Hey, everybody! How're things? I suppose it's been a little while since the last chapter, but ideas come and ideas go… And I finally came up with an idea or two for this one, so please relax and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

Chapter 14: Ghostly Misdirection

Danny Fenton was concerned.

It wasn't about any upcoming school projects or nearly due homework assignments. It wasn't about whatever mischief his beloved girlfriend, Ember, might be up to at the moment. It wasn't even about the track record of weird shenanigans typically brought forth by his parents' scientific tinkering. No, those matters were merely mundane worries constrained to the back of his mind compared to what was bothering his infamous hero complex.

It was the sixth night of his usual patrol around the city as Phantom where there was actually nothing to report. No evil ghosts, no attacks, not even any human crime that Amity PD could easily deal with. Normally, one would consider this a reason to relax a little. Perhaps the forces of evil had finally learned and resigned themselves to their fates of roaming the Ghost Zone for all eternity. But to Danny Phantom, he couldn't just drop his guard, just like that. He had seen too many villainous schemes attempted to come to fruition to relax this soon. Did his remaining foes decide to team up and become a powerful faction of evil? Was somebody planning something big and everyone else knew enough to stay away?

The experienced hero should be more concerned about something like the upcoming school prom at his age. Although, that wasn't too much of a problem for him. He obviously had his date all set by default. As much as Ember detested some of the music she believed would most likely creep into the dance's setlist, she had to admit that she had never lived long enough to attend her prom… As cheesy as it sounded, she wasn't going to pass up the experience of going with someone she loved. The only problem Danny foresaw was the potential of being swarmed by fans. But that bridge would be crossed when they get to it.

For now, Danny was much too lost in his thoughts about what his numerous nemeses were possibly doing. He didn't even realize he had actually arrived back home until he felt some sort of fabric being thrown against his face.

"You okay, Baby-Pop?" Ember asked, chuckling slightly at the fact that her favorite 'love slave' had completely zoned out as he phased into his bedroom. She had elected to phase her own bra off through her top and throw it at his face to get his attention. Her amusement grew when Danny noticed what she had thrown at him, his cheeks slightly crimson.

"Y…yeah. Yeah. I'm okay. I've just been thinking." Danny replied, still not feeling 100% in the moment.

"No crime tonight either?" Ember guessed. She had noticed him coming back from patrol feeling concerned rather than relieved.

"Nope. Honestly, I'm worried. What if something big's about to happen? I mean, it's happened before. Remember SkulkTech? We hadn't heard from either of those two in a while and what happens? Bam! Fusion power. And let's not forget the Vlad incident." Danny rambled, his girlfriend's question flipping some sort of switch in him. "It's like that old movie line about it being too quiet. Something's gonna happen and somebody might get hurt if I don't stay vigilant."

Ember sighed. While she appreciated his dedication toward their relationship more than his dedication to guard Amity Park, she gave as much respect toward his heroism as a morally-questionable lover could. Even so, this was one of those times where his stubborn focus on his job worried her. After all, unknown to him, the lack of villainy wasn't some prelude to some penultimate grasp at world domination...

It was time for her to come clean. She went up to her now-pacing lover and gently yanked him over to his bed, causing him to stumble onto it with her standing before him. "Oh, Dipstick of mine… You need to relax. In fact, you've needed to relax for some time now. I've noticed that you seem a bit stressed out… Oh, don't try to deny it. How long have we been in each other's presence? I'm learning how to read you, Baby-Pop. You more than deserve a nice break. So… I had secretly made some arrangements."

Danny's eyebrows raised as he wondered what she meant. "Arrangements? What, like a Christmas Truce kind of thing?"

Ember smirked. "Not exactly. It's the kind of arrangement where our usual assholes aren't exactly in on the joke. Besides, we both know certain people would never agree to a break outside of Christmas and would just keep showing up. So... let's just say that ol' Clocky and myself have taken the liberty of tinkering with your Ghost Portal. Specifically, the Zone's end of it. Jerks can go through it, but they ain't entering Amity." She trailed off as she contained some laughter.

"You messed with the Portal? Wait… CLOCKWORK messed with the Portal?" Danny was actually surprised that the cryptic time lord would actually participate in something that reeked of Ember's rebellious nature.

The rocker shrugged. "Eh, I needed someone knowledgeable and I didn't wanna bother your parents about this. I wanted this break to be a complete surprise. You notice how calm things are after a couple nights and maybe start feeling… ya know, looser. Like you can just be Danny Fenton for a while instead of feeling like you have to be Phantom 24/7…"

Danny felt touched by his girlfriend's gesture. Now that she had brought it up, he had been feeling drained more often these past few weeks, even with the rest of Team Phantom's help with patrols and crime-fighting. But a superhero's job was never done, as they say. So he endured.

The blue-haired beauty continued, thinking that his silence may have been something else. "…And I'm thinking that this could be my way of saying… that I'm sorry. I've been kinda thinkin' myself for a while and remembering all the things we've been up to since we started dating and I know there have been some times where I've been a pain to you… So, I'm sor—" Danny cut her apology off by leaning up and planting his lips on hers in a brief but passionate kiss.

"Ember, stop. I've bugged the hell outta you sometimes too. You've got nothing to apologize for. Well, unless you wanna hear one from me about my mistakes." Danny said, laying back down and pulling her down onto the bed with him. She ended up laying on top of him.

"Dammit, do you have to be such a boy scout about this?" Ember scolded, despite failing to keep a hint of laughter out of her voice.

"Hey, we both knew what we were getting into when we started dating. I'm the upstanding hero that saves the day and you're the devious songstress who controls minds and occasionally steals." the halfa pointed out, flashing a cheeky grin up at her.

"You weren't so upstanding that one time you brought up my parents." Ember jokingly chided, playfully taking advantage of her current position by placing her hands on his shoulders and holding him down, acting as if she was going to get upset again about that past incident.

"Touche. But that's kinda my point, I think. You don't have to apologize for being you. Things happen. Couples butt heads. We just gotta work through it." Danny responds, waiting to see what she was going to do next.

"That sounds relatively mature for a high-schooler, Baby-Pop."

"Side effect of being a young superhero, Flame. You grow up a little quick."

"And there's the cliché… but I'll give ya that one." Ember said, smiling down at her Phantom before yanking his upper half slightly off the bed to kiss him. Naturally, things escalated to a make-out session between the two, with Ember already feeling that Danny was beginning to actually relax. He wasn't so tense anymore and he seemed more into the kissing than he had been in recent weeks.

After a half hour of kissing and cuddling, Danny had a question as he spooned against his musical lover. "Ember? Uh… Just where exactly did you and Clockwork send anybody that tried coming in through the portal?"

Ember snickered, sounding like she was taking pride in outwitting someone. "Oh, just here and there. Let's just say that they could use a break too."

The first day of Ember's plan…

Three ghosts were standing around, mostly seething in subdued anger. Even the third ghost's natural ability to feed on the growing supply of misery around her at the moment didn't subdue her own annoyance about the situation. Finally, one spoke…

"This is the worst town I've ever been in…" Walker grumbled.

"Yeah, you're telling me!" SkulkTech piped up, his own fury getting the better of him. "I mean, a metropolis that's just named Metropolis? What kind of lackadaisical thinking is that to name a city?! And not to mention, the people in it… How the hell does this Lex Luthor guy keep his money when he clearly has a criminal record this long?!"

Spectra decided to cut in. "And don't get me started on this Superman guy that's been flying around. Not too long ago, I spotted him just wandering around in a suit and glasses. It's fairly obvious that's him! Really?! Glasses are enough to hide an identity?! The people here are DUMB to not see that! Change your hair, get a mask, SOMETHING!"

"Why do I feel like I've heard that particular problem before?" Walker pondered, having this eerie feeling of déjà vu. "Ugh, either way, who the hell needs this dump?! If I had my way, I'd arrest every person here for creating this terrible eyesore of a town! Now I can't wait to go back to the Ghost Zone!"

"Dammit, let's just find that portal and go home! Maybe that brat's portal's just glitching out and we'll terrorize Amity tomorrow." Spectra grumbled. She knew better than to wreak havoc here, as she had seen what this Superman hero could do in battle.

"Yeah, I'm done." SkulkTech agreed as the three ghosts floated off.

The second day…

"This is the worst town I've ever been in." Walker stated as the three ghosts watched the fight that took place a block ahead of them.

"I thought Metropolis had a bad name, but Townsville? TOWNSVILLE?! How'd that get approved?! Was the founder brain-dead or something?! UGH!" SkulkTech raged. "And I thought we had it bad by getting our asses kicked by high-school brats. These so-called villains are having problems with KINDERGARDENERS! These 'powderpuff girls' or whatever the hell their name is… And look at what they're fighting! A super-intelligent monkey!? HA! I could take that ape's pelt with one hand deactivated behind my back! What trash!"

"Totally agree. The only thing I find tasteful about this pathetic town is that devil guy I noticed earlier. And that guy's a total weirdo!" Spectra added.

"What devil guy?" Walker asked.

"Him." Spectra answered.

"Him who?" Walker asked, annoyed by her vague responses.

"That's the worst part. That's his name!" Spectra growled.

"His name is 'Him Who'?" Walker asked, eyebrows raised.

"No. Just Him!"

"Is it Just Him or Him Who?" SkulkTech pondered aloud, confused.

Spectra had enough and snarled loudly in frustration. "AND THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY THIS PLACE SUCKS! Idiot villains that don't even have proper names. That devil's deadly sin of choice must be Sloth if he's too lazy to even come up with a name!"

"This block sucks! The heroes suck! The villains suck! The Mayor's an idiot! I'm outta here!" SkulkTech declared before stomping off, harshly tossing away the popcorn he had been eating while watching the Powerpuff Girls dispose of Mojo Jojo.

"Wait for us!" Spectra growled, following along.

The third day…

"This… is… the worst town… I've ever… been in!" Walker said, trying not to explode in fury.

"Yeah, really! Springfield, USA… What a freakin' dump! Not only is there no superheroes to oppose us and give us any real challenge, but their police force is nothing but a bunch of idiots that clearly flunked grade school!" SkulkTech exclaimed, once again the first to launch into a rant. Walker facepalmed and shook his head when the Springfield Police was brought up. "Oh right, there was that 'Radioactive Man' loser, but that was just some actor for a local movie. Pathetic. I bet that movie won't even get 1 full star! But somehow… SOMEHOW, this town ends up drawing in idiotic celebrities that aren't even that relevant. I bet you anything that they drop in as a pity visit. 'Oh look at Springfield, it's such a lame town. I'll drop in and give the worthless lives of these meaningless citizens a brief moment of witnessing success! Aren't I great?' Bah!"

Spectra looked oddly younger, practically glowing. Even so, she was clearly as annoyed as the rest of the trio. "You know that tavern I just blew up a few minutes ago? Moe's, I think it was called… The worst bar I've ever seen. Watered down booze, broken bathrooms, but at least the bartender had a surprisingly vast supply of misery to feed off of. So that's a plus… But what set me off is the prank call he got. I mean, what kind of idiot falls for asking around for an 'Anita Peter'?! What's next? 'Amanda Hugginkiss'?! So, I torched the joint! A definite improvement to this dump. Had to laugh at this fat, bald moron that was just outside that acted like he'd just seen the death of a loved one. Heh… Alcoholics, am I right?"

Walker then took his turn to talk. "Hey, SkulkTech? How's your suit powered? Nuclear, by any chance? If so, you might be lucky to get a full charge from the most broken down nuclear power plant I've ever seen. I mean, is this place kidding me?! How that place didn't explode years ago is beyond me! Hell, I'm tempted to go over there and take a few potshots at it before arresting everyone there for so many safety violations!"

"You know what? Let's go do that! It'll be the most fun we could ever hope to get in this trash city!" SkulkTech agreed, storming off. He didn't get too far before he tripped on something and fell down with a loud thud. A short distance away, a distinctive "HAW-HAW!" was heard, drawing the trio's attention to this rough-looking school kid who looked much like a stereotypical bully.

"But first… we get that kid!" Walker exclaimed before the trio charged after Nelson Muntz, who had wisely began running.

"Get back here, ya little twerp!" Spectra roared.

The trio could not wait to get back to the Ghost Zone… Surely they could get to Amity Park tomorrow.

The fourth day…

A peaceful snowy town that seemed as normal as everything else. At least, at first. If one hangs around this particular town, one would eventually be witness to quite the strange shenanigans. The appearance of three misplaced visitors proved to be no less bizarre for this locale…

"This is… the WORST town… I've EVER… BEEN IN!" Walker bellowed, his restraint failing him this time.

"Ya know, you say that all the time and you've been right all the time so far, but this?! THIS!? You're just doubly right, NO, TRIPLE! I mean, what the hell's with the snow?! Isn't it July?! Did we time travel this time?! Everybody's going around wearing parkas and coats like a bunch of dorks. And speaking of everyone here, just look at them! Hell, look at OURSELVES! We look like we're cheaply made from construction paper! How did THAT happen?! Ugh, just look at my suit… My glorious masterpiece of hunting technology, reduced to looking like some child's art project… I can't wait to go back to the Ghost Zone!" SkulkTech ranted, throwing a nearby car up in the air in the process.

"And I'm flatter than Phantom's brat of a clone! This just won't stand! Ugh… Speaking of brats, have you seen any of the children around here? Guaranteed that they'll all grow up to be nutjobs in the future. Especially this fat little asshole I saw. What a total douche… At least he'll be this town's problem! Ha!" Spectra complained.

"I thought I was strict with the rules. Did you meet the elementary school's principal? I would give this town a pass for his strict adherence to rules, IF he didn't go all hard about the most ridiculous things! Political Correctness… What the hell has mortal culture become?" Walker groused, pacing back and forth.

"Ain't it your job to enforce bullshit?" Spectra asked with a sly smirk.

"At least when I do it, it's about actual laws! What, you expect me to bust some jackass over talking down to a woman or something?" Walker retorted.

"Considering all the crap I get from random men, I think I'd actually appreciate it if you'd help me out a little!" The two then glared at each other momentarily.

"And another thing, their food's not that great either! Take these things, for example. Stole them from some street vendor. Sign said they're called 'member berries'. I had a few and I suddenly remember some things that I clearly wanted to forget. Bah! THIS TOWN SUCKS! NEITHER OF US DIDN'T WANT TO REMEMBER OUR DEATHS!" SkulkTech snarled, throwing aside a half-eaten bunch of the purple, sentient berries.

Spectra then thought of something that caused her to grin maliciously. "We should give this town's superheroes a proper 'greeting'. I've heard about them… What'd they call themselves…? Coon and Friends, I believe. Hah. Sounds particularly childish. At least this would give us someone easy to pound on as payback for us having witnessed this dump!" she said as she pounded a fist into her other hand's open palm.

"Yeah! I'll start!" SkulkTech exclaimed before launching a missile at a random moving vehicle, blowing it up and killing whoever was inside.

"Oh my God, they killed Kenny!"

"You bastards!"

Two voices of children were heard from nearby. Their sudden misery gave Spectra nourishment as well as pleasure. Time for the evil trio to make their own fun…

South Park would barely live to regret the day they met the villainous trio of ghosts.

The fifth day…

Hiding within a ramshackle, broken-down apartment were the usual suspects. They seemed to be particularly quiet this time. It would seem that they're currently being hunted by… something.

"This… is… the WORST—"

"Shut up, Walker! You want them to find us?!" SkulkTech loudly whispered, frantically interrupting Walker before he could go any further in his new catchphrase.

"Sorry… This is… the worst town… I've ever been in…" Walker whispered.

Spectra, however, couldn't contain herself. "No… no… NO! I can't keep quiet about this! This is totally the worst town that I've personally been in, that's for sure! Sure, I can appreciate a town that's completely overrun by demons that have sent the lowly humans running! Fine! All good! Wonderful! But to have demons that're based off of psychological traumas and issues?! NO! That's MY gimmick! I'm the queen of mind games and misery! Not those things! Screw them!"

"Spectra! What're you doing?!" Walker quietly asked, trying in vain to calm her down.

"Whatever I want! I'm not going to let those mutated undead sex-nurses and squirming blood-soaked hogtied gimps take over MY mental warfare schtick! I oughta just go right on over there and show them what a real mind-breaker can do! You two can hide here if ya want! I'm going to rearrange some faces!" Spectra said, getting up and stomping over to the door before kicking it open and leaving.

The remaining pair sat in silence, looking at the open door.

"How long do you think she'll last…?" SkulkTech whispered.

"Wait ten seconds." Walker calmly replied.

As if on cue, ten seconds later, Spectra ran back in and slammed the door, making sure to lock it. SkulkTech look concerned while Walker just appeared to be smug.

"I forgot that there's a lot more than just those nurses out there…" Spectra whined quietly.

"That pyramid guy with the giant knife again?" Walker asked.

"Yup."

"And that's why you should've shut up! Now that knife-dragging asshole knows roughly where we are!" SkulkTech scolded, beginning a diagnostics check on his equipped weapons systems. He would blast their way out if it re-killed them. The bizarre things out there were no pushovers, which had led to the trio hiding out.

Spectra scowled, both at her comrade's point and at the thought of that abomination lurking about somewhere out there. "I'd almost hate to meet the wretched soul who dreamed that creep up. Clearly it's based from some murderous intent. Perhaps guilt over a foul deed done? Oh, had that just been the jackoff's emotions, I'd probably have enough misery to keep me young for at least 5 years! But no, not here! Everyone's mental issues apparently become very physical demons strong enough to even affect us ghosts! If there's a worse town out there, I'll be very surprised!" The villainous psychiatrist had ended up ranting and raving again, much to the chagrin of her allies.

But the madwoman continued. "And what's more is this damn FOG! Is anybody else having a problem remembering where our portal was?! I certainly can't because we're stuck fumbling our way through this demonic shithole like a buncha idiots! Guaranteed that the best thing about this fog is that it makes it hard to see what a complete dump this pla—"

Suddenly, the blade of a morbidly oversized knife crashed through the door. Pyramid Head had found its intended prey…

Walker took a pointed look at Spectra and simply stated. "Remind me never to hide from an enemy with you again…"

The sixth day…

The trio had taken a cautious flight around to make sure that they were where they believed they were. But their eyes didn't deceive them. The Nasty Burger. The Skulk N Lurk. Casper High. Fenton Works. Amity Park Park… They were finally in the place they wanted to terrorize! Spectra, despite her preference for misery, was practically bouncing on her feet in excitement after all the trio had been through this week.

"C'mon, Walker! Do the thing! We're finally here! Do it, do it!" Spectra practically squealed as she quietly egged her friend to slightly tweak his newfound catchphrase.

"Ahem-ahem…" Walker coughed in preparation. He had to admit he was also glad to not be suddenly sent to some other strange location. "Okay… This… is… the BEST to—"

"NO! STOP! I can't do this! This isn't right!" SkulkTech bellowed, the intended celebration brought to a screeching halt. Spectra's jaw dropped in shock. "This can't be Amity Park! It's not that simple! No, it's got to be an illusion of some kind and we're actually stuck in some loony place where we're thinkin' we're where we wanna be or something! Guarantee that portal screwed up again! No, this delusion sucks, that whelp sucks, the buildings probably aren't in their right places somehow, this whole trip SUCKS! We're trying again tomorrow!" the techno-hunter screamed before stomping off toward where they had emerged from, leaving the other two in a state of surprise.

"Look, I know Phantom sucks, but…" Walker weakly said, trailing off as he realized that the surly suit of armor wasn't listening.

"But… we're here… This is Amity… Isn't it?" Spectra said, glancing at Walker. Why would there be an elaborate copy of such a lowly place anyway? This had to be the real deal.

"Yeah…?" Walker replied. Should they go after their ally or take their chances in the town? After a few moments, Spectra then realized that she was buying into the mechanical grump's rage.

"Oh, no! No! You're not doing this, you paranoid tin can!" Spectra bellowed, storming after the techno-hunter. "Get your metal ass back here! What, did that last dump turn you into a coward?! Do we have to add a tin foil hat to your suit?! We're in Amity freakin' Park and it's time that we cause some misery and chaos around here! Ya know how I can tell that this is the real Amity Park? Look around you! It's as lame as it's ever been! You got 'Fenton Dorks' over there, with its gargantuan, oversized UFO of a house addition that screams 'Hey, look at me! I'm an obvious target for vengeful undead!'! You got all these places that are just nothing but bad puns and references. Must the school be named CASPER?! We got 'Welcome to Nasty Burger, home of the Nasty Burger, may we BE ANY DUMBER?!'! And the humans, oh my freakin' God, those worthless sacks of meat… They can't even tell that their resident hero looks exactly like the Fenton brat, just with a color palette swap! It's worse than Metropolis! How can all this not be the real deal?!" By this point, Spectra had caught up to him and, by sheer anger alone, managed to force him to turn around and look at her. SkulkTech responded by shoving her back.

"As much as I agree with you about this town, how can you be sure that this isn't some sort of trick?!" the fusion of two ghosts asked, his arms crossed.

"Them." Spectra simply stated, pointing behind SkulkTech. The other two ghosts focused their attention to where Spectra was implying. It turned out their argument had attracted the attention of the Red Huntress and Dani Phantom, who happened to be around at the moment. Needless to say, the pair were ready to throw down.

"So-called heroes ready to defend their city. I'd say that proves we're actually here…" Walker lamented as he braced himself for combat.

One rough battle later, Valerie and Dani had the trio bottled up in Fenton Thermoses. Despite SkulkTech being the toughest of the group of villains as always, the fight was surprisingly light in collateral damage. This worked wonderfully to what Ember had practically demanded of the other Team Phantom members earlier in the week. The rocker was heavily insistent that Danny have absolutely nothing bother him this week, claiming that she wanted to surprise him with a week off from 'work'. The others could see her point of their leader needing some downtime. They were thankful that Ember had managed to find a way to temporarily deal with the ghost problem, which mostly left the human side of crime to contend with. But all good things must come to an end… It seemed Ember's anti-ghost arrangement wore off sooner than expected.

Just one more day, both young women thought. One more day and Danny can resume his share of the hero duties…

Back with Danny and Ember, present time…

"A break, you say?" Danny asked, being more than familiar with how his girlfriend gets when she's up to something. "I suddenly have this feeling that we're going to be in for it when your portal alterations wear off."

Ember just shrugged before playfully forcing him to roll over so that she could be the one spooning him for once. "Eh, let 'em be mad. We'll just kick their ass like always. Tell ya what… The portal prank is supposed to wear off the day after tomorrow, barring the unforeseen. If you want, if you're so insistent on being ready, we can spend part of tomorrow training." Danny could tell she did not want to do any form of exercise on what she wanted to be another day off.

"Well… Maybe just a little training. You do bring up a good point about taking a step back sometimes. Besides, I'm sure the town appreciates a week without ghost attacks. Well, if anybody's even really noticed by now, it happens so off-and-on…" Danny replied, feeling Ember's grip around him tighten comfortably.

"Often enough where some might notice, Dipstick. Can totally picture one or two of these workaday saps being all like 'Wasn't there supposed to be a ghostly boar charging through here or something?'." Ember said, rolling her eyes.

"That would totally be my dad…" Danny deadpanned. It was hard not to notice his father's apparent itchy trigger finger the last couple of dinner times. The lack of ghosts was clearly upping his expectations of seeing more ghosts. Perhaps Danny's own concern about what his villains were up to was something hereditary… However, Ember cackling a bit at his perturbed statement somehow managed to ease his train of thought about quirks.

From then on, Danny figured it'd just be best to enjoy the free time he had left before he had to resume his usual patrols and vigilance. Things could always be a lot worse….

Somewhere…..

"HELLO!? WHERE IS THE BOX GHOST?! I AM NOT PLEASED WITH THIS CONFIGURATION OF THINGS! BEWARE!" screamed a certain reoccurring annoyance known as the Box Ghost. He seemed to be in a storage building of sorts. But one that was round, as if it were a bowl placed upside down on the ground. "I DO NOT LIKE THIS ROUND THING I AM IN! AND WHAT ARE ALL THESE LITTLE THINGS?!"

Box Ghost picked up one of the numerous objects scattered about the storage room. He saw a company logo on it and promptly got fired up again. "CAPSULE CORP?! NO, THAT IS NOT RIGHT! I DON'T LIKE THESE PILL-SHAPED CONTAINERS! WHY NOT BOX CORP, CELEBRATING THE CUBICAL GOODNESS OF BOXES?! UUUGHHHH! THIS IS SO UNFAIR!" He then proceeded to look for any sort of box that could ease his troubled soul.

He eventually stumbled across something different amongst the pile of capsules. But it wasn't a box. It wasn't anything close to a box. Instead, it was a shiny, orange ball, seemingly made out of glass. Inside it was 4 stars arranged in a square formation. "A BALL?! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH A BALL?! I AM NOT THE BALL GHOST, I'M THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"

Box Ghost began wishing he was home again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And there we go. Another chapter done. I bet by now some of you might be wanting an explanation about what I had Spectra, Walker, and SkulkTech go through. Well… this running gag is actually a reference of something from a pro-wrestling YouTube show called "Being The Elite", put together by some members of the popular faction called Bullet Club. The show's kinda like half Saturday Night Live, half 'Hey fans, here's what we get up to outside the ring!'.

Anyways, one of the SNL-like parts is this reoccurring sketch involving this tag-trio known as SoCal Uncensored or SCU for short. Their gimmick is that they hate everywhere that isn't their beloved Southern California, which led to various sketches where they're stuck in different towns during their company's ongoing tours and end up exploding in rants about how every place is "the worst town they've ever been in". And so I had a thought… how about we see some fictional places get the SCU "Worst Town" treatment? That could be funny, right? Therefore, I put together the unofficially-named "Ghost Zone Uncensored" team to be sent here, there, and everywhere in their attempts to try and attack Amity yet again.

On a related side note, I can bet there's plenty of other fictional places that could be roasted in the name of comedy. Roasting for fun, of course. Not because you or I hate a series or something. If anybody wants to do their own spin of the SCU "Worst Town I've Ever Been In" ranting gag about other fictional places, I'd probably get a kick out of reading it.

SCU parody sketches aside, for this chapter, I mainly tried for a nice moment of Ember creating some relaxing downtime for her overworked boy-toy. One would think that even someone as deviant and mischievous as Ember would want her boyfriend to chill out every so often. No need to just let the boy with the classic Hero Complex work himself to full-death, right? Too bad her subtle surprise ended up giving him a dose of that paranoia that the aforementioned complex sometimes comes with. Anyways, I hope this was pleasant.

With all that said and done, it's time for the Reader Review Replies! Hmm… Not much in the mailbag lately, but I suppose that's my doing. I admit that I've been in a bit of a creative slump in general lately, not just with this story… But I suppose that happens to the best of us.

The guest that thanked me for not bashing Sam – You're welcome, man. Sometimes it bugs me too when people just turn Sam into a villain for no good reason, just because they don't like her or just because they blatantly want to play that 'jealousy' angle with her when they pair Danny with someone else. For one thing, the jealousy thing's been played out in so many fanfics. Why beat a dead horse? Besides, if Danny's loving someone else, why not have Sam eventually start something with the closest she can get to Danny himself: his clone! I'm still kinda surprised I'm practically the only one (that I know of) that thought of that kind of angle. At least this way, Sam still gets to be with a version of Danny.

Nina0116 – Hi again! I believe we already discussed your review via Private Message. Still, I thank you for the nice review. I really should stop accidentally forgetting to review your story's chapters… How sloppy of me.

As always, thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing!