danny’s cracked and bleeding ones as the sizzling of his flesh echoed over the constant thrumming of that damn device.

She’d never get that taste or smell out of her head.

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 10

(Ao3 here) (FF.net here)

Tucker shook his head. “No, no, no. I know you two are thinking something, and I’m telling you no!” He paced around the lab floor throwing his hands all over the place as he tried to get his thoughts in order. He placed his hands in front of his face and looked up to the ceiling. “Just… no.”

Danny folded his arms. “You want to have this argument in front of the portal to Hell?”

“I would very much like to ignore that thing’s existence, thank you very much.”

Sam rubbed her shoulders and turned toward the stairs. “I think we should keep talking about this upstairs.” She said, quickly leading the way up. Danny followed, and Tucker soon after, groaning and lamenting the whole way. Tucker and Sam walked into the living room, as Danny closed the door to the lab behind them. The door slammed shut with a thud that echoed throughout the house.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Tucker said, “We’re going to go to my place, and we’re gonna order food. There’s a pizza place that has vegan pizza, okay Sam? We’ll get you a nice vegan pizza. I won’t even order any meat myself. We’ll just have the fake pizza, and sit down, and play video games, while-”

“They said she wasn’t trapped there,” Danny interrupted. “Johnny met me at the park the first time, and you guys were with me when we ran into him the second time.” Danny ran a hand down his face. “She could literally show up anywhere.”

“Well what the hell are we supposed to do?” Tucker shouted.

“I…” Sam began, she hesitated and ran her hands through her hair. “I have a theory.” Sam gulped and looked away from both Danny and Tucker. “It’s… they called her the Lunch Lady.”

“And?” Tucker groaned.

“The first day she attacked, that was the day the school changed the lunches. Wasn’t it?”

For a few moments, the only sound that could be heard was the thrum of the portal even through the closed door of the lab.

“I…” Tucker began taking a deep breath. “So… what? You want to go in and cook the school lunch or something?”

“Better idea than nothing, right?” Danny said, looking between the two. He rubbed the back of his head. “Like, it’s-”

Tucker pointed at Danny, “And wait, remember! You said you thought you felt a ghost before that! When Ms. Angelis’s planter came unscrewed! So this lunch lady was active before Sam got the menu changed!”

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but Sam beat him to it. “Didn’t Johnny say there was a Boxy? And you guys ran into him?” Tucker slowly turned toward Sam as she straightened. “That could have been him. Her window planters are box shaped, aren’t they?”

“Could,” Tucker emphasized. He ran a hand over his face. “Alright, you know what, call your parents! They deal with this on a regular basis apparently! Or the agents do. Make it their problem!”

Danny nodded. “That’s actually a good idea,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He quickly dialed his mom. The phone rang and rang but she never picked up. He then dialed his dad, it rang twice before he was sent to voicemail. He rolled his eyes and then dialed his mom again.

This time she picked up immediately. “Sweetie, can this wait? I’m in a very-”

“The lunch lady isn’t trapped in Casper,” Danny cut off.

“What? What lunch lady?”

“Right, sorry, getting ahead of myself,” Danny muttered. “We found out that meat monster? That used to be a lunch lady. She’s not trapped in Casper, she just keeps going back to it.”

“Hold on a second,” Maddie said. There was a lot of movement on her side of the phone before she spoke again. This time she didn’t sound as clear. “Okay, Danny, you’re on speaker phone now. I’m here with the agents involved. Start from the beginning. How did you find out the original identity of the ghost?”

“Another ghost told me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Maddie shouted.

At the same time, another voice Danny didn’t recognize said, “This has to be your son, Jack.”

Maddie continued, “But, Danny, weren’t the other ghost’s corrupted?”

“Well, yeah, but it wasn’t one of those-”

“There are more ghosts in Amity Park?”

Danny held up his fingers and started counting down. “There’s the Lunch Lady, Boxy, Johnny, he’s the one who told us this by the way, and now his girlfriend Kitty-”

“Ghosts can have girlfriends?” Jack muttered in the background.

“And I think Johnny might be two ghosts in one. He called a black smog Shadow and it listened to him.”

The phone line went silent. Danny checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t dropped the call. “Hello?”

“We’re here… we’re just… processing.” Maddie said, her voice sounding faint.

“You’ve managed to identify five ghosts in Amity Park,” the voice from earlier said, “From the descriptions, it sounds like there are now six?”

Danny hesitated to respond to that, considering he was the sixth.

“Danny?” Jack called out.

“Uhh… well…” Danny said, glancing at Tucker and Sam, “The one that saved Sam the other day? It’s not a ghost. Johnny said ghosts don’t have heartbeats.”

“They don’t…”

Danny could hear his mother suck in a breath. “Danny, what on earth is going on over there?”

“Okay, well, so good news is, your thermos thing worked, but I… kinda let Johnny out in the lab?

“Son,” the third unknown voice who was definitely not his dad spoke up, “what possessed you to do that?”

“Look, okay, so I was walking down the street, and Johnny started talking to me, and then I realized he was a ghost because he was talking about you how guys weren’t letting him see his girlfriend and when I realized that he started going all feral on my ass-”

“Language,” Maddie chided, though her heart wasn’t in it.

“And then… the uh… sixth one that’s not a ghost showed up and defended us. We got Johnny in the bottle, and then we were gonna drop him off. I realized that what Johnny wanted was to be by the portal so I let him out? When we did though, he didn’t attack, his shadow did, but he stopped it. Then his girlfriend came out of the portal to Hell, and they talked for a bit and they said that the Lunch Lady wasn’t actually in Casper High, but that she’s just going back to it.”

There was a thud on the other side of the line. “Are you sure?” The man demanded. “Are you sure that’s what he said?”

“Yeah, I even asked about it.”

“We got to remove the wards. Everyone, on the double! We’re not trapping her in her haunt, we’re keeping her from her release! Move!” There was a lot of scrambling on the other side as chairs slid about and doors slammed open.

“Danny, sweetie,” his Mom said, “The house should be protected, but I don’t know how strong our wards are. They kept one ghost out, but they could have been damaged. You should get Jazz and get out of town for the night.”

“Jazz left,” Danny said, “but there’s more.”

“How can there be more?”

“We have an idea of what might have set her off.”

The room on the other side went silent again.

The man spoke up, clearly saying, “Explain.”

“The day she attacked, it was the day the school lunches changed, we thought that might be related. She’s called the Lunch Lady apparently.”

The line went silent again. “Daniel Fenton, this is Agent Alpha. I’m the lead agent assigned to the case of researching the Elsewhere that your parents portal goes to. I’m also the lead agent for the entirety of Minnesota.

“If you went into the school,” he continued, slowly. There was an unease in his voice that Danny could hear clearly over the phone, “would the non-ghost entity defend you again?”

“Sir!” Maddie shouted, “That’s my son!”

“Ms. Fenton, we just found out that we didn’t seal that ghost, we instead are forcing it to stay away from its haunt!” Danny pulled the phone away from his ears as the man began to shout, “That is a literal magic time bomb waiting to go off! The only reason why that last attack wasn’t a massacre was because that entity showed up and held it off before our agents got there!” He huffed and began again, this time more calmly, “We don’t have many options here…”

Danny let out a breath. “I know it would. Don’t… don’t ask me how I know, but I know it’s going to keep us as safe as it can.”

“Fuck!” Tucker swore, walking out of the living room.

“Was that Tucker?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, he told me to call because he wanted you guys to deal with this. Not us.”

“If we’re lucky, you won’t have to,” Agent Alpha said. “We have men scrambling, but they’re at least a couple hours out. We could mobilize the military, but until she’s an active threat, doing so is a risk to the secrecy.”

“So you’re sending my son?” Maddie shouted.

���Like finds like,” The agent stated. “You remember what happened to the last city that became aware of magic?”

“What happened?” Sam asked. “We don’t know.”

“Operation Silent Night,” the agent said. “The United States government nuked one of its own cities.”

Tucker came back into the room. “Alright, let’s do this. But you owe me so much Nasty Burger, dude!” Danny and Sam turned as he made his way to the front door. “Five! No ten!” Tucker shouted before either of them could say anything, “Ten triple threat nasty melts with extra bacon!” Tucker whirled on Sam pointing at her with thermos, “And don’t you say anything about me eating meat here! If I’m putting my life on the line here, I want to be rewarded God damn it!” Sam reared back at the accusation, but she didn’t get to say anything before Tucker turned and started walking toward the door again.

“Magic is supposed to be cool and instead I got meat monsters!” Tucker lamented as he laced up his shoes. “Meat! Meat is supposed to be my friend! Meat hasn’t hurt me! And now it’s going to!” Tucker opened the door and turned back, pointing at Sam and Danny. “Come on! Before I lose my nerve!” He shouted one final time before stepping out the door.

“I think we broke him…” Sam muttered after a moment.

“Well,” Agent Alpha said on the other side of the phone. Apparently, they could hear him on the other side of the phone. “Anger is a form of willpower, and magic listens to willpower. If he can keep that rage up, it’ll be beneficial.”

“Danny, your father and I will be getting on the first helicopter available. We’ll be there soon. Just keep safe, okay?”

“Will do, mom.”

“Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, mom.”

***

Honestly, Danny was impressed. Tucker did keep the anger up the whole way. The school was too far to walk to, so they had to take one of the city’s buses, which were fortunately on time for a change, and it was late enough that no one was getting on or off at the stops. That being said, it was still the American transportation system, and it took an hour to get over there.

“Why are they so goddamn far out anyways?” Tucker muttered as they made their way up to the school.

“They’re a government agency that my parents apparently work for and I didn’t know about it. I think secrecy is their whole thing,” Danny offered.

“Well, they should be less secret.”

“I don’t think you heard, but they nuked a city because it became aware of the secret.”

“Why the hell would they do that?”

“Probably ‘cause the alternative was worse? I’m guessing?”

Tucker didn’t say anything else, just continued to grumble. They made their way up to the doors of the school. Danny reached up and tried to pull on the door. His ghostly hand phased right through the door, but his human self couldn’t open it. “Locked.”

“Can’t you do a ghost thing and tear the door open?” Tucker asked.

Danny bit his lip and tried to focus on the ghostly version of his hand and tried to make it more real. His ghost form did seem to have super strength, but right now it just kept phasing through the door.

So instead of tearing the door off its hinges, he was just waving his hands in front of it like a lunatic.

“Stand back,” Sam said, “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

Danny and Tucker turned to see Sam walking up to the door, carrying a giant rock from the landscaping around the school. The two boys dove to the side as Sam smashed the window in. They covered their ears, but no alarms went off.

“Huh, no alarm?”

“No, it’s just a silent alarm. We probably got thirty minutes before the cops show,” Sam said, shoving her arm through the window and reaching through to unlock the door from the inside. “Come on, let's do this quickly. The faster we’re done, the faster we get out of here.”

Tucker followed Sam through the door, pushing it open for Danny to enter in after him. “You’ve always wanted to break into the school?”

“I mean, I’ve always wanted to break into the school so I could vandalize it, but this is good too.”

“We’re going into the haunted school, where giant eldritch monsters made out of meat attack. Nothing about this is good.”

“I mean, the agents said they warded the place, right? So hopefully that’ll keep the ghost away while we’re cooking.” Sam offered. The smile she sent his way looked less like a smile and more like a pained wince.

“I don’t think it’s cooking,” Tucker huffed. “I was thinking on the way over here. Both days were Mondays, and yeah, both days they were gonna do the vegan lunches.” He shot a glare over at Sam at that.

“Wait… are you saying this is my fault?”

“Not your fault per se, but it is because they changed to vegan,” Tucker said. Sam stopped and whirled on him, but Tucker walked past her. “The meals they swapped were gonna be the beef stroganoff and the spaghetti, and yeah, maybe it’s because they didn’t make either meal, but it was a Monday. You know what else the school serves on Mondays?”

Danny walked past Sam and grabbed her hand, gently tugging her along. Her eyes snapped off of Tucker down to his hand. She made a sound that was something between a sharp intake of breath and a squawk. Danny huffed and shook his head. “Dude, I think you’re the only one who knows the school lunch schedule.”

He looked back at Sam who was following again. Her hand felt like he was holding a warm coal in his hand, and it was impossible to ignore that they were holding hands in the middle of the school hallway. He gently squeezed her hand to make her look up at him, and he tried to give her a comforting smile.

“Mondays are the day that they serve the butter cookies,” Tucker continued, completely ignoring Danny and Sam. He continued marching forward a man on a mission. They made their way to the cafeteria, stepping over the rubble from the last ghost fight. “Those butter cookies have been served here for at least eight years. Tanya said that when she was a freshman, the seniors had talked about them being the best thing on the menu.”

“Who’s Tanya?” Danny asked.

“The super hot redhead who was the lead in the fall play this year.”

“You know, if you put this much effort into studying, you’d probably have straight As.” Sam pointed out.

“I do have straight As, thank you very much.”

Danny gasped suddenly. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the stomach and left a pit of ice there. His lungs filled up with air, and then the air in his chest felt like it compressed as it dropped to sub zero temperatures. When the air left his lungs, it left in a thin vapor trail.

“She’s here…” Danny whispered. His insides began to twist, and it felt like his rib cage was about to crack open as he thought about the Lunch Lady attacking Sam and Tucker.

“I thought it was warded!” Tucker hissed.

“If it was that simple to keep the ghosts away, they probably wouldn’t need so many teams with guns,” Danny hissed back. “You two go and start trying to cook or bake or whatever. I’ll try to hold her off.”

“Dude, we have the thermos!” Tucker whispered. The idea had merit, but there was just one problem. The idea of Tucker trying to fight the ghost made ice flood Danny’s veins.

So instead, Danny shook his head and he pushed both of them in the direction of the kitchen. The action immediately relieved some of the chill inside of Danny, and it felt like his ribs were settling back into place. “We won’t know if it’s working if she’s in the thermos!” Danny got out in a rush, as his jumbled thoughts snapped together.

“We can make that the agents’ problem!” Tucker argued back. The words made Danny’s teeth itch, Tucker and Sam weren’t supposed to be here. He wouldn’t let them be here.

Danny pushed Tucker harder. “Don’t argue! Go!” Danny said, whirling back towards the halls they had come from. The twisting feeling in his chest subsided as he heard the foot falls of his friends moving away.

Tucker had the thermos. If things did go wrong, he’d have back up. They were protected. They would be safe. Now all he had to do was turn into his ghost form and he could make sure of that.

The cafeteria suddenly smelled of grease, and rotting flesh. A limb came out of the door they had entered from and plastered itself to the wall above the door. Then another came out and slapped against the floor. There was a brief moment where Danny thought she wasn’t going to come in, but then she slowly pushed herself through the door, squeezing through before rising to her full height.

She was a lot taller than he remembered.

He also realized that he didn’t know how to turn into a ghost on command.

“Once again, I didn’t think this through.” Danny muttered to himself before putting his hands up to defend himself. He could feel his ghostly self hovering over him, but he couldn’t figure out how to make that shift again.

He hadn’t done it intentionally before, it just happened.

The Lunch Lady let out a scream. Unlike before it didn’t quite drop Danny on the ground where he was. This time he managed to stay upright as the sounds echoed within him. She ran forward and moved to bring her giant limb down on top of Danny.

Danny brought his arms up, and though he would have no way of stopping something of that size, it was halted in place by his ghost form. He could see the imprints of the bone capped limbs in her arms. He pushed her arms to the side and tried to circle around her, but as a mortal, he was way too slow. He had to throw himself to the ground as her other limb whipped around.

He ducked under one of the lunch room tables as she moved to smash where he was. When he wasn’t turned into paste under the first strike, she then broke the table into tiny pieces. Danny leapt over several tables trying to get distance between them so he could figure out how to transform again.

And she just walked through the tables like they weren’t even there.

“Come on, come on, Fenton, transform!” He told himself as he tried not to get cornered against the wall.

But with each smash of her giant limbs, Danny had his escape avenues slowly dwindle away. Each mighty blow destroyed tables, the floor of the cafeteria, and any hopes of Danny fighting this thing.

Then it happened. She slammed a fist right next to Danny, stopping much earlier than he expected. Then the other landed on the other side of him. He tried to put some distance between them, but instead he backed into the wall.

He looked up at the black glowing eyes looking down on him and realized Tucker was gonna have to use the thermos after all.

“Sorry, mom…” Danny panted.

Then there was another sound. Danny thought at first it was Sam and Tucker trying to get the ghost’s attention, but it wasn’t right. It was metallic in sound, but it wasn’t the sound of kitchen utensils crashing against the floor.

A light shined in the cafeteria, if the Lunch Lady hadn’t been blocking the light, Danny was sure he would have been temporarily blinded by it. She stopped bearing down on Danny and her entire body twisted to look at the light.

The sound of a motorcycle roared, and tires squealed. “Vroom, vroom, mother fucker!”

A hand grabbed Danny’s shirt and yanked him away, the sheer force of the pull made his neck crack, but it also gave him a view of Johnny running his motorcycle into the face of the Lunch Lady.

Danny blinked as her entire body burst into multiple large chunks that spread all over the cafeteria, before it crashed into the wall. Johnny stumbled away from the wreckage rubbing his head. “Johnny?” Danny called out, trying to confirm what he was seeing.

“Told you I owe ya one, kid!” Johnny cracked his neck, before shaking his head. When he turned to look at Danny, a head light was beginning to push out from behind his face. The skin began to tear and his eye fell out before he started facing forward again.

The various globs of meat began to move and slide along the ground, leaving a trail of fluid along the ground. There was a muffled roar of police sirens and pots and pans clattering to the floor, before a limb pulled itself out of the largest glob of meat.

“And I’m always up for a fight!” Johnny shouted, slamming his fists together before he started rolling his shoulders. Each rotation a chunk of flesh fell off his arm. “Let’s do this, Shadow!” The shadow underneath him rose up off the ground, before stretching and letting out a cry of shattered glass.

Danny felt something poke his cheek, and he turned to see Kitty standing next to him. “Hi there!” she said, way too chipper for the situation. Or for someone who was dead. “You’re not transforming.”

Danny looked up, and realized she wasn’t poking his human cheek. “Uh… no. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”

“Thought so,” Kitty pulled him down and sat him down on a table. “It seemed like you weren’t aware of your ghost form. When you used it, it seemed to catch you by surprise.”

“Uh… Yeah…” Danny said, trying to take his eyes off the fight that was beginning to start in earnest. “How did you know? Did Johnny tell you?”

“Nah, I just have the power to know what every man I kissed is doing.”

“What?” Danny said, turning to focus on her.

“I’m kidding. Of course Johnny told me. Plus you seemed to be struggling here-” She paused and looked back at the fight. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “The chair! Give her the chair!”

“On it, babe!” Johnny shouted back.

“Sorry about that.” Kitty said, not sounding sorry at all. “Anyways, you needed some help, and Johnny and I owe you one. So!” She clapped her hands together. “When you used your ghost form against Johnny, what were you thinking?

“I… I don’t know. That’s the problem. If I did well…”

“Well, what was he doing?”

“He… was grabbing Sam? No, Shadow was. Shadow was suffocating Sam, like he was all wrapped around her face and-”

“I see,” Kitty interrupted. She grabbed Danny’s head and looked him in the eye.

“Sam is going to die if you don’t use your ghost form right now.” Ice immediately spread through Danny’s body at Kitty’s words. “She’s gonna die, because if you and Johnny can’t stop the Lunch Lady right now, she’s going to hunt you three down eventually. You’re mortal, somehow, but us ghosts?”

Kitty squeezed his head, reminding him that just because she looked like a human, it didn’t mean she was. The strength in her fingers felt like she could crush his head like a grape, but that was nothing compared to the feeling of his bones tearing apart as she continued.

“We don’t get tired. We can’t rest. We can’t stop. Not until we have what we want. And right now, she wants to make everyone hurt.”

Kitty reached up and ruffled Danny’s hair, except that wasn’t quite right. It didn’t feel like she was running her hands through his hair, instead it felt more like she were rubbing sand against his skin. “So go out there, and stop her, loverboy. Your friends need you to.”

Danny looked down at his hands, and saw bone instead of flesh. He thought about telling Kitty that Sam wasn’t his girlfriend, but he had other problems at the moment.

Namely one Lunch Lady.

“Johnny! I got you a dance partner!”

“Babe, you shouldn’t have!”

“I know, aren’t I the sweetest!”

“No, really, you shouldn’t have! I was having a-” Danny jumped off the ground and impacted against the ceiling. He felt his spine twist and crack until his back was in front of his body and his legs were pressed against the ceiling. He then sprung off the ceiling, crashing into the Lunch Lady. “Whoa!”

Danny screamed, his throat felt like shattered glass was pouring along it. He recognized the sounds coming out his mouth, and he knew exactly when they were created. They were the sounds that were going on when his soul was being ripped out of his body.

Tucker screaming and calling for help. Sam crying and begging him to breath. The sound of his bones breaking as Sam tried her best to keep his heart going.

It was the moment of his death.

The Lunch Lady looked at him, and her mouth began to widen. Danny sprung forward and sunk his claws into her face. Johnny jumped up and brought down a bench from a lunch table that had been snapped and slammed it into her foot. “Hey now! Save some for me!”

The Lunch Lady smashed her fist into Danny’s side, sending him careening through the air. Danny impacted against the cement wall, and he could feel something in his back break as he smashed into it.

But like Kitty said, ghosts can’t stop. Even though he felt bone cutting and grinding in his body, even though he felt like he was going to throw up from the pain, he still got up.

Danny scrambled to his feet, and he could feel his tail whip about and break more of the wall, but he really didn’t care. He bounded forward as Johnny jabbed the Lunch Lady with the bones of his hand. He sunk his claws into her side and swept, trying to eviscerate her. His fingers slashed on through, but found nothing to actually cut.

She roared and picked up a table and smashed it into, and through, Johnny’s throat. Johnny’s body fell to the floor and somewhere behind Danny, he could hear Johnny shout, “Shit, babe! A little help getting my head back! I hate doing this puppet shit!”

“I gotchu’ babe!”

Shadow picked up the slack, circling around the Lunch Lady’s head and covering her eyes. Danny was not one to be out done and jumped up and bit into her shoulder to get purchase, and then started stabbing with his claws.

She roared and twisted, trying to find something to grab. Eventually her limb wrapped around Danny’s tail and she yanked him right off. She threw him against the wall with enough force to make him sink into it and Danny felt his whole world go dark even in his ghost form for a moment.

She then let out a scream that even sent Shadow flying through the air.

Danny tore himself out of the wall and moved to pounce on her from there but then something in the air shifted. The tension in the air just… stopped, like he had been walking in the woods and all the birds and crickets went silent. The Lunch Lady froze and turned toward the kitchen. “Oh…” the human sound from her was weird. “Someone made my cookies…”

She shifted, slowly, the meat began to compact. It took on a more human form with each step, until all that was left was a large portly old woman wearing a uniform with a kitchen apron.

Danny jumped down off the wall, landing next to her, but she didn’t even acknowledge his presence. Instead she slid into the kitchen. Tucker and Sam were sitting next to a fridge, Sam’s black clothes were splattered with flour.

Tucker jumped up and put himself between her and the Lunch Lady, holding up the thermos, but he didn’t activate it. The Lunch Lady walked over to the fridge and put her hand on it. “You made them… My mother’s cookies…”

Tucker opened and closed his mouth. “Uhh... yeah. We did,” he said, after glancing back at Sam to see her reaction.

The Lunch Lady opened the fridge and pulled out the tray. Several dozen cookies were laid out on trays and she gently reached out and touched them. “Just like my daughter, you rushed making them. They’re uneven.” She let out a sob and shoved the tray back into the fridge. She slammed the door with enough force that the giant metal box lurched. She leaned against it. “They’re perfect. They… My grandson hated store bought ones. He… he loved the weird shapes.” She took a step back and wiped a tear from her eyes. “He loved sorting them before eating them. I’d always tell him he could take only two, but he’d take three every time.”

The Lunch Lady smiled. “When they passed, I gave the recipe to the school… but they changed it. They got rid of it…” her voice dropped down into a growl, and the sound of sirens rang out for a split second, before she whirled around to face Tucker and Sam. “You’ll remember it, won’t you?”

“We will,” Sam said. She laughed slightly. “This is… this is going to be something that’s hard to forget.”

She walked over to the two of them. Both of them took a step back, but before they could get far, she enveloped them in a hug. “Thank you, children.” She started sobbing as she rubbed their backs and stroked their hair. “Thank you, thank you…”

Then suddenly, she was gone. She vanished into thin air.

“Man,” Johnny said, “I wish my mother would have disappeared like that.” Everyone turned to look at him, finding him to just be a head in Kitty’s arms. Kitty rolled her eyes and started giving him a noogie. “Ow, babe, quit it!”

“You’re ruining the moment! That was sweet!” Kitty complained before turning around. “Ugh, let’s just get your head attached again and we can get out of here.” She said leaving the mortals in the kitchen.

Or two mortals and some sort of ghost creature.

“We should get out of here too,” Sam said, “Who knows when the cops will show up.” Danny nodded before moving closer to the two of them. He reached over and scooped Sam up in one arm. “Whoa hey!” she shouted.

Danny then reached over and grabbed Tucker and threw him over his shoulder. “Whoa dude! I can waaaaaaaa-” Tucker’s complaints trailed off as Danny bounded through the school, each leap taking him ten or more feet.

So it was less than a minute before Danny made it outside with all them in tow. Right into a dozen cops standing around the front door with riot shields, and eight members of the Ghostly Investigation and Wards. Helicopters were circling around overhead, and the moment the trio stepped outside, spotlights were centered on them.

“Hold fire! Hold fire!” was called out and Danny squeezed his friends closer to him on instinct. One of the agents walked up to them. He took off his sunglasses and looked at Sam and Tucker. “You two, Samantha Manson, and Tucker Foley, correct? Where’s Daniel?”

Danny looked at Sam and Tucker, who had jumped off Danny the moment the agent had walked up. “Uh… funny story… that…” Tucker began nervously.

“I don’t like funny, I like facts.”

Danny pushed Sam behind him, and then Tucker. He looked the agent in the eyes, and told himself that even if something happened to him, Sam and Tucker would be okay.

The agent’s eyebrow quirked as Danny felt the ice that was in his veins get chased away. “I’m fine, sir.” Danny said defiantly. He kept a grasp on that ice, on the fact that if the agents did do something, the only thing between Tucker, Sam, and them was him. He kept himself ready to pull on that at a moment's notice.

The agent reached up, and pressed his fingers against Danny’s jugular. Two heart beats passed and the man let out a quiet, “Fascinating.” His hand dropped to his side. “The ghosts are gone?”

Danny shrugged. “The Lunch Lady wasn’t running around like a blob monster anymore, and the other three that helped were walking around like normal… I mean one was missing his body, but…”

“If they aren’t running around corrupted, we have much bigger fish to fry,” the agent turned around and raised his hand up in the air with two fingers pointed up and circled them around. “All clear!” he shouted, and a chorus repeating it sounded out across the line.

The agent took several steps forward before turning back. “Come on you three, let’s get you home.”

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 9

(Ao3 here) (ff.net here)

Danny marched up to the front door of his home. Sam and Tucker were nipping at his heels the entire way. He couldn’t wait until one of them got their driver’s license and they didn’t have to walk everywhere. Danny used to have a skateboard, but ever since the accident Danny hadn’t been comfortable riding on it.

He assumed that was a good decision, considering he had trouble with stairs now.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sam begged, she alternated between reaching out as if to grab him, and chewing on her finger as they walked.

Danny chuckled. “Honestly? I’m actually feeling way better.” He reached for his pocket, his hand missing by a mile before he frowned. He bit his lip and closed his eyes in concentration, managing to get his hand into his pocket. He pulled out his house key and started trying to unlock the door.

He winced as he over corrected, and practically punched the doorknob with his extended fingers.

“You don’t seem fine,” Sam muttered. She glanced at Tucker for help, who threw his hands up in the air to signal that he had no clue what to say either.

“Well, okay,” Danny said, turning the key and opening the door. He turned and looked back at his two worried friends and sighed. He resisted the urge to run his hand down his face. With how he felt right now, he doubted he’d actually be able to do it correctly.

Instead, he looked up at the sky as he tried to think about what to say. “Yeah, no, I’m not fine.” he admitted, he knew he wasn’t. Something about him changed; something in a permanent way. He saw the way his friends’ faces fell and he scrambled to continue to explain. “It’s just the past several months I’ve been wondering what the hell has been going on with me, and I finally have an answer. It’s… it’s great. Really!”

“Dude…” Tucker said, standing outside the house even as Danny and Sam went in. “That… that looked like some kind of ghost form.” Danny froze in the doorway, and Sam winced and closed her eyes. “Ghosts are dead. Johnny is dead.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head, he tried to focus on the feeling of his fingers running through his hair and not the feeling of bone claws piercing his own neck. “Well, uh… the doctors and all looked me over, right? They didn’t think anything was weird, and I had a heartbeat and everything… A ghost wouldn’t have a heartbeat, right? Or want to eat?” Danny glanced over at Sam who was still standing there with her eyes closed, refusing to look at what was in front of her.

The three of them were silent for a minute, before Tucker asked. “That was months ago. And that one tried to eat Sam… You could have… Have you checked recently?”

“Do you check if you're alive?” Danny countered, but even to his own ears it sounded weak. Even so, he didn’t move to check.

Neither did Tucker.

“Can… can I?” Sam whispered.

“Sam?”

“I don’t… I…” Sam fumbled over her words. She reached up and wiped away a tear from her eye by pressing a finger against her eyeliner. “I don’t want to know. I don’t. But I need to. I need to know if I killed you.”

“You didn’t-”

“I pushed you. I wanted to know. You were always so secretive. It was a mystery. It was fun. When I’d mention something from one of my books and you’d always have a look on your face. It was like you knew more about what I was talking about than I did.” Sam sniffed and hugged herself. “If I hadn’t asked you about how you knew about all that, then this never would have happened. We’d be at school, right now, and Tucker would be eating his fourth crappy cheeseburger and our worst worry right now would be if Mr. Lancer was gonna give out another pop quiz.

“I… I might have gotten you killed, Danny,” Sam looked up at him. “So, I need to know. If…”

Danny let out a breath. “I… okay. Go ahead.” Danny held out a wrist, but Sam didn’t take it.

Instead, she slowly reached up, her fingertips extending just out of the baggy sweater she was wearing. Danny shivered as they made contact just under his jaw. He tilted his head to the side to give her better access to the artery running up his neck. Her fingers were warm, with her wearing the sweater he had assumed that she’d be cold. Instead her finger felt like they left a trail of fire along his skin, burning her touch into a memory he’d never forget. It felt like if he were to look at his neck right now, he’d see blisters along where she touched.

Her fingers pressed against his neck, and Danny sucked in a breath. He could imagine red hot coals under the pads of her fingers. He tried to focus on where she was touching him. He tried to see if he could feel a pulse as she pressed against him.

A sob broke through the house, and Sam threw herself into Danny’s chest. All her weight was against him, and it took some effort on Danny’s part to keep them both upright. But after the shock at her action wore off, Danny’s heart froze. That was assuming he had one to begin with at the moment.

“Is he…” Tucker asked.

Sam shook her head, burying her face into his shirt. “There’s a- there’s a- there’s a pulse!” She gasped. “You’re still alive.”

Danny reached up to pat her back, but as his hand made contact with her, she gasped and stepped back through his hand. Danny blinked and he realized that what was touching her wasn’t his flesh and blood hand, but the one of his ghost form.

“Sorry, I… I forget which is which sometimes.”

Sam shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s… it’s fine.” she reached up and grabbed his hand in hers. She slowly shifted it until not only could he feel the burning touch of her skin with his human hand, but he could feel his ghostly hand pressing into her back. “I… Thank you. For saving me. The other day and today…”

“What on earth are you three doing?” Danny and Sam jumped apart like they had been burnt, as Jazz walked into the hallway. “Close the door, the house is cold enough with us letting all the air out.”

“Jazz!” Danny shouted, as Tucker walked into the house and closed the door behind him. He coughed into his hand as Sam started working on getting her boots off. “I…” he trailed off as he noticed something, “Actually.. Where’s mom and dad? Or the agents for that matter? I just realized that they aren’t here…”

“They all left.” Jazz said, stepping around Sam and Danny and grabbing her own shoes. “I’m leaving too. One of the football players is paying me to tutor him, well his dad is anyway.”

“They left? Where’d they go?”

Jazz huffed. “I didn’t ask. Danny, I’ve managed to go sixteen years without getting involved in this magic stuff. I was very much looking forward to trying to become a brain surgeon and leaving magic behind, and now I have government agents carving the Seal of Solomon into our living room floor.” Jazz groaned and pulled at her hair. “I didn’t even know what the Seal of Solomon was until this week!” She sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. She straightened her hair in silence as she continued explaining, “So as far as I’m concerned, our parents are just weirdos, and Sam is right that the government is wasting our taxpayer dollars.”

Sam folded her arms. “They are.”

“On that, we agree,” Jazz said, walking past Danny and Tucker. The three of them shuffled a bit as Tucker made room for Jazz to put her shoes on while he took his off. She stopped, made her back around and then dragged Danny’s head down to kiss the crown of his head. “Bye Danny, be safe. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Ew… gross!” Danny groaned as Sam giggled. He rubbed the top of his head as if to wipe away cooties. Jazz went out the door and Danny sighed. “Well, I guess telling them their device worked is out of the question.”

Tucker pointed at the thermos. “Shouldn’t you drop it off somewhere? You know, in case it falls off and we got a ‘curse of the thirteen ghosts’ situation on our hands?”

Danny immediately turned toward the lab door. “You know what? Good idea.” Danny speed walked toward the lab door. He tried to open the door but when the door didn’t budge he groaned. “The door froze again.”

Sam walked over and grabbed one of several ice picks that had been left by the door for this purpose. “Lemme help.” Danny didn’t even get a chance to tell her to take it easy before she started chipping away at the frost that had sealed the door shut. Danny opened his mouth to tell her that they could just leave the thermos in the kitchen but he hesitated. Instead, he watched her. Seeing her attack the ice on the door like it was the source of all her problems filled him with some kind of determination.

He grabbed another ice pick and started working on the other side. Chipping at the frost that was growing along the cracks of the door. By the time Danny had managed to clear his side, Sam had managed to chip away the entirety of her’s, along with the top and bottom.

It wasn’t like Tucker wasn’t being helpful. He arguably took on the most important job; holding on to the thermos to make sure that Johnny didn’t accidentally get out.

Honestly, Tucker had the harder job. It might have been less physically demanding, but it was much more stressful.

Before long, they managed to open the door to the lab. When the door opened, air rushed into the lab as the temperature differences equalized. The warm air of the home rushed into the lab. Danny could hear pages from dozens of tomes rustle from the sudden influx of air.

Danny moved to step down the stairs, but when he pressed his foot into the ground, he suddenly dropped as the ghostly foot of his dropped down before his human leg met the ground. Sam reached out and grabbed Danny. “I got you,” she said. Danny smiled at her before the three of them made their way down the stairs.

There wasn’t much light down there. The only source of lumination came from something just beyond the sight of the stairs. The ethereal green glow only gave a small glimpse into the room The desks and bookshelves were set up against the wall. Each of them were totally covered in books and tomes that held down tarps that kept the various papers and notes in place.

When they got to the bottom, there was a moment of hesitation. A beat of silence, before a hand reached out and turned on the lights. “Oh come on!” Tucker shouted. “Dude, can’t you give a warning?”

“Sorry! Sorry!” Danny said, holding up his hands. “I thought with the portal…”

Sam grabbed Danny’s wrist and held on tightly. “Is that what it is? A portal?”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, it’s… well, it was meant to see into other worlds that we couldn’t see, right?” Danny lead them into the room. “It’s… well… Okay, I’ll admit, I’m not one hundred percent sure. The agents and my parents have been talking and the agents were calling it a gateway into an Elsewhere.”

“An Elsewhere? What the hell is that?” Tucker asked, stepping into the lab.

“Anywhere that’s not here, really.” Danny said with a shrug. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Like I said, it’s not like I know what I’m talking about… I’m just repeating the bits and pieces that my parents were talking about at the breakfast table. But… from what I got, it’s a catch all term for alternate dimensions, or a different phase of ours. I’m guessing this one is a different alternate dimension ‘cause they named it.” Danny walked in front of the portal, and really looked at it. He hadn’t stepped down here since the accident, although he knew everything that happened down here since then.

He couldn’t tell you how he knew, but he knew. From everything his parents threw at the portal to try and destabilize it, to everything they took from it to try and understand it.

There was a thrum, a heavy pulse that vibrated deep in everyone’s bones. The air was cold, every other breath was visible. If you asked Tucker, he’d have said the air was thick with ozone, if you asked Sam, she’d have said someone had burned too much incense. If you asked Danny, he’d have told you the air felt like it had weight.

The large opening that Danny had once stood in was now filled, it looked like green waters, swirling in the upright contraption. it towered over them, the waters inside the gaping maw cast a green light over all of them.

But worst of all, was the quiet singing that they all heard, though they all silently agreed not to ever mention.

Tucker huffed and put the thermos in the middle of several tomes on one of the desks. “You gonna tell us what they called it?”

“No,” Danny scoffed, “‘cause it’s stupid.”

“It can’t be that stupid,” Sam said, stepping around Danny, keeping herself between him and the portal.

“They’re calling it the…” Danny froze as a stray thought jolted through him. He straightened up, before turning toward the portal. “The… Ghost… Zone…”

Sam and Tucker turned toward Danny. “Danny?” Sam called out, as she reached for him. “What’s wrong?”

“Johnny said he couldn’t reach his girlfriend…” He began slowly. Thoughts were slotting into place, and a puzzle he hadn’t even been thinking about began to get put together. “And that the feds were keeping him from her.”

“Uh… yeah?” Tucker began. “We were there.”

“Johnny didn’t go… uh… feral? At first?” Danny explained, waving his arm about as if he could gesture to the man next to him. “Like, I think he was trying to get to his girlfriend, and that was the problem. He couldn’t. Because my parents placed wards in the house to keep things out.” He paused and chewed his lip. “I don’t think Johnny was lying about anything he said, it was just a matter of perspective…”

Tucker sucked in a deep breath. “Please. Please, please, please tell me you aren’t about to do what I think you are.”

“I think he wanted to be here, like, in front of this portal.”

“God damn it.”

Sam grabbed the back of Danny’s shirt. “Danny… this doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“The agents said when a ghost goes monstrous like that, there’s no going back. Like, they become wild animals.”

Tucker took a step towards the stairs. “That isn’t making me feel any better, dude.”

“But I did when you guys were safe again,” Danny continued picking up the thermos. He looked at both of his friends and took a deep breath. “Can you guys trust me?”

“Always,” Sam said immediately. She glanced back at Tucker who was looking between them and the stairs.

Tucker sighed. “I reserve the right to bravely run away and tell your family what happened.”

“Fair,” Danny said, popping off the top of the thermos. He pointed it at the ground. He ran his hand around the outside of the device and commented, “My parents probably made some way of depositing anything they found. Though I don’t know if-”

Danny was cut off when suddenly a strong wind kicked up coming from the thermos. With a loud crashing of metal and breaking glass, the feral form of Johnny came tumbling out of the thermos, shortly followed by the smog that had also attacked them. The smog recovered first, turning to face the three of them. It rushed toward Danny, its screeches shaking not just the mortals in the lab, but the very foundations of the house.

Three feet away from Danny, it stopped suddenly. Falling flat on the ground like someone had yanked the floor out from underneath it. It whirled around to look at Johnny.

Johnny was holding up one hand palm facing outward and fingers raised to the sky, asking the smog to stop. He himself was facing the glowing green surface of the portal. The shadow underneath him was thin, and reddish, like rust or blood. It stretched out from underneath him, leading right into the portal.

The surface of the waters began to ripple then bubble as something began to breach. Johnny took several steps towards it, before something burst out. It was humanoid, and vaguely feminine, based off what clothing remained on it.

While a quarter of one leg still had fishnets on, the rest of the limbs had been completely destroyed. One foot still had a black high heeled shoe on it, but the other limb was nothing but burnt and melted flesh. One arm was barely still attached, with just a few ligaments holding it to an empty shoulder socket. The other arm was mostly metal, with a large hand that had a shard of metal coming out of the back of it.

Meanwhile at the waist of the new ghost, an exhaust pipe stretched out, and a sleeve of meat flowed out of it, shiny and wet with a fluid that Danny wasn’t sure what it would be called. Part of her chest had been completely torn away, leaving a headlight coming out of her body, with broken bones encircling it.

She screeched, letting out a sound of metal scraping metal and the sound of tires squealing. Her giant and destroyed hands went to her head and covered her face. Johnny rushed forward, letting out the same kind of calls. He pulled her hands gently away from her face, and his melted face morphed into the best approximation of a smile it could possibly give.

The ghostly woman blinked – less the closing of eyelids and a dimming of the light behind empty eye sockets – before she threw her arms around Johnny.

Almost immediately, their mutilated forms began to change. Johnny returned to the biker look that Danny had originally known him as, and the woman began to change as well. Her feet gained leather heeled boots. Slowly a jacket formed around her shoulders and covered up the damage to her chest, as her flesh began to reform a black crop top.

She shook her head, and a set of dreads formed while her organs returned back into her body. She looked at Danny and the others and gave them a wide smile. “Thank you. I hope my idiot of a boyfriend didn’t give you too much trouble?”

Johnny pressed a hand to his chest and leaned back, even as he pulled her closer. “Aw, come on babe, you think I-”

“He turned into a feral monster and attacked all of us,” Sam interrupted.

The woman turned and slapped his chest. “Johnny!”

“Aw, come on, babe! You know how it is!” The woman sighed and placed her head against his chest. “You know how it is…” he repeated again, this time more quietly.

“Yeah… Yeah, I do.”

Johnny looked over her head and at Danny. “Thank man, I… I really owe you.”

Danny nodded, glancing at the others. He hadn’t quite thought this far ahead. Sam stepped forward. “I… I have a question. And, I know this might seem insensitive. But you two are…”

“Dead?” Johnny finished for her. “As doornails…”

Sam nodded. “Do… do you have heart beats? Like this?’

“No.” The woman said, turning her head to look at Sam, not even letting an inch of her move away from Johnny if possible. “I don’t know of any ghost that does.”

Johnny patted her on the back. “I mean, not like we know many… I think I count three? Right, Kitty? Em, Boxy, Skulker…”

Kitty hummed. “I suppose that’s it isn’t it?”

“Is Em that meat blob that’s been running around?” Tucker asked. “I think I can guess who Boxy is.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he even remembers how to say anything other than box,” Johnny said as he ran his hand up and down Kitty’s back.”But yeah, good point, that’s four. The old Lunch Lady.”

“Lunch Lady?” Danny repeated, looking at Sam and Tucker.

Johnny shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know exactly what her deal is. But like… that’s the feeling I get from her. I just see her and think, ‘She’s a lunch lady.’”

Danny leaned forward. “Do you know what’s making her feral? Like…” Danny said, waving at both of them. “Ya know?”

Johnny shook his head. “Nah, I don’t. I haven’t interacted with her much. I just know she just keeps going back to Casper High.”

Kitty frowned. “Ugh, poor lady.”

“It’s worse than you think, Kitten, that school sucks more than ours did..”

Sam scoffed. “I’d believe that…”

“Wait…” Danny interrupted. “Keep going back? I thought she was trapped there.”

Johnny scoffed. “Nah, we aren’t trapped where we die. It’s just… comforting to go back there. If that was the case, we’d still be in Seattle.” Johnny shrugged. Johnny shoved a thumb back at the portal. “It’s just easier to find each other with things like this. Like, Hell is a pretty large place you know?”

The mortals all paled as one. “That’s a portal to Hell?” Tucker muttered aloud.

“Probably,” Kitty said, shrugging. “Sure feels like it.” She turned and slapped Johnny on his chest. “And you left me in there!”

Johnny pulled her tightly into a hug, she gasped as he crushed the air out of her. “I know, babe, I’m sorry. Believe me, I tried to get back… I… I saw an escape, and I wanted to scout it, but it closed behind me.”

Kitty sighed and pushed herself away from Johnny. She reached up and pulled Johnny’s head down and pulled him down into a kiss. She bit at his lip and pulled away and breathed for a moment. “I don’t blame you. That place is…” She shivered, and began to cry.

Danny opened his mouth to ask another question, but Kitty reached up and placed a kiss on Johnny’s cheek. “Babe, can we go? It’s… it’s been a long time.”

“That it has, babe, that it has,” Johnny said. He turned and looked at the smog that was still floating in the air. “Come on, Shadow, we gotta show a lady a good time.”

Shadow quite obviously rolled its eyes, but threw itself into the ground, before melting itself into the shadow the two of them cast. Johnny gave Danny a salute. “Thanks man, I know I lost it at the end there but… thanks for pulling me back.”

And then they were gone. Like they had never really been there.

Tucker let out a slow breath. “Wow, okay, so uh… that worked out really well. We’re not gonna do anything like that again, right?” He turned and saw the look Danny was giving Sam, and though he couldn’t see Sam, he knew she was returning that look. “We aren’t doing anything like that again, right?”

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 6

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

It took a week, but eventually the school reopened. Danny was both dreading, and looking forward to, the school day. While nothing new had happened, there had been no sign of that one ghost (or Danny’s lunch box) but Danny also hadn’t seen or heard from Tucker or Sam since that day in the park.

It left a feeling like there was a gnawing pit in his stomach.

But, not just in his stomach, it went up his chest as well. Like his ribs had been torn open and left a gaping wound in his chest.

Danny tried to run up the stairs to the school, but each step he took he’d falter. Each step he took, he’d feel the ground beneath his feet a full second before his foot would actually find purchase. And if it weren’t for his white knuckled grip on his backpack straps, he knew he’d lose track of where his hands were.

It felt like he was a stranger in his own body.

Eventually, Danny made it to his locker. Even though he had trouble placing his extremities; he felt like a stranger in his own body. It wasn’t difficult to make it to his locker. His body felt larger than it was, which helped him avoid running into anyone else. When he made it to his locker, he took a moment to breathe. He carefully reached out for the lock on his locker. He felt a hand phase through the metal of the door, the metal felt weak and fragile as he pushed his hand through.

Eventually, his flesh and blood hand made contact with the lock. He breathed out and carefully pulled it away from the door. The metal door creaked as the ghostly version of his hand (that for some reason felt more real than his human hand) slid back.

Slowly and methodically, as not to forget which hand was which, he entered the code to his locker. The twisting of his fingers was hard to ignore as he could feel the ghostly version of himself scraping his palm open with sharp claws.

It took way too long, but eventually he got it open.

He tried to ignore the fact that it felt like he had an open wound dripping something on the floor next to him.

“Yo!” Tucker’s sudden greeting made Danny jump and whip around. He put his (bleeding) hand to his chest. “Whoa, dude, you a lil’ jumpy there?” His eyes widened and he glanced around, before leaning in. “Did you see another one of those… things?”

Danny shook his head. “No, not that. I got a name for them apparently,” he said, shrugging. “They’re apparently ghosts.”

Tucker raised an eyebrow, “You mean like… the things that go boo?”

Danny nodded and shrugged off his backpack before slowly putting his backpack on its hook. “Yeah, that’s apparently what they really look like. They can do that thing where they walk through walls and stuff, but when they manifest in the real world, they look like that monster.”

“Well, there goes any desire to see my great grandma…” Tucker muttered quietly. He raised an eyebrow. “You bringing coffee to school?”

Danny followed Tucker’s gaze to his locker. On the back of his backpack what looked like a metal thermos was hanging off his backpack. Danny pursed his lips and looked back at Tucker. “Yeah, no, it’s not a coffee thermos it’s… okay, so like there’s this tradition called a bottle tree. It’s meant to trap evil spirits because the spirit can enter the bottle but has trouble getting out of it.”

Tucker scoffed. “Are ghosts bugs that can’t understand windows?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Some spirits follow rules that we don’t have to, and some evil spirits really are just malevolent crawling entities. There’s a LOT of folklore out there about it. Anyways, the point being, remember what I said before? My parents' job… what I thought was my parents job... was basically finding out what works and doesn’t work in folklore and magic and turning it into repeatable stuff. This is their version of a glass bottle tree so it’s-”

“It’s a spirit containment device,” Tucker cut off. “You could have just said that.”

“It’s a theoretical spirit containment device. They don’t have any idea if it’ll work or not.”

“Oh, well, that’s comforting.”

“Better than nothing,” Danny sighed, and reached out to close his locker. His hand stopped almost a foot before the door. Bone scraped against metal, the shock of it made him look up and see he wasn’t truly touching the door. He took a couple breaths before pushing and he felt his hand sink into the metal of the lockers, and the metal scraped through his hand, sliding between bone, muscle, and sinew as he used his human hand to close the door.

“You alright?” Tucker asked, glancing at Danny and looking him up and down.

“I’m fine,” he lied. “Anyways, you know my locker combination? Just in case… ya know?”

“How could I forget? Six-six-six… wait, if magic is real, is that actually cursed?”

“How has this school year gone?”

“Fuck.”

***

Sam tapped her pencil against her notebook. Her lip was beginning to feel raw with how much she was chewing on it as she tried to place the unease she was feeling in her gut. It felt like she was going to vomit, but unlike the past couple weeks, it wasn’t because of the smell of cooked meat. No, something else was bothering her.

Something was bothering Mr. Lancer too, seeing as he snapped at Dash to put his racket ball away. Dash tried to protest, saying that it was just for rolling out the muscles in his arm, but Lancer told him to just focus on the lesson.

Mr. Lancer never had told off any of the ‘jocks’ before. Usually he did nothing but sing their praises, calling them modern warriors and scholars.

It felt… wrong. The way the air tasted felt off, everything was cold to the touch, and sounds just felt so much sharper.

And it felt like there was something breathing down her neck.

There was a thudding of footsteps out in the hall, and Mr. Lancer’s head snapped to the door. “Hey!” he shouted, as he made his way to the door. He opened the door and looked down the hallway. “No running in the-”

Anything else he said was cut off by the sound of alarm bells ringing.

“Mr. Fenton!” Mr. Lancer shouted, absolutely furious. “That’s not a-”

Danny’s voice shouted back. “Get everyone out! Now! Towards the main entrance!”

The rest of the class all looked at each other with wide eyes, before Mr. Lancer stepped back into the classroom. Mr. Lancer grumbled under his breath, “This better not be a prank…” before he clapped his hands. “Alright everyone! Just like the fire drills, let’s get going. Single file and no pushing! We’re gonna do this nice and orderly.”

Everyone got up immediately, and started rushing towards the door. The line started going out but Mr. Lancer turned toward the closer emergency exit, not towards the entrance like Danny had shouted to.

“Mr. Lancer?” Sam called out, “Didn’t Danny say to go the other way?”

“This is the fastest route out,” Mr. Lancer said, turning around to give the students a calming smile, “There’s no smoke coming up the stairs here, so we should be fine.” The lead student gasped as they and Mr. Lancer turned the corner. “What the fu-” Sam saw his face turn from confusion to panic and he turned and pushed the students next to him away. “Other way! Run!”

The urgency in his voice made several students turn and book it. Forgoing the ‘single file line’ that he had asked for to just trying to run past each other. But some were slower than others, the sudden shift in plans made panic start coming to the forefront. Sam got pushed out of the way, before she too turned and started running.

Then the ground shook.

Sam turned and looked back, and her feet froze to the floor.

There was a giant hand, large enough that it could easily wrap itself around her chest, slammed against the wall, but the hand wasn’t flesh. Sam recognized it immediately by the way her stomach roiled in protest at its existence.

Ground meat, marbled with fat was slapped against the wall, bones poking out of it scraped against the wall. It felt like it was moving slowly, but the sheer size meant that a slow movement for the giant mass of meat swept across a wide area.

And then it pulled itself forward.

The body turned toward Sam, and the thing’s eyes saw the students scrambling to get away. It opened its mouth wide and Sam felt her chest shake as the sound of children screaming practically crashed into her.

That was Sam’s cue to start running again.

Sam turned and started running. She paused for a moment to pick up one of the other students. She thought his name was Mikey, but she wasn’t sure. “Come on, get up!” She shouted at him before pushing him forward.

She paused again to pick up another student, this one she knew was Trisha. Then she heard Danny shout. “Sam! Look out!”

Sam felt something loom over her, and she looked back. The creature had crossed the distance of the hall way faster than something of its size should have been. There was a fleeting moment where she realized wouldn’t have been able to outrun it…

Before a boney and meaty limb slapped her against the wall.

Bright splotches filled her vision as her head struck the wall, and she fell to the ground. She couldn’t scream, not with the air from her lungs being forced out the way it was. But the bile in her throat rose as the smell of rotting and fetid meat assailed her. It was worse than all the sharp pains she felt across her body where the bones had sliced and cut her.

Her vision began to darken, before a scream snapped her awake. “Sam!” Danny’s voice snapped her eyes open, but her vision swam. The world was shaking and jittery, and she could only see red splotches spread across her skin.

Before the creature stepped in front of her, its mouth opened wide as its limbs reached for her.

The smell of rotting meat assaulted her as the same time hot air coming from its mouth washed over her.

And she realized she was trapped in its hands as it pulled her into its mouth.

A second time, she fell to the floor as some kind of missile slammed into its side. Sam blinked as her vision began to clear, and she saw something in front of her. To say its skin was pitch black would be an understatement. It was like all light vanished by the creature in front of her. Even the hallway was darker in the direction of it. There was an ethereal green glow around it, like the corona of light around all the pictures of black holes Danny would show her.

A long tail, littered with boney spikes flicked back and forth in front of her, snapping back and forth like a whip. Each sudden movement was accompanied by the sound of bones breaking.

She’d never forget how she knew what that sounded like.

The meat creature’s body twisted, not quite moving, more like the meat rotated around a core so that the mouth and face were facing the two of them. Its eyes settled on the creature in front of her, which widened its stance.

Sam glanced down to see digitigrade feat that were encased in a bone like material, before the movement of limbs made her glance up. The arms looked like someone had forgotten to put musculature on the arms, before the hands ended in large claws that were as long as Sam’s torso.

The meat creature roared, the sound of sirens ringing out from its mouth before the black one slashed the other. The meat creature stepped back, placing a limb over its face. The limb melted into its head as a new limb sprouted from the bend of its arm.

Sam couldn’t see the black one’s mouth open, but she knew it screamed as well. This was louder than the meat creature by far, and Sam was brought to her knees by the sound. Unlike the meat creature, the sound coming from it could have been made by another creature.

It was the sound of a young girl, screaming, and a young man calling for help, over the sound of breaking bones.

It was Tucker’s yelling, and Sam screaming as Danny fell out of his parents’ device. The screams she let out before she had to save her breath to give Danny CPR, and the sound of his rib cage breaking underneath her hands as she tried to keep him alive.

The black creature sprung forward, its claws pierced the meat monster’s eyes and it twisted as it leapt over. It planted its feet on the ceiling and with a harsh yank it pulled the larger one away from Sam.

Sam scrambled back as the pile of rotting meat fell to the floor. The ground shook underneath her. The black creature leaned forward, its claws slicing in the ceiling, leaving plaster to fall down onto the meat creature. The one on the ground began to swell, letting out a wet squelching sound as it stood back up. It looked up, and once again let out a scream, the sounds of pots crashing was drowned out as Sam’s own screams came out of the black creature’s mouth.

The black one dove off the ceiling, crashing into the meat monster. There was enough force behind the tackle that it dragged the both of them through the wall. The resulting hole was just barely larger than the smaller of the two monsters, with the larger being dragged through. The screaming of Tucker calling for help and the sound of breaking bones echoed through the school, and it made Sam jump up.

She ran over to see that the two were now fighting in the cafeteria. Sam couldn’t help herself, and she ran over to the railing to see the two of them. The smaller of the two was circling the larger, its claws tearing up the tile as if it were paper mache; it looked like a panther circling prey as its tail whipped about. Each movement was followed by the sound of breaking bones that made Sam’s skin crawl.

The meat monster in comparison was fairly still, if it weren’t for the fact that the body spun as if on an axis it’d look like it was completely stationary. The eyes of the creature tracked it as it slowly prowled around it.

It gave Sam another good look at the black creature, Sam had expected it’s face to look like an animal’s but that wasn’t even close. It was quite obviously humanoid, it almost looked like a skull, but it had long teeth that looked more like fangs.

Then a green light came from the eye sockets and the mouth, before more of Tucker and Sam’s screams came out of it. The meat monster braced just before the black one dove at it. It leapt up, pouncing on it before sinking its teeth into the other. The humanoid head jerked around about, like Tucker did when he was eating a particularly stubborn bit of beef jerky.

The meat monster’s mouth opened in a roar, the sound of children screaming echoed in the cafeteria before it reached up and grabbed the black one in one meaty limb before prying it off and slamming the black one into the floor.

The floor cracked, but Sam couldn’t hear it over the sound of breaking bones. Each creek dragged her back to the basement, back to when Danny’s body fell out of the device with a sickening thud as his skull cracked against the ground, back to when she tried to keep him alive. She could practically feel Danny’s ribs giving way as she tried to keep his heart going, as this weird creature defended her.

The black one twisted underneath as it was pinned. It’s head, arms and legs turning 180 degrees to turn and continue trying to tear the meat monster into pieces.

The meat monster roared again, before it whipped about and threw the black creature through a wall. The concrete and bricks tumbled to the floor, causing a cloud of dust to begin to rise off the floor.

Then it turned to look at Sam.

Suddenly, two men burst into the cafeteria. Their white suits were ruined with red blood stains. One of them immediately drew a pistol and started firing at the meat monster, as the other sprinted across the cafeteria. The crack of gunshots were nothing to the sound of the creatures’ roaring from earlier, and the bullets did virtually nothing to the creature.

They would impact against its body, occasionally splintering a bone that was poking out of it, but other than that the only effect was ripples spreading across the body.

But it got its attention. The meat creature took several steps towards one of the men, getting close enough to raise its arm to swing at him. But then a bolt of fire flew across the room. Sam stepped back as her eyes practically burned from the sudden light. She tried to blink away the spots in her vision as the monster screamed. It whipped around, turning towards the second man, before practically flying across the cafeteria.

It got about three quarters of the way there before the first man shouted something, before a bolt of fire got flung from him and then thrown at the creature. Sam once again stepped back as the creature screamed, her hands covering her ears in a useless instinct.

Sam watched in fascination as the men played with the creature. Even though it seemed like what they were doing was effective, even she could tell the men didn’t do any real damage to it. The fire striking the body didn’t even leave a mark on it, but the beautiful flares sure as hell pissed it off.

It was too angry to think, turning its focus to whichever man was flinging magic at it. Back and forth they switched, casting spell after spell after spell. Till eventually, the creature threw its head back and roared, before disappearing into mist, leaving only the smell of cooked meat wafting in the area.

The two men stood still for a moment before straightening and dusting off their suits in sync. Then both of them looked up at Sam. Sam wanted to run, but her legs might as well have been made of stone for all she could use them right now.

The two men made their way out of the cafeteria, but before Sam could get her legs to obey her they came up to her on either side of the hallway, blocking her off from any escape she could have had.

“You’ll need to come with us,” they said in sync.

Faced with two obvious federal agents of some sort, Sam said the first thing she had on her mind. “I’m…” Sam gasped, “I am exercising my right to remain silent.”

Then the smell of burnt and rotting meat got too much for Sam, and then she threw up.

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 3

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

Come Monday, Danny was uttering the one phrase that he never thought he’d ever say. Granted, he never thought he’d ever bein this situation to begin with, but life was full of surprises. Before today, he had never had to stay after school. While this wasn’t actually called a detention in his school record, everyone had basically said it was.

Despite his sudden loss of freedom though, he was thankful he was being held after school in the science lab. He’d rather tell his parents he had detention instead of dealing with the mess between Tucker and Sam.

Tucker finding out that the school was turning the lunches vegan, on the day the school was gonna serve beef stroganoff, was in a word explosive. In two words, legendarily explosive.

Tucker had been very accommodating to Sam’s new dietary requirements, but he flipped out the moment that her dietary requirements had gotten applied to him. Danny could admit, he personally thought Tucker was taking it too far. Tucker had been shouting at Sam, which Danny had never seen him do before. It wasn’t made better by the fact that people started egging him on.

Of course that got people to defend Sam, and from there it just started getting worse and worse. Danny had entertained the idea of starting a food fight just to get out of the situation. But that would have been a short term solution to a long term problem, as the three of them were going to hang out after school today, but then Danny dropped the glassware in the chemistry lab. Again.

Leading to this current detention.

Danny was snapped out of his musings as the chemistry teacher, Mr. Falluca, snapped his fingers in front of Danny. When Danny looked at him, Mr. Falluca folded his arms, and gave Danny his most disappointed stare. “Danny, please pay attention.” Mr. Falluca sighed. “I don’t want to be here any more than you do. I’d much rather be going golfing today, but you need to do these labs.”

“Sorry, Mr. Falluca… I really appreciate this.” He said turning back to the project. He didn’t need Mr. Falluca to explain the science behind it, he already knew, he just had to do this project. It wasn’t hard at all, just mixing some chemicals. He should be able to do this so easily.

But it required fine motor control, and he seemed to be quite lacking in that department for a while now.

Mr. Falluca ran a hand over his head. It’d be through his hair if he had any left. “If you really do, then please don’t make us go through this again. I don’t know what was going through your head. Danny, you’ve dropped so many glass beakers…” Mr. Falluca glanced at Danny and then frowned. “What’s wrong?”

It took Danny a moment to realize what was happening. There was something strange, it felt like water was trickling down his throat, but when he focused on it, he realized that his face had shifted forward, or what felt like his face had. His real face was crying.

Danny swallowed, and reached up to wipe his eyes. An icy chill, like someone dragging shards of ice rubbed against his face. He opened his eyes and felt his mouth go dry. His hand was off by about a foot, and he cursed. He couldn’t help it, it just slipped out. Thankfully, Mr. Falluca didn’t call him out on it, only instead moving around the chemistry set. “I’m sorry, I’m fine…” Danny said quickly. After Mr. Falluca stopped, Danny continued, “it’s just…” He shook his hand, trying to remember which one of the two was real. “I had that accident a couple months ago? I still don’t feel right sometimes. It’s like my hand is further away, or closer than it should be.”

Mr. Falluca’s eyes widened. “Oh! Daniel, you should have said something earlier. I’m sorry! Is it a medical thing?” Danny nodded and Mr. Falluca ran his hand down his face. “Oh, no, okay, that changes everything. How about this, instead of you handling the glassware, I’ll do it? That way we can still do the experiments, and you won’t be at risk of dropping things?”

Danny straightened. “Oh! That'd be great! Thank you so much!” he said practically jumping. He put a hand on his chest and breathed. “I’ve been so worried about it, I can’t be an astronaut if I can’t do science…” Danny let out another sigh, and his shoulders relaxed. “It’s worse when I’m worried… it’s like I can’t focus on my body.”

Mr. Falluca waved his hands in a calming motion. “Hey, now, it’s okay. Now that I know what the problem is, we can now implement the solution. Step one, we get this experiment taken care of!” Before they could implement step one, there was a loud crash.

It didn’t sound like books falling, or one of the shelves falling off the wall. What crashed into the ground sounded heavy, and solid. It was somewhat like what Danny thought a landslide would sound like. Mr. Falluca frowned and turned toward the door. “One moment… I’m going to go check on that.”

Danny waited a second, before he gasped. A cold chill passed through his body, like a pit of ice had just struck him in his chest, burying itself in his lungs. As that chill slowly left his body, his eyes widened at the rising mist coming from his throat.

Danny looked up at Mr. Falluca, and before he knew it he had started following him. Mr. Falluca turned, but before he could tell Danny to go back to the classroom. Danny interjected. “I got a bad feeling…”

Mr. Falluca frowned and opened his mouth to tell him something, but then there was another crashing sound. The two of them turned and walked over to the railing that looked down into the cafeteria/auditorium that was in the center of the school building.

There was something down there, though neither Mr. Falluca or Danny would have been able to tell you what it was. Now that they were closer, they could hear it, and they could see it blocking out the lights in the hallway between the cafeteria and the lunch room. A limb, made out of some reddish material, marbled with something yellowed and shiny, struck at a cinder block. The block skittered across the entire floor of the cafeteria, impacting against chairs and sending them flying off.

Then it shuffled into the room. It was somewhat humanoid, though it appeared to be lacking a neck. Two arms like limbs attached to a bulbous belly, a squat head, looking like someone had taken a sphere and attempted to smash it flat. Hundreds of protrusions stuck out from its flesh pointing outward like spikes.

In the light of the cafeteria it looked like a creature made out of ground up meat, grease, congealing fat, and bones.

Mr. Falluca was the one to recover first. “What the-?” he began.

The thing shifted, turning its full attention toward Danny and Mr. Falluca, and now the two of them could see its eyes. Two black as pitch sclera with glowing pupils glared up at them before narrowing.

And a mouth that stretched from just under its eyes all the way to the bottom of its belly.

The mouth opened wide. It didn’t go up and down like a human’s but instead spread wider side to side. Flashbacks to an injury one of the football players had after running into someone’s cleats overlayed Danny’s eyes. A red viscous liquid dripped out of the mouth, like blood. Then it roared.

Danny knew, without a doubt, that the sounds coming out of the thing were indeed from it. But he wouldn’t have been able to tell you how he knew that. They echoed in his head, despite the fact that Danny was covering his ears. Danny felt like it didn’t just make noise, but was screaming directly into his soul.

They weren’t even the sounds a creature would make; it was a cacophony of children screaming, the crashing of pots and pans, and sirens. They were all blended together in a mess of chaos that made Danny’s heart begin to race.

This time Danny was able to recover first. He got up off the floor, having fallen in pain as the thing had screeched at them. He pulled himself up by the railing and looked down, in time to see the thing rushing toward them. Its feet slapped against the tile, making a wet splatting sound with each step. It crossed the final few feet before it slammed into the wall underneath Danny.

It flattened against the wall, and the smell of rotting and fetid meat assailed Danny. Now that it was closer, Danny had every right to believe his suspicion about the creature being made out of food stuffs was on the mark.

But before he could think much further a limb reached up and dug into the wall above it, and slowly began pulling its massive bulk upwards.

“We need to go,” Danny said. He turned and grabbed Mr. Falluca’s arm, yanking him off the floor. “We need to go, now!”

“Danny, what was-” Mr. Falluca began, before the creature started pulling itself up over the railing. “Right, running now!”

Danny used to make fun of people in the horror movies he watched with Sam. Whenever they ran from a monster, they’d always inevitably run into an obvious dead end, going upstairs or into a basement, and they’d always look behind them while running.

‘You idiots!’ Danny would whisper, taking care to make sure his parents wouldn’t hear them watching these gorefests. ‘Just focus on running!’ he’d tell them, while Sam would giggle and try to keep him from throwing popcorn at the tv.

Danny took it all back, as the creature got closer to them. He could feel the weight of the thing slamming down on the ground with each step. He couldn’t help but look back as he began to feel the thing looming over them.

It gave him a chance to see Mr. Falluca grab a fire extinguisher off the wall and try to swing it at the creature.

The extinguisher seemed to just phase right on through it. The creature didn’t even seem to notice. It snapped out with a massive arm and smashed into Mr. Falluca. The teacher was thrown back several feet. He went flying past Danny before his head cracked against the floor. The sharp sound echoed in the halls, and Danny couldn’t help but wince.

He stopped by his teacher despite himself. He knew he should keep running, but he had to help. Though he didn’t even have enough time to check if he was still breathing before a shadow loomed over them.

Danny’s eyes widened as the monster shifted, moving to backhand him with a limb that might as well have been a boney mace. Danny screamed as the fist came flying at him, and he threw his hands up to cover him.

But instead of a bone crushing blow, Danny felt his face get splattered with uncooked rotting meat and grease. Danny opened his eyes to see the blow stopped a foot away from his hands. A long thin spindly shape was pressed into the meat, making a clear outline.

It wasn’t just Danny that seemed shocked by the development, but the creature did as well. Danny risked a glance over to the creature’s face to see its eyes seemed narrowed in confusion, before glancing back at the stopping force himself.

As his arm shifted so did the imprint.

And Danny realized he could feel the fat and grease dripping down his arm.

Thinking quickly, Danny reached up and used two fingers to jab at the creature’s eyes. The creature screeched again, letting out the familiar caterwauling of sirens going off. Danny then followed up the poke with an actual fist into the creature’s face.

His human fist never made contact with it. It was just out of reach, but he saw the imprint of a fist smash into the monster’s face.

The general mass of meat didn’t turn, but the eyes slid around in the meat before focusing on Danny.

Good news, the thing didn’t seem to care about Mr. Falluca anymore. Bad news, it now had all its focus on Danny.

“I didn’t think this through.”

As far as last words, it was a lot better than ‘I cut myself on that’.

The thing screamed and brought its arm back around to try and crush Danny. He quickly jabbed the thing in the face before throwing a hook into its side. As the thing gasped, letting out a vile stench, Danny took off and started running the other direction. He only hesitated a second to make sure it would chase him.

He didn’t need to wait long. In fact he had to take a moment to try and kick it away as it barreled down on him.

Danny was able to make it to the stairs and out the emergency exit before the creature caught up with him. He slammed the door against its face, before the door was blown off its hinges. Danny had to duck his head as the door flew over him.

Danny looked back at the monster as it squeezed itself through the door frame. “Right, still running.” Danny said to himself before booking it.

Being outside didn’t give Danny any new magic powers unfortunately, so it wasn’t long before the thing caught up to him. Danny turned to try and block another blow, when suddenly the creature disappeared in a puff of smoke.

And then the only thing Danny could hear was his own ragged breathing, and the sound of the school’s alarm system.

It disappeared like a ghost.

“Wha…” Danny said looking around, “What the fuck?”

A few hours later found Danny at the hospital. Mr. Falluca had needed a trip to the hospital, and Danny had called an ambulance. Danny hadn’t realized it at the time, but he had been cut on the side of his head, which made it slick with blood. The EMTs had wasted no time in dragging him to the hospital as well.

They needed to shave the side of his head to look at it, and Danny had to give the nurse credit for not freaking the hell out because a large flap of skin was dangling off his skull. If it weren’t for the shock, Danny would have been screaming.

The nurse told him that it wasn’t that bad.

She was either an amazing liar or Danny did not want to know what she considered bad.

By the time they had stitched his head up, his parents burst into the room. “Danny!” his mom shouted as she ran toward him, before stopping and withdrawing and turning toward the nurse.

“He’s alright,” the nurse said, taking off her gloves. “It was just a flesh wound. He’ll make a full recovery in time. Just needed some stitches. I take it you’re Jack and Maddie Fenton?”

“Yes, yes, that’s us…” Maddie said, pressing a hand to her chest and breathing slowly. “Sorry, it’s just we got a call that Danny was in the hospital and needed stitches. I assumed the worst… it… Danny, it was just a chemistry lab! What happened, sweetie?”

The door opened just a little wider and Danny looked up to see Mr. Lancer leaning in. “That’s something I’d like to know as well.”

The nurse stood up and put herself between the Fenton family and Mr. Lancer. “I’m sorry, family only…” She trailed off as Mr. Lancer opened the door and a cop was standing behind him.

“It’s okay,” the cop said, holding up his hands in surrender. He put his hands back down and tucked his thumbs into his belt loops. “We just want to ask some questions about what happened here.”

Maddie and Jack glanced at each other before turning toward Danny. “Danny, are you feeling up to it?”

Danny thought for a moment. “Well… I mean…” he hemmed. He reached up to run his hand through his hair, but the nurse stopped him. He sighed and shook his head. “You guys aren’t going to believe me.”

Mr. Lancer gave what was probably meant to be a charming smile, but really it just came off as kinda lame. “Try us, you might be surprised.”

Danny looked at Mr. Lancer and tried to give him his most unimpressed glare. “A giant meat monster came and attacked me and Mr. Falluca.”

Jack chuckled and rubbed Danny’s shoulder. “Alright, okay, so maybe they wouldn’t believe that…” He trailed off as he turned to look at the cop and the English teacher, who both weren’t laughing. “Uhh… everything okay?”

“We checked the security cameras before coming here. We saw Mr. Fenton here and Mr. Falluca walking out of the chemistry lab, and at the same time the kitchen security cameras started glitching. There was a brief moment when the cafeteria cameras glitched, before all of them started acting up. When they finally all came back, Mr. Falluca was on the ground bleeding, and Danny was outside off the school property.”

Jack straightened up. “Hold on now, are you insinuating my son is a suspect?”

The cop held up his hands again. “Oh, no, I know that all sounds bad but… well, when the cameras came back on? The kitchen looked like it had a car drive through the inside wall of the building.”

Mr. Lancer grimaced and folded his arms. “Parts of the kitchen also look like a bomb went off in it. It’s so damaged, we’re gonna have to cancel school for a while. Those stoves are gas powered. There’s an exposed line.”

The cop sighed and pulled out a pad of paper with a pen. “I can’t believe I’m actually asking this, but… can you describe the meat monster?”

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 11

(ao3 here) (ff.net here)

“Are we being detained?” Sam demanded to know. Sure they were in Danny’s house in the kitchen, but it definitely felt like they were on trial in some way. The three of them had been brought back to the Fenton household, and brought into the kitchen. The teens were all made to sit down at the table with agents covering the exits. A bowl of incense sat in the center of the table, with sticks two burning at the same time.

There was a third, but when it was put in front of Danny, it immediately went out.

Honestly, Danny appreciated the incense. The smell of rotting flesh still hadn’t left his nose from the Lunch Lady, and the house often smelt strange now due to the portal down below them.

“Yes, you are.” The agent who had checked Danny’s heartbeat gave a solemn nod as he sat across from them. “But not in the way you think. I’m Agent Alpha, we talked on the phone a bit.”

“I want a lawyer.” Sam interrupted.

Alpha snorted, amused. “Cute, but like I said, not that kind of detained.” He placed his hands on the table with his hands folded. “You three just went through something trained agents have troubles with. Not just in dealing with the ghosts, but also in terms of magic. And. Magic. Has. Consequences.”

Alpha indicated the agents around the room. “The members of our agency literally give our names, our identities, to the U.S Government for safe keeping, to mitigate damage done to our psyches from dealing with magical events.”

He pointed at Sam and Tucker, “And you two seem to be of very sound mind for what you two just went through. Seem to be.” Alpha sighed and leaned back. “You’re being detained, yes, but you’re being monitored. To make sure nothing latched onto you two.”

The thought of his friends being injured made ice flow through Danny’s veins, and his bones creak like they were being bent. Danny licked his lips. The action mirrored by his ghost form hovering over him, he could feel his tongue passing over long jagged teeth. He tried to ignore what felt like blood pouring out of his mouth as his tongue tore itself on them as it went back into his mouth.

“What about me?” He asked.

Alpha didn’t respond. He took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth. Sam began to stand up, probably to demand a lawyer, when Alpha finally spoke. “Frankly? Fuck if we know.”

The agent shrugged. “You have a heartbeat, you’re definitely alive. But you have a corrupted ghost form, I believe your parents are debating on roping in other researchers but…” he shrugged again.

“But what?” Sam demanded, standing up and slamming her hands on the table.

The agent looked at Sam, staring at her until she sat back down. He glanced at the incense, and back at Sam. “Magic is… valuable. And there is a very good chance your parents will want to play this close to their chest. They may not want to risk bringing in another researcher who’d be more interested in cutting you open and seeing how you tick than in your value as a self-aware being.”

Tucker gasped as Sam winced. The agent looked back down at the incense again, as Tucker spoke up. “Wait, are you saying there are people out there who’d kill Danny just to study him?”

“The world of magic is a violent one. It’s an eternal arms race where knowledge is the greatest weapon we have. We know what poisons work on ghouls because we’ve studied their anatomy. No ghoul let us do that willingly.”

“Ghoul, like a man-eating living dead?” Tucker asked.

The Agent made a so-so gesture with his hand. “Not quite. They aren’t living dead, but they do feed on humans. The problem is, up until they’re feeding, they look just like regular humans.”

Sam put her head in her hands. “Can we stop? I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s making me sick.”

The Agent looked down at the incense again. Danny narrowed his eyes. “You’ve done that multiple times now. What’s going on?” Alpha merely raised an eyebrow and Danny pointed at the incense in the center of the table. “You keep glancing at those, what are you guys doing?”

“It’s a two-fold spell,” Alpha admitted. “It’s a calming spell, meant to pacify people. But also, it’s a detection spell. If one of several dozen entities were inhabiting you, the incense sticks would be burning faster. Samantha’s stick here isn’t burning quickly, so she doesn’t appear to be possessed, but she’s having strong emotional reactions. Which shouldn’t be happening.”

Sam didn’t look up, instead she spoke into her hands. “Is that why my head is burning?” Immediately several of the agents shifted into defensive postures and their hands went to their sides.

Alpha held a fist up, halting their movements. He brought it back down before rubbing his chin. “Burning?” Alpha repeated. He hummed before turning toward one of the agents standing guard. “Agent K, Agent O, remind me. What is the magic you two share?”

“We’re bound to fire, sir.”

“That’s… unfortunate.” He turned toward Tucker. “When the device activated all three of you were there, correct?”

“Yeah, uh… it lit up, and then Danny screamed and he fell out, and… well, then we started screaming.”

“Interesting…”

“You say interesting, I say excruciatingly painful,” Danny said. He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. Sam winced next to him as if she’d been struck. “What’s so-”

Alpha swiped his hand across his neck in a gesture calling for silence. “That’s unimportant to the current situation. The current situation is that you three have been only half inducted into our world. There is a lot you don’t know, but we’d like to change that.”

Alpha held out his right hand. “If you choose, you can all walk away from this. Stop looking into magic, and avoid it. You’ll understand more than the average citizen, but you won’t be as at risk compared to if you jump into the world of magic.” He lifted his other hand up. “On the other hand, you can be fully inducted. You’ll know more about what really is going on in the world, and you won’t have the wool pulled over your eyes. It’ll be dangerous, you’ve already seen that. But you’ll be given tools to survive it.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “I’m being given a choice?”

“Your parents punched a stable hole into an Elsewhere that we don’t recognize. We’d rather keep them on our good side.”

“Johnny said it was Hell.”

“It’s definitely not Hell. We’ve seen that, but I can understand the confusion.” Alpha shrugged. He then pointed at Danny, “Additionally, we’d specifically like to offer you, specifically, a job in our agency.”

“Me? Aren’t I like exactly what you’re fighting?”

“You neutralized the ghost attacking your school, and you managed to fight an additional one and capture it. Yes you let it go, but you let it go to neutralize it. Frankly, if it were just our agents involved in this mess, there’d be a body count.”

Alpha put his hands on the table. “We wouldn’t ask you to make any changes, while our agents give their names to the U.S Government, we wouldn’t risk that with you. Something has turned you into an unknown demi-human, one we don’t have in any of our record books. Your existence is valuable, even if you never fought another entity. Though we will ask you to.”

Tucker frowned. “I thought two a year was considered unusual.”

“Two new unknown entities is a lot. The keyword there being new. Our agency is keeping thousands from wreaking havoc. There are also other things that we need to fight...”

Danny sighed. “The thing is, I want to be an astronaut…”

“We should check if you need to breathe in your corrupted form. If you don’t, you’d be an amazing asset up there.”

Tucker looked up to the ceiling. “Please, tell me the moon isn’t haunted.”

“It isn’t. Not enough life has died up there to haunt it. But after being involved in all this, does it surprise you that there are other types of magical entities out there?”

“So aliens are real?”

“If you can think of something in pop culture, it probably exists in some form or another.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head. “Can I think about it?”

“Absolutely,” Alpha said, standing up. He reached into his suit and pulled out a business card. “If you wish to work with us, just call this number. If you don’t, but still wish to be inducted, you can let your family do it.”

Alpha brushed off his suit before folding his hands behind his back. “I hope to hear from you soon.” He hesitated at the door, before turning. “Two more things,” He pointed at Tucker, “You’ve proven to have an unnatural resilience. You have an awareness of magic, yet it seems that magic is not quite drawn to you.” He then pointed at Sam, “As for you, I recommend going home and trying to forget all this happened.” He met Sam’s eyes over his sunglasses and held his gaze for just a second before turning and leaving the room.

The agents began to clear out. None of the teens moved until they heard the front door close. Sam reached over and grabbed Danny’s hand. “Can we put out that incense, my head hurts.”

Danny squeezed her hand before standing up. He grabbed the incense and brought it over to the sink. “Uh,” Tucker began, “Should we be doing that? They made it sound like that was making sure we weren’t possessed or anything.”

Danny chewed on his lip for a second before dumping the incense in the sink and running the water over them. “It’s fine. If they were actually worried about it, then they probably wouldn’t have left. We probably passed some type of test or something.” Danny said as he let the water flow. He stared down at the water as it dragged the sticks of incense down into the drain.

Tucker groaned. “You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?”

Danny sighed and turned around, leaning against the sink. “Probably. It seems like this is something only I can do.”

Tucker let out a puff of air, and slammed his head down on the table. “Fifteen.”

“What?”

“You owe me fifteen nasty melts for this.” Tucker’s voice was muffled by the table. “Look, dude, you’re my best friend. And…” he waved his hand about. “Magic is real, and so are monsters. The Lunch Lady didn’t care that we weren’t involved in this. Like, everything that’s happened so far has been because it’s been happening despite us. Maybe your parents opening the portal caused all this to come out, but it was all already there.

“You hear him,” Tucker continued, “He was talking about ghouls and aliens and… everything, like it was normal… It is normal. I just didn’t know about it.” Tucker leaned back. “Did you know there’s a twenty-seventh letter of the alphabet? I didn’t. The agents told me. I got a new programming book. I was gonna pick up a new language as a fun project to take my mind off the magic stuff. The letter is all over it, it’s like a… a … weird p or an infinity symbol. I thought it was like some kind of decoration at first, but then I realized it was all over the place, and I could read it. Like, it had always been there.”

Tucker groaned and rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t want to be involved in this. I really don’t. But… I already am. And you already were. If you’re going deeper, I’m gonna get involved too.”

“Same,” Sam said.

Danny whirled on her, “Wait, Sam-”

Sam cut him off, “I told you, I trust you.” She sighed as she began to hug herself. “And, I’m not letting you guys go into this alone.” She laughed weakly. “And hey, maybe your parents will teach me actual magic.” Danny and Tucker glanced at each other as Sam sniffed. “I can read between the lines here, he didn’t state it outright, but magic is already in me, I better get something out of this.”

Danny took a hesitant step towards Sam, and wrapped her up in a hug. He rubbed her back as he hear the door open again. “Well, I guess that’s that. We’re all in this together…” He looked over at Tucker, who nodded at the same time Sam nodded into Danny’s chest. He stepped away from Sam as his parents walked into the kitchen.

“Danny?” his mom said walking in. She dashed across the room and wrapped him up into a hug. “Are… they gave us a report… are you…” she stammered, as she rubbed the back of his head.

“I’m fine mom,” Danny said, trying to escape her grasp. “I’m fine, and Tucker is too.”

Maddie froze, and took a step back. “Sam?” she whispered.

Sam shook her head. “I don’t know… he didn’t tell me, but it was obvious he didn’t want to.” Sam looked up at Maddie with tears in her eyes. “He told me to go home and pretend this never happened. I can’t… I can’t do that. And I know, I know, something is wrong with me but…”

“Oh sweetie,” Maddie said, reaching over to rub at Sam’s shoulder. “You should go home and get some-”

“No,” Sam hissed. Maddie stepped back at the heat in her voice. “I’m not gonna turn a blind eye to this.”

Danny huffed. “So, mom? I think we really need to know what you guys actually do for a job here.”

“Well, alright, let’s get you kids something to eat first. Your father does love to blabber on about his work. He’s gonna love this…”

[brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics]

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 8

(Ao3 here) (FF.net here)

By the time they had been given the all clear to return home, it had grown quite late. The sun was beginning to set. The Fentons rode back in their vehicle with the agents following them in their damaged van. The door had been strapped to the top of the van, and Danny could tell whatever magic the agents had used to hide them had worn off judging by the strange looks the other drivers were giving them.

They arrived home to two additional agents standing around their home. Frankly, Danny didn’t think he’d be able to tell them apart, even from Agent O or Agent K. They were standing over several gashes in the ground with a flashlight. There were physical differences, of course. However, when Danny tried to remember which agent was which, it was like any identifying information slipped through his mind, leaving a simple base concept behind.

If Danny hadn’t been dealing with so much other shit lately, it’d have been creepy. Now it wasn’t even on his top five on the list of things he had to deal with.

When Danny got closer, he realized that they had been standing over a set of tire tracks on his front lawn, and through his mother’s garden.

Whatever did this was lucky it was hard to kill. His mom was going to go on a warpath over that.

The agents all stood around it, with Jack and Maddie following momentarily. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” The agents stated. “It definitely seemed to want to get inside, but it wasn’t able to.”

“I’d have been impressed if it had,” Maddie stated, rubbing her chin. She spoke through gritted teeth, and both Danny and Jack straightened at the cold fury in her words. “The wards were placed in the foundation. They’re sealed shut with the house literally on top of them.

Danny shoved his hands in his pocket, trying to appear nonchalant. “How do you know this was a magic thing?”

The agent moved his flashlight to highlight part of the house. On the second floor, between Danny’s and Jazz’s rooms, was a tire track skid mark on the brick.

“Oh…”

The agent flicked off the flashlight. “I think this confirms that we need the portal investigation taken care of. Something wanted in your house. This has never happened before, correct?”

“We’ve never actually seen a magical entity before,” Maddie answered. “All our studies were done after the fact from reports.”

The agents all nodded as one. “Understood.” One of the agents stepped away and pulled out a walkie-talking from his suit and began fiddling with it. “We’ll relay a message to HQ, this is fast approaching our highest priority.”

Danny turned incredulously toward the agent. “I thought two a year was considered a lot? And we’re at five now?”

The agent looked at Danny over his sunglasses. “Yes, five is almost unheard of.”

“Then why… never mind, I’m realizing I don’t want to know.”

“Good, you can learn.”

Maddie sighed and moved toward the front door. “Well, no time like the present. The sooner we figure out the portal, the sooner we can figure out what’s going on with my son.”

The two new agents glanced at Danny, and the other two explained. “He has shown remarkable healing powers.”

“Convenient.”

***

“So… that’s it?” Tucker asked, as they walked down the street. “You guys had some sort of magical entity attack your house, and the agents and your parents just said, ‘whelp, back to work’?”

Danny shrugged. The action made the thermos his parents gave him clink against his side. “I don’t know what to tell you man, it’s not like they’re gonna solve the secrets of the universe in a night or whatever.”

“Dude… we have been attacked three times by weird monsters.” Tucker folded his arms and huffed. “This is crazy, man. And I’m gonna be honest, you’re beginning to weird me out too, like, you’re acting like this is all normal.”

“It definitely isn’t,” Danny admitted, shrugging. “But I don’t know what you want me to do about it.” Danny hummed and stretched. “I mean, I guess we could try and figure out why the meat monster is attacking.”

“Oh hell to the no, I am not Freddy, I’m not a member of the Scooby Gang, I am not going anywhere near the apparently haunted school.”

Danny laughed and pushed Tucker. “Oh come on, you’re saying you wouldn’t go into the school for triple threat nasty melt with extra bacon.”

Tucker opened his mouth to immediately say no, but then he thought about it. “I mean… how long would I need to be in there?”

“You’re right, you’re not Freddy, you’re Scooby.”

Tucker was saved from defending himself when Danny saw Sam across the street. It took a moment for the two of them to recognize her, since she was wearing a big heavy sweater. Danny realized after a moment she was probably covering the bandages that were no doubt still running up her arms.

It’s not like everyone was lucky enough to have a magical portal open on top of them, making them feel like they were floating outside their body while also giving them healing powers.

He shouted and waved at her, causing her to jerk up. She started running across the street, taking two steps into the road before stepping back and looking both ways. Once she saw it was clear, then she jaywalked across the street.

“Heya, Sam,” Danny said, waving at her again as she got closer. “I’m surprised your parents let you out.”

“They didn’t,” Sam admitted. “I snuck out.” She shrugged as Danny’s face made a complicated expression. It was something like a smile while frowning. Sam brushed her hair behind her ear and sighed. “My dad was cooking meat again, so my grandma distracted my parents.” She sighed. “I think my dad thinks if he cooks a bunch of meat, I’ll go back to not being vegan.”

“Can we trade parents for a week?” Tucker asked. Danny shot Tucker a look as Sam reared back. Tucker shrugged and said, “What? She doesn’t want to eat meat, and my mom wants me to try a salad.”

Before Danny could tell Tucker off, Sam laughed mirthlessly. “Trust me, I wish I could have your parents.”

“They are pretty great, aren't they?”

Danny breathed out a sigh of relief, seeing his two friends get along. The two turned to look at him, with Tucker raising an eyebrow and Sam looking a bit confused herself. The two glanced at each other, and then had the realization that they were getting along. They looked back at Danny and gave him a smile.

“Seems like you all made up.”

Danny whirled around, as both Tucker and Sam jumped. Johnny was leaning back against his motorcycle. He chuckled as Danny put a hand to his chest to calm a beating heart. “Jeez, kid, you don't have to be so jumpy.”

“You startled me,” Danny muttered defensively. He folded his arms and glared at Johnny. “Where did you come from?”

Johnny snorted. “I’ve been here all along, dude. Not my fault you couldn't see me.” Johnny lifted a cigarette to his lips before taking a drag off it. He waved his hand at the three of them as he breathed out the smoke. “But you all seem a lot happier since last time.”

Tucker and Sam looked at each other before Sam shoved her hands into her pockets. “And who are you?”

Johnny waved cheekily. “Name’s Johnny. A week ago, I saw your friend here throwing a lunch box across the park. Kid was pissed off.” Johnny pulled on his cigarette. “I think you two would know more about that part.”

Sam and Tucker winced as Danny sighed. “What are you doing, Johnny?”

Johnny tilted his head. “Me? Nothing really. I'm just trying to meet up with my girl. She got held up somewhere and I haven't been able to reach her.”

Sam looked up. “Where was she? Is she safe?”

“Safe? Probably. Where she is? I dunno. If I knew, I wouldn't be trying to meet up with her.”

“You try calling her?” Tucker asked.

Johnny gave Tucker an unamused glare as he took another puff.

“Yeah… probably the first thing you did.”

Johnny sighed. “I know she's alright, she's pretty tough. I just can't get to where I think she is. Some feds turned me away.”

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other. “You mean the ones who showed up at Casper yesterday?”

“Yeah, those guys in the white suits.” Johnny said, snapping his fingers pointing at Sam. Danny sucked in a sharp breath and took a step back. Danny reached over and pushed Sam back as well, before tugging on Tucker and trying to pull him back.

Tucker looked back at Danny. “What's the big deal?”

“You have a motorcycle…” Danny pointed out the obvious. Danny continued to put distance between his friends and Johnny. “And… you saw me throw the lunchbox.”

Johnny’s head tilted slowly, the angle going a bit too far to be normal, almost but not quite getting parallel to the ground. Johnny lifted the cigarette to his lips before saying, “You can help a brother out, can't you?”

“Guys,” Danny said, “run.”

Danny grabbed Sam’s hand and started dragging her away, Tucker immediately followed.The sound of scraping metal echoed behind them. The sound of tires skidding and metal colliding reverberated throughout Danny’s body.

Long skeletal fingers appeared in Danny’s vision, as Johnny caught up with them. There were bits of pieces of flesh left on them, but most of it had appeared to have been scraped away. Johnny’s hand landed on Danny’s shoulder, before yanking him back, tearing him away from Sam.

When Danny impacted against the ground, he felt himself hit the ground twice. Once with the version of him that was floating around his body, and the other with his flesh and blood. The sound of metal colliding with concrete rang out on the street, but Danny couldn’t pay attention to it.

Not with Johnny’s true form in front of him.

There was a car tire buried into Johnny’s back, and Danny could see his rib cage had been caved in on his back underneath it. A couple of exhaust pipes stuck out from Johnny’s torso, and much of Johnny’s arm had been revealed, with his right sleeve having torn. His arm looked much like his fingers had, with the flesh having been scrapped away to the point that the bone and sinew had become visible.

He knew that Johnny had turned around quickly, but it felt like an age passed as the front of Johnny began to become visible. There was a headlight in place of one of Johnny’s eyes, the metal having pushed aside part of his face to make way for it, resulting in his other eye having been misshapen. Most of his hair was still there, but the part of his skull over the headlight was gone, revealing a greyish matter that Danny didn’t want to acknowledge.

Danny tried to scramble back, as Johnny advanced on him. It felt like his limbs were all over the place. His hands slipped into the ground, and his feet couldn’t find purchase in the air. Johnny took two steps towards Danny, before lifting him with just one arm.

And then Sam smacked Johnny over the head with both fists.

Johnny’s head dipped slightly, and he froze completely. Slowly his head turned toward Sam, and though it seemed like someone had taken a sander to his lips and face, it seemed like he was giving her a frown.

Danny reared back with one leg. Johnny was holding him up in the air, leaving Danny’s legs dangling freely in the air. With a loud yell, Danny brought his leg forward as hard as he could. The problem was, Johnny’s limbs like this were too long, there was no way Danny could hit him with his foot.

So instead, a ghostly imprint of a foot appeared right in between Johnny’s legs.

Johnny immediately dropped Danny, falling to his knees. He doubled over as the sounds of a car crash came out of him. Danny got back to his feet and then ran around Johnny. “Go, go, go!” he shouted.

“Look out!” Tucker called, pointing behind Danny. Danny turned to see what he was supposed to be avoiding, only to see a black smog coming out of the exhaust pipes. It was so thick that Danny couldn’t see through it.

Which made it all the easier to see when a glowing green face appeared in it. The sound of breaking glass and car horns came out of the smog’s mouth, before it dove towards Danny. Danny instinctively tried to defend himself by swatting it out of the air, but utterly failed.

Then he realized that he hadn’t been the smog’s target.

The smog slipped by Danny with ease, swimming through the air, and wrapping itself around Sam. The sound of a stuttering car horn rang out in a mockery of a laugh. Sam screamed for a moment, before the smog wrapped itself around her face. Her eyes widened in panic and Danny could hear her muffled cries for help.

That tearing feeling Danny had whenever Sam or Tucker got upset came back with a vengeance, and Danny let out a growl in rage. He reached out to grab the smog and tear it off of her, but she was just out of reach.

So when he grabbed the smog, it wasn’t with his flesh and blood hands, but instead with a long bony limb.

***

Tucker’s eyes widened, as he heard both his and Sam’s voice come from Danny’s mouth. One moment his friend was standing there, then the next a pitch black monster with bones capping its limbs was instead. The smog turned to look at Danny – and that had to have been Danny – and its eyes widened before Danny yanked it off Sam. It looked kind of like when someone did that tablecloth trick where they pulled it out from underneath everything but didn’t make a huge mess.

Only instead of flourishing the table cloth, Danny whipped the smog around and bashed it against Johnny’s head.

Johnny flinched slightly, and the smog in Danny’s hands dissipated, only to reform floating behind Johnny. Johnny slowly stood up and turned towards Danny. The sound of metal crashing and glass breaking rang out at the same as Tucker’s and Sam’s voices echoed over the street.

Then Danny rushed Johnny, his claws reaching out to try and spear him through the chest. The smog dove at Danny blocking his vision as Johnny leaned to the side and drove an uppercut into Danny’s chest. The sounds of bones breaking rang out and Danny took a step back away from the other two.

Sam’s coughing caught Tucker’s attention, and he rushed over to her. “You okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Sam said, too quickly for Tucker to really believe it. She looked up at the fight in front of her. “Is that…?”

“Danny?” Tucker finished for her, “Yeah, I think it is. You were getting attacked, and he went all monster on them.”

Sam’s eyes flicked between the three combatants. She reached over and grabbed Tucker’s arm and tugged on him. “We gotta help him!”

“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Tucker hissed. “In case you haven’t noticed, despite what my profile icons say, I’m not a werewolf.” Danny pounced forward, pushing Johnny to the ground. The sounds of bones breaking rang out as Danny brought his head down to Johnny’s throat. He bit into it and started shaking back and forth, making Johnny cry out in pain. “Also, it seems like he’s got it handled.”

The smog circled around Danny’s face and body, and slowly began to lift Danny up. Johnny followed for a moment, before Danny jerked and dropped him. Johnny got up and backhanded Danny across the face with enough force to make him bounce along the sidewalk.

Sam pulled on Tucker’s arm. “The bottle!” She said, pointing at the device. It was currently sitting in the gutter.

Past the fight between the ghosts.

“We don’t even know if it’ll work!” Tucker said, pulling back.

“You got any better ideas?”

“No.”

“Then go get it!”

“Me? Why not you? You’re faster!”

“You want to distract them?”

“Nope. One magic bottle, coming up.”

Sam pushed Tucker toward the street and she took a step away from it. “Hey! Ugly!” She shouted. Neither of the ghosts even looked in her direction. She looked down at the ground and groaned. “Figures, the one time I want trash around.” She looked up and saw a trash can at the corner. She ran over and opened the lid. She stuck her arm in and reached around.

She grimaced as she touched something wet, but she pulled it out. She didn’t even look, instead throwing it at Johnny’s head. The brown mash of something sailed through the air before striking Johnny.

And it just passed through him.

Fortunately for her, it made Johnny turn in her direction. He glanced back at Danny, who was currently trying to swat the smog creature out of the air, before he turned and started walking in Sam’s direction.

Ice filled Sam’s veins as he slowly made his way towards her. She took a few steps back as he approached. He flexed his fingers as he approached and Sam couldn’t help but notice that the bones had been filed down into claws.

“Yo! Jackass!” Tucker shouted, holding up the thermos in front of him and pointing it at Johnny. When Johnny turned to look at him, he shouted as he tore the lid off. “Eat this!”

Nothing happened.

Johnny stopped his march towards Sam and started running at Tucker.

“Shit shit shit!” Tucker shouted, waving the thing around. “Why didn’t this come with a-” Suddenly Johnny stopped as the remains of his jacket began to flutter in the direction of Tucker, as if a wind was picking up behind him. He leaned back, but began to slide in Tucker’s direction. He turned and slammed his hand down into the pavement. His claws dragged against the concrete, leaving furrows behind. Sam could see the bones break suddenly and Johnny went flying in Tucker’s direction.

Tucker let out a high pitched scream, but Johnny didn’t actually hit him. Instead his entire self slid into the opening, squeezing in rapidly as the sound of bones cracking and metal bending rang out.

In seconds, he disappeared entirely.

Tucker opened his eyes and saw that Johnny was gone. He heard the sound of glass breaking and he whirled to see Danny and the smog creature looking at him. The smog hesitated for a moment, before diving at Tucker. Tucker whirled the thermos around and just in time activated it again. This time the ghost had no time to react and flew right into the bottle.

Leaving just Danny.

Danny slowly approached Tucker. Tucker held the bottle up. “Hey man, don’t do it. Just… stay back alright.”

Sam ran over and pushed Tucker’s hands down. “Don’t!”

“Hey, I just want to make sure he’s in there!” Tucker said, trying to raise it back up.

Sam tried to pull the thermos out of Tucker’s hands. “No! Don’t! He won’t hurt us!” Sam managed to slip it from Tucker’s fingers, but it flew right out of her hands too. It bounced along the ground and landed right at Danny’s feet.

Tucker and Sam held their breath as Danny stared at the thermos. He bent down, claws reaching for it. It appeared he missed, his claws piercing the concrete in front of it, but then it rose up as if someone was holding it. The claws made movements as if they were manipulating the thermos, but it appeared no one was carrying it. It was just floating there underneath the monstrous form.

Then slowly, Danny’s human self appeared underneath it. His eyes seemed to be staring at nothing, but his human hands twisted the cap back on slowly. With each turn, the ghost standing over him slowly faded away, until eventually it was just Danny as they knew him.

Danny blinked, and let out a breath. “Are you guys alright?”

Tucker wet his lips and then opened his mouth to tell him that they were. “The fuck, dude?”

Sam threw the back of her hand into his stomach, making him gasp. “Ignore him, are you okay?”

Danny looked down at his hand, the bone capped limb appeared next to his for a moment, mirroring his movements before it disappeared. “Well, I think I know what’s been wrong with me now at least.”