#unlikely roads

[ghostlyglimmer]

Unlikely Roads Chapter 2: Ghosts on Their Tail

Summary:

Danny and his rival, Wes Weston, join forces to escape the GIW. On a tense road trip, they uncover personal truths and forge an unexpected bond while battling both the GIW and their own conflicts.

The motorcycle sputtered as they sped through the darkened streets of Amity Park. Danny kept glancing over his shoulder, scanning the shadows for any sign of the GIW. The quiet hum of the night felt too still, too unnatural, as if the calm itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to go wrong.

“How long until they—” Danny started..

“There!” Wes cut him off, his voice sharp. He pointed ahead at the road just as the faint glimmer of headlights appeared in the distance, followed by the unmistakable silhouette of a black van. The Ghost Investigation Ward had found them.

“Go faster!” Danny shouted, gripping the back of the seat tighter.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Wes snapped back, twisting the throttle as hard as it would go. The bike roared—well, more like it coughed—but it picked up speed, weaving between the streets as the van behind them surged closer.

Danny’s heart pounded as the van’s sleek, high-tech frame came into clearer view. The GIW wasn’t playing around. Their vehicle was far more advanced than Wes’s rustbucket bike, and it was gaining on them fast.

As if to prove the point, a sudden hum filled the air, followed by a flash of light. The van had deployed a drone, its small frame zipping toward them with alarming speed.

"Great, they've got toys," Danny muttered.

The drone flew overhead, scanning the street below with red, glowing sensors. Danny knew they couldn’t risk being seen, not with cameras everywhere. If his ghost powers showed up on any footage, it’d only make things worse.

“I’ll handle it,” Danny said, already phasing his body into Phantom mode. Wes glanced over his shoulder, eyes widening.

“Wait—don’t you dare—”

But Danny ignored him. His white hair flared into view as he shifted, floating just above the motorcycle. He reached out with one hand, concentrating hard as green energy crackled in his palm. A quick burst of ecto-energy shot toward the drone, scrambling its circuits. The thing fizzled out mid-air and crashed to the ground with a satisfying clunk.

"Got it," Danny said, transforming back before any security cameras could catch the sight.

“Are you insane?” Wes yelled. “They have cameras everywhere! If they catch you using your powers—"

“They’re not catching anything,” Danny snapped. “I took out the drone, didn’t I?”

“Not the point!”

As they rounded another corner, the van swerved sharply behind them, coming dangerously close. Danny cursed under his breath. He wasn’t sure how much longer Wes could keep the bike ahead of the GiW’s gear.

The van lurched forward again, and the back doors swung open. Two agents, clad in their signature white-and-black uniforms, stepped out, hoisting some kind of weapon that looked like a souped-up net launcher.

“They��ve got something,” Danny said, tension running through his voice.

“No kidding!” Wes yelled, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “Do something, Phantom! That’s your thing, right?”

Danny scowled. “I am doing something.” He shifted into ghost form again, barely visible in the moonlight. With a quick surge of power, he raised a wall of ectoplasmic energy behind them. The net launcher fired, but the net bounced off harmlessly, the agents cursing in frustration.

“Nice try!” Danny called back.

The wall of energy collapsed just as quickly as it formed, and Danny phased back onto the bike. Wes swerved them into a side street, trying to lose the van on the narrower roads. But the GiW was relentless, their high-tech vehicle navigating the tight turns with ease.

“They’re not giving up,” Wes muttered, breathless. “We’re screwed.”

“We’re not screwed,” Danny said, though he wasn’t entirely sure of that. “We just need to get out of town. They’ll have to back off eventually.”

“Out of town? On this thing?” Wes threw a glance at the sputtering bike beneath them. “We won’t make it five miles before it falls apart.”

“We’ll figure it out!” Danny said, though frustration leaked into his tone. They were running out of time, and options.

A sharp turn later, the van was still close behind, but Danny spotted something—an overpass up ahead, leading to a freeway. It was risky, but if they could lose the GiW there, they might stand a chance of escaping.

“Head for the overpass,” Danny instructed.

Wes didn’t argue this time. He veered onto the ramp, the bike straining under the effort but holding together for now. The van followed, but the narrow incline worked to their advantage. It slowed down just enough for Danny to get an idea.

“Hold on,” Danny said, his eyes narrowing in focus. He phased out of his seat again, flying above the bike as the overpass loomed ahead. With a deep breath, he summoned as much energy as he could muster and let loose a pulse of ectoplasmic force. It shot out like a shockwave, sending debris and rubble from the overpass onto the road below.

The van skidded, its tires screeching as it was forced to stop, unable to navigate the sudden mess. The agents inside shouted in frustration as they were blocked by the debris.

“Ha! Got ‘em,” Danny said, flashing back into his human form just as Wes pulled onto the freeway.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the sound of the GIW’s pursuit faded into the distance. The only noise now was the hum of the bike’s struggling engine and the wind whipping past their faces.

They were free. For now.

But the silence that settled between them was heavy, filled with all the words they hadn’t had time to exchange during the chase. Wes finally pulled into a deserted rest stop on the outskirts of town and killed the engine. The bike gave a pitiful cough before falling silent.

“Okay,” Wes said, sliding off the seat, his voice tight with anger. “What the hell was that?”

Danny climbed off after him, stretching his legs. “I saved our lives. You’re welcome.”

Wes turned on him, his face red with frustration. ��Saved our lives? You made this mess in the first place!”

“What are you talking about?” Danny shot back. “I didn’t send the GiW after you. That’s all on you for poking around where you shouldn’t have.”

“I was trying to expose you! To warn people about the real threat! Maybe if you’d been a little more careful with your secret, we wouldn’t be running for our lives right now!”

Danny stepped closer, the anger rising in his chest. “Oh, so it’s my fault the GIW is out there torturing people? You should’ve listened to me about them months ago!”

“I didn’t know it would go this far!” Wes yelled. “I didn’t know they’d come after me like this. But you did, didn’t you? You knew they were capable of this!”

Danny paused, gritting his teeth. Wes wasn’t wrong. He’d always known the GiW was dangerous, more than anyone gave them credit for. But hearing it from Wes stung in a way he hadn’t expected.

“We’re not going to get anywhere blaming each other,” Danny finally muttered, running a hand through his hair. “We need a plan.”

Wes crossed his arms, still fuming but clearly exhausted. “Fine. Plan. What’s your genius idea, Phantom?”

Danny let out a slow breath. “You said your uncle’s place, right? Florida or Alaska?”

“Yeah,” Wes said. “Both are pretty far. But we don’t have a choice. The GiW won’t stop hunting us down unless we get far enough away. And fast.”

Danny frowned. “Florida’s closer, but it’s still a long ride on this junk pile. We could be sitting ducks.”

“So you’d rather Alaska? You know how cold it is up there? And I doubt you have any winter clothes packed.”

Danny shook his head, frustrated. Neither option was great, and with the GIW tailing them, they didn’t have time to waste.

“We don’t have much time,” Danny muttered. “But we’ll have to pick one.”

Wes stared at him, waiting. Danny stared back. It was the last thing either of them wanted, but for now, they were stuck together.

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Scala ad Caelum

[swordy-da-goat]

are the traffic cone minions created with traffic cones attached or are they more like hermit crabs who find new traffic cones to be their new homes?

They’re more so created by the Road Wizard with a little 🪄

[mollysunder]

A while back I saw someone ask if Vander would have accepted Jayce's deal to give Jinx up for Zaun. The resounding response was "No", because Vander was already put in that position (sort of), and he chose to protect his children by giving himself up, and Vander would never be in that position to begin with. Those are correct statements, but they're not relevant to the question.

The question was, if Jinx decided to escalate tensions with acts of theft and violence that brought Piltover's attention, would Vander let Jinx be sent to Stillwater? I think the chance of him saying yes is at least more than 0.

We're not talking about all the kids getting caught up in a robbery gone wrong. We're talking about an older Jinx going solo into Piltover for targeted destruction havoc. In a universe where she everyone's still alive, Piltover still exists, and her hatred for that place would still burn and grow with time. The question really was, if Jinx put Vander in the same position Silco did in the past would he decide to give her up?

For Vander, what's on the line isn't Zaunite independence for Zaun, it's the safety of his family, his friends, and the population of the Undercity against Piltover's retaliation. He'd probably have even less moves to play than Silco did at the end. Vander can't give himself up, Jinx's name has already been leaked, and he is agonizingly aware of what Piltover's capable of.

Would he try to have her sent away? Vander wasn't willing to throw someone else under the bus for the kids in the past, so would he do it for a young adult Jinx who's more responsible for her actions? Would he think Stillwater is a better alternative for Jinx who may end up getting herself killed? Maybe he can try to plead for banishment (though that seems to be reserved for Piltovans)?

The question really stuck with me because Vander was willing to kill a man he considered his brother because he went too far, what does that mean for a daughter that won't back down from her own agenda?

[thatswhatsushesaid]

characters who are oriented towards survival and self-preservation often look to other characters who are in more stable positions socially (and are similarly interpreted by some readers) as being exclusively self-interested. which is, i suppose, not a completely inaccurate interpretation. prioritizing one's survival is a type of self-interest. but it is self-interest that comes from a place of not wanting to, you know. die.

[kedreeva]

(disclaimer: I am not saying this from a place of hostility to geese)

how did 3-year old you survive feeding geese :( when I was 4 I was feeding ducks and geese (which I was about the same height as at the time) at a local pond and they chased me and tried to bite me until my parents picked me up and ran. I didn't try to scare them and I was a generally quiet child, do I just have Bad Vibes to them or something? or is it something to do with their past experiences/socialization as Pond Ducks/Geese? nowadays whenever a goose or swan so much as starts staring at me I'm like "ok time to go :)"

Without knowing more about the situation, I can't say what particular thing you did, but I can say that geese don't chase people for no reason at all. It's possible you got too close rather than letting them come to you, it's possible you were just plain too close to their nesting site, it's possible you performed a movement that (in goose) suggested your desire to start a dispute. It's possible you were feeding them from your hands and they associated your hands with food, and were simply looking for more food, or attempting to chase you away from the food.

And to be clear, I'm definitely not advocating for people letting small children feed geese, honestly no one should be feeding wild animals, mostly because it familiarizes wildlife with humans and that can be bad, but also because it opens too many opportunities for humans to do the wrong things and end up hurt or scared. As a 4yo, it wasn't your responsibility to know how to interact with geese- it was your parents' job to monitor your actions, the actions and reactions of the geese, and remove you from the situation before it became a problem (or not put you in that position in the first place). The geese are blameless for acting like geese and you are blameless by reason of being 4 years old.

I ALSO want to be clear that being SCARED of something DOES NOT equal HATING something. Hate can stem from fear, and fear can stem from hate, but they are not the same thing. There are PLENTY of people, for example, who are terrified of spiders but who will either remove them from a place with a cup and paper, or fetch someone to do so, to prevent a spider from dying for the crime of being small. You (general) can be afraid of something and still treat it with respect. You do not have to hate the things you are afraid of.

[mybraindumpsterfire]

All right I’m gonna be on the road all day today with hardly any internet so here’s hoping that’s enough to get Dan and Phil to post. If they do, I WILL in fact lose my shit over missing anything. So they better wait until I’m fucking done or I am flying to London and stealing their house from under their noses

[cryptidwithacopiccollection]

Because in the light, you are untouchable.

(flickering gif/possible eyestrain below the cut)

[pianokantzart]

FIRST TRY

[theprincessandthepie]

replaying dragon age inquisition is just an exercise in “the rebel mages would not fucking do that”

[piovascosimo]

monica vitti & claudia cardinale in qui comincia l'avventura (1975) part i

[rowanthestrange]

Doggy DNA test results are back, and baby Cody is none of the breeds anyone thought he was.

he is…

*drumroll*

Quarter Cocker Spaniel (cute and fluffy yay! Guess that’s where his slightly curly tail hair comes from)

Quarter XL Bully/Pit-and-mix (the UK’s answer to the banned pitbull that just also got banned)

and Half Belgian Malinois (German Shepherd on Hard Mode)

😬🥲 Pray for him, and us lol

Though the people we used also give you relative links, and there’s a dog which has low genetic match but high breed match (so they’re not directly related but their root breeds are very similar) and damn true. Roch even does the ear thing.

[kiyomitakada]

my heart was stolen by a blind pickpocket in the deep city streets in the summer of twenty twelve and i never even saw her faaaaace my dreams were shattered like a stained glass window jesus in pieces! i believe i threw a brick right through him but my memory could not be saved!

[unhonestlymirror]

Ngl, I kinda hate how One Piece portrays narcolepsy

[airbus-a350]

terminal car brain is so scary because you'll be talking to someone and they'll casually imply that they sometimes get the urge to hit people (pedestrians/cyclists) with their cars and act like this is just something every driver feels on occasion. like it horrifies me for real like how on earth does someone allow themselves to feel that way. you should be forced to travel only by hopping on one foot for the rest of time

[b-blushes]

gosh i've got a haircut tomorrow and the road i normally take may or may not be closed (i am under instructions to 'walk to the end of the driveway and have a look and then there might be someone to ask'. guy who barely leaves the house problems) BUT the problem is i don't know how any of these roads link up because i don't really go places (GUY WHO BARELY LEAVES THE HOUSE PROBLEMS) and also i'm bad at maps. me vs google maps fight to the death match coming to my house right now