Sasha groaned as she drove. "So let me get this straight. On top of the palismans with their variety of reasons, most of which boil down to blaming her for mistakes that endanger you all and befriending their natural predators, Spinel hates Luz out of the newly formed concept that anyone who ever leaves someone behind is an abandoner that needs to be violently murdered?"
"To be fair, my womb donor left a lot of mental scars for her to deal with." Lucci nodded as he spoke. "Honestly Spinel is way more stable than she probably should be given the situation." That was fair, and annoying to deal with.
"So what's the plan? We can't watch Luz twenty four seven and gems don't need sleep." Amity brought up. "And I know she's someone you're attached to Lucci, but if it comes down to it…I will shatter her if she even tries to place a finger on Luz."
"I know, I got her placed in a bubble for now." The boy sighed. "She just needs time to cool off."
Sasha was learning more now then she had during any of their sessions, and all of it pointed to these kids not functioning in any normal earth environment, for their own safety and the safety of others. It was only in towns with some kind of supernatural element that their mentalities seemed to improve.
The only safety net was that they hadn't gone through any towns that rejected the supernatural yet, but that luck was about to end now. "We're approaching New Jersey." She spoke up. "So make sure-"
"RAAAAAAA!!!"
"Oh for fucks sake Lucci, control your damn liiiooo-" Sasha tried to get the bus under control, swerving as they skidded in between the portal and wherever the hell they were going.
"I ironically feel better when the bus is going out of control!" Hunter shouted as he slammed into the windows of the RV.
"Can't say the same thing-Blegh!" Vee threw up.
"Gah, sparkles in my eyes!" Gus rubbed what looked like rainbows off his face. "Too many colors! Witchkind was not meant to see so many colors all at once!"
The bus finally crashed into a sign that said 'Brighton'. "... Is the van going to make it through this with all the crashing?" Amity asked as she peeled off slowly from the ceiling.
"Probably not." Willow dug her head out from the cupboard it was shoved in. "Then again we stole it from a dead guy, so maybe that's just karma balancing out."
"Nah, mom says if they're jerks, then they're free game for looting." This was the moral boundaries she had to deal with.
Sashsa got out of the vehicle, looking over the damage. "... Gonna find a mechanic." She muttered. "You kids go ahead with your normal shenanigans."
"We should start by finding out where the heck we landed." Luz shook her head. "For all we know, Spice dumped us in California again."
"Grr." The creature growled, before laying back down.
"Hold on, checking my phoon." Boscha took out her phone and waited for a second. "Someplace called Brighton 'Ill-noise'."
"Illinois. Looks like we finally got to that area around the Murphy place Death told us about." Willow said. "So there should be something supernatural in this town."
"Which means that Spice took us right where we needed to be." Lucci grinned. "Good boy."
"I am still going to skin that beast alive." This was starting to feel like her second villain Origin story…it would almost be worth losing her emotional maturity over it. Almost. "So what was it that we were supposed to find here?"
"Hold on." Luz pulled out a list. "Let's see … we have the piece of an Elder God, Dark Matter, Sands of Father Time … we still need a Spatial Coordinate Grid, a Probability Matrix, a Mind Lock, and Spectral Essence, the last of which we can probably find around here according to death-"
"We're looking for ghosts here!?" Boscha lit up in an…she wanted to say excited, but also…aroused…weird.
"... I'm just gonna … go with Sasha on this one." Lucci slowly began backing away from the girl. "You know how oracle magic doesn't like me after all."
"That, and you want to get away from your girlfriend's ghost fetish." Willow snickered.
"Least I know what I want, miss single and pining for gold." Boscha mocked.
"Hey, single isn't that bad." She rolled her eyes. "Gus and our Therapist are single, and you don't hear them complaining."
"Not for lack of trying.." She quietly muttered. While she may have dated many men and women in the past few years, none of them were Anne; who made it clear she wanted to stay single. "You kids get on with the ghost busting, I'm getting that mechanic."
"Actually, I don't think we need to search far." Vee sniffed the air. "I'm getting a strong scent from-DUCK!"
Sasha's instincts caused her to grab Luz and Lucci, pushing them down as a blade cut off the ponytail that was currently occupying where her own head used to be. "…Okay, now I'm pissed."
She turned to the offender, a purple … figure with two arms, no legs, yellow eyes, and fluffy hair, wielding a large scythe. "I know, I know, not my best handiwork. I figured that you'd look better with just a little off the top. And by a little, I mean your entire head."
"... So who are you?" Hunter decided to ask as they stared at the floating person.
"Heyo. The names Jinx. Aka, the Killjoy, as in, killer of Joy, which is what I'm attempting to do right now."
"Killer of joy?" Luz asked. "Like, just kill people that are happy?"
"Exactly! It's like, my whole life, you know?" The ghost went to slice off Vee's head, who shrunk to avoid the scythe. "Or afterlife. I make sure to keep everyone miserable."
"Why, what's the point!?" Vee shouted.
"Well originally it was because the Chairman, the man in charge of all ghosts across the universe, fed on misery and thus required ghosts to keep feeding him with humans." They responded, trying to stab Boscha, who did nothing but stare with sparkling eyes as she avoided the hit.
"And nobody thought about rebelling?" Willow asked.
"Well one, he's the most…well..WAS the most powerful ghost in the ghost realm, and two…it's just better to make other people miserable than to keep being happy. I mean, constantly trying to wear a smile all the time … that's just exhausting."
"You can not be this serious." How could someone be this openly psychotic?
"The ghost council may have lost their metaphorical spines, but I HAVEN'T!" The pink ghost shouted. "The last time someone new came to this town, they made it happier! I won't let it spread any further!"
"..." They kids looked at each other with smiles.
========================================================================
Gus patted the lid of the jar. "And that's one jar of ectoplasm, in a nice little package." It was surprisingly easy to. It was like she never actually fought someone who could fight back before.
"I really thought this was gonna be harder." Willow noted.
"Between me and Hunter's precise brutality, and Boscha's obsession with ghosts, it wasn't that hard to build a container." Amity shrugged.
"Not to mention, despite hating Oracle magic, I have been known to punch ghosts." Lucci nodded.
"You fools! Do you know what you've-"
Luz grabbed the container, shaking it around and causing the ghost inside to bounce around violently. "Yeah, listen miss spooks a lot, we're tired and we've faced much…much…MUCH worse than you. Honestly, you coming at us couldn't make us more happy, cause now we got what we came here for."
"One thing I don't get." Hunter spoke up. "I was in the Emperor Coven and Amity has experience training for it, but how did Boscha know so much about Oracle magic but never use it in a fight?"
"It's none of your busi-"
"She uses it for the sole purpose of summoning ghosts to jerk off to." Amity rolled her eyes. ….Ew.
"Don't make me sound like a pervert-!"
"Too late, your drooling alone already does that." Willow snickered.
Gus looked down at the ghost. "Now I'm morally debating how close we should leave them to Boscha. Sure they kill anyone who's happy … but do they deserve that?"
"SHUT UP!" Boscha yelled. "Can't a girl just admire and think ghosts are hot without everyone thinking she's going to jump the first one she sees?!"
"Okay, you've all officially creeped me out beyond belief…luckily I still have my trump card!"
"Oh really?" Lucci asked, walking over to the glass jar with a smirk on his face. "And what would that be?"
"The power to curse anyone within my direct vicinity…like you!" The world was starting to get dark blue and murky, dingy green.
"Mute her!" Sasha screamed.
"I got a bubble to-" It was too late as Lucci froze in place as the glass jar floated upward.
"Damn it, glass jar really kills the dramatic mood … so I'm gonna make it worse for ya!" The ghost Cackled. "For as long as you have the ability to be happy, I curse you to take on your most hated form for the rest of your days!"
Lucci began sparking as pink chains surrounded him as his soul started to separate, almost like it was trying to drag him back in. "AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Huh, I was thinking you would've ended up getting a ugly tattoo or get horribly wrinkled…this works out even better!" The ghost woman laughed. "Guess I technically killed one of you after all!"
"Lucci, fight it!" Vee screamed as the chains started snapping one after the other, the body trying to grab and shove the soul back inside.
"Kind of hard…when I keep going in…and out…of consciousness!" Lucci screamed as the body slipped, his soul becoming pink as the body slumped to the floor. "...ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Two times…..WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TWICE!?"
"LUCCCCCI!" Boscha immediately went up to hug the ghost half. "You're alright, and more attractive than ever!"
"Great, that's kicking back in." Willow muttered, a sentiment Gus could agree with in full.
"Wait." Luz spoke up. "Last time didn't his body …"
They all turned to the glowing Pink body. "... Processing annoyance of repeated situation."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that." A starstruck Boscha smiled brightly.
"..Oh I call hacks!" The ghost lady yelled indignantly. "Hacks! Wraith shells aren't supposed to be that cognitive."
"Deleting source of annoyance." Lucci's body began radiating raw energy as everything seemed to get heavier, and multiple hexagons surrounded the jar, one of them cutting a lamppost in half.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You need me intact, right!?"
"Technically, we just need ectoplasm, so we could honestly just scrap whatever's left of you off the floor." Gus pointed out.
"Also it's very hard to talk this guy down." Luz added. "Unless Lucci says something, not even death is gonna stop him."
"Depends…are you going to undo the curse?" Ghost Lucci asked the ghost lady.
"NEVER!"
Splat
They watched as the woman splattered across the hexagons with broken glass. "... Did …" Vee started. "Did you just kill a ghost?"
"Don't worry, they'll reconstitute…maybe…probably…" Boscha shrugged.
"Wait, couldn't you die in hell if you were killed by angelic weapons?" Amity asked.
"Well then what happens?" Gus questioned. "Double ghost? Super hell?" That seemed like a very confusing rabbit hole.
"I'm still questioning how Lucci's body is moving on its own without his soul." Sasha pointed out. "Is that like one of his alien powers?"
"His gem has its own consciousness." Luz explained. "He's pretty much running on pure cold logic that focuses on Lucci's happiness and safety over … well, all things."
"Remerging." The body grabbed Lucci's ghost from Boscha, trying to shove it back in. "Remerging. Remerging."
"Finally, at least this time I'm not chained to a crystal ball…" Lucci's soul went into its body….as it passed right through it. "Uh, maybe I just need to stay in…" He went in again…and was pushed out violently into the air. "Okay, what gives!? It's my body, and I'm a ghost! I should be able to possess my own body!"
"Clawthorne having a problem with his powers, that never happens." Hunter laughed.
"...." Lucci gave Hunter a blank look and dove inside of him.
"Hey, don't you dare-" Hunter's body was overcome with a pink glow. "Hey, I'm the Golden tool! I dream about running off into the wild to live with wolves and constantly cut myself sewing sweaters for Willow I secretly make at night."
"Hunter does what now?" Willow asked with a blush.
"I'll let the tool tell you himself." 'Hunter' responded, before the pink glow left him. "Damn it Clawthorne, don't you EVER do that again!" He gripped himself. "So cold … gah, disgusting."
"Now you know why I hate oracle magic." Lucci grimaced. "Well, I can possess people, but not my own body….damn it, we gotta figure what that bitch did."
"Surely we can hold off for a day or ten, right?" Boscha asked while holding onto Lucci, rubbing her face into his ectoplasmic chest. "Give us time to….explore what this means for us…"
"...Luz, please tell me there's an idea in that nerdy brain of yours to get me out of this."
"We'll try something that hasn't failed us once …" The girl raised a finger. "Walking to the library until whatever runs wild in this town stops us and helps our situation!"
"It's sad that we can count that as a legitimate solution." Sasha sighed. "You kids do that, I'm getting this bus fixed for the road.
"Well if we can't hang out in the bus … the woods are a lovely second." Boscha grinned.
"We're going to the library Angel." Lucci growled, floating away.
"Come on, at least possess me on the way over there!"
"Why would you want that?" Hunter asked.
"Because that cold feeling of someone else's essence merging with your own … indescribable."
".....We need to book it to that library now!" Gus shouted. He did NOT want to hear any more kink talk…not after going to hell.
========================================================================
Libby smiled as she organized the books. "You'd think after so many visits, people would learn to put them back where they belong." She muttered. It wasn't too hard to do, but it was annoying that she had to keep doing it. One could almost go crazy trying to keep it all together…actually, she did almost go crazy doing it, but it was nothing a refreshing herbal tea and meditation couldn't fix.
Although she had to wonder exactly how much of it was caused by people and how much was caused by ghosts messing around. Years of gathering data couldn't prepare her for the confirmation of their existence….but now she slept with one eye open wondering just how many were watching her in her sleep.
Strangely enough, just Geoff. Apparently he liked watching people smile while they had dreams. Still a bit unnerving, but sweet in a way. But now that she was done investigating the truth about ghosts, she needed a new mystery to uncover. If ghosts exist, what else did? Witches? Demons? Aliens? God? A whole bag of conspiracies that could take her a lifetime to figure out.
All it would take was a simple lead. Now where to find a lead … "First time we actually made it to a library. Weird." She heard a new voice speak up.
"Was really banking on a random encounter there." She turned to see a latino/spanish girl speak up next to a group of friends … and a ghost. "Okay, let's try reading around for ghosts and curses."
"I'll take Lucci to whatever supply closet there is here." A girl with pink skin raised her hand. "You know….getting locked in…completely private…no one else around…"
"Keep it in your pants for five minutes, Boscha, seriously." The buff girl with glasses rolled her eyes.
"Actually it's better if she does that." A short black kid said. "I feel she'd burn the book with the answer to keep him like this."
"Restraining threat." A pink boy said, staring blankly at them while raising their hand.
"I told you before, don't you dare touch my ANGEL!" The ghost, that had particular resemblance to the glowing pink boy, spoke up in defense.
"Request stated to not harm Angel, nothing in parameters was clarified of restraint." They stated, grabbing onto the girl.
"Oh, maybe this is the best of both worlds. Both sides of my crystal are holding me." …Okay, Libby probably should intervene before one of these people does something rather unscrupulous in her family's bookstore.
"Hello there. Pardon my intrusion, but I could help but notice that you have a supernatural problem of the spectral kind." She kindly but cautiously approached.
"Hmm?" The skinny girl looked at the ghost. "Oh no, he's with us."
"Really? You're friends with a ghost as well?"
"Friends…and so much more." The girl with abnormally pink skin squeezed the specter in what most would presume to be in an intrusive manner.
"You were right Gus, this is a nightmare." The blonde kid muttered. "Please tell me you have a solution."
"Libby Stein-Torres, one of the few experts in understanding ghosts in this town." She extended her hand.
"Oh thank goodness, there's always at least one sane person in town." The girl with tan skin sighed with relief. "I'm Luz Noceda, these are my friends Amity, Gus, Willow, Vee, Hunter, and Lucci. The girl in pink is more of a frenemy, Boscha." She waved to the group. "They're witches from another dimension."
"YES!" She screamed, pulling out a notepad labeled 'witches' and flipping it open. "Tell me everything about you guys. Your culture, your dimension, your powers, technology." So much to learn!
"As a fellow lover of culture exchange … " Gus smiled, waving his hand as a large powerpoint presentation popped into existence. "I managed to fit all of Witch knowledge within a simple three hour slide show."
"A three hour seminar!" She squealed, sitting down. "This is so exciting." Such delicious knowledge at her fingertips.
"Great, earth nerds." Boscha rolled her eyes. "Like we needed more of those."
"Don't complain, that nerd is the only source of help we have." The ghost groaned, floating up to her. "So in case you haven't noticed, I've been separated from my body and I can't get back in." He went in to possess the pink body that looked like him…only for the ghost to pass through. "See, nothing."
"Oh, you're a wraith." Libby nodded, inspecting closer. "A mortal body forcibly separated from their ghost."
"Alright … So can you get me back in?" They asked with hope.
"No, but I know someone who can." She nodded. "My friend, Molly Mcgee happens to have a very close friendship with on-"
"Wait, Molly Mcgee?" The girl with an afro spoke up with a growing grin. "Excitable personality? Jean jacket? Always goes on about 'enhappification'?"
"Yes." She nodded with curiosity. "You know of her?"
"Know of her? She used to live in Gravesfield a few years back before her family moved away. We're besties!" The girl grinned. "She was one of the first few people I was able to really open up to that wasn't family."
"Ah, then we have a lot in common then." Libby smirked, knowing Molly would be excited about an old acquaintance coming back up.,
"Then Libby, take us to Molly Mcgee!" The girl with glasses shouted with a grin.
"Can it wait till after the presentation?" She asked. There was still so much to learn.
The pink boy walked up to her, lifting Libby by the collar. "Now."
"Will do, will do, please just don't squish me into paste!" She pleaded.
"Sorry about that, without Lucci's soul, he doesn't feel much of anything other than getting it back by any means necessary." Luz sighed.
"I get it." She nodded. "This way, come on now." Before it tried squishing them.
========================================================================
Molly grinned as she showed it off. "What do you think of your upgraded apartment Scratch?" She asked her best ghost friend.
"... It could be a little less … pink." Scratch rolled his eyes. "I get that I'm not exactly trying to be a misery magnet anymore, but…pink, really? I thought you knew me better by now. I'm still a ghost, there's a certain precedence that needs to be had. Pink isn't scary."
"What about Jinx?" Molly brought up.
"I personally saw her more on the magenta side." He answered as he placed a whole bag of chips in his mouth. "Now blue, Blue is much more me."
"But isn't blue on blue overkill?" She countered. "That's why you gotta mix and match. With pink, and yellow, and red, and ALL the colors of the rainbow and everything in between!" She threw out her rainbow colored stickers all over the place. "Wouldn't life be so much better if everything was rainbow?"
"Your life maybe, but we're talking about my afterlife." Scratch said. "And the only rainbow colors I want to see are the highly unhealthy and sugar coated ones in my jelly beans and licorice."
"One step at a time I guess …" There was a knock on the door. "Oh, give me a sec." She opened up, greeted by Libby. "Oh hey girl, what brings you around?"
"I found a few new friends, including one you might recognize." The girl smiled, showing off ...
"Steven, good to see you buddy!" She hugged the boy. "When did you get so pink?"
"Processing threat on emotional and physical level….threat level…low.."
"And when did your voice get so robotic and deep? Did you become a cyborg!? Are you fighting in the military and gone uncovered to eliminate Russian spies?! That is so amazing! Take me on your next mission!"
"… Strangely enough, I have no questions for a change." A ghost that looked like Steven muttered …
"Wait, did you turn into a wraith?" She asked.
"Wait, but I thought..." Libby turned to this one girl with cool looking shades and an afro that was just killing it.
"I see there's a bit of confusion here, so…let me clear things up." The multi-colored girl shapeshifted, until she looked exactly like Steven, except as she last remembered seeing him. "Hi, I'm the Steven you met, Molly. My real name's Vee…and I'm a basilisk."
"… So you can look someone in the eyes and they turn to stone?" Molly asked.
"You're thinking of Gorgans. Basilisks just suck magic out of people."
"Ah. Gotcha." She. Nodded. "So you're a girl now, nice. We can totally go on a shopping spree."
"... People are so accepting out here." A tan girl muttered.
"The world is only as cruel as you believe it is. Nothing like a good attitude and enhappification can't fix right up!" She jumped on her bed and pointed up to the ceiling. "And I'm the gal to fix it! Molly Mcgee! Brighton's number one source of enhappification!"
"..She does know enhappification isn't a word, right?" The short kid asked.
"The world will catch on eventually." Molly smirked. "So, you guys wanna have a get together party? I can talk my dad into setting up a barbecue in the back, mom could paint the decorations, Darrel will probably steal a bounce house and a few bubble machines…"
"I've taught that boy well." Scratch sniffed and wiped a tear.
"So an overly positive girl and somebody with a more or less broken/flexible moral compass." The girl with purple pointed to the tan girl and the ghost. "Weird that we keep having so many parallels with where we travel."
"Tell me about it … you're not gonna try and add him to the 'Cherry mix' are you?" The buff girl with glasses asked.
"Look, just because I find ghosts hot doesn't mean I want to get together with every ghost." The girl with pink skin rolled their eyes. "The blue one's nose is far too big anyways."
"And I'm not a fan of pink skin, so screw you." Scratch grumbled.
"And I don't find every criminal hot, just Cheri bomb and Angel Dust somewhat." …. The kids all gave the Ghost Steven a look. "What, you guys know I crushed on the Blight twins, that shouldn't be much of a shock."
"You guys sound like you've got a long and complicated backstory….please tell me every detail." Molly took out her notebook. "Birthdays, likes, interests, hopes and dreams, leave nothing out!"
"Maybe after we fix our problem." The tan girl shook it off. "See, we ran into another ghost that locked Lucci out of his body, and we can't get him back in." Luz brought up. "Any ideas on how to do that?"
"Don't know. Scratch?" She turned to her best dead best friend.
"Did she say anything before she kicked him out?" He asked.
"Yeah, she said 'for as long as you have the ability to be happy, I curse you to take on your most hated form for the rest of your days!' As a bunch of chains came out and the world went all green goo."
"Sounds like a Ghost Curse." Molly nodded. "Scratch did one to me a while back. Just follow the words and you should be good."
"… That sounds like he could just break it by crying." Libby noted.
"I don't cry easily." The ghost Lucci.
"Plus that would be too easy. They said 'as long as you can', which means he doesn't have to be happy currently, he just has to have the ability. Like how most ghosts can be happy, but choose to be miserable." Scratch explained. "Only way to break a curse made by another ghost is to get another ghost and cast another curse for the second ghost to break."
"Huh?" The ghost Steven…or Lucci apparently, asked.
"I'm going to give the kid a new curse for him to break." Scratch repeated. "He breaks that, he breaks both curses."
"Great, just say I need to eat a corn dog." The ghost said.
"Not that simple kid. It needs to be equal or greater to the first curse. It's like nature and a vacuum." He pointed to Libby. "I once gave all of Molly's good luck to Libby, which meant Molly had to take in all the bad luck. Knock something out of whack and you destroy the universe."
"It feels like everyone who has almighty power just has to follow a bunch of rules." The short kid noted.
"You have noooo idea." The ghost shook his head. Scratch put a hand to his chin, entering his 'scheming thinking mode'. "Let's see … I need to make a curse about as difficult as that … maybe a time limit." He snapped his fingers. "I've got it." The ghost cleared his throat as he began stretching. "Stand back everyone, I've got some cursing to do, gonna need some room."
"It's a little spooky, but also kind of adorable after a while." Molly giggled. "After all, curses are what made me and him best friends for life."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he said he'd haunt me forever, and then whenever I said his name he instantly came to my side. Friendship that never ends." Until the curse broke of course, but by then it was strong enough to survive without out. "So how'd you discover ghosts? Haunted mansion? Abandon railway?"
"It's a Witch magic from our world in the demon realm." The girl with purple hair explained.
"Scratch, you never said there was a demon realm!" Molly's eyes lit up!"
"You never asked." They pointed out.
"How many realms are there!?"
"Enough that infinity isn't an applicable number." So many adventures to be had! "Now quiet, I have to have silence." Scratch became massive as ribbons swirled around him and Ghost Stev-Lucci. "If you can not bring yourself to bring who annoys you most what they desire most before the sun sets, you shall be doomed to remain a ghost, forever!!" He shouted.
"Oh come on!!" The ghost Steven slammed his head against the wall.
"Eliminating Spector." The pink Steven cracked their knuckles.
"Like that scares me-" Scratch was punched, and sent crashing into the wall, breaking a hole into it. "I WAS WRONG! PINK IS A SCARY COLOR!" Pink Steven jumped into the wall. "HELP ME! HEEEELLLP!!"
"So … what now?" Tan girl asked. "Amity, you have a plan?"
"It shouldn't be that hard, you just have to ask what Hunter wants the most and we're done." Amity said. "So spill it; what do you want the most, Hunter? More than anything in the world?"
The boy opened his mouth … then immediately closed it, looking confused. "… Belos dead, I guess?"
"Don't worry Crystal; I'll love you no matter what form you take." The pink eyed girl hugged the ghost suggestively.
"Aww, ghost love, mortal boundaries can't stop romance from blooming." Molly cooed.
"You wouldn't say that if you knew her." The buff girl with glasses groaned. "Hunter, think of something, or else we'll have to deal with Boscha ghost sex for the rest of this trip."
"I'm trying, but besides Belos's approval I never actually wanted much. I have friends, a wolf shirt, games … Wait, I think I got it! I may have something else I may want more." Hunter pounded his fists.
"Please say corn dog."
"I want Clawthorne…to humiliate himself…by becoming the personal lackey of the most insufferable person you have in this town." He smirked.
"... I will get back in my body….and I will destroy you." The ghost Lucci growled, before smirking. "Hey, blue ghost…can I do that cursing stuff too?" There was a silence … "Blue ghost?"
"Spector Exterminated." The pink Steven spoke, covered head to toe in blue liquid.
"Scratch!" Molly went to hug her bow droopy friend. "Say something buddy! Don't go towards the light! Or dark..or however death works for ghosts!"
"... I….neeed... tacos…" scratch replied with a cough. "With…extra spicey…guac sauce…"
Molly sighed in relief. "I'll go get him food. Libby … take them to Andrea."
Dun Dun Dunnnnn
There was a moment of silence before they all turned to her brother, who was playing with his phone. "Nah, not the right ringtone."
"Is it just me, or does anyone else get dejavu hearing him talk?" Steve-Vee asked out loud.
"Kind of sounds like Amethyst." Luz brought up.
"But Vee already sounds like Amethyst." The short kid pointed out.
"Whatever. On a scale of annoying to insufferable, how bad is this 'Andrea'." Ghost Lucci asked.
"I say…five/six out of ten. She's a bit full of herself and oblivious to anything bad she does, but she's on the nice side as far as entitled rich girls go." Molly explained.
"Oh, so Amity before she met Luz." Willow nodded.
"…Ugh, I'm going to find another pair of parents I hate, won't I?" Said girl grumbled.
"If you hate caring but slightly neglectful company owners, probably."
"Great, Boscha parents. The kind that actually CARE about their family and make it so bad people get rewarded!" The purple girl started to rant.
"We're just gonna …" Luz grabbed her and walked away.
"They seem like a lot of fun." Molly smirked.
"Agree…to….disagree." Scratch moaned in pain. "Taccos …" Right, going back to cheer up food.
========================================================================
Andrea grinned as she looked over her outfit. "You are rockin it." Trendy and yet high class, a white silky hoodie, along with stylized and bedazzled jeans. Fandreas needed their daily dose of fashion tips. White was definitely in. Sure, it was harder to keep clean, but the extra effort only made you stand out even more fabulously.
"Now lets see what to do today …" Definitely hanging with fabs on the web, showin off the town. An afternoon run, followed by a cheat smoothie. After that … free time. "I didn't really plan today that much, did I?" She asked aloud. What to do?
Spend time with dad? Nah, too busy running the company. Mom, nope, modeling. Hanging out with friends? Sounded good but she wanted to make sure Molly washed out all the dirt from being homeless. Andrea was kind, but she had standards to maintain.
She walked out to the window, looking at a cloud shaped like a flower. "Ah beautiful nature, do you have an idea to alleviate my boredom?"
"I can think of a few-"
"Ahh!" She almost instinctively threw her phone out at the pink blob thing that appeared from her window, but valuing her possessions, she opted to fall on the floor instead. Wow, who knew nature had a ten second or less delivery time on requests? Too bad it freaked her out. "Look, if you're here to rob me, at least take last season's hand me downs in the back of my closet! I've already gotten selfies with them, so I don't need to wear them again.
"No I-" He paused, looking at the back of a closet. "You're fine with giving these away-no, focus on what's important."
"Hey, are you implying my stuff isn't rob worthy?" She glared at the pink blog thing. "I'll have you know I have seen grown men fight for less on the streets!"
"No, I was saying it's pretty expensive to just not fight over keeping them." He muttered.
"Why would I fight a ghost?" She asked. "I'm just a normal, albeit fabulous and trendy, girl that clearly can't do anyone to hurt you in the long run." She shrugged. "I mean, maybe I could buy something, but by then, you'll be gone, so this just makes things easier for the both of us. Oh, want some tea with that?"
"Huh…out of all the houses I've broken into, you're definitely the most pragmatic and cordial."
"Thank you." Just because someone was dead didn't mean she had to be a bad host.
"But no, I'm not here to steal something … for now." He muttered, before coughing. "Do I have to word it like that?" He was looking at something out the window, before sighing. "Congratulations Andrea Davenport. You have been elected, like, the most super popular and fab person in the universe. I am now at your mercy. Whatever you desire will be at your command."
Andrea looked at the admittedly cute ghost. "Like a genie or a manservant?" She asked.
"Yes…on both accounts. Simply name it and it shall be yours for the whole day."
"Great." She started a stream. "Hey fandreas. This ghost here said he's gonna grant my wishes. And I choose to devote this gift onto the world. Thus, my first wish, is for world peace."
"Wait really?" He blinked.
"Well, yeah, I got the money, and if I flaunt myself too much; than people will think I'm shallow, and I'm trying to be real. It's possible to be popular and still have a heart." She said, getting in another selfie. "Now come on, end all wars and global conflict."
"Ah…right...just give me a second…channeling reality bending power isn't a light task." The ghost shook their head, looking out the window again. "Yes, that's what she wished for, so we got to do it. Your the one that put me in this!"
"Uh, everything alright?" She asked.
"Peachy. I'm just having problems with a certain annoying voiced imp." They cracked their non-existent neck with a particularly loud pop. "Now stand back, my powers are very BIG AND FLASHY!" He yelled, looming out the window again.
"Sure thing." Andrea moved back, pulling out some shades and her phone. "Get ready fandreas, the world's not about to be the same ever again." She began filming.
"Alright Andrea Davenport, prepare to see a brand new world!" The ghost began flying around her rapidly in a circle as the room was overcome with a flash,everything in her room as well as herself began to float in a bright pink and blue void.
"Whoa, definitely feeling the magic!" She laughed. Good thing she was filming, or else no one would've believed what was going on. Like she was going to be crazy enough to say she saw something without proof. Definitely a better filming experience than that time she starred in Molly's movie.
The entire world was wrapped up in a blanket of rainbows, colors of every kind being shown, before another bright flash overcame her, and suddenly she found herself in the streets, where a banner with the words 'World peace achieved' plastered on it.
"Wow … you did it!" She smiled brightly. "And here I thought what you were selling was half bogus!"
"Hehe, yeah, I-what do you mean by half bogus?"
"Genies always have a habit of messing up wishes, it's a trope you know?" She asked. "Plus my fans can confirm … War still going on in my country." Andrea read one of the comments. "So, care to explain?"
The ghost slapped his face, and groaned. "Alright, guess we have to do this the hard way. Ms. Davenport, tell me, what's the main reason peace is so hard to achieve?"
"Free will."
"... I don't follow."
"People are free to do their own things, which is good, but that in turn leads to having their own opinions, own morals, and religions. And when your fundamental morals and beliefs are so different across multiple close range locations, coexistence is impossible to achieve. There are improvements, and it could be good at times, but true harmony is impossible." She responded. "Culture and society is doing its best to embrace diversity and acceptance nowadays, but as long as differences exist, someone will always find a reason to hate, to fear, to run from what they can't understand. Not nihilism, not cynical, that's just the simple truth of the matter."
The ghost looked at her in an almost awe-like expression. "…I believe you're the smartest human I've ever met."
"Tell me something I don't know." She rolled her eyes. "Which is why I was banking on genie magic to fix it so we could somehow exist with both free will and harmony … which you couldn't provide."
"No, I can't..I couldn't fix all the world's problems with magic even if I tried." Of course…"But you don't need magic to fix the world."
"Say what now?"
"Andrea, you came up with an answer to one of life's hardest questions in mere seconds, along with a detailed explanation, something I know, and I know that you know, for a fact that most adults could never even come close to figuring out. You were offered a choice for anything you could've want, yet you chose to help others…and your popular. You're the answer to world peace."
"I am?" … This was turning out pretty cool for what seemed like a boring day.
========================================================================
Lucci was internally panicking just a bit. This girl was a lot smarter than Molly made her out to be, so he needed to treat this with absolute precision. AKA, all the teachings mom has ever given him to lie his way through this. "Yes, because the world is never at peace instantly, it's one step at a time." He answered, snapping his fingers to signal Willow to grow out a lush and vibrant garden, filled with plenty of fruit. "The first step towards it is self-realization, which you have in spades in that pretty little head of yours."
"Okay … following you so far." She nodded, looking to the garden.
"After that it's all about being goal oriented, never giving up and thinking about the next big step." He went on, signaling Gus, who had begun showing off images of their trip to Gravity Falls, Hawaii, and Fosters. "Pieces of the world right now experience peace because they take the chance to experience what they don't know or understand. But someone like you, someone popular, smart, and understanding can bridge that understanding to the rest of the world."
"Right … It needs people who understand to make it better." Andra smiled.
"Exactly!" She was buying it so far. "You see, what I showed is you, Andrea, you have the power to bring world peace."
"I get it…you're saying it's my destiny to save the world! My popularity will reach the heavens and shine hope into everyone! I never knew I was that popular!"
"I still say she pulls off rich entitlement better than Boscha." Willow whispered from her hiding place. Ignoring the slight at Boscha, Lucci agreed. This was nowhere as bad as he thought it was going to be … wait, would that mean Hunter wouldn't be satisfied enough for the curse to be broken?
He needed to double down before sunset, get Andrea to embarrass him or something before time ran out. "Sure you don't want anything else? Manicure? Dress model? Massage?"
"Oh, actually there is one more thing I'd like to have." She smiled.
"Anything, Name it!"
"A kiss for helping me realize how great I can be.."
"Hfjdndndndnfn…" The incoherent growling of his Angel could be heard; likely being restrained by their friends.
"What was that?" Andrea asked in confusion.
"The wind." He replied quickly. "I'm sure I can get you a pony.."
"No, a kiss." She presented her cheek.
Just a cheek kiss. Okay. That wasn't too bad. He'd make it quick and end the day quickly before anything else happened. "Alright…just a quick.."
Before he had time to blink, Andrea had grabbed his face, and kissed him on the lips!
"Gaaaaaaaaagggh!" Fire erupted from the hiding place from what was probably his angel making his way here to kill the girl.
"What's with the fire?" Andrea asked.
Lie, lie … he said the first words that he heard from the others. "My burning passion." What the fuck kind of line was that!?
"Hehehehehe." He could hear Golden Boy doing his best to not burst out laughing along with Willow.
"Oh, I'm flattered that I can make you feel so strongly." Oh great, she was going along with the unintentional flirting. "Maybe you can stick around and…haunt the house a little?" Why the heck did pretty and smart girls always have a ghost fetish?!
"I ..." He could feel a tug. "Sorry, being summoned somewhere else, Byeeeeeeeee!" He shouted, flying back to his body.
A second later, he blinked, looking down at … his real hands … "I'm back and alive!" Lucci shouted.
"Lucci!" He was hugged by Luz. "I'm glad you're back! Between your gem half and Boscha, it was hard keeping both of you restrained and hidden."
"I'll have to thank you for it." He sighed in relief, patting her on the back.
"Fiery passion!" He turned to see Willow and Hunter laughing on the ground. "You got him to say that!"
"I don't even know where that came from! It was the dumbest line I could think of!"
"Alright Golden Boy." He cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to make you pay." He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, you can't talk me out of-"
"Lucifer." Boscha growled at him with the fury of a girlfriend pushed too far.
"Ah….Angel…." He sweated.
"Did you not only kiss another girl without my permission, but then go back to your body before I got any enjoyment out of you being a ghost?" She asked, without a single spec of flame emanating from her body.
"…Not by choic-…"
She continued to growl … but gave a soft smile. "You know, a funny little memory popped into my head."
"Is that right?" He chuckled
"Yep." She raised her hand, fingers and nails almost twitching around menacingly. "About how a gem's core acts like a nerve cluster." She grabbed him by the neck. "And how you told me how 'funny' it makes you feel when I caress it."
"..Where are you going-" He didn't get the chance to finish, too busy blushing as she placed her whole hand on his gem.
"Since you got to play manservant with 'a pretty head', you're going to do the same to me…serving me in whatever way I want."
"Aahhh…"
"Or I start squeezing and scratching …"
Hunter's laughter only increased. Lucci would kill that bastard eventually…one day, very, very soon.