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Valerie stared at the furious girl below her in shock. Her hoverboard was stuck in one of the branches slightly above her as she clung to the trunk of an old oak tree in her huntress uniform. “You shot me,” she blurted, too shocked to yell.
Below her, Sam Manson huffed, a still steaming ectogun in her hands, “Yeah, well you shot me first.”
“I thought you were a ghost .” Valerie started to inch her way up the tree towards her hoverboard.
“How the hell did you mistake me for a ghost?” Sam asked, her nostrils flaring, “Do I look like I’m glowing?”
Valerie swallowed nervously. “Well, yeah, a little bit,” she said, just a little defensively, “the vest does make it look like you're glowing in the right light.” She straightened herself up as much as she could while still clinging to the tree. “You should be a more careful, citizen.”
And wasn’t that a twist. Sam Manson was wearing a reflective vest in the middle of the night in a ghost infested park on a Tuesday. What on Earth was that about? It really wasn’t Valerie's fault that she mistook the bright, reflective figure in the night for a ghost.
Sam didn’t seem to agree.
“ I should be more careful?” she asked, her voice rising in a way Valerie instinctively associated with an overloud rant about the evils of the world. “Me? The one wearing the reflective vest? The vest specifically made so that people don’t get, I don’t know, hit by cars?”
“Uh…” Valerie started climbing towards her hoverboard faster. Sam was getting a little wild with the ectogun while she was gesturing.
“I really should have expected this from you, you know?” Sam continued ranting, “I really fucking should have!”
“‘Oh, she’s getting better, Sam,’” Sam said, in a mockingly deep voice, “‘She’s really started to think before she shoots.’”
Valerie was beyond confused. Was she talking about Phantom? They had been on better terms lately. But, how did Samantha Manson, best friend of the son of two ghost hunters, know Phantom?
“Well, guess what? I’m not really feeling it. I just got shot as a completely benign human.”
“You, uh, did have a ghost weapon on you,” Valerie pointed out, somewhat more defensively, “That kind of thing can trigger sensors.” She was almost to her hoverboard.
Valerie stilled as she felt the full force of Sam’s glare. “Please, maybe the GIW’s stuff is that janky, but I know you have better equipment than that.”
Valerie narrowed her eyes. This situation was just not adding up. “How do you know that? What are you even doing out here?”
The air shifted. Sam cleared her throat.
“Oh, well,” she started, voice slightly wobbly, “I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk.”
It was 3 am, but this was Sam, who had a tendency to do what she wanted when she wanted, so it was possible she was telling the truth, if unlikely.
“And I know your equipment is better than the GIW because, uh, it looks so much nicer…” She trailed off before rebounding. “And you’ve never shot at random humans carrying weapons.” Her eyes darkened. “At least not before today.”
That was weird. Something really was off about this whole situation. “Fine, you’re right, it is better than the Guys in White. It didn’t register you as a ghost. That was all me.” She started wiggling the hoverboard to see just how stuck it was or if anything was broken. That would suck.
“Yeah, that's what I thought,” Sam said, still standing there, arms crossed, but seemingly out of things to say.
Actually, that was part of the weirdness of everything. Usually civilians got away fast. If she was there, a ghost was almost certainly nearby. They definitely didn’t stick around after being shot (not that she really had any other experience with that). They especially didn’t stick around to shoot back.
“Why are you still here?” Valerie asked as she checked the rockets on the back of her board for debris.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sam shift on her heels. “I, uh, kinda shot you, too,” Sam said, awkwardly, “I figured I should stick around to make sure you were okay. You went kinda far.”
Valerie fiddled with the controller on her wrist to make sure the system was operational. “You shot me with an ectogun,” she said, mostly focused on the controls, “I’m human. I’m fine.”
“You went kinda far for just a human,” Sam said, tone noticeably neutral.
Valerie was distracted trying to piece together what that meant when one of the rockets on the hoverboard suddenly flared. Valerie tried to correct and balance the board back onto the branch, but it was too late. It careened towards the ground… and towards Sam.
“Look out!” Valerie shouted as she launched herself out of the tree, attempting to force the hoverboard to turn using her wrist controller all the while. Sam was trying to jump out of the way, but her split second decision had her going into the hoverboard's path.
It was only luck that Valerie hit Sam before the hurtling slab of metal did, slamming her into the grass as the hoverboard crashed directly to their right. Valerie started to right herself, only to smell the distinct tang of ectoplasm hitting the air and hear the hissing of gas. She pressed herself down onto Sam again.
There was a loud boom and then the feeling of hot metal hitting her shoulder . Valerie hissed, laying there on top of Sam in the grass, thoughts of what almost happened ringing through her head.
There was a nudge to her shoulder, but Valerie ignored it. Her hoverboard was destroyed. That was going to be hell to replace.
Another nudge, accompanied by words Valerie didn’t really hear.
Her hoverboard was destroyed and it had almost taken someone out in the process. A human being.
More words that Valerie's brain wasn’t quite comprehending.
Her hoverboard had almost killed Sam. She had almost killed Sam. First she’d shot at her, beacause hse couldn’t even correctly identify a ghost, then her hoverboard almost took her head off. What kind of hero was she? Could she even–
“Valerie!”
Valerie snapped back to reality at the sound of her name. She stared at the girl under her. Right, she was on top of Sam. That had to be getting uncomfortable.
She rolled off onto the grass next to Sam. Then she froze. Sam had called her “Valerie.” She was in her hunting suit. The helmet was on. She turned her head towards Sam, who was starting to sit up on her elbows.
“You just called me Valerie,” she said, keeping her voice as even as possible. How the hell did Samantha Manson of all people know who she was?
Sam scrambled to her feet. Confessing through her actions that, yes, Valerie had heard right, even as her mouth insisted. “Valerie? What are you talking about? I called you the Red Huntress.”
Valerie narrowed her eyes. “No, you didn’t,” she nearly whispered, as she managed to get herself back into a standing position. “How did you know?” She clutched a hand over her left shoulder. She wasn’t sure if the shrapnel had pierced her suit.
Sam glanced over her shoulder, looking like she was about to bolt. “What are you talking about?” she said, laughing somewhat hysterically, “Did you hit your head?” She shifted again, briefly meeting Valerie’s eyes. “Besides, even if I did know something, it's not like I would tell anyone. I’m not an asshole.”
Valerie took a deep breath. Freaking out wouldn’t do any good. All it would do was scare Sam off. She wasn’t too hurt and she could probably catch her if she needed to, but that would set the wrong tone for the whole conversation.
“Hey,” Valerie said, with just a touch of sarcasm, “I’m not mad at you. I just want to know how you found out.” And who else knew. Did Danny know? Sam was one of his best friends.
“I…” Sam started, “I mean, I —”
The way Sam was shifting, Valerie was positive she was about to pull some excuse out of her ass. Valerie was ready though. She was positive that she could get to the bottom of this tonight.
“Sam!” an echoing voice called from above them.
Valerie looked up, bewildered, to see Phantom. What the hell? Did Sam actually know Phantom?
“Are you okay?” he asked, as he flew down to their level, “I heard a lot of shouting and then an explosion. Is anyone hurt?”
“Da– I mean, Phantom,” she stumbled, “I’m fine!” She motioned to Valerie, “I think Valerie hurt her arm though.”
Valerie froze as all the pieces fell into place. This was it. This was why Sam knew.
“You!” Valerie yelled at Phantom. He looked at her as if startled by her anger. He should know better.
“It was you, you life-ruining ghost. You were the one who told her.”
Phantom blinked. “I – What?”
Valerie took advantage of his supposed confusion. Her arm might be sore, but it wasn’t hurt enough to affect her aim. She switched out her gun and lined up the shot.
“Ow!” Phantom yelled, rubbing his chest, “What was that for? I thought we were doing better.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Valerie growled, “But apparently, you’ve been going around telling people my secret identity.”
“What?” Phantom asked, sounding thoroughly panicked, “No,I haven’t!”
Valerie lined up another shot. She had no reason to trust a ghost.
Her shot went wide as Sam yanked on the gun.
“Hey,” she yelled, “D– Phantom didn’t tell me anything. You can’t just accuse him of things ‘cause you’re scared.”
Valerie's eyes narrowed at Sam. It was a mistake. As soon as she took her eyes off Phantom she felt his presence leave.
She cursed, immediately looking to the sky. He was already flying over the trees.
She turned back to Sam, nostrils flaring inside her helmet. “I have to take care of this,” she said, keeping her voice both low and hard, “But, tomorrow, you and I are going to have a long talk.”
With that, she sprinted off in the direction she had last seen Phantom. Her board may have been broken, but her suit made her faster than any average human. Sam wouldn’t be able to follow.
And on top of that, the little “ectoblast” she’d hit him with had a tracker hidden inside of it. It might not have done any damage and she might not be able to keep up with him, but she would know where he kept himself hidden by the end of the night.
First she would deal with Phantom, the snitch, then, tomorrow, she would deal with Sam. One thing at a time.