#anyway my personal answer is that like. there’s a slight uncanny valley to his face

[some-unoriginal-fandom-trash]

Again! This is the robot body built by Sarge, dubbed “Robot Number Two”. He keeps this one up until Season 6. The particular AI possessing that body is Alpha.

@redvsbluepolls oh you thought you’d seen the last of me huh. Alas. I have returned

[miraculouscontent]

A Change of Heart (post-”Miraculous New York”)

"Kaalki, divide!"

Ladybug felt Kaalki's light wash over her, the kwami emerging and flying a small distance away. They were up on one of the rooftops in New York, overlooking an interview that was happening on the street.

Kaalki hummed in interest, taking the time to see the tall buildings. "What a grand city." Then, her gaze dropped down and she squinted, adding with distaste, "Quite crowded though."

"There's an interview going on right now. That's why. One of their supervillains was just taken down," Ladybug explained, placing her foot up on the edge of the building and peering down to look at the crowd.

"And, what precisely are we here for?" Kaalki asked, hovering near Ladybug's face to follow her gaze.

"Not what, but who. We’re here to see Eagle," Ladybug answered, pointing at the eagle-themed superheroine being interviewed. The crowd was enthusiastically cheering at just about every answer Eagle was giving, and Ladybug couldn't help smiling at the fact that the person she gave the miraculous to was still doing well.

As the interview came to an end, Eagle's eyes shifted from the interviewer to Ladybug, who had made sure to be where the red-and-black of her suit would stand out; she wasn't exactly the definition of "stealthy," and it worked to her advantage in this case.

Eagle jumped up to the nearest rooftop, then waited for the crowd to disperse before leaping over to where Ladybug was. "Hey, Ladybug! What are you doing here?" Her brows creased in seriousness, and she held her fists up like she was raring for a fight. "Did Hawk Moth come back to New York?"

Ladybug waved dismissively. "No, no, it's nothing like—"

"Pardon me," Kaalki said, making sure she was loud enough to be heard. She puffed her chest out haughtily and gestured to herself with a hoof. "I'm Kaalki, the kwami of migration. Pleased to meet you," she said, her tone forced as to imply that she didn't appreciate being ignored.

"Uh... hi," Eagle greeted flatly, then looked to Ladybug for an explanation.

"Sorry about her. She was my ride." Grabbing Eagle's wrist and leading her to the center of the rooftop, where they were less likely to be seen from the streets, she explained, "Anyway, I came here because I was hoping that I could get your help."

Eagle leaned to the side, curious. "My help? What for?"

"Well..." Ladybug hesitated. "This is going to sound like a weird request, but..."

—————

Eagle crossed her arms in thought, still seemingly absorbing the explanation. "You want me to use Liberation on you? To get rid of your—"

"—romantic attachments," Ladybug cut in stiffly, the word 'crush' and 'love' sounding extremely un-Ladybug-like. She blushed in embarrassment and looked away, bringing a hand up to partly hide her face. "Listen, I know you probably don't get this sort of thing. It's already awkward to talk about it while I'm Ladybug, but—"

"No, I get it," Eagle assured, though her expression was neutral.

Ladybug looked at her in surprise. "You do?"

With a slight roll of her eyes, Eagle replied, "Okay, so I don't get all the love stuff exactly, but Uncanny Valley has her own thing for me to deal with. She always wants to help people; she can't help it. Besides, Liiri says that there's always something stopping people from reaching their full potential. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good, and it's my job to figure out what it is." She glanced Ladybug up and down, as if to gauge something. "You really think it's that bad?"

Ladybug responded with a wince, bad memories already starting to surface.

"Alright, wow," Eagle said, hands raised as she took a step back, the reaction having already convinced her while she herself clearly wanted no details about it. "Are you ready then? You know this is only going to last five minutes, right?"

"Wait—" Ladybug blinked in surprise. "You're really going to help me?"

"Yeah?" Eagle replied. Half-offended, she asked, "Did you really think I wouldn't?"

"No! Sorry!" Ladybug rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "You'd be... surprised, by how bad this stuff usually goes for me."

For a moment, Eagle looked tempted to ask, but shook off the thought just as quickly. Placing her fists to her chest, her gaze went firm, showing that she was ready.

Ladybug stood in place, almost nervous at the prospect of doing this. She was essentially taking out a piece of herself, but it was the only way to test it; the only way to know for sure.

"Liberation!" Eagle called out, spreading her arms as a single light burst out of her.

Ladybug flinched, her fighting instinct kicking in, but she held firm and let the light touch her. For a moment, she was frozen, able to sense Eagle's presence in her mind and even hear her voice. Eagle's voice was calm, but tempting, offering the freedom so desperately desired.

"Ladybug, your love has taken over your life. I release you from it!"

—————

Marinette quickly stashed the glasses in her purse as she checked her phone's timer. She had four minutes and forty-five seconds to do this, and she took a steady breath before stepping out of the alley she'd been hiding in.

As she raced across the street, the fencing students were just filing out out of Françoise Dupont. The moment she saw Kagami and Adrien leaving, she raised a hand, raising her voice so she'd be heard. "Hey, Adrien!"

Adrien and Kagami stopped and glanced her way. Adrien turned to Kagami, saying something and briefly tilting his head in Marinette's direction. Kagami nodded at him in response, and they separated, Kagami heading in one direction and Adrien heading in Marinette's.

At first, Marinette was nervous, her worst case scenario being that Liberation had truly failed or worn off when she de-transformed, or that her feelings were somehow so strong or messed up that even Liberation somehow couldn't help her.

Yet, as Adrien approached, she found that she wasn't shaky at all. Her heart wasn't pounding either. She didn't even feel the slightest bit of awe from his presence.

She was normal. She was okay.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien greeted with a smile. "Did you need something?"

It took her a moment to answer, still stunned that it'd worked and she'd truly been freed of her crush, even if it was for five minutes. "Oh. No, actually, just..." She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, checking the time, then kept it at her side as she asked genuinely, "How was fencing?"

Adrien looked briefly caught off guard, though whether he was surprised at her acting differently or just the question was anyone's guess. He then brightened, replying excitedly, "It was great! I got paired up with Kagami again, and you know how Mr. D'Argencourt is with fencing, so he..."

The conversation continued as nothing but casual from there, and Marinette almost felt silly at how amazed she was by such a simple thing. It was actually like she was Adrien's friend; like they were on the same page and she could actually hold a conversation with him. He looked and talked the same way he always did, yet she was perfectly fine. Students passed by and maybe tossed them a brief glance, but completely ignored them otherwise because she wasn't acting "weird."

At worst, she was grinning just a little wider out of the pleasant surprise of the whole thing.

When she'd first thought to "liberate" herself of her feelings for Adrien, she was certain she'd be disappointed by it. She honestly thought that she would see Adrien and miss the heart fluttering, the weak knees, and the sheer dreaminess he used to radiate.

But she was wrong. With her crush gone, she could see herself from an outside perspective and reflect without fretting over the things she would've otherwise. Where she thought there'd be disappointment, there was relief that she could actually breathe and not turn into a mess around him. Her mind wasn't clouded with thoughts, and her eyes could drift wherever she wanted without some brainless thought intruding and warning her that she might miss Adrien blinking if she looked away.

She'd needed this. It was nice; more than nice even. Is this how it could be all the time if she truly moved on from him? No more mocking, no more jealousy, no more "crazy Marinette"? It'd be like a celebrity crush that she grew out of; an embarrassing memory of the past and nothing more.

More importantly, she would remember this. She would remember this feeling; the sanity of not being in love with Adrien, or not feeling whatever that emotion was actually called. To say the word "love" seemed so... wrong.

Still mid-discussion with Adrien, Marinette's phone suddenly beeped with a warning message. She turned it in her hand, seeing that she'd properly set the timer earlier to warn her when there was a minute and half left of Liberation.

Adrien leaned over to look at the screen, but jumped when a loud honking noise abruptly sounded off from behind him. Marinette tried not to snicker, but it was difficult; seeing someone else be the jumpy one was quite the experience, and she'd have to remember that too.

Adrien looked over his shoulder at his limo waiting for him, then glanced back at her apologetically. "Sorry, I gotta go. Can we talk later?"

"Oh, sure! Definitely!" Marinette stashed her phone back in her purse, then waved to him. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, waving as he rushed off. "It was fun talking to you!"

"You too!"

Marinette pursed her lips, trying to contain herself as she watched Adrien get into the limo and ride off down the street. She waited until it was out of earshot, then let herself start squealing, even hopping around and doing a twirl for effect.

"M-marinette?!" Tikki called, concerned. "Did it wear off? There's still time—"

"I'm gonna delete all my Adrien pictures!" Marinette exclaimed. "And take down that disaster of a wallpaper!"

"W-wHA—!!" Tikki gaped. "Marinette, when your feelings come back—"

"That's future Marinette's problem! This feels great!" Marinette cheered, having to suppress her excitement just so she could talk. Raising one hand dramatically, she placed the other to her chest, saying to no one in particular, "Oh, what's that? Me, crushing on Adrien? Ew, no way! We're just friends!"

She laughed triumphantly, a bounce in her step that made it seem almost like she were jogging. She crossed the street, reaching for the bakery door's handle and practically singing to herself, "Just friends~ We're just friends~ Me and Ad~ri~en are just good—"

She paused as she opened the door, seeing a familiar mix of blue and black standing at the counter and talking to her parents. At the chime of the bell, all three looked over at her, Luka's smile welcoming and his lips partially coated in white from what seemed to be a powdered donut.

"Hey, Marinette," he greeted. "We were just talking about you."

"Oh, he's such a sweetheart," Sabine cooed. "He came all the way here just to see you."

Luka blushed a light shade of pink at the obvious teasing, Tom jumping in to exclaim, "And he really thought he had to pay us for sweets! I told him, you're friends with our daughter, you better not put a single coin on that counter, young man!"

The three had a laugh together; clearly, they'd been getting along before she came in.

Yet, Marinette's smile fell from her face, a mental 'oh' echoing in her mind.

She hadn't even considered Luka when she'd thought of taking away her crush on Adrien, but it made sense; Eagle had said love, and Marinette wasn't foolish enough to think that she hadn't felt anything romantic for Luka. It only made sense that her crush on him would go too.

But it wasn't the same. The relief didn't follow the lack of feeling. With Luka, there'd always be a little leap in her heart, then a wave of calm washing over her, but neither were there and she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Luka's smile disappeared as he noticed her expression. He approached, concern written all over his features. "Marinette?"

They were friends at that very moment; that was all the feeling she had on the matter, but she wanted what she'd had before. She remembered his confession at the TV station and yearned for the warmth in her cheeks when he stared at her and told her how much he loved her with words that were entirely his own; words that told her that he loved her as herself and filled her with a confidence she seldom had outside of being Ladybug.

Everything clicked. Her crush on Adrien represented stress, anxiety, and losing herself, but her crush on Luka represented peace, happiness, and being herself.

She missed how she felt about Luka. She didn't miss how she felt about Adrien.

That was all the answer she needed.

Almost on cue, her phone beeped again, this time to signal that Liberation was over. Marinette took in a shaky breath as she felt pleasantly familiar emotions rush through her again, and she welcomed them back like she would an old friend.

Luka's blue eyes gained vibrance and allure, his lips being coated in powdered sugar suddenly became incredibly cute, and she could think of him as no less than the most handsome boy in the world.

"...Sorry," she said breathlessly, waving a hand to assure him that she was alright. "Let's just say I went through a lot of emotions today. I'm happy to see you, really!"

Luka's smile came back, filling her with its warmth. "I'm glad," he said in relief. Then, taking a glance at her purse, which was still letting out a muffled, melodic beeping noise, he asked, "Sorry, do you have to be somewhere?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not really." She took out her phone to shut off the timer, then flashed him the screen before closing the app and storing the phone back in her purse. That done, she paused to consider things, then dared a glance back at him. "Hey... can we walk for a while?"

He blinked, mildly surprised, but nodded. "Sure. Did—" He froze, apparently only now realizing that he had powdered sugar on his lips. He swished his tongue around to lick it off, then started over with, "Did you want to talk about something?"

Smiling almost smugly in response, she felt confident enough to offer him her arm, as if he were a damsel she was leading around. She'd never seen his eyes widen quite so much before, but he also didn't protest, happily taking hold of her arm.

Knowing that her parents would just be giving their looks of approval if she glanced back, she stepped out of the bakery and led Luka towards the park.

"So, it took a little longer than I hoped, but... do you remember when you were talking about me getting clarity?"

[a-little-bit-colorful]

Here's part two of @devils-deeds-23 's Coraline au!! 

 Spooky stuff happens and Luke feels uncomfortable. 

 -

 "Bricks?’

"I don't know what to tell you Luke, it probably just leads to the apartment next door." His father commentated. Luke was still puzzled, questions running through his head at fifty miles an hour. Evan still tired from doing his taxes, stood up and walked out the room. 

 "Well fuck."

"Language!"

Luke huffed in disappointment. He was really hoping that the door would lead to a secret room full of pirate treasure. Or something interesting like that. Oh well. He closed the small door slowly with dissapointment.

 Knowing it would be dinner soon, he stood up and grabbed his doll that was still on the floor. Then left to prepare for supper. The door still in the back of his mind.

The afternoon went by as it normally does. Food here and complaining there. Luke did his daily chores. Same as always. After everything was done, he headed to bed after a long day of absolutely nothing. Passing the living room, he took a chance at the little door one last time. Nothing had changed, bricks were still there. The thing was still unlocked, but he didn't think much of it. 

Seeing nothing out of place he carried on to his room. 

 Luke got settled into bed, trying not to be disappointed by the fact he never saw Jonathan today. Starring at the ceiling for a bit he started to drift. Rolling over to the doll that sat on his bedside table, he turned its head away from him. (What? He didn't want that damn thing watching him sleep...)

Luke was on the bridge of sleep when he heard it, a slight tapping beneath his bed. It was constant, and fast. He was to tired to actually get out of bed to see what it was, so he just leaned over the edge of the bed. A flash of grey hopped passed Luke's head. 

He quickly realized what was happening and followed after what ever was under his bed. The body of fur stopped at the top of the stairs. The thing’s ears poked up in question. This thing was a bunny, Luke realized. 

 The bunny raced down the stairs, Luke wasn't far behind. The ball of fur took a sharp turn into the living room. It ran through a crack in the tiny door on the wall.  

He thought he caught the damn thing. Maybe he could’ve convinced his dads to keep it. But when he opened the door, he had an entirely different idea in his head. A slinky like mechanism sprung, the space behind the door getting longer. The bricks where no longer there. A tunnel of sorts taking its place. Luke's mind went to childish things when a gust of wind came from the tunnel. (He was thinking about farts.)

The pretty colors that illuminated the long tunnel lighted Luke's way to a room. The same room he came from. 

Confused, he looked around. Finding the painting on the wall that reminded him so much of 'ol sugar toothed Jonathan the other day, he noticed something a little bit off.

 Instead of the fallen ice cream boy from earlier in his exploration, a happy 'my-ice-cream-didn't-fall-and-I'm-going-to-eat-this-treat" boy stood in the painting. Surely his parents where fucking with him again, as they where prone to pranks even if the are grown adults. 

Whispering profanities of how dumb of a prank this was, there was a humming paired with sizzling coming from the kitchen.

Wanting to follow the great smell of home cooked meals, Luke slowly strutted to the kitchen. The room seemed... brighter than usual. He didn't pay attention as all he wanted was to find where the smell of breakfast came from, damn the fact it was the middle of the night. 

His father stood at the kitchen counter, his back to Luke. Luke could immediately tell something was off as Evan didn't seem to have his cast on his right arm. Luke made an effort to wake his father up from what he assumed was him sleep walking. 

"Dad, why are you up so late? And where's your ca-" 

"There you are! I was starting to get worried." 

Luke backed away slowly till he was in the doorway to the kitchen once again. That wasn't his father. Face and body like him, but this person’s right arm seemed perfectly fine! Not even a scratch! But that wasn't what scared Luke the most. 

It was the black sewn on buttons that took the place of his fathers eyes. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human.

"And who are you?" Luke asked clearly suspicious. The Evan Fong imposter spoke in a voice almost too cheerful. 

"Don't you recognize me? I'm your other father idiot! Would you go get Dathi, that stick of a man hasn't eaten in forever." 

Luke was still in denial that this was happening, thinking that this was only a dream. He might as well have some fun, see where all of this will go. The other father broke Luke's thought process when he hurried him on, explaining that David was in his office.

Luke left the room for Dathi's office, still weary of the Evan imposter. Luke wandered towards the familiar sound of Dathis prized guitar. It's been a while since its melodic sound filled Luke's ears. Dathi used to play it 24/7, but once he started his book the house had been awfully quiet.

Walking through the suspiciously joyful flat, he noticed that all of the family photos that once adorned the walls were now photos of small rabbits. He didn't really want to question it.

After what felt like an eternity the teen was standing in the doorway of a very brightly lit room. This place was almost too professional for his fathers personality; Luke took note of the James Bond -ish aesthetic, he'd probably joke about it with Jonathan the next day.

A lanky figure sat strumming a guitar lazily. It sure looked a lot like his father. Only more up kept and those god forsaken buttons were on his face. When the figure noticed Luke he stood up promptly, taking no time crossing the office and enveloping Luke in a bear hug.

He immediately tensed, neither of his fathers had ever hugged Luke like this person had. If he were to be completely honest, he'd say no one had ever hugged him like this.

Dathi stepped back, keeping his hands on Luke's shoulders.

"Well if it isn't the greatest child I have!"

"I'm the only child you have." Luke said giving the Dathi imposter a snarky look.

"Oh I know that," He retorted. "I was kidd'n wit' ya!"

Luke pushed off the hands clamped on his shoulders, and began rocking on his heels. "So there's some food in the kitchen, don't know if you want it." 

 He and Dathi left for the kitchen. Feeling that something or someone was watching him.

When they got to the kitchen, Evan was waiting for them. A big grin on his face.

Something was so unnerving about this place, but Luke couldn't figure out what. Of course the button eyes were weird and kinda disgusting. But he ignored the uncanny valley effect still, because damn was this food good!

This weird place seemed like such a nice place to be so far! Of course it got better when a knock came from the back door. Evan seemed really exited to answer the door. He opened it slowly, as if taunting Luke.

It was Jonathan. Of course he had button eyes but other then that, everything was a complete replica! (Luke would know, he spends all day memorizing every inch of Jon in silence.)

He had the same blue hoody, only it was unzipped. A tank top like shirt under it, reading "baby blue." He also wore some shorts that left nothing to the imagination. He wore the obnoxiously large boots that went up mid thigh Jon wore when they first met. As he said a couple days ago: "They're comfortable and make me feel fantabulous!"

The other Evan walked up behind Jon, placing his hand on the top of his head and pulling out what looked to be a leash.

"I couldn't help but notice you've been... stressed out lately." Evan paused a wide smile forming on his face. He attached the hook of the leash to the collar like choker around other Jon's neck. Handing the rest of it to Luke.

"So I thought'd I'd get you a new toy," He said way too calmly. Luke of course was horrified (and a little too exited... not that he'd say it.)

"Umm... thank you?" Luke said warily. He was still really flustered, but still tried to hide it.

He looked around to find something else to look at besides his cru- friend. His friend. Yes that's what he is.

His eyes found the clock, staring at it for a moment in deep thought. It was already 4 am? He should get some actual sleep.

Luke started to complain that it was late and that it was about time he got some rest. "No worries! Your room is upstairs, like it always is. You two go ahead, me and David will clean up." Evan replied. Dathi stood up brushing off his pants and waved happily at the teens.

Luke held the end of the leash loosely, walking towards his room. The other Jon followed behind, those damn boots thumping the hard wooden floor.

Once they reached Luke's room, he was lost for words. His once cluttered desk and broken book shelf were nicely organized, they looked brand new! Posters he could only longingly stare at from afar in the stores now hung upon his walls.

The one weird thing was the cat statue that stood above the window was replaced by an owl. He didn't pay it much attention anyway.

Depending on who tells the story, Luke either went to bed happily with the other Jon siting at the desk besides his bed. Or he and Jon "stay up" and have some "fun times." Going to bed snuggled up against each other.

All I can say is, Luke is in for one hell of an emotional trainwreck. 

-

FINALLY!!! My writing style seemed to change, so that's a thing. I'm so sorry this has taken so long! Hopefully part three won't take as long??? Have a nice day my friends!

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Bittersweet Future: Chapter Eleven

Summary:

A mess of explanations, an interrogation, and a trap sprung...

If You’re Expecting the Wicked Witch…

Danny felt the Hover dip as it descended through the fairly dense cloud cover wreathing the area of the mountains. The ride down was surprisingly smooth, the beetle-like contraption gliding down the last few hundred feet to the valley below. He realized with a lurch of his stomach that the butterfly feeling wasn’t caused by the drop in altitude, but the growing pit of anxiety and fear. How Vlad and Maddie would react, he didn’t know, and that reason alone was enough to send him into a small panic attack. If they didn’t accept him, help him, or at least point him in the right direction, Danny was as good as dead. There was no way he could avoid the GSU on his own, and so the out of sorts time traveler was stuck hoping he could convince Vlad help him out…again. Oh great, I’m being forced to beg my arch-enemy for help. Life’s fantastic. Honestly, his life hadn’t been peachy keen since he started this wild time adventure, and he had a feeling it wouldn’t be until after the rollercoaster ended.

There was a soft thump as the vehicle touched down on the grass clothed earth; settling its moors into the damp soil. Two clicks issued from the front of the machine, the final signals to disembark. “Well we’re here. Danny,” Jasmine slid smoothly from her seat inside the head of the mechanized beetle, “stay inside for a few minutes while we explain some things to our parents. You two,” her tone hardened into a harsh whisper, “get outside right now. You’d better expect to be grounded until you’re thirty for this mess.” The red-haired girl pointed a finger out the hissing opening on the side of the Hover, silently willing her younger brothers to obey without protest. After a moment to ensure they did as instructed, Jasmine turned around to face Daniel still lounging in the co-pilot’s seat. “Come on, I know you’re awake. You can’t avoid facing damnation forever.”

“Just five more minutes.” He looked over at his sister imploringly, “just five more minutes of freedom. I’ll be out soon.” Daniel melded back into the co-pilot seat with a groan, the sounds of a good dressing down already filtering into the cabin from outside.

Jasmine barely held back a wince at the fever-pitch the yelling had taken on. It was, to her surprise and relief in a feminine tone, which assured her of her father’s continued ignorance, at least for the moment. Scrubbing her hands over the goose bumps forming on her arms in the cool mountain air, she stole off of the Hover without a single glance back.

Soft scuffing echoed softly inside the quiet space of the cabin, broken only by the slight whooshing noise of deep calming breaths coming from the front of the scaled-up beetle.

Danny started when he heard another barrage of angry screams added to the scuffing he was making on the Hover floor. He didn’t have to look to know the voice’s owner, recognizing it from years of heavy frowns, and recently, frustrated talks in exasperated tones. His mother wasn’t happy in the least. This was why he was doodling inside the Hover for longer than necessary. While there was no way to avoid the inevitable, he wanted her at least finished and calmed down from her first set of admonishments and worry before he added to it with his presence. He heard the co-pilot’s chair creak gently ahead of him and was reminded of his doppelganger’s presence. Pressed with the need to put as much distance between his alternate reality self and his person, Danny hopped up from his chair and made quick work of the distance to the exit.

“Stop.”

He registered the firm authority in the tone and had obeyed before he really recognized who the voice belonged to. “Um-”

“Stay here. I need to at least give my mother some warning before you just walk out there.” Daniel rocked up to full height from his seat and made for the exit, interspersing himself between it and a jumpy Danny. He stared down the other boy; more to scan over his appearance than to intimidate. A spark in his eyes gave away his true feelings despite his carefully drawn poker face. Confusion, that’s the closest word he’d use to describe his emotional state. Their similar, but different appearances were uncanny. If I didn’t know any better- A loud masculine bellow cut off his thoughts. “Great, it sounds like a cluster-fudge out there. I’m probably doomed.” Daniel grumbled completely fatalistically.  A frown twitched its way to his lips before he locked eyes, blue like mine but not, with the boy across from him. Another bellow broke him out of the staring trance, and with a final firm declaration to stay put, Daniel stepped out of the cabin and onto the dewy grass.

A cursory sweep of the standing arrangements told the story in body language. Jasmine stood by her mother, arms crossed against the chill as much as against visible signs of frustration. The twins shuffled their feet slowly in place next to each other, eyes downcast, face only slightly guilty in response to the furious scolding they were receiving. The person currently taking up the banner of reprimanding parent leaned over them, hands on his hips, face darkened from a combination of anger and the midday sun.

“And if you two even so much as breathe like you’re thinking of leaving this place again without permission, I’ll phase your feet through concrete and short out your powers. You understand me?” Vlad scowled down at his youngest sons’ still downturned faces. He watched them squirm for a moment longer before dropping down to their level. “Boys,” he waited until they at looked over at him, “that was amazingly dangerous. What were you doing all the way out in Wisconsin anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter.” They whispered in an apologetic voice.

Vlad made a dismissive noise before continuing, “It most certainly does. What was worth risking capture by the GSU, sneaking off without any hope of reinforcements, and doing so knowing you’d get in trouble when you made it back anyway?”

“Hate to cut in,” Daniel said typical smirk firmly affixed to his lips, “but I can answer that.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled the onyx chain from its hiding place. “They were after this little trinket.” He tossed the slinky piece to his father a few paces away, leaning back against the picnic table from his place next to his older sister. “Good thing I found it first or-”

“No amount of schmoozing in the world is getting you off the hook.” Vlad concluded turning the black bracelet over in his hands. “You were supposed to be watching them, but apparently something else was more important than keeping your younger brothers out of trouble and alive.” He connected the chain end to end and tossed it a few times in his hand. “You two do know,” he started quickly shifting his attention to the younger two boys, “that this is an old model. It wouldn’t have gotten those bracelets off even if you had gotten a hold of it. That’s why it was safe to leave it at the cache, wouldn’t do anyone any good if discovered. Speaking of,” the older man’s sharp blue eyes switched their focus back to Daniel, “how were you all discovered? They still have their bracelet’s on, and your sister isn’t so spectrally inclined.”

Daniel shrugged off the implicit indictment. “It wasn’t me. I only had the suppressor off for a few moments to teleport, and then only after the GSU arrived.”

“Dad, they got there way too fast.” Jasmine added, placing herself back in the conversation. “I had barely arrived just five minutes or so before Daniel showed up. After that, it was maybe another five minutes until the GSU arrived in force. The trip from Amity is like an hour and a half. We weren’t there long enough for them to have sensed us, sent out a group of soldiers and landed. I mean the twins only got there…”

“Like, I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes before that.” Nate raised one shoulder in a half gesture before continuing his staring contest with the grass.

“Right so, that was maybe forty minutes in total. So unless they’ve gotten faster, they already knew we were going to be there or something.” Jasmine tapped her lip and looked over at her suspiciously quiet mother, or where she last saw her. “Mom?” the eldest teen glanced around the clearing searching for her mother’s form.

A piercing scream came from the inside of the Hercules Hover followed by a quieter more masculine cry.

Danny stumbled out of the craft and onto the soggy dirt, disheveled and more than a little fear darkening his features. He swiftly got to his feet, wiping at the dirty mud smudges across his previously clean hoodie. “Hey wait a sec, just calm down.” He held his hands up in a placating manner, trying to calm the in turns angry and hysterical voice emanating from the inside of the machine. The grass squished underfoot as he backpedaled away out of the reach of a solid object chucked near where he had been standing.

Maddie strode out of the flying tank of a beetle, standing one hand akimbo the other pointing a menacing looking weapon at the terrifyingly familiar young face across from her. She sent a glance back to the rest of her family, wondering if they even knew who this young man was. She might not have seen him for over fifteen years, but she’d been too close with the odd young man to not recognize him, years intervening or not. “How did you get here?” She brandished her weapon directly at the boy’s chest, a thousand questions buzzing in her head. Most centered around his still youthful appearance. The only thing she could conclude was that he was a shape shifting ghost, and there was very little chance a ghost showing up with her children after being attacked by the GSU was some kind of cosmic coincidence. A sharp gasp caught her attention to her rear, and she felt her focus slip to the group behind her, looking over her shoulder for only a moment.

In a matter of seconds, he’d felt surprise, worry and determination echo through his being in overlapping turns. He was striding over to his wife hands twitching to intervene before the situation got even more out of hand. He wasn’t sure how or why the young man standing askance from him had gotten here, but Vlad was sure he needed to stop his wife from blasting him into a crater in the ground. “Maddie, sweetie, can we talk before you put a hole through his chest?” He smoothly stepped in between the business end of the gun and the stunned looking young man behind him.

“Talk? We have a ghost sp-”

“We don’t know that.” Vlad solidly interrupted. He glanced over to Danny before turning his attention back to the woman in front of him.

“What other explanation is there for-for, this?” She gestured widely to Danny’s entire appearance. Maddie slung the gun onto her belt when Vlad took a few more steps forward, obviously uninterested in giving her a remotely clear shot.

“I’m not sure,” he held up a hand when she looked ready to argue, “but shooting him isn’t going to give us any answers. Just,” Vlad sighed before running his hands through his currently shoulder length hair, “let me talk to him alright? I promise there’s a good reason, a logical explanation, for all of this. Just let me get it out of him before you try to blast him into a cinder.”

Maddie crossed her arms and looked around her husband at the boy currently trying his hardest not to draw more negative attention to himself. She liked his presence even less than the hair-raising stunts her children had pulled a few hours back, but she trusted Vlad to keep them safe. “Ok, but if he even twitches like he’s got a GSU communicator or something, I’m putting a slag filled out hole in his chest.” She stomped away from the two males, more worried than angry.

A few silent seconds passed between the two of them before Danny spoke up, confident now that everyone else was out of earshot. “Thanks so much for that, you don’t know how happy I am to see you.”

“Like I give a flying piece of flan about you being happy to see me.” Vlad hissed out before turning about to face Danny. He sent a fierce glare in the younger half-ghost’s direction before pointing to the inside of the Hover. “What are you doing here Danny?” It was more of an accusation than a question. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to learn he was alive and well, he’d examined some serious emotional demons to make that happen, it was that his presence made things more confusing once again.

Danny got the hint when Vlad stepped inside the metal beetle, joining him in a matter of seconds. At the moment he was as desperate for explanations as the older man likely was. “I don’t know. I was hoping you’d be able to tell me. What in the world is going on here?”

Vlad punched a couple buttons on the side of the Hover to close the side of the machine and activate the Hover’s shielding technology. Chances were, Danny wasn’t going to be talking unless he thought no one else would be listening in. “Sit down,” he said motioning to the chairs against one of the walls. “I-Danny,” Vlad cut himself off with a sigh. While he wanted to trust the young man sitting across from him, he had his family’s safety to consider above all else. It was possible this wasn’t even the same boy he remembered. “You have a lot of explaining to do. And no lying or leaving out details. I want the truth this time, all of it, or I’m letting Maddie use you as target practice.” He crossed his arms and waited.

“I-where do I start?” Danny complained more to himself than anything else. “Ok, the last thing I remember saying to you was that I was from the future, and showing you, this.” He paused to pull the item he’d come to curse with a vengeance out from under his shirt. “The next thing I know,” he continued without giving Vlad room to respond, “I’m waking up inside Amity Park, in the same park we’d been talking in, only a few feet away from the picnic tables, sprawled out on the grass. Everything from that moment until now has been an exercise in insanity!”

“Hold on-”

“Worse, I can’t find anyone I know, except for you, and these Guys in White rejects are trying to hunt me down, and doing a better job than-how do they even know half ghosts exist?” Danny cut off his comment about a detail of his life in favor of pressing for more information.

“That’s not important right now-”

“Not important!” Danny nearly jumped to his feet in frustration. Not important my ass. Right because being hunted by people who know my secret is no big deal.

“Yes. What I need from you is information. If you’re from the future, then why are you so confused? Why can’t you find anyone else?” Vlad huffed at the boy tapping his feet against the floor.

“I-I don’t know. Something went wrong I think. It’s just you and my parents and-damn this is all so screwed up.”

“Ok, why don’t you tell me what’s different and we can work from there; because freaking out isn’t going to help.”

“I don’t know how much I can tell you. I mean I guess if I was going to get killed it would have happened already.”

Vlad declined to comment on the promise of death and instead pressed for more details, “just say something, because if I don’t get something soon, I’m kicking you out of Camp.” He watched as Danny’s attention jumped out of the self-loathing spiral and back to him. “You’re too much of a liability to keep around if you can’t tell me what’s going on.” There, that ought to give him the kick in the pants needed to get talking.

The ghost powered teen let out a shaky sigh. “Ok.” He decided that if Clockwork was going to take him out of the timeline, then he might as well go out trying to fix things. “I didn’t tell you my last name the last time we talked. What was that like fifteen years ago for you?” Danny asked with an amused quirk of the lips. “It was like a few minutes for me. Anyway,” he closed his eyes, not knowing how this information would go over. “My name is Fenton, Danny Fenton.” It took a significant amount of self control to avoid wincing in response to the muttered baked good curses coming from across from him. “But,” he quickly interrupted the string of creative curses, “don’t freak out or anything.” Yeah that’s so reassuring.

A solid throbbing had replaced the slight twinge forming behind his eyes. If I’d been worried about a headache before now… It wasn’t as if Danny didn’t present a problem originally, but at the moment, learning that Jack Fenton of all people was his father wasn’t helping things. It also confirmed that the boy across from him was from a different future completely. “Let’s start with the simple stuff. Date of birth, hometown, that kind of thing, and if you tell me anything along the tune of ‘I can’t tell you.’-”

“No!” Danny said cutting him off. “I, ok, I was born in Amity Park, July 23, 1990. My parents are Maddie and Jack Fenton; my best friends are Sam Manson and Tucker Foley. I go to Casper High as a freshman, and am one of the least popular kids in existence. I have an older sister, Jazz Fenton, and every teacher likes her more than me.” He started a rapid run together once over of his life. “I got ghost powers a little before my freshman year started in an accident in my parents’ basement lab. I turned the ghost portal on with me inside. I decided to use my powers to defend my town from ghosts, and you and I are mortal enemies. You’re trying to kill my dad and marry my mom and you moved into my hometown to mess with me some more, and you have your flunkies screw around in my life and attack my school and I made a stupid mistake and I shouldn’t have taken this stupid fucking Medallion.” He took a deep breath to continue his rant and grabbed at the pocket watch hanging around his neck. “I came back into the past to keep us from being enemies but it’s all so screwed up now; I must have done something to really mess up the future because none of this is supposed to be happening. You’re just supposed to be a family friend or something, but I haven’t seen my dad or my best friends, and my mom’s married to you and the kids out there-“He cut himself off with a low moan and set his head into his hands. Danny hadn’t meant to tell Vlad all of that; it just came out on its own. Once he started he couldn’t stop, and now he was left feeling like he’d said way too much.

Vlad was still trying to process all of the information Danny had unwillingly volunteered. From what he’d heard, the future Danny was from was nothing like the one in which he was currently living. No wonder he’s so confused. He concluded as the last of the quickly spoken information clicked into place. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the seat. This presents an entirely new set of problems. He’s not even supposed to exist in this timeline. How is he staying attached to this reality? How am I supposed to send him ‘home’ to another universe? What happened so differently that our realities are so completely incompatible? His thoughts buzzed with these and dozens of other questions.    

“Well?!” Danny’s nerves were on end from the rambling monologue and Vlad had yet to respond.

“This is quite a bit of information to take in, so give me a moment. What you’re telling me is not only are you from the future, or I suppose it’s now ‘present’, but you you’re from an alternate envisioning, a-an alternate universe parallel to my own?”

“I guess?” What he said sounded right, even if more complicated than he’d explained. It made sense at least.

“And in this alternate universe, you’re Jack Fenton and Maddie’s son, and Amity Park isn’t a ghost hunter strong hold. In fact, they need help from a teenager to solve their ghost problem.” That last part had him skeptical. Ever since the GSU had gotten their new commander, they’d been a paragon of ghost hunting; a particularly well oiled machine of unstoppable spectral destruction.

“Yeah, my parents suck at ghost hunting.” Danny admitted with a nervous smile.

Interesting. “So what are you doing here?” It was an approximation of the questions he really wanted to ask.

“Oh, well I ran into your…kids,” will never stop being an awkward thing to say or think, “in Wisconsin. I flew out there when I left Amity. I had hoped you still lived there and could tell me what was going on, but I guess that all worked out. Oh, what happened to your house dude? It was like a burnt out-”

“No kid, I meant how are you here. You know, not disappeared into the ether like when time ran out on your watch. Who gave that to you by the way?”

“I think it’s this Medallion. I mean as long as I’m wearing it, I’m not in the timeline, or that’s how it’s supposed to work. Hey! Maybe if I take it off-”

“Don’t! Don’t even think about it.” Vlad had reached across and stopped the younger male’s hand before it could even get above neck level.

“Wait, why not? I mean once I re-enter the timestream-line thingy, I should go right back home. That’s what happened last time I took it off.”

“You’ve done this more than once?” incredulity crept into his voice. What being powerful enough to have access to this kind of technology would allow a teenage boy to mess around with time repeatedly?

“Oops.” That had come out of nowhere. He’d forgotten how perceptive Vlad was. Note to self, be as vague as possible around the Fruitloop. “Uh, nevermind that. Why can’t I take it off?” Brilliant Fenton, because abruptly changing subjects has worked so well for you before.

“To explain this in a manner you would understand, you would cease to exist. At the moment, you exist outside of time, if you are correct about the effects of the Time Medallion. As such, the distinctly different path time took to get to now doesn’t affect you. To put it bluntly, if you were to re-enter the timestream now you’d disappear along with the rest of your reality.”

“But wait,” he began, more confused now than when he’d been thinking about it the last few hours, “ your saying that like my reality or time thingy doesn’t exist at all or something? If I’m from an alternative universe or something, then taking this thing off should send me back to it right?”

“Yes you are from an alternative universe, an… alternative conception of this current time. You can’t go back to your own time by taking off the Medallion because there’s no time to go back to. The two realities likely don’t exist at the same time, or you would have ended up back in your own time when you jumped forward. As far as I can tell, this time is the only one that exists, and you aren’t actually a part of it, as surprising as that is for me.” Vlad stopped; frowning in concentration as he thought through a few more details. “Who gave you this thing?” He tugged at the pocket watch, hand still grasping Danny’s.

“I-“ Danny started before remembering the older man’s promise about target practice and his mother if he pulled out the phrase “I can’t tell you.” “Um, his name is, well I can’t tell you that, but I can say he’s a ghost. A really powerful one who’s probably going to kill me if I tell you.”

The elder halfa resisted the urge to make good on his promise of throwing him to the wolves in frustration. How am I supposed to help him if he won’t trust me? “Danny, if I can’t figure out how to get you back to your own universe, it won’t matter if this ghost wants you dead or not. Being stuck here with only a necklace keeping you alive is precarious enough as it is. I doubt he’d make an appearance if he hasn’t already.” He tightened his grip on the pocket watch for a moment before letting it fall, convinced the other half ghost wouldn’t try taking it off.

“Well you don’t have to figure out anything. Just get me to the Ghost Zone, and I can get to Clo- I mean the ghost’s place on my own.” Danny announced, tucking the Medallion back under his shirt.

Vlad eyed the item as it was set back into place, turning over the new information in his mind. Finally he shook his head and sat back down on the opposite set of seats in the cabin. “I’d love to, little badger, but that’s almost as impossible as getting you into another universe myself. I don’t own a ghost portal, all of the man-made ones belong to the GSU, and all of the natural portals are heavily guarded, both by men and secrecy. There are only a few I know of, and none of them are close or safe enough to attempt a trip to. If you need to get into the Ghost Zone, that’s as good as being stuck here.”

Danny felt bubbles of irritation well up in his stomach. “Well then what the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t go anywhere on Earth on my own, the GSU would be on me in a minute, and the Ghost Zone is my only option for getting back to my own time.”

“I know. Listen, for now you’re staying with us. While any man-made portal would be a suicide mission, if I had enough time, I could probably get you through the security around one of the natural portals. It would be difficult, and take me a couple of months to plan, but it’s your only option.” Vlad concluded while crossing the scant distance between him and Danny. “But first, we need a more permanent solution to the dangers of that Medallion falling off. Transform.”

“Why?” At the moment, he didn’t really feel like being bossed around. Just because I have to be stuck with you for a few months that doesn’t mean I’m going to be nice about it.

“Because phasing that thing around your human organs would kill you; now transform.” Vlad tapped his foot impatiently against the metallic floor of the Hover.

“What! No way am I letting you-”

“So, you have a better idea for how to avoid it falling off, or getting taken off, or cut off, or some other unfortunate thing that would result in your immediate death? No?” Vlad barely waited a breath for plunging ahead, “then morph right this instance so we can get this over with.”

“Fine.” Danny grumbled, frustrated over the complete lack of control he had over even simple parts of his life, like his right to not have things stuck inside his body. With an extra huff of annoyance, the young hybrid let his transformation rings travel the length of his body, changing him into Phantom.

Vlad wasted no time taking a hold of the dangling Medallion and turning it intangible. Thank God. I thought for a moment it might not be affected by ghost powers. He carefully slid it inside, just a few centimeters from the other hybrid’s pulsating core, before slipping his hand back out. “There, at least now no one will be able to see it.”

A few incoherent grumbles later, and Danny was transformed back into his human self. “You do know I won’t be able to get that out on my own right?”

“And if nothing ridiculous happens in between now and when you need to go home, you won’t have to. Also, don’t use your powers again until I get a bracelet made for you. That’s very important. Now, head out there and tell Maddie I need to speak with her.”

“What for? Nevermind, you do have to sweet talk her into letting me stay. So shouldn’t we work on a story or something?” Danny shrugged off the admonishment about using his powers. He hadn’t planned on it, not wanting to reveal his powers to the other Masters’ family members.

Vlad scoffed before opening the side of the Hover for Danny to leave. “You mean lie? Danny I’m going to need her help getting you anywhere near the Ghost Zone; I can’t lie to her about this. Besides, I wouldn’t even if I had to, I hate lying to her, and she’s got a sixth sense about it anyway.”  

“Wait you’re going to tell her?” Danny was having a hard time understanding the point of letting his mom in on the situation.

“If I don’t, she’ll find out anyway, and then I’ll be in the dog house. And there’s no amount of goodwill or positive karma on the planet worth that.” Vlad paused to send a ‘shooing’ motion Danny’s way. “Now get, skedaddle, and tell your mother to get over here.” He watched Danny step out of the Hover, scowl placed firmly on his face. “Oh and Danny?”

Danny paused but didn’t bother looking back. “What?” He snapped.

“Play nice with your brothers and sisters hm?”

“Yeah whatever.” Oh rub it in asshole. As soon as I get back to my own time, I’m kicking your crazy Fruitloop cheesehead all the way back to Wisconsin. Danny shuffled over to where the rest of the group was standing, looking expectant. “Um, Maddie?” He waited until the older woman looked over in his direction. She was still sporting a tight stressed expression, to his disappointment. “Yeah, Vlad wants to talk.” He was keeping the conversation as short as possible, as if calling his mother by her first name wasn’t awkward enough.

Maddie didn’t respond; instead she clomped off towards the Hover, movements a buzz with barely contained energy.

He could feel his nerves firing back up now. Danny tried to break the ice, “so um, I think I’m staying with you guys for awhile, like a couple months”

“Oh perfect, because we really needed was a snarf to our Thundercats.”

“Shut up Daniel.” Jasmine snapped over at him. “Ignore him. He’s just upset because he’s grounded for the next three weeks. Anyway, if you’re going to be staying here for a few months, there are some ground rules I need to go over.”

Well at least that hasn’t changed. Jazz, still bossy and pretending she’s an adult. “Ok fire away.” It couldn’t be so bad, and staying on everyone’s good side was going to make these next couple months bearable for everyone involved.

Jasmine nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, “Rule one, what my parents say goes, no matter how ridiculous or paranoid it seems. We live a really precarious life trying to avoid the government and the vast majority of the country, so there are some extreme measures they have to take to keep us safe. Don’t jeopardize it. Rule two,” Jasmine’s tone took on the drone of practiced rote memory and lecturing combined into one. “Everyone helps out. I don’t know if you’re used to doing chores or something, but get used to doing everything from setting up equipment to helping cook and clean. Rule three, if the parents aren’t around I’m in charge.”

Daniel rolled his eyes skyward in response to the last rule. “Except if we are in the middle of a fire fight, and then I’m in charge. The last thing I need is an inexperienced fighter mucking around on the battle field.”

“Whatever you Tzu Sun wannabee. Rule four, there is to be no unauthorized contact with the outside world. Unless Mom or Dad say you can, I don’t know, use the radio or go into a town when we are on the road, you avoid everyone and everything like it’s the Plague. Get it?”

“Wait, so you’re saying you guys don’t have the internet or television?” He’d been without the internet and the wonder that was Doom 2 for, well, nearly two weeks, and he as beginning to feel something suspiciously like withdrawal symptoms.

Jasmine and her brother broke out into a hearty set of laughs.

“Oh God wait, you’re serious.” Jasmine gasped through another even louder set of giggles. “O-Ok…ok. I’ll st-stop laughing a-at you.” She claimed still giggling up a storm.

“I think what my sister is trying to say,” Daniel paused for another quick few laughs of his own, “is that’s a really stupid question. Of course we don’t have the internet or TV, what part of no contact with the outside world don’t you get? Next you’ll be saying you can’t believe we don’t go to public school.”

“But why?”

“I’m going to assume that question is because you don’t have the foggiest idea how the internet works? Or how television works for that matter.” Daniel shook his head and sent Danny a look that could only be described as “you poor ignorant fool.”

Naturally, Danny didn’t appreciate being condescended to. “I know how it works!” It was mostly his bruised ego talking. He was never one for technical stuff, that was Tucker, and he rarely if ever listened to his parents, usually they were just talking about how to kill and dissect ghosts, as awkward as the subject was around him, so he only had a vague idea how either of those things operated.

“We’re too far out to get anything but satellite TV, and all the clouds and stuff in the mountains interfere. Besides,-” Nick started before his brother cut him off.

“-even if it didn’t, the government is watching for any unauthorized access to their satellites, and most commercial satellites too.  I mean Dad can dial into them sometimes, but that’s only when he’s spying on them for news, and only for a few hours.” Nate concluded.

“The munchkins are right. It would be way too dangerous to do for something like satellite TV.” Daniel looked over at Danny with a deeply meaningful stare. “And that goes double for the internet.”

“Can’t you just use a firewall and a proxy or somethin’?” Danny offered.

“We’re being hunted by the government Danny. This is like, 1984 level intrusion. If you think a firewall and a proxy is going to stop them, I’m scared to let you near anything that might possibly give off a signal they could track.”

“Dad has to use like a router with an IP that changes every ten minutes at an internet café with cash or a card registered to a fake name to use the internet man. Like-”

“-We’d ever get to play on it just for kicks. Between the GSU and Jack Fenton-”

“Wait, what does Jack Fenton have to do with anything?” Danny hadn’t pressed them for information about his father before, even after they mentioned they thought he was nuts, but now seemed as good a time as any.

“You mean other than being crazier than a Japanese Kamikaze pilot? Nothing.” Jasmine explained through grit teeth.    

“What’s the matter with him?” To call Danny puzzled would be an understatement. There was no reason he could fathom that his father would be crazier than the Fruitloop. Though at this point, it’s looking like a rather misplaced nickname. Danny considered.

Daniel chuckled from his position across from the hapless teen. “He’s kinda like Khan if my father was Captain Kirk. He’s got a vengeance problem.” At the blank stare the other teen was sending his way, Daniel clarified. “You know, Star Trek, the original series? I…why do I bother?” He shrugged in a helpless sort of way, as if he got this kind of reaction regularly.

Boy and I thought I was a loser. Who watches that dorky old sci-fi stuff anyway? “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. You said you liked your dad’s name more. How come he didn’t name you after him?” Vlad never struck me as humble enough to avoid naming his kids after himself.  

“Oh, well weirdly enough, he named me after a friend he made in his early twenties.”

“He-He did?”

“He was never specific about it, but he claimed the guy was a master matchmaker, and he owed him one. Whatever.” Daniel looked over his shoulder at the rest of Camp farther down the valley. “Come on, I guess we should show you around instead of just standing here.”

“And by ‘we’, you mean you. Nick, Nate, you have chores to do, and so do I.” Jasmine started off in the direction of a large pile of half taken apart equipment half-dragging half guiding her brothers along with her. “Oh,” she stopped a few paces away from the now awkward looking pair, “and when you get over to the stream tell, Lizzie to come back. It’s almost time for dinner.”

“Yeah roger that red leader, I’ll get right on it.” Daniel rolled his eyes and grabbed Danny by the sleeve of his hoodie. “Come on let’s get out of here before she gets any more officious.”

Back inside the Hover Vlad was having a hell of a time convincing Maddie to go along with his plans for Danny. Not like convincing her of anything isn’t next to impossible. He mentally griped. “Maddie listen, letting him stay with us wouldn’t be dangerous, and if we kick him out, he’d be dead in a matter of hours. This is the only safe place for him, whether or not we go through with the plan to get him home.”

“Vlad it’s not that I don’t trust your judgment; I know as well as you that if this young man is telling the truth that we’re his only chance. On the other hand, what assurances do we have that he’s who he says he is? For all we know, he’s an imposter, something the GSU made to infiltrate us and report back to them.”  Maddie rubbed at a sore spot on her back; she’d been working with scavenged equipment before this, and was achy because of it.

“Because he knows things no one else but the two of us would. He knows the exact words from my last conversation with him, before he disappeared. There was no one around but us, and unless the GSU has the ability to time travel, they wouldn’t be able to give him the memories needed.” He was getting a little tired of repeating himself without letting her in on the nature of his specific conversation. To be honest, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to get away with being vague. As much as he wanted to let Maddie in on everything he knew, the possibility of her learning a teenager convinced him to drop his grudge against her ex-husband wasn’t pleasant. Though admittedly that’s just my pride talking.

“I-pumpkin I just don’t know.” Maddie pushed away from the wall she was leaning against and straightened up to relieve pressure on her sore back. “I believe you, I do, and I know you have almost a sixth sense for danger, it’s just-can I speak with him? Just by myself.”

The middle aged hybrid mulled over the request. There wasn’t any harm and letting them speak; he’d just have to ask Danny not to mention certain details. “Well I don’t see why not,” Vlad started nodding in acquiesce, “I’ll go get him.” He intoned cutting off her movements to leave. He watched in muted concern as she carefully, too carefully, lowered herself into one of the seats. With a show of self-control, he managed to avoid visibly seething until after the door to the Hover had closed. While she might have blamed her sore back on all the heavy lifting she’d done earlier, he wasn’t fooled.

There was a dark purple bruise spread along the entire lower half of her back from their last visit into town about a week back. They’d run into some trouble with the locals when Vlad had been recognized, and she’d been thrown through a wall by some GSU ghosts on leashes. What was worse, it had only aggravated still unhealed tear injuries to the area when she’d last had a fire fight with those government flunkies; that time of the human variety.

Just seeing his wife in so much pain made him want to blow something into small pieces, preferably something that worked for the GSU, human or not. But the anger changed focus almost as soon as he thought about blowing up some humanoid shaped GSU targets. It’s mostly my fault anyway. If I had been more careful, or had been paying more attention... He sighed away the thoughts, resisting the urge to wallow in self-loathing. He had more important things to do at the moment. Like finding where those kids have wandered off to. Vlad thought irritably, scanning the horizon for the younger members of their group. He frowned when his visual search came up empty and set off for the living areas of Camp; they were likely slacking off on chores over there…

“And this is the edge of Camp, well the official edge. We can go past it, as long as we are wearing these.” Daniel explained while holding up his right wrist, the onyx and silver bangle gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

“What’a they do?” Danny asked, having seen the twins sporting a bracelet looking something like that, and he’d heard Vlad mention it. At this point, the trinkets had gone from unimportant detail to interesting.

“They work like the shield, whose edge is right in front of us, suppressing our ghost energy so it can’t be picked up.”

“Picked up? By what, er who, no wait both questions.” Danny clarified.

“Detected is more like it. By the orbiting earth satellites that work for the GSU or other equivalent spectral agencies around the world. Admittedly, they can only pick up our energy if we use our ghost powers outside of the shield, most of the time, but its-”

“Most of the time?” Danny was beginning to get a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, one he was getting all too used to in this reality when it came to the GSU.

“Yeah some of their satellites can scan for even trace amounts of our energy if they have it on record, and they do for me and my father. So even the stuff we have swimming around in human form when not using our ghost powers can get detected. That’s what the bracelets are for, oh, but we don’t have to wear those in Camp, that’s what the shield is for.” Daniel finished with a far off look in his eyes. “Must be nice to not have to worry about that.” He muttered before striding off in another direction.

Should I tell-No. As long as I’m inside the shield, they won’t be able to detect my ghost energy anyway, and I haven’t used my powers since Wisconsin, so I’m fine. Danny trudged after his otherworldly twin through as the dirt in the area thickened into mud. “Wha is-”

“We’re close to Crystal River, and it floods on the regular in the summers, this is a river valley after all. Anyway, the dirt around here is some awful combination of sand and silt, so it turns into this thick muck all summer if you’re within hundred feet of a drop of water.” Daniel explained while trekking through the mud.

A thick slurping sound followed their every foot step as they closed in on the river proper.

“So why are we getting closer to the source of all this mess?” Danny struggled to lift his legs against the vacuum like mixture. With a frustrated huff, he stopped trying to tug his legs free with every step. Instead he turned the bottom of his legs intangible slipping effortlessly through the thick earth. So much easier.

Daniel was too busy struggling with his own legs to notice Danny’s trick. “Because my little sister is out here playing gold miner and ‘being one with nature’, or whatever rainbow love child nonsense my father indulges her in.”

Danny nearly fell over when the shock of learning about another Masters’ sibling distracted him from using his ghost powers. “Dude, you have a little sister too?”

“Yeah I know, I know. Sometimes I swear my parents are trying to do an imitation of rabbits.”

“Ok one, ew, and two, way too much information. Are we there yet?” Danny’s abrupt change of topics was based on more than the uncomfortable subject matter; he was sick of the mud too. Right it’s definitely the mud I have a problem with.

“Yeah it’s right up here.” Daniel pointed a few feet away, and the river itself came into view as they cleared a bend in the tree line. He hopped into the river to wash the remainder of the mud from the bottom of his pants, before looking around for his sister. He knew she wouldn’t wander far.

“Daniel!” A young voice called from a few feet away.

“There you are Elizabeth. Come on, big sister says it’s time for dinner, you need to come back to Camp.” Daniel bent down next to a small girl and hoisted her into his arms.

Danny was floored for the second time in as many hours. The little girl was an even more obvious combination of her parents than any of the other children. His mother’s auburn hair mixed with Vlad’s steely blue eyes peered back at him curiously. I honestly should be getting used to this, but you know, when I’m not longer surprised by the freaky shit in this reality, then I’ll either be jaded beyond hope or possess no hope for getting home. Danny pondered before trying to take a step. He quickly fell face first into the gooey mud, legs stuck, half-phased into the ground. Oh right. He fixed the phasing problem, and unstuck himself with the grace of a bull in a china shop. It wasn’t like grace was his best quality anyway. A few minutes later, he had washed off the remaining mud from his face, leaving his pants for later.

“Hello.” A quiet high pitched, but calm voice spoke near Danny’s ear. He was still bent over from washing off mud.

“Uh hey.” Danny turned towards the person hovering right by him with small frown.  He was met with a pair of bright inquisitive eyes and a large grin. Oddly enough, her smile seemed contagious, and before he could really question how, Danny was in a much better mood. “So you’re Elizabeth?”

The little girl nodded. “Elizabeth Amelia Victoria Masters. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” She performed a clumsy curtsey before straightening up. “What’s your name?”

“He’s Danny, and we’re going to be late if we don’t leave now.” Daniel scooped her back up and turned back towards Camp.

Elizabeth gave her older brother an odd smile and leaned against him to peer over his shoulder. “You’ll leave Danny. The mud’s too thick.”

“Well he made it here fine on his own.”

“Don’t be grumpy Daniel.” She frowned lightly before snuggling deeper into his arms. “Someone got in trouble with mommy and daddy.” She announced her eyes flashing a deep purple before changing back to normal.

“Whatever Lizzie and stop using your powers like that.” Daniel paused at the bend that led back into the forest. “Are you gonna make it on your own, or do you need me to work some ghost magic on your legs till we get out of this mud?” He offered, not entirely sure if the sudden change of heart was his own or his sister’s doing.

“Uhg, I’d rather not muck through the trenches again. Can’t we just cheat and say we didn’t?” Danny caught up to them, legs already caked in another layer of thick brown gunk. He took the offered hand, ready to get back to somewhere made of actually solid ground.              

Washington DC, GSU Headquarters

The Head Commander sat drumming his fingers impatiently against his chair.

It had been hours since the last viable energy reading on 2nd priority, and they’d gotten nothing from the mysterious new ghost hybrid since it stopped in Wisconsin.

The fact it had met up with the other targets was proof enough in his mind that the new hybrid was related to Plasmius’ group somehow. He wasn’t sure where it had come from; it wasn’t as if Plasmius could just make one, well at least not in a way that would have it already 14. He mulled over. So, the hybrid had appeared on its own. All of the man-made portals were well guarded, so that was an impossibility.

There was still the slim chance it was just a copy cat of unprecedented skill, but every subsequent and more accurate reading of its energy made that option slimmer and slimmer.

Consequential, that left him sitting bored and frustrated waiting for another energy signature to pinpoint the mysterious ghost’s position, and that of the rest of the nest. While there was no way they’d miss 2nd priority if it started using its powers again, for some reason it had a way to suppress its energy from being detected.

A pattern of clicking heels resonated throughout the Command Center. “Anything?” The footstep’s owner asked after settling in beside the Commander.

“Not a damn thing Agent J. It’s like those bastards disappeared off of the face of the planet.” He shook his head and slouched into his seat, spandex suit squeaking against the chair’s material. “I’ve got our telemetry experts looking over the possible destinations from the last energy reading and comparing it to their last known locations and old data on possible hiding places. Unfortunately, the most they can do is narrow it down into a tri-state area, which is fucking useless.” He emphasized the last two words, scowling over at his ducking subordinates.

Jillian sighed and leaned closer to her Commanding officer, not waiting the words to carry too far, “Sir, calm down. I know you’re worried about the meeting with the Secretary of Defense later today, but those creatures aren’t going to escape.”

“Jillian, we can’t even get a reading on that mystery hybrid, probably some more of Plasmius’ shit interfering. What exactly am I supposed to tell my superiors? Right after I promised we wouldn’t lose it.” The Head Commander whispered back.

“Something will come through Commander. Even Plasmius makes mistakes.” Jill assured from her position at the Commander’s side.        

“Sir, we just picked up a signal from the unidentified hybrid. It was too short to properly triangulate, but it is in the same direction that second priority was traveling, and it came from Colorado, somewhere in the Rockies.”

The Head Commander studiously ignored the smug smirk tugging at the corners of his second in command’s face. With all of the help she did for him and his organization, she deserved a few displays of hubris. “When you add that into the older data, where does that leave us?” If he was lucky it would narrow his search area down significantly.

One of the techs tapped out a few keystrokes into the computer inputting the new data. “Sir, from the looks of it, they are somewhere along the Crystal River, probably the near the Elk Mountain range inside the Rockies, but that’s an area about 750 square miles in size. We’d need to have a satellite look over the area for signs of habitation to confirm and narrow the likely sites for the ghost hybrids’ whereabouts.” He leaned back away from the screen to give his superior officers a better view.

The map was completely topographical, ignoring some of the particulars of terrain that would only be a hindrance under most circumstances.

“Could you overlap that map with the latest reports on ghost activity and splice in an overhead view of the area from our satellites with spectral analysis.” Jill ordered, saddling up to the holographic display in front of her.

“Agent J?” the Head Commander question, not seeing where she was going with her requests.

“Commander, they are going to be somewhere with water, and easily defensible, and there should be more reports of higher ghost activity. Even if we can’t see their energy, we’ll be able to see an unnatural dip in the amount of spectral energy in an area where all of those combine. When we see that, we’ll know it’s not just a variation, and we’ll have them.” Jill crossed her arms and stared into the coalescing maps. “Commander, you might want to leave for the meeting now, I’ll meet you over there with the final map and likely locations, and we can set out for Colorado from there.” She suggested eyes never wavering from the clearing combination of maps in front of her.

“Alright Agent J, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He strode from the room, subordinates standing to attention, confident in his ability to convince the Secretary of Defense to authorize a strike against the hybrids. This was just as personal to Muller as it was to him, the Secretary’s son having lost his life in the attack on Amity Park when he was only a grunt in the GSU. If I recall correctly, the boy joined up straight out of high school, wanting to do something paramilitary while still staying in the country. He even refused his father’s political string pulling to get him a highly paid officered desk job. Pity, determined recruits like him are hard to find these days. He didn’t stop in the home away from home of his personal set of offices; he didn’t need to change into a suit for this meeting. The Secretary was coming to him, and so he’d be the comfortable one this time. Still, between his own research and inventions, and his work as the GSU Head Commander, he basically lived at the facility. It’s not like I have a family to come home too. Thank God for Jillian, or I’d probably never eat or leave. It wasn’t entirely true; he did have to leave occasionally for staff meetings at other places in the capitol. Just the same, his whole life was the agency and ridding the world of the ghost threat, especially the ones he was about to capture. The Head Commander rounded the last corner in the hallway leading to the meeting room. A currently unused lab had been converted into a conference room for the duration of the short meeting. It was just supposed to be a simple check up on their progress, but in a few moments, if everything went as he wanted, he’d be getting authorization for a serious attack against the hybrid menace. “Secretary Muller, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Cut the bullshit Commander. You know as well as I this isn’t a pleasure meeting. The President wants to know how far you’ve come in locating the hybrids, and the answer had better be better than what that sniveling underling of yours suggested.” The Secretary rubbed at a headache forming at his left temple. It wasn’t that he disliked the GSU program, far from it; he was one of the only supporters left in Washington. But that was exactly the problem; he was one of the few supporters left in Washington, and that put him in at odds with the current administration, with its sweeping promises to reign in the national budget and expenditures, his favored agency was on the chopping block. Even the reemergence of a ghost in Amity hadn’t helped sway political opposition against the GSU, with how poorly they had preformed, so he’d just been on the receiving end of a very bad conversation with the President of the United States. If they didn’t locate the hybrids within the next 24 hours, he had been ordered to command an immediate hiatus of operations until a budget review of the agency had been done.

He felt a genuine smile pull at the edges of his typical calm mask. “I’m happy to inform you, we’ve narrowed the locations down to a 750 square mile area, and my second in command is finishing the last preparations needed to pinpoint the hybrids’ exact position. She should arrive soon enough.”

“Don’t play with me Commander. What you’re suggesting is something you’ve claimed to be impossible for nearly the four years since you lost them in Amity, getting past that Plasmius creatures’ spectral shielding.” It was exciting news to be sure, but he had to be sure before he reported it back to his superiors at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“This is no joke Muller. I admit, Plasmius’ shields are the best on the planet, they’d have to be to avoid the detection of United States government, but my information was based on its past behavior. It’s never let one of the younger hybrids get so caught up in our web; to be honest this level of callous disregard leaves me worried about it being a trap.” He frowned as the new angle flitted across his mind, puzzling out all of the possibilities, before shaking his head to clear it. “Nevertheless, this is too golden an opportunity to pass up. From my own data on their behavior, Plasmius never stays in a single spot more than three months, and even rotates the sets of areas it revisits before abandoning them completely. It’s what makes them so blastedly hard to capture. This time sir is something different, and we have to capitalize on our enemy’s mistakes, as few and far between as they are.” He sat down across from the Defense Secretary, his significant weight making the smaller chair of the converted lab sag slightly.  

Muller rested his head in one hand, wondering how to proceed. “What do you need?” No matter the argument he’d get at the White House, he’d get the Commander’s requests approved. The next order of business was getting the GSU out from under the direct chain of command of the President. He was sick of the bureaucratic bullshit.

This time, a full fledged grin split his hardened façade. It wasn’t often he and his organization got a blank check and open ended go ahead. “Get me authorization for a major operation. Tanks, jets, lethal force, complete mobilization of my active soldiers, the works, and I’ll get you a hybrid nest to put in your retirement cap.” He requested, tone booming with excitement. He suppressed a wince at the volume of his own voice, sometimes it still got away from him.

The door clicked open and closed in rapid succession. The only person who’d interrupt a meeting this important without knocking strode into the room.

“Sir, Secretary Muller, I’ve got the final positions for the hybrids’ locations. I’d like you to look over it before I tell you my choice for the most likely position.” Agent J saddled up to her commanding officer, picture of military efficiency.

“Thank you Agent J, give me just a second to look this over Muller.” He explained before glancing over the map.

There were three areas highlighted in decreasing intensity of color, representing the level of confidence in the locations of the hybrids.

“This one.” The Head Commander announced with certainty, pointing to the least shaded position on the map.

“Commander, that’s the least likely location on the list. Why would you pick that one?”

“Because it’s the least likely location on the list, and I know how that creature Plasmius thinks. It’d be able to predict what we look for in a site for them and would choice accordingly, picking the most difficult area to colonize as added protection.” He leaned back and slid the map across the table at the Secretary. “If you look closely, the area also has the largest dip in detected ambient spectral energy, as well as the highest increase in ghost activity. The reason it’s so low on the list is because of the difficulty in getting to and from the area and the terrain itself acting inhospitable. Such things are of little concern to a creature that can fly or invent things to solve those problems easily.”

Secretary Muller frowned in consideration at the map before staring directly into the Head Commander’s eyes. They’d been friends for years, going back to the man’s rise to leading the former Guys in White. Looking at his eyes now, he recognized the wild free gleam that always preceded them hitting the proverbial jackpot. “How sure are you about this?”

“I’d beat my career on it. Those creatures are there and this may be the one chance to catch them off guard. Plasmius is sure to move the group when he realizes how compromised they are by the new hybrid’s actions. We have maybe another day before the entire site will look like no one’s ever lived there. We need to move now.”

A shuffle of paper later, Muller was standing from his spot across from the Head Commander and his second. “Alright. You have my permission to use any and every means necessary to capture and detain these dangerous hostiles. Try to make sure you get at least one of them alive. I’m sure your lab boys and mine in the other branches would like a swing at their…unusual physiology.” The Defense Secretary pressed his chair back into place and reached across the table for a hand shake. “Do us proud Commander. In a few hours I hope to have a hybrid hide or two in the government lab, and so our country can lay claim to the destruction of this planet’s most dangerous threats.”

The Commander took Secretary Muller’s hand into a tight grip, eyes shining like a kid in a candy store. “Oh trust me Dirk; this will be a day you won’t forget.” He released the other man’s hand and started for the door. “By the way,” he started just as he reached the threshold for the room, “tell our Commander in Chief to have those Ghost Zone exploration forms signed when we get back. With the Hybrids out of the way, the nation’s next leading threat will be the remaining creatures in their twisted world.”

“Can do. I’ll look forward to the fruits of your success.” Secretary Muller watched them leave with a combination of nervous energy and respect. They were walking into a self-made fire storm by seeking out these beasts on their own turf. But that’s why they’re the best. He concluded before gathering up the last of his papers and stuffing them into a brief case. The Defense Secretary had a long road ahead of him to get their attack approved by the President in time. But then again, that’s why he was the best.

The Head Commander and his second waltzed into the HQ, all buzzing energy and purpose. It didn’t take long for the men and women, standing at attention in the room, to know something big was going down. “My fine officers, today we have the opportunity to make a major strike against our enemy. Because of the ingenious collaboration of Agent J and the finest telemetry experts in the country, we’ve found our personal holy grail. Within the hour, we’ll have approval from the President himself, and will be readying an assault on the hybrid’s hiding place.” He paused as raucous applause and cheering echoed throughout the room. “Now, now,” he began, holding up a hand to silence the noise in the room, “none of this would be possible without that new hybrid coming right to our doorstep in Amity Park. It’s delivered to us the heads of our enemies, all without ever trying. So how about we give a ‘thank you’ to the little creature that has brought about the others’ downfall.”

The room broke into a cacophony of sarcastic thanks, several of the room’s occupants going so far as to clap in mock gratitude.

“The fine men and women of the GSU, the world’s greatest ghost hunters, we now stand at the precipice, on the eve of capturing the crown jewel of this establishment. In a few hours, the most dangerous threat the world has ever known will be destroyed, and we will be getting commendations from the President himself. In a few hours, with the annihilation of our foes, we’ll finally have approval to smite those creatures in the twisted world they inhabit. In a few hours, we will have Plasmius’ head on a pike and be victorious!” Another deafening cry rose from the assembled members of the room, cutting the Head Commander off in the middle of his speech. Despite the nearly overwhelming cries in the room, his booming voice carried over the ambient noise. “And in that moment, my loyal officers, the world’s finest, we will finally have shown the last of the straggling ghosts shivering and cowering in their dimension that we are unstoppable. On this day, I will lead you to capture not only our greatest enemies, but a never forgotten page in the history of our species!”

A final great cry came from the assembled men and women in the room and throughout the building where it was being broadcast. Without another word or order, the officers began preparing for an immediate full assault.

The Head Commander and his second strode from the room, heading for the hanger bay, where the transport air ships would be flying everything from troops to their supplies to the Colorado battle ground. He’d just stepped inside the hanger when a subordinate handed him a faxed over copy of the authorization from the President’s desk.

“Sir, don’t you think that last bit was too much?” Agent J leaned close to be heard over the excited cheers of her subordinates as the doors to the hangar closed.

“What last part?” He had to admit, he sometimes got carried away with his speeches, but that one seemed right on point.

“The part the sounded like ‘and I shall be amongst you, leading us to glorious triumph!’” Jill mock quoted him, adding extra dramatics.    

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m leading the assault!”

“What Commander are you sure?” Jill joined him on the lift just before the doors closed. She wanted an extra few seconds of privacy. “You know it’s probably going to be there.”

“I know Jill, and that’s exactly why I’m going.” The Head Commander’s face was drawn into a serious grimace. Just thinking about seeing Plasmius again in person after their last battle left him both excited and apprehensive.

“I know it’s just…” She trailed off, not sure how to approach the subject. He’s always jumpy about this Plasmius character. “You’re not you when you fight with him. You’re not the calm collected political manipulator, or the passionate unstoppable ghost hunter you are in the field. You aren’t even the goofy inventor I know from working with you in the lab; you’re like a runaway train and I hate seeing you like that Sir.” Jill rested against the back of the lift waiting for her Commanding officer’s reply.

“I know Jill, and that’s why I’m going. Once this is over, both Plasmius and that side of me can die at once. He’s not going to escape this time; I’ll make sure of it.” The lift screeched to a halt just as the Commander finished his explanation. “Now come on Jill, we have few ghosts to kill.”

Jillian wavered at the edge of the lift giving the subject one last thought. But I don’t think kill it will put everything right with her.

Vlad looked over the combination of equipment and supplies that made up the cooking area of camp. He’d already searched the RV and Spartan entertainment area and came up empty. If they aren’t sleeping, or fighting over the television, they’d be eating something. He popped his head into the tent with the stove and oven.

Jasmine was stirring a big pot of food over the propane stove. She leaned over and checked something in the oven, before returning to stirring.

“Jasmine, there you are. At least I can trust you to help out around here.” He scoffed while passing a glance around the rest of the tent. “I don’t suppose you know where your brothers have gotten off to?” He could usually trust her to keep at least marginal tabs on her siblings’ whereabouts.

“Sure thing. Daniel went to show the new kid around, so he should be coming back with Lizzie any time now. As for the twins, they were mucking around with the equipment Mom was messing with earlier. So I would try the storage area or salvage area, but even so,” she stopped to close the top on the pot filled with something stew like, “they’ll be over here soon enough. Just as soon as their stomachs start complaining.” She slid on a pair of oven mittens and reached into it after something cooking inside.

“Thanks for your help. Oh, I need to speak with you after dinner about a few things.”

“What about?” She asked hands half-way into the oven.

“Just about the GSU a few hours ago. There’s something bothering me about it, and I’m sure you can help clear it up.” He heard her saying something to the affirmative before slipping out of the tent. To his surprise, the twins were already out front, setting up the kitchen table. That only leaves-

“I hate to ask, really, but you do at least have running water and shit right? Because at this point, I’m assuming I live in a third world country and every modern convince is suspect.” Danny complained covered in mud to the hips a few feet behind Daniel.    

“Hey! It’s not my fault you fell into that mud pit. I told you to go around with me, but nnnnooooo you just had to prove it wasn’t that deep. Well guess what genius? Laundry isn’t for another 3 days, so I hope you brought more clothes than that with you.”

“Stop bickering! It’s not nice.” Lizzie pouted her lips in Daniel’s direction from his arms. Her eyes flashed purple again, and this time her older brother nearly dropped her in frustration.

“How many times have I told you to stop doing that? I’m not a happy dancing puppet.” He set her on the ground, mouth twisted into a deep scowl.

“Daniel!” Vlad didn’t even have to say anything else, his tone conveying what was missing in words.

“Oh come on father, that’s not fair. You’re going to spoil her rott-”

“Be nice to your baby sister Daniel.” He shook his head and pointed at the other teenager next to his son. “You go on over to the Hover. Maddie wants to speak with you.” He turned away from Danny without a second thought and sent a heated glare in Daniel’s direction. “Just because you’re in a bad mood, that doesn’t mean you can take it out on her. No excuses,” He cut him off before a sound had even traveled out of his open mouth. “Go help your sister finish up dinner, and stick around afterwards; I need finish that conversation with the two of you about Wisconsin.” He looked back towards the nearly fully set table, and caught Danny still standing around out of the corner of his eye. “Danny, Hover, yesterday.” Vlad watched as the boy jolted into action, practically leaping away to the Heracles. He shook his head and treaded over to the cooking tent to help move the food out onto the table.

Resisting the urge to grumble under his breath, Danny scuffled up to the entrance to the Hover with a look of apprehension plastered clearly across his face. Under ordinary circumstances, conversations of the serious type with his mom weren’t bad enough to leave his stomach in knots, but these weren’t ordinary circumstances. Related to him or not, his mother was basically a stranger in this time, and a suspicious one at that. The half-ghost hero wasn’t sure how this chat was going to go, but if Vlad hadn’t explicitly O.K.’d him staying yet, it was likely his entire chance of living here hung on one conversation with the only adult at camp unsympathetic to him.

“Stop skulking out there; I can hear you, you know.” A mature woman’s voice rang from inside the still closed craft.

I hope this goes well, because if it doesn’t I’m dead meat. Danny swallowed hard, and pressed the button on the side of the Hover he assumed opened the side door. The door popped open and slid up as he backed out of the way. He stepped inside, fumbling for the trigger that would close the door on the inside.

“It’s on the left side of the door.”

“Oh.” He turned around and depressed the blue button on the inside wall of the craft before making a beeline for the row of seats across from his mother. If this discussion was going to be awkward, he wanted it over as soon as possible. His mom re-arranged herself across from him, rubbing at a spot at the small of her back before staring directly at Danny.

“So, I just had a few questions for you. I have something to say before that though, so wait until after I’m through to say anything alright.” She saw the young man across from her nod vigorously; his urge to have this over with painfully obvious. “Now Vlad told me a little about you and why you need our help. He said you were from an alternate future, and as hard as it is to believe, personally I just think you’re a ghost in disguise, I trust him.”

Same old mom, everything is about ghosts. Danny had to repress a smile, as good as the similarity was making him feel, this wasn’t really the time for grinning. “I can pr-”

“Don’t interrupt, I’m not finished yet.” She gave him one of her light motherly tones. “Now, he says you traveled into the past to help him with something, and that until just a few hours ago, he didn’t know whether he’d made the right decision to keep you alive, as much of a problem as that’s presenting now.” The female ghost hunter frowned and tapped a finger on her chin. “Nevertheless, you’re here now, and as much as I trust my husband as a judge of character, he’s also hopelessly idealistic sometimes. He’d forgive his mortal enemy if he thought it’d do something for the greater good.”

Yikes! Who are you, and what have you done with the Vlad I know? What is this entire universe Invasion of the Body Snatchers come to life?

“So, I have a question or two for you, just for my peace of mind. You better answer these truthfully, or else you’re on your own.” She waited until she was sure there was understanding in his eyes, before plunging forward. “When you were in Amity Park, why did you approach the GSU headquarters? The one in Amity is one of the best defended and guarded.”

A breath whooshed past his lips as relief settled into the bones of his being. He’d been thinking the questions would have been harder or more probing than that. “In my own, er timeline, the Amity Park GSU headquarters is where I live, you know Fen-”

“Yes, I know. I’d rather not think of that place…I’m sorry I cut you off, go on.”

“Uh yeah right. So as I was saying, I live there in my own timeline, so I was just walking home. Before that, I didn’t know anything was wrong. I mean as I was walking up to it, it looked wrong. Like different you know? But I brushed it off until the alarm went off.” He rubbed the back of his head to calm his nerves. Ok note to self, everyone in the world hates my dad, though none of them wants to tell me exactly why. Great.

Maddie felt a tingle of annoyance trickle through her. “But there must have been professional ghost hunters in your own world; maybe the ones that work for the government?”

“Well yeah, but the Guys in White are a freaking joke. I mean, it’s like my dad was teaching a class on ghost hunting and the whole United States government took him seriously and then added a layer of idiotic bureaucracy over the top of that. They couldn’t catch Casper. In fact, they’re so incompetent, I’d bet the box ghost could outfox them.” Just thinking about his version of the GSU almost put him in stitches. They weren’t remotely threatening, not even to a ghost fly.

“So I take it your father isn’t a particularly talented ghost hunter in your timeline?” She refused to refer to him by name. He’d hurt her family too much for that level of respect.

As weird as it was to talk about someone without using their name, and subtly was never his strong suit, he was getting used to it. “What? Are you kidding? You’re a much better ghost hunter than he is, and I’m not just saying that to kiss up or anything.”

“I know. You seem surprisingly forthcoming and honest. Just a few more things. If the,” She paused to recall the exact name he’d called them, “Guys in White of your universe are so unskilled, I’d suppose ghosts are much more common there.” She watched him meld more into his seat, calming more and more as the conversation continued. Maddie couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something he was hiding.

“Oh yeah they’re all over the place. In fact, I was really surprised at how effective the GSU are here. Did someone give those guys steroids in your timeline or something; ‘cause they are actually pretty scary.”

“Which reminds me of my final two questions. First, how did you travel back into the past originally, and I’d like to know why, but something tells me that’s off limits. Finally, why is the GSU after you in the first place?” That’s the part that didn’t make any sense. They had no reason to spend resource trying to track down a regular kid, unusual circumstances upon arrival or no. That’s the part that left her stumped the most.  

“Uh, I can’t tell you precisely who I got the Medallion I used to time travel from, but I can say he’s a really really powerful ghost who would like totally smite me if I said anything.” He paused to think on the last question. If his mom was asking, it meant she didn’t know he had ghost powers, because apparently in this reality that was enough to warrant being hunted down. Well, he thought, Skulker coming to mind, not just this timeline. He shook his head and focused. If she didn’t know already, he had no intention of telling her. Not just because he didn’t want to reveal his secret just yet, but because Vlad hadn’t mentioned it. And if he didn’t say anything, he must not want her know right now. He finished finding justifications for his decision and spoke up again. “I think it’s because of the artifact I used to time travel. It has a lot of ghost energy in it, and a ghost as powerful as…um him would be something they’d be interested in. Heck, if they found out about the time traveling, they’d want a piece of me regardless.” Danny hoped that was a convincing enough lie, because that was all he had.

Maddie turned over his answer in her head. There was something off about the statement, but as far as she knew, it was not only completely plausible, but entirely likely. Still, something was telling her that it wasn’t the truth, but with no reason to doubt him, he’d been truthful so far, and no other explanation available, she let the subject pass. “So it’s safe to assume you know Vlad and me from your own timeline?”

“Hey I thought you said only two more questions.” He barely held back a childish looking pout. He had been, looking forward to the end of this little soirée for the last five minutes. Hell since the moment I walked inside this beetle shaped contraption.

“Well Danny,” Maddie started in the same tone she used to gently chastise her own children, “you reminded me of something else. You can’t honestly expect me to allow you to stay here when I don’t trust you. Besides we already have our own children to take care of, and I need to know you won’t bring the GSU to our doorstep.” Maddie shifted again off of another especially sore area before crossing her arms. She was never as fond of the boy in front of her as her husband, she hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know him as well as he did. Despite the feeling tugging at the back of her mind that she knew this child, more than just the little time he’d spent in the past, her own kids came first.

Unfortunately, the discussion had taken a turn for the worst, and now his mom was, for all intents and purposes, calling him an interloping walking endangerment to her real children. Oh yeah, just when I thought I couldn’t feel anymore crappy. “I’m sorry ok? I’m hungry and tired, and just need a place to stay for awhile. Can’t I ju-”

“That’s not entirely true Danny. You want us to help you get home too, and that’s the best decision in my opinion as well.”

“Then what’s the problem?” He huffed. He was more than a little exasperated with the entire conversation at this point. He’d had enough situational information back-handed insults to last a week. It was enough to learn his sister didn’t give two shits about him, but hearing it from his mom was grating through the last of his emotional defenses.

“The problem, young man, is that is very dangerous. Proper thing to do or not, it’d be safer to have you live the rest of your life with us, but I’d assume that Time Lord you borrowed this ‘Medallion’”, she issued air quotes around the item, “from would like to see you back eventually or risk death. Since that’s the case, it really wouldn’t be practical to keep you here when we could help. If I think you’re not a threat to us on your own, and while I’m not fully convinced of that, it’d be unethical to keep you here not only when you could go home, but when not doing so threatens your life.” Maddie finished by standing from her position across from Danny. “However, you’ve convinced me enough for now to let you stay. This conversation can wait until tomorrow morning or so.” She pressed the button on the left side of the Hover door to open it and stepped out.

Danny rocketed up from his seat as soon as his mom had set foot outside of the craft. He didn’t have to be told twice that the conversation was over, and he wasn’t waiting another second to leave the claustrophobic space between his mother’s doubts and his fears. “Cool because I’m starving. Is it dinner time yet?” He leaped out and was bounding for where he’d seen the food being set out before he even heard her reply.

By the time Danny and Maddie arrived, everything was all set up for dinner. A big pot of steaming beef stew was sitting in the center of the table, kept warm atop a warming plate. To the right of it was a whole basket full of rolls, crust golden brown and steaming. Finally at the very end were two cherry pies, lattice tops perfectly formed.

“Aw, that looks fantastic.” Danny said, mouth watering while reaching for a roll. “Ow! What was that for?” He rubbed at a sore spot on his hand where he’d been smacked by a serving spoon.

“Uh hello? We aren’t animals. You can eat sitting down and from a plate you know.” Jasmine sent a light glare Danny’s way before moving to her place at the table.

“Took you both long enough. I thought-”

“-We’d starve before you’d come out of the Hover for sure.” Nick complained finishing off his brother’s sentence with an exaggerated glower.

“Hey sorry, but I can promise you it wasn’t on my end. I wanted dinner an hour ago.” Danny eagerly flopped into a place at the table, plate already in hand. He had his eye on an especially tasty looking roll, until the top from the pot in the center of the table was removed. The pleasant warming smell coming from the container instantly drew his attention. “What’s in there?” He asked just barely resisting the urge to reach for some before time.

This time Vlad answered. “Beef stew. It’s easy to make, makes a whole bunch of left-overs, and is delicious.” He sat much closer to the end with the pies, and passed a plate with a bowl on it towards the middle of the table to get loaded up with food. He smiled as Maddie sat next to him and handed over a glass of ice water.

The rest of the table filled up their bowls and plates with food, and readily dug in.

After a few gulps of stew, he’d woofed down enough to sate his immediate hunger needs, and that left him curious and wanting answers on a few things. And with the adults finally in one spot, he’d be able to get them. “So I heard we don’t have TV, internet, radio, or anything that takes us out of the Stone Age. Please tell me there’s running water, or I’d rather turn myself in.” Danny stuck out his tongue at the thought of anything less than indoor plumbing and a hot shower; that was just barbaric.

A couple chuckles later, Vlad was answering for both him and his wife. “We have both generators for electricity and a water heater that connects to an actual shower you know. Just because the electronic devices that link to the outside world are limited, doesn’t mean you’re living in the Middle Ages Danny. Besides, who told you we don’t own a television? We don’t have cable, but it’ll play VHS and DVDs just fine. Though, I suggest warning someone before trying to fire it up, you might draw too much power from the generator.” He stopped and finished off a roll. “That might not be a problem for too much longer though; I’m getting rid of the old diesel and gas powered generators in between this move and the next.”

“Awesome, you finally figured out how to make the spectral generators work?” Nick piped up from the right of Danny.

“Sure did, and it’ll be replacing most of the generators in Camp. They are a lot more efficient and have basically free fuel besides that. Plus they are easily concealed energy wise, and have no thermal signature, so we can run them all day without worrying about coming up on thermal radar.” Maddie explained.

“Right so, you’ll” Vlad stopped and pointed in Danny’s direction, “be needing a place to sleep for the night. Daniel, I hope you don’t mind-”

“Absolutely not. I’m going to have to bunk up with the wonder twins in a few days for the move; I am not staying with anyone else until then.” Daniel sent a light glare in his parents’ direction. If they thought he was sleeping near the new kid because they were around the same age and both male, they had another thing coming.

“That’s alright, he can just sleep in your tent, and you can sleep outside. I mean that way you don’t have to bunk with anyone.”

“Father are you kidding? It’s hot as an oven out here, I’m not sleeping outside.” Daniel protested.

“I could just sleep outside. I mean it’s not like the tent will be much better.” Danny offered trying to be amicable.

“Oh see look he volunteered.” Daniel pounced on the offer quickly.

“Danny the ‘tents’ are a little more advanced than you’re thinking. They are more like mini-cabins than cloth tents. The make-shift kitchen notwithstanding, since the last one got blasted and the new one isn’t finished yet, most of Camp is made of easily packable expanding self regulating mini-capsules.”

“What my dad is trying to say,” Jasmine interrupted with a roll of her eyes, “is the ‘tents’ are metal boxes with climate control, a whole array of cool electronics, and anything else you can fit inside it. I can’t tell you how my parents’ miniaturization process works, but mine fits a whole book shelf, a bed and dresser, plus like a closet in there. Oh and it has central air and heat, not sure how that’s possible either, but whatever I’m not complaining about it.”

“Oh, so-”

“So you and Daniel will be sharing one until I can get another one built. That’s on the list after the kitchen and after the conversion of all of generators. I’m guessing about a six week span max.” Vlad studiously ignored a groan of protest from his eldest son. “Half of that will be spent moving, we’ll all be in the RV, so stop your whining Daniel.” He admonished with a gesture of his fork.

“So I’m going to be staying with him?” Danny asked just to be sure.    

“Yes but we’re packing up soon, so it won’t be too long. Maybe a day or two.” Maddie answered after another mouthful of stew.

“How come?” He realized he was asking a bunch of questions, but at this point, they owed him some answers in his opinion.

“We can’t stay anywhere too long. It makes us easier to track down and find. We move every 10-12 weeks, depending on how exposed we are, unless something serious happens before then. In any case, we’ve been here awhile already, and we had an incident in town a week ago. It’s best if we move on before the GSU or Jack tracks us down.” Vlad finished off his first bowl of stew and walked around to get another.

“Though it’s not like there’s very much difference between the two anymore.” Daniel grumbled from next to Danny.

“What’a mean? You guys never give me a straight answer about him. I mean I get that he hunts ghosts, but to call them the same thing-”              

A crack of thunder boomed across the valley floored, followed by another even louder resounding echo as it bounced off the mountain walls. There wasn’t a dark cloud in sight as several more sets of cracking booms, now sounding more like controlled explosions, raced over the valley. In an instant, the sounds changed tones taking on the distinct whirl of mechanical instruments. It was followed by the unmistakable sound of hundreds of people crying at once.

The table’s occupants’ faces had gone from confusion and shock to determination in the blink of an eye. Dinner only half eaten, they leapt up from their positions and began running around camp.

Danny, the only one still sitting at the table, glanced around back and forth between the frenzied activity in Camp and the thundering sounds coming from just a few miles away, reminding him more and more of the GSU he’d heard drop in at Wisconsin only a few hours ago. It can’t be them, there’s no way they followed us.

“What are you just sitting there for? Do something!” Jasmine commanded three boxes balanced in her arms pausing only long enough in her frantic packing to yell in Danny’s direction.

“I-I don’t know where anything goes. I mean, just tell me what to move and I’ll-” Danny was cut off by the sound of a dozen fighter jets sonic booms overhead. He watched in horror was half of the jets with GSU logos on them pulled into a holding pattern over the valley while the other half dived down towards the camp site.

“Danny, get over here right now.” Maddie screamed over the combined roar of the jets and the echoing boom of the unloading air ships only a few miles away.

Danny didn't need to be told twice. He ducked underneath the impromptu set of cover just as the jets moved in to carpet bomb the area.

The bombs bounced off the shield covering the outside of Camp with an earth-shaking explosion. The jets pulled up as the other half started strafing the shield with bullets, looking for a weak spot.  

“I don’t understand; how did they find us? It’s not possible that they got passed my spectral cloaking technology, I-” Vlad stopped short; a new thought coming to the front of his mind. “You!” He hissed with such conviction it made his children jump. He rounded on Danny before the younger halfa even had a chance to respond. “Have you used your ghost powers at all since you left the Hover?” It was barely even a question at this point. Leave it to Danny to disobey and do something dangerous.

“I-no!” Danny anxiously looked between the other members of the group and the furious looking Vlad.

“Don’t you lie to me, or I swear I’ll leave-”

“OK! Just a little, wh-when I was walking to the river. The mud was too thick to walk through, it was just a little intangibility, and we were inside the shield it shouldn’t matter because-”

“Oh Fudge ripple apple doodle crunch muffins! You have got to be kidding me!” Vlad let out another string of baked good themed curses before setting up a shield around himself and his family, several strong blasts from the invading GSU men on foot bouncing off of it the moment it was erected.

“Danny why didn’t you tell us? You didn’t think it was important?” Maddie pulled a large bazooka from behind her in a stack of weapons, before glaring back over at Danny waiting for an answer.

“I well no! I mean, I don’t know.” He was fumbling for a real response. Between his embarrassment about the real reason and the soldiers moving in around them it was hard to concentrate.      

“Well, look who rolled a natural 20 in the ‘stupid as hell’ stat check.” Jasmine glared over at Danny. How could he fail to mention something like this?

“Bu-But Daniel said they energy shield thing blocked ghost signatures!” Danny protested immediately. He wasn’t stupid enough to put everyone in danger, especially not on purpose.

“Yeah you knuckle dragging mouth breather, if your signature is already inside the machine. I mean if it just blocked out all spectral energy, we’d be found in a matter of hours.” Daniel glared over at Danny, eyes a furious red.

“Stop it all of you! This isn’t going to fix anything.” Vlad sighed away the remainder of his anger. “We need to concentrate on getting out of here. There’s only a small amount of the GSU troops here, and the terrain around this area makes it impossible for tanks to get here by road, so they’re going to have to use their air ships to parachute them in. If we pack up everything we need, and get out of here before the majority of the troops arrive with the tanks, we’ll be fine.” He concluded with a strong glare in Danny’s direction. Vlad changed the composition of his shield to bounce the incoming blasts back at the incoming GSU foot grunts.

The grunts took a couple hits back into their ranks before changing their weapons, making the frequency necessary to repeal the attacks different than before.

Vlad was preparing to transform and return fire when, a single peal of laughter echoed off of the valley walls, loud even over the din of the fight, insanity giving it a piercing ringing quality that made everyone within ear shot pause.

“Hello Plasmius.” A deep disturbingly calm voice drawled after its laughter had ended.

“Jack, it’s been too long. Still crazy?” Vlad replied easily from behind his shield.

The Head Commander only passed a disconcerting smile over the length of the field; eyes drawn immediately to Danny’s position.

Dad?!  The single word reverberated in his mind, consuming any other thoughts.

“Kill them.” Jack ordered.

…then seeing a wicked warlock should be a surprise.