Chapter Text
Heading to her locker to fill her lilac backpack up with homework, the question ruminating in her head as she did so, solidified into an answer and she went back to the classroom she'd passed by. There was a group of kids clustered up together that were not typical. Not as atypical to see recently, but it was still early enough. The reality show idea was exciting and promising and she had signed up to be some part of the thing, so Heather wouldn't be out of place if any trouble popped up after school with them. Now that she saw them, might as well join them.
Also…the combination of kids she saw in that classroom felt unbalanced.
“Hello!” She greeted the room brightly. “I saw everyone hanging out here to work and thought I'd join.”
Some eyes went to her, others stayed on what they'd been talking about before she arrived, Abby tilted her head at Heather before rolling her eyes up and going back to her conversation with Whitney.
“Hey Heather.” Sam stressed pointedly, then glared over at Star.
Heather tracked Star clocking that in the midst of her conversation with Tucker. Or more words aimed at him full of heavy suggestions and directives. Tucker leaned forward and close, nodding along eagerly, eyes latched onto her. Star did enjoy being bossy and Tucker did stumble over his feet for a pretty girl.
Leaning back in the chair next to Tucker as if he wished to get away, but felt the need to keep an eye on his friend, was Danny. Blue eyes glanced away from Tucker and Star to look over at Heather and flick up his fingers in a silent acknowledgement and hello. Then Star asked for extra input to agree with Tucker's agreement to what she said, dragging Danny right back into it.
Guess that was a combination of keeping an eye on his friend and Star continuing to be mad at Danny for some reason or another. Heather wasn't sure why exactly. But Star tended to be that way.
Chances were high Sam was now on Star’s radar for the moment.
“Oh. Hi. I didn’t realize you were here.” A breathless voice said, pitched a little too high. Heather turned from pulling her homework out of her backpack and onto the table. It was Sandy. Another one that’d been picked to be on the cast. Sandy had been insistent about it too. Heather could guess why. And likely so could her friend Julia.
“Hi Sandy.” Julia barely glanced up from her notebook of everyone’s thoughts and ideas and shaping them to fit together. But when she did, Heather caught her eyes flickering over her glasses towards Danny. “I thought I mentioned I’d be here tonight.”
“Silly me,” Sandy laughed. “I must have forgotten. Well. I can’t wait until it starts. Going out with Phantom. He’s just so…cute.”
The last word fell flat in the silence. Heather offered up a little smile at Sandy. It just seemed so obvious to her that the girl had the biggest crush on Danny.
Readjusting one of her two pigtails, Abby raised an eyebrow up at Sandy, mouth puckering in distaste as she responded. “Riiiight.”
No one else said anything.
“I’ll just…leave you all to work then. Bye.”
Helpfully, Heather waved as Sandy continued on down the hallway, hoping it would cheer up the girl a little. Because Heather didn’t think her idea to make Danny jealous was going to work at all. Or the recent complete change in hair color. Was she thinking he’d notice and compliment it? Couldn’t be that Danny was into brunettes. Heather was pretty observant and in all their shared classtime and his gaze of any potential interest didn’t really show much preference over hair color. It seemed more like he was attracted to confidence than anything else.
“What I really need to work on is everything for midterms,” Danny grumbled to himself. “I did the casting thing with Tucker and those three. I’m only doing general equipment fixing as needed with Dennis and then editing. We don’t need my input.”
“Ah, come on dude! It’s the two of us being the main ones in charge and up in the big letters for it! Right from the start it’s been us!” Tucker cried, grabbing a hold of his friend.
At her own seat with all the contracts signed and now getting down a long list of rules and lines this show ‘would absolutely not cross’ for any of the people involved, Sam snorted.
“Yeah. Cause she knows she can manipulate you two idiots.”
“What was that Sam?!”
Sam slammed her hands on the table and stood up. “You heard me Tucker!”
“All right!” Dale hollered from playing a bloody little stop motion Internet game on the computer in front of him. Dash turned from the computer he had on, with the new SoulRate website pulled up, grinning broadly.
Heather could hear—
“Nerd fight!”
And there it was.
But it worked. At least with Sam and Tucker cooling it off against each other. The room fell back to the usual strained annoyance of those not popular and those that were. But with things like that, lack of unity, was why Heather had been concerned at the imbalance in this classroom.
Star was either holding back or done being upset with Dash. And none of the remainder of the popular kids were picking at Dash about his ‘coming out’ to be part of the cast. They would likely have his back if the other half here said anything about it. That group was more vocal and would unify to push their wants all over this reality show. See, Tucker with Star. And the most likely to push back against that…was mostly Sam. That was it.
Unbalanced.
Still. About Dash. It was still surprising to Heather that Dash had been placed on the cast. Considering it was Tucker, Danny, Ashley, Whitney, and Julia who did the casting. Along with the choice of what kind of show it would be. Heather wasn’t too surprised at the rest picked. Not just all popular or popular adjacent kids. Variety would add something to it. But Dash on the cast with the reality show format they decided on? And with Tucker and Danny holding some say on it? It still surprised Heather.
Shifting from a paper of listed tech over to a biology textbook, Dennis tapped at the book as he read it. “It would be smarter to focus on homework and midterms first. This is wasting time when we will have more free time after midterms are complete.”
“It’ll be fine,” Dash declared. His attention back onto SoulRate again. Missing Dennis and Danny sharing looks and rolling their eyes at that. Heather smiled from opening up her own biology textbook. Like a set with them wearing nearly identical shirts today. “Hey, there’s one up on SoulRate talking about the ghost cold thing a bunch of us got stuck with a while back. Not super new, but the comments are. It looks like there’s a bunch of people kicking up a fuss that it can’t be real. One mentions a cousin. I think they must be related to someone from here and shared it. Another comment brings up Paulina’s video.”
Star’s nose wrinkled. “Sounds like it is getting more views and comments then. All the more reason to do this reality show as soon as possible. Ashley. You’re here from the socials area. Any new name suggestions?”
Julia cleared her throat, looking over at Ashley. The girls had been friends for long enough that words weren’t needed to fill the empty space. Ashley straightened.
“Yes. But myself, Rebecca, and Christian like one that Jazz suggested.”
At the name of his sister, Danny’s eyes lifted up and focused on Ashley.
“Ghost of a Chance.”
Ashley paused, glancing around the room for everyone’s reactions. Then continued on for that possible name choice.
“In how Phantom was reluctant to take part in this, that phrase makes sense for anyone really dating him by the end of it. Which, we all agree, the larger focus is in our daily lives in Amity. With a little dramatic entertainment to catch people’s attention. And those viewers, we hope, won’t be able to ignore the truth of Amity because of this. Being able to see it. So, not a ghost of a chance we’re going to remain ignored by the media surrounding the whole situation. People who see this are going to be asking about it. Digging into things.”
“It’d be very easy to have an episode set up showcasing a ghostly problem, then how it’s covered by the news. If at all.” Julia said as she ticked down one of her lists. “Show both sides. Get what we have been dealing with being taken seriously outside of our city.”
“We'll take it seriously.” Dale reached over with one hand, then swore as he lost his flash game again. But turned to rap his knuckles on the object he reached for. Dash scrunched up his face, glaring suspiciously at the FentonWorks thermos. “We got experience with a few extra gadgets to warn any troublemakers away and a weird little containment thing. Plus, a promise and trust to handle it ourselves, unless we ask for it.”
“Jazz is like, super effective.” Abby intoned as she filed at Whitney's nails.
“Very.” Star agreed.
“True. Hey, sorry dude. It's true. And why she got asked to keep your guys’ dad from driving over here like a mad man ready to blast us all accidentally with goo.”
Danny rolled his eyes up and scowled.
“Plus, you avoid anything to do with them and ghosts.” Whitney pointed out. “I'm thinking sparkles of some sort.”
Nodding, Abby dug through her bag, clinking away until she pulled out a glittering silver bottle of nail polish.
“I wouldn’t mind a little ghost activity right now.” Star tossed out with a little side glance at Danny. Once again, Heather didn’t know why, but she was wondering why. “Be nice for Phantom to give us another ghostly artificial snow day. Get into another fight and use a little too much cold and ice. And like, perfectly timed right on midterms.”
While he pulled a face, Danny didn’t say anything. Likely in agreement considering his earlier comment about needing to work on stuff for midterms.
“We can work on biology together,” Heather said helpfully. “Since me and you and Dennis have that out right now. Then other things. We’re not necessary to any planning right now. Not until filming starts up will any of us really be needed.”
The tense shoulders relaxed on Danny at that, nodding, and quickly turning his body and stuff more toward them.
“Excellent.” Dennis pointed at the biology book’s drawing of a cell. “I keep mixing up the—”
“Children.” Snapped a harsh deep voice.
Heather turned her head with everyone else to look at the doorway. A massive white bulk came in. Followed and filled out with a wall of white suits. She froze, tensing up and quickly glancing through all of them and across the kids in this room. Trying to figure out, fast, as to what the GiW were up to and going to do…and how the reactions might fall for everyone here.
Oh no. This wasn’t going to be good. Maybe they could politely peacekeep them to go away? To not have this go bad. To not have anyone get hurt.
“We’ve been instructed to confiscate anything with a moderate ecto-signature,” the apparent main GiW said. Another one checked his handheld device and pointed over where Dale and Dash sat at the line of computers. And the main operative stepped in their direction, reaching towards them.
With a moderate ecto-signature? The only possible thing would be…
Dash glanced and Dale followed the look, gripping a tighter hold on the FentonWorks thermos and yanked it away.
A chair screeched, boots stomping over and in between the operative and them. Sam. The first to always stand up for what she believed in and fight with others about it. Learned protesting from her parents. If generally, a bit better intentioned as to what she kicked up a fuss about.
“Come back with a warrant.”
“We have the legal authority—”
“Legal authority my ass!”
Chaos erupted. Shouting and standing and screaming. A few ducking back. Bellowing and threatening and menacing their way forward toward the object of interest.
“No, no! This is our way to help with security if we run into issues with ghosts possibly ruining our reality show we’re going to make! So we can show that Amity—”
“That is not up to you children. Hand it over. We have readings that it is giving out high enough readings that it is washing out this room. Making the Fenton relation reading even higher. Where did…”
“Ha! Like Fenton hangs around anything related to ghosts.”
“Smart of him to—”
“Readings.” Tucker said lowly beside Heather, Dennis, Abby, and Julia keeping themselves out of it. Danny had already noped right out of there pretty quickly through the side door as soon as he could manage. “If I could get my hands on their tech, I could dismantle and destroy anything to give them helpful readings like this anytime soon. Communication, information. Boom. Take the whole system out.”
Abby snorted, eyes wide in revulsion. “Don’t look at me geek boy. I’m not going anywhere near that. I’d rather get out than get close. Should have been fast enough like Fenton before those two agents blocked both doors.”
Julia tightly clutched her notebook, clipboard, and binder of all the reality show things to keep everything organized. Not moving to do anything else but to protect her, and Jazz’s work. Heather could see the point of that. While it could all be gathered back up or rewritten, it would be concerning if that information made it into GiW hands. They could use it to their advantage. Go after the ghosts they had involved in the project. Keep them from doing this well so it wouldn’t reach out to the world. When that was the point of doing this.
Dennis was wide eyed and shaking his head ‘no’ so hard his glasses nearly slipped off his nose. Then looked dismayed as one of the computers along the side of the room crashed to the floor. And panicked, head swiveling to look to the corner of the room where he had camera equipment on a cart.
“None of us are going to be able to get to that to record them being here or use the computers safely to do anything like that Tucker.” Dennis’s eyes narrowed. “If they destroy the equipment that I checked out to test and got the approval to use them for the long term… I’m dead. There’s no way I’d be able to—”
“I’ll go,” Heather offered. Their heads turned to her. Tucker’s were hopeful. She smiled back. “Yeah. Just tell me what you want and I’ll go get it from them. I’m pretty good at getting in and out without much notice. And they have other kids to worry more about right now.”
Their eyes all went back to the screaming and shouting and pushing and kicking and everything going on with those all wrapped up in the midst of madness.
“Excellent. And don’t you worry about the lack of computers, Den.” Tucker grinned, triumphant and wicked. “For I’ve got Patricia in my pocket. Okay. We want something that connects to everything. Those handhold devices for readings the one guy had before, there is no way that’s the only one. Hopefully he’s just the guy in charge of that device, not that it doesn’t connect. I’m pretty sure it does from what I’ve seen before with them. Grab that. And to be sure, it’s a guarantee that their watches have limited ability to do the same, but also they do use them for communication and information sharing. Ugh. Such brilliant tech and this is what they use it for. Figures. Forget grabbing a watch off of their wrists. See about one of their cell phones. Or a tracker. Everything is connected.”
Heather flashed Tucker a thumbs up and smile, then made her way around the side of the room, going up behind the GiW. Sliding in behind one operative who was distracted in loading up some device. A weapon? It kind of looked like a net. So either for them or to snag the thermos from them. Fingers reaching out, Heather’s hand hovered to steady and line herself up, then snagged the cell phone peeking out from the operative’s back pocket. Holding still. The operative continued on, finishing up with loading his device. She slid a step back.
“Hey! Net!” She cried out the warning to what the GiW held, then darted away to dive back under the table.
Dale pushed off the FentonWorks thermos to another kid, continuing the game of keepaway, and took a set of stuttered steps and swung his foot up at the device loaded with a net. “Punt! Ha ha! Football for the win!”
That was an effective way to deal with—
Gasping, Heather cried out.
“Holy. Shit.” Someone in the room breathed out.
For with a step forward in his massive bulk and swing of his arm, the operative had clotheslined Dale to the ground like a stunned fish struggling for air.
“Oh. These dudes in white are going down.” Taking the cell phone from Heather, Tucker connected up his PDA to it, fingers flying, face intense and fully concentrated.
Heather slid herself in front of Tucker, blocking him from immediate sight. She was going to help as best she could. It may not be impressive or big, but she could always help and so she did.
Swallowing, Dennis scooted his way over to another side of Tucker, eyes flickering around the room for any danger that might take notice of them behind the table. Julia stole the closest person’s backpack to shove the reality show stuff inside and sat on it on another side of Tucker. Face pinched in terrified disgust, Abby rolled her eyes and reluctantly shifted so Tucker was covered from all four sides.
“You children can make this easier for yourselves if you hand that over to us so we can handle it.”
Sam snorted. “Handle? Please. I don’t trust you—”
“And as for some advice, we highly suggest you all rethink your attention on creating a…frivolous piece of film. Direct your attention elsewhere. To schoolwork and grades and afterschool jobs to take up your time and build you a proper future life for when you become adults.”
So this wasn’t just coincidence as Heather suspected. This was interference. There was something to what Star had been going on about. To Sam’s loud words against the group and their handling of ghosts. While there’d been enough interest and Lancer wasn’t the type to discourage, especially with the more influential kids, he did seem wary in setting it up and pushy in his rules to follow while doing this project underneath the umbrella of school.
That was…
Any word to complete that was all unnerving.
“Yeah. Screw any dudes dressing in all white. Oh my god,” Tucker breathed out. “They have everything connected. Everything. I can get into their weapons, are you shitting me tax dollars I don’t pay? Oh, you morons are going down faster than the Titanic and easier than me in gym class.”
Star slid her way forward, sliding her hair smoothly behind one shoulder, holding composure and chin high.
“I do believe we are. In that we are building the lives we desire to have once we are adults. And you are holding us back. Anything we are doing inside this classroom, inside this school, is for our own education and growth for our futures. Approved. Managed so we might proceed. Such as the FentonWorks thermos you are attempting to swipe from us to misappropriate. This was already handled, worked out, and handed to us for our use. If you take…issue with that, please feel free to set up a meeting with our vice principal and superintendent and the owners of FentonWorks employed by the city of Amity Park. We have their approval in doing this project and having such items.”
“But not the city or government. We hold more right than any mere children in this matter. Stand down or be forced to stand down.”
All that got the GiW operatives was a burst of profanity and a few middle fingers.
This wasn’t going well.
Heather glanced at Tucker hidden behind her and covered by Dennis, Julia, and Abby.
“How close are you?”
“I need a minute. They may be morons in having it connected, but it still takes time to… I’ve got to do, hold on.”
“But not more than me.” Interrupted a familiar echoing voice as Phantom slipped through the classroom wall and over the table their group was crouched behind. Heather watched him fly over and past them. She was glad of something to give Tucker more time, but fairly sure Phantom showing up wasn’t going to help the situation at all. “I believe I hold more right than anyone else here about ghosts in my city.”
Weapons flashed up and out fully into the open.
“Inviso-Bill!”
“It’s the ghost boy, sir!”
“This is not your city, ghost!”
“I am only here to collect the ghosts contained and to assist them in their return.”
“Whatever it is that is contained inside that device is property of the government! As are you! Fire!”
“Get them!” Bellowed out Dash.
And everyone rushed the GiW operatives, leaping onto them and diving for knees to stop and block them from taking any shots. Dale flopped breathlessly on the floor and wrapped his arms around one of the operative’s legs. Clinging on like a limpet.
“Stand down!” Phantom directed as he flew in, grasping a hold of Ashley to tug her to let go and get off the back of the main operative. “I am here for only those ghosts, not for any more there may become. I will not take part nor bare witness to—”
Not caring, perhaps even taking advantage of the fact, one of the operatives fired point blank at Phantom while he carefully pulled Dash apart and away from another operative.
Both went flying, smashing and crashing and breaking multiple computers along the wall, Phantom half curled around Dash to absorb most of the impact.
Heather wasn’t alone in screaming.
Phantom had only been trying to help. Even if his showing up may have made it worse, he had been trying to help. To grab the object of GiW interest and the ghosts inside, to get them away from the classroom. The goal clearly being to keep them safe and out of the ghost related problem. To handle things with other ghosts as he always set out to do.
Pushing himself up from the floor, careful in how he shifted his body after the hit and careful around the busted computer towers and sharp broken glass monitors, Dash hissed and turned his head to Phantom. He got two feet under himself, standing somewhat upright. And. And like others could see in the classroom now…
Heather was able to see that Phantom had taken more than most of the impact. He'd taken the brunt of the hit too. His body rolled and curled up and arched and spasmed, the entire back of his black suit in tatters and bleeding and a scattershot of little holes that went right through him. They’d seen Phantom get injured and look like nothing happened the next time, ghosts affected and healing up differently than what they were used to. But anything before was minor. Not something as major looking as this.
“Oh yeah. I’m not letting you keep that new toy working,” Tucker snarled under his breath as Heather heard his fingers picking up speed behind her.
“Oh fuck man. Shit. Fuck’em. Fuck—”
Automatically, Heather wasn’t sure how helpful it was or if it was the right thing, but Dash reached a hand down to grasp a hold of Phantom’s hand to pull the ghost up. With a cry, Phantom phased out of the hold with a yank, rolling across the broken computers and holding up both arms in front of himself. Shielding himself from any hands or hits all in one.
“Get out of the way, kid.”
Heather moved.
Falling from the push and gasping loudly as he clenched his side, Heather slid herself into where Dash had struggled to stand up after that.
“No. He was only trying to help. To get the ghosts back home safely. Leave him alone. Stand down. Or we will stop your whole operation.”
“Kid. No one is going to believe anything that any of you say.” The operative smirked at Heather. “No one has for a long time.”
“This isn’t about us talking.” She said, shifting and keeping herself wedged between Phantom and him. Glancing over toward Tucker to see if he’d managed to have enough time yet. Tucker held up a hand for Heather, while his other kept moving on his PDA. “This is a different matter of communication. And Patricia has stepped in to say ‘no’. No more communication, information, tracking, or weapons for you and your department’s system. In five.”
“What?”
“Four.”
“Surround Tucker!”
“Three.”
“Get the nerdy child! He’s got our tech!”
“Two.”
Heather could hear Phantom faintly laughing at the GiW behind her. And she smiled.
That’s right.
“Forget him!”
“One.”
“Get it now!”
And, as mindful as Dash before her, the operative swung his weapon up to fire right at and through her to get Phantom.
Heather heard Tucker celebrate and then—
“NO!”
—no more.