Chapter Text
There is no forest without its trees
and though the roots bind together
in ways you could never see
until no one tree is distinct from the others,
each green needle is a letter in the story.
And when they are blown off, one by one,
they become tinder.
One needle becomes one spark,
the spark becomes a fire,
the trees are gone,
and the forest is gone
because one needle caught too soon.
It is the work of historians
(and naturalists, and readers, and gods)
to trace the fire back to the needle
and to the tree that dropped it.
September 28, 2006
Danny Phantom stumbled a landing on the gravelly roof of a building. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, catching his breath.
Danny had enjoyed fighting Ember for all of five minutes. She took control of a little gig at the record store, he showed up to save the day (with the Fenton Fones in, of course. He learned his lesson with her), witty banter, blah blah blah, now she'd end up in the Fenton Thermos.
It was almost a relief having someone to fight. Something to distract him and keep him from being crushed under the pressure of his reality. Something to make his life feel normal. Or— it was, until he spotted a clock and realized he was officially late for a history lesson with Frostbite. The Observants would no doubt be on him for it. He could practically hear them; he can’t even make it to a history lesson on time, how is he qualified to be King of the Infinite Realms?
“Look. You’ve had your fun, you got your attention… if you let these people go, I won’t put you in the Thermos today.” Danny tried to keep his stance somewhere between non-threatening and ready to pounce, just in case Ember wasn’t willing to back down.
Ember rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. “Fine. You’re off your game, anyway. There’s no satisfaction when your heart’s not in it.”
“Wow," said Danny, "you’re so thoughtful.”
“Hey, I may be a ghost, but I do have a little human decency left.”
Danny snorted. “Tell that to the media right now. Anti-ecto propaganda is making a comeback.” He cringed a little as soon as it came out. Why did he say that? He didn’t need to vent about his problems to Ember, and it’s not like she cared anyway.
“Hasn’t that… always been a thing?” Ember cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.
“Just go give those people their free will again,” Danny said with a dismissive wave.
“They’ll be fine for a few more minutes. Tell me what’s going on, kiddo.”
“I mean… in a nutshell, the ‘all ghosts are crap’ stuff stopped around the time I stopped being actively hunted every time I did anything,” Danny explained.
“Wow. Public opinion changed that much in the last— what, year?”
“I thought so, but there’s been all this talk lately about how ghosts and humans aren't 'supposed ' to interact, and how ghosts are, like, 'scientifically unable to behave themselves' or whatever. They make it so it doesn't sound evil, but… it’s just a lot to deal with right now.” Danny ran a hand through his hair. He was exhausted, his body ached, and he really just wanted this conversation to be over so he could get to his last scheduled task of the day before he could go home and maybe get some sleep. “Look, I’m late for a meeting right now, appreciate the heart-to-heart, but if you’ll just work with me here I really need to get going.”
Ember stood back up, brushing herself off as if she’d actually been sitting on the roof and not hovering a few inches above it. “Alright, I’ll get outta here then. Thanks for not putting me in your stupid soup container.”
“Yeah, whatever. You might not get so lucky next time.” Danny gave her a half-smile.
They both made a move to go their separate ways when flashing lights in the distance caught their attention.
“What’s going on over there?” Ember asked, squinting.
“Uh, hopefully something that won’t be my problem,” Danny responded.
White vehicles had surrounded what looked to be the Dairy King on the edge of town. There was a moment of chaos as people in body armor rushed into the building and others ran out.
The pair glanced at each other, silently deciding that this wasn’t something they should get involved in.
“See ya, babypop,” Ember said with a mocking salute to Danny. She headed back in the direction of the record store while Danny gave the Dairy King one last, lingering look before leaving himself.
Four in custody following Dairy King raid
Tiffany Snow | Staff Reporter
The Garrison Irving Walker Commission took four ghostly employees into custody following a raid at the Amity Park Dairy King Thursday.
The GIW discovered the four ghosts employed at Dairy King during routine patrols of Amity Park. GIW operatives raided the restaurant Thursday evening and took them into custody.
“By incorporating themselves into human society, ectoplasmic entities give the public a false idea that they can trust them like humans. They are posing as employees at businesses around town, high school students and who knows what else,” Operative Q, a senior operative with the GIW, said.
No current law explicitly forbids ghosts from working in customer service, but given that they are unable to legally obtain the required paperwork to be employed, the situation at the Dairy King is being investigated. There is currently no policy in place defining ghosts and their relation to living things. In addition, the GIW deemed their employment unsafe to the public. A GIW representative said the entities will be used for research and disposed of.
Dairy King management offered no comment regarding awareness of the employees being ghosts during the hiring process. The restaurant will be closed temporarily due to short staffing.