Chapter Text
Come on, don’t be a chicken,” Lucy said, pushing Emmet forward. He witch’s hat fell forward from the force, but Emmet didn’t so much as stumble—it was more like he was frozen.
“It’s not chicken to be aware of structural instability,” Emmet said forcefully, staring at the abandoned two story in front of them, white paint cracked and flaking. The awning sagged in a way that looked like a grimace. “You were talking about ghosts, I’m thinking about code violations.”
“Think of the mystery.”
“Think of the tetanus!”
Lucy shook her head, walking forward and leaving her mummified friend to meander behind her. She reached the flimsy, rotten plywood that stood in place of a real door and pushed her way in. She didn’t even get to take her first step inside when—
W̷͕̚h̵͈̉ȯ̵̘ ̷̊ͅg̵̖̊o̴̕͜ē̸̦ş̸̃ ̵͍͑t̶͔̽h̵͖̎e̵̳̔r̶͚̄e̴͈͗?̸͙͘
Emmet wasn’t even in the house, and his scream was more shrill and cacophonous than anything Lucy could’ve provided. She froze in fear.
Danny Phantom floated before her, green eyes blazing. He looked her up and down, however, and his eyes dimmed. His stance loosened, and his expression softened.
“Oh,” he said, his voice nothing like the haunting sound she’d heard seconds before. “Sorry. Thought you might be a ghost.”
“You thought I—“ Lucy stammered, “wait, is this—is this your house? Or haunt?”
“Nah,” he said, lowering to the ground, the floor creaking under the reminder of his weight. “Just here for…a sec. Ghostly stuff, and all that.”
“Ghostly stuff,” Lucy nodded.
She and Danny Phantom—Danny Phantom!—locked eyes for a long moment, while Emmet eventually made his way into the dilapidated foyer.
“This house isn’t structurally sound, you know,” Phantom said, in an attempt to seem authoritative that fell a little flat. “It’s not safe to be walking around in here.”
“There’s tetanus, isn’t there?” Emmet asked shakily.
“Crawling with tetanus. And rats. And—“
“—Halloween candy?”
Phantom’s eyes widened, and he followed Lucy’s eyes behind him to the green plastic pumpkin that lay on the floor.
“I was just counting,” he said after a sigh, “I have a bet to win.”
Lucy didn’t know what to say, and Emmet seemed to think even a tiny sound would awaken a rat hoard.
“Do you want to trade, by the way?” Phantom broke the silence suddenly, without warning. “Last house I hit just gave me a hand full of smarties. I may be dead but I do have taste, you know?”