That's the Spirit! - Chapter 10

[Amity Park]

The wind blew through his hair. Real wind, that didn’t chill the bone or make him look over his shoulder. The roar of his bike didn’t echo oddly, or sound dull like the noise died as soon as it left the engine; it just roared, like a lion set free from its cage. Even the sun, the sun, oh it was glorious. The light of day didn’t warm him like it did when he lived, but it was still more that the everpresent gloom of the Zone. It was real. So what if his eyes hurt from so much time in the dark? He was free. They were free!

“Check this out, babe!” Johnny yelled.

“What are you do--IIIIIING!”

Johnny ran onto the curve, sending the bike bouncing onto its front wheel, where he kept it balanced for a full five seconds before it slowed and fell back, and when the powered back wheel hit the ground they shot off back to full speed in an instant.

Kitty laughed and screamed, nails digging into his jacket. “Johnny, baby, that was awesome!”

“You know it! Do I know how to show you a good time or what?” Johnny crowed.

The ride was soured a little when they hit a pothole and Kitty nearly lost her grip. It wouldn’t have really made a difference, she could just fly and catch up, but it would have ruined the whole vibe. A sudden misfortune like that only really meant one thing.

“Shadow?”

The dark wraith peeled itself off the ground next to them, leaving Kitty’s shadow riding by itself. Shadow flew beside them, scowling, and pointed a thumb behind them.

Johnny groaned. “Look alive, Kitty, those lunatics are around again.”

Kitty frowned, but agreed wordlessly anyway. Johnny took a hand off the handlebars to touch her hand on his chest. With skin on skin contact, he was able to turn her aura off along with his. Yeah, they were that close. Jealous?

He slowed down as Shadow faded back into the shade, and soon they were identical to a normal couple on a joyride.

The looneys’ RV pulled off a side alley right in front of them. Johnny cursed and stepped on the breaks. For the second time in as many minutes, the bike’s back wheel left the ground, and they fell back with a painful grunt as they stopped.

The RV’s door opened, and Johnny edged as far back as he could as an absolutely massive gun was pointed in his face.

“HAVE YOU SEEN THE GHOSTS?!” the giant of a man demanded.

Johnny couldn’t take his eyes off the green glow in the barrel. “N-no! What the heck, man?!”

“Jack, put it down.” The man sulked and stepped aside to let the woman in the driver’s seat see them. “Young man,” she began, then squinted at them. “You look…”

Johnny looked down at himself. He looked like himself. Which might be a problem now that he thought about it, they did have witnesses when they came through the Portal. Dang, he should’ve thought of that! He looked behind him and was thankful that Kitty at least was more on the ball, having changed her hair to a common brown. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing, so he gave the ghost hunters a nervous smile. “You like the threads, ma’am?”

“As a matter of fact I don’t,” she said shortly. Before Johnny could get upset, she continued, “That jacket of yours is no substitute for leather and could snag on your motorcycle, those jeans are liable to chafe in the seat, and you aren’t wearing a helmet! You should not be riding a bike like that!”

“It’s dangerous and irresponsible,” the huge guy agreed, inspecting his gun by looking into the barrel.

“O-oh, yeah. Uh.” Johnny scratched his head. “You know what, you’re right.” He cast about for an excuse. “I g-guess I was just… trying to look tough for my girlfriend?” No, agh! Bad! Lame!

Kitty giggled and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Aw, you don’t have to look tough for me Johnny.”

“Kittyyyy…” he whined.

The hunters smiled indulgently.

“Anyway, you two kids need to be careful,” the big guy said, finally setting his weapon down. “There’s ghosts around here, riding around on a loud and obnoxious motorcycle. Like yours!” he finished with a wide smile.

Outwardly, Johnny was smiling. Nobody insults the bike. He tapped his foot on his Shadow, and the wraith slinked forward under the RV. “Ghosts, huh? Sounds hokey.”

“I know, it’s unbelievable,” the woman said. “But it’s true. Stick to the main roads and don’t drive after dark until we can catch them.”

Kitty and Johnny looked at each other. “Suuuuure, well, we gotta get going,” Johnny said, walking his bike around the larger vehicle and rejoining Shadow on the other side. “Thanks for the… warning.”

“See you in the funny papers,” Kitty said. Johnny revved his engine.

“Get helmets!” the woman called after them.

The two of them rode in silence until they turned a corner and rode out of sight, then burst out laughing.

“What losers!” Kitty laughed. “Get helmets, ha! Like we need to worry about that anymore.”

“Didn’t even recognize us! Morons!”

The two rode away, laughing their heads off.

Behind them, the Fenton RV popped three tires in quick succession. How unlucky.

-----------------------------

“Sam, where did you get this stuff?”

“Don’t ask questions, Tucker, just ride!” Sam snapped, pulling ahead of him on her moped.

Tucker pouted. “Okay, but why do I get the scooter? I have to stand while you sit down!”

Sam groaned. “Because there was only one moped in stock for immediate delivery, okay?”

“And how, again, did you afford--”

“Shut!”

The two of them rolled around the city, keeping an ear out for any engine out of place. During the day before school let out there was almost no traffic, so it was the ideal time to hunt a crazed motor ghost.

“Man, I hope this doesn’t take too long,” Tucker grumbled. “My GPA is already in the toilet, if I miss too many days--”

“Maybe if you actually did the homework, you’d have more of a buffer.”

“And take up precious time I could be gaming?”

Sam snorted, deciding to ignore him. They had to find the ghosts. Once they found the ghosts, they’d be one step closer to Danny.

…

Sam gritted her teeth and pushed down on the throttle. Despite appearances, she hadn’t actually lost her mind. She knew it was a long shot. But she couldn't think of anything else to do, and if she didn’t do something she really would go crazy.

“You know, you don’t have to come along,” Sam found herself saying as they pulled to a stop at a crosswalk. She pressed the button to wait for the light. “You can go back to the school if you really want.”

Tucker gave her a Look. “And become Dash’s only target? I think not. Besides,” he added quietly. “Danny’s my friend, and I guess you are too. I’m not going to let you get hurt trying to save him while I sit on my butt at home.”

Sam smiled and opened her mouth to respond, when a familiar roar echoed off the buildings. “Hear that?”

Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “How fast does this thing go?” he asked, revving up his scooter’s motor.

“We’re about to find out.”

The light for the crosswalk turned, and at that moment the ghosts tore up the street. They ran the redlight with a complete disregard for traffic laws, and Tucker and Sam drove after them.

The scooter and moped had a better turn of speed than expected, and they kept pace. It didn’t take long for the girl ghost to notice them, and she yelled something to the driver.

The biker took a sharp turn into an alley. Sam copied them, nearly losing control of her ride in the process. Tucker kept going along the road, not making the turn in time. Sam didn’t notice, keeping her focus on the targets.

Luck seemed to be against her. As the motorcycle passed them by, trash cans fell over, clotheslines came undone, and a rusty scaffolding collapsed, splashing can of pink paint.

Sam avoided the first two, but the last blocked the alley off. And she got pink on her lovely black paint job. She growled and turned back the way she came.

Tucker, meanwhile, was driving with one hand because his other was busy loading a GPS onto his PDA. He liked to think he he knew Amity like the back of his hand, but he didn’t usually travel at these speeds.

“Let’s see, that alley lets out there so to catch them I need to turn… NOW!”

Tucker turned onto the side street, and screamed because the ghosts were coming right at him from the other direction.

The ghosts screamed too, and braked hard, bike turning sideways. Tucker’s scooter hit the bike and stopped dead, catapulting him over the ghosts and into an incredibly luckily-placed truck with hay bales in the bed.

Tucker sat up groggily, feeling his head. His hat was missing.

A shadow fell over him, and Tucker looked up into the furious, glowing eyes of the biker.

The ghost grabbed his collar and picked him up out of the truck. “You scratched my bike.”

Tucker glanced at it, vaguely noting the evil grin on the ghost lady’s face, then smiled sheepishly. “...Sorry? At least it’s black, so you’ll barely notice it.”

This did not improve the ghost’s mood. “Shadow.”

The world got a little darker, and a terrifying specter rose up behind him, smiling with ill intent.

“Man, this is not your lucky day,” the ghost said darkly. His hand lit up green.

Tucker closed his eyes and prayed.

“aaaaaaAAAAAHHHH!”

The ghost looked to the side, confused. His eyes widened as Sam came right the heck outta nowhere, ramped off the downed bike (making the lady ghost shriek in shock) and then nailed him in the chin with her back wheel.

“Get on!”

Tucker didn’t need convincing. He jumped onto the moped and was even too scared to feel weird about wrapping his arms around her waist as she took off.

Way too few seconds later, the ghost bike roared behind them, and Tucker chanced a look back, immediately wishing he hadn’t.

The ghost biker was mad, missing some human element in his expression that Tucker only noticed for its absence. He could swear he could see the skull under his skin. And of course, the Shadow loomed over like his own personal raincloud.

“Call the Fentons!” Sam yelled.

“With what hands?!”

“Just do it!”

Tuck whimpered, but with an effort of will pulled one of his arms away to reach into his pocket. The Shadow passed over him, and his sweaty hand lost it grip. The PDA slipped out, and he panicked.

“My baby!” He let go of Sam entirely to grab the gadget, forcing her to grab him by the back of the shirt to keep him from grinding his face against the asphalt. “I’ll ever let you go again!”

“Maybe not, but I’m about to!” Sam shouted, strained. She heaved, pulling him back up and almost losing control in the process. “Call them!”

“Calling them!” He ended up facing backwards this time, which let him see a flash of green light and shout, “LEFT!”

Sam swerved, and a beam of ectoplasm missed by inches.

“RIGHT! LEF--no, RIGHT!”

-click- “Hello, who is this? How do you know the Fenton Carphone’s number?”

“Mr. F, it’s Tucker! We’re--”

“Tuck! Good to what from you!” Jack shouted, talking over him. “Don’t worry, we’re still hunting those ghosts. We’re taking care of it--”

“Is that Tucker?” Maddie cut in. “It’s only 2:13, they should be in school!”

“Shut up!” Tucker shouted. “I--sorry, but we’re being chased by the ghosts right now! We’re just passing--” He looked up as they crossed an intersection. “--West and Second, heading north! Hurry, we’re under fir--right right right!”

Sam hit a pothole, and this time Tucker really did lose his gadget. He made an attempt to grab it, but it slipped out of his fingers, and the ghost bike’s wheels crushed it.

“NOOO!!”

Sam groaned. “Calm down, Tuck, I’ll buy you a new one!”

He sniffed. “You will?”

“If we survive, now hold on tight!”

“How do you have money aga--AIYEE!”

Sam saw the Shadow coming in her mirror, and chose to deal with that by ramping up a lowered truck (scattering some men loading a wood bed frame on, but no time to worry about that). They went airborne, and the Shadow’s lunge took it under them. It stalled, green eyes widening, and squealed as the moped landed directly on top of it, forcing it to disperse.

The moped landed hard, and a wheel popped off, sending them skidding.

Sam managed to catch herself, breathing hard from the impact. “Wow. I did not think that would work at all.”

“Then why the hhhh--” Tucker wheezed, unable to finish.

The bike came to a stop, and the riders dismounted.

The ghost loomed over them. “Your luck just ran out, punks. I’m ticked off now, and somebody’s gonna pay.”

“Oh, Johnny,” the lady ghost said, swooning. “I love it when you’re bad.”

Johnny grinned nastily. “Yeah. Me too.”

Sam and Tucker stood and tried to run, but the Shadow emerged from the dark under a parker car, looking as angry as its master.

“Nowhere to run.” Johnny raised his arms and clasped his hands together. But before he could bring them down--

The Fenton Assault Vehicle skidded around the corner on two wheels. “EAT HOT ECTOPLASM!”

Johnny looked up and ate hot ectoplasm. A blast the width of his torso knocked him back into his girlfriend, sending them both sprawling.

Jack and Maddie leapt out of the RV , armed to the teeth.

Sam sighed in relief. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but man am I glad to see--”

“Take these,” Maddie said shortly, shoving a pair of pistols their way. “We will be talking about you skipping school to go ghost hunting.”

Jack looked over his wife’s head to flash them a thumb’s up and a wink, so Sam wasn’t too worried about that.

Johnny and his girl glared at the sudden turn of events. “...Whatever. Let’s blow this joint, Kitty.”

“Not so fast, punk!” Jack threw a silver grenade, and when it exploded a wall of green fire rose up between Johnny and the bike.

The ghosts hissed at the flames, lurching away. The Shadow touched the wall and screamed when its finger caught fire, shaking the pain away.

Johnny and Kitty gave them a hateful stare. Then he wrapped his arm around Kitty’s waist, and they both sank into the ground.

Maddie, Jack and Sam all fired at once, but all they did was create a new pothole.

“Blast,” Maddie said quietly.

“I tried, but it was gone already!”

“That’s nice dear,” she said, distracted. She turned to Sam and Tucker, pulling her hood back so she could properly give them the Mom Look. “What do you two have to say for yourselves?”

Tucker bit his lip. “...It wasn’t my idea.”

Sam elbowed him in his bruised stomach, but didn’t otherwise respond. She was staring at the abandoned bike. “Mrs. Fenton… I think we have bait for a trap.”

Maddie blinked, thrown, following her gaze. “Wait. I know that bike.”

“That punk punked us!” Jack exclaimed. He popped his knuckles. “Now we get to punk him back!”

“You’re not out of the woods,” Maddie warned them. “Now, help us get the bike into the Assault Vehicle.”

Tucker saluted, eager to not upset her further.

“And we’ll be calling your parents when we get back to our home.”

Sam rolled her eyes. Whatever.

-------------------------------

[Fenton Works Lab]

Jazz came home and set her backpack by the door. She walked into the kitchen. “Mom? Dad?”

She opened the door to the lab. “Anyone down there?”

No answer.

She hurried down the steps and went to check the camera feed. She turned the camera around to check the entire room, finding no one.

Jazz reached for her hazmat suit.