Encounters Part Three
Tony had made the call to the Paris sisters, and they had agreed to a meeting. Tony didn’t want everyone there, but he had asked Pepper, Steve, Bruce, and Peter in his Spider-Man suit to come to the meeting. Peter wasn’t entirely sure why he had been invited, but he was excited about it. Very excited about it.
“Kid, you’re gonna break your chair if you keep bouncing like that,” Tony chastised, good naturedly.
Peter shrugged. “We’re meeting real life ghost experts, Mister Stark! I think I’m allowed to be excited!”
On his other side, Steve chuckled. “I would be bouncing, too, if I thought I could get away with it,” he joked.
Tony rolled his eyes.
The door opened and two women walked in, followed by none other than Phantom. Peter bounced more aggressively when he saw Phantom, though Phantom didn’t seem to notice him yet. The first woman had wavy blonde hair and brown eyes, and she was wearing a red button down shirt and black dress pants. The second woman had white blonde hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing the same kind of business dress suits that Pepper liked.
They walked further into the room, and the adults stood up to greet them. Abashed, Peter also stood.
“I’m Tony Stark, this is Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Spider-Man,” Tony introduced them all, gesturing as he spoke.
“Spidey!” Phantom interrupted, waving at him excitedly.
“Phantom!” Peter greeted, waving back.
“It’s nice to meet all of you. I’m Kendra Paris, and this is my sister Winter Paris. And I gather you’ve met Phantom,” the one with brown eyes introduced.
“How did you end up in this meeting anyway, Phantom?” Peter asked, once again interrupting the conversation.
Phantom rolled his eyes. “Clockwork, he’s sort of my grandfather but I’m also his apprentice, he sent me. Not sure why, but he always has a reason.”
“That’s very interesting, can we get to the meeting now?” Tony interrupted.
Peter rolled his eyes behind his mask. “Sure, Mister Stark.”
“Why, thank you,” Tony snarked back.
Everyone sat down, Phantom and Peter across from each other at the far end of the table. Kendra sat across from Tony, and Winter sat across from Pepper.
“I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to work, honestly,” Pepper admitted.
Winter smiled at her. “It’s different with different people. Let’s start with this. We know that the Avengers, with the help of Phantom and Scarlett, defended New York City from a ghost attack. Phantom and Scarlett gave you weapons they borrowed from us to use against the ghosts, and collected them again to return to us when the danger was passed. Scarlett then probably lectured you on something before she gave you our card and told you to call us. Am I right so far?”
“Sounds right to me,” Tony agreed.
“Alright,” Kendra picked up, “so now where we go from here is, what do you want from us? Information on ghosts? Ghost weapons? Both? Neither?”
“Both would be good,” Steve chimed in.
Winter nodded. “Okay. So now we have a starting point. This is the part where we’re usually going from, so there’s sort of a system in place here. The first step is education. There’s a lot to know about ghosts before you can be trusted with weapons that can hurt them. Scarlett and Phantom probably said as much.”
“They did,” Bruce agreed.
“So what next?” Tony asked.
Winter and Kendra exchanged a glance. “Actually, we have a few series of instructional videos you can watch. Usually, we have people watch those and write down questions of their own while they watch, then when you finish the first series we have a meeting and answer your questions, then you get the next series and so on and so forth. There are three series, and each series has ten episodes. Sound fair?” Kendra asked.
“That sounds fair,” Pepper said, quickly, before anyone could protest.
Kendra turned to Phantom. “Could you get the first series from our house? Please?”
Phantom rolled his eyes but floated out of his seat. “Sure, at this point I have a feeling Clockwork sent me to be your errand boy anyway,” he agreed.
He opened a portal with his hand and was gone. A few minutes later, he came back with a box of VHS tapes and set them on the table. The Paris sisters left with Phantom, and as soon as they were gone, Tony groaned dramatically and dropped his head to the table.
“VHS tapes. They’re killing me,” he moaned, dramatically.
Peter laughed. “You’re being overdramatic, Mister Stark.”
“I’m going to die death via VHS tape,” Tony insisted.
Everyone just rolled their eyes.
Peter ended up being the one to scrounge up an old VHS tape player. Tony gathered everyone in the main sitting room to start the series. Pepper was there, too. Peter wore his Spider-Man suit, because most of the Avengers didn’t know his identity. Tony did, of course, and so did Pepper and Rhodey, but they were the only ones. Peter had yet to feel comfortable enough to reveal his identity, even to his superhero sort of teammates.
“I still hate VHS tapes, they’re so outdated,” Tony complained as Peter pushed the first tape in.
“Stop whining, Mister Stark,” Peter chastised, starting the video and moving back.
“Yeah, Tony, stop whining,” Bruce joked.
Tony huffed, but didn’t respond, because the video had well and truly started. There was a black piece of paper with white writing being held up to the camera.
“Episode 1: The Basics of Ghosts”
The paper moved out of the way to reveal a boy with messy black hair and sky blue eyes standing in front of a large, rolling whiteboard. The room was otherwise empty, the walls and floor made of dark wood. The boy had a black marker in his hands, and there were a few other colors and an eraser sitting on the lip of the whiteboard. The boy smiled and waved at the camera.
“Hello,” he started. “My name is Daniel Paris. If you’re watching this, I’m sure you’ve met my older sisters Winter and Kendra. I’m also sure you know that ghosts are real. There’s a lot more to it than that, though, so we should get started.”
Daniel turned to the whiteboard and started writing out, in loopy but neat handwriting, “What are ghosts and what can they do?”. Then, he turned back to the camera.
“What are ghosts and what can they do? Up to this point, most of you probably didn’t even know ghosts are real, so you’re probably operating under a lot of guesswork and myth. Simply put, ghosts are supernatural beings made of some combination of energy and a substance called ectoplasm.”
Under “What are ghosts and what can they do?”, Daniel put a dash and “Beings made of energy and ectoplasm.” He turned back to the camera.
“Now, ectoplasm is a complicated topic, and we’ll get more into it later. For now, I’ll just say that it’s a highly energized substance that can be either sentient, non sentient, or somewhere in between. Basically, it’s the most important thing for ghosts to exist. Like I said, we’ll come back to that later.
“Moving on, there are a few things that are constants with all ghosts. All ghosts can turn invisible, intangible, which means they can pass through solid objects, and all ghosts can fly. The skill level at which these powers are used depend on the individual ghost in question. Some ghosts can do these basic powers without thought, and for others even one of these things takes all of their energy.”
Daniel made notations on the board as he spoke.
“All ghosts have at least one obsession. Obsessions, simplified, are the driving force behind a ghost’s actions and way of thinking. For some ghosts, this means that the extent of their sentience is their obsession, or obsessions. For many ghosts, while obsessions are a driving force, they can think and act for themselves much the same way humans can. This all depends on the type and strength of the ghost in question.” More writing on the board.
“Another constant is that all ghosts have a ghost core. Ghosts are made up of ectoplasm, and the ectoplasm of the ghost is held together by a crystallized, highly energized ball of ectoplasm known as a core. For ghosts, cores serve the functions of holding the ghost together, and of being the thought center for the ghost. A ghost can be reduced to their core and still have a thought process. With enough time and energy, a ghost core can reform a body for the ghost in question. This can’t always happen quickly, but provided that the core has enough time and ectoplasm available it will. This is why there isn't a ghostly equivalent of what we humans think of as death. There are ways that a ghost can cease to exist, but we’ll cover those in the next episode.”
Daniel turned back to the board, erased it, and wrote a new heading: “Types of Ghosts.”
“Before you ask, yes, there are different types of ghosts. Hopefully, I’ve made that clear already. Ghosts vary into many different categories, only the broadest of which will be covered in this episode. The first categorization system we’ll cover is categories by the way the ghost became a ghost.
“The first category we’ll cover are the Dead. This is what most people think of when they think of a ghost. A ghost that is Dead is the ghost of a plant, animal, or person that has died. There’s a lot of nuance here, but like I’ve said, this episode is an overview. We’ll get into the nitty gritty of it later.
“The second category is the Neverborn. The Neverborn are, like the name states, ghosts that were never born. These ghosts are formed out of ectoplasm that is already partially sentient. Don’t worry if this doesn’t make much sense yet, this one is hard to wrap your head around.
“The third and final category is the Deathless. The Deathless are ghosts that were born from two ghosts. The way this happens is complicated and, frankly, somewhat disturbing. We’re not going to talk about it. But, yeah, the Deathless are born from two ghosts.
“Another categorization system of ghosts is based on power level. These categories are more nuanced, and there are more exceptions, but for now we’ll stick with the roughly three categories that ghosts fall into here.
“The first of these are weak ghosts. These are ghosts that generally have only one Obsession, only the three basic powers, and are reliant on a constant source of ectoplasm to function. They usually take the forms of blobs or other shapes, and are generally not verbal or speak only simple ghost tongues. Yes, ghosts have their own languages, we’ll get to that later.
“The second are average ghosts. These ghosts usually have two or three Obsessions, and a varying number of powers beyond the basic three that we’ve covered. Some of the ghosts that are higher within this category have powers that are specific to their Obsessions. More on this later. Most of these ghosts take some sort of humanoid or animal form, because their cores can handle more detailed physical bodies. This is when you get into more intelligent ghosts, that have good understanding of things outside of their Obsessions. They have better understanding of most things, and will perform behaviors outside the limits or insistences of their Obsessions.
“The last of these categories is, of course, powerful ghosts. Powerful ghosts usually have anywhere from two to ten Obsessions, it varies widely. These ghosts also have many powers beyond the basic three, and are more likely to have powers related to their Obsessions. A music obsessed ghost might have the power to influence sound waves, a love obsessed ghost might have the power to influence people’s emotions, and a time obsessed ghost might have the power to stop time. Powers like this are usually found in more powerful ghosts, because more powers require more energy from the ghost in question. The powers of average and high level ghosts vary widely, and we don’t have a detailed understanding of how they work or why some ghosts have different powers or power levels than others.
“The last categorization system we will discuss today is the difference between adult and child ghosts. This one is easier to understand. Ghosts do not determine whether one is an adult or a child based on age. The determination is made on, simply explained, self awareness and control.
“What this entails is slightly more complex. Ghosts, much like humans, require energy to function. Child ghosts absorb energy constantly. It’s a reflex, much like breathing is for humans. They can stop doing it for short times, but it’s dangerous, painful even. Adult ghosts, on the other hand, absorb and let off energy at will. It’s closer to how humans eat. They still have to do it, but not nearly as often or as much as child ghosts do. It’s their choice. Some child ghosts can ‘grow up’, so to speak. They can gain awareness and control of their energy absorption, and slowly transition from being children to being adults. I say some, because most child ghosts can’t do this. Among the Dead, in particular, it’s almost unheard of. It’s more common for the Deathless and Neverborn.”
Daniel finished his writing, took a breath, and turned back to the camera.
“This has been the Basics of Ghosts. Thanks for watching, even if you probably had no choice.”
And the video clicked off. Steve and Peter both looked up from their notebooks. They were, of course, the only ones who took notes.
“Alright, does anyone have any questions I should write down?” Steve asked.
“No,” Tony answered, shortly.
“I made my own list,” Peter offered, waving his notebook in the air.
Everyone else shook their heads, or shrugged. Steve and Peter bent their heads together, looking over each other’s notes. Everyone else slowly left the room in twos or threes, until Tony, Peter, and Steve were left alone. Tony rolled his eyes, but listened with fondness as they compared notes.
“Jazz, you’re never gonna believe this!” Danny exclaimed over the phone.
By then, Jazz was in college, far away from Amity Park. While distance wasn’t exactly a barrier for Danny, what with his ghostly forms of travel, both he and Jazz still talked on the phone fairly often in addition to those visits.
Jazz smiled and rolled her eyes. “Was it on the news?”
Danny huffed. “I mean, probably, but isn't it better to hear about it from me?”
“Of course it is,” Jazz agreed indulgently, putting her pencil down and leaning back in her desk chair to listen.
“Well, Aragon got out again, which isn't really the exciting part. But anyway, he tore open this portal, and when I went through it was to NEW YORK CITY! I only realized it when I saw Spider-Man talking to this police officer, and I heard him say he didn’t know what the things attacking were, so I swooped in and told him they were ghosts and I got to be all dramatic about it. And I gave them some weapons, then Scarlett came and brought more, and Spider-Man helped me take down Aragon! Then Scar gave them a speech, cause you know how she is about that, and then we left.
“But then today Winter got a call from Tony Stark, and I know I met him already, but it was still so cool! So they scheduled this meeting to talk about ghosts and ghost weapons and stuff, and I wasn’t going to go, but then Clockwork told me to, so I did. I still don’t know why, but you know Clockwork. Could be any reason. But anyway, Spider-Man was at the meeting! And he’s just like...really cool, you know? And he seemed really excited to see me again, and then Scarlett had me give them the VHS tapes of the instruction videos I made for them, and now the Avengers are watching the goofy instructional videos that I made for my high school class. It’s crazy, Jazz!”
Jazz chuckled, imagining her younger brother waving his hands around in excitement.
“It sounds really exciting, Danny. I’m glad you’re happy,” she answered, and she really was.
Danny was quiet for a moment. “I’m really happy, Jazz,” he assured her, in that soft, serious voice he used when he was thinking.
“I’m glad,” she repeated, equally as softly.
“You know I’ll always need you, right?” Danny asked, after a beat. “I know I have Scarlett and Winter and Alex and Sebastian now, and I love them all to death, but they could never replace you.”
Jazz softened, smiled a little. She knew she would always be there for him, but it was always good to know she was wanted.
“I know, little brother. I’ll always need you, too, you know,” she answered.
A beat of silence.
“Good,” he said, firmly.
“Good,” she echoed.
“You probably have all sorts of fancy prep school stuff you have to do, don’t you?” Danny asked after a moment, teasing.
Jazz rolled her eyes. “It’s Harvard, Danny, and yes. I do.”
“Well, you’d better get to it then. I’d say you could stop working when you die, but well,” Danny joked, cheeky.
Jazz huffed. “Cheesy.”
“Always. But seriously, do good, yeah? And remember-”
“To watch my back, I know, Danny. I love you.”
“Love you too, Jazz. Bye!”
“Bye!”