#devoid au

Phantom likes that he looks human enough to blend in with humans. He likes to hang out with his human friends a lot and that means doing human things and going to human places. He’s not sure how people don’t notice he’s a ghost, but as long as he doesn’t actively use his powers, no one gives him a second glance.

It’s kind of awesome.

He doesn’t need to eat, not really, but it’s quickly becoming one of his favorite past times. Sam yelled at Tucker for twenty minutes the first time the techno-geek brought him to the Nasty Burger but either she gave up or quit because she’s never mentioned the topic again.

He likes milkshakes the best. He likes the coldness and the sweetness of them and he likes that they’re easy to consume, something that’s very useful to his underworked jaw. He especially likes mixing the flavors and always thanks Sam and the workers behind the counter profusely when he orders shakes that have two different flavors mixed together—Sam for paying for it, and he workers for agreeing to make them, despite ordering off menu.

It’s not that he hasn’t eaten solid foods before, oh no. He just likes shakes a lot more.

It takes several months of knowing the two humans before Sam notices something new about Phantom.

“Do… Do you have fangs?” she asks out of the blue. Phantom looks up, half a burger stuffed in his mouth, and nods, taking a huge bite. “Since when?” Her voice is incredulous.

Tucker looks away from his own meal, a feat in itself, and watches the ghost, mouth falling open. “You have fangs?”

Phantom chews as quickly as he can. “Uh huh,” he grunts, nodding. He bares his teeth and pulls his lips away with his fingers. “See?”

“That’s so cool!” Tucker breathes out, staring at the pointed teeth in awe.

Sam is similarly entranced and Phantom smiles around his fingers briefly before letting go. “Not all ghosts have fangs.” He gives a toothy smile that shows off his incisors now that his human friends know what to look for. “Some of the others I’ve talked to like to make fun of mine though. They say they’re too small. But I don’t mind. At least they fit in my mouth.”

“Are they hard to talk around?” Sam asks, eyes trained on his teeth.

Phantom bares them a bit more visibly for a second, amused. “Nah. They’re easy to forget about, honestly.” He picks his burger back up and rips into it, conversation over. Sam’s nose wrinkles and she finally goes back to poking at her salad. Tucker snorts and continues eating his own burger.

The topic doesn’t come up again for the rest of the day.

Several days later, settled comfortably in Sam’s basement theater, while they’re watching some cheesy vampire movie, Tucker suddenly laughs out loud, startling his two friends. “Dude!” he gasps out, arms wrapped around his middle. “You’re like a vampire!”

Phantom scoffs and glares, offended. “I am not! I’m a ghost! Ghosts are much better than vampires!”

Sam snickers on his other side, sitting up in her reclined chair to glance at him. “I dunno, ghosts are so mainstream now!” Her eyes cut to Tucker. “They’re like cellphones!”

Phantom and Tucker both cry out in indignation. “Don’t be mean, Sam!” Phantom whines, tugging his hood over his head, hiding his face. He crosses his arms and listens to Tucker grumble and sigh as Sam laughs. “Ghosts are much cooler. At least we’re real!”

“Are you trying to tell me vampire ghosts don’t exist?”

Phantom hesitates and hums, raising one hand to his chin, arms still folded. “You know, now that you mention it, I’ve heard these rumors.”

Tucker pulls his hood down and stares him in the eye, leaning on the arms of the plush chairs. “Go on.”

Phantom cracks a grin, looking between his two friends. “The Ghost Zone loves its gossip, you know,” he tells them, voice dropping conspiratorially, “and a lot of rumors involve ghosts that are weird or different.” He doesn’t tell them that he’s the topic of a fair few of said rumors. They don’t need to know. “Rumors lead me to Spooky, so they can be pretty accurate sometimes.”

Tucker looks up, trying to locate the ghost owl. “Where is she, by the way?”

Phantom closes his eyes and focuses on his core, stretching his ghost sense out as far as it can reach—which is a long further in the human realm than the Ghost Zone. Coming back with nothing, he opens his eyes and shrugs. “I dunno. I haven’t seen Cujo in a few days either so maybe they’re together. You know how Spooky gets.”

Tucker nods and Sam waves her hand. “Anyway, the vampire ghost rumors?”

“Right, right. So. I’ve never heard any of this directly, it’s always been in passing, but they say there’s this demi-ghost and he has a small fraction of the Ghost Zone in his pocket.” Phantom holds on a hand and closes his other around it, trying to visually demonstrate control.

“What?” Tucker asks, drawing out the word. He leans back, brow furrowed. “Demi-ghost?”

“Yeah, like a half-ghost or something. Like I said, I don’t have all the details. But rumor has it, he’s really powerful and he’s been around for, like, twenty years or so, and he’s got a reputation. Ghosts from here to the Far Frozen are terrified of him and apparently he’s got a small gathering of minions.”

“What’s this have to do with vampires?” Sam asks, bringing them back on track. “While this is really interesting, it seems off topic.”

“But it’s not! Most ghosts assume the other half of the guy is human, but a lot of them assume he’s half-ghost-half-vampire!” Phantom throws his arms in the arm theatrically and Tucker snickers. “He’s probably not a vampire,” he assures his friends, “but he looks enough like one. Or so they say. I’ve never seen the guy. Black hair spiked up to look like horns, blue skin, solid red eyes, some kinda white suit and a cape; it all screams Dracula to me.”

“Whoa.” Sam and Tucker murmur together, sitting back in their chairs, possibly trying to picture this ghost.

Phantom nods, tucking his arms together again. “The rumors say he’s virtually unapproachable unless you like having your limbs torn off.” He shivers and pulls his knees closer as well. “He sounds scary.”

“I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere near that guy,” Sam agrees, turning back to their movie. It’s still playing, though Sam had put it on mute once Tucker dissolved into hysterics.

“Yeah,” Phantom sighs, tugging his hood back up. He doesn’t tell his friends how this demi-ghost, known simply as Plasmius, or “the halfa” by ruder ghosts, only comes to the Ghost Zone when he wants something. He only traverses the Infinite Realms in search of something, and, more often than not, it’s power. He doesn’t tell them the rumors that say Plasmius is looking for him. He doesn’t want them to worry.