Sorry for taking so long. DannyMay 2026 helped restart my writing, so here you go!
Poindexter
Sidney followed the halfa to his next class. They were the first ones into the room, so the halfa spoke to Sidney.
"Stay invisible," the halfa whispered. "No one knows what I can do, so it would be weird if anyone saw a ghost around me. Stay quiet, too."
"Talking to yourself, Fenturd?" a large schoolboy sneered as he walked into the classroom.
The halfa winced and spun around. He put on a smooth smile.
"How were the frogs?" the halfa asked.
The large schoolboy pounded his fist against his other hand, and the halfa's expression fell.
"How'd you know about that?" the large schoolboy asked. "I'll bet you had something to do with it. Meet me after school. Behind the bleachers. Be there, or you'll regret it." He shoved the halfa, who stumbled back into a desk. "Oh yeah, I saw your parents in the hall today. What? Did wittle Danny need Mommy and Daddy to hold his hand?" he mocked and laughed.
The halfa's eyes flashed green, and his hands, which were balled into fists, briefly turned invisible. The large schoolboy couldn't notice because he was bustin' a gut.
By now, the other students were filing in and finding seats. They avoided eyeballing the exchange.
The large schoolboy stopped laughing and poked the halfa in the chest.
"After school. See you then," he said dangerously.
Sidney knew what "after school, behind the bleachers" meant. The halfa was in trouble. Maybe that meant he wasn't a bully, maybe it didn't. Sidney needed to follow him to see more.
That parent remark from the large schoolboy, however…
Sidney waited for the right moment. While the large schoolboy fell asleep in his chair, Sidney pushed his arm out from under his chin. The large schoolboy woke with a jerk and looked around. Sidney laughed silently.
Throughout the rest of the class, Sidney watched the students, looking for anything classifiable as bullying. Anytime a student did something mean to another student, Sidney was there with a retaliation. By the time the bell rang, no one dared bully anyone else.
The same thing happened in the halfa's next class. And the next. The halfa got bullied a time or two, confirming his story.
Finally, the school day was over. It was time for the halfa to meet with the large schoolboy. Sidney followed the halfa to a locker, where he met up with his friends.
"Word around school is you're gonna fight Dash," the girl said. She stood in the middle, as the locker seemed to belong to her.
"'Fight' isn't the word I would use," the halfa commiserated. "He thinks I had something to do with the frogs down his pants."
The nerd said, "Well, you did. As a ghost."
"But he doesn't know that," the halfa said.
"What are you gonna do?" the girl asked.
"If I don't meet Dash," the halfa said, "he'll find another way to punish me. I don't have much of a choice."
"Is Poindexter still following you?" the nerd asked. "Maybe he can do something."
"I don't know," the halfa said. "I told him to stay invisible and quiet. Come to think of it, kids have been acting strange in my classes."
"That was me," Sidney interjected, remaining invisible.
The trio jumped and looked around.
"Still here, just invisible," Sidney said.
"What did you do in Danny's classes?" the nerd asked enthusiastically.
"I took revenge for those poor, innocent kids who were bullied," Sidney said.
"That explains it," the halfa said.
The large schoolboy walked down the hall and bashed his shoulder into the halfa.
"Whoops, sorry," he said sarcastically. "It's time to meet your doom, Fentiny."
The halfa groaned, as the large schoolboy sauntered away.
"I'm dead," the halfa moaned.
"I'll arrange your funeral," the nerd said, holding up a strange device and stick.
"Poindexter," the girl said quickly, "you have to help Danny."
Sidney grinned even though they couldn't see. "With pleasure."
Poindexter
Behind the bleachers, a crowd gathered, waiting for the halfa. Sidney flew ahead of the trio to gauge the atmosphere. Excitement permeated the air. Seemed like a standard fight situation.
Now, how to stop the bully without provoking revenge…? Should he reveal himself, or would that cause more problems for the halfa? It might be good to be known as a ghost who stops bullies. Maybe the school would change for the better.
While Sidney thought, the halfa and his friends arrived. The crowd pushed the halfa to the center of the circle where the large schoolboy—the bully—waited, crackling his knuckles.
"Smart of you to come," the bully said. "You would have regret missing this."
"Let's get this over with, Dash," the halfa said wearily.
The bully moved quickly. Neither Sidney nor the halfa were ready for the first punch. The halfa reeled back, but the crowd returned him to the center.
Time to make his debut. Sidney positioned himself between the bully and the halfa and created a shield. At the same time, he dropped his invisibility. The startled look on the bully's face made everything worth it.
"Stop!" Sidney said. "There will be no bullying on my watch! This school is now a no-bully zone."
The bully's mouth hung open. The crowd went silent. Sidney wondered what the halfa was doing but didn't want to turn around to see. He had to show a strong front to the bully, and turning would weaken that.
"Did you hear me?" Sidney asked. "No. Bullies."
"A-are you a ghost?" the bully asked.
Sidney rolled his eyes. "Yes. And you're a bully."
"Ghost!" a random student cried out, and bedlam broke out.
Everyone ran toward the school. Sidney rose higher to watch the students flee. The halfa and his friends joined the scurrying kids, probably to maintain cover. The scene made Sidney chuckle.
As students shoved inside, a muscled man wearing giant silver gauntlets forced his way out.
"Where's the ghost?" the man shouted.
No one stopped to tell him. He spotted someone in the crowd and said, "Danno! Get inside where it's safe!"
The man strode toward the bleachers, eyes locked on Sidney.
"Hey, ghost," the man said, "come down and fight me!"
"Why?" Sidney asked. "Are you a bully?"
The man stopped and looked bewildered. "Um, no? I'm a ghost hunter!"
"Why would I fight with a ghost hunter?" Sidney wondered.
"I have Fenton Ghost Gloves made for fighting ghosts, so a ghost should fight me!"
"No thanks," Sidney said and went invisible.
Ignoring the ghost hunter, Sidney flew toward the school to look for the halfa. He didn't have to go far. The halfa and his friends watched from the doorway. All the other students were gone.
"Pst," Sidney said, turning visible again.
The halfa jumped. "Poindexter! What are you doing?"
"Checking in with you," Sidney answered. "What do we do next?"
The halfa started down the hallway. His friends and Sidney followed.
"We have to get away from my dad," the halfa said.
"Hold the phone," Sidney said. "That ghost hunter is your old man?"
"I'll explain in a minute," the halfa said. He looked around frantically. "Come in here."
He led his friends and Sidney into an empty classroom and closed the door.
"That was awesome!" the nerd said.
Sidney preened under the praise. "Thank you! I meant what I said."
"You're going to stop the bullies?" the nerd asked.
"We have bigger problems," the halfa said. "We need to get those gloves away from my dad."
"Yeah, about that," Sidney said. "How is it that the halfa, who is half ghost, is living with a ghost hunter for a father?"
"He just doesn't understand," the halfa said, frustrated. "My mom is the same way. They don't know I'm a ghost, and I want to keep it that way. Now, about those gloves…"
Poindexter
The plan had Sidney smiling like a loon. He and the halfa hovered over the roof's edge, waiting for their tun. The nerd walked up tot he hunter, who boxed the air with his gloves. The plan was for the nerd to ask to see the inside of the gloves. It seemed to work perfectly, and the hunter gave the gloves to the nerd.
"That's our cue," the halfa said, looking like he got the zorros.
He and Sidney zoomed down to harass the hunter.
"You achin' for a breakin'?" Sidney teased. "Well, here's you go!"
The hunter gaped at them. "Tucker, my gloves, pronto!"
But the nerd ran as soon as the ghosts showed up. The hunter looked around. Sidney took that opportunity to shoot an ectobeam at his feet.
"We're up here, hunter!" Sidney said.
"Don't hurt him," the halfa said under his breath.
"Don't worry," Sidney said flippantly, "I'm being careful."
"What do you two ghosts want?" the hunter asked with narrowed eyes.
"We told you," Sidney said gleefully, "to fight!"
"That's all ghosts want, isn't it?" the halfa asked, sounding sour. His form flickered around the edges as though turning into shadow. Sidney had never seen a ghost do that before, though he hadn't seen many ghosts other than those in his lair. He wondered if it was a sign of the halfa's anger.
"Er, right," the hunter said.
"Ja-ack!" came a woman's voice.
Sidney turned to see who it was. The woman wore a blue jumpsuit, and she blocked the nerd from going into the school.
"Don't you need your Fenton Ghost Gloves?" the woman asked. "Tucker, give back the gloves."
"Sorry, Mrs. F," the nerd said. "I need these for… for—"
The girl came out of the school and hurried over to the nerd and the woman. She said, "We need them for a science project."
"What science project?" the woman asked suspiciously.
"We're um, we're um…" the nerd stuttered.
"It's an extra credit project," the girl said.
"Like the one on the gorilla?" the woman asked, still not buying it.
"This isn't going well," the halfa muttered. Then he shouted, "Hey, over here!" That got everyone's attention. "Wooo! I'm a scary ghost! You should run!"
Sidney didn't know what the halfa had planned, and at first, no one moved. Then the nerd took off running, faking a scream.
The halfa sailed after him, matching his pace. "Wooo! I hope you trip and drop those gloves!"
The nerd did just that. The gloves went flying, and the halfa blasted them out of the sky.
"Drat!" the woman said. "Those took weeks to manufacture!"
The halfa glided over to Sidney, and they high-fived.
"Looks like our work here is done," the halfa said.
The two flew back to the roof of the school where they burst out laughing.
"Nifty!" Sidney said. "That was swell!"
"It's a good thing Tucker followed my lead," the halfa said. "My mom showing up really put a wrench in things."
"That lady was your mom?"
The halfa went sour. "I told you, my parents don't understand."
"You should change that," Sidney said. "Tell them who you really are."
"I can't!" The halfa's eyes flashed black, startling Sidney. "They can't know. They hate ghosts."
"Why? Ghosts aren't evil," Sidney said, then thought better of it. "Except for the ghosts in my school."
The halfa's mood settled. "You go to school?"
"It's my realm," Sidney explained. "My realm is a direct copy of Casper High in the fifties, filled with ghosts who pick on me all the time. That's why I hate bullies."
"Maybe we can do something about that," the halfa suggested.
"Like what?"
"Let's go to your realm and scope it out. Maybe I'll get some ideas."