Hey readers! Here it is; the finally chapter of A New One Rises! I hope I can get the next part of the seriea down in less time than this. But, I have talked too much already. Enjoy the chapter and then swing by the outro to see what I have planned.

Chapter 26

The rest of the week passed in a blur of school and night patrol. For whatever reason, after Malbenita had been defeated, it seemed like all the ghosts had a boost of confidence and left the Ghost Zone at once. Not that they were a problem compared to him, but he was always on Jason's mind whenever he encountered a ghost from then on.

Finally, Saturday arrived and Jason pulled himself out of bed despite his lingering fatigue. Something else had been on his mind since Malbenita's capture. As he slumped down at his desk, the conversation with Danny afterword came back to him.

He had asked Danny if there were any ghosts who could grant wishes. The other Halfa told him about the genie, Desiree, whom they'd believed to be behind his disappearance. Putting two and two together, he planned to confront the one who'd mostly made the wish.

After quickly scribbling a note to his parents, he got dressed and grabbed an apple downstairs before phasing through the wall for stealth. He walked a few blocks before diving into an alley and transforming. The red halos had hardly dissipated before he flashed a portal around himself. The exit portal dropped him at his desired location: the roof of Darkwood High.

He changed back and walked towards the edge of the roof before pulling out his cell phone. After scrolling through his contacts, he came to the one he was searching for. He selected it and waited while the dial tone played across his eardrum. It rang a few times before he heard the click of the receiver.

'Hello?' The voice on the other end crackled slightly, but he could never forget it.

"Hey, Jennifer. What's up?"

He could almost feel the wave of hostility wash over her. 'Oh, it's you. What do you want Jason?'

Jason momentarily argued with Xeraunius before answering. "Well, I'm back in Darkwood and I -"

"Oh really? Then why aren't you calling up your old lackeys? Or are they with you right now and this is some kind of lame prank?"

Jason felt a pang of guilt at the mention of one of his old pastimes. "No, look, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"It's hard to explain over the phone. Could I come over to your house?"

"My parents aren't home right now, so what do you think?"

Jason mentally facepalmed. He forgot that her parents didn't want her to have guests while they were gone, especially guys. Another regrettable action towards her as he used to tease her about it. Had he really changed that much?

"Okay," he continued, blushing slightly. "How about the park? The one near the middle school? That's usually a favorite on the weekends, plenty of people around. Can you meet me there in a few minutes?"

"I guess, but why?"

"I just need to talk to you in person. It's important."

"Okay -"

"See you then." Jason hung up a little too quickly. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

[I think that went quite well.] Xeraunius mused.

Jason had teleported to the park seconds after the phone call and sat down on a nearby bench. As he waited for Jennifer, he gazed around, taking in the splashing of young children in the duck pond, the scolding of their parents for getting wet and muddy, and the distant pit-pat of someone jogging along the path.

After a few seconds, he realized he had heard his query long before she arrived at his location. He stood up and ran to meet her, struggling not to move too fast. He didn't want the secret out just yet.

As he approached her, Jason noticed her green tank top and running shorts. She gave him a demanding glare while she caught her breath. He led her over to the bench and she took a drink from the water bottle she had.

After calming her breathing and re-hydrating, she spoke. "Now what was so important that you had to see me in person?"

Jason hesitated. Did he really need to tell her? 'Yes,' he told himself. "Remember how I disappeared a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah," Jennifer replied, "what about it?"

"Well, it wasn't some random accident."

"Then what would you call a weird green vortex appearing and disappearing along with you in the middle of the hallway?"

"Was there anything you said that day that may be connected with the event?" Jason inquired.

Jennifer stared at him for a long time. Finally, she said, "I wished you would go away. Then there was this blue flash of light and when I turned around I saw something black and white fly off. I ran into the school to tell someone and I instead found out you'd disappeared."

Jason nodded. "Then that's it."

"What?"

"Do you know about Danny Phantom?"

Jennifer gave him a sideways look. "Seriously? That was him? Why was he in Darkwood?"

Jason chose his words carefully before answering. "He discovered that a ghost had chosen to try haunting Darkwood, starting with the high school. The ghost was a genie named Desiree who grows more powerful with each wish she grants, often granting the wishes with a twist."

"How do you know all this?"

Jason smiled and continued. "She came to the high school knowing she would find plenty of careless wishes being thrown about. The first and only one had been granted just before her capture."

Jennifer took this all in solemnly. "So you mean-"

"Yeah," Jason nodded. He hesitated to say anything more, lest she feel he blamed her. "The blue flash was her being captured."

"Jason, I -"

"It's all right, I deserved it." Jennifer stared at him in confusion. "If somebody else were that big a jerk to me, I'd probably wish they would disappear too. That's one of the reasons why I came here: to apologize.

"I haven't been fair to you all these years, and I want to let you know I regret it. These past few weeks have changed me, humbled me more than I could've imagined. For what it's worth, and it probably isn't much, I'm sorry."

Jennifer sat silently through all of this. Finally, she said, "How?" Jason stared at her blankly. "How have you changed? What could've happened to make you sorry for anything?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Well, it went like this . . ."

As Jason finished, he braced himself for the torrent of questions he knew she was bound to ask. However, she only asked one. "Can you show me?"

He stood up and took her over to a small grove of trees, a perfectly secluded place for a picnic or revealing your alter-ego. After making sure there were no other onlookers, Jason willed the red halo to form at his waist and split to wash up and down his body; changing him into his ghost form. As the rings disappeared, Jennifer let out a soft gasp.

She reached out and touched his chestplate and felt the cold metal and the energy it radiated. His skin felt chilled under her touch as well. Only Jason's prompt warning kept her from feeling his fiery hair. "So you're a ghost, now?"

"Half-ghost," Jason corrected. "I'm what is called a Halfa."

"All of this because of one careless wish?"

"Yep, but it was for the best. Yesterday, I helped save the world, and I couldn't have done it as a normal person."

"You did not help save the world."

"Oh, no?" he chided, " Well, let's go see Danny Phantom and find out."

"Sure, but how are we going to get there?" Jennifer asked.

"Same way I did. Take my hand."

As soon as she did, he teleported them to an alley outside Fenton Works. "Don't do that again without warning me!" she said, punching him the shoulder. He chuckled as he changed back and walked Jennifer up to the door. Danny answered their knock and let them in, shooting Jason a questioning gaze.

'In the Lair.' Jason mouthed.

Danny led the way up to his room and let them in through the second door in the closet. Inside, Sam, Danielle, Tucker, and Valerie sat waiting. Jason cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, meet Jennifer."

Alright, so that is the end of it, just over a year's work put into it. Not bad for my first fanfic, eh? But now to my plans. Next on the project roster is a challenge from t-rex989 that they issued way back in June. That is the next thing on my list, and after that, I have a few ideas, so it could go anywhere. As I put in my profile, I am open to challenges or atory ideas as long as I have time and depending on tbe challenge or idea.

For now, I am gonna take a rest, and begin planning my next step. As always, please favorite and follow, and please conaider leaving a review. For now, Ill see you in the next story!