Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Finally! I’ve been waiting for hours!” Ember shouted as Danny entered his room on a mid-October Tuesday along with Sam and Tucker. The popstar ghost was seated cross-legged on his bed.

Danny froze and stared at her for a moment. “Ember? What—”

“I need your help with something,” Ember said, hopping off the bed and floating over to the three.

“Since when do you ask for our help with stuff?” Tucker asked warily—understandably so.

“I’m not asking for your help, Techno Geek. I’m asking for Babypop’s,” Ember informed them.

“Same question applies,” Danny said tiredly. He probably should be more on guard, like Sam and Tucker were, but for some reason he never saw Ember as the same level of dangerous as many of his other enemies, which went doubly so now after encountering ghosts like Undergrowth and Vortex. She seemed more like a frenemy… Or maybe even…

“Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Ember said, seeming confused. “Friends help each other.”

“Friends?” Sam asked sharply, glaring at Danny with suspicion. “Since when?”

“Hey, this is news to me, too,” Danny told her. Although, come to think of it, his ghost sense hadn’t gone off for her, as it did for ghosts deemed unfriendly or unknown; had he subconsciously started to see her as a friend?

Ember frowned. “Am I missing something? We play-fight all the time, and tease each other and exchange flirty banter and stuff. Is that not friendship?”

Danny mentally paused, considering that. Was that why he wasn’t on edge with her being in his room? Why his ghost sense didn’t go off? Were they friends? The fights did seem more playful nowadays… more like sparring than actual fighting… “When you put it that way…” Danny trailed.

“Danny, no,” Sam asserted. “She’s tricking you! What Ember does isn’t play.”

“Says you,” Ember pouted.

“Ember, just a few weeks ago you, Kitty, and Spectra tried ridding the town of all the men,” Sam pointed out. “That’s not play.”

“Sure it was,” Ember said. “It was fun! Did you see the looks on the women’s faces? They were glad to get a break from guys!”

“But you can’t just get rid of them all like that!”

“Why not? It’s not like it was gonna be permanent—there was no need for you to be a party-pooper. Seriously, you need to have more fun, Spooky.”

“Wait, it wasn’t permanent?” Tucker interjected.

“Nope,” Ember said, popping the ‘p’. “We would’ve brought them back after the girls had their fun. Anyway, let’s go, Babypop, this is time sensitive.”

“What is?” Danny asked, still unsure with the entire situation.

“What you need to help with.”

“Which is?” Danny wanted more info before promising.

“Confidential,” Ember replied.

“Right… Not suspicious at all,” Danny said with an eye roll. “Can you at least tell me where this issue is?”

“My lair,” Ember replied. “Now, let’s go.”

Ember surged forward and grabbed Danny by the wrist, then phased them down to the lab as Sam and Tucker frantically shouted Danny’s name.

Danny allowed Ember to lead him into the Ghost Zone and to her lair, though he wasn’t fully sure why. Did he really see her as a friend? His core said yes but his brain was mildly confused about that. He didn’t think she was tricking him though; might as well see what she needed help with.

Ember’s lair was set up like a large yet cozy basement lounge and recording studio combo, with lots of musical instruments and equipment strewn about, along with beanbag chairs, multiple couches, some tables, a pinball machine, a TV, a corner containing a fridge beside a small counter with a microwave and stovetop, and walls and ceiling littered with band posters and stickers. One could barely make out a multicolored carpet under everything, similar to those found at old arcades. All the furniture was a mismatch of styles and colors, reminiscent of many peoples’ first apartments which tended to have most furniture be hand-me-downs and roadside finds.

Danny’s ghost sense went off as he entered the lair, and the TV switched from on to off.

Sitting on a leather couch in front of the TV, with cans of soda on the table between the two objects, were Kitty, TV remote in hand, and one of the last girls Danny expected to find there: his blonde-haired classmate Star, who had been reported missing a few days prior.

Kitty glared at Ember. “About time you got here!”

“Hey, you said be discreet, so I waited in his room to minimize media picking me up. We’re here now,” Ember told her a little testily.

“What’s Fenton doing here?” Star asked, seeming perfectly at ease, so Danny ruled out kidnapping.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?!” Danny asked, baffled at her calm presence among the ghosts, as if she not only knew them but they were friends too.

Star turned to Ember and frowned. “You told me you were bringing Phantom here, not this nerd.”

“Why do you need Phantom here?” Danny asked warily, ignoring the nerd comment and suspecting that the problem Danny had to help with had to do with the girl. He turned to Ember and asked, “Is this related to the confidential thing I need to help with?”

“Look a little closer at her, Babypop,” Ember told Danny, voice unexpectedly quiet and gentle.

Danny followed that instruction. Something did seem… off… but what… Oh. Her skin, a large amount of which was visible thanks to the crop-top and short-skirt combo that was the feature of the orange-and-white Casper High cheerleading uniform, had lost any tanness the summer had given it despite it only being early October, and appeared to be slightly glowing. Her hair, though still mostly long and yellow-blonde and adorned with her usual orange flower hairclip, also had a subtle pattern of tiny slightly-darker starbursts throughout it, swirled in various density clusters, defying physics by gently moving about on their own.

As Danny concentrated, he noticed that, like himself, the girl seemed to not be breathing, and also like him a very faint vibration came from her that became evident when concentrating hard enough. Unlike Danny, however, the girl had no heartbeat, which he should be able to hear when concentrating this hard on her.

“You’re a ghost,” Danny softly concluded, staring at Star with wide eyes. His classmate was a ghost. But how…?

Star gasped. “Ohmygosh. You can tell? Is it that obvious?” she asked, looking distressed at that. She swerved to look at Kitty. “You said people wouldn’t be able to tell!”

“They won’t, don’t worry!” Kitty quickly assured the girl. “You look more human than Ember, and the humans can’t tell she is.”

“Hey!” Ember protested.

“You literally have a fire ponytail, and they don’t wonder why.”

“But Fenton can tell!” Star asserted, ignoring Ember.

“Well duh! I told you, ghosts can sense your core,” Kitty explained.

“Ghosts…? Wait…”

“Oh, way to out me,” Danny said with a non-serious scowl as he crossed his arms. He wasn’t actually upset about being revealed; if Star was a ghost, she’d learn about him sooner than later.

“Ooooh,” Star slowly said with realization. “You’re Phantom, aren’t you? You have transformation powers too.”

“‘Too’?” Danny caught.

“Her special power is changing how she looks,” Kitty supplied.

“Like Amorpho?” Danny asked.

“Not, not to that extent,” Kitty explained. “At least as far as we can tell. Pretty much it’s just superficial stuff, at least for now. Skin tone, hair color, and other general appearance stuff like that. Go on, Star, show him your default.”

Star frowned. “But I don’t like it.”

“You need to get used to it; keeping the human appearance takes energy, so using it 24/7 isn’t sustainable,” Kitty told her gently.

Star sighed. “Fine,” she said sullenly, then her skin shifted to a more ashen blue-grey similar in shade to Kitty, the glow increased, the stars in her hair shifted to a definitely-unnatural holographic gold color, and her dark teal eyes shifted to a lighter glowing teal. Her fingernails shifted to become more pointed, not quite claws but they definitely looked sharp, although the orange polish remained. “It’s ugly, isn’t it?” she asked with a slight pout as she watched Danny examine her look.

Danny gave a start. “Sorry, didn’t mean to stare!” He said. “You’re not ugly, I promise. A lot better looking than lots of ghosts, seriously. It just surprised me. Honestly, I’m still processing the fact that you even are a ghost. How did—wait, sorry, that’s rude to ask.”

“That’s actually the problem,” Ember spoke up. “She doesn’t know.”

“Oh. And you think I can help with that?” Danny asked, mildly confused. “All I know is a few days ago you were reported missing,” he told Star.

“I didn’t even know that much when Kitty found me wandering around,” Star revealed.

“I recognized her from the news report,” Kitty explained. “Unfortunately that’s very common with new ghosts that died very traumatically. Sometimes it comes back to you, sometimes it doesn’t. I was like that too at first; I only remembered because Johnny remembered, and once he explained it came back to me.” Right, the two had died together, in a motorcycle crash, Danny recalled.

“Where’s Johnny now?” Danny wondered. Usually Kitty and Johnny were with each other, unless, “Did you two fight again?”

“Nah, he just left to go see if the police have any info,” Kitty told him, unaffected by the comment regarding them fighting. “We’ve had the news on, but there’s nothing being reported other than that she’s still missing.”

“I’m not missing, my body is missing,” Star corrected.

“Well, yes,” Kitty said. “Blunt, but yes.”

“I don’t like to sugarcoat things,” Star grumbled, a stark contrast from the bubbly personality that Danny was used to seeing at school. It was understandable though, given the circumstances.

Danny vaguely wondered why he was reacting so calmly in the face of his classmate being a ghost. Being dead. Was he just that used to ghosts that it didn’t strike his mind to grieve or even be upset? She’d only been barely an acquaintance, but she still had been a classmate; he should feel something more, right?

“What’s the last thing you remember before becoming a ghost, and first thing you remember after?” Danny asked the girl as he took a seat on the couch beside her.

“Hey, leave room for me!” Ember whined, floating over.

“It only fits three,” Danny told her.

“Then I’ll sit on you,” Ember decided.

“Hey!” Danny protested as Ember sat on his lap.

Star giggled. “You two seem like good friends!” she said, her voice regaining some of its usual chipperness, though still somewhat subdued. “Wow, Fenton, you really have everyone fooled, thinking you’re afraid of ghosts.”

“Call me Danny,” Danny told Star as he pushed Ember off him and into a beanbag next to the couch. “And technically, I never said that,” he pointed out. “You all just assumed.”

“Well, how we were supposed to know you were actually running off to be Phantom?” Star asked with a knowing smile, and Danny realized he’d never actually confirmed that.

Danny sighed, and activated his transformation as Ember floated over to the fridge.

Star gasped with happy surprise. “Ohmygosh, you really are him! Or, you! This is so epic. You’re like Sailor Moon or something.”

“What,” Danny said flatly.

“You know, with the transformation,” Star explained. “The light and the costume change!”

“Uh huh. I’ll take your word for it,” Danny decided.

“What’s with that flash, anyway?” Ember asked from the fridge.

“Yeah, like, come to think of it, other transformation ghosts don’t have that,” Kitty pointed out. “It’s just you and Vlad. Is it a halfa thing?”

“I dunno; probably,” Danny said.

“Have you ever tried, like, just not doing it?” Ember wondered.

Danny gave pause to that. “No, I haven’t,” he realized. Should he try? Yeah, he should try. So Danny focused on not having the ring of light as he shifted back to his human form… Sure enough, it worked. Danny tried it again in the reverse direction. “Huh. Would have been nice to know I could do that a year ago,” he said. He wondered if Vlad knew, then concluded that surely he did, after over two decades; he must just use the ring to be flashy, since that was the kind of thing he would do.

“Yeah, that’ll make hiding way easier,” Ember said matter-of-factly.

Danny shifted back to human form, which he preferred, again without the ring. He turned back to Star. “So, back to what you remember—”

“Hey, wait, why are you switching back?” Star wondered. “I thought we don’t need to hide here?”

“I’m not hiding,” Danny said, somewhat confused, then realized the issue. “Oh, right. You don’t know. My human form isn’t the same kind of shapeshifting you can do. It’s my default.”

“Danny’s a halfa,” Ember supplied as she flopped back into her beanbag, this time with a can of ecto-soda. She tossed a can to Danny, too. “More formally known as a liminal. Means he’s a ghost with some human traits lingering.”

“It’s actually super interesting how that works,” Kitty said. “Liminals are made when a ghost is inside a body when the body is revived, which makes the two merge, because the soul desperately wants to reattach itself to the revived body but already has formed a core and has all the ghost energy already attached to it.”

“Yeah, I was inside the portal when it activated, got blasted with a shitton of electricity and ectoplasm together; basically my ghost formed inside my body at the same exact time it was revived,” Danny explained, as he examined the can in his hand. “Is this ecto-soda stuff safe for halfas?”

“Should be,” Ember said. “Far as I know anything safe for ghosts is safe for halfas.”

“If I die further, I’m blaming you,” Danny joked, popping open the can.

“So, a halfa is like a ghost possessing a corpse?” Star questioned as she picked up her own partly-finished soda from the coffee table.

“No no, that would be a revenant!” Kitty corrected. “In that case, the body is fully dead, then it possesses the corpse. So Danny is definitely not one of those, because then he would look and smell like a corpse. No, a liminal is an actual merge, a true in-between state. Like, he actually has a heart beat, because his heart pumps a blood-ectoplasm mix! Even in his ghost form he has bones.”

Star looked confused at that. “But if you have bones, how do you do make your form go all liquidy and make the ghost tail and stuff?” she asked Danny.

Danny shrugged. “No idea, and I’d honestly rather not speculate too much. Last time I did I discovered that gravity was only constantly activated in human form because I believed it was, and now that that mental block’s gone I keep accidentally floating whenever I’m happy.” Or just in general, doing things like sitting in the air, which felt natural not just in ghost form but also in human form now.

“Oh yeah, ghosts are emotion-based beings so your own beliefs about yourself and your emotions can affect things,” Ember helpfully told Star. “You’re really new, so you’re gonna have some issues with accidental power activation for a bit.”

“I can help with that,” Danny said. “School was really difficult when my powers were settling in. Remember all those dropped beakers and pants-falling incidents?”

Star giggled. “I don’t think anyone can forget that. It even got you noticed by Paulina!”

Danny cringed. “Yeah… anyway, about school, do you plan to go back, or stick around here, or what?”

“Oh, I’m definitely going to go back,” Star said determinedly, not even having to think about it. “That’s why Kitty and I were practicing on getting my old look…” Star squinted her eyes in concentration, and then her skin shifted back to a more human, albeit pale, tone, the glow dimmed, and her eyes and hair returned to the state they’d been in when Danny entered the lair. “Do you really think it’s good enough to pass?”

“Definitely,” Danny said.

“Wait,” Star said, eyes widening in realization. “One sec…” she squinted again, and then a large streak of red appeared in her hair on the right side.

“Ballin’,” Kitty said approvingly. “And hey, you got the gold to fully go away this time!”

“Really?” Star asked happily, grabbing some of her hair to look at it. “Awesome!”

“Glow’s dimmer too,” Ember said approvingly. “Betcha you can get it to go all the way away with practice.”

“Yeah…” Star trailed, looking at Danny. “You know, you look really cute with fangs. How’d I never notice that before?”

“I look cute with what?” Danny asked, then poked at his teeth with a finger. “What the…” Sure enough, his canine teeth were sharp and pointy—small fangs, but fangs nonetheless. “Why?” he whined.

“Huh. Those are new,” Ember said. “She’s right, they’re cute.”

“But… They should be normal teeth…” Danny said. “I mean, they’re new teeth, they got knocked out in a fight with a hockey ghost earlier and reformed, but usually when that happens just regular teeth come back…”

“Well, seems like your mouth wanted fangs this time around,” Kitty said with a giggle. “Halloween is soon, right? Maybe that’s why.”

“I want fangs too,” Star decided. “I wonder…” She squinted her eyes again and ran her tongue over her bared teeth; Danny watched in fascination as Star’s canines shifted into fangs that matched his. “Cool!” the girl declared.

“Damn; wi—would love it if I could do that too,” Danny said. “But, to get rid of the fangs; I don’t want to draw more attention to myself.”

“You sure you can’t?”

“Nah; the form change is due to being a halfa, not a genuine transformation ability. My specialty is ice,” Danny informed her, holding his hand palm-up and forming a small ice crystal in the air like Frostbite had taught him. “Pretty sure ghosts generally just get one major category of ghost magic.” He closed his hand and the crystal dissolved into droplets that evaporated.

“Mine’s music,” Ember supplied. “With the right sounds, I can do different spells. Johnny’s is his shadow thing. Kitty’s is her vanishing kiss.”

“No, mine is charming men,” Kitty said. “If I seduce a human male, he’ll do what I want, and if I don’t want him to remember after he won’t. The vanishing kiss is an extension of that.”

“Eh, details.”

“Huh. I didn’t realize that,” Danny said. That was a very powerful ability! Also… “Hey, wait, does that mean you—”

“Nah, it doesn’t work on halfas,” Kitty interjected, catching on. “That’s why I had to possess Paulina.”

“You possessed Paulina?” Star asked curiously.

“Yeah, last year, the week ‘Paulina’ and I ‘dated’. Kitty was fighting with Johnny and thought dating me would make him jealous,” Danny explained. “Apparently it didn’t occur to her that I might play along if she just told me she wanted to do that in the first place, so she didn’t have to try to trick me into it.”

“In my defense, at the time you were friendly with absolutely zero ghosts, so it wasn’t too far out to think you wouldn’t agree,” Kitty pointed out.

“But why Paulina?” Star wondered. “I mean, yeah, she’s super hot, but isn’t it really unbelievable she’d be into Fenton?”

“Oh, thanks,” Danny said with an eye roll. “But she is into Phantom.”

“Yeah, I blackmailed him,” Kitty said casually as she examined her nails. “Had him thinking that Paulina would tell everyone he’s Phantom if we broke up.”

“Oh! That’s so clever,” Star replied chipperly.

“That’s one word for it I guess,” Danny muttered, then continued in a normal voice, “Anyway, back to why I’m here…”

“Oh, right,” Star said. “We want your help solving my murder, obviously.”

“You were murdered? You remember that?” Danny asked, alert. This would make the first murder in Amity Park since the ghosts started appearing en masse—hopefully ghosts didn’t get blamed for it! Unless a ghost did it…

“No, but that’s what makes sense, right?” Star said. “I mean, ghosts form from violent emotional deaths. I wouldn’t do some sort of crazy murder-suicide thing so obviously someone did it to me.”

“Could also be an accident,” Kitty supplied. “Like, me and Johnny got into the motorcycle crash.”

“But I don’t drive a motorcycle.”

“No, but it could be something else accidental.”

“But then someone would have found my body by now,” Star pointed out. “Unless someone did it by accident and then covered it up… But that still means someone killed me and I want to know who.”

“So the consensus is someone killed you, accident or not,” Danny summarized. “Since there’s no body, and you have the morphing ability, it’s probably a good idea to return to your human life for now.”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Star said. “If someone killed me, they’ll be shocked to see me around, and then we’ll know who did it.”

“Assuming it’s a human who doesn’t have a good poker face,” Ember pointed out.

“Well, it’s a start,” Danny said, still a little stunned that he was apparently going to be working with Ember, Johnny, and Kitty, along with Star herself, to solve Star’s murder. He felt like he should be reacting more to the entire situation, though—well, it likely hadn’t fully hit him yet, he concluded.

Unless ghosts didn’t react to death in the same way humans did, and that’s something halfas had too? Maybe he could ask…

“Something on your mind, Babypop?” Ember asked, apparently catching onto Danny’s internal conflict.

“Ah, kinda,” Danny admitted. “It’s about learning Star’s a ghost…”

“Oh, she’s the first person you knew as a human and a ghost?” Ember asked. “Yeah, that’s gotta be weird.”

“No, it’s not that,” Danny said. “Or, maybe that is a little weird, but…” He trailed off, not sure how to voice it.

“Ooooh, I get it,” Kitty said. “She’s the first death you’ve experienced since you became a ghost, isn’t it? So you’re confused at why you’re reacting differently than you did as a human, right?”

“Ah. Yeah, that’s right,” Danny confirmed, ignoring the fact that Kitty seemed to be treating him as just a regular ghost. Ember tended to do that too; in fact, the more he interacted with ghosts, the more Danny realized that apparently to ghosts, halfas counted as such. He wondered if humans in general would see it that way too, if they ever found out. The GIW certainly had during the whole Freakshow incident.

“We’ve all gone through that realization,” Ember told him. “You’d probably expect to react stronger because ghosts have stronger emotions in general, but you’re barely reacting at all—it’s normal, don’t worry. We think it’s because we’ve all experienced death ourselves, so it doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore, you know? Even if it’s someone we knew.”

“Plus her being a ghost dampens it as well,” Kitty chimed in. “Since she’s not really gone, you know? And you know what it’s like being a ghost.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Danny said, relaxing slightly. So, his reaction, or lack thereof, was normal—for a ghost. Not for the first time Danny wondered if he really was more ghost than human; if the ghosts didn’t seem to see a difference… Well, while they were being friendly, maybe he should ask that too. “So, there’s something else that’s been bugging me, too,” Danny said a little nervously. “Are halfas… basically just a variant of ghost? You all seem to be treating it that way—I thought it was more of a hybrid thing?”

“Technically I guess it is more like a third hybrid thing,” Ember acknowledged. “But for all intents and purposes you’re basically a ghost, right? You definitely have a lot more ghost traits than human ones! And you can relate more to us than humans, right? I mean, you did die, which isn’t something humans can empathize with. So, yeah, guess we do treat it more like a ghost variant than a separate thing—but your humans do that too, don’t they, in the opposite direction?”

“Yeah, they do,” Danny said. Honestly, it bothered him a little the way Sam and Tucker seemed to treat it like Danny still being human, but with ghost powers. He knew they understood on a logical level that he was technically a hybrid, that he technically died even if he revived partially after, but they still treated him as more human despite that, to the point Danny could swear that sometimes they felt uncomfortable when he acted too ghostly, although he could just be overthinking that.

“Which do you prefer?” Star asked with curiously.

“What?”

“Which do you prefer people treat you as, human or ghost?”

“Oh.” Danny took a sip of his soda to give himself a moment to think. “Honestly, I have no idea,” he decided to say, not liking the inkling that was creeping up.

“Really? You sure?” Ember asked with a knowing eyebrow raise.

“If you had to pick only one, what would you say you are?” Kitty asked.

Danny hesitated, and really thought deeply about it, using the soda to delay again before answering. “I mean, I guess I identify more as… as a ghost,” he revealed, half-speed heart rate picking up a little; he’d never admitted that aloud to anyone before. “I don’t want to, but I do.” It felt like a dirty secret, that somewhere along the way he’d started identifying more as a ghost than human, something he’d been trying to deny even to himself…

“Mm, thought so,” Ember said. “After meeting you I read up on halfas, and it seems that most start out thinking they’re more human, but then eventually identify as ghosts, usually within a few years. There’s just too many major differences between halfas and humans compared to between halfas and ghosts.”

“Wait, there are books about halfas?” Danny asked, surprised.

“Yup; they’re in the Ghost Zone Library. I’ll take you sometime, it’s huge!”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Danny said; the more info about halfas he could learn, the better. “So, that means, there’s enough halfas to make books? Or, have been enough, I mean; guess they’re not around anymore. I thought portals were needed though?”

“Nah, there’s some nasty rituals and other sciency things that can do it too,” Ember said. “The portal itself doesn’t matter, the body’s reanimation with the ghost inside it is the important thing. It doesn’t even have to be immediate, if you can attach a ghost to a corpse and then revive it. Frankenstein did that.”

“Whoa, wait, Frankenstein was real?!” Star proclaimed.

“Yep. The so-called ‘monster’ he made was a halfa. Not a very good one since the body was cobbled together by different parts rather than the original one, making it unstable so it didn’t last, but technically that creature was a halfa,” Ember explained. “Later on Frankenstein did that to himself, using his own body, with much more success. Think he’s got a castle on the edges of the USSR.”

“It’s called Russia again,” Kitty corrected. “Seriously, you gotta brush up on modern geography.”

“Wait, he’s still alive? Wasn’t he from the 1800s or something?” Danny asked, on alert. That would make him well over the oldest human ever recorded… Did halfas…?

“Alive is relative, but yeah, no one ended him and he didn’t fade, so he’s still around.”

“Is he a full ghost then?”

“No, of course not…” Ember trailed, then looked at Danny with a frown, seeming mildly confused.

“Oh, honey,” Kitty said with realization. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Danny asked, feeling like a bombshell was about to be dropped.

“That’s another thing halfas share with full ghosts—you don’t age,” Kitty said gently.

Yup, a bombshell. Danny had started to suspect something was a little off, since he hadn’t seemed to grow at all and hadn’t needed a haircut since the accident, but somehow it didn’t occur to him that that could be because he was literally unaging. “Well, shit,” he said, then realized something. “Wait. That includes mentally, doesn’t it? So I’ll be stuck in puberty forever?”

“It’s not as bad as it seems at first,” Ember said. Right, she had only been 15 when she died. “Yeah, just like your body, your brain chemistry is static, so your mental maturity stays the same, but you can still learn and stuff. But having both teenage hormonal emotions combined with overactive ghost emotions can be super annoying at times.”

“Oh my gosh,” Star said, looking horrified. “Please tell me I’m not going to be getting my period for eternity!”

“Don’t worry!” Kitty hurriedly assured the girl. “Ghosts don’t get those, even if they died during it, so you’re good.”

“Oh, phew,” Star said, relaxing.

“Yeah, that’s definitely a major benefit to being a ghost!” Ember agreed. “You can’t get pregnant, either, so a huge plus if you meet a boy and want to, you know. Or a girl, in your case, Babypop. Ghost, human, doesn’t matter; no condoms needed or anything.”

“Ember! They’re 15!” Kitty chided. “So are you technically!”

“If I’m unaging, that actually makes me 14,” Danny pointed out. Learning halfas were apparently infertile didn’t bother him at all, given his age, but it suddenly made a lot more sense why Vlad was so determined to make him his son, to the point he tried cloning him, instead of just trying to make an heir the usual way. It did however leave the question of how Boxed Lunch formed.

“Even worse!”

“Oh come on. They’ve had sex ed in school,” Ember argued. “Besides, it’s important to know!”

“How old are you?” Star asked Kitty, ignoring Ember’s comment. Danny was curious too; she seemed to be treating Ember more like a younger sister than general friend.

“I’m 18,” Kitty told her. “Johnny is too. The accident happened when we’d just finished high school—we went to Bellwitch High, on the other side of the city. We’d just left a graduation party, so were both pretty tired, and were arguing, and between that and it being dark and raining… Well, you know how that ended.”

Danny had noticed that when asked their age, ghosts always defaulted right to the age they died at, never trying to calculate it based on birth year. Which made sense; Danny had long ago realized that time wasn’t treated the same in the Ghost Zone. Rarely did ghosts keep calendars, and they didn’t sleep nor did the Ghost Zone have any day/night cycle so it was difficult to tell time passage. Danny only knew the time because he wore a watch (analog mechanical, because digital and battery-operated ones short-circuited whenever he transformed, or became emotional because yes, ghost energy could affect electricity), which had been a gift from Jazz with the hope that he’d be more on time if he had one (that plan hadn’t worked too well), but if he didn’t have the watch he’d have no way to even estimate the time.

Danny wondered how long it would take him to start instinctually answering ‘14’ instead of basing it on birth year, now that he knew halfas were unaging… Oh crap, how was he going to tell Sam and Tucker about that? What about Jazz? And his parents eventually would notice… This was really going to put a wrench in things!

Well, at least he knew his parents would likely be fine with him being a halfa… or at least, they had been a few months prior… But that was a unique circumstance and they’d watched him save the world; in a different circumstance, without the rescue part, would the result be the same? A part of Danny said ‘no’, enough so that he still feared them discovering his secret. In fact, despite their words, even at the time a part of Danny couldn’t help but suspect they were lying about it being okay; well, his dad likely wasn’t lying, but his mom could be really crafty, and he wouldn’t put it past her to pretend to be fine with it until they were alone…

“Danny? You okay, Babypop?” Ember asked. “You’re kinda zoning out…”

“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Danny said, snapping out of his brief reverie. “It’s just, really hitting me now. That I’m gonna be 14 forever.”

“Hey, like I said, it’s not as bad as it seems,” Ember said consolingly. “You won’t grow up, sure, but you can still have plenty of fun! Besides, it means you don’t have to do adult things like get a job, which is pretty neat, right? I mean, some jobs are cool, but they’re still jobs.”

“That’s not the issue,” Danny said truthfully. The only time he thought about a job for the future had been the dream of becoming a NASA astronaut, and even then it had only been a vague goal, something he hadn’t truly believed he could achieve even for a while before he became a ghost and had that dream unambiguously thwarted. Besides, he’d technically been to space already. “The issue is that I still live among humans, pretending to be fully one.”

“Oooh, gotcha,” Ember said. “Yeah, the unaging thing really puts a time limit on that, unless you start to travel around a lot, never staying in one place long enough for people to notice.”

“Yeah… Plus even if I do that, my parents still will figure it out. I dunno how they’ll react; you’ve seen how they treat Phantom. And things with Sam, Tucker, and Jazz will eventually get strange—eventually they’ll grow up and get families and stuff, and I’ll be what? People are gonna be mistaking me for their kid, and then grandkid! Can we even stay friends if I’m still a teen and they’re senior citizens?”

“Okay, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Kitty interjected. “Focus on that stuff as it comes up, not all at once right now, okay? And talk to your humans about it, I’m sure they’ll have better insights than we do.”

“You could find some other halfas and ask them about it, too,” Ember suggested. “I mean, I dunno how much insight they’d have, since they’re mostly elderly mad scientists and unhinged alchemists and stuff that took the search for immortality too far, so never really had many friends and still prefer solitude, but who knows.”

“Ugh, that sounds like Vlad,” Danny said.

“Yeah, from what I hear they’ve all got similarly egotistical personalities, although unlike him they don’t flaunt their money and seek power on the regular… Might be hard to find too, they tend to be the type to hide…”

“Sounds like it might not be worth trying to find them,” Danny concluded. Maybe he could ask Clockwork if he knew if any of them would be nice, or if he knew of any younger ones.

“Hey, question: by Vlad, do you mean the mayor?” Star asked.

“Oh. Yeah, he’s a halfa too,” Danny told her; it wasn’t a secret to any of the ghosts so he didn’t feel like he was giving away the secret by confirming that, especially since Star would be able to sense his ghost core next she saw him. “His ghost form is called Plasmius. Be careful around him; he likes to scheme.”

“Plasmius…” Star trailed, thinking. “Oh, he’s the vampire-like one that released the evil king wannabe?”

“Yeah, that’s him,” Danny confirmed, after taking a brief moment to connect ‘evil king wannabe’ to ‘Pariah Dark’.

“And he’s the mayor? Ugh, major ‘ew’.”

Danny laughed. “Yeah, you said it. The election wasn’t even legit, he just overshadowed everyone to get them to vote for him.”

“I knew there was something suspicious about that election,” Star asserted. “And not just because it was three months early. Shouldn’t people, like, know this though?”

Ember scoffed. “And how do you think that’ll go? He’ll end anyone who snitches. Besides, it’s common courtesy not to out ghosts trying to hide as human, at least when they don’t have nefarious intent.”

“It is?” Danny asked. He’d suspected it, given none of the ghosts had revealed his identity to anyone, even for revenge, but it was good to have confirmation.

“Yup,” Ember revealed, popping the ‘p’. “In most circumstances you’ll end up socially ostracised for doing that. You got a pass for outing Spectra and Bertrand because they were intentionally trying to cause serious harm to humans, which is more taboo. And it was understandable with us as well. But just outing someone who isn’t causing trouble for the humans? Big no-no.”

“Fascinating as this convo is, we’re getting off topic again,” Kitty gently reminded them. “We’ll teach you more about ghost culture later—for now, we have Star to worry about.”

“Sorry,” Danny instinctually apologized; that happened to him a lot, and Jazz often called him out on it too. Also, “Yeah, we should get back to why I’m here. I can’t stay here forever; Sam and Tucker are probably freaking out since you basically kidnapped me, Ember.”

“It wasn’t kidnapping; you could’ve escaped if you wanted to,” Ember pointed out.

“Eh, well, they can get overprotective,” Danny said. “Same for my sister; bet they told her already. But either way, we should tell the three of them about this—Star, I know you want to keep this a secret, but those three can definitely help, and knowing them they’ll be able to tell I’m hiding something and end up figuring it out anyway. I know Phantom is the one people publicly see, but it’s really Team Phantom. Trust me, you want them helping us—it’s a mess when I try to do things alone.” He’d figured that out the hard way.

Star looked a little hesitant, but decided, “Okay. I’ll trust you.”

There was a conveniently-timed knock on the door, in a pattern of 3-2-3.

“That’s Johnny,” Ember said, and with a wave of her hand the door of her lair opened.

Johnny walked through, but looked a bit nervous. “Hey, so we’ve got a bit of an issue…” he trailed, just as three humans pushed past him.

Kitty stood up and put her fists on her hips. “Johnny! Why would you bring them here?”

“Well, apparently their speeder thing is broken, and when they saw me heading to the portal they threatened to thermos me if I didn’t take them to the twerp!” Johnny defended.

“Hey, I’m not a ‘twerp’!” Danny protested.

“Eh, it’s fine that they’re here,” Ember said with a wave; she, Danny, and Star, who was again in her human form, had remained sitting. “We knew they’d show up eventually.” With another wave, the door closed.

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz stopped in the middle of the room as they took in the scene.

“What’s going on?” Tucker asked, clearly confused.

“We thought you were in trouble…” Sam trailed.

Jazz grinned, looking excited. “Oh! Danny, you’ve finally made some ghost friends!” she said happily. “I’ve been telling you you should.”

“‘Finally’?” Ember quoted. “We’ve been friends for like a year! Not our fault Dipstick here didn’t notice.”

“Well excuse me for not being aware that ghost teenagers play-fight,” Danny grumbled.

“Hold up,” Tucker said, finally noticing who was in the room. “Star? What are you doing here?”

“The whole school’s been in an uproar about how you’re missing, but you’ve just been here?” Sam asked with incredulity.

“Wait, did Ember kidnap you too?” Tucker asked sharply.

“No one kidnapped anyone!” Ember forcefully clarified.

“Ember, Kitty, and Johnny have been helping me,” Star told them.

“Helping with what?” Sam asked.

“Figuring out who murdered me.”

The three humans froze at those words, seeming unsure how to react to that extremely blunt and shocking statement.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Tucker finally stuttered out.

“Yeah, you look alive to me,” Sam said.

“Well, I’m not,” Star informed them. “But I have no memory of my death, and was very confused at first, so these three helped me figure out some things about being a ghost, then called in Phantom, who is apparently Fenton, to help. Johnny was checking if the police had more info…” She sent a questioning look towards the aforementioned ghost.

“Yeah, sorry, but that was a bust,” Johnny told her. “They never found any evidence of foul play, and since your backpack and stuff were gone they’re treating it as a runaway situation.”

“What? I was at school, of course my backpack would be with me.”

“Yeah, well, cops are stupid,” Johnny said. “Didn’t help that your parents apparently easily accepted that explanation, since they didn’t even report the disappearance immediately since they thought you were just acting out. Your mom said you like to act out for attention?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ohmygosh, seriously?” Star said with a groan. “Ugh. To her, ‘acting out’ is wanting to wear the woven friendship bracelet Paulina made me in art class instead of a fancy expensive bracelet. Trust me, I didn’t run away for attention.”

“Well duh,” Kitty said. “You being a ghost proves that.”

“But it might need to be your cover story,” Ember pointed out. “Since you plan to try to keep being human until the body’s found.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true. Ugh, so annoying…”

“Okay, hold up, can we get back to the part where you’re a ghost?” Tucker asked, voice strained.

“What about it?” Star asked, seeming unaware as to why Tucker seemed so stressed.

“What about it? What about it? Star, if you’re a ghost, that means you died! Horribly!”

“Yes, that’s been established,” Star said, in a tone indicating that she thought Tucker was being a little daft. “So did Danny, Ember, Kitty, and Johnny. Get with the program. It was murder and we’re gonna try to figure out what happened.”

“Why are you treating this so casually?!”

Star frowned. “I’m not,” she said angrily, casual tone gone. “For your information, I cried for like an hour earlier. But nothing’s gonna happen if I mope around forever. I died, yes. It’s sad and upsetting. But I can’t keep focusing on that. It’s over and done. What I need to do now is figure out how I died, and crying won’t help with that.”

“Yeah I get that,” Danny said. How often did he push aside his own negative emotions in order to deal with a pressing threat or other issue, until he could safely break down in his room later? Too often to calculate. Even his friends didn’t know how often he cried—he had to put up a strong front, after all. Can’t have a crying superhero. Plus, it was a little embarrassing; ghost emotions were more volatile, and Danny couldn’t help but think if he were still fully human he wouldn’t be reacting so intensely to things. Even the bullying got to him enough to want to cry sometimes (well, a lot of times), even though technically he could fight them off if he used his powers!

Star took a deep breath. “Sorry; didn’t mean to get so angry. I don’t usually…”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Danny told her. “Ghost emotions can be a real pain; I get angrier than I want to sometimes too.”

“Hold up. Ghost emotions?” Sam asked. She seemed to be handling the Star thing better than Tucker was; she had been quiet at first, likely taking a moment to process, and now seemed relatively calm—Sam was generally pretty good at handling stressful situations, able to compartmentalize, whereas Tucker tended to struggle with that a bit.

Jazz, who also could compartmentalize well and thus was more relaxed too, answered her. “They’re talking about how ghosts feel emotions more strongly than humans, and how their emotions flare up quicker. Danny has that too; didn’t you notice?”

“Thought that was just puberty,” Tucker admitted, seeming a little calmer now too.

“Well it’s probably that too.”

“Jazz!” Danny protested, cheeks heating up in embarrassment, then he frowned as it occurred to him that that would be the case potentially forever. Should he tell them now? No, that was a conversation for later; for as long as Danny could put it off, in fact. “We’re getting off track again,” he said. “This is about Star, not me.”

“Right,” Sam said, taking a seat on a beanbag. “So, the police have nothing?”

“Pretty much,” Johnny said, tossing himself into an armchair catercorner to the couch, on the side Kitty was sitting back down on. Tucker took another beanbag, after Ember levitated it over from a pile in the corner of the room. Johnny had a soda; it seemed he had detoured to the fridge without Danny noticing.

“What, no drinks for us?” Tucker said, looking around. “I mean, we’re helping, right?”

“Sorry, kid, but we don’t have any human-safe drinks on hand,” Johnny said apologetically.

“Human-safe?”

“Yeah, these are all ecto-cola. As in, ectoplasm,” Danny explained. “Jazz might be okay, given her small immunity thanks to all the exposure in the house and food, but you and Sam would probably end up barfing.”

“I’d barf too,” Jazz said. “My stomach might be fine with it, but my tastebuds sure won’t be! That stuff tastes like burnt grass.”

“Lawn grass or fun grass?” Johnny asked with a teasing grin.

“‘Fun grass’?” Jazz asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Johnny, don’t corrupt the kids,” Kitty chided.

“Hey, it was a joke! It’s not like I’m offering any. Not, er, like I have any to offer…”

“I don’t get it,” Tucker said, looking mildly confused.

“Kids these days call it ‘weed’,” Johnny supplied with a wink.

“Oh no,” Star said, eyes widening as she abruptly sat up straighter. “Did the police search my room? Please tell me they didn’t search my room!”

“You have pot?” Johnny asked in surprise.

“No, not that, but under my bed is a stash of alcohol, the A-list party was supposed to be at my place, then I disappeared so I guess that didn’t happen… Ugh, I bet they were so disappointed…”

“Do you plan to hide you’re a ghost from them, too?” Danny wondered.

Star nodded. “Yeah. At least until my murder is solved—they could be suspects, after all.”

“You think one of your friends did it?” Sam asked, surprised.

“Well, no, but that’s always the first mistake in crime novels, you know,” Star informed her. “You can’t assume anyone’s innocent just because they were close to the victim—77% of all murders are done by people the victim knew!”

“Guess that’s true,” Sam agreed. “But this is real life, not a novel.”

“No, I’m talking about real life,” Star said seriously. “That’s the actual statistic, the most recent one right from the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.”

“Oh,” Sam said. “That’s… higher than expected.” She looked surprised that Star knew that; Danny was surprised too.

“Exactly,” Star said. “So, can’t rule friends out, not yet.”

“How do you know random facts like that yet still are barely passing your classes?” Tucker wondered.

Sam scoffed. “Probably the same way Danny does: she pays attention to what interests her, and all the ‘boring school stuff’ goes in one ear and out the other.”

“Hey! It’s not like I do that on purpose,” Danny complained.

Tucker then took out his PDA. “Okay, back on track. This seems really disorganized,” he announced. “So, let’s make a plan.”

“A plan?” Star asked. “For what?”

“Everything,” Tucker said, making a vague gesture with the hand that held the stylus. “Before we even start working on solving the case, we need to get you back home—you need a cover story for where you’ve been, unless you want to tell everyone you’re a ghost. We also need to make sure you’ve got your powers under control enough that you won’t accidentally use them, because whew, did Danny have issues with that at first! You should have seen him, he was like a fish that suddenly grew legs and had to try to walk.”

“Hey!” Danny protested. “I mean, it’s true, it was a mess, but still.”

“Well, Star isn’t in denial about being a ghost so should have an easier time of it,” Ember reasoned.

“I was not in denial,” Danny asserted.

“Babypop, half the reason Spectra chose your school was because she wanted to, and I quote, ‘taste the delicious misery of the teenage ghost so desperately trying to pretend he’s still human’,” Ember informed him.

Danny winced. That was around the time when he first began to consider that he might be less human than he’d originally thought, and Spectra definitely hadn’t helped with that. “Okay, fine, maybe I was having a bit of an existential crisis. But I wasn’t in denial!”

“Whatever you say, Babypop.”

“Can we get back on topic?” Tucker interjected. “I swear, all of you have ADHD…”

“Tucker, you shouldn’t throw around that term so casually,” Sam chided. “Things like that require an actual diagnosis, and involve more than just distractibility.”

“Actually, I do have a diagnosis,” Star supplied, raising her hand.

“Danny probably should have one too,” Jazz said. “Our elementary school wanted him to see someone about it, but our parents refused.”

“Wait, what?” Danny asked. This was news to him.

“You have enough symptoms to qualify for a diagnosis,” Jazz said. “We can talk more about it later if you want.”

“I’ve got it too,” Ember chimed in. “Spectra diagnosed me a few years ago. Back when I was alive they didn’t believe girls could have it.”

“Spectra can actually diagnose people?” Danny asked skeptically.

“Well, she has an actual psychiatry degree, so yeah,” Ember said. “If you get on her good side, she actually will be helpful.”

“For the record, Kitty and I do not have it,” Johnny supplied.

“But my little brother did, well still does I guess even though I haven’t seen him since my death, so I know how to handle it,” Kitty revealed, and Danny realized that that must be why she reminded him of Jazz earlier; they were both approaching the interactions with ADHD in mind. She must know about Ember, given their friendship; had she known about Star beforehand too? Did she, like Jazz, suspect Danny had it?

“You know, now that I think about it, I have to agree with Jazz,” Tucker said contemplatively. “I was joking before—in poor taste, Sam’s right—but my cousin has it, the inattentive type, and you really do act similarly. I’d look into it more; but for now, a plan,” he said, waving his PDA a little.

“Right,” Danny said, determined to concentrate, even though his thoughts were attempting to wander back to the ADHD thing, wondering if he really could have that. Jazz had been more focused lately on him possibly having some sort of PTSD, which was definitely a fair assessment, but could it be both?

“I can try to see if Spectra can give you a real assessment, like she did for me,” Ember offered, still on that subject.

“Hell no,” Danny immediately replied.

“Guys, talk about this later,” Tucker said with mild exasperation.

Chapter Text

Not long after Tucker finally got the group back on track and able to actually focus for an extended amount of time (a miracle, Star couldn’t help but think, with the amount she, Ember, and Danny kept getting off track thanks to their ADHD—Danny seemed reluctant to admit he had such, but Star could sense he was kin in that regards, and besides, his dad very obviously had it too, and it did run in families), Star found herself flying through the Ghost Zone, holding Sam Manson’s hand, of all people. Apparently, she, Foley, and Jazz had all opted to grab onto Johnny’s bike to get there, and the ghost refused to give them a ride back, so their only option was to be dragged by Danny and Star. Theoretically Danny (a.k.a. Phantom. Phantom! Oooh, Paulina would be so jealous that Star knew Phantom; too bad she couldn’t reveal such!) could carry all three, but Star didn’t want to make him do all the work even though he said he could handle it; so, Danny had Tucker and Jazz’s hands in each of his, and Star had Sam’s hand in hers.

Star couldn’t help but feel a little excited; she was flying! Flying! The circumstances causing her to be able to fly sucked, yeah, but hey, silver linings, right? There were a lot of silver linings to this, come to think of it. Cheer would be so much easier, not having to breathe or care about gravity! Was that legal, though? Oh no; if someone found out, would she be kicked off the cheer team? Would it get the rest of the team in trouble? Would they be disqualified from competitive? Technically, there was no regulation stating that the team member had to be human, only that they had to be a student…

“Star? Something wrong?” Sam asked, and Star realized that she’d stopped flying.

“Sorry, just lost in my thoughts,” Star told the girl as she began flying again. “People always say I’m absent-minded, always spacing out...”

“Nah, it’s fine, I’m used to it; Danny does that all the time, too,” Sam revealed.

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Star said.

“You did?” Sam asked curiously.

“Yeah. I notice lots of things about people,” Star said. If only she could put that noticing of things towards her actual schoolwork! Yet alas, Star had no memory for the school stuff; it was just so boring, and her brain refused to focus on boring things. Speculating about people and daydreaming about conversations with them was a much more interesting use of class time, even though it meant she sometimes got confused if a conversation actually happened or not.

“Even about so-called ‘losers’?”

“Hey, I don’t make the social status decisions!” Star defended. “And being a loser doesn’t mean your group isn’t interesting. As a matter of fact, I’ve actually been wanting to get to know Danny better.”

“You have?” Sam asked skeptically.

“Of course. I clocked him as having ADHD a while ago,” Star informed Sam. “It gets tiring being in a group that doesn’t understand and keeps poking fun at my symptoms; figured it might help to make a friend who can understand, but I guess he never actually got a diagnosis so I guess asking if he’d be my ADHD buddy wouldn’t have gone over well… Now that doesn’t matter of course, we’re friends now anyway, but still. He’s also not really got the hyperactive stuff that I do, I thought he did because he kept running and seeming anxious when sitting still in class and stuff but I guess that was just him sensing ghosts around that he needed to deal with… Oh, sorry, I’m taking too much again, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re fine,” Sam said, but Star didn’t really believe her. People never actually meant that when it came to her penchant for oversharing and rambling.

“Well, I’m sorry anyway,” Star told her. She flew a little faster to catch up to Fenton—no, Danny, he told her to call him—and caught the tailend of a conversation he was having with Tucker and Jazz.

“Again, you’re sure we can actually trust them?” Tucker asked with clear skepticism.

“Yeah. Like I said, Ember was already basically a friend, and Kitty and Johnny seem nice enough too, now that we’re not at odds over anything,” Danny reasoned. “I don’t see why we can’t trust them.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Tucker said. “But I’m still skeptical.”

“Hey, Danny,” Star said, a thought occurring to her. “Just wondering—do you always stay in human form in here?”

“Huh? Oh, usually I’m in Phantom form,” Danny said, glancing down at himself as if to check that he really was still in human form. “Guess I forgot to change—I try to be in it when flying and stuff, so I don’t get in the habit of doing it when human and accidentally start doing so in the human realm, like I apparently did here.”

“I didn’t even realize you could fly in human form,” Sam commented.

“Really?” Star asked curiously. “Shouldn’t that, like, be obvious though? All ghosts can fly in all their forms, right?”

“Danny’s not a ghost,” Sam said. “Not fully. He told you that, right?”

“Well, yeah, he’s technically a liminal,” Star replied, “but the other ghosts seem to classify liminals as a type of ghost and treat him like a ghost and he seems fine with that so I thought you all treated it that way too. Am I wrong?”

“He’s a hybrid,” Tucker replied. “A halfa. That’s how we treat him: half ghost, half human.”

“But they said it was basically a ghost with some lingering human stuff,” Star recalled. “I mean, aside from a heartbeat and bones, he has all the other basic ghost stuff, right? That’s not half and half.”

“Star,” Danny said in a warning tone. Did he not want them knowing that for some reason?

“Well, I guess…” Tucker trailed, looking a little uncomfortable.

“A very good point,” Jazz chimed in; she seemed unsurprised.

“He’s still got other human things too,” Sam argued. “He needs to eat human food and sleep, and he’ll get older.”

“What? No he won’t,” Star blurted out without thinking.

“Seriously, Star?” Danny said with a groan, drifting to a stop.

“Oops. I forgot they don’t know that yet; sorry,” Star said, feeling guilty, and stopping too.

“For the record, I literally learned that minutes before you three showed up earlier,” Danny quickly told the humans. “I wasn’t planning to hide it or anything, I swear, I just figured I should wait for a better time to tell you.”

“Ember knew a lot about halfas,” Star said, trying to be helpful as Danny was looking a little stressed. “There’s books about them. She was surprised that Danny didn’t know about the unaging thing.”

Star had mixed feelings on the unaging thing, which of course applied to her too. On one hand, staying a teen forever seemed pretty cool, but on the other, that meant no growing up and starting a family or being a professional fashion designer like she wanted to be. Not that she really cared much about the family part, she was 15 after all, but her mom always said that she did expect her to give her grandkids someday, so anytime she imagined her future it featured her with kids and a really hot partner (she said partner because she honestly didn’t really care if she ended up with a man, a woman, or someone who was neither; realistically it would probably be a man though, as her mom and stepdad were more traditional than Star would have liked and she didn’t like causing conflict).

Not that that mattered at all now that she was dead… Star wondered why she didn’t feel more stressed about that aspect. She had earlier, even cried into Kitty’s shoulder, but now she seemed to have made peace with it. Should she be worried that she adjusted so fast? Maybe it just hadn’t fully hit her yet—after all, she didn’t actually remember dying.

Star’s last memory of being alive was leaving school the day she vanished, and her first memory of being a ghost was when Kitty found her wandering around town in a more incorporeal shade-like state and pulled her out of a dissociative daze. That was a whole week of missing memories, and Star had no idea how much of it she had been a ghost for, as according to Kitty it was common for a ghost not just to forget the time around their death but also to be a little disconnected from reality for a short time after forming, in the time where they were still more translucent and wispy (which most ghosts remained if they didn’t go to the Ghost Zone, or shifted back to if they left and didn’t go back periodically; Amity Park was the exception to this, as it had high enough levels of natural ambient ectoplasm that it could sustain the solidification of ghosts on its own, although it took a bit more time to solidify a newly-formed ghost than heading to the Ghost Zone did, about a week versus the hour it had taken Star to shift from a shade to fully corporeal once Kitty brought her to the Ghost Zone).

“...doesn’t really feel real yet,” Danny finished a sentence, and Star realized she’d been so consumed in her thoughts again that she had missed some of the conversation. “What about you, Star?”

“Huh?” Star said. Oh no. What were they talking about? The unaging thing was mentioned… it must still be on that. “Yeah, I dunno how I feel about it either,” Star said. “Must be more stressful for you though, since you’ll still be trying to live as a human.”

Danny looked confused at that. “Aren’t you doing that too?”

“Well yeah, but my timeline is lots shorter,” Star pointed out. “Like, you still have your body, but my body is out there somewhere, and someone will eventually find it and realize it’s me. Once they do, the jig is up.”

“Unless you find your body first and bury it,” Tucker pointed out, then added, “Man, never thought I’d say those words.”

Star gasped. She hadn’t thought of that! “Ohmygosh, you’re right, we can totally do that! Yeah, that’ll be the new plan—solve the murder so we can find the body and bury it, in this place or something so the humans don’t find it. Then I can finish high school! I can experience college! Well, as long as it’s not with anyone I know, because they’ll see I’m not aging, unless I tell them… When we solve my murder I’ll tell my friends about me being a ghost, assuming they didn’t do it. Yeah, that’s the new plan…”

Tucker sighed and pulled out his PDA to make a note; he was floating, because gravity didn’t exist the same in the Ghost Zone as it did on Earth. It would take effect when you got close to a floating land mass, but otherwise it was a bit like space except there was breathable air—you could even push off of things to propel yourself through it, but that was a very ineffective way to move so ghost flight was the obvious choice of propulsion.

“Aren’t you nervous, free-floating like that?” Star wondered as she watched Tucker. Jazz was still clutching Danny’s hand tightly, and Sam was still clutching Star’s.

“Oh it’s terrifying,” Tucker said. “But I can’t enter notes one-handed, so free-floating it is—I’m guessing you ghosts have some sort of built-in instinct to not be afraid of heights?”

“Oh I was never afraid of heights,” Star informed him. “My uncle was the ringmaster of a circus when I was a little kid, and my parents left me with him a lot when they had to go on extended film shoots. I learned how to walk on a highwire before I learned how to ride a bike, and I’d swing on the trapeze and jump into the net just for fun! It’s why I’m the only one on the cheer squad that does those flips on top of the pyramid and stuff; everyone else is too afraid.”

“Whoa. That’s seriously cool,” Sam said with clear amazement, to Star’s surprise.

“She’s a big fan of circuses,” Danny said flatly. “Somehow.”

“Hey, just because we had one bad experience with a circus doesn’t mean they’re all bad!” Sam countered.

“Oh, you’re talking about that Circus Gothica thing,” Star realized. “It’s true then? The ringmaster was hypnotizing ghosts?”

“Yup,” Danny confirmed. “Don’t worry, though; the scepter he used was a unique artifact, and it was destroyed. Plus, he’s currently in prison since they found him with a whole train car of stolen stuff!”

“Hey, sorry to cut the conversation short, but we probably should get moving again,” Tucker reminded them.

“The portal’s just over there, we’re fine,” Danny said, gesturing to what looked like a large round metal door a short distance away.

“No, we’re not fine; it’s 5 minutes to 10,” Tucker told him. “Also known as curfew.”

“Doesn’t matter; I’m gonna be late either way at this point, since I’m taking Star home,” Danny pointed out. “But you’re right, we should get moving.”

The group then proceeded to the portal. Tucker used his PDA to check cameras they had in the lab, confirming that there was no one currently in it, and then Danny put his thumb on a fingerprint scanner to open the portal. Danny transformed into Phantom as they all entered, and then grabbed Star by the hand, turning them both invisible and flying her upwards through the ceiling and into the alley next to Fentonworks, where the two set down on the ground and turned visible once Danny determined no one was there.

“Do I still look human enough?” Star asked Danny.

“Definitely,” Danny told her, after looking her up and down to be sure. “You even managed to get rid of the glow; nice job.” Star couldn’t help but blush at the attention from the superhero, even knowing who was beneath the veneer; or maybe, especially knowing that. Danny had never paid Star much attention before, not like he paid attention to Paulina and Valerie. Most guys overlooked Star for those two and other more attractive girls. Star admittedly had always been a little jealous of that, and Danny looking at her in the same way people looked at Paulina was doing funny things to her…

Weird funny things, not how her body usually reacted… No, not how her human body would have reacted. She was a ghost; what had Kitty said? It was all in her core? So that fluttering feeling in her chest… yes, she instinctually knew it was the same as the butterflies-in-the-stomach effect humans could get.

“Star? Everything okay?” Danny prodded.

Star blushed. “Yup! All good!”

“Oh crap,” Danny said, confusing Star before he continued, “You blush green.”

Star took a moment to process that. “I do? Oh. I guess that makes sense, being ectoplasm… Wait, but you don’t; I thought you had ectoplasm too?”

“I do,” Danny told her. “But it’s not all ectoplasm; it’s mixed with blood. Our theory is that my more human-like skin only lets the blood show through, which is why I still blush red and have pinker skin than most ghosts.”

“Fascinating,” Star said, and she meant it. She was learning so much about ghosts that she never knew before!

Star was glad that she never hated ghosts like some of the other townspeople did; she couldn’t imagine becoming something she hated. Thankfully she had been more neutral on the subject, like most Casper High students and teachers. After all, there were bad ghosts, sure, but good ones like Phantom also existed!

“Right. So, let’s get you home—you practiced controlling your powers with Kitty earlier, right?”

“Yup!” Star replied. They’d done so while waiting for Ember to retrieve Phantom.

“Including how to walk instead of float?” asked, sounding slightly amused.

“Of cour—oh,” Star said, cutting herself off as she realized. She tried her best to not blush at her blunder as she floated back to the ground and focused on keeping her feet attached to it. A weird thing about ghosts was that they could ‘activate gravity’ upon any object—so theoretically, Star could walk on a wall or ceiling as easily as on the ground. It was more like directing their ghostly energy to stick to the object, but the ghosts called it activating gravity so that’s what Star would call it too.

“Did you have trouble with this too?” Star asked.

“At first, no,” Danny told her. “Remember how ghosts’ beliefs can affect them? Well, at first I thought the forms were a lot more separate than they actually are, so gravity still affected me in human form because of that. Once I started to realize the truth, though… Yeah, I started to have some trouble with that. Eventually you’ll get used to it though, and it’ll feel natural switching between floating and ‘walking’.”

“Well, I hope ‘eventually’ is soon, then,” Star told Danny. She didn’t want something so silly ending up being the thing that revealed her ghostly status! “Now, let’s get home—I bet my parents are worried sick.”

“Oh, right,” Danny said. “They’re not huggers or anything, right? Because your skin temperature is gonna be a dead giveaway.”

“Did you just make a death pun?”

“Not intentionally!” Danny said. “I do sometimes though. Sam hates it.”

“Sam doesn’t like reminders that you died,” Star noted. She had seen it in the girl’s reactions to some things throughout the past few hours.

“Yeah,” Danny confirmed. “She blames herself, since she suggested we check out the portal that day, no matter how many times I tell her that it doesn’t matter because I’d have eventually investigated anyway. I mean, come on, giant machine that allegedly can create a portal to another dimension? Working or not, what teenager wouldn’t be curious? Hell, if I didn’t do it, I bet Jazz would have—she claims otherwise, but I know she was curious about it too.”

“I definitely would be,” Star said confidently, then realized, “Oh, right, you asked about if my parents are huggers. No, they aren’t—my mom never was much of one, and my stepdad I think is still a bit nervous to overstep; I’ve told him like a million times that I accept him as my father, but he’s still very insecure about it.”

“Aren’t you two supposed to be leaving?” came a voice from the opening of the alley, and Star turned to see an amused-looking Sam. Tucker was with her.

“Right, yeah, we were just doing that,” Danny said, then grabbed Star by the hand and flew upwards with her.

“Bridal carry!” Tucker shouted after them.

“Oh, right,” Star said. “Can’t risk it looking like I’m flying. You’re supposed to have rescued me.”

“Right,” Danny confirmed, and shifted to carry her in his arms instead of leading her by the hand.

Star giggled as she wrapped her arms around Danny’s neck. “Paulina would be so jealous right now,” she cooed, hoping for a certain reaction from Danny.

Danny blushed again, and Star internally cheered at her success. Danny was just so cute when he blushed! Well, Phantom at the moment. Phantom! Honestly, Star was still a little starstruck about that. Maybe dying and becoming a ghost wasn’t such a bad thing if it meant she got a friendship with Phantom out of it.

Star directed Danny to her townhouse, which was a little difficult as she wasn’t used to seeing the city from the air but they got there eventually.

Danny set Star down on the doorstep and knocked on the door; as he did so, Star remembered she had fangs, and quickly used her ability to make them normal teeth again.

Star’s stepfather, Lance Thunder, answered the door. Star’s birth father had died when she was 9, and after much encouragement from Star her mom finally started dating again when Star was 11 and then after a couple years married Lance; yet despite him being her stepfather for only 2 years, Lance felt like just as much of a dad as Star’s birth dad had. It vaguely occurred to Star that it was a bit ironic that the Ghost Watch newscaster’s daughter was now a ghost, although Danny being a ghost while his parents, two Ghost Hunters, were entirely unaware was a lot more ironic…

“Star,” Lance said with great relief upon seeing her. “And… Phantom?”

“What’s going on?” Annabelle Strong (she hadn’t changed her last name upon remarriage, as she had her name attached to her brand as a popular actress), Star’s mother, said as she pushed past Lance a little to see the two teens. “Star! Oh goodness, you’re okay! Where were you?”

“I found Star in the Ghost Zone,” Danny told them. “It seems she fell through a natural portal.”

“Yes, it was very scary, but Phantom saved me,” Star told her parents, paying close attention to their reactions and quickly determining that both were relieved at her return and not surprised or upset, therefore must not have murdered her.

“You were in the Ghost Zone?” Lance said with wide eyes. “For a week? How did you survive?”

Star wasn’t sure how to answer, as it wasn’t something they reviewed, but thankfully Danny had a good lie in store. “There’s food in the Ghost Zone,” he told them. “She luckily ended up on a floating island that resembled a tropical one, complete with lots of fruit trees and stuff.”

“Yes, they were strange colors, but edible,” Star told them, actually recalling the island Danny was referring to—they had flown past on their way back to the portal. “The island had a waterfall with actual water in it too. I’m not sure how that worked because it seemed to appear out of nowhere and vanish into nowhere, but it was drinkable.”

“Well thank the heavens for that,” Lance said.

“It’s a miracle you managed to find her there,” Annabelle said gratefully. “How can we repay you?”

“Oh, no need,” Danny said humbly. “I can’t just ignore someone who needs help!”

“Because of the hero obsession?” Lance asked.

“No, because it’s the morally responsible thing to do,” Danny replied a little testily. “For the record, there is no ‘hero obsession’; believe it or not, I help out because it’s the right thing to do, not because I want recognition or anything.”

Lance winced. “Sorry, didn’t mean to insult you; it’s just, the Fentons—”

“Are wrong on about 90% of what they say about ghosts,” Danny interjected, crossing his arms. “Obsessions are not a thing. Like, not at all. Jack and Maddie would realize that if they took two seconds to talk to a ghost. Any ‘obsession’ a ghost seems to have was probably something they had when they were alive, too. I protect the town because someone needs to do it, and I have the ability to—honestly, if I could retire to a relaxing life without fighting, I’d be happy to, but unfortunately for me my sense of justice is too strong to allow that.”

“I see,” Lance said, then paused for a moment as he thought, then grinned. “You wouldn’t mind saying that in an interview, would you?”

Danny looked at Lance with suspicion. “Is the news going to twist my words to make me look bad again?”

Lance winced. “That I unfortunately can’t promise. But I’m sure they’ll want to report about how Star’s now home, rescued by Phantom; surely they can’t spin that as bad?”

“You’d think that, yet somehow they’ll manage to. Anyway, I gotta go—just wanted to make sure Star got home okay.”

“Wait,” Annabelle said as Phantom turned to leave. “Do ghosts eat food?”

“We don’t need to, but we can,” Danny said, looking a little confused. “Why?”

“I baked some cookies earlier. You can take some home as thanks.”

“What kind?” Danny asked curiously.

“Peanut butter. Star’s favorite—in case you came home,” Annabelle said, turning to Star. She looked a little guilty. “The police said they thought you ran away.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Star said, trying to keep her voice calm in light of a spike of upset.

“Of course not; we knew there must have been more to it.”

“Right, of course,” Star said, despite knowing that they had definitely just accepted the police’s assessment. “Can we come inside? A cookie does sound yummy!”

“Of course, of course!” Annabelle said, moving back inside, Lance holding the door open for the two teens to go through.

“I thought you had a movie shoot you had to get to yesterday?” Star asked her mom as she entered the kitchen and noted the date on the digital calendar on the wall. It had been a few days more than Star originally thought.

“Yes, but I requested they delay shooting the scenes I’m in—I couldn’t just go while you were missing!”

“Oh,” Star said, surprised at that. Her mother rarely ever rescheduled a shoot; maybe she cared more than Star had thought. Then, Star noticed the freshly-baked cookies, still on the sheet—or rather, still on two large sheets. “Ohmygosh, you even decorated them with the rainbow star sprinkles!” she squealed.

“Of course; they’re your favorite,” Annabelle beamed. “Lance, be a dear and call the police to let them know Star’s returned.” As he went to do so she turned to open a drawer where the sandwich bags were stored. “Phantom, do you want a big bag of cookies or a small one? There’s more than plenty!”

“Oh, small is fine,” Phantom said, as he subtly tugged down on Star’s wrist; she realized in her joy she had started rising a little, and she planted her feet back on the ground. Thank goodness neither of her parents had seen! Phantom looked at Star, making sure she was good, then let go.

“Thanks,” Star silently mouthed at him, then hopped over to the cookies and grabbed one for herself and one for Danny, handing it to him as her mom put some in the sandwich bag.

Danny took a bite, and his eyes lit up brighter. “This is really good!” he determined.

“Yeah, Mom’s a really great baker!” Star told him. “Before she became a famous actress, her backup plan was to become a baker.” Then, she took a bite of her own cookie.

Star paused, momentarily confused. It tasted different. Did her mom change the recipe? It was still good, but… something was off. It was like the taste was diminished and enhanced at the same time; less sweet, but the peanut butter was sharper, and there was an odd yet good taste that Star couldn’t classify as any of the basic categories.

“Something wrong?” Annabelle asked.

“I dunno…” Star trailed.

“It tastes weird after eating all the Ghost Zone fruit, I bet,” Danny said. “Ghosts can’t taste sweetness as well as humans can, so the fruits there evolved to be much sweeter than things here.” Star had a suspicion that Danny had made that up then and there, at least about the fruit—it was probably his way of telling Star that her sense of taste was different now without seeming suspicious.

“Oh, so you got used to the fruits’ higher levels of sweetness, so the cookie tastes less sweet than you expected,” Annabelle concluded. “That makes sense. Do you want more sugar sprinkles?”

“No, that’s okay,” Star assured her. “It’s still good! It just surprised me.”

“You’ll get used to the taste of human realm food again,” Danny assured her. It sounded like he spoke from experience; halfas must get the taste change too.

“Is sweetness the only thing ghosts taste differently?” Star asked curiously, suspecting otherwise.

“No, other tastes are stronger, and some weaker. We can’t taste sour at all. But there’s tastes that humans don’t even have words for that ghosts can taste! Plus, our sense of smell is stronger, and taste is linked to smell so that affects things too somehow, I dunno the sciency details on that. Anyway, it’s really weird at first, like everything you eat is something new even if you had it thousands of times when alive.”

“Are there other senses that are different, other than taste and smell?” Star asked. She already knew that hearing was enhanced; that had been obvious.

“Yeah,” Danny confirmed. “Hearing is better. Night vision is excellent. But we can’t sense temperature that well; we barely feel cold at all, and if we feel hot it’s just hot, there’s no real sense of how hot it is. It’s really weird at first. Oh, and we can also sense the presence of spiritual energy—it’s something ghosts, humans, animals, and basically everything that is or once was alive gives off.”

“That’s really fascinating,” Lance said as he returned. “I never knew ghosts were so different!”

“Different from what?” Danny asked, seeming a bit confused.

“From humans, at least as far as senses go—obviously there’s a lot of other things that are different, like the powers,” Lance clarified, then looked contemplative. “Yet, you’re the same in a way, as well, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, then tossed the last bite of his cookie into his mouth.

“Well, you pretty much seem like just a regular kid, standing around chatting while eating cookies; except for the glow and floating, I wouldn’t know the difference!”

“Well, I did die at 14,” Danny pointed out. “So, yeah. I’m gonna seem like a kid because I am one, just a dead one.”

“Right… I, er, sometimes forget that,” Lance said awkwardly.

“Most the town does,” Danny said bluntly. “Anyway, I should really get going…”

“Don’t forget your cookies!” Annabelle told Phantom.

“Thanks,” Danny said as he accepted the sandwich bag, which was filled to nearly bursting. “They really are delicious! I’ll see you around,” he told them, giving Star a smile and a wink as he turned to her, at an angle her parents couldn’t see, before vanishing. Star’s core did the strange flutter again.

Paulina was going to be so jealous.

“Do you think I upset him?” Lance asked after a beat.

“Well, you did treat him somewhat like an exotic creature rather than a person,” Annabelle pointed out. “Honestly, you should be glad that he didn’t get more upset.”

“You know, most the townspeople treat Phantom as either a hero, a curiosity, or a menace,” Star commented. “I think he really just wants to be treated like a regular kid.”

“Yes, I get that sense too,” Annabelle said. “Now, Star, are you hungry for anything else, or are you good? I’m a little worried about you eating Ghost Zone fruit for an entire week…”

“Oh, don’t worry, Phantom assured me it’s perfectly edible for humans,” Star lied. “I might have some mild ecto-contamination, between the fruit and generally being in the Ghost Zone, but nothing dangerous; he said the worst that’ll happen is that my eyes might glow sometimes now, like Fenton’s do—Danny Fenton, I mean.”

“Well, I suppose we can trust his word on it,” Annabelle said. “Now, if you’re not hungry, it is a school night, so if you plan to go you should go get ready for bed. However, you can stay home with me tomorrow if you want, I’m sure the school will understand if you need a day.”

“No, it’s okay,” Star told her mom. “You need to get to the movie shoot anyway, right? Dead Teacher V needs its star! So go do that.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Annabelle said. “I’ll call my agent, see if he can get me an early flight.”

“And I’ll put the cookies in the tin while you do that,” Lance decided, heading over to the tray, grabbing a cookie while he was at it.

“I’ll head upstairs then,” Star said as she grabbed another cookie, then paused as she realized something. “Oh. I don’t have my backpack.”

“Did it get lost when you fell through that portal?” Lance asked.

“Yeah. My phone, too…” Star sighed. “That was a new one, too…”

“Oh! Actually, that’s in your room,” Annabelle said while dialing the phone number of her agent. “Apparently you forgot to pick it up at the end of the school day, after it got confiscated for having it out in class again.” She gave Star an amused look, then turned away as she put her phone to her ear.

“Oh. Right, I forgot that happened,” Star said. It gave her a timeline though—if she had forgotten to pick it up, she’d have noticed on the way home and turned back for it, so whatever happened must have been either during the school day or shortly after the school day. Star glanced at the clock; it was almost Paulina’s bedtime, and Star wanted to call her to let her know she was back. “I’m gonna go to my room then, goodnight!”

Star hurried from the kitchen into the foyer and then up the main staircase of the massive townhouse, all the way to the third floor, which was entirely hers. Being the only child to a famous actress meant she got not just her own spacious bedroom with a balcony, but also a general lounge, her own bathroom, a massive walk-in closet, and another room used as a combination art studio, music room, and library.

Star entered her room, making sure to close the door, to find that her phone was on her desk, already plugged into the charger. She grabbed it, pulling it off the charger as it was at 100%, and flopped down onto her bed.

Star slid open the phone (it was one of those cool full keyboard ones!) to find that she had way too many text messages for her liking, most being in the A-list’s group chat. How much gossip did she miss? Star could just message the group chat saying she was back…

No, she should call Paulina first. Star pulled up the contact and pressed ‘call’.

“Ohmygosh! Star!” Paulina answered after the second ring. “Where have you been? I was so worried! Everyone was!”

“I know, I know, I see all the messages,” Star said with a chuckle, suddenly wanting to cry for some reason. “But, I’m okay!” she lied. “Well, relatively. I was trapped in the Ghost Zone, fell through a random natural portal that opened up.”

Paulina gasped. “For real? That sounds awful!”

“Oh it was,” Star assured her. “Mostly just because it was boring though. Luckily I ended up on an island with edible fruit and water, so mostly it was just waiting around until finally someone found me—and that someone was Phantom!”

“Phantom? Oooh, so jealous!” Paulina declared. “Did he carry you?”

“He did,” Star said smugly. “Bridal carry. And brought me all the way home! My mom got him to come inside by bribing him with cookies she baked and he liked them. We chatted some.”

“Oooh? What about? Deets, Star!”

“Well, not that much,” Star admitted. “I asked him some stuff about being a ghost—apparently ghosts taste things differently, and their senses are different. But then Dad accidentally insulted him, I think. But yeah. That’s pretty much it… Ugh, it’s going to be so annoying in school tomorrow having to answer everyone’s questions, especially when it’s boring!” And almost all lies; she was in the Ghost Zone, sure, but not all week and definitely not on an island.

“Well, why don’t you message the group chat to let them know? The A-list will have your back; we can have the jocks threaten anyone who bugs you too much,” Paulina reasoned.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Star said. “I’ll do that…” Star’s eyes fell to her balcony’s glass sliding door, outside of which she sensed Phantom’s presence just before he knocked; that must be what he meant about sensing energy or whatever. “I gotta go though,” Star told Paulina. “The shower is calling my name after a week without one.”

“Eww, seriously? A whole week? Why?”

“I was in the Ghost Zone stuck on an island,” Star reminded her. Well, allegedly.

It was just an excuse to end the call. In reality Star didn’t need a shower at all, because ghosts were made of ectoplasm, so didn’t sweat or get dirty—anything could just be phased off, and no smells were made. She didn’t even have to go to the bathroom; what happened to human food that was eaten Star didn’t know, but it did not result in any excrement. Maybe the ectoplasm dissolved it or something.

“Right. Yeah that makes sense then,” Paulina acknowledged. “Well, goodnight, mi estrella!”

“Goodnight, Pauli,” Star said, then hung up and gestured to Phantom to come in; as expected, he simply phased through the door.

“Hey. Sorry if I interrupted,” Danny said. “Figured maybe you’d like my phone number in case you have any questions.”

“Oh! Good idea,” Star said. She handed her phone to Danny, who took it, and instructed, “Add your contact… Hey, weird and kinda gross question, but since ghosts don’t poop, where does the human food they eat go?” Star realized that she had to know—what if it just became added on, made her gain weight?

“If you’re worried about gaining weight, don’t be,” Danny told her, catching on as he typed into the phone. “Ghosts only change like that if they wholeheartedly believe they will, or if their view of themself changes due to a major emotional event. Though since you have transformation abilities that might not even matter for you.”

“Oh, good,” Star said, relaxing. “So then where does it go?”

Danny shrugged as he handed Star’s phone back. “Beats me. I still have a somewhat more human body so still need to do… that. Not as much as humans usually do though, come to think of it… Maybe the ectoplasm somehow absorbs it? The other ghosts will probably have a better idea.”

“I’ll ask them then,” Star decided. “Give me your phone, I’ll add me.”

“Sure,” Danny said, then pulled his phone out of thin air.

“Hold up. What? You can store items in nowhere?!” Star declared, amazed at that. “Wait. Can all ghosts do that? They can, can’t they? Ember has her guitar, Johnny has the motorcycle, the Box Ghost can randomly summon boxes…”

“It’s not nowhere,” Danny explained as he handed Star the phone; she got to work right away entering her number. Danny continued, “Ghosts are connected to their lairs, and can retrieve objects from there or send them back. It’s pretty useful.”

“But if your phone is in there, how can you hear it ring?”

“Dunno. I just do. Probably due to the lair connection.”

“So, you have a lair too?” Star knew she had one; Ember had showed her it. Star had been able to move it to be next to Ember’s, because apparently ghosts could choose their lair’s location. Currently it was just a sad empty room though; Star had been too new for anything to happen to it, but allegedly it should start picking up on her psyche and change into something she liked.

“All ghosts do, including halfas. I don’t know where mine is though,” Danny told Star. “Never bothered to look, and my friends don’t know about it—all I know is I can store objects in it.”

“Why don’t they know about it?” Star wondered. “And why don’t you look for it?”

Danny shifted awkwardly. “Well… it just feels a bit too ghostly,” he admitted. “I know I technically am classified as a ghost, and kinda have started to identify more as one than human, but there’s still a part of me that really tries to hold onto the humanness, and it feels like finding the lair would be the thing that finally erases that part. And Sam and Tucker still see me as mostly human.”

“But Jazz doesn’t?” Star noted.

Danny chuckled. “My sister saw me transform but kept it secret for months until I was ready to tell her—which didn’t happen, something happened that made me realize she knew. Anyway, apparently, she thought I was a full ghost for those months, and had already come to terms with it. I’m actually not sure if she sees me as more of a ghost or human nowadays.”

“Well, during the conversation when we were flying back she didn’t seem surprised that the ghosts saw you as a ghost, and didn’t really refute it like Sam and Tucker did.”

“Point,” Danny said, then glanced at his watch. “Shoot. I really gotta go now—see you tomorrow?”

“Yup! We can walk to school together,” Star told him.

“Sure, if you don’t mind being seen with ‘loser Fenton’,” Danny replied.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Star said, finding herself disappointed. “And they might find it suspicious that right after being saved by Phantom, I’m hanging with Fenton… Well, give it a few days, I’ll figure out a way to explain our new friendship, then we can be seen together, okay?”

“Okay,” Danny said, sounding disappointed as well.

“But, we can definitely meet up after school!” Star assured Danny. “Actually, we have to—we’ve all got to look for clues and stuff. I’ll make a group chat; do the other ghosts have phones?”

“Beats me,” Danny told her. “Ember probably does since she has an agent for her music. There’s no service in the Ghost Zone though, so I doubly Kitty and Johnny have one. Maybe Tucker can rig something up though; my parents made a device that can communicate from the Ghost Zone to our world that he might be able to rig up to work with phones.”

“Cool,” Star said.

“Yeah. Anyway, speaking of phones…”

“Oh, right,” Star said, handing Danny back his. She had totally forgotten she was holding it!

“Thanks. See you around,” Danny said, hopping into the air.

“See ya,” Star replied, then remembered something. “Wait!”

Danny paused before phasing out of the room and turned back to face Star with a questioning look.

“What jewelry can I wear?”

“What?” Danny asked, confused.

“Well, some metals affect ghosts, right? Like, iron and silver and stuff. I definitely have silver jewelry!” Star told him. She wouldn’t want to have to stop wearing that! Iron wasn’t much of an issue though, as she didn’t have much iron jewelry; that was a little too plebian for her.

Danny actually laughed at that. “Oh, no need to worry about that. Those are myths—actually, it works the opposite in iron’s case.”

“The opposite?” Star questioned.

“Yeah, ectoplasm reacts with it, but it’s not the ectoplasm that gets disrupted, it’s the iron that starts to corrode after heavy exposure,” Danny explained. “That’s actually why halfas don’t need to breathe, or so Jazz and I theorize—since the ectoplasm destroys iron, whose role is mainly to help transport and store oxygen, our bodies wouldn’t be able to properly use oxygen, so it uses ectoplasm for functions where a human would use oxygen to get around the lack of iron.”

“Interesting,” Star said, genuinely fascinated by that. “So that could explain the immortality too, right? Because aging is caused in part by oxidization—ironically, the oxygen humans need to live slowly kills them. But ectoplasm can revive organic matter, so by using that instead of something that decays the body, you’re able to live forever.”

“Huh. You might be onto something,” Danny said. “Still doesn’t really explain how everything is static, including brain maturity, but it’s definitely a start.”

“Maybe ectoplasm neutralizes other things too, that are usually used for mental growth,” Star suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” Danny acknowledged.

“Oh! Or maybe, your brain stuff is actually stored in your core, like with ghosts, and you don’t actually use the physical brain?”

Danny winced. “I’d really prefer the first option over that.”

“Too ghostly?” Star asked.

“Too ghostly,” Danny confirmed.

“You can ask Ember or Kitty more about it, they both seem to know lots about halfas,” Star pointed out

“Yeah, maybe I will,” Danny said. “But, I really do have to go now—see you tomorrow!” he told Star as he flew off.

“Bye,” Star said, feeling light.

Star plopped back on her bed, sighing. There was her core doing the thing again! She was reminded of the movie Bambi, her favorite when she was a kid, and the word Thumper made up, ‘twitterpated’. Was Star twitterpated for Danny? Paulina wouldn’t be happy about having a competitor for Phantom…

Well, Paulina didn’t know Danny was Phantom; and come to think of it, that would make for a good reason for Star to want to befriend Danny. Paulina could understand a crush. Yeah the crush was on a loser, but people couldn’t always control crushes—Paulina knew that. Besides, it wasn’t the first time an A-lister dated a loser—Paulina herself had technically dated Danny as far as the school knew (although Star now knew that Paulina had not been lying to save face when she claimed overshadowing). So, that would be Star’s reason.

Speaking of Paulina, Star better tell the group chat she was back like she suggested! It would be easier to do it that way instead of combing through the numerous messages from people across the previous week. She opened her phone and typed into the chat: [I’m back, bitches!].

Star’s friends immediately began to reply with questions and sentiments of relief, and Star couldn’t help but smile, glad to be back home—even if she had to become a ghost to do so.

Chapter Text

Danny and Star ended up both getting to school late the following morning, just after homeroom ended and first period began; Star had texted Danny about an issue she needed help with, which turned out to be changing her clothes. Her cheerleading uniform, which she’d died in, had become her de-facto ghost outfit, and kept trying to reform on her whenever Star took it off, similar to how Danny’s suit worked in his ghost form. The two eventually ended up calling Ember, who thankfully was in the human realm at the time with her phone, and she gave them both a lesson on how to tell their cores to quit it with the clothes reforming.

Ember then explained that they could get ectoplasmic clothes from a Ghost Zone tailor, or even have the tailor change their human ones into ectoplasmic versions, which would be easier to keep on when using intangibility as the core would treat them as a part of the ghost form; Danny made a mental note to do that eventually. His core had gotten the memo that pants, shoes, and shirts ought to stay on, but he still tended to accidentally phase off bulkier looser things like jackets (which he didn’t wear much anyway, given his lack of feeling cold (except for when his ice core finally fully formed and the powers first activated)).

Their first class was shared, so the two staggered their entrance time so as not to look like they arrived together; Star went first, then Danny, and thankfully Mr. Falucca only gave an eye roll when Danny entered late, too used to both him and Star being tardy (Star was only marginally better than Danny when it came to being late); none of the teachers called either of them out for it anymore (but they would be marked tardy, and every 3 tardies was a detention, at least for Danny given Star always got out of it thanks to cheerleading practice).

As Danny took out his textbook and notebook and prepared to take notes, he noticed Valerie, a few rows over and forward, seemed a little confused and was looking around the room cautiously. Right, his human form was able to dodge her radar (Danny suspected Vlad programmed it that way for some reason, as other ghost detecting tech worked on him; Tucker had to modify the school’s alarm, which he’d already done for Star too), but Star, seated a few seats behind the girl in the same row as Danny, probably had caused her suit to give a warning of a ghost being present.

Danny surreptitiously summoned his phone, holding it on his thigh in a place where hopefully the desk blocked it from the teacher’s view. He opened his contact list and found Star… then paused. She had put a heart next to her name. Did she do that with everyone? Or was she—no, Danny, was overthinking it. He quickly sent her a message: [Watch out for Val].

[Why?] came the response almost immediately; Danny glanced at Star, who glanced at him too. He debated what to say, but then Star had a look of realization and started typing again; faster than Danny thought possible her message popped up, saying [Because she’s the Red Huntress, right?]

Danny gave pause to that. Star knew? How? He started to type…

But Star beat him to it with an explanation text: [We were friends. I clocked her almost immediately]

Ah, that made sense. But, about the friends part… [You know, that was mean of you to kick her from the group because she lost her money]

Star frowned and looked over at Danny with a confused look, then started typing, a few messages coming in a row:
[She told you that?]
[That wasn’t it at all]
[First it was because she thought we would]
[And we were mad she’d think we were so shallow]
[So we said fine, if you think we’d do that we’ll do it]
[But we invited her back after like an hour]

Danny considered that; it didn’t seem to match up, though. So he asked: [If she was back in, why’d she say she was permanently kicked out]

Star immediately answered again, rapid-fire:
[Yeah we kicked her out again]
[But not because of money]
[It was her anti-ghost attitude]
[she just wouldn’t shut up about how you and that dog ruined her life]

Danny replied: [For the record, that was all a big misunderstanding. I was trying to stop the dog, he wasn’t even mine]

Star replied: [Yeah I figured]
[But yeah so Paulina wouldn’t stand for it]
[I mean, we run the Phantom Phan Club, you know?]
[Or, Inviso-Bill Club at the time, but same diff]

Danny: [Ugh, never speak that name]

Star giggled aloud.

“Miss Strong, if this equation is so funny to you, perhaps you would care to solve it?” Mr. Falucca said in a nasally voice.

Star glanced at the board. “Seriously?”

“Yes, ‘seriously’.”

“Okay. X equals 4.”

Falucca blinked, then looked at the board, then back at her. “Well, yes, that’s right,” he said, sounding surprised. Apparently he hadn’t expected her to get it; it looked like an easy one to Danny, so he wasn’t sure why Falucca would think it was a ‘gotcha’ moment.

“Why are you surprised? I know math,” Star said.

“Well, your test scores would disagree,” Falucca replied, seeming a little irritated that his attempt at humiliating Star had been thwarted, then continued with his explanation to the rest of the class on how to solve it.

Star looked obviously hurt at that comment, and Danny felt that he understood where she was coming from; he got such comments from teachers and his parents a lot, and it didn’t ever feel fair. He did his best, but tests were just so hard to sit through! He always started strong, but after ten or so minutes his mind would start to wander, especially if there were distracting sounds like the clock ticking or birds chirping, and that only got worse after becoming a ghost and getting the enhanced sense of hearing. Then it would suddenly be almost the end of class, and he’d be scrambling to finish as fast as possible, causing a lot of silly mistakes and a poor grade as a result.

“Well, Mister Fenton?” Falucca called, and Danny looked towards him.

“What was the question?” Danny asked. He’d completely zoned out, doodling random patterns in his notebook instead of taking in any of what the teacher said.

Falucca sighed. “It would do you well to pay attention. The question was what’s the answer to problem 3 on page 45, but as your book isn’t open and your notebook page is filled with doodles, I suppose you weren’t working on it as I instructed, were you?”

“Oh,” Danny said, then quickly flipped the book open to the page and looked at it briefly. “The answer’s 7, right?”

Falucca paused. “That… that is correct.” He gave Danny a suspicious look. “You don’t have an answer sheet or something, do you?”

“What? No,” Danny said. “It’s just not that hard.”

“I see. Perhaps I ought to assign more difficult work, then…”

“No!” multiple students shouted at once.

“Well, if the two worst students in class find it so easy, the rest of you must as well,” Falucca reasoned.

“Um, so normally I don’t really defend losers, but Star’s not one, so I’ll defend Danny too,” Paulina said to Falucca. “You do realize that those two both got some of the top scores on those IQ tests they made us take in third grade, right? Enough to get into the gifted program? So comparing us to them isn’t really fair.”

Oh, right; Danny had been in that program briefly in elementary school, although he had been kicked out due to poor grades. Star had similarly been admitted and then quickly kicked out. Danny had forgotten about that; he was surprised Paulina remembered.

Falucca doubled down. “Well, if they’re such geniuses, they ought to be getting better grades then,” he said cooly. “Now, back to the lesson.”

Okay, that was just plain mean, calling them out like that. Danny’s mood fell; he got the answer right, couldn’t Falucca just say so and move on? He had to suspect him of having an answer sheet, or the work being easy for everyone? Just because his ability to get his work done and take tests sucked, which resulted in poor grades, didn’t mean he was unintelligent in general… Apparently, even Paulina knew that wasn’t the case, so why couldn’t the teachers (other than Lancer) believe it?

“Hey, is the air conditioning broke or something?” Dash suddenly said, rubbing his arms; Danny apparently had zoned out again and Falucca had moved on.

“This room doesn’t have air-conditioning,” Kwan pointed out nervously; his breath was slightly visible as he and a few others shivered too.

Oh. Danny was feeling down, and that affected the temperature. Oops. Star likely was too—and being ghosts, neither of them could tell that they were doing it very well. The room felt nice to Danny; he had a vague sense that it was maybe colder than usual, but only if he focused on it, as it felt fine to him regardless. He’d feel the same way in the antarctic as well. The only time he’d felt cold since becoming a ghost had been when his ice powers settled in… Which of course likely meant he now was making the room even colder than he used to.

“I knew it! A ghost must be in here,” Valerie growled, teeth chattering a little, holding her arms too as the lights slightly flickered.

This… wasn’t good. Danny could halt dropping the temperature now that he knew he was doing it, but he couldn’t raise it back, and it was clearly too cold for the humans.

“Okay, everyone, let’s leave the classroom before it becomes a freezer,” Falucca decided, and everyone began to file out into the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Tucker whispered to Danny as the class gathered in the apparently warmer hallway, if the class’s looks of relief were any indication. “Is there really a ghost?”

“Not any more than usual,” Danny replied sullenly.

“Ice power malfunction?” Sam quietly asked, which was a fair assumption—being so new, his ice powers had been acting up a fair amount.

“No; just two ghosts feeling upset,” Danny grumbled. “Apparently it compounded. I don’t think anyone told Star that her mood can drop the temperature…” Technically, it was a standard ghost power. All ghosts could drop the temperature to some extent; only ghosts with fire cores could raise it though. Ones with ice cores like Danny could drop it further than most ghosts, down to sub-zero levels if he wanted to—meaning Danny had to be even more careful than Star on that front, and it seemed he had been lax in that.

Danny noted that Valerie was subtly looking into the room with a wrist scanner, no doubt trying to check for invisible ghosts inside. Joke was on her—the two ghosts had left the room, and were perfectly visible.

Danny’s phone vibrated, and he checked it to find a text from Star, who was on the other side of the crowd: [Did I do that?]

Danny replied, [We both did. Ghosts can drop temperature, especially when upset].
Then a quick second message, [I didn’t know it could compound].

Star looked towards Danny and nodded, looking a little guilty. Danny took a deep (technically unneeded) breath to calm down, and Star copied him.

“Mountains of Madness! What is going on out here?” Mr. Lancer asked as he hurried out of the classroom on the other side of the hallway. The students in that class were looking curiously out the door if they could, but must have been instructed to stay seated.

“Ghost activity, we’re assuming,” Falucca told him. “No ghost appeared, but the lights flickered and the temperature suddenly dropped significantly—the classroom thermostat is reading a mere 48 degrees Fahrenheit! Ice crystals even began forming on the windows.”

Danny winced slightly; he hadn’t noticed that, and ice appearing would be all on him. The classroom would probably be unusable for a while if it got that cold, as they couldn’t turn the heat up in individual classrooms.

Danny’s phone vibrated again, to another text from Star: [How can I tell when I’m making things cold?]

Danny sighed, and replied: [Humans will point it out].
[Or the thermostat I guess].

“Why is there a heart next to her name?” Sam asked Danny, watching him text.

Danny shrugged. “She put it there when she added her number,” he told her, trying not to blush; he could’ve removed it, sure, but he found it cute. Then he realized, “We should really make a group chat; that way if she has questions and I’m not immediately available, one of you might be able to answer.”

“I’m on it,” Tucker said immediately, pulling out his own phone and flipping it open.

The class then was instructed to grab their things from the classroom and then head to a spare classroom to finish class.

“Why don’t you two look cold?” Kwan asked Danny and Star, gesturing to them as they left the classroom in less of a rush than the others.

“Ecto-contamination,” the two answered simultaneously. That was Danny’s excuse for most ghostly things people noticed, and he’d instructed Star to use the same excuse.

Kwan shivered. “Okay, that was a little creepy,” he joked, as Valerie looked at them with slight suspicion though said nothing.

The rest of that class went without further incident, and the next class Danny had with Star was third period; second had been for electives, which Danny had selected computer science with Tucker while Star had Art, which thankfully Sam had too; hopefully that had gone well.

Third period was Chemistry with Mr. Lancer, who not only was also the Vice Principal but also taught multiple subjects now despite originally being an English teacher—unfortunately the ghost problem had caused a drastic decline in Amity Park’s population over the past year, as many people were not so happy about living in a ghost town, and thus the school was drastically short-staffed this year (although the student population had drastically declined as well, so not as many class sections were needed, especially if they increased the caps for class sizes, hence why the available teachers could now teach multiple subjects).

“Ah, Mr. Fenton,” Lancer greeted as Danny entered the classroom with Tucker. “So nice of you to join us today,” he said, in reference to how Danny had skipped the entire class both on Monday (he didn’t get to school until halfway through lunch thanks to some frat boys in California thinking a great hazing ritual for pledges would be summoning a ghost, after which he had to fly back) and Tuesday (it wasn’t his fault that Skulker showed up to hunt him again!). Lancer continued, “Now, on Monday lab partners were switched, and since you and Star were the only two not here, you will be partnered up. I will hear no complaints, understand?”

“Understood,” Danny said, actually thankful that he and Star would be teamed up, since she was still so new at her powers and he definitely wanted to monitor her in this class. Maybe it was actually lucky that he missed this class the previous two days. He headed over to the table where Star was seated; each large lab table sat four people, and whoever would be seated across from him and Star hadn’t arrived yet. Danny didn’t know who they would be; lab partners were generally assigned randomly, and Lancer switched them every six weeks.

“It’s lucky we got put together,” Star told Danny quietly. “You’ll understand the struggle.”

“The struggle?” Danny asked.

Star nodded. “In Art Class last period, I ‘dropped’ my pencil no less than 9 times; it’s a good thing we were just sketching rather than using something more messy!”

“Oof, yeah. Unfortunately that doesn’t look like it’ll be the same in this one…” Danny trailed, observing the supplies laid out on the lab table. Wednesday was the weekly double period, where instead of going to gym they stayed twice as long in the science class to do a more substantial experiment. Today’s apparently involved lots of beakers. “Um. We might have a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Star asked.

“I’m still banned from holding beakers,” Danny revealed. “Because I dropped so many at the start of last year.”

“Really? Even after a year?” Star asked with surprise.

“Yeah, well, apparently the school doesn’t want to risk it due to budget concerns,” Danny told her dryly. “Think you can manage?”

Star paled further at that, looking a little more ghostly. “No,” she replied weakly.

Mikey and Kwan took the seats across from the two, effectively ending that conversation. Tucker and Sam were in the class too, but they were on the other side of the room, at the same table with their partners Lester and his twin brother Nathan respectively.

Kwan sighed and looked at Star. “Looks like we’re both paired up with losers, huh?” he asked.

“Dude, we’re right here,” Mikey said, sounding more tired than irritated.

“Yeah, so unfortunate, right?” Star told Kwan. “Well, at least yours gets good grades.”

“Hey!” Danny protested.

“Relax, it’s just so they don’t get suspicious,” Star muttered, too quietly for the humans to hear but enough for a ghost to.

“Yeah, guess I’m lucky there,” Kwan said.

“Still hurts,” Danny replied to Star in the same low volume. His grades were a sore spot; he knew he was smart, all those tests they had to take as kids showed as much, even had him labelled as a ‘gifted’ kid at first as Paulina had pointed out earlier, yet he just sucked at school. His parents constantly reminded him of how he should be doing better, too.

“Sorry,” Star replied at the low volume, and Danny sensed she meant it.

“Alright, everyone, settle down!” Lancer called.

The class quieted, and Lancer explained the experiment they were doing, which unfortunately did involve mixing chemicals in beakers and heating them. Then, he passed out the worksheets for it and told them to get to work.

The first thing Star did was drop a beaker, though only shortly after grabbing it so it didn’t shatter.

“Is it cracked? I can’t tell,” Star whispered to Danny, holding it to the light.

“Eh, should be fine,” Danny told her.

It was not fine; the beaker indeed was cracked, and although Star got it onto the propane bunsen burner and Danny put the chemical in, as soon as it began to heat up the crack in the glass expanded and then the beaker shattered. Danny and Star both instinctually activated intangibility to dodge the shards; thankfully Valerie was not in this class with them, otherwise her alarm would be going haywire at the ‘ghost activity’ it would have sensed.

“Canterbury Tales!!” Lancer declared as he hurried over. “What happened? Are you two okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Danny said. “I think the beaker had a crack. The glass missed us somehow.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Lancer said warily. “Clean this up and get back to work.”

Danny got a broom to sweep it up and some paper towels to soak up the chemical, both which were kept in the classroom for mishaps just like this; luckily only a small amount of the chemical had been used and it was nontoxic (not that that mattered for him).

Then, they tried again.

The next try worked better, but when Star picked up a glass flask for the next step, it phased through her hand and straight onto the floor. “Oops,” she said.

“Mr. Fenton!” Lancer called. “What have you been told about handling glass?”

“It wasn’t me this time!” Danny swore.

“Yeah, I wasn’t being careful, sorry,” Star said.

So, they cleaned up that too, and began working again. They got a little further, and then once again there was a crash and a vial broke this time.

“Sorry, that was me again!” Star told Lancer as she moved to clean it up.

Lancer sighed. “I hate to say this, but I think you should let Mr. Fenton hold the beakers today.”

“Good; I think that will go better,” Star promised.

It did not go better; Danny, nervous about messing up now that he was finally given permission to actually work with the chemicals and glassware, ended up accidentally activating intangibility too. He felt the slip and tried to grab it, only to fumble it and end up knocking the portable bunsen burner over in the process, breaking the other vial and spilling chemicals onto the table, which the burner ignited as it cracked and spilled its own accelerant on the table. Star tried to pick up the burner but phased through it after it was lifted a little, spilling more.

“Holy shit!” Kwan shouted, hopping away from the table as the fire approached his and Mikey’s experiment.

“Dante’s Inferno!” Lancer declared as he rushed over with a fire extinguisher and blasted the table with it, thankfully before Danny used his ice, which he had nearly instinctually done. “Danny, you are still banned from beakers,” he said firmly once the fire was out. “Star, you—why are your pants down!?”

“What?” Star said, then looked down and blushed; she quickly pulled her jeans back up, which had fallen to her ankles. “Sorry, guess my belt, er, broke somehow?”

Green, she was blushing green, that was not good.

To distract people from noticing Star’s face, Danny stepped back and pretended to stumble over the stool behind him, crashing to the ground. Unexpectedly, his hand landed on a large shard of glass from a beaker. It successfully distracted everyone from Star, but…

“Crap,” Danny grumbled, grabbing his hand as he stumbled to his feet, doing his best to hide the injury—it would heal fine, but…

“Danny? Did you get hurt? Let me see,” Lancer said.

“No, it’s fine!” Danny hurriedly told him. “Just a piece of glass in my hand. I’m, er, gonna run to the nurse!” He turned and hurried out the door before it could be questioned.

“I’ll go with him,” Star said, similarly rushing out before Lancer could say otherwise.

The two didn’t go to the nurse, of course; instead, once out of sight of anyone, Danny grabbed Star’s hand and phased them down into the school’s basement.

“Why’s there so many empty meat boxes down here?” Star wondered.

“Long story,” Danny said as he picked the shard of glass from his hand. Apparently the school never cleaned those up, even after over a year.

“Thanks for saving me,” Star told him. “I realized I didn’t change my blush after it was happened, I thought I worked on practicing making it red enough last night but I guess not. Same for keeping my clothes phasing with my body, I spent like two hours on that because I remembered how it happened to you a bunch last year—of course, turns out that was my ghost outfit so that didn’t matter.”

“Oh, right, you don’t need to sleep,” Danny recalled. “Little jealous of that, actually,” he joked as he examined his wound. It was bigger than expected, enough that if anyone had looked at it it would be completely obvious that Danny bled ectoplasm, but it was already closing up. “I’m going to have to sneak into the nurse’s office to grab a bandage, it’ll be too suspicious to not have one after telling everyone there was glass in it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have even thought of that,” Star commented. “There’s so many things to consider when it comes to keeping hidden! Honestly it’s a bit overwhelming.”

“You get used to it,” Danny promised. “I know it’s a lot, but don’t worry; I’m here to help you.”

“I know. Thanks,” Star said with a grateful smile.

After that, Danny got the bandage, and then the two returned to their science class, where Lancer instructed them to mop up the fire extinguisher’s excrement and then gave them some practice problems from the textbook to work on, which would be assigned for homework, as there was no time to restart the experiment; they, along with Kwan and Mikey, would be doing it in an after-school make-up session later that week.

After that was lunch, which Danny was a little nervous about as Star was sitting with her friends so there was no one to monitor her, but aside from him having to duck away to take care of the Box Ghost for the umpteenth time there was no incident other than Star dropping her fork once.

After lunch was history class, which Danny had with Sam and Tucker and ended up falling asleep in (but that was okay, as the teacher for that was literally going senile and definitely didn’t notice; she’d be forced to retire and sent to a nursing home if the school weren’t so short-staffed), while Star had English with Mr. Lancer. They’d have the reverse eighth period, but seventh period would be only Star and Danny together in music class, also taught by Mr. Lancer (yes, they had him for three classes that year).

Danny had not initially chosen to do music class. He had taken woodshop with Tucker, while Sam did horticulture, but was kicked out a week prior when he caused two electric saws to ‘malfunction’ and nearly killed the teacher (in short, telekinesis, a common ghost power, finally decided to join the party, explosively so; Danny was wary to try intentionally using it again after that). The only elective classes openings had been introductory music and horticulture, and although Sam would’ve loved for Danny to take horticulture with her it had been shortly after the Undergrowth incident, and Danny was not just nervous around plants at the time because of it but he had also been worried his ice powers could act up and freeze the plants. So, music it was.

Or jokingly, Broadway class, as Lancer was running it and next to Shakespeare his favorite thing seemed to be musicals. As a result, most of the class was spent learning different songs from Broadway musicals. There was some instruction on reading music and they occasionally played instruments, but technically Lancer did not have an actual degree in teaching music nor could he play any instruments well either, so it was a bit haphazard in terms of curriculum-following; he had simply been the only teacher willing to do it, as they didn’t even get one outside applicant.

“I thought you had woodshop?” Star asked when Danny took the empty seat next to her on the tiered orchestra stage (the school had no orchestra anymore, but the music classroom still was set up as if they did).

“I did, but I got kicked out,” Danny explained. “There were some, er, incidents…”

“You mean, power malfunctions?” Star correctly guessed.

“Ah, yeah. Nearly killed the teacher with a floating hand saw, you know how it goes,” Danny joked. “Told him I brought an experimental ecto-powered device to school that caused it. Anyway, how was English?” he asked Star both to change the subject and as he was actually curious. “Any issues?”

“Dropped my pencil a lot again, but otherwise it was fine,” Star told him. “What about History? Learn anything interesting? No, right?” she giggled.

“I fell asleep, but I don’t think Mrs. Cotter noticed,” Danny revealed. “Before I did, she was rambling on about her ex husband not doing his part to watch their daughter again.”

“Isn’t he dead and her children grown?” Star asked.

“Yup,” Danny confirmed. “And she has a son, not a daughter. I think she does have a granddaughter though, maybe that’s who she meant.”

“The school really needs to fire her,” Star said.

“But then we’d have no history teacher,” Danny pointed out.

“So? We basically don’t have one anyway. Half the class treats it as a study hall while she rambles about her personal life; the rest sleep.”

“Good point,” Danny agreed. He then had the sense someone was watching them, and Danny surreptuously looked around to see Brittany was; when she noticed he’d seen her she quickly turned away. Hmm. Did she have something to do with Star’s murder? Was she looking because she hadn’t expected Star to be there?

“Okay, class, listen up!” Lancer announced before Danny could comment to Star on his suspicion, and the class quieted. “We have a new assignment: Duets! You can choose your partner; remember, there are plenty of duets that are non-romantic to choose from as well as romantic ones, so friends or family can be a duet partner too. You’ll be performing them on Monday; there should be plenty of time for all eight pairs to go. I’ll be up front with a sheet to register your song and partner, there are songbooks up here if you need ideas. Now, go.”

The class began scrambling to find partners and discuss songs.

“It’s okay, I already have an idea for what we can sing,” Star excitedly told Danny rather loudly, then scurried over to Lancer to tell him.

“We…?” Danny asked aloud, mildly confused. Star wanted him to be her partner? He was, in his opinion, the worst singer in the class!

Brittany giggled and whispered to Tiffanie, seated next to her, “I think someone has a c-r-u-s-h.” Oh; that’s why she was looking, Danny concluded. She thought it was odd for the two to be talking, not odd that Star was in class; Danny should have realized that, given Brittany was in homeroom with them so obviously would have seen Star earlier.

“But, she’s popular, and he’s… drastically not,” Tiffanie replied.

“And that’s why it’s so romantic!” Brittany told her. “A forbidden love… Unless, of course, she manages to find a way to make him more popular…”

“Oooh, like one of those movies where they take on the less cool kid as a project? Yes please!” Tiffanie said.

“My life’s not some chick flick,” Danny grumbled under his breath as Star returned, even though he was well aware that Star was actually planning to somehow make him less of a loser so she could be seen around him, which was a classic chick flick plot.

Once everyone was signed up for a song, Lancer clapped his hands to grab their attention. “Great. I see you’ve all picked well-known songs, that should help with the critiques… Ah, but Brittany, Tiffanie, are you sure you want to do a Christmas song? It’s mid-October.”

“Yes, but it’s a classic,” Tiffanie replied.

“I suppose that is true,” Lancer acknowledged. “Very well, then. Hannah, I don’t see a choice for you; I suppose you plan to work with Sarah and are waiting to choose something until discussed with her?”

“Yeah, her parents said she was sick today, so I’ll stop by after school and tell you tomorrow which we choose,” Hannah replied. Those two, who had met in cheerleading, had become fast best friends (rumored to maybe be more, but that was something you’d be socially ostracized for if ever revealed), despite Hannah being in 10th grade and Sarah being in 11th; music class was a mix of grades, from 10th through 12th, as it was an elective, so they had a few from all three years.

“That’s perfectly fine,” Lancer said. “Now, let’s move on to the history of duets…”

Danny zoned out as Lancer began the lecture, wondering what exactly Star was playing at. Despite her eagerness to partner up and select a song, she seemed unwilling to tell him what the song was, almost like she was embarrassed… was it something embarrassing? And if so, embarrassing to which one of them? Did it have lyrics that could make Danny uncomfortable? Or was it related to Tiffanie and Brittany’s idea that Star had a crush?

…No, that was impossible. Star couldn’t have a crush on Danny of all people. True, sometimes she seemed flirty, but that was just her bubbly personality, right? Their new friendship was one that had stemmed from need, not from want, only even associating with each other because Star needed help with her ghost stuff and solving her murder… Unless, it was a crush on Phantom, like Paulina had? Maybe that was it. Danny still didn’t know how his ghost form was more popular with girls than his human form; maybe the white hair and glowing eyes were seen as exotic, or maybe the general supernatural aspect gave him points given the current popularity of supernatural romance books and films.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and Danny gave a start.

Star giggled. “You zoned out the whole lecture, didn’t you?”

Danny blushed. “Yeah, maybe; can I borrow your notes?” he asked as he stood up and the two walked towards the door.

Star giggled again, though it had a bit of a wry edge. She showed Danny her notebook, filled with doodles. “I dropped the pencil a few times, but it mostly stayed in my lap. It’s annoying how they don’t give us actual desks in this classroom.”

“Yeah, well, I think we’re supposed to be learning music theory and how to play instruments more than have lectures,” Danny said as they began moving down the hallway together.

“Well, kinda need a teacher that can play instruments for that to work,” Star pointed out, then her eyes lit up—literally. She excitedly said, “Oh! We can try to learn instruments on our own! Cool ones though, not band geek stuff. If you played guitar, that would definitely raise your coolness factor.”

“I tried that once, but it took too long to learn anything and got boring,” Danny revealed. That happened with a lot of potential hobbies he’d had; there was a whole pile of miscellaneous things in the attic because his parents were advocates for letting kids choose what skills they wanted to learn, even if that meant frequently buying fairly costly supplies for them. They did not like that Danny eventually just gave up and switched to video games instead of trying to pick up a more ‘intellectually stimulating’ activity (although Danny would like to see them attempt to work out strategies for some of those games; that took smarts for sure!).

“Oh, yeah, having to practice so much is definitely a drag,” Star agreed. “Takes way too much patience. My parents made me take viola lessons as a kid, and that did not end well… Hey, maybe drums would be a better option, those are cool and seem easy to learn!”

“They’re not,” Danny said confidently. Those had been tried too.

“Star! You walked past the classroom again!” Paulina called from down the hallway, and Star swerved around.

“Oh, shoot. See you later, Danny!” Star told him with a wave, then hurried to Paulina.

Danny realized that in his distraction, he’d followed Star to the wrong end of the school; he should have turned down a different corridor on the way back. He also still didn’t know the song he had to sing.

Danny ducked around a corner, turned invisible, then flew to English class, going intangibly through the crowd and making quite a few kids shiver. He changed back in the bathroom near the classroom, and thankfully made it in time; in fact, he beat Lancer there.

Lancer looked surprised when he entered the room shortly after. “Ah, Mr. Fenton; I could have sworn I saw you walking the opposite direction of this classroom! Must have been my imagination.”

“Yeah, must have been,” Danny said, trying to hide his embarrassment. He also realized that Star still hadn’t told him which song they were singing. Should he be worried?

“So, how was music class?” Sam, in the back corner of the room opposite the door, asked as Danny sat down next to her. Tucker, at the desk diagonally in front of him, by the window, turned to face the two.

“Ah, well, Star and I ended up partnered up again,” Danny told them, this time managing to stave off another blush; he specifically left out the fact that partners were by choice. “We’ve gotta do a duet.”

“A duet?” Tucker asked, intrigued. “Like, a romantic song?”

“Not necessarily!” Danny hurriedly said. “There are plenty that are not romantic.”

“Then, which are you doing?” Sam asked curiously.

Danny shrugged. “No clue yet,” he said vaguely, opting not to mention that Star had already chosen something and suspiciously not told him what; he’d let them assume that it was still undecided. “Anything interesting happen in your classes?”

“Not really; it’s pretty boring without you there,” Tucker said. “Wondering if I should switch to music, too…”

“No!” Danny hurriedly said, then winced. “I mean, I guess if you want…”

Tucker gave Danny a flat look.

Sam saved the day. “Something interesting did happen in horticulture!” she revealed, looking gleeful. “We were learning about types of trees, so went into the woods, and Dash ran smack into a low-hanging bee hive. The bees were not happy.”

“So, he got stung?” Danny concluded. He was glad Dash wasn’t in this class, otherwise he was sure Dash would have been waiting for him in the hallway—something like that was bound to put Dash in a bad mood, and he always came after Danny when he was in a bad mood.

“Yup,” Sam confirmed, looking happy. “He squealed like a girl!”

“Huh,” Danny said, distracted by his worries.

“You okay, man?” Tucker asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Danny assured his friends. “Just, gonna have to look out for Dash, he’s sure to be in a bad mood after that.”

Tucker winced. “Yeah, good point.”

Lancer then called the class to attention, bringing the conversation to a halt as class began, this time yet another lecture about Shakespeare.

Chapter Text

“Sooooo, Star,” Paulina said slyly as she and Star left the school building after cheer practice (it had been difficult to hide her ghost abilities during it, but Star managed to—the cold skin was noticed, but Star convinced them that was a side-effect of the Ghost Zone ecto-contamination, easily so as they all knew Danny Fenton had that too, and thankfully Kitty taught her how to make it seem like she had weight). “I noticed you were looking a lot at a certain boy a lot today…”

“Was I?” Star asked, knowing very well who Paulina meant.

“Mhmm. A certain blue-eyed black-haired boy. You’ve got a crush, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” Star said with a blush—a red blush this time; she had practiced changing her appearance in the mirror last night, as she didn’t need to sleep, and managed to consistently get her blushes to turn red as soon as she felt one coming on. “Too bad he’s a loser,” Star said with a sigh.

“Well, as far as losers go, he’s only borderline one,” Paulina pointed out. “I mean, you can’t deny he’s adorable! If it weren’t for the crowd he hangs out with and lack of fashion, he could potentially be… Well, not A-list, but definitely more mid-tier, maybe even upper-mid.”

“Well, I don’t think he’ll ever ditch those friends of his, but if I befriend him, that’ll boost him a bit, and then we definitely can try to work on his fashion to get him fully out of loser status,” Star plotted.

“And then it’ll be safe to date him,” Paulina stated. “Sounds like a plan! It’s what, Wednesday? That should be enough time for you to get friendly enough with him to take on a mall trip this weekend—together we can make him look good! After all, if we plan to open our own fashion and cosmetic studio someday, what better way to show we’re cut out for it than to make a loser into an icon?”

“Yeah, I think I can get him on board by then,” Star determined. “You have piano lessons today, but are free after practice tomorrow, right? We can brainstorm potential fashions for Danny then.”

“Sounds good,” Paulina agreed, as the two dodged around a grey van that was parked near the school before crossing the street. A chill ran down Star’s spine for some reason, but she ignored it—since becoming a ghost she’d sometimes felt weird things, probably related to that ‘sensing energy’ thing the ghosts had mentioned. It was likely nothing.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Star said, grinning slyly. “You know how he got transferred to music class? Well, we have to do duets. So, I made sure he’s my partner for it, and I already chose and told Lancer the song we’re doing so he can’t back out.”

“Oooh, it’s a romantic one, isn’t it?” Paulina asked, stars in her eyes.

“You know me so well,” Star said with a giggle, aware of the irony—after all, Paulina didn’t know Star was a ghost yet.

Star’s phone then buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket to see a message from said boy, saying they were meeting at Sam’s.

“I’m gonna make a detour on the way home,” Star told Paulina, spinning a story: “Our chef is off today, and Lance decided he wants to try to cook again instead of calling the substitute, but he’s making a king salmon dish for dinner tonight and forgot to pick up the caviar and gold flakes to top it with, so I gotta go do that, ugh.” The specialty food market that sold those things was in the direction of Sam’s.

“Oooh, sounds delicious. I’m going to ask our chef if he can make something similar sometime this week,” Paulina decided. “I think tonight we’re having filet mignon topped with chopped scallops.”

“That sounds good too,” Star said, then waved farewell as she turned down a different street.

Once Paulina was out of view, Star ducked into an alley and turned invisible before hopping into the air and flying the rest of the way to Sam’s. Instead of knocking, Star phased down into the movie theater area, which had some general couches on one side in addition to the reclining theater seats, making it a lounge to hang out in addition to the theater, with clear evidence of it being used by teenagers. There was even some Fentonworks equipment strewn around.

“Do your parents not use this?” Star wondered as she reappeared; Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were there.

Sam jumped slightly. “Dammit, Star, I already have Danny giving me heart attacks!” she chided, then took a deep breath. “And no, they don’t anymore; they installed a similar size screen in their room and gave this one to me, only me and my friends, and sometimes Grandma, use it.”

“Interesting. So, where’s Danny?” Star asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with only the humans there.

“He’ll be here soon; he was in detention,” Tucker explained.

“Oh, right,” Star recalled. She felt a little guilty; technically she should have it too, but cheerleading excused her from it. “What about the ghosts?” Star wondered. They were going to investigate while Star and the others were in school.

“Ember, Johnny, and Kitty wanted to wait for Danny,” Jazz explained. “Honestly, I think they feel a little awkward without him or you present.”

“Oh. Do they not like humans?”

“No, it’s probably just us,” Sam said. “We’re still don’t trust them, and they know it.”

“You don’t,” Jazz clarified. “I think we should give them a chance, especially Ember.”

“Ember, maybe, but Kitty and Johnny?” Tucker said. “Do you not remember what they did? Johnny and Kitty tried to get her to literally steal your body and become you!”

“Well, I understand their motivations, and forgive them,” Jazz said, as Star wondered about the story behind that incident.

“You and Danny are both way too forgiving,” Sam muttered.

Star then realized she wanted fangs again and gave herself some. Actually, Kitty said she shouldn’t use the morphing ability constantly, so she didn’t grow fatigued; so Star told them, “I’m gonna shift back to my default form, if you don’t mind.” She didn’t wait for approval before she did so, her skin becoming paler with a slight blue tone and her hair shifting to the twinkling gold-swirled version. She kept the fangs; if ghosts were influenced by emotions, maybe a desire to keep them would cause them to be the default too, like what happened with Danny.

“That hair is really pretty,” Tucker commented.

Star paused at that. Was Tucker really trying to flirt, now of all times? “You think?” She asked neutrally. She thought so too, but unfortunately it was too unnatural to pass as human.

“Definitely.”

“Tucker, do you have to flirt with every girl?” Sam said dryly.

“Believe it or not, I wasn’t just trying to flirt; I really do think it looks pretty!” Tucker defended. “But…” He gave Star a svelte look and deepened his voice. “If you interpreted it as flirting…’

“I didn’t,” Star said curtly, feeling mild disgust at the display. “And you won’t try if you know what’s good for you.”

“Oh come on! How come girls all hate me?” Tucker complained.

“Well, I can’t speak for others, but personally?” Star said, anger rising more than she would usually expect and with a strange memory of sand and feet that Star was pretty sure never happened momentarily flashing, “Might have something to do with you coining the nickname ‘Satellite’. Yeah, I heard about that. And for the record, I don’t just hang around Paulina to soak up her popularity—we’ve been best friends since we were in diapers.”

“Oh,” Tucker said, paling. “But if you knew about that, and hated it, why did you agree to date me that week?”

“Because it was fun making your life hell for a few days,” Star told him, then at Tucker’s surprised look rolled her eyes. “Come on, you don’t seriously think I’m so shallow that I’d treat a boyfriend like a third-rate butler? No, that was all revenge because you saw me as nothing but a second-tier easy mark. Yeah, I know about that disgusting boorish tier list you manage—literally all the girls do, which just might be why they all seem to hate you.”

“Oh,” Tucker said, cowed. “Right. I’ll, er, work on that…”

“If you ever want a girlfriend, you better,” Star told him sternly. “Frankly, it’s gross—we’re not commodities, you know.”

“That’s what I keep telling him, but it hasn’t stuck yet,” Sam grumbled. “Maybe someone else telling him will make it stick.”

“How do you put up with him?” Star wondered, then internally winced; she had spoken without thinking, she was definitely going too far with this…

“I really do wonder sometimes,” Sam said dryly.

“Okay, now you’re just being mean,” Tucker said, looking a little angry too now.

“Maybe we should change the subject,” Jazz gingerly suggested.

Thankfully, at that moment Danny arrived with the other ghosts.

Star sensed it when Danny entered the house, and looked to the ceiling where he turned visible as he swooped down to stand on the ground, in human form, looking very unhappy; to Star’s surprise, he had a black eye.

Star gasped and jumped to her feet. “Danny! Are you okay? What happened?” she asked as Kitty, Johnny, and Ember followed behind him.

“Nothing to worry about,” Danny grumbled, looking away as Star bounced forward and tried to examine it.

Star used two fingers under Danny’s chin to gently move him so she could see; he allowed it. “That looks really bad,” she determined.

“Was it a ghost fight?” Jazz asked with concern.

“It really is fine,” Danny said as he stepped back. “It’ll be healed within the hour, maybe two, seriously.” Star noted that he did not confirm nor deny if it was a ghost fight.

“Actually, it’s not fine,” Ember said, arms crossed and frowning.

“It is fine!” Danny angrily asserted. “And you three didn’t have to butt in!”

“We didn’t ‘butt in’,” Johnny said with an eye roll.

“You called Sidney; that’s butting in!”

“Well, the school is his turf,” Kitty said. “And, we couldn’t just ignore it—that kid had a knife!”

Jazz gasped. “A knife?” she squeaked.

“He wasn’t going to actually use it,” Danny claimed.

“You sure? Because it sure looked like he planned to,” Johnny said with clear skepticism.

“Besides, you should be glad we got Sidney instead of stepping in ourselves,” Ember told Danny. “And trust me, we sure wanted to! But calling Sidney helps keep your secret safe, right? People know we know Phantom, not Fenton. Seeing us help you would be suspicious, but Sidney is known to step in when he sees bullying.”

“Bullying?” Jazz asked. “A human did that?”

“Dash, huh?” Tucker said, looking unsurprised. Star wasn’t surprised either; Danny was Dash’s favorite punching bag, the whole school knew that.

“Wait, so it was a normal punch?” Star asked, now feeling mildly confused. “I’ve seen you get hit by worse during ghost fights, and those injuries heal really fast! Does form matter?”

Sam was the one to answer that. “Yeah, the human form seems to heal slower.”

“No, that’s wrong,” Ember corrected. “It’s that whole phenomenon where intent and emotions can affect things.”

“What?” Sam and Tucker asked simultaneously, looking confused. Star noted that Danny winced; seems he had another secret he was keeping, this one from his human friends.

“Watch,” Ember said, floating over to Danny and grabbing his arm. She summoned a pocket knife.

“What are you doing?” Danny asked warily.

“Relax, it’ll be fine,” Ember promised, then nicked Danny with the knife.

“Hey!” Danny protested, pulling his arm away and putting a hand over it, as the humans gave shouts of protests. “What was that for?”

Ember rolled her eyes. “You know what it was for. Show them the wound, dipstick.”

Danny shifted slightly, but kept his hand on it.

“Danny?” Sam asked.

Danny sighed, then withdrew his hand and wiped the small bit of ectoplasm off. The wound was already a scar, swiftly fading. The black eye was still present.

“Wait, so it’s not a form thing?” Tucker asked with confusion. “Then why’s the bruise different?”

“Like I said: intent and emotions,” Ember told them.

“So you mean, the punch from the bully emotionally hurt Dany a lot more than he’s letting on, so the bruise lasts longer, whereas he knows your cut was a test so it healed right away?” Jazz confirmed.

“Basically. Plus the attacker’s intent matters too—I didn’t want to cause significant or lasting damage, but the bully did. So the combination means that the knick healed almost immediately, but the bruise wants to stay a while.”

“You knew this, didn’t you, Danny?” Sam accused.

“Well, not for sure…” Danny trailed. “But yeah, I had a suspicion.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Tucker asked, sounding hurt.

“I dunno,” Danny muttered with a shrug, looking away from everyone.

“Bet I know,” Johnny chimed in. “You knew that admitting it meant they’d realize that the bullying gets to you a lot more than you let on, right, kid?”

“Yeah I’d say that’s a good bet,” Kitty agreed.

“I’ll get Dash to stop,” Star decided.

“No, that’s okay!” Danny hurriedly said. “If he stops going after me, he’ll go after others. I can take it, they can’t. Last time Dash couldn’t find me, Mikey ended up with a dislocated shoulder!”

“What?” Star gasped. “Okay, I had no idea it got that bad—eveyone’s just been assuming it’s fine because you don’t have lasting injuries from it and talk back a lot, none of us knew the injuries only looked less severe than they’d be on a human because of ghost healing! Don’t worry; he’s going to stop. I have blackmail I can use.”

“If it’s that colorful collection of teddy bears, I already tried that, and apparently he doesn’t care,” Danny said tiredly. “He just got worse, actually.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll find something else,” Star said. “I’ll snoop around using my ghost powers.”

“Actually, that might not be needed,” Kitty said. “Sidney threatened that kid pretty badly.”

“Nah, Dash knows Sidney won’t actually do anything too damaging,” Danny said. “He was scared, but there’s a good chance by tomorrow he’ll be angry instead, and double down. This isn’t the first time Sidney tried stepping in.”

“Blackmail it is,” Star decided.

“You really didn’t think it was that bad?” Sam asked Star accusingly; understandable, as Star did hang out with Dash fairly often, albeit almost exclusively in groups, and ate lunch together at the A-list table.

“Well, back in eighth grade Paulina and I did think Dash started going to far and told him to tone it down,” Star revealed. “He got angry and hit me, but then last year you had less injuries so we thought it was better… Guess it was just the ghost healing making it seem that way, sorry.”

“Wait, he hit you?” Danny noted.

Star shrugged. “He gets violent sometimes, it’s no big deal. All the A-list has been punched by him at some time or another.”

“And you’re all still friends?” Sam asked incredulously.

“Well, he’s still the star quarterback,” Star defended. “And we’re cheerleaders. So, yeah. Being friends with him is non-optional.”

“That does not seem healthy,” Jazz asserted.

“Agreed,” Ember said.

“Wait,” Tucker said with realization. “Do you think Dash did it?”

“Did what?” Star asked.

“Did, well, you know,” Tucker said, gesturing to Star.

“Oh, you mean killed me?” Star clarified as she realized he was struggling saying such again.

“Yeah, that.”

Star considered that. “I suppose I could see him doing that accidentally if someone made him really angry,” she conceded. “But he’s exceptionally horrible at keeping a poker face, so if he did do that you can bet that he’d have reacted strangely to seeing me, but he didn’t. No confusion or upset or surprise or fear, just indifference mostly. Said he was glad I was back—Kwan claims Dash was actually really worried and embarrassed to show it, and I believe it.”

“So that’s a no, then,” Sam concluded. “So, Tucker, you said you had an idea about how we could get answers?”

“Oh yeah,” Tucker said. “I need to use your powerful computer.” He hurried to the corner, which had a huge multi-screen computer setup.

“That’s impressive,” Star complimented. “Looks really expensive. Your parents actually agreed to get it? Mine got a little miffed when I got a fancy computer, said I didn’t need it. Didn’t make me return it, but they did scold me about ‘large impulsive purchases’.” Which was kinda fair, actually—ADHD did not make for healthy spending habits. It had been an impulse, and Star didn’t really use it much; she got it because she had wanted to try digital art out, then quickly learned she preferred physical art. Her original computer could have taught her that fine.

“My parents know almost nothing about computers,” Sam revealed. “I just told them it was a standard one, and that they all cost that much. We do need it though—it’s important if we need to do research like this and don’t have access to the one in the Fentonworks lab.”

“Yeah, the one in my room is an old one, my parents don’t give me much of an allowance,” Danny revealed. “I have to use the lab one just to play video games. So if we need something with high speeds and can’t get to the lab, we use this one.”

“Tucker doesn’t have one?” Star asked curiously.

Danny glanced at Tucker, making sure he was busy, and said quietly, “No, and it’s a sore subject, so don’t ask him about it.”

“Oh; lack of money, isn’t it?” Star realized. “He lives in an apartment?” Sometimes she forgot that most people in the city area of Amity Park lived in apartments, not large townhouses, and didn’t have the money for expensive things like that even if their parents weren’t stingy.

“Yeah, and he gets very uncomfortable when people try to buy stuff for him,” Sam revealed. “I told him he can just have this one and I can get a second, tell my parents this one broke, but nope,” she said, seeming a little annoyed. “What’s good is having lots of money if people refuse to let me actually use it on them?”

“Oh I totally get that,” Star said. “Valerie was the same after that whole dog incident. The whole A-list tried helping her, but she completely refused!”

“What?” Sam asked, seeming confused. “But I thought—”

“Oh, right,” Danny interjected. “Star told me earlier, I forgot to tell you. Apparently, it was Valerie’s anti-ghost rhetoric that got her kicked out, not her lack of funds.”

“Really? But I thought she was kicked out before she discovered ghosts were at fault, at lunch?”

“Oh, that? No, that was because she was being a bit of a bitch about our offer to help,” Star said. “Apparently she didn’t think we were serious? Thought we were mocking her and flaunting that we had money and she didn’t. Totally untrue of course, but that’s how she interpreted it I guess. She totally thought we’d kick off off for it, so we did, because we were upset that she thought we’d be so shallow to, but we weren't serious. She would’ve been welcomed back once she calmed down, but then she started in with the anti-ghost stuff, which none of us could stand for.”

“Huh. Guess you’re not as shallow as I thought,” Sam said, looking like she was questioning a lot of things.

“Got something!” Tucker declared.

Everyone hurried over.

“Okay, so I’ve got traffic camera footage,” Tucker said. “And there’s definitely something suspicious. Well, two things, actually—first, Danny, I came across some footage with you, and a lot seems to be scrubbed at certain points, usually when you pass by alleyways?”

“Really?” Danny asked with worry. “I wonder if we should look into that…”

“No need—that’s because they caught you transforming,” Johnny told Danny, then upon seeing Danny’s horrified expression hurriedly explained, “Don’t worry, the police chief is a buddy of mine, he assured me it’s only him and the cop who discovered it who know. That cop he put in charge of monitoring the footage of you and scrubbing anything incriminating, either direct transformations or things like Fenton ducking into alleys and Phantom flying out, or vice-versa.”

Danny winced. “Damn; I didn’t think of that.” Then, he looked confused, and asked Johnny, “Wait, you’re friends with the police chief?”

“Yeah, we were best friends in high school,” Johnny told him. “When I got back to the human realm, me and him reconnected. He helps out with things when I ask, including the cameras.”

Ember whistled. “Wow, dipstick, you’re lucky that a cop who’s sympathetic found out.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Jazz chimed in. “That could have ended very badly—you need to be more careful, Danny.”

“Guess that’s also why they never try to arrest you for speeding,” Tucker said to Johnny, who snickered in response. Tucker then said to the group as a whole, “Well, anyway, now to the other suspicious thing. I looked through the footage of cameras near the school during the few days before you disappeared, and the day of, and did find something, I think: there’s a white van following you, Star.”

“A van?” Star asked. “I don’t remember that.”

“Well, it’s sneaky about it,” Tucker said. “But, there’s a few spots where you’re walking, and it’s there too, a short way behind. I ran the license and it’s coming up as unregistered, meaning it’s fake. The windows are tinted, and the driver is wearing sunglasses and face mask. The day you were taken it’s following you again—there’s no cameras that caught you being taken, but look…”

The group gathered around Tucker's computer and he played the tape, explaining it. “So, here’s Star walking home, see? And there’s the van following behind her, just far enough to not be easily noticed… But, Star then turns around and starts walking back to school.”

“I bet I realized my phone was still there,” Star theorized. “And I do vaguely recall seeing that van…” Images flashed in her mind of her walking, and noticing it. She thought it was weird for a van to have tinted windows but dismissed it.

Johnny sighed. “Are you kids not shown those ‘stranger danger’ videos anymore, where they tell you to watch for strange vehicles following you, especially unmarked vans?”

“Well, it was sneaky!” Star argued. “Besides, what was I supposed to do? Leave my phone there?”

“Yeah, well whatever the reason you went back, the van turned around, too,” Tucker said. “That’s obviously highly suspicious. And then… See that? The next traffic camera. There’s the van passing by, but you don’t.”

“So the van took me,” Star concluded, recalling vague flashes of it. Being suddenly tugged to the side, large hands holding her tightly, a cloth being pressed over her face… “I think… I think I kinda remember that… I think I was chloroformed? I remember a weird smelling rag and then everything faded…”

“Do you remember where the van took you?” Sam asked.

Star thought hard for a moment, then shook her head. “No, sorry.”

“So you were either killed right after being chloroformed, or taken somewhere and killed there,” Ember concluded.

“The goal was obviously to kill you, too,” Kitty determined. “If it was for ransom or something, the kidnappers would have contacted someone.”

“Unless something happened before they could,” Tucker pointed out.

“I guess I could have tried to escape,” Star said. “And a kidnapping for ransom wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility, given my parents… That has happened before…”

“Hold up, what? It happened before?” Johnny asked in surprised.

“Then, maybe it’s the same ones?” Jazz suggested.

“No, that was when I was, like, 5 or 6,” Star said, waving a dismissive hand. “Just the standard grab and ransom demand, parents gave them the money and they gave me back, the tracker in the bag led the cops to get them. It happened to Paulina too. Those types of guys only go after little kids.”

“Yeah, happened to me once too,” Sam revealed. “I think I was 4? Didn’t even realize it was a kidnapping until afterwards, it was a girl who claimed to be a babysitter, she watched me while her partner demanded the ransom, but I never saw him. I wasn’t harmed or anything. When you’ve above a certain income level, it’s almost expected.”

“That’s basically my story too,” Star said. “Definitely wasn’t the same people this time.”

“It’s a little disturbing how casually you’re all treating kidnapping,” Tucker said with clear concern. “What next? Don’t tell me you’ve been kidnapped too, Danny!”

“If you count Vlad, several times,” Danny said flatly, and Star wondered what that was about.

“Oh. Right, that is a thing… Well, it wasn’t for ransom, at least,” Tucker noted. “So, anyway, back to the ones that took Star this time. Theories?”

“Wait,” Star said, putting a hand on her head as memories of something flashed. “I remember a place, maybe. I started to wake when they took me out of the van, it was backed up to a loading dock so I dunno what the place was. It was dark inside though, guess the kidnappers knew where they were going but I couldn’t see much, not even their faces; when they saw I was waking up they used the rag again.”

“A loading dock is still something,” Jazz pointed out.

“Yeah, rules out being held at a regular house or a cabin in the woods or something,” Ember agreed.

“Still leaves a lot of places,” Tucker pointed out, still looking through the camera footage. “And the cameras don’t show the van after a point, it’s really weird…”

“Maybe they switched vans,” Danny suggested. “Can you remember the color, Star?”

Star thought hard. “I’m not sure it was a van actually… Maybe an SUV? The color wasn’t white, either. I dunno what color, everything was very fuzzy, but it was darker, definitely not white.”

“So they switched vehicles,” Tucker concluded. “And given the last camera the van hit, it’s nearly impossible to figure out which without more information—it was on the main highway, so too many cars coming and going to even begin to try to identify what it was.”

“Probably intentionally so,” Sam said. “They switched vehicles, so I bet they thought of the possibility of cameras tracking them. A quiet street would make it more obvious they switched, but a busy one wouldn’t.”

“You think the van’s still there?” Danny wondered.

“Doubt it, but Kitty and I can check later,” Johnny offered. “Kinda a long block though, with lots of businesses, so there might be multiple people with white vans there…”

“Or they could have changed the color or something,” Kitty suggested, and Star recalled the dark grey van from earlier. Could that be it?

“Well, it’s a start,” Star said, dismissing the other van; vans were fairly common around the city, and being near the school it was probably just picking up a smaller school club to transport somewhere. Star added, “A lot more than we had before!”

“I’m concerned about the people still being out there though,” Danny said. “What if they try to catch you again?”

Star laughed. “Danny, honey, I’m a ghost. Just let them try to chloroform someone who doesn’t breathe!”

Danny laughed. “Okay, good point.”

“Hey, wait,” Star said, realizing something. “Sam, are the rumors true that you have a bowling alley?”

“Well that’s a total non sequitur, but yeah, it’s true,” Sam said. “Why?”

“I dunno, just curious,” Star said with a shrug. Sometimes she just blurted off-topic questions out when she thought of them; it was something she was working on.

“We can play if you want,” Danny offered.

“Excuse me?” Sam said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“If Sam’s okay with it, of course,” Danny hurriedly added with a sheepish expression.

“It would be good practice for holding heavier objects without accidentally phasing through them,” Jazz offered, helping Danny out as she often did.

“Oooh, good idea,” Ember said with excitement. “Can I play too? I haven’t been bowling in like thirty years!”

“We haven’t played since we died either,” Kitty said, gesturing to her and Johnny. “Mind if we join in?”

“I have a feeling this is happening whether I want it to or not,” Sam said with an odd mix of frustration and amusement. “Fine, we can play. You in too, Tucker?”

“Nah; I’m gonna keep looking at footage, wanna see if the van appears again,” Tucker said, still staring at the computer screen.

“Suit yourself,” Sam said with a shrug, then grabbed a remote and pressed a button. The wall with the movie screen moved upwards, revealing the bowling alley.

“Oooh, that’s so cool!” Star declared. “Wonder if mom will let me install something like this too… Anyway, come on, let’s play!” she told them, happily flying over there, as did the other ghosts and Danny.

“Sometimes, I wi—think it’d be cool if I could fly too,” Sam said with a sigh, as she and Jazz walked there. Star felt bad that those two had to walk; maybe she should have flown them, even if it was such a short distance. It must be strange being the only humans in a group that was mostly ghosts.

“Ghost envy, huh?” Jazz said.

“No, just flying envy,” Sam said with a chuckle. “Definitely don’t want to be a ghost.”

“It would be nice to fly like that,” Jazz agreed as they caught up. Ember already was holding a bowling ball.

“I can take you flying again sometime!” Star offered. It had actually been quite fun when they flew through the Ghost Zone; Sam was pretty interesting. Maybe they could be friends. Hey, if she dropped the goth thing, maybe they could even be publicly friends! Sam likely wouldn’t ever do that though.

“No offense, but you caused a fire in class because you phased through so many beakers; I think I’ll wait until you’ve got that under control before flying in a place where I can actually fall,” Sam said.

“Fair,” Star agreed, actually unoffended unlike the usual result of the phrase ‘no offense’ precursing something. “Now, let’s bowl!”

“Wait; the scoring system only has room for 6 players,” Johnny realized as he entered their names.

“There’s multiple lanes,” Sam pointed out. “We’ll just divide into groups.”

“Actually, I just remembered I wanted to stop by the library today,” Jazz suddenly said. “I’ll go do that.”

“You sure, Jazz?” Danny asked. “If you want to play we can make groups, it’s no big deal.”

“No, our parents want us home for dinner at 6:30, and it’s already nearly 5, so it’s gotta be now,” Jazz said, then hurried off.

Star watched her leave, mildly confused. “Does she do that often?” she asked Danny.

“Yeah, there’s probably something she wants to research,” Danny said. “The library’s open until ten or something, but she won’t go after dinner since she doesn’t like being at the library at night, says it’s too creepy, so it’s now or never I guess. Anyway, let’s play.”

“Yes! Let’s play,” Star asserted. “I’m gonna win, just watch.” She had no hopes of such, but she sure was going to try!

Danny grinned. “Didn’t know you were competitive,” he teased. “But I’d put my bets on Sam.”

Star narrowed her eyes and grabbed a bowling ball. “Yeah? Just wa—dammit,” Star cut herself off as the ball fell through her fingers. This might be harder than she thought!

Danny laughed as he picked up the ball and stepped to the lane. “Just watch and learn,” he told her cockily (and wow that smirk was hot, Star couldn’t help but think), before swinging the ball back and then launching it forward—along with a large burst of ice, causing a few icicles to form in the lane and the smug expression to vanish. “...Dammit.”

Sam sighed. “I’ll set up another lane.”

“Looks like this is going to be practice for both of us,” Star giggled.

“Yeah,” Danny said with sigh. “Well, at least it wasn’t an ectoblast this time.”

Star picked up a ball again and moved to the new lane Sam had set up, now worried that she might launch an ectoblast this time as she tossed the ball…

Yup, there it was, as though her core had read Star’s worries and decided to prank her: an ectoblast launched with the ball, managing to actually destroy it, the ball crumbling as it rolled, the ectoplasm almost burning it.

“Um. Do ectoblasts cause that a lot?” Star wondered, looking at the pieces that had stopped halfway down the lane.

“No; the insides of those use iron oxide,” Danny told her. “I was surprised too when I did the same.”

“It’s okay,” Sam said, surprisingly not irritated. “These balls are pretty old, originally from when my grandfather installed this place, so they all have knicks in them, which is how the ectoplasm probably got in and interacted. If anything, this gives us an excuse to finally replace them—my grandma’s a little sentimental though, which is why we haven’t yet.”

“But, we’re made of ectoplasm,” Star said. “So is using these at all not good…?”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Ember supplied. “Ectoblasts hit regular iron stuff all the time, and we can phase through it—the oxide part is what made it crumble like that, basically it’s rust which is already decayed and the high concentration in the ecto blasts decays it further, making it crumble. But general ectoplasmic skin contact shouldn’t be an issue, especially since the iron oxide is technically in resin, so the ectoblast melting that and the heat of the reaction melting it more is what really gave access.”

“I see,” Star said. “There’s so much to learn about being a ghost!”

“Well, that’s what you have us for,” Kitty told Star with a wink. “You too, Danny—any questions, we’ll answer.”

“Thanks,” Danny told her gratefully. “I just might take you up on that.”

“And I definitely will!” Star asserted.

“Great,” Kitty grinned. “Now, who wants to do some bowling?”

Chapter Text

Later that night, after dinner (which Danny had been significantly late to thanks to losing track of time during bowling) but before patrol time, Danny could be found laying belly-down on his bed, elbows propping him up, with the most recent issue of the magazine National Geographic between his hands. His homework lay on his desk, abandoned in favor of the much more interesting magazine.

A knock sounded on the door, and without waiting for an answer Jazz entered Danny’s room, as per usual.

“Jazz, I could have been doing something private,” Danny told her.

“But you’re not,” Jazz said, strolling over to the bed. “Unless you’re jacking off to a Nat Geo article on… Disease?”

“It’s about the history of flus and how they became pandemics,” Danny explained. “Apparently there’s concern that the bird flu, H5N1, could start jumping to humans and become the next global pandemic, since history says we’re overdue for one.”

“Really?” Jazz asked, sounding concerned.

“Don’t worry, we’ll all probably be fine, since we’re in Amity Park,” Danny reminded his sister. Ectoplasm had antiviral properties, and all the ambient ectoplasm in the city therefore protected the citizens from most airborne viruses, except for the few that occasionally mutated to gain a resistance to the ectoplasm.

“Right, right… you know, it’s interesting that you’re doing so poorly in school when you willingly read magazines about science and history and stuff,” Jazz commented.

“Well, the articles are actually interesting,” Danny defended, feeling a little irked at the comment. “The school textbooks aren’t. Like, look at this one,” he said, flipping to a different article. “The Battle of Trafalgar. It tells it like a story, with pictures and interesting facts. I’ll probably never remember the people’s names or dates after reading this, other than Admiral Nelson since he’s the main character, but I’ll remember the battle and how it happened.

“But the school just makes you remember the names and dates, they don’t care if I remember than Nelson lost his eye in battle, or called his amputated arm a fin. They don’t care that I remember his ship was named Victory. They don’t care that I can explain exactly how the battle went down, the sequence of events. I’ll still fail the test because the dates and names and other boring details immediately slip away.

“And don’t get me started on how the textbooks are written—they’re so boring that I can’t focus, and in dense paragraphs with nothing to break them up which makes the words swirl all around, I have to read a paragraph ten times before I absorb a fraction of the information!”

“Well, that definitely tracks with ADHD,” Jazz said confidently, then dropped a heavy book on Danny’s bed. She held a smaller one too, but Danny couldn’t see the title.

Danny put down the magazine and pulled the book over to him. “DSM-IV-TR?”

“Yeah, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision,” Jazz said, reading the full name above the abbreviation (Danny wasn’t sure why the abbreviation was in more prominent letters than the full name, but that’s how the publisher had styled it). She explained, “It’s the most recent official diagnostic criteria from the American Psychiatric Association.”

“You would own this book,” Danny said with a chuckle, assuming it was hers due to no markings indicating it was library material. “Let me guess: you want me to look at the symptoms?”

“Well, I was hoping we could review them together.”

“Yeah, okay,” Danny said, suspecting Jazz wouldn’t let it go. He sat up cross-legged on the bed, giving Jazz room to do the same, the book in his lap. He quickly found the page for ADHD, as Jazz had bookmarked it with a green post-it. “Damn, that’s a lot of small font.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to read it all,” Jazz said. “I already read it; there’s different types, I think you’re the primarily inattentive type, diagnostic criteria is on page 92.”

Danny flipped to that page and felt some relief at the numbered and lettered lists; that was much easier to process. He took a moment to read through it. “Yeah, I guess a lot of these things do fit,” he determined. “What’s that other book you have?”

“One that’s used to help explain it to kids,” Jazz told him, handing it to Danny. “That symptom list is just a little summary of what’s discussed more in detail in those bigger paragraphs, so this might be easier for you to digest.”

“‘Putting on the Brakes: Young People’s Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder’,” Danny read the title. He flipped through the book. “This looks like it’s meant for older elementary kids, not high schoolers.”

“Yeah, well, there wasn’t much at the library for older kids,” Jazz defended. “Usually kids get diagnosed when younger, but you know how Mom and Dad are about psych stuff. Besides, the information in this is good—in fact, it might be easier for you to absorb, since it’s not thick paragraphs!”

“Point,” Danny conceded. He just would have to be sure to keep it in his room; the last thing he needed was to have the bullies laughing at him for reading kid-level books, regardless of if it had good info that was easier to absorb and concentrate on. That was another reason why he liked magazine articles—they were short enough that his attention didn’t peter out before he was finished. “Okay, I’ll give it a read.”

Not that knowing this stuff would help with getting any diagnosis; Danny’s parents were notoriously against any suggestion that a child of theirs wasn’t 100% mentally typical, aside from high intelligence. To them, Danny was simply not trying hard enough in school, because he always scored high on intelligent tests, always had been above his age’s typical reading level, could talk extensively about the things he read in magazines and the documentaries he saw, and could catch onto things and learn quickly when it interested him—apparently something that was related to ADHD, if Danny understood correctly.

“You know, even if I do have this, I’ll probably never get an actual official diagnosis, and I can’t take medicine for it,” Danny told his sister, upon seeing there was a chapter about the latter.

“Right, psych meds in general aren’t recommended for ghosts, since they can alter emotions and a ghost’s entire psyche is heavily emotion-influenced,” Jazz said, and when Danny gave her a curious look said, “I talked to Frostbite about it—don’t think I haven’t noticed you trying to hide those panic attacks.”

“They’re not… that,” Danny argued, wondering when exactly his sister had talked to the yeti. “I just… get overwhelmed and freak out sometimes.”

“Which is, in fact, a panic attack.”

“But I can tell it’s coming on and get to a private place,” Danny argued.

“Which is typical. You’re thinking of how they happen on TV, which is done for dramatic effect. So yeah, they’re panic attacks. I’ve talked you down from them,” Jazz pointed out.

“Okay, fine,” Danny conceded, knowing it wasn’t worth arguing, and honestly Jazz was probably right—sometimes during those episodes, especially after nightmares about the accident, Danny even felt like he couldn’t breathe, even though he didn’t need to.

Jazz flipped open the diagnostic manual to another page she had bookmarked, this one with a pink post-it, and showed it to Danny. It was another criteria list, this one for panic attacks. It said only 4 of the 13 items needed to be present, and Danny recalled experiencing at least 9 of them, not always all at once but those ‘freak out sessions’, as Danny had been calling them, always had more than 4, definitely.

Danny sighed in frustration. “Well, looks like you’re right, I’m messed up this way, too… Man, I’m supposed to be a Hero, Heroes shouldn’t have all this crap…”

“Hey, don’t be like that,” Jazz chided. “With all you’ve been through, it would be a miracle if you didn’t have some sort of trauma-related thing! Panic attacks are a perfectly understandable thing for a Hero to have—think of all the soldiers who come back from wars with PTSD, including panic attacks. Does that negate their heroic actions?”

“Of course not,” Danny said. He picked up the smaller book again, fiddling with the pointy corners; it was a paperback edition whose cover had been plasticized for protection.

“Then, give yourself a break on that front, okay, little brother?”

“Okay,” Danny agreed; Jazz made a good point, as usual. He leafed through the book a little, then a passage caught his eye. “Hey, wait. This is exactly what we were talking about before!” he noticed. “Look. ‘You may find it much easier to pay attention when the subject interests you, but feel quite lost when the topic is difficult or uninteresting. Your parents and teachers may be confused by this and think you should be able to pay attention all the time’,” he quoted. “That’s exactly what always happens! A lot of this seems really relevant, actually,” he said as he briefly skimmed a few more pages. “Where was this book five years ago?”

“Not written,” Jazz said with a chuckle. “Published 2001. But, yes, it would have definitely been useful.”

“Would have saved me some frustration, at least,” Danny said. “Now I know it’s not just laziness, like they often say, and why I find some things really difficult that other people don’t. I’m not a failure; my brain is just messed up.”

“Not ‘messed up’, it just works differently,” Jazz corrected. “Hopefully knowing about it now will help you find strategies to work around the difficulties that those differences cause,” she pointed out.

“Yeah maybe,” Danny said, although that sounded like that could take a lot of time and effort… Which, come to think of it, he had more than plenty of. Danny sighed. “I’m sure someday I’ll figure it out; I potentially have eternity, after all,” he said a little sullenly.

“Oh, right, about that; I can tell it’s bugging you,” Jazz said. “Do you need to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Danny told his sister. “It’s a bit of a shock, but it also doesn’t really feel real yet? Like, I know it’s a thing, and it’s a little scary to think about, but it’s still early enough that it hasn’t really hit me. I’ll probably have a crisis about it in a few years, when it becomes really obvious that I haven’t changed.”

“Well, I’ll be here for you when you do,” Jazz promised.

Danny smiled gratefully. “That’s, Jazz. Seriously don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, I dunno, probably destroy the world or something,” Jazz said with a sly smile.

“Okay, too soon,” Danny said through laughter. He checked his watch. “It time for patrol now; I told Star I’d take her on it, so she can get some practice using ecto-blasts if we encounter any ectopi or similar weaker ghosts.”

“Good idea,” Jazz said. “Speaking of Star though… Do I sense a small crush?”

“Nope, you’re imagining it,” Danny quickly told her, though was unable to resist blushing. “It’s just a working relationship.” He then transformed and flew out the window before Jazz could say any more about that.

Danny contemplated Jazz’s words and his response as he flew to Star’s house. Could it really be a crush? His core did often pulse with something pleasant when he saw her, when she smiled and giggled, when she adorably talked excitedly about things… Yeah, okay, maybe it was a small crush. But it’s not like it would go anywhere…. right?

Danny flew into Star’s room, and she gave a shout of surprise. “Knock next time!” she scolded. She was standing in front of her mirror in human form with an earring in her hand. She was dressed in what looked like pajamas consisting of short shorts with a lacy trim and a matching sphaghetti-strap top, possibly without a bra but Danny didn’t want to look too closely.

Although it looked like Star wasn’t near ready to leave, that was only by human standards—changing would be fast as Star would likely switch into her cheerleading outfit when she transformed, as that was attached to her ghost form—Danny had recommended she stay in that while practicing ghost things for now, until they got ecto-clothes, to prevent accidentally phasing out of the human clothes as flying around and practicing fighting would likely mess with the concentration.

“Sorry,” Danny said sheepishly, glancing at his watch to avoid looking at Star’s skimpy outfit. “I’m a few minutes late; thought you’d be ready.”

“Danny, we both have ADHD; did you really think you’d be the only one running behind schedule?” Star asked with amusement as she finally got the earring in; it was a red-orange gem the same color as the orange on her uniform.

“I guess that’s a good point,” Danny conceded. That book had mentioned that chronic lateness was an issue people with ADHD tended to have.

“Hey, be-tee-dubs, if you have any jewelry, Ember gave me a potion that can make metal things ecto-based so they won’t accidentally phase off,” Star informed Danny as she worked on getting the matching earring in the other ear. “I spent like the last hour treating all my jewelry with it, and there’s still plenty left if you want to use it.”

“I don’t really wear jewelry,” Danny told her.

“You don’t, yet,” Star corrected. Before Danny could question what Star meant by that, the girl shifted into ghost form and turned to fully face Danny, saying, “Okay, ready.”

Danny blushed and looked away. “Um, you somehow forgot the outfit,” he muttered. It hadn’t occurred to him that was possible to do, but Star’s transformation powers did work differently than his.

“Oh, right,” Star said. “Okay, it’s the right one now.”

Danny looked again to find Star blushing green. He couldn’t help but admire her; the vermillion-and-white cheerleading outfit fit her nicely, and somehow worked with the blue skin better than Danny would have expected.

“The pajamas I transported to my lair, Ember said something about how I can transport them back right onto me when shifting, somehow?”

“Yeah, that’s a thing,” Danny told her. Apparently that was what he did whenever he shifted to Phantom form, without even realizing. “You look nice,” he couldn’t help but say.

Star blushed deeper. “Really? You don’t find the skin and hair weird?” The image of gold threads in her hair shifted, moving between each other almost like knots—a sign that she was anxious? It reminded Danny of someone fiddling with their fingers, somehow.

“Not at all,” Danny told her. “It suits you. The gold in the hair is really pretty.”

“Oh, stop flattering me so much,” Star said, though she was smiling. Her hair’s pattern shifted from the knots to… hearts? That was interesting.

“Oh, you know you like it,” Danny said teasingly, smiling.

“Oh! Right, fangs,” Star said, shifting her teeth to such too.

Danny chuckled. “Careful, or those will become permanent,” he told her. She had been shifting her teeth to them in human form a lot, too.

“Good; I want them to,” Star asserted. “They’re cute.”

“Yeah, guess it’s hard to deny that,” Danny acknowledged. “I complained about mine yesterday, but they’ve been growing on me,” he admitted. It seemed his teeth had realized he secretly liked the aesthetic before his brain got the memo. “Anyway, ready to go?” He held his hand out.

Star giggled and took Danny’s hand; Danny couldn’t help but note how it felt pleasant in his, the skin temperature feeling as it should, instead of much-too-warm skin that his human friends and family had. He then pulled Star into the air and began to take off, then realized something and paused.

“Something wrong?” Star asked.

“Ah, well… This is awkward, but if we’re flying, and you’re wearing a skirt…” Danny trailed, unsure how to say politely that everyone would be able to see her underwear.

“Oh! That’s no issue,” Star said, pulling up her skirt with the hand that wasn’t holding Danny’s. “See? Booty shorts underneath! The school wouldn’t let us do flips and stuff if we had only skirts.”

“Oh, good,” Danny said with relief. “I was worried you’d be flashing the whole town!”

Star laughed. “Yeah, definitely not gonna do that—you have to earn a glimpse of my panties! Now, come on, let’s fly!”

Star flew forward, this time taking the lead as she pulled Danny, who couldn’t help but blush at Star’s (unintentionally?) suggestive words, through the wall and into the sky.

Chapter Text

The next day, Wednesday, Star went home with Paulina after cheer practice. They were both still in their uniforms, not bothering to change as they weren’t going anywhere else. Both had Casper High zippered hoodies on, left open—it was apparently a little chilly, but still warm for October, although Star couldn’t tell that at all so had just followed Paulina’s example.

Star could have met with Danny and the group again to work on the case, but she figured a break would be best—if crime TV taught Star anything, it was that obsessing about a case to the degree it took up one’s life (well, afterlife in this case) never ended well, and no one else was missing so it wasn’t like there was a time limit, except for her body potentially being found. Besides, suddenly stopping hanging out with her basically-sister would be very super suspicious, and Star, Danny, and the humans did have school stuff to do too, as well as just general routine activities (which in Danny’s case involved helping Star train her powers). Thus, during the school week, working on the case would henceforth largely happen at night, given Star and the other ghosts (aside from Danny) didn’t require sleep, and the humans and Danny had (reluctantly) agreed to leave most their work for the weekend.

That also gave Star a reason to not be around Sam and Tucker. They could help with the case, sure, but Sam clearly had reservations about Star (they’d never gotten along well to begin with, and Star also sensed some potential jealousy surrounding Danny’s newfound friendship with Star), and Tucker was just… Well, Tucker. Sam was basically the only girl in school that could put up with him, and maybe Valerie (although Star suspected the girl had just been manipulating Tucker to get info on ghosts, even though she had no proof of that at all). Star would put up with working with him on the case, and group chat interactions, as he was the best at any computer stuff needed, but only a minimal amount. It would also be nice to know why he kept triggering weird memories of some sort of sandy obviously-apocalyptic world…

Jazz was cool though; maybe in the evenings Star could sneak into Danny’s room and work on the case with him and Jazz, since she was good at research. Jazz had a reputation of being somewhat pretentious, but from Star’s observation that was largely unintentional—Jazz was simply a genius who was unaware that she often made people feel lesser by some of the things she said and the way she talked; for example, it hadn’t been bragging when Jazz said she was deciding between Ivy League schools, she was simply explaining her situation when the topic of colleges came up and was unaware that others could interpret that as her attempting to one-up them based on the schools being so difficult to get into. So, she could potentially be a cool friend if one remembered that Jazz wasn’t trying to make people feel less smart than her… Actually, it might be nice for Star to have a nerdier female friend that she could talk to about more complex subjects that interested her, since half the time when she rambled about new and interesting things she’d learned her friends, including Paulina, just gave her blank stares.

“Hey, so was it just me, or was Brittany staring at you a lot during practice?” Paulina asked as they walked. “Ashley, too.”

“Hm?” Star said, pulled from her thoughts. “Oh. In the locker room Brittany asked me about how I dealt when my mom started dating others, but she didn’t like my answer.”

“Right, her parents split up last year,” Paulina recalled. “Didn’t her dad run off with some floozy?”

“Yeah, and her mom’s apparently dating douchebags and pays her like zero attention. Totally different than my situation,” Star said. “Dunno why Ashley kept looking at me though.”

“Rumor has it she’s gunning for your top-of-the-pyramid position, so maybe she’s looking for you to slip up,” Paulina suggested.

Star scoffed at that. “Her? Please. She can’t even do a double aerial twist, let alone from on top of someone, which is what I use to get off it!”

“Almost no one high-school level can do that but you,” Paulina pointed out with amusement. “We didn’t all get circus training when we were five!”

“So you think she thinks that she can take the position if I mess up too badly?” Star asked. Or, died, Star realized; could Ashley have been the one to murder her? Cheerleading was serious business; the hope of obtaining such a coveted position could very well drive someone to murder for it. If she had killed her though, Ashley’s poker face was great, as she hadn’t seemed bothered at all by seeing Star at school.

“That would be my bet,” Paulina told her. “She filled in for you when you were missing, and seemed to enjoy it.”

“Ugh, you all let her fill in? Mia would have been a much better choice.”

“Yeah, Mia was allegedly out sick the first day,” Paulina said with a sigh.

“Allegedly?” Star perked up; could Mia have killed her? Was she out because she was hiding the body?

“Eh, well, rumor has it she was spotted at the mall,” Paulina explained. “And she had one of the brand-new limited-edition keyboard phones the next day, which had just come out for those of us without early access, so I’d say it’s a good bet she was there.”

“Makes sense,” Star acknowledged.

“Yeah. Super frustrating, because Tiffanie was totally out too, visiting her sick aunt across the state in Akron for a few days.”

“Her aunt? The one whose kid died last year?” Star asked, recalling how Tiffanie had been out for a whole week while her cousin finally succumbed to leukemia after a few years’ battle with it, and her aunt, who had been a single mom, hadn’t been doing well since.

“Yup. And Mia knew this since it was in the group chat,” Paulina explained. “The phone could have waited; she knows how badly having three people out at once totally messes up the flow!”

“Sorry,” Star said, feeling sad about that. She didn’t like disappointing people!

“Hey, no, it’s not your fault, mi estrella,” Paulina said with concern, putting a hand on Star’s shoulder; thankfully the hoodie blocked Star’s cold skin. “You were trapped in the Ghost Zone; that’s not something you can control.”

“Right, I know,” Star hurriedly said.

“So, any updates about Danny?” Paulina asked, obviously trying to change the subject as she knew Star well enough that she could tell that Star needed to talk about something else now. “I noticed you both texting a lot in class, conveniently at the same time; was that to him?”

Star felt herself blush, and hurriedly made it red; she had that down pretty well by now. “Maaaaybe,” she said, dragging out the ‘a’ to indicate that it actually was a ‘yes’.

“Oooh? What about?” Paulina asked excitedly.

“Ah, well, you know, just general things,” Star said vaguely.

By ‘general things’, Star meant mostly ghost stuff, but Paulina couldn’t know that! Probably about half of the texts were actually the group chat with her, Danny, Sam, and Tucker, warning her about slip-ups, such as when her hair began to show subtle gold patterns (which apparently changed shape based on her mood), when she might be causing the temperature to fall, or when she was slightly floating without realizing (the latter two applied to Danny as well, plus forming frost sometimes—his ice powers were very new and it showed). Star was also still dropping stuff way too much, and occasionally was phasing through things automatically instead of bumping into them; she even completely phased through the kickball in gym class instead of kicking it!

“General things?” Paulina prodded curiously.

But, they had talked with each other a lot when on patrol the previous night, so Star did have things she could share that could feasibly have been discussed via texts. “Yeah, you know, like how he’s also got a subscription to Nat Geo, and his favorite color is red, and how he also thinks a lot of our teachers are mean, and how he hates toast, and we like a lot of the same music like Dumpty Humpty, Simple Plan, Ember McLain, Green Day, The Offspring, and Blink 182, and how he doesn’t get along super well with his parents either, and how he’s always wanted a pet but his parents wouldn’t let him get one, and how he’s also a fan of space sci-fi stuff like Star Wars and Star Trek and Doctor Who—we have a whole lot more in common than I thought, actually!”

“Well, you are a bit of a secret nerd,” Paulina said with a giggle.

“Excuse me? So are you in that case!” Star pointed out. Paulina liked a lot of the same things as Star; she’d even been the one to introduce her to Star Wars!

“I know, I know, I’m just joking with you,” Paulina said with a smile. “We know how to reign it in though.”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Star said. “Gotta be tasteful about that stuff in public. We’ve got a reputation to keep!” She wished she didn’t have to hide her love of space sci-fi, but, well, she didn’t make the rules, at least not when it came to that; it was universally known that being too expressive about a love of something nerdy was uncool, and Star dreaded being seen as uncool.

“Speaking of: time to figure out how to boost Danny’s reputation, so yours doesn’t fall when people notice you two interacting outside of school assignments!” Paulina said as they reached her house, which on the outside looked similar to Star’s, being the same model. “Your faux pas in music class did not go unnoticed.”

Star winced. “Yeah, I know. It was impulsive. But I didn’t want another girl singing a duet with him!”

“Perfectly understandable,” Paulina agreed as she unlocked the house. “Does he know yet that we’re taking him shopping on Saturday?”

“Not yet,” Star admitted as they headed through the door. “I’ll text him later to let him know.”

“Well, let him know soon, or he might make plans, in which case he’ll be annoyed once we pull him away from them,” Paulina warned.

“I know, I know,” Star said as they climbed the stairs; Paulina’s house was the same model as Star’s, and even set up similarly, including Paulina having the third floor as her own.

The two headed to the final extra room, discarding their hoodies on the chair at Paulina’s cosmetic desk. Whereas Star’s was used as a combined art studio/music room/library, Paulina’s was used as a makeup studio on one side and art studio on the other—however, whereas Star’s studio was very messy and full of many different types of art supplies, Paulina’s was very neat and organized and primarily contained paper, pencils, markers, fabrics, plastic anatomically-correct (well, except for being censored in certain parts) posable barbie-sized dolls, and premade doll clothes, all along a long custom desk that went from wall-to-wall, since it was almost exclusively for fashion design. Star was into fashion design too of course, as it was (or, had been) their dream to do such together, but she also flitted between various types of paints, clay, jewelry, fabric arts, and whatever else her whims led her to. She even had a phase where she was into making plushies, though only ever figured out how to make teddy bears, which Dash had kept all of for some reason.

“Oooh, this is new,” Star said, picking up a male doll dressed in a brown leather jacket, dark blue jeans, red v-neck shirt, and brown boots. “I didn’t know they made leather jackets in doll sizes.”

“I know, right?” Paulina said proudly. “It’s real leather, too! I was so surprised to see it! They had them at the doll store on 7th ave. They had both black leather and brown leather, I got a few of each.”

“Smart,” Star said, contemplative. “Hey, do you think Danny would wear something like this?”

“He does like red,” Paulina said, as she flopped into a reclining rolling chair stationed at the desk. “But, the leather could be an issue—Manson might just kill him if he wore that.”

“Oh yeah,” Star said, even though she knew that wasn’t possible anymore. “And we can’t have him wear fake leather!” She hopped onto the desk to sit, as was usual—the scene of the two in the room, one on the desk and one in the chair, was quite common.

“He does need a jacket though, since it’s getting colder…” Paulina trailed. “Honestly, not sure how he isn’t wearing a jacket yet. Anyway, obviously varsity jacket’s out since he doesn’t do sports, but we can’t have him wearing that ugly neon green-and-orange windbreaker he had back in the spring, which I’m sure was a hand-me-down since it was like a decade out of style. A track jacket maybe? A bomber jacket?”

“He does already have some hoodies,” Star pointed out. “We’ve seen him in them.”

“True, but those are so basic,” Paulina said. “I mean, it would be one thing if they were designer brands, with their logo, or fun Hot Topic ones, but they’re clearly the cheap ones from the basic department stores like Kohls and JC Penny’s.”

“Ugh, I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those places,” Star said, internally laughing at the unintentional joke, given she was already dead. “We gotta get him some designer ones.”

“Right, of course,” Paulina said. “Obviously. But that’s for casual wear. He also needs something trendier…”

Star then spotted something in one of the clear plastic drawers of doll clothes that were stacked on the desk. She reached over and pulled the drawer open, after a brief failed attempt involving accidental intangibility that she hoped Paulina didn’t notice. She removed the object she had spotted.

“What about denim?” Star asked, holding up the small jacket. She then switched the doll’s jacket out for it.

“Oooh, good idea,” Paulina said, taking the doll from Star. Then, she paused in brief contemplation before saying, “Maybe an accessory would be good too—chain choker?”

“Those are trendy,” Star agreed. “Oh, and puka shell ones! Those are so in for guys. Regular chokers are too, the ones with the longer black beads and colored round ones, I’ve seen some celebs wearing those. Wristbands, too, we definitely need to get him some of those. Maybe some braided bracelets and shell bracelets too. Those things on men are super in right now.” Then something occurred to her. “Hey, speaking of accessories, I have maybe a slightly crazy idea…”

“Oh? What is it?” Paulina asked curiously.

“Well, it’s a rising trend for guys to get their ears pierced; I’ve been thinking of getting second holes anyway, so maybe he’d be up for getting his done too?”

“Hmmm… You know what, that’s not a bad idea,” Paulina said. “But, can ghosts get their ears pierced?”

Star froze. “Wh-what? Danny’s not a ghost!” she stuttered out.

“I don’t mean Danny,” Paulina said with a serious look. “We’re best friends, Star; don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“Noticed what?” Star asked with slight dread. Had she not been hiding it as well as she thought? Or… No, Paulina couldn’t have been the one to murder her. Star had just messed up, not hidden it well enough, that was all there was to it.

“You’ve been hiding it well, don’t worry,” Paulina said, apparently aware of Star’s inner panic. “I just know you too well, you were acting like you were hiding something so I paid close attention. I won’t say anything to anyone; it’ll be our secret.”

Star took a deep breath to calm herself a bit. “Right, okay. Yeah, you’re right. I’m… I’m a ghost. What gave it away?”

“Mostly the intangibility,” Paulina revealed. “Unlike the eyes, that can’t be written off as ecto-contamination. You’re not very good at controlling it yet, are you?”

Star sighed. “No, I’m really not. Phantom and the other ghosts told me that’s common at first.”

Paulina gasped and her eyes practically lit up. “You know Phantom?”

“Well, he ‘rescued’ me, remember?” Star reminded her. “Except, not really—he did bring me back home, but mostly to just help with the story. Kitty actually found me, then she sent Ember to find Phantom. Those three and Johnny helped me figure out how everything works, and are helping me find out how I died.”

“You don’t know?” Paulina asked with clear incredulity.

“Yeah, apparently it’s not unusual to not remember,” Star told her. Then, she explained everything that had really happened (minus anything relating to halfas, the humans involved, and Phantom’s true identity), with Paulina listening with rapt attention.

“Wow,” Paulina said once Star finished. “That’s… wow. I don’t know what to say! It’s incredible… Ah, sad too I guess?” She shifted awkwardly in her seat. “Honestly, I dunno if it’s hit me yet? I know ghosts technically are, well, you know, but you still look exactly as you did…”

“Would it help to see my ghost form?” Star asked, and when Paulina nervously nodded, Star changed into it. “I know, blue skin, kinda gross,” she said.

Paulina shook her head. “Not at all,” she told Star. “It’s kinda hot, actually—exotic, like the Andorians from Star Trek, minus the antennae. And that hair is beautiful!"

“You don’t think the patterns are weird?” Star asked, moving a hand to thread through her hair, the pattern now moving sharp tangles.

“Not at all,” Paulina said. “It’s like you have threads of gold through it, and it’s cool how they keep changing.”

“Yeah, apparently it’s based on my emotions or something,” Star admitted; it looked like they were gentle sine waves now, reflecting her relieved state at Paulina’s approval, whereas before they were jagged, reflecting her anxiousness. “I can hide it though, even in ghost form, but that takes concentration.” She shifted back to her human look.

“Hey, no need to hide here!” Paulina told her. “It’s just us here today; Daddy left earlier for a multi-day business conference in Chicago.”

“Well, okay,” Star said, shifting back to her ghost form.

“Hey, can you use telekinesis?” Paulina wondered, putting her hands on her arms. Was she cold?

“Um. Maybe?” Star said. “It’s technically a standard ghost power so probably, but I haven’t tried—Phantom helped me learn some things last night, but he still struggles with it so couldn’t really teach me.”

“Well, want to try?” Paulina said. “I need my hoodie again; I think you made it cold.”

Star winced. “Oh, right. Apparently my emotions can do that too, and I was nervous when you told me you knew… sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Paulina instructed. “Just get my hoodie.”

Star concentrated on the hoodies on the chair, holding her hand out and trying to move it—it did a little, so Star concentrated harder…

“Oof!” Paulina grunted as she received a faceful of hoodie, scrambling to pull it off her face. “Sheesh, Star, you shot that like a bullet!”

“Hey, at least I moved it!” Star pointed out, unable to resist laughing.

“Well, I suppose that wasn’t bad for a first try,” Paulina said, grinning as she shrugged the hoodie on.

“You’re surprisingly cool about this ghost stuff,” Star noted.

“Oh, I assure you, I am totally freaking out inside,” Paulina told her. “I mean, learning my best friend was murdered, even if she returned as a ghost, is pretty shocking! But, I know how to stay composed… Although, this does present a complication.”

“A complication?”

“Yeah. Danny. If you’re gonna date him, he’ll have to know about this eventually, and he is from a family of ghost hunters,” Paulina pointed out.

“Oh, that’s no issue,” Star hurriedly said. “Actually, I learned some neat gossip about him: he’s actually friends with ghosts! Ember especially.” Honestly, Star was a bit worried about that, because their interactions were undoubtedly flirty, but apparently Ember had a boyfriend that she was serious about so shouldn’t be a threat.

“What? Seriously?” Paulina asked with disbelief. “But he runs from them!”

“No, actually—he helps them!” Star said, spinning a story based around that—the best lies had a trickle of truth, after all. “You know how Phantom is sometimes seen with Fenton Tech? Apparently, Danny and Jazz steal it for him! But he has to keep it top secret because of his parents.”

“Oooooh, that makes so much sense!” Paulina said. “So, what, does he stay hidden after in case his parents show up?”

“Yup!” Star said, rolling with that. “I mean, you see how eager they are to get their kids ghost fighting, you know? If they show up to fight the ghost, and see him, it could get messy!”

“Makes sense,” Paulina acknowledged. “That’s great, then! Dating a ghost won’t be an issue for him.”

“Definitely a good thing,” Star agreed, then her eyes fell to the doll on the desk. “So, in that case, back to his fashion?” She picked the doll up. “I don’t think he’ll go for boots like this.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty attached to canvas shoes,” Paulina recalled. “I don’t think we can get him to drop those for everyday wear. But we can at least upgrade him to a trendy brand like Vans or Converse, instead of Airwalks or those cheap generic knockoffs from Foot Locker or Payless.”

“He might go for Doc Martens, too,” Star mused. “But yeah, don’t think he’d stray much further.”

“Should we have him get a better haircut?” Paulina wondered.

“No! It’s cute how it is,” Star hurriedly said. Apparently, Danny’s hair was unchangeable; he claimed that he tried cutting it once, only for it to grow back within minutes, and his ghost doctor told him that his healing factor counted hair the same as any part of his body.

“Well, I guess if you like it, it’s fine then,” Paulina said, though sounded a little skeptical. “Well, back to clothes then. He’s going to need more shirts than just v-necks…”

“What about band shirts?” Star asked. “We can swing by Hot Topic.”

“Oooh, yes, that’s definitely a look he could rock! Maybe we can get the jacket there too,” Paulina said. “Sometimes they have pretty cool ones!”

“Usually they just have hoodies,” Star pointed out. “But, I guess we can get him a couple cool ones of those too; he can’t wear the jacket every day, after all.”

“Yeah, and he’ll need something more neutral, maybe from Aeropostale?”

“Definitely; we’re not letting him go with basic no-name ones,” Star asserted. “He’ll need, like, some sort of fancier thing as well—not a suit jacket, but adjacent to one. Dress pants too.”

“Oh yeah, if you go on any dates to fancy restaurants he’ll need those,” Paulina agreed. “And dress shoes, and a button-down shirt that he can leave partly unbuttoned, in lieu of a tie—that’s cool as hell while still being somewhat formal… Wait, ghosts can eat, right?”

“Yes, definitely,” Star said. “I dunno where the food goes since we don’t change at all, or excrete stuff, but we can eat. Things taste different though, it’s weird. So I’ll probably want to eat more since everything’s like a new thing! But, Danny doesn’t have that much money, so we probably won’t go to many fancy places, except for events with my parents like movie premiers.” In that case though, they’d have fashion studios putting them in promotional wear… Star was probably getting ahead of herself, thinking of going to those, especially as she didn’t even know if people would know about her death by then.

“Really? But his parents—”

“Spend all their money on their lab,” Star interjected. “They won’t give their kids credit cards, and their allowance is miniscule, something ridiculous like twenty bucks a week. They even refuse to pay for unlimited phone data! Honestly, I’m not even sure if Danny’s aware that technically they’re upper class, based purely on income? Not nearly as much as us of course, but enough that they can afford a city townhouse with all those flashy things, including the ugly UFO thing on top.” Basically all their spare money was put into toys like that.

“Oof, that sucks,” Paulina said. “No wonder he has sucky no-name clothes.”

“Good thing he has me to buy them for him then!” Star said cheerfully.

Paulina grinned slyly. “Yes—and the bonus to that is he’ll feel indebted to you… Or rather, us, since I’ll pay for half.”

Star laughed. “Seriously, Paulina? Plotting? I was just going to call it a gift.” Or more like, a gesture of appreciation for all he’d done as Phantom, but of course Paulina had no idea Danny was a ghost let alone Phantom.

“It will be a gift!” Paulina proclaimed. “Just, you know, gifts tend to make people feel like they owe you something. Business 101: give the client a gift, and they’re more likely to buy what you’re selling.”

“He’s not a client,” Star said, rolling her eyes affectionately. “And I don’t want to buy a boyfriend, you know that.” Then, she notice the small leather jacket again, and sighed. “He really does need a high-quality black leather jacket though… Maybe we can find a high quality faux leather one? If people ask we can remind them that Manson would kill him if he wore a real one.”

“Or we can go vintage,” Paulina said with realization. “We can go to a thrift shop—I know, I know, buying used is usually eww, but if it’s an old enough vintage it becomes cool, and Manson can’t possibly have a problem with it being leather if it’s recycled!”

“I dunno if we’ll have time for both that and the mall on Saturday,” Star pointed out.

“Of course—the mall stuff is obviously more important,” Paulina said. “But, it’s something to keep in mind. Now, let’s talk about colors…”

Star grinned as they began pulling out different doll clothes and assembling outfits, happy that she could be herself with Paulina once again. She also appreciated that Paulina was acting so casual about her being a ghost, despite some internal upset and conflict over that meaning that technically she was dead—it wasn’t that clear, just a vague feeling, but apparently ghosts could sense the energy people gave off, which could sometimes reveal hidden emotions.

Star had a feeling that Paulina might have a little breakdown later, and debated if she should show up to try to comfort her, but Paulina tended to prefer to cry privately so it was probably better to leave her alone for that.

Star was glad overall that Paulina now knew, though; it had been incredibly difficult for Star to attempt keeping so many secrets from her best friend! She was happy that Paulina was so amicable towards ghosts; maybe too much so, honestly, but it worked out. Now the issue would be that Paulina would surely insist on being introduced to Phantom—Star would need to figure out what to do about that, since Paulina knew to stay away from Danny romantically but did not know that Phantom was Danny.

“Star? You paying attention?” Paulina gently prodded.

“Huh? Ah, crap, what were you saying?” Star asked, snapping out of her reverie.

Paulina chuckled. “I was asking if you now know Phantom well enough that you could introduce us…”

Star giggled. “I was wondering when you’d ask that! Let me talk to him first, then if he says yes I will, okay?” Star honestly couldn’t deny any request from Paulina, even if it threatened her own romantic pursuits. She then decided to change the subject, or rather return to the prior one, as she noticed another article of doll clothing. “Hey, do you think we could convince Danny to wear skinny jeans…?”

Paulina considered that for a moment. “We can try,” she decided, and thus the conversation about Danny Fenton’s fashion continued once again.

Chapter Text

That same evening, Danny flew around in Phantom form with Star, in her ghost form, which hopefully was different enough to not be clocked as her by humans. So far, the few who spotted them didn’t seem to realize, even though they’d gotten uncomfortably close to some after a rogue ectopus tried attacking a convenience store—Danny generally tried to stay far enough away that his face wasn’t clearly seen, as his human form was caught on camera plenty thanks to his parents insisting on dragging him and Jazz on interviews and whatnot to try to show people they were ‘a typical family’ rather than just two somewhat-unhinged ghost-hunting adults, with limited results. That was something else he could relate to with Star, given her mom loved taking her places to try to dissuade people from (correctly) thinking she was still the wild card that she had been known for in her youth. Danny found himself increasingly surprised at just how much they had in common!

Although Star had no plans on permanently becoming a ghost fighter like Danny, Danny was still teaching her how to fight as a ghost and use a thermos, just in case, although they’d only encountered a few ectopi and a couple blobs so far. To Danny’s surprise, Star seemed quite competent at ecto-blasts, which he’d been worried about after the mishap while bowling (he had a feeling she’d been practicing on her own after that). They even discovered that they could use them together to make an even bigger blast! That could be useful if they encountered a more powerful enemy.

Eventually, they took a break, floating far up in the sky, to practice their duet for music class. Danny had been a bit embarrassed at first when Star revealed that it was in fact a romance song they would be singing, but he already knew a fair amount of the lyrics and Star had been able to fill him in on the rest so it honestly had been a pretty good choice of song. After a few tries, Danny finally got the lyrics fully down, and they were able to get through the whole song, flying around in sync to the music as they did so—similarly to the song, in fact, albeit flying by their own power as opposed to with a carpet.

Star giggled. “Obvious we need to practice more, but that was magical, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” Danny easily agreed, staring at Star and unable to stave off a blush.

Star sighed wistfully. “Too bad we can’t do the flying choreography in class; that was… We definitely need to do that again.”

“Agreed,” Danny said, unable to stop staring. Star looked so pretty, with her hair reflected in the moonlight (the current pattern was twinking stars, which Danny recognized as a sign of happiness, if he was correct). Even her blue skin, despite being a reminder that Star was a full ghost, looked beautiful. Danny felt a sudden urge to kiss her; he withheld though, given that it had only been two days since they’d become friendly (in private; it was only semi-friendly while in school) towards each other, and Danny definitely did not want to rush things if this really was budding attraction and not a heat-of-the-moment thought. So instead, he pulsed his core slightly, in a happy gesture.

Star paused at that. “What was that?”

“You don’t know?” Danny asked, surprised. “I thought the other ghosts explained that, since you did it a few times before—guess that was accidental. Ghosts can send pulses of emotion towards other ghosts, via our cores.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that; that’s pretty neat!” Star said happily. “Can we send pulses to humans too? It seems like it could be a useful thing, like to calm people down.”

Danny gave pause to that. Could they do that? “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never thought to try it.”

“You should,” Star suggested. “Or, maybe I can try. Oh, but I should make sure I can do it too, first…” Her face morphed into one of deep concentration, and she sent a pulse that Danny’s core picked up.

“Determination?” Danny confirmed.

“Oh. I was trying to send happiness like you did,” Star revealed, looking disappointed.

“Ah. So what happened is that your determination to send it was stronger, so it pulsed that emotion instead,” Danny concluded. He instructed, “Try to relax and gather the happiness in your core, ignoring other emotions.”

Star nodded, then took a deep unneeded breath and closed her eyes. A moment later, happiness pulsed from her core to Danny’s.

“You did it!” Danny cheered.

Star grinned. “Awesome! That was easier than I thought… Hey, what else can we train tonight? We’ve got time.”

An hour later, Danny and Star could be found in a small woods area in the park, working on flight agility; so far Star had only hit trees, or rather phased through them, three times, which was better than Danny’s first attempt in the same woods over a year ago.

“Halt, ghosts!” came a sudden shout that Danny recognized as the Red Huntress.

“Oh, no,” Danny groaned as the girl emerged from behind a tree.

Star flickered into invisibility.

“That won’t work,” Valerie said fiercely. “My suit’s visor lets me see heat signatures, including your cold-as-death ones.”

Star returned to visibility. “Should we run?” she whispered to Danny.

“We can try, but she’s fast—we should disable her board with ecto-blasts first,” Danny whispered back.

“My suit also has augmented hearing now,” Valerie said smugly. “And the board repels ecto-blasts.”

“What a joy,” Danny said flatly, automatically deepening his voice slightly to disguise it.

“So, who’s the girl ghost? Finally get a girlfriend, Phantom?”

“No!” Danny immediately denied, well aware that he was blushing.

“Unfortunately not,” Star muttered, to Danny’s surprise. Did she actually want to date him, this soon? No, Danny must be misinterpreting it; she must have been referring to something else, or maybe thinking about how her best friend Paulina wanted to date Phantom. Then again, there was that song earlier…

“Hmph. Whatever,” Valerie said. “Either way, haven’t seen you around before, and oddly enough you two seem friendly instead of fighting. Who are you?”

“Who am I…” Star trailed, looking contemplative. “That’s a good question… Does anyone truly know who they are?”

Danny snickered; that was such a Star thing to do, shifting the topic that way in lieu of outright denying to give Valerie an answer.

“Oh, please, don’t get philosophical on me, spook,” Valerie spat.

“You know, that’s a borderline slur,” Danny informed her. Most ghosts didn’t like that term being used, especially as a large percent of them actually tried hard to not come across as spooky to humans.

“Oh, I know,” Valerie said smugly.

“Seriously?” Star whined. “Ugh. Why are you so mean all the time?”

“I’m not—Wait,” Valerie cut herself off, freezing. “Wait a second. I know that voice… and you look a bit like… and all the alerts in the school that had no explanation… and the coldness in the classroom but no ghost appearing… and the alleged ecto-contamination… Star?”

Now it was Danny and Star’s turn to freeze. Shoot; Danny knew he had been forgetting something. He should have instructed Star to try to change her voice, like he intentionally deepened his when talking to the public or people he knew (that didn’t know his identity).

“It is, isn’t it?” Valerie said slowly. “That’s why you really disappeared, why you really were in the Ghost Zone, isn’t it?”

Danny and Star glanced at each other, both clearly unsure what to do.

“But then… Why were you in the classroom? Why are you pretending to be human?” Valerie asked, clearly confused. “It doesn’t make sense. Ghosts only do that if they have nefarious plans. I don’t sense nefarious intent from you. You seemed so human at school. No different than before.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for nearly a year, Red—ghosts are not as evil as you think,” Danny asserted. “We’re mentally just like we were as humans, just have some different physiology.”

“Including changing appearance to look like you did when they were human?”

“It’s rare, but some ghosts can do that,” Danny said vaguely, realizing this was getting too close to Valerie finding out that—

Valerie gasped. “Wait a moment. If ghosts can change appearance… Star’s not the only one with so-called ecto-contamination that sets off trackers… And your voice I always thought sounded a little familiar and a little faked, like you were making it deeper… So if it were higher… And, I always thought your appearance kinda looked a bit like… Danny?” Her voice quieted at that last word. “It is you, isn’t it? Wait… Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton… Oh god, it’s a damn pun.”

Danny winced. Too late. “Fine, you got me,” he told Valerie, using his normal voice, well aware that there was no convincing her that was untrue. He looked around; they were safely hidden in the woods. So, he transformed back to Fenton form, still floating, hoping that it would reduce the chances of her shooting him. “I’m both Phantom and Fenton.”

“You died?” Valerie asked with clear disbelief. “When? How? Wait… Phantom’s been around over a year, so… you were a ghost when we dated?! Did you know my identity that whole time?!” the last sentence rang with clear anger.

“Yeah… We have a lot to talk about,” Danny told her meekly.

In response, Valerie held up an ecto-gun, pointing it at Danny. “Yeah? And why should I talk to you, spook? Why shouldn’t I shoot you right here for tricking everyone? For tricking me? You knew I hate ghosts, yet still you—ugh!”

Danny held up his hands. “Whoa, no need for weapons and slurs! I wasn’t tricking anyone—besides, I’m technically not actually a full ghost.”

“You’re… what?” Valerie’s anger waivered, voice shifting to a tone of perplexion.

“Confusing, I know, but it’s true. I’m something called a halfa, or liminal if you want the more traditional term. Happens when your body gets revived after your ghost forms, and the two merge. So I have human and ghost traits,” Danny explained. “Use your suit to check my vitals—you’ll find a pulse on me.”

Valerie paused for a moment, during which Danny assumed her suit was scanning him, then said with surprise, “You’re right. It’s slow, but that’s a pulse… But, Star doesn’t have one.”

“Yeah, I’m a full ghost,” Star admitted.

“And Danny’s a… halfa, you said? Like, a ghost possessing his corpse?”

“No!” Danny asserted. “Why do people keep interpreting it like that? A ghost possessing a corpse is called a revenant, and the two are still separate. There’s zero life signs in that case, and the corpse rots. With a halfa, the body is revived and the ghost literally merges with it, creating a new entity, something in-between ghost and human.”

“Okay, okay, sheesh, don’t get angry,” Valerie said, and Danny could imagine that beneath the helmet she was rolling her eyes. “It’s just, a little hard to believe, I guess. How does that even happen? Some sort of experiment?”

“Eh, kinda,” Danny said. “Lab accident, more accurately. The portal kinda opened on top of me. And no, my parents don’t know.”

“So then… you didn’t die?”

“Oh no, I definitely did die,” Danny assured her. “The fact that I became a ghost in the first place proves that, even if I merged with my revived body milliseconds later.”

“This is so confusing. I never knew any of that was possible.”

“To be fair, you didn’t know ghosts in general were possible until a year ago,” Danny pointed out.

“Well, you got a point there,” Valerie conceded. “Okay, fine. So you’re this liminal thing—which, for the record, still looks basically like a ghost to me, just one with a heartbeat.”

Danny sighed. “Well, I also have bones, and need to eat human food and sleep,” he told her. “But, that’s basically it, so I guess you’re not really wrong that I’m more of a ghost than a human,” he admitted.

“But you’re not evil.”

“I’ve told you, Val, ghosts mostly aren’t evil; we’re as nuanced as humans on that front. The majority of ghosts just stay in the Ghost Zone and live their afterlives there, just wanting to be left alone. Honestly, there’s also a lot of ghosts that visit here that you don’t even notice because they don’t cause trouble.” Frostbite had informed Danny of that; Bigfoot and similar cryptid sightings were mostly just Far Frozen residents on vacation, and now that there was a permanent portal that provided easy access to a human-populated area (versus the permanent natural ones in difficult places like the Bermuda Triangle or the Marianas Trench), and didn’t belong to a psychopath, a fair amount of ghosts would visit invisibly to check in on their still-living relatives or descendents, or would simply tour around to see how the world changed since their deaths. The ones that truly wished to cause chaos and terror were a relative rarity.

“Speaking of trouble, that dog of yours—”

“I told you, he’s not mine,” Danny hurriedly interjected.

“But I’ve seen you playing with him,” Valerie pointed out in an accusing tone.

“Yeah, after the incident with him destroying Axiom, where before he was euthanized by them he was a guard-dog in training,” Danny said, thankful she was finally letting him explain. “I tried putting him back in the Ghost Zone but he kept escaping and going right back there, so I tried to train him, then realized he was looking for something—turned out he just wanted his squeaky toy from the old kennel, and when I realized that and found it he went back to the Ghost Zone willingly.”

“Wait. They euthanized him?”

“Yeah, well, what did you expect them to do to the old guard dogs once they got a fancy new security system?” Danny snapped, a little bitter about that. Cujo was a puppy! They couldn’t even bother trying to rehome him? Then, he realized what he’d potentially accidentally implied and quickly added, “Sorry, I’m not blaming your dad or anything, that’s all the company’s fault, I’m sure he didn’t know they’d do that.”

“I know you’re not blaming him. I’m angry at Axiom about it too! Ugh, if they had just rehomed him, literally nothing would have gone wrong, and my dad wouldn’t have been fired…” Valerie put a hand on her helmut. “Ugh, what a mess… To think I’ve been so angry at you for that, and you were only trying to help…”

“That’s what I’ve been saying for a year,” Danny grumbled. “Can you please lower the gun now?”

“Oh, right,” Valerie said, then complied. “Sorry. This is just a lot.”

“Oh yeah,” Star chimed in. “Finding out your ex that you still kinda like is a ghost has gotta be stressful.”

“And finding out my former friend and classmate is a ghost too,” Valerie added, interestingly ignoring the bit about her still kinda liking Danny, which only really confirmed what Danny had suspected too; honestly, Danny still liked her too, but he had a feeling that the current situation significantly reduced any chances of them getting back together—plus, Valerie was human, so Danny’s immortality thwarted that as well.

“Well, on the plus side, your reaction to finding that out rules you out as my murderer,” Star said, a little too casually.

“What? You were murdered?!” Valerie declared.

“Well, I think so,” Star amended. “Of course, I don’t know for sure—Danny and some other ghosts are trying to help me figure out what happened, because I have no memory of it. But I mean, I don’t see what else would have done it, you know? If it were an accident or medical or something, someone would have found the body by now, but the police have nothing.”

“And they’ll always have nothing because they think you’re still alive,” Valerie pointed out.

“Yeah. Which is why we’re investigating ourselves,” Star said. “We were hoping we could catch whoever did it by seeing them freak out when seeing me back, but either no one in school did it or they’re very good at keeping cool.”

“We’re really lucky she ended up with pretty strong transformation powers,” Danny said. “Most ghosts don’t.”

“Transformation powers? Like, what was his name, Amorphus?” Valerie asked.

“Amorpho, and not to that extent,” Danny told her.

“Yeah, I can’t, like, make myself look like a different person structurally,” Star said. “Just things like colors and other superficial things. Like fangs! I can give myself adorable fangs.”

“I dunno if I’d call fangs ‘adorable’,” Valerie said skeptically.

“Oh come on, you can’t say Danny doesn’t look super cute with them,” Star argued.

“Danny?” Valerie asked, surprised.

“Yeah! His teeth got knocked out a couple nights ago, and he came back as fangs!” Star revealed. “Show her, Danny!”

Danny sighed, and then grinned wide enough that the canines were visible, just for a moment.

“Oh. They are kinda adorable,” Valerie said softly.

“Seriously?” Danny complained.

“Yeah, vampires are hot,” Star said confidently.

“Now it’s hot? How can it be hot and cute?” Danny asked mildly confused.

“You can be cool and cute and hot all at once,” Star informed Danny.

“I’m cool?” Danny asked, surprised.

“The fangs are,” Star clarified. “You aren’t. Yet. After this weekend, you will be.”

“This weekend?” Danny asked nervously. What was she plotting?

“Yup. Paulina and I are taking you to the mall and making you fashionable!” Star informed him.

“Okay, you’re obviously joking,” Danny concluded. “Haha, very funny.”

“No, I’m serious,” Star asserted. “If we’re going to publicly be friends, you need to fix your fashion, at the very least. I am going to pull you out of loser status to mid-tier popularity even if it kills me,” she said, then amended, “Or, something else bad that hasn’t already happened.”

“Why do I feel like I don’t have a choice?”

“Because you don’t.”

“Why do I feel like I need to tag along to protect you?” Valerie wondered.

“Oh no, you are not tagging along,” Star said. “Paulina won’t allow it.”

“Excuse me?” Valerie bristled. “I was joking, for your information, but you don’t need to be so mean about it!”

“I didn’t mean to be mean, I was just telling the truth! I’d be open for letting you in the group again, but Paulina is still quite angry about your ghost vendetta.”

“My ghost… Wait, she knows?! Since when? And, wait, does that mean you knew about me before this, too? I assumed Danny told you…”

“No, we just recognized your voice,” Star informed her. “Like you recognized mine. But don’t worry, we kept it within the A-list. But yeah, that’s why we weren’t talking to you; I mean, we run the Phantom Phan Club, and you’re kinda his enemy. Were his enemy? Are you still his enemy or not?”

“For the record, I never really considered you an enemy,” Danny offered. “Not a real one, anyway.”

“Yeah, because you knew my identity but I didn’t know yours!” Valerie asserted, then relaxed and shifted awkwardly. “I… no, I guess I can’t see you as a true enemy anymore, but… you still… well, it feels like a betrayal. Plus, I dunno, I think I’m kinda still processing things? I just need time. But we can start with a truce, how about that?”

“If you include Star in it,” Danny said.

“Well yeah, obviously,” Valerie said.

“Can you include my new ghost friends in it too?” Star asked.

“New ghost friends?” Valerie said with unease. “And just who are these new ghost friends?”

“Kitty, Johnny, and Ember,” Star supplied. “They helped me a lot with learning about being a ghost, and are helping solve my murder!”

“For the record, I talked to them, and they did promise to be more careful about causing chaos,” Danny quickly told her. “Especially Ember.”

“Really?” Valerie asked with clear skepticism. “What about Johnny and all his racing? He sometimes causes accidents, you know.”

“That’s kinda on the humans though,” Star pointed out. “I mean, they don’t have to accept his racing requests.”

“He’s best friends with the police chief so a truce with him could be good for that too,” Danny noted.

“He’s what? Well, that actually explains a lot,” Valerie said dryly. “Fine, I’ll ignore those three. Tentatively. If they do start causing chaos again, deal’s over.”

“Guess that’s the best I can expect,” Danny conceded, then held out his hand. “Should we, er, shake on it?”

“Eh, whatever, sure,” Valerie said, then flew forward so she was close enough to shake his hand; as she grabbed it she tensed slightly, likely at the coldness. “Truce, but I’m still somewhat annoyed at you for hiding you were a ghost from me,” she said as she let go of his hand. “Especially because the entire reason I broke up with you was to protect you from the ghost stuff, yet you were one all along!”

Danny couldn’t help but scoff at that and cross his arms, giving Valerie a flat look, eyes aglow. “Oh, like you wouldn’t have broken up with me anyway if I told you? You’d really be able to stand dating a ghost?”

Valerie hesitated. “Well…” she trailed, though seemed unsure how to answer.

“Yeah, thought so,” Danny said, concluding that she didn’t want to admit that she definitely would have. “Anyway, if we’re done here, I need to get back to—” Danny gasped and some icy air escaped his lips—i.e., his ghost sense triggered.

Valerie tensed as a very quiet beep sounded from her suit near her ear (Danny could only hear it due to his enhanced ghost hearing), and Star sneezed, which apparently was her ghost sense. It was something all ghosts had, Danny had recently learned, all exhibited different ways: for example, Ember’s was her flaming ponytail flaring, Kitty’s was a sharp pang in her head, and Johnny’s was a cough.

“That was the ghost sense thingy, right?” Star correctly concluded—ghosts didn’t naturally sneeze, after all, except around certain anti-ghost materials. “So that means there’s an unknown or unfriendly ghost around?”

“Yeah. Well, ours mean that—I think Val’s just goes off regardless.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Valerie said dryly. “Until today, I assumed no ghost was friendly—and I’m still not 100% sure of you, for your information, part human or not. I’ll be watching you. Both of you.”

“Sheesh, intense much?” Star said with an eye roll.

“Whatever; let’s just figure out what we’re dealing with,” Danny said, starting to fly upwards. Honestly, that went better with Valerie than he had expected.

Star giggled. “Danny, you’re forgetting something!”

“Oh, right,” Danny realized, then shifted into Phantom form, blushing slightly. “Thanks. Now, let’s go.”

Danny flew above the tree line, Valerie and Star following him.

“The presence feels creepy,” Star said quietly, floating a little closer to Danny. “Almost like the grey van at the school…”

“The what?” Danny asked, now on high alert.

“There was a creepy van yesterday,” Star told Danny. “It felt kinda similar… but… no, this is different.”

“Yeah; pretty sure I know who it is,” Danny said flatly; he’ll ask more about that van later.

“You two can sense who the ghost is?” Valerie asked curiously.

“Eh, kinda,” Danny revealed. “More like, the energy they give off; some familiar ones are more distinct now, though I still can’’t guarantee who it is.”

“Works for living things and cursed objects too,” Star supplied.

Upon breaching the treeline, as Danny expected, not far away they found Amity Park’s mayor—or rather, his ghost form, Vlad Plasmius, heading their way. Danny wondered if he was here for him or Valerie; he was pretty sure the man was tracking them both. Or, maybe he was simply curious about why they were in the same place yet not fighting.

“Could it be? Two fierce enemies, not attacking each other?” Plasmius said, confirming Danny’s guess, stopping in front of them. “And… Hmm, what’s this? Someone new?”

Danny narrowed his eyes, a suspicion coming over him. Vlad had a great poker face, so if he was surprised at seeing Star, it didn’t show. Could he have murdered her? Danny wouldn’t put it past the man to murder people—in fact, Danny was pretty sure the man had in the past, to further business dealings when the people were strong enough to resist the overshadowing. The creepy energy Vlad gave off only reinforced this suspicion.

Also, it occurred to Danny that Valerie still didn’t know that Vlad Plasmius was actually Vlad Masters… Should Danny tell her? Well, maybe not right in front of Vlad; Danny had a feeling that would not end well at all.

“What do you want, Plasmius?” Valerie and Danny simultaneously asked with vitriol.

“Well, I was simply flying around when I sensed the presence of two of my adversaries, specifically of who are known to hate each other, yet to my surprise heard no sounds of a fight. Can you blame me for curiosity?”

“Curiousity, right, totally believable,” Danny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“Yet it is true! I would love to know why the famous Red Huntress is not attacking Danny Phantom, the ghost who ruined her life.”

“How do you know that?” Valerie asked with suspicion.

Vlad paused very briefly, then said, “Why, it is known to all ghostdom that that is the Red Huntress’s motivation for ghost fighting is vengeance against all ghosts for the pain they have brought to her life, particularly Phantom, whose destructive nature caused the loss of her family’s wealth and subsequent plummet to the bottom of the social ladder.”

“I didn’t do that!” Danny argued. “Not intentionally. And she knows that now!”

“Oh? Does she? Is that what this is, some sort of chat where you spread lies in order to protect yourself?”

“I’m not lying!”

“Wait a moment,” Valerie said slowly. “I know that voice…” she gasped. “Mayor Masters?! You’re Vlad Masters, aren’t you?”

Vlad flinched in surprise, then recomposed himself. “Why, girl, I surely do not know what you mean.”

“No, I’m certain of it. I know ghosts can pass as human, and you and him sound exactly the same,” Valerie informed him.

Danny chuckled. “Honestly, I’m surprised that someone who’s allegedly an evil genius never thought to change his voice—you know I don’t deepen my voice around the public just to sound cool or something, right?”

Vlad narrowed his eyes at Danny (Danny suspected he had in fact thought such), then turned to Valerie. “Fine. Say I am Vlad Masters. Tell me then, girl, did you know that there’s another ghost who has been hiding among humans? One that goes to your school, one that you’re even on-and-off friends with? One who, in fact, is here with us now?” He grinned victoriously, apparently thinking he was going to trigger some big chaotic reveal.

Danny then had an idea; Vlad was looking at Valerie, not him, and as he no longer needed to use the rings… He shifted back into human form. Star glanced at him and grinned, shifting into her human look too.

“Yeah, I know,” Valerie said. “Two, actually; that’s what we were talking about, in fact.”

Vlad then noticed Danny and Star. “What the…” he trailed, looking at the two in surprise. “You… there’s another halfa? Wait, no… you’re a full ghost, with transformation powers? Hold on… you’re the girl that went missing!”

“More than went missing,” Star said. “Although, I don’t remember it.”

“I see…” Vlad said, though he seemed to be paying more attention to Danny now, a strange expression crossing his face. “Daniel, how are you floating right now?”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked, thrown off by the question, then realized why Vlad was asking that. “Wait, can you not fly in human form?”

“No, I cannot… And, come to think of it, where was the flash that usually accompanies your form change?” Vlad looked concerned for some reason.

A suspicion came over Danny. “You… don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Vlad asked, with mild dread—obviously he was thinking that somehow Danny had become a full ghost.

“Ghosts, halfas included, are influenced by their psyche, emotions, and beliefs,” Danny explained.

“I know that,” Vlad spat. “It’s why my ghost form looks more like a proper ghost and why yours still looks so childlike—I wasn’t in denial for a year, pretending to be a silly kid with superpowers!”

Danny laughed. “Me, in denial? Dude, that belief influence includes powers. I can use all my powers, including flight, in human form because I’ve accepted it’s just an appearance change—you, apparently, have not. I’d say the difference between your ghost and human form is more of a sign of denial than mine looking similar.”

Vlad narrowed his eyes. “What are you blabbering on about, boy? Halfas are symbiotes, two manifestations of a being sharing one body—one human, one ghost, completely divided.”

“If that’s what you believe, sure, it’ll manifest that way,” Danny told Vlad. “But isn’t what you’re seeing now proof that that isn’t actually the truth?” He spread his arms out and floated back a little. “I mean, if it’s two separate things, why can I use all my powers in human form, including flight?” He tucked in and flipped forward, rolling in the air. “Why do things like the trackers, stronger ghost shields, and the thermos work on us in either form? Why do we not need to breathe, and bleed ectoplasm? Why are we unaging?”

Vlad was silent, seeming unsure how to respond to that point.

“You can fly in human form too, I bet,” Danny told him.

Vlad frowned. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breathe, and changed back to his human form, using his rings. He floated for a moment, opened his eyes, looking down, and like a cartoon character stepping off a cliff began to fall; then he tensed, a look of concentration across his face, and halted. He rose up then, looking a little disturbed.

“See? Told you,” Danny said smugly. “If you believe you can use the power in human form, you can use it. If you don’t, you can’t. I recommend you check out some of the books on halfas in the Ghost Zone library, if you want more info on it.”

“The Ghost Zone… library?”

“Yeah? Where do you think all the librarian ghosts go?”

Vlad floated there quietly for a moment, then said, “Yes, the Ghost Zone library, of course. I think I’ll do that.” He changed back to his ghost form, still using the rings, and quickly flew off; Danny wondered if next time he’d have the rings or not.

“Dude, I think you gave Plasmius an existential crisis,” Star commented.

“Yeah; he even forgot about me figuring out his identity,” Valerie noted.

“Hopefully it keeps him busy for a while,” Danny said. “So, Star, do you think Vlad could have anything to do with your murder?”

Star took a moment to consider that. “No, I don’t think so,” she concluded. “He didn’t seem worried enough, you know? He was more concerned with you. I feel like if he murdered me he would have been more concerned with finding out everything I know about it.”

“True,” Danny said. “Then again, he’s a pretty good liar…”

“Yeah, he’s gotta be, being a politician,” Star reasoned. “We’ll keep him on the suspect list, but I really don’t think he did it—I mean, his ‘gotcha’ with Valerie was that one ghost was hiding in the school, not two.”

“True,” Danny acknowledged. “Also, really can’t believe he knew so little about halfas,” he added, still surprised at that. “Like, sure, I recently learned that too, but I’ve only been one for a year, he’s been one 20 years.”

“Well, you learned that stuff because you actually talk to ghosts,” Star pointed out. “He just intimidates them and forces them to work for him, right?”

“Or tricks them,” Valerie said bitterly. “Humans too. Ugh, I can’t believe I’ve been working for a ghost this whole time!”

“Working for?” Danny said, on edge. Was she more closely aligned with Vlad than he thought?

“Well, he’s the one that got me the suit, and gets me upgrades for it—or, got me upgrades, pretty sure he won’t be doing that anymore.”

“I know he made it, but I thought he kinda just let you loose to hunt and that was it.”

“Well, occasionally he gives me missions,” Valerie revealed. “Small things, like capturing specific ghosts or finding ghost objects that made it into town; he said it was always to protect the city, that the ghosts and objects were bad ones that got loose and he could take care of them once I got them, but now knowing he’s Plasmius… Ugh, this sucks!” she shouted, putting her hands on her helmet. “I need time to think,” she decided, and zoomed off.

“That went… well, right?” Star asked tepidly after a few moments of silence.

“As well as it could have gone, I guess,” Danny agreed. No one had gotten injured, they had a tentative truce with Valerie, and Vlad was likely going to be quiet for a few days at least while he read up on halfas and came to terms with the true nature of them.

“So, um, should we continue training?”

Danny glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, my curfew is coming up; don’t you have one too?”

“Nah; Mom’s away on a film shoot and Lance is still too nervous about me liking him that he doesn’t enforce the rules,” Star revealed; Danny was a little jealous about that. “But, I gotta go home too,” Star decided, with a look of realization. “Gotta go do that book report that’s due tomorrow.”

“Book report?” Danny said, on high alert as he switched back to Phantom form (couldn’t be flying through town as Fenton, after all). Right, they had one of those. “Crap; I totally forgot about that! Man, I didn’t even read the book!”

“Yeah I didn’t either,” Star admitted, shifting back to her ghost form as well. “Totally forgot we even need to do it until like two seconds ago. But, that’s what Sparknotes is for!”

And thus, the two flew off.

Chapter Text

The next day after school, instead of going to cheerleading practice, Star stopped by her locker to grab her chemistry book and notebook as she had to go to the chemistry classroom, along with Danny, to do a make-up lab for Wednesday’s disaster lab.

Star paused when she opened her locker; a paper sat on top of her books, trifolded and haphazardly lying there as if someone had slipped it through the ventilation slots. She picked up the paper and opened it; it was a small piece of stationary, and the words upon it were cut from magazines: STOP INVESTIGATING IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU.

“Well that’s not ominous,” Danny said from behind her, and Star jumped slightly and swerved around, then frowned. To any outside observer, it looked like she was the last in the hallway, everyone else having already filed out of the school or to their various club rooms.

“Danny, stop fooling around,” Star chided, attempting to sound serious but ended up giggling a little. “I can sense you there.”

Danny laughed and regained visibility. “Sorry, opportunity was too great,” he said with a grin, then frowned, looking a little more serious. “But, that letter; it’s not talking about your murder, is it?”

“I don’t see what else it could be referring to,” Star said. “But, it does actually provide a clue; whoever did this is able to enter the school without suspicion.”

“And knows your locker; you think it’s someone here after all?” Danny asked worriedly.

“Hmm…” Star stared at the paper, considering that. “I dunno. My locker could easily be looked up, or they could have seen me at it.”

“What about the fact that the stationary says Casper High Cheer Team?” Danny pointed out. “Think it could be someone on the team?”

“If anything, that’s a red herring,” Star confidently told Danny. “Classic trick, honestly; use something that seems like someone else’s so they’re suspected and not you. I think that rules out the cheer team. Besides, we sell that stationary at fundraisers, so it’s not like it’s team exclusive.”

“Point,” Danny said. “We’ll need to be careful though; this does mean that they know you’re a ghost, and might be watching you.”

“True,” Star said. “But they’re also aware I don’t have memory of it, otherwise I’d have told already and wouldn’t be investigating; they might avoid approaching me to avoid triggering a memory, you know?”

“Yeah but we can’t be sure, so be careful,” Danny told Star. “Anyway, let’s get to the lab before Lancer gets angry at us being late again.”

So Star closed the locker and shoved the note in her pocket, reopened the locker to grab her book and closed the locker again, and then the two headed to the lab.

Kwan and Mikey were already in the room as the two entered; they had to make up the same lab, as they also hadn’t been able to continue their experiment as the combination of fire and fire extinguisher completely destroyed it too. They were the only ones there aside from Mr. Lancer; the make-up lab sessions, held Tuesdays and Fridays, could theoretically have people from other classes who missed them too, but this time it was just them.

Lancer sighed and dramatically glanced at the clock, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge their lateness. Instead he informed them, “I’m going to have you swap partners. Miss Strong, you work with Mr. Baker. Mr. Fenton, you work with Mr. Sie. Miss Strong, Mr. Fenton, you two are not to touch anything flammable or glass. Supplies are already out; I’ll be at my desk grading book reports, if you have any questions.” With that, Lancer headed to sit at his desk; the table he had set up for them was the one closest to his, no doubt so he could monitor things.

“Nice, I get the smart one,” Star blurted out as she sat at the table next to Mikey, internally wincing after she said it. Despite all her efforts to curb it, Star still had issues with impulsively blurting things out, including mean things; mean things that honestly weren’t even true, as Kwan actually was pretty smart, even if he could be a bit oblivious.

“Hey! I’ve never gotten below a B on a report card,” Kwan, seated across from Star, defended as Danny sat down beside him.

“Yes but Mikey gets straight A’s,” Star replied, deciding to roll with the conversation to save face instead of acknowledging her mistake, as they headed to the table with supplies. Kwan could take it.

“Actually, I got a ‘B’ in Art,” Mikey commented.

“Like you have any right to judge,” Kwan retorted a little sullenly, ignoring Mikey’s comment. “Your grades are as bad as Fenton’s!” Oh; maybe Star was wrong, and that hit a nerve after all. She did recall that his parents were the type who saw anything less than an ‘A’ as unacceptable.

“Hey! No need to drag me into this!” Danny complained. Oh no; Star’s comment had led to Danny getting hurt too. Star really messed up, didn’t she?

“If your carelessness hadn’t caused a freaking fire, we wouldn’t even need to be doing this stupid make-up lab!” Kwan angrily shouted at him.

Danny looked surprised, then his eyes flashed green with clear anger and he growled, showing his fangs, which were a tiny bit longer than they had been two days prior, more like proper fangs now.

Kwan recoiled in surprise. “Yo! Since when do you have fangs!?”

“Hah! I knew it,” Mikey said. “You’re totally a vampire. Lester owes me ten bucks!”

“What? No! Vampires don’t even exist, Mikey,” Danny said, looking confused through the tenseness of his anger.

“Besides, they’re still kinda small to be actual vampire ones,” Star commented. “That size is super cute though; don’t let them grow longer, mkay?”

“I can’t exactly control that,” Danny grumbled, then told Mikey, “It’s just a side-effect from one of my parents’ rogue experiments.”

“Yeah, that’s what you want us to think,” Mikey countered.

“Lord of the Flies, children!” Lancer proclaimed. “Stop arguing and get to work!”

So, they did, mostly in silence, Star and Mikey on one side of the table and Kwan and Danny on the other side. Then tension was palpable.

Star felt bad about causing it; why’d her stupid mouth have to say things on her mind before she even knew it was on her mind? Couldn’t it give her a moment to think things over before saying it?

Even more frustrating was that Star’s distracting emotions kept causing her to drop the stupid pencil every other minute! Why were these powers so hard to control!? And how long would she be struggling? Danny still struggled sometimes after a whole year—would it take that long for Star to gain control too, or was it different for halfas versus full ghosts? Did it have to do with some of her concentration being on the appearance thing? She felt like this all should come naturally to full ghosts.

“Sheesh, Star, you’re such a butterfingers today,” Kwan joked, seeing her drop it once again. It was an offhand comment meant as a joke, but it hurt Star, given the circumstances—of course, Kwan didn’t know the circumstances, but knowing that didn’t stop it from stinging nonetheless.

“Yeah, what gives?” Mikey asked. “You’re almost as bad as Danny was last year!”

Star growled and slammed her hand down on her pencil.

“Hey! That’s uncalled for!” Danny shouted.

“Oh come on, you know it’s true, Fenton,” Kwan said with an eye roll.

“Me, yeah, it’s whatever, I’m used to being called that, but you don’t have to make fun of Star!”

Star felt a little better at Danny defending her, but still, “It’s okay; Kwan’s right, I just can’t seem to hold things today,” she said, more bothered by the thick tension.

“No, it’s not okay, Star,” Danny told her.

“Why are you defending her? I thought you losers all hated us A-listers,” Kwan asked, seeming genuinely curious and confused.

“I bet that’s why she vanished,” Mikey said. “She’s paler than she was—Danny made her into a vampire too! So she’s struggling with getting vampire strength under control, just like Danny last year!”

“I am not a vampire,” Danny growled.

“And neither am I,” Star told him. “Like, that would be super cool, vampires are so hot, but nope.”

“Then that definitely rules Fenton out as one,” Kwan laughed. “Like, he’s destined to be ugly—have you seen his dad?”

“Hey!” Danny complained, slamming his hands on the table. “I am not going to look like my dad,” he said, then something flashed across his face. “Not even a remote chance of that,” he grumbled, sounding sad beneath the anger—right, he’d only recently learned he’d never age, and it was a sore spot.

“Is it a little cold in here?” Mikey said, rubbing his arms. Star winced; it was likely both of them doing that again. Now that she was aware, Star sensed it, and willed herself to stop. Danny, however, still emitted it—Star could sense the power emanating from his core.

Kwan laughed. “Yeah? Think you got your mom’s genes?” he taunted Danny, again ignoring Mikey. “Well, I guess your mom and sister are pretty hot, and you are pretty girly, definitely on the small and cute side more than anything.”

Danny growled again and his eyes glowed—blue, not green. Star sensed a surge of power, knowing what was coming given what always followed Phantom’s eyes glowing that color.

“Get down!” Star shouted, diving at Mikey and pushing him to the floor.

Ice spread across the table, originating from Danny’s hands, and icicles burst from it, shattering all the beakers. The lights flickered too—something Star had seen other ghosts do, and according to Kitty all ghosts could do when emotional, but Star rarely saw Phantom cause such. He must be mad. Well, Kwan did insult his family, and hit a major nerve even if he likely didn’t know he’d hit one.

Kwan shouted in surprise and leapt backwards and to the floor, his sports-honed reflexes allowing him to react in time, and Lancer ducked behind his desk, even though that probably hadn’t been needed given his desk was lower than the table so he hadn’t been in danger from flying glass and was far enough that no icicle came near him. Star supposed he didn’t know that though, likely unsure at first why Star had yelled—when someone yelled ‘get down’ at Casper High, you got down, because it usually meant flying items given the number of ghost attacks.

Star realized that she had to help, before things got worse; she leapt up and forward, phasing through the table without stopping to think that she probably shouldn’t do that, and pulled Danny away from the glacial table to face her. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes, easy to do as they were the same height. He glared at her, teeth bared.

“Danny, get ahold of yourself!” Star said sharply. “You’re going to give us both away at this rate!” Of course, it probably was already way too late for that…

Danny stared for a moment more, then blinked and looked towards the flickering lights, eyes widening, he looked down and tightly closed his eyes, and Star sensed his anger had shifted to panic… Ah, right, Jazz warned Star about this; flickering lights, even when he was the cause, sometimes gave Danny flashbacks of the portal accident.

“Danny, hey. Deep breaths,” Star told him. “You’re in the classroom. Relax.”

Danny took a deep breath, then a second, and the lights stopped flickering. He opened his eyes, which then widened in horror as the panic abated and shock took its place when he noticed the ice-encased table, realizing what he had done. He then looked towards Kwan, Mikey, and Lancer, who had all gathered together near the table, looking back and forth between the ice and Danny and Star with incredulity. “I think the jig is up,” he joked faintly, all energy dissipating and looking afraid.

Star winced, then backed up and turned towards the others, too. “There isn’t any way you three can just ignore all that, is there?”

The three humans shook their heads slowly.

“Crap,” Danny said, tilting his head down and putting a hand over his face, shaking slightly. “I am so sorry, Star. I didn’t mean—”

“I know,” Star interjected. “It’s not your fault—if anyone’s, it’s Kwan’s.” She glared at the boy, being sure to make her eyes glow and shifted her teeth into fangs as she snarled—she’d run through the table, so the jig was clearly up for her as well, might as well show her cards. “He’s the one who antagonized you.”

“But if I hadn’t lost my temper…” Danny trailed, letting his hand drop to his side. “I should have more control than this by now.” Star thought he was being hard on himself, given he’d only unlocked those ice powers barely two weeks prior.

Star glanced towards the three humans, then back at Danny. Should they try fleeing? No, that would that just make it worse—it’s possible they might assume the wrong thing and call in ghost hunters about it. They had to make sure that these three wouldn’t tell their secret—thankfully the two teens were part of the Phantom Phan Club, therefore amicable towards ghosts, and Lancer… Well, Star wasn’t completely sure where Lancer stood, but she’d noticed lately that he hadn’t been as frightened around ghosts as he used to be, and hadn’t said anything bad about Phantom in a while, even seeming to show signs of quiet support—Star knew he couldn’t vocally support Phantom due to his job, but there was a good chance he’d be willing to keep this a secret.

“It’s not really ecto-contamination, is it?” Mikey asked quietly.

“Are you… Are you two ghosts?” Lancer asked warily.

“Overshadowed makes more sense,” Kwan concluded. “Right?”

“If it were overshadowing, the ghosts would have already fled,” Mikey pointed out. “They wouldn’t look scared and nervous and regretful, and wouldn’t ask us if we could ignore this. Star’s appearance wouldn’t have changed, and Danny wouldn’t be bleeding ectoplasm.”

Star winced; she hadn’t realized she’d shifted back in her mild panic.

Danny simply stared at the three, looking a little lost, his hand moving to clutch his forearm tightly, which had apparently been cut by some glass again.

“Danny, you’re grabbing it too tightly,” Star realized. “You’re just gonna make it bleed more!”

“It’s fine,” Danny said, removing his hand and then using his shirt to wipe the ectoplasm off. “It’s already healing, see?” Sure enough, a greenish scab was already covering the surprisingly large cut (maybe caused by the spiky ice in that case, not a glass shard?), which was rapidly shrinking.

“Okay, yeah, that is definitely not explained by overshadowing,” Kwan confirmed.

“So you are ghosts,” Lancer concluded. Then, the full brunt of the revelation hit him. “Wait. You two are ghosts?! You—no, no, you two can’t be ghosts, if you’re ghosts, that means you—no.”

Star then realized something important: they hadn’t realized Danny was Phantom, just that he was a ghost. Should they try to pretend that was the case?

Unfortunately, Star was proven wrong moments later, when Mikey said, “Wait. Star’s appearance changed. Does that mean yours can change too, Danny?”

“Um… This is my default form,” Danny said carefully.

“Default? So, you do have another form,” Mikey inferred. “And you have ice powers—we only know two ghosts with ice powers, only one that looks close to you and is around a lot. And you always vanish during ghost attacks right before that one shows up…”

“Wait,” Kwan said, eyes widening. “Are you saying that… Fenton is Phantom?!”

Danny sighed. “Okay, fine, you got me,” he revealed, and then shifted into his ghost form—again without the white ring, in a blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment. Danny hadn’t used that ring since realizing he didn’t need to have it, but Star wished he would use it again—it was so cool looking! She understood why he didn’t though; it was very flashy, and Danny typically did not like flashy things.

“Haunting of Hill House! Y-you’re Phantom,” Lancer stuttered out. “You’re Phantom. You’re a ghost? You… For a whole year now, you’ve been… So then you… you…”

“Died?” Danny finished. “Yeah,” he said, before shifting back to human form, and Star noticed that he didn’t bother explaining that he was a halfa, which meant he was technically still partly alive.

Star decided they should know. “Danny’s not a typical ghost though—he’s what’s known as a liminal, or halfa…” She explained what that was, making sure to emphasize that it was not possessing a corpse, rather a true merge.

Danny was frowning with his arms crossed when Star finished. “You know, I could have explained that too.”

“But would you have?” Star challenged.

Danny shifted uneasily. “I mean, is it really necessary? It’s technically a type of ghost, just with some living parts remaining. I still died and formed a ghost, even if I got my body back after. I have a ghost core. I don’t need to breathe. I bleed ectoplasm! I’ll be 14 forever. Seriously, aside from needing to eat and sleep, and the bones and heartbeat, for all intents and purposes I’m a ghost. Heck, all the other ghosts see me as one. Ghost Zone law applies to me. So it’s easier to just call myself one rather than explain the technicality every time.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Star acknowledged. “But it does matter in other ways—I mean, you can much more easily pass as a human, for one.” After all, his human form was his default, so no need to concentrate on keeping it up. Plus it was even to the point that he could get through weaker ghost shields; Star dreaded eventually encountering a shield. Plus, there was no time limit, at least not in the same way, as there was no risk of anyone finding his body, like there was for Star.

“And yet I still do a shitty job of it,” Danny said sullenly, gesturing to the table of spiky ice and broken equipment; Star noted that the wound on his arm was completely gone now.

“So, Star, are you one of these ‘liminal’ things, too?” Mikey asked, shivering slightly.

Star sighed. “No, I’m just a regular ghost,” she told him. “And Danny, I think you’re making it too cold for them again.”

“Sorry,” Danny said sheepishly; presumably he stopped, not that Star could really tell.

“Have you been a ghost all year too, Star?” Kwan wondered.

“No; she’s new,” Lancer said. “Correct? Danny had a lot of issues with broken beakers and… pants… a year ago. But you, Star, never had those problems until two days ago, after you were missing for a week.”

“Wait, so you didn’t get lost in the Ghost Zone?” Mikey said, a little frantically. “Falling through that portal killed you?! Portals can kill?! But natural ones pop up in town all the time!”

“No!” Danny hurriedly asserted. “Falling through one won’t kill you,” he assured Mikey. “Star didn’t actually fall through one, we just made that up as a cover story to explain why she might have ‘ecto-contamination’. But, er, from personal experience, do not be inside a manmade portal when it turns on, that actually can kill you.”

“That’s how you… er, how you…” Lancer trailed, apparently still unable to say the word. Right, Star had explained how liminals were made, but didn’t say exactly what had triggered Danny’s metamorphosis into one.

“Died, yeah,” Danny finished again, clearly attempting to have a casual demeanor yet still seemed a little awkward and nervous. “The portal took a massive amount of electricity combined with ectoplasm to open, and I got blasted with all of it. And before you ask, no, my parents still don’t know, so I really would appreciate it if you don’t tell them.”

“Um, so back to Star being a ghost…” Kwan prompted. “If the portal didn’t, you know, what did?”

“No idea!” Star revealed. “Seriously. Memory’s blank from the time I left school on Tuesday to Kitty finding me wandering around partially formed on Monday.”

“Partially…?”

Star sighed, then explained ghost formation and what happened after, including her entire reason for pretending to be a human and how she had teamed up with Danny and some other ghosts and humans to solve her murder.

“And given your reactions, I believe that none of you here are the culprit,” Star told them at the end.

“I need to sit down,” Lancer said, moving to the other side of his desk and flopping onto the soft rolling office chair; he put his hand on his head.

“You okay?” Danny asked with concern.

Lancer let out a dry laugh. “Am I okay? Am I okay? Danny, I just learned that two of my students are ghosts, that two of my students… d-died. One more than a year ago via a horrific accident, and the other somewhere in the last week, quite possibly murdered. So no, I am not okay, Danny, not at all.”

“Oh,” Danny said, voice small. “Right… Um, I’m guessing you two need some time to process this, too?” he asked Kwan and Mikey. “Do you have any questions?”

“Uh, yeah, I have one,” Kwan said. “If you’re a ghost—Phantom—then why don’t you ever fight back when Dash beats you up? With your powers, you could easily kill him!”

Danny scowled and crossed his arms. “I don’t kill people,” he said sternly, eyes aglow. “And I kinda have a secret identity to keep; beating him up would be suspicious. Plus…” He hesitated slightly, glancing at Mikey.

“You’re protecting us,” Mikey realized. “Right? You don’t get hurt from it, so take it so he doesn’t come after us as much.”

“No,” Star said, deciding she needed to step in here. “He does take it to protect you, but he’s not unaffected. Ghosts—”

“Star!” Danny sharply interjected.

“What? Dash keeps getting worse; eventually he’s going to do real damage,” Star pointed out.

“He’s not going to—”

“Really? So Ember was lying when she explained that ghost injuries are affected by emotions, on both sides? Which is why Dash was able to give you a black eye that lasted hours, but that cut earlier healed within minutes?”

“Well, no, she wasn’t lying,” Danny ceded. “But it’s fine, I can handle it. A few hours is nothing; on a human that would’ve lasted for a week.”

“And if he had used the knife?”

“Well, he didn’t.”

“Hold up,” Lancer said, sitting up straighter. “Am I understanding right that Dash threatened you with a knife?”

“I don’t think he actually planned to use it,” Danny hurriedly said.

“But he still had a knife and used it for intimidation.”

“Well, yeah…”

“And he regularly punches you?”

“Yeah,” Danny sullenly confirmed. “But it’s fine, really! If it’s me or humans, I’d rather it be me.”

“It shouldn’t be anyone,” Lancer said sternly. “I will be talking to him about this again, mark my words.” He looked to Kwan and narrowed his eyes. “Is it only Dash continuing to do this?”

Kwan winced. “Most of us did stop, I swear!”

“I see. Well, Kwan, you can let the other members of the football team know that if any of them continue to engage in bullying, they will be punished accordingly, school board be damned, and enough infractions will boot them from the team for good. Yes, quarterback included—and Danny, if Dash or another student injures you again, let me know, and I will handle it, even if the injuries have already healed.”

“Yeah, okay,” Danny said, and Star got the feeling that Danny would not be reporting anything. “So, I guess that means you’re going to keep my identity a secret…?”

“Of course,” Lancer said gently. “Both of yours. And Star, I will do what I can to help you find out how you… died… too.”

“Me too!” Kwan chimed in. “Can’t have the Town Hero’s identity revealed, and no one kills a friend and gets away with it!”

“Completely agree,” Mikey added. “I might not know you well, Star, but I definitely want to help. And Danny—as a member of the Phantom Phan Club, I will definitely keep your secret unless you tell me to do otherwise!”

“You’re still going to be in the club, even knowing Phantom is me?” Danny asked, seeming mildly confused.

“Of course!” Mikey said. “Do you think the club just sits around swooning over Phantom? Half of what we do is advocacy! You know, trying to convince the town that you’re the good guy.”

“Yeah; just because Fenton is a loser doesn’t mean Phantom isn’t still cool!” Kwan asserted.

“I don’t know whether or not to be insulted or flattered,” Danny said flatly.

“Don’t worry; Paulina and I plan to make Fenton cool soon,” Star told Kwan, then amended, “Well, less of a loser, at least.”

“So, Paulina knows?” Mikey asked.

“Just about me,” Star informed them. “She knows Phantom is helping me figure things out, but not that Phantom is Fenton, and suddenly being buddy-buddy with Fenton would be suspicious. So I told Paulina I wanted to be his friend, but I can’t be if he’s still a loser, so we’re gonna make him not a loser.”

“Good plan,” Kwan complimented.

“Thanks; I think so too,” Star said proudly.

“Still can’t believe Paulina agreed to that,” Danny said.

“Well, you have a lot of cool potential,” Star explained. “Honestly, it’s mostly just your fashion and friend group that makes you a loser. Especially Tucker.”

“Hey!” Danny protested. “Tucker isn’t that bad.”

“Don’t defend him,” Star said cooly, getting a flash of sand again when she thought of him; she really should look into that.

Lancer cleared his throat. “Regarding the topic of who knows about you two: I believe it pertinent that we here know this information, so as not to inadvertently reveal these secrets due to assumptions.”

“Oh! Good point,” Star agreed. “Firstly, all ghosts can sense other ghosts, so you don’t have to keep it a secret from them, since they’ll immediately know upon seeing me, even disguised. But it’s an unspoken ghost rule to not out ghosts hiding as humans, unless they are doing so with nefarious purposes, which we aren’t. The ones we’re directly working with to solve my murder are Ember, Johnny, and Kitty.”

“They’re cool now,” Danny quickly added. “And the chaos they previously caused was just…” He briefly paused to think, then concluded upon, “misguided teenage shenanigans. They know better now.”

“I see,” Lancer said. “So they really are teenagers then?”

“Depends on if you go by calendar year or point of death,” Danny explained. “Ghosts don’t age after death, physically and mentally, so both ghosts themselves and ghost researchers consider them the same age they died at. So Ember died in the 70s, but is still considered 15, and Kitty and Johnny died in the 80s but are still considered 18.”

“And Star will always be 15,” Lancer correctly concluded. “Does this apply to liminals as well?”

“Unfortunately,” Danny said with a sigh. “So yeah, I’ll be 14 forever.”

“That’s a bad age to be stuck at,” Kwan commented.

“Tell me about it,” Danny grumbled.

“15 isn’t much better,” Star said with a sigh. “There couldn’t have been some sort of, I dunno, built-in thing where we age until we’re 21 and then stop?”

“Unfortunately life—or death—doesn’t work that way; this is reality, not a cartoon,” Danny told her.

“Well, now that that’s been established, back to who knows about you two,” Lancer said, guiding the conversation back before it could be come derailed. He was good at recognizing those signs and steering the conversation, Star had realized long ago; a good skill for a teacher to have. If he hadn’t, Star was certain the conversation would have only ended up going on ten more tangents before they got back to the topic.

“Right. So, aside from Paulina, the same humans who know about Phantom know about me,” Star explained. “So that’s Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie.”

“That’s all?” Lancer asked.

“Yup.”

“And they’re working with you to solve your murder too?” Mikey asked.

“Yeah,” Star confirmed. “Well, not Valerie. She might be trying to solve it, but definitely not with us.”

“She just found out yesterday,” Danny supplied. “And still really hates ghosts; she promised to keep the secret but that’s it. She said she has mixed feelings on the situation and needs time to sort them out.”

“Ah, yeah, she blames ghosts for ‘ruining her life’ or whatever,” Kwan recalled. He knew she was the Red Huntress, but Lancer and Mikey didn’t, and like Star and the rest of the A-list kept it secret.

Star then sneezed; her ghost sense. Star tensed, on high alert; who would it be this time? In her slight panic, she shot an ecto-blast off, then noted that interestingly Danny’s ghost sense hadn’t gone off. So, it was a friendly ghost whom he knew?

“Fahrenheit 451!” Lancer declared, staring at his desk—or rather, the pile of scorched papers atop it.

“Sorry!” Star told him. “I didn’t mean to!”

Lancer sighed. “Well, I suppose it can’t be helped—your class will be delighted to know that they’re all getting A’s for their reports though, as per the policy related to homework destroyed in ghost-related incidents.”

Star kept to herself that that was a good thing for her and Danny, who likely would have gotten C’s otherwise, at best. She didn’t want Lancer to think it was done on purpose—which it definitely wasn’t! Star wouldn’t do that on purpose. But, “So, the sneeze was my ghost-sense…” She looked around, wary.

“By golly! Another halfa?” a voice said, and Star turned to see a monochromatic grey ghost with glasses, looking like a stereotypical nerd from the 1950s given his fashion choice.

“No, regular ghost, with transformation abilities,” Danny told the ghost. “Star, this is Sidney Poindexter. Sidney, this is Star Strong.”

“Hello,” Star told him. “I heard about you. The rumor at school last year was that you possessed Danny for a bit, but it was actually some weird Freaky Friday thing, right?”

“Yes, we are still unsure how exactly that happened,” Poindexter revealed. “Overshadowing is not supposed to work that way. But, I digress; it is nice to meet you, Star Strong,” he said, holding out his hand, which Star shook. Poindexter then looked contemplative. “Hmm. There wouldn’t be any relation to a James Strong, would there?”

“Yes, he’s my grandfather,” Star replied.

“By golly! He was a friend of mine—one of the few people who gave me the time of day when we were children. Unfortunately, he went off to a private boarding school, whereas I stayed in public school, and we lost touch. It’s nice meeting a descendent of a friend though… Ah, but of course the circumstances aren’t ideal, I suppose, given your state…”

“Yes; unfortunately I died,” Star said bluntly.

“Must you be so forthright about that?” Lancer muttered.

“Well, if you ever need any help with anything, I’m around,” Sidney told Star. “The mirror in my old locker—now Danny’s—lets us talk if I’m not visiting this school.”

“How often do you visit?” Star asked curiously.

“Whenever I can! The schedule at my school is a little funky, so some days I’m around a lot and other days not so much. But when I am around, I keep a lookout and help people with bullies! I like to think I’m here pretty often.”

“Not often enough,” Danny grumbled under his breath, and Star once again had concerns about that. Just how bad was the bullying situation with Dash? Was the knife thing not the worst incident?

Sidney caught Danny’s words, and said guiltily, “I apologize for that, but I do need to attend class. The school principal there isn’t quite as lenient as yours is.”

“Yeah, I know,” Danny said sullenly.

“Hey, um, on the topic of class,” Mikey spoke up. “Mr. Lancer, do you want us to stay late to redo this lab, or will we we need to go to the Tuesday’s make-up lab?”

Lancer sighed. “No, I’ll just write this off as a ghost-related interruption too, you’ll all get full marks for the lab,” he said tiredly.

“Do you want us to help clean up?” Star asked. “Since we, you know, kinda caused it?”

“No, I’ll do it,” Kwan offered. “It’s more my fault for instigating.”

“No,” Lancer said. “I’ll call the custodian to clean things up; he has a heat gun that can be used for the ice, and students aren’t permitted to use those. Plus, I probably shouldn’t have students cleaning up glass, either. Class dismissed; go enjoy your weekend.”

“Right on!” Kwan cheered. “Star, you’re still coming to the party at Dale’s tonight, right?” he asked as they all walked out of the classroom together, leaving Lancer to process everything that happened.

Star scoffed. “Well, duh; who do you take me for? Still don’t see why it’s gotta be there though; it’s all the way on the other side of town!” Dale’s house was on the outskirts of the city, a neighborhood that was more suburb then anything; the houses there were nice ones, but so far away from everything, to the point he had to ride a bus to school unless he wanted to spend an hour walking, at least until he got a car (he had a license, but his parents didn’t want him to have his own car yet, something about his older brother totaling his car a week after getting it and thus costing him and his siblings all the right to have cars until they were 18).

“Well, he has a really big yard, and we’re having a bonfire,” Kwan reminded her. “Can’t exactly do that in the city area.”

“True,” Star conceded. “Hey, you wanna come too?” she asked.

“I’m invited to a party?” Mikey asked incredulously.

“No, not you, loser,” Star scoffed. “Danny.”

“Me?” Danny asked, clearly surprised.

“Well, as Phantom,” Star amended. “We’ll have Fenton’s social status fixed by next party though!”

“You will?” Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yup! So, you in?”

“Sorry, but I already made plans to see a movie with Sam and Tucker,” Danny told her flatly, and Star had a feeling he was a little miffed that only his Phantom form had been invited.

“Well, suit yourself,” Star said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, kay?”

“Sure,” Danny agreed. “Though I feel like I don’t have a choice.”

“Good guess!” Star told him. “Hey, Kwan, you’ve got a car now, right?”

“Yup, turned 16 and got my license two weeks ago!” Kwan confirmed. “My parents got me a car, and the plates just came yesterday, so I drove it to school. Let me guess, need help carrying the party supplies?” he asked with a wink.

As he said that, Danny muttered, “Wait a second, I can fly,” and turned invisible, no doubt taking off through the ceiling. Which, technically Star could do too, but she wanted to see Kwan’s new car.

“Well, if I try carrying them myself, I’ll probably drop them,” Star joked. Technically strength wasn’t an issue, as ghosts could lift almost anything by extending their anti-gravity properties to the thing, so carrying the pile of alcohol hidden under her bed wasn’t problematic on that front, but there was a good chance the cases would accidentally phase through her hands and drop onto unfortunate people below.

“I can’t believe he’s been a ghost all this time,” Mikey muttered at the same time.

“Then, let’s go get my car,” Kwan said as they left the building, Mikey hurrying away from the two.

Star grinned. There was only a few cars left in the student parking lot, so… “Let me guess: the orange Lamborghini with the red fire pattern?” That had been Kwan’s dream car for years.

“You know it!” Kwan confirmed. “Now, come on; let me show you how it drives!”

Chapter Text

“You did what?” Tucker loudly declared, as he, Sam, and Danny sat in the corner booth at Nasty Burger shortly after the disaster of a chemistry make-up lab.

“Shh, not so loud!” Danny whispered, waving his hands in a ‘quiet down’ gesture, the sleeves of his slightly oversized red zipper sweatshirt covering them slightly; Jazz had insisted he wear something that day. This one was actually a hand-me-down from Jazz that ended up becoming Danny’s favorite, and he’d been hoping to grow into it, but, well, that obviously didn’t happen. The thing was honestly on its last threads so likely gave almost no warmth, but no one would know that as it was just for appearances…

And to hide the bruises Dash had given him right after the make-up lab, when Danny went back to his locker after nearly leaving without the sweatshirt. Football practice, which ended at the same time, had apparently gone badly, and when Dash saw Danny he’d decided to take it out on him—and Danny had to take it, because some of Dash’s cronies were there too, so overshadowing him to escape was out, as was trying to run given they’d surrounded him.

Dash was honestly lucky that Danny was not a vengeful ghost, because if he were then Dash would definitely not make it to adulthood… Then again, if Dash kept getting worse, then—No. Danny immediately internally chided himself for the thought; he wasn’t like the him from the dark timeline, he shouldn’t think things like that!

“Sorry,” Tucker said with a wince, glancing around; Danny did too, noting no one had paid them attention. In addition to some people Danny didn’t know, including two people in hoodies with their hoods up in the corner who were chatting so quietly it was almost like hissing and surprisingly too quiet for him to hear even with his ghost hearing (they gave off an odd vibe; Danny decided to look into that later), there was a group of girls from school—Brittany, Tiffanie, Ashley, and Hannah, the first three comforting the third, who was crying for whatever reason. Danny ignored that; it was probably something like relationship trouble.

Danny repeated quietly, “Like I said, Star and I accidentally revealed ourselves to Lancer, Mikey, and Kwan.”

“Why would you—I thought phasing through your clothes was under control!?”

“Phasing though—oh. I think there’s been a miscommunication," Danny realized.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Tucker, he means their secret was revealed, not that they exposed their bodies.”

“Oh. Yeah, I knew that,” Tucker said meekly.

Sam then demanded, “Okay, Danny. Explain, now.”

Danny sighed, then proceeded to explain how those three had learned that Star and Danny were ghosts, as well as his secret identity of Phantom.

“Dude,” Tucker said with incredulity when the explanation was done.

“These ice powers are getting out of control,” Sam concluded. “Maybe you should train with Frostbite some more?”

Danny shook his head. “Frostbite has enough on his plate, and I also don’t really want to leave Amity Park for long when there’s a potential murderer around. I can handle it.”

“You sure of that?” Sam asked with clear skepticism.

“Hey! Tucker!” someone called, and the three at the table turned to see Nathan, who had spoken, and his identical twin brother Lester beelining towards them.

Tucker winced and muttered, “Not again…”

“What’s going on?” Danny asked warily.

“Why did you take the site down?” Nathan demanded, putting his hands on the table and glaring at Tucker.

Lester stood there crossing his arms. “It better be technical maintenance or something.”

“Uh, gotta clarify more, I’ve got numerous websites,” Tucker said, starting to sweat; it seemed he knew exactly what they meant, and Danny suspected he might know too.

“The password-protected Casper High Female Tier List!” Nathan declared. “I went to upload a photo, and found that not even the URL works, it just says the page isn’t found!”

Danny held back a smile; so, Tucker actually had taken that down after Star yelled at him about it (Danny hadn’t been there for that, but Sam had recapped it for him). Danny felt proud of his best friend, although a little miffed that it took someone other than his two best friends suggesting he take it down for him to actually take it down.

“You took it down for some reason,” Lester accused. “What, trying to keep all the photos for yourself?”

“The ‘Tier List’ has photos now?” Sam demanded, glaring at Tucker.

“No! The Tier List doesn’t exist anymore,” Tucker asserted, then told the twins, “It was brought to my attention that the girls really hate it, so I decided to take it down. If you want it back, make it yourself.”

“Fine, we will, then,” Nathan said, then swiveled around and walked towards the counter with his brother to order food.

Danny had an odd thought then; could those two be involved in Star’s murder? They were pretty sketchy in a lot of ways. Rumor even had it that Lester had once been caught abusing animals, back when he was too young to be legally punished for it other than mandatory counseling, and Nathan was rumored to have a secret fascination with setting fires. Combined with bedwetting, which Danny was pretty sure 90% of kids did so wasn’t really sure why that was the third thing, that made up the ‘homicidal triad’, an indicator that a young kid could become violent when older, even a serial killer. The twins had a concerning vibe that Danny was pretty sure wasn’t in his head, rather stemmed from his ghost ability to sense energy…

Tucker sighed when they left and told Danny and Sam, “I took the site down Wednesday night, after Star reamed me out about it—that was after school but before you got there, Danny. Ever since, people have been coming up to me angry about it.”

“Huh. Good on you for taking it down,” Sam said, sounding pleased, then asked with suspicion, “But, what’s that about it having photos now?”

Tucker winced. “A few weeks ago, I added a photo upload option to it, letting anyone add additional photos of girls instead of just yearbook photos. But, er, I was gonna remove that feature soon anyway, since it became… problematic.”

“Problematic how?” Danny wondered.

“Let’s just say that I had to delete a disturbing amount of questionable photos and leave it at that,” Tucker said curtly.

“What do you mean by ‘questionable’?” Danny wondered. “Like, low-quality?”

“Um, no… I mean…” Tucker trailed, looking a little uncomfortable.

“Don’t ruin his innocence,” Sam told Tucker.

“Tucker, tell me,” Danny demanded.

Tucker sighed. “I mean, photos that the FBI would not approve of.”

“The FBI…?”

“Yeah, as in, photos of girls in the locker room, for starters.”

“Oh,” Danny said in realization, a little disturbed that some of the kids at school had apparently not just taken photos like that but also uploaded them to the internet. Danny was glad that Tucker had the decency to delete them, although he was a little nettled at Tucker for even adding the photo option to begin with, especially because, “I told you that adding a photo option was going too far when you mentioned thinking about it over the summer; why’d you add it anyway?”

Tucker shrugged. “I was just doing what The People demanded.”

“Without telling me?” Danny asked, mildly confused and a little hurt. They usually told each other everything, even the questionable things. When did that change?

“He knew you wouldn’t approve,” Sam said dryly, crossing her arms. “And, Tucker, you do realize that you just told Nathan and Lester that they should bring the site back, right?”

“Do you know just how many people have complained to me about the site being down over the past two days?” Tucker bristled. “Way too many! So excuse me for finding a way to maybe get that to stop!”

Sam shook her head with a look of disgust. “Yeah, no, you’re gonna go run and tell them exactly why that’s a bad idea, right now, or I’ll be reporting the site to Lancer.”

“What! You wouldn’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

Tucker frowned and narrowed his eyes at Sam, no doubt evaluating how serious she was, and then said “Fine,” before taking off after Lester and Nathan, who had left with their to-go bags of food already.

Danny watched Tucker run off, unsure what to say, then blurted out, “I hope they don’t murder him.”

“What?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

“If anyone in school were killers, the twins would be a good bet,” Danny said.

Sam scoffed at that. “Really? Come on; there’s no way.”

“I dunno, they’re kinda sketchy,” Danny said with a shrug.

“Sketchy, sure, but homicidal? Nah.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Danny conceded. “I’m probably just overthinking things again…”

Sam then changed the topic, no doubt noticing Danny was a little uncomfortable. “So, Danny…” She gave him a sly look. “What are these rumors I’m hearing about you and a certain new ghost becoming unexpectedly close lately?”

Danny took a moment to realize that Sam was talking about Star, and then defended, “They’re just rumors! We’re just becoming friends, that’s it,” though his blush belied his true feelings.

“Hmm. Sure about that?” Sam asked with a teasing lilt and a knowing look.

“...Okay, so I might have a bit of a crush,” Danny admitted.

“‘Might’?”

“Okay, definitely. But, there’s no way Star feels the same!”

“Hmm. I wouldn’t be so sure about that…”

Tucker hopped back into the booth. “What wouldn’t you be so sure about?”

“That was awfully fast,” Sam said, looking at Tucker with suspicion.

Tucker winced. “They went into the subway before I could catch up, and I am not going in there after the incident with the sludge ghost we encountered there. I’ll talk to them later—so, what wouldn’t you be sure about?”

“Nothing!” Danny quickly said, feeling his face redden. “Seriously, it’s nothing.”

“Really? That reaction doesn’t seem like nothing…”

“Yeah, well—” Danny gasped as his ghost sense went off; never did he feel so relieved for that.

At least, until he looked out the window to see people screaming as they fled from the subway staircase across the street, followed by a humongous sludge ghost crawling out.

“Nooo, why is it back?” Tucker lamented, noticing it too.

“Hey, looks like the twins fled too; now’s your chance to talk to them!” Sam told Tucker.

“Are you kidding? I am NOT going outside with that thing around! Ugh, of all the Pokemon to exist in real life, why’d it have to be Muk?”

“Dude, that thing is like five times the size that a Muk would be, and is green,” Danny pointed out. “Muk is purple.”

“Yeah but shiny Muk is green.”

“Can you two stop talking about Pokemon and just go do what you need to already?” Sam said with clear exasperation.

Danny sighed. “Can’t I leave it to Val or something?” He really did not want to fight that sludge thing again! Plus he wanted to investigate those suspecious—ah, nevermind; a glance at the corner showed the hooded people were gone. Eh, it was likely just a drug sale or something; Amity Park had a not-so-secret problem with that, many people using unhealthy coping methods to deal with the extra stress that came with living in a city with a ghost problem.

“You’d let a lady that you still like fight sludge for you?” Tucker asked teasingly.

“Dude, she’d probably insist on fighting it, you know her,” Danny said. “And pretty sure she hates me.”

“So? You can win her back.”

“I don’t want to ‘win’ anyone. If she wants to date again, she can make the first move, but I’m not going to force it,” Danny said, feeling irked at that; who did Tucker think Danny was? Plus, he was pretty sure he had zero plans to date a human given he now knew he was unaging—but he felt that maybe telling his human friends that wouldn’t end well, especially Sam who Danny was pretty sure had a crush on him (and he might have once had, or maybe still had, a small one on her too, but again, she was human).

Tucker sighed dramatically. “Danny, you need to grow up and learn how to be a man.”

Danny found himself unsure how to respond to that, so instead he grabbed his soda and took a sip. He knew Tucker was just joking around, but the phrase suddenly reminded Danny that he would never grow up, never be a man; he was eternally stuck as a teenage boy. Thankfully, he was saved by Sam.

“Well, ignoring Tucker’s mildly sexist and definitely insensitive-given-the-circumstances comment,” Sam said, “You really should—”

“Wait, how was that insensitive?” Tucker demanded.

“It’s fine, I know he didn’t mean anything by it,” Danny told Sam. “I’m not upset at all,” he lied.

“What? Why would you be upset about me say—oh,” Tucker cut himself off as a look of realization dawned upon his face. “Oh, crap, sorry! I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

“I said it’s fine,” Danny repeated, a little more tensely than intended.

“The fact that your soda is more like a slushie disagrees with that.”

Danny looked down at the clear plastic drink cup. It was indeed looking quite icy at the moment. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Sam said. “Now, go blow off that excess ice by shooting the sludge ghost with it, okay?”

Danny put his drink down and sighed. “Fine,” he said, then glanced around and ducked under the table when he was sure no one was looking at him. He went invisible and transformed, then phased through the wall and into the street, which was almost empty of fleeing people, one last car speeding away, a grey van; the rest of the cars parked on the street seemed empty.

Danny floated over to the large sludge ghost, who looked more or less like a big pile of thick green ectoplasmic sludge with a vague impression of a mouth and eyes with handless arms made of sludge that it could stretch and wrap around to grab things—honestly, Tucker’s assertion that it looked like a larger version of the Pokemon called Muk was fairly accurate.

Last time he fought the thing, Danny hadn’t had his ice powers; could its sludge freeze? Well, Frostbite did say that Danny had to periodically let his ice out if he didn’t want it to accidentally come out on its own, so might as well try it; all the humans had run away, so it’s not like he’d freeze anybody.

Danny held both his hands out and took an unneeded breath, then forced the ice out, focusing on freezing the sludge ghost. He felt the power flowing through him, hitting the ghost…

As well as the entire street area around the ghost.

“Oops,” Danny said, then sullenly added, “Well, she did say to blow off the excess ice; seems like I definitely did that.”

The field of icicles that Danny had created would definitely take a while to melt and cause a traffic detour. Might even cause some time off work for those whose cars, including some taxis, were now encased in ice; unfortunately, Danny couldn’t un-melt his ice once he made it. Luckily it looked like no one had been hiding in any of the icy vehicles.

Danny hurriedly summoned the thermos and sucked the frozen ghost into it, leaving a block of ice with a sludge-ghost-shaped hollow in the center. Well, at least it had made the ‘fight’ quick.

Danny heard vehicles approaching, including the distinct GAV sirens.

“Yeah, time to get out of here,” Danny decided. He quickly turned invisible and flew off, too embarrassed to rejoin his friends at Nasty Burger.

Danny flew home and right into his room; no one was home so he didn’t worry about encountering any of his family—his parents were both responding to the ghost attack, as he knew from flying invisibly past them on the way home, and Jazz would still be at the library doing tutoring sessions (she refused to do them at home anymore).

Danny changed back to human form. He debated removing the sweatshirt, then thought better of it—the last thing he needed was someone, especially Jazz, coming into the room and seeing the bruise on his arm. He could probably shrug it off if his parents asked, but Jazz? She’d know what happened, given she knew about how his ghost healing factor worked—particularly that more emotional things made it heal slower and the injuries look worse, and Danny really didn’t want her knowing just how much Dash’s bullying had been getting to him lately.

Danny was embarrassed at just how much the bullying was continuing to get to him; shouldn’t he be able to resist it? If he used his powers, he could easily fight them off, show them who was boss! He didn’t have to take it. Knowing that should lesson the blow, shouldn’t it? Make it more of a nuisance rather than something that actually upset him. So why did it still hurt so much?

Danny sent a quick text message to Sam and Tucker letting them know he wasn’t feeling up to going to the movies after all, then pulled his backpack out of his lair (he really should go see what it looked like some day) and flopped into his rolling desk chair with a sigh. After a moment he sluggishly pulled out some homework worksheets, figuring he might as well attempt to work on something. They had technically been due earlier that day, but maybe his teachers would accept them late. Lancer likely would, at least; he pulled out the ones for classes he had with the man, and stared at them.

Honestly, Danny was still a little in shock about the events of barely two hours prior. Lancer, of all people, knew he was Phantom. Lancer! As well as Kwan and Mikey! They’d all promised not to tell anyone about him, but… Could they really do that? Well, Mikey could, he had a whole underground academic competition betting ring that miraculously the school still didn’t know about, as well as some other shady businesses, but Kwan could be a bit of a big mouth.

Danny had already been worried enough about Star potentially spilling his secret to her friends (he trusted that she wouldn’t intentionally, but, well, they were her best friends; how fast did it take Sam and Tucker to figure out when Danny was hiding things?). Now, with Kwan added to the mix… Well, Danny couldn’t help but think that it was only a matter of time, a very short time, before Paulina and even Dash learned his secret, and Danny was not ready at all for the whole A-list knowing about him!

Danny then got a message from Tucker, worrying about if Danny was upset with him, and Danny texted back assuring him he wasn’t and just had a bad day overall and needed time to himself. Thankfully Tucker seemed to understand that. Honestly though, Danny was a little upset with Tucker; he kept making such small hurtful comments! Danny was well aware that Tucker never meant anything by them, and many clearly stemmed from him still seeing Danny as more human than ghost and thus forgetting about some of the ghostly things like the immortality, but it still hurt more than Danny felt it should (Danny mentioned it to Jazz once, and she theorized that it could be part of the PTSD that she was convinced Danny had, claiming that reminders of his ghostliness could trigger reminders of what caused it, creating more stress than expected, but Danny wasn’t sure about that, convinced he was just over-sensitive).

Danny wasn’t sure how much time passed as he attempted to focus on the worksheets, getting barely anything done before his thoughts wandered again.

As the absentminded unfocused doodles in the worksheet’s margins began encroaching on the space for answers, there was a knock on Danny’s door.

“What is is?” Danny asked with melancholy.

“Hey, uh, Danny?” Jack said nervously, creaking the door open and poking his head in. “Can I talk to you?”

Danny briefly debated that; he didn’t want to talk to his dad, but he wasn’t really doing anything other than wallowing in his thoughts, and his dad was likely only asking out of courtesy anyway, so he said, “Sure, what about?”

Jack fully entered the room. “Well, I was just wonder—hey, is it snowing in here?” he asked in confusion.

Danny glanced up. “Huh. It is,” he noted. That was new; usually the temperature just dropped when he was feeling down.

“Why is it snowing in your room?”

“No clue,” Danny lied as he willed his ice powers to stop and used a hand to brush snow out of his hair. Hopefully sad snow didn’t become a regular issue. “Temperature control system issue, maybe?”

“That darn temperature control system,” Jack growled. “‘Nothing wrong with it’ my ass! I’ll call the repair company again, although at this rate we probably should just replace the whole thing… You’re not cold?” he then asked worriedly.

“I’m wearing a sweatshirt,” Danny told him, pushing aside the guilt at causing his dad to think something was wrong with the building’s temperature control system once again.

“Well, let’s move to a different room, anyway,” Jack suggested. “Seems the snow stopped, but it’s still frigid in here! And that sweatshirt can’t be warm enough; it’s so old it’s practically threadbare! Honestly surprised it still fits you.”

“Fine,” Danny said, pushing the rolling desk chair a little too hard as he stood up and subsequently stumbling slightly when his shin, in his effort to stabilize himself, brushed against the side of the desk—it was still bruised from the encounter with Dash, and hurt, likely would for the rest of the night. Thankfully he managed to not fall through anything or stop in the air!

“Careful,” Jack said, unnecessarily grabbing Danny’s upper arm a little too late to actually help steady him.

Danny flinched and tried holding back a shout of pain, which came out as a small squeak; that was the exact spot where Dash had grabbed him earlier!

Jack immediately let go, surprised, and asked worriedly, “Danny? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Danny lied again.

“Take your sweatshirt off,” Jack demanded with urgency.

“No,” Danny told him.

“Danny,” Jack said with a warning tone.

Danny hesitated, then sighed and shrugged his sweatshirt off, tossing it onto the chair.

Jack knelt on one knee, still towering over Danny despite that, and carefully grabbed Danny’s forearm, wincing slightly at the cold skin Danny’s ‘ecto-contamination’ caused, and gently pushed the sleeve of his t-shirt up to take a look at the bruise. He sucked in a breath when he saw it. “Danny, this is really bad. Where’d you get this?”

Danny pulled the sleeve down and stepped back. “Nowhere,” he said defensively, putting his hand over where the bruise peeked out from the shirt. Apparently, now knowing that emotions could affect healing didn’t make the injuries from Dash heal any faster.

“Danny.”

“I got in a fight, okay? It’s nothing. It’ll heal.”

“Another fight?” Jack said, frowning. “Is that why you stayed late at school? You got detention for fighting again?”

Danny resisted wincing at that; giving both parties detention for ‘fighting’ was the school’s way of dealing with bulling incidents that the teachers encountered. “No, that was to make up a chemistry lab from earlier in the week.”

“You missed a chemistry lab? Why did—” Jack cut himself off with a sigh. “You skipped class again, didn’t you? You know they’ll make you repeat the grade if you skip too much!”

“Yeah, I know,” Danny muttered. He’d already been told that by pretty much every adult in the school. “For the record, that wasn’t why it needed to be made up though—in class our experiment accidentally got set on fire.”

“There was a fire?! Are you okay?”

“Obviously. You’d have been called if I’d had to go to the nurse.”

“Right, yeah… So, back to this fight, these injuries—Danny, I know your ecto-contamination makes you heal faster, so that bruise might look a couple days old but must be from today, if not during school then somewhere between school and home. What happened?” Jack asked quietly. “Are you intentionally getting into fights? Intentionally getting hurt?”

“Can you just, let it drop? I’m fine.”

“You’re obviously not,” Jack said, sounding more concerned than Danny ever remembered. “You know, I’m starting to wonder if Jazzie is right, and you do need to see someone for all this teenage angst…”

“No, I don’t need to do that,” Danny argued. “Besides, the last shrink I saw turned out to be a ghost, remember?”

“Oh yeah, the one at school last year,” Jack recalled, surprisingly not overreacting to the word ‘ghost’ being used, for once—probably an indicator of how serious his dad was about this. “Well, we can make sure this one isn’t a ghost first!”

“Dad, I really don’t need to see someone,” Danny told him. “I just had a bad day, that’s all. It happens.”

“Most peoples’ ‘bad days’ don’t result in serious injury,” Jack pointed out.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that serious,” Danny argued.

“Danny, your entire upper arm is discolored,” Jack said. “Also, looking at you now, you’re pretty thin; have you been eating? Oh no, did I miss you having an eating disorder?!” he asked in a panic.

“What? No,” Danny said, thrown off by that line of thinking. He looked at his arm. “I’m not that thin, am I? I definitely haven’t lost any weight recently.” No, he’d been static since his accident.

“Well, maybe not,” Jack amended. “I guess you’re just still small in general. I suppose you got your mom’s genes—really thought you’d take after me! Well, some people are late bloomers, maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

Danny bit back a retort, a flash of upset flaring in his core; he mentally repeated to himself that his dad didn’t know, didn’t know, didn’t know…

Jack looked up. “Oh, darn, the snow’s back. Come on, let’s go downstairs,” he said as he stood back up. “I need to get working on dinner anyway! Your mom and sister will be expecting it when they get home!”

“Oh right, they do a kickboxing class on Fridays,” Danny recalled. That was why half the time they got takeout on Friday nights; Jack was not the greatest chef, and the food sometimes came alive. Danny often wasn’t home at this time of day though so had forgotten.

“Come on, Danny, you can help!” Jack said energetically as he headed to the door.

Danny had a feeling that his dad wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer, especially as there was clearly more he wanted to talk about, so Danny grabbed his sweatshirt and followed his dad to the kitchen, donning the tattered thing on the way (Star was right; Danny really did need to get some new clothes, regardless if the old ones still fit).

So, what are you planning to make?” Danny asked as he watched his dad take out various pots, pans, and cooking utensils from the kitchen’s cabinets and drawers.

“I was thinking a chicken casserole!” Jack declared.

“Doesn’t that take over an hour in the oven?” Danny pointed out.

Jack paused. “Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right… Pasta, then, we have that I think! That would’ve been needed for the casserole anyway. Er. You did buy that when you went shopping, right?”

“I was supposed to go shopping?” Danny asked.

Jack paused again. “Hmm. I might have forgotten to ask you to do that, come to think of it… Well, let’s see what we have, then,” he said, opening the cabinet. “Looks like we’re out of rice too, the only carb we have is instant mashed potatoes…”

“We can make a shepherd’s pie with that,” Danny offered. “We definitely have a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, some onions, and brown gravy powder.”

“Yeah but we don’t have ground red meat,” Jack said. “We’ve just got some frozen seafood and the defrosted chicken breast—really need to go food shopping this weekend.”

“Then why don’t we use chopped chicken for it?” Danny suggested.

“That’s a thing?”

“If not, it is now.”

Jack grinned. “Good idea, son! Let’s do that. And if we’re lucky, we won’t even get ectoplasm in it!”

“I don’t mind the ectoplasm,” Danny said truthfully. It actually tasted good, since the sourness that humans could taste was absent to ghosts, although Danny couldn’t say that.

“And that indifference is one of the reasons your ecto-contamination is so high; you gotta be more careful about what you eat! …Er, but not too careful. You really do need to eat more…” Jack gave Danny a look of concern again.

Danny sighed, then moved to the fridge to get out the chicken and an onion. “Scratch that earlier statement: we do not have onions,” he informed his dad. He opened the freezer. “We do have the vegetables though. We’ll have to make due with just those.” They were a mix of peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans, and corn.

“And I found the gravy powder!” Jack said, pulling it out of the cabinet and placing it next to the large box of instant mashed potatoes on the counter.

The two got to work, quietly at first—although Danny’s thoughts weren’t quiet, wondering why his dad had come to talk to him in the first place and flipping through every scenario, getting worse and worse as he imagined all the possibilities. Did he suspect Danny was a ghost? His dad seeming contemplative and nervous didn’t help.

“It’s drugs, isn’t it?” Danny’s dad finally said quietly, as he stirred the mix of instant potatoes, butter, salt, and boiled water.

“What?” Danny asked, pausing as he set the table, thrown off by the question. That hadn’t been any of the scenarios for topics he’d imagined! “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed, staring into the potatoes as he continued to overstir them. “You’re on drugs, aren’t you?”

Danny found himself at a loss of words; how had his dad come to that conclusion?

Jack continued, “That’s why you’ve been so moody lately, isn’t it? And why your grades fell further, and you’ve been getting into those fights, and are coming home after curfew and sneaking out, and why you’re so easily distracted, and why you always seem to be tired, and when you don’t seem tired you seem anxious and on-edge… It’s drugs, isn’t it? You’re on drugs.”

“No, Dad, I’m not on drugs,” Danny told Jack confidently, relieved that his dad’s conclusion hadn’t been ghost-related.

Jack sighed and finally stopped stirring the potatoes. “You don’t need to lie to me, Danny. If you’re addicted, we can get you help, get you into rehab…”

“I’m not on drugs,” Danny firmly repeated. “I’m really not. Get my blood tested if you want, but you won’t find anything, because it isn’t drugs.” He really hoped his dad didn’t follow through on any tests though, given that although drugs wouldn’t be found, the ectoplasm surely would be.

“Then, what is it?” Jack asked, turning to Danny with pleading eyes. “Because honestly, I’m at a loss, son. You’re obviously not okay, and your mom and I want to help you, but if you don’t talk to us—”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Danny hurriedly interjected. “I told you, I’m fine. The moodiness is just regular teenage stuff, you know how it is.”

“And the rest of it?”

Danny shrugged and resumed setting the table. “I dunno,” he lied. Obviously he was not going to tell his dad about the bullying or ghost fighting, or the likely-PTSD from literally dying and the numerous traumatic incidents following that (most notably the ones involving the dark timeline and Freakshow; Undergrowth had more recently given Danny some nightmares too, and possibly given him a slight phobia to vines).

But, Danny could also redirect the conversation a bit by truthfully saying, “I mean, half of that could be explained by ADHD, right? Jazz seems to think I have it, and told me that the elementary school wanted me evaluated for it, but for some reason you said no. Jazz got me a book about it and it does make sense.”

Jack sighed. “Danny, your sister is obsessed with finding things wrong with people. She’s a teenager who has read some books, not someone with a degree.”

“Well, yeah, but some of my friends think I have it too, two who have it themselves and two who have family members who have it. So wouldn’t it make sense to get an evaluation?”

“No, because you don’t have a mental condition like that,” Jack said, as expected. “It would just be a waste of money.”

“But, how can you be sure I don’t?” Danny asked, choosing not to point out that rehab would’ve been much more expensive than a psychiatric evaluation and yet his dad had been willing to pay for that. Plus, his dad had even brought up therapy before! Of course, he did say for ‘teenage angst’, meaning he must have not thought that it could be an actually diagnosable permanent thing…

“Because you’re a Fenton! No one else in the family has kookiness like that, so it wouldn’t make sense for you to have it, since those things run in families, you know.”

Danny bit back a comment about how, after reading more about it, he was almost certain that his dad undoubtedly had ADHD as well, so it did run in their family, but he thought it best not to mention that. He tried to think what else he could say to try to convince his dad, because the more that the thought about it, the more Danny realized that maybe an evaluation would be a good thing to have.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the conversation was cut off there as Maddie and Jazz returned home.

“Danny! You’re actually here in time for dinner!” Maddie said cheerfully.

“Was the clarifier really necessary?” Danny grumbled. He wasn’t away for dinner that often, was he? Well, maybe on Fridays that was true. He originally did have plans with his friends that day as well.

“I heard you were invited to one of the rich kids’ parties tonight; are you going to go?” Jazz asked, looking a little amused—she likely had heard ‘Phantom’ had been invited, as usual, and knew Danny would have no interest in showing up in such a capacity.

“Nope; got no interest in those parties, you know that,” Danny replied. “Once was enough.”

“No plans with Sam and Tucker either? That’s unusual for a Friday.”

Danny shrugged. “It sometimes happens.”

“Then, how about a family movie and game night?” Jazz suggested. “It’s been a while since we had one of those! We can order pizza.”

“Pizza? But—” Jack cut himself off as he turned to the stove to see smoke coming out of the pot of vegetables. “Oh, fudge.” He quickly turned them off; he took the lid off and a plume of black smoke came out, causing the humans to cough and wave their hands to get the smoke away.

“Oops; guess I forgot to put water in,” Danny said sheepishly.

“Well, we still have the chicken and potatoes and gravy!” Jack said. “One night without veggies should be fine.”

“These potatoes?” Jazz asked, picking up the wooden spoon in the pot; the whole pot and potatoes came up with it. “Yeah, pretty sure potatoes aren’t supposed to be the consistency of hardened glue.”

Maddie sighed and picked up the cardboard box on the counter. “Jack, this is corn starch, not instant potatoes.”

“What? No, they definitely were instant mashed potatoes!” Jack asserted.

Jazz opened the cabinet, and took out a similar-looking box. “This is the mashed potatoes, Dad.”

“Oh… oops. Well, er, we still have the… chicken… oh,” Jack said, eyes falling to the tray of raw chicken breast on the counter, fully untouched, plastic wrap still over it. “Right; well, the gravy worked out,” he claimed, gesturing to the final pot on the stove, which contained bubbling gravy.

“We can’t just eat gravy for dinner, Jack,” Maddie told him, sounding amused.

Jack sighed. “Okay, fine, pizza it is… Movie and game night sounds fun, though! Doesn’t it, Danny?”

“You’ll join us, right?” Jazz asked, as she turned off the stove burner for the gravy, and Danny got the feeling he really had no choice; he wondered if Sam or Tucker had told Jazz what had happened earlier. She continued, “We can watch ‘Mean Girls’—I got a DVD copy yesterday at the trade-in store.”

“Didn’t we see that in theaters last year?” Danny recalled.

“Yeah, and it’s a good movie, so we can watch it again,” Jazz told him, as she put the chicken back in the fridge.

“Well, since that’s settled, I’ll order the pizza,” Maddie said, clapping her hands together and leaving them that way. “Jack, you clean the kitchen; Jazz, set up the movie; and Danny, go choose a board game. Any you want!”

“Really?” Danny asked skeptically; his parents, dad particularly, had some strong opinions on which board games were fun and which were frustrating.

“Of course, sweetie,” Maddie said. “Your choice tonight.” Danny suspected she was trying to get Danny in a good enough mood to initiate a discussion just like the one he’d had with his dad, unaware that conversation had already happened—there was no way his dad thought to talk to him about that fully on his own, of that Danny was sure.

“Not Scrabble,” Jack hurriedly chimed in. “Or Monopoly. Or Risk. Or—”

“Trivial Pursuit it is,” Danny decided with a chuckle, aware that that was his father’s favorite (he bought every new set released) and expecting that games would just be eliminated until that was reached. “Star Wars edition?”

“Star Wars edition,” Jack agreed.

Chapter Text

Saturday morning, Star met Danny, Tucker, Sam, Ember, and Kwan early in the morning (well, 9:30am, which was early for teens; subsequently, Star had simply donned soft orange yoga pants with a black Dumpty Humpty t-shirt, since she was not taking the effort to fully dress up if she wasn’t going to be in public) at Sam’s place to work on the case some more, in light of what the news had reported the previous night: Sarah Park, a girl a grade above Star, had been reported missing. Star knew the girl from cheerleading, and she definitely wouldn’t simply run away; Star suspected that the cases could be related, as the girl had been missing since Tuesday (seems her parents, like Star’s, had initially figured she had run away, but unlike Star’s, who did report her quickly, Sarah’s had initially told the school she was out sick with the flu to save face).

The others who knew the situation (not counting Valerie and Vlad, who weren't part of this group investigating Star’s murder, even if they likely might investigate on their own) all had things to do: Jazz was at some competition for one of the academic clubs she was in, which Lancer was chaperoning; Johnny and Kitty were going on a weekend trip to Cairo, having found a natural portal in the woods that led to a far part of the Ghost Zone that had a permanent natural portal to Egypt (at the River Styx entrance), which was was stable enough to supposedly be open for a whole 48 hours; and Mikey had a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (Star secretly wished to try that game, but it was not just the total opposite of cool but also needed a group, so wasn’t even something she could indulge in privately as a guilty pleasure).

“Hate to say this, but we’re getting nowhere with the people angle, so maybe we ought to look into ghosts being the culprit after all,” Ember said to open the discussion.

“No, I don’t think they are,” Tucker countered. “So, in light of Sarah being reported missing last night, I’ve done a little more research, expanding the search—that’s what I want to talk to you about today. Star and Sarah might not be the only cases. There’s been other cases with the same MO, but outside Amity Park. All blonde teenagers, taken after school by an unregistered van. It changes colors and plates, but it’s the same model.”

“Same model… So, the color could be grey now?” Star asked, recalling the one she’d seen a few times in the past few days, the one that gave off the creepy vibe.

“Oh, right, we have been seeing one like that around, haven’t we?” Danny recalled. “I saw it near the Nasty Burger yesterday. The feeling it gave off was really creepy…”

“Yeah, I saw that near the school, and near the party!” Star declared. “Just like the white one in the video, but grey!”

“Excuse me?” Tucker said incredulously. “And neither of you thought to mention this!?”

Star started to shrug, but then groaned and put her hand on her head as images flashed through it. Waking up in a dark place, other girls around her, all scared…

“Star? Are you okay?” Danny asked worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Y-yeah,” Star stuttered out, leaning into Danny slightly, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders instead in response (both were floating) as the images and headache faded. “I think a memory came back—I was held somewhere small and dark… with other girls. I dunno how many though.”

There was quiet for a few moments, which Kwan broke with a quiet, “Holy shit. This is some sort of a trafficking situation, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Tucker said, seeming slightly comfortable. “If so, whatever they’re doing to them isn’t typical trafficking stuff, because it’s five per city and they all end up dead, found together.”

“So it’s some sort of serial killer with a thing for five?” Sam asked.

“Meaning, it’s more likely a human, then,” Ember concluded.

“No, I’m not sure it was,” Star said, vague thoughts crossing her mind. Shadows. “I think there were multiple people involved… Two, at least, maybe more? I don’t remember who they are, but I now distinctly remember feeling that they weren’t human… but…” Star hunched in on herself a little as she recalled the memory of the uncanny feeling, and Danny squeezed her shoulder slightly in comfort.

“But what?” Sam prodded.

“But, I don’t think they were ghosts, either. There was no glow, and there was just something about them…” Star trailed, trying to think, then concluded, “It was dark, but the light caught their skin, and I swear it shined like it was scaled. It’s too fuzzy; I can’t remember more than that.”

“That’s still a lot more than we had before,” Danny pointed out, still not moving away, which Star internally felt a little happy about in spite of the situation. “And, come to think of it, the feeling of the van didn’t quite feel ghostly in the same way ghosts feel or human in the same way humans feel… something in between?”

“Halfas, you think?” Sam asked.

“No, definitely not,” Danny said, certain. “We still feel like ghosts. This was different… Wait,” he said. “Wait, there were two creepy people in the corner of the Nasty Burger giving off that vibe! It must be their van!”

“You saw them?!” Tucker declared. “Dude, these are the things you report! We were right there with you!”

“They were in hoodies with the hoods up, and talking too quietly to hear, I assumed it was a drug deal,” Danny defended.

“Understandable,” Star said. This also ruled out any classmates, unless they were working with these strange figures, which Star couldn’t see happening… Well, at least with ones that Star knew. She supposed there might be some that she didn’t know well who could have easily done it, if the motivation was more based on type rather than a specific person; after all, someone had surreptitiously gotten that note in her locker, and people would certainly notice cloaked nonhuman creatures!

“But if not ghosts or humans, what were they?” Ember asked, looking a bit disturbed.

“Gods?” Sam tried.

“Gods?” Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, the Ancient ghosts that humans in the ancient worlds mistook for gods. Pariah Dark, Clockwork, Vortex, Undergrowth—they feel different from regular ghosts.”

“Yeah, but they still are ultimately ghosts,” Danny pointed out. “And they usually don’t work together, and are typically very inhuman looking and large.”

“Clockwork isn’t large.”

“Clockwork is an exception.”

“What about the Yeti?” Tucker asked.

“Eh, I doubt it; if they were around, it would be obvious,” Danny said. “They’re big, hairy, and not good at hiding, so there’d be plenty of reports of sightings.”

“Yeah, these things were about human size and shape, I remember that much,” Star told them. “And I remember when some of those big ghosts attacked Amity Park—these definitely did not feel like them.”

“But… isn’t that all there is?” Kwan asked nervously.

“Up until just over a year ago, we didn’t think ghosts existed,” Sam pointed out.

“Yeah, and now we’re not just working with ghosts, but two of us are ghosts,” Danny added.

“Part-ghost in the one case,” Sam corrected, which Danny rolled his eyes at.

The rev of a motorcycle sounded as Johnny entered the room, Kitty and a third unknown ghost both riding on his cycle. Star sneezed, Ember’s ponytail sparked, and Danny gasped icy air—in short, their ghost senses went off.

“We’ve got a problem,” Johnny announced as he alighted his motorcycle on the floor and then dismissed it, followed by him and Kitty easily landing on the ground but the third ghost struggling a little before finally managing to stay on the floor, as though he were new at it.

“Weren’t you on a date?” Ember asked with confusion.

“Yeah that didn’t happen,” Kitty said. “Instead we found this guy just as we were getting ready to leave.”

Star stared at the new ghost; something was very familiar about him, and not just because he wore a Casper High varsity jacket… He had pea-green skin, pointed ears, and fangs, and his irises glowed red, but the blonde hair was familiar, and his overall shape... Suddenly, Star realized why she recognized him.

Danny did too. “Dash?!” he proclaimed in shock, tensing as well.

“Fenton?” Dash said, clearly surprised. He turned to Johnny, raising a clawed green hand and curling it into a first. “I thought you said you were taking me to people who could help!”

“I did,” Johnny said, unperturbed the the display of aggression.

“How can these losers help?” Dash demanded, then amended, “Well, mostly losers. I thought you meant ghosts, given...” He gestured his hand down himself.

“I did mean ghosts,” Johnny said, crossing his arms and looking amused. He was well aware of Dash’s relationship with Danny, and clearly was having fun using it to taunt him. “Three of them, in fact.”

“But, there’s only… humans… Oh, Ember, duh,” Dash realized, eyes falling on her. “I always forget you’re a ghost. But then who are…” His eyes widened as they fell upon Danny, who was now smirking with fangs showing and eyes glowing as he sat with his legs crossed, hands on his knees—five feet above the ground. “Holy shit. Fenton?! You’re a ghost!? No, no way—you look perfectly human, the eyes and fangs are just that weird ecto-contamination you have. This is a prank; Ember must be levitating you.” he turned to Ember. “Not funny, Princess.”

“It’s not a prank,” Ember said, also with a smug grin. “And Danny’s not the only ghost who can pass as human, for the record.”

“Yeah, I can too,” Star told Dash, as she began floating too, knees slightly bent and hands on her hips, eyes glowing. She gave herself fangs too (which, ugh, still weren’t there by default! It was close, though; she could sense it).

Dash swerved to face Star, eyes wide. He opened his mouth, then closed it, apparently unable to decide what to say at first, then weakly asked, “But, how?” he turned to Johnny. “You said I can’t go back home because there’s no way to look human!”

“No way for you to,” Johnny clarified. “Those two have rare shapeshifting abilities that let them pass.”

“I dunno, you don’t look that different, really,” Danny said teasingly, although Star could sense his severe nervousness underneath—she was practiced with covering her true emotions, after all; true, she actually was generally bubbly and hyper, but she also sometimes only used that as a cover. Danny very obviously used humor and banter for such; Star was certain she was correct on that front.

“Say that again, Fen-turd!” Dash growled, raising his fist and floating forward a little. The ghostly glow around him intensified in reaction to his strong emotion

Danny, eyes aglow, immediately floated backwards sharply and raised his hands in front of him, forming the beginnings of glowing green ecto-blasts in them; likely unintentionally, as he immediately had a look of realization and dismissed them before lowing his hands again.

Unfortunately, Dash noticed, and smirked in response. “What, are you scared?”

“Well, you do have ghost powers now,” Danny pointed out. “Can you blame me for being a bit nervous?”

“Oh come on, you know I’d never hurt you that badly. I’m all about the fists! Using powers would be a cheap cop-out.”

“Says the guy who threatened me with a knife a few days ago,” Danny growled, fear clearly morphing into anger.

“Tch. I didn’t plan to actually use it.”

“So? It was still an awful thing to do! Knives can really hurt.” It sounded like Danny knew that from experience.

“Dude, if you’re a ghost, you can just phase through it.”

“Yeah, or I could’ve overshadowed you, or turned invisible and ran, or any number of ghost things, but I’m trying to keep a cover, and doing that stuff around humans who don’t already know is kinda a surefire way that they’ll figure things out!”

Kitty then stepped in. “Okay, time to stop fighting. We’ve got more important things to discuss.”

“Yeah, I gotta agree,” Tucker said. “Plus, it’s getting rather chilly in here.”

“Sorry,” Danny said with a wince.

Sam sighed and grabbed a remote. “I’ll turn the heat up. Most importantly, Dash, how are you a ghost?!”

“Oh, right,” Dash said. “Um… Well, I can ask the same of Fenton and Star, because what the fuck, but I can go first I guess. It was last night, around like 1am, but it’s really fuzzy since I was walking home from a party and kinda had been drinking. I cut through the woods of the park because it was faster, even though it was pretty dark.” Right, half the street lights in Amity Park, including in the large park, were out due to ghost fights and they never repaired them.

Dash continued, “I heard a girl scream, so I started running, and turned a corner in the path to find Hannah, who had also been at the party, being pulled into the woods by someone. I grabbed her, trying to pull her away, then was attacked from behind. I tried to fight, I really did, but, well… Guess I lost, because I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and everything went dark and next thing I know I’m floating through the woods in a daze, feeling like I was made of fog, until I found a glowing green portal that felt like it was drawing me in—it brought me to the Ghost Zone and I solidified.”

“That’s when I found him,” Johnny said. “Sounds like he was probably wandering around half-formed for a few hours before he stumbled upon the natural portal, which is lucky—well, not lucky he died, but otherwise it could have been days before we found him, like with Star.”

“Wait,” Dash said, staring at Star with wide eyes. “That week you went missing. That’s when you became a ghost, wasn’t it? And then Sarah disappeared, and someone took Hannah… Holy shit, does Amity Park have a serial killer?!”

“Might be worse than that,” Tucker said. “We think it’s a group, and…” he shifted uneasily.

Star stepped in. “I don’t really remember what happened, but I do know I had the feeling that they weren’t human or ghost.”

“Oh. I thought they might not be human, but they didn’t glow like ghosts, and I was pretty sure they had fangs and claws and maybe even scales, but…” Dash sighed. “I didn’t say because I thought it was just a drunk hallucination.”

“Scales? Like a snake?” Danny asked. “The creepy hooded people at Nasty Burger might have been hissing, come to think of it,” he mused, looking contemplative. “I thought it was whispering, but it was weird that I couldn’t really hear it, humans can’t talk that quietly while still understanding each other…”

“Wait, so this was at the park?” Star asked, realizing something. “Is your body still there?”

“I have no idea,” Dash said. “But if they’re practiced killers, they probably would have hid it, right? I’m guessing that’s why yours hasn’t been found either, unless you…?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t hide it,” Star told Dash. “I have no clue where mine is, either.”

Johnny summoned his bike and hopped onto it. “I’ll go ride around the woods, see if there’s anything to report, after I fill the police chief in; that’s okay, right?”

“Fill him in on what exactly?” Danny asked with suspicion.

Johnny sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. “Just about the girls and Dash, although Nick does already know about that, if that’s what you’re worried about, remember? Anyway, so when it was only Star’s murder we were trying to solve, it made sense to hide it since no one knew she died, but now there’s multiple murders possibly involving a group of non-humans, and kidnapped girls, so yeah, gonna fill him in.” With that, Johnny revved his bike up and flew off.

“You two are okay with Johnny talking to the police?” Danny asked Star and Dash. “If not, I can go stop him.”

“I’m fine with it,” Dash said. “I mean, I want to know what killed me, and there’s more missing people now, only makes sense.”

Star considered that, then decided, “I agree with Dash—this is about more than me now, and we can’t solve it alone.”

“Even though it might reveal that you’re a ghost?” Danny confirmed.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like I thought I could hide for long to begin with—my body will surely be found eventually,” Star reasoned. “Besides, the chief might be okay with keeping it secret for now, since he keeps you secret.”

“Oh, right, what about you, Fenton?” Dash asked. “Since when are—wait.” His eyes widened. “Shit, it wasn’t me who did it, was it? Like, I didn’t punch you too hard or something? Oh God, I did, didn’t I!?”

“Hey, whoa, calm down!” Danny yelled, holding a hand in front of him in a stop gesture. “No, you didn’t murder me. I’m the only one at fault for it.”

“You… Wait, so then you… Oh God, it was the bullying that drove you to it, wasn’t it?”

“What? Drove to—oh, shoot. No, not that, sorry, didn’t mean to imply that!” Danny hurriedly said, waving his hands in a denial motion. “It was an accident!”

“Oh, phew,” Dash said, relaxing, then hurriedly said, “Not the dying part! Just, er, glad it wasn’t… that. But wait… Does that mean you hid your own corpse?!”

Danny put a hand on his face and sighed. “No. I still… Okay, so I’m not your typical kind of ghost. I still technically have my human body, kinda? And before you say it, I am not a ghost possessing a corpse! You see…”

Danny explained to Dash about halfas and the whole situation that caused him to become one.

“That is so whack,” Dash said at the end. “You’ve been a ghost for a whole year and no one could figure it out, not even your parents? Heck, I touch you every school day yet didn’t know!”

“Okay, that sounded super wrong,” Tucker pointed out.

Danny rolled his eyes at Tucker’s ‘joke’, then explained, “A few people did figure it out. My sister did early on; for a long time it was just her, Sam, and Tucker who knew, as far as humans, but earlier this week a few others did.”

“Guessing you were one?” Dash asked Kwan. “Can’t believe you didn’t tell me, man! We’re best friends.”

“I was sworn to secrecy!” Kwan hurriedly said. “And besides, I couldn’t message you in case the GIW has our phones tapped, so when was I supposed to tell you, at the party? It was only yesterday, during that makeup lab.”

“I’m still kinda mad at you for that,” Danny said to him coldly, showing a fang and eyes glowing.

“Okay, whoa, no need for a repeat incident!” Star said, hurriedly floating between the two.

Danny raised an eyebrow at Star. “Seriously? You know I’m not serious, right?”

Star blushed and floated back into her previous position. “Yeah, I know,” she lied.

“Oh, whoa, you blush green!” Dash said with surprise, then asked, “So, what’s this about an incident?”

“Oh, man, it was crazy!” Kwan declared, then proceeded to excitedly tell the story, Star and Danny chiming in too at a few points to clarify things. Star could tell that Danny, like her, was a little frustrated at Kwan for delving into the story with no consideration that the two of them might not be too happy with sharing such.

“So that’s why our homework got destroyed,” Dash said with realization at the end; an e-mail had been sent to the class alerting them of it. “Guess I should thank you; I really BS’d that report, definitely wouldn’t have been an A.”

“There’s one more thing…” Danny trailed, then took a deep unnecessary breath. “Everyone else here knows; you should too. Plus I’m sure you’d learn it from other ghosts soon enough. I have a second form, a more ghostly one…” He shifted to Phantom form, sans rings—he never used those anymore, Star noticed.

“Holy fishsticks!” Dash proclaimed. “You’re Phantom?” He paused in thought. “Huh. So much makes sense now… Though I’m a little miffed that apparently I’ve been beating up my Hero all along!”

“Yeah, I had the same reaction,” Kwan supplied. “It’s especially disturbing when you realize that he could have killed us very easily. Like, he could’ve torn off our heads or ripped our hearts out…”

“For the last time, Kwan, I don’t do that stuff,” Danny growled. “99% of ghosts don’t do that stuff! We have morals.”

“And technically, humans can do that stuff too,” Ember reminded them. “They need tools, but can do it.”

Danny shifted back to human form, looking uneasy. “Star’s got a more ghostly look too,” he revealed, likely to shift focus.

“Yeah, unlike Danny, my default is not my human look, unfortunately,” Star revealed. “Here…” She changed back to her pale-blue skin, glowing eyes, and patterned hair, to her secret delight, the fangs stayed even though she hadn’t told them to (which hopefully meant they were now permanent!).

“Huh. That’s a pretty rad look, honestly,” Dash said.

Then, the doorbell rang. Everyone tensed.

Tucker quickly pulled out his PDA and tapped a few buttons before revealing, “Security camera says it’s Johnny and the police chief.”

“I’ll get it,” Sam offered, hurrying to the door.

A minute later, Sam returned, leading Johnny and the Amity Park Police Chief down the stairs.

“Kids, this is my old buddy, Nick,” Johnny introduced. “Or rather, Chief Griffin,” he amended, after a Look from his much-older-in-appearance best friend.

Chief Griffin looked around the room; his eyes lingered on Dash and Star, who realized she was still in her ghost form, and then landed on Danny.

“Hey, Chief,” Danny greeted. Oh, right; Danny, would already know the police chief, Star realized. It was well known that the chief regularly made calls to his parents’ house throughout the years, usually related to explosions in the lab or, more recently, to privately negotiate payment for damage caused by the GAV and other ghost-fighting devices in lieu of actual fines that would go on a record (Lance had complained about that not being fair after the news station got fined for accidentally knocking over a stop sign in their haste to reach a scene).

The chief only glanced downward and then raised an eyebrow at Danny.

Danny looked down at the gap between his crossed legs and the ground. “Oops,” he said, then lowered himself back down to stand on the ground. “There’s, er, not any chance you can ignore that, is there?”

Chief Griffin chuckled. “Relax, Fenton, I already know.”

“Oh, right; Johnny did say that,” Danny recalled.

“Wait, the police know about you?” Dash asked. “Everything?”

“Not all of them,” Danny said tiredly. “But apparently the chief and a few officers know, because of traffic cameras of all things.”

“I do have questions though,” Chief Griffin warned.

Danny sighed. “If it’s about the jewelry, that was Freakshow, he had a ghost-controlling scepter.”

“Yes, we know about that,” the chief revealed. “And Johnny set us straight about that whole thing with Walker and the mayor, as well as the alleged Axion Labs sabotage.”

“You did that?” Danny asked Johnny in surprise.

“Well, yeah,” Johnny told him. “I never saw you as an enemy, kid; an annoying brat at times, sure, but I don’t want you arrested for things you didn’t do.”

“Then, what do you want to know about?” Danny asked Chief Griffin.

“Your death,” Star realized. “He wants to know how you died.”

“What? Why?” Danny asked with clear surprise.

Ember chuckled. “Why are you surprised at that, Babypop? The townspeople speculate about how Phantom died all the time; of course the police would be curious too.”

“It’s more than curiosity," Chief Griffin replied. “A child died, back as a ghost or not; it’s our duty to investigate how that happened. Frankly, it’s odd how you’re so secretive about it, always dodging around the question; are you protecting someone?”

“No, I—okay, so I’m not exactly a traditional type of ghost. I’m something called a ‘liminal’ or ‘halfa’,” Danny revealed, then explained—well, mostly. Star noticed that although he explained what a liminal was, Danny intentionally left out how exactly he had become one.

Chief Griffin noticed too. “Okay, so you’re a special type of ghost that absorbed his revived body so as a result has some human functions still,” he summarized. “But, you still died; don’t think I didn’t notice that you dodged around how that happened.”

Danny winced. “I’d rather not say.”

Star was mildly confused; Danny revealed everything else, and he seemed fine with telling the teens about the accident. Why was the police chief any diff—oooh. He was worried about his parents. It was their lab, their machine. There could be a good legal argument made that they were responsible.

“So you are protecting someone,” Chief Griffin concluded.

“No! It was an accident, and all on me,” Danny told him.

“An accident… Ah,” Chief Griffin said with realization. “With a machine in your parents’ lab, correct? Hence the hazmat jumpsuit, and ending up as this ‘halfa’ thing instead of a typical ghost. Obviously when they weren’t home, since they clearly don’t know.”

“You got all that from me saying it was an accident?”

“Well, I’m not the Chief for nothing.”

“Okay, fine. Yes, that’s what happened. But for the record, they did tell me not to mess around with the portal unsupervised,” Danny claimed. “I’m the one who didn’t listen.”

“The portal… the one that leads to the Ghost Zone?”

“Yeah. We thought it didn’t work, but when I was exploring inside it I tripped something and it turned on. It’s not on my parents though!”

“From how defensive you are, I’m guessing you know the way the treat their kids has been on our radar for a while,” Chief Griffin concluded. “And that it’s as bad as we suspect?” he was trying to pull information out, Star realized.

“No! No, it’s fine. They’re perfectly fine parents,” Danny defended with much too strong a tone to be truthful, in Star’s opinion. “Anyway, that’s not why you’re here—there’s bigger issues to address.”

“Right, of course,” Chief Griffin acknowledged, apparently choosing to let things drop for now as he turned to Star and Dash. “Johnny filled me in. Star, you’ve been trying to solve your death on your own, because you wanted to keep being a part of human society. If you want to keep trying to do that, I’ll keep your involvement a secret for now, but if we do find a body we can’t keep it hidden.”

“I understand,” Star acknowledged.

“And Dash… Well, if you don’t want your becoming a ghost to be public, I won’t say anything about that either. I sent some officers to the park with cadaver dogs on an ‘anonymous tip’; hopefully your body will be found, because if not, and you still want to stay hidden, I’m not sure how we can continue working it as anything other than a simple missing persons case without any solid proof that it isn’t; my word alone wouldn’t be enough…”

“And if it’s a missing person’s case, then, like me, it will probably get dismissed as a runaway,” Star stated.

“Yes,” the chief acknowledged. “I must apologize for that; we should not have dismissed the case so quickly, protocol be damned.”

“But there’s two other girls missing now,” Danny pointed out, apparently opting to sit in the air again (was he even aware he was doing that?). “Shouldn’t there being three students missing makes it obvious that they’re not runaways?”

“That does strengthen the case, but pairs or groups of teenage runaways isn’t that unusual,” Chief Griffin revealed, sending an amused look at Johnny, who awkwardly laughed.

“When we were your age, me, Nick, and another friend of ours ran away together,” Johnny told the younger teenagers. “We took a bus to Vegas—the plan was that we would win it big gambling and use that money to go live somewhere nice. Instead, we lost all our savings gambling, then hitchhiked back home.”

Chief Griffin chuckled. “Our parents were definitely not happy with that! Anyway, Dash, it’s your choice, but if they don’t find a body you might want to—hold on,” he said, as his phone began ringing and he noted the caller ID. “I need to take this, sorry.” He stepped to the other side of the room quietly answer, not realizing that the ghosts could still hear both him and the speaker.

“Lieutenant Dresden,” Chief Griffin greeted.

“We have some bad news, sir,” the feminine voice on the phone, presumably Lieutenant Dresden, said.

“Well, lay it on me.”

“Your anonymous tip proved true—too much so. So far, we’ve found five human bodies of varying ages… wait, no, scratch that, six. Six bodies so far. I assume your source was talking about the most recent one, which appears to be a stocky teenage male, blonde-haired, wearing a high school varsity jacket.”

Dash tensed. “That’s gotta be me,” he whispered, eyes wide.

“Were any others recognizeable?” Chief Griffin asked.

“Not really; they’re pretty old and decayed, so we’re probably going to need to call in a forensic anthropologist,” Lieutenant Dresden explained. “I’d say it’s a good bet the associated cases are frigid by now, pretty sure there’s civil war stuff on one. Although, one looks like a young kid who seems to be in a pirate costume? Isn’t there a ghost like that?”

“There is,” Chief Griffin confirmed. “Calls himself Youngblood, has an ability that can make him invisible to adults but not kids; I talked to him, and he said he has barely any memory of his life or death, doesn’t even know his real name; all he knows is he died on Halloween.”

“That explains why he changes costumes so much,” Danny muttered.

“Oh no—they found another—no, wait, it’s just another deer, phew,” Lieutenant Dresden said. “And to think, this is just a small section of the woods… Do you want to do a larger sweep?”

“Yes, but not right now; I want the most recent body examined as soon as possible,” Chief Griffin said. “Plus, the dogs will get tired out—give them a rest for now, and we’ll send them out in small rotating groups until the entirety of the park’s woods is done; it’s only 100 acres, which is small enough that it should only take a few days. We’ll map a grid for it.”

“Got it, sir—ah, looks like the forensic pathologist is finally here.”

“Go talk to him, and keep me updated.”

“Of course,” Lieutenant Dresden said, then hung up.

Chief Griffin sighed and closed his phone, then returned to the group. “I have news,” he told them.

“We heard,” Star told him.

“We didn’t!” Tucker chimed in, gesturing to him, Sam, and Kwan.

“Ghost hearing is better than humans,” Kitty informed Chief Griffin.

“Ah. Well, a fresh body was found—teenage male, so likely yours, Dash,” the chief told the group. “But apparently that woods holds a lot of other bodies… All pretty old so far, but I’ve ordered a gradual full sweep of the woods because of it. Be prepared to see this on the news tonight,” he warned.

“Oh,” Star gasped, then turned to Dash. “Paulina! We have to tell her about you, before she sees it on the news!”

“Oh, right,” Dash said with realization, starting to panic. “Oh no. My parents too, they’re going to get the call… Should I… But I can’t, I don’t want them to see me like this… But they’re going to be devastated, would it be better for them to know I’m around, or… Or would they want to think I’m somewhere better, or… Ugh! I don’t know what to do!” Dash shouted, putting his hands on his head as things began levitating.

Danny looked around, simply letting objects phase through him while the humans dodged behind couches. “Oh come on, I’ve been trying to get telekinesis down all year and he does it accidentally?!”

“Danny! Not the time!” Star chided, then floated over to Dash. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked at his face; his eyes were closed. “Hey, Dash, you have to calm down,” she told him gently, trying to recall what Kitty did to calm her down when she had a similar freakout. “Look at me, okay?” Dash slowly opened his eyes. “Good. Deep breaths, okay? I know they’re not needed but it helps, trust me.” She did one to demonstrate.

Dash followed Star’s example and took long deep breaths, calming down with every one, objects swirling around slower and slower until they dropped, upon which Kitty and Johnny used their own telekinesis to halt as much as they could before slowly lowering the objects to the floor instead of letting them crash down.

“S-sorry about that,” Dash said, looking incredibly embarrassed.

Star withdrew. “Don’t worry; I had a similar panic attack when it first sank in, too,” she revealed.

“It’s very common,” Kitty assured them both. “Your entire existence has been upended. Not only is panic a common reaction to that, but ghost emotions are more volatile than human ones and harder to keep under control. It’ll take some time to get used to that, especially because your powers can react to your emotions too.”

“Really?” Dash said with surprise. “That does explain some things… Wait, so Fenton, does that mean you had trouble too?”

Danny nodded. “Oh yeah. Let’s just say running out of class wasn’t always due to ghost attacks at first, and that ‘butterfingers phase’ was literally phasing through things accidentally. I was also somewhat in denial, and trying to suppress my powers did not help anything; honestly, it’s a good thing the accident happened a month before school, because it was a total mess at first. Star’s been handling things much better.”

“Well, she wasn’t in denial and trying to suppress her powers for more than a month,” Ember pointed out.

“True,” Star said, then realized, “Though it does help that I’m not living with ghost hunters and already knew ghosts were a thing and didn’t hate them.”

“Yeah, that definitely had something to do with it too,” Danny said. “I mean, my whole life I was told that ghosts were bad, and then suddenly I had ghost powers? Or, at the time that’s what I told myself—I think deep down even then I knew it was more than that, but like Ember said, I was in denial, and actively resisting them, and resisting the powers just made them build up burst out on their own.”

“Okay, whereas this is a fascinating conversation, and it really is, I believe we’re getting off track,” Chief Griffin interjected. “Dash’s body’s been found, but there’s still two missing girls, possibly more, from my understanding. Mind filling me in fully?”

So, the group filled the chief in on everything they knew, including who they ruled out and how they suspected now that the culprits might be a new creature.

“I think we need to contact the mayor about this,” Chief Griffin concluded.

“He knows about me already,” Star revealed. “Well, that I’m a ghost now, hiding among humans. He seems fine with it, I think.”

“Does he know anything else?”

“No,” Star said. “But, Danny gave him an existential crisis, so he might be unavailable?”

“Oh?” the chief said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, seems the guy didn’t know some things about himself that he really should have.”

“Star!” Danny said in a warning tone.

“What? It’s true.”

“If it’s related to him being Plasmius, Johnny already told me,” Chief Griffin revealed. “Including how he overshadowed the town to become mayor—Danny, I’m guessing you never told because he threatened to reveal your secret if you did?”

“Got it in one,” Danny confirmed.

“Wait, what? So if you know, why don’t the police do anything about it!?” Tucker demanded.

Chief Griffin laughed bitterly. “Seriously? You know what he’s like—humans would stand no chance. No, with him, it’s a game of politics, and he’s pretty good at that, if you haven’t noticed. But, in his role of mayor he honestly hasn’t done anything bad for the town other than the petty things that I’m pretty sure were to get back at Phantom, and he actually does do a lot of good—our streets are actually driveable again thanks to him donating some of his own money towards repairs. So we can tolerate his pettiness. If he gets too far out of line we’ll confront him, but for now I think it’s best for us to leave it alone.”

“If he gets too far out of line, the Ghost Zone has an oversight board of powerful ghosts called Observants that will do something,” Danny promised. “Halfas count as ghosts under Ghost Zone law—there’s not many official laws, it’s 90% anarchy in there with some smaller kingdoms in a few regions, but there’s a select few laws they do enforce, one being not to cause too much damage to the human realm. Undergrowth and Vortex are currently in their prison because of that. And before you ask, no, Walker is unrelated to that board—like I said, it’s 90% anarchy, and his prison has no real jurisdiction. Doesn’t stop him from capturing ghosts and locking them up in his prison due to rules he makes up on the spot, but it’s easy to break out of there.”

“Yeah, Johnny told me about Walker,” Chief Griffin revealed. “But, that’s definitely good to know about those Observants.”

“Wait,” Kitty interjected. “The Observants are, like, real?”

“Yeah,” Ember told her. “They actually talked to me after the whole trying-to-take-over-the-world thing I did,” she revealed. “And, rumor has it that Dipstick here got himself on probation with them or something, put freakin’ Clockwork in charge of him.”

“Whoa, for seriously? What’d you do to get that?” Johnny asked, possibly with some slight fear.

“No comment,” Danny muttered.

“Uh, no, now we kinda gotta know,” Kitty said worriedly.

“Yeah, I wanna know too,” Star chimed in, curious. Was Danny a delinquent?

Danny sighed. “Fine. In short, there’s a really bad alternative future timeline that came really close to passing, and it left the Observants worried. Things turned out fine, and there’s now zero chance that that future will happen, but they’re obnoxiously stubborn so decided Clockwork needs to keep an eye on me just in case.”

“Oof; tough break, kid,” Johnny said sympathetically.

“Anyway, whereas this is interesting,” the chief interjected, “we need to go tell the mayor that we have both a dead body and think it’s a possible serial-killer group; Danny, Star, Dash, you come with me. The rest of you, go do whatever you kids do on a Saturday.”

“Uh, no, we’re coming too,” Sam asserted.

“Yeah, what gives?” Johnny asked his friend.

“Too large a group might put him on edge,” Chief Griffin told him.

“He has a point,” Tucker chimed in. “It’s Vlad, after all.”

“But, why only those three?” Kwan asked.

“Well, Star and Dash are victims of this group, and I want Phantom there because he has more experience dealing with Mayor Masters.”

“In other words, you want him to protect you if Plasmius goes all coocoo,” Ember read between the lines.

“Well, yes,” the Chief admitted. “Now, let’s go.”

Most the others stayed inside, but Kwan followed the four of them out, saying as they reached the street, “Dash, I’ll go tell Paulina about you while you do that, is that okay?” It was curious, Star thought, how Kwan seemed largely unaffected by Dash being a ghost; compartmentalizing, maybe? He was good at that. Might also be some denial; maybe it hadn’t fully sunk in yet what Dash being a ghost meant.

Dash nodded. “Sure thing.”

“You can tell her about me, too,” Danny said, to Star’s surprise, and seeing her expression he shrugged and said, “You three know; it feels wong to force you to hide this from the last member of your quartet. Just, make sure she knows to keep it a secret, and if me being Fenton doesn’t change her crush on Phantom please tell her that she shouldn’t keep trying to pursue me.”

“Really? I thought you liked her?” Kwan asked. Star make sure to pay attention to the answer.

“Well, I do, but I don’t think I can in good faith date a human, knowing I’ll be 14 forever,” Danny revealed, and Star felt relieved that Paulina was no longer in the running for Danny’s potential girlfriend.

“Ah, makes sense,” Kwan agreed. “I’ll make sure she knows.”

With that, Kwan ran off, and Star’s core did something funny again; Danny said he wasn’t open to dating humans, but he’d said nothing about ghosts, and if Star was correct, well, there was one newer ghost that Danny definitely was interested in, even if he didn’t seem to fully realize it yet… Or did he?

Chapter Text

Danny climbed out of the cop car, which he’d been sitting in the front seat of; Star and Dash had been in the back seat to more easily stay hidden, given their looks. Chief Griffin insisted they take the car instead of fly, as well as instructed Danny to stay in human form for now, so there wasn’t a chance that Vlad took Phantom and two ghosts flying into Town Hall as a threat. Star shifted to her human look too as they arrived, including a new outfit, and Dash put on a baseball cap that Sam had at her place—it was black with a spider design, which Dash had grumbled about, but he agreed to use it nonetheless, as he didn’t want anyone unnecessary knowing he was a ghost yet.

Danny honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about Dash being a ghost. A part of him guiltily felt happy, because that (hopefully) meant no more bullying, but… well, he still died. Plus, Dash had clearly changed his attitude about Danny very quickly after learning his identity, which Danny was having trouble processing; after years and years of treating him like garbage, suddenly Dash was being friendly? It just didn’t feel right.

Besides, it was very possible that this new attitude was temporary; how soon would it be before Dash realized that he didn’t care if Danny was Phantom or not, and went back to treating him as a punching bag, only this time using ghost powers? Danny could fight back now, but Dash could fight with words as well, which couldn’t so easily be avoided or blocked and honestly hurt more than the bruises (whoever made the ‘sticks and stones’ phrase had obviously never been bullied).

“I called ahead, so he should be expecting us,” Chief Griffin told the three as they entered the City Hall building and proceeded to the Mayor’s Office, easily getting through security (or rather, bypassing it) thanks to Chief Griffin’s credentials and vouching for them. Danny hadn’t even realized City Hall had regular security, including both metal detectors and ecto-energy detectors! He just flew in all the time (he assumed it only had the walk-through ecto-scanners to detect overshadowing; the general building did not have working detectors as Plasmius used ghosts for his dirty work, plus would be detected himself).

Danny couldn’t help but look at Star as he followed behind, but he tried not to, especially because Dash seemed to have noticed Danny looking, raising an eyebrow and smirking, though didn’t say anything—getting a blush from Danny was apparently enough. But, Danny couldn’t help it!

Star had switched from the casual outfit to a much more showy one, and from the occasional glances and hair flips she gave Danny seemed to know that he had noticed, and not just because she had once again forgotten about the weather. Her pumpkin-orange skirt was just a little on the short side (and she had proudly sent him a text as they got out of the car announcing that she only wore skirts like that on weekends because they were too short for the school’s liking, although she assured him there were indeed booty shorts under it when he mentioned flying again). The matching short-sleeve jacket, left open, revealed a black sphaghetti-strap crop top (also banned at school; not the crop top, the spaghetti-straps, which seemed a bit strange since the crop top definitely showed a lot more skin than spaghetti straps). In addition to the usual orange flower in her hair, Star had a necklace with a similar looking flower and a rope belt that was decorated with yet another flower. She wore no stockings or socks (or if she did, they were no-show ones), just black slip-on shoes with a slight heel (Mary Janes, if Danny recalled the name correctly?).

Vlad Masters closed a book and put it on a stack as he stood from his desk as the group entered. He looked a little harrowed, and Danny noted that the book was in Latin. Other books were in ghost runes, and a few were in English, titles of which related to ghosts. So he really did go to that library to read up on halfas after all; Danny wondered if Vlad had learned anything that Danny hadn’t been told by Ember.

“Chief Griffin. To what do I owe this pleasure, and why do you have three—” he cut himself off and cleared his throat. “Three teenagers with you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Danny, and Danny suspected he had been about to say ghosts before realizing that might reveal his identity—seems he really didn’t know that the chief was aware that he was Plasmius.

“Well, in short, there seems to be a serial killer in Amity Park,” the chief revealed.

“Excuse me?” Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow; he had a good poker face, but from his experience with the man Danny could tell that beneath that veneer he was a little nervous, confirming Danny’s suspicion that not all his business ventures had been won via simple negotiation or overshadowing. “And what has led you to believe this?”

“Well, first, these three aren’t normal teenagers,” Chief Griffin revealed. “They’re ghosts.”

Vlad raised his eyebrows and looked at Danny, likely wondering if he’d told.

“I forgot traffic cameras exist,” Danny sheepishly admitted.

“Don’t worry; I’ve done that too,” Star said. “This one time, I was making out with an older boy in the car, and the cop who looked at the camera was friends with my stepdad, and, well—I was 13 at the time, and the guy was older.”

“Really? How old?” Danny asked, curious.

“Still a teen!” Star assured him. “But still apparently old enough to be concerning, if we’d gone all the way, which we definitely didn’t—only making out, and some second base stuff, not even third, which was honestly a bit disappointing, he was definitely good looking, I mean his—”

“Okay, TMI,” Danny interjected.

“Yes,” Chief Griffin confirmed. “Although, Star, I would like some more information about that—later,” he said, and Danny had a feeling he planned to see if legal action had been taken for that, and if not do so. The chief continued, “Anyway, Mayor Masters, Danny has informed me that you already know that he’s a ghost, including his other form—why you send people after Phantom despite knowing his secret identity, I don’t know, and frankly that’s your business, not mine. My business would be trying to get justice for his death, although he’s been uncooperative with that.

“Also my business, and why we’re here, is these two,” he gestured to Star and Dash. “They’re both students of Casper High who died within the past two weeks. Star, like Danny, can pass as human, and has been doing so since her death; her memory of it isn’t great, and she doesn’t know where her body is. Dash died last night, and although he doesn’t recall his attackers very well he did remember where, so his body was found this morning by my officers.”

Vlad paled. “And you are certain this is a serial killer, or rather a group I presume, seeing as you said ‘attackers’, plural?”

“Correct,” Chief Griffin told him. “We suspect at least two. We also don’t know if these two are the only ones who died at the culprits’ hands; all we know is they’re the only ghosts that resulted, as far as we know.”

“I see… Such a thing, in Amity Park… Never did I think it were possible!” Vlad declared, looking concerned, and Danny could believe that; apparently, it had not occurred to Vlad that being mayor could involve having to handle instances like teenagers murdered at the hands of a serial killer. “What led you to think it’s a serial killer, rather than simply two separate incidents that coincidentally occurred within the same timespan?”

“We also have two other girls missing, both blonde teenagers in the same class year as these three,” Chief Griffin revealed. “Dash here witnessed one being taken, and tried to save her.”

“I failed, obviously,” Dash said a bit sullenly. He took off his hat with his green clawed hands, allowing his green face, pointed ears, glowing eyes, and fangs to show.

“And you already—I mean, probably already know who I am,” Star said, correcting herself before she let Vlad’s identity ‘slip’. “Since I was on the news.”

“The girl who went missing, yes,” Vlad said. “You were all over the news, including your return from being ‘lost in the Ghost Zone’, which I assume was a veneer. I’m curious, though, why you’re here, Daniel…”

“Well, apparently Danny here and his friends, aka ‘Team Phantom’, have been helping Star solve her murder,” Chief Griffin revealed. “They were keeping it secret because she wanted to keep living, or however you’d phrase it, with her family and going to school. However, when they heard another girl went missing yesterday, and discovered Dash witnessed another girl be captured before he died, they realized that it went further than just Star and contacted me.”

“Tucker also did some research and found that there are likely more cases, in other towns,” Danny supplied. “We don’t know for sure, but there does seem to be a pattern of disappearances of blonde teenagers over the past couple months, with reports of a van being involved, and we’ve noticed a suspicious grey van around lately.”

“The van’s probably a different color now,” Star pointed out. “It changes in each incident but it’s the same model; it was white when stalking me, grey when stalking Hannah, they probably change it after each person taken.” Right, that must be why they were at the Nasty Burger, Danny realized; Hannah had been there.

“Clever,” Vlad commented. “Clearly heavily preplanned.”

“We also don’t think the group is human,” Dash revealed.

“Oh?” Vlad said. “You think ghosts are involved?” he looked at Danny curiously.

“No; not ghosts either,” Danny told him. “You did all that research with my parents; was there anything else you discovered exist, or just ghosts?”

Vlad carefully considered that before answering. “Nothing concrete,” he told them. “Nothing that I personally have seen. Rumors, though—I’ve stumbled upon plenty of those. Yeti, for one.”

“Yeti are technically a species of ghosts that live in the Far Frozen region of the Ghost Zone,” Danny said, well aware that Vlad actually did know that; this was for appearances. “They sometimes visit with natural portals. These things were more human, according to Star and Dash, though exactly what they looked like is fuzzy for both of them.”

“Hmm,” Vlad said, putting a hand on his chin. “Well, we know djinn and werewolves are just myths that arose from ghosts too,” he said. “Same for other shapeshifting animal myths—all merely ghosts with transformation abilities. Chances are vampire myths come from ghosts too, given some ghosts have fangs—like you now do, Daniel, it seems, even in human form…?”

“Yeah I dunno why that happened,” Danny revealed. “Guess my psyche just decided it wanted them.”

“Fascinating,” Vlad marvelled.

“What about non-ghost-related creatures?” Star asked, getting back on topic. “Like, I am definitely sure they weren’t ghosts.”

“Same,” Dash said. “They didn’t feel like humans or ghosts.”

“Well, there are also zombies,” Vlad revealed. “I’ve never personally seen one, but there is plenty of research on them. However, those are reanimated bodies without a soul, completely mindless, and quickly decay; there’s no way they could pull this off, even if someone were controlling them… Hmm, what else have I heard of… Well, there are a multitude of semi-reliable reports of mermaids, selkies, and other underwater creatures actually existing, but those wouldn’t be in the woods… I’m afraid I’m at a loss,” he apologetically admitted. “However, I will ask around, see if any of my old contacts have information… Have you considered asking the Fentons if they know anything? The adults, I mean,” he clarified, glancing at Danny.

“No!” Danny asserted. “They wouldn’t agree to work with ghosts. They wouldn’t even believe we were telling the truth. Or, not we, just Star and Dash—they’re not finding out about me anytime soon.” Other timeline from the Freakshow incident be damned; Danny was convinced that had been an exception due to saving them, and would have soon flipped to a negative reaction once they fully processed things.

“You can say there’s an anonymous witness to Dash’s murder who claimed it wasn’t a ghost or a human,” Vlad suggested. “No need to specify the species of the witness. Perhaps they’ll have some better ideas than I do, given they kept up studying the supernatural whereas I went into business.”

“Right, ‘business’,” Danny said under his breath, and Vlad shot a glare at him.

“You can’t remember anything other than they didn’t seem human?” Vlad asked the two full-ghost teens.

“Well, I could have sworn their skin was scaly? At least on the one, I didn’t see the other at all, snuck up on me,” Dash said. “And possibly claws and fangs? But again, it was dark, might have imagined the teeth, and claws can just be a weapon and they could’ve just been wearing a snakeskin jacket or something…” he trailed, clearly second-guessing himself.

“I kinda remember the skin glistening like scales too,” Star said. “But Dash is right, it could’ve been clothes… Oh, Danny, we should get you a snakeskin jacket! You’d look amazing in one!”

“Fake skin, right?” Danny confirmed.

“Pfft, don’t be silly,” Star said.

“Yeah, I don’t think so then,” Danny told her. “Not only do I not really like the look of those, but Sam would kill me more if I dared wear snakeskin anything. Or fur, that’s out too.”

“Ah-hem,” Vlad cleared his throat. “You two are getting off topic, once again.”

“They both do that a lot,” Dash informed him. “I think they both have ADHD.”

“We do!” Star happily revealed, and Danny put a hand on his forehead. Did she have to tell everyone?

“You do?” Vlad asked, surprised, and looked at Danny.

“Star thinks I do,” Danny hurriedly corrected. “Jazz, too. And apparently the elementary school also suspected. But my parents absolutely refuse to get me or Jazz evaluated for anything, so no clue if that’s true or not.”

“He definitely has it,” Star asserted. “No doubt. It’s why we can relate to each other so much! Really wi—would have liked that we’d become friends before we became ghosts… Of course, then I might have ended up in the loser group… Hm…”

“Okay, back on topic,” Chief Griffin said. “Although we will be revisiting your parents’ refusal to get their children help,” he warned Danny.

“Dammit,” Danny swore under his breath; he had to stop accidentally giving the chief reasons to say his home life was bad! It wasn’t… Was it?

“Language!” Vlad chided. “But yes, back on topic. You said there might be scales involved? Well, as far as I know, only snake-related ghosts are humanoid and have those: gorgons, lamia, naga… So if it wasn’t a ghost, I must say that a clothing item makes more sense.”

“Makes sense to me,” Chief Griffin agreed, then his phone went off, a text message. He checked it, then told the others, “I’m needed back at the station, the ME has more info.”

“Can I come?” Dash asked.

The chief hesitated.

“It’s my body,” Dash pointed out. “If you don’t want the autopsy guy to know, I can be invisible.”

Chief griffin shook his head. “No, no need for that—the ME probably should meet you, actually, as there might be questions you can answer. Put the hat on and follow me.”

“Good timing,” Star said, glancing at the clock. “I told Paulina we’d meet her at the mall soon! Let’s go, Danny!” She grabbed his wrist and began flying, shifting into her ghost form as she did.

Danny shifted into his ghost form, too; just before they phased through the ceiling, he heard Vlad mutter, “All these years, and the rings were optional.”

Chapter Text

“Danny!” Paulina called as they entered the mall, excitedly hurrying over to him. Her eyes sparkled with excitement; so, Phantom being Fenton didn’t deter her, Star concluded. She threw her arms around Danny, who froze, clearly trying to resist phasing out of the hug in the middle of the crowd. Paulina backed up. “Ohmygosh. I can’t believe you’re, well, you know! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I know you have a crush on me.”

Danny winced as Star held back a giggle. He said to Paulina, “Didn’t Kwan tell you—”

“I know, I know, mi chico. You’ll only date me if I become a ghost too…” Paulina wistfully trailed.

Star took note of Paulina’s outfit, and concluded that although her own was definitely hot and caught Danny’s attention, as intended, it was also definitely not weather-appropriate, given that Paulina was not wearing a crop top nor a skirt. Her outfit was light blue skinny jeans, a dark pink crew-neck shirt, and a lighter pink cotton zipper jacket with pleats along the bottom, neck, and sleeve openings. Most telling, though? Uggs (in a beige color) adorned her feet. Ugh. Star really should have checked the temperature before getting dressed that morning! Well, whatever; she was still fashionable, of that she was sure, weather-appropriate or not.

“Don’t you dare think of becoming one just for that,” Danny warned as they began walking further into the mall.

“Just joshing you; promise I won’t,” Paulina told him earnestly. “Well, not intentionally at least,” she clarified, glancing at Star.

“Right… Okay, so why are we at the mall again?” Danny asked warily.

Star sighed dramatically. “I told you, we need to make you fashionable if you want to be seen with us!”

“But my usual outfit is—”

“A total disaster,” Paulina interjected.

Star nodded. “You need a total outfit overall.”

“We’re replacing your entire wardrobe,” Paulina informed him.

“My whole wardrobe?!” Danny proclaimed incredulously.

“Well, duh, what did you expect? Just one fashionable thing?” Paulina scoffed. “Yeah, no, we’re replacing it all. So be prepared to carry a lot, because I ain’t doing so.”

Danny scoffed. “You think I am?”

“Well, Star isn’t either,” Paulina warned. “Guess I can call a butler…”

Star giggled. “No need, Pauli. We ghosts have a magical way to store things!”

“A magical way?” Paulina asked, confused.

“Yup; we can transport physical objects between our Ghost Zone lairs and the human realm!” Star informed Paulina. “That’s how Ember summons her guitar, and Johnny summons his bike, and whatever. Unfortunately it doesn’t work on living things or ghosts though.”

“Unfortunately?” Danny asked, now the one confused.

“Well yeah; it’d be useful to be able to teleport there if you’re in danger,” Star pointed out. “Anyway, so yeah, Danny can just toss stuff into his lair.”

“Convenient,” Paulina said approvingly, then grinned. “So that means we don’t need to hold back! Which is good, because I was worried we’d only be able to get you only one or two nice pairs of jeans this shopping trip; now we can get all the colors needed!”

“All the colors?” Danny asked warily.

“Well, yeah,” Star said. “I mean, you can’t just have one shade, right? You should ideally have dark blue, light blue, black, dark grey, light grey, at the very least. Probably a medium grey and medium blue to be safe. That’s just for basic ones; then there’s different styles, like tastefully ripped knees are trendy right now, for example.”

Danny began turning towards Old Navy. “Oh no you don’t!” Star scolded, grabbing Danny’s wrist to steer him away from it.

“But you just said I needed jeans; that’s where I get them,” Danny revealed.

“Nope; we’re going to American Eagle for jeans,” Star informed him.

Danny frowned. “Why? It’s not like they look any different. People can’t tell.”

“Oh no, they can tell,” Paulina said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, fine, we’ll go to American Eagle, then,” Danny said tiredly, clearly not believing that. “Before I go anywhere else that’s apparently forbidden, can you let me know which places we’re going?”

Star listed the places. “Well, you’ve got that, then you have PacSun, Aeropostale, Hollister, Hot Topic, Abercrombie, Urban Outfitters, Vans, and Converse.” Maybe more; Star had a feeling she was forgetting someplace.

“We’re getting shoes too?” Danny asked. “But my shoes are—”

“Literally falling apart,” Paulina said flatly. “Look at the soles—they’ll have holes soon!”

“No they won’t,” Danny said. “I, er, don’t really put any pressure on them anymore, so they don’t really wear.”

“But they’re still noticeably worn,” Paulina insisted. “Seriously. And you’re going to need a few pairs, anyway—you can’t wear the same ones for every outfit! The colors will clash. And you need some dress shoes too.”

“Dress shoes?” Danny asked, confused. “I have dress shoes.”

“What, the scraggly things you wore to that dance last year? Yeah, no,” Paulina said. “You need new ones.”

“Sheesh, you really are gonna replace my whole wardrobe by the end of this, aren’t you?” Danny grumbled.

“That’s the plan!” Star told him excitedly. “We are making you cool! And since you won’t get rid of Tucker, that starts with fashion.”

“Hey! Tucker’s been my friend since we were in preschool! He’s basically my brother!” Danny argued.

“I know. He’s still a jerk,” Star said, unsympathetic.

“Seriously, you’ve gotta rein him in,” Paulina told Danny.

“He’s not that bad…” Danny trailed, looking unsure.

“Honey, that boy is on the verge of becoming a sexual predator,” Star told him. “And that is not an exaggeration. If he doesn’t learn how to respect girls, just give it a few years, and—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Danny said, seeming mildly frustrated. “Sheesh, you don’t need to be so mean about it!”

“He runs a tier list of how hot the girls in school are!” Paulina said. “How are we supposed to act about it?”

“He actually took that down, after Star yelled at him the other day,” Danny informed them.

“Well, rumor says it’s back up,” Paulina said. “Also, I saw Ashley here while waiting, and she was complaining that she saw Tucker earlier and he did that gross breath-spray eye-wiggle thing again, and was calling himself that cringy ‘Too Fine’ thing or whatever, totally eww.”

Danny winced. “Seriously? Okay, I’ll, er, talk to him about it. Again…” he trailed the last word under his breath; Star felt pleased that apparently Danny was aware of Tucker’s attitude to the point he did try to address it before, because she wouldn’t want to date someone who quietly supported Tucker’s attitude.

“Great!” Star said, clapping her hands together. “Okay, now that that’s settled, there’s our first stop!” she said, pointing towards a kiosk that consisted of 4 clear cases of jewelry and a small center area with a tall stool and a stand with tools. She then steered Danny towards it.

Danny looked at it in confusion. “Piercing Pagoda? Don’t you both have your ears pierced already?”

“Yeah but I want a second set of holes,” Star informed him. “And you need your first set.”

Danny froze. “I’m sorry, my what?”

“You’re getting your ears pierced. Then you’re going to stretch them. That’s cool now,” Star informed Danny. “I’m thinking half inch? It’ll probably be easy since you’ve got the healing thing, but you’ll need to pretend to go slow so people aren’t suspicious.”

“I dunno…” Danny trailed.

“It doesn’t hurt more than a pinch,” Star assured Danny, as she summoned a flower-petal hair tie from her lair (so convenient!) and tied her hair up in a high ponytail; she wanted her new earrings visible, after all, plus it was easier for the piercer to not have hair in the way.

“That’s not the issue,” Danny said. “I don’t need to give my parents any more reasons to think I’m some sort of delinquent!"

“Pfft, it’ll be fine,” Star said. “Just tell them that’s the trend! If they complain, remind them of the 80s trends they took part in, how those were considered rebellious at the time, that should shut them up.”

“I guess,” Danny conceded, still looking wary.

“I’ll go first,” Star decided as they reached the place.

“How old are you?” the sole attendant, who looked like he was college-aged, asked with suspicion.

“Old enough,” Star said vaguely.

“You need parental permission if you’re under 16; I’ll need to see your IDs.”

Instead of an ID, Star took out five twenty-dollar bills and handed them to the boy. “We’re all 16,” she told him.

The attendant frowned, then shrugged. “Fine, you’re all 16. Lobe piercings only though, I ain’t doing cartilage."

“That’s all we want anyway,” Star said. “I just want a second set above the first. Danny’s getting his first set.”

“I’ll get a second set too,” Paulina decided.

“Ones used for initial holes are on this side,” the attendant said tiredly.

“I already know what I want,” Star said. “The small rose gold flowers; you still have those, right?”

“Sure do,” the guy said. “Hop into the seat.”

Star headed behind the counter and hopped onto the stool. “What’s your name?” Star asked as the guy pulled black goves on.

“Justin,” the guy replied. “And you’re Star, Paulina, and the Fenton’s kid—Danny, right?”

“You know us?” Danny asked, tensing.

“Yup; graduated last year,” Justin informed them. “Everyone at Casper knows you three.”

“Good; they should,” Paulina said proudly.

“Gotta say though, it’s strange seeing you three together,” Justin said as he marked Star’s ears with a pen. “Sheesh you’re cold,” he mumbled when he held Star’s ear to get the placement right; Star had intentionally worn simple diamond studs so they wouldn’t get in the way, as did Paulina.

“We’ve decided to make Danny popular,” Star informed him.

“Huh. Well, whatever floats your boat,” Justin said as he lined up the piercing gun. “Okay, this will pinch.”

Star tensed; the gun popped, and Justin pulled it away and looked at it in confusion. “Huh. It missed, somehow,” he concluded.

“Sorry, my fault, I moved!” Star quickly said. Stupid intangibility!

“Well, let’s try again,” Justin said, lining it up. “Try not to move this time.” Star focused on relaxing, which was easier once her eyes fell on how cute Danny looked as he studied the jewelry with Paulina, looking like he was taking the choices very seriously. Before she knew it, both piercings were done.

Star looked in the hand mirror Justin handed her. “Perfect!” she declared happily, then hopped off the chair and handed him back the mirror.

“Do your eyes always glow like that?” Justin asked warily.

“Oh, it’s just ecto-contamination,” Danny quickly supplied. “Like mine, which I assume you know about since the whole school knows about that. Star was exposed to high levels of ectoplasm recently, which caused it.”

“Oh right, you were the girl that ended up in the Ghost Zone,” Justin recalled. “Okay, who’s next?”

Danny got his done next, his pair just simple gold with diamond inlays—he’d tried to get just basic steel ones, apparently being money-conscious, but thankfully Paulina talked him into the diamond ones. Paulina got white gold hearts.

“Okay, you three paying together or separate?” Justin asked.

Paulina handed him her credit card; she and Star planned to rotate who paid for what, not that it mattered much with their credit limits.

That taken care of, the group headed deeper into the mall, first ducking into an alcove so Star and Danny could dab their new earrings with a potion Ember gave them to keep them attached instead of trying to phase out; it was just a tiny vial but it just needed a drop on the thing so should work for any jewelry purchased. Not clothes though, unfortunately; the thing reacted to metal only, not organic materials. They’d need to go to a Ghost Zone tailor to get the clothes converted, although there allegedly was a separate potion that they could soak the clothes in, which could be brewed themselves, to do that too; Danny had said he would look into that once he got some free time.

Star was so excited to find Danny some better clothes! Or anyone, really; Star just liked dressing people up, honestly. Which is why her dream had always been to be a fashion designer! She wondered if she could still actually do that though, given her current condition… Well, Paulina seemed to think so, so Star supposed she could try being the first ghost fashion designer in the human world.

In her distraction, Star bumped into someone.

“Hey, watch where you’re—oh, Star!” the person—Mia, from the cheer team—said. She then looked confused. “Why are you and Paulina with Fenton?”

“He’s our new project,” Paulina informed her. “I mean, we want to be fashion designers, you know? What better way to prove we can by making a loser fashionable?”

“This guy’s a loser?” a blonde-haired girl Star didn’t recognize asked. “But he’s cute.”

“It’s more because of who he associates with,” Mia informed the girl, who looked a couple years younger than them, then introduced, “This is my cousin, Kelly. Kelly, this is Star, Paulina, and Danny Fenton, people just call him Fenton though.”

“I’d prefer Danny,” Danny said a little sullenly; right, he didn’t like the association with his parents…

“Oh. You should have said sooner,” Mia said.

“I know a girl named Dani, with an ‘i’,” Kelly revealed. “She looks a lot like you.”

“What?” Danny asked, suddenly on alert. “She’s around?” When the others looked at him curiously, he explained, “That’s my… third cousin,” he said, and it sounded to Star like that wasn’t the truth. “She was a bit, er, nomadic last I heard…”

“Oh yeah, I saw her in Cincinnati, that’s where I live,” Kelly said. “Dani said she was on a trip around the world!”

“Good to know she’s okay,” Danny said, looking somewhat relieved.

Mia’s phone beeped, and she looked at it. “Hmm. Ride’s here; come on, Kelly. Good seeing you, Star, Paulina. And I guess you too, Danny.”

“Be safe!” Star told them.

“Safe from what?” Mia asked, clearly confused.

Oh, right; she didn’t know. “Ah, well, you know how Sarah was reported missing last night? Well, I heard rumors that other blonde-haired girls vanished too, in nearby cities. So, be careful.”

“Right, sure,” Mia said, sounding skeptical.

“Will do,” Kelly said, nodding her head seriously. “I’ve already been doing so, actually—my older sister vanished recently, I think she was taken.”

“Oh?” Star said, perking up. Cincinnati was one of the cities where cases had been…

Mia sighed. “Kelly, we keep telling you, Joan died three years ago…”

Well, that ruined the theory that the case was connected.

“No, she didn’t, she was taken,” Kelly insisted.

Mia took a deep breath, then said patiently, “She did. You saw her body. We’ve talked about this.”

“Then why do I still see her?” Kelly challenged. “At least, until last month, when she was taken.”

“Is she a ghost?” Star wondered.

Mia winced. “No, she… Kelly, we told you, she isn’t real. The reason you stopped seeing her is because the medicine is finally working…”

“Says you,” Kelly said stubbornly.

Mia sighed. “If you say so,” she said, apparently too tired to argue. “Anyway, let’s go before your dad comes in to find us.”

Mia gave a final wave goodbye to the group and the two walked away, Kelly still insisting her sister was alive.

“Um. Are we sure the sister isn’t a ghost?” Danny asked once they were gone. “Should we look into that?”

Paulina shook her head. “No, I remember Mia talking about how her cousin was diagnosed with some sort of mental thing last year, where she was hallucinating. Pretty sure it’s safe to say that’s who she was talking about.”

“That’s so sad…” Star trailed. “Grieving so much she imagined her sister is still around… Oh, but speaking of family members,” she said, rounding on Danny, then asked, “So, who is this ‘third cousin’ really?”

Danny looked amused. “You caught it wasn’t the truth, huh? You’re gonna think I’m joking when I tell you, though.”

“Swear I won’t. Just tell me.”

“Well, okay: she’s my clone.”

Star laughed. “You’re joking!”

“Told you you’d think that,” Danny said with a teasing grin, then his expression sobered. “I’m serious though. She’s the work of Vlad; he did it last year after I refused to reject my parents and join him, guess he thought if he couldn’t have me he could make a clone. She was the closest he got, but he deemed her a failure; not only because she’s a girl who looks a few years younger than me, but also because she starts to melt if she uses too much ghost power. Vlad kidnapped me and she helped me escape, and she’s on the run now, I haven’t heard from her since so it’s good to know she’s doing okay.”

“Wow. That is, like, something directly out of a sci-fi show,” Star marvelled. “Like, what is your life?”

“Well, he is a superhero; clones typically do happen to all of them eventually,” Paulina joked.

The three began walking again, in amicable quiet.

“Hey, Star, before I forget again, I have a question about the ADHD,” Danny suddenly said. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about it for a few days now, but kept forgetting.”

“Oh? What is it?” Star asked, curious.

“Well, Jazz got me a book about it at the library, and it mentioned that some kids are on medicine for it. But, psych medicines tend to be more dangerous for ghosts, since we’re so influenced by emotions, which those meds can affect,” Danny informed Star. “You’re not on any meds for it, are you? If you are, there’s a ghost doctor we can consult about it, he can make sure they’re okay and monitor it.”

“Oh. Yeah, you don’t gotta worry about that,” Star said, unable to help wincing. “My mom’s very anti-medicine, thinks it’ll lead to meth addiction.”

“What? Why?” Danny asked with surprise.

Star sighed, then explained, “So, the meds used for ADHD are sometimes jokingly referred to as ‘low-grade meth’, since they’re in the same category, being stimulants, and if you don’t have ADHD it can be used in a similar manner. My mom… Well, she’s a great actress, but isn’t too bright, and once she gets something in her head it’s hard to change it. So she heard that joke and somehow got the idea that any stimulant will increase the chances of doing meth.” She applied the same logic to many other drugs, as well, apparently not understanding how drug chemistry worked at all—sure, the molecular chain might look similar, but that didn’t mean the two things were equal!

“Yeah, her mom doesn’t let her take most drugs,” Paulina added. “Won’t even let her have caffeine.”

Danny adorably scrunched his brow in confusion. “But, I see you drinking coffee all the time. You even got in trouble for drinking a Starbucks latte in class yesterday.”

“Yeah, well, what my mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Star said with a casual wave. It wasn’t like she was around enough to notice, especially when she was shooting a big box movie like Dead Teacher V.

Then, Star noticed something, and asked, “So, Danny, will Sam kill you further if you wore a real leather jacket?” as she stopped in front of one of the mall’s higher-end boutiques, which had a mannequin that proudly wore one.

“Definitely,” Danny told her. “She would even if I got a thrift store one I bet. It does look pretty cool though.” He had a small look of longing in his eyes.

“Denim, then,” Star decided, gesturing to another jacket on display, this one a dark faded grey jeans jacket.

“Guess that’s pretty cool too,” Danny acknowledged, then his eyes moved towards the price tag and his eyes widened.

“Ignore the prices,” Star ordered. “It’s all on us.”

“Again, are you sure?” Danny asked. “I mean, that jacket costs about the same as the earrings, which are actual diamonds!”

“Lab-grown diamonds,” Paulina clarified. “Unfortunately they didn’t have natural ones, otherwise we’d have gotten you those, and a bigger stone at that because the ones here are so tiny.”

“I thought you can’t tell the difference?” Danny asked, sounding confused. “Except it’s like a fifth of the cost?”

“Oh, tiny ones like that visibly look the same to human eyes, but a jeweler will know,” Paulina informed him.

“Then why get natural ones over lab-grown?”

“Because just knowing it’s the fancier kind is a point of pride,” Star said.

Danny shook his head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand that mentality.”

“We’ll teach you to,” Star said with confidence. “You’ll learn how to be fashionable on your own, and the value of expensive clothes and jewelry.”

“Not sure if I want to,” Danny grumbled, then said, “You know, you’re doing all this for me, but fashion alone won’t make me popular, as you’ve pointed out many times.”

“No, but it’ll boost your popularity enough to be seen with us,” Paulina reminded him. “Trust me, this is necessary—for us as well, since our popularity could drop if we’re seen hanging around a loser. We don’t mind spending a little money to stay popular!”

“‘A little’, right,” Danny muttered. “Okay, fine. Let’s do this.”

The group proceeded to visit a few shops, where they bought some cool stuff for Danny, which he transported to his lair each time so they didn’t have to carry things. Star felt proud of him; it would be so incredibly easy for him to just steal things that way, but he was honest enough to not do that, which assured Star that the occasional rumors about Danny being a delinquent were unfounded.

Along the way, Star even convinced Danny to duck into the restroom and change into a new outfit, a red Von Dutch t-shirt (with the brand logo prominent across the front of course) with navy blue straight-leg jeans (he unfortunately outright refused to wear skinny jeans; Star would get him there someday though, if they stayed in fashion). She also had him switch into a pair of red Vans, insisting he throw his old pair of shoes right in the trash which Danny reluctantly obliged (the soles literally were so worn that they were paper-thin! If he put pressure on his feet when ‘walking’, surely they’d have holes). The grey jeans jacket was worn too, as were some accessories—that took a bit to convince Danny to do, but once they got the puka shell necklace (one with the shells alternating with black beads) on him Danny agreed that it did look really good, as did the red and black woven bracelet. Star’s core fluttered excitedly; they might actually be able to boost Danny’s popularity a lot with this!

Next, the three went to Hot Topic.

“Finally, a familiar store,” Danny joked as they entered.

Star raised an eyebrow. “You go here? Then why don’t you wear anything from it?”

Danny shrugged. “Sam’s the one who likes it, she always insists of stopping by when me, her, and Tucker go to the mall,” he explained. “She likes the more gothic stuff.”

“Ah. So, the less cool stuff,” Star concluded. “Well, we’re definitely not getting that stuff for you, luckily. First thing, one of these,” she said, beelining to a nearby display with seatbelt-buckle belts. “These are super in-style for guys right now.”

Danny picked one up and weighed the buckle with his hand. “This is kinda heavy,” he determined.

“Once you get it on it’s not,” Star told him.

“Yeah, you won’t notice it,” Paulina chimed in.

“That’s not the issue,” Danny said, then glanced around and told them quietly, “Heavier things are more likely to accidentally phase off—we don’t want more pants incidents.”

“Well, the buckle is metal, so the potion thing should work,” Paulina pointed out.

“Oh. Good point,” Danny said. He paused for a moment, then sighed. “Okay. What colors and patterns?”

“Just plain ones,” Star said. “They’ll go with more outfits, and won’t draw as much attention to the hips as a patterned or picture one would.”

“And we do not want to draw attention to your hips,” Paulina informed him. “Your shape just isn’t good for that.”

“It isn’t?” Danny asked, looking down at himself. “Huh. Guess there’s a lot more than I thought to this fashion thing.”

“Boy, you have no idea,” Paulina told him. “Don’t worry; that’s why you have us to guide you!”

“Anything else I have to be concerned about, er, shape-wise?” Danny asked.

Meanwhile, as Paulina explained various body-related things to Danny, Star’s mind wandered, as did her feet, drawing her to a display of Star Wars merch; Episode 3 had come out earlier that year (Paulina and Star had covertly seen it in theaters of course), so there were still lots of things for sale related to the franchise in general. What particularly caught Star’s attention was a charm bracelet with various symbols and items from the franchise…

“It’s cute; you should get it,” Danny said from behind Star; she jumped a little, not expecting that.

“I wasn’t looking at this stuff!” Star defended.

Paulina giggled. “Sure you weren’t. And Danny, you really need a way to make your presence more obvious.”

“She should be able to sense my core nearby,” Danny said, sounding amused. “Seems she was too distracted.”

Star sighed. “Fine, I was looking at it. But cute or not, this would be uncool,” she lamented, ignoring the comments about the jump scare. “Come on, let’s go find you some actually cool band shirts.”

“You sure you don’t want to get it? I do think it would look nice on you,” Danny told Star.

Star hesitated. She did really like it, but… “It’s still uncool to wear sci-fi merch.”

“But, don’t you two decide what’s cool? You’re A-list,” Danny pointed out.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that…” Star trailed. She looked to Paulina; she was at the top, so would have some more insight.

“Hmm. Well, it’s small, not very obvious,” Paulina pointed out. “Charms bracelets in general are in, too. Plus if a crush likes it that gives more validity to wearing it. So, I’d say it’s fine.”

Star noticed Danny blush at the crush comment, but he didn’t comment on it, which made Star’s core flutter again, interpreting it as him not being opposed. Oh, she was so twitterpated!

“Okay, I’ll get it, then,” Star decided.

After that, Star and Paulina bought Danny a few more items, including a few band shirts and a tapering kit to stretch his ears (theoretically that could be done that day thanks to ghost healing, but they’d have to keep the pace slow as to not raise suspicion, go up a size every two weeks until at a half inch). The desk clerk, someone Star recognized from the senior class, raised an eyebrow at the group, no doubt wondering why two of the popular girls were buying Danny Fenton clothing and accessories, but didn’t verbally question it.

Afterwards, Star put on her bracelet and had Danny put on a black belt to complete his style (Danny tried putting the red one on first, apparently thinking that it would go better since it matched the shirt and shoes, but Star set him straight on the matter. Danny clearly had a lot to learn, given his confusion when Star informed him that an outfit could indeed have too much red); the rest of the items were teleported to Danny’s lair. The group decided to head in the direction of the food court next; shopping was hungry work! Not that Star felt hunger, but Paulina and Danny definitely did. They’d stop at some stores on the way there, for efficiency’s sake.

“Danny!?” someone proclaimed not long after that decision, and Star cringed at the voice as the last boy Star wanted to see ran over.

“Ugh, you,” Star groaned.

“Danny, tell the unpopular boy to go away,” Paulina joked.

“Hey!” Tucker protested.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Stop joking, you two. What’s up, Tucker?”

“What’s up with me?!” Tucker proclaimed. “I was just here buying some PDA accessories! I definitely did not plan to see you here with Paulina and Star, wearing… What are you even wearing?”

“Popular stuff, apparently,” Danny said. Star internally sighed; it seemed he still didn’t see how it was so much better than his usual clothes.

“Super-expensive stuff; where’d you even get the money for all that?” Tucker marvelled.

“We bought them for him!” Star happily declared, putting a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “We need him to be not-unpopular.”

“You need him to? Why?”

Paulina put a hand on Danny’s other shoulder. “Well, if we’re gonna be seen with him, he can’t be a loser,” she drawled.

“Also, now that we know ghosts can change clothes, we’re gonna upgrade Phantom’s look as well,” Star revealed.

“You’re gonna do what?” Danny asked with clear surprise; Star noticed his eyes were glowing a bit, as they did when he was emotional—in this case, nervous, Star concluded.

“Oh, don’t be surprised,” Paulina said, sounding amused. “You really didn’t think we’d fix that jumpsuit once we knew?”

“I mean, it should’ve been totally obvious,” Star said. Did he honestly think it stopped at Fenton? No, Phantom needed an update as well.

“I guess that should’ve been obvious, given all this,” Danny said with a sigh. “Can it wait a few weeks though? Could be suspicious for us both to get fashionable at the same time.”

“I guess that’s true,” Star said with a sigh, disappointed, although he had a point.

“What is happening right now?” Tucker asked with incredulity, though in a way indicating it was more rhetorical. “Wait a second,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Danny. “Are those earrings?!”

Danny shrugged. “Guys wearing them is cool now, I guess.”

“They’re not actual diamonds, are they?” Tucker marveled.

“Tch; of course they are, Foley,” Paulina said. “Inset in gold, naturally. What do you take us for?”

“I see,” Tucker said faintly. “So it’s just that pair, or…?”

“Just that one, since he’s going to stretch the holes, which is even trendier on guys,” Star informed Tucker. “Now, scram, we’ve still got lots of shopping to do, we’ve only visited half the stores we need to visit.”

“Half?” Danny said, sounding surprised.

“Uh, yeah, duh,” Star said. “We need to go to Spencers, of course—”

“Wait, what? Isn’t that store for adults?” Danny interjected.

“Pfft, don’t be ridiculous,” Star said. “Just avoid the back of the store and it’ll be fine—we def need to go there though; Hot Topic had some jewelry for stretched ears but Spencer’s has a much bigger assortment.”

“We also still have to stop by Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie, Aeropostale, and Hollister,” Paulina chimed in.

“This is gonna take the rest of the day, isn’t it?” Danny said with a groan.

“Well, duh; what did you expect?” Star said with a giggle.

“Honestly? I didn’t realize you were serious until you basically kidnapped me and brought me here,” Danny joked.

“Didn’t we tell you to leave?” Paulina then said to Tucker cooly. “You being here with us is, like, social suicide.”

“Oh, come on!” Tucker complained. “I’m Danny’s best friend; if you hang with him, you can’t get rid of me.”

“Danny, be a dear and go talk to Tucker about what we discussed earlier,” Paulina said sweetly.

“Yeah, now’s the perfect time,” Star agreed.

Danny sighed and grabbed Tucker’s shoulder, leading him a small distance away, although not far enough for Star to not hear him. Star listened in, whispering the recap to Paulina as she did so.

“This isn’t some sort of friend break-up, is it?” Tucker asked nervously.

“No, of course not; you’re basically my brother at this point,” Danny told Tucker.

“Okay, good,” Tucker said, relaxing slightly. “But, dude, you’re acting like their bitch, they’re not blackmailing you or something, are they?” he asked with worry.

“Nah, that’s not it,” Danny said.

“Then, it’s bribery,” Tucker concluded. “A Sugar Mama situation? Like Phantom dates Paulina, she buys you stuff?”

“What? No,” Danny said, scrunching his nose in disgust. “What do you take me for? And, they wouldn’t do that, they’re not shallow like that.”

Tucker snorted at that. “Don’t let Sam hear you say that.”

“Look,” Danny said with a sigh, “I think they really do want to be friends, but they’re pretty obsessed with popularity too, so it makes sense that they’d do this.”

“Friends, huh? You sure that’s not just because you’re Phantom? You do know how Paulina has a crush on Phantom, right?”

“I know. But she knows I don’t date humans.”

“You don’t—what? Since when!?” Tucker asked, sounding very thrown-off by the statement.

“Since I learned that I’m unaging,” Danny said flatly. “Not going to be pleasant when I stay 14 while my girlfriend becomes an adult.”

“Really? Older women are hot, though,” Tucker pointed out.

“You think all women are hot, Tucker,” Danny said with exasperation. “You also talk about them like they’re objects. Honestly, it’s kinda getting old.”

“What?” Tucker asked, surprised.

“Didn’t you hear what Star was saying the other day? When she got mad at you for trying to flirt with her again?” Danny reminded him.

“You’ve said questionable things sometimes too,” Tucker stubbornly pointed out.

“Yeah, mirroring you—what’s that Jazz calls, it, groupthink? When the people you’re with influences what you say and do to try to fit in,” Danny explained. “But it wasn’t nearly as much or nearly as bad—even then part of me realized how gross some of the things you said were. But now I know better, especially now that I’ve actually talked to girls. If you actually talked to some instead of objectifying them, maybe you’d stop being considered the school creep.”

“‘School creep’!?” Tucker quoted back in shock. “Okay, not cool, dude.”

“It’s true,” Danny insisted. “That’s what you’re known as now! Seriously, just pay attention to how girls act around you, and what they say. Honestly, it’s getting really bad. You need to work on fixing your attitude, asap, or else they’re gonna start calling you that instead of Techno Geek.”

“Maybe we should start calling him that,” Star whispered to Paulina, recalling the time the jocks started calling him ‘Bad Luck Tuck’ and he worked really hard to reverse that.

“Give him a chance to fix it, first,” Paulina said. “If he doesn’t, then we start.”

“I already got rid of the tier list though,” Tucker pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s a start,” Danny said. “But, they said there’s a rumor that it’s back up?”

Tucker groaned. “Seriously? I swear it wasn’t me! You gotta tell them it wasn’t me this time.”

“Okay, I will,” Danny assured Tucker. “But even though you got rid of the list, your attitude still hasn’t changed much, given what you said earlier—and given what Ashley told Paulina about how you were acting when you saw her earlier today.”

After a moment of quiet, Tucker finally said somewhat dejectedly, “Yeah, okay, I’ll work on it.”

“Good,” Danny said.

Tucker then looked up and down Danny again. “Von Dutch though? Really? I thought you didn’t like brand names on clothes.”

Danny shrugged. “They insisted, and they’re paying, so might as well try it out, right? Besides, I do need a wardrobe update, anyway—people were gonna start noticing that I never grew out of my middle school clothes.”

“Yeah, well, they’ll certainly notice the change,” Tucker said. “Hey, think maybe you can ask if they’d pay for—”

“No,” Danny interjected.

“Eh, worth a shot,” Tucker said; Star decided he must have been joking, because he must know there was no chance in Hell that she and Paulina would buy anything for him.

“Anyway, I should get back to them; we’ll hang tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Tucker said with a resigned sigh. “See ya.”

With that, Tucker walked off, and Danny returned to Star and Paulina.

“I better not hear you start calling him ‘School Creep’,” Danny warned, apparently aware that they were listening—he probably heard Star suggest that.

“Hey, if we do, that’ll be his fault,” Star said.

“Yeah,” Paulina agreed. “We’ll give him a chance to change, but if he doesn’t, the gloves are off.”

“Guess that’s fair,” Danny agreed. “Okay, where to next?”

“Watch store,” Star immediately said.

“Already have one,” Danny said, showing his wrist. “It’s even a Rolex.”

Star grabbed Danny’s wrist and examined the silver watch. “I noticed you had one, but this looks like a pretty old model; inherited?”

“Sorta,” Danny told her. “It was actually Sam’s grandfather’s, she inherited it and gave it to me because I can’t use conventional watches; it needs to be a manual wind-up.”

“Why?” Paulina wondered.

“Regular electric ones short circuit whenever I transform,” Danny told them. “Which I guess might not happen now that I know the rings aren’t needed, but it also happens when I get angry; electricity doesn’t exactly like high levels of ghost energy. It’s why lights flicker sometimes around angry ghosts.”

“Like in the chemistry lab yesterday,” Star recalled. “Okay, we’ll just have to see if they have a wind-up. I’m sure they do, since some people get those for the more traditional aesthetic.”

“But, isn’t this one fine?”

“Yes, but you need a gold one too.”

“Why?”

Paulina sighed. “Really? You need to ask? Gold goes better with certain things! Like, right now, since you’re wearing red, and have gold earrings in—that needs a gold watch, not silver.”

“Yeah, but—” Danny’s protest was cut off by a gasp of icy air, at the same time Star sneezed.

“A ghost?” Paulina asked with excitement.

“Wanna join in?” Danny asked Star.

“Nah; too crowded,” Star told him. “My powers aren’t under control, don’t want to ecto-blast a human and make them think I’m evil.”

“Go get them, Sneasel!” Paulina said with a giggle.

Danny looked mildly confused at Paulina’s comment but ran off towards the bathrooms.

“‘Sneasel’?” Star inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, the Pokémon,” Paulina said.

“I know what a Sneasel is,” Star said with an eye roll. “I meant, why call him that?”

“Well, instead of tiger? Tiger is boring. So I went with a Pokémon, but there’s no ice-ghost one, so I went with a ice-dark one,” Paulina said, as though it should be obvious. “He’s kinda nerdy, so he should get that, right?”

“Makes sense,” Star agreed. “Sneasel is also cute but edgy at the same time, like Phantom. Kinda has the color scheme too.”

“Exactly.”

Suddenly, there were screams—as expected for a ghost attack. It didn’t phase Star or Paulina at all, even as what appeared to be a large elephant ghost rushed by tooting its trunk angrily, Phantom being pulled along as he grabbed the elephant’s tail, trying to rein it in.

“Why is an elephant ghost in the mall?” Star wondered.

“Phased in, probably,” Paulina replied.

“Yeah, but I mean more like, why would an elephant want to be here?”

“Who knows,” Paulina said with a shrug. “This mall just seems to really attract ghosts for some reason… hey, Auntie Ann’s is right over there, want to grab pretzels while we wait?”

“Sure, why not,” Star said, then began walking there with Paulina, hoping the almond-crusted ones would still taste great despite her new ghost senses.

Chapter Text

Danny headed home after the mall trip, too tired to do anything else; who knew shopping could be such a workout! He flew back in Phantom form, then shifted back in the nearby alley and headed to the front door of his house, as usual.

Danny shifted slightly at the feel of the fabric on his arms; not uncomfortably, but he just was not used to wearing jackets this tight—or rather, ‘properly fitted’, was technically the term. He could still move perfectly fine, that wasn’t an issue, but it was still a big change from the oversized hoodies he usually wore that would certainly take some getting used to! Although, like those old hoodies, chances are it would likely see very little use except to blend in based on the weather, or to hide bruises… Okay, maybe it would see a lot of use come to think of it, along with the identical jackets in other shades of denim. If Danny could have it his way, he would never wear a jacket, but alas, humans did typically need to do so, so he was stuck needing to wear one too...

“Danny! You’re actually back before dark for once!” Jack cheered as Danny entered through the front door into the living room, remembering to use his key and actually open it (something he embarrassingly forgot to do on occasion, though luckily that hadn’t caused an issue yet).

“Hi, Dad,” Danny greeted, dodging away from an attempt at a hug. “And I was yesterday, too, you know.”

“Let me guess: want to spend some quality time with your Old Man on this fine Saturday?” Jack said with a grin, ignoring the comment about return time. “We can go get Nasty Burger for dinner, and then go to the park and play frisbee!”

“It’s nearly 6pm, by the time we’re done eating the sun will be setting.” Danny pointed out, shrugging off the denim jacket and tossing it haphazardly onto a nearby armchair.

“Well, the park has lights, and the frisbee glows in the dark! Plus it’ll let me test my low-light goggles!”

Danny frowned. He had a feeling that his dad was really intent on having father-son time, despite having spent time together during the family game night the day before. “Dad, a kid my age was murdered in the park yesterday. At night. You have to have heard the news by now, right?” Danny didn’t mention that he knew who the kid was; the news hadn’t reported that there was an identification yet, only that a kid’s body was found, as Danny knew from walking by the electronics store at the mall, where the display TVs in the window had the news on.

“Well, yeah, but I’ll be there to protect you, so you don’t need to be afraid!”

“What’s going on here?” Maddie asked, entering the room from the direction of the kitchen, a pink apron on over her usual teal suit.

“Dad thinks it’s a good idea for me and him to go to the park at night to test his new low-light goggles,” Danny tattled.

Maddie frowned. “Jack, you do recall that a teenage boy was murdered there last night?”

“That’s what I said!” Danny told his mom. “I could be killed too.” He internally laughed at the joke; technically, he couldn’t be, not in the way they were thinking.

“Danny’s right, Jack; it’s not safe. That’s why you’re back before dark for once, isn’t it, Danny?”

“Why do you all keep saying ‘for once’?” Danny complained. “I was back early yesterday too! Can’t I just feel like coming home? I was at the mall with friends most the day, and I’m tired.”

“Oh! That’s why you have the updated outfit?” Jack asked, then looked confused. “Wait, Von Dutch? Aren’t their t-shirts 50 bucks or something? Where’d you get the money for that?”

“Hold on one second; are those actual pierced earrings?” Maddie asked, narrowing her eyes at them. “And that sparkle… Is that real diamonds?!”

“Ah, well—” Danny was thankfully cut off by the doorbell ringing; he hurriedly answered it. “Oh! Hi, Chief Griffin!” he greeted. Right, he was going to stop by sometime that day to ask about non-ghost entities; good timing.

“Chief Griffin? As in, head of the Amity Park Police Department?” Jack declared, hurrying to the door. “What are you doing here? And, wait a second…” He narrowed his eyes at Danny. “How do you know the police chief?” he asked with suspicion.

“He’s here, like, every other week,” Danny pointed out.

“Oh. Right, that is a thing,” Jack muttered. “But we didn’t do any damage today! We got to the mall after Phantom and that elephant ghost destroyed the fountain, so that definitely wasn’t us!”

Chief Griffin glanced at Danny, who looked away guiltily and muttered, “I think that was more the elephant’s fault that Phantom’s.”

“Don’t let that ghost trick you!” Jack warned. “I’m sure he did just as much damage as that elephant… Wait, weren’t you at the mall today? Then you must have seen it!”

“Yeah, which is why I said that. It was definitely the elephant that trampled the fountain,” Danny calmly asserted. “Phantom did his best to stop it.”

Maddie scoffed. “Stop it? Bet he was antagonizing it, intentionally causing more chaos.”

“Regardless, Phantom is not why I’m here,” Chief Griffin said. “Is it okay if I come in? This might take a while.”

“Of course!” Maddie said cheerfully, gesturing him inside and closing the door.

Jack immediately asserted, “Whatever it was, Danny didn’t do it! I’m sure he got all his expensive new clothes legally and didn’t steal them or get the money by shady means.”

Chief Griffin looked at Danny and raised an eyebrow.

Danny sighed in frustration. “Some new friends bought this stuff for me, because apparently I need to be more fashionable,” he explained to the three adults. “And before you say anything about me taking advantage of their generosity or something, I really did try to get cheaper stuff, but they insisted I get only the designer things. Like, they weren’t taking no for an answer, if I managed to stop them I’m sure they’d have bought them anyway and stuffed them in my locker or something.” Well, phased them into the locker, more accurately; that had been an actual threat by Star when Danny protested the cost of some things.

“Wow. Those must be some pretty rich friends!” Jack boisterously concluded.

“You have no idea,” Danny grumbled, and Chief Griffin chuckled, no doubt well aware that he meant Star and Paulina, considering he’d witnessed Star essentially kidnap Danny while yelling about how they had to meet Paulina.

“Well, that aside, what brings you here, Chief Griffin?” Maddie asked.

“Well, I’m here about Dash Baxter,” Chief Griffin revealed, as Danny had suspected. “I’m sure you saw the news about the body found in the park?” he asked, and when Danny’s parents warily nodded he continued, “It was his, and we’re investigating his death as suspicious, for obvious reasons.”

“Dash, Dash… why does that name sound familiar?” Jack contemplated.

“He’s one of the kids that Jazz tutors,” Danny supplied. “Or, tutored.”

“The one you get in trouble for fighting with sometimes?” Jack asked, surprised, then frowned and turned to the chief. “Danny didn’t do it! He was home when… er, when was it?”

“Last night, after midnight,” the Chief replied.

“Then he was definitely home asleep, of that I’m sure!”

When the chief looked at Danny and raised an eyebrow, Danny told him, “I actually was this time!”

“I’ll take your word on that,” Chief Griffin said, hiding amusement. Then, he frowned. “But, fighting? From my understanding, it was closer to bullying than fighting.”

“What? Danny wouldn’t bully anyone!” Maddie defended.

“Yeah! He’s too weak to!” Jack argued, and Danny resisted rolling his eyes at that one. If he were an actual human, that would have been a horrible defense that would only make him feel worse; as it stood it was just hilarious given Danny was constantly holding back.

“I didn’t,” Danny quickly said. “Dash…” he shifted awkwardly, then decided to admit (as there was no danger of his dad storming into the school to confront Dash), “Dash bullied me. But the school couldn’t punish him for that because he’s the quarterback, and the quarterback being a bully wouldn’t look good, so they just wrote it up as fighting.”

“Oh,” Jack said quietly, looking stunned at that revelation. “So… then that big bruise on your arm you got yesterday…”

“Was from him, yeah,” Danny confirmed. “Not a fight.”

“Danno, you should have told us,” Jack said sadly, then had a look of realization and turned back to the chief. “Wait, so is that why you want to talk to us about this kid’s death? You think Danny murdered him as retaliation?!”

“No, I don’t think that,” Chief Griffin told them in an impressively even voice. “Danny’s already been cleared, as has the entire student body—But, I’ll be looking into that claim about the school, Danny; they shouldn’t have done that.”

“You don’t have to do that; he’s dead, it doesn’t matter now,” Danny told the man. Of course, Dash was still around, but Danny was pretty certain that Dash would not be continuing to bully him now that he knew he was Phantom… Well, at least for now.

“It certainly does matter! If they did it for him, surely they’ve been doing it for others; I thought those bullying statistics at that school were awfully low compared to the others in town… Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. Could we sit down? This may take some time.”

“Of course!” Maddie said cheerfully, then led them to the kitchen. “I’ve just put on some tea; it’s a new blend I’m trying out, with plants that are allegedly anti-ghost and can protect you from possession.”

Danny froze. “Plants? What plants?” Most allegedly ‘anti-ghost’ herbs were harmless, but some…

“Oh, there’s vervain, cloves, asafetida, willow, yarrow, carob, agrimony, betony, angelica root… I put as many protection herbs as I could get!”

Danny winced. He was glad that blood blossoms were now extinct on Earth, as otherwise he was sure his mom would have those in there too! Just the scent of those could paralyze a ghost. As it stood, the herbs used were mostly harmless (in fact, willow and yarrow actually attracted ghosts, almost like catnip to cats), the major exception being the betony, which could paralyze him temporarily if burned or ingested, at least allegedly; Danny thankfully hadn’t encountered it yet, and definitely didn’t want to. Asafetida was also an issue, as apparently it was a relative of blood blossoms, albeit much weaker.

“That sounds like it probably won’t be very tasty,” Chief Griffin pointed out, glancing at Danny.

“Oh, it’s not about the taste, it’s about the protection!” Maddie told him. “But, if you prefer, I have some regular earl grey teabags, or coffee.”

“Coffee’s good,” Chief Griffin said as he sat down at the table opposite Jack.

“Then I’ll make some,” Maddie said. “Danny, you’ll try the protection tea, right?” She handed him a cup.

Instead of taking the drink, Danny backed up a step, scrunching his nose; the smell was so bad! “Sorry, but I’m… allergic to asafetida, remember? Figured that out after I went with Sam to that new vegan curry place, and I ended up with severe stomach pain for hours?”

“Oh, right, I forgot; sorry, sweetie,” Maddie said, genuinely looking disappointed in herself at forgetting that.

“It’s fine,” Danny lied. Honestly, he was a little miffed that she’d forgotten; his parents definitely did know about that incident, as they’d gotten in a big fight with him over if he should go to the hospital or not (thankfully it stopped before his parents tried to physically force him or something). Later Danny and Sam had investigated what could have caused it, doing tiny tests with each ingredient that was uncommon in Western cooking, discovering that that had been the cause. They at first weren’t sure if it were his human or ghost part reacting to it, but Frostbite had later given Danny a list of things that affected ghosts, and that was included.

“I’ll make sure not to use it in anything for you to eat,” Maddie promised, and Danny made a mental note to be extra careful with foods in the house, as it seemed his mom planned to experiment with using that and other allegedly anti-ghost herbs in recipes. “Danny, could you be a dear and put the herbs in the spice cabinet for me while I get to work on the coffee?”

“Sure thing,” Danny said, just so he could pocket the small glass jar of betony; he’d go throw it in Lake Erie or something later.

“Perhaps it would be good to get rid of that stuff entirely, if your son is allergic?” Chief Griffin suggested. “So he doesn’t accidentally eat something with it without realizing.”

Maddie hesitated. “Oh, all right,” she decided, as she set up the coffee pot. “I’ll do that later. Now—”

“It’s okay, I got it,” Danny said, taking the jar and tossing it in the garbage can, before sitting down himself.

Maddie winced. “It would’ve been better to donate it… Well, now that that’s done, what specifically are you here about?” she asked the chief as she sat down in the seat next to Jack, coffee pot percolating.

Before the chief could answer, the back door opened. “I’m home!” Jazz called, and a moment later she exited the small mud room and entered the kitchen, upon which she paused and asked. “Why is the police chief here? Wait… Danny, you didn’t do something, did you?”

“Why is everyone assuming I did something?” Danny wondered with a slight whine. “He’s here about Dash’s murder, which before you also ask, no, I didn’t do.”

“Dash was murdered!?” Jazz said with a gasp. It seemed no one had filled her in yet.

“Murdered?” Jack asked in surprise. “Wait…” he narrowed his eyes at Danny. “How do you know it’s murder? The chief only said he was dead and it was suspicious!”

“I mean, it only makes sense, right?” Danny hurriedly reasoned. “If it was an accident, or from an illness, the police wouldn’t be investigating it as suspicious, right?”

“Correct,” Chief Griffin explained. “The official cause of death is blunt force trauma, and there are indications of a fight, although protocol dictates that we don’t call it murder until we are certain what happened. Until then, it’s merely a suspicious death. We have a semi-reliable witness, but there are some oddities that we were hoping you could help us with.”

“Oddities?” Maddie asked.

Jack gasped and stood up. “Is it ghost related?” He slammed his hands on the table and stared at the chief with nearly sparkling eyes. “It’s ghost-related, isn’t it?” He stood up again, now looking worried. “Oh no, did a ghost do it? Oh, I knew it was only a matter of time before those spooks finally killed someone!” He pulled an ecto-bazooka out of who-knew-where. “I’ll take care of it!”

“No, no, that’s not it!” Officer Griffin said, standing up too and putting his hands out. “We actually do not think it’s a ghost. Now, could you put the gun down?”

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt humans,” Jack promised. “Might cover you in ectoplasmic goo, but it only damages ghosts.”

“Still, I’d much rather it be put away,” the chief said with a quick glance towards Danny.

“Yeah, Dad; we’ve talked about having weapons at the table,” Jazz reminded him as she stepped over the the coffee pot, which had finished making the coffee, thankfully ectoplasm-free this time. She grabbed some mugs from the cabinet and put some ice from the freezer in one of the mugs, then began pouring.

“But—” Jack tried to argue as Jazz worked.

“We’re not arguing this again, Dad,” Jazz interjected.

“Oh, fine,” Jack said a little dejectedly, then leaned the bazooka against the wall and took his seat again, as Jazz presented everyone with mugs of coffee, then placed her own mug of coffee on the table and pulled up a spare chair to sit too.

Chief Griffin took a deep breath and sat back down. “Does that happen often?” he quietly asked Danny as he hovered his hand over the coffee to test the heat.

“Too often,” Danny said dryly; it was no use denying it, even if the chief would likely try to use it in whatever misguided case he was trying to make. “Any mention of you-know-whats and he gets like that.” He took a sip of his own iced coffee (well, luke-warm coffee, given the freshly-made coffee melted all the ice; point was, it wasn’t hot enough for his ice powers to get angry at him).

“Oh!” Jack then said with excited realization, before anyone else could speak. “Did that boy become a ghost? Is that it?” he asked. “He did, didn’t he? Don’t worry, Danny; I’ll protect you from your ghost bully!”

Danny winced. That was the last thing he needed. “Uh, thanks? But I don’t think he did?”

“You sure?” Jack asked, and Danny was certain there was an air of disappointment to his voice.

“If he has, no one has seen him, not even his parents,” Chief Griffin lied. “Although… Just out of curiosity, how would you two react if someone you knew became a ghost? Like, a family member?”

Danny tensed. He knew the chief wouldn’t reveal him, but the question was something Danny didn’t want a definite answer to, especially as despite what they said now they might react differently when they actually found out.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Maddie said. “None of us would ever think of becoming a ghost!”

“Yeah, not even the extended family,” Jack added.

“But, I thought people don’t get a choice in that?” the chief pointed out.

“Well, it may seem that way, but to make a ghost the person needs to have strong feelings of wanting to stay, unfinished business or whatnot,” Maddie explained. “It’s why so many ghosts are formed from humans who died tragically—they’re imprints left by the strong desire to stay and achieve a goal, which is stronger in those who unexpectedly die, causing their ghost to then desperately attempt to complete that goal.”

“Not true at all,” Danny muttered so only the chief could catch it. At least, not for all ghosts.

Maddie continued, “Everyone in our family knows that, thus knows that they can’t try to hold on. So none will become a ghost.”

“But what if one of us did?” Danny asked, suddenly wanting to know his parents’ answer. “What if me or Jazz did?”

“Pfft, don’t be silly, Danny,” his mom said with a dismissive wave. “Neither you nor Jazz would become a ghost, I’m sure of it.”

“Yeah! Maybe a cousin might, they’re not all as well-versed in ghosts as us, but you two, of all our family members, definitely both know better,” his dad asserted.

Well, that was a non-answer if Danny ever heard one. He expected he wasn’t going to get a straight answer at this rate, if they were so adamant that the scenario wasn’t even possible—good news for Danny’s secret identity, he supposed. It also proved that denial really was the primary reason they hadn’t figured things out yet and were so insistent on blaming every suspiciously ghostly thing Danny did solely on ecto-contamination, even though with the barest amount of research they’d conclude that such high levels of ‘contamination’ wasn’t possible to survive (but if they did do the research, Danny would say it was a good bet that they’d simply say that his case must be an exception).

“Right. Well, then,” the chief said, clearing his throat. “Enough wasting time on that, and back to the case at hand. As I was saying before, the cause of Dash Baxter’s death itself was determined to be blunt force trauma, but there are some oddities. Our witness, who wi—wants to remain anonymous, swears that the two figures who took the girl and killed Dash were not human, yet weren’t ghosts either, saying they had claws, fangs, and snake scales. The autopsy confirms evidence of such, with claw marks and some sort of unknown venom surrounding a clear snake bite mark.”

“Well that’s certainly odd,” Maddie said, frowning.

Chief Griffin nodded. “Certainly. We spoke to the mayor, and he suggested you might have a better idea of what this could be, if not a ghost?”

“Vladdie recommended us!” Jack happily declared. “Hmm…” he put his hand on his chin as he thought, then instead of saying something on-topic said, “You know, it’s been a while since we visited with him! We should invite him over.”

“No!” Danny, Maddie, and Jazz all asserted at once, which Chief Griffin raised an eyebrow to.

“Oh, don’t be like that; Vladdie’s a great guy!” Jack proclaimed.

“He’s constantly hitting on Mom,” Jazz pointed out.

“Oh, that’s him just joking around,” Jack said obliviously. “Come on, Danny, you like Vlad, right?”

“He’s got a creepy serial killer vibe,” Danny grumbled.

“Hey, don’t joke about that,” Jack said with a frown.

“I’m not joking. Plus, he wants me to leave the family and become his son; how is that not creepy?”

Jack looked upset. “Danny, don’t lie about things like that.”

“I’m not.”

Chief Griffin cleared his throat. “Anyway, as I was saying, Mayor Masters suggested you might be able to help.”

“Well, I’m happy he thought of us,” Jack said, exuberance returning, “But I don’t recall any non-ghost snake creatures.”

“Perhaps the witness was mistaken, and it was a ghost,” Maddie said. “Did it have a snake tail, too? That could be a lamia-type or naga-type ghost.”

“What’s the difference?” Danny asked.

“Lamia are stuck in a permanent human-snake hybrid form,” Maddie explained. “Naga can change between fully human, fully snake, and a similar hybrid. But, none have claws—the witness is certain there were claws?”

“Yes. The witness also insists they had legs,” Chief Griffin explained. “Could a naga manifest in a form like that?”

“No; it’s three distinct forms,” Maddie said. “And they don’t have venom; lamia can, but they always have the tail…”

“Could be a gorgon ghost,” Jack supplied.

“The thing with snakes for hair?” Danny asked.

“No, those don’t have venom either,” Maddie said.

“And I’m pretty sure the witness would have remembered snake hair,” Chief Griffin said.

“Maybe the perpetrators were just pretending to be snakes!” Jack offered.

“And just how would they do that?” Jazz asked skeptically. “I guess they could wear snakeskin jackets, and maybe masks, but there was venom and claw marks.”

“The venom could have been a self-created formula injected with a syringe,” Maddie offered. “And plenty of weapons can make bite-like marks.”

“And there are plenty of clawed weapons!” Jack pointed out, then hopped out of his chair. “Like this modified Ghost Grabber!” he said, and somehow the metal gloves were on his hands; where exactly had he stored them? He looked down at them, palms up. “Hmm. I think I’m gonna try to make the claws retractable…”

Danny leaned back, trying to get as far away as possible from them. Those were the Ghost Gauntlets that VladCo had in the alternate future timeline! Well, similar, at least; the claws were thicker and shorter. It was a logical progression from the plain gauntlets, Danny supposed, but still, it brought back extremely unpleasant memories.

Chief Griffin glanced at Danny, clearly noting his nervous reaction. He raised his hands, palms facing Jack. “Maybe you should put down the dangerous weapon that can almost definitely hurt humans?”

Jack looked at the chief and blinked. “It can hurt humans?” He looked back at the gloves, sitting back down as he did so. “Oh. Yes, I guess they could.”

“Give me those,” Jazz said, grabbing them right off her father’s hands, then casually commented, “Huh, these are kinda cold—probably since it’s oddly chilly in here,” she looked at Danny as she said that, who got the idea and quickly clamped down on the temperature-drop ability before it started snowing or something.

“If I see you brandishing those in public, I will confiscate them,” Chief Griffin told Jack firmly, clutching his hot cup of coffee a little more tightly, likely to warm his hands. “The rule is that you can only carry weapons that are primarily meant to damage ghosts.”

“But I did make them to hurt ghosts,” Jack said, seemingly not comprehending. “They’re coated with anti-ecto material.”

Maddie sighed and put a hand on Jack’s arm. “Jack, honey, coating a regular weapon with anti-ecto material doesn’t magically change them to ghost-only weapons,” she told him gently. “We’ve talked about this.”

“We have? Right, we have!” Jack said with realization. “Okay, fine; I’ll leave these at home.”

“You probably don’t need me here, so I think I’m gonna go to my room and attempt to do homework,” Danny said, slipping out of his seat.

“Homework? But it’s Saturday!” Jack said.

“Yeah, well, I still have some,” Danny lied. Or, maybe lied; for all he knew, he probably did actually have some, but he didn’t remember having any. “Nice seeing you, Chief Griffin,” he said.

“You too, Danny,” the chief told him with a nod. “Go get your homework done.” Danny had a feeling the chief knew that was not actually what Danny planned to do.

“And it seems the temperature control system broke again, so put a jacket on!” Maddie called as Danny left. She then said more normally to the others, “I don’t know what’s going on with that; nothing seems to be wrong with it. Last time the repairman even had the gall to tell us we were imagining it, can you believe it? But it’s clearly cold in here!”

“Yeah; dunno how Danny didn’t feel it, he was in short sleeves!” Jack noted.

“Hmm. I hadn’t noticed,” Chief Griffin lied, no doubt having realized what the true issue was.

“I might’ve left the back door open; I’ll go check,” Jazz said, and Danny heard her footsteps heading there—she obviously hadn’t, but was trying to provide a solution before their dad ended up concluding it was ghosts at fault, which he surprisingly hadn’t yet.

When Danny reached his room, he changed into Phantom form and took off into the night, hoping that a quick flight would help calm him down.

Not long after, that quick flight turned into a long fight.

“Seriously? British soldier ghosts?” Danny sighed as the flew over one of the farms on the outskirts of the city; there were no full-sized mass-operation farms around Amity Park, but there were a number of smaller historical ones with houses dating back over a century who raised chickens, sheep, pigs, and other animals, as well as various crops, all raised and grown using the same methods used during whatever time period the farms originated from.

Most of these farms got funding from the state’s Historical Commission, and as a stipulation to that were open to visitation, some by appointment only but others had open house days too; this specific one did school tours, so Danny’s class had visited it back in his elementary school days, as a way to learn about historical farming for their history class. He recalled that the man who owned the farm was a retired history professor at the nearby college, and his wife was a baker who had made them all historical treats that day.

Tonight, though, the farm was chaos. On the farm there was what must have been fifty soldiers, looking like they were pre-Revolution based on the uniforms, attacking the red farmhouse for some reason. The elderly couple were on their back porch, blockaded by a large circular wooden table, the circumference of which was above their heads, and defending themselves with ecto-shotguns (Danny was impressed by their marksmenship!). Numerous chickens, goats, ducks, and pigs were running around in a panic, and a large turkey had taken it upon itself to attempt attacking the ghost soldiers, to little avail. A half dozen cats were perched on the roof, hissing, and a pair of farm dogs were barking at the ghosts but keeping a distance.

Danny flew to the couple, coming up from behind so as not to get shot, and asked, “Need some help?”

Both humans shouted and swerved around, the man shooting an ecto-gun at Danny.

Danny easily dodged it and said, “Hey, watch it, Earl! I’m on your side!”

Earl looked surprised. “Phantom,” he said, lowering the gun, then paused, look shifting to mild confusion. “Sorry, but did you call me Earl?”

“Yeah; that’s your name, right? And you’re Betty?” Danny said with a nod to the woman.

Betty laughed. “Oh! No, those are the names of the original farm owners. We use them for our historical tours, as we pretend to actually be from the time period for those.”

“Yup,” the man corroborated. “Our real names are Zach and Justine; that don’t really give the same historical vibe. But, how didya know those names?” Zach asked, mild dread in his voice for some reason.

“Well, I attended the tour when I was in elementary school,” Danny explained.

“But, we only started doing those school tours six ago, when Zach retired,” Betty said, now sounding concerned too. “And you look only about 13…”

“14,” Danny automatically corrected.

“Yes. So that means you’re a really recent ghost, aren’t you?”

Danny shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t like talking about his death with people, especially timelines, since it could lead to speculation that was too close to the truth.

“And if you attended the tour with your class, you’re from Amity Park,” Zach realized, then scrunched his brow in confusion. “But, I don’t remember anything about a kid dying around here in the past few years, until the one last night.”

Speculation like that.

“Hold on a second…” Justine said, narrowing her eyes at Danny. “Seeing you up close, you look kinda familiar…”

Danny winced. “D-do I?” he stuttered; crap. His human form was caught on TV with his parents somewhat often, so it wouldn’t be unheard of for these two to recall what he looked like…

“The Fentons didn’t have a second boy, did they?” Justine asked Zach.

Okay, that was getting way too close to the truth.

BOOM.

A piece of the porch’s overhang crumbled when something hit it, sufficiently distracting everyone via reminding them that they were in the middle of a battle.

“They have a cannon now!?” Zach exclaimed, shooting off his weapon a few times at the offending item, or rather the ghost manning it.

“No, that’s our cannon!” Betty said, shooting too.

“The old defunct one that was decorating the front garden!? How’d they get cannon balls?!”

“I have no idea!”

Danny hurriedly flew over to the cannon, dodging another cannon ball—definitely real, not a ghostly ecto one. He swooped down and grabbed the thing, wincing as an ecto-bullet from a soldier grazed his arm, and then flew the cannon back to the porch to deposit it behind the barricade (thankfully the soldiers’ ecto-guns only seemed to be leaving small burn marks in the table and house, nothing too damaging).

Danny flew into the fray and got to work; he pulled out the thermos from his lair and threw the attached strap over his shoulder and across his chest (unfortunately, when it held ghosts he couldn’t transport it to his lair). He started by shooting ecto-blasts at the ghosts, and once they were hit and sufficiently distracted he sucked them into the thermos (he’d learned the hard way that ghosts could fight it, or at least dodge, if he didn’t weaken or distract them first). Thankfully this was a newer-model thermos that could store a lot more ghosts than previous ones (at least, as far as lower-level ghosts went, and these seemed individually fairly weak, knock on wood)!

“Welcome to Amity Park Ghost Watch!” a voice rang out, and Danny turned to see a news crew at the edge of the fight, filming their anchor, who continued, “I’m Lance Thunder. We’re here on scene at the Eldritch Family Historical Farm on the outskirts of Amity Park as a platoon of British soldier ghosts attack the farmhouse…”

“Where the Hell did you all come from?” Danny complained out loud.

Apparently the news heard. Lance continued, “...which is being defended by the farm’s owners with the assistance of Phantom, who seems to have ditched the family-friendly guise in favor of using curse words…”

“Assistance? I’m doing most the work!” Danny complained out loud. “And ‘Hell’ is barely a curse!” In his distraction, a soldier’s bullet hit him on the shoulder. “Ow!” Danny swerved towards the soldier, shooting his own ecto-blast at it and then sucking it in the thermos before flying further into the fray, away from the news crew.

“Need some help, Babypop?” Ember called, flying into the fray as well.

“Weren’t you in Anaheim?” Danny asked.

“Just got back, and saw this going on.” Ember summoned her guitar. “Let’s see how these 18th-century soldiers react to ROCK!” She strummed her guitar, drawing the attention of everyone there.

“And the fight increases in intensity as Ember McLain shows up!” Lance said. “Can Phantom fight both his devious idol enemy and the soldiers?”

“We ain’t enemies, you fuckin’ doofus!” Ember shouted at the man, then swooped down and strummed her guitar again, unleashing a shockwave that knocked down a dozen of the platoon, which seemed to have gotten reinforcements—there were still at least fifty if Danny estimated correctly, yet he’d definitely already sucked up half of the original fifty if not more.

“In a major plot twist, Ember has declared that she is not Phantom’s enemy and has now joined him in fighting the soldiers!” Lance declared. “Could this be the start of a romance?”

“Just cover the damn battle, don’t speculate about my love life!” Danny shouted at him, as he sent a small ice wave towards the ghosts. “And for the record, we’re just friends!”

“Ouch, that hurts. Babypop,” Ember said teasingly, then told Lance, “Also for the record, I’m dating Skulker, and I don’t cheat.” She then flew off into the battle again, shooting another sound wave to stun some of the ghosts so Danny could thermos them.

“And how do you feel about that, Phantom?” Lance asked, holding the microphone towards him.

“I don’t answer personal questions!” Danny replied as he dodged some more gunshots.

“Okay, then what about—”

Danny cut Lance off. “Are you really trying to do an interview in the middle of battle?!”

“Well you won’t talk to us any other time!” Lance complained.

“Yeah, because I don’t want to do an interview! Take the damn hint!” Danny yelled, getting frustrated with the man; he reminded himself that no matter how tempting, it was morally irresponsible to shoot an ectoblast at Star’s step-dad just for being irritating.

“And there’s more cursing!” Lance said. “Is Ember’s teenage penchant for foul language rubbing off on you?”

“No; I’m just a teenager too!” Danny reminded him as he sucked up more of the ghosts. “So, sorry if I forget sometimes to police my language!”

“So you do adjust your speech patterns and actions to come across as more family-friendly!” Lance happily concluded, as though he’d won a prize for having that confirmation. “In that case, why do you—”

Danny cut Lance off again as he lugged some ball-shaped ectoblasts at the ghosts. “Like I said, I’m a teenager. Literally all teenagers curse, dead ones included! But most of us police our language around adults and children!” That was a bit of an exaggeration, Danny knew, as there definitely were some more well-behaved teenagers as far as language went, like Sidney for one example. “Just like I bet you adults do too. Now, if you don’t stop trying to interview me, I’m going to do another childish teenage thing by giving you guys the finger for the rest of the battle, so you’ll have to cut any footage with me. Got it?”

“Got it,” Lance said, paling slightly. The footage was live, Danny knew, meaning it just had a few seconds delay where the censorship team at the studio would add beeps to cover certain words or cut anything potentially lewd, no time to do more specific edits—if they had to cut everything with Danny, there wouldn’t be enough to continue with a proper report until the recaps on the news later where they’d have time to blur it beforehand.

Finally, Danny sucked the last of the ghosts into the thermos. He glanced around; no sign of the GIW, and the other ghost hunters were either otherwise occupied or had a truce with him, so he decided it was fine to swoop back over to Zach and Justine.

“You two okay?” Danny asked from behind the two; he’d made sure they saw that he flew there this time.

The news crew began heading towards them.

“Get any closer and I’ll shoot you!” Zach yelled at the crew, this time brandishing a real shotgun.

“But we want an interview!” Lance shouted back, undeterred.

“You can interview me!” Ember said excitedly, flying over to the news crew. “I’ll give you an exclusive—I’ve got a new album coming out soon, and you’re the first to know!”

The news crew was happy with this; Ember led them far enough away that Danny could barely hear them even with his ghost hearing, so he should be able to talk with the couple unheard by the crew.

Which was good, because Justine’s first question as she turned to Danny was, “You’re the Fentons’ boy, aren’t you?”

Danny felt himself pale and shifted backwards slightly. “Um. Why would you think that?” he asked nervously.

“Your reaction, for one,” Justine said with a chuckle, rubbing her arms slightly. “Do ice crystals always form on glass when you’re nervous?”

“Ah, yeah, sorry,” Danny said, glancing behind him at the windows, which were indeed iced over. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “My ice powers are still kinda new, and overreactive to my emotions.”

“All your powers are new,” Justine said. “Since you only showed up in this form a little over a year ago. Your parents don’t know yet, do they?”

“Ah, no,” Danny told her. “Please don’t tell them. Or, anyone.” He was a little unsure what to do in this situation.

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Justine promised.

“Guess those are pretty powerful transformation abilities you have, then, if you can get around their trackers,” Zach speculated.

Danny debated how much he could tell; these two seemed amicable and trustworthy. “I actually can’t. But the excuse of it being heavy ecto-contamination from an incident with one of their experiments tends to work, for both them and the GIW.” Well, as to the GIW, there was also the Reality Gauntlet’s spell, at least for the one general and two agents currently assigned to Amity Park; although Danny wasn’t entirely sure how long that would last, or if it could be broken upon something like them gaining additional info.

“An incident with an experiment…” Justine trailed. “Is that how…?”

“Yes,” Danny told her. “It did more than give me ecto-contamination. But I’d rather not talk much about that; just know that my parents don’t know, and you can’t tell anyone, please. Only a few friends, my sister, and one teacher know. Oh, and the police chief—he’s cool with it.”

“So, you don’t think your parents will accept you?” Justine asked sadly.

“I don’t know,” Danny said honestly. He had hope, thanks to that whole Reality Gauntlet incident, but he couldn’t be fully certain given circumstances were different now. “I’ll tell them someday, but I just want to get through high school first, so if they don’t accept me at least I’ll be able to legally leave on my own, assuming they let me keep living as a human.”

“Yes, I suppose that makes sense,” Zach said, rubbing at the stubble on his chin, looking contemplative. “Well, if you ever need a place to hide, there’s a large hidden room in the basement,” he offered, then with a wink added, “My dad ran a speakeasy in this place back in the ‘20s.”

“It was also a stop on the Underground Railroad, which is what that room originally was for,” Justine further explained. “So, plenty safe from the government, if that becomes an issue!”

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Danny told the two. It would’ve been useful to know during that Reality Gauntlet event! Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to have more people knowing Danny’s secret, providing he could make sure everyone who knew was trustworthy.

“Can ghosts eat?” Justine suddenly wondered.

“Uh, yeah, technically,” Danny told them, thrown off by the seemingly random question. “They don’t need to, but yeah, ghosts can eat, and taste. Why?”

“Because, as you may remember from that field trip, I’m a baker,” Justine said with a smile. “And I just made some fresh batches of things that I’ll be sending to the farmer’s market in town! I think you deserve some for helping us out, hm?”

“Oh. Um, sure,” Danny said, not used to being offered rewards for his services. “I remember really liking the chocolate chip scones?”

“Well, I don’t have any scones today, but I did bake a batch of chocolate chip muffins.”

Danny grinned. “That works too.” His sense of taste may have changed somewhat since becoming a ghost (or, part-ghost, technically; when had Danny started naturally calling himself a ghost instead?), causing some of his likes and dislikes to change, but thankfully chocolate still tasted wonderful. Plus, he had run off before eating dinner, so was hungry!

Not long after, Danny, as well as Ember as the couple insisted on thanking her as well, left with not just muffins, but a whole bag full of pastries and sweets, at Justine’s insistence; when Danny tried to tell her he couldn’t eat that much, she said to share them with his friends and family. At Zach’s insistence, some chicken eggs, duck eggs, goat milk, and goat cheese were added to the basket as well; Danny wasn’t sure what he was going to do with those, but maybe Jazz could use them to make a family breakfast tomorrow.

The couple also made Danny and Ember promise to stop by again, if he ever needed more of any of it; when they realized Danny was clearly uncertain of the offer, they threatened to send the things to his house if he didn’t show up at least once a month, so Danny eventually conceded, if only because they also promised to let him pet some of the animals if he visited when they were calmer (not that night though; none of the animals were going to let a stranger near them, especially a ghostly one, immediately after that soldier ghost ordeal!).

Danny flew home feeling a lot happier than he had in a while; for once things seemed to be starting to look up!

Chapter Text

Star spent the same evening with Paulina, having dinner with her family as often happened when Star’s mother was off doing movie shoots and Lance was working late. Lance had called Star just as she was getting ready to go home for dinner, which they typically had around 8pm, to let her know that apparently some British soldier ghosts were attacking a farm (for what reason, Star couldn’t fathom; maybe they thought the Revolutionary War was still happening, and that it was a base of operations or something? Wait, no, Ohio wasn’t even colonized then, was it?) off on the other side of town and Phantom had been spotted there, thus duty called.

Star wished she could be there helping Danny fight, but alas, she wasn’t yet confident that her powers were under control enough to be of any help when it came to fighting soldiers. She’d only fought ectopi and similar weak mindless ghosts thus far. Not that Star wanted to fight per se! No, she’d rather leave the superhero stuff to Danny, officially. It still could be fun to sometimes help though. Plus, the more time Star could spend with Danny, the better!

Once Star got home, she attempted to work on homework, to little avail, until Lance got back around ten. Star greeted him so that he knew she was ‘home’ before sneaking out—he headed straight to bed, tired after all the reporting, so that meant Star wouldn’t have to worry about him potentially realizing she wasn’t home.

Star, in ghost form, hovered outside her window, wondering what to do. She could go visit Danny, but chances are he was tired too after all that fighting, and Star didn’t want to cost him sleep just because she was bored—and Star definitely was bored! The night was too still and quiet, as always; Star wanted people to interact with, but she couldn’t even hang out with her ghost friends, given that Ember apparently had an impromptu showing on one of the local Late Night talk shows in light of her new album announcement, and Johnny and Kitty were helping Dash learn about general ghost things in the Ghost Zone that Star had already learned, which would be boring…

Wait.

Star realized that there was one person who should know about Dash being a ghost, who likely had just heard the news that he had died—the evening news, which had been on while Star had been having dinner with Paulina’s family, had reported on it (although they’d all already known; Paulina had told them about Dash being dead when she got home, claiming that the chief had already interviewed the two about it; Paulina’s dad chided her for not involving a lawyer). After that had been the coverage of the farmhouse battle (Star found herself a little jealous that Ember helped out with it!), which distracted the group enough from the news of Dash.

Star flew around a bit, aware that the person lived just a block from the school in one of the smaller basic townhouses but unsure which direction… There! The mailbox luckily said ‘Lancer’ on it. Star alighted in front of the door and, after glancing around to be sure there were no onlookers, shifted to human form and wrang the bell.

Lancer answered the door looking rather harrowed, eyes red and puffy as though he’d been crying. He took a moment to process who was on the doorstep, then asked with slight confusion, “Star? What are you doing here?”

“It’s not too late, is it?” Star asked. “I don’t sleep, so…”

“Ah, r-right, because you’re… come in, come in, I was just watching the 10pm news… They announced whose body was found…” Lancer looked a little lost.

“So you heard then,” Star said, noting Lancer apparently watched the late news thus had only freshly learned Dash was dead, with no ghost-fight buffer after given the sounds of the TV indicated that that recap was just playing, as she floated into the house, then remembered to stand on the floor. She forgot that a lot. Of course, Lancer knew she was a ghost, so that didn’t really matter so much at the moment… So, she returned to floating, since that was easier.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Lancer said, ignoring the floating as he closed the door. He seemed a little relieved—perhaps he had expected that he’d have to be the one to break the news to Star that Dash had died.

“No, I’m not—I found out this morning. Before the body was found,” Star revealed.

“Before…? But how… Oh.” Lancer paled. “Oh, no, don’t tell me he’s a ghost too!”

“Oh! You’re good at guessing things,” Star complimented. “Yeah, he’s a ghost too. But, he doesn’t have transformation powers, so unfortunately can’t pretend to be human like Danny and I do. Plus his body being discovered would make that impossible anyway. He’s the anonymous tip the police got, actually!”

“He told the police… where his body was…?”

“Yup! Unfortunately he didn’t remember much of what happened though. He got hit from behind trying to save Hannah from someone taking her. She’s probably kidnapped, because they didn’t find her body. But it helped me remember that I was taken too, though not sure by who!”

“The Devil in the White City,” Lancer whispered, collapsing into an armchair. “And Sarah was just reported missing yesterday too… This is… This is some sort of operation, or a serial killer, isn’t it?”

“That’s what we think,” Star told him, opting to just sit cross-legged in the air, as Lancer grabbed the TV remote from the armchair’s arm and clicked the TV off (it was on the somewhat hilarious part where Danny was arguing with Star’s step-dad). “The police aren’t explicitly saying that yet, to avoid public panic, but seem pretty sure that they’re not isolated incidents.

“Anyway, so yeah, I wanted to let you know about Dash being a ghost, I asked him earlier if I could tell people and he said it’s okay if I tell people who already know about me and Danny but just don’t tell anyone else. I think he’s secretly embarrassed about it, and scared. It’s scary and confusing becoming a ghost! Yeah so I figured you know about me and Danny, so might as well know about him as well. Maybe it’ll also make things less sad knowing he’s still around, you know?”

“No, not really,” Lancer revealed, glancing at Star. “In the span of… roughly 30 hours, I’ve found out that three of my students died. Knowing they returned as ghosts doesn’t lesson that blow, particularly as it means their deaths were especially traumatizing to have produced a ghost in the first place.”

“Oh,” Star said, unsure how else to react. To her, it didn’t feel like such a big deal, even though she knew objectively that it was. Maybe it was because she didn’t really remember much about her death.

Lancer gave Star a curious look, then asked, “Star, excuse me if this is rude, but I do have a question: do ghosts react differently to death than humans do?”

“Oh. Yes, we do,” Star admitted; she’d forgotten about that momentarily. “Danny was actually a little distressed about that when he saw I was a ghost; no one told him that ghosts reacted differently, and he didn’t understand why he wasn’t as sad as he felt he should be. I think it’s a good thing though, seeing as we’ll someday have to watch every single human we know die.”

“Oh, right—you don’t age,” Lancer recalled, looking slightly taken aback by Star’s bluntness about watching people die. “Yes, I suppose that’s a good thing then that grief isn’t as potent.”

“Johnny said we can get lonely though,” Star further explained. “Once everyone’s gone, if they didn’t become ghosts and we don’t have ghost friends, we can get very lonely and some ghosts lash out because of the pain of that loneliness. So it’s kinda like grief? And we can miss people, if we stayed close to them. But, it doesn’t feel different than if they’d simply moved away? Like, just knowing they’re dead doesn’t do it.”

“I see…” Lancer trailed, then had a look of the sort that indicated he’d remembered something. “Ah, while you’re here, I have another question, that’s perhaps a little sensitive, also about death…”

“Ask away,” Star said a little too chipperly, again forgetting it was a somber moment.

“Well, I know you talked about your death pretty willingly, and Danny was a little more reluctant but still willingly explained without needing much coaxing. Are all ghosts so open about their deaths? The Fenton adults make it seem like the complete opposite; are they wrong on that front?”

“Yeah, those two get a lot wrong,” Star confirmed. “It can vary, but most ghosts don’t really care what people know. Younger ones that remember their deaths might not like to talk about it, since the memories are still strong—pretty sure Danny still has nightmares about his, but most ghosts don’t sleep like he does—but it’s not some violent instinct that makes them rabidly attack when asked about it. That’s just not a thing.”

“So then, in order to fulfil the historical and archival research aspect of the school’s English curriculum, researching ghosts’ deaths would be okay as an assignment?” Lancer asked.

“Should be fine,” Star said. “Just, leave Danny out though.”

“Right, of course,” Lancer said. “I was planning to anyway, as the lesson involves doing research via newspaper articles and old public records, including how to use microform materials. I have a list of ghosts who I was able to find records of; those are the ones that will be part of the assignment, randomly assigned to groups.”

“Um. How will that work though?” Star asked. “Like, some of us literally know the ghosts and they’ve told us already.”

“Well, I would of course be requiring citations as to where the information was found.”

“Makes sense,” Star said. She hoped she got a ghost she knew, as then she could cite ‘interview’ as the souce. Easy!

“And by citations, I mean the physical material, like specific news articles, not an interview,” Lancer warned. “Although if you want to do an interview for extra credit, I suppose that would be fine.”

“Got it,” Star said, a little miffed that Lancer had thought of that. Well, she could ask the ghosts specifics that would make finding such easier, she supposed; maybe they knew which newspapers published their obits or whatever.

“Meow!” came a sound from below Star; she looked down to see a black cat.

Lancer chuckled. “Star, meet Shadow. I know, I know, not the most original of names, but that’s the one he came with; I have a grey tabby cat around here named MacBeth, and an orange one named Hamlet.”

“Ah yes, Shakespeare names, definitely would expect that of you since he’s your favorite playwright,” Star said with a nod.

Lancer gave Star a mischievous smile. “Actually, my favorite playwright is Richard O’Brian.”

“Richard… Oh! Wait. As in, the writer of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’?!” Star proclaimed. She usually wasn’t that good at remembering names, but that had been on an episode of Jeopardy.

“Yes,” Lancer said, surprised that Star knew that. “Although the play was just called ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. He wrote both the original play and worked on the film adaptation too.”

“Wait, so why don’t you ever teach it?” Star wondered. “Lots of kids know that one! It’s fun!”

“Ah. Well, although I’d love to, the school board presents an obstacle to that,” Lancer revealed.

“Oh,” Star said. “Stupid school board.”

Lancer chuckled. “Echoing the sentiment of most of the school, staff and students alike, I’m sure.”

“MEOW!” Shadow yelled again.

“I dare say he wants you to pet him,” Lancer told Star, looking amused at the cat’s antics.

“Oh. Okay,” Star said, looking down. She lowered herself down to sitting on the floor, keeping her legs crossed the whole time, and reached her hand out; the cat came to her, bumping his head on her hand, demanding pets. Star giggled in response. “He’s such a sweet cat!” She sighed. “I never was allowed to have a pet, because my parents travelled too much. Unless you count the lions at my uncle’s, those were fun to cuddle.”

Lancer stared at Star.

“What?”

“You’re… not joking? Your uncle really let you cuddle with the lions?” Lancer asked, not wondering why Star’s uncle had them—Star had told him about her uncle having a circus before, during cheerleading, to give context as to why she was such a great flyer right from day one.

“Nope! They were totally tame,” Star informed Lancer.

“But… they’re lions.”

“Tamed ones he raised from cubs. There was a bear too!”

“I don’t know whether to be concerned or jealous,” Lancer concluded, and Star had no doubt that he was wondering how she had made it all the way until fifteen before dying. “Does your uncle still have them?”

“Oh, no, they were sent to a reserve in Africa after he was arrested,” Star told Lancer, and upon his surprised look at that added, “Yeah, so turns out the circus itself didn’t make much money, so he was also breeding the exotic animals and selling them to rich people, which is like super illegal apparently, who knew? But the reserve actually lets me and my mom visit them, we go on vacation there every year! My mom now donates five percent of what she makes on each movie to them.”

“Which, given her current fame, I’m sure is extremely substantial,” Lancer acknowledged.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Star said. “I think she technically funds like 90% of their operations or something.”

“And yet, you live in Amity Park,” Lancer noted.

Star shrugged. “I mean, we inherited the home, so why not? We’ve got a home in Hollywood too, which she stays at during shoots that are there, but Mom said it’s better for me to go to school in a more normal town.”

“A more… normal town?”

Star laughed. “Yeah, I know, ironic, huh? But, it used to be… well, okay, it was never normal, but a little less quirky, you know?”

“Yes, I certainly do,” Lancer said.

There was a small bout of contemplative quiet, then Star noticed something. “Aww, he’s purring!” she cooed as Shadow, now fully in Star’s lap, loudly vibrated. Her core pulsed in response.

“So are… you…?” Lancer slowly asked with mild confusion.

“Oh, yeah, ghost cores can vibrate when feeling strong emotions,” Star revealed. “Surprised you can hear it! It’s a little too low-pitched for most humans to hear.” At least, according to Ember. “All ghosts can hear it though. There’s a lot of sounds ghosts can hear that humans can’t. A lot that they can make too that humans can’t hear. It’s so strange! Taste amd smell and vision are different too, and temperatures are different! I didn’t know there was so much different about ghosts compared to humans. I mean, there’s the obvious, like the powers and whole being dead thing, but the senses, wow, just so different!”

“Interesting,” Lancer said, looking like he was trying to hide the uncomfortability he felt at Star mentioning the word ‘dead’.

“Oh. Was I too blunt again?” Star wondered.

“No, no, just, well, it’s taking some getting used to, knowing my students are… well, you know. That’s all it is; I’m sure I’ll adjust,” Lancer promised.

“Yeah, you definitely will,” Star agreed. “I know it’s kinda weird, but we’re still us, just a bit different,” she told Lancer, while still petting Shadow. “Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all got used to Danny being a ghost after all.”

“Did they?” Lancer questioned.

Star paused at that. “Actually, I don’t know. Jazz has I think. Tucker too, for the most part. But Sam definitely still acts uncomfortable when he acts too ghostly. That might be because she blames herself for the accident though—it was her idea that they check out the portal, you know. Danny tells her all the time that it wasn’t her fault, and that he’d eventually have checked it out anyway, but she’s stubborn, you know?”

“She does tend to be the stubborn sort,” Lancer agreed, looking uncomfortable himself.

Star then became very aware of how much she’d been talking and realized that she was potentially oversharing. Or, was she oversharing? Star wasn’t sure; it could be hard to tell what amount of sharing was appropriate. Still… “I’m overstaying my welcome, aren’t I? You need sleep.”

Lancer glanced at the clock on the wall. “It is getting late, but don’t feel obliged to leave—I don’t mind having the company, especially after… He gestured to the TV. “Well, you know.”

“Right,” Star said. “Well—oh!” Her phone beeped loudly with a text message alert; it seemed she forgot to put it on vibrate. Shadow jumped off Star’s lap and scurried away in fright, and Star checked it to find a worried message from Lance asking where she was. “Oh no; Lance woke up and realized I’m not at home, and is apparently very worried that I could have been taken too.”

“Well, then, I suggest you get going and assure the poor man that you haven’t been!”

Star nodded as she floated to a more upright position. “Yes, one time was enough. See you!”

Star shifted back to ghost form and flew off, leaving a harrowed-looking Lancer behind her.

Chapter Text

Sunday passed without incident, just a typical weekend day despite the somberness and worry hanging over the town.

Well, mostly a typical day; taking a few hours to help train Dash how to use his ghost powers wasn’t how Danny would have preferred to spend a Sunday morning, but thankfully Star and Ember were there too. Otherwise Danny simply relaxed with Sam and Tucker, consuming pastries and watching movies at Sam’s…

Well, except for needing to take one ghost-related break to catch the box ghost for what felt like the billionth time. This time he had been at a warehouse near an old ship-making factory, which seemed to have actually been bought by someone to Danny’s surprise, given the vehicles outside; the place had been abandoned since long before Danny had been born, so he wondered what was going to be put up in its place given there was no way to renovate a factory that old (although chances are it wouldn’t be housing or retail, as was the trend elsewhere in the country, given Amity Park’s population was in steep decline—multiple ghost invasions tended to do that).

Chief Griffin had requested the kids stop investigating on their own for now and to let him know if Star or Dash remember anything more, and Danny had to agree with that; there wasn’t much a group of teens could do on that front, other than fly around and try to look for suspicious things, but that had been a bust.

Danny entered Casper High on Monday to find a somber feeling hung over it, no doubt related to the news of Dash’s body being found and two girls being missing. Saturday’s news had revealed that the police ‘suspected’ that Dash’s death was a heroic one, attempting to rescue a girl who had gone missing that same night, due to signs of a struggle and an ‘anonymous’ witness—which the press had already correctly concluded was a ghost, although thankfully had not realized it was the ghost of the one who had died. The fact that the culprits possibly had inhuman yet nonghostly features had thankfully been left out of even the police reports—they did not need a public panic over other creatures potentially existing, especially as the two weren’t fully certain what they had seen.

Danny was struggling a little with Dash being seen as a hero due to dying while trying to rescue someone, even if he failed. Danny felt guilty about the primary feeling he had towards that—resentment. Phantom did so many great things, yet still was seen as a menace by a good portion of the town, yet despite all of the horrible things Dash had done, people were honoring him, just because he died saving someone? Did that really negate everything Dash had done prior, erase the fact that he was a massive bully? It just felt so unfair.

Danny passed by Kwan, who was staring at Dash’s locker forlornly, no doubt sad about his best friend no longer being there, even if he was still around as a ghost. Paulina was patting his back in comfort, also looking sad. Star was there too, looking a little awkward, as though she wasn’t really sure how to act, likely not understanding their grief.

Honestly, Danny didn’t really understand that grief either; Dash was a ghost, not gone. If he were fully gone, sure, that would be different, but he still existed, and they all still could be friends. Why grieve someone who was technically still there? Danny would be happy if his friends died and came back as ghosts! …Wait, no, that thought came out wrong. Obviously Danny didn’t want them to go through that kind of trauma! But he couldn’t deny the appeal of them being with him for eternity…

Well, at least Danny had ghost friends now, lessening the blow of being immortal. He couldn’t imagine how stressed he would be if he didn’t have them, if he only thought about all his friends and family eventually dying and leaving him alone… Danny shivered at that thought, mind flashing briefly to thoughts of that horrible alternate universe where he’d gone on a murderous rampage after losing everyone—would that have still happened if Vlad’s gauntlets hadn’t separated out his negative emotions which then merged with Vlad’s to form the new ghost? How much of the dark Phantom had been Danny, and how much had been Vlad?

Danny arrived at locker 724, the same one he had the prior year after his was destroyed, which contained the mirror that Poindexter (exclusively) could use to travel between his Ghost Zone school and the human realm’s mirror of it. The mirror was a ghost object, thus had reformed itself after Danny destroyed it, and now the two had become friends, frequently chatting when getting books at the same time. He’d had Tucker hack the locker assignments so he could keep it.

“Danny!” Sidney greeted when Danny opened the locker. “Been waiting for you, bud. Is it true?”

“If you mean, is Dash dead, yeah, it’s true,” Danny confirmed. “If you mean, is he like us, yeah, that’s true too. But unfortunately he can’t blend in like me and Star.”

“How do you feel about it?” Sidney asked.

“Honestly, I have mixed feelings,” Danny admitted. “I’m glad he isn’t going to be bullying me anymore, of course, but his death is related to the other case, so we gotta work together, which is weird. It’s difficult.”

“Oof, yeah, that’s gotta be,” Sidney said, then glanced at his analog watch. “Well, if you want to talk more after school we can, but for now, better get to class, Buster.”

“Still find it strange that your school actually keeps strict time,” Danny muttered, but Sidney’s mirror had already gone dark, indicating a closed locker. That school was the only place in the Ghost Zone, outside of Clockwork, who truly gave consideration to time, and Sidney liked to be early to class; sometimes it aligned with Danny’s school’s times, sometimes it didn’t, and it all seemed random, but there must be some sort of schedule to it.

Danny grabbed his books and closed his locker, only to drop the books when a hand slammed into his shoulder as he turned around, pressing him to his locker. Dale stared at him; his letterman jacket was tied around his waist, no doubt to seem more intimidating with his bulky muscles on display through his tight white t-shirt with a Casper High Football logo.

“Fenton,” Dale growled. “I’m guessing you’re happy that Dash is gone? Well, not for long—we drew straws to see who gets his favorites, and you get to be my punching bag now!”

“Seriously?” Danny complained. True, Dash hadn’t been the only bully at the school, often teaming up with other jocks, but drawing straws to divide Dash’s favorites?

“Yeah, seriously! Now, open your locker so I can shove you in it!”

“No,” Danny said, deciding then and there that he was just done with the bullying. Dash was gone, and Danny was not going to bow down to another bully, even to keep up appearances.

“No?”

“No,” Danny repeated.

Dale laughed. “Ooh, feeling edgy, huh? Just because you got your ears pierced and you’re in a slightly cooler outfit? Hmph; betcher just being a poser. Sorry, but you’re still a wimpy nerd, and ‘no’ isn’t an option.”

Said ‘slightly cooler’ outfit was the grey denim jacket over a black MCR t-shirt, black standard-cut jeans, and light blue Vans, along with a heavy chain choker necklace and light blue seatbelt-style belt. Honestly it wasn’t that different than what Danny usually wore, aside from the colors and addition of the jacket and accessories; Danny wasn’t sure why it was apparently cooler than a lighter NASA t-shirt and looser blue jeans. Maybe it was due to the higher cost of them being brand names, although Danny still wasn’t sure why that mattered. But, Danny needed to update his wardrobe anyway, so people didn’t suspect he wasn’t growing, and Paulina had paid, so he went along with it.

Danny growled, showing fangs.

Dale seemed taken aback for a moment, then glared at Danny. “Oh, think you can intimidate me with fake vampire fangs?”

“No; they’re real,” Danny told him with a smirk. “From the ecto-contamination, you know?”

“Tch. As if; you’re just trying to throw me off. Bet they’re not even sharp.” As though to prove it, Dale stuck his hand in Danny’s mouth to poke at them, even trying to pull one out.

Danny grabbed Dale’s wrist with both hands, initially with every intent to just try to pull the hand away, but when Dale resisted with a smug taunting grin it was just too tempting; Danny instead shoved the hand further into his mouth and clamped his teeth down, driving them into Dale’s hand, definitely drawing blood. He was pretty sure his eyes were glowing too, but the school was used to that.

“AAAH!” Dale shouted as he flailed around in a failed attempt to throw Danny’s off. “OKAY, I GET IT, THEY’RE REAL, THEY’RE REAL!”

A crowd began to quickly form, and Danny let go, feeling a trickle of what Danny hoped was drool and not blood dribble from his mouth, though from the blood on Dale’s hand Danny had a feeling that it was not drool. Dale grabbed his bloody hand with the other and stared at Danny, wide-eyed, as though he couldn’t believe that had happened.

“Told you they were real,” Danny said, spitting out what was definitely blood from the taste of it, and the color as it landed on Dale’s white shirt. It was a lot more than expected; could such small fangs really do that?

The bell rang, but no one moved.

“War of the Worlds! What is going on here?!” came a harrowed shout, and Lancer made his way to the front of the crowd, upon which his expression morphed into a look of disbelief. “Mr. Fenton? Is that blood?! Did you… did you bite another student? What has gotten into you!?”

“He tried to pull my teeth out!” Danny defended. “So yeah, I bit him! Anyone would have!”

“He tried to… Is this true, Mr. Bullock?” Lancer demanded.

“Ah, well…” Dale trailed, still clearly in shock; he wasn’t stopping the bleeding very well, causing small drops to land on the floor.

“I saw it all,” Valerie chimed in; Danny hadn’t even realized she was there. “Danny’s telling the truth; Dale pushed Danny into the lockers, so Danny growled with his fangs showing, and then Dale didn’t think the fangs were real so stuck his hand in Danny’s mouth to try to pull them out. It was clear self-defense by any definition.”

Danny didn’t think it was; it was more of an impulse decision and definitely unnecessary, especially given his ghost traits since even if one got pulled out it would grow back, but he opted not to try to argue it, having a feeling that neither Valerie nor Lancer would let him.

“I see,” Lancer said faintly, looking like he never expected to have to deal with something like this. “Well, then, Danny, go wash the blood from your mouth; Dale, head to the nurse. I will call the janitor to clean the blood off the floor… Interview With A Vampire, I never though I’d have to say that. Both of you have detention this afternoon, and your parents will be called.”

“But I have football!” Dale argued, finally coming to his senses; Danny didn’t argue though, feeling his own sentence was a lot lighter than it should be, given he had bitten someone. Bitten someone! He was also rather concerned about his parents being called; they hadn’t even noticed his fangs yet! Or, if they had they hadn’t said anything.

“I am aware. One of the school’s prerogatives this year is cracking down on bullying, including that done by the sports teams. You shoved someone into against the lockers and tried to pull their teeth out. Honestly, a single detention is getting off easy; best go to the nurse before I make it more.”

“Yes, sir,” Dale hurriedly said, then scurried down the hallway.

“Danny, for the love of Dracula, please go get the blood off your mouth,” Lancer told him a little faintly. Danny had noticed Lancer using his first name a lot more since learning his identity, and he wondered if that revelation also had to do with why his punishment had been lighter than expected. “And everyone else, get to homeroom!” he said much louder.

“Right, sure thing,” Danny said a little sheepishly, covering his mouth with a hand and hurrying towards the bathroom, the dissipating crowd parting for him; he had a feeling the students might be a little scared of him now.

“Dude!” Tucker said, joining him along with Sam as Danny reached them; they’d been at the outskirts of the crowd. “What the hell, man? Seriously!”

“You got off really easy for biting someone,” Sam commented.

“I know,” Danny said. “We’ll talk later; gotta take care of this first,” he told them, moving his hand a little so they could see.

“Gross, man,” Tucker said, at the same time Sam said, “That’s so badass.”

Danny ducked into the bathroom, catching a glimpse of Jazz hurrying towards them just before he did; great, he was going to get a lecture from her about this. Tucker followed him in but Sam stayed outside.

“Well, bet the bullies will stop going after you now,” Tucker said with an awkward chuckle.

One of the bathroom stall doors opened and Mikey walked out. “Holy potatoes!” he declared. “Is that blood? Did someone punch—wait, no, you don’t have blood, not like that; it’s not blood then? But it looks like—wait, did you bite a human?!”

“Dale stuck his hand in my mouth,” Danny explained as he turned on the sink and began splashing his face with water and rinsing his mouth, then paused and realized he could just phase it off since Mikey knew, so he did, letting the blood fall into the sink and the water wash it away.

“So you bit him?”

“He thought the fangs were fake, so I proved they weren’t,” Danny said simply.

“Dude… Hey, is that the secret to becoming tough? Cooler clothes?”

Danny took a second to process the words and then scoffed. “Yeah, no,” he said. “Secret’s just being a ghost who is completely done with dealing with the stupid bullying crap on top of everything else.” He then turned and headed out of the bathroom, the other two following.

“Should we be concerned?” Mikey whispered to Tucker as they exited.

“Nah; he’s just in a bit of a mood today,” Tucker said. “It happens sometimes; honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t lashed out like this before now.”

“That isn’t very reassuring…”

Danny noted someone walking down the hallway then, approaching them but more in a way that he was simply needing to head that direction, not specifically heading towards them.

“Chief Griffin! What brings you here?” Danny asked, thankful to give Jazz a distraction.

“We will be talking about this later, little brother,” Jazz warned under her breath.

“Oh, hello there, Danny,” the chief greeted. “I’m on my way to the auditorium; first period there’s going to be an assembly… Hold up, shouldn’t you all be in homeroom?”

“Ah, yeah, we’re just heading there now,” Danny muttered, moving to do just that.

“Hmm. Well, okay. Oh, and Danny, a warning—the GIW are around too, they insisted on being there despite our assurances that ghosts aren’t involved.”

Danny groaned. “Seriously?” he complained. Now, of all times, when his emotions were still being volatile? “Let me guess: they’re assuming ghosts are involved?”

“Yup. But, we still don’t think they are,” Chief Griffin assured him.

“Wait… the police know about… you know?” Mikey asked Danny.

“Yeah, for over a year, apparently,” Danny explained. “But, just the chief and the ones who wipe me from the traffic cameras. I only found out Saturday.”

“Okay, okay, get to class now,” Chief Griffin told them, and the group obliged; Mikey and Jazz headed to different classes whereas Danny, Tucker, and Sam scurried into Falucca’s class, which was across the hallway.

Falucca merely sighed in exasperation as the three entered the classroom and hurried to their desks. “Now, we’re just waiting for two more; first, has anyone heard from Brittany?”

“Oh no, was she taken too?” Lester asked worriedly.

“No, she’s fine!” Tiffanie hurriedly told them. “She messaged me earlier, said she’s busy and not sure if she’ll be in class or not, that’s all the info she gave.”

Falucca muttered under his breath as he marked the attendance sheet, “Should’ve figured; she’s been as bad as Fenton with skipping this year.” Danny’s mood dropped a little; why was Falucca so mean to him? He was a teacher! Teachers shouldn’t be that mean. Said teacher then continued more audibly to the class, “In that case, we’re waiting for Dale; does anyone know where he is? I’d rather not repeat the announcements…”

The entire class looked at Danny; right, Falucca wouldn’t likely know yet, as he let Lancer handle the commotion. Falucca followed the class’s eyes to Danny, who winced. “We, er, got in a fight, and he’s at the nurse,” Danny cautiously told Falucca. “Lancer, er, already gave us detention.”

“Dude, that was more than just a fight!” Nathan proclaimed. “You totally had blood dripping from your mouth!”

“Excuse me?” Falucca said with disbelief.

“Ancients, can you leave it alone?” Danny growled, not in the mood for this. “Yes, I bit Dale. He’s the one who tried to pull my teeth out, so I think that’s a fair trade!”

“Hey, isn’t that ghost slang?” Ashley whispered to Tiffanie.

“Dude, are you a vampire?” Lester wondered.

Star sighed. “I wi—would love that; vampires are so hot…”

“Students!” Falucca said loudly. “Quiet down. So, as it seems everyone is here who is going to be here, I must inform you that the first half of first period today there will be an assembly. I am assuming you all are aware of this weekend’s tragic news?”

The class nodded with a mix of somberness and poorly-concealed relief and even joy, which said everything about how Dash was perceived (Danny was relieved that he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t upset). A number of people glanced at the desk where Dash usually sat, and a few glanced at the one where Hannah sat (Sarah was a grade above them). Kwan seemed to be nearly in tears again, even though he knew that Dash was around as a ghost, and Paulina and Star were comforting him.

“Well, the assembly is about that,” Falucca revealed. “The Amity Park Police wi—want to talk to the students, and the Ghost Investigation Ward showed up too although no one is sure why.”

“I bet ghosts did it,” Valerie said with vehemence, and Danny raised an eyebrow at her, upon which she sent him a challenging look. So much for her trying to overcome her biases.

“Ghosts usually don’t kill people,” Danny said. “Not intentionally.”

“Yeah? You sure about that?”

“You know I am, Val.”

“Don’t call me that, Fenton,” Valerie said, turning away from Danny. So they apparently were now on bad enough terms that it was to the point of using last names; well, at least Danny was still pretty sure Valerie wouldn’t give away his secret, given she hadn’t already.

There were some whispers and snickers at the interaction; no doubt there would be rumors soon about a ‘lovers quarrel’ or something ridiculous like that. Star, unsurprisingly, looked smug about the exchange—likely because she clearly liked Danny in a more-than-friends way and had been worried that Valerie, being Danny’s ex, was a threat, if Danny had to guess (which, was fair; Danny admittedly still hadn’t fully gotten over his feelings for Valerie, although he now suspected—no, was certain—that he reciprocated Star’s feelings now that he’d gotten to know her better, to a greater extent than his remaining feelings for Valerie. Plus, Valerie was human, and Danny was now certain that he wasn’t going to date a human, ever).

“Okay, settle down!” Falucca called. “I want you to calmly head to the auditorium now, let’s go!”

The class all stood and chaotically made their way out of the classroom. Danny scooted over to Valerie. “Um, just to clarify—”

“We’re not friends,” Valerie said cooly. “I thought it over, and I can’t forgive you, not yet.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Danny said. “But—”

Valerie cut him off with a loud sigh, then said quietly enough that only Danny could hear, “If you’re worried about the truce, it still stands. I won’t out you or Star. I’m not that cruel.” She then stomped off in a huff.

“What’d she say?” Tucker asked, looking worried.

“She’s still mad, but not enough to end the truce or tell people about, you know.”

“Good, because if she ever does, she’s gonna feel what my fist to her face feels like,” Sam growled, making a fist to emphasize the point.

As they walked down the hallway, Danny’s group was joined by Paulina and Star; Danny wasn’t sure if it was coincidence or planned, but he wanted to talk to Star anyway so it worked out.

“Hey there, Sneasel,” Paulina said with a wink and small wave.

Danny blinked. “Okay, can you explain why you’re calling me that?” he wondered.

“Because you’re like one,” Paulina said simply.

“How?!”

“Well, your aesthetic is similar,” Paulina explained. “Sneasel’s not quite black, but close enough, and has the white paws. And it’s got red on it, which is your favorite color. Plus it’s dark-ice type; ghost-ice would be more appropriate, but unfortunately there is none yet.”

“I guess that kinda makes sense,” Danny said, resigning himself to having that nickname henceforth as they merged into the crowd of those entering the auditorium. “Stay by me,” he then instructed Star. “The GIW is going to be there, and their trackers detect me but they’re not very good—if you’re next to me they’ll just assume it’s detecting me only.”

“You sure?” Star said worriedly, though stepped closer to Danny as they walked.

“Positive,” Danny said. “Unless you use your powers, if you stick by me it’ll all be good.” Danny hoped his words were true.

The group filed into the auditorium and took their seats, the students whispering as they noted who was there, most wondering if a ghost did it given the GIW presence.

Danny sat with his fists resting on his legs, and took a deep breath; he had to stay calm despite his tumultuous emotions. He didn’t want to turn things into a freezer again, or end up with another incident like Friday’s! It was so annoying that his ice kept doing that; it was like it wanted out at every moment. True, new powers always had a period of overactiveness and accidental use, and it had only been two weeks since he got them, plus it was a really huge multi-faceted ability, but still. Danny just wi—really wanted to have them under control by now!

Plus there was a good chance of the GIW detecting power usage and deciding that Danny was a ghost after all; Danny’s excuse of ecto-contamination worked to an extent, but if they saw him exhibiting anything other than the eye glow he could be in trouble. There was also the chance they’d detect Star; their trackers weren’t that great, giving more of a vague direction than a precise point, so if she stuck by him it should be fine, but still…

Perhaps sensing Danny’s inner turmoil, or feeling nervous herself, Star reached over and gently pried one of Danny’s fists open so she could hold his hand. He tried to withhold a blush, but had a feeling he’d done poorly on that front giving Paulina’s quiet giggle on Star’s other side. Sam, to Danny’s left, glanced over and rolled her eyes. If anyone else saw and wondered why an A-list member was holding the hand of a ‘loser’, they didn’t say anything.

“Should we scan for ghosts before the presentation?” Agent K asked Agent O; thankfully only those two agents had been sent, as they were the two least competent. They were standing on the stage near a speaker’s podium, with Lancer, Ishiyama, Chief Griffin, and a female officer that Danny recognized from the news as Lieutenant Dresden, the second-in charge at the APPD, who was in charge of the K9 unit doing the woods sweep.

“I don’t think you need—” Lancer began.

“Yeah, best be safe,” Agent O decided, cutting off Lancer and taking out the ghost tracker. It immediately began beeping. “We have a ghost!” he shouted, as expected, and the students who heard turned to look. Agent O hurried further towards the audience and swung the device around, eventually stopping with it pointed at Danny and Star. “Over there!”

Danny tensed; Star squeezed his hand hard, clearly nervous too.

“No, wait,” Agent K said, looking disappointed. “It’s just the Fenton kid again.”

“Aww, man,” Agent O said, clearly disappointed too as he turned the tracker off and clipped it to his belt.

Danny sighed in relief, as did Star.

Then two women in business suits, one with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail and the other with wavy mid-length brown hair, walked onto stage, along with Vlad, dressed in a suit and clearly there in his role of Mayor.

Ishiyama stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat. “Hello students,” she said in her usual dry voice that sounded like she was bored with her job. “Today is a somber occasion; I am sure most of you, if not all, have already heard the news, but on Saturday morning our school’s star quarterback, Dash Baxter, was found dead in the wooded area of the Bundy Community Park—before anyone says it, yes, everyone is aware that the park’s name is ironic given the situation. Now, a student’s death is always tragic; let us start with a moment of silence.”

The silence that followed was more awkward than anything, or perhaps that was just how Danny felt about it. It felt weird doing something like this for someone who was still around, even if that was as a ghost. If they found out what happened to him and Star, would they treat it this way? People of course didn’t know Dash was a ghost, so maybe it would be a different reaction if they knew, but then again, Kwan and Paulina knew, as well as Lancer, and they had been upset…

Danny again felt bad for not being upset. Would he feel the same if Dash hadn’t come back as a ghost? No, he would be even more relieved, he realized, eliciting a feeling of embarrassed guilt; he felt that he shouldn’t be happy about someone being dead, regardless of how the person treated him.

Ishiyama then continued, “There will be a school-wide memorial service later this week to honor Dash Baxter; more information will be available soon. Now, apologies, but we must move to a different subject. The news also reported this, and people have been talking about it, but I’ll tell you anyway in case you were not paying attention: two students, Hannah DeLisle and Sarah Park, have both been reported missing. Here are Chief Griffin and Lieutenant Dresden from the Amity Park Police Department to speak more on that.”

Ishiyama traded places with Chief Griffin and Lieutenant Dresden, the former who began speaking right away: “What we know so far is that Dash Baxter died after succumbing to injuries obtained while trying to protect Hannah DeLisle from being captured by persons unknown, and she is currently missing. Sarah Park was reported missing on Friday after vanishing sometime earlier in the week. Our investigation uncovered that these two cases may be linked, not just to each other but to a concerning number of cases in other jurisdictions as well. Due to this, we have brought in the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Unit to assist—Agents Greenaway and Jareau are here to talk to you about that.” He gestured to the two women in suits as he said their names, the one with brown-hair and the one with blonde-hair respectively.

The chief stepped away, and the agents stepped forward. Jareau was the one who spoke. “There’s no easy way to say this: there is very likely a serial killer in Amity Park. This would be the fourth town he’s hit, and not the first time others have been killed; he doesn’t seem to care if the city knows about him or not. We suspect he uses henchmen to capture his victims, who don’t care about collateral damage. Thankfully, we caught this case early enough that the girls taken are likely still alive” —Star tensed beside Danny and gripped his hand harder— “and there is time to save them as he waits until he’s collected a set amount of victims before he kills them, upon which he then leaves them together in an obvious place.”

Star frowned, as did Danny, both confused; Star had not been missing that long, and no bodies other than Dash’s had been found! Did something go wrong, or were they wrong about this being related to the other cases? Maybe Star tried to escape, and the henchmen didn’t like that?

“Now, we know from the past three towns that he takes groups of five,” Agent Greenaway continued. “Thus, he will be seeking three more. Therefore, we implore all students who fit the profile to be especially careful: so far, he’s taken teenage girls ages 13 through 16, though we cannot guarantee that he won’t go a little younger or older. All so far have been white-skinned with blonde hair and either blue or green eyes.

“All of you who fit that profile, we recommend you travel in groups of no less than three when possible, preferably more, and to stick to high-traffic public places. Take the bus or get a ride places, do not walk. Be home before dark. Make sure to lock your doors and set any home alarms. Carry a can of mace. If everyone follows this, it will be harder for this unsub—that’s our abbreviation for unknown subject—to collect his five girls and we’ll have more time to find the ones he’s already taken. Again, he needs three more, so hopefully these precautions will effectively delay him until he’s caught.”

“No; it’s two more,” Star whispered.

“Star?” Danny prodded. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.. Just a feeling… A vague memory… I remember I wasn’t alone. But no one else has been reported missing… I’ll try to get the memory to come back more.”

“Okay, but don’t push yourself too hard,” Danny warned. It’d be great if she could remember, but stressing about it wouldn’t do any good.

“Now, we are going to deliver what we call a profile of this unsub, so you can be aware of who to look out for and hopefully help lead us to the unsub,” Jareau said. “Note that this isn’t definite, just going by the strongest probabilities; there are always exceptions. However, in our experience, these profiles are usually excellent predictors of the type of person the unsub is.

“First, the persons involved are most likely to all be strangers to you, or at the very least not from this town. Our unsub is most likely to be a white male, given that serial killers who target young women are almost always male and rarely target outside their own race.

“As he uses henchmen to capture the girls, he is likely either in some way physically incapacitated to the point he is unable to overpower them himself, either due to an injury or old age, or he is a wealthy man who prefers not to get his hands dirty and can afford to hire people. Either way, he is likely not conventionally attractive or not very confident in himself, or a combination, otherwise he would likely try to approach the girls himself and coerce them to follow him instead of using this kind of forceful kidnapping. I know this is a very vague and broad description, but we don’t have much to work with; again, this is a baseline.

“His henchmen are easier to get a picture of: they’ll be larger, likely anywhere from their late 20s to early 40s, and likely will stick together; we estimate that there will be anywhere from two to four of them. Again, they won’t be from this neighborhood, and chances are they’ll dress more neutrally and have unobtrusive vehicles with a large enough space to quickly and discretely grab and hold someone; statistically, this is most likely to be a van, in either a neutral color or with some sort of generic company logo. If you see a van like that, especially in conjunction with larger males you don’t recognize, use caution. That is all we have for you at this time; please, be safe.”

Lancer then stepped back to the podium. “Thank you, BAU, for your insightful information. Now, to conclude—”

“Ah-hem!” Agent K loudly cleared his throat. “I believe you are forgetting something.”

Lancer sighed in clear annoyance; Danny had a feeling he’d intentionally ‘forgotten’. “Right, before we go, the Guys in White—”

“Ghost Investigation Ward!” Agent O sharply corrected.

“Yes, the Ghost Instigation—”

“In-vest-i-ga-tion!”

“Ghost Investigation Ward,” Lancer said, clearly holding back an urge to roll his eyes, “Would like to offer their own heavily-biased theory about the culprit, and their own suggestions on how to protect yourself.”

“Hey! Who are you calling ‘heavily-biased’?” Agent K asked, his sunglasses themselves practically contorting into a glare.

“Is it not true?” Lancer said cooly. “Respectfully, the evidence fits much more strongly with the BAU’s assessment of it being a human serial killer.”

“No, they’re the ones biased!” Agent O claimed. “They don’t even believe ghosts exist! Now, let us speak.”

“Very well,” Lancer tiredly said, and stepped back from the podium so the two agents could speak.

“The true culprit: ghosts!” Agent K immediately declared, as expected; Danny tensed slightly, wondering if they’d name him (or rather, Phantom) specifically as a suspect, as they were likely to do.

“Yes, the first documented ghost serial killer since Jack the Ripper,” Agent O asserted.

“Jack the Ripper was a ghost?” Paulina muttered.

“Don’t worry, he’s in Ghost Jail,” Danny informed her. And by that, Danny didn’t mean Walker’s prison; the Observants did not take kindly to ghost serial killers.

“Yes, clearly that’s how he managed to do so much damage without being caught!”” Agent K agreed.

Agent O continued, “And because it’s ghosts, the advice of the FBI is flawed. Buddy systems won’t work, because the ghostly henchmen can overshadow you or your friends. Locking yourselves in your homes won’t work, because the ghosts could just phase through. Your best protection is a ghost shield around your home, along with personal protection gear and weapons, which you can purchase at the GIW office in town if you don’t already have any.”

“Is this a sales pitch or actual advice?” Tucker wondered.

“The GIW will also be doing additional patrols around town in hopes of catching this ghostly menace,” Agent K announced. “Remember, if you suspect any ghostly activity, don’t dilly-dally in reporting it to us! Any questions?”

Kwan raised his hand and said without waiting, “If the culprit is ghosts, Phantom would have caught the guy by now. So he has to be human.”

“That isn’t a question, and you should not be trusting a ghost to rescue you, what is wrong with you?” Agent O said nastily.

“I got an actual question,” Mia said, raising her hand, and when Agent K prompted asked, “There’s rumors that the henchmen aren’t human or ghosts. Do other supernatural creatures exist?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Agent K practically spat. “Does anyone have any serious questions?”

Sam raised her hand.

“Spooky girl,” Agent O prompted.

“Yeah, so I heard a rumor that fang marks were found on Dash. The only ghost I know with fangs is The Wisconsin Ghost,” Sam said, clearly hiding a grin.

“Oh! Sam’s right!” Star loudly declared. “Do you think he could have done this?”

“It is a possibility,” Agent K revealed, as Vlad sent a warning glare at Sam and Star.

“I knew he was bad news,” Paulina hissed under her breath; right, Plasmius wasn’t around publicly as much, so most the townspeople didn’t know if he was truly bad or just a nuisance, only aware that he and Phantom didn’t get along.

“Wasn’t him,” Star quietly told her. “I’m sure of it.”

“Then why—oooh, it’ll get the GIW to focus on him, lessening the chances they mess up the FBI’s work, smart,” Paulina complimented.

“Yup, totally the plan,” Star lied, and Danny chuckled; it was a good plan, definitely, but he suspected that Star and Sam had in reality just been trying to taunt Mayor Masters. Paulina had no idea (yet) that he was Plasmius, known by most as ‘The Wisconsin Ghost’.

“I believe that’s all the questions,” Vlad told the GIW agents, then took the podium. “I would like to assure everyone that the mayor’s office is fully invested in the investigation, and if the Amity Park Police Department requires any more funding or supplies I will use my personal funds to help. Together with the BAU, I am certain that our police will catch this fiend and save the girls who have been taken.”

Danny resisted rolling his eyes at Vlad. All he was doing was playing politics, he wasn’t truly invested in solving the crime. Although, he could now see why the chief was so ambivalent about dealing with Vlad—the APPD was still notoriously underfunded, and this wasn’t the first time Vlad used his personal funds to help them out. It was basically bribery—behave and the funding would be there, don’t and it will be gone, was the gist of it.

“Ah-hem!” Agent O cleared his throat. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

“No, I don’t believe I am,” Vlad said cooly, clearly annoyed that he was considered a suspect by the GIW.

Vlad turned the podium over to Lancer again, who said, “Well, then, let’s get you all back to class; remember the safety precautions, and we can get through this dire time without further casualties. Assembly dismissed.”

The students all began hurrying out of the assembly; Danny grabbed Star’s hand to keep her close to him so the GIW didn’t notice her. She moved close and pressed her side into him, seeming nervous.

“You okay?” Danny asked her.

“I don’t like crowds,” Star quietly admitted. “And I’m afraid people will notice if they’re too close.”

“Oh. Yeah, totally get that,” Danny said; he wasn’t super comfortable either. He pulsed some feelings of comfort towards Star.

“We have ghost activity!” Agent O said from the stage, pulling the scanner out again. It appeared as though the other law enforcement and officials had all left, leaving just them, Ishiyama, and Lancer.

“Seriously? That counts?” Danny grumbled as Star tensed. At this rate, she’d end up going invisible!

Conveniently, at that moment there was a shout of “I AM THE BOX GHOST!” as said ghost flew into the room.

The remainder of the students shouted and pushed faster out the doors, afraid not of the Box Ghost but of the GIW, who had pulled bazookas out of who-knew-where—there was a significantly higher risk of the students receiving facefuls of slime than of the GIW actually hitting the ghost.

“BEWARE!” The Box Ghost yelled, wiggling his hands in a ‘spooky’ gesture, and then he took off, the agents pursuing him.

“Do you need to go deal with that?” Star whispered.

“Nah; it’s a good way to get them off our trail,” Danny said. “The Box Ghost is surprisingly good at escaping, and the GIW’s never caught a ghost stronger than an ectopus anyway, so he should be fine.”

With that, their group left the auditorium, Star letting go of Danny’s hand in the process, and proceeded down the hallway; Danny could practically feel the eyes on him as he walked, the rumors of him biting Dale clearly having already spread through the entire student body. Danny wasn’t sure how true it was, but rumor had it that apparently an actual paramedic had been called in (which was actually believable, as the school’s nurse was notoriously inexperienced; rumors said she didn’t even have a degree, rather was a medical school dropout, but alas, hiring in the school was a huge issue, so they were honestly lucky they had a nurse at all).

Suddenly, Danny’s arm was grabbed as he passed by the stairs. Danny quickly identified the culprit as Vlad, and allowed the man to pull him down the stairs into the basement, his friends none the wiser as he’d been trailing behind them lost in thought.

Vlad looked around, making sure they were alone (which could have just been assumed, given the lights were off; not that that mattered to two halfas). Then he fiercely hissed at Danny, “Why is it I’m hearing rumors that a Fenton bit someone to the point of severe bleeding?”

“Just a Fenton? So how do you know it was me and not Jazz or one of my parents?” Danny challenged.

“Oh, please,” Vlad said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. “Your sister is too obsessed with finding ‘peaceful resolutions’ to everything to bite someone, your mother is too logical to do so, and your father is too much of a goofy oaf to do something like that. You, my boy, are the one with the anger issues and emotional dysregulation, which when combined creates a strong likelihood of doing something so vulgar and violent.”

“I don’t have anger issues!” Danny bristled.

“Uh huh, sure you don’t. So it’s true, then?”

“He thought the fangs weren’t real and tried to pull them out, literally anyone would bite down if that happened,” Danny defended, crossing his arms too.

Vlad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Daniel, you are not merely ‘anyone’. You cannot do things like that, especially when in human form.” He removed his hand from his face and further explained, “It only draws attention to the fangs, which are not normal for a human to have, and could very easily lead to people suspecting that you are not human. I have already heard a few girls speculating that you may be a vampire. It’s not a far stretch from that to ghost.”

Danny gave an amused scoff at that. “That’s only because of that new vampire book that’s all the rage, ever since it came out a few weeks ago they’ve been trying to guess who’s a vampire and who isn’t, if anything the fangs just encourage them to think vampire over ghost. Bet they decide you’re one too.” Vlad also had them in human form, but had explained them away as a ‘regrettable youthful indiscretion’, which people easily accepted.

“I see. Well, regardless, you cannot go around biting people, regardless of circumstances.”

“He was trying to pull out my teeth! And it’s not the first time they’ve done crap like that!” Danny asserted, arms moving in emphasis as he began to rant. “Dash was the worst, I thought him being dead now and knowing I’m Phantom would have stopped it but apparently the other bullies decided to double down in his honor or some crap like that.

“I’m just fed up with it all—they are so damn lucky that I promised Clockwork I wouldn’t turn evil, because let me tell you, with all the shit they do, they’re damn lucky I haven’t retaliated by now. They’re lucky a bite was all that happened! I could so easily just kill them all, and I want to sometimes, I really want to, but I know that’s wrong to do, and that I’d immediately regret it after, but some days—ugh, why am I even telling you all this?” Danny growled in frustration.

“Hmm. I suppose that explains the days the ghosts complain about you being more aggressive than usual,” Vlad commented, apparently unperturbed by the revelations in the outburst. “Perhaps anger management counseling would be useful?”

“No. No counseling,” Danny said. Not after Spectra.

“Not all counselors are like Spectra,” Vlad said, correctly guessing the reason for the reluctance. “I can even recommend a few—yes, my boy, I did partake in such counseling myself, and can attest that it does work. Of course, one meant for adolescents would be preferred.”

“Yeah? What about for adolescent ghosts?” Danny said venomously. “Bet there’s none for that, outside of Spectra, who I’d tear limb from limb if she wouldn’t just reform after.”

“You do hold an awful grudge, don’t you?” Vlad mused. “Then again, I suppose it’s understandable, given what she put you through.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna go now; class, remember? I’ll make sure not to go feral on any more humans,” Danny told Vlad, and without waiting for an answer flew off, turning invisible before phasing through the ceiling.

Danny transformed into Phantom form, still invisible; instead of going to class he flew through the ceiling and once in the open air dropped invisibility—he was definitely not going to class with the way he was feeling. He had to get rid of this anger and frustration! Especially before seventh period, when he and Star would sing the song they had practiced. He didn’t want to ruin that just because he was tense and upset!

Danny half hoped Vlad would follow him, so they could get into a fight, but Vlad did have mayoral duties so likely wouldn’t. Danny checked his phone, pulling up the local news station’s Ghost Watch website to see if across town there were any ghosts to fight in other parts of the city—only to find that, once it finally loaded, an error screen appeared saying there was no connection, and then discovered that his parents had apparently turned off the data for his phone, as they’d threated to do if he kept going over his data limit and driving their phone bill up (which he’d been doing almost exclusively via that website).

Danny growled and threw his phone in frustration, then panicked and dove down, managing to catch it before it hit the ground. Then he realized he had the computer elective starting soon, and quickly flew back into the school invisibly and transformed back in a bathroom stall before hurrying to class.

Danny arrived there before the bell; he took his place next to Tucker, who was already there; so were Danny’s books, meaning Tucker must have collected them after math class. Danny shrugged off his jacket; it was cool looking, but he really preferred short sleeves over any jacket, and wasn’t in the mood for using one to keep up appearances.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” Tucker asked, looking concerned. “You disappeared after the assembly, and seem really on-edge.”

“Vlad being Vlad,” Danny grumbled, already logging into the computer. “Tried to lecture me about biting people being bad, as if I don’t already know that. I need to blow off steam.” He pulled open the Ghost Watch website.

“Is that really a good idea?” Tucker asked warily.

“If I don’t, I’ll end up tearing apart whichever human bugs me next,” Danny growled, which he felt was only a slight exaggeration. “Bingo,” he said, seeing that a large bear-like ghost had appeared near the outskirts of the city, near the start of the national forest (Danny vaguely wondered how many bodies were buried in there, given that the small woods in the community park had so many). The bear wasn’t really bothering anyone, but it was fairly close to society and would likely get violent if someone angered it, so it probably should be taken care of, plus it would definitely make for a great fight.

“Wait!” Tucker called, as Danny raced out of the room again, pushing passed his surprised teacher, who had been entering, on the way out the door.

Danny flew to the forest in record time.

The bear ghost, which appeared to be a full-grown grizzly, albeit green and with much longer claws and teeth than your standard bear, was still right where it had been reported, some adults nearby attempting to take photographs.

The bear ghost noticed the photographers, and roared, rushing towards them.

“Get away!” Danny shouted, shooting off a burst of ice to create a wall between the bear and humans. He turned to the humans, who had scurried backwards but were still trying to record. Danny growled, “Do you want to be bear food? I said get away—I’ll destroy those cameras if you do, I’ve done it before!”

The photographers hurriedly scurried away, well aware the threat was real—Phantom had become fairly notorious for destroying camera equipment when he caught people filming, to the point a local community photography club had named him ‘the penultimate nemesis of ghost-focused photographers’ (Technus was the ‘ultimate nemesis’). Danny was fine being known for such—it was better than people getting too many up-close photos and drawing connections.

The bear roared and slammed through the ice wall, knocking Danny back; thankfully Danny noticed the tree in time to phase through it before managing to halt his momentum and fly back towards the bear. The burst of ice caused the photographers who were attempting to sneak back to fully flee, realizing this was going to be a more dangerous fight than they were willing to attempt to photograph—risking damaged cameras was one thing, but risking their lives was another, and the bear clearly did not care who it hurt.

That was exactly what Danny wanted—now he didn’t feel like he was just picking a fight with an animal ghost minding its own business, rather he felt like he needed to stop it before it hurt someone, removing any qualms he might have felt for using it to vent his anger.

Danny flew forward and barreled into the ghost, shoving it into a tree. The bear growled in rage, bucking Danny off; Danny quickly returned with another punch, dodging as the bear attempted to swipe at him. Sometimes he threw in an ecto-blast, sometimes a burst of ice, but the ice seemed to especially enrage the bear so Danny chose to stop using it since rage tended to increase a ghost’s power and it was already enraged enough!

This back-and-forth continued for a bit, both parties wearing each other down, until Danny mis-predicted the bear’s attack. He tried to dodge, then cried out in pain as the claw slashed through his upper arm and across his cheek.

Danny quickly moved backwards out of range, hand slamming to his shoulder, which was heavily bleeding ectoplasm; not good. His cheek felt more like a graze, but the arm was definitely painful enough that without even looking he could tell that if he were human he’d likely be bleeding out.

The bear roared and charged him, and Danny decided he had no choice; he had to use his ghostly wail. He planted his feet on the ground, took a deep breath, and screamed.

Danny had been working on putting less power into the wail, so as not to collapse after; he hoped it was still enough power to weaken the bear…

Thankfully, it was; Danny stopped the wail as the bear stumbled back, looking weak enough to capture.

Danny took a deep unnecessary breath as he sucked the bear ghost into the thermos, his cheek stinging only a little but the large cut on his arm radiating pain and still leaking ectoplasm—he checked it, noting that it was already starting to close up, but was bad enough that it likely would take a few hours to vanish entirely. After all, Danny had no emotional connection to it, feeling no ill will or upset given that’s just what bears did, but the bear had certainly been intent on causing harm! Now that he knew how ghost wounds worked, it made a lot more sense why the wounds seemed all over the place with their healing, and he could even estimate the time they might take (for example, Cujo once accidentally gave Danny a similar wound while playing, and it only took ten minutes to heal, but he could tell this would be hours before it vanished entirely).

Danny’s ghost sense then went off again. Something else nearby to fight?

“Whoa, that was really badass!” someone said from nearby, and Danny tensed, recognizing the voice.

“What do you want, Dash,” Danny said tiredly, floating upwards and turning to face the boy flying towards him. Danny knew he wasn’t a threat, even if his ghost sense hadn’t gotten the memo yet, but that still didn’t mean he liked him or wanted to see him.

Dash stopped a short distance in front of Danny. “Well, I dunno. I was just flying around bored when I saw you fighting the bear, figured I’d watch,” he told Danny, floating closer.

Danny floated back, keeping a distance. “Well, you watched.”

“You’re bleeding,” Dash said, surprised.

“It looks worse than it is,” Danny told him. “In a few hours it’ll be like it was never there.”

“Right, ghosts heal fast,” Dash recalled, then asked, “Hey, could you teach me to fight like that?”

“No,” Danny answered immediately.

“What? Why not?” Dash asked, apparently not expecting that answer.

“Because we’re not friends, Dash. We never will be. I helped you with your basic powers, and I’m helping with solving your case, because that’s the right thing to do. But you’ll have to find someone else to train you further.”

“But I don’t know any other ghosts, except for Star, but she’s new too! And Kitty, Johnny, and Ember, I guess, but they’re all really cold towards me for some reason.”

Danny scoffed at that. “For ‘some reason’? Seriously? You don’t know why they wouldn’t like you?”

“Uh, no? I hadn’t interacted with them much before, except when they called Sidney the other day, so I can’t think of a reason why they would.”

“Seriously? Seriously? You don’t know why my friends, two who treat me like a little brother, don’t like someone who bullied me for years?” Danny asked with incredulity. The brother comment referred to Kitty and Johnny, the latter who even started calling Danny ‘li’l bro’. Ember said they treated her like a younger sibling too; ghosts didn’t usually have actual birth family around, so tended to create found families, and apparently now Danny was a part of theirs (no doubt in part to Danny reminding Kitty of the little brother with ADHD whom she hadn’t seen in two decades).

Dash took a moment to puzzle it out. “So, they don’t like me because you don’t like me?” Well, partially puzzle it out.

“That’s one reason, sure. But an even bigger one might just be because you’re a huge jackass bully.”

“Dude, what’s with the attitude?” Dash asked, looking offended.

“Attitude? Oh, come on. Like you don’t deserve a little attitude. You are damn lucky I don’t kick your ass right here!” Danny shouted. “Or did you forget that they called Sidney because you were literally waving a knife at me?”

Dash flew back slightly, looking a little scared. “B-but I wouldn’t have actually used it! You know that!”

“That doesn’t matter! And for the record, no, at the time I didn’t know that. With the things you’ve done, with how badly you’ve beat me up before, I was actually pretty sure you actually were going to use it!”

“But you have ghost powers! You’d have been fine even if I did cut you!”

“That’s not the point!” Danny yelled, his temper rising. “If I actually were human, you’d have definitely hospitalized me more than once!” At this rate, he really was going to lash out at Dash!

“But—”

“Get out of here, now,” Danny ordered. “I want nothing to do with you, unless it’s about the case.”

Dash didn’t move or reply, looking lost.

“NOW!” Danny growled, bearing his fangs and raising a glowing fist.

“Okay, okay, got it!” Dash said, then quickly zoomed off.

Danny took a moment to collect himself, trying to calm down, taking deep unneeded breaths. He glanced to the forest, spotting a small ectopus watching him. Danny growled at it, and it took off.

It was lunch time before Danny felt calm enough to return to school, during which his cheek wound fully healed although the arm wound was still in the process of healing. He decided to stop by Mr. Lancer’s office first, since he definitely had some explaining to do.

Lancer gave a start and dropped his sandwich (luckily it landed back on the wrapper; it seemed to be a turkey hoagie from a local place) when Danny simply appeared in the middle of the room, in Phantom form, and then quickly shifted back to human form.

“Daniel, you surprised me,” Lancer said, hand over his heart.

“Sorry; didn’t mean to,” Danny said sheepishly.

“Yes, I suppose you didn’t… So, are you here to explain why you left school, and presumably didn’t get back until now? I did see on Ghost Watch that there was a bear ghost attacking people across town, but that was captured before second period was over.”

Danny winced. “Yeah… Um. Basically, I was feeling really emotional and, er… Well, after what I did this morning… I just felt maybe I should take some time to cool down? Before I, er, you know. Did something worse.”

“Something worse?” Lancer asked, raising his eyebrows. “I didn’t know you were at risk for that…” he trailed, seeming worried.

“I don’t mean killing someone!” Danny assured Lancer. “Just maybe, property damage or something? I dunno. My powers, especially the ice ones, can get… explosive when frustrated. Like you saw Friday. So I needed to get away, blow off some steam—fighting the bear ghost helped, but I still needed more time to calm down after that.” Especially after seeing Dash. “I didn’t want to risk my powers acting up like that again in school.”

“I suppose that’s understandable,” Lancer said agreeably. “Very well; you won’t get detention for it. In the future, just let me know when that happens, and I’ll mark it as an excused absence."

“Really?” Danny asked, surprised.

“Of course; it’s a matter of safety, for both others and yourself, so you oughtn’t be punished for doing what you can to mitigate the chance of that happening, even if that means skipping class.”

“Thank you,” Danny said appreciatively, then turned to the door.

“Before you go, you might want to put your jacket back on,” Lancer told him. “The scratch from the bear is showing.”

Danny glanced down at his arm; sure enough, peeking out from under the t-shirt sleeve was the tips of the scratch, mostly healed but still lined with the distinct toxic green tinge of ectoplasm. “Dam—I mean, darn it,” he said, not wanting a lecture about his language. “Tucker has my jacket, or at least I hope he does…”

Lancer sighed and stood up, opening a steel cabinet near his desk. One shelf looked like it had first-aid supplies. “We keep a few first aid cabinets elsewhere, in case the nurse’s office gets destroyed,” he explained, then pulled out what looked like some sort of black half-sleeve and presented it to Danny. “Here; wear it on your upper arm and if someone asks, you strained a muscle.”

Danny pulled the sleeve on, and winced. The sleeve was phased off without him intending to, and fell to the floor.

“What happened?” Lancer asked, surprised.

“I didn’t mean to phase it off, but it’s tight,” Danny said, blushing.

“It’s a compression sleeve, so it’s supposed to be a little tight,” Lancer explained as he picked it up.

Danny accepted it again, and with Lancer’s help got it into the right place, extending from just under his shoulder to just above the elbow; it was a little obvious, but better than the slashes showing. Once it was properly on it didn’t feel so tight.

“Thanks,” Danny said appreciatively. “I’ll return it at the end of the day, the scars should be gone by then.” He had Lancer for two class periods and then detention, after all, giving ample opportunities to.

“No, keep it,” Lancer told him. “You might need to use it again—it’ll be especially useful come the summer, when using a sweatshirt or jacket is less practical.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Danny said. “Thanks again!”

“Of course; glad to help the Town Hero,” Lancer said with a gentle smile, though it had a slightly sad undertone; Danny had a feeling that the man was still coming to terms with his student being a ghost, even if Danny technically wasn’t a full one.

Danny then proceeded to Lunch, where he refused to talk to Sam and Tucker about why he’d vanished for so long, simply telling them there were ghost issues (leaving out that he was primarily the ghost in question). The fading scar under the sleeve served to emphasize that. Then it was another napping session in History class, followed by meeting Star in Music class.

“Hey, you okay?” Star quietly asked worriedly. “You weren’t in Chemistry or Gym… I saw there was a bear ghost, but that was second period?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Danny quietly grumbled. “I’d rather not get emotional here. Or, not that kind of emotional, at least.”

“Gotcha,” Star said. “But, why are you wearing that sleeve?”

“Official story? Strained muscle. Truth? Bear ghost ghost me good. It’ll be finished healing soon, but was a little obvious.”

“Ah, makes sense,” Star said. “So, ready for our duet?”

“...No,” Danny said, only half-joking.

Star giggled. “Don’t worry; it’ll be great, I’m sure of it.”

“That makes one of us,” Danny said.

The bell then rang, and Lancer moved to the front of the classroom, where he cleared his throat to call the class to attention. “Now, students, let us start right away with your duets,” he said happily. “We have eight groups to go, so—”

“Seven,” Star corrected. “Hannah and Sarah aren’t here.”

“Oh… yes, of course,” Lancer said somberly. “Seven groups. Well, those two can sing their rendition of ‘Anything You Can Do’ when they return to school,” he said, trying to regain his composure, though the way he looked at Star made Danny think that maybe Lancer didn’t believe they’d be returning. Danny hoped the BAU agents were right that the girls were killed all at once after collected, and that Star dying sooner was an exception, that she tried to escape and failed or something like that.

“We’ll go first,” Nathan volunteered.

“Very good,” Lancer said, looking relieved that the subject had been changed; honestly, he was hanging in there pretty well for all he’d learned since Friday. “Now remember, everyone, I want you to do a paragraph review of each performance, being sure to include both highlights and things to work on! Don’t be too harsh, but don’t be too soft either; remember, we can’t improve if we don’t know where we need to improve. Now, go ahead you two.”

Nathan and his twin brother Lester then began their duet, ‘I2I’ from A Goofy Movie. It was surprisingly good, which made Danny nervous. He grabbed Star’s hand, and she squeezed it, whispering that they’d do fine.

“Amazing job, boys!” Lancer told the brothers. “Next up… How about another Disney one? Star, Danny, your turn.”

Danny tensed, and would have turned invisible if it weren’t for Star still holding his hand.

“Come on, we’re going to do great,” Star told Danny, dragging him up out of his seat and to the front.

“What if they laugh?” Danny muttered to her.

Star gave a small snort to that. “They seriously won’t, unless you’re worse than Tucker.”

“No one’s worse than Tucker.”

“Exactly.”

“But what if—”

“Just look at me, forget about them,” Star instructed. “Got it?”

“Got it,” Danny confirmed.

Danny took a deep unnecessary breath as he stood in front of the class with Star, and Lancer pressed ‘play’ on the instrumental soundtrack of the song.

Danny began singing. “I can show you the world / Shining, shimmering, splendid…” It was a little shaky at first, but then as he sang he gained confidence, forgetting there even was an audience as he looked at Star, remembering when they practiced singing in the sky, just like Aladdin and Jasmine did on their flying carpet in the movie. “...Tell me, princess, now when did / You last let your heart decide?”

When Danny’s part ended, Star’s began. “A whole new world / A dazzling place I never knew / But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear / That now I'm in a whole new world with you…”

Danny couldn’t help but once again think that this song, ‘A Whole New World’ from the Disney film Aladdin, fit him and Star perfectly. Had she known that when she chose it? Was she just looking for a romantic song? Or had she simply chosen one she liked? Regardless, it fit extremely well. Star was in a whole new world now, after all, and Danny was the one she chose to show her it. She could have rejected him and asked Ember or Kitty, who she’d befriended, but no, she insisted Danny be the one to help her, even at school after Paulina and Kwan learned the secret—they could have helped her in school instead, but Star still gravitated to Danny, wanting his help.

As the two ended the song, Star grabbed Danny’s wrist and tugged him towards her, placing her other hand on his shoulder and planting her lips on his. Danny leaned into it, placing his other hand on her waist while Star moved her hand from Danny’s wrist to holding his hand.

As some of the class started to wolf-whistle, the two broke apart, both blushing (thankfully Star remembered to make it red). They stared into each other’s eyes until Lancer cleared his throat, then they let go and scurried back to their seats, only slightly embarrassed.

“Well, that was certainly an… emotionally-changed performance,” Lancer said with a gentle smile, looking like he was holding back tears. “Bonus points for the theatrics—whether it was planned as such or simply being caught in the song’s magic,” he said with a knowing look. “Now, next up is Brittany and Tiffanie, performing ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’...”

Star scooched her seat as close to Danny’s as possible so she could lean against him with her head on his shoulder. He blushed, and noted a few coos and snickers from the classmates who noticed, but he allowed it.

Maybe today hadn’t been such a bad day after all.

Chapter Text

After cheerleading practice that same Monday, Star arrived home (upon which she dropped the human transformation to switch back to ghost form, given her parents weren’t home; to her delight she didn’t have to add the fangs back, as they had stayed, and she could sense they were permanently the default now) with Paulina in tow to find Dash seated on her bed.

“What are you doing here?” Star wondered. She had wanted to gossip with Paulina, gush at her about her experience singing the song with Danny and then voice some worries she had about it too, get her opinion on things, especially as the two hadn’t really gotten a chance to discuss things afterwards, but that wasn’t going to happen with Dash there.

“Not sure where else to go,” Dash said with a shrug. “Can’t go home, Kwan’s being all weird and bursting into tears whenever he sees me, and Fenton and his friends, even the ghosts, all totally hate me; I saw Phantom earlier, fighting a ghost, and when I tried saying hi after he caught it he yelled at me, said he wanted nothing to do with me unless it’s to talk about the case.”

“Well, you did beat him up on a regular basis for years. Pretty sure that’s a valid reason to not want anything to do with someone,” Star pointed out. She wasn’t surprised Danny had lashed out at Dash, honestly, especially given that morning’s events. Also honestly, Dash deserved it.

“Yeah, I guess, but he didn’t have to act so hostile!”

“He was just in a really bad mood today in general,” Paulina noted. “Like, he literally bit Dale, while in human form.”

“He what?”

“Oh yeah,” Star said with a nod. “There was blood and everything.”

“No way,” Dash said with disbelief. “You’re seriously telling me that Fenton bit Dale?”

“Yeah so I guess Dale decided he wanted to be Danny’s bully now, and Danny just wasn’t having it,” Paulina explained.

“I mean, with what Dale did, I totally would react that way too,” Star pointed out.

“What did he do?” Dash asked warily.

“He thought Danny’s fangs were fake so stuck his hand in his mouth to try to pull them out to prove they were, and instead got firsthand experience that they’re real.”

“There was a lot of blood,” Paulina added.

“Ouch,” Dash said with a wince. “Yeah, guess it’s actually not surprising he’d do that, especially if he has ghost emotions…”

“Ghost emotions?” Paulina asked.

“Ugh, they’re so annoying!” Star lamented. “Ghosts are only formed when there’s enough emotional energy in addition to the ectoplasm, and because of that ghosts have super overreactive emotions. It’s like having PMS constantly, seriously! Plus the powers react to them! It was hard enough holding things in before, now it’s brutal. Honestly, I’m surprised Danny hasn’t lashed out before now; I sure would have. He’s long overdue.”

“Actually, I think maybe he has done it before,” Paulina said with realization. “Thinking back, at times when Danny was upset by things, Phantom became much more violent during fights that happened after.”

“Huh. Come to think of it, the fight I saw earlier was pretty violent… Wait, so he’s been using ghost fights to blow off steam?” Dash said. “Like, I beat nerds up to blow off steam?”

“Exactly.”

“Then, if I’m a ghost now, is he gonna start fighting me to blow off steam?” Dash asked worriedly.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Star said.

“But he seemed pretty close to it earlier…”

“And yet he didn’t,” Star pointed out. “He generally only fights the human ghosts when they’re causing trouble, or the ones who also use fighting to blow off steam like Johnny, so unless you plan to do either of those things you should be fine. Or, I guess he play-fights with some too, sparring practice or whatever, but I doubt he’ll agree to do that with you.”

“Guess you’ve got a point,” Dash conceded.

“You shouldn’t talk about people behind their backs, you know,” came Phantom’s voice, and then he appeared.

“What! You were eavesdropping?!” Paulina shouted. “That is not cool, Phantom.”

“No! Not really. I flew in like three sentences back, when you said I was overdue for lashing out. I heard my name and just wanted to see what you all were saying,” Danny defended. “And you can call me Danny, you know,” he told Paulina as he alighted on the ground and shifted back to Fenton form; Star noted that his jacket was still off, which was a little frustrating since it helped sell his fashion. However, it did show that the compression sleeve was gone, no wound in sight, to Star’s relief; she had been a little worried that maybe it needed covering because it was worse than he wanted to say, as opposed to merely just being suspicious looking.

“I know; Phantom’s a cooler name.”

“I thought you were going home after detention?” Star said, subtly moving towards him. They’d kissed in music class, but Star hadn’t yet had time to talk to him about it… It had felt magical to her, but she had initiated it in front of people without his permission, and felt a bit bad about that. He had responded, which was a good sign, but she still felt that it had been morally wrong of her to do that.

“My parents want me home, but I decided not to go,” Danny said with a shrug. “Don’t really feel like dealing with their yelling. Sam and Tucker are both busy with things, so I figured why not come here… Didn’t expect you to have company though.”

“I didn’t either, aside from Paulina,” Star admitted. “I wanted to talk to her about… something,” she said, unable to stop a small green blush.

“More like, someone,” Paulina said with a giggle and a surreptitious look towards Danny. Star had told her that she’d kissed Danny after their romantic song, but no details.

Danny looked slightly confused and maybe hurt, then his look shifted to an embarrassed yet happy blush as he figured it out. “Ah. Music class.”

Dash looked between Star and Danny. “What about music class?” he asked with suspicion.

“They kissed!” Paulina revealed with a squeal. “I want details, Star, details!”

“Wait, you two kissed?” Dash asked in surprise. “But, Fenton’s a loser!”

“Actually, he can now safely be classified as in the middle of the popularity scale,” Paulina said with confidence. “Maybe even upper middle! His fashion was fixed, he did a totally super badass thing by biting Dale, his singing voice is apparently amazing if the rumors are true about music class, and he’s now dating a popular girl.”

“Dating?” Danny asked in surprise.

“Of course!” Star told him, then amended, “Well, if you want to, that is. Sorry for assuming, I know I can get ahead of myself sometimes, if you don’t want to it’s—”

Danny cut Star off by grabbing her wrist and putting his hand on her shoulder, then tugging her forward and planting a kiss on her lips, a mirroring of the kiss in music class. Star melted into it.

“I take it that’s a yes?” Star said in a slight daze once Danny withdrew.

“Definitely,” Danny confirmed.

Star’s core pulsed with delight and she surged forward, wrapping her arms around Danny in a hug, knees bending as she floated off the floor.

“Whoa, your hair has literal hearts in it,” Dash said with amazement.

“That’s so romantic,” Paulina cooed with a sigh. “I am so jealous!”

“Well too bad, he’s mine,” Star said with a grin as she set herself back on the ground, though she didn’t let go of Danny.

Star then froze as flashes of a memory flashed through her mind. She was hugging someone else in the memory, a younger girl; they were in a dark room… bars… a cage?

Star let go of Danny and floated back, putting a hand on her head and closing her eyes.

“Star? What’s wrong?” Danny asked with urgency, and Star felt two hands on her shoulders.

“Just… Give me a sec…” Star eked out. “It’s… a memory…”

Star thought harder. There were only flashes: crying while hugging that girl; whispered plans; picking a lock with a paperclip dropped by the still-faceless kidnapper, after hours of trying; running; shouting and hissing; someone scaled; fighting; more shouting; one of the girls lying on the ground with so much blood and unseeing eyes; the other girl being dragged away; pain…”

“Star?” Paulina prodded, placing a hand on her back.

Star opened her eyes and removed her hand; she took a deep unneeded breath and floated away from the two.

“Everything okay?” Danny asked worriedly.

Star nodded her head. “I remember now,” she told them, as calmly as she could despite her core pulsing with panic. “M-my death. Two girls were with me. From Elmerton Middle School, I think they were twins?” Star remembered conversations with them, trying desperately to hold on to some semblance of normalcy while trapped together. “We tried to escape… We didn’t make it. Me and this other girl died, they got the other. Still can’t remember much else about the attacker though…”

“But, no one else was reported missing,” Dash said.

“I mean, it’s Elmerton,” Paulina pointed out. “For all we know the parents just didn’t report them.”

“Who doesn’t report their kid missing?” Dash wondered.

“You’d be surprised,” Danny said flatly, no doubt thinking about his own parents; Star agreed that it was likely they wouldn’t notice him vanishing for at least a couple days, maybe even a week. She wondered if he ever tried testing that.

“Oh! Wait, before I forget,” Star said with realization, pulling her phone out. “Danny, I want a picture of us for my phone background. We’re dating so that’s necessary."

“It is?” Danny asked skeptically.

“Yeah. Paulina, take it,” Star told her friend, handing the phone off. “And Danny, give her your phone, too.”

Danny sighed, but complied.

Paulina then frowned. “Danny, you need a new phone…” she trailed, then shook her head. “Well, whatever; anyway, come on, get in position!” she told them, looking excited about talking the photos.

“Wait!” Danny said. “Star, can you be in human form? If my parents see my phone screen I don’t want them seeing me with a ghost.”

“Oh, good point,” Star said, shifting to her human form, then she put a hand around Danny’s waist; in turn, Danny put his arm around Star’s shoulder.

“Okay, smile!” Paulina said, then took a few photos with each phone, having them shift poses a few times, some involving kisses to Star’s delight. “Okay, now ghost forms,” she instructed.

“What? That’ll make my parents react worse!” Danny proclaimed.

“Then don’t set it as your home screen. But, you’re going to want pics of the day you got together! Now hurry up.”

“But—”

“No, I def agree with that,” Star said before Danny could protest. “Ghost form needs a photo too.” She shifted to her ghost form.

Danny sighed. “Fine,” he agreed, and shifted to his ghost form too.

Paulina snapped a few more photos, also with different poses, and declared, “Perfect!” She handed them their phones.

“Okay, these are pretty cute,” Danny assessed, still in his ghost form.

“You got a favorite?” Paulina wondered.

Danny flipped his phone around to face her. “This one,” he told her.

“Ooh, the upside-down kiss, def a good one.”

“Wait…” Star trailed, suddenly thinking of something as she noticed she’d left the most recent volume of the manga Fullmetal Alchemist on her night stand.

“Something wrong?” Paulina asked. “We can take more photos.”

Star shook her head. “No, it’s not about the photos, it’s about the case,” she revealed. She hurried over to her computer. “I remember overhearing some conversation, not much but he said something about sacrifice, I think… So, I have an idea, don’t laugh at me, just, wait…”

The others watched patiently as Star pulled up a map of northeastern Ohio, then instructed it to print on her larger-scale printer in her multi-purpose room (currently a combo art room, music room, and library), upon which she ran out of the bedroom and over to there, the other three following her.

Star pulled the paper, which was double the size of the standard used for school assignments, out of the printer and then hurried over to a chalkboard she had on one wall, which she usually used to brainstorm ideas for projects. Star used tape to hang the page to it (theoretically it was a magnetic one, and she did have magnets somewhere that could be used with it, but she had long ago misplaced those). She then did the same with a clear plastic sheet that dry erase markers worked on; she used this technique to help her decide what to put on already-started drawings and paintings before permanently committing.

Star grabbed a red dry-erase marker and circled Amity Park. She asked the others, “Does anyone remember the other cities Tucker mentioned this happened in?”

“Um. Cleaveland, definitely,” Danny recalled. “The western part specifically. Akron, too.”

“Mansfield,” Dash recalled.

Star studied the map, circling the other cities and then connecting the points, noting they formed 3 sides of a possible pentagon. She mentally completed it, then examined the map point it landed on. “Did they mention Fredericksburg at all?” Star asked.

“Not that I recall,” Paulina said.

“I need the computer again,” Star concluded, and rushed back to her bedroom again, where the computer was set up. She made a mental note to get a second computer, or maybe a laptop. The others followed her.

Star did a quick internet search and soon found what she was looking for as the others waited patiently, looking a little baffled. “Bingo,” Star said victoriously. “Right between the second and third ones, which were Akron and Mansfield, there was a similar incident in that town: 5 nuns from a convent there, all killed at the same time. Looks like they were all blonde too, from the pictures.”

“You think that’s related?” Danny asked as Star hopped out of the computer chair and rushed back to the multi-purpose room, all three again following her.

“Maybe,” Star said, as she circled Fredericksburg and then connected the lines, forming a full pentagon. Then, she connected the cities again, this time with a circle. “See? There’s a pattern,” she said, pointing at it.

“I don’t get it,” Dash said. Paulina looked curious, yet clearly didn’t get it either, although Danny, seated cross-legged in the air, looked more contemplative, maybe on the same page as her.

Star frowned. “Come on, you should at least get this, Paulina.” She knew the girl had read the manga too!

Paulina studied it for a moment, then shook her head. “Sorry, mi chica. It looks familiar, but I can’t place it.”

Star sighed with frustration. “Wait here,” she ordered, then hurried back to her room and grabbed volume 13 of Fullmetal Alchemist from her night stand before heading back to the group in the multi-purpose room, waving it at the others. “Look, it’s a little farfetched, but in this manga there’s a large-scale ritual...”

“Oh! That’s where I saw it before,” Paulina said, sounding pleased to have remembered.

Star ignored her and leafed through the volume, stopping on page 158 when she noticed the panel with a drawing of the circle, which she then turned to show them. “See? It’s the same type of alchemal circle! What if it’s something occult like that?”

“You think?” Dash asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Star confirmed. “Same shape, pentagram inside a circle. It’s too much of a coincidence to not be! Right?”

“I mean, not to knock your idea, but this is from a manga, not a real spellbook,” Paulina pointed out. “Alchemy doesn’t exist.”

“Okay, but magic and stuff does!” Star countered. “We’ve seen ghosts use it. You believe me, right, Danny?”

Danny nodded. “Actually, yeah. You might be onto something. But—can I?” he asked, holding out his hand, and Star handed him the marker. Danny used the eraser attached to the marker cap to erase the inner pentagram so he could instead connect the cities diagonally, in the shape of a five-point star inside the circle.

“A pentacle?” Star commented.

“Yeah. This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered occult rituals,” Danny revealed. “Most use a star pattern like this. This would be a really big one, but I guess it’s possible…”

“You’ve encountered rituals?” Star asked, surprised. She wondered if the author of the manga knew that rituals were real, then concluded probably not given she used the wrong shape.

“Yeah, people like to summon famous ghosts, including me,” Danny told them. “The last time was two weeks ago, when some frat guys in Cali summoned me; after that, I got a tattoo that allegedly blocks summoning.”

“You have a tattoo?” Star asked, perking up, forgetting everything else. “That is so cool! Where? And, how? You gotta be 16 to get one, otherwise I would totally have one, because that is so hot, you gotta let me know what place you went to! Ohmygosh, you should have said something about it earlier, that totally boosts your cool factor…”

“Slow down, chica,” Paulina told Star with a chuckle.

Danny blinked, taking a moment to process that, before replying, “There’s no age restrictions in the Ghost Zone, so I went to a tattoo place in there. I’ll take you if you want?”

“Ohmygosh, yes!” Star squealed. “Tattoo date! But wait, where is it? You gotta show me! Unless…” she gasped. “Unless it’s in a more scandalous place?”

Danny laughed. “No, no, it’s not anywhere ‘scandalous’. It’s just on my chest, above my core.”

“Can I see?”

Danny’s face reddened. “Um…”

“He’ll show you later,” Paulina supplied. “For now, we’ve kinda gotta a bit off topic, doncha think?”

“Oh right, the ritual,” Star recalled, then blushed too. She had basically just asked Danny to take off his shirt for her! “Sorry… So, uh, Danny, what do you think one this big would do? It’s not a ghost summoning one, is it?” she asked, realizing immediately after that, duh, of course it wouldn’t be.

“Girl, we would have heard if people were killing people to summon Phantom,” Paulina said, echoing Star’s realization.

“Right, so probably not a ghost summoning one then,” Star determined.

“Actually, summoning rituals do require sacrifices,” Danny informed them. “For ghosts like us chickens or smaller animals work, but something more powerful definitely could require human sacrifices.”

“25 of them, all in different cities?!” Dash proclaimed. “Shit. I don’t think the FBI is equipped for this.”

“No, they definitely wouldn’t be,” Danny agreed. “They probably aren’t even looking for it, which is how they missed the nuns—they don’t fit the profile of the other cities, not in the way they thought.”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked.

“Virgins,” Star said, recalling another flash of memory—after she’d been grabbed, while in the van, one of the snakes had demanded to know if Star had had sex before. “The profile is blonde virgins, that’s why they’re going after teens, not some messed up psyche thing. The nuns were older, but it worked because the virgin thing was what mattered, and they all would have taken chastity vows.”

“Rituals involving human sacrifices do tend to specify virgins,” Danny confirmed. “Technically it’s never actually been required, according to modern occult scholars, but a lot of older spellbooks say it is, a carryover from what was thought in medieval times. The blonde girl thing makes sense too; certain powerful summoning rituals do demand the sacrifices look similar to whoever’s being summoned, especially if they want to give the ghost a vessel.”

“A vessel?” Paulina asked.

“Yeah, like something to possess. Overshadowing long-term is actually pretty difficult, if the subject isn’t willing, so for ghosts that don’t look earthly enough they might prefer to be summoned into vessel that won’t fight back. Theoretically a corpse could be used for that, but it would decay, so making an empty body is generally preferred.”

“Oooh, like a golem type of thing,” Star realized.

“Yeah, basically, but I don’t think clay is used? Actually, I don’t really know what it would be made of, just that somehow the sacrifices mold it to look like them… So maybe it is clay… Well, anyway, vessels can also be used in conjunction with binding spells to trap the ghost. So they could be trying to summon something really powerful and control it.”

“How do you know all this?” Dash wondered.

Danny blushed. “I might have done a deep dive into summoning rituals after I got summoned a few times,” he admitted. “I think I went through all the books in the library’s occult section, which is surprisingly substantial.”

“Oh yeah, totally get that,” Star acknowledged. She too sometimes hyperfocused on research on things she was curious about—ADHD could be useful like that (she just would prefer that sometimes the things were relevant to school; her last deep dive was on the history of archery, which was super interesting and made her want to learn how to shoot, enough that she’d impulsively bought a compound bow, but that would never be on any school tests).

“So, this is a ghost-related case, then,” Paulina concluded. “Even if the henchmen aren’t ghosts?”

Everyone quieted at that for a moment before Star asked Danny, “These rituals can’t summon other things, can they?”

“I don’t know,” Danny said with worry.

“So, what do we do about this?” Dash wondered. “I mean, if we take it to the FBI, they’ll laugh at us.”

“Well, I’m sure Vlad and Amity Park’s police won’t,” Danny said. “Especially since if we’re right, this guy’s really close to completing the ritual. He just needs two more, and then who-knows-what could be summoned!”

“I’ll reprint the map smaller and bring it to the police. Maybe you can go look through the books in the Ghost Zone library?” Star suggested. “They might have something about rituals like this.”

“Sure,” Danny easily agreed. “I’ll go do that now while you go update Chief Griffin.”

Danny then flew away, leaving just Star, Dash, and Paulina.

“Danny totally was hoping he would catch you here alone,” Paulina told Star with a knowing smile.

Star blushed. “Y-you think?” she stuttered out.

“Honey, I know. The boy has had a crush on me for over a year; I can tell when that infatuation has switched to you, and not just because he kissed you.”

“So then, you’re okay with me dating him? Even though he’s Phantom?” Star asked, deciding she didn’t feel like reprinting the map; instead, she pulled the plastic sheet off the large map and searched for a sharpie.

Paulina sighed forlornly. “A forbidden love that was never meant to be,” she said. “I should have known a ghost wouldn’t want to be with a human… He’s right, though. It would’ve never worked for more than a year or two, given he’ll be eternally 14. But you, Star, you’ll be eternally 15! So it could totally work with you.”

Star winced as she redrew the pentacle with a dark purple sharpie. “Okay, for the record, the always-15 thing is a bit of a sore spot for now. And pretty sure the always-14 thing’s a sore spot for Danny, too.”

“Sorry; I’ll keep that in mind,” Paulina promised. “Now, Dash…” She gave the boy a flirty look. “Will you fly me to the police station?”

“Nope,” Dash quickly said, and when Paulina pouted immediately clarified, “Not that I don’t want to! It’s just, I might accidentally go intangible and drop you.”

“I have faith in you.”

“Well, I don’t have faith in me.”

Star sighed as she pulled the map down and tossed it into her lair. “I’ll carry you, Paulina.”

“My savior,” Paulina said with a giggle. “But Dash, I expect you to carry me next time!”

So, Star ended up carrying Paulina, thankfully successfully—they didn’t need a third member of the A-list becoming a ghost!

When they entered the police station, Dash in his cap again while Star was back in human form and holding the map, the place was in a frenzy.

“What’s going on?” Star asked Chief Griffin as he rushed by.

The chief comically halted and swerved around. “Star? Dash? What’s going on? Did you remember something?”

“Yeah—you first, though,” Star said.

Chief Griffin looked annoyed, but replied, “Another girl was taken, this time from Polter Heights Middle School, her aunt was killed in the process and there were two witnessess… Here, let’s talk in my office.” He rushed them in.

“Did the witnesses say anything about the kidnappers?” Dash asked.

“Yes, they insisted they had scaled skin and snake-like eyes and fangs,” Chief Griffin said. “And were certain they weren’t ghosts given there was no glow—we’re keeping that part under wraps for now. FBI is assuming it’s a costume.”

“So they only need one more person,” Star concluded.

Chief Griffin froze. “One?”

“Yeah, you see…” Star explained everything they’d discovered.

“Shit,” the chief said when they were finished, as the door opened. “We can’t tell them about this…”

“Can’t tell who about what?” said a man at the door, tall with short brown hair.

“Ah, well…”

“Who are these teenagers?” the man asked.

“Who are you?” Paulina demanded.

“This is Special Agent in Charge Hotchner, from the FBI,” Chief Griffin introduced. “Agent Hotchner, this is Paulina Barrera; her mother’s on the town council. This is Star Strong, who… claims to have escaped your suspect.”

Hotchner raised an eyebrow. “You did? And you didn’t come forward before now why?” He frowned. “And where did the third kid go?”

“Third kid?” Chief Griffin said, appearing confused. “There wasn’t a third kid.”

“No, I’m pretty sure—”

“Must have been a ghost!” Star interjected, noting Dash had gone invisible, likely accidentally.

“Excuse me?”

“Yup. Amity Park is the Most Haunted Town in America! Ghosts are all over the place.”

“I see,” Hotcher said, sounding like he believed the exact opposite of that. “I’ll take you at your word. So, why didn’t you come forward until now?”

“Well, my memory was really fuzzy at first,” Star revealed. “I only remembered leaving school and then wandering around town in a daze. I didn’t even realize I was captured! I remember it all now but the chief says we can’t tell people all of it.”

“And what exactly can’t you tell people?”

“Snake people took me,” Star said confidently.

“Snake people.”

“Yup!”

Chief Griffin sighed. “You see?”

“Well, we already know the henchmen wear snake costumes,” Hotchner pointed out, as he removed a small notepad and pen from his pocket.

“No, it wasn’t a costume! I know people don’t believe in supernatural things other than ghosts, I didn’t either until they took me, but it’s true!”

Hotchner pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Fine, it was… snake people.” He scribbled in his notepad. “So, tell me, how did you escape, and do you remember anything about the primary unsub or where you were held? And when did this happen?”

“Well, it happened a week ago, after I was missing for a week,” Star explained, creating a story that was close yet left out the death part. “I was held with two other girls, twins from middle school. We managed to pick the lock on the cage, and then tried to flee. They caught one of the girls, and the other… Well, she fought, and the snake person won… it wasn’t pretty.” Star recalled that she fought too, with similar results. “That’s when I fell into the Ghost Zone. Everything was blurry and I didn’t remember until earlier today.”

“We think the trauma blocked it out,” Paulina explained.

“I’m sorry, but what is a ‘Ghost Zone’?” Hotchner asked warily.

“The place where all the ghosts live! Phantom found me in there and saved me.”

“Right, ‘Phantom’, the… ghost superhero this town has,” Hotchner recalled. Star had a feeling that he thought that Star, and perhaps the town in general, was a little bit off the reservation. “So, these two girls you were with—you said they were also from the middle school? Yet no one’s been reported missing from there until today, let alone twins.”

“Elmerton Middle School,” Griffin clarified. “That area is… well, let’s just say it’s unsurprising that two girls went missing from there and it didn’t get reported; I’ll put some officers on it. But first, Star, Paulina, tell him what you figured out.”

“Well, we figured out that your suspect is trying to do some big ritual to summon something, and only needs one more person assuming the other girl I was with wasn’t killed,” Star said.

“Yeah, so we gotta stop him before he gets the last one, because then some world-ending creature could be summoned!” Paulina added.

Hotch stared at Star and Paulina blankly for a moment. “I’m sorry, what?”

Someone else then entered the room; the door hadn’t been fully closed. “Hotch, there’s potentially a new devel—Wait, who’s that?” a tall young man, in his early 20s with slicked-back brown hair, asked, looking confused.

“Agent Reid,” Hotchner said. “There seems to be a complication to the case—or, a lucky break, depending on how you look at it.”

Reid, however, was focused on Star. “Do you have a sister?”

“No,” Star said. “I’m an only child.”

“Weird; you look exactly like one of the Jane Does that they brought in moments ago… It’s uncanny…”

Star managed to hide her mix of excitement and fear as she realized what that meant—they found her body! She held herself together and said chipperly, “Wow, that’s so weird! Well, I guess it’s always possible I could have a sister; I mean, my mom says my dad was a bit of a player, if you know what I mean…” That was actually true; Star wondered if maybe she did have a sister somewhere.

“Ah. Yes, I understand,” Reid said, looking a little awkward. “Though statistically it would be unlikely…”

“Hold up,” Hotchner said. “Reid, what Jane Does? Are they related to the case? Did they get their five already?”

“It’s not five, it’s two, but they’re likely related,” Reid said, “Given that they both fit the profile of the girls the unsub takes and they were wrapped in a similar blanket as the others. However, unlike the others, who were left in the open in an easily findable area, these two were buried.”

“Makes sense, if they were killed accidentally before they got their five,” Hotchner reasoned.

“Exactly my thoughts too,” Reid confirmed. “Hey, are these the cities the unsub hit?” he then asked, looking at the map, which Star had placed on the small round table in the office. “Why do you have Fredericksburg marked?” he wondered.

“Because we think the connection is blonde virgins, not teenagers,” Star informed him. “A convent there had five blonde nuns killed, in-between Akron and Mansfield."

“With that added in, it eliminates the comparatively large time lapse between what we thought were the second and third towns,” Hotchner mused, looking there too. “You may be onto something; we’ll rework the profile from the angle of an occult practitioner, see if that helps find this guy.”

“So you agree? He’s doing a ritual that we need to stop?” Star said.

“Well, we agree that he potentially thinks he’s doing a ritual,” Reid said. “Not specifically that it will work, although we definitely do need to stop him before he kills those girls.”

“And if he’s doing an occult ritual, he’ll need a space to do it in, likely where he’s holding the girls…” Hotchner mused.

“Or, they,” Reid pointed out. “If rituals are involved, it’s very possible we’re dealing with a cult, not just an occultist killer with henchmen.”

“Yes; no wonder you wanted to keep this secret,” Hotchner said. “We don’t want to cause a panic.”

“Especially because pentagrams like this are heavily associated with Satanism—we don’t want a repeat of the Satanic Panic of the 80s.”

“You think they’re Satanists?” Star asked curiously. “Is he trying to summon Satan?” She wondered if Satan actually existed; a lot of religious and mythological figures turned out to just be ghosts, after all.

“Not at all,” Reid said. “Believe it or not, there has not been a single known instance of human sacrifice in relation to Satanism in the US. Plenty related to other religious beliefs, though, usually delusions of the instigator.”

“Still, if the public learns of this, it could be trouble,” Hotchner said.

“Honestly, I highly doubt that,” Chief Griffin told them. “This is Amity Park; you’ll find the townspeople aren’t phased much about the occult.”

“Respectfully, I disagree,” Reid said. “We’ve heard the whispers from your townspeople; more than expected already believe these unsubs are a race of reptilian creatures, an even greater portion think ghosts are at fault, and of the concerningly small percent who believe the killer actually is human some believe that the killer is working with ghosts, some believe he’s possessed by one, and yet another faction seems to adamantly believe that ghosts are going to be the ones who save the town from this killer. Revealing that the killer has any relation to occult practices, especially a cult, will likely only increase this chaos.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure there’s, like, at least seven cults around the city, maybe more,” Star offered. “I know our high school has one!”

Paulina sighed. “Star, the Phantom Phan Club is not a cult…”

“No, we totally are,” Star said with a giggle. It was an inside joke the club had, as some of the more eccentric townspeople had called it that when they first protested the club. They should probably call a meeting soon, come to think of it; that could get tricky, though, given half the members now knew his identity whereas the rest didn’t… would Danny be willing to let the rest know? It’d make advocating for him easier.

“School club aside, we do have a fair amount of cults,” Chief Griffin admitted. “I think it’s actually up to ten now. Most focus on various ghosts, and animal sacrifice is unfortunately not rare. When you get an animal at the pet store, they even make you sign something saying you won’t use the animal as a sacrifice, it got so bad.”

“Well, even if what you say is true about this town being oddly accepting of the occult and cults,” Hotchner told them, though he sounded doubtful of that claim, as well as a little concerned about the cults, “There’s still the matter of the other cities, which will surely not be. So, keep the ritual aspect a secret from the public—all of you. Now, we should brief the rest of the team on this new information, and we’ll look into those cults. Chief Griffin, could you get your officers to look into possible places this ritual could be held? Most like abandoned buildings, warehouses, maybe something that was very recently rented?”

“Sure thing,” Chief Griffin said. “I’ll also put some officers on looking into the Elmerton Middle School girls, see if they can find anything on who those twins are—I bet one of those Jane Does is one, if not both. I’ll also get you the documentation on the current cults in town, though I doubt they’ve escalated to the degree of this unsub. Star, Paulina, I trust you can see yourselves out?”

“Yup!” Star said. “We’ll go look into possible rituals so we can be prepared just in case the guy does summon something!”

“Sounds good,” the chief said, and exited the room.

“No, you kids shouldn’t be involved,” Reid told them.

Hotchner sighed. “Reid, they’re not going to listen, especially because the chief for some incomprehensible reason gave his approval; as long as they stay out of police business,” he said firmly with a look at the teens, “they can go to the library to research rituals if they want.”

“I dunno; that’s a bit of a slippery slope,” Reid said. “They could find something, and then try to get even more involved…”

As the two weren’t looking at her and Paulina, Star decided to grab Paulina’s hand and go invisible, before they started lecturing them more about getting involved.

“Do you think they’ll find anything?” Hotchner asked Reid.

“Well, probably not,” Reid replied. “But the library in town has an unusually large section on the occult, and if this unsub does fancy himself as an occultist, he wouldn’t just make up a ritual, right?”

“True… In that case, kids—” Hotchner cut himself off and scrunched his brow in confusion. “Wait, where did they go?”

Star couldn’t help but giggle; she knew they should leave, but it was interesting listening!

Reid paused, looking around the room. “I’m certain that laugh came from right where that girl was standing. And she does look exactly like that one Jane Doe, it really is uncanny…”

“I swear there was a third kid in here earlier,” Hotchner commented. “Yet he vanished too, and the kids and the chief denied it.”

“Something strange is going on here,” Reid concluded. “Do you think the rumors about this town are true?”

“What, that it’s haunted? Don’t be ridiculous," Hotchner said with a scoff.

“Well, you know the phrase: when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

“True, but ghosts? I would say that’s one of the impossibilities.”

“I dunno; there’s apparently a whole government agency that has been established specifically to handle ghosts.”

“Yes, but have they captured any? No. Trust me Reid, ghosts don’t exist.”

“But the town has a whole local news segment dedicated to ghost sightings. There’s even allegedly a ghost superhero, or menace depending on who you ask.”

“Yes; this town is very invested in their ghost hoax, but that’s all it is, Reid,” Hotchner told him, though seemed a little unsure. “It’s just a gimmick to get tourists here and sell related merchandise.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Reid concluded. “But I still can’t help but think that there’s more to it, that there’s something extremely strange about this city—did you notice there’s no churches? None at all. No mosques, temples, synagogues, anything. For a city this size, that’s incredibly strange. I asked someone about it, and they told me that because the town’s cursed, holy ground cannot be created here, so the people here go outside of town for any services.”

“I’m sure that’s just some sort of superstition, Reid,” Hotchner said tiredly. “There’s no such thing as curses or ghosts. Now, let’s go brief the others on this new development,” he instructed, and the two left the room.

Star pulled Paulina out of the precinct through the wall, pulsing her core as Danny had taught her to signal to Dash, who she could sense had stayed to observe.

The ghosts dropped their invisibility in the alleyway next to the precinct.

“Finally,” Dash gasped. “I was having trouble keeping that up! I didn’t even mean to at first, but then he noticed…”

“Invisibility is tricky,” Star acknowledged, then mused, “You know, I never noticed that about the churches.”

“Makes sense though,” Dash said. “I mean, the town is basically cursed, isn’t it? I’m sure all the ectoplasm in the air isn’t very holy.”

“Eh, it is what it is,” Paulina said. “More importantly, just as we thought, the FBI doesn’t believe us about the ritual being a real threat,” she summed up. “So we’ve gotta make sure to stop this ourselves, and fast.”

“Thankfully Chief Griffin does believe us,” Star pointed out.

“Yeah,” Dash agreed, then after a pause said, “So, they found your body.”

“No, they found a Jane Doe,” Star clarified. “And I’m pretty sure the chief will keep it that way.”

“He better,” Paulina said. “I don’t want to be down two friends in school.”

“Sorry,” Dash said. “I didn’t mean to, er. You know.”

“Well, duh, of course you didn’t!” Paulina said. “You’re seriously feeling guilty for dying?”

“Well… Yeah, kinda,” Dash said. “So many people are sad because of it. And I can’t imagine how my parents must be handling it.”

“You haven’t seen them yet?” Star asked curiously. She knew Dash didn’t want them knowing he was a ghost, but, “Not even invisibly?”

“Nah; I don’t think I’d be able to,” Dash admitted. “I’d probably start crying, and the invisibility would fail; I barely managed to hold it in there. I want to make sure I’ve got a good handle on that first. I did visit Pookie though.”

“How did Pookie react?” Paulina wondered.

“She knew it was me,” Dash said confidently. “Treated me as if nothing was different.” He looked understandably happy about that. “So far only Star and Fenton have done that.”

“Sorry,” Paulina said guiltily.

“Nah, it’s not like you could help it,” Dash told her.

Star nodded in understanding. “Being a ghost gives you a different perspective on… being a ghost,” she told Dash.

“It sure does,” Dash agreed.

Star then realized something. Her body had been found! Although she roughly recalled what happened to her, she didn’t know the exact things that had happened—maybe some people would say that it would be better off if Star didn’t know the details, but she felt she had to. “Dash, do you think the coroner would keep it secret if I showed up in the morgue and asked about my corpse?”

“Okay, too blunt,” Paulina said, wincing.

“I think she’d be able to keep it secret,” Dash said. “But, maybe talk to the chief first just to be sure? He can always make her not tell.”

“Good idea,” Star said.

“I think I’d rather just go home,” Paulina said. “I’m really sorry, but… I just don’t think I can handle seeing my best friend’s corpse, even knowing you’re still here as a ghost.”

“I understand,” Star told Paulina. “What about you, Dash?”

“Well, I would, but I don’t really want Paulina going home alone,” Dash said, then turned to Paulina. “I know you don’t fit the pattern, but this place is kinda a far from your place, and I know you don’t like to take the subway so you’re probably gonna walk, and that’s a lot of time outside alone with these guys possibly looking for more girls…”

“I agree with Dash,” Star said. “For all we know, they could need some darker haired girls to get the hair color right, assuming it averages it. Call me when you’re home, okay?”

“Will do,” Paulina said with a grin. “Good luck.”

Chapter Text

While Star, Dash, and Paulina met with Chief Griffin, Danny sat at his kitchen table with his chemistry textbook open, attempting to do the assigned homework questions. Ideally he would be in the Ghost Zone checking out the library, but unfortunately his parents had chosen that moment to do some work on the portal, something about adding a module to automatically pull in air samples—it was a pretty mundane and benign thing, didn’t even require it to be shut down, but it did mean that they were right in front of the module to open the portal and would definitely notice the keypad activating, meaning even invisibly sneaking in was out.

It was too bad his parents hadn’t had any useful information in their small library of paranormal books; there were four or five on magic and rituals, but although there were plenty about small-scale ones to summon and trap ghosts there seemed to be nothing related to larger multi-phase rituals.

Danny’s leg bounced up and down in agitation, and he was unable to concentrate at all at the text in front of him, thoughts all over the place. He really needed to get to the library, figure out what the ritual was…

Danny glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was apparently already 4:30pm; Danny could have sworn he’d just sat down. The others must be done updating the chief, and Danny really ought to be at that library… Surely his parents had to be done with the device soon! At this rate Danny would have to sneak in after dinner.

Danny really didn’t want to have dinner with his parents; he’d only not gotten scolded for the biting incident yet because they were too busy working on their project, but at dinner they’d undoubtedly bring it up.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Danny sighed. He hoped it was Sam or Tucker, but they both were busy (Tucker had left during sixth period for a robotics club field trip to some lab in Cleveland, which was an hour and a half away by bus, and Sam had to attend some hoity-toity fundraiser event with her parents that evening). It couldn’t be anyone for Jazz, since she was currently at her monthly murder mystery book club meeting at the library (she was in every adult and YA book club the library offered, no matter the genre, with the exception of the parent-and-me book club which was exclusively for parents and their toddlers).

That meant that it was most likely someone looking to buy ecto-weapons or defense products, which Danny would have to deal with as his parents were busy; he didn’t want to, but if his parents found out he hid from a customer, he’d likely be grounded, if he wasn’t already due to that morning’s incident.

So, Danny answered the door. However, instead of a general townsperson, at the door stood two official-looking people wearing suits, one a woman with brown hair in her 30s and the other a tall younger man, probably in his early 20s.

“Who are you?” Danny asked.

“FBI,” the woman said, holding up her credentials, as did the man.

“FBI?” Danny asked, surprised. What did the FBI want with his family? Then Danny realized, “Wait, you’re the one from the school—Agent… Greenaway, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Greenaway said. “This is Dr. Spencer Reid. Are your parents home?”

“Yeah, they’re in the lab,” Danny revealed, surprised Reid had a Doctorate given he looked to be barely of drinking age. “What do you want?”

“We hear your family knows about the occult,” Reid told him. “We were wondering if your folks could answer some questions.”

“Questions? About what?” Danny wondered. “Are they in trouble?”

“Not as far as we know of,” Reid said. “But we do think they can help us with a development in the case.”

“Oh,” Danny said. Did they think ghosts were involved after all, and want to ask about them? “Um, they’re working on something in the lab, and don’t really like being interrupted…” That was a partial lie. Danny was more concerned that his dad would embarrass everyone by rambling on about ghosts, government conspiracies, or a combination thereof. Although, that would give Danny an opportunity to sneak away…

“Could you try getting them anyway? I think your parents will probably be fine with us interrupting their work,” Greenaway said, apparently interpreting it as Danny interrupting being the issue.

“Fine, whatever,” Danny grumbled, stepping out of their way. “Come on in, you can sit at the kitchen table, Mom’ll probably want to make you coffee. I’ll go get them.” At least, it better be coffee, and not the weird anti-ghost tea again.

Danny led the agents into the kitchen, directing them to sit (and noting the two seemed cautious, probably at the ecto-weapons casually strewn about) and then he pulled open the heavy lab door and slipped into the basement lab, making sure to close it.

“That seems a bit suspicious," Greenaway muttered, Danny only hearing because of his enhanced ghost senses.

“It says danger: ectoplasm,” Reid said. “That’s another ghost thing; I wonder…”

“Reid, come on. It’s just a town hoax.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Reid conceded.

Danny reached his parents, who were still busy working, hoods on.

“Mom, Dad,” Danny prodded.

Both jumped in surprise and swerved around, Jack slightly fumbling a soldering iron before thankfully catching it on the proper end.

Jack let out a sigh. “Oh, it’s just you, Danny. Man, you really surprised me! Thought you were a ghost for a moment. Still don’t know how you manage to be that quiet…”

“Honey, we were just absorbed in our work,” Maddie told Jack, and herself given it was a way to explain away the lack of footsteps (in reality, Danny didn’t have footsteps due to how ghosts ‘walked’). She asked Danny, “What do you need, sweetie?”

“The FBI are here for you,” Danny told them.

“Suffering spooks! The FBI?” Jack loudly declared, the soldering iron flying from his hand; Danny subtly used telekinesis to pull out the plug and have it land safely. “Oh no. Maddie, did we do something we need to hide? All our experiments are above-board, right? Or at least technically legal?”

“Yes, Jack. I’m sure we’re not in trouble,” Maddie replied, pulling her hood down. “We have nothing to hide.”

“They said they have questions about the missing girl case,” Danny explained. “Probably along the lines of what Chief Griffin asked the other day.”

“Ah, government redundancy,” Jack said, relaxing and pulling his hood down too. “Jeez, Danny, lead with that next time!”

“Let’s go, then,” Maddie said, heading towards the stairs.

Danny intended to stay so he could slip into the portal, but Jack unfortunately noticed and said, “Come on, Danny! You can make the coffee!” He said it as thought it were some great honor.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure,” he said, and followed them back up. He’d make the coffee, then go to his ‘room’ (or rather, sneak into the lab and through the portal).

The two agents stood up once Jack, Maddie, and Danny entered the kitchen. Both eyed Jack with concern.

Once they’d introduced themselves, Reid said, “I’m sorry, but is that a bazooka on the kitchen counter?”

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly legal!” Jack declared.

“It shoots an anti-ghost agent,” Danny hurriedly told them, before they thought it was an actual bazooka. “It’s basically, like, soapy slime, most it’ll do to humans is sting if it gets in your eyes. They don’t make any weapons that can seriously harm humans,” he lied.

“Oh, I see,” Reid said, relaxing. “Well, in that case, we have some questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Is it about ghosts?!” Jack asked with excitement.

“Well, no…”

“Oh, is it about what Chief Griffin asked about the other day?” Maddie asked. “In that case, no, reptilian creatures don’t exist. Some ghosts may look reptilian, but they’re ultimately ghosts, not living creatures.”

“That actually isn’t what we want to ask about,” Agent Greenaway said. “We’ve determined that the reports of a snake-like appearance was just humans in costume, meant to confuse witnesses.”

“Oh. Yes, I suppose that makes sense, too,” Maddie agreed. “Well then, sit down—Danny will make coffee. Or, do you prefer tea?”

“I wouldn’t mind some tea,” Reid said, and Danny, standing behind his parents, winced; he made a motion with his hand signalling no as he shook his head, looking Reid in the eyes. “Or, or second thought, coffee…?” Reid amended, catching on and clearly confused.

“What kind of tea is is?” Greenaway wondered, looking wary at the exchange.

“Our own blend!” Maddie said. “It’s got lots of anti-ghost herbs.”

Danny made a silent gagging motion from behind his parents as he caught Reid’s eye again, then grinned.

“I see. Coffee it is, then,” Reid concluded.

“For both of us,” Greenaway said. “Assuming it’s normal coffee?”

“Don’t worry, it is normal coffee,” Danny said, then got to work on making it. The adults sat at the table while Danny stayed near the counter and listened in as they talked.

“So, what is it you want to know?” Maddie asked.

“Well, we were informed that you’re this town’s experts on the paranormal and occult,” Reid said, and Danny couldn’t resist rolling his eyes; apparently Reid caught that from the brief confused expression on his face before schooling it and adding, “Is this correct?”

“You’re darn right it is!” Jack boomed. “We’re two of the leading ecto-scientists! We have numerous articles and papers published in world-renowned journals like ‘Ecto-Science Today’.”

“Ecto-science? As in, ghosts?” Greenaway asked.

“Yup!”

“So you only know about ghosts.”

“Well, ghosts are currently the focus of our research, but we do have experience in other paranormal science fields,” Maddie explained. Right; their Masters degrees were in general paranormal science, whereas the Doctorates had been specifically in ecto-science. “What subject do you need to know about?”

“Well, it’s related to the missing girl case,” Reid explained.

“Oh yeah, we saw that on the news earlier,” Jack said. “They streamed the assembly at the school. Something about this isn’t the first case? That he goes from town to town, killing in groups of five?”

“Correct,” Greenaway confirmed. “Now, we don’t plan to announce this publicly, in order to prevent panic, but we think the unsub—that’s unknown subject—may be some sort of occult practitioner, possibly part of a cult, and the killings may be an attempt at some sort of ritual.”

Maddie and Jack both looked confused at that. The former asked, “Why would that cause any more panic than a regular serial killer?”

“You two are old enough to have directly experienced the Satanic Panic of the 80s,” Spencer pointed out. “Do you not see how this could trigger something similar?”

Jack laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. This is Amity Park! I think we have, what was it, 8 cults at the moment? 9? The Pope himself declared this town cursed and banned churches from being erected here back in 1807, and that was never rescinded; trust me, this town is not going to care if the murderer is an occultist. Honestly, that’s pretty tame compared to some of the shenanigans ghosts get up to in this town!”

“Again with the ghosts,” Reid muttered, then said in a composed manner, “Right. Well, in any case, the four other cities undoubtedly will panic, so it’s staying a secret for now. We’re here because we think this unsub might be doing some sort of ritual.”

“We have some books on such,” Maddie told them. “Danny, be a dear and get them?”

“They’re already on the table,” Danny said, gesturing to them. “I was, er, looking into that too… I’m friends with the kids who figured it out earlier, I’m guessing they went to the police about it?” He knew they did, of course, he’d told them to, but Danny didn’t want to associate much with government agents; the GIW was more than plenty on that front.

“Yes, they did,” Reid confirmed, as Danny served the coffee.

“Well, the books are there; I didn’t find much, but I don’t know a lot about rituals so they didn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Danny lied. “I’m gonna go do my homework in my room; good luck,” he told them, grabbing his textbook and answer sheet and hurrying to the stairs to his room.

“That kid has awfully quiet footsteps,” Reid mused, heard by Danny only because of his ghost hearing. Danny made a note to watch out for the man; he seemed more open to ghosts than the other agents and was a little too observant for Danny’s liking.

“I know, right?” Jack said, easily heard by anyone’s ears. “He doesn’t even make noise when running! It’s really uncanny, almost ghostly… Hey, if you want to recruit him to be a spy or something, that’d be great; he wanted to work for NASA, but unfortunately his grades suck too much for that. But a spy is cool too!”

“We’ll, er, keep that in mind,” Greenaway said, sounding like she definitely wouldn’t. Danny bet the FBI cared as much about grades as NASA did, even for spies (although, weren’t spies usually the CIA, not FBI?). “Anyway, about those rituals…”

Danny ducked into his room and put his things on the desk, then turned invisible and dove downwards, through the floor of his room into the kitchen (where his dad tensed and looked around in confusion, no doubt feeling the small draft; any power activation dropped the temperature a little around Danny) and through the door into the lab. He turned visible to activate the portal button, as the secondary lock, which Danny usually ‘forgot’ to activate but his parents must have noticed was off, had been locked, which required a hand scan and invisibility didn’t work for that.

Then, Danny flew into the Ghost Zone, in hopes of finding some books that actually had the ritual.

Danny flew as fast as he could, and on the way, Danny bumped into Ember—literally.

“Hey! What’s the big deal!?” Ember shouted, swerving to face Danny, then as she realized who it was her anger faded and she looked surprised instead. “Oh, Babypop. Surprised to see you here—whatcha in such a hurry to?”

“Library,” Danny told her, starting to fly again, albeit a little slower, and Ember followed him.

“Library? Seriously?” Ember said. “I mean, it is a pretty awesome library, but what’s the rush?”

“Well, you see…” As they flew, Danny explained everything Ember had missed earlier.

“Oh wow,” Ember said when Danny was finished. “Yeah, definitely a good reason to rush! Don’t worry, I’ll help you look.”

“Thanks,” Danny said appreciatively.

The two flew amicably together for a while, Ember humming one of her songs to herself and Danny eventually joining in. Then, Ember gave Danny a sly smile. “So, Babypop, I heard along the grapevine that you and Star might have locked lips earlier?”

Danny skidded to a stop, or whatever the term was for doing so in mid air. He turned to Ember and asked incredulously, “How do you already know that?!”

Ember halted too and grinned victoriously as she crossed her arms. “You just told me, Dipstick.”

“I just… Oh. You knew Star was going to try that,” Danny realized. “She ran it by you first, didn’t she?”

“Bingo,” Ember said with a giggle. “So? How was it? Magical? It was after a pretty magical song, pretty romantic, huh?”

“I-I guess,” Danny stuttered out, aware that he was now blushing dramatically.

“Aww, you’re so cute when you blush,” Ember said, then booped him hard on the nose. “Now come on, let’s get to that library!” she declared, flying off.

Danny took a moment to process what just happened, then proclaimed, “Hey!” and took off after Ember. He laughed as he flew after her, once again marvelling how somehow the two had become friends along the lines without Danny even noticing.

With mild concern, Danny realized that he now technically had more ghost friends than human friends. It only served to make Danny feel more ghostly, and reminded him about how he’d actually admitted to the ghosts that he felt more like one than a human and what Ember had said about halfas eventually fully thinking of themselves as ghosts after a while. It had only been a couple months over a year, could that really have started to happen so quickly?

Suddenly, Danny was snapped out of this thoughts as he again bumped into Ember, who had suddenly halted.

Ember laughed. “Really? Again? Anyway, we’re here.”

“Yeah, I see that,” Danny said, staring at the humongous floating building in front of him. It seemed like a multitude of buildings combined into one massive library conglomeration, spanning all different decades… Actually, the parts seemed to mimick various other libraries; Danny recalled a few from the Ivy League college visits he’d gone to with Jazz and his parents over the summer, and he definitely recognized parts of Princeton’s Firestone Library, Harvard’s Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, Miskatonic’s Randolph Carter Library, Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library, and even The College of New Jersey’s Roscoe West Library (whereas that one wasn’t an Ivy League school like the others, it was nearby Princeton and surprisingly had a one of the top engineering programs for a public college, so because they had their open house the day after Princeton’s Danny’s parents decided to take him to see it since they had no hope that he’d get into an Ivy; Danny was certain he wouldn’t get into TCNJ either, but on the tour while passing through the theater building he had met the ghost of a pianist who had been murdered there in the 70s, which was interesting).

“Impressive, right?” Ember said with a grin. “It’s replicas of about thirty different libraries, all merged together. Lots of college ones, but also some other famous old ones like the Library of Alexandra, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, the Admont Abbey Library, the Vatican Apolstolic Library, the British Library—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Danny said with a laugh. “You really like libraries, don’t you?”

Ember blushed green. “Ah, well, there’s not a whole lot to do around here, and this place is so big, so much to explore…”

“Does it have the same collections as the libraries it mimics?" Danny wondered.

“Nah, it only copies the buildings,” Ember explained. “They have a lot of stuff though! They collect as much as they can. There’s tons of obscure and rare things; they can preserve the materials using ghost magic, so there’s books centuries old that you can still easily read. I think they even have some papyrus scrolls from BC somewhere!

“And then there’s the ghost-published items, lots of writers and researchers who become ghosts keep doing their thing so there’s a lot of that. Whenever more room is needed another building is added onto it, so nothing is ever discarded; actually, a lot of their stuff is material discarded from other libraries, so you can find a lot of old editions of things that most libraries in the human realm have replaced with newer editions, like textbooks—it’s super interesting seeing what things were taught centuries ago! Like, in the 1800s, health textbooks claimed that hot chocolate was better for kids than tea, can you imagine? And the books are in all different languages too, there’s librarian ghosts from basically everywhere so there’ll always be someone who can translate what we need—ah, I’m rambling again, sorry!”

Danny chuckled. “It’s okay; it’s all interesting stuff!”

Ember grinned. “It definitely is! Now, let’s go find out what that ritual is.”

And with that, the two flew the remaining distance to the library, and entered one of the numerous doors leading into it.