Chapter 12

Shock (adj): of, relating to, or being a criminal sentence or condition of release involving participation in a program of vigorous physical training, discipline, regimentation, and rehabilitation therapy

…..

Or, Sam and Tucker's feud could get ten times worse. He was absolutely amazed to see that there were two different protests occurring, one for meat and one for veggies, in front of the school when he arrived the next day. "You guys put together two protests in one night…?" he asked them rather uncertainly.

And, immediately, he regretted asking that. Both of his two good friends decided that there were going to tell him how by explaining the assets of their chosen foods. Then, they demanded to know which side he was on.

Although he would never admit this to his friends, he was quite glad when the disembodied laugh came from the sky and drew all the meat towards it. It saved him from having to answer that question, which was definitely a good thing, even if the owner of that voice was not.

As the Lunch Lady showed herself, the people in the two crowds began to panic. After a quick mention to his friends, he got the two to hide him for a moment as he transformed. As soon as he was done, he flew up to the angry ghost.

There was one other thing that crossed his mind as he got ready for round two. Hopefully his school wasn't going to be stupid enough to attempt to reuse the meat that the ghost stole. Although he was used to food contaminated with ectoplasmic energy, he was pretty sure that no one else was.

…..

For a moment, it looked like his volley of punches and kicks worked, as the ghost fell over. However, he managed to let his guard down for one moment, and she managed to hit him so hard that it caused him to fly through a plane that was traveling overhead. He righted himself just after he passed through it, and headed back towards the fight, again, passing through the plane, grabbing a glass of water and splashing it in his face in the process, most likely frightening the person who had been holding it.

He flew as fast as he could down towards the ghost, who was in her 'meat monster' form, and crashed into her, somehow causing an explosion large enough to cause a crater. As he pulled himself out of it, the Lunch Lady appeared in front of him. This time, she was in her normal form.

"Oh dear! What a mess," she exclaimed sounding, once again, much like a grandmother would. "Are you okay?

That was a little odd, but he went with it as he cradled his one arm. "Yeah… I think so." That attack was probably not a good idea, now that he thought about it.

"Tough!" the ghost yelled at him while going into a towering fury. "Because you being okay is not part of my balanced diet of doom!" She then summoned some more meat, but instead of attaching to her, they formed into five miniature versions of her monster form.

He leapt up into the air, which caused the five creatures to follow him. With a simple kick, he managed to destroy all of them. However, his feelings of victory were quickly crushed as the creatures reformed. "Wasn't expecting that…" he said to no one as he tried to figure out what to do with an enemy that he probably couldn't beat. And, to make matters worse, his symptoms decided to turn him back into a human. "Or that…"

The meat creatures didn't give him a chance to even think about what to do next. They grabbed him and took him into the air. He had no idea where they were going to take him, but he definitely knew that he wanted no part of it. But, before he could think of a plan, he was struck in the face with something hard.

After grabbing the strange object, he realized that it was the Fenton thermos. Maybe this was a good thing. It was supposed to be able to trap ghosts, but his dad said that it didn't work. But, he would have to figure that out later since the creatures decided that it was a perfect time to drop him.

Just before he hit the ground, he managed to change back into his ghost form. As he flew into the ground, he called out and thanked his parents, who had decided to come onto the school grounds for some reason. That was another thing he was going to have to worry about later. His parents were ghost hunters; he was a ghost. That was a bad combination, but that was going to have to wait.

He had a ghost to stop .

…..

Going underground to create a shortcut for himself, he managed to sneak up on the Lunch Lady. She glared at him as she noticed the thermos in his hand. "No! Soup's not on today's menu!"

"I'm changing the menu, permanently!" he shouted in a confident voice, even though he pleaded with the thermos to work only a moment later. He opened up the device and pointed it at her while concentrating. For a moment, it felt like some of his energy was flowing out of him.

The next thing he knew, a beam had shot out of the thermos which managed to suck the Lunch Lady into it. After looking around of a moment, to see if it was really over, he reverted back to his human form and capped the thermos. It was finally over.

"What happened? Where's the ghost?" Sam asked him once she and Tucker had come over.

He smiled as he glanced at the thermos in his hands. "My parents have their moments," was his answer. A noise caught his attention, giving him just enough time to hide the thermos behind his back as his parents rushed over.

"Ghost directly ahead," he heard a voice say. Great, they had decided to bring the Fenton Finder with them. "You would have to be some sort of moron to not notice the ghost directly ahead."

Apparently, not only was the machine accurate, it was rude. His parents gave him a puzzled look as they tried to understand why their son was where their radar said a ghost should be. He guessed he should be thankful that they were still in the dark, but it was still a bit uncomfortable.

"Sorry, Dad," he told him while putting on the most honest expression that he could muster and gesturing behind him. "You just missed him."

That was apparently all his parents needed, as they ran off. His dad's shout of "We got a runner," definitely amused him.

A strange look from Tucker got his attention, which earned his friend a confused look. "So, you're not gonna tell 'em?"

He smiled as he shook his head, surprised that after everything that happened, his friend had remembered that conversation. "Nah. I think I might have finally figured out what these powers are for," he told him, which caused both of his friends to give him a startled expression. "They make me…"

There was no chance to finish his sentence as a hand grabbed him. "In a world of trouble…" Lancer finished as he glared at the boy.

…..

The punishment wasn't too bad. He, along with Sam and Tucker, had to clean up the mess from the two protests and the Lunch Lady. Though, after they were finished, he was not too sure if his appetite would ever come back. Meat doesn't smell very good once it's been allowed to sit in the sun for a few hours or longer.

Although he had wanted to head back home when they were done with the clean up, he knew that he had to face his friends first. There were too many questions that needed to be answered.

"I still don't understand it! Why didn't you tell us that you can fly?" Tucker demanded of him, practically as soon as they were off the school property. "That's like the best power in the world!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, it is pretty cool."

Sam raised one of her eyebrows as she gave him an accusing glance. "Oh, it's cool now? What happened to you hating your symptoms?"

"Didn't you hear him earlier, Sam?" Tucker's voice was now full of excitement. "He called them 'powers' not 'symptoms'."

"Well, Danny, what brought about this sudden change?"

He put his hands behind his head and glanced up at the darkening sky for a moment before he answered. "I… I really don't know. At first, I just wanted to make sure that you guys weren't hurt… But, after a bit, I began to notice that… it just seemed to feel right. I'm the only person who could have stopped that ghost, and I think that I was already aware of that, even if I didn't admit it."

Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "That's a pretty big commitment. Do you think you're up to it, Ghost Boy?"

"Ghost Boy?" He definitely raised an eyebrow at the new nickname.

She grinned at him almost devilishly. "It fits."

"Not really…"

"Why not?"

Tucker just laughed. "It's probably because he wants to be referred to as a 'ghost man', not a boy." He glared at his friend, even if he was right.

That just caused Sam to join in with a laugh of her own. "You're not there yet, Danny. Maybe once you get a little more practice. Wait, who am I kidding? You need a lot more practice if you want to be taken seriously."

"Hey!" Was this pick on Danny time or something? Hadn't he saved their lives no more than a few hours ago?

Tucker nudged him in an attempt to get him to laugh. "Lighten up, Dude! We'll be here to help you so that you won't embarrass yourself in front of the girls." Before he could even reply to that, Tucker brought out his PDA and began doing something. "Starting tomorrow, we begin 'operation: training'!"

He just looked at his friend before he just started laughing hopelessly. "Remind me why I agreed to this again?"

He could already tell. Tomorrow was going to be the start of something shocking. He wasn't sure if that was going to be good or bad. But, after what he had gone through in the last month, maybe another little shock wouldn't be too bad.

FIN

Thank you so much for reading and for reviewing! I definitely had fun writing this, even if it was something that I had never expected to happen. It also seems really appropriate that I got the last chapter out on the year anniversary. Funny how things like this work.

What's more funny (at least to me), is that this was originally going to be a one-shot, but as you can tell, it kinda developed a mind of it's own.

Although I don't want to get your hopes up too much, I am currently starting on a new DP project that I'm hoping to get up and running. It's definitely going to be a challenge to write, but I'm really excited for it. So, please be on the lookout.

And, with that, I bid you a fond farewell! Until next time,

Ayamari no Goshi