Danny woke up feeling refreshed and lighter than he did yesterday. 'Maybe I did push myself too far.' He thought to himself as he got out of bed. He looked over at the floating rock on his desk, remembering his new power. 'Should I try to make a new enchantment right now?' Danny asked himself as he then looked over to Cujo, who was slowly opening his tired eyes. 'Maybe after breakfast if there's time.' He thought to himself as he prepared to do his morning ablutions.
=
Danny walked downstairs to the kitchen, where his parents and Nikolai were discussing possible inventions. Danny got himself some cereal and milk and ate while listening to the three inventors talk. Jazz came into the kitchen but paused at the ghost talking to her parents. Danny was already finished with his cereal, so he got up to tell Jazz that the ghost was the new ghost that was working for Fenton Works. Jazz nodded in understanding and continued with her morning as Scylla and Charybdis flew up to Danny. "Where have you two been?"
-
"After surveilling Nikolai and your parents, I and Scylla went to guard the Monkey Statues and the Control Staff respectively." Charybdis answered for both of the ectopi as Danny walked up to his room.
-
"Alright, I don't remember telling you to either leave watching my parents with their new friend, or telling you to guard the artifacts, but okay." Danny told the ghost octopi as they made it to his room. Danny made sure he had all of his things on him before he sat at his desk and picked up one of the stones.
-
"I told Charybdis to leave their post. I thought having her guard the statues would be a better use of her skills. If you're mad at them, don't be. Be mad at me for making them leave their post." Scylla said, flying in between Danny and Charybdis.
-
"No, I think that guarding the statues are important, I was just curious what made you two decide to guard the artifacts in the first place." Danny said as he held the stone in his lap with interlaced fingers.
-
"I felt your discomfort of leaving the artifacts unprotected, so I was guarding the Control Staff since the statues were in the vault." Scylla said to Danny as he closed his eyes. "What are you doing, if I may ask?" She asked as Danny enclosed the stone in his hands.
-
"I'm enchanting the stone with my new power that I got last night." Danny answered. "It requires me to meditate for it to work, I don't know if I'm supposed to, but that's how I'm doing it." He added to clear up any questions.
-
Danny was in the mindscape again, he thought for a moment before deciding to make an eternal flaming stone. When Danny got that idea, a thread came out of his core and Danny grabbed it and stitched it into the stone.
Same as last time, Danny kept adding the thread until he felt that it was too much. When he did, he felt pain in his hands. Danny dropped the rock onto the floor and unlaced his fingers.
Danny opened his eyes to see a blue flaming rock on his floor and a spreading flame. Danny panicked and picked up the rock with telekinesis and stomped out the flames.
As he stomped out the last flame he heard that Scylla and Charybdis were laughing at him. Danny glared at the two ectopi as he walked out of his room and downstairs.
-
"What was with all the stomping up there?" Jazz asked as she ate her breakfast.
-
Danny went to the water faucet and got a cup from the cabinet with his telekinesis as he held the flaming rock under the running water and pulled it out to find it still flaming. "I decided to make an eternally burning rock and burned my hands before dropping it onto the floor and the floor caught fire. Now I need a cup of water to keep it contained." Danny told his sister as he filled the cup he got with water. "Hopefully it doesn't boil the water." He said as he dunked the stone in the cup.
-
"Why did you make an eternally burning rock?" Nikolai asked, having heard the conversation between siblings.
-
"Because I got a new power after dropping you off at the lab and wanted to make a thing for various natural elements. I didn't think it would automatically burn me though." Danny told the technological ghost.
-
"Now look who's not taking safety precautions." Maddie said as she hurried to look at Danny's hands, which had almost completely healed by then. "Unless you were exaggerating, you have a healing factor along with all your other powers." Maddie said just as Danny iced his hands.
-
"I wasn't exaggerating, so I guess I have accelerated healing. Neat." Danny said as steam came off of the cup with the stone in it. "Damn it. Now I have to go to Sid's realm to talk to Katherine." He said as he made a Phantom clone and opened a portal to Sidney's realm.
-
Phantom took the steaming cup from Danny. "I'll be back soon." He said as he went into the portal. The portal closed, leaving the four humans and one ghost standing in the kitchen.
-
"Do you just not want to have an easy day?" Jazz asked her little brother.
-
"I guess not. I just wanted to test some of my new power after hearing about it from Katherine." Danny told his older sister. "I want an easy day, I do, but I just can't seem to get it. I already have plans for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and I'm sure something is going to come up today and or Thursday, but I don't know what will happen." Danny ranted as he sat down next to his older sister. Everyone in the group looked at him with sympathy in their eyes, even Nikolai.
-
"Maybe you should refrain on using your powers today. It sounds like that was the start of the stress today." Jazz told her little brother.
-
"I would, but Catherine is already pulling my clone to class on my new powers after seeing the flaming stone." Danny said to Jazz, looking in the middle distance. "Besides, I planned to go register three backings today, which I might need another clone to do that. I'll go through with it after school if I still need another clone." He said as he focused back on his sister.
-
"You really just need to register your backings within a week of you backing them, you don't have to do it today." Nikolai told Danny just as a knock on the door sounded.
-
"I know that. I'll get the door." Danny said as he got up from his seat. He went to the front door to find Sam and Tucker standing out there. "Hey guys, come in. Don't be alarmed to see a ghost in the kitchen, he's a new employee." He told his oldest friends as they all went into the kitchen.
-
"Hey kids." Maddie greeted Sam and Tucker. "Tucker, I need the medical record you compiled for Danny. I'm sure Kim and Wade will make a more comprehensive record this weekend or some time, but I would like to see my son's vitals." She told the techno geek, who nodded.
-
"I'll get it to you sometime after school. My mom said that I'm allowed to be on tech after the school day today." Tucker told Danny's mother before turning to Danny. "How was your speed and strength testing?" He asked the half dead ghost boy who was his friend.
-
"We really didn't test my strength that day, more so we tested how much gravity I could handle in my human form. Which we discovered is more than 10 times Earth's gravity. And my speed while tangible is 600 miles per hour and when I'm intangible it's 1,200 miles per hour. Ron had the idea of me using my ecto-blasts to propel myself, but we decided to go through with that another day." Danny explained to his friends and his family that he remembered that he didn't tell them about it.
-
"That's insane." Sam said at hearing her friend talk about his speed. "How was the dinner party?" She asked, changing the subject.
-
"I wasn't really here for that, Kim, Ron, and I went to Cambodia on a mission, which I'm allowed to go on now and they are allowed to work for my parents." Danny told Sam.
-
"You two can work for us as well and get paid for your work. We're working on making our technology safer and more useful. Nikolai here has been a big help so far." Jack said to his son's friends.
-
"I don't think my parents will go for that. They don't have the best impression of you all." Sam said while Tucker whooped and pumped his fist.
-
"Danny hasn't even told you the best part of going to Cambodia." Jazz said to her little brother's friends, who turned to her. "Kim asked him out on a date." She said
-
"Congrats dude." Tucker clapped Danny on the back.
-
"Danny, how could you just go with that? You just barely know her." Sam said, Danny sensed jealousy and rage from her.
-
"Because I had a crush on her since I met her. Why do you care who I date? She already knows about my secret, and she is someone who doesn't judge me for my ineptitude when it comes to social situations." Danny told Sam, getting defensive of his romantic choice.
-
"If you don't already know, I don't even know why we're friends." Sam said as she stormed out of the building. Danny sensed rage and sadness from her.
-
"What's up with her?" Danny asked the group in the kitchen.
-
"Dude, she had a crush on you for years. I don't blame you for not realizing it, given your ineptitude, but she has been dropping hints for years that she likes you romantically." Tucker told Danny. "I'll try talking to her to get her to calm down." He said as he hurried out of the building after Sam.
-
"Why did she never tell me about that? We could have tried to date each other. I don't really feel the same way for her, but I would have tried to try. I may have had a thing for Tucker, but I'm still confused about that." Danny said to his family plus Nikolai.
-
"Because people don't always feel brave enough to tell people they like about how they feel." Jazz answered his question. "You would have tried to make it work, but as you said, you don't feel the same way for her, you would have been stuck in a relationship because you didn't want to hurt her feelings and didn't want to ruin your friendship. It's also natural to feel confused about your feelings." She explained what Danny would do, and he couldn't argue with her.
-
"But now I ruined my friendship with her by choosing someone else." Danny said sadly, Cujo bumped Danny's leg to try and pick him up. Danny did and Cujo started to lick his face.
-
"I don't think so, she might try to stick around in case you and Kim don't work out. It wouldn't be a healthy reason to stick around, but that would probably come across her mind." Jazz said to her little brother. "Don't let her guilt you into breaking up with Kim. She is good for you, helping you deal with social situations and everything." She told him as she started to pet Cujo in his arms.
-
"Got it. I don't really want to break up with Kim anytime soon anyway. I'll try to talk to her after Tucker does." Danny said as he looked at the clock. "We should get ready to leave for school." He said to Jazz.
-
Jazz looked at the clock as well. "You're right. Do you want me to drive you there?" She asked her little brother.
-
"I don't seem to be walking with my friends, so yeah." Danny said as he put Cujo down onto the floor. "Let me get my bag first." He said to his older sister.
+
"Sam. Wait up." Tucker said as he jogged to reach up to Sam as she was walking away from the Fenton Works building.
-
"Don't try to tell me that hearing Danny has a girlfriend didn't hurt you, Tucker. I know you liked him too." Sam said as she reluctantly stopped for the techno geek.
-
Tucker just sighed. "Yeah, it did, but unlike you, I knew that it was inevitable that someone else would see what he had to offer. I am proud that he has someone now." He told the goth girl as they continued to walk to school. "If you still want to be friends with Danny, you have to accept his new relationship." He gave Sam the truth.
-
"I can't believe that you aren't angry at him for dating someone he just met." Sam said to Tucker.
-
"I can't believe you are mad. You could have told him your feelings at any point, and he probably would have tried to have a relationship with you." Tucker gave Sam the hard truth. "I could have as well. We shouldn't be mad that he is with someone else." He said to the goth girl
-
"Why didn't you?" Sam asked as they stopped at a crosswalk for the light to change.
-
"Same as you. I didn't know how to and didn't want to ruin our friendship if we didn't work out." Tucker told Sam.
-
"That is an unsatisfying answer." Sam said as they started walking through the crosswalk. "I knew that he was oblivious of my feelings, but I was so sure that he would ask me out or something. I don't think I would have been so mad if it was you he was dating, though." She told Tucker when they reached the other side of the crosswalk.
-
"I would have been indifferent if he chose you. Are you going to yell at Kim for 'stealing' Danny?" Tucker asked, putting air quotes around the word 'stealing'. "She saw what we did much faster than we did. She could also keep up with him physically, not like you really had that much trouble." He told Sam as he saw Kim and Ron waiting up ahead.
-
Sam saw them as well and scowled. "I won't yell at her, but that doesn't mean I have to talk to her. And you could handle the physicality of Danny's exercise if you just stuck to it." She said before they made it to Kim and Ron. When they did she deepened her scowl and ran ahead.
-
"What's up with Sam?" Kim asked Tucker, who stayed behind to talk with them.
-
"She found out that you and Danny are dating." Tucker said bluntly. "She has had a crush on him for years. So have I, but I knew that someone else would find him attractive at some point." He revealed to the hero duo, before realizing he said the last part. "I'd rather he didn't know about my crush, if that is alright?" He asked the two people before him.
-
Kim and Ron looked at each other and nodded. "We won't tell him." They said in unison.
-
"Thank you. I don't think it would be bad if he knew, but I'm not ready to tell him yet." Tucker said as the trio started to walk again towards the school.
-
"Is the revelation the reason that Danny isn't with you two?" Kim asked the techno geek.
-
"Pretty much. Sam stormed off and I told him that I would talk to her and hurried after her." Tucker gave an affirmative to Kim. "Danny said that he could withstand more than 10 times Earth's gravity. Was there a reason you all didn't try to use more gravity?" Tucker asked awkwardly, changing the subject.
-
"The machine for that could only go up to 10 times Earth's gravity." Kim answered. "Did he tell you that he plans to go to the moon, come this Friday?" She asked her boyfriend's friend.
-
"No he did not. We didn't really have that much time to talk after Jazz revealed that you asked Danny out." Tucker said to the red-haired girl. "Hey Ron, did you get taller?" He asked, not wanting to talk about the whole dating thing.
-
"Yes, thank you for noticing. I got this way with the help of Phantom and some Monkey Statues." Ron said, flexing his arms for whatever reason. "I even have a monkey form, and I am considered a 'halfa' now. I'll show you my new form after school." He said as they caught up to Sam, who had stopped because of another crosswalk.
-
"You'll have to tell us the story. Does this have to do with the mission you two and Danny went on during the dinner party Saturday?" Tucker asked the two global heroes. "Danny managed to tell us that he was allowed to go on missions with you two now." He added, trying to bring in Sam to the conversation.
-
"Yeah. We had to go to Cambodia to help an archeologist recover a Monkey Statue. We'll tell you more after school." Kim said to the techno geek. "That can include you as well, Sam." She said.
-
Sam only huffed and ran ahead after the light changed for the crosswalk.
-
"How worried should I be that this will ruin Danny's friendship with her?" Kim asked Tucker.
-
"I don't think something like this will have that big of an effect. She might just give you and Danny the silent treatment for a while." Tucker told the red-haired superhero. "She already sees reason when it comes to your and Danny's relationship. She just needs time to reconcile that she won't be able to date Danny anymore." He said as they reached the other end of the crosswalk.
-
"I hope that is the case, I don't want to ruin one of Danny's friendships just because I asked him out on a date." Kim said, concerned about the situation.
+=
Danny was waiting in front of the school for his friends. He saw Sam speed walking towards him. He tried to talk to her, but she just gave him a cold shoulder and continued past him. After Sam passed him, he saw Kim, Ron, and Tucker walking together. He walked over to them. "Is she still upset about the whole thing, or is this something new?" Danny asked Tucker.
-
"She's still upset about you and Kim dating, but she has seen sense, so just expect her to give you all the silent treatment." Tucker told his half dead friend.
-
"Okay. That's good to know. Should I leave her be, or keep trying to talk to her?" Danny asked the group as they started to walk into the school building.
-
"If it is like how normal girls give silent treatments, give her a week to herself before you try to talk to her again." Kim suggested to Danny, who nodded at her.
-
"I don't think it would be normal, but I would recommend giving her a few days to herself. She wanted to check out Dorathea's realm, right?" Tucker asked.
-
"Yeah, I remember her showing an interest in that." Ron said, agreeing with Tucker. "You were going to visit her on Wednesday, yeah?" Ron asked the half dead boy.
-
"That might be enough to have an interruption to her silent treatment." Tucker said as they made it to the lockers. "Wait until then. I'll work on her." He told his oldest friend, who nodded and the group split up to get to their lockers.
-
Danny made it to his recently fixed locker and got his books for the day. Danny's ghost sense went off gently and Sidney appeared next to him. 'What has you away from your realm?' Danny asked through the telepathic link.
-
'I just came from you having a class with Katherine about the dos and don'ts about her enchantment power.' Sidney answered through the link as Danny made his way to his first class. 'You couldn't wait until the afternoon to make a mess, could you?' Sidney joked with his halfa friend.
-
'I guess not. I probably should have put an on/off command with the fire enchantment.' Danny told his first ghostly friend as he met up with Kim. "Sorry you had to deal with an angry Sam; I didn't know us being together would cause problems. I hope we can still be together." Danny told the red-haired superhero.
-
"Of course we can still be together. Jealous girls are actually a normal social thing. I'm just sorry that it happened with one of your closest friends." Kim said to her half dead boyfriend. "I hope your friendship isn't ruined." She added as they started to walk to their next class.
-
"I don't know about that, but Jazz said that Sam was likely to stay friends with me in the event that we break up or something." Danny said. Kim made a face. "Jazz agrees that is unhealthy, but hopefully she'll realize that I never had romantic feelings for her at all." He told his girlfriend as he moved to hold her hand.
-
Kim smiled at Danny for doing it and squeezed his hand. "I hope she doesn't try to break us up or anything. That wouldn't be good friend behavior." She said as they made it to their class.
-
'I'm just gonna go watch you and Katherine play classroom.' Sidney said through the telepathic link and disappeared through a window's reflection.
+
Sidney exited through the window into the ghostly version of the classroom. He shook his body, not always liking the feeling of going through the reflections. He walked towards where he felt Phantom and Catherine were in the school and found them with various objects scattered on what would be the teacher's desk.
-
"Okay Phantom, you just need to make the enchantments with writing instead of just feeling." Catherine said as Sidney quietly moved into the room and sat down at one of the desks.
-
"But-" Phantom tried to say something but was interrupted by Catherine.
-
"I know that you were able to make the enchantments with just meditation and feelings, but you won't be able to make more complicated enchantments that way." Catherine said to her benefactor. "Though, I will say that your instinct with not putting too much power into the stone was good, you can be more precise with writing." She said to the half ghost clone.
-
"Fine." Phantom huffed. "I'll try it your way, but I'm sure I could make something great with my way of doing things." He said as he picked up one of the trinkets that looked like a wire duck. "What should I put on this?" He asked Catherine as he held up the duck.
-
"Try making it move around on its own power." Catherine suggested. "Just be sure to specify how you want it to move and all that." She added before Phantom enclosed the duck in his hand and closed his eyes.
-
Phantom's face went lax, like it usually does when he goes into the mindscape. His chest started to glow, and a thread made its way out towards the duck enclosed in Phantom's hands. Phantom then started to mutter something without a voice. The thread vibrated with each word as it penetrated his hands and presumably went into the duck.
-
"I wish Cyanthrope was here to compare our way of doing the enchantments. At least how it looks from an outsider's perspective." Katherine whispered to Sidney, turning to face him. "Don't you think?" She asked the green ghost boy.
-
Sidney just raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason you want him here?" He teased the ghost girl, who blushed at the insinuation and turned back to Phantom.
-
"Done." Phantom said as he opened his eyes and placed the duck on the desk. "On." He told the trinket and it started to waddle and quack like an actual duck. "Off." Phantom said to the duck, who went inert on the desk.
-
"Good job, Phantom. You actually managed to make a duck toy enchantment." Catherine told the half ghost clone. "Now let's try some other enchantments." She told Phantom, who groaned, but grabbed another trinket off of the desk.
+=
Phantom was getting annoyed with Katherine's way of teaching. He was about to snap when he felt Aranea appear in the hallway, just outside of the room. Aranea opened the door and walked in. "Hey Aranea. What brings you here?" Phantom asked as he stood up from the chair he was sitting in.
-
"I figured you wanted your own realm, and I sensed that you were separated and could be productive while your original is in school." Aranea told the half ghost clone boy.
-
"That does sound productive. Tell me about the challenge, if you can." Phantom said to the spider samurai.
-
"You still have more enchantments to do." Catherine said as Phantom made his way to Aranea.
-
"He can do those later; don't you have a job to do before tomorrow for the Bazaar?" Sidney asked the ghost girl.
-
Katherine's eyes widened. "I forgot about that." She said as she ran past the spider samurai.
-
"Thanks Sid. Do you want to come with us? I know you already have a realm, but you did say you wanted to explore more of the Realms." Phantom said as he, Sidney, and Aranea walked out into the hallway.
-
"The challenge I am taking you to is one where acquiring a realm is only one of the rewards. Sidney could do the challenge himself and get some kind of artifact." Aranea informed the two ghost boys. "I will admit that I do not know about all the rewards that are offered." They admitted as the trio made their way out of the school building.
-
"That sounds fascinating. I may just try it after watching Phantom go through it." Sidney said as they neared the exit of the school.
-
"That should be fine. There is a viewing station for the challenge." Aranea informed the green ghost boy. They walked out of the building and Aranea opened a portal. "We just need to go through this portal, and we will be near the challenge." They said as he walked through the portal, Phantom and Sidney followed soon after.
-
The other side of the portal was a barren rock to stand on. The area was mostly empty, but you could see an island with a sleeping behemoth atop of it. There was also a platform slightly elevated in relation to the island. Phantom, Sidney and Aranea flew towards the island.
-
"The guardian's name is Belhemot. Say that you wish to attempt the challenge." Aranea said to Phantom they and Sidney diverted to go to the platform.
-
Phantom flew to the island and when he landed, Belhemot opened their eyes. He stood stock still as the behemoth shifted their body to look down at the half ghost clone. When Belhemot stilled as they looked at Phantom, He decided to speak up. "Belhemot, My name is Phantom and I wish to attempt your challenge." Phantom yelled.
-
Belhemot blinked at the half ghost clone. "Phantom, you wish to attempt my challenge? Very well, show me what you have." They said as waves of energy pulsed into the island and it transformed into a coliseum, where Phantom stood at the entrance of. "Walk into the coliseum and show me how you handle a battle." Belhemot said to the half ghost clone boy.
-
"Very well, Belhemot." Phantom said as he walked into the coliseum. When he passed the threshold, the entrance closed itself off.
-
"You shall not exit until you win the challenge." Belhemot bellowed to the halfa.
-
Phantom continued walking into the coliseum, not hesitating after hearing what Belhemot said to him. He walked up to the entrance of the inner coliseum and the gate opened for him. Inside he found a giant chimera with a head of a lion with horns, body of a horse, three tails that were living snakes, and a set of eagle wings.
Phantom took to the air to look the beast in the eyes. "Hello, can you speak at all, or are you just a construct?" He asked the chimera before it lunged at Phantom while he was in the air. "I guess we're just going to fight then? Very well." He said as he raised more into the air and blasted the ground with ice.
When the chimera tried to run at Phantom, it slipped on the ice. The chimera laid down on the ground and pointed one of the snake tails at the ground and fire blasted out of its mouth. The fire spread across the ice and when the fire dispersed, the ice melted. 'Strange. Only high amounts of electricity could melt my ice; how did this beast's fire melt it?' Phantom thought to himself.
Phantom made himself a sword of ice and lunged at the now standing chimera's tails. He sliced at the tail that spit fire, but it got stuck in its scales. Phantom spread the ice in the wound. Phantom then blasted the now frozen tail with a powerful ecto-blast. The blast knocked the tail off the chimera and the beast wailed in pain. Phantom went and lunged at the frozen snake and picked it up to hit the beast with it.
Phantom managed to hurt the chimera. The lion head roared loudly and there were waves of ecto-energy. 'That could be useful.' Phantom thought to himself. 'It is probably the same prospect of the regular ecto-blasts.' He thought as he dodged a kick from the chimera. Phantom tried the ecto roar thing the beast did. He focused ectoplasm into his throat and roared. The resulting effect was just an ecto blast coming out of his mouth.
The chimera countered the attack with its ecto roar. The beast's roar was stronger than Phantom's ecto blast. Phantom had to dodge his own ecto blast that was bounced back from the sound wave. 'Maybe the ectoplasm has to be in the lungs?' Phantom thought to himself. Phantom then made five spears of ice and held them up with his telekinesis and rotated them like a drill. Phantom then threw the spears at the beast. Two actually hit the chimera as it dodged most of the spears.
The beast wailed in pain as blood started to pour out past the ice spears. Phantom sped to the beast and touched the ice spears embedded in the beast. Phantom used his ice power and spread the ice inside the beast's horse body. Ice protruded from other parts of the beast's body and tore open the beast and the beast started to lose lots of blood and started to slow down and lower its body.
Phantom blasted the back of the chimera's neck and severed the lion's head from its horse's body. The beast's wail was cut short as the head started to fall off. 'That seemed kind of easy. Is that it?' Phantom thought to himself as he slowly floated to the ground. As Phantom landed on the ground, the carcass was absorbed into the ground, leaving the lion's head for whatever reason.
-
"Excellent work, Phantom. You may keep the skull of the chimera as a trophy. Now, choose from my collection for your reward." Belhemot told Phantom as the coliseum lowered into the ground and a counter full of artifacts rose up out of the ground.
-
"I heard that you give out realms to whoever wins your challenge, I choose that." Phantom told the behemoth, who hummed and nodded. An orb came out of Belhemot's chest and lowered to Phantom, who grabbed hold of the orb.
-
"That is a realm seed. Take it to where you wish to have your realm at and pour all your energy into it." Belhemot told Phantom, who nodded at the instructions. "Your realm will take shape according to your core and mental state while you pour your energy into the seed. Wherever you first place the seed will be the center of the realm." They said to the half ghost clone.
-
"Thank you for the seed, Belhemot. It will be a great help for me. Thank you." Phantom said to the behemoth as respectfully sounding as he could.
-
"You're welcome, Phantom. Most challengers that face me are not nearly as respectful to me after they win. Have fun with being a Champion from here on out." Belhemot told the half dead ghost clone boy.
-
Phantom carried the seed up to the watching platform. "That seemed a little too easy." He said as he landed on the platform. "At least in my opinion for getting a realm." He added.
-
"What did you expect?" Aranea asked the half ghost clone. "The Box Ghost has one, albeit small. That would have been challenging for him." They added.
-
"Don't forget your trophy, Phantom. Belhemot said you deserved it." Sidney reminded Phantom of the horned lion's head.
-
"Right, thanks for reminding me." Phantom told the green ghost boy. Phantom then used his telekinesis to levitate the head to the platform. "Are you going to challenge Belhemot?" He asked his first ghostly friend.
-
"I guess I could. I don't really feel confident, though. You may have found it easy, but you are abnormally powerful for such a young ghost." Sidney told Phantom and turned to Aranea. "Does the challenge stay the same each time?" He asked.
-
"Not necessarily. You might not even fight a beast like Phantom here. Belhemot determines the challenge for each contender that attempts their challenge." Aranea told the nerdy ghost boy.
-
"Have you looked into your core and found out about your new powers yet?" Phantom asked. "I remember mentioning that to you and the others before." He told his ghostly friend.
-
"I have, but I haven't tested them yet. Do you think this is a good place to test them?" Sidney asked his halfa friend.
-
"It would be for me, but it's up to you if you want to field test them for a challenge that you could end in." Phantom told Sidney with seriousness in his voice. "We could always come back after you test your new powers." He told his first ghostly friend.
-
"That could be a good idea. I should also let you know that one person could challenge Belhemot multiple times. It's not always the case for guardians but Belhemot is special for some reason." Aranea informed the two ghost boys.
-
"That sounds fun. I may just do it, hopefully it's more satisfying next time." Phantom said with a chuckle before turning to face the horned lion's head. "Aranea, do you know a good place to preserve this head for me?" He asked the spider samurai.
-
"Yes, I believe you could have it preserved at Queen Dorathea's realm. I believe that I heard that you were planning to visit her on Wednesday, and if you freeze the head, it should be fine for when you visit." Aranea told Phantom, who nodded and promptly froze the horned lion's head.
-
"I believe I decided. I'll challenge Belhemot today and hope I win. Then I can give the artifact to Phantom for safe keeping." Sidney suddenly spoke up after being silent during Aranea's and Phantom's conversation.
-
"That's great, Sid. I wish you luck on your challenge." Phantom told his first ghostly friend. "I think you'll win this rather easily, but I don't know how easy your new powers will come to you." He told the green ghost boy.
-
"Hopefully you will have a challenge that suits you as easily as the challenge Phantom had." Aranea told Sidney as Sidney floated down to the island.
-
Sidney landed on the island and Belhemot looked down and stared at the green ghost boy. "Belhemot, I, Sidney Poindexter, wish to attempt your challenge as well." Sidney yelled up at the behemoth.
-
"Very well, Sidney Poindexter. You shall get your wish; I hope that you are able to complete it as well as your companion." Belhemot said to Sidney as waves of energy pulsated from Belhemot's chest and the scenery of the island changed into a tropical island, complete with sand and palm trees. "Be aware that this challenge will be different from the one you saw your companion doing."
-
Sidney nodded and took a step inwards to the now tropical island. When his foot touched the ground, vines sprouted up from the sand and wrapped his foot. Sidney blasted the vines with an ecto blast as he pulled his foot free.
In retaliation, the vines lunged at Sidney, where he dodged them by flying into the air. In the air, Sidney avoided the vines with ease as they lunged at him. Sidney then bolted to the sand covered ground and when he touched it, released a large amount of ecto energy. This energy turned the sand into glass and Sidney escaped the vines that were rushing at him by going into the reflection of the glass.
Sidney then blasted ecto blasts at the vines from the reflections, which there were more the more the vines smashed the glass. The vines then had the idea to pull all the glass into the sand, which resulted in Sidney having to leave the glass reflections.
Sidney retaliated by using his telekinesis to pull out the vines from the sand, which worked as the more of the plant that came out, the more material Sidney got to telekinetically grab onto. This revealed that the vines were controlled by a root monster. Sidney telekinetically threw the root monster in the air and blasted off all the vines at their bases.
The root monster then started to regrow their vines, but Sidney made a sword out of energy and cut the root monster's body down the middle, which revealed a core that Sidney blasted at with a lot of energy, shattering the core and dissolving the root monster into what looked like mulch. The mulch was then absorbed into the sand, and a larger plant beast rose out of the ground.
The giant plant beast roared in anger and its eyes glowed a burning red. This was the first time in the fight that Sidney looked scared. Sidney made an orb of energy around himself just as the plant beast started to attack. Sidney looked conflicted in his orb and seemed to come to a decision.
Sidney's orb glowed brightly and a wave of energy incinerated the plant beast's vines that were attacking Sidney. Sidney flew around, dodging the plant beast's vines and prepared an attack. This attack was a construct of ecto energy in the shape of a drill head. Sidney started spinning it and then threw it at the center of the beast.
The plant beast wrapped itself in its vines just before the drill hit its mark. The drill did as all drills do and drilled into the vines and continued as Sidney focused and energy went from his body to the drill. The drill left a hole with glowing green embers on the edges of the hole.
Sidney then flew into the hole the drill left as he enveloped himself with ecto energy. The hole then glowed a bright green and the plant beast wailed in pain before falling apart and turning into mulch, just as the smaller root monster did when its core was destroyed.
Sidney was left floating, holding what could be seen as the plant beast's core in his arms. As the mulch of the plant beast was absorbed into the sand, the sand and the trees lowered into the island with it. Sidney lowered to the ground and placed the core down, expecting it to be absorbed with the rest of the plant beast. The core stayed where it was and instead solidified into a gem-like rock. Sidney smiled at his new, and presumed, trophy.
"Thank you for the opportunity to challenge you, Belhemot. It has been a great challenge." Sidney yelled to the behemoth as a counter with treasures rose from the ground of the island.
-
"You're welcome, Sidney Poindexter. Thank you for being as polite to me as your companion has. Perhaps there are more to my challengers than I first perceived." Belhemot told the green ghost boy as he approached the counter of trophies. "Choose a reward to go along with your trophy. Be assured that the Trevanent's core will supply your realm with a natural environment along with whatever environment it had before." They added as Sidney perused the rewards.
-
"Thank you for the chance to improve my realm." Sidney said as he grabbed onto a scepter with a flaming gem on the top end. "This will be the reward I choose from your selection." He told Belhemot, presenting the scepter to the behemoth.
-
"The Scepter of Pyromancy. I believe that is a good choice for you. It should react well with your fire core." Belhemot told Sidney, who was stunned hearing that, as the counter lowered into the island.
-
"Thank you for telling me about my fire core. I had not known of that before I came here." Sidney told Belhemot as he floated up to the spectator's platform with the gem trophy. "Could the Trevanent's core be used on another's realm that I'm bonded to through my core?" He asked the behemoth before they could go back to sleep.
-
"Yes, though it is rare for one to be bonded through cores. Is your companion a halfa?" Belhemot asked the green ghost boy as he landed on the spectator's platform.
-
"Yes, is that important?" Sidney asked, worried that he revealed information that could endanger himself and his friends.
-
"Yes. If you are core bonded with a halfa, you should become a halfa as well, as well as anyone else who core bonds with your companion." Belhemot revealed. "Why have neither of you demonstrated your human forms in your challenge, it probably would have been easier for you." They said to the two ghost boys.
-
Sidney and Phantom looked at each other and shrugged. "We didn't know it would be beneficial to transform into our human forms." The two ghost boys said in unison.
-
"You should be aware that humans hold the three basic abilities of a ghost: Flight, Intangibility, and Invisibility. They may hold more according to how much ectoplasm is in their bodies, but even if they hold no ectoplasm in their bodies, they will have those powers." Belhemot explained to the trio.
-
"Fascinating, I did not know this." Aranea spoke up.
-
"It will be a good future reference." Phantom said. "Thank you for telling us this, Guardian Belhemot." He added with a bow.
-
"You are welcome, Champion Phantom." Belhemot said to the half dead ghost clone. "Please come and challenge me again when you have the time. It has been most pleasant to host you." They said before he curled and went back to sleep.
-
"We should get Johnny and Kitty to come. They could use it as a chance to test their new abilities." Sidney said to the other two ghosts with him.
-
"Speaking of them, I need to go and register the backings with the Archivist." Phantom said before turning to Aranea. "Do realm seeds spoil?" He asked the spider samurai.
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"No, they do not." Aranea said to his master. "I can watch over it while you handle the registration." They said and Phantom handed Aranea the seed.
-
"See you two later." Phantom said as he opened a portal to where he needed to go to register the backings.
+=
Danny, Tucker, Kim, and Ron went to their usual seats for lunch at the cafeteria. Sam still didn't want to hang out with them and chose to sit far away from them. When they sat down, Danny looked into the middle distance and sighed.
-
"What was that for?" Kim asked her half dead boyfriend.
-
"Nothing, just my clone now going to register the backings that I acquired. I am just resigning myself to feeling tired in about half an hour." Danny told his heroic girlfriend.
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"That's good. I doubt you want to be on the bad side of the legislature of the Infinite Realms. Given that ghosts can 'live' a lot longer than humans." Tucker said, putting air quotes around 'live'.
-
Kim's Kimmunicator beeped and Kim answered it, showing Wade on the screen. "Hey Wade, what's the sitch?" Kim asked the computer kid.
-
"I was keeping tags on Shego, like you told me to, and found her robbing the geology center." Wade told the red-haired hero. "Luckily, I also found where Drakken's lair is." He added, sounding proud of himself.
-
"Thanks Wade. Do you have a ride set up for us?" Kim asked Wade and he typed on his computer for a second.
-
"Yeah, with Carl. He'll meet you at the shopping mall. Danny, I already put in the proper paperwork for your parents in the school system, so you can go on this mission if you want." Wade told the halfa.
-
"Thanks Wade." Danny said to the computer child before turning to face the two global heroes. "Do we tell a teacher that we're leaving or something?" He asked as the three of them got up from the table.
-
"Not really. We just leave." Ron told Danny before turning to Tucker. "Do you think you can convince Sam to help collect our homework today? Or should we just get it after school?" He asked the techno geek.
-
"I don't think that she'll get Danny and Kim's homework, so you should give me a list of your classes so I can collect the papers at the end of the day." Tucker said as he pulled out his PDA. Danny and Kim complied and gave him the list, as well as Ron in case Sam didn't want to get his work.
=
Danny waited as Kim and Ron changed into their mission clothes in their respective locker rooms, deciding that he had to get mission clothes as soon as possible. Kim and Ron came out, and they hurried to the mall to wait for Carl as their ride. They were about to be late, but Danny grabbed both of the human heroes and flew them invisibly to the mall.
-
Carl was the driver of an eighteen-wheeler and the three of them hopped in the back of the front part of the truck. It was a tight fit for the three of them, Kim was practically on Danny's lap. Ron snickered at them while Danny and Kim blushed the whole way to Drakken's lair.
-
"Thanks for the ride, Carl." Kim said to their driver as they got out of his truck.
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"Nonsense Kim. It's the least I could do after you helped me deliver my load of pumpkins on Halloween." Carl told the red-haired hero.
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"It was no big. Holding the rig together with hair bands could have been done by anybody." Kim replied after saying her catchphrase.
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"Are you sure you just didn't have special hair bands? It sounds incredible that you managed that the way you did." Danny said, getting an affirmative noise from Carl.
-
Kim blushed at hearing that. "Goodbye Carl. We'll call you if we need another ride from you." She said as she turned to face the lair and Carl drove off after saying his goodbyes. She turned to glare at Danny, but there was no malice in it. "Why do you always do that?" She asked her half dead boyfriend.
-
"Do what?" Danny asked, confused at his girlfriend's glare.
-
"Compliment her about all the special things she can do." Ron said, earning a glare from Kim himself, this time sterner. "I've been trying to tell her these things myself, but she always shuts me down. Although, I never got this kind of reaction from her." He added, ignoring Kim's glare at him.
-
"Is it because I'm dating her? Because I would say these things even if I wasn't." Danny said as the trio snuck their way towards Drakken's lair.
-
"It could be, but it could also be that I have been with her since kindergarten and she is used to hearing stuff like that from me. She might not be used to hearing it from other people." Ron explained in a whisper as they got closer to the lair.
-
"So I just need to keep complimenting her and she'll get used to it? Alright, I'll do it." Danny whispered back.
-
Kim was blushing the whole conversation between Ron and Danny. "Can you guys be quiet as we're sneaking through a villain's lair?" She asked as she grappled to an open window. She grabbed onto both Danny and Ron and Danny made them weightless so they could reach the window quickly.
-
"We're just speaking the truth K.P." Ron told Kim as they went through the window and Danny floated the three of them down while the grappling hook was hooked on the windowsill.
-
"Speaking is kinda the problem." Kim said as they landed on the ground and hid behind some machinery.
-
Danny and Ron froze for a moment and relaxed. They looked at each other and peeked over the machinery. "Looks like Shego does have ghost powers. Also, I can sense ghost energy as well as Danny." Ron said as he and Danny lowered back behind the machinery.
-
"I didn't expect that though. Who knew that her powers are ghost based?" Danny said as the trio of heroes moved sneakily through the machinery.
-
"Vlad Masters did say that his ghost sensors picked up ghosts when she stole his laser." Kim said as she stopped the two boys as she saw goons in front of her. They didn't seem to see her though and passed.
-
"Did I mention that my ghost sense went crazy when I was near him?" Danny asked after they resumed moving.
-
"No, I don't think you did. He is definitely the reason for the energy readings in Wisconsin." Kim said just before she was kicked on the side of her head.
-
"Kim!" Danny and Ron exclaimed in unison as Shego landed where Kim was standing just a moment ago.
-
"You three need to go through a sneaking class or something." Shego mocked as she stood in front of the two boys. "I saw you looking over the machinery and heard you three talking." She said as she took a step towards Kim.
-
Danny jumped in between Shego and Kim and took a stance to fight the green human. "I'll admit that we could have done better while sneaking around, but I'm not letting you hurt Kim." He said as Shego lunged at him.
Danny caught Shego by her shoulders and slammed her down on his knee. Shego let out a large breath and groaned in pain. Danny then threw her to the side, hitting a wall with a bit more force than he was planning. "If you'll remember from our last fight, I am not like Ron was in the fighting department." He told Shego as she was lifting herself off of the ground.
-
"I remember you now. I thought you were just a temp?" Shego asked the half dead human.
-
"He got promoted." Kim said as she jump kicked Shego in her gut. "He's also my boyfriend." She added as Shego was wheezing on the floor.
-
"S-seriously?" Shego stammered out as she was hunched over, holding her stomach. "After just one mission?" She asked, making one of her hands glow and blasted at the couple's feet. The two of them just jumped to avoid the blast.
-
"Um, guys?" Ron said from behind the hero couple. Danny and Kim turned to see Ron being held at staff point with Drakken standing beside the goons holding the staffs. "Permission to use my new skills I got from Monkey Fist?" Ron asked. This question made Drakken look confused.
-
"Yes." Both Danny and Kim said to Ron.
-
"Who's Monkey Fis-" Drakken tried to ask before Ron used Tai-Shing Piqua on all the goons and slammed one into Drakken,
-
Ron spun on his back and spin kicked all the goons still standing after Ron got himself free. Ron flipped into the air and again kicked the goons in their faces around him. Ron landed on the ground and the goons fell as well.
-
"When did the sidekick learn to fight?" Shego asked after finally getting her breath back.
-
"Magic made skills I got just a few days ago." Ron said to the green human woman.
-
"That's malarkey." Drakken said as he got up from under the goon Ron pushed on him. "Magic is not real." He added and he dusted himself off.
-
"My powers are magic based." Shego said to her boss drily. "How did you think I got my powers?" She asked before she jumped over the couple and landed next to Drakken.
-
"I don't know, you never talk about your powers except when they are used for pain." Drakken said, looking at her.
-
As Shego and Drakken were talking, Ron and Danny froze for a second time, and a ghost came up from the ground behind the evil duo. The ghost looked like a Dracula ripoff. They raised their hands at the two villains and the ghost's hands glowed pink and so did Shego and Drakken. The villain duo froze in place as if they were held still by an outer force. "Must you two bicker while you are supposed to be working for me?" The vampire ghost said to the villains. "Go work on my plan, I'll deal with the intruders." They said as he threw Shego and Drakken behind him.
-
Danny pulled out his communicator and 'called' Phantom, who had just finished his business at the Archivist's and portaled to where Danny and the other human heroes were at.
-
"What are you planning? Danny called me to say a ghost was controlling a couple of humans." Phantom said to the vampire ghost.
-
"So, you're the 'legendary' Phantom?" The vampire asked, putting air quotes around 'legendary'. "I expected you to be brawnier." They said to the half dead ghost clone. "My name is Plasmius. If you'd like to know." They introduced himself. "I thought you only protected your haunt? Why are you here?" The vampire ghost, now known as Plasmius, asked Phantom.
-
"I work with the human heroes here in their civilian lives. We work to protect my haunt from malevolent ghosts." Phantom explained to Plasmius, realizing that he was getting the same sense as with Vlad Masters. "Now answer my questions. What are you planning here? What is the purpose of controlling humans to do your dirty work?" Phantom asked the vampire ghost, that Phantom was suspecting to be a halfa.
-
"I wish to 'resurrect' some beings into ghosts and decided to use some pre-made villains to do the work for me to conserve my energy." Plasmius said, ignoring the gripes he got from Shego and Drakken after they got up from the ground. All of Plasmius' focus is on Phantom, not even on the intruders that were stalking away in silence. "I had heard that you worked with a team, am I not enough for your full strength?" Plasmius asked the half dead ghost clone.
-
"I'll call them if you show to be too strong for just me." Phantom told the vampire ghost. "Are you a halfa as well?" Phantom asked Plasmius, who looked surprised at the language coming out of Phantom's mouth, or the words. Phantom couldn't tell.
-
"You can speak the language of the spirits. I, unfortunately, don't know what you just said." Plasmius told Phantom as he flew up to meet the half dead ghost clone's gaze. "You should be quite fascinating to fight." The vampire ghost said as his eyes glowed pink.
-
"If you are what I asked, that you should be as well." Phantom said to Plasmius, Phantom's eyes glowed green to match Plasmius.
-
Danny, Kim, and Ron successfully made it past the vampire ghost and were on their way to stop Shego and Drakken from following the vampire ghost's plan to make more ghosts. Kim was fighting Shego, Danny was fighting Drakken, and Ron was fighting any goons that got in their way.
-
"Do you think that small ghost will stop Plasmius?" Shego asked the group of heroes.
-
"Yeah, he looks puny." Drakken said before being punched by Danny in the face.
-
"He hasn't lost a fight yet." Danny informed the villains as he threw Drakken into a pillar, hard.
-
"Yeah, he's stronger than he looks." Kim said as she flipped and kicked Shego in the chin.
-
"Like your boyfriend?" Shego asked as she was holding her chin. She smirked, like she knew something that the others didn't.
-
"Precisely." Kim said as she jumped at Shego and they both fell to the floor.
-
Danny was dragging Drakken by his hair up a flight of stairs and kicked open a door to a control room. "How do we stop whatever Plasmius' plan is?" He asked the blue skinned man. "I can't believe that you would willingly submit to another villain." He added.
-
"How confident are you that your ghost friend will defeat Plasmius?" Drakken asked, starting to show fear on his face.
-
"Completely. Don't worry." Danny tried to assure Drakken. Danny picked Drakken up and showed Phantom was absorbing all of Plasmius' attacks. "Phantom has this all handled." Danny said to Drakken.
-
"I'll thwart this ghost's scheme. Let me go and I'll destroy the device." Drakken said to Danny. Danny complied and Drakken quickly got to work.
+
"How are you doing this? I have been accumulating my powers for twenty years." Plasmius yelled out as he started to feel weak. Plasmius tried to teleport away, but he didn't have the power to use that power. "You have only been active for a week." He yelled out at the teenage ghost.
-
"And what a week it has been. You must focus on your human half more than your human half. While I have been learning from ghosts and spirits this past week to make myself stronger." Phantom boasted, making Plasmius growl. "The more we fight, the stronger I'll get to be." Phantom revealed to Plasmius.
-
"Then I shall take my leave." Plasmius said as he pulled something out from his coat and a rift opened next to him. "You shall hear from me again." He said as he escaped into the rift. The rift closed right after Plasmius went through.
-
"Damn. I wanted to scan him for the database." Phantom said to himself before flying to the group of humans. Kim and Shego were still fighting, but Ron had put down all of the goons. Explosions sounded and Drakken cheered from his place.