Guilt of a Phantom

by Powerdrainer

Hunting the Hunter's Hunter. Earth

Edits done by Halusm.

Hunting the Hunter's Hunter

Earth

<<>><<>><<>>

"Aw, come on." Dani whined.

"I said, no." Tucker repeated with crossed arms.

"Come ooonn!"

"No!"

"Please, just give it to me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"Aw man. But you were the one who suggested it at first," Dani said with a mock pout and crossed arms.

"Yes, and I've regretted it ever since." Tucker dead panned.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"For starters. The volume. Really, you need to tone it down. I've had several complaints of my neighbors already because of it."

"Oh. But I thought you liked it loud like that."

"No. It's really distracting when I try to do my thing."

"Your thing. Is that what you call it?"

"I'm not even going to answer that."

"So, you are not going to give it to me willingly, huh?" she said with a sinister grin, eying the prize Tucker possessed.

"Eh, noooo." Tucker replied, drawing out the word, not liking where this was going.

"Well then, it seems that I might need to resort to other tactics." Dani threatened with a flash of green in her eyes.

"Wait, wha-" Tucker began, but was interrupted by Dani, who tackled him to the ground, using her legs to pin him down. Then she bent forward, until her face was almost pressed against his.

"Are you sure you won't give it to me willingly?" she asked with a seductive grin and husky voice, staring into his eyes.

Tucker, wanting to fight back, free himself from the hold she had over him, found his resolve weaken the longer he stared into her eyes. He tried to look away, but she moved his head back into place each and every time.

"Come on, don't fight it. You know you can't win." She half whispered.

Tucker sputtered incoherent words as he wriggled under her, Dani's ghost powers making it a lopsided struggle. He knew she was holding back, not even using a single form of her power, except maybe her strength. Her eyes flashed green again as her grin became just a bit larger, slowly moving in for the kill.

Letting out a long, defeated sigh, Tucker relented.

"Fine. You win," he said as he let go of the remote, letting it slide out of his hands.

"Yes!" Dani exclaimed victoriously as she grabbed the instrument of her desire, and quickly flew off towards the TV.

"Just keep the volume down this time!" Tucker half yelled after her, hoping that she would listen this time.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," came the muted reply from the living room, and Tucker heard the unmistakable sound of the TV being set to one of its loudest settings.

"Women," Tucker groaned as he dragged a hand over his face.

He knew his neighbors would come by to complain soon enough now. So, with a heavy sigh, he moved to his impromptu lab where he was working on the modifications on Dani's deflector; hoping to get at least the basics done before they would show up.

<<>><<>><<>>

Valerie sat crouched down on her hoverboard, hovering in place above the city just outside the ghost shield. Using the state of the art scanning devices built into her armor, she was on the lookout for Vlad. He couldn't leave the city while being a ghost, so if he should step out, he would be at his weakest.

It was a long shot. A one in a million chance of her being there when he was passing through the shield, but it was also the only plan she could come up with that didn't involve knocking on his door with one of her rockets.

She sighed out, loudly, as she disengaged her helmet, making it retract and expose her face to the cool breeze that blew high up there.

Shortly after she had gotten away from the army of Vlads, she had sent an encrypted message via the usual means to Tucker and Jazz, telling them what had happened, and that they shouldn't try to find or contact her in case Vlad was monitoring them.

Taking a deep breath to calm her mind, she slowly exhaled as she took a moment to think back to what had transpired not too long ago. Anger once more welled up as she thought about the cruel irony of her losing her home to a ghost, again. First, there was the Phantom menace, who wreaked havoc at her father's work. Losing his job as a result, the two were forced to move into a crap appartement, struggling to make enough money to make end meet.

But now, now she had a place of her own. A job, and a friend/enemy kind of relation with Dani, Jazz and Tucker. And then Vlad took away the place she had worked so hard for to get. Dani was no longer safe, and Jazz and Tucker could get involved as well, if they weren't careful. Heck, they were already involved anyhow.

Valerie's hands tightened into fists as she thought about how unfair it all was. First she lost everything to Danny Phantom. And now Vlad had done the same.

"I will get you for this," she grumbled under her breath.

Suddenly, a loud roar snapped her out of her darker thoughts of how she would tear Vlad a new one. Placing her hand on her stomach, she silently cursed as yet another problem made itself known. She hadn't eaten anything since Vlad had decided to remodel her home. And, although she was used to making long days without much to eat, she was coming upon her limit.

'Dammit. I need to eat something, and soon, or I won't be able to do much fighting at all.' She thought as she, reluctantly, moved away from her spot above the green glowing dome.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have any money on her. And she couldn't just go back to her place to get some either. Not only would Vlad undoubtedly know, but there was also a police investigation ongoing. And Specter suddenly showing up, and going through the destroyed apartment would raise some questions.

This left her with not many options. She could break her communications silence, and ask Jazz or Tucker for help, but there was the chance this would expose them to Vlad. So, with her own place out of the question, and not able to safely go to her contacts, she was left with only one option. Something she had hoped she would never have to do.

Engaging her helmet, making it cover her head once more, she activated the scanning unit, altering the search criteria from Vlad to a somewhat abandoned food stall.

Her scanners were quick to find one that matched her criteria, and projected the route on her visor.

It wasn't until she was directly above the place, however, that she recognized where she was. And she couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of anger and nostalgia. Right there, underneath her, was the same stall where she first saw Dani. The same apple stall where Dani had stolen the apples when she was out of options.

"I will get you for this. All of it." She said through gritted teeth, flying into the alley where Dani had hid all those years ago.

Of course, she knew that Vlad had his spy drones everywhere, and that she wouldn't go unnoticed. But she did have her ways to buy her some time before he would find out.

Scanning the surrounding area, trying to locate any and all drones, she then send a short, but powerful data burst at them to scramble their systems, temporarily disabling them.

It was something she'd discovered some time ago by accident. She doubted that Tucker even knew of this when she found out, but now she uses it to create a temporary blind spot in Vlad's spy network. It wouldn't last long, though. Probably about three minutes before the systems would reset, and resume their spying of the city. Vlad would be alerted about the system's failure, of course, but Valerie would be long gone by that time. And the place was also far enough away from anything linked to her for him to make the connection, she hoped.

'I really hate to do this.' she thought as she landed.

She gave the vocal command for the suit to power down, and retract around her; leaving her without anything to cover her, except the same, now dirty, clothes she had been wearing since she escaped from Vlad.

Sighing out, she quickly moved to the small stall where her next meal waited.

She didn't like this, and she wished she could use her Specter armor, but she knew that if word would get out, Vlad would know she was struggling to get by. And he would exploit such a weakness. No, she needed to do this the hard way.

No, she didn't like it. Not only was she reduced to petty theft to keep Vlad off of Dani's trail, but it also reminded her of the time she was basically living on the streets, either ghost hunting, or trying to earn enough money so she and her father would make it through the month.

"And all this for a ghost," she muttered with a humorless laugh as she moved towards the apple stall. 'Well, half ghost, I should say. Really, what's up with that?' she asked herself again for the umpteenth time.

Standing at the edge of the alley next to the stall, she carefully peeked past the corner, making sure no one was there to see here. And she noticed she was mostly in luck, as the street seemed almost empty. Still, there was one witness present. Mainly, the salesman that sold the apples. The same guy who had also been there when Dani took some apples herself.

Standing there, pressed against the wall, trying not to draw any attention to herself, she waited for a moment he wasn't looking. Fortunately for her, he didn't seem to notice the woman standing partially hidden in the alley. If he had, he probably wouldn't allow her anywhere near his products. Still, just because he didn't notice her, didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. He kept his gaze firmly on his goods while also looking around the street, trying to find any potential buyers.

'Dammit, this isn't working.' Valerie thought after a minute and a half had passed, 'I need to distract him somehow, but how?'

Once again, her specter arsenal didn't provide the answer in this situation. She might have disabled Vlad's spy drones in the vicinity, but those further away still work. And, although they couldn't see her from that far, they were more than capable to detect her unique weapons signatures. So she couldn't use those.

'So, what do I do now?' she thought, when a slight breeze blew an empty soda can against her feet.

Looking down to see what had hit her, she suddenly had a smug look as a plan started to form.

'It are always the simplest solutions that we miss.' She thought as she picked up the can, crushing it into a small package.

She looked around the corner, trying to see if the salesman wasn't looking at her. Sensing her chance, she threw the can over him, making it clatter onto the ground several meters on besides the man, opposite of where she was hiding.

The vendor, startled by the sudden noise, immediately turned the direction the sound came from.

Taking her chance, Valerie quickly grabbed several apples from the stall, and quickly retreated back into the alley.

"Hmm, must've been hearing things," she heard the man mutter as he returned to his business, not noticing the fruit which was missing.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she knew she had gone unnoticed, and she quickly, but quietly moved deeper into the alley. Staying out of sight, hiding in the shadows, a place where she was most comfortable. Making sure that she found a spot that would hide her from any and all unwanted visitors, spy drones or otherwise, she sat down, and looked at her meager score.

Three apples. It wasn't much, and it wouldn't keep her going for long, but it was better than nothing. Something her stomach agreed with, as it reminded her that she was quite hungry.

Making short work of her meal, she quickly moved on, not wanting to stay there any longer than she needed to be.

Activating her armor and hoverboard, she made haste to return to her spot above the shield. It was the best place to watch over all the exits of the city, and, maybe, hopefully, she was able to lure mister high society out from underneath the rock he was hiding. It was a long shot, very much so. But, unless she could come up with something that wouldn't potentially endanger Dani, this would have to do.

Still, something gnawed at her. She was a woman of action, and not one to sit still, waiting for Vlad to take the all too obvious bait. She really wanted to just go to his mansion, and level the place. But she couldn't get away with that. Not only would Vlad, the 'good-hearted' mayor of Amity Park, use it against her. It would also mean she was out in the open, on his terrain. And she was no idiot as to know what that would mean.

'Never fight your enemy on their own ground, unless you have a working plan of action that you know will work!' She reminded herself, thinking back to the time she and that Phantom brat were chained together by Skulker, forcing them to work together as he hunted them both on his personal hunting ground.

She hoped Tucker would figure out how to modify the deflector, and soon. She had an itchy trigger finger, and the only thing holding her back was that she wouldn't risk Dani's safety.

Resetting her scanners back to Vlad's signature, she once more looked out over the city below; hoping Vlad would make a mistake, but knowing it wouldn't be that easy. Vlad was far too calculative, far too manipulative, to make a stupid mistake that would risk himself. She knew she was just a sitting duck, and she knew Vlad would undoubtedly know this, too. So, even if she would get a lucky break and catch him if he were to pass through the shield, it would be a part of one of his plans, and certainly not because she just got 'lucky'.

Oh well. At the very least it meant Vlad couldn't follow her to any of the safe houses that she and the ragtag group of semi-professional ghost hunters had.

Mainly, their homes.

Sighing out once more, the sound warped by the voice manipulator build into her helmet, she resumed her watch over the city, hoping for a lucky break, knowing that it would never be that easy.

Suddenly, her scanners lit up, showing they found something at the edge outside the shield. The scans were unclear, but it was definitely an ectoplasmic signature.

"Could it be?" She wondered, not believing her scanners had picked up on something.

She slowly made her way to the coordinates shown on her heads up display, or HUD, so she wouldn't give away her position too soon.

'Wait..... Is that…' Her chain of thought came to a halt as she saw the Box Ghost doing... something.

Floating near the edge of the shield, holding some kind of weird contraption, the Box Ghost looked intently at the green shimmering shield in front of him.

She didn't know what to make of this. What was this idiot ghost doing here?

Not knowing what he was doing here, and not interested to deal with this buffoon right now, she was about to intervene and blast him if necessary. Oh, how much she wanted to do that right now. But, just as she was about to dive down and go full Specter on him, her scanners came to life once more, revealing to her four other ectoplasmic signatures hiding behind some of the trees standing about a hundred meters away from the city's limit.

Not knowing what this was, she decided to hold back for now and just watch. Who knows, she might learn something useful?

Then again, this was the Box Ghost, so it might very well be nothing but a waste of time.

<<>><<>><<>>

A few minutes earlier

"You really think this is going to work?" Ember asked Technus as she, Technus, Skulker and Spectra were keeping a distance from the city, and the shield covering it, observing the Box Ghost while hiding behind several trees.

True enough, they could turn invisible, which they had. But the city had too many ghost detecting devices installed for them to not take any chances. Which also meant that the Box Ghost had most likely already been detected. Though, they didn't feel like sharing that particular piece of knowledge with him.

"If my calculations are correct, and I'm almost sure they are. Then it should, yes." Technus confirmed, full with confidence as he eagerly watched the small, pale form floating before the shimmering shield.

"Should?" Ember muttered, shooting a sideways glance at the techno ghost. "Anyhow. How did you get that loser to help us with this anyway?" She asked Skulker, pointing her thumb to the pale blue ghost.

"Yes, I would like to know as well." Spectra added.

"Oh, that. I just made him an offer he couldn't refuse." Skulker said, grinning evilly.

****

Several hours earlier.

"You!" Skulker barked.

"Me?" The Box Ghost asked dumbly, pointing at himself.

"Yeah, you. Who else could I be talking to?" Skulker asked, annoyed.

"Eeh? Well, maybe…. Ehm, no." The Box Ghost said as he turned around, pointing to the ghost who was no longer there. "Hmm, what about... No," that ghost was gone too. "Hey, where did everyone go?" He wondered, not realizing they had all fled when Skulker showed up.

"They left." Skulker deadpanned.

"Really? Why?"

"Maybe because your head's as empty as your boxes!" Skulker grumbled.

"What?" The Box Ghost asked.

"Maybe because you are such a weak, pathetic ghost." Skulker said with disdain.

"What? Why would you say that?" Box Ghost asked, hurt.

"Because it's true!" Skulker stated, holding up a wanted posters of the Box Ghost, showing a reward of negative one thousand.

"Oh, like that," the Box Ghost sulked, flying away in defeat.

"Yes, like that!" Skulker stated as he blocked the ghost's path. "How about we change that!?" He asked with a fake, friendly tone, which the Box Ghost missed completely.

"Huh?"

"It's simple, really. My partners and I need some help testing some new product, but we somehow lack the skill necessary to handle such a delicate object. Which led me to you. Your skill with handling boxes would be extremely valuable to us." Skulker said, buttering the blue ghost up, but inside his armor the mini ghost gagged.

"Really?" The Box Ghost asked hopefully.

"Yes," Skulker answered with the best fake confidence he could manage. "Do this, and I'm sure all the ghost in the Ghost zone will undoubtedly hear about it. Hear about you." The Box Ghost completely missed the evil tone and grin Skulker now showed.

"I'll do it," he said with pride, thinking things were finally looking up for him.

"Glad to hear it," Skulker said truthfully. It didn't matter to him if this would work, or not. If it did, it was good for them. If it didn't, it would provide for some entertainment.

"Real glad to hear it."

****

"You're kidding, right?" Ember asked, not believing that story one bit.

"Surprisingly, no." Skulker replied, sounding a bit surprised himself.

"No knives, guns, threats, or other things that would involve you dealing out bodily harm?" Ember asked sarcastically, still not believing it.

"Yes, I know." Said Skulker, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Wow. I guess miracles do happen." Ember said, sarcastically, making Penelope and Technus chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Skulker grumbled

"Gladly," Technus shot back, laughing like a madman.

"Look, you three. Laugh all you want, but if I wasn't able to trick this idiot in doing this, one of us had to do this test themselves. So give me some credit." Skulker sneered.

"Okay, okay. You're right. It's just that we never thought it possible for you to use anything else other than your weapons. Especially not words, that's for sure." Penelope said as she returned her attention to the Box Ghost.

"Or his brain," Technus added with a snort.

Skulker gave an annoyed humph at that, before looking back at the dense ghost he had tricked into helping them.

"Say, what exactly is this thing of yours supposed to do anyhow?" Skulker asked Technus.

"Well. If all works as it should, the blue buffoon should be able to pass through the shield without any problem. He would just go through it just like we would go through a wall when intangible." Technus answered, not letting the 'blue buffoon' out of his sight.

"Hmm, I see." Skulker grumbled.

Suddenly, his armor's long range scanners picked up on a slowly approaching object. Slowly moving towards the Box Ghost.

"Looks like we have a visitor!" he remarked as he pointed at the lone human crouched on a hoverboard.

"Specter." Spectra hissed with anger.

"What is she doing here?" Ember wondered.

"Clearly, she has detected the blue idiot," Skulker observed. "Probably because he is taking so long."

"Yeah. Hurry it up, you blue buffoon!" Technus shouted, and Penelope clasped her hand over his mouth, silencing him.

"You idiot. If Specter hears you we will all be in serious trouble," she said in a hissed whisper.

"Oh, right." Technus scratched his neck, looking somewhat embarrassed after she said that.

"Oh, just be quiet, alright?" Ember sneered. "Besides, it looks like she is holding back. Oh, and look at that. It seems our pawn is finally making a move."

All four of them stopped their bickering when she said that. Paying close attention to what was happening, and to see if Technus contraption would actually work.

<<>><<>><<>>

The Box Ghost stared intently at the green shimmering shield in front of him, making sure he held the device Technus gave him tightly in his grasp.

It was quite small, actually. A spherical machine, easily held in one hand. Made of a dull chrome, several geometric patterns decorating the surface, and faint lights pulsing here and there. A soft hum could also be heard coming from within the device.

Taking a deep breath, just to calm his nerves, not because of any need to breath, he slowly moved forwards.

'Okay, Earl. This is it. Don't let them down now. They're counting on you.'
Earl though.

Slowly, he moved forward; hesitant to do so. Knowing all too well what it felt like to hit the shield with speed; an obstruction which flipped the rules. Mortals can phase through, while he, or any other ghost for that matter, would be blocked by the green glowing film of light.

He stretched out his free hand as he approached the shield, near enough to almost touch it. Slowly, inch by inch, he closed the distance; closing his eyes in fear for the imposing dome of ghost repelling light.

Edging closer and closer still, he slowly became aware of something. Something very… wrong. By now, he should have closed the distance and touched the shield. But he hadn't.

Cracking open an eye, Earl carefully looked at his hand. Blinking rapidly as his brain had trouble processing what his eye was seeing. Drawing back his hand, he looked at his limb as if he had just felt his own pulse.

Blinking dumbly, he raised his hand again, slowly pushed it against the shield once again. There was no resistance. The moment he was about to touch the shield, it caved in, almost as if he pressed into a balloon. Hovering there, Earl began to chuckle. Softly at first, but picking up in force and volume until it was an all out laughter.

****

"What!!??" Valerie shouted, not able to believe what she was witnessing. "That's impossible," she yelled, dropping into into a steep dive to intercept the ghost, hoping she could stop him.

****

Earl, now a lot bolder, moved forward; the shield moving away from him as he did so. The excitement he felt from breaking the established rules forced upon him, and all of ghostkind, made it so he missed two very important facts.

First, the highly trained, and feared, ghost catcher, Specter was quickly zeroing in on him. And secondly, he hadn't truly penetrated the shield. It had merely deformed, never truly allowing him to pass through. Even more so, the deformation he caused into the glowing surface slowed down more and more the further he pressed on. Much like a rubber band being pulled taut. Something was going to give, but it wouldn't be shield.

Earl, unaware of all of this, continued to move forward with glee, until the shield wouldn't give any further, and he pressed into the glowing surface with his outstretched hand.

"Huh?" He uttered, pushing against the offending green wall.

Angered with his impeded progress, he tried everything he could to continue. First, he tried knocking on the wall. Then he threatened it with his boxes, and the occasional bubble wrap. All with little success. Eventually, he flew forward, pushing into the shield, straining himself to pick up as much speed as he could.

Slowly, the shield caved in some more, building up more and more strain with every grunt of exertion from Earl. Then, the tipping point, and the shield snapped back in shape, launching Earl away with impressive speed.

"WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Earl yelled as he shot off into the distance with an arc, dropping Technus' device as he passed their hiding spot

"Whoa!" Specter yelled as she was forced to dodge out of the way of the undead projectile.

"Wow!" Ember shouted, amazed.

"What was that!?" Spectra demanded to know.

"Hahaha!" Skulker laughed uproariously.

"Interesting!" Technus mused gleefully.

"That was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long, long time." Skulker wheezed, barely able to contain his laughter.

"Technus, what did just happen?" Penelope asked over the roaring laughter of their cybernetic partner.

"Yeah. You said this was going to work." Ember added.

"It seems I might have made a slight miscalculation." Technus grinned as he rubbed his chin, ignoring the looks he got from the two females, and the laughter of Skulker.

"You think!?" Ember said sarcastically, annoyed.

"Meh." Technus uttered vaguely, wobbling a flat hand in the air. "Maybe just a bit. Still, the show was nice."

"... Agreed." Ember and Penelope admitted, while Skulker was still laughing.

"Oh well," Technus hummed, moving to retrieve the device the Box Ghost had dropped. "I will need to make some minor adjustments to this thing, but I'm sure that next time it will work," he said confidently.

"Really!?" Ember asked, unamused, somewhat skeptical.

"Oh, yes. Here," Technus said as he manipulated the device a bit with his powers. "That should do it!"

"Wait, that was it?" Penelope asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes. I only needed to reset this thing to default," he said with an evil grin.

"Wait!... You mean that..." Ember asked, only to be interrupted by Skulker who burst out in laughter once again when they realized what Technus had done.

"Maayybee~" Technus said with false, singsong voice. "But I'd suggest we leave for now, because someone has taken an interest in us," he pointed out, nodding towards Specter, who was quickly flying towards them.

The four of them flew off with haste, leaving only their roaring laughter for Specter to catch.

<<>><<>><<>>

"I'm telling you the truth, Tucker!" Valerie yelled over the com link, no longer caring about whether or not Vlad could trace it. "I saw the Box Ghost using some kind of device that deformed the shield. He didn't breach it, but he was getting close. Too close."

"But that doesn't make any sense. The Box Ghost hasn't shown to have the intelligence needed to make a device like you've described." Tucker replied in frantic tone, knowing that if what Valerie said was true, and he had no reason to doubt her, then this was very, very bad.

"Well, he wasn't alone. Sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"I detected four other ecto patterns near the tree lines. Invisible, so I don't know for sure who they were. But their energy patterns suggest them to be Skulker, Ember, Spectra and Technus." Valerie replied, silently scolding herself for not mentioning that earlier.

"Wait!... Technus!?"

"Yes. And I know."

"..... This is bad. If he has figured out how to bypass the shield, we are all back in the same situation we were before the shield was built." Valerie could hear the rapid typing sound of him working on his computer over the com as he said that.

"Yeah, like I don't know that. So, what do we do about it?" She asked, unsure. Something like this had never happened before, as far as she knew, and she didn't really know how to deal with the situation.

"Did you manage to obtain the device you were talking about?" Tucker asked, sounding most serious.

"No." She said, barely above a whisper, not wanting to admit they got away from her.

"Come again?" Tucker asked.

"I said no, I don't have it. They took the device, and flew away before I could get to them." She admitted through gritted teeth.

"Damn. Okay, listen. We don't know what they're planning, but it is obvious that it is bad. You need to keep monitoring the city's border. If they come back, we need to be ready. But by the sound of what you said, it seems this was merely a test of sorts. And if that is the case, they could also go to the other cities with shields. Still. It's better to be prepared. Just keep a close eye on anything that seems suspicious, we will do the same on our side. Also, I'm almost finished with the modifications to Dani's deflector, so she should be back in the field in no time at all." Tucker instructed Valerie in a calm, commanding tone, taking control of the situation before things could spiral out of control.

"I have transmitted the security code from the city's Spectral Scanning System," Tucker told her. "Use the triple S to increase your own scanning range, but be careful not to use the system too long, or Vlad might find out. That creep has his own systems running wild through the entire network." Tucker growled venomously. "Five minutes, max. No longer. And give it some cool down time, too. About ten, fifteen minutes. Understood?"

"Understood!" Valerie confirmed as she saw the codes scrolling down the HUD of her visor. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, close the link before Vlad might pick up on it." Tucker replied.

"Affirmative." Was all Valerie said before she cut the transmission.

<<>><<>><<>>

Tucker sighed out loudly, leaning back in his chair. He had hoped his countermeasures were enough to keep Vlad out of the systems. But, with the resources that Vlad has, that would be a difficult challenge.

"So, that just happened," he said to no one in particular, pinching the bridge between his eyes.

"You think it's really possible? For ghosts to breach the shield, I mean." Dani asked, unsure.

"...It's possible, in theory. If Technus has been able to build a device that would cause the ectoplasm of a ghost to resonate with the shields' own frequency, then yes, unfortunately." Tucker said in a flat, even tone. "There is no chance that Vlad had missed this. In fact. It surprises me that he hasn't already showed up when Valerie contacted us. Perhaps he's preoccupied with his own schemes? But, whatever the reason, things have become somewhat more difficult for us."

"Yeah, no kidding! If ghosts can go through the shield, our main line of defense is useless." Dani said, worried.

"Exactly." Tucker muttered as he walked over to his workbench, on which lay the Specter Deflector which he had been working at for the last few days.

"Here, try this on." He told Dani as he handed over the Deflector. "I completed the modifications, except the reconfiguration to your unique energy signature. You know how it goes."

"That, I do!" Dani confirmed as she wrapped the belt around her waist. "Same old, same old?"

"You know it." Tucker agreed as he walked over to his computer. "Well, here goes."

With a push on the execute button, the program started. A whirling noise emanated from the belt as the program worked its magic, and Dani felt a faint static wave pass over her, recognizing it as the Deflector's energy tuning in onto her own. Several minutes went by in complete silence, except for the sounds the computers and Deflector made.

Suddenly, a beeping noise emanated from the computer besides Tucker, indicating the program had ran its course.

"Did it work?" Dani asked, hopefully.

"I guess so, but we can't know for sure unless we test it out in the field." Tucker replied, reluctantly. "You can go back out there, but keep your distance from Vlad's drones, and other devices that could detect you. I can't guarantee that this cloak will be as effective as the previous one, so be careful." He explained, hoping she would listen.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere near Vlad if I can help it," Dani reassured him. " Not unless I know I can get away with it," she added a moment later.

"I guess that's better than nothing," Tucker sighed out.

"Heh, what did you expect?" She said with a grin, and flirtatious wink.

"I- I'm not really sure." Tucker stammered a bit, his face heating up. Turning away from her, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Still, thanks for keeping me safe." Dani said, stepping closer to Tucker with half lidded eyes.

"Eh... well. It's not like I did all that much. I only gave you a place to stay while I modified your Deflector," Tucker stammered in slight panic as Dani stepped a bit closer.

"Don't sell yourself short, Tuck. You did more than that. A lot more." Dani half whispered, now standing directly in front of Tucker; looking up as he was a head taller than her.

"Wh- what're you doing?" Tucker almost squeaked, his voice strained as he tried to keep his cool.

"Just saying thanks," she replied as she flew up to be at the same height, and pulled Tucker into a hug.

Tuckers mind was on the fritz. He was not expecting this. Then again, he didn't really know what to expect. Here was a beautiful woman his feelings weren't sure about, hovering in front of him, saying she wanted to thank him. The more questionable parts of his mind came up with images he didn't really know how to feel about. The more logical part of his psyche shouted that those thoughts weren't right, but some other part wanted to give in to those thoughts. But, before he could decide what to do, Dani had pulled him in a hug, which was something that had, surprisingly, not crossed his mind.

In a daze, Tucker slowly returned the hug, trying to make sense of his conflicting thoughts. He felt Dani hold him a bit tighter, and he was forced to feel her bosom press against his chest. Making it harder and harder to keep his thoughts strictly professional.

Finally, almost reluctantly, Dani released him. But not before she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Eh... Thanks," Dani said in a hurry, her face a deep crimson as she shot off. Turning intangible as she flew through the wall, and disappeared from sight.

"You're.... welcome," Tucker finally managed to say after staring at the wall she flew through for several long minutes. His face also a deep red as he gingerly touched the cheek she had just kissed.

<<>><<>><<>>

Dani flew over Amity Park, (Invisible, mind you. No need to start a panic about a ghost inside the shield.) not really paying attention to where she was going.

Normally, a random flight like this would help her clear her mind, or just gave her the thrill of flying around. After all, that was the ultimate freedom; something she truly enjoyed. But not this time. As she flew around, she couldn't help but think back to what just happened; how she just kissed Tucker on his cheek. It was completely out of character for her.

'Why did I do that?' She thought.

True, she always felt a tight knot in her chest every time she and Tucker were close. And having to spend the last several days with him didn't help either. But why was she acting like that around him? Either she would create a situation where she had a chance to get really close to him, like the whole remote control debacle. Or she would do something like... well, like she just did.

She needed to talk to someone about this, someone who could tell her why she was acting like this. At the very least, she knew for sure it wasn't because she liked him. After all, just like they had said several times now, they were not a couple. But who could she go to? Tucker was, obviously, out of the question. Nor did she think he would know much about things like this to begin with. He might know about computers, but feelings and such, not so much. That said, she didn't know much about the subject either. She was more a tomboy than a girly girl, something she took much pride in.

But then who? Valerie.... Nah. Maybe if she wanted to know a new technique to beat up a ghost or something, but she didn't seem like the one that would indulge in this kind of thing. That would leave Jazz, which seemed like the most obvious choice when she thought about it. Why didn't she think about her first? Of course a psychiatrist could help her figure out what was going on in that head of hers.

But she would have to wait. Jazz was still away to that convention, and wouldn't be coming back until later this day. Until then, Dani would just have to find something else to do to keep her mind of these thoughts.

So, with a somewhat sound plan of action, she headed towards the location Valerie had said the Box Ghost almost breached the shield, more than a bit curious to find out what really had happened there. She doubted that she would find anything new, though. Valerie did say she'd already searched the area, and the woman knew her stuff regarding investigating a haunted zone. Still, maybe she got lucky and find something Valerie missed. She would have to be careful, though. Vlad could also show up. Just like Tucker said, there is no way he missed this.

Landing in an abandoned alley, Dani turned visible again and hid the Deflector underneath her shirt. Walking out into the sunlight, she headed towards the gleaming shield.

'Now, let's see what we can find.' Dani thought as she moved through the crowd between her and her destination.

It seemed that, somehow, no one had noticed the Box Ghost's earlier attempt to break in. People were just walking the streets, minding their own business. No screaming, or mass panic. No Masters Blasters, or other 'professional' ghost hunting team investigating the scene. Nothing. Nothing, but people performing the same mind numbing routine they always performed. Send texts, talk on their phones, shout at others for various trivial reasons, and the occasional glances Dani got from the passing man, and some women, to check her out when they thought she wasn't looking.

Giving a roll with her eyes at that, she pushed through the mass of bodies and emerged on the other side with relative ease. Partly because she used her intangibility here and there when she felt confident enough she could get away with it.

"Why is there not a decent place for me to turn visible over here instead of all the way back there?" She grumbled under her breath as she brushed a few stray hairs behind her ear.

Sighing out, Dani moved forward towards the designated exit through the shield. Just like the tears, they kept a close eye on who went throug. This meant a control point was placed on all the roads leading out of the city. Luckily, this particular control point was near the place Valerie said the Box Ghost had been. So, at the very least, she didn't have to fly around all over town just to get where she needed to be.

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't longer possible for her to just go to the edge of the shield, go human, and move through. After the shield was put up, the city also invested in multiple spectral detection cameras which kept a close watch on things around the edge. This system was also why it was impossible for Vlad to miss what had happened, seeing how he had infected the systems with his own software, making them send a live copy of their feed to his personal computer. And this would also be a problem for Dani, if Tucker's deflector wouldn't cloak her for them through some kind of electronic thingamajig she didn't understand. But now, without being certain that the deflector would properly hide her, she couldn't risk it on what was probably a wild goose chase. And so, she was forced to use the same way as everyone else.

Fortunately for her, there didn't seem to be that many people who were leaving the city. At least, not from this point through the shield.

It didn't take long for her to move through control, giving a nod to the man on duty, while suppressing a mocking smirk, and moved through. Stepping through the shield, she walked to the small gathering of trees so she wouldn't give herself away. Then, as she jumped behind one of the trees, she turned ghost and invisible, flying towards the place Valerie had mentioned; looking around as soon as she arrived, trying to find anything Valerie might have missed, but no such luck.

"Nothing." Dani sighed as she landed and kicked the dirt.

A local bystander heard her, and saw a patch of dirt flying away. However, unable to see Dani, the middle aged woman came to the mind numbing, logical conclusion that there was a ghost.

"Oh, crap!" Dani swore as the woman started to panic and scream. "I need to get out of here."

Dani was just about to fly away, when a puff of cold air escaped her mouth. Knowing what this meant, she quickly scanned her immediate surroundings to see if she could find which ghost it was her ghost sense had detected. Maybe Technus, or any of his associates had come back to test out their contraption again?

It didn't take long for her to find who it was that had triggered her ghost sense. Mainly, because he wasn't really putting in much effort to stay hidden.

"Ooowoow," the Box Ghost wailed painfully, carefully rubbing his back.

Hovering in place, he looked around near the trees, trying to find the other ghosts he knew were there.

"Uhm...guys?" He called out, wincing as a stab of pain shot through his back. "Where are you?"

Dani looked in disbelief at the ghost as he continued his not so subtle search for the others. Forcefully shaking her head to snap out of it, she flew towards the failed package delivery guy.

"Hey, you!" Dain shouted out as she turned visible.

The Box Ghost turned around to see who was shouting, a look of surprise on his face as he saw the ghost girl fly towards him.

"Who, me?" he asked, dumbly, pointing a finger at himself; wincing as another stab of pain shot through his back.

"Yeah, you. Who else could I be talking with?" Dani shot back, annoyed as she indicated the lack of people, dead or alive, behind him.

"Maybe them?" He replied while pointing behind Dani.

"What?" Dani voiced her surprise, turning around, eyes widening in shock as she saw the Masters Blasters' gun ship coming for them.

"WHAT!?" she shouted again. She never, for even a second, had considered the possibility for those idiots to show up.

They didn't have much of a brain, fortunately, but they made up for it with firepower, and a corrupt politician, who also happened to be a ghost in disguise, to provide them with a continuously improving arsenal.

"Oh no, not these morons." Dani sighed in dread, weakly facepalming. Not able to find the energy to put much force behind it as she heard them yell their trademark, and annoying yell over their ships P.A. system.

"MASTERS BLASTERS STOP DISASTERS!"

Shuddering a bit from the horrible yell, Dani turned back to the Box Ghost, saying just one word.

"Run!"

"Right." He said. Turning around, and yelling loudly while flailing his legs in the air in a mock attempt to run away, he suddenly shot off, only to crash into a three he missed.

Sliding down the trunk in, what seemed like slow motion, the Box Ghost fall flat on the ground, unconscious.

It was at this display of utter stupidity, Dani facepalmed so hard even the Masters Blasters flinched from merely seeing it. Clearly, Dani had just surpassed Carl's set record, earning her the grand prize of a massive headache and a red hand mark on her face.

"If you want to do something right," she muttered, while rubbing the painful mark she'd left on her face.

"Wow. Guys, is it just me, or did you two feel that too?" Vid asked at both Thrash and Download.

"Yeah," both males answered dumbly.

"Okay, just checking. Now, let's catch some ghosts." Vid commanded, "Download, take that one that knocked himself out, no need to make this difficult."

"You got it, Vid." Download said, aiming the ghost catching array onto the Box Ghost. "Download in progress," he said as he activated the array. "Aannd, ghost downloaded. Ready for the next."

"Great job. Now, Thrash aim the blasters at this white haired bitch. Let's see if we can send her back to the afterlife!" Vid shouted the command as she flew the jet into an optimal firing position.

"Oh, son of a bi- WHOA!" Dani yelled as she narrowly managed to avoid the dark red, twin blast fired from the ship's double blasters.

"Damn, missed." Thrash cursed as he re-aimed the blasters back onto target.

'Crap! Just when I got a lucky break and found the Box Ghost, these idiots show up. And, of course, they had to capture him. I can't believe this, but, if I want to find out what he knows, I have to save his sorry ass.' Dani groaned in thought as she flew left and right, avoiding the ectoplasmic shots meant for her.

Turning around, and continuing to fly backwards, she channeled energy in her right hand, and shot a single bolt of destructive might at the Blasters blasters. A small explosion, combined with dark red glowing energy coursing through it, followed moments later; shaking the ship as the weapon was destroyed.

"Yes!" Dani cheered, but it was short lived as the remaining blaster focused on her, forcing her to duck and flee once more as the Blasters resumed their hunt.

"Get back here, you little freak." Thrash yelled over the P.A., taking the destruction of the ship's weapon personally.

"Fun as it might seem, I think I am going to pass." Dani taunted as she swished left, right, up and down to avoid the blasts fired at her. The task being somewhat easier now that their main gun's power was cut in half.

Not letting up, Dani returned fire every time she got an opening. Sending multiple shots of toxic green ectoplasm towards the ship, hoping to hit something important. But it only served to harass the Blasters.

"Ha, is that all you've got?" Vid taunted, maneuvering the ship back and forth while avoiding every shot fired at them.

"Actually, no!" Dani answered as she made a sharp U turn, shooting clear past the ship as it struggled to make a similar maneuver. But, not being nearly as maneuverable as the ghost girl, it failed to do so. Instead, it turned in a wide arc, giving Dani a few precious seconds to catch her breath, and warm up her next attack. Or should that be cool down?

Channeling her ice powers into both hands, making them glow an ice blue, she grew a large snowball in between her hands. Mentally counting to three, she allowed the ship to close enough of the distance, making it impossible for them to avoid what was coming as she threw the large orb of frozen water, watching in satisfaction as it collided with the ship.

"Oh," was all Vid said as they all saw the frozen projectile hit their windshield, blinding them as the glass froze up, and cracked from the force.

"Why, you little-" Trash cursed, before he was interrupted by a large shock rocking their ship.

"She is attacking us!" Download yelled as he read the various damage reports on his console, "Main gun is offline, left wing is damaged, lights are... disabled," he reported as the cabin plunged into darkness, the only light now came through the iced up, cracked window. Which didn't do much to help them see.

"Anything else?" Vid asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah," Download said, hesitantly, after a few tense seconds. "The ghost containment capsule is currently under attack." He revealed, when another explosion rocked the ship.

"What?" Thrash and Vid roared.

"Thrash, get over there, and see what you can do about this ecto freak. I will try to land the ship." Vid ordered.

Thrash didn't answer. Only an angry scowl showed on his face, joined with a twisted grin.

This little bitch thought it could damage this ship, his ship, and now he was getting some revenge.

<<>><<>><<>>

A hop, skip, and a jump back.

Dani was shooting and blasting relentlessly at the ship, doing as much damage as she could. She had already managed to blind them by freezing the windshield, forcing them to stop mid-air or risk of crashing as they were no longer able to see.

Now, reduced to nothing more than a giant sitting duck, Dani made use of this opportunity as best she could. First, she destroyed the second blaster, rendering the main weapon system useless. Then she shot the left wing, crippling the ship. After that, she just attacked random parts, hoping she would hit something important.

Suddenly, the lights visible on the outside of the ship, died. Revealing to her she had probably cut some powerline of sorts. Confident that she was making progress, she blasted another part of the ship.

A medium sized explosion rocked the craft, and when the smoke cleared she could see through the hole she had created. Her eyes widened, and a grin formed as she spotted the containment unit, in which they store the ghosts they capture. She knew this, because it was written all over the device, along with numerous warnings not to touch the various controls placed on it. Joined with a post-it note saying:

That means you, Thrash!

A clear target now presenting itself to her, Dani charged another powerful blast, planning on destroying the cursed device, and to set free the Box Ghost. But, just as she shot the stored ectoplasm, she was hit in the stomach by a dark red blast, and her planned attack shot wild.

Coughing, Dani looked up through squinted eyes. They widened in shock as she saw Thrash, the muscle of the group, flying towards her with his jet pack. A smoldering, portable blaster in his hands, and a challenging grin on his face as he clearly enjoyed the visible pain he'd inflicted.

"So, you are the freak of nature that thinks she can outmatch us. Pfhu. You only got lucky, but that stops now." He stated, aiming his blaster right between Dani's eyes. "You think you can just destroy my ship, and get away with it; that I would let you get away with it? No chance!" He roared as he pulled the trigger.

Adrenaline spiked, and time seemed to slow down to a crawl for Dani as she looked squarely into the barrel of the weapon. The weapon's muzzle starting to glow red, which only intensified as more and more energy started to build. She saw Thrash slowly pull his finger, followed shortly thereafter by a small energy wave escaping the weapon's venting chamber as it discharged. And she saw the beam of glowing red destruction move towards her in an unbelievably slow, almost mockingly pacy. Then, her reflexed kicked in before she could even think about what was going on.

Cutting her ability to fly, she dropped like a rock, narrowly missing the beam of ectoplasm as it singed her hair. Hovering a few meters below her previous spot, she patted her hair in an attempt to stop the smoking as she now had a black patch in her otherwise snow white hair. It was a good thing her hair is black as a human, or this would be quite noticeable.

"Hey, watch where you point that thing. You could have injured me." Dani shouted in frustration as she assumed a fighting stance, preparing for anything he might throw at her.

"That is the whole idea," Thrash sneered, taking aim at her once more.

"Good to know. I won't hold back either, if that's the case." Dani smirked as she dodged the next shot, this time without singing her hair.

Making a dash towards him, Dani picked up as much speed as she could in the short distance between her and Thrash. Seeing this, Thrash smirked as he braced himself. Clearly she was as stupid as she looked, why would she think a frontal assault would work? But his smirk quickly turned to shock, as Dani turned invisible at the last moment and, unbeknownst to him, flew right through him. Picking up more speed, Dani made a wide one eighty. Pushing herself to her absolute limits to increase her forwards momentum, she aimed right at his unguarded back.

'What, where did she go?" Thrash yelled into his com.

Download winched from the volume as he scanned the region around them, but was unable to find her. But that should not be possible, their scanners were the best of the best. Yet, somehow, she managed to avoid detection.

"Dude, she doesn't show on the scanners. I don't know where she is."

"What!?" Thrash yelled in surprise and disbelief, frantically looking around.

A fast moving body collided with his own, knocking the wind out of him as he fell to the ground. He tried to regain his bearing, and only at the last moment was he able to level out. And, with a powerful thrust of his jet pack, he was able to avoid a painful meeting with the ground.

Grinding his teeth in anger that this ghost had gotten to him that easily, Thrash let out a battle cry as he flew at top speed towards Dani, who watched the enraged human with a level gaze, unimpressed with his unprofessional behavior.

Aiming his blaster one more at the ghost that had managed to knock him down, Thrash fired shot after shot. But his anger made him lose focus, and Dani was able to easily avoid every searing bolt send her way. This only increased Thrash's anger, believing she was taunting him. Which might have been somewhat true, seeing Dani didn't even needed to put in much effort to avoid his shots, and gave him an almost bored look while doing so.

"Really, is that all you've got?" Dani asked, now clearly mocking him.

Normally, Vid would keep Thrash in check as his temper would get the best of him. But she was busy trying to keep the ship from falling apart, and, thus, was not able to do so. But, in a rare moment of clarity, Thrash realized he wasn't getting anywhere being angry like he was. In fact, it only served to make him an easy target. So, taking a deep breath to calm down, if only a bit, he answered in as much a calm voice he could muster.

"No, I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve."

Pulling out a weird, but familiar looking grenade, Dani's eyes widened in shock as she realized what it was. But he couldn't have that thing. Tucker made sure this design was kept secret from Vlad, so how was he in the possession of a flash bang, ghost shield grenade, or just ghost grenade for short.

"Oh oh." Dani muttered as Thrash threw the grenade towards her.

She flew away as fast as she could, trying to avoid the blast. But it was of no use. Fortunately, she had her back turned to the device, so she was not completely blinded by the flash it produced. But she was launched away from the force of the shield that slammed into her, and she crashed into the ground as a direct result.

Thrash landed near the small crater Dani had dug for herself, looking down at the still form within.

With a groan, Dani slowly pushed herself up. Blinking rapidly, trying to get the stars out of her vision, she reared back in shock as the muzzle of a now uncomfortably familiar blaster suddenly came into focus, aimed point blank at her face.

"Any last words... Freak?" Thrash asked in a low, menacing voice, finger tensing on the trigger.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself, Dani looked up and smirked. "Yes. Yes I do."

Roaring with all her strength, she unleashed her ghostly wail.

Thrash was sent flying by the sudden concussive force, while his weapon discharged by accident, shooting directly at the ship, and into the hole made by Dani earlier. By chance, the bolt of glowing destruction scored a hit on the containment unit which held the Box Ghost, destroying it. Sparks flew of the device, and alarms went off. Dark green mist started to pour out of the cracks, and a toxic green glow picked up in luminosity as the failsafes failed.

The device groaned, shuddered, then exploded; releasing anyone trapped inside of it.

The blast also made the ship lurch heavily to one side, making it almost impossible for Vid to keep the ship under control. But, finally, she managed to land safely some distance away from Dani.

"Whoaaa!" the Box Ghost yelled as he was blasted out of the device, and into the ground.

Lying in a heap, he groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"Are you alright?" Dani asked as he walked towards him, looking where Thrash lay to make sure he was still out for the count.

"Ehh, I think so?" The Box Ghost answered, unsure. "Why did you help me?"

"Because I have some questions, and you are going to answer them." Dani replied as she saw Thrash move.

Seeing that he was picking himself back up again, she grabbed the Box Ghost by his arm and flew off. She couldn't risk any more time fighting with these guys. She was sure she could win, but they worked for Vlad, and she was sure he would undoubtedly show up. Heck, he was probably already on his way.

"Come on, we need to get out of here. Unless you want to stay here with these guys." Dani said as she dragged the other ghost with her.

Sensing that, for now, he was safer with the ghost girl instead of the Masters Blasters, Earl matched Dani's speed. And, together, they moved deeper into the trees which grew there; while Dani also hoped her deflector would be able to help conceal the Box Ghost somewhat while she was close to him.

'Only one way to find out,' she thought, disappearing in the darkness of the trees' shadows.

<<>><<>><<>>

Vlad was not amused. He hadn't been for several days now. First, Dani managed to slip through his grasp, and destroyed several important computers of his. Then his former pawn, Valerie Gray, turned out to be one of the more fearsome ghost hunters in recent history. And then, his search for Dani turned out fruitless, as it seemd the woman was able to hide from his spy drones. But then, his interest was piqued by some very interesting data, coming from the city's surveillance systems; revealing to him the Box Ghost, an absolute imbecile of a ghost, use some kind of unknown device to, almost, bypass the shield. Only for Valerie to interfere before he had a chance to get there himself, and steal this technological marvel for his own use.

And then there was Dani, again. At first, Vlad thought he might get another chance at studying her, only for the Masters Blasters to show up, thwarting any possible chance for him to get close, and take his own creation; his property. And, should he had gone in his human form, they would've most certainly gotten in the way in order to 'protect' him. So, he was forced to watch, on his very expensive screen, how Dani disabled the ship, his ship, and knock down one of the Blasters. Not only that, but accidentally causing that particular member of the group to shoot his ship, and set free the ghost that might have some answers as to what this device in his possession was.

Vlad let out a frustrated sigh as he shut off the screen.

"Those imbeciles are causing more trouble than they're worth," he grumbled his bitter thoughts about the Blasters. "Really, the only reason I even allow them to continue are the profits from all their merchandise."

Grumbling under his breath, he hovered over to another console, checking the data displayed there.

"Any new data to be found with the new set preferences?" he asked to seemingly nowhere.

"Negative, sweetheart. All new tests remain inconclusive," holo Maddie responded, her form materializing besides Vlad.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Vlad sighed as he walked away from the console, "I need a new source of information, more than the few video files I have. And, although Dani would be a good start, I need the original; the source."

Vlad hovered in place, his mind going over everything he knew, and how much he didn't know.

There was a whole lot that clearly had sailed right past him. Dani's ability to remain hidden from him, Valerie, or Specter as she called herself. Wherever Danny might be, and now this thing with the Box Ghost.

"Did you at least managed to get a good scan of the object in the Box Ghost's possession?" he asked holo Maddie.

"Partially, dear... It seems the device emits some kind of energy wave that interacts with, and matches the shield's frequency. Evidence suggests this makes it possible for ghosts to partially manipulate the shield, but not breach it. However, It should be possible to adjust the object to allow for ghosts to pass through the shield. But I can't tell for certain, unless I were able to properly scan the device," holo Maddie replied, happy to be of service.

"And, of course, the device is long gone. Most likely thanks to Valerie. And the only other that might know something, would be that blue imbecile. But now, Dani managed to take him out of the Blasters clutches. And seeing how she can shield herself from detection, she would undoubtedly do the same with him."

"Affirmative. But it does seem that her ability to shield her for detection has diminished, oh great one. On several occasions, I was able to detect a faint electronic cloak every time subject Dani passed near one of your drones. Long range detection, however, does appear to be useless," holo Maddie informed him.

"Hmmm, interesting." Vlad muttered, stroking his chin, playing the video of Dani fighting of the Blasters and their ship on the large screen.

"Perform a scan of her, see what you can find."

"Certainly, my love."

<<>><<>><<>>

"Okay, talk." Dani ordered after she and the Box Ghost had managed to find a somewhat safe place, for the time being at least, and were now in the process of exchanging knowledge. Well, more like the Box Ghost would say what he knew, or she would help him talk instead.

"Eh, about what?" He asked, genuinely confused as to what she was referring to.

"Like you don't know. Tell me what you did earlier today, with the shield!" Dani said in a calm tone, but the glow in her eyes showed how serious she truly was.

"Oh, that... Eh.. I mean, I don't know what you are talking about." He poorly deflected, shifting uncomfortably.

"Really!?" Dani said in mock surprise, grabbing him by the collar, and pulled him to eye level. The hand she used to hold him glowing green the entire time. "How unfortunate."

Earl gulped loudly as he looked at Dani's green, angry, piercing eyes. The glow increasing just a bit to show the power behind them.

"Eh, maybe I do know something" He stammered, weakly.

"Good, that's more like it." Dani said as she dropped the ghost to the ground. "Talk."

Earl righted himself, before sitting down. Defeat obviously noticeable on his facade.

"Earlier today, Skulker came to me asking me for my help-" he began, but Dani interrupted him.

"Wait! Skulker asked for your help?" Her disbelief was palpable.

"Why, yes," Earl said with pride. "Apparently, he needed someone with the amazing skill only I have to handle such a delicate package." He smiled proudly as he talked about the device he was given, not knowing he was actually a guinea pig.

"Riiight." Dani droned, absolutely not buying it. She also knew that he believed it, but she could clearly see what was really going on. "Okay, go on."

"So, Skulker took me to meet with his friends, who were rather surprised to see me. But Skulker said something to them, and then they let me help. Technus gave me some kind of fancy looking ball, and said it was very valuable, that I should not damage it. Which is obviously why Skulker brought me there in the first place, seeing how my excellent skill in carrying boxes makes me some kind of expert in handling various fragile goods," he spoke with pride, truly believing it.

"Uh-huh." Dani indicated him to go on.

"Then, Skulker told me that the object would allow me to pass through the shield, and that they needed my expertise to carry it through. Which I did, until I got launched away for reasons I'm not entirely sure about." He said, thinking back to that particular incident, trying to figure out what had happened.

"Is there anything else? Anything you haven't told me!?" Dani asked.

"Eeeehh...... No. I don't think so," he answered after a moment.

"Figures," Dani sighed out, shaking her head. Just as she had already figured out, he was just a pawn.

Turning around, Dani walked away. The Box Ghost, confused by the woman's sudden departure, sat still on the spot, staring at Dani's back.

"Eh, are you not going to hurt or capture me?" he asked, unsure.

"No, I'm not. You have already done that yourself today, I'm not going to add to it. Just go. But next time I see you here, that is, if you manage to bypass the shield, and all the other defenses in place, I will not be so kind." She said, looking at him over her shoulder, eyes flashing a full green. She then flew away, but stopped after a few meters. "And, just a word of advice. Find some better friends." And, with those last words, she shot off into the distance, leaving a very confused ghost behind.

<<>><<>><<>>

It took some time, and a lot of moving around, but, finally, Dani managed to return into the city without much trouble.

She was heading towards Tucker to give him the news about what she just learned, which wasn't all that much. Most of it was already something they had figured out on their own, through logical reasoning. Still, it might be useful some other time. Though, she doubted it. At the very least, what she had managed to accomplish was to harass the Blasters, and damage their ship. Something Tucker wouldn't be too thrilled about. Thinking of it, Jazz probably wouldn't either, seeing how she was supposed to keep a low profile and such.

Oh well.

On the plus side of things. This little 'distraction' did allow her to kill some time, which meant that Jazz was most likely back in town, and she would have the chance to go talk with her.

So, flying, invisible, high above the city towards Tucker's home, she hoped that she wouldn't act all weird again when she delivered the news. She really needed to sort this thing out, whatever it was that was making her mind go weird on her. Maybe it was just because of the energy coming from the deflector? Nah, if that was the case, she would have acted like this the moment she first put it on. Right?

Sighing out loudly, and shaking her head, Dani continued her flight towards Tucker, not knowing what to make of all of this. It was probably something obvious, something that she should be able to figure out herself. But for reasons unknown, she was unable to do so. Hopefully Jazz had some answers.

But, as she moved for Tucker's, there was one more thing weighing heavily down on her. Mainly, there was no way Tucker could have missed her little scuffle with the Blasters.

'Yeah, he is going to flip,' she thought.

<<>><<>><<>>

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

Well, this went exactly as she thought it would, as Tucker shouted at her for her foolish actions not too long ago.

"I tell you to keep a low profile, to keep out of trouble. And the first thing you do is get into a fight with the Masters Blasters!" Tucker said angrily, frantic, as he paced around.

"Well, I did manage to confirm some of the things we suspected thanks to the Box Ghost!" Dani shouted back at him, not liking being yelled at.

"Yeah, and what good did that do? Not only did you risk being captured by them, and in extend, by Vlad. But you were seen by a large portion of the city. Both in person, and onto the security systems. Vlas will undoubtedly use this against you. Really, Dani. Valerie spent several days on the run for you. She still is, just to keep herself hidden for Vlad. And this is how you thank her? Honestly, why are you always so reckless?" He said condescendingly, looking down on her.

"Oh yeah. I haven't seen you do anything other than type away on that computer of yours. Some of us actually get our hands dirty to get things done. But, noohoo. Not you. Not Tucker Foley. All you do is work on that stupid computer of yours, and build those dumb gadgets, but you're not even using them yourself. Why is that, huh? Why are you not really helping us? Why are you always sitting in your office, while you could be out there to catch ghosts or stop Vlad?" Dani countered, sounding equally angry.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Tucker yelled.

"It has everything to do with it! You used to go out there, actually do something. But now...." Dani stopped as she looked around, her anger replaced with worry. She had always wondered about this, but never dared to ask… until now. "Tucker, why are you not out there anymore? You used to help Danny catch ghosts in person, but now you send Valerie out there to do it for you," she asked, not with anger, but concern.

Silence.

"Tucker, please tell me. Why?"

"....Because I'm afraid."

"What!?" Dani asked in disbelief. She had heard him, despite him talking in a whisper. But still, she couldn't believe it.

"Because I'm afraid," Tucker said again. His voice no longer angry, but defeated.

"B-but why? What are you afraid of?" Dani asked, gently, as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

For a moment, Tucker just stood there. Then he pulled away from Dani, and walked over to one of the windows.

Placing an arm on the glass, and resting his head on it, he sighed out, loudly; eyes closed as he was momentarily lost in thought. Then, his eyes opened, slowly, and he stared at first the world outside, before focusing on his own reflection.

"I'm afraid for history to repeat itself," he revealed with a deep sigh. "After Sam and Danny...... I just can't stand the thought of losing anyone else, especially to a ghost... No offense." He closed his eyes again as he thought back to that horrible time, more than six years ago. "I still hear her, her scream, everytime I try to sleep. Everywhere I look, I see something that reminds me of her. Of them. We did so much together, only for it to be taken away like that." Tucker turned to Dani, and she could see the tears in his eyes. "The reason I am not out there anymore is, because it scares me. The reason I spend so much time in here, or at the office to build my gadgets, is to make sure you, Valerie and Jazz have as much a chance to come back safely. And now you tell me that, somehow, Vlad has managed to acquire his own ghost grenade. Something I made to keep you safe, only to have it used against you." Pain and regret wore heavy on him, and Dani could easily sense it. How had she missed this before?

Dani dashed forward, and pulled Tucker into a tight hug. Only confused for a second, Tucker returned the embrace, and together they stood there, holding onto each other.

"I am sorry." Tucker whispered.

"For what?" Dani asked in the same quiet tone.

"For yelling at you. That my invention was used against you... I guess for everything, I think."

"Don't say that. You were only watching out over me. I should have been more careful. I should have listened to you."

"Heh. I guess that's true." Tucker said with a sad laugh.

"Hey." Dani said as she pulled away a bit, giving him a nudge against the shoulder. But her face showed she didn't mean it.

Both of them froze as their eyes met. Tears stained both their faces, yet neither of them paid any attention to it. Tucker's logical mind shut down as he stared into Dani's blue eyes, and Dani felt a knot form in her chest as she looked into his. Both of them stared at one another other, unblinkingly. Then, slowly, they moved forward, acting on purely instinct, all logical thoughts gone.

In the middle their lips met, and all reservation left Tucker at this moment as he finally accepted his feelings, while Dani finally managed to find that simple, but elusive answer she was looking for.

Slightly parting her lips, Tucker took the invitation and slipped his tongue into her mouth. Dani gave a soft moan of approval as she returned the favor. Their tongues wrestled with each other as their kiss deepened, letting their pent up feelings break out to the surface, not breaking apart for even air.

Eventually, after a long minute, they broke apart as the need for oxygen finally became too much.

They panted to catch their breath, not releasing their shared hold as they gazed in each other's eyes. A deep blush present on both faces.

"Wow." Dani sighed in a daze.

"Indeed." Tucker agreed similarly.

"We should have done that months ago," Dani breathed out, resting her head on his chest.

Tucker didn't say anything, there was no need for it as he returned the embrace. And, together, they stood in embrace, enjoying each other's presence as they finally realized, and accepted their feelings for one another.

"So... I guess we are a couple now?" Tucker asked, and he felt Dani tense up for a moment as she finally fully realized the new and unknown situation she found herself in; only to relaxe a short moment later.

"Yeah. I guess we are." She agreed, and kissed Tucker again.

<<>><<>><<>>

Valerie was flying over town, having just heard about what Dani had done. And, to be honest, she was a bit conflicted. Yes, she endangered herself, and almost got herself captured. Which would mean that everything she had done to keep her safe, would have been for nothing. That, she didn't like. But she also kicked the Blasters ass, and basically destroyed their ship. That, she did like. A lot.

'Oh, ghost girl. What am I supposed to do with you?' Valerie mused as a grin splayed across her face. The kid had guts, she had to respect that.

Laughing a bit, she slightly adjusted her course, flying directly towards Jazz's home. She needed a place to stay with her home wrecked as it was. And with Jazz back in town, she could finally get just that.

'And maybe something to eat as well.' She added in thought, placing her hand over her stomach when it let loose a seismic rumble. 'Yes, definitely something to eat.'

Coming close to her destination, Valerie stealthily landed in a nearby alley, and deactivated her armor. But not before she scanned for, and deactivated any and all spy drones of Vlad.

Exiting the alley, she straightened her clothes, which were somewhat ripe after all the time she'd spend in her armor.

'And maybe a shower,' she added as she sniffed her shirt, rearing back from the smell. 'Yes, definitely a shower.'

Walking towards Jazz's place, Valerie saw the door open, and knew she was back from her conference. However, who walked out was definitely not Jazz, or human. She jumped back into the alley, and peeked past the corner, seeing one of those ponies step out of Jazz's house.

The pony, with light blue fur, and dark blue mane and tail, piqued Valerie's interest. Enough so, for her to partially activate her armor; her helmet folding itself out over her head. Using the visor's zoom function, she observed this pony a bit better. Green eyes, quite muscular, wings, so it was a pegasus, and a mark of a lightning bolt with two wings behind it as a mark on its rear end.

"What is a pony doing here?" she asked herself as she continued to look at the pony out of place.

Suddenly, the pony turned around. His tail swished around a bit, and, for a moment, Valerie had a clear view of the, now clearly a stallion, privates. Feeling her face heat up as she quickly zoomed out, trying to ignore what she just saw, she focused on the pony's front instead. He was talking to someone, probably Jazz. But why was he here? Why would Jazz have a pony come over to her place?

Those questions were answered when Jazz entered the picture, knelt down, and kissed the pony full on the lips.

Valerie's mouth fell open faster than her hoverboard could fly, and she was sure that there was a loud bang when her lower jaw hit the ground. She continued to stare at the public display of affection, unable to look away.

'Jazz... and a... a pony...... NO WAY!?' she shouted in thought, an evil grin slowly replacing her look of shock. 'Now, how can I best use this against her?'

Finally, the two parted, and Valerie saw a heated blush on Jazz's face, and a cheeky grin on the pony's. Jazz said something, but Valerie was unable to hear what as she continued to observed Jazz, who now waved the stallion goodbye as he flew away. Probably to one of those tear facilities, Valerie assumed.

She waited a little while longer, watching as Jazz, with a large smile spread out on her face, stepped back inside and closed the door.

"Well. Guess that's my cue." Valerie smirked as she deactivated her armor again, stepping out of the alley, and moved for Jazz's place; thinking of the various ways she could embarrass Jazz. All in good fun, of course… mostly.

As she stood before the closed door, Valerie had to take a moment to compose herself, forcing the devious grin off her face. Once she was sure she could pull it off, she knocked on the door. She didn't have to wait long before Jazz opened.

"I thought you said you didn't forget anything Soa-.... Valerie!?" Jazz half shouted in surprise, not expecting the woman now standing before her.

"Hey, Jazz," Valerie said with the best fake innocence she could muster, trying not to laugh at the beet red face of Jazz.

"Valerie, what are you doing here?" Jazz asked as she regained her composure. "And what is that smell?" She added, waving her hand before her face, trying to dissipate the foul odor.

"Yeah, that's me." Valerie answered casually.

"Oh, goodness, have you never heard of a shower?" She asked in disgust, covering her nose with a hand.

"So, I guess you haven't heard yet?"

"Heard what?" Jazz asked, her voice sounding somewhat muffled.

"Is it okay if I come in, I don't want to discuss this out in the open?" Valerie asked all serious, knowing the disabled drones were about to reactivate.

For a moment, Jazz looked like she was going to refuse, not wanting to let her in while she reeked like that.

"It's about Vlad," Valerie added as she saw the hesitation.

Eyes going wide, Jazz stepped aside, allowing Valerie to enter.

"What about him? What happened? Is this in any way related to why you smell this horrible?" Jazz asked, clamping her hand over her nose again with the last question.

"To answer your last question. Yes, it is because of him," Valerie answered with ice in her voice. "The bastard tracked Dani to my place, just as we feared, and destroyed it. I have been out on the streets for several days now." She explained when she was interrupted by a loud growl coming from her stomach.

"What! Why didn't you go to Tucker?" Jazz asked, horrified.

"Couldn't risk it. I knew he would somehow track me if I did. Look, before we go any further with this, do you have anything to eat? I am starving." She asked as another growl sounded from her abdomen.

"Yes, of course." Jazz said as she showed Valerie into the kitchen, "I don't have much at the moment, but there are still some things in the fridge left. Please, help yourself." She told the hungry woman next to her.

"Gladly," Valerie answered with gusto, pulling open the fridge with a bit more force than was necessary; wasting no time grabbing the various goods that piqued her interest, and shoved them in her mouth.

As she did this, she noticed something peculiar, something missing. And a lot of other things that were there which also seemed somewhat out of place. Jazz was a healthy eater, sure. But this was a bit extreme. Unless...

"Say, that are a lot of vegetables you have here. I mean, a whole lot of them." Valerie remarked with played innocence, suppressing a smirk.

"Oh that, yes... I, eh. I wanted to try something new. Some kind of vegetable dish of sorts." Jazz stammered a bit as she tried to explain the large amount of greens she had.

"Really, sounds nice. Can I try some?" Valerie asked, picking up on the stammer just now.

"Eh... sure, I guess. Oh, but it will take quite a bit of time to make, though." Jazz said in a poor attempt to make an excuse. Valerie wasn't buying it.

"Oh, that's fine. I have quite the story to tell, so that won't be a problem." She countered with a credible excuse, looking at Jazz from the corner of her eye, seeing her shift uncomfortably as she was put on the spot.

"Oh, well. I guess that will work then." Jazz said nervously, having absolutely no idea how to make any kind of vegetable dish. That was always something he would do.

"Yeah... Buth pfwat won't workh fis fhis sfhmell." Valerie spoke through a mouth full of bread, giving a small tug on her shirt. "Can I please use your shower?" she asked after she swallowed.

"Oh, yes. Please," Jazz responded eagerly as she was reminded of the horrible odor coming of her guest.

Almost forcefully pushing Valerie towards the bathroom, Jazz told her to take long as she wanted, while indicating the various scented shampoos standing in the shower stall. Clearly trying to get a point across.

"I will find you something to wear," she said after she picked up the bundle of clothes Valerie had left on the other side of the door to be cleaned, or incinerated as Jazz gave the bundle of clothes a cautious look, and she kept them away from her as far as she could.

"Yeah, sure." Valerie said through the door as she stepped under the running water, adjusting the temperature to her liking.

She sighed out, loudly, in satisfaction. Feeling days worth of sweat and grime wash of her. She enjoyed this feeling of getting clean for a while longer, then grabbed one of the numerous bottles Jazz kept neatly organized on a shower rack, and began washing her hair.

<<>><<>><<>>

"Oh, Jazz. What are you going to do?" Jazz asked herself as she stood before her stove, trying to figure out how to make something, anything.

Of course she had paid attention every now and then when he cooked, but she wasn't particularly good in the kitchen. In fact, the only reason he knew how to cook was because of his military training. He said he never had a knack for it, that it wasn't his special talent. But if there was one thing he needed to know to survive, then it was how to make anything into an edible meal. So, with some knowledge, and better materials than he got in basic training, he was able to whip up something they both could enjoy.

"Come on, Jazz. How hard could it be? You're a well renowned psychiatrist. You have fought ghosts, albeit for a short time, and you are partially the leader of this kind of resistance against Vlad. How difficult is it to make a vegetable dish?" She told herself, boosting her confidence.

Cutting up several carrots and courgettes, and dumping them in a frying pan, she was feeling confident that she was going to make this work. Turning on the flame, and depositing a royal amount of oil over the chopped up vegetables, she looked at the little progress she had made with a small smile.

'Maybe this is going to work after all,' she thought, hopefully, just before the contents of the pan burst out in flames, charring it all black.

"I'm doomed."

<<>><<>><<>>

"HmmMmm... This certainly is an interesting dish you have here." Valerie struggled through a mouthful of somewhat charred vegetables, but mentally she was cursing herself for pushing Jazz into making this, this... whatever this is, as she ate the least blackened parts.

"Really?" Jazz asked, somewhat hopeful. But Valerie noticed something else, too. A glint in her eyes.

"Sure," Valerie said with a wry smile, hoping that it sounded sincere as she finally managed to finish the last of the... Well, she couldn't call it food.

"Then you certainly want some more." Jazz offered with a smile, which seemed just a bit too eager to Valerie.

"Oh no, that won't be necessary. I've had plenty," Valerie waved her off just a bit too fast.

"Oh, but you sounded so eager when I mentioned it. So I made extra, just for you." Jazz countered as she scooped up another plate full for her guest, and placed in front of her.

Valerie's stomach growled again, but this time it wasn't because she was hungry. No, this time it was a sound of dismay. Looking down at what was almost certainly her upcoming doom, she shot a glance at Jazz, and saw her eagerly observing her struggling attempt with a victorious grin.

"Hold on," Valerie began as she looked directly at Jazz, who was still looking smugly at her. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" She accused, pointing at the read haired woman with her fork.

"Doing what on purpose?" Jazz asked with obvious fake innocence.

"Like you don't know," Valerie accused, glaring at Jazz through squinted eyes.

"If by that, you mean making you a nice vegetable dish, and even making extra just for you. Then, yes." Jazz chirped with the same innocent tone. But the smug, victorious look she had told Valerie everything she wasn't telling.

Grumbling under her breath, both from what Jazz said, and the smug look she gave her, Valerie decided to just cut the crap, and put her on the spot. Right here and there.

"Well, I saw you kiss that pony." She revealed triumphantly, almost as if she had just won the lottery.

Grinning smugly, she looked at Jazz, expecting to see a look surprise and embarrassment. However, what she saw was neither of those. Instead of surprise, she had a large smile. Instead of embarrassment, she looked at Valerie with an expression that said: "Well, duhu!" To say Valerie wasn't expecting this, would be an understatement.

"I know you saw me kiss him," Jazz revealed in a calm tone. "Although, I wasn't aware of it at first. You really got me when you started about the large amount of vegetables I had, and at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell you about him. So, there I was, trying to figure out how to make something which I had no idea how to make. But then I started to think, about how you reacted to be precise. Body language is one of my specialties, it's part of the job. And so, I put two and two together. The time between him leaving and you arriving, the somewhat challenging stance you took every time you tried to push me. I have to admit, it was subtle. And with me flustered like that, I completely missed it, at first. So I came up with a little ploy of my own. And I have to say, you fell for it wonderfully. Seeing you struggle to eat... this." She said humorously as she indicated the 'food' Valerie had just eaten.

Valerie just sat there, letting that sink in. She didn't like it, but she got her. Using her own game against her.

"....Damn." Was all she said after a minute of silence, before sighing out. "I hate to admit it, but you got me."

"That, I did." Jazz agreed, smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in." Valerie said, annoyed. "But can we please order some pizza, or something? Because I really need to get some real food in me."

"I think that can be arranged." Jazz replied chipper, still sporting a large grin. "And in the meantime, you can tell me what happened between you and Vlad." She added in a more serious tone.

"Deal. But do know, what happened was not nearly as bad as your cooking." Valerie shot back seriously.

"Hey!"

"I mean it, really." Valerie said, showing no signs of deceit, and Jazz could see it.

<<>><<>><<>>

"Vlad, sweetheart," holo Maddie called out.

"Yes, what is it?"

"The scan you requested is complete."

"Really. Well, what did you find?"

"Scan came out negative. No new information could be found."

"Then why do you even bother me with this?" Vlad said, condescendingly.

"Because you told me to, oh wondrous gift to the world."

"Oh, right. I did, didn't I?"

"I did find something else. Something I believe you might find interesting," she continued excited, happy to have found something.

"Well, what is it?" he asked, impatient.

"It is an older file, about a ghost breach to the other world." She began, but Vlad interrupted her.

"And what good is that to me? The last time that happened was over five years ago."

"Negative. This file dates back a little more than a week."

"What! That is impossible. Show me."

A list of technical data scrolled down over the large screen before Vlad, showing details about what had happened, and who was involved.

"Well, this is interesting." he mused as he read the files. "Is there any video surveillance footage?" He asked.

"Negative. The report states that the ghost had managed to damage the surveillance systems, resulting in a complete loss of data," holo Maddie answered.

"Drat. It could be very useful if I knew who this ghost is. Getting to the other side is no easy task as a ghost. Even I can not go through the scanners there. Granted, neither did this ghost. But still, to get that far.... How did he do it?" Vlad asked to no one in particular, but holo Maddie responded nonetheless.

"Maybe I can answer that." she began, "All of the witness reports say the ghost originated from the shadow of a single human. And I think you find the name of said human very interesting." She revealed, and showed the file on the screen.

Vlad's eyes widened as he read the report, and, more precisely, the name of the human affiliated with it.

"Now, this is a surprise." He said with twisted glee, before starting to laugh like the mad man he was.

Author's Note:

And here we go, the story about what happened on the other side of reality.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

It took some time to write this. partially because I went away on vacation, and the internet connection was somewhat... lacking. But I did manage to write some part of this chapter while away, so that is good news. It also means part of this chapter was written in Turkey, gobble, gobble.

Also 100 favorites. Now let's go for the 200.

And, as you now know, tell me about any and all mistakes. Grammar, spelling or otherwise.

Powerdrainer.

Comments

[NightmareKnight]

It's 4 am! Why are you posting this!

[Powerdrainer]

3060177 Well, it is 1 pm over here... So, yeah.

[Luna Lover19]

I liked this chapter a little, but I would prefer the next couple of chapters to show what's going on in both Equestria and on Earth.
And Jazz is in love with a pony? This is getting good! I didn't see that coming! But if you're going to include any romantic relationships between characters you should add a romance tag to your story.
By the way, is the stallion Soarin?

[NightmareKnight]

3060178If I had stayed up last night long enough to see your reply, I probably would have said something along the lines of fuck you.

As of now I'm just lethargic and not tired. So yeah, really big time difference.

[Powerdrainer]

3060846

but I would prefer the next couple of chapters to show what's going on in both Equestria and on Earth.

I will see what I can do about that. And for Jazz and our mystery pony. I did mention him in an earlier chapter, so it shouldn't be much of an surprise. As to who he is. I think it is pretty obvious, but let me just....

[Powerdrainer]

3061055Sorry I kept you awake though.

[NightmareKnight]

3061071You didn't. I had a friend spend the night. We stayed up playing Mass Effect 3. It was fun until the game started glitching. I mean, the last two rounds we played weren't even fair. Second to last round I couldn't see the brutes or the ravagers. Those are some of the hardest enemies to fight in the reapers, and I couldn't see them. Last game I couldn't see anything. All enemies were invisible to me.

[Powerdrainer]

3061081 Well fuck. I know how difficult those are, so yeah.

[Vates Despero]

Currently downloading it to my Kindle but preliminary thoughts...
If you are breaking up a chapter into multiple parts... you don't use a different chapter name for each one.

( Click to toggle read status ) Regret. part 1 · 7th Jun 2013 12,501
( Click to toggle read status ) Regret. part 2. · 12th Jun 2013

or

( Click to toggle read status ) Regret. · 7th Jun 2013 12,501
( Click to toggle read status ) Arrival. · 12th Jun 2013

The awkwardness of that is the reason this has spent a month in the "Read Later" list.

---

2915903>>2916592 It was, the Wail used so much power that he started to revert back to human form. Sort of like when his power ran low in the Ep where he and Dash got shrunk, he reverted bit by bit.... DASH!!! HAHAHAHA!!! Danny Phantom's Bully Dash verses FiM's Rainbow Dash! I've already read three of these Crossovers... why have I never thought about that before?!

[Powerdrainer]

3083710Thanks for the tip.

[Vates Despero]

3083778 Ok, finished now. You don't have an editor do you? You really need one. Your Southern accent for AJ and 'Bloom? It's terrible, by that I mean it is not right at ALL. It is so not Southern that as a proud Southern man I am actually offended by it.

Ah figure you ain't read much in tha way of a Southern accent afore. Ta tell tha truth ya got jest 'bout all of it wrong. Ah think ya should jest stick wit' Ah/Ya/Ya'll instead'a I/You/you all. It conveys tha impression that they have an accent without leavin' too much in tha way of room fer errors.

[Powerdrainer]

3090706Thank you for your advice, and I am sorry for any unintended insults. You are right in that I don't have an editor, and that I should need one. It is something I will think about, and thank you for the advice.

Also, english is not my native language, and such it poses somewhat of a challenge every now and then. Mainly because the way something is said grammar wise in my language is sometimes completely different from yours. In fact, the first things I wrote in english were quite horrible indeed. Both in spelling and grammar. And, although reactions were mixed, they almost all resembled something like this.

And although my spelling and grammar have improved since then, writing in an accent in a language I have some difficulties with was not one of my brightest ideas.

So, once again I apologize for any unintended insults with my poor attempt to write an accent. But I am happy to see that despite this, you actually favored my story. So because of this, and your words of advice, I would also like to thank you again.

And please, keep telling me what could be better. It would be much appreciated.

[nightmaster0]

Great chapter and awesome story. This story deserve's way more attention than it's getting.

If Jazz's boyfriend isn't a OC i have a good idea who he is.

Vlad know's Danny is in Equestria. This can only lead trouble.

Once Technus get's his device working it will be chaos just like the old day's. Especially if he make's mulitple versions for all ghost's in the Zone.

I know you said you were using season 3 in this story. But will you also be using the movie or season 4?

The romance scene's in this chapter and the last couple of chapter, has me wondering about Danny. Who will he end up with? Will he end up with more than one mare?

[Powerdrainer]

3094218 The story will unfold during the season 3 arc. I am not planning to include the movie, and I do not yet know what to do with season 4, but I will see it when it airs.

And about Danny's possible love interests, and if he is going to have one or more mares. Well, he is a one mare kinda guy, but who is it going to be???

[AtTheCrimsonFckr]

3094817 wah i want more

[Powerdrainer]

3119483Working on it.

[Blackwisp15]

Is it just me or does Vlad seem similar to a really pathetic discord?

[Philosophysics]

4363913 Totally...

[Legiondude]

And, just a word of advice. Find some better friends.

I can just imagine a scene between Fluttershy and the Box Ghost

[Pewkoa]

Why did you post the chapter twice on one page?
just wondering

[HB_DS2013]

I forgot that Dani can use Unrelenting Force.

[jolliapplegirl]

Well, shit, Soarin always did look like he was about to kill himself so I guess it makes sense. I just keep imagining all the SoarinxRainbow shippers biting their hats in frustration that their ship has sunk in your story.

[SpyketheRAWRCat]

OKAY, VLAD, IT'S TIME TO S T O P

[Detsella Morningdew]

Wow, you really write the Danny Phantom universe really well. So well, in fact, that I enjoy these chapters just as much as the pony ones.

That is impressive.

[Pecan Crisp]

3060178
There seems to be a problem with a Bold tag partway through this chapter, causing a could portion of the story to be bolded accidentally.

Edit: Specifically, here:

"I have transmitted the security code from the city's Spectral Scanning S[b/]ystem,"

You mixed up the b and /, so it bolded everything from there to:

"What?" Dani voiced her surprise, turning around, eyes widening in shock as she saw the Masters Blasters' gun ship coming for them. WHAT!?

[Powerdrainer]

God damned. Fat fingered the unpublish button while on my phone. The mobile site sucks sometimes