#I bet it’s going faster than danny can fly

[shower-phantom-ideas]

Like always cold? Maybe his ghost half is keeping his human half too cold. Like a deep cold he can’t ever get warmed from? His body is working double time to try and keep him warm so he eats a lot more to keep up with the energy burned.

Or never cold. His ghost half now makes him immune to the cold and he just can’t feel it? Shorts in the snow with a tanktop kinda guy. His ghost core is keeping his body temp down but also his ghost powers have combined with his every cell to change him on a molecular level. He could feel the cold if he had control over this power but I doubt he will ever figure that out. Just a “oh I don’t feel cold anymore. Neat” kinda vibe and never try to actually correct it. I like to think his skin would still turn blue if exposed to extreme cold but thats just me

[dp-marvel94]

(Not) Alone - Chapter 5

Summary: Consumed with worry and scared after watching Dani almost die, Danny begs her to come home with him and meet Jazz. He wants to see her safe and happy and taken care of more than anything. An important reveal also weighs heavy on him – Dani isn’t the only living clone… and the other is him. He needs to tell her the truth; maybe that will convince her to agree to the idea of telling his parents. And she'll stay in Amity Park with him, where he'll never have to worry if she's safe ever again.

Meanwhile, Dani has mixed feelings. Still reeling from the loss of her clone siblings, Danny’s unexpected worry and care make her uncomfortable. And her own guilt… she hurt him and helped get him kidnapped twice. How can he care about a mistake like her? But having clean clothes and a bed is wonderful. And things aren’t as simple as she thinks.

Will Dani accept the help she needs and let herself be loved? Or will she push Danny and Jazz away and run again?

Word Count: 3,641

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Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

As soon as she heard the question, a dozen different answers crowded Dani’s mind. Well, really, first there had been surprise; they were really going to let her choose. (Vlad never let her choose anything…. The thought was a stab to her core. And after running away… was it really a choice if she was pushed to act because of necessity, if she never got to enjoy those choices?) But after that….

She could choose! Granted it needed to be in Amity Park… but there was still so much to do. They could stay in and watch tv, play a game, talk, relax. That might be nice but… she could go out with her brother and…. Jazz. (But Dami called her his big sister. And if Jazz was her brother’s big sister, then wasn’t she also….) Dani pushed away the thought.

They could get out of the house; that’s what Dani had been thinking about. And the possibilities! There was the park. Amity had so many restaurants and stores. She’d flown over a huge mall complex…. And there were docks; she’d seen the shore of a large lake while flying overhead. Did that mean there was a beach? Were there museums? A zoo? An aquarium? A space observatory? She didn’t even know what the options were. What all did Amity Park have to offer?

That mall complex…. A memory tickled her brain. 

It was so hot, it felt like she was melting (even faster than she already was.) The huge square building loamed above with so many people inside, cool air blasting through the doors. Dani wandered through the opening. She followed the smell of food to…. a large area with tables. People crowded around them, eating so many different kinds of food. 

“Jamie, look!” An excited voice caught her attention. Dani’s eyes flickered… to a girl about her age. “Can we get ice cream?” The girl asked, tugging on a teenage boy’s hand.

His eyes sparkled with humor. “I bet we can convince Mom.”

Said adult walked up to the pair, pushing a stroller with a wiggly three-year-old boy.

“Mom, can we get ice cream?” The girl immediately asked.

Big eyes and pleading from the three kids, including the toddler who quickly joined the begging, swayed the woman soon enough.

Dani watched from a distant table, feeling her heart ache as the siblings enjoyed their treat. After, toys were pulled out of a colorful shopping bag. With the teen’s help, the toddler got into a bag of plastic dinosaurs. The two boys played.

“Oh! You got me!” The older laughed, his brother’s T Rex taking out his Triceratops. “Mercy! Mercy!”

The girl hugged a stuffed bear. “Mr. Cuddles loves you very much.”

The oldest complained. “Nellie!”

At the same time, the youngest giggled, taken by the attack of plushie kisses. 

Dani wished that that was her and her brothers.

She had watched the family leave after that. She’d accepted as many free food samples as she could until the old lady in front of the Japanese food stall demanded she either buy a meal or leave. She had left, planning to sneak some food later, after the mall closed, even as her core clinched with guilt at the thought. She’d wandered around stores for a while… until a concerned employee asked where her parents were and called security to ‘help her find them’.

Back in the present, Dani asked. “Can we go to the mall?”

That previously unattainable dream of going to the mall with her brother…. That was within her reach. She could wander around stores without the concerned looks wondering where her parents were, without the disgusted sneers at her dirty clothes and unkempt hair. She could buy food, instead of guiltily sneaking what was left over after closing.

Jazz smiled kindly. “Of course we can.”

Dani helped the older two teens with the dishes. Food put away and kitchen clean, the three left the house. They piled into the red-head’s car and drove off. 

The drive was short and yet paradoxically so long. Dani wasn’t used to being in a car. She’d sneaked onto trains and buses while on the run. But her only experience with a car? (A dash of guilt… she had still been with Vlad. He’d taken her in his limo to the airport before they’d flown to Amity Park to kidnap her original.) It was weird, being buckled in like this. The vehicle seemed to sway gently… or not so gently, as Jazz made turns sharply and quickly.

But soon enough, the car arrived in front of the rectangular building. Jazz parked and the three got out of the vehicle, walking to the door. They passed a fountain with bronze statues, metal children playing in the water. And the actual entrance…

Dani stared up, eyes wide. It was huge! The entire side was glass, windows stretching up to the ceiling, to an overhang supported by massive square pillars. 

Sensing their approach, the automatic doors opened. Jazz and Danny walked through. Dani followed, smiling at the blast of cool air hitting her. Eager eyes flitted around the area, hungrily taking in everything. One step, two, three deeper into the mall. Slowly, Dani’s steps trickled to a stop.

This was incredible. If the outside looked huge, somehow inside was even bigger. Compared to this mall, the one she’d visited before was tiny. A circular area stretched in front of them, bustling with people walking to and fro. A square stage at one side hosted a singular musician with a guitar. Plants in pots lined the stage, more sitting against the pillars supporting the upper floor’s walkway.  

And on that second floor… a red and yellow neon sign drew her eyes to a uniform rusty brick covered area. A stark contrast from the white and tan facades of various stores, interspersed with their unique logoed splashes of color. What was up there?

“Dani. Dani?” A voice calling her name drew the girl out of her thoughts.

She blinked. “Huh? What?”

Her eyes fixed on her brother, grinning back at her. “Pretty cool, isn’t it?”

She nodded, hurrying up to him. “It’s so big! And open. Those windows,” She waved back at them. “Make everything look so sunny. And there’s music and so many people. And the fountain outside was so cool!” She looked up, pointing at the bricked second floor. “What’s that?”

The boy chuckled. “That’s the food court.”

“Food court?!” Somehow, Dani became even more excited at the words. “Can we get something to eat?”

“We just had breakfast.” Jazz said, more than a hint of humor in her voice. The older girl half-turned, back to the colorful display she’d been looking at.

“What’s this?” The clone girl asked. 

“The mall’s directory.” The red-head smiled down at her. “Where do you want to go first?”

With wide eyes, Dani searched the map. So many fun options….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first stop (because it was the closest) was the pet store. Inside, birds tweeted and dogs barked. Dani buzzed with excitement. 

“Puppies!” She peered through the glass. “They’re so cute.”

The store had bunnies. “She’s so soft.” One of the employees let Dani hold one.

And fish! Hamsters! Lizards! 

“I think we should get a snake.” Dami teased his older sister, eyeing the orange and white creature. (A corn snake, that’s what the display said. But it didn’t look anything like corn?)

 The red-head shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “Ew. No.”

“But look at him.” The boy brought out the puppy dog eyes. “He looks like he wants to come home with us.”

And the kittens! 

With big round eyes, Dani stared at the little black cat. She wanted to pet it so badly, to scratch under its tiny chin. The animal batted at a toy stuffed mouse.

“Oh, you like your mousie, don’t you?” She cooed. “Don’t you?”

It was so cute, she felt like her heart would melt. And at the same time… it squeezed. (There had been a black cat that she’d sometimes see stalking through Vlad’s garden. Muscles helped her sneak out water and food to it. The other clone’s soft, deep voice… We shouldn’t leave her milk, Dani. She can’t digest that.)

“Okay, even I’ll admit that’s cute.” Another (though not as familiar?) clone brother’s voice. 

Dani looked up at the boy (And that, looking up, was still blowing her mind.) “Cute!? This is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.”

The boy raised a brow. “I take it you’re a cat person then.” 

The girl nodded. Then… she blinked, her own brow furrowing. She was a cat person, yes. But her brother… “Are you a cat or a dog person?”

It was weird to ask. She didn’t know the answer but… she felt like she should have. Tiny had liked the cat who roamed the garden, right? But the way he’d just called her a cat person. Even I’ll admit that’s cute ? What did that mean?

Her brother blinked, for a moment considering. “A dog person. I think? I always wanted a puppy as a kid. I asked Mom and Dad every birthday and Christmas for years. And I have a ghost dog now, Cujo. You need to meet him too.” He smiled. Then, shrugging. “But there’s this stray cat Jazz has been feeding. We named her Muffin. She’s pretty sweet. And I loved that feral cat that kept showing up at Vlads’.” His eyes sparkled with mirth. “Remember that time it caught a baby rabbit for you. Dropped it right at your feet.”

For a moment, her heart twisted, confused and overwhelmed by those two responses. So much of that she didn’t recognize….

But in the end, Dani laughed. “Yeah. She dropped it, looking up at me like ‘look at me, I’m such a good little hunter’… and the poor little guy was still alive! It ran away. She went after it, caught it again, and dropped it back at my feet. But the bunny ran again. She caught it, dropped it… And scowled up at me, like ‘why aren’t you going after it?’”

“She thought you were a big dumb kitten.” Her brother laughed, ruffling her hair. “She was trying to teach you how to hunt.”

“I’m not a big dumb kitten.” She poked at his side. “You are!”

“Hey, we already established I’m a dog person. I can’t be a kitten.”

“But you like cats!”

“Okay. So maybe I’m a bit of both.” He shrugged. “The cursed cat-dog if you will. Like from that old cartoon.”

Dani blinked. “What?”

“Okay so…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The inane conversation continued as the three left the pet store.

“Let’s go there!” Danielle pulled the older two teens towards a colorful store. Large yellow letters boasted ‘Toys and Co.’

Big bright eyes took in the crowded scene. The tiled floor was bright yellow, whimsical music flowing through the air.  There were so many stuffed animals, action figures, baby dolls, and Barbie dolls. A giant Lego castle!

Dani practically ran to the circular table hosting a bin of colorful blocks. Huddled on the other side were a few other kids, all younger than her, but she couldn’t care less about the age difference. The girl grabbed a handful of blocks, starting to build. What should she make? A space-ship? A race car? Her own little castle? 

The other two teens joined, making their own little creations while chatting. The clone girl focused on her masterpiece, tongue stuck out in concentration.

“And…. done!” The girl exclaimed. 

“What is it?” Damian asked.

“A rocket-castle.” She boasted proudly.

“That’s great.” Jazz congratulated, pulling out her phone. “Let me get some pictures.” She snapped a few, asking Dani and Dami to pose.

“Done?” The younger girl asked impatiently. 

Jazz barely finished nodding and Dani was off again. So many things to see!

Racing toy cars on the model of Amity Park. Setting up a tea party in the dollhouse display. Banging out a tune on the floor piano mat. It was all so much fun! (It had been so long since she’d just gotten to play.) And even more fun as the older two teens played with her.

“Woah! Jazz, go!” The boy cheered. “Faster!”

The red-head obliged, feet shuffling faster on the mat. A dissonant clash. “Shoot. Wrong Note.”

“Faster!” Dani put up her hands.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Jazz argued. But somehow the older girl went faster. Another clashing note hit. “I saw that, you gremlin!” Playfully narrowed eyes flashed to the boy, who withdrew his hand from the highest note with a mischievous grin.

Still, the red-head finished with a flourish. “Ta-da.”

“That was awesome!” Dani clapped. So did her brother, and even some other children and adults who had been watching. 

Jazz blushed. “It was okay.” 

“No.” The clone girl jumped up and down. “It was so cool!”

The older’s face softened, seeming to believe the words. “Thanks Dani.” A moment of hesitance… Then Jazz reached out to ruffle her hair. “Do you want to buy something? Like I said, I’ve got money.”

“I can buy something?” The girl blinked up, eyes wide.

“Of course.” A kind smile. “Pick out something you want.”

Dani searched for several minutes, hesitant herself. Her heart twisted in her chest. Jazz actually wanted to buy her something. She could hardly believe it. (She understood Damian being nice to her. But why was the red-head being so generous too?) But…

“This is perfect.” The girl smiled softly, her mind going back to that scene of the three siblings at the food court. She took the bag off the display.

“Why plastic dinosaurs?” Damian asked, brow furrowed.

Dani shrugged, face impassive.

“Let the girl get what she wants.” Jazz took the item. “Great choice, Dani.” 

At the register, the older girl pulled out a plastic card and bought the toys. She gave the youngest the bag. And Dani held it close to her heart, like it was precious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, they visited a huge bookstore. Two stories tall, with escalators in the middle. Dani had never seen so many books!

“I loved this book when I was your age.” Her brother picked up a thin paper back with a smile.

The clone girl looked over his shoulder. A majestic lion stared from the cover, two young girl’s faces buried in his mane. “The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe?”

“Oh. That’s a really good series.” Jazz offered. Then her brow furrowed. “That’s a different cover than I remember reading.”

The boy turned the book over, perusing the back. “Mom’s copy is older. From the 90s or something.”

“I like the older cover better.” The red-head huffed.

“You would.” The boy rolled his eyes.

Again, Dani’s heart clenched with an odd feeling. So much history and familiarity here, between the two older teens… she felt left out, like last night when they were making dinner. But…..

Her brother looked up, holding out the book to her. “Do you want to give it a read?” A hint of sadness in his smile. “I know you, reading everything you can get your hands on.”

That was true enough; before she’d read every book she could find in that cabin. But less for the love of reading and more for voracious curiosity, the desperate need to connect to the world outside those four walls. And from the sad look in his eyes…. Damian knew that as well.

Dani took the book, eyes skimming over the back. (Her heart squeezed. She could imagine reading this to Daniel, sitting on the floor in front of his pod. But he wasn’t…)

She shook her head, smiling. “Yeah. It looks cool.”

The clone girl ended up leaving with the novel and a book on dinosaurs.

“Oh! This looks interesting.” Jazz had offered the book eagerly.

Danielle’s heart warmed at the attention, accepting with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next was another toy store. Build-a-bear! Jazz and Danny helped her make a stuffed animal, a black dragon with large green eyes and tiny wings. She picked out a tiny saddle for him and a bear-sized Spiderman shirt. After much deliberation, she named him Inky. The nice employee put her new friend in a white box that looked like a little house as Jazz paid.

Then the candle store! It smelled so good. So many of the candles had weird and funny names. She wanted to smell every one. In the end, her brother and Jazz almost had to drag her out. 

“You can’t smell every candle, Dani.” Dami quietly whined, an arm over her shoulder. “People are starting to look at us weird.”

“Fine.” The clone girl huffed. She squirmed out from under the arm, hurrying out of the store.

Then her eyes flickered to the red-and-yellow neon sign she’d seen earlier. ‘A Fork in the Road’…. The food court!

She turned, pointing. “I’m hungry. Can we get food?”

“That sounds good to me.” Dami turned to the red-head who nodded.

“Yes!” Excited, Dani ran ahead of the other two.

“You’re not supposed to run.” Jazz called after her.

“Just let her go.” The muttered reply.

Turning the corner, Dani was greeted by a surprisingly rustic scene. As viewed from the entrance, the outer wall was brick. Rows and rows of tables sat in the middle, interspersed with pillars supporting the wood-beam criss-crossed ceiling. And on the inner side and back wall…. The food stalls!

Colorful neon signs offered so many different types of food. It all smelled delicious.

“What looks good?” Her brother said, coming up behind her.

In the end, Dani went with Chinese food. 

“So good.” The clone girl gushed through her noodles. Jazz and Dami knew good food! She’d said that about every single meal she’d had with them. (It was kinda sad; maybe it tasted better when she didn’t have to steal it.)

There in the food court, Dani took a rest to play with her new spoils, coaxing her brother into a dinosaur fight and attacking the other two teens with kisses from the newly named Inky. All the while the three discussed where else to visit on their mall trip. 

The arcade and electronics store were fun. There was the Amity Park Gift shop, selling just about any object Dani could think of, with the city name in big letters and little cartoon ghosts. And even more items marked with a familiar insignia.

“Aww. They have Danny Phantom plushies.” Jazz jutted her lip out, waving the doll in the boy’s face. “Isn’t he adorable?”

Dami raised a brow skeptically. “Uh huh….” 

The red-head turned sharply, marching towards the checkout. “I’m going to buy him.”

The boy’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?” Then, crossing his arms as the older teen ignored him… “I didn’t authorize this.” He muttered.

Dani giggled at the exchange, begging Jazz for her own Phantom plushie. (Even as staring at the miniature likeness of Danny Phantom gave her an odd feeling.)

The three left the tourist shop, passing in front of one of the numerous clothing stores. For just a moment, Dani’s eyes lingered on one of the outfits in the window. It wasn’t her typical style at all, a sleeveless dress with a flared skirt and a pattern of little flowers. But… an odd squirming in her gut. It was pretty. (Would she- messy, dirty, not good enough, imperfect, a mistake- look cute in it….)

“We can take a look if you want.” Dami offered. 

“Yes. We should get you your own clothes anyway.” Jazz nodded. “Not just our hand-me-downs.”

The words shook Dani out of her thoughts. “No. It’s fine.” The girl frowned down at her feet, crossing her arms.  “I don’t need new clothes.”

Her insides squeezed guilty. Letting Jazz and Dami buy her little fun gifts was one thing but her own clothes… that was… that was too much. 

“Dani-” Dami started, reaching towards her with big compassionate eyes. 

The girl side-stepped, stomping away towards a big neon sign. Even still, complex feelings swirled in her core. She didn’t need help. She didn’t need someone to take care of her. (She didn’t deserve it.)

No, she couldn’t think like that, not when Dami was being so nice to her (after she yelled at him this morning). Her gaze flickered around for a distraction, keenly aware of the footsteps quickly following after her. The clone girl’s eyes fixed on-

“What’s that?” Dani pointed at the poster. A smiling man and woman sat on a giant pink letter B, in front of a blue background.

Her brother took the bait. “Oh. It’s the Barbie movie.”

Barbie… like those dolls she saw at the toy store? 

Dani’s brow furrowed. “Can we see it?”

The older two teens exchanged looks. There was a moment of hesitation, as if the two exchanged silent conversation about whether or not to push the clothing shopping. 

Eventually though, Jazz sighed. “Yes, we can.” She marched up to a glass window with a teenager sitting behind it. “Three tickets for Barbie at four, please.”

The three watched the movie, Dani squirming in excitement in her seat. She munched on the popcorn.  Her head tilted, not understanding some of the jokes, but still she grinned and laughed. The girl almost busted a gut during the Ken’s song and dance number. She even teared up at the end, as Barbie made her choice. (The question rang in her core…. What was I made for?)

“That was amazing!” Dami gushed star-eyed. “I’m just Ken…” As the trio exited the closing mall, she skipped down the almost empty halls and sang loudly, her previous angst long forgotten.

Another short drive and they arrived back at Fenton Works. The older two prepared a quick meal, after entertaining Dani with some board games. The clone girl went to bed with a smile on her face.

[ladylynse]

Hello again, it's me the one that asked about Le Fantôme. I saw your replied, thanks for that. Glad to know that it wasn't a bother. I don't think I know the previous version of that scene to know how much had improved, I just going to say that for me is perfect :) :) Well, I don't know about others but I'm following on both ff and ao3 so I, at least do follow your updates. Also, why not just keep it as "Le Fantôme" sounds great and much better than just calling it 'The Phantom', though that would be hilarious XD XD (just because it is a crossover between DPhantom and ML). But of course that would be just your decision, good luck with it :) :) Also luck with all surrounding it if you ever work on it, and with all your stories in general.

(re: this ask)

It wouldn't be the first time I've named an ML crossover for the villain, I suppose. *grins* I hadn't posted any other version of that scene, so in case you're curious, I'll stick it below the cut. Whichever one I use would still need a bit of tweaking, but this is the one that we can pretend is only take two. (Here’s take one.)

Danny checked to make sure the coast was clear one more time before picking the Infi-Map out of its container. He grinned as he unfurled the parchment in his hand. Tucker was so going to eat his words. Served him right for thinking Danny couldn’t sneak into the Far Frozen to grab the map.

They didn’t plan on keeping it for long, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Tucker had bet Danny that he couldn’t do it. Sam hadn’t been there to take sides, and somehow Danny had managed to claim that he could be there and back within an hour. If he was going to manage that, he would have to actually use the map.

“Okay, you know where I really need to be right now,” Danny murmured. “Let’s go.”

The map jerked forward, nearly flying out of his grip, and Danny found himself pulled through the Ghost Zone much faster than he could fly. He moved far too quickly to identify landmarks—the world was a blur of green occasionally blotched with purple streaks—and when he first spotted the bright green spot that was clearly a portal, he was relieved. He was going to make it.

And then he realized, as he got closer, that the portal wasn’t nearly as big as it should be, and the next blink confirmed that it wasn’t rimmed with all-too-familiar metal.

The next blink pulled him through the portal.

The map stopped.

Danny didn’t.

He was falling before he could really comprehend what had happened, but he knew enough to fly back toward the portal.

Problem 1: The portal winked out before he could reach it.

Problem 2: The Eiffel Tower is very distinctive, and that was enough to tell Danny the map had not only not taken him to Tucker, but it had also taken him straight out of the country.

Problem 3: He was maybe three hundred feet above the ground, but he still collided with someone.

They fell at least twenty feet, maybe more, before he felt a cord wrap around him and pin him to the other guy. Danny didn’t have a great view of the person he’d hit—all he could see was blond and black—but he didn’t want to scram until he was sure the guy was okay. Or girl. Honestly, he couldn’t tell right now.

There was an explosion of words he didn’t understand—French, presumably—and, as he swung toward the Eiffel Tower, the guy he was tied to—definitely a guy, judging by his voice—shouted something.

Danny didn’t realize that was actually important until he felt the Infi-Map start to crumble in his hands.

He phased through the cord. It caused the other guy to shout in surprise, but he wasn’t going to just fall to his death, so Danny concerned himself with chasing after the scraps of paper that had been the Infi-Map.

Even the fragments he caught dissolved as he touched them, leaving nothing but a faint dust on his fingertips.

He pulled to halt and hovered in midair, staring. The Infi-Map couldn’t really be gone. This had to be some kind of elaborate joke.

After all, it was impossible to destroy the Infi-Map…wasn’t it?

There was more shouting behind him. Two distinct voices, male and female. Danny looked behind him and blinked. Strange it as had been to collide with someone, and horrible as it was to have the Infi-Map just gone, he had not expected to see a pair of costumed teenagers hanging off the Eiffel Tower and staring at him.

Especially when his ghost sense hadn’t gone off.

The girl in the spotted suit was balanced on a pole that seemed to have somehow been stuck to the side of the Eiffel Tower, defying gravity and maybe a few other laws of physics. She had hauled up her partner—the one Danny had run into, a guy in a cat suit—with apparent ease while he hovered there, gaping. He had never heard of superheroes in Paris. Or anywhere, actually, that he knew were real and not just stories.

What if this wasn’t his reality?

Or what if it was the same reality, just not his time? What if it was his future or something like that? Maybe not distant future—even from this height, the cars looked normal enough—but still. Future. It would make getting home a heck of a lot harder if he didn’t have the Infi-Map. Did that mean he’d been missing for years or however long this was?

“Stop getting ahead of yourself,” Danny muttered. He needed to find something with a date—newspaper, electronic billboard, he wasn’t going to be picky—before he jumped to conclusions. If this was present day, he didn’t need to panic.

Well.

Not as much, anyway.

But definitely still a little, considering the two teenagers from the Eiffel Tower were now heading in his direction, the girl swinging towards him with that rope of hers and the boy using the staff as some kind of crazy helicopter blade. (Danny would be sure that was impossible if he didn’t regularly deal with his own kind of supposedly impossible things every day, sometimes seven times before breakfast.)

It was good motivation to move, even if he didn’t know where he was going.

The girl’s weapon zipped past his head; it was some kind of giant yo-yo, though if it had a proper name, he didn’t know it. The teens were yelling at him again, but Spanish and French were not similar enough for him to figure out what they were saying when they were talking that fast. Trouble was, he had no idea if they knew English.

He didn’t really want to stop long enough to find out, considering how intent they seemed to be on capturing him. Intangibility and invisibility wouldn’t help him for long if these guys had ghost hunting tech.

Skulker hadn’t started outsourcing, had he? That was doubtful, but Danny wouldn’t put it past Vlad. Except Vlad wouldn’t know that he was here, because he wasn’t supposed to be here. Although apparently it was where he needed to be.

Danny risked a glance over his shoulder, eliciting more yells in French from his pursuers. They kept repeating something, and he’d finally figured out what it was: Le Fantôme. Phantom. Ghost.

Okay. So maybe it was Vlad after all.

He wasn’t going top speed, mostly because he kept hoping a portal would open and he’d have a chance to escape before he shot past it, even though he had no idea how he was going to tell Frostbite that the Infi-Map was gone. Consequently, yo-yo girl was gaining on him. For someone he was pretty sure wasn’t a ghost, she was pretty skilled with the thing. It definitely did more than Danny had ever managed with a normal yo-yo. Not that the Fenton Ghost Yo-Yos had exactly been normal yo-yos, but the one he’d had when he was five and terrified of the dark had served as a decent enough nightlight once he’d gotten over the wailing sound it had made whenever he’d touched it.

Still, if yo-yo girl’s proficiency hadn’t given it away, the spotted suit and mask definitely would’ve. If she wasn’t a bounty hunter of some sort, she was a hero defending her city or a villain defending her territory. Which meant Danny was the unenviable combination of threat and target.

Unfortunately for him, her partner didn’t see it any differently.

Worse still, Danny couldn’t see cat boy anymore.

Danny bit his lip, hedged his bets, and pulled into a steep climb. The girl depended on her yo-yo to swing between buildings, so he should be able to count her out as a threat when he was above the skyline. Cat boy…. That was less of a safe bet, but he couldn’t fling himself off the Eiffel Tower this time, and chances were good that he couldn’t gain enough height quickly enough to catch up to Danny, and then he could safely go invisible and lose them, even if they did have a ghost tracker or two with them.

Paris sprawled out beneath him, more brown than green this time of year. Autumn still, or maybe spring. The air lacked winter’s bite, which made it more likely that the portal had only been spatial and not temporal. Granted, if this wasn’t his time or his universe, these two definitely weren’t working for Vlad, which begged the question of how they knew his name.

Danny squinted and raised a hand to shield his eyes as he tried to spot his pursuers. Still no sign of the boy, but the girl stood on a roof and was looking up at him.

“Maybe I’m lucky and they’re not actually after me,” Danny murmured, though he didn’t really believe that. He took another look at the city, trying to pick out a landmark besides the Eiffel Tower. He could spot a few buildings—something with a gold dome, probably a church; the glinting glass pyramid in front of the Louvre; what might be the Arc de Triomphe—but he had no idea where he could lead these two where he might have the advantage. He didn’t know a safe place to hide and change back. They must know this city like the back of their hands, especially from the rooftops, and knocking them down to ground level wouldn’t give him any advantage.

Danny glanced back down at yo-yo girl and blinked. Her partner was back, but he wasn’t beside her; he was halfway to Danny, clinging to a still-extending pole. Danny yelped and shot forward, aiming for somewhat neutral ground: a tall building with a flat roof about ten blocks away. He needed information, which they could probably give him if they understood what he was asking. If they did have ghost hunting weaponry with them, they weren’t using it yet, so he should be safe as long as he went intangible. They probably spoke English, and if he let them catch him, they might actually tell him something. Maybe even help him, once he convinced them he wasn’t a threat.

If they had magic, and it seemed like they did, it might not be too late for the Infi-Map. They might be able to fix it. Not that there was anything to fix, and that’s really what worried him. He’d always just sort of assumed that the Infi-Map was indestructible, that Frostbite kept it locked up only so it didn’t fall into the wrong hands, but obviously that was wrong. He wished he’d seen exactly what cat boy had done to it or that he even had the pieces of it to return on the faint hope that Frostbite could fix it, but now….

Now, he just hoped he’d get home, no matter how much trouble he was going to be in—with Frostbite, with his parents, with Jazz and Sam and Tucker….

Focus. He needed to find out when he was and see if there was anything obvious that would tell him this wasn’t his reality. He’d assume the fact that Paris needed a couple of superheroes would make the news, but then again, he didn’t really watch the news. Besides, in Amity Park, it was mostly ghost-focused, and almost no one else except for those in Elmerton even seemed to believe what happened there. If that was the case here—

Danny had hardly touched down on the roof he’d been aiming for before he heard two more thumps behind him. Half the baton whizzed by his ear; these guys weren’t wasting any time. He turned around, only to see the yo-yo sailing toward him again. He decided not to fight it—flying away wasn’t getting him anywhere, and he did want answers—and got clocked in the head by the rebounding baton for his trouble. “Ow! You know that hurts, right?” He should have gone intangible anyway. Granted, that would have made the yo-yo cord fall, and them thinking he was captured was worth the pain and inconvenience.

It wasn’t much different from getting hit by the Booo-merang, really.

The two teenagers blinked at him and exchanged quick glances with each other. “Un Américain,” the girl muttered. “Bien sûr. Plus de touristes.”

“Um. English? Hopefully?”

“Sorry,” she said, though she didn’t entirely sound it. “Je m’appelle Ladybug. This is Chat Noir.” She nodded to her partner. “And you are Le Fantôme.”

It wasn’t a question, so Danny didn’t take it as one. He just nodded. “Danny Phantom, actually.”

Chat Noir frowned. “Danny Phantom?” he repeated. “Not Le Fantôme?”

Danny shrugged, since he could still move his shoulders, if not his arms. “Or Phantom. Just not one who hangs around an opera house.”

Chat Noir grinned at him, but Ladybug was looking alarmed. “You aren’t…. Je suis désolé, Phantom, we didn’t realize.” The yo-yo cord around him loosened and fell even without him going intangible. He was really starting to think magic played a role with these two; this kind of thing seemed more up Desiree’s alley than Technus’s. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you like us?” asked Chat Noir.

Danny wasn’t sure what that meant, and he wasn’t sure if that was just a consequence of Chat Noir translating something wrong in his head. Danny hesitated, looking at them. The masks might obscure their features a bit, but these guys were teenagers, just like he was. And whether or not their weapons were magical, something about Chat Noir’s question made Danny think there was more to it than being a teenage superhero. He just had no idea what that was.

“I’m a ghost hunter in my hometown,” Danny answered slowly, “and I try to protect people, like you are.”

“Ghost hunter?” Ladybug repeated.

Danny nodded. “Yeah, they’re a problem back home. I help keep it under control. I’m, um, not supposed to be here. I came through a portal by mistake.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged glances, so Danny quickly added, “It’s a long story.”

A few more seconds ticked by, making it more and more unlikely that he was lucky enough that Clockwork would step in, stop time, and rescue him. That would have been a perfect time to whisk him away. And Clockwork would have known that. Maybe the Observants were watching more closely than usual. Or maybe he figured Danny should lie in the bed he’d made, mess though it was.

Crud.

“Look,” Danny said, “I know I might’ve freaked you guys out by mistake, so I’m sorry.” Apologies were always a safe bet, especially when you were going to ask for help in the next breath. “Um, I’m guessing you’ve got some kind of magic thing going on, so I don’t suppose you can fix my map?”

It was a long shot.

He knew it was a long shot even before he saw them exchange those looks again.

But he still had to ask.

“Honestly, I’m just passing through. If you can get my map back somehow, I’ll be out of your hair, and you can go back to whatever it was you were doing before I dropped in.”

He still didn’t know why the map had taken him here in the first place. Ladybug and Chat Noir were clearly capable heroes in their own right. They didn’t need him, so he could freely go back to Amity Park, which did still need him. And then, maybe the persistent tickle in the back of his throat would go away. It was annoying, like his ghost sense was in a constant state of about to go off—which he’d always kinda figured it was at home, except clearly not, given what this felt like.

“If you wait, I can fix it,” Ladybug said, “but I can’t yet. We need to find someone first.”

“My lady and I are on a ghost hunt,” Chat Noir added. “Perhaps you’d care to join us, since that’s your expertise?”

“Le Fantôme isn’t really a ghost,” Ladybug hurriedly put in, no doubt misreading the look on Danny’s face. “He’s still alive. Still un humain. Just…with ghost powers.”

Something clicked, and Danny’s eyes widened in realization. “You don’t know what he looks like. Are you even sure this phantom of yours is a guy? Could it be a girl?” No wonder the Infi-Map had brought him here. These two weren’t trying to track down a ghost. They were trying to track down another halfa.

Chat Noir and Ladybug exchanged uncertain looks and who knew how much silent communication before Ladybug finally admitted, “C’est possible.”

What if they were after Dani?

“Why are you hunting them? What did they do?” Danny didn’t realize he’d moved forward until Ladybug stepped back and cautiously raised her yo-yo. He hadn’t even realized she’d retracted it.

“We need to find Le Fantôme to save Paris,” Ladybug replied. “You do not need to help us, but if you try to stop us, we’ll fight you, too.”

Great. She, at least, still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. Of course, they’d lose if they did try to fight him, if Danny didn’t hold back, but he didn’t fight humans. He fought ghosts. And if he had to, he’d fight Dani, now that she wasn’t in danger of dissolving into goo whenever she used her powers. Vlad might not be pulling her strings this time, but what if there was someone else like Freakshow out there? Dani knew better than to draw attention to herself. She shouldn’t have done something to put herself on the radar of Paris’s superheroes.

But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe it wasn’t Dani. But there were only three halfas in existence, and these two were looking for a human with ghost powers. They might not know the name, but they had the description right. And Danny knew Vlad was stuck in Amity Park, reopening the Town Hall. Dani was the one travelling the world.

Assuming he was still in the same time he’d left, anyway, but these two would definitely think he was crazy if he asked what date it was. Best to tag along and figure it out once he knew who he was dealing with. “I’m not going to stop you,” Danny said. “I’ll help. I just want you to know this might all be some big misunderstanding.”

“There is no mistake,” insisted Ladybug, her tone making it clear Danny wouldn’t be able to easily convince her otherwise.

“Not a ghost of a chance this time,” Chat Noir put in, sounding entirely too cheerful for the situation. His smile only seemed to widen when his partner shot him an annoyed look. “We have a good lead. The Ladyblog hasn’t been wrong yet.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “People usually like a good ghost story, so this was already picked up by the mainstream media, too, and your little stunt hasn’t done much to end the panic. We need to act quickly. If you’re going to help, stay with us. We need to keep looking.”

Danny opened his mouth and nearly choked as his ghost sense went off. “Oh, no.”

Dani had never set off his ghost sense, surprising him more than once because of that.

As Ladybug and Chat Noir started their attack, Danny turned. This wasn’t their fight, not really. It was his; that was why the Infi-Map had brought him here. He was the only one who could stop—

Danny’s eyes widened when he realized who he was up against, and a split second later he was blasted off his feet.

[ectoentity]

Late Night Answers

Ectoberhaunt Day 5: Witching hour vs Twilight

Fandom: Danny Phantom

Rating: G

Characters: Danny Fenton, Kitty, Johnny 13

Tags: Witching hour, ghost culture?

Danny keeps waking up in the middle of the night. The same exact time every night. He decides to take a flight around town and runs into a couple ghosts who're willing to give him some answers.

Read on AO3 here.

Danny’s eyes opened. It was night. Above him, the stars on his ceiling gave off a dim glow. He was still wrapped in his blanket. There was no cold ache in his throat that would indicate his ghost sense had woken him up.

He glanced at his alarm clock. The red numbers read 3:00. Danny grumbled and turned on his side, away from the clock, and tried to go back to sleep. This was the third night this had happened. For the last two nights he’d woken up at exactly three in the morning for no reason. He’d tossed and turned in bed until around four.

This night apparently wasn’t much different. He laid in bed for about ten minutes, but his brain just kept going back to worries about the next day. It wasn’t restful at all. Danny sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. If he was going to be awake for a while, he should at least do something useful.

In a flash of light Danny transformed. He flew through the wall into the chilly night air. He could feel the cold against his face, but it didn’t bother him like it would a normal human. There was no moon tonight - it had set before nightfall - but he could see perfectly well. Danny decided to head towards the city park. The night was fairly quiet. There were some cars on the roads, but not very many. Just a few night shift workers and late night travelers.

His ghost sense went off when he was halfway to the park. It felt familiar: kind of spiky but not painful or aggressive. Danny was slowly getting better at identifying ghosts based on how his ghost sense felt, but it was more of an art than a science. He had no idea who this could be. Who would be out at the park in the middle of the night and not causing havoc?

The sound reached him before he saw who it was. A motorcycle revved its engines, and someone shrieked in joy. It had to be Johnny, Shadow, and Kitty. Danny landed near the park fountain. They didn’t seem to be causing much trouble aside from being loud. He sat on the edge of the fountain and waited for them to come around again. It wasn’t long before Johnny’s ghostly bike flew in from the opposite area from where they’d left. As expected, Kitty was hugging Johnny as he did some spins that would have been dangerous if they’d still been alive. They rose up on the front wheel of the bike and spun three times before landing again. Then Johnny pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the fountain.

“Hey, kid,” Johnny called. “Surprised it took you so long to come out.”

Danny shrugged. “Didn’t seem like you were really causing trouble tonight.”

Behind Johnny, Kitty giggled. “You mean the last three nights?” she asked.

That got his attention. Danny floated up into a standing position, though his feet didn’t touch the ground. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What’ve you been doing?”

“Chill out, kid,” Johnny said. He got off his bike and offered his hand to Kitty. She grabbed it and jumped down from the bike. “We’ve just been riding around. Witching hour season, you know how it is."

Danny didn’t know exactly what Johnny meant, but he had a feeling it had to do with why he kept waking up. “I keep waking up at three,” he admitted, settling down to stand on the ground. “What’s that about?”

“How long’ve you been a ghost?” Kitty asked. “Or, whatever you are.”

Danny’s eyes flashed. “A little over a year.”

Kitty put a finger up to her chin. “And you didn’t notice last year? That’s a little weird, with how strong you are.”

“You guys kept me up almost every night for three months straight last year,” Danny grumbled. He was still a little bitter about that. It had ruined his grades. Now that he’d cemented his ownership of Amity Park, ghosts didn’t try to challenge him as much, but it had been a really awful for a while.

“Oh, right.” Kitty at least had the manners to look embarrassed. “Well, this time of night is when we’re more… present, I guess?” She looked at Johnny for confirmation, but he just shrugged. Kitty frowned and looked back at Danny. “The closer we get to Halloween, the more it affects us. I can be out of the Zone a little bit longer, Johnny and Shadow can ride faster, that sort of thing.”

On the one hand, Danny was glad to get some kind of answer for why he kept waking up. On the other… “So I’m gonna wake up in the middle of the night for no reason for a month?”

“Two months,” Johnny corrected. “Sorry, Phantom. It doesn’t just stop on November first.”

Danny sagged. He wiped a hand across his face in frustration. “Great. Thanks for telling me. I guess I could… get homework done,” he said weakly. It sounded like the worst possible thing to do in the middle of the night.

Johnny and Kitty stared at him and then burst out laughing. Danny glared until they quieted down enough to talk.

“Oh, Ancients, you’re such a goody-two-shoes,” Johnny snorted. “That’s awful. No, kid, this is ghost time. You can’t do lame shit like homework.”

“What do you want to do?” Kitty asked. “Really? Do you wanna do homework, or… I dunno, fight people? What do you even do when you’re having fun as a ghost?”

Danny frowned. “I don’t have fun as a ghost.” He gestured to his glowing, jumpsuit-clad form. “I’m only like this when I have to fight ghosts.”

The ghosts shared a glance before looking back at Danny. “That’s really sad, kid,” Kitty said. She brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Do you even know what you’re like as a ghost?”

He blinked at her. “I mean… I’m me? I’m more, uh. Protective of stuff.” He blushed green and looked away. He didn’t really like thinking about all the weird ghost instincts that had popped up over the last year. It made him worry about being less human.

Johnny snorted. “No shit. You spent the last year beating the crap out of anyone who laid a foot in your territory.” Kitty elbowed him in the gut.

“Come on, Johnny, he was just a mote. We weren’t too chill for a few years, either.”

“Ow! Babe, we weren’t… you know!” Johnny waved at Danny, indicating his whole self. Danny raised an eyebrow.

“You did kind of try to take over my sister’s body and then possessed one of my classmates,” he reminded her.

Kitty rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but that was before I knew you were just a kid. Like, really a kid. Most ghosts don’t get near as strong as you in their first year, you know. We both thought you were super old but just acted like you were a kid.”

“Even though my human form looks just like me?” Danny asked, crossing his arms.

“Yeah?” Kitty said with a shrug. “Look, the only other one like you we’d heard about was the old guy. He’s been the same age for like, fifteen years or whatever. Why would we think you were any different?”

A lot of questions crossed Danny’s mind. Did that mean Vlad stopped aging? He knew the fruitloop looked weirdly young, even though he had grey hair, but he figured that was botox or something. Did that mean Danny was going to stop aging in a couple years? He was pretty sure he had grown some in the last year, but what if-

No, he had immediate things to deal with. These two probably didn’t know any of the answers to those questions.

“Okay, so, let me get this straight,” Danny said, “Witching hour is for doing ghost stuff. And I’m supposed to figure out what I like to do as a ghost, so I can do it for a couple months.”

“I guess?” Johnny said with a frown. “Not like we had to figure that out.”

Danny picked up his feet so he was hovering a couple feet above the ground in a seated position, one leg dangling and the other hiked up so his knee was in front of his torso. “I guess I like flying? It’s pretty nice. I can go over a hundred miles an hour.”

“Yeah, we can tell,” Kitty said, a hint of a laugh in her voice. She picked up her legs too so she hovered in a cross-legged position in front of him. “That’s not really a you thing, though, is it? Most ghosts like flying.”

“I still prefer the bike,” Johnny said.

“Objection noted, sweet heart,” Kitty teased. “You like protecting the town, right? Maybe you should fly around to make sure it’s okay?”

It wasn’t a bad idea, but something about it felt sour. “I do that all evening anyway,” Danny grumbled. “It’s not like I hate it, I just… It’s not fun.”

Kitty hummed. Danny was very glad she didn’t poke at that. Fighting ghosts could be fun sometimes, but mostly it was something he felt driven to do. He didn’t enjoy it like he would playing a game, or watching a meteor shower, or…

His eyes lit up. “There’s two meteor showers this month,” he said, remembering it suddenly. “The Draconids are in just a couple of days, and then the Orionids near the end of the month.”

“That’s like shooting stars, right?” Kitty asked.

“Exactly. It's rocks from space burning up in the atmosphere,” Danny said, a smile spreading across his face. Why hadn’t he thought about this before? He could get up above the clouds, away from the light pollution. “I bet I could get the best view in town now.”

“Of course he’s a nerd,” Johnny grumbled. Kitty shushed him.

“That sounds like a great thing to enjoy,” Kitty said to Danny. “Wanna ride with us one day and get out of town? Away from the lights?”

Danny hesitated. “You’d be okay with that?” He glanced from her to Johnny. Kitty seemed friendly enough when they weren’t fighting, but Johnny was the one who drove the bike.

Johnny frowned for a moment. He looked back at his bike. Danny could practically see the gears turning in his head. Finally Johnny turned back to Danny and said, “If it gets us out of this dump, yeah, we’ll take you stargazing.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Danny was hugging Johnny. “Holy shit thank you I haven’t gone in years I won’t let you regret it.”

After a few moments had passed, Johnny gently put his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “H-hey, it’s no big deal, kid.”

Far in the distance, a church bell rang.

“Well, that’s our cue,” Kitty said. “Same time tomorrow?”

Danny straightened up, a little embarrassed that he’d just hugged Johnny of all people. “Yeah. See you then.”

When he made it back to his bed, he fell asleep instantly.

[five-rivers]

Doctor

The final continuation of Science and Stuck!

.

.

.

Jack and Maddie had never been in the Ghost Zone before, and they watched with fascination as the camera they had attached to Phantom dipped and bobbed, weaving through a complex maze of impossible and decaying architecture. Really, this whole endeavor would be worth it just for this.

But they'd already learned so much more. The interaction between Phantom and the box-obsessed ghost had been enlightening, giving insight to why Phantom did not simply destroy weaker ghosts who trespassed on his territory. They hadn't believed that ghosts could make deals like that.

It put Phantom's fights in a very different perspective. He might be coordinating with the ghosts he 'fought' to make himself look good. After all, if he could bargain with that ghost, why not others?

Admittedly, that theory was a bit out there, but it was plausible.

They had also been interested to see that Phantom was aware of the camera and its function. They had designed it to bond with the ghost's body, to trick it into accepting it as part of itself. They had assumed that the ghost's mind (such as it was) would be similarly fooled. But, it wasn't. Phantom appeared to have understood the camera almost immediately and had attempted to remove it.

Phantom swooped around another twisted staircase. Maddie tapped on the glass screen.

"I wonder what he's trying to hide," she said.

"Well, we'll see it sooner or later," said Jack, cutting off a corner of his emergency fudge. "There's no way he'll be able to get the camera off." He snorted. "Even if there was a ghost intelligent enough, they don't have the equipment."

Maddie nodded. "I suppose it's just frustrating. All this time, trying to figure him out, and now we have to wait even longer." She sighed. "Him knowing it's a camera is going to skew our results, too. He'll be on his best behavior while people are watching. We already know that from his whole hero routine."

On the screen, Phantom turned a corner, and the Fentons were treated to a view of a vast, open expanse. Floating islands charted their own paths against a green and swirling sky. Clouds of ectoplasmic mist scudded along the not-horizon. Disembodied doors flew by without rhyme or reason.

The picture shifted from side to side as Phantom took in his surroundings. It stopped, lingering on an oddly skull-shaped island for several long seconds before Phantom turned away.

.

Danny had known the portal the Box Ghost had shown him was close to Skulker's island, but he hadn't quite realized how close. It was a good landmark, he knew exactly how to get to the Far Frozen from here, but he didn't really want to run into Skulker.

He didn't want to deal with any of the ghosts he usually fought with his parents watching, and maybe listening, through the camera. They might not actively try to expose him, but a number of them were too comfortable with shouting out things like-

"I'll wrap Ember's gifts with your pelt, halfa whelp!"

Ugh. Like that.

Danny twisted and froze a tracking missile, not watching as it began to arc to his left, caught in the orbit of the staircase maze Danny had just left. He sent a few blasts at Skulker.

"I think you should find something to put in the gifts first!" he shouted. "Unlike last year. I heard you were begging MP3 players off of Technus minutes-" he cut off to dodge a net. He hated nets. Why did Skulker even bother with them, when he was trying to kill Danny, anyway? "Minutes before the party!"

"Like you're one to talk! You completely destroyed the party!"

"Hey, blame Ghostwriter for that one!"

"And you don't understand! You don't even have a girlfriend!"

"Well, neither will you for much longer if you don't come up with better present ideas!"

The fight had wound down into the two ghosts just yelling at each other. For all the violence Skulker regularly subjected him to, Danny sometimes wondered if Skulker actually wanted to skin him, or mount his head on a wall, or any of the other threats he belted out, or if he just wanted the thrill of the chase.

"Can't you just give me a break for once? I don't have time for this!"

"Oh, please, you have all the time in the world, whelp!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, what with you being a hal-"

Danny flew over and clamped a hand over Skulker's mouth. "Not another word," he hissed. "We're being watched."

"What do you-?"

Danny cut him off, pointing significantly at the camera. Skulker immediately started laughing.

"Oh, yeah, laugh it up. Wait 'til it happens to you."

"Ha! That is why I, with my modifications, am superior! Something as ridiculous as that could never happen to me!" He started laughing again.

"Whatever," grumbled Danny. "Are you going to keep attacking me, or can I go to the Far Frozen in peace?"

Skulker waved him off. "Consider it an early truce present!" he said. "But don't forget! I'll get your pelt eventually!"

"Sure," said Danny, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He floated backwards for a ways before turning, wary of being stabbed in the back. Or shot in the back. Or blasted in the back. Or whatever having missiles or nets launched at him from behind would be called.

But, once again, he was on his way to the Far Frozen. With his luck, he'd only be interrupted a dozen more times before he actually got there.

He sighed, thinking of ways he could block the camera in an emergency. Ice, perhaps? He could always put his hand over it, too. Maybe he should have done that from the beginning, but a part of him, the part that had argued with them before, wanted to show them the truth about ghosts. Part of him wanted them to see.

So, even though he kept fiddling with the camera as he flew, even though he definitely wanted it off, and quickly, he couldn't quite bring himself to cover it.

"Hey! Phantom!"

Danny turned, trying to place the voice. "Sydney?" he asked, surprised, spotting the sepia-toned specter. "What's up?" He slowed so that the other ghost could catch up to him. Sydney didn't often leave his lair on his own.

"Wow! It's lucky you came out here! I thought I'd have to go through your portal to find you." Sydney shuddered. He caught up to Danny. "I'm throwing a truce party this year!" he said, happily. "I'm inviting everyone." He handed Danny a small envelope. "It's a bit early, because I wanted to make sure that it didn't overlap with anyone else's party."

"Thanks, Sydney," said Danny, both surprised and touched. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it, you know what my l- my afterlife is like." His smile turned into a grimace at the awkwardness of his phrasing.

"Afterlife? But you-"

"I have a camera strapped to my chest right now. I'm pretty sure it's broadcasting. I don't really want to talk about it."

Sydney blinked at him. "Your existence is very difficult, isn't it? I'm glad I didn't manage to steal it from you when we first met."

"That's both of us. The shades in your lair still behaving?"

"Oh, yes. It's all fine. Thanks for asking! I've got to go deliver the rest of these! Good luck with your camera situation!"

"Yeah, stay safe, okay, Sydney?" called Danny, as they sped away from each other.

"You betcha!"

Danny tucked the invitation into a pocket. He'd have to check out the details later, when he wouldn't have to hold it at a weird angle to keep the camera from seeing it.

Now, if there were no more interruptions, he could get to the Far Frozen before- He stopped. That forest had not been there before, and, usually, the floating islands didn't move like-

Not a floating island Undergrowth oh Ancients he looked mad run run run.

It was a good thing Danny was faster than Undergrowth. He didn't want to fight the plant ghost on his home turf... if there even was any turf underneath all those plants.

The chase (not to mention dodging and fighting off the seed bombs that Undergrowth had lobbed his way) had drained Danny, and he was flying significantly slower. The hope that he'd get back home before dawn looked distinctly forlorn. He sighed. That was just his life, though, wasn't it?

.

Maddie had filled half a notebook with questions.

Ghosts appeared to be much more complex than previously believed, even if it was clear that what rudimentary social structure they had was founded entirely on violence. The three encounters Phantom had had in the Ghost Zone thus far illustrated that perfectly.

The first, with Skulker, served as a sort of average. The ghosts had fought, demonstrated that they were more-or-less equals, and then parted, apparently not wanting a more definitive contest. The second had been with a smaller ghost who was obviously submissive towards Phantom. The third, with the plant ghost was more along the lines of what she and Jack had expected: Strong ghosts attempting to defeat and consume weaker ones.

"I wonder what this 'truce' they keep talking about is," said Maddie, tapping her pencil on her notebook.

"I wonder what that sound is," said Jack. "The microphone shouldn't be picking up this kind of interference."

"I think it's core noise," said Maddie. "We can analyze the sound later and compare it to his ectosignature, after we find out where he's going." She glanced at the clock. "And after we get some sleep. Everything is being recorded."

"I'll have to double check all the connections before we do this again. I bet it's a loose wire." Jack pouted.

Maddie nodded. "Where do you think he's going? You don't suppose he thinks he has some way to get it off?"

Jack shrugged. "His lair, maybe? The distance might be why he stays in Amity Park."

"Lairs are still pure speculation, though," said Maddie. "Although, one hypothesis is that they help ghosts reform and heal, so he might think it'll get rid of the camera."

Jack grunted in acknowledgement. "What do you think that white dot is?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

"I think it's one of those floating islands," she said. "It's a different color than the others."

They watched as it grew larger on the screen. "I think Phantom is heading towards it."

"Maybe it's his lair," she said. "He does have ice powers. Ice and snow could be what gives it its color."

"It does look like that could be," said Jack.

The island grew larger and larger, and eventually the picture showed that they had been right. The island was covered with snow and more.

"I think those are buildings," said Maddie, pointing out little mounds. "Crude, but still buildings. Perhaps Phantom is trying to replicate features of Amity Park in his lair?"

"You don't think it could be some kind of," Jack waved his hand vaguely, "rudimentary ghost settlement?"

Maddie wrinkled her nose. "What would they have to gain? Why would you say that?"

"Because I think I see some ghosts moving around down there."

Sure enough, Maddie could see movement where he pointed. The ghosts were white-furred, and difficult to see against the snow, but they were there. They looked fierce. Animal ghosts of some kind, Maddie assumed, but warped over the years.

"They all look so much alike," said Maddie, fascinated. "I wonder what could have caused that."

"Well, they say form follows function!" said Jack. "Or the 'native' theory could be correct, and they formed that way, without human consciousness involved!"

"Hm," said Maddie, making a note. "We'll have to look into that again."

Phantom's hand flashed in the camera's peripheral vision. "He's waving to them," said Jack.

"Great one!" shouted one of the ghosts on the island, voice made small by distance.

"Frostbite!" yelled Phantom in return, voice much louder. He swooped down, and was embraced by the other ghost, who was much, much larger.

The other white-furred ghosts cheered. Maddie frowned.

"If he has this sort of reception here, why come to Amity Park?" she asked. "If his Obsession is attention..."

"Maybe it's human attention he wants," said Jack, rubbing his chin. "Either way, they're... enthusiastic, aren't they?"

"I can't believe they've banded together like this," said Maddie. "It doesn't make sense. The structures... they don't make sense, either. Ghosts shouldn't need things like that, especially not in the Ghost Zone."

"Maybe they're a different species of ghost that does need things like this," said Jack, most of his attention on the ghosts greeting Phantom. "We've never seen any like them here. They might only be able to exist in cold. Or they could have Obsessions related to, uh... igloos?"

"They aren't really shaped like igloos, though," said Maddie. "I think there's stone under there."

"The ice could just be dirty."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

.

Getting to the Far Frozen was a relief. Danny felt a the tension he'd been carrying within him relax as soon as he spotted Frostbit.

It was replaced with embarrassment once everyone started fussing over him. Technically, this was in front of his parents. Still, he'd take embarrassment over what he was feeling earlier. His core was singing that he was safe safe safe among allies and friends, and the cold felt wonderful against his skin.

"What brings you to the Far Frozen today, great one?"

Danny chuckled nervously and reached back to rub his neck. The motion was stopped when he encountered the collar around his neck. "I'm actually here to see a doctor. I've got a bit of a medical problem. At least, I think it's a medical problem." Danny touched down on the surface of the snow, wilting slightly as he tugged fruitlessly on the collar. "I don't really know. Can you help?"

Frostbite's eyes went wide for a moment before shifting into pure concern. "Of course, great one. We'll take a look at you right away. Unless you need to rest? We know we are far from your home."

Danny shook his head. "I want to get this fixed right away," he said.

When Frostbite scooped Danny up and put him on his shoulder, it wasn't a surprise. Neither was the short flight to the Far Frozen's medical 'cave.'

Oh, to be sure, it was a cave, but Danny always felt like calling it something like that, something so crude, was a disservice. For one, the entrance chamber was gorgeous. A huge, underground atrium with an intricately grown and carved ice ceiling, geometric patterns spiraling down the walls; ghost writing above graceful arches, indicating what each space was used for. Shining, high-tech devices that made even Tucker salivate. Some people might judge them on what lay above ground in their village, but appearances were often deceiving in the Ghost Zone, and the Far Frozen was one of the most advanced societies around.

Only an idiot would mistake the tribe of the Far Frozen for savages.

Frostbite carried Danny into the diagnosis area, set him down in a chair, and began going through the routine of cleaning his hands and putting on medical equipment.

"Oh," said Danny, leaning forward, "Frostbite, you don't have to, I know you're busy."

"Nonsense, great one! You deserve the best of care, and I am here to provide." He sat down on a stool across from Danny. "So, what seems to be the problem?"

Danny began to explain.

.

Jack and Maddie weren't talking. This is because they were in shock.

The ruins at the beginning had been one thing... Those were expected, the ghosts of buildings, so to speak, ectoplasmic echos. But this place? This level of technology- It shouldn't be possible!

"I know," said Jack, and Maddie realized she had spoken out loud. "But... it's here, isn't it? We're seeing it."

"It could be a trick," said Maddie. "A facade. There's no way any of this is actually functional."

"But if it is... Jazz and Danny, they might be right," said Jack. He sounded troubled. "If ghosts can form societies, and create technology and art like this, even if the societies are based on violence, that indicates some form of sapience, of intelligence, even if it isn't human intelligence."

Maddie nodded. "I think we should withhold judgement until we actually see results," she said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "Just... I feel sort of like the bad guy in a sci-fi movie, you know? The one who insists the aliens or people with superpowers aren't really human."

"It isn't the same, Jack. These are ghosts."

"But what does that even mean anymore?"

Maddie sighed. "We'll have to change our theories," she said.

"Ah," said the ghost known as 'Frostbite' on the screen, scanning Phantom with some kind of unknown device, "yes. I see what the problem is. I'll take the camera out, now, and then we can work on the other bits."

The screen went blank.

.

Getting the collar removed was both easier and harder than Danny had expected. Easier, because all he had to do was take a drug and let Frostbite peel it off, harder because he had to come down off the drug before he went home, lest he get into a fight and wind up with semi-permanent injuries. At least he was able to send a message to Jazz to ask her to cover for his absence.

He didn't get home until four in the afternoon. Nothing remarkable happened on the way back, because the Far Frozen decided to send some warriors along with him to make sure he got back safely. He was a bit surprised, however, to find his parents passed out at their desks in the lab, apparently reviewing recordings from the camera they had stuck to him.

Recordings like that could be dangerous to him. Should he delete them?

No, he hadn't said anything incriminating, and they were unlikely to be able to use the footage to attack the Far Frozen. The floating islands moved, after all, and he had entered the Zone from a random portal. It should be fine to leave it like that.

He let himself turn human. The air down here was chilly. He should get them blankets or something and let Jazz know he was back, then he'd pass out himself.

While he was draping a quilt over Maddie's shoulders, he caught sight of her notebook and the last line she had written.

The kids are right. We'll have to revise our theories concerning Phantom and the other ghosts.

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (36)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

Have you already seen an angry bull, charging at full speed, horn forward, ready to pick up the unfortunate one who will be on the road? Yes, I know, this question is a little strange but in the current context... it’s the order of the day. If you've watched one of these American police series at least once in your life, you know how interrogations take place... especially when they are muscular. After a while, the investigator loses patience and becomes a little upset. Well, let’s say that Danny is experiencing this scene and, fortunately for him, he’s not on the other side of the interrogation room. Because if Wilhelm has been able to remain patient so far... He’s currently like that famous angry bull. Without the horns.  

2 days after your... little tasteful evening with Ghostface, Danny found himself at the police station to attend the interrogation of Hoggins who, despite the media and police pressure, remained marble. How, that's the question. There is a lot of evidence that he’s a suspect, even though we know the truth about McKellan's murder. Danny's perfect plan was perfected even more thanks to this fool of rich man who was too stupid to stay in place. The photo, the interrogation of Devon, the phone calls... Everything incriminated him. And yet he remained serene as if all this was only a conspiracy and that he was the light of justice. Poor asshole. At least Danny didn't need to falsify any evidence. Hoggins brought them to him on a silver platter. Even if his "Jed" side regrets it a little, because he saw how much Wilhelm was involved in this case, he was eager to see the reaction of the latter when he’ll discover that from the beginning it was indeed, he, Ghostface, who had committed this crime. And that while he was going after Hoggins, other victims suffered this sad fate.

“I bet you 10 dollars that the boss will turn the table.” said one of the officers.

“I bet you 20 dollars and a restaurant that he will not.” responds another one.  

“What exactly is the point of anger?” asks Danny without looking away from the interrogation room.

“Let's say that we get to the critical stage and that any object in the room, including the table, can suddenly start flying.”

“Oh. Good.” Replied Danny, who feels the two officers look at him strangely.

On the other side, Hoggins did not move, his back straight, proud as usual. As if it was a bad dream and he was just going to wake up in bed. Wilhelm tried to remain calm, but in front of a man like him... it was complicated.

“Mr Hoggins, I don’t know if you realise what situation you are in. There is much, MUCH evidence against you. If you really have nothing to reproach yourself for, if you’re truly innocent, then cooperate.” said Wilhelm, trying to stay calm.  

“I can't help you more than that inspector. As I told you, all this is just lies and plots against me. Coming from whom, I don't know. I have always been an honest man and, although I admit that I had indeed ... had some unwelcome words towards Horace, he was a very good partner and a good friend.” responds Hoggins with a fake smile.  

“We have this photo, the testimony of the man who is on it, your phone records and the text message you exchanged! and you absolutely want to prove me wrong!? Stop taking me for a fool!”

“This man would be able to say anything for money or to have peace. I don’t deny the messages exchanged with Horace. As for the photo... it’s not evidence as it infringes on my privacy. I could file a complaint but I'm not to belittle myself to this kind of... stupidity.”

“The photo was taken in a legal framework, Mr. Hoggins. the journalist who took it was turned away at the entrance of your residence when he had come to write an article about you, long before the scandal broke. He had taken several photos of the place to illustrate his article. The prosecutor confirmed this to me. What about the car that was patrolling around McKellan's house a few days before his murder? We were able to find this vehicle and its owner, and he confirms that he was on the scene at YOUR request. And with the following terms: Watch me this scabby dog. Never leave his eyes. And take the opportunity to see how to enter, without being noticed.”

“... I don’t see what this man is talking about at all.” replied Hoggins with the same fake smile.  

Wilhelm inhaled loudly before leaving the room to join Danny and the two officers who were there. He entered the room by violently slamming the door, ready to destroy everything in his path. An image that made our beautiful murderer smile. Nothing makes him happier than to see Wilhelm on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

“I swear to you, that if it were not for the investigation, it would be a long time since I exploded his jaw against the table. Damn, I dream of being able to put this rotten man in jail. I can't get enough of his satisfying little smile, even you Olsen, you are more bearable and less annoying than him!” said Wilhelm trying to regain his calm.

“As you said to me, Hoggins is not a simple man. He’s a big fish. He knows how to play his pawns to win.” responds Danny before whispering to himself: “But he’s nothing than a kid compared to me. I’m a GOD in that category.”

“With everything we have on him he should talk! Even if it is to prove his innocence! But here, I don’t see how he could say that he is not involved in this case! it's all there! I... Damn, I need to hit on something. »

In a sense it was better for Danny that Hoggins defended himself. A man who confesses too quickly is not fun for him. No, Danny is a man who appreciates having strong opponents in front of him. And Hoggins is a prime opponent. Killing him is going to be a pure delight. 3 Days to wait... We will have to find something to deal with between now and then. Fortunately, some sad souls, drunk or drugged, hang out in the streets in the evening... Otherwise his life would be nothing but a mortal boredom.

And then at least... there's you. It's been two days since you and Danny officially lived together, something you celebrated of course. But something was wrong with you. As Jed, he pretended to ignore it, but in reality, he knew very well what you were thinking. He didn't stop thinking about it and he couldn't wait for one thing: to take his place again. How will you react? Several options are possible.

The most unlikely would be that you jump into his arms to kiss him, and just agree to live with a murderer, becoming his accomplice. That would be too good to be true. The second option would be fear and misunderstanding. Knowing that he lied to you all this time.... you would be despaired. But you’ll have no choice but to accept it, permanently tarnishing your relationship. Which will bother Danny a bit. And knowing you, the last possible option is that you fight him and notify the police. In this case he would have no choice but to kill you. It would break his heart, but his secret must remain so above all.  

Hoggins' interrogation lasted a few more minutes until his lawyer arrived. And we can say that he is as stupid as his client. Two head-to-slap for the price of one. He has every interest in not being there when Danny kills Hoggins. otherwise... Well, that will make two murders for the price of one. Christmas before time for our murderer. The two men leave the police station and Wilhelm turned the table in the interrogation room, making one of the officers win the bet. Danny left the interrogation room and crossed Hoggins' gaze in the distance, the latter smiling at him to provoke him. But Danny wasn't an idiot and responded in the same way.

“Hmph. Assholes.” Danny simply said.  

“Well Olsen... sorry for bothering you for that. But at least we are making progress. It may not be proven that it was Hoggins who paid the man who ransacked your girlfriend's coffee... But there is a lot of evidence to suspect him of McKellan's murder. It's a matter of time, I guess.” said Wilhelm.  

“Don't worry about that. He loses nothing to wait. You will eventually have him. His provocative little smile will soon fall. With that, I'll leave you. I still have work ahead of me. And an adorable girlfriend too. See you later, inspector.”

Danny left the police station to return to the apartment, still at work. The newspaper articles are not going to be written on their own. unfortunately. And in addition, he will be alone, given that you work at the café today. normally. He took the opportunity to do some shopping to fill the fridge, life for two, obviously the food goes down faster. Once he arrived, he put away the groceries, put down his belongings, took off his coat to end up in a tank top, and then walked to his office. And even there he locked it, from the inside. We never know in case you have the good idea to make him a surprise attack, when he clearly asked you not to enter this room.

He landed in front of his computer and began to write his articles, or even to finish others that he had already begun. Taking a break from time to time to rest his eyes, even with glasses you have to be careful. Drinking a sip of coffee, which was nothing compared to yours, he rereads what he had written so far. He was proud of it, proud of what he wrote, proud to see his work appreciated. Even if it is not his real name that is at the end of each article. Jed Olsen will always remain as a cover name... but in your eyes it will be Danny Johnson and nothing else. A name he can't wait to hear from you in your future... intimate evening.

He resumed writing his articles for a few more hours before stopping for today. He took off his glasses to rub his eyes and got up, taking his cup of coffee to wash it. He looked at his hunting board, including the photo of hoggins that he circled several times in red, then he left his office and locked it to avoid any intrusion on your part. It's not that he doesn't trust you but... Curiosity is sometimes too strong against reason.

“Well... Everything goes as planned... Hoggins even makes it easy for me. But I'm going to have to be careful. I feel like he wants to drag me along with him in his downfall. If I feel that it is too dangerous over the next 2 days... I wouldn't wait until the evening of the festival to kill him. Sorry honey, but I may have to speed things up.” said Danny to himself.  

Putting the news on TV, Danny started preparing the meal for tonight, when he got a call to say the least... singular. Wilhelm? But what did he want from him at this hour?

“Inspector? A problem?” he asks.

“Tell me Olsen... you lived well in Florida, didn't you? About 4/5 years ago? Does the name Nicolas Pheels tell you anything?” said Wilhelm.  

Danny's heart missed a beat. Obviously, he knew this name... It's the name of the man who destroyed Danny's life forever. The "doctor" who took care of Carla. But why and how did Wilhelm get this name?

“Olsen? Are you still there?”  

“Yeah. Yes, I know him. It was the doctor who took care of Carla until... until the end. Why?"

“My condolences. I did some research on Hoggins...  to learn a little more about this asshole. And it turns out that he lived in his second home in Florida and... he was visibly very friendly with this guy. From what I read, Hoggins financed the hospital run by Pheels. But some doctors said, in exchange for anonymity, that Hoggins was willing to fund a little more for each death. In order to pass this on to a material financial need. Of course... Pheels kept everything to himself.” replied Wilhelm.

“I knew it... What a son of a b**ch!” responds Danny.  

“This guy is dangerous Olsen... a real crazy one. So, pay close attention to you two, ok? He is not the type to be afraid of death.”

“Yes... I hope he will pay for what he has done. And believe me... he will pay dearly.”

Danny hung up, before hitting the worktop with force. Decidedly this little war with Hoggins has been going on for longer.... It's not just Pheels' fault... but also hoggins' fault if Carla had died. Pheels has already paid, Hoggins will pay double. 3 Days.... 3 small days... he couldn't wait. Suddenly he heard the front door open. And all his anger and frustration disappeared when he saw you enter, a cheerful smile on his lips. At least you had a better day than him.

“Hello Honey!” you said cheerfully.  

“Hi, Darling. How was your day?” Danny said with a little smile.  

“Darling? This is the first time I've heard you say that. Would I already be too old for you?”

“Ha ha, for me it's more of a form of politeness than anything else. And then it changes from Honey or Sweetheart, right?”

“Let us keep this expression for when we will be two old madmen in wheelchairs. And to answer your question... my day went very well. We are at the point on the cake for the festival, we are at the point on the festival anyway ... all we have to do is wait for the great event. And we had a lot of people at the café. What about you?”

Danny gently took you by the waist to stick you against him, burying his head in your neck. You hug him in return, rubbing his back to console him. He raised his head slightly, looking down at the front door, bad looking in his face. You know this look that could kill you without you being able to react... That's exactly what Danny looked... And if you weren't there, he would have made his smile the unhealthiest, the craziest of all the smiles he could make. But you are there so he has to stay in his role... All the way.

“So bad this day?” you ask even if you already know the answer.  

“No... let's say I just learned something... which I wish I had never known. I had my doubts... Now it's clear.”

And don't worry... You will also be in confidence.

And even you wouldn't dare to believe it.

***

(It makes an insupportable heat in my house, what a hell. Fortunately, fans exist! I am in the process of developing my fanfic on Re8 village, just to have a coherent scenario. I would like to warn that it will be a kind of... of alternative universe where unfortunately the Winters will be a little or not present at all. But there will be Chris! Since some characters like Lady Dimistrescu were inspired by Count Dracula and Countess Bathory, I decided to go in this spirit. If you dreamed of a lycan Heisenberg, I'll give it to you! (At least I'll try... I am not promising anything.) I hope you’ll like this chapter like the others ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CXLI (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: That’s right PoA gifs are making a comeback -Danny

Words: 3,121

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Three: A Brief Talk.

Mel was packing up the stuff she'd taken to the mission when someone knocked on the front door. 

She heard Erick said he'd get it a second later. Mel put everything in her bag and hung it over her shoulder, rushing out of her room. Dumbledore stared at them with a smile.

"I must say you worked faster than expected."

"We did our best — Oh!" Erick went to the living room and grabbed his bag, drawing out the men's wands. "These are from the death eaters — maybe you'll be able to track them down?"

"I could, if Ollivander hadn't gone missing," Dumbledore said sadly. Mel didn't ask about it, she wasn't ready for any more bad news. "Anything I should know?"

"Yeah," Mel approached. "I'm upset."

Dumbledore gazed at her quietly.

"I said I'd tell you everything and I will, but you must wait a bit longer. We'll visit Harry's house tonight, and pay a visit to Slughorn."

"You said we couldn't talk to him."

"This time will be different. This time I'll go with you."

"How wonderful," Mel said sarcastically.

"I'll get my stuff," Erick gave her a look that was meant to stop her rudeness.

"Very well," Dumbledore nodded, "do close the door on your way out, Mr Flint."

She followed him out in silence, her uncle approached the entrance of the Dursley's house and knocked on it.

"Were you in danger?"

"No."  

"Then you know I didn't lie."

"You didn't tell us everything," She replied. "You keep withholding information and I'm not some disposable thing you can use as you please —"

"That was never my intention," Dumbledore interrupted. "By the end of the year you'll know all, and you'll understand why I've acted this way."

Mel seriously doubted that but she'd been proven wrong before, she was willing to hear his side of the story.

Mr Dursley complained all the way to the door, he opened it abruptly, freezing at the sight.

"Good evening. You must be Mr Dursley. I daresay Harry has told you I would be coming for him?"

Harry rushed down the stairs and stopped at a considerable distance from his uncle. He looked torn between amusement and panic, holding a pair of trainers in one hand and a telescope in the other.

The young witch eyed Mr Dursley up and down and held back a smirk. He was wearing a reddish dressing-gown. The last time she'd been standing this close to the man he'd looked gigantic, now he was barely able to reach her nose.

"Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, Harry did not warn you that we were coming," Dumbledore said happily. "However, let us assume that you have invited me warmly into your house. It is unwise to linger overlong on doorsteps in these troubled times. It is a long time since my last visit, I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing. What do you think, Mel?"

"Oh, it's been years," Her voice trembled with contained laughter. "The house looks exactly as I remember, though. Is your chimney still the same after the Weasleys burst through it?"

Harry snorted at this, and this caught the old man's attention.

"Ah, good evening Harry... Excellent, excellent."

"I don't mean to be rude —" Mr Dursley spoke.

"— yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often. Best to say nothing at all, my dear man. Ah, and this must be Petunia— Albus Dumbledore, we have corresponded, of course. And this must be your son, Dudley?"

Mel looked at the boy, it had been almost two years since she'd last seen him: He was muscly big, with the body of a trained wrestler. She didn't like that he'd be able to kill a child with his bare hands and call it a sport.

"Shall we assume that you have invited us into your sitting room?

Dumbledore crossed the hall and she followed, Harry jumped the last steps and approached them.

"Aren't — aren't we leaving?" He inquired.

"Yes, indeed we are, but there are a few matters we need to discuss first. And I would prefer not to do so in the open. We shall trespass upon your aunt and uncle's hospitality only a little longer."

"You will, will you?" The Dursleys were all glaring at them.

"Yes, I shall."

He drew his wand so rapidly that Harry barely saw it; with a casual flick, the sofa zoomed forward and knocked the knees out from under all three of the Dursleys so that they collapsed upon it in a heap. Another flick of the wand and the sofa zoomed back to its original position.

"We may as well be comfortable."

"Sir," Harry started anxiously. "What happened to your — ?"

"Later, Harry. Please sit down."

The boy looked at her searching for an answer, but she had none. It was her first time seeing Dumbledore's injury as well. She walked up to the armchair and stood next to where her uncle had seated. Harry sat in front of them.

"I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment, but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness."

A third twitch of the wand, and a dusty bottle and five glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tipped and poured a generous measure of honey-coloured liquid into each of the glasses, which then floated to each person in the room.

"Madam Rosmerta's finest oak-matured mead," said Dumbledore.

Mel took her glass and inhaled the sweet scent before drinking it, hiding her grin. She was starting to feel less annoyed now that Dumbledore was torturing the Dursleys with his displays of magic.

"Well, a difficulty has arisen which I hope you will be able to solve for us. By us, I mean the Order of the Phoenix. But first of all, I must tell you, kids, that Sirius's will was discovered a week ago."

"Oh. Right..." Harry muttered.

"This is, in the main, fairly straightforward. You add a reasonable amount of gold to your account at Gringotts, and you inherit a few of Sirius's personal possessions. Emily knows this of course, but Sirius left the other half of his gold to you and your brother, Mel. As well as the rest of his belongings, which you'll be able to use once you're of age."

It was obvious Leon was going to inherit stuff from Sirius, the man was eager to provide for his new family, he wanted to be there, make sure his son would never be left to his luck.

"The slightly problematic part of the legacy —"

"His godfather's dead?" Mr Dursley interrupted. "He's dead? His godfather?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore without further explanation. "Our problem is that Sirius also left you number twelve, Grimmauld Place. To the three of you."

"He's been left a house?" Mr Dursley questioned.

"He's not done talking," Mel snapped, Mr Dursley turned purple at her statement.

"You can keep using it as headquarters," said Harry. "I don't care. You can have it, I don't really want it."

"Me neither," Mel accepted. "I don't need it, nor I think my brother will want to use it once he's old enough."

"Brother?" Mrs Dursley asked in bewilderment.

"That is generous," said Dumbledore. "We have, however, vacated the building temporarily."

"Why?"

"Well, Black family tradition decreed that the house was handed down the direct line, to the next male with the name of 'Black.' Your brother should be the one to take it, but we can't be sure if the rules apply since Emily and Sirius decided to use her last name. While Sirius' will makes it perfectly plain that he wants you to have the house, it is nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment has been set upon the place to ensure that it cannot be owned by anyone other than a pureblood."

"I bet there has," Harry lamented.

"Quite. And if such an enchantment exists, then the ownership of the house is most likely to pass to the eldest of Sirius's living relatives, which would mean his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry stood up in distress.

"No..."

"Well, obviously we would prefer that she didn't get it either. The situation is fraught with complications. We do not know whether the enchantments we ourselves have placed upon it, for example, making it Unplottable, will hold now that ownership has passed from Sirius's hands. It might be that Bellatrix will arrive on the doorstep at any moment. Naturally, we had to move out until such time as we have clarified the position."

"But how are you going to find out if we're allowed to own it?"

"Fortunately, there is a simple test."

"Will you get these ruddy things off us?" Mr Dursley yelled.

Harry looked around; all three of the Dursleys were cowering with their arms over their heads as their glasses bounced up and down on their skulls, their contents flying everywhere.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... But it would have been better manners to drink it, you know."

Mel left her glass on the coffee table and waited.

"You see," Dumbledore continued, "if you have indeed inherited the house, you have also inherited..."

There was a loud crack, and a house-elf appeared, with a snout for a nose, giant bat's ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, crouching on the Dursleys' shag carpet and covered in grimy rags.  Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek; nothing this filthy had entered her house in living memory.

"Kreacher," said Dumbledore.

"Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't! Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, oh yes, Kreacher belongs to the Blacks, Kreacher wants his new mistress, Kreacher won't go to the brats and the Black bastard! Kreacher won't, won't, won't —"

"As you can see," said Dumbledore over the yelling, "Kreacher is showing a certain reluctance to pass into your ownership."

"I don't care," said Harry with repulsion. "I don't want him."

"Won't, won't, won't, won't —"

"You would prefer him to pass into the ownership of Bellatrix Lestrange? Bearing in mind that he has lived at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the past year?"

"Won't, won't, won't, won't —"

"No," Mel replied, "we need him far from them."

"Give him an order," said Dumbledore. "If he has passed into your ownership, he will have to obey. If not, then we shall have to think of some other means of keeping him from his rightful mistress."

"Won't, won't, won't, WON'T !"

"Kreacher, shut up!" Harry demanded.

It looked for a moment as though Kreacher was going to choke. He grabbed his throat, his mouth still working furiously, his eyes bulging. After a few seconds of frantic gulping, he threw himself face forward onto the carpet (Aunt Petunia whimpered) and beat the floor with his hands and feet, giving himself over to a violent, but entirely silent, tantrum.

"Well, that simplifies matters," said Dumbledore brightly. "It seems that Sirius knew what he was doing. You three are the rightful owners of number twelve, Grimmauld Place and of Kreacher."

"Wonderful, I own a haunted mansion," Mel sat heavily on the armrest of Dumbledore's chair.

"Do we have to keep him with us?" Harry asked.

"Not if you don't want to. If I might make a suggestion, you could send him to Hogwarts to work in the kitchen there. In that way, the other house-elves could keep an eye on him."

"Yeah," said Harry, "yeah, let's do that. Er — Kreacher — I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens there with the other house-elves."

"You're not allowed to leave your duties unless we ask you otherwise," Mel added.

Kreacher, who was now lying flat on his back with his arms and legs in the air, gave Harry one upside-down look of deepest loathing and, with another loud crack, vanished.

"Good. There is also the matter of the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Hagrid has been looking after him since Sirius died, but Buckbeak is yours now, so if you would prefer to make different arrangements —"

"No," said both of them, then Harry added, "He can stay with Hagrid. I think Buckbeak would prefer that."

"Hagrid will be delighted. He was thrilled to see Buckbeak again. Incidentally, we have decided, in the interests of Buckbeak's safety, to rechristen him 'Witherwings' for the time being, though I doubt that the Ministry would ever guess he is the hippogriff they once sentenced to death. Now, Harry, is your trunk packed?"

"Erm..." Harry blushed.

"Doubtful that I would turn up?" Dumbledore smiled.

"I'll just go and — er — finish off," said Harry, picking up his telescope and trainers.

"I'll help," Mel said.

It was the first time she'd ever been in his room. The only time she'd managed to look around was when they rescued him on the Ford Anglia. It was evident this was the only place in the house Harry was allowed to exist freely: A bit messy from running around and packing everything in a hurry, but she didn't mind it at all.

"Cozy," She teased.

"Shut it," He replied, hastily picking up his stuff. "I should've known... of course he wouldn't leave me..."

"You had your reasons to doubt," She shrugged, then added. "We both do..."

Harry stopped and looked at her, but she wasn't in the mood to talk. Mel helped him pack and soon enough everything was in place, she grabbed Hedwig's cage and smiled at the creature.

"Hi there..." She looked back at him. "I'll never forget the look on your uncle's face when we arrived, he looked so frightened!"

"I'm glad I don't have to stay," He picked up his stuff and guided her out. "Because he would murder me if I did..."

Mel snorted, following him to the hall. However, Dumbledore hadn't moved.

"Professor?" Harry spoke. "I'm ready now."

"Good. Just one last thing, then... As you will no doubt be aware, Harry comes of age in a year's time —"

"No," said Mrs Dursley.

"I'm sorry?" said Dumbledore.

"No, he doesn't. He's a month younger than Dudley, and Dudders doesn't turn eighteen until the year after next."

"Ah," He smiled, "but in the Wizarding world, we come of age at seventeen."

"Preposterous," mumbled Vernon.

"Now, as you already know, the wizard called Lord Voldemort has returned to this country. The Wizarding community is currently in a state of open warfare. Harry, whom Lord Voldemort has already attempted to kill on a number of occasions, is in even greater danger now than the day when I left him upon your doorstep fifteen years ago, with a letter explaining about his parents' murder and expressing the hope that you would care for him as though he were your own."

Dumbledore's air changed, and although it wasn't obvious, he was once again emanating power, now more than ever he looked like a man no one should try to upset.

"You did not do as I asked. You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. I'm thankful Emily agreed to move in next door all those years ago and relieved a bit of Harry's misery. The best that can be said is that he has at least escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you."

"Us — mistreat Dudders? What d'you — ?"

"The magic I evoked fifteen years ago means that Harry has powerful protection while he can still call this house 'home.' However miserable he has been here, however unwelcome, however badly treated, you have at least, grudgingly, allowed him houseroom. This magic will cease to operate the moment that Harry turns seventeen; in other words, at the moment he becomes a man. I ask only this: that you allow Harry to return, once more, to this house, before his seventeenth birthday, which will ensure that the protection continues until that time."

Mel would've loved to add a few insults of her own, but she knew there was no use, they would never learn, would never feel guilty for treating Harry the way they did and to be honest, Dumbledore was right, Mel and her mother were his real family.

"Well... time for us to be off," said Dumbledore, standing up. "Until we meet again."

Mel looked at them one last time without saying anything, something in her felt different, there was a bittersweet emotion that kept her from enjoying herself, and at the same time stopped her from snapping.

"Bye," said Harry shortly.

"We do not want to be encumbered by these just now," Dumbledore said, pulling out his wand and pointing it towards the boy's trunk and owl. "I shall send them to the Burrow to await us there. However, I would like you to bring your Invisibility Cloak... just in case. And now, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

Erick was waiting patiently against the front of her mother's car. His backpack was hanging from one shoulder, and when he saw them he quickly approached.

"All good?"

"Yes, we just wanted to chat a moment before leaving."

"Chat?" Erick raised a brow, he knew the Dursleys weren't friendly people.

"We'll explain later. C'mon, time to go."

"We're not taking the car?"

"No," said Dumbledore. "It'll be faster if we use magic. Keep your wand at the ready."

"But I thought we're not allowed to use magic outside school, sir?" Harry asked.

"If there is an attack," said Dumbledore, "I give you and Mel permission to use any counter jinx or curse that might occur to you. However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight."

"Why not, sir?"

"You are with me... This will do."

He stopped at the end of the street.

"You have not, of course, passed your Apparition Test," he said.

"No," said Harry. "I thought you had to be seventeen?"

"You do," said Dumbledore. "So you will need to hold on to my arm very tightly. My left, if you don't mind — as you have noticed, my wand arm is a little fragile at the moment."

Erick looked down briefly at his hand and paled.

"Professor, I passed my apparition test last month, I can take Mel so you don't tire yourself out."

The idea of Dumbledore 'tiring himself out' was laughable, but Mel didn't want Erick to feel stupid, and it appeared that Dumbledore was of the same mind.

"Very well, Mr Flint, if it's not much trouble..."

"It's not."

"You know where to go."

Erick offered his arm to her.

"Ready?"

"Like we have a choice," She groaned, firmly holding onto him.

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha​​ @vampiregirl1797​​ @siriuslysirius1107​​ @stardusthigh​​ @mikariell95​​ @vernon-dursley​​ @thesuitelifeofafangirl​​ @tomshollandz​​ @wlwmaximoff​​ @reverse-hxlland​​ @hamiltonwc​​ @omiwashere​​ @t-rexs-world​​ @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @21bruhs​​ @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @dielgonacoffee​​ @thelastpyle​ @cedricisnotdead​

[mercheswan]

WEREFOXES TO COME TO BEACON HILLS.

First page of the town’s newspaper announces.

Werefoxes are an extraordinary werecreature. There aren’t many of them left and even less young ones.

People say that foxes are protected by the ancients Gods, that’s why they can live more than any other creature. They are wise and powerful, some of them are said to be able to summon spirits to protect them.

They can also control the elements. They are feared in the supernatural world, and they have never mix with the other werecreatures, that’s why they are considered to be haughty and overweening.

Werewolves and werefoxes have hated each other since the beginning of times. There have been battles over territory and countless confrontations between them along History. Many foxes succumbed in their battles as the number of werewolves have always been bigger. But many werewolves have also been cursed and killed by the sometimes called kitsunes.

Now they lived in apparent peace, neither of them messed with the other, but some werewolves assure that the mere scent of a werefox can make them feral. The majority of them has never even seen a fox in their life.

That’s why foxes coming to Beacon Hills, werewolf territory, is such a big deal for the town.

The news claim that two teenagers will be moving with their families, they will be enrolling in Beacon Hills High School.

Talía Hale, the Mayor of Beacon Hills has granted them permission to come and stay and have asked the citizens of the town to welcome the foxes.

The citizens feelings about the werefoxes are contradicted. Old people and some adults are against them being in their territory, battles too recent for them. The majority of people, and specially the younger part of the population are excited by the foxes coming. This is the most exciting thing to ever happen in their little town.

Rumors spread about what could be the reason for the foxes to come, why are they not moving to cities controlled by werefoxes.

Panic erupts when the news about one of the foxes being a Nogitsune leaks to the press.

If foxes are dangerous, Nogitsunes are the worst kind. Foxes are trickers, the are vicious creatures, they lie and manipulate. Those qualities are increased on the Nogitsunes, who are also said to have a dark soul. Cross a Nogitsune and your life will end in the most painful and torturous way.

In the end the Mayor assures that the situation with the foxes is under control. She takes full responsibility for them.

———————————

First day of school, everyone in Beacon Hills High School is talking about the same thing. The foxes. The are coming. The students want to see them. And not only the students.

(Peter and Cora)

Cora: Why didn’t you ask mom about them anyway, hidding like this to see them as if they are some kind of celebrity is weird.

Peter: I was not going to give your mother the satisfaction of seeing me being excited. The boy is the Nogitsune, I’m so going to enjoy having him as my student. He is a little genius. I hope he challenges me, classes get so boring sometimes.

Cora: What did you expect? You are a literature and drama teacher.

Peter: Foxes are said to appreciate art more than wolves, maybe I will have students that are worth my time, at last.

Cora: God, you’re are talking about them like you wanna mate with them. You don’t do you? They are my age!

Peter: First of all, I am not that old, thank you very much. And second, don’t be stupid, wolves and foxes are not meant to be mates. It has never happened before.

A Jeep approaches the School.

Peter: It’s them.

Two teenagers come out of the Jeep, an asian girl with a ponytail, who looked as if she wouldn’t kill a fly, and a boy. Tall, with pale skin, wearing a red hoodie and who is watching at their surroundings, very much alert in case they don’t have a welcoming reception. He spotts Peter and Cora.

Both of the kneel to hide themselves.

Cora: Great, they are going to think we are creepers or worse that we are up to no good and we want to hurt them or something.

Peter: Relax.

Cora: Couldn’t you jut wait to see them in class?

Peter: They don’t have class with me today. I believe they have Derek later on.

Cora: Derek is probably already on class, he was not excited at all about them coming.

Peter: He’ll change his mind. Go to class, don’t be late. And thanks for being creepy with me.

Peter smirked, Cora rolled her eyes.

(Scott and Malia)

When Stiles and Kira came out of the jeep they are greeted by numerous students looking at them and sushing words between themselves. Probably comparing what they thought the foxes would look like.

Stiles wants to roll his eyes, he hates being the center of attention like this. Kira hates it even more.

Both of them walk towards the school’s entrance.

Malia: it’s that them?

Scott: Yeah, I think so... I mean I have never see them before.

Malia: They look pretty normal to me.

Scott: Of course the are normal! And I bet they are nice too. I don’t believe all the bad things they say about their kind.

Malia: Be careful, you know you are always too trusting.

(Allison and Lydia)

Stiles and Kira open the door and enter the hallway. They majority of the students stop to gaze at them.

They continue walking towards the principal’s office. Stiles and Kira feel like they are in a catwalk and they are the models.

Allison: If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone knows each other in this high school, they would have been able to pass as any other student. My father told me they don’t look different from us.

Lydia: I heard they were extraordinary beautiful creatures. I’m glad they are normal.

Allison: Of course you are.

Allison laughed at her best friend’s vanity.

Allison: They look pretty to me.

Lydia: They are not bad. Maybe I will let them be my friends.

Lydia smiled to herself eyes never leaving the pair of foxes as if they were her prey.

(The Puppy pack)

Liam and his friends looked at the werefoxes when they heard the commotion caused by the other students. They are really happy about the foxes being here.

Mason: They look good.

Corey: Not frightening at all.

Liam: I really hope we get the chance to meet them.

Hayden: Yeah right, because they are going to want to befriend you.

All of them laughed teasing Liam.

Liam: I really hope they don’t have any trouble, there are many students who don’t want them here.

Mason: Yeah, specially the Nogitsune. Who do you think it is by the way?

Hayden: it’s gotta be the boy, the girl looks too nice.

(Stiles and Kira)

Stiles: So far so good, no bombs or things flying at us. It’s an absolute success.

Kira: They won’t stop looking at us.

Stiles: You know that was going to happen. I’m sorry for putting you through this.

Kira: Don’t worry, there’s no place I’d rather be than next to you. I know you will always protect me.

They smiled at each other. During this past years they have become like siblings.

At that moment one of the students decided to explode a balloon. There were some laughs and little screams.

Kira got scared and involuntary she made the lights of the school flick.

All the students looked at them. They must have known that Werefoxes can control the elements. Now they know that one of them controls electricity.

Some of the students start to leave towards their classes. Stiles doesn’t like they face the are wearing.

They were exciting before, now they look afraid. And that’s exactly what Stiles was trying to prevent.

Stiles: Kira be careful, we can’t be seen as a threat.

Kira: Sorry, I was starlet, i didn’t mean to.

Stiles: Come on, let’s go to the principal’s office. The sooner we get to class the sooner the day ends.

(Derek)

Derek was trying not to think about the foxes coming to the school. He was against them being in their town, he didn’t manage to convince her mother to not let the come.

And now, he was going to be their history teacher. The chapters about the Wolves and Foxes battles were sure to be interesting this year.

Derek was preparing the class, talking to some students who have come to class early when they saw the lights flick.

The foxes.

Some of the students got nervous.

Derek: Relax it’s just a malfunction of the lights. Nothing happened.

The students calmed.

Derek doesn’t know if he is going to be able to be impartial with his new students. He doesn’t understand why Peter is so happy to have them.

This year could not end fast enough.

(Isaac and Erica)

Isaac and Erica were both in Derek’s class when the lights malfunction happened. But they know their alpha, he is lying. The foxes did it.

Isaac: I wanna see them.

Erica: Derek will probably get mad.

Isaac: I don’t care.

They both stood up from their chairs and headed towards the door.

Derek: Where are you going?

Erica: Just to the bathroom will be back in a sec.

Derek looked at them angrily.

When both wolves exited the class they could only see the foxes from behind.

Isaac: They don’t look that strong.

Erica: No they don’t.

Derek: Do not underestimate them. Go to the bathroom, the class is starting in five.

(Aiden and Ethan)

Aiden: so it’s true what they say about their scent making you violent.

Ethan: you feel it too.

Aiden: I hope that Deucalion let us take care of them.

Ethan: Maybe they will not cause trouble.

Aiden: it’s in their nature. They manipule and trick it’s what they do.

Ethan watches the foxes go. He hopes that this sense of trouble he has inside will eventually leave.

(Jackson and Danny)

Jackson: Who do they think they are?

Danny: You are just mad because they are getting more attention than you.

Jackson: I really hope that they don’t plan to join the Lacross team.

Danny: Why not? Foxes are suppose to be faster than wolves. It’ll be good for our team.

Jackson looked at his friend with a disgusted face. Of course the future Druid will be all on board of welcoming the foxes.

Jackson: Their not taking my place as captain.

Danny: Of course not.

Danny snorted, amused by his friend’s attitude.

(Theo)

Theo has been waiting for this moment all summer. The foxes are finally here. The Nogitsune is finally here.

He knows foxes are manipulatives, but he is too. He wants the Nogitsune, he is going to control him, that way his future pack will be invencible.

He spotted the werefoxes coming from the hallway.

The girl looked like a doll, sweet and nice. But the boy, the boy looked delicious.

My Nogitsune.

Theo’s was not expecting the fox to be this breathtakingly handsome. The wolf inside Theo howled at the sight.

Theo was bewitched by the werecreature. His eyes were beautiful, his skin pale and perfect to mark. And those lips. They were sinful.

His wolf wants him, he wants him bad.

Theo is surprised by the feelings inside him. Much to his knowledge, Wolves and Foxes don’t mate. But he would be lying if he said that he didn’t want to claim the boy right there.

He needs to focus. His plan. Whatever this is can’t jeopardise his plan.

He looks at the foxes and at that moment the boy looks at his direction. Theo smirks. The boy bites his lower lip.

Their eyes meet and Theo feels a spark traveling trough his body.

The boy walked towards him.

The students who were next to Theo started to leave.

The fox stopped a few inches apart from Theo. He looked serious and he was examinating Theo as if trying to read him.

Theo: Welcome to Beacon Hills High School.

Stiles: What’s your name wolf?

Theo smirked.

Theo: it’s only polite to introduce yourself if you are demanding someone else’s name.

Stiles bit his lip again, face coming closer to the wolf.

Stiles: You know who I am.

Theo: I may know what you are, but I don’t know your name. My mane is Theo.

Stiles: Well, Theo, I don’t know what you are planning but stop it. People should know better than to try to trick a fox.

Theo smiled. Oh he is smart. He really wants him.

Theo: What makes you think I’m planning something.

Stiles: Drop the act, you can’t fool me wolf.

Stiles put his arms on the locker, trapping Theo between it and his body. The fox whispered to the wolf’s ear.

Stiles: When you think you can win me, I’ll always be two septs foward.

Theo should not feel this aroused. But if the fox doesn’t separate from him soon he is going to kiss him hard on those perfect lips.

Their eyes met. Again electricity ran inside Theo’s body. He whispered back to Stiles’s lips.

Theo: Got it.

Stiles separated from Theo and returned to Kira, never leaving sight of the wolf.

Theo was leaning on the locker feeling his legs melting. This was only a bit of the power of the Nogitsune. He wanted it all. His mind kept screaming ‘mine, mine, mine’, but he is starting to think that he is the one who is going to be controlled by the fox and no the other way around. He is okay with that. As long as he is with him.

Stiles met Kira and opened the door of the principal’s office.

Theo: What’s your name?

Theo screamed so the other will listen. Their eyes met again.

Theo: I will find out anyway.

Stiles: Stiles. My name is Stiles.

Stiles entered the office and closed the door.

Stiles.

One way or another he will be mine. Theo is really excited about this new school year.

[phandomphightclub]

Round 1 Results:  Prelude

Tali took a deep breath.  The air smelled of sweat, salt, and something burning—Tori trying to boil Dr. Pepper again, maybe?  Or maybe Sunsi’s soup.  They were pretty good at picking out specific smells, but the Denny’s contained such a motley blend that exact identification wasn’t always possible.

But they did know one thing:  It smelled like home.

A grin broke out on their face as they wove between the tables, patrons, and waiters bustling about.  The meme energy fueled their core, putting a spring in their step as they went to greet the guests of honor.

“Danny!  Tucker!  Sam!”  They called, flagging them over.  “You came back!”

“Like I’d miss a bunch of ghosts duking it out for the second year in a row!”  Tucker grinned.  “Even if I have to deal with Bug being a jerk, it’ll be worth it.  ...They’re not announcing this round, though, are they?”

“Not this time,” Tali answered.  “We’ve got some new announcers stepping into the ring!

“This should be interesting,” Danny said under his breath.

“More interesting than last year?”  Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Fair point.”

They’d been pretty invested in the Phight last year by the end of it, but the two of them looked a little more nervous now.  That was understandable; the Denny’s was even more packed than last year.  Word had spread so fast, there was barely enough room for all of the ghosts who wanted to participate.  Maybe next year they’d have to renovate the Denny’s to add more tables.  Dallas’s fidget spinner ones were so, nice, though…

Tali shook their head.  Next year could wait; right now it was time to make their guests comfortable.

“Alright, you’re just too late to place bets, but I can take you out the VIP box,” they said brightly.  “It’s less crowded there.”

“I hope you guys got some vegan options since last year,” Sam said as she, Tucker, and Danny followed Tali past Loaf, who was crashing some cymbals together loudly.

“Nice work, Loaf,” Tali saluted as they passed.

“And she’s playing the cymbals because…?”  Danny asked.

“Disrupts the frequency that this much ectoplasm in one place gives off.  Throws Walker off our trail.  Very important, you know.”

This was, in fact, a complete lie.  Loaf just liked playing the cymbals, and Tali liked the extra dose of chaos.  But the trio nodded, albeit skeptically.

“Anyway!”  They clapped before grabbing Tucker and Sam’s wrists.  “Flying will be faster.  The Stadium is much bigger this year.  Our cleanup staff carried in hundreds of cobblestone blocks from Technus’s Minecraft server to rebuild it.”

“Wait, Technus has a Minecraft serv—ahhhhhh!”  Tucker screamed as they vaulted into the air.  Tali caught Danny snickering before following.

“You still never answered about the food,” Sam pointed out, looking altogether unsurprised and being dragged through the air.  

She’d be a hard one to impress, but Tali had confidence in the Phighters.  This was going to be their best year yet… well, it was only the second year, but still.  

“Oh, someone probably came up with something.”  Food Poisoning, a new cook, could probably figure out tofu at least.  Tofu and poison sounded similar enough.

Vic was already waiting for them when Tali (carefully, of course) dropped two of their three guests in the VIP box.  

“No way.  You really did raid a Minecraft server for these.”  Tucker brushed his fingers across a block of lapis lazuli embedded in the wall.  There were a few other fancy blocks— emerald, terracotta, wet sponge— that broke up the monotony of the cobblestone.  For spice, Chaos had said. Considering Chaos’s idea of good design was the 90s era bowling alley carpet, it could have looked a lot worse.

“Only the best for our Denny’s,” Vic said before fistbumping Tali.  She’d been the one to orchestrate the raid on Technus’s server in the first place.  Tali hadn’t been there, but she’d heard it involved a lot of arson.

“How’s security?  Everything fine?”

Vic nodded.  “We’re all set.  No sign of Walker or Technus yet.”

“Yet?”  Tucker asked.

Tali laughed.  “Would it really be phight club if we didn’t have the looming threat of outside attacks hanging over us at all times?  The answer is no. No it wouldn’t.  But don’t worry, our security staff is incredibly capable of handling any ghosts who want to throw punches outside of the ring.”

“You remember last year, Tuck.  We’ll be fine.”  Danny shrugged.  Well, at least one of them had some confidence in the fine Denny’s employees.

“Alright!”  Tali pulled their kazoo out of their jacket pocket.  After a very loud DOOT DOOT, they gripped the tiny instrument like a microphone.  

“Welcome, Phriends and Phoes, to the second annual Phandom Phight Club!”

Applause sounded from the full stadium, warming Tali’s core.

“Get ready for a month of epic battles, memes, and other shenanigans!  We’ll be switching off between myself and our other three announcers throughout the round.  Sit back, order yourself a nice possibly-vegan ectolatte, and enjoy the show!”

[ravenclaw-craftsgirl]

Lilian - Year One

Part 1 Part 2 Rating: G Foreword: This story uses the fanmade idea of Rowan Khanna being the name of Two Twins (The Twin Khannas) Using their middle names to distinguish themselves. Research has been done ahead of time, with certain instances purposely being different. 

I will pre-translate all of Lilian’s french for Mobile users! 

Enjoy!  Here’s the original Google Doc Link for those who enjoy proper formatting

The morning was warm over London’s suburbs. The sun shone over the road as a young girl surrounded by several children in a house’s driveway. Each were chatting individually while two stood nearby with a timer as they watched. “Come on, Lil, ya got it!” 

“Ye can do it!” they cried as the young brunette quickly reassembled a bikes assembly from scratch after having just polished them. Within a minute, she was done. “Woah, that’s thirty seconds faster!” The boy holding the stopwatch exclaimed, while the girl watching merely shouted in celebratory victory for her friend. The two helped the other up as a group of girls walked past and started laughing. “Oh look, La Rude is in the dirt plating with the boys again. Guess she didn’t get the memo that Girls don’t do that.” The leader of the group shouted, as the others laughed and chided in their obnoxiously high voices. “<It is rather rude to deny my talents. Only an idiot would degrade someone for doing something she likes.>” Lilian Le’Reau replied with a smirk. Several of the girls simply looked among themselves, confused and worried at what Lilian had just said. The leader simply frowned and stuck her tongue out before snapping her fingers, signalling for the others to continue wherever they were trying to go. “I don’t know why you put up with her, Lilian. She’s always such a jerk.” Lilian simply shrugged, pulled the hair tie out from her ponytail and shook her head. She grinned as her hair fell past her shoulders “Because I know I can make fun of her in french without her tattling.” With that sentiment, the kids all boarded their bikes and rode down to the nearest Football field to play a game.

It wasn’t until much later that day when Lilian finally rode home. The sun was barely touching the horizon as Lilian was riding. Suddenly a flash of black as an Owl suddenly appeared on Lilian’s handlebars. “<WHAT THE HECK>!” Was all she could say before she jerked the front wheel to the side out of reaction, causing her to crash into her yard. Covered in sweat and dirt, Lilian sat up and groaned as she looked at the bent front axle of the bike she had bought. “Mama is going to kill me. And what was… that.” The owl simply turned to her and spun it’s head around, almost in a form of acknowledging the wreck that had just happened. Even more curious than the owl itself was the letter in its beak. Addressed to her home… with her name… Lilian carefully reached out to the owl to take the letter, careful to not potentially spook the creature. Thankfully she didn’t have a problem, with the owl only flying away once Lilian had the letter. “ ‘From the office of Hogwarts’ Huh? <What are you>?” She then stood up and hissed with pain as she saw her shin, scrapped and bloody from the crash. Thankfully she didn’t have to walk far as she took her bike into the garage before walking into the house.

Once inside, and after treating her injury, Lilian sat in the living room with her pet cat Eleanor as she opened the letter. The letter itself looked old, yet she opened it anyway and pulled out the letter inside. “ ‘Dear Mrs. Le’Reau, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’? <What is that>?” 

Lilian continued reading through the letter, not noticing until she was nearly tackled by her cousin that the front door had opened. “Whatcha got there, Lil? Some love letter o’ some blighter lookin ta court ye?” Abbigail Mckinley said, big grin on her freckled face. Lilian smiled, rolling her eyes as the back of her hand smacked Abby on the arm. “<Stop that>, Abby. It’s some letter for some place called-” “Hogwarts school o’ Witchcraft an Wizardry. Glad ta see you finally got the letter. Was startin ta wonder if they sent it through the Post.” 

Lilian looked up to see her uncle Rorick standing with his hat and coat alongside her father, Daniel Le’Reau. “Well, It would seem you were right, Rorick. Glad I didn’t bet anything on that.” 

“Bah, I won in spirit, Danny. Ye just don wanna admit it.” Rorick said with a nudge of his elbow. “Wait, what is Hogwarts? Why did I get this letter?�� Lilian asked, perplexed by her father’s casual acceptance of this… Wizard letter? 

“Ah ye see love… This is a letter for you to learn how ta be a witch like Abby here. Learn how to use your magical talent. Like yer normal school now, but with all the fairytale happenin’s ye’re so fond of.” Rorick said as he took a seat. Lilian simply stared at the letter, dumbfounded by this revelation and everything else that Rorick had to explain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilian walked through the sliding brick wall, mesmerized and afraid at the same time. It was only a month ago in July that she had learned about Magic from her uncle and cousin, let alone seeing it in action. How else was she supposed to be taking this kind of information? Just accept that her favorite childhood stories could be real? That Eragon could possibly have existed in some way shape or form? That Lord of the Rings could have actually been a real battle covered up? 

“Lil? Oi, cous, ye’er me?” 

Lilian snapped back to reality, hearing her cousin’s voice. “<Excuse me>, it’s just...So much to deal with, Abby…” Abbigail simply grinned, pulling Lilian along. “Come on now, we’ve only jus started!” 

The two went about, purchasing whatever they needed for school with Rorick nearby. The Auror simply smiled, following behind the two as he put all of their supplies in his bag. Thankfully, and mercifully, it was enchanted with an undetectable extension charm. He simply smiled as they went around with some money, buying what all they needed while he went to buy the rest of their school supplies that they would need. 

Abby and Lilian continued walking around for a while, Abby finally letting go of her arm, when she bumped into someone causing them both to spill. “<I am really sorry! I should have watched where I was going!>” Lilian started speaking as she quickly scrambled to pick up the books and other supplies before they were ruined by the streets. Lilian had nearly picked up all of the books when she noticed the other girl simply staring, wide eyed with wonder at her. Lilian suddenly wished she didn’t have her hair in a ponytail, feeling very self conscious of herself until she heard the girl speak. “That… That was French! Oh my goodness you’re so fluent! I wish I'd be able to learn french! Oh uh, Sorry if I didn’t understand it though. I’m good with books, but not people. Sorry for bumping into you!” The odd girl with round glasses smiled as she stood up with Lilian and took back her books. “I’m Rowan Hubei Khanna! Pleasure to meet you…?”

“Aye, Tha’s me cousin Lilian, an I’m Abby McKinley!” Abby said with a big grin as Lilian stood by her side and nodded, smiling slightly to be polite. “<H-hello>…” Abby turned to Lilian confused and then realized. “Oh right, ya switch ta French when yer nervous. Sorry fer that, Rowan. Ya shoppin for Hogwarts too?” As if to answer Abby’s question, the three see a young man, his complexion and demeanor almost the same as Rowan’s. “Hubei, little help! I’m tipping I’m tipping!” He cried as he tripped on a loose stone, toppling his books and a couple of other boxes over the trio. The boy sat up and rubbed his head before readjusting his glasses. “Oh, are we making introductions? I’m Rowan Harrow Khanna! Just call me Harrow!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So ya two grew up on a tree farm? Seems a tad of a bore.” Abby said as the four children sat down at a nearby bench as they talked together.

“It’s really not that bad. Lots of reading and interesting stories!” Harrow said, followed by Hubei nodding enthusiastically. “It’s true! We get quite a lot of various people at the farm. Mom and Dad always say that we’re getting the entire world coming to buy their wand and broom wood.” 

Lilian smiled. “That seems interesting. I’ve never heard of a tree farm for brooms and wands specifically. It must be exciting.” 

The twins looked at each other and frowned. “Not really. More often than not, it’s kind of boring. Trees aren’t the fastest growing things.” “Yeah, for the most part we stayed inside to read and play wizard chess against each other. Harrow tried climbing a tree once. He was stung by so many Bowtruckles.” 

Harrow’s face turned bright red as he turned to Hubei. “Did not! That was just the branches not being trimmed in a while…” 

“Right, that’s why you screamed like a little girl. Haha dad had to levitate Harrow out of the tree!”

Lilian smiled at the two’s bickering when she noticed Abby looking down. She had forgotten how her cousin had lost her brother a while ago. She didn’t know how, but all she knew was that Abby’s big brother, Jacob McKinley, had run away and was never seen again. 

Lilian put a hand on Abby’s shoulder, silently nodded and smiled. “You’ll find him, Abby. I know it.” 

The two Khanna’s stopped their bickering and fell silent. Harrow was the first to speak “I’m sorry, we forgot about you being a McKinley…”

Abby shook her head. “Nah, ‘S fine. Jus comes with the territory. Come on, Lil. We should probably find Da an head home. Who knows what Hunin an Munin are doin right now.” Lilian nodded, bidding farewell to the Khanna siblings. As the two found Rorick, Lilian couldn’t help but hug them both. “<Thank you>, for everything you two are doing.” 

Rorick chuckled. “Lass, we’re a family. We stick together, through the thick of it. Now then, how about we spoil yer appetite a bit a’fore we head on home, Eh?” Lilian and Abby grinned to each other, following Rorick’s lead to a nearby candy shop.

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

Danny takes a look in the weapons vault for something useful, Tucker gets some info, and Sam has a moral debate in her head instead of out loud.

To say that the situation between Danny and his parents was tense would be to say that space was a little dark and a touch chilly. Ending an argument by passing out was dramatic, yes, but not conducive to following that argument up with maybe something calmer, more reasoned out. On one hand, Danny was never going to be reasonable about the idea of committing genocide on the dead, a feat he was almost entirely certain was impossible and yet even if it was possible, it would be akin to setting off all the nukes on Earth at once. It was a horrible idea, and if he thought about it any further Danny knew he was going to start causing things to float and go icy cold and dark. He may have accidentally frozen part of his room when he got home from the hospital.

So, instead of asking his parents ‘hey Mom and Dad, have you made any tools or weapons to expose a shapeshifting ghost?’ like he would’ve in the case of a slightly less tense relationship with his parents (he could see the threads that bound him to them, and they were strained, thinner than before, and that frightened him), Danny had to check himself. Which meant going into the kitchen and heading through the door, down the stairs and ignoring the second flight of stairs that’d lead to the lab (to the portal, to his Death, to his Undeath, to all the hurt he’d ever experienced compounded over itself all at once). He instead kept going down a hallway, one that held two doors, both sealed up. One was the Cursed Artifacts vault, and it didn’t surprise Danny that he could see light pulsing at the edges of the door, calling out to him in a way that he could see but not hear and yet knew was a cry all the same.

“I bet there’re dolls in there. Not even because they’re actually cursed but because they think they are.” Instead of finding out how cursed anything in there actually was, Danny turned to the other door, opening it up and looking out across rows and shelves of weapons. The walls were honeycombed with drawers like file cabinets. The ones that were open were typically the more experimental ones, while the rest were connected to the Portal Pockets so that they could be summoned on the fly whenever needed. Checking over the experimental shelves, Danny tapped his fingers against his arms and legs, trying not to think too hard about any of these things being used against him.

“The Fenton Ghost Gloves,” Danny read from the notecard written in his mother’s patient script. “When activated the gloves release a steady current of metaphysical energy (hereby referred to as ecto energy) across their surface, facilitating tactile interaction with a ghost regardless of the ghost’s selective tangibility. Concept derived from the Specter Deflector™ as suggested by Tucker Sazad Foley.” He put the card back and sighed. “Not what I needed but good to know about. Maybe Tuck and I can make some of these of our own - if it’s in the experimental phase then it’s fitted to Dad.”

Danny walked over to the Next New Thing. He groaned, running a hand through his hair and tugging on the curls. “Looks like we need a new mixer. That was mine! Just cause Mom can’t make anything but cookies or fudge doesn’t mean that they should just. Argh.” He huffed and then picked up the card for whatever his precious mixer had been sacrificed to make. “The Fenton Ghost Peeler. Oh, wow, they couldn’t get a potato peeler for this one? Capable of… stripping a ghost layer by layer, peeling them like an onion, so as to weaken it for capture or for examination post-capture. Yikes.” Setting down the card, he picked it up and examined the buttons, keeping the obvious business end away from his face. “That sounds painful, probably even sadistic, but I guess this is what I’m after.” He pocketed it, placing it not with standard weapon storage but his own private little pocket that only he had access to outside of emergencies.

Making sure the door was locked, Danny walked to the stairs and ignored the plethora of colors radiating from the tiny seams of the Artifacts vault, and the star-like pull tugging him downward, deeper, toward a world still unseen. He had this world to worry about, and the next one could wait.

Flying his way to Agatha’s soup kitchen would’ve been faster than using his skateboard but if Hunter had taught him anything, being subtle could be a life or death thing. With that shapeshifter on the loose, Tucker felt being subtle was the right path to go down while alone. Tucker moved with an ear and both eyes open for trouble, which he felt like he was going to get. When he got within 2 blocks of the kitchen, however, that feeling vanished, replaced with an acute awareness of how hungry he was and how little ectoplasmic food Danny had eaten. That surety that he was being watched and hunted faded away and Tucker stopped, looking around. “Note to self, shifter won’t approach Agatha’s territory.”

When he actually got there, the volunteer at the door was one of the same ones who had to be convinced to let Agatha in without calling the Fentons. She had dark skin, bright brown eyes, and long curly hair done up in a bun. She smiled when she saw him, waving. “Hi, there! Tucker, right? You were one of the kids that brought Aggie to us?”

“Yeah, though most people call me TF for Too Fine.” He shot her a pair of finger guns with a grin and a wink, not even flinching when she laughed at it all. He was hardly serious about that right now, and even if he were everything took time.

“Kid, I’m 21. That’d be the creepiest thing under the sun for me to call you.” Tucker laughed with her then and they shook their heads together. “What can I do for ya?”

“I uh need to speak with Ms. Reece. If she’s available.” Tucker knew he wasn’t Danny and that Agatha had no explicit reason to talk to him, but he hoped that his being best friends with the kids who’d gotten her into this place would be enough. He wasn’t a researcher on Sam’s level but he knew she’d need some description beyond ‘malicious supernatural entity’ to figure out what Spectra was.

Daisy - and that was her name, he remembered now - blinked and shrugged before patting Tucker on the shoulder and leading him over toward a door marked Staff Only. “You wait here and I’ll see if Aggie can meet with you.” Tucker nodded and leaned against a wall, scrolling through his phone and looking over Spectra’s staff profile again. His eyes narrowed at the mention of an assistant, wondering what a school counselor needed with an assistant.

Before he could look into this Bertrand Baxter, however, a white holographic head poked through the door and Tucker jumped to attention, Wrist Ray™ aimed and charging. He took a deep breath, put away the weapon and offered a shaky smile at Agatha, who managed a sheepish one herself. “Sorry about that, child. I’ve just been in the habit of it and everyone round here has gotten used to me doing that. How are ya deary?”

“Hello, Ms. Reece,” Tucker said with a wave. “I’ve been better. And you?”

“Oh, I’m doing well! I just wish I could do more.” She frowned. White rippling edges began to tint green. “So many people are out there just like these dears, who can’t get a good meal.”

Tucker frowned as his brain worked double-time to figure something out. He didn’t want Agatha to grow unstable and dangerous because she realized the limitations of being in one place. What did he learn by proxy as Danny’s best friend? Ghosts can do things to satisfy their desires in efficient ways on scales grand enough to terrify. They curse objects to spread their malicious machinations beyond their haunts do things they normally can’t. They- “What if… you made lunch boxes that always restored themselves? Always have a healthy meal inside of them? Then you can give those out to people all over as fast as you can make em, and feed just about everyone.” Tucker had no clue if she could even do that but he dearly hoped so. Not only because he was worried about his own immediate safety - though he was - but also because if she could do that and managed it, then that would be unbelievably great for pretty much everyone in the world. He may not have Sam’s grand, overarching passionate goals as he was very much grounded in the real world not the ideal one, but ghost powers made everything possible.

In any case, Agatha stopped turning green. Instead, for a moment, Agatha didn’t look like a ghost the way Tucker knew them to look. Her skin was a warm brown, her uniform pink and white with thick yellow rubber gloves and her eyes were full of life in a way that Tucker hadn’t ever seen in her or Sydney.

For a moment, Tucker got a clear glimpse of what Agatha was like when she was alive.

She flickered back to that holographic quality and beamed at him. “Oh, Tucker! That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll get to work on that in my Cafeteria! But you came for more than solving my problems, didn’t you?”

“I’m happy to help, Ms. Reece, but I did need to ask you about someone.” Tucker cleared his throat and braced himself. “Do you know about Penelope Spectra?”

Agatha’s hair ignited, eyes turned into red pits of fury and her body shone lime green. “What bout that ishka? ” Oh, Tucker almost disliked that icy cold tone as much as he did the sound of Agatha’s fiery and immediate rage.

“She isn’t human, but she is back at Casper high and Danny, Sam and I need to know what she is to get rid of her.”

“ Hod that filthy, joy suckin- ” Agatha went on a list of what Tucker could only say were old Minnesotan Not Swears. He was impressed that she was refraining from swearing up a storm with how long she went on, but a lack of lungs made ranting names about someone pretty easy, he guessed. “ -get back without my notice? ”

“You were a touch busy with us,” Tucker soothed. “Do you know what she is?”

Agatha took a breath and closed her eyes, the fire that was her hair snapping around waspishly. When she opened them they were focused on Tucker like a microscope. “The Infinite Realms are called that cause they’re endless and infinite. Every kind of world you can imagine and all the ones you can’t exist, and some of theirs end up here. Spectra ’s from what ya call the Abyss. The Ocean of Dark.” Agatha shuddered.

“ Penelope Spectra is a rippling, inky darkness that pulls your greatest fear, your greatest sorrow, the darkest worst thing within you that you resist day after day, or even that you don’t up to the surface. She makes you face everything you think is wrong with you, even the tiniest flaw in the back of your head that you know better about yourself, and spits it back at you with all the force of a wave crashing down and drowning you in misery and self-doubt. And then she feeds on it like a festering parasite.” Agatha’s face twisted up in disgust. “ She is suffering and fear and misery, and she wreaks it upon her victims to feed herself.”

“That’s… quite the description.” Tucker didn’t dare take his phone out to take notes just yet, all too sure that’d look like disrespect to the ghost.

“That Ishka got me and half of the school killed! I’m bein rather generous in how I call her.”

“Understood.” Tucker nodded and took a step back. “Thank you for your help, ma’am.”

“And thank you kindly for the idea, Tucker. Stay safe and aim well.”

“Damn, that’s a description,” Sam muttered, pages flipping in her hands and herbal tea resting half drank next to her. She was slowly recovering from both a bug that seemed to be going around and the drain from her spell. Still, she had a feeling that unless she found some powerful artifact straight from the Infinite Realms it was back to her martial arts and Fenton Weapons for all defenses. Fine against a meathed like Dash, but not so fine when it came to dealing with an emotional vampire.

“It sounds to me like she blames Spectra for what Sydney did,” Danny said, “Which is probably something Sydney might need to hear. After all, if Spectra’s track record is something to go off of then…”

“Let’s save that for later, please and thanks.” Sam sighed. “I don’t need to think about that right now. What I do need to think about is… aha! Alright, thanks to a bunch of internet searches and checking through a few translated books, I think I have an idea of what Spectra is.” She finished her cup of tea and made a face at the strong taste. Regardless, it should help. “Agatha said something about the Dark Ocean, right?”

“Yup.”

“So, while she could be a few things I think the closest match is a Fomorian from Irish myth. Seafarers from the Middle East that came to Ireland centuries before Tuatha Dé Danann arrived there. The Tuatha De Danann are gods,” she answered before Tucker could finish asking. “With our admittedly limited knowledge on ghosts, I’d say that a group of monstrous entities from a dark ocean finding their way here through a portal of some sort and becoming part of legends makes sense.” Sam sighed, leaning back against her wall of fluffy lavender pillows. “If the Infinite Realms are really that and beings from other realms can just make a portal here whenever they feel like it, how many myths, legends, and religions can be traced back to something from another realm hopping over to Earth?”

No one said anything for the longest moment and Sam sneezed into a tissue. Tucker cleared his throat and pushed through a near palpable wall of awkwardness that Sam had established. “What kind of things do the myths say we need in order to hurt her?”

“Well, fighting a Fomorian effectively sort of requires you to use a magickal weapon of some sort. I’m pretty sure that magick is just ectoplasmic energy at this point, so we’re good there.”

“Now we just need an excuse for me to shoot a staff member with an experimental weapon made by the town crazies.” Danny huffed and Sam sucked her teeth at that. How would they corner her without anyone stopping them? Finding her at night sounded like a horrible idea if she was from the Dark Ocean, and dealing with her during the day likely meant at lunch, which would mean the entire school would be available for her to use against them.

Tucker grinned on her screen and puffed out his chest. “Well, that part’s actually covered by Spectra’s own bullshit planning. She has an assistant registered with the school, and you’d think someone with such great planning skills wouldn’t have an assistant with living family members come with her to the school where his grandson goes to.” Sam’s eyes widened and she leaned forward as Tucker sent a link and a picture of a man captioned as Bertrand Baxter. “Yes, that Baxter.”

“Holy shit,” Sam whispered. “All we need to do is get Dash to expose his grandfather as dead and we’d have Spectra dead to rights as either an accomplice in a haunting that’s been hurting the school at the very least. If we can line up the shot right we-” Sam cut herself off with a violent fit of coughing and sneezing and leaned away from the screen with the force of it all. Once she was done attempting to cough up her entire lung, Sam wiped her face with a fresh tissue. “Ugh, I guess I mean if you can line up the shot right. I feel utterly useless like this.”

“Well, if it’s alright I may be able to help with that.” Sam didn’t have the energy to jump like her body wanted to, but she did turn quickly to see Sydney Poindexter floating sheepishly in front of her, head turned to look off into the nearest corner. “I uh. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, and after you and Danny showed that he can heal people with a little effort, and after a little talk with Jazz, I thought maybe. Maybe I can try? I have more energy to spare, at the very least.”

For a second Sam considered telling Sydney to leave. After all, he’d flat out admitted to what the rumors about him had stated: he snapped and shot up the school. That was inexcusable. And yet, a soul-sucking misery demon looking to feed on every ounce of negative emotion that she could had been an influence, hell might’ve even been the whole driving force. And Sydney had basically been put through torture before and after. Part of her felt that he should be pushed away, shoved in a thermos and returned to the Realms and the other remembered that Agatha, one of his victims, blamed Spectra for what happened to him. Sam would’ve let this moral debate in her head go on forever if she could, really.

But then her lungs had another fit and she decided that pragmatism won out here. So she held out her hand and sniffed when she could. “Go ahead, not like this can get any worse.”

Sydney beamed, his form sliding further into focus and opacity, and he took her hand. His tongue stuck out of his mouth as he concentrated, so much like Danny she wanted to laugh. But then she felt how different from Danny he was. Danny’s energy was vast light bright protection and Sydney felt more gentle cautious guilt warm soft in a way that Sam was hard-pressed to define. But then that warmth spread slowly and steadily through her body and it was like a fever but five times as intense. And then the energy cooled, stealing away the extra heat to soothe her, and Sam felt bone tired. Her sinuses were cleared and all that, she could almost certainly tell, but she was so tired . “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I guess I was able to knock out your flu but you’ll need your own energy to handle any sort of restoration?”

“Let Sam rest a couple days, Syd,” Tucker said at the edges of her awareness. Sydney pulled her up in her bed and her protests died on her lips as warm comfy blankets were tucked around her. “We’ll take on the shadow lady when we’re all at 100 percent.”

“Fine, I’ll rest, but I want a new weapon to compensate.” With that demand gotten out, darkness overtook Sam and the sound of Tucker instructing Sydney on how to turn off her laptop correctly faded out.

[aka-willow]

When We Come

gif

Words: 1298

Characters: Willow Wren, Father Jake, Gooblin, Pip, Pingu, Burr, Spark, Danny, Manny, Dew, Fanisimo, France, Sabbath

Prompt/Tag:

“have you lost your mind?”

“I’m a monster.”

Summary: Willow creates a new game plan, one that her siblings oppose

Timeline: December 2015

Song: Little Drummer Boy - Low

A/N: is my “raised catholic” showing? oop thanks fam

—————————————————————————–

I left that same night, Christmas Eve. The bombshell of a discovery on the flash drive was enough to get me running again, and now, I felt like I couldn’t stop. I had never felt this angry before. This robbed. My time as a kid… gone. I’m never getting that back. Those weren’t even assassinations… those were just murders. That family… they were innocent. They made us do that and we didn’t even fight back, we didn’t even try to stop them. All for whatever fucked up 4-D chess game they were trying to play.

I packed my bags and my laptop, zipping my coat shut for the freezing flight back. I could feel the wind gathering at my hands again—I was close to losing it.

“Are you seriously leaving now?” Pip asked. “Right now? After all…”

“Yup,” I said. “The only thing that’s going to make me feel better is a few more old Facility agents down. I’m going.”

“We should stop that plan,” Danny said. “I think we should put a pause on the Rat Revolution.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “They’re still out there, possibly hurting other people, other experiments. I know we’re not the only ones. You’re going to sit there and say we should stop?”

“It’s not safe,” Manny, said, agreeing with his twin. “We have to look out for ourselves.” He sighed. “I don’t want to hurt anyone else. I just… I need time.”

“Pingu,” I said, turning to her, the friend that always seemed onboard with my schemes. “Can you talk some sense into these guys?”

The look she gave me nearly made me lose it then and there. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m done trying to save the world. I’m so tired. This isn’t the way to do it.” Pingu looked up at the sky, then back at the sparks leaping from the fire. “The best thing we can do is live our lives as normally as possible. Put all this behind us. Don’t be what they made us.”

“Whatever, I’m going,” I said, again. “See you on the front-page tomorrow.”

“Are you out of your mind?” France said.

“We are what we are,” I said. “They gave us these gifts and they’re going to regret it.”

“No,” Pip said firmly. “This isn’t us.”

“I’m a monster,” I said. “You’re a monster. That’s what we are. That’s what they made us to be. You saw the files just like me. You saw what we did. So, instead of being useless and tapping out, it’s time to balance the scales.” I snapped my fingers, trying to remember the phrase. “It’s like in the Bible,” I said. “Penance.”

“I’m not doing this with you,” said Burr. “I love you, but I’m not doing this. Pingu’s right.”

I stared at the Lab Rats in disbelief, even though some part of me always knew this was coming. Even back at the Facility I had been the one with a grudge, the one who refused to give up on a fight. It’s what got me put in isolation so often. It’s the reason I remember being put in that chair so often. But I didn’t fight back on Monster. And now I have to.

“Well, I’m leaving. See you guys.” I started walking towards the open clearing beyond the tower, looking for a place to take off and start on back to my base. It was around nine at night, still early. I bet I could get another two agents out by tomorrow. There were footsteps in the grass behind me, someone running, and when I turned, I saw Fanisimo jogging after me.

“Wait, Heckergal, wait.”

“Are you coming?”

He cast his eyes down and shook his hand, his mouth turned downward. “No. But I have the chip for you. To inhibit your powers. Let me at least insert it before you go.” He held it out and I watched as the metal glinted in the moonlit.

“No,” I said quickly. “I changed my mind. I don’t need it.”

“Look, you really should…”

“No!” I said again. “I’m fine. I’ve got it under control.”

Fanisimo sighed and dug into his backpack. “Then at least take these.” He passed me a pair of goggles, metallic and built to last, well-made. “It’s for when you’re flying. You know, for the wind. I know you used to use all sorts of things. These are better, and there’s a bunch of screen functions on these too. Super useful.”

I took them from Fanisimo and tucked them over my head as I took a breath. “Thanks, dude.”

He ran a hand through his black hair and scratched under his nose as he looked down at the ground. “Yeah. You know we’re always here for you. Stay safe?”

“I’ll be safe,” I said, but as I took off, I had a feeling it would be a long time before we met again.

I flew back to New York City in record time, the goggles allowing me to go faster than ever without my eyes completely drying out or being sealed shut by the wind, and I played around with the display as I shot across the sky, the wind like a cannon around me. I looked up two more agents from my files. Oliver and Lisa Bassi. Married, met on the job, based on their shared Facebook account. Home for the holidays. Merry fucking Christmas.

I had too much nervous energy that night when I got in, around midnight, and instead of sleeping, I stood in the back of Father Jake’s midnight mass at St. Giles. I hadn’t been in a while, but if I was going to do what I planned to do, I should at least make an appearance. I knew I was spiraling, on a collision course to disaster, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was going to find Doctor Turner. Destroy the Monster Book. Those were my only objectives. What happened after didn’t matter.

HYDRA made a mistake. I have nothing left to lose now.

In the back of the candlelit mass, I said a prayer, even followed along in the second-hand bible that Father Jake had given me ages ago. This is what they wanted. This is what they’ll get. After the service, I found Father Jake back at the altar, long after everyone else had left. He put out the remaining candles and nearly didn’t see me in the deepening gloom of the church.

“Willow?” he asked. “You’re still here? Santa’s not going to come if you’re still up.” He chuckled a little at his own joke, but then sobered up. “Is everything okay? I know you’ve had a rough few weeks.”

“I don’t think Santa’s coming for me this year,” I said, reflecting back on his previous statement. “I guess… I just wanted to… I don’t know. I have a lot of things I regret and I don’t know what to do, or if was even my fault. I… found out about it. Tonight.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not really,” I sighed. “Um… when it comes to penance, you’ve mentioned it before, what do I have to do? I mean, what do you usually tell people to do?”

“Do you want to do a confession?”

“Not really.”

The stained glass above the altar seemed to glow as the moonlight poured in. “Well, it comes down to serving others. What can you do to help others? Will that make it right?”

Oliver and Lisa Bassi were dead by seven the next morning. Two bullets from Heidi Rye’s gun. Two more HYDRA agents gone. By eight, I was visiting the old lady to deliver her daily grilled cheese sandwich and wish her a Merry Christmas so that she would not be alone.

[ladylynse]

So, I've seen you reblogging some random My Hero Academia fanart lately, and I was wondering how much of it you know? Why? Because I'm curious if you have any idea about a possible crossover with Danny Phantom. (it's surprising how well DP can be crossover-ed with basically EVERYTHING and still make sense...)

I have seen the show. I...think?...I’m caught up on the show. I have not read a word of the manga. 

For a crossover with DP, I like the idea of Danny falling into their world rather than the other way around; it’s just easier, even if you toss in a time travel/dimension kind of quirk thing gone wrong and rely on Clockwork to get them home again. Me, I’d do this one of two ways, depending on whether or not Danny ever has a chance of going home again. Or, perhaps more accurately, how slim that chance is, because he’d still have a chance.

Option 1: Danny’s stuck in their world. Forever. Or near enough. Because he was trapped in a thermos for years, longer than anyone would expect him to be alive, and his time doesn’t exist, it’s past, it’s gone, because it hasn’t just been a day, it hasn’t just been a month, not even a year, and every human he ever knew and loved is gone. He couldn’t even find his family if he tried. It’s been too long, the world’s changed, and there are these things called quirks now, and he just.... He holds onto the faint hope that Clockwork can get him back home, that Clockwork will agree to let him go back home, that this can just be a few extra days or weeks or whatever lived in his life but otherwise it’s fine and like he was never anywhere else, but the stable portals he knew are gone, he doesn’t know how to find and can’t create the natural ones, and ghosts like Wulf and Cujo wouldn’t even know he was back. 

He can’t remember very well how he got into this mess. Maybe Vlad caught him and buried him on the other side of the world; maybe Vlad tossed him into the Ghost Zone, never really expecting Danny to get out. Everything is muddled, confused, coming back in pieces, and not like a moment frozen in time where he gets out and immediately remembers everything. It’s not like it normally is. But maybe it’s because he wasn’t released like he normally is, since he didn’t get out until the thermos degraded to the point that there was a hole he could slip through. Maybe it’s just because he was in there too long. He...he doesn’t know.

Option 2: AKA my old standby for DP crossovers to worlds that aren’t enough like his own, a door or portal in the Ghost Zone. Maybe Danny meant to go through, whether he was exploring or running from something with five sets of teeth that was faster than it had any right to be, or maybe it popped up in front of him and he was through before he could change course. He doesn’t have more hope of getting home in this scenario, exactly, but he’d be more hopeful, because this obviously isn’t the same world, it can’t be, so he can get back and get home and it’ll all be fine. 

In both cases, you can ignore the language barrier--write it off as a ghostly ability Danny didn’t realize he had, though that logic fails a bit when Tucker understands Wulf the best, or maybe Danny hearing it for years while in the thermos and just sort of absorbing it--through osmosis, if you like. But if you acknowledge it. If you accept the fact that Danny suddenly finds himself in a world where he can’t speak the language, can’t read or understand or even be sure he recognizes the language--because what is that, Chinese, Japanese, Korean? He has no idea. It might not even be any of those if it’s been how many years since, what with evolution of language. He just knows he doesn’t know the alphabet at all--then you can easily force other characters to interact with him once he gets in trouble (as will happen; it’s Danny) and maybe bring in a convenient universal translator hero support prototype, initially designed to help heroes better communicate with victims who don’t speak the same tongue(s) with plans for further development outside of heroing if it’s successful. Such a device would also give Danny a convenient excuse for when he says something that receives blank stares, as he can pretend it glitched.

Now. Danny will be trying to get home. That might be his entire thing--that and potentially acceptance that he can’t go home, depending on how things pan out. If he came through a portal/doorway, then he might be keeping an ear to the ground to find out why if there’s some reason why he’s here, but if he was just stuck in a thermos, he’s going to assume he got out because of pure dumb luck/erosion and focus most of his energy on finding a way into the Ghost Zone, which may or may not come back to bite him later. Especially if he didn’t just get out by chance or is here for a reason and doesn’t know enough to understand what that reason is.

The obvious thing to consider is how quickly Danny realizes these guys only have one ‘quirk’, even if they can use it in multiple ways. If he gets any inkling at all from them that having more than one quirk is odd and potentially suspicious, you can bet he’d try to hide it. He’s used to that. He’s had to hide from so many people. He can hide from these people, too. Or at least try his best. Me and my penchant for misunderstandings would obviously choose to have him hide his multiple abilities and not just, y’know, tell or show them straight away.

I mean.

Say they saw Phantom before they ever saw Fenton. Flying. Phasing. Shooting ectoblasts. That’s not normal.

And if Danny saw something happen and jumped in to help without entirely understanding the situation? He might try to take down both heroes and bad guys because geez, those people almost got crushed when that building fell, and another bystander nearly got flambéed, and he knows he’s destructive when he’s trying to save people, but still. Giant Lady is a pretty good distraction if you need a distraction, and she could get away from the good guys fast enough, and that guy just walked through a brick wall, so there’s a good chance he’s overshadowed even if Danny’s too far away for his ghost sense to go off, and--

Point is, they (some) might mistakenly peg Phantom as a villain, at least until the next fight where they have time to talk. Danny, who very definitely Not Going Ghost until he figures out what the heck is going on, is found in the aftermath and assumed to be a victim--a tourist, probably, since they can’t understand him and he can’t understand them--and probably picks an ability to call a ‘quirk’ even if pretending to be quirkless would be smarter because he’s not convinced he might not do something almost on instinct, and then where would that get him?

Danny does not overhear the speculation that perhaps this Phantom is after him. He does not overhear the concern of the UA students who witnessed the fight. He does not know how many strings were pulled to get him released from the hospital--where he Very Obviously does Not want to be, but he can write off weird abnormalities as, say, part of his Ice Quirk powers; after all, sneaking away probably won’t do him any favours, even if he has to get out of there before they realize exactly how fast he’s healing--or how difficult it was to get him released into the protective custody of the good people at UA (or, more specifically, those who rallied for him to get the opportunity). Because he’s wary and spooked and confused but still ready to fight, and they can see that, and they want to help him. They’re not even sure how much training he’s had with his quirk, since even after extensive questioning and a subsequent exhaustive search, they can’t find any record of a hero named Frostbite.

They can’t even find a record of Daniel Fenton. Not someone with an Ice Quirk who matches his description, anyway.

Which makes some people wary, even when others are eagerly including him, because what if he’s a plant, a spy, otherwise not on their side even if he’s not working with any known villains, and--

Hogwash. Poppycock. Pick your old-fashioned word for it, but that’s pretty much how your thinking is going, someone else would say. Because the kid’s got a good heart, and anyone can see that. He wants to help people. He does, even when it hurts him. He’s got the heart of a hero.

With what they’ve seen of him, it’s enough to quiet the mutterings.

Until the day Danny forgets himself and displays another Quirk in a way that can’t be explained, especially in light of all the other incidents that were.

(related - Dani)

[phantomphangphucker]

A Life Of Role Playing Weakness - PhannieMay - Day 14 D & D

Summary: What’s a halfa to do when school is on lockdown and everyone’s bored? Games and trickery.

Most of the class groans as they can tell the sun has set by the room becoming near pitch black. Though pretty well everyone’s glad Mr. Lancer got stuck outside of class, otherwise he would have spent the afternoon making them do school work.

Danny, knowing full well no one else can actually see, finds some candles and sneakily lights them with his fingers. Unfortunately, there’s only three but most of the class seems relieved to have them, “took you long enough Fenton”. Rolling his eyes at Kwan, “like you would have been any faster, at least I was actually doing something”. Danny honestly could have found them way faster but that would have been suspicious. Groaning a bit at the window, though the groan was more aimed at the extreme weather outside, that has caused the school lockdown and blackout. Sure he could technically just leave, but due to the schools' security system, all the doors and windows are sealed shut. The only way out would be to phase out and that would be so many levels beyond suspicious.

Clearly, a couple geeks are tired of Star and Lily bickering, “why don’t we play a game? You know, actually get along? For one night?”.

“Oh why would we do that when it’s more fun to annoy you losers?”, Danny rolls his eyes at Todd, sure he’s not as bad as Dash but still.

Apparently, the geek kid, James, isn’t very impressed either, “I’d rather get destroyed by stupid wind while having fun, than getting mocked by some meathead”. Danny’s not really sure how insulting the guy will get him to play games but whatever.

Deciding to interfere, “what game? Ain’t nobody going to play if no one knows what’s up. And if you say truth or dare even I will mock you”.

“Oh like you even know how to mock someone, Fenton. But yeah whatever, spill”, Danny muffles his snickering because he could out mock this guy easily. Half his fights involved mocking the opponent, eighty percent if it was Vlad.

The other geek kid, Tyler, rummages through his bag and pulls out what looks like a board game, “well, someone made a D & D ghost edition. Because this is Amity, got figures and everything”. Tyler is smirking as even Danny knows that anything ghosts gets pretty much every Amity teens attention. And Danny is honestly so down for this too, he will die if there’s a figure like him in this thing.

Flopping on his back as there is indeed a little crystal clear figure that, while mostly featureless, looks suspiciously like Phantom. Finger gun shooting himself in the head before pointing at the board, while still laying on the ground, “ok, I’m in”. Seems everyone else agrees while looking at the collection of ghostly figures.

Unsurprisingly, pretty well only the geeks know anything about this game. And no one’s interested in long explanations. So they just give a quick run down of classes and alignments. But having to pull out the book and read over it quickly for species, since this was an entirely ghosts and humans version.

Danny snickers, “chaotic good undying warlock suits me I’d say”. Really Danny only picked that because of the undying bit, the joke was there so he had to take it. And chaotic good pretty much was him, no way he could call himself lawful. Not when his very existence was against the laws of nature and reality themselves.

James tosses down a shorthand species sheet, “I’m surprised they actually made so many ghost species, so take your pick”.

Species:

Ghost - versatile but never the strongest

Ghoul - aggressive close and personal fighters

Spirit - gentle divine creatures, usually lawful

Spector - sneaky loners, like to appear highly intelligent.

Poltergeist - aggressive powerful fighters, always evil. Large but often invisible.

Whisp - tricksters but powerful with magic, always chaotic good. Small in size

Wraith - protective, unattractive and often feared by others

Banshee - prophetic strong healers

Phantom - selfless guardians who care for others, always good.

Danny obviously wants to pick the Phantom class but apparently, no gets to be that, as James taps on that class and snickers, “considering this is Amity, Phantom isn’t going to be a playable species otherwise half of you guys will pick that”. Danny sticks out his arms, “oh come on, if anyone should get that species it should be the guy with the same first name!”. A few of the other kids snicker and even James shrugs in amusement but, “can’t just let one person pick it. That would be a dick move”. Danny rolls his eyes but is thoroughly amused, seeing as he’s almost about to graduate and literally no one has figured out who exactly he is, he’s kind of stopped caring about going out of his way to hide shit. Heck, he’s tempted to just randomly clue in his classmates through various absurd means. At least now the government can’t even touch him, they wanted to be on “safe footing” with the ghost king even if they still have no clue who exactly that is. All they know is that he’s frequently in the human world and capable of taking the form of a regular human. Danny’s perfectly content to let them think that ability is unique to the Ghost King.

Shaking his head and looking down to the sheet, Whisp and Wraith are the only ones that stand out to him but trickster is much more in line with himself and would be much more amusing. And he’s not really surprised that no one picks regular ghost, “well Whisp it is for me. A chaotic Whispy Warlock that just can not fucking die already”.

“Dude, that’s not what undying means here”

“No shit, let me have my jokes”, besides undying warlocks get their magic from immortals right? Well this character was made by a damn immortal, given creation and thus power from Phantoms immortal ass.

Lily rolls the weird dice in her fingers, “so what? We roll for stat points now?”. While Rex eyes Danny up and down, “you picked the smallest class but you’re the tallest guy here. Did you just pick everything to be funny?”. Danny smirks wide, not why he picked the species but absolutely. Everything about him is practically one big joke, Hell he’s playing a board game with a bunch of regular humans while pretending to be trapped during a storm. He could literally fly through this weather and it would be fun too. He could also stop it if he really wanted to, use his ice to mess with the weather and air currents; but fucking around that much really wasn’t a good idea.

“Yup, roll three dice. Total stat point of three is the worst you could get, eighteen is the highest. Ten or eleven is the average. All the regular human npc’s are tens”, Danny’s not surprised Todd went with Ghoul. He might not be that big of a guy but man could he ever be an aggressive asshole to pretty much everyone. Speaking of asshole, “Fenton, your turn. What? your brain still fried from that weak little shock?”.

Turning to Todd and answering as he throws dice, “you know I underplayed that shit right? Didn’t want to deal with damn doctors, no way anyone would have let me out of going to the hospital if they had known it was closer to four billion than a hundred volts”. Smirking at Todd, “just for reference, a lightning bolt is around one billion. Your wall socket, that I’m sure you rammed forks into for kicks, is about a hundred and twenty”.

“Ok first off, you suck with dice, second how the hell aren’t you dead then?”, James clearly thinks Danny’s bullshitting and the sad thing is, the portal was probably more volts than that. Who knows what the volt readout for the entirety of a dimension colliding inside one tiny body is. Danny finishes rolling as he talks, “I’m not dead? Well, that’s news to me”.

Star elbows him, she’s become oddly friendly even flirty over the past year. Danny’s pretty well positive it’s because of his height and even if he wore baggy clothing pretty well always, if you really looked you could tell he wasn’t scrawny. Star’s got an eye for details so he can’t be too surprised and she’s perfectly fine with dating below her standing, Hell she dated Tucker of all people. “What even happened? Pretty sure you never told anyone”.

Rolling his eyes at her, “no one cared to ask. But if you must know a ghost portal opened up directly on top of me. There’s no real way to know just how much shocked me but I’m pretty sure an entire dimension carries more volts than one lightning bolt”.

Danny’s the only one to notice the straight up shit roll of his last dice as everyone gapes at him. Tyler’s the first to speak up, “you were electrocuted by the ghost zone?! Like all of it?! At once?! You should be a lot more than dead!”. Danny throws his head back and laughs, “what? Dead with a side of extra dead sauce?! Sounds like the perfect breakfast!”. Shaking his head as he continues talking, while catching James staring in bafflement at the dice, “sounds way more edible than those stupid ecto-contaminated Hot Dogs that try to eat you back! Or that damn overcooked turkey that stabbed me with a knife”.

Kwan mouths “what the fuck”, while James points at Danny, “dude, your luck is horrendous. I’m not even sure how you even get the worst stats possible. No wonder a portal opened up on you, I think the universe might actually hate you”, glancing at Danny who has curled up in laughter, “I don’t think it’s quite that funny though”. Danny can’t help but laugh harder, the king of ghosts, the most powerful ghost around, who’s literally worshiped as a god by some; is the weakest and shittiest ghost in this game. Like Boxy could beat this guys ass. That thought makes him laugh even harder. Wiping his eyes a bit and noticing that everyone actually looks slightly concerned know, “trust me, this is utterly hilarious. You just don’t know why! Oh man!”. Wheezing in laughter again, “now watch, the rest of my rolls will be so insanely good that I impossibly succeed at everything my character does”.

Kwan points at him, “with these awful stats you damn well better, otherwise you’re screwed”.

“I think the stats reflect Fenton perfectly. Weak and pathetic!”, Danny really can’t feel insulted because it’s just really funny right now. Todd is clearly not happy that Danny finds this funny instead of insulting, or that Star is mouthing, “are you blind?”, at Todd.

“How can you possibly find being insulted funny?”, comes Rex’s squeaky voice. Danny runs a hand through his hair, “insults are funny when they’re so insanely incorrect that it becomes absurd”.

Todd rolls his eyes at Danny, “you’re a complete weakling and a scaredy cat, just like al-”, Todd cuts himself off as he stares at Danny. Who just tore off his sweater, because this is way too funny. Chances are if he ever gets destroyed, it will be because he couldn’t resist a good joke. Danny smirks a bit as he nonchalantly flexes without doing any dumb poses, because he does have some shame. While everyone just stares at the clearly ripped and heavily scarred weirdest member of the weirdo trio.

“Todd, I could fucking maim you. I could maim the whole damn football team. But that wouldn’t be very good of me, now would it?”, tapping on his character sheet with a sly smirk.

“How the hell do you look like that man? And why don’t you just join the team then? Actually have good social standing?”, Danny can’t really blame Kwan for caring about that sort of thing. After all, being a jock was pretty well the guys' life and he wasn’t burdened with crazy weird responsibilities or power for that matter.

Responding mostly to Todd’s little insults, “I come from a family of ghost hunters, what the hell do you think? That scaredy cat crap is just a cover. Which is rather pointless now, what with graduation coming up and all the teachers not really giving a shit about my crap now”, aggressively pointing his finger at Kwan while the others finish rolling, “I don’t care for sports and my time is better spent elsewhere. Social standing in Highschool means nothing to me”.

Now it’s Tyler’s turn to look incredulously at the stupid powerful halfa, “why are you even telling us this?”.

“Because it’s funny. I picked a jokester species for a reason. I’m a little shit and this is one way I get my kicks. That and no one will believe you if you tell. So it really doesn’t matter. Even if you were believed, it would hardly matter. It’s too late for the school to really do anything and I really am someone of chaos. I will only laugh harder if the whole school starts freaking out”, Danny can tell he’s confusing everyone and that is only making him snickering more. So he takes the chance for first dibs on a figure, a transparent floating skinny man in a hooded robe with his legs crossed. Looks a shit ton like ClockWork, snickering “now if only he had a staff”. This prompts everyone else to realise what he did and to start snatching at figures, while Rex gives him a shy but quizzical look. So Danny decides to be more of a confusing mess to these regular mortals, “he looks like a close friend of mine. And this makes my horrid stats even funnier because my friend is flat out OP. His tricky ass will get a good laugh out of this I’m sure”.

“Uh, humans aren’t really OP, ever, are you friends with a freaking ghost? You’re damn weird enough to be the person who befriends some ghost. And what? You going to talk his ear off about actually hanging out with people other than the two other resident freaks for once?”, Todd’s tone goes from confused questioning to his typical insulting asshole mode. So Danny decides to be a bit of an ass right back, “Todd, my friend is an omniscient borderline god of a ghost. I don’t have to tell him, he already knows and is probably snickering like crazy right now. But of course you don’t believe me, why would you? Which is why he’ll either A, do nothing to make me the butt of a joke. Or B, do something to make you the butt of a joke. That, or he’ll hit me with his staff to do both at once”. Honestly Danny’s kind of looking for approval and pretty well a go-ahead from the master of time here, he’d like to know he’s not majorly fucking up just because he’s having a bit of fun.

Everyone’s staring at him in disbelief and he can tell Todd wants to mock him some more but Danny falling back laughing stops him. Holding the figure, which now has a little tiny glowing CW staff resting across its lap, above his face. Through a laugh, “fucking nice, you enigmatic weirdo”. Sitting back up as he places the figure on the board, “and now he’s got a staff”.

“Nice trick, maybe you can-”, Lily cuts Todd off, “dumb boy, pretty sure he doesn’t carry around mini glowing staff things. No ones that weird”. She’s not wrong, why would someone ever do that anyway? Well, ClockWork might, just to throw them at him. After all, he’s got all the time in the world to mess around, when he can anyway. Just like Danny, though Danny takes way more mess around time.

Tyler shakes his head, “something tells me, we barely know you”. Danny pats Tyler on the shoulder while James actually gets the game started, “so we’re doing this party style, just a dungeon crawl. Get through the city without getting caught by hunters and defeat the ghost king”. This makes Danny cough a bit startled, the goal of this game is for his classmates and him to defeat, himself? Well, he guesses that’s not really a first for him. “Hey, James. Who does this game think the ghost king is?”, everyone looks a bit confused at him. Then James grabs one of the figures, Danny can’t help but laugh at the little knock-off Pariah figure. “Well that’s a damn easy battle currently then! Dude’s locked inside the sarcophagus of forever sleep. So we’re beating up a sleeping man, or releasing him just to fight him. Which is grade A stupid and insane”, waving off their shocked glances, “besides he’s not even the ghost king”.

“Oh and you know who is? We could just swap out if there’s a figure for him. All the figures have set stats for if you’re going to use them as NPC’s”, now Danny’s just flat out interested, because that includes him. Danny motions for the book but James sticks it behind him, “oh Hell no, just tell us who”.

Rolling his eyes, “I’m just going to take the book, dude. I do want I wanna, chaotic and all that”.

“Fenton, he’s literally right across from you. How you plan to do that?”, Todd snickers a bit while James looks smug. Danny decides just fuck it at this point, because really how has no one noticed his crap yet. Using the free-floating ectoplasm in the air to fling the book over Jame’s head and at himself, flipping through it as everyone gapes. “How did you even do that? That’s more than just sleight of hand, holy shit”, Danny blinks at them over the top of the book and snickers, realising none of them actually noticed the slight ghostly glowing. Comparing his and Pariah’s page and damn they made Phantom overpowered. Sure, that’s accurate but, uh, even if everyone had freaky high stats this doesn’t seem winnable. Why the heck put a nearly undefeatable character in a board game? Sure it was accurate to real life but still. Though making Pariah just barely above half Phantoms strength was majorly underestimating the former king. Like insanely so. And did they seriously make a Walker look-alike stronger than Pariah? The tornado “race” too? Putting the book down, “yeah I don’t think we want to do that. The goal here is to actually win right? Not just have everybody’s asses get universally kicked”.

Lily puts her hands on her hips, “just spill already. You satiated your curiosity now do ours”.

Chuckling a bit as he pushes around the figures some, “fine fine, it really should be obvious though”. Smirking as he cups the little knock-off Phantom before slowly placing him at the castle, “our little town hero is a lot busier than he seems”. Literally all of them are grinning, though Star looks a bit confused, “so why do ghosts keep coming here and picking fights with Phantom. If he’s their king shouldn’t they, like, listen to him?”.

“Fighting is how ghosts socialise, know each other, and keep each other from getting rusty. The only way ghosts won't go picking fights with another ghost is if that ghost is hated or extremely annoying to literally everyone. Well, that or just being really dumb and pointless to fight”.

“So what Phantom’s not strong enough to be pointless to fight? Really Fenton”, Danny rolls his eyes at Todd’s unimpressed tone. Shaking his head, “oh the stats this book gives him are accurate. He’s pretty well the most powerful ghost there is. An omnipotent immortal who’s literally worshipped as a god by many other ghosts. All those fights are usually more like sparring matches, he’s having his ghostly fun and keeping in touch with everyone. He’d be so very bored otherwise and the other ghosts wouldn’t want him out of practice in case something happens”.

Todd actually starts laughing at this while James does indeed decide to stick with using knock-off Pariah because damn. Todd points at Danny, “of course Phantom likes hitting and fighting! Regular jock for sure, just with real power”.

“Well I don’t like that. He should be wanting ghosts to not come here, not eagerly, or whatever, awaiting the next fight”, Danny can’t help but jerk from that because dude fuck buddy. He absolutely did look forward to the next fight, fighting and witty batter was his bread and butter. Locking eyes with Tyler, “nearly every ghost awaits their next fight, welcome to ghost nature buddy. Humans go to cafes, ghosts punch each other. Humans show off pictures of their selfies or pets, ghosts show off new weapons by using them on each other. To fight is to socialise. Phantoms one of the few that doesn’t like others in the crossfire though. If ghosts stopped picking fights here, he’d feel unneeded and paranoid. Plus this is his home, ghosts have to come here to see him. Them being here doesn’t mean they’re causing problems”. Tyler still looks unimpressed.

There’s the occasional jokes and pepperings of ghost questions as they play a few turns before Lily has just about enough and finally asks Danny just what the fuck, “how do you even know all this shit? Even your parents, who’ve spent their whole lives researching ghosts, don’t know even half this shit. I would know, I’ve asked”. Danny chuckles, his parents would know this shit if they weren’t so damn biased and actually just asked. Smirking at her, “you learn this stuff by genuinely socialising and being friendly with ghosts. My parents only wish to send them back to the Zone or experiment. Of course, they don’t know”.

“That’s actually kind of sad, still doesn’t answer my main question though. You’re actually fighting ghosts?”, Danny will give her props on being pushy. But he rolls to see if he can avoid this random hunter trap before responding, smirking as it rolls high, “I spar yes, protect the citizens. Toss around witty banter, making Plasmius regret ever meeting me. In general, I’m an OP little shit”, Danny taps on his figure, that’s actually doing well for being an utter weakling, “that’s why this is funny. The strongest most capable person here has the utterly weakest character ever”.

“Capable ghost hunter isn’t a capable ghost, even if you’re a ghost friendly hunter”, Danny can’t help but wheeze. He was just a ghost being a ghost. Half human or not, he was sparing and socialising as a ghost does. Calling him a human hunting ghosts was just so entirely wrong. Smiling with his head in his hand, “I don’t call myself a hunter and neither do they”.

Kwan pushes him playfully, “yeah well, regardless of title, I still can’t believe you even do that. Props man, I guess”.

By the time the party gets to knock-off Pariah, both Lily and some quiet kid named Max have had their characters killed off. Danny’s snickering as his and Tyler’s characters are leading the face off. While James shakes his head and points his hand at the figures, “this is ridiculous even if you had raised your stats the most you possibly could, there’d still be no way to win this”. Danny chuckles because that’s pretty much what the odds were when he did face Pariah. Once again deciding fuck it, “well then let’s make this even more realistic then. I’ll roll to multiply my characters power a hundredfold”. James starts lowkey choking, “what?! How is that realistic?!”. Danny laughs as he rolls, “that’s how Phantom won. Multiplied his power a hundredfold and nearly destroyed himself in the process. This book drastically underestimates Pariah’s power. It took thirteen extremely powerful ancient ghosts just to seal him away, Phantom did it alone. Like the self-sacrificial idiot he is”. Shrugging, “well that and, no one else was even willing to fight Pariah cause he was too damn strong and wasn’t worth fighting”.

Smirking at his die showing a high ass number, while menacingly petting his figure, “having that much power... it’s a burden, isn’t it, child?”. James mouths, “what the fuck”, at both the die and Danny.

While Todd blinks a bit surprised, “Fenton, what? I would never have expected you to sound creepy, threatening, and powerful”. Danny grins wider, “and that’s why no one will believe you about any of this”.

Now, unfortunately, this battle with Pariah requires actually defeating him. No sealing him away, and his character is pathetically weak even at a hundredfold power. He could kick his own ass with his ghost powers completely neutralised. So it really surprised no one that Danny fuckin’ dies.

Snickering down at the figure, “little ragged around the edges, eh, child?”. Before bursting out laughing as the mini staff explodes into purple mist. Todd, Tyler, and Star do wind up surviving and winning though.

“So any other crazy bullshit you feel like pulling. Since we’re officially out of shit to do besides being dicks to each other”, James mutters while lying on the floor. Todd snickers, “I’m cool with that”. Danny rolls his eyes, “now-now, would you act like that in front of Phantom?”. Both Star and Todd shake their heads rapidly, only Todd speaks though, “why the hell would I? That guy’s like super moral, I’d be making a horrible impression”. Danny can’t help but laugh, yeah he’s definitely got strong morals but he’s also a little shit. He steals, pulls pranks, constantly breaks into to pretty much everywhere, and spends most of his time pounding the crap out of someone. Good reasons or no, he’s ain’t a golden boy. Just the good guy who generally plays fast and loose with morality... and mortality. Smirking at Todd, “it’s a little late to change his impression of you, I’d say. You’ve literally punched him in the face, multiple times actually”, Danny sneers mockingly but still humorously, at Todd looking startled, “oh what? Didn’t know Phantom can change into a regular human?”. Throwing his head back and laughing loudly, “funny thing! The town barely knows Phantom”. Danny sighs as his ghost sense goes off and well, surprise surprise, his icy breath also glows. Knowing full well it’s Skulker, who really is more of a threat, he has a bad tendency to abduct people after all.

“What the fuck was that?”, Danny completely ignores Tyler, though he does talk, “the town also barely knows Fenton. So you’re right about that, but looks like I’ve got a job to do. Guess Skulker doesn’t really care about the shit weather, but then again, neither do I. Flying in the wind is hella fun”. Smirking as his toxic green eyes fill the room with an eerie ghostly light, “anyways this has been quite amusing and like I said, I’m a little overpowered shit. And ain’t nobody gonna believe you”. Before transforming and phasing out the window.

“Fenton, Phantom. We are all idiots, holy shit”

End.

[five-rivers]

Cauldron/Electricity

For some reason or another, this post kept being eaten, which is why it’s so late.  Sorry guys!

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Cauldron/Electricity

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The cauldron, or rather, the glowing green substance within it, bubbled and rolled. It did not boil. There was no fire beneath it. Lightning flashed, chartreuse, through the viridian clouds overhead. The air smelled of ozone, limes, and green peppers.

Sam stared down at the cauldron. She had no idea how she had gotten here. A ghost was probably responsible, in her life, ghosts were almost always responsible, but other that, blank. Nothing. Nada. Last thing she remembered, she had been brushing her teeth, getting ready for bed.

Was she dreaming? She dropped the long spoon she was holding, and pinched herself through her pajamas. No, it wasn't a dream.

Option two: overshadowing. The ghost would still be nearby. She felt for her wrist ray, but that, predictably, was gone.

She picked up the spoon. It was better than nothing, and the Fenton's had fought off ghosts with a mundane wooden baseball bat before. With the name Fenton on it.

The surrounding area didn't look promising. It was a high spot, almost craggy, surrounded by black, dripping trees. Between the color palette, and the odor in the air, this was almost certainly the Ghost Zone.

She hated being kidnapped. It played into too many stupid stereotypes. Also, it was being kidnapped, which was bad enough by itself.

She walked, placing her bare feet carefully, to where the ground started to drop off. Rough rocks and spindly, twisted trees laid scattered over a steep, almost vertical in places, slope. She could probably climb down, but it would hurt.

Down there didn't look all that great, either. She could see where the floating island dropped off into the great nothing of the Ghost Zone. Even of she did get down, there was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.

The other side was much the same.

At this point, she was really hoping that Danny knew she was missing, because she didn't think she'd be able to get out of this without him.

Lighting forked down from the sky, shockingly white against all the green, and dipped down into cauldron. Sam threw herself to the ground. She was not going to be toasted by ghost lightning. Danny had never told her or Tucker what being electrocuted felt like, but she could draw conclusions from the screams and thr tender, careful way he moved after fighting with an electricity user.

The lightning stopped. Sam raised her head, ears ringing. Okay, regardless of whether or not there was anywhere to run to, she was going to climb down to where she wasn't the highest point ar-

A hand came out of the cauldron.

It was followed by an arm, a tuft of white hair, and then a body. A familiar body.

"Danny?"

Danny yelped, and threw himself backwards, knocking over the cauldron. He scrambled to his feet.

There was no sign of the ectoplasm that had been in the cauldron.

"Say something only Sam would!" he demanded, pointing.

"Uh," said Sam, mind going blank. "I think you should wear more black on a daily basis."

"You do?"

"Yeah, you could totally pull off the goth look. Where are we and what's going on?"

"You were possessed by this weird witchy ghost who had spells for ghost powers. She caused a bunch of trouble with love potions and curses and stuff, and she kept getting away when I tried to get her out, and when Tuck and I tried to ambush her in you room, she melted me, put me in a bottle, then brought me here and dumped me in that cauldron." He shuddered. "It's been hours."

Sam swallowed back a sour taste in the back of her mouth. "That sounds like multiple days."

Danny flinched. "Yeah, it's been a few. I'm sorry."

Sam took a deep breath. She was angry, but taking it out on Danny would be dumb and mean, and she'd been trying to be better about that kind of thing.

"Well, let's get out of here, and back home. If she's like any of the other ghosts we deal with, she'll be causing trouble."

"Oh, but I'm not like any of the other ghosts you deal with."

Sam spun to face the ghost. Like Danny said, her aesthetic was witch-like. She wore dark, loose, ragged clothing, and a tall pointed hat. Her skin was green, like most ghosts', but so were her eyes, and they were a deep forest green, barely glowing at all.

Danny inserted himself between Sam and the ghost, raised a hand and-

Nothing happened.

The ghost smiled. "It's good to know that at least that part of my spell worked properly. You are a most vexing subject to deal with."

"I do my best," said Danny. He glanced back at Sam.

She knew that look. No powers. Great.

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Sam.

"My name was Vivian Davise. When I was alive, I was the strongest witch in North America. Real witch, mind you, not one of those children they murdered in Salem Town. But I died before I could pass on my skills." She smiled, too many teeth in her mouth. "Which is why I'm so luck I found you. You're perfect. You have the gift, and you have the inclination. You're even a descendant of mine."

So that's why her name sounded so familiar to Sam.

"So why kidnap us?" asked Danny.

"Well, I need to know if she's the right one for sure, don't I?" She looked at Sam, and flicked her fingers at Danny. "Make this ghost your familiar. Once I do so, I'll return his powers and you can leave. My old books are on this island. They'll explain how to do it."

"And how long will that take?" asked Sam. "Humans need to eat, you know." She was already feeling hungry.

"Then you had better eat fast."

"What if we don't want to do this familiar contract thing?" asked Danny. "No offense, Sam."

"It's fine."

"Well," purred the ghost. "That's not exactly up to you, is it? And don't try flying as humans. I've put safeguards up to prevent that." The ghot began to fade away. "Have fun!"

"Yeah, right," grumbled Sam.

"At least the sky is clearing up?" offered Danny. "And Tuck knows what happened, so..." he trailed off. He sighed, and flicked to human form before peeling off his coat and offering it to Sam. "You look cold."

"Thanks. I guess we'd better go look for those books." She frowned down the cliff. "I'm sorry about this."

"Don't be. You deal with my stuff all the time, and if we're apologizing for our ancestors, I should probably say something about one of mine trying to burn you alive."

"That's true."

Danny wound up giving his socks, shoes and jeans to Sam as well, then went ghost again so that both of them would be fully clothed. Neither he nor Sam wanted to try the climb without footwear.

Sam went first. Unlike Danny, she had some rock climbing experience, and thought it would be easier for her to find a safe path. Danny argued, of course, but Sam had the superior skill there as well, and won.

The climb wasn't too bad, but there were a couple of rough patches where she lost her grip or footing and slipped. She lost a fingernail, which was sure to annoy her mother when she noticed.

She didn't look up, but she didn't need to to feel Danny radiating worry down at her. This had to be hell on his Obsession. She mentally braced herself for the reflexive coddling she would receive later.

Danny started down once she reached the bottom, and she helped direct his descent. She couldn't see everything from down here, and he definitely picked out hand and footholds she couldn't, but she still helped him maneuver him out of a few places that looked like dead ends, and he got down faster than she had. He spent a few minutes fussing over her hands, and pulling band-aids out of his belt. But, finally, he wound down.

"So, I guess we should start looking for those books?" he asked.

Sam made a face. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hey, it's okay. Look on the bright side: You can learn magic! I bet that'll be really useful."

"If any of it's real, and not just her ghost powers and delusions," said Sam, pessimistically. She allowed herself a tiny smile. "But, yeah, it would be cool."

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To be continued in Artifact/Nursery Rhyme...

[canadas-googlesearchhistory]

OH NO WHAT WAS I THINKING THIS IS PURE SHIT RIGHT HERE GOODBYE ALSO IT HAS NO TITLE *AGGRESSIVELY POOFS OUT*

I lay waiting in bed, waiting to see if I would be one of the ones to disappear. I hated this time of year. I was only 13 though, so this was the first year of many to come when I had to wait through the night. Staring around my room I looked for something to do. Not that there was much in my room. It was pretty small with a medium sized bed, wood floor and walls, with a rug in the middle of the room. Not much, but it’s all I know. There was a small desk in the corner of the room with drawing supplies on it and a mirror. I got up to look in the mirror. Putting my long brown hair in a ponytail, I stared at my reflection, and my reflection stared back. With blue eyes, and pale skin. I hated all this waiting. When I was little, I remember these nights being thick fear. My mom’s voice called to me through the door again, underlined with tension, “Are you still there Ash?” “Yes” I called back trying to keep the worry out of my voice. I walk back to my bed and lie on it thinking. Every year 3 kids ages 13-19 go through what we call the change, mostly the 13 or 14-year-olds. Nobody knows what they look like afterwards, because they disappear. This happens because the ruler of the world, (at least our world at the moment) Grizwald casts a spell to keep us under control. Today is December 1st, the first day out of the three days when 3 kids are chosen to be changed. Each day one kid is disappears over the wall that surrounds our village, built with magic by the evil (obviously) wizard Grizwald. I will have to wait for the next two days to see if I too, will be gone. We hear a howl pierce through the night. I bolt upright and run to my mom. I am not the only one, though. My little sister Sally runs to her too. Her too small form makes her look like a 5-year-old. She is wearing a small pink dress that goes down to her knees and no shoes. I wonder who was chosen this time. I hope it isn’t any of my best friends Amber, Sam, and Danny? This village is under a curse. I am sure there are other villages out there, but he has isolated us. Sometimes I wonder what’s out there. My mom puts my little sister back in bed, and I follow her outside to see who disappeared this time. I find out as soon as we go outside. The house next to us has a great big hole in the back. When I see this, my eyes widen, and everything gets a little blury. Amber is missing. I start crying. Amber, my best friend, is gone. I remember running around together when we were kids, playing in the meadow, picking apples. No more times will I go over to her house and have a sleepover. No more times will I comfort her around these days because she remembers when her brother disappeared. No more times will she comfort me because I find something of my fathers. I remember when my father died, trying to protect someone, and I cry harder. ~~~Flashback~~~ It was two years ago. I stared up at the ceiling waiting for the telltale sign that this night was over. Even if I was not in danger, the different emotions swirling around everyone almost felt tangible, and affected me too. The worry on my mom’s face was noticeable and it was easy to see the stiffness in my father’s shoulders. “Mom? Dad?” I asked walking outside of my bedroom. “I can’t sleep.” “I’ll go get you a glass of water” Mom replied. As she walked through the dead silence to the living room I walked to the window and watch my dad talking with Amber’s brother, Josh. I think he’s 17. Dad was urgently saying something, but I couldn’t hear him that well. All I heard was “hurry… inside…” “Your dad is trying to convince Josh to go inside, because it’s late. Nobody wants him to disappear.” She told me. I kept watching only to see dark mass, similar to smoke, appear behind him. That’s when all chaos broke loose. My mom opened the window screaming at them to run. The black mass started moving and let loose a howl. As Josh started running, my father stepped between the smoke and Josh. As the smoke passed around him I heard him scream. My eyes widen as he hits the ground, and the keeps going only to wrap around Josh. It starts traveling faster, only to vanish over the wall. That was when we first learned what truly happened. ~~~End of Flashback~~~ People try to comfort me, but I don’t see them. I see my father, patting me on my back after I won the marathon around the wall. I see Amber tagging me and laughing as she runs away, knowing I will tag her back. My mom leads me back to the house. I slowly walk through the kitchen barley seeing my sister standing by her room. Walking into my room, I collapse on the bed and all out of tears, I sleep until morning. I wake up, and everything crashes down on me like a bulldozer. I curl up in a ball and try to go back to sleep, but there is too much light. My sister, only 7, already knows what happened and hugs me. “Goodnight sissy” she tells me. Then she closes the blinds so I can sleep. I thank her quietly, and am asleep again before she closes the door. When I wake up again, I am starving. So I go to the kitchen to find some food. We are all silent as we eat lunch. After lunch I would normally go to Amber’s house, but since she isn’t there I decide to go to the meadow instead. Our village is laid out with a huge wall around about four sections. In one section are the houses, in another a meadow. In the third there is a market where people exchange things and in the fourth a field. There is a river that flows through the field and meadow. “See you in a while mom. I am going to the meadow.” I say quietly. I don’t have the strength to talk. I jog to the meadow to get my blood flowing. When I get there I flop down into the flowers. It seems cruel to have blue skies, with no clouds when I feel so gloomy. I close my eyes. I feel so sleepy. I suddenly open my eyes to find it is dark out. I hear a howling. It sounds close. I jump up and sprint as fast as I can toward my house. I can feel my heart pounding. “Ash,” my mom screams, as I get nearer, “Come quickly, there’s something chasing you!” I run harder, but it is too late. I am surrounded by darkness. There was so much pain all around me. A scream was torn from my throat. I forced open my eyes, watering with pain and saw that although I was surrounded by blackness, I could still see everything. There was too much pain to struggle, and all out of energy I slumped over suspended by the smoke. When I looked up, I could see Sam running toward me. I tried to yell at him to stop, that this was how my dad died, but I couldn’t. He collided with the darkness, and he got sucked in too. Then we were rushed forward, flying over the wall and toward the castle. I bet the magician who put this curse on us lives there. I saw a glimpse of this, and snatches of a forest, then the pain was too much and I blacked out. When I came to, we were lying on the stone floor of what used to be the throne room. There were remnants of old tapestries on the walls, some bits of red carpet, the remains of a fireplace, and two thrones. A man covered in a black robe came toward us. I tried to back away, but I couldn’t move anything but my eyes. Sam lay next to me in the same situation. As he came toward us I studied him. He was tall, and thin, but strong. He put a bracelet on each of us, and snapped his fingers so that we could move. I jumped up, and tried to run, but he caught my arm in an iron grip. “It’s no use running” he said in a sly voice. It made me want to hurl. “Let us go” I demanded He ignored me. “Guards!” he called “Take these two to dungeon room 5D.” “What are you going to do with us?” Sam asked “How come Sam is still alive after touching the black stuff, but my father died?” I started questioning him. “All your questions will be answered in time, my friend.” He told us. ‘Friend?’ I thought, ‘more like enemy.’ Two guards came towards us. Both were really tall and had armor on. It was impossible to see their faces through the shadows. They carried us away. I tried to struggle, but the guard hit me so I stopped. I could tell that Sam was having the same problem. It took us 5 minutes just to get down to the dungeon room. How many does he have anyway? I looked down the hallway while we waited for another minute or so for the two dungeon keepers to open the lock on the dungeon door. The dungeons seemed to go on forever. They shoved us in, and re-locked the door. I looked around. Our cell was dark and gloomy, with a small room that held a toilet. I looked to the room next to us. It was called room 5C. A huddled figure sat on the bed in a corner. “Amber!” I cried out. She looked up. “So you got caught too Ash? How come Sam ended up with you?” “He tried the same thing my father did” I replied “What I don’t get is why he survived, and came with me, but my father died!” “Maybe it’s because I am only 13, but your father was older than 19.” Sam said. “We need to find out why we are all here.” Amber said. “Let’s get some sleep first” I said yawning. I woke up confused because there was stone all around me, and then I remembered everything that had happened. I groaned and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn’t. I sat up. Sam had kindly lent me the bed while he slept on the ground. Soon everyone was awake. I heard footsteps up above. They were getting nearer. “They’re bringing the next person down” Amber whispered to us. I looked to see who it was this time. “Don’t say anything” Amber warned us. “They’ll punish you if you talk.” I looked to see who it was and gasped. It was Danny. He also had a bracelet on. As they were putting him in his cell, he stumbled against one of the guards. The guard glared at Danny and pushed him on the ground. Danny got up and clenched his fists, but said nothing. Then the guard put him in his cell and locked the door. He looked at us, but didn’t say anything until both of them left. Then Danny told us as quietly as he could, “We have to get out of here.”