Chapter Text
Valerie stood above the castle, looking down at it and the ghosts guarding it like a swarm of hornets. The home of the King of the ghosts and the home of a very special artifact. One she was going to retrieve, no matter who or what tried to stop her.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath, letting everything around her fade away, and remembered what she was doing this for.
Ever since that damn ghost boy ruined her life, Valerie had been exposed to a new kind of life, a kind of life where she had to fight every day to survive, whether against entitled customers, or the ghosts that plagued her town like the worst kind of vermin. Every day was a new battle that she could only crawl her way out of through her own blood, sweat, and tears, with no one who could help her. But if she could just pass this final test, then she could actually become a real ghost hunter, get good tech, and even a stipend that could finally lift some of that stress off of her dad's shoulders.
All she had to do was take the plunge.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Val turned behind her and locked eyes with her getaway driver behind her. He looked so incredibly bored, slouched over the steering wheel of the Specter Speeder while fidgeting with whatever it was that dangled from the rearview mirror, but the eyes were the window to the soul and through them, she could see his concern and worry.
How did he survive it? Danny never really fought ghosts like his parents, but surely with a basement that literally had a portal to the infinite realms and with so much ectoplasm around the house, he had to have come into conflict with them occasionally. How did he deal with it? Did feigning indifference help him? Could he beat the ghosts by just not caring? Was sleeping or using the restroom before the ghost attack really that effective as a deterrent?
Whatever Danny was doing, Valerie couldn't. She couldn't just ignore it, that had never been her specifically, she had to fight."Yes," Valerie responded, before taking the drive into chaos.
Falling, she felt her hair whipped behind her and began to power up her blasters. Surprise was a tool she would only be able to use once in this encounter, so she had to make it count. Pointing her gun at the largest grouping of ghosts, Valerie released a massive and deafening blast, getting rid of over half of them.
The removal of so many was good, but there was still more than she could count left, and those all came at her like angry bees, a sea of green. An aerial head-on fight was a death sentence, so a chase was needed instead as she tried to get as many ghosts away from the entrance as possible. Very few ghosts were quicker than her on her hoverboard and, with her evasive maneuvers, none had a chance to catch her, but she couldn't get cocky. Coming home in more than one piece wasn't an option. Valerie couldn't do that to her dad.
They all chased her as she zipped around, looping around towers and under buttresses. Val took the opportunity to shoot back at them, and thin the herd to something more manageable. Her shoulder cannon could take care of the smaller ones who traded strength for speed, the rest she had to deal with, and she wasn't the only one with projectiles. If even one hit her, she was a goner. They had to be eliminated while she led them all on a wild goose chase around the castle and kept vigil to ensure none sneaked up on her or got in front.
As she sped on, a huge obstacle became apparent. A ginormous ghost stood in her path, larger than a skyscraper and too close for her to avoid. The obvious answer would be retreat, but she had been studying the castle long enough to know all the ghosts she had just destroyed would return, and she would never have the element of surprise again, which was required for her to succeed.
Valerie knew what she had to do.
Aiming directly at the kaiju-sized ghost in front of her, she yanked back the crank all the way and pulled the trigger, only about a hundred meters away from the monster. The blaster ripped through her gun and as soon as it made contact with the foe, a huge explosion covered the surrounding area in dark green and red smoke.
She zipped through the fumes, right through where the ghost once stood, not even caring to look at its remains, she had more important business. The blast had doubled as a distraction and the entrance to the castle was now unguarded. She couldn't let this chase slip, especially with what she had to sacrifice.
She pushed her way past the gates and closed them behind her. They wouldn't hold for long, but any time was better than no time. As Valerie checked down every hall and room for the artifact, she docked away her blaster on her back. A massive shot that quickly completely drained away its power, reducing it to a heavy chunk of metal, and now all the artillery she had was her shoulder cannon, which packed a lot less firepower.
It didn't take long to find the artifact, the Ring of Rage, a glowing green signet ring. Valerie didn't know its story, but she knew something this powerful shouldn't be in the hands of ghosts, and especially the Ghost King. It would be much better with other ghost hunters, like Mr. V, where it wouldn't be used by evil.
After securing it, Valerie retraced her steps and darted to the entrance, only to be met by the hoard waiting. There were much less ghosts than she started with, but it was still about 50 to 1, and she didn't have her blaster anymore.But that didn't matter though, did it? Cause she had what she came for and someone waiting for her at home. All Valerie needed to do was get out of the castle.
For the first time since she got there, Valerie stepped off of her hoverboard and sent it away, before reaching to her back. In an instant, all the ghosts leaped at her, keen to not let another blast like what destroyed the kaiju ghost happen. Unfortunately, their reactions were predictable.
As they leaped at her, Valerie took the chance to drive under them, onto her hoverboard she had moved just passed them. She quickly moved forward and, as soon as she was in the clear, pulled up, accelerating skywards at max speed before the ghosts realized what happened.
Up and up, Val went, till she finally spotted the Specter Speeder waiting, doors open and shields on, and barreled inside. The ghosts who were chasing after her were much less lucky. They hit the shields and were repelled back down, hitting some of the slower ghosts on the way.
"Thank you," Valerie groaned, as she collapsed into the copilot seat, utterly exhausted.
"Don't mention it," Danny replied, with a soft smile, before driving them to his parents' portal and back to the land of the living.