Chapter 12: 23 Isekai | Genre Swap [Tropes]

During their wanderings of the Ghost Zone, Danny and Chelsea discovered a gaping cave made of craggy gray stone. The odd formation drew Chelsea’s gaze and she floated up to it.

“Careful,” Danny warned, following her. “You never know what you’ll find around here.”

The cave seemed endless. Chelsea didn’t go in but examined the edges. She saw a five-pointed star etched into the wall, and below that, a list of words. She recognized “Earth,” but that was it. The rest were gibberish. And why were there three Earths listed?

She sounded out one of the words, her fingers tracing the letters. “Denduron…”

To her surprise, a light shone inside the cave. With it came harmonious musical notes, like you’d hear from tuning forks. The rocks started to clear like they were made of crystal. She felt a tug that grew stronger with the light and the sounds.

“What did you do?” Danny asked frantically, floating beside her.

“I just read a word,” Chelsea said, pointing. The light was getting so bright they had to shield their eyes, the music notes so cacophonous they had to cover their ears.

“Hurry!” Danny shouted. “I feel it sucking me in!”

“Me, too!” Chelsea replied, but she couldn’t escape the pull. Try as they might, Chelsea and Danny couldn’t fly away. They were trapped.

The bright light flashed, and the two found themselves in a strange tunnel made of crystal-clear rocks. Beyond the rocks were thousands of tiny stars. Were they in outer space? But how? The Ghost Zone didn’t connect to outer space. Or did it? The music notes continued, but now they wooshed past, fading in and out quickly.

“What is this?” Chelsea asked in awe.

“I don’t know…” Danny replied.

Chelsea whipped her head to look at him. “You don’t know?”

“Hey, I’ve only explored a fraction of the Ghost Zone,” Danny said. “This could be anything.”

“Alright, alright,” Chelsea said. “So… what do we do now? Just ride this out and hope for the best?”

“If you want do to that, then fine,” Danny said. “Me, on the other hand, I’m going to bust my way out of here. As… soon as I get my powers working.”

“Your powers aren’t working?” Chelsea asked, alarmed. She tried creating an ectoball to no effect. “Mine aren’t either!”

Danny crossed his arms and frowned. “I hate this floating feeling.”

“But…”

“I know, I know, I float all the time,” Danny said. “But that’s my choice. This isn’t. I don’t like it.”

“You’re just miffed that you can’t blast your way out of here,” Chelsea said with a smirk.

“Aren’t you concerned?” Danny asked.

“Nah,” Chelsea said. “We’re not getting hurt, and it’s pretty. Just relax and enjoy the ride.” She put her hands behind her head and kicked up her feet.

“How can I when we don’t even know where we are?” Danny countered. “Or where we’re going.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Chelsea said. “Just enjoy the view.”

Danny looked up and around. “Yeah, I guess it is pretty.”

They didn’t know how long the ride lasted, but they could tell they were moving fast because of the music notes whizzing by.

After a moment of silence, Danny spoke up. “Have I ever told you that I wanted to be an astronaut growing up?”

“No!” Chelsea said. “It sounds like you gave up on that dream. Why?”

Danny gave her a flat look and motioned to his body.

“Oh, right,” Chelsea said, blushing. “I guess being a ghost puts a damper on things. I don’t know what I wanted to be, other than a princess of course. I never saw a future for myself. No wait, I take it back. I wanted to be a mommy, but that was when I was really young.”

Danny looked away. “Can you… Do you mind telling me how long you were sick?”

“I don’t mind,” Chelsea said. “I was in kindergarten when I had my first seizure, but I wasn’t diagnosed for another two years after that.”

“Did you… always know you were going to die?”

Chelsea tilted her head in thought. “No. I don’t any child knows that. Then my grandpa Parley passed away when I was six. That’s when I learned about death.”

“You know,” Danny said thoughtfully, “my parents have always been obsessed with ghosts, but it wasn’t until I became one that I thought about death.”

“I think we’re at the end,” Chelsea said as the light and music swelled. “Sorry to cut you short–”

The two were deposited gently on their feet. Behind them, the tunnel quieted to a normal cave. They looked around for any sign of where they were, but all they saw was more cave.

“–But I think we’re here,” Chelsea said. “Wherever here is…”

“So… how do we get back to the Ghost Zone?” Danny wondered.

At his words, the tunnel came alive once more. The lights and music started up again, and they felt tugging at their bodies.

“That seemed to do the trick,” Chelsea said. “I wish we could have looked around a bit…”

“I don’t,” Danny said.

“Hey, I think I see someone!” Chelsea said, squinting. She waved. “Hi!” Then the tunnel picked them up and they were on a journey again. “Darn it!”

~~👻~~

Bobby Pendragon watched the two figures disappear into the flume. Who were they? Where did they come from? Were they more of the Travelers that Uncle Press told him about? So many questions and no answers. Such was Bobby’s life right now.

~~👻~~

Back in the strange tunnel, Chelsea asked, “What were we talking about before?”

“You seem relaxed,” Danny remarked.

“Well,” Chelsea replied, “I think this tunnel is pretty… what’s the word I’m looking for? Safe? Yeah, safe. There’s nothing to worry about, so we might as well chat.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Danny said, eyes darting around.

“Trust me, Danny,” Chelsea said. “We’re on our way home, I’m sure of it. Death! That’s what we were talking about. Maybe we should change the subject.”

“Like what is this tunnel?” Danny suggested.

“My guess is a portal of some kind,” Chelsea said.

“That’s obvious,” Danny said. “It took us from one place to another. It’s different from any other portal I’ve seen before, though. Most ghost portals are just a hole in the sky with one side in the Ghost Zone and one side in the human realm. There’s no tunnel in between.”

“I’ll bet that person I saw would know,” Chelsea said excitedly. “We should go back!”

Danny shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. We don’t know what that place is like, or if that person is friendly. We don’t want to intrude on a ghost’s lair.”

“Tell me more about ghost lairs,” Chelsea said.

“I don’t know much about them,” Danny said, “because I don’t wander into random places. I do know that they’re like a ghost’s home, and intruding on one would be like a home invasion.”

“I see…” Chelsea said slowly. “Do you have a lair?”

Danny cocked his head. “I don’t… think so? Unless it’s in Amity Park, maybe. Maybe I should ask Frostbite. He would know.”

“Who’s Frostbite?” Chelsea asked.

“He’s the king of the yeti ghosts,” Danny answered. “He’s the one who taught me about my ice powers.”

“Oh, cool!” Chelsea said, pumping her fists. “Can I meet him?”

Danny laughed. “Sure, why not?”

Chelsea hummed to herself in excitement. “I’m gonna meet a yeti,” she singsonged quietly.

Danny laughed again. “Is that why you want to meet him? Because he’s a yeti?”

“Well, yeah,” Chelsea said, “and because he taught you about your power. Maybe he can teach me something, too!”

“Like what?” Danny asked.

“I dunno,” Chelsea said. “Maybe he knows about ghost lairs. And cores. Maybe he knows someone who can help me with my core.”

“Hey, I know about cores,” Danny said.

“Yeah, but we have different cores,” Chelsea said. “Frostbite might know someone who knows about my core. Oh, hey, the music is reaching its climax.”

The twinkling music notes jumbled together, growing louder at the end of the tunnel. With a flash of light, they were in the Ghost Zone again.

“That was fun!” Chelsea said. “Let’s do it again! Den–”

“No!” Danny said, putting a hand to her mouth. “Let’s move on.

Chelsea and Danny passed a portal that led to a dark void. Chelsea, ever curious, floated up to the portal.

Danny groaned. “Don’t go in there!”

“I’m not,” Chelsea said. “I just want a better look.”

“Remember what happened last time you did that?” Danny warned.

“Yeah,” Chelsea said. “That was fun!”

Danny sighed.

Suddenly, they got sucked into the void portal.

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“What did you do this time?” Danny shouted.

They floated a few feet above the ground in the bright sunshine of a clear day. Two monsters stood and floated in front of them. The one that stood had two heads and looked kind of like a black dragon. The other one was the size of the first one’s head and had a purplish, blob-like body. Behind the monsters stood a person wearing a strange outfit.

“You can talk?” came a voice behind Chelsea and Danny.

The two whipped around to see another person holding two red and white balls.

Danny flew right up to the person who spoke. “What’s going on, here? Where are we?”

The person backed up. “This is the Galar region! We’re having a Pokemon battle. You don’t look like Pokemon. How did you come out of my Pokeballs?”

The other person said, “Midreavus, Zweilous, return!” The monsters turned into specks of light that flew to them. They also held two red and white balls. “What’s with your Pokemon, man? I’ve never seen Pokemon like that before!”

“We’re not Pokemon,” Chelsea said. “We’re ghosts. How do we get back to the Ghost Zone?”

“Let me see if I can return you to the Pokeballs,” the first person said. “Um… what are your names?”

“I’m Chelsea and this is Danny.”

“Chelsea, Danny, return!” the person said, holding up the balls. Nothing happened.

Danny threw up his hands. “Great! Now we’re stuck here!” He stormed away, and Chelsea followed him.

“I’m sorry!” the first person shouted after them.

Danny ignored them. To Chelsea, he said, “This is all your fault.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Chelsea said. “I think those Pokeball things pulled us through the portal. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Well, now we have no way of going home,” Danny said.

Just as he said this, a portal opened up in front of them.

“That… is weird,” Chelsea said.

Danny looked around but saw nothing.

“Let’s go,” Chelsea said, and pulled him through the portal.

On the Ghost Zone side of the portal, a blob ghost waited for them. When it saw them, it bared its fangs and growled.

“Uh, Danny?” Chelsea said.

“Yeah, I see it,” Danny said through gritted teeth. His hands already glowed green with ectoplasm. He shot at the blob ghost and grabbed Chelsea’s hand. “Let’s get out of here!”

The blob ghost wasn’t deterred. It absorbed the ectoblasts like they were nothing. It only became enraged and charged after them.

Chelsea and Danny flew away as fast as they could, but the blob ghost gained on them. Chelsea spotted a door that looked like it was made of emeralds and shouted, “This way!”

“Not a good idea,” Danny shouted back.

“What choice do we have?” Chelsea countered, ripping the door open.

They flew through the door and slammed it closed. They took a moment to regain their breath, even though they were in ghost form and didn’t need to breathe. Chelsea looked around to see everything colored green. It appeared they were in the back of a clothing shop that only sold green clothes.

“Why is everything green?” Chelsea wondered. “Let’s explore a little bit.”

“No,” Danny said. “We should go right back to the Ghost Zone. Remember what I said about ghost lairs? We don’t want to disturb the ghost that lives here.”

Something crashed into the other side of the door.

“We can’t go back,” Chelsea said. “The blob ghost is there.”

“Right,” Danny said. “Looks like your wish is about to be granted.”

“Really?” Chelsea squealed.

“Really,” Danny replied.

“Let’s borrow some clothes so we blend in,” Chelsea suggested, floating over to one of the clothing racks.

“Better idea,” Danny said, stopping her with a hand on hers, “let’s just stay invisible.”

“Oh, fine,” Chelsea said.

They held hands so they wouldn’t lose each other, and then turned invisible. They left the clothing shop and flew up into the sky. The buildings were all green, and they were tall. Skyscrapers, even. It took them a while before they were above the buildings. Around the city, rolling hills of green were cut by a yellow road.

“I think I know where we are!” Chelsea said.

“Where?” Danny asked.

“Emerald City,” Chelsea answered. “You know, in Oz.”

“Like, the Wizard of Oz?”

“Yeah!”

“But that’s just a story,” Danny said. “How are we in a story?”

Chelsea shrugged, then remembered that Danny couldn’t see her. “I don’t know. You said the Ghost Zone is also known as the Infinite Realms, right? Maybe that includes fantasy realms.”

“That’s crazy!” Danny said.

“Being half ghost is crazy,” Chelsea retorted. “We live the crazy every day of our lives.”

“True,” Danny said. “Let’s go back. That blob ghost has probably moved on.”

“Okay,” Chelsea said.

They flew back to the clothing shop and went back through the portal to the Ghost Zone. To their relief, the angry blob ghost disappeared.

Chelsea and Danny didn’t go very far before seeing a beautiful painting of a snowy landscape. Chelsea was enchanted by the painting, having never seen anything so real.

“I can almost feel the cold,” she remarked, her hand outstretched.

“Oh no, not again!” Danny said, snatching her hand out of the air. In doing so, her fingers brushed the painting and they were sucked in. They landed in a heap in the snow.

“Ow…” Chelsea said, rubbing her bottom.

“Uh, Chelsea,” Danny said, “look up.”

She did so but didn’t see anything. “What am I looking at?”

“There’s no ghost portal,” Danny said. “How are we going to get home this time?”

“Maybe if we just fly around, we’ll find a random portal again,” Chelsea suggested nervously.

“I hope so,” Danny said. They picked a direction and started flying. “You really need to be more careful about portals,” he admonished.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Chelsea said. “I’ll stay away from portals from now on. I just couldn’t help myself this time. It’s like the painting called to me.”

“I see something in the distance,” Danny said.

“Yeah, me too,” Chelsea agreed. “Looks like a tower. Maybe we’ll find something in there.”

They approached the tower in silence. It didn’t take them long because they were flying. As they got closer, they were able to see that the tower was the corner of a castle. A blizzard kicked up, buffetting them around.

“Let’s hurry inside,” Chelsea shouted over the wind.

Just as they reached the edge of the castle, a light flashed in a room above them. They looked at each other, and then Chelsea flew up to investigate. Danny was right behind.

In the room, a boy in pajamas struggled to keep the door closed, holding a long pole. Surprise shone in his face when he saw them hovering in the window. Then the door burst open and the boy tumbled to the window.

“We have to help him!” Chelsea said to Danny and zoomed into the room. She pushed back the guards who tried to get in and slammed the door. Then she took the pole from the boy and used it to keep the door closed.

“Wha–how–?” the boy stammered.

“C’mon, we’ll fly you out of here,” Chelsea said to him. The guards pounded on the door but it didn’t budge.

“Wait!” the boy said.

Danny came into the room. “Where can we go? The blizzard will kill him.”

“Stop!” the boy shouted. Chelsea and Danny looked at him. “I don’t know who you are or how you got here, but I want to be here. I have something that I need to finish.”

“Then why were you holding the door?” Chelsea asked.

“So my friends could escape,” the boy answered.

“How did they escape?” Danny asked. “We’re trying to get home.”

“First, I gotta know,” the boy said, “how did you get here?”

“I touched a painting,” Chelsea said, “and it sucked us in.”

“Then I think I can get you back home,” the boy said.

“Really?” Danny asked.

“Yeah,” the boy said. “I just need some painting supplies. My name’s Daisuke Niwa, by the way. What’s your names?”

“I’m Chelsea Ghost, and this is Danny Phantom.”

Daisuke held out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Chelsea shook his hand, but Danny asked, “How are we supposed to get you painting supplies when there are guards outside the door?”

“We’ll just ask them,” Daisuke said.

“What?” Chelsea and Danny said together.

“I told you,” Daisuke said, “I want to be here. The guards will take us to the supplies I need. Can you… let them in, now?”

Chelsea and Danny looked at each other and shrugged. Danny removed the pole from the door and the guards burst through.

“I’ll help you!” Daisuke shouted to the guards. “But first, I have to help these two. I need my paints and a blank canvas.”

“Come with us,” a guard said, and they were led out of the room.

A few minutes later, Daisuke had the supplies he needed.

“Tell me what your world looks like,” Daisuke instructed.

Danny described the Ghost Zone, and Daisuke started painting. In no time at all, Chelsea and Danny stared at a perfect rendition of the Ghost Zone.

“Wow!” Chelsea said. “It’s like you’ve been there!”

“You should be able to go back the way you came,” Daisuke said. He appeared tired. Did painting take his energy? Was it magic?

Chelsea didn’t have time for questions. Danny grabbed her hand and touched the painting.

“Thank you!” Chelsea cried out as she felt herself sucked through.

“No more Ghost Zone for today,” Danny declared when he and Chelsea were back safely.

“Fine by me,” Chelsea said. “I’ve had enough adventure for one day.”

They floated through the purple and green realm, heading back to the stable portal in the basement of Danny’s house. Before they made it home, however, they were sucked into another random portal. This time, they were disoriented from the abrupt transportation. Before they could get their bearings, they heard a voice.

“Curses!”

They were in a clearing in the middle of a forest in the dead of night. Underneath them was a circle with strange markings. A man stood off to the side, though he looked too young to have hair that white.

“What have you done this time?” Danny hissed at Chelsea.

“Nothing!” Chelsea replied.

“The summoning has failed!” the white-haired man wailed. “Unless… Are you servants of Ganondorf?”

“Who?” Chelsea asked.

“Pah!” the man said, throwing his hands. “Tell me, where are you from?”

“Why should we tell you anything?” Danny asked, getting into a defensive stance.

“Maybe I can gleam where I went wrong,” the man said. He pulled out a notebook and pencil.

“Did you bring us here?” Danny asked.

The man blinked at him. “Well, yes. I meant to summon someone else, but you two appeared instead. Now, where are you from?”

“I don’t trust this guy,” Danny said to Chelsea. To the man, he said, “Who’s Ganondorf, and why are you trying to summon him?”

“He’s a great wizard,” the man replied. “I want to summon him to bring balance to this world.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Chelsea muttered so only Danny could hear.

“Will you answer my question, now?” the man asked.

Danny’s eyes flicked around. Chelsea mimicked him and saw they were surrounded by monsters that looked like goblins. Hungry, drooly goblins.

“Send us back!” Danny roared, his hands glowing.

“That’s not going to happen,” the man said. “Answer my question.”

Danny went into fighting mode. He blasted at the goblins as they crept closer. Chelsea tried her hand at ectoblasts and managed to hit a few. But there were too many. They pounced on the two halfas, who flew up and out of their reach.

“After them!” the man shouted, pointing and Chelsea and Danny.

The two flew away from the clearing above the trees. In seconds, they were thoroughly lost.

“Now what do we do?” Chelsea asked. “We didn’t get here by normal means, so how are we supposed to get back?”

They were nearing a town of some sort, so they dropped down into the forest. All was quiet around them except for the chirping of insects.

“Do you think another portal will open up randomly and let us back into the Ghost Zone?” Chelsea whispered.

“That’s not likely,” Danny whispered back. “Why are you whispering?”

“It seemed proper,” Chelsea replied. “We don’t want to be found by anyone, do we?”

“Good point,” Danny said. “So, what do we do now?”

“Why are you asking me?” Chelsea asked. “You’re always the one in charge.”

“Well, I don’t know what to do,” Danny admitted. “This is beyond my experience.”

“I say we fly around until another portal opens up,” Chelsea suggested. Before Danny could protest, she added, “I know you think it’s silly, but it worked once before.”

They took off into the air once more. As soon as they were above the treetops, Chelsea spotted a portal to the Ghost Zone.

“Look!” she said, grabbing Danny’s hand.

Danny’s mouth fell open. “But… how?”

“Maybe someone’s looking out for us,” Chelsea said.

They flew through the portal. Once on the other side, they made a bee-line for the portal to Danny’s basement.

“This is the craziest day ever,” Danny remarked.

Finally, they made it home safely.