Probably not the direction you want to go in, but now I'm imagining that Izuku thwarts Shigaraki so often that killing All Might is no longer about killing All Might, it's about beating that annoying green-haired mini-boss.
Please!
AU where both Izuku and Bakugou are rejected from UA Hero Course.
And to make it juicy. The reason for the rejections is the suicide baiting incident being known by UA. While Bakugou is rejected for obvious reasons. Izuku is rejected for his âown safetyâ and because they wonât trust his psyche went unscathed.
1- The thing about Bakugou is that he was not particularly well liked by his classmates at Aldera. Oh, he had friends, and no one was willing to stand up to him, but plenty of students had grudges about how he acted. They rolled their eyes when Bakugou went on a rant about being the only one who could make it to UA, or his lackeys hyped him up, but then they'd look away without a word when he caught them and glared. No one was going to say he wasn't powerful and couldn't do it, just like they weren't going to say Deku had any chance. Sometimes, capable people are also very annoying, and you just have to deal with that, so the kids did. And if a few were in a small group chat that would sneak pictures or videos to show the kids not in their class and complain, well, that's what the kids did. And then one day, one filmed the conversation after school, after Bakugou threw out the notebook, and posted it publicly, as well as in the chat.
2- nothing came of this. Izuku had either blocked or been blocked by a lot of his classmates online, and hadn't really bothered to look for most of them anyway, so neither he nor Bakugou are aware of the video. The sludge villain sort of happened an hour later, and that's what got the big media buzz- the news couldn't publish the names of the teens involved if they ever even had them, but locally, people at Aldera knew who the kids on tv were.
3- the next year, UA has its recommendation exams. Every student is meticulously background checked before even being accepted as an potential for the exam and interview. A couple weeks later, they have the standard exam. The background checks will happen after this- UA after all has a very prestigious image. Bakugou wasn't wrong that if he took his lackey's cigarette and UA found out, his chances would be gone. Unfortunately for him, the video was still online. Mostly forgotten about... Until it contained not one but two potential UA students.
4- Nedzu and the six hero course homeroom teachers are on the board of student admissions, but so are two others each from administration, public relations, the school board, and the heroics commission. The top fifty scorers are ruthlessly picked through. The video is watched. Some want to exclude Izuku, some Bakugou, some both. Nedzu would prefer to have them both enrolled in separate classes, but is outvoted. He doesn't warn the board this will mean All Might will not be staying on to teach - he really can't, without telling secrets, but he does warn All Might the next night, and gracefully accepts his resignation.
5- a week after the exams, acceptance and rejection letters are sent. These are simply written on paper. Apparently neither of them are a good fit for the school. No further reason is given. Bakugou spends one day in his room, quieter than ever, then rush applies to other schools. Shiketsu is supposed to be UA's equal. Perhaps their admissions process will be less rigid. Or perhaps his rise to number one is "supposed" to come from humble starts, and Aldera Middle School wasn't that, but some mid rank hero school is. Meanwhile, on the beach, All Might tells Izuku that he actually ended up with the most rescue points in the exam, and his score was high enough to place him in top ten... It was just the screenings afterwards that did it. Perhaps the school was concerned about his health, with him breaking nearly every limb. Or perhaps his incorrect quirk registration was a red flag- either way, it's things All Might blames himself for, Izuku is the one who passed the test, and with only a few hours of having OfA too. So All Might asks Izuku what he wants to do- try for another hero school nearby? Toshinori probably can't get a job there on short notice without being suspicious, but he'll work to train him every day after, and come up with some other excuse for why he's in the field less. Or, should he reach out to I-island? Toshinori's even willing to see about setting up a personal internship with himself or Gran Torino, though he really kinda hopes Izuku doesn't pick that one. Izuku bursts into tears and apologies, having only held them back this long out of shame, they hug, and Toshi tells Izuku to take his time deciding, it'll be all right, because Izuku is here and he has full faith in him, regardless of what UA admissions thinks.
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Consider: the LoV (first version) goes after All Might at some other scheduled event that's supposed to be peaceful and has a lot of civilian collateral. Something that he wouldn't have done if he was using up his time at UA. Like, say, a handshake event. Tactics are a bit different, because it isn't an isolated place, like the USJ. Izuku is still there, regardless of what else he's been doing with his hero education, either because AM invited him or because he's a massive fan who wouldn't miss the rare event for the world. The event is televised, so maybe that's how some of the future LoV get interested: they see Izuku getting beaten up/All Might getting pressured/a cool declaration from Shigaraki/whatever.
Please!
AU where both Izuku and Bakugou are rejected from UA Hero Course.
And to make it juicy. The reason for the rejections is the suicide baiting incident being known by UA. While Bakugou is rejected for obvious reasons. Izuku is rejected for his âown safetyâ and because they wonât trust his psyche went unscathed.
1- The thing about Bakugou is that he was not particularly well liked by his classmates at Aldera. Oh, he had friends, and no one was willing to stand up to him, but plenty of students had grudges about how he acted. They rolled their eyes when Bakugou went on a rant about being the only one who could make it to UA, or his lackeys hyped him up, but then they'd look away without a word when he caught them and glared. No one was going to say he wasn't powerful and couldn't do it, just like they weren't going to say Deku had any chance. Sometimes, capable people are also very annoying, and you just have to deal with that, so the kids did. And if a few were in a small group chat that would sneak pictures or videos to show the kids not in their class and complain, well, that's what the kids did. And then one day, one filmed the conversation after school, after Bakugou threw out the notebook, and posted it publicly, as well as in the chat.
2- nothing came of this. Izuku had either blocked or been blocked by a lot of his classmates online, and hadn't really bothered to look for most of them anyway, so neither he nor Bakugou are aware of the video. The sludge villain sort of happened an hour later, and that's what got the big media buzz- the news couldn't publish the names of the teens involved if they ever even had them, but locally, people at Aldera knew who the kids on tv were.
3- the next year, UA has its recommendation exams. Every student is meticulously background checked before even being accepted as an potential for the exam and interview. A couple weeks later, they have the standard exam. The background checks will happen after this- UA after all has a very prestigious image. Bakugou wasn't wrong that if he took his lackey's cigarette and UA found out, his chances would be gone. Unfortunately for him, the video was still online. Mostly forgotten about... Until it contained not one but two potential UA students.
4- Nedzu and the six hero course homeroom teachers are on the board of student admissions, but so are two others each from administration, public relations, the school board, and the heroics commission. The top fifty scorers are ruthlessly picked through. The video is watched. Some want to exclude Izuku, some Bakugou, some both. Nedzu would prefer to have them both enrolled in separate classes, but is outvoted. He doesn't warn the board this will mean All Might will not be staying on to teach - he really can't, without telling secrets, but he does warn All Might the next night, and gracefully accepts his resignation.
5- a week after the exams, acceptance and rejection letters are sent. These are simply written on paper. Apparently neither of them are a good fit for the school. No further reason is given. Bakugou spends one day in his room, quieter than ever, then rush applies to other schools. Shiketsu is supposed to be UA's equal. Perhaps their admissions process will be less rigid. Or perhaps his rise to number one is "supposed" to come from humble starts, and Aldera Middle School wasn't that, but some mid rank hero school is. Meanwhile, on the beach, All Might tells Izuku that he actually ended up with the most rescue points in the exam, and his score was high enough to place him in top ten... It was just the screenings afterwards that did it. Perhaps the school was concerned about his health, with him breaking nearly every limb. Or perhaps his incorrect quirk registration was a red flag- either way, it's things All Might blames himself for, Izuku is the one who passed the test, and with only a few hours of having OfA too. So All Might asks Izuku what he wants to do- try for another hero school nearby? Toshinori probably can't get a job there on short notice without being suspicious, but he'll work to train him every day after, and come up with some other excuse for why he's in the field less. Or, should he reach out to I-island? Toshinori's even willing to see about setting up a personal internship with himself or Gran Torino, though he really kinda hopes Izuku doesn't pick that one. Izuku bursts into tears and apologies, having only held them back this long out of shame, they hug, and Toshi tells Izuku to take his time deciding, it'll be all right, because Izuku is here and he has full faith in him, regardless of what UA admissions thinks.
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Cracked Clay Cup Chapter 15
@greatbigolhampuckjustforme
.
âOnly one left,â said Danny, uneasily. Working by the process of eliminationâŠÂ If any of the people on this list were his actual, biological parents, as Frostbite had feared, then it was these two. Â
Jazz, obviously, wasnât his mother. Heâd known that from basically the moment theyâd met. Vlad, Frostbite, and Pandora had confirmed that fact, and their stories had matched too well with each other for them to be lying. Unless, of course, the whole trial was a lie and they were all working together, and Danny was hesitant to go down that path. Â
The Observants, too, could be crossed off with ease. The Observants were public and impersonal enough that Danny had remembered them despite his amnesia. Heâd never heard of them having children. And their behavior during his trial⊠well. Maybe theyâd behave that way around their actual children, but Danny doubted it. Â
Vlad hadnât even claimed to be his father. Of course, heâd also heavily implied that Dannyâs biological parents were dead. So there was that. He was also a liar. So there was that. But, again, Danny didnât think Vlad was his actual parent. The Dairy King would have told him if he was. Â
Frostbite and Pandora had also denied any blood relationship with him, although they still both wanted him to pick them. Pandora did, at least. Frostbite had seemed more lukewarm about it. Maybe even cool, to use a pun. Not that Frostbite disliked Danny. He was participating in this to help Danny. Just⊠Yeah. Â
Then there was the trio, which, um. Yeah. Definitely not. Â
So. If his parents were actually involved, and not dead, then they had to be these two. Unless Pandora or Frostbite or Vlad was lying about not being his parent, which he didnât think any of them would do, because that would be counterproductive. Wouldnât it?
Double-think made his head hurt. Â
âYes,â said Clockwork. âOnly Jack and Maddie Fenton are left. Then, when you have seen them, you must make your decision.â
âAnd I can choose anyone?â
âYes. You may choose anyone you wish to choose.â
âHm,â said Danny. He spread himself out over the couch and dropped the file folder on the coffee table. âAnyone, anyone?â
âThat is the policy, to ensure that children are placed appropriately.â
âSo, like, if I decided I wanted to go with the Dairy King but not VladâŠ?â
âThat is a possibility,â said Clockwork. âAs in, you could choose for Dairy King alone to have custody of you, with the understanding that Vlad would likely still be a significant part of his social circle and afterlife.â
âHuh,â said Danny. âWhat if I picked, like, Ember?â
âYou could do that.â
âBut you wouldnât recommend it, huh?â
âMy recommendation is immaterial,â said Clockwork. âI am a neutral party.â
âYeah, but I can still ask you questions. What if I want your opinion?â
âI am not allowed to give it.â
âRight,â said Danny. He looked over the file. âYou know, they have, like, the least stuff on their little cheat sheet out of anyone. Except the Observants. Theirs was really⊠lackluster.â
âIndeed?â said Clockwork, with just the faintest inflection at the end to turn it into a question instead of an agreement.
âMhm.â Jack and Maddie, no listed last name, didnât have much written on their page of the file. Apparently they liked making cookies, stargazing, needlepoint, sewing, and⊠that was it. Nothing about jobs, titles, other interests, other things they enjoyed. Nothing.
The stargazing was a good point, though. Danny was pretty sure he liked stargazing. If only heâd had a chance to do itâŠÂ Ugh. Being stuck inside was getting more and more annoying. Â
Distressing. Â
Almost as distressing as Frostbite thinking that Dannyâs biological parents were abusive. Â
âYou said before, everyone is, like, vetted? So they wonât be⊠dangerous?â
âThat is correct.â
âBut the Observants still were allowed to do whatever it was they were trying to do.â
âUnfortunately, persons who possess authority will on occasion use that authority to put themselves in even more positions of authority.â
âExcept you canât tell me any of your opinions.â
âCorrect,â said Clockwork. Â
âYouâre funny.â
âNot many would say that.â
âThatâs because youâre reallyâ really oblique about it.â
âPerhaps.â
Danny sighed. âI should just go right away, shouldnât I? I should stop agonizing about this.â
âIt is up to you, Daniel.â
âIt is, isnât it?â
Danny made no move to get off the couch. âWhat are you doing over there, anyway?â
Clockwork twisted his hands around to show Danny a net of white string. âIâve taken up lacemaking.â
âUgh, see, Iâve been wasting so much of your time that youâve picked up a new hobby. Thatâs crazy.â
âI wouldnât say that itâs new,â said Clockwork. âLace has been around for a long time.â
âNew to you, then. Like, your original hobby is making clocks, right?â
âI also enjoy candlemaking and gardening. But this,â Clockwork held up the lace, âwas always within my plans.â
âUh huh,â said Danny. Â
âIt is almost time for lunch. You could stay until then.â
âSee? Iâve wasted the whole morning. I came back last night. And that was a day trip.â He sighed. âWhat would lunch be?â
âI was planning on fried rice, using the remaining rice from last night.â
âI thought youâd made a lot of rice that time,â said Danny. âYeah, letâs do that.â
.
Jack and Maddieâs house was⊠Well, it looked like it had been a normal house. The entryway was done up with plain tile, and opened up into a high-ceilinged living room. Danny could see a set of stairs leading up one side of the living room to the second floor, where there were a number of doors. On the ground floor, there was an open doorway leading into a kitchen. Â
That was all fine. However, the walls, ceiling, and floors all looked like theyâd been torn apart and put together again. Sometimes with proper tools like plaster and drywall, and sometimes with cardboard and duct tape. There were dark squares and ovals where picture frames may have hung. He could see an electrical outlet that had been pulled out of the wall and hastily put back in, without all the wires fitting. Near his elbow were the remains of what looked like a doorbell. Bits of insulation hung out of gaps between the original walls and the repairs. Â
It wasnât quite as strange or as messy overall as Ember, Skulker, and Technusâs place, but the contrast was⊠weird. Everyone else was obviously trying to put their best foot forward and had cleaned up or acquired a whole new house. This⊠this was not that. Â
At least, he hoped it wasnât. Because if this was their best, then what was their usual?
He turned his attention to the two humans who had been waiting for him to arrive. They were human. The man was tall and broad, with dark hair. He was wearing overalls over an orange button up. His sleeves were rolled up, and he was scratching at a rash on his arm. The woman was slim and much shorter, her auburn hair cut in a chin-length bob. She had a pale blue blouse on, and dark jeans. Â
He caught their eyes, one after another. Â
âHi,â said the woman, in a wavering voice. âWelcome home, Danny.â
âUm,â said Danny, âhi. Are you Maddie? The file didnât really say which one of you was which⊠or really anything about yourselvesâŠ?â
âYes,â said Maddie, with a painful smile. She looked like she was about to cry. âIâm Maddie, this is Jack. Weâre so happy to have you here. So happy.â She took his hands in hers and squeezed them. Â
âOkay?â He looked around. âSoâŠÂ Youâre remodeling?â
âYes,â said Maddie. âWeâre sorry about that, but all of this came as such a surprise.â
âA big surprise, son,â said Jack. His voice sounded rough, like heâd been crying. âAll of the important things are done, though! Everythingâs safe! Just not very pretty, thatâs all. Just looks different.â
âLike you,â said Maddie, quickly. âNot that thatâs a bad thing, is it? Weâre veryâ The ears and the tailâ Those are new but not bad. This is just like that.â
Danny nodded, hesitantly. âRight. Thatâs cool. So, um.â He looked around the entryway again. âShow me around?â
âRight, right,â said Maddie. âOf course.â
âSorry about that!â said Jack. âItâs just that you grew up here and all. You donât remember that, but itâs hard for us to remember it. To remember that you, er, donât remember.â Jack patted Dannyâs shoulder gingerly.
âYes,â said Maddie. âWeâllâ Weâll do the main floor first, then the bedrooms upstairs.â
The tour of the ground floor went much as expected. He saw the living room, a number of closets (which looked like theyâd been ransacked), the garage (suspiciously empty), a bathroom (strangely untouched), a dining room (dusty), and the kitchen. Â
His initial impression of the kitchen matched his impression of the house in general. Normal, but hastily altered. There was a long strip of torn-up wall near the refrigerator. The microwave was brand new to the point that the box it came in was still sitting next to it. There was a door-sized patch of new wall that matched up with scratches on the floor that strongly suggested the patch had been a door up until fairly recently. Â
This⊠this was suspicious. Should he ask about it? Play dumb?
âNow, up to the rooms!â said Jack, sweeping Danny out of the kitchen. Â
âUsually,â said Maddie, âyour sister Jazz would be here, but right now sheâs away, so itâs just the three of us.â
âWhy?â
âWhy what, Danno?â asked Jack. Â
âWhy is she away?â
âCollege,â said Maddie, quickly. âSheâs a couple years older than you are, so sheâs away at college. The two of you were very close, though.â
âBest friends!â shouted Jack from his position at the top of the stairs.
Well, there was that confirmation. Jazz was definitely his sister. Â
⊠Jazz actually looked a lot like Maddie, so that was also a point in favor of Maddie and Jack being his actual parents. Which, uh. Did being shady run in the family? Did he come off like this to other people? He hoped not. Â
âWhich one was her room?â asked Danny. Â
âThis one,â said Jack. Then he pointed towards a room two doors down. âAnd this is yours! You two shared the bathroom, but sheâs not here, so itâs all yours, too!â
âCool,â said Danny. He slipped past Jack to the door and opened it. Â
The walls and ceiling of the room were a pale blue gray, glow in the dark stars just barely visible in contrast. Posters for bands and spaceships were taped to the wall, some of them in better repair than others. There was a dresser with a drawer sticking part way out, the sleeve of a shirt stopping it from fully closing. Model rockets, most of them clumsily made, sat on shelves beside other knick-knacks. A corkboard on the wall had schoolwork, ribbons, and a few crumpled tickets to movies and concerts pinned on it. A scooter and telescope were propped up in one corner. Â
âThey had us take down your photographs,â said Maddie. âBut we left everything else the way it was. Except for cleaning.â
âSomething about being biased! As if knowing things is going to make you biased! Maybe if weâd knownââ
âJack, honey,â said Maddie. âNot the time.â
âOh, right, sorry, son.â
Danny nodded, then stepped in to walk a circuit of the room. This room, more than any of the others he had stayed in, felt lived in. Like it was a home. Â
But he couldnât forget Frostbiteâs warning. Or the chaos downstairs. Â
âSo, um,â said Danny, before he could wimp out. He held the pocketwatch in one hand. Just in case. âIn the kitchen, you have a door covered up. Whatâs with that?â
âUh, nothing,â said Jack. Â
âJust an unfinished basement,â said Maddie, her smile going brittle and fake. âThatâs all. It wasnâtâ It wasnât safe down there. For children. It wasnât built right. So we decided to just cover it up. To show that weâre prepared to keep you safe.â
There was a mad science lab down there, wasnât there? Â
What if that was where he had died?
Danny swallowed and pasted on a smile. âCool. So⊠what do we do together?â
They stared blankly at him. Â
âYou know, for fun? Or hanging out?â
âWe used to stargaze together a lot,â said Maddie. Â
âAnd weâd go fishing!â boomed Jack. Â
âYeah, but we canât really do either of those, right? Weâre stuck inside.â
âThatâs trueâŠÂ But we do have our movies, donât we? And some games.â
âRighto!â said Jack. âIâll go get the stuff!â
.
The movie they had finally settled on was a space documentary. Watching it was nice, even if the popcorn was a little burnt. Â
Watching Jack and Maddie try to cook dinner afterward, thoughâŠÂ They seemed to keep reaching for things that werenât there, or bumping into each other, like they expected there to be more room, or, well. The food looked presentable enough, but there was a mess. A big one. Â
Still, the macaroni and cheese looked and smelled fine. Â
âOne of your favorites!â said Jack, proudly. âAfter this, weâll have some fudge!â He served Danny a scoop bigger than his head, then took a big ceramic mug from the cabinet and filled it with soda.
Danny mentally shrugged and picked up his fork. If he couldnât eat it, he couldnât eat it. Â
âSo,â he said, after eating a few bites, âhow did the whole ghost thing happen?â
âPardon?â asked Maddie, looking a little pale. Â
âWell, my situation is a bit weird, isnât it? I was just wondering if you knew how it happened.â
âNo,â said Maddie. âIâm afraid not. Itâs a mystery to us, too. Like we said, we were surprised by all of⊠this.â
That was weird. If Jazz knew, shouldnât they know, too?
Or maybe they just didnât want to tell him. Â
He fiddled idly with the mug. There were clumsy, childish stars and moons painted on its side. Â
âDo you like it?â asked Maddie. âYou painted that. We went to one of those pottery places for Jazzâs seventh birthday. You were both so young back thenâŠâ
âI did?â asked Danny.Â
âYou did,â said Maddie. âIf you look at the bottom, youâll see your initials.â
Danny held the cup up over his head and looked at the bottom. The letters DJF were painted on the bottom. Â
âWhat do the J and F stand for?â
âJames Fenton,â said Maddie. âJames was Jackâs fatherâs name.â
âAnd Fenton?â
âOur name. Our family name.â
âHuh,â said Danny. He set the mug back down, but kept his fingers looped around the handle of the mug. It was⊠grounding, somehow, to touch something from his childhood, from his past. âDo you know why this, um, trial was started?â He took another bite of the macaroni and cheese so he had something to do with his other hand. Â
âNo,â said Maddie, quickly. Â
âMaddieâŠâ
âWe donât.â
Alright, then.
It was suddenly very hard to swallow. Â
âWe donât know. We donât know why any of this happened. But weâre so glad youâre with us again. Weâre so glad this is almost over.â
âI know!â shouted Jack, suddenly, making Danny, already tense, jerk sideways in alarm. âWhen this is over, we can go back to that place and make anotherââ
Danny had still been holding the mug, and when he flinched, he took the mug with him. He fumbled it briefly before it hit the ground, interrupting whatever Jack was saying and plashing soda everywhere. Â
âOops,â said Danny, stricken. âSorry. Iâm really sorry, um.â He had telekinesis. Why couldnât he justâ Â
âItâs okay, itâs okay,â said Jack, kneeling and picking up the pieces. Â
âI can do that,â said Danny. âYou donât have toââ
âNo, no, Iâve got it,â said Jack. âWeâll just put it right back together! A little superglue and itâll be as right as rain.â
âIâve got the mop. You just stay there and eat, okay, Danny?â
That was, like, the exact opposite of what he wanted to do. He wanted to do something to help, but something about the situation held him paralyzed.
âYeah!â said Jack, rinsing the shards in the kitchen sink. âWe just need some glue, then weâll put it right!â
âMake sure it dries first,â said Maddie, maneuvering a large mop. Â
âOh, right!â
He put the pieces on a dishtowel and began to pat them off. Danny, slowly, reluctantly, began to eat again. Â
âWhat were you saying before, Jack?â
âOh, I was thinking that we could go back to that pottery place after all this. Make a few new pieces. It looks like weâll need it, huh? What do you think, Danny?â
âUm, it sound like it could be fun?â
âThen itâs a plan! Weâll have to rope Jazz in, too, when sheâs back in town!â
Speaking of JazzâŠÂ Danny had to wonder why she was competing separately from these two. She definitely wasnât at college, after all. Was it because of what Frostbite had said? Or some other rule of the trial that Clockwork hadnât mentioned? Or just a strategy to give the family two chances?
He had no idea how to ask those questions. Â
But then⊠maybe there was something in Jazzâs room? Or even in his room.
âWant to help me put this back together?â asked Jack. âIâve got to go find my tools, so if you could just arrange themâŠâ
âYou both need to eat first,â said Maddie, âbefore our food gets cold.â
âRight you are, Maddie!â
Danny had, somehow, lost most of his appetite, but he ate anyway, knowing that if he didnât heâd be hungry later. When he estimated heâd eaten enough, he pushed aside his plate and went over to the shards of the mug.
It had broken unevenly, which meant that it would be easier to figure out what went where. He started sorting the pieces, and as he did so, he felt himself start to calm down again. Â
Jack ruffled his hair when he was about halfway through, making Danny freeze, his ears canting backwards. Â
âIâve got the super glue!â he said before sitting back down at the table. Â
They worked together to put the mug back together after that, stars reemerging from scattered shards. It was⊠peaceful. Sort of like watching Clockwork work in his workroom. Eventually, the mug was, more or less, together, although the cracks were still very visible.
âThere we go! Just like a puzzle, huh? Howâd you like working with your old man again?â
âIt was good,â said Danny. Â
âYeah, it was good,â said Jack, beaming. âMaybe Iâll show you how to hâ Ahem. Iâll show you how to knit next! I do love knitting. And needlepoint. Fiber art is great, Danny. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.â
âThat sounds nice,â said Danny, smiling. Then he yawned. Â
âOh, wow, youâve got some fangs in there! Thatâs new.â He cleared his throat. âItâs getting pretty late, though, isnât it? You should get into bed. Youâve had a long day!â
Danny wasnât sure how long the day had been, but he was tired. âYeah, that sounds good.â
âWe have your toothbrush and everything up in your bathroom,â said Maddie.
âThanks,â said Danny. âIâll go up, then?â
âWait!â shouted Jack, making Danny jump again. âThe fudge! Canât go to bed without fudge!â
âIâm actually pretty fullâŠâ
âNonsense! Thereâs always room for fudge.â
So, they ate fudge, and then Danny went upstairs to the bathroom. Â
As promised, there was a toothbrush, floss, and a hairbrush already set out. There was a cabinet set into the mirror, and another under the sink. Â
He hesitated for a moment before opening the one over the sink. There was a bottle of aspirin and a few boxes of bandaids, but it was otherwise empty. Next, he looked under the sink. Mostly, there were cleaning supplies. But there was also a large first aid box. It had a bright green stain on one corner. Â
Danny sucked in his lips, then pulled it out and started to look through it as he sat on the closed lid of the toilet. It looked like it had been used frequently. Most of the refillables were mostly empty. Â
What had happened that heâd used so much of this? Because it had to be him. No one else living here would have left an ectoplasm stain on the lid. Â
Frostbiteâs claim was looking more and more plausible the more he learned. Â
He closed the lid and put the box away. He was going to give the Fentons the benefit of the doubt until he got actual evidence one way or another. Frostbite had said that heâd never actually met them. So. Â
Jazzâs room. While he was still mostly awake. It was getting late. Â
He walked through the wall into the room next door. Jazzâs room was⊠less empty than he would have expected, given that she had her own house. But it looked like someone had moved out of the room in an awful hurry. More of the drawers in the dresser were opened than closed, clothing was strewn over the bed, the chair had been knocked over, the desktop computer tower had been opened up and the hard drive removed. Â
Danny searched the room, but didnât find anything but a note in Jazzâs handwriting, something about reminding him of a school assignment. Everything else was just⊠clothing, books, his sisterâs knick-knacks. Nothing important. Â
Defeated, he went back to his room, curled up in his bed, and went to sleep under the fake stars. Â
.
Danny was going to give the Fentons a week, just like heâd given everyone else, unless they did something really unbelievable or dangerous, like the Observants, or forgot to feed him or something. Heâd already decided that, and heâd stick to it, even if they were being sketchy. Â
So, he stuck with Maddieâs frantic baking, and Jack interrupting himself whenever he, apparently accidentally, mentioned engineering or science. He let it go when they dodged his questions about what they did for a living. He knitted with Jack, and watched documentaries and movies, and helped Maddie make lunch and breakfast, and slowly started working through the comics heâd found in his room. He listened to Jack as he monologued about this and that and letting the broken mug âset.â He helped with the âremodelâ as much as he could, and looked for clues about what, exactly, Jack and Maddie had removed. Â
He also searched his own room, but the Observants, or whoever had prepared the trial, had been very thorough when making sure there was no direct physical evidence of Danny having ever lived here. Not only were there no pictures, the schoolwork on the walls was old enough that Danny couldnât say if the handwriting really was his, and it wasnât like heâd found a journal or anything anywhere. There was just a feeling. Â
What he didnât do, though, was look through the walled-off door in the kitchen. Â
If there was a mad science lab anywhere, it was there. And if a mad science lab was here, it was probably where he had died. HeâŠÂ Didnât really want to see that. He wasnât sure he could see that and stay⊠reasonable⊠with Jack and Maddie. Â
But⊠he had to know. Â
So, just the day before heâd âscheduledâ himself to leave, he stood in front of that patch of wall and stepped through. Â
It was predictably dark. But Danny had both good night vision and the ability to create balls of light, so he called one up. Â
The basement wasnât unfinished. It was, in fact, a mad science lab. Â
He hated being right. Â
It wasnât just a mad science lab, though. It was a half destroyed mad science lab. Shelves had been knocked over, machines had been partially disassembled. One area in particular looked as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it and then dumped ectoplasm and something gross and brown on it. He couldnât even tell what some of that stuff was.
And then there was the inactive portal. Â
Danny floated towards it, despite remembering Vladâs warning about his portal. It looked almost exactly the same. Maybe a little less shiny, but stillâŠ
He yanked himself away from it, not liking how it seemed to grab his attention, and floated over to where filing cabinets had spilled over. He grabbed a piece of paper at random and read it. Then he read it again. Finally, he dropped it back onto the pile. Â
Jack and Maddie made their money inventing weapons. Good to know. Â
He floated over to the particularly wrecked area. Was this the result of a weapons test? That would make sense⊠sort of⊠so much of this was just meaningless without context, and he couldnât get context.
There were papers here, too, in a binder half embedded in one wall. Danny pulled it free easily and started to read it. Â
When he realized what he was reading, he almost dropped the binder. This wasâ But it had to be for an animal, a dangerous animal they were hunting, orâ There were animal ghosts. Frostbite even had the skins and furs of a few. Â
Dannyâs hands were shaking. He wasnât sweating. Ghost form was good for more than his looks. But he was shaking. And his tail had fluffed out to its fullest extent. Â
His eyes wandered down the pages, shying away from the worse things, until, finally, he reached a name. Â
It was his. Â
Phantom. Â
He turned to the last page, skipping most of the binder, and readâ
This time, he did drop the binder, and he gagged, too. No. No, that didnât happen to him. He flew backwards, over the bloody mess that hadâ He ran into one of the walls, and an alarm started up, a broken thing, clearly not working quite right. Â
Danny fled up the stairs, through the shut, metallic door, through the hasty drywall and into the kitchen. The kitchen, where the alarm was also blaring, and Jack and Maddie were walking through the door in matching bathrobes. Â
âWereâ Were you in the lab?â asked Jack, uncertainly. Â
âYou,â said Danny, struggling to get the words out. âYouââ
âAre you hurt?â asked Maddie, reaching for him. âDo youââ
âNo!â shouted Danny. âDonât touch me! Donât come near me!â
She backed off, immediately, raising her hands so he could see them. He hated that it did make him feel better. Â
âDanny,â she said. âDanny, I donât know what you sawââ
âI saw what you did. You hunted me down likeâ like an animal. You tried toâ toââ Danny sagged against the counter, one hand clutching the pocketwatch. He should just hit the button. He should hit the button now. But part of him needed to know why. Â
âIt was a mistake,â said Jack. Â
âA mistake? You didnât do that by mistake. You canât just trip and then do that. Thereâs planning there, and preparationââ
âNo, no,â said Maddie, ânotâ We didnât know it was you. You didnât look like yourselfââ
âI donât look like myself now, are you going to do it again?â
âNo,â said both Jack and Maddie, vehemently.
âBut you wouldâve done it to someone else, is that it?â
âThatâs,â said Jack. âNot anymore. Not anymore, son. Weâve made mistakes. We were wrong about so, so many things, but weâre trying. Weâre trying, and we never wanted to do anything that would hurt you.â
âWeâre trying to make amends,â said Maddie.
âBy hiding this?â demanded Danny. âBy pretending you didnât do it?â
âOnly because this is our only chance,â she said. âItâs our only chance, and you didnât even remember. What good would apologizing have done?â
âMore good than this. Why did you even do it?â
âWeâre scientists,â said Maddie. Â
âWe just wanted to know how ghosts work,â said Jack.Â ïżœïżœBut weâve sworn all of it off, forever. We even took out the anti-ghost security system! We donât want to have anything to do with something that hurt you.â
âYou hurt me.â
âPlease, Danny, you have every right to be angry with us,â said Maddie, âbut give this family a chance. We know itâs our fault that things turned out the way they did, butâŠÂ Weâre sorry. Weâre sorry, and we love you, and we want to fix this, and doesnât that count for something?â
âWe want to be a family again,â said Jack, openly crying. âWe want to show you what thatâs like. What it would be like, now that we know. You are our family, Danny.â
âFamily,â repeated Danny, suddenly feeling cold, as if all the ice in his core had built to an unbearable level. Â
He turned around, towards the counter, eyes flicking back and forth until he found what he was looking for.
Danny picked the repaired mug up off the kitchen counter. âThis cup,â he said. âItâs like this cup.â
âWhat do you mean?â asked Jack. Â
âPlease,â said Maddie. âWe know that what we did was wrong, and we want toâ We just wanted to move past it. We want to be a family again, Danny. We always just wanted you to be safe.â
Danny shook his head and turned the sink on. He put the cup under it and filled it with water. That done, he turned off the sink and he set the cup on the counter. It leaked, horribly. Some of the cracks leaked slowly, seeping water. Some, near the bottom, spurted. Â
âItâs still a cup,â said Danny. âBut you canât really use it like one anymore, can you? Itâs notâ Itâs probably not even safe to use anymore, is it? With the glue, and the cracks.â
âBut itâs still something you made,â said Jack. âItâs still something important, isnât it? Itâs worth saving, for the memories.â
âMaybe,â said Danny. âBut you still canât use it to drink. You, um. You have to get another cup.â He wiped tears from his eyes. âYou can remember it, and it can be good to remember it, but it wonât work anymore. It canât be fixed.â
He turned back to them. Â
âPlease, Danny,â said Jack. âDonât go. We love you.â
Danny gave them a tiny, pained smile, then said, âGoodbye.â
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Not even joking by the way.
What does the 'Joe Biden Buried My Dog' website think about Republican VP contender Kristi Noem literally bragging about killing her dog?
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What does the 'Joe Biden Buried My Dog' website think about Republican VP contender Kristi Noem literally bragging about killing her dog?
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Exactly one of the main show-within-a-show cast is on the main monster hunting team. They may or may not also be the only member of the cast who can actually act.
Shoestring budget monster of the week TV show, except everyone directly involved in the show actually does fight monsters.
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The leader when it comes to monster fighting is the stuntman who always stutters when asked to speak on camera. The leader when it comes to making the show is the director. The leader on the show is a classic, eloquent, Kirk-like protagonist.
This naturally causes problems.
Shoestring budget monster of the week TV show, except everyone directly involved in the show actually does fight monsters.
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The characters in the show are, of course, parodies of the real personalities of the monster fighters.
Shoestring budget monster of the week TV show, except everyone directly involved in the show actually does fight monsters.
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The show itself is a combination of plausible deniability, revenue stream (fighting monsters isn't cheap), and a method of disseminating accurate monster-fighting information to the public.
Shoestring budget monster of the week TV show, except everyone directly involved in the show actually does fight monsters.
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Shoestring budget monster of the week TV show, except everyone directly involved in the show actually does fight monsters.
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rings of power
@nephmoreau
Metal clattered against stone and servos strained as the boy in the enchanted armor struggled to force Pariah Dark into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The sounds of the battle outside the keep were faint, but present. Every so often, the cry of someone who could not die being fatally wounded rose up above the din.
The boy pushed again, harder, and the spikes of the Crown of Fire struck the edge of the Sarcophagus.
That was all the excuse it needed to topple from Pariahâs head. Â
There were things it could do and things it could not do. Bound to an object, constrained by ancient law and contract, its actions had to be plausible. Plausible, not necessarily likely. It had had enough of Pariah Dark, and it had no desire to be locked in the Sarcophagus with him again. Â
It might be an immortal entity bound in an inanimate object, and therefore not terribly susceptible to the various ills related to the passage of time, such as boredom, etcetera, but it still had standards. Pariah Dark may have controlled it and the Ring of Range the past several centuries, but getting beaten by a teenager that had no idea what he was doing, and demonstrating such a loss of authority, well⊠Did someone not able to control a teenager really deserve to wear a crown?
The Crown of Fire didnât think so. Â
Now, it wasnât fond of the idea of leaving the Ring of Rage behind, but there wasnât much the crown could do. The ring was firmly on Pariah Darkâs finger. There wasnât much wiggle room there, literally or figuratively. Â
But the crown could hurry their reunion along, one way or another. They always got back together. Â
It rolled away from the continuing struggle, ringing. Its tines chimed against the floor, and the flames singed the stones. Strictly speaking, it should not have rolled. It could float. But, again, plausibility. It wanted to be noticed, so it called out with the only voice it really had. Â
The Sarcophagus slammed closed, the boy practically sagging against it, but there was no key. The crown watched with interest. If the boy was successful, well, it was free of Pariah. If he failed, at least it was with the ring. Â
Then, Plasmius, the one who had freed them, flew into the keep, bearing the Skeleton Key. The crown wouldnât call the key a friend, but it was an old acquaintance, and they acknowledged each other in the only way they could. Â
Plasmius inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it, locking Pariah Dark and the Ring of Rage away. At least, until the crown convinced someone strong enough to open the Sarcophagus and properly defeat Pariah. Â
That would take some time, though, if Plasmius was an example of what was on offer. THe boy might be better, but, no, it could smell weakness on him. The armor, as cleverly enchanted as it was, fed on him and his strength. He would not be nearly as strong without it, and with it, wellâŠ
The boy collapsed. Â
There. That was exactly what the crown was talking about. Â
Plasmius pulled the boy from the armor, checking him for a pulse of all things. Nonsense. The crown stopped rolling and fell with a clatter. Â
Plasmius looked up, eyes falling directly on the crown, as planned. He split a duplicate off himself, then another, and another, until one was holding the boy, one was holding the crown, and the others were lifting up the armor. Â
But that armor⊠hmm. Â
It had been a while, a long, long while, since it had moved. Â
Item spirits, like the crown of fire, were far more akin to hermit crabs than anything else among the living. They grew very slowly, but sometimes⊠sometimes, they got a little crowded in their shells. So to speak. Â
As Plasmius gathered himself together to fly to wherever he called home, the spirit of the crown slowly, slowly pulled itself free. Invisibly, it stretched feelers out to the armor and sunk in, testing it. Â
Oh, yes, this would do nicely. Â
It only half paid attention as Fright Knight approached and Plasmius held up the crownâs old body like some kind of trophy. Fright Knightâs flames rippled in the ghostly version of a sigh. Well, he could keep his exasperation to himself. The crown could do what it wanted. It didnât need a babysitter. Â
.
The crown was having fun being a suit of armor. Of course, being a crown, it wouldnât stay a suit of armor for long, but it would be fun while it lasted. Running around with the ghost boyâs human sister was exciting. More than itâd had in ages. The fake fighting wasnât really itâs style, but, well. Â
The sister wasnât Pariah Dark, and, really, what more could it ask for?
But then the ghost boy was taking his sister, and setting off a self destruct, which, truly, was ridiculous. Why would anyone put that in something they were going to wear? Â
The crown tried to stop it, of course. It should have been able to stop it. But modern enchantments were so strange to it, so unfamiliar. It still didnât understand how they worked. Â
So, instead, it reached out, searching for anything it could slip into, no matter how smallâŠ
⊠and it found something, many microscopic somethings, swimming through the girlâs blood. Â
Nanites, they had been called. Tiny enchanted things, small enough to hide dozens in a drop of blood. They were enough to hold the crown. They had to be. Â
It made the jump. Then, it paced restlessly back and forth in its new home. Better this than being blown up, but still. How tight. How unpleasant. Â
It would make it work. Â
.
Jazz put her hand to her head as Danny flew her away from Vladâs stupid football-themed death arena. Â
âAre you okay?â he asked. âVlad mentioned something about nanobots or nanites or something?â
âIâm fine,â she said. âJust a headache. You didnât mention how loud that thing was.â
âLoud?â Â
âYeah, like something was squealing the whole time.â She shook her head. âItâs nothing.â
âAre you sure?â asked Danny. Â
âIâm sure,â said Jazz, smiling. She rubbed the base of her ring finger. It felt like⊠something⊠something should be there.Â
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Why does this suddenly have 500 notes? Help.
Maybe I'd go faster if you weren't intent on shining the sun directly into my rear view mirror.
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vacation in camazotz
@rgbyshipper101
.
â... keeps going like this, heâs going to end up dropping the house into another dimension again.â Danny sighed heavily. Â
âWell, thatâs not really fair,â said Sam. Â
âHuh? What do you mean?â asked Danny, blinking blankly at her. âThatâs definitely a thing he did.â
âYeah, but that wasnât totally him.â
âHe was pretty tangential, actually,â said Tucker. âUnless thereâs something you arenât telling us?â
âI⊠havenât I told you about the time he sent the house into a parallel dimension?â
âYou didnât exactly need to. We were all there.â
âNo,â said Danny. âWhat are you guys talking about?â
âYes, we were. The whole town was there,â said Tucker. Â
âYou know,â prompted Sam. âVlad pawning the Ring of Rage off on Valerie, you pulling Fright Knightâs sword out of the ground, Pariah Dark.â
âYeah, youâre more related to us winding up in the Ghost Zone than your dad is.â
âOoohhhh, I get whatâs going on. Youâre thinking of a completely different time. The time Iâm talking about is way back in sixth grade.â
Samâs gamer cave (she did not call it that, but thatâs what it was) went quiet enough that the faint hum of the computer screens could be heard. Â
âYour dad sent you guys to another dimension when you were in sixth grade,â said Sam, spinning her chair around and pointing a painted fingernail at Danny.
âYeah,â said Danny.
âThree years before your wholeâŠâ She waved her hand at him. âThing.â
âBefore you got zapped, she means,â said Tucker.
âYeah. So?â
âSo,â said Sam, âwhy is that, even though you knew alternate dimensions were a thing and your dad could get you there, you didnât believe in ghosts and were okay with walking into the portal?â
âOkay, but, look,â said Danny. He put his controller to one side. âThatâsâ Thatâs a false equivalency.â
âSpending time with Jazz, I see,â said Tucker. He was now the only one still playing the game. Â
âShut up,â said Danny. âI know stuff without Jazz telling me about it. But just because one unbelievable thing is true, that doesnât mean that all unbelievable things are true. Besides, the dimension we wound up in was way different from the Ghost Zone. Had nothing to do with ghosts at all. Definitely not something you look at and then go, ah, yes, ghosts exist.â
âBut you knew that other dimensions existed. Even if there werenât ghosts on the other side of the portal, you still couldâve realized that it could take you to another dimension.â
âBut it didnât do that. It just half killed me.â
âBy opening a portal to another dimension in you.â
âAnd?â
Sam glared at him. âYouâre just playing dumb at this point.â
âNeither of you are playing anything, and I think at this point we can just say that Dannyâs dumb.â Tuckerâs computer let out a little jingle as his character completed a quest. Â
âHey! Most of their stuff doesnât work,â said Danny, exasperated. Â
âBut you were messing around with something that they had made work before. Didnât you think that could be dangerous? Or have consequences? Drop you in yet a different dimension? Something?â
âThey said it didnât work. I believed them. And you guys kept hassling me about it.â
âSomeone skipped out on the âdonât give in to peer pressureâ PSAs,â said Tucker, singsong. Â
âYou are not innocent here, Tucker! Weâve all done dumb stuff. Can we drop it? I thought we were playing games today, not playing âgang up on Danny for stuff we all did.ââ
âFine,â said Sam. She picked her controller back up. Danny picked his up a second later.Â
They continued playing the game. Â
Then Sam dropped her controller again, this time in her lap. âOkay, actually, this is going to bother the heck out of me if I donât know. How did your Dad drop the house in an alternate dimension?â
âAnd what was it like?â added Tucker. He, of course, kept his eyes on the game. Â
âWhat was it likeâŠâ said Danny, contemplative. He made his character run around in circles. âHow to explain?â
âStart with how you got there,â said Sam. âGo from there.â
âOkay. Well. It started offâ It was pretty normal. You know.â
âUh, no,â said Tucker. âSending your house to another dimension is not normal.â
âNormal for them. For my parents.â
âDefine normal here. Like, describe it,â said Tucker. Â
âWorking on the portal.â
Sam let out a slow, exasperated sigh. âReally, Danny?â
âWell, it was that or weapons. Do you think their weapons teleported us to another dimension?â
âThey couldâve. The bazooka does,â said Tucker. Â
âFair,â said Danny. âBut, like, they were working on the portal, but then they were going over some of the math - it was wrong, obviously - and they saw that there was, like, there was a, um. There was an âinteresting result.â Supposedly, distance fell out of the equation if you had the right inputs. Something like that.â
âWhich means⊠what?â asked Sam. Â
âThey thought they could make a teleporter.â
âWhat!â Tucker finally whirled away from his monitor. âThey have a teleporter? They made a teleporter?â
âNo. Thatâs the whole point. No teleporter. They messed it up. But, like, they built what they thought was a teleporter. And, of course, as soon as they built it, they had to use it. Mom wanted to do small tests, sending an apple back and forth or something, but Dad decided to jump right into teleporting the entire house, because it was vacation time.â
âYeah, okay, that sounds like your dad,â said Tucker. Â
âDoesnât it? Which is why Iâm worried now, because itâs the same thing all over again, he keeps getting too excited and then doesnât slow down to make sure things work the way theyâre supposed to.â
âYou have no right to criticize that, Mr. Walks Into a Portal and Dies,â said Sam. Â
âI think Iâm the only one who does have the right to criticize it.â
âAnd the dimension?â asked Tucker. âI want to know about the alternate dimension.â
âRight,â said Danny. âWell, when Dad âteleportedâ us, we knew things were wrong pretty much right away. You guys have read a Wrinkle in Time, right?â
âSure,â said Sam. Â
âYeah,â said Tucker. âIt was assigned last year, wasnât it?â
âRight, so, you know the planet with the brain? It wasâ It was kind of like that.â His character died and he sighed. âI suck at multitasking. It wasnât even just the stuff, it was, like, the air was flat. The texture of everything was wrong. Everything was⊠fake? Like a performance, except it was the whole world. Everyone just had these smiles on their faces but they were⊠empty.â
Sam propped her head up on her fist. âYour parents sent you to play outside and didnât notice any of that, didnât they?â
âThey did. But they did notice stuff. Like, all the houses being the same, the creepy skyââ
âThe sky was creepy?â
âSuper creepy. It was like. Segmented. Triangles. Like we were inside a pyramid. And all the roofs were also pyramids, now that I think about it. Just, pyramids everywhere. Really pointy ones. Oh! And gravity was also a pyramid.â
âWhat?â asked Sam. Â
âGravity was a pyramid.â
âWhat does that even mean?â
âIt was a pyramid. Gravity.â
âOkay, okay, I think Iâve got this,â said Tucker. âWhat shape is gravity here?â
âItâs round,â said Danny, âduh.â
âItâs round, so there you go, Sam,â said Tucker. Â
âIt is round,â said Danny. âLike, gravitational fields, theyâre round. But they were pyramids there.â
âWow,â said Sam. âI wouldnât have expected that. Pyramids.â
âSee? Ghost Zone is totally different.â
âYep,â said Tucker. His computer let out another chime. âBy the way, you guys owe me soda now.ââHow did you do that?â complained Danny. âYou werenât even looking at the screen!â
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vacation in camazotz
@rgbyshipper101
.
â... keeps going like this, heâs going to end up dropping the house into another dimension again.â Danny sighed heavily. Â
âWell, thatâs not really fair,â said Sam. Â
âHuh? What do you mean?â asked Danny, blinking blankly at her. âThatâs definitely a thing he did.â
âYeah, but that wasnât totally him.â
âHe was pretty tangential, actually,â said Tucker. âUnless thereâs something you arenât telling us?â
âI⊠havenât I told you about the time he sent the house into a parallel dimension?â
âYou didnât exactly need to. We were all there.â
âNo,â said Danny. âWhat are you guys talking about?â
âYes, we were. The whole town was there,â said Tucker. Â
âYou know,â prompted Sam. âVlad pawning the Ring of Rage off on Valerie, you pulling Fright Knightâs sword out of the ground, Pariah Dark.â
âYeah, youâre more related to us winding up in the Ghost Zone than your dad is.â
âOoohhhh, I get whatâs going on. Youâre thinking of a completely different time. The time Iâm talking about is way back in sixth grade.â
Samâs gamer cave (she did not call it that, but thatâs what it was) went quiet enough that the faint hum of the computer screens could be heard. Â
âYour dad sent you guys to another dimension when you were in sixth grade,â said Sam, spinning her chair around and pointing a painted fingernail at Danny.
âYeah,â said Danny.
âThree years before your wholeâŠâ She waved her hand at him. âThing.â
âBefore you got zapped, she means,â said Tucker.
âYeah. So?â
âSo,â said Sam, âwhy is that, even though you knew alternate dimensions were a thing and your dad could get you there, you didnât believe in ghosts and were okay with walking into the portal?â
âOkay, but, look,â said Danny. He put his controller to one side. âThatâsâ Thatâs a false equivalency.â
âSpending time with Jazz, I see,â said Tucker. He was now the only one still playing the game. Â
âShut up,â said Danny. âI know stuff without Jazz telling me about it. But just because one unbelievable thing is true, that doesnât mean that all unbelievable things are true. Besides, the dimension we wound up in was way different from the Ghost Zone. Had nothing to do with ghosts at all. Definitely not something you look at and then go, ah, yes, ghosts exist.â
âBut you knew that other dimensions existed. Even if there werenât ghosts on the other side of the portal, you still couldâve realized that it could take you to another dimension.â
âBut it didnât do that. It just half killed me.â
âBy opening a portal to another dimension in you.â
âAnd?â
Sam glared at him. âYouâre just playing dumb at this point.â
âNeither of you are playing anything, and I think at this point we can just say that Dannyâs dumb.â Tuckerâs computer let out a little jingle as his character completed a quest. Â
âHey! Most of their stuff doesnât work,â said Danny, exasperated. Â
âBut you were messing around with something that they had made work before. Didnât you think that could be dangerous? Or have consequences? Drop you in yet a different dimension? Something?â
âThey said it didnât work. I believed them. And you guys kept hassling me about it.â
âSomeone skipped out on the âdonât give in to peer pressureâ PSAs,â said Tucker, singsong. Â
âYou are not innocent here, Tucker! Weâve all done dumb stuff. Can we drop it? I thought we were playing games today, not playing âgang up on Danny for stuff we all did.ââ
âFine,â said Sam. She picked her controller back up. Danny picked his up a second later.Â
They continued playing the game. Â
Then Sam dropped her controller again, this time in her lap. âOkay, actually, this is going to bother the heck out of me if I donât know. How did your Dad drop the house in an alternate dimension?â
âAnd what was it like?â added Tucker. He, of course, kept his eyes on the game. Â
âWhat was it likeâŠâ said Danny, contemplative. He made his character run around in circles. âHow to explain?â
âStart with how you got there,â said Sam. âGo from there.â
âOkay. Well. It started offâ It was pretty normal. You know.â
âUh, no,â said Tucker. âSending your house to another dimension is not normal.â
âNormal for them. For my parents.â
âDefine normal here. Like, describe it,â said Tucker. Â
âWorking on the portal.â
Sam let out a slow, exasperated sigh. âReally, Danny?â
âWell, it was that or weapons. Do you think their weapons teleported us to another dimension?â
âThey couldâve. The bazooka does,â said Tucker. Â
âFair,â said Danny. âBut, like, they were working on the portal, but then they were going over some of the math - it was wrong, obviously - and they saw that there was, like, there was a, um. There was an âinteresting result.â Supposedly, distance fell out of the equation if you had the right inputs. Something like that.â
âWhich means⊠what?â asked Sam. Â
âThey thought they could make a teleporter.â
âWhat!â Tucker finally whirled away from his monitor. âThey have a teleporter? They made a teleporter?â
âNo. Thatâs the whole point. No teleporter. They messed it up. But, like, they built what they thought was a teleporter. And, of course, as soon as they built it, they had to use it. Mom wanted to do small tests, sending an apple back and forth or something, but Dad decided to jump right into teleporting the entire house, because it was vacation time.â
âYeah, okay, that sounds like your dad,â said Tucker. Â
âDoesnât it? Which is why Iâm worried now, because itâs the same thing all over again, he keeps getting too excited and then doesnât slow down to make sure things work the way theyâre supposed to.â
âYou have no right to criticize that, Mr. Walks Into a Portal and Dies,â said Sam. Â
âI think Iâm the only one who does have the right to criticize it.â
âAnd the dimension?â asked Tucker. âI want to know about the alternate dimension.â
âRight,â said Danny. âWell, when Dad âteleportedâ us, we knew things were wrong pretty much right away. You guys have read a Wrinkle in Time, right?â
âSure,â said Sam. Â
âYeah,â said Tucker. âIt was assigned last year, wasnât it?â
âRight, so, you know the planet with the brain? It wasâ It was kind of like that.â His character died and he sighed. âI suck at multitasking. It wasnât even just the stuff, it was, like, the air was flat. The texture of everything was wrong. Everything was⊠fake? Like a performance, except it was the whole world. Everyone just had these smiles on their faces but they were⊠empty.â
Sam propped her head up on her fist. âYour parents sent you to play outside and didnât notice any of that, didnât they?â
âThey did. But they did notice stuff. Like, all the houses being the same, the creepy skyââ
âThe sky was creepy?â
âSuper creepy. It was like. Segmented. Triangles. Like we were inside a pyramid. And all the roofs were also pyramids, now that I think about it. Just, pyramids everywhere. Really pointy ones. Oh! And gravity was also a pyramid.â
âWhat?â asked Sam. Â
âGravity was a pyramid.â
âWhat does that even mean?â
âIt was a pyramid. Gravity.â
âOkay, okay, I think Iâve got this,â said Tucker. âWhat shape is gravity here?â
âItâs round,â said Danny, âduh.â
âItâs round, so there you go, Sam,â said Tucker. Â
âIt is round,â said Danny. âLike, gravitational fields, theyâre round. But they were pyramids there.â
âWow,â said Sam. âI wouldnât have expected that. Pyramids.â
âSee? Ghost Zone is totally different.â
âYep,â said Tucker. His computer let out another chime. âBy the way, you guys owe me soda now.ââHow did you do that?â complained Danny. âYou werenât even looking at the screen!â
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Cracked Clay Cup Chapter 14
@greatbigolhampuckjustforme
âI do not believe you have amnesia,â said Ember. âI do not believe you have amnesia. How are you so freakingââ
Phantom beaned Ember in the face with a seat cushion. It might have been soft, but Ember didnât exactly check to make sure that no one put gum under them after concerts. Â
âLESS TALKING MORE SINGING!â Technus shrieked electronically. âNANOBOT ATTACK!â
âNo!â said Skulker. âNot the freakingââ Â
A swarm of robots descended from vents in the ceiling. Toy robots. Brightly colored, with rounded edges. They had lasers. Ones that stung. Â
âOuch!â said Phantom. Â
âAugh!â squeaked Ember. Â
âGoddamnââ shouted Skulker before being borne under the colorful swarm. Â
âBEHOLD, MY ROBOT ARMY!â
Freaking Leeroy-Jenkins-lookingâ
Phantom shoved them to the sides of the room with a wave of ecto-energy.Â
âHey, speaking of that, do you know Vlad?â
âSpeaking of what?â demanded Ember, pulling gum out of her hair. She was going to kill him for that. âFreaking robot armies? Are you going to tell us that Plasmius has a robot army?â
âAND HE DIDNâT BUY IT FROM ME?â
âOf course he wouldnât! Olâ Plaz is a loser but he knows about malware.â
âNo, I mean, like, I learned that move from him,â said Phantom. âAnd, like, it does seem like all of you guys know each other, yeah? Iâm the point of contact, probably, but stillââ
âActually, no,â said Ember. âSkulkerâs been working for Plasmius for ages.â Skulker had also clawed his way out of the robots and was now sneaking up on Phantom rather effectively. Â
Except, suddenly, it wasnât so effective. Phantom twisted, reached back, hooked his fingers under the edge of Skulkerâs helmet and heaved. Skulkerâs head popped off cleanly before soaring across the auditorium. Â
Phantom stared after it for a moment, then shrieked, loudly. âHis head! Oh, gosh, his head.â
Okay, maybe the dipstick did have amnesia. Â
âOh my gosh, I didnât mean toâ His head came off. His head. Is heâ Heâs already dead, is heâ I didnât mean to hurtâ to endââ The main part of Skulkerâs armor fell over with a clatter. Â
âOh my god,â said Ember, flying over to Skulker. The actual Skulker. In the pilotâs seat in the helmet. Usually she wouldnât do this, but Phantom looked like he was about to cry. She picked him up and yanked him out of the helmet. âThis is Skulker. He just likes to stomp around in a suit of armor, âcause heâs compensating for something.â
âHey!â squealed Skulker. Â
âItâs a mecha!â chimed in Technus, proudly. âMy own design!â
âThatâs⊠actually pretty cool,â said Phantom. âBut I thinkâ I think I need toâ Go home. And lie down or something. Have a, um, a good one. Weâll hang out later. Or fight. Yeah.â He hit a button on his weird necklace pocketwatch and disappeared. Â
âWell,â said Ember. âThat was anticlimactic.â
âYeah.â
âKind of was.â
âWanna keep fighting?â she asked. Â
âYES!â
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Cracked Clay Cup Chapter 13
@greatbigolhampuckjustforme
.
âOkay,â said Danny rubbing his hands together. âIâm going to do the big group next.â
âGroup number four?â
âYeah, them. Whyâre there three of them, anyway?â
âYouâll have to ask them that,â said Clockwork. âAu jus?â
âYes, please,â said Danny, reaching for the small bowl of sauce. âYour sandwiches are always really good.â
âThank you,â said Clockwork. âWill you be leaving after lunch, then?â
âYeah, I think thatâll be best.â Danny sighed. âNo offense, but Iâm kind of going a little bit stir-crazy, being inside all the time. I didnât really realize until Pandora said something, but she was right.â
âThatâs quite reasonable,â said Clockwork. âThe trial has lasted for nearly a month and a half.â
âReally? I think Iâve only been with each person for about a week, and thereâve only been four people. Five, if you count the Observants.â
âYes, but youâve spent a good amount of time here as well. Those in-between days add up.â
âHuh. I guess so.â Danny took a bite of his sandwich. âI guess it sort of snuck up on me. A month and a halfâŠÂ So two weeks here.â
âYes, but please chew with your mouth closed.â
âOops,â said Danny, covering his mouth. âSorry.â
Clockwork nodded and patted Danny absently on the head before making a small sandwich for himself. They ate together quietly. Â
âThree of them, though,â said Danny. âAre they all together, or something?â
âYou willââ
âHave to meet them and find out. I know, I know. Should I brush my teeth first?â
Clockwork raised an eyebrow. Â
âYeah, youâre right,â said Danny. âThatâs probably too much effort. But I should put in some effort, shouldnât I?â He nodded. âYeah. Toothbrushing. Toothbrush. One minute.â
.
Danny had been in a lot of places over the last month and a half. A cute little house, two mansions possessed by people with questionable understandings of humanity, a warren of ice caves, an ancient Greek palace, and, of course, Clockworkâs purple place. Heâd imagined a lot of others. Like open skies, broad fields, mountains, islands⊠horrible mad science labsâŠ
However, he hadnât imagined a place like this.
âUm,â he said, looking around the⊠stage? Rats' nests of cables were strewn about in every direction, and next to the curtains hunting trophies were hung. Heads, horns, antlers⊠hair? A tail? Whatever, this was weird, and there didnât seem to be anyone around. âHi?â He stepped forward over a tangle of cables. âHello? Anyoneââ
âBEHOLD! I, TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL TECHNOLOGYââ
Danny leaped backwards, to hover over the seating area, startled by the ghost rising out of the cables. The stage lights came on, spotlights centering on the ghost. He had long white hair, green skin, sunglasses built into his face, and a tattered lab coat. Â
Music blasted out of speakers, rock and roll, screaming guitars, thundering drums and cymbals. A young, gray-skinned woman with fiery blue hair rose up from under the stage. She held a guitar painted with blue and pink flames. Â
âHEYA, BABYPOP!â she shouted into a microphone that appeared in a burst of fire. âWELCOME HOME TO MAMA EMBER, YEAH!â
âHey!â whined the first ghost. âYou said I could do the introductions!â
âI never said that. You said that. I was always going to do the intros. You think Iâm going to leave it to you, when you just drone on and on and on and on andââ
âAs if youâre any better!â
âI come with a sound track, audio jack,â said Ember. Â
âMy god, you two are so loud, and you didnât even bother to introduce me,â said a deep, slightly hollow voice. Danny startled again, twisting to see a ghost completely covered with silvery armor. Â
âI thought you didnât care about introductions,â said Ember. She played a quick few chords on her guitars, then continued to use her music to punctuate her words. âBecause big, bad, baddie, bad, hunky, hottie, hunter Skulker doesnât need an introduction.â She leaned forward over the guitar. âHis name speaks for him!â She started laughing so hard she floated up off the stage. Music continued to blare from the speakers. Â
âI, TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL TECHNOLOGY, CAN TAKE YOUR SO-CALLED MUSIC OFF THE AIR!â
âWeâre not even on the air!â
âI canât believe Iâm associated with these two idiots,â said Skulker. Â
âIâd like to know how youâre associated with me,â said Danny, trying to smooth down his fur. Â
âIsnât it obvious, babypop?â asked Ember. âWeâre youâre parents! Yeah!â Â
âUh,â said Danny, looking at the very strange trio. âI donât know about the other two, but arenât you a little⊠young for that?â She couldnât be all that much older than Jazz. Â
âIâm dead, kiddo. Son. Boy. Little man. I was a teen mom and all that. Totally radical rockstar living.â
âWith, um,â said Danny. His eyes slid back and forth between Ember and Skulker.
âSkulker, duh,â said Ember. âTechy here is Skulkerâs boyfriend or whatever.â
âItâs not whatever. I am his trustedââ
âYeah, whatever.â
âWeâre all dating, except when weâre broken up,â said Skulker, bored.
âOkay,â said Danny. âSo⊠youâre bothâŠâ He shrugged at them. Â
âWhat does thisââ Technus also shrugged, â--mean?â
âI donât know,â said Danny. âYou tell me.â
âHm, the amnesia did not do favors for his intelligence! I liked him much better before! Do you want to see the lab?â
âThe lab?â repeated Danny, backing away from Technus a little more. Â
âIt really didnât help your intelligence. Sad! Perhaps some electroshock therapy might help?â
âHey!â said Ember, kicking Technusâs tail. âWhat did we say about electrocuting the flesh baby? What did that narc say? The tall purple one?â
âI know you know that Clockwork isnât a narc,â said Skulker. Â
The three of them started to bicker. Danny watched in mixed fascination and horror. Â
White hair on Technus. Green eyes on Skulker and Ember. Human-like appearances. A mad science lab. Jazzâs belief that Danny would buy the absurdly youthful mother story. Frostbiteâs conviction that his parents were abusive. Heck, Danny could even see them meeting Vlad in college, if he fudged the ages a little. He didnât have any idea how old Vlad was, after all. Â
Were these his actual parents? Like, his actual, biological parents?
âAnyway, babypop,â said Ember, throwing a hand around Dannyâs shoulder, âwe heard about your predicament through the grapevineââ
âThrough the grapevine? Werenât you just saying you were my mother?â
âYeah, but I was on tour, Skulker was hunting, and Technus was⊠Being Technus. We were, like, estranged. Separated. Because of the whole alive thing. Fell out of touch.â She waved a lazy hand. âAnyway, we heard about the Observants putting you through hell, and we were like, thatâs not cool. So, we put our names in the hat, all that stuff, babypop, âcause we love you, yâknow? And weâre going to have so much fun. Iâll turn you into a proper rocker yet. Youâve got a great set of pipes, kid, and youâve got to use that.â
âBut first!â shouted Technus, at only a slightly lower volume than before. âThe GRAND TOUR!â
Danny took back that thought about the volume being lower. Â
âTO THE LAB!â
Danny cringed away from Technus. This was going to be a pain. Â
.
âOkay,â said Danny, floating a few feet over the floor to avoid the wires. âWeâve seen the stage, the sound room, the⊠conservatory?â
âNever say that I donât have taste, babypop. Youâve got to have a good piano in a house.â
âYeah, then workshop, and the server room, and the lab.â Which had, frankly, been horrifying. Just a massive mess of electronics. The sense of electricity in the room made his hair all stand on end. âAnd the weapon room. Then the⊠hunting. Place. And. Um. Zoo.â Which was also horrifying, but for different reasons.
âYes,â said Skulker, âour space may be limited, but you will soon know the joy of the hunt.â
â... right,â said Danny. âBut, like, is there a⊠kitchen?â
âKitchen?â asked Ember, blankly. Â
âWe donât,â said Skulker. Â
âWe mostly order out, when the great hunter here canât catch anything!â
âCan anyone⊠get in to order out?â
Ember, Skulker, and Technus stared at each other. Â
âCrap,â said Ember, finally. âCrap.â
âWhat?â said Technus. âItâs not like we have to eat.â
âI kind of do.â
âNo, you donât.â
âI do. Everyone else has been feeding me.â
âYeah, no, weâre ghosts, even you,â said Technus. âWe donât need to eat.â
âI can kill off some of the game Iâve already caught,â said Skulker, âif we really need to. Iâd like you to hunt for them, though. A little extra incentive!â
âRight. Sure. Whatever. Bedroom?â asked Danny.
âWe donât need to sleep, either,â said Technus. Â
Fine. Danny wasnât touching that. âBathroom?â he tried.
âGross,â said Ember. âWhoâs spending their afterlife peeing?â
âUh. Me?â
âEw. Youâve got to quit that.â
Danny didnât think that was a thing he could actually quit. He made a face. âYouâre not actually my parents, are you?â
âOf course we are,â said Skulker, mechanically. Â
âOkay, well, that right there, thatâs a lie,â said Danny. âThatâs definitely a lie.â
âItâs not,â said Technus, stridently.Â
âLook, maybe some fighting would knock him out of his funk,â said Skulker. âKnock him right out.â
âYeah, some of that misplaced aggression kind of thing heâs always on about,â said Ember. Â
Danny had no idea what he was talking about. âYou guys do know that if I canât have a place to go to the bathroom, Iâm going to leave, right?â
âMaybe even a good hunt,â said Skulker. âFor old timesâ sake. Give him a good chase, get rid of some of that anxiety.â
Danny really hoped he wasnât related to these three. He grabbed the pocketwatch. Â
âWait, ghost child!âÂ
âOkay, yeah, thatâs not something you call your kids,â said Danny, pointing at Technus. Â
âOh, yeah, yeah, you caught us,â said Technus. âReal sharp of you, ghost child! Real sharp and groovy.â
âOh my god, you donât know what any of those words mean,â said Ember. âStop using them.â
âBUT!â shrieked Technus. âWhat you donât know is that weâre your RIVALS!â
Danny grimaced. âWhat?â
âWe fought you, like, a bunch of times,â said Ember.Â
âAnd⊠now you want to adopt me?â
âBetter us than some of the nutjobs that want you. Weâd just let you do your own thing, hang out, fight a bit when you get touchy about your stupid city, or too wound up about school, all that stuff.â
âBut weâd NEVER make you go to SCHOOL!â said Technus. âI could teach you in the lab!â
âWow, thatâs, uh. Touching,â said Danny. âBut the bathroom thing is, in this case, a dealbreaker.â
âAw, come on,â said Ember. âAt least have a good fight with us, first. Skulkerâs been practically moping since youâve been out of commission.â
âMy latest hunts have been⊠flavorless,â said Skulker.  Danny sighed. âFine. But Iâm going right after.â
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