Disclaimer: We don't own anything.

Legend:

"Someone is talking."
'Someone is thinking.'
"A technique is being used."

Chapter 24:

Remember Yesterday was a popular American pop rock band that was formed by lead singer Ember McLain, drummer Tomas Wispy and keyboardist Zeke Hule. The band was relatively new though it had quickly gained popularity due to their debut album's soundtrack. It was that popularity that had led to the band's music producer arranging for them to go on a country-wide tour.

So far, the band had visited six states and at least twelve different cities. If not for circumstances outside of the band's control, Amity Park, Illinois would have just been another city. As it was, Remember Yesterday had shocked the populace by revealing that they would be holding two concerts as opposed to the single concert they had planned on doing. And, as this new concert was being held within an easily-reached location and there was no cost of admission, their fans had flocked to the area.

It was around 10:00 am when Remember Yesterday's concert began. To the delight of their fans, the band began with the star of their Ember debut album; "Remember". Despite its spirited opening, the song was sad and full of remembered pain.

Yeah, Oooooooo

It was, it was September,
Wind blow, the dead leaves fall.
To you, I did surrender,
Two weeks you didn't call.

Your life goes on without me,
My life, a losing game.
But you should, you should not doubt me,
You will remember my name.

Ohh Ember, you will remember.
Ember, one thing remains,
Ohh Ember, so warm and tender,
You will remember my name.

Your heart, your heart abandoned,
You're wrong, now bare the shame.
Like dead trees, in cold December,
Nothing but ashes remain.

Ohh Ember, you will remember.
Ember, one thing remains,
Ohh Ember, so warm and tender,
You will remember my name.

Ohh Ember, you will remember.
Ember, one thing remains,
Ohh Ember, so warm and tender,
You will remember my name!

As Remember Yesterday finished, the crowd began to chant. "Ember! Ember! Ember!"

It was only Ember McLain's firm control over her powers that prevented the blue-haired singer's hair from flaring in response to the crowd's chant. While it was true that she could infuse her spiritual energy into music to produce a variety of effects, her true power lay in her "Scandant Autonomisation (Chanting Empowerment)". Like its name suggested, it was an ability that empowered her when people began to chant her name. She had discovered no limits on this ability so far which allowed her to continue becoming stronger as more and more people chanted her name.

This ability would be the key to Remember Yesterday's plot. To finally achieve their shared, long-held dream of a Youth Revolution.

Once Ember had become powerful enough, she would be able to cast an illusion that would encompass the Human World. The illusion would hypnotize everyone caught within it, and while the Humans were unable to do anything, Remember Yesterday would begin their eradication of the adult regime. It would take some time to accomplish considering just how much a stranglehold they had on the planet, but it could be done.

If Ember had been thinking clearly after she, Zeke, and Tomas had escaped the Ghost Zone, they could have already begun their Youth Revolution. She had plenty of time to start it though, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why she hadn't done so. Or why she had convinced Zeke and Tomas to pretend to be Human musicians. Maybe her brains had been scrambled when she had left the Ghost Zone.

There was something else. too. Ember couldn't put her finger on exactly what was bothering her, but something felt off. Something felt wrong. It was stupid considering just how well everything seemed to be going, but the blue-haired musician couldn't quite shake the feeling.

XXXXXX

Sam Manson hadn't wanted to attend the concert that Mr. Foley had told them about. She would admit to liking the band's style of music and dress, but she didn't idolize them. In addition, she didn't see the point of going to a concert when she, Sidney, and Tucker had so much to talk about and things to plan.

There were at least three "government agents" that had appeared in town. It would have been alarming enough if they were merely agents wanting to learn more about the recent string of ghost attacks, but those "agents" weren't human. They were Arrancar. And, judging from the questions they had asked and how one of their group had attacked Sidney, it could be surmised that they hadn't come with peaceful intentions in mind.

Or, at least, they didn't have peaceful intention towards anyone who got in their way.

Sam had eventually given in. It had been lucky that her parents had allowed her to visit Tucker while she was grounded. That Mr. Foley had talked with his wife and her parents in order to allow them to go to a concert while they were still being punished was amazing. And if she and Tucker hadn't taken that opportunity to go to the concert while they could, it would seem very suspicious.

And, Sam had reasoned to herself, it would give them time to talk about what they would do once the concert was over. It would allow her to begin to relax after they had managed to come up with a plan of action though she also knew that she wouldn't be able to truly relax until the threat had been taken care of. For now, all she could do now was act like everything was normal.

It was at that time that Remember Yesterday finished playing and the crowd around the black-haired teenage erupted. People began to chant Ember McLain's name which brought a small smile to the blue-haired singer's face. Sam shook her head at the display, but had to admit, if only to herself, that she had actually enjoyed the song. Remember wasn't her number one favorite song though it was definitely within her top ten song.

"Sam… " Tucker muttered, "Something's up."

Sam wanted to do a lot of things. She wanted to laugh in his face, to ask if he had really just figured it out, but she held her tongue. It wouldn't be fair to take her frustration over the situation out on Tucker. Still, a hint of annoyance crept into her tone as she whispered back. "What's wrong?"

"I think that something's up with the band. Haven't you noticed that Ember hasn't been singing as well as she usually does?" Tucker asked. He looked towards the center of the crowd's center and narrowed his eyes, frowning. "And that smile… it wasn't Ember's traditional "After-Song Smile". Something's up."

"… I'm not sure if I should be impressed that you think you know her facial expressions that well or creeped out." Sam muttered. He turned towards her again, probably to defend himself in some way, but she turned away before he could so. It was just in time to as the band was starting with their next song; their interpretation of "Would It Matter?" by Skillet. "Just calm down and just enjoy the music."

If I wasn't here tomorrow,
Would anybody care?
If my time was up, I'd wanna know,
You were happy I was there;
If I wasn't here tomorrow—

'The stress must've gotten to him. I hope he really does calm down; I don't know how I could deal with it if he caused a scene. I mean, really, this wouldn't be the place for something to happen... would it? No, everything is fine. Tucker is just being paranoid.' Sam thought. The black-haired girl's pupils began to glaze over. 'Nothing's wrong with the band. Everything is fine.'

"Sam!"

Sam stumbled forwards when someone—Tucker?—touched her before something shocked her. She managed to regain her balance before she could fall and turned around towards Tucker to give him a piece of her mind. She became even angrier when she noticed that he had brought out Data Crusher and felt ready to strangle him. Strangle him and get back to enjoying the music. The teenager stayed her hand, however, when she noticed the worried expression on her friend's face.

Why did he look worried?

I know I'm a mess and I wanna be someone,
Someone that I'd like better;
I can never forget,
So don't remind me of it forever...~

Sam blinked. What had she been doing again? Automatically, she began turning towards the stage. Tucker stopped her, ignored how she began to struggle against his grip, muttered an apology she couldn't hear, and shocked her with Data Crusher again. This time when Sam's eyes bugged out and she released a pained sound, the spell that had enveloped her broke and she slowly became aware of herself again.

"… What's going on, Tucker?" Sam asked. "What happened?"

Tucker sighed. "I told you something was wrong, Sam. Look."

Sam looked. It appeared like everything was normal, that everyone was fine and simply enjoying the concert, but that was only on the surface. All of the other people in the crowd looked to have been having a good time though they also had glazed expressions. The feeling that something was wrong was only amplified by the fact that the air seemed heavier, darker, than it had been only moments before.

All the chances that have passed me by,
Would it matter if I gave it one more try?
Would it matter at all..~?

Slowly, Sam's eyes turned to Remember Yesterday. She could vaguely remember Tucker saying something was wrong with them and how she had dismissed it. Now, though… Tucker had been right. How could she have been so stupid?! That feeling in the air was spiritual pressure bearing down upon them, trying to freeze them in place, so that they couldn't escape from whatever technique they were using to hypnotize the audience.

"They're Ghosts." Sam breathed.

Tucker looked disappointed. It had to hurt to find the person were idolizing wasn't actually who they portrayed themselves as. He didn't say anything for a moment and then sighed. "… Okay. What are we going to do about them?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Now that they had figured out that Remember Yesterday were Ghosts and that they're intentions weren't benign, what were they supposed to do? In all likelihood, they would end up fighting Remember Yesterday. And if each member of the band was as powerful as Skulker or Technus were, they would be in a great deal of trouble. They didn't have anyone to back them up if, most likely when, things went from bad to worse.

'We should have asked Sidney to come with us.' Sam thought.

Sidney's presence would have made things so much easier. He could have used his invisibility to slip out of the crowd and cause a distraction. In the following chaos, they could have met back up with him and take on Remember Yesterday together. Still, that wasn't possible now. She and Tucker had feared that taking Sidney to the concert would be too much, as he was still learning about the modern era, and shock him more than he had been when they had introduced him to some of the technology they had available.

… Music had changed quite a bit from what Sidney had heard in the 1950s.

"If this ends up becoming a fight, we can't fight them here." Sam finally said. "We'll need to lure them way somehow…" She frowned, "I can't think of anything, though. Do you have any ideas?"

"… How big of a plant can you control?" Tucker asked.

Sam's eyes widened when she spotted the plant Tucker was looking at. "… I don't know if I can control something that big, Tucker." While she had been learning how to better control the powers that her own "transformation" gave her, she had focused on controlling relatively small plants. Small flowers, leaves, stems, petals, and small grass clippings. Could she even use her Spirit Ribbons to manipulate trees? "I'll try, but don't get your hopes up if it turns out it won't work."

"You can do it, Sam. I believe in you."

Sam wished she had his confidence in her own abilities. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. pulled the golden locket hidden underneath her t-shirt, and focused. Her spiritual energy spikes as vines suddenly erupted from the precious heirloom that began to quickly wrap themselves around her body. They formed into a crude, vine-based armor which, while looking a little silly, made her feel as if she was actually wearing metal armor.

Next, the black-haired girl closed her eyes and focused her spiritual energy. The next time she opened her eyes it was to find herself standing in the midst of a virtual sea of Spirit Ribbons. It disoriented her for a moment as she hadn't expected to see so much, but she shook her head and reminded herself that she needed to focus. It took her a couple of minutes to find the correct white, knotted ribbon that belonged to the tree which she then grabbed.

'I need to learn how to do this faster.' Sam thought to herself before refocusing on the Spirit Ribbon.

Spirit Ribbons were merely visualizations of an organism's spiritual energy. The technique was useful in tracking individuals that weren't bothering to hide themselves and determining exactly what kind of spiritual being they were. Sam also saw them as the key to her ability to manipulate plants; she used them as an access point to the plant's soul. The Spirit Ribbon also served as a bridge between her own soul and the plant's soul that she used to send her spiritual energy and mental commands on.

As plants didn't have a real consciousness of their own, it was relatively easy to take control and make them do what she wanted them to do. It would have been completely different if she had tried doing this on something with a consciousness that could resist her, but she shied away from such thoughts. No matter how tempting it may be, she wasn't the type of person that could stomach controlling other animals or people and making them do her bidding. She felt bad enough that she was doing this to plants.

Sam shouldn't have worried about her ability to control the tree. Upon making contact with its soul, she found it quite similar to other plant souls. There was a notable difference in the amount of energy she would have to use to make it obey her, but that could be explained due to the difference in mass. And, really, she had been expecting that.

'Loosen your roots. Now, use your roots and begin to lift yourself out of the ground.' Sam conveyed towards the plant's soul. The plant used the spiritual energy she was sending it to do exactly that; its roots untwined from the earth before using them to push itself out of the ground. Clumps of grass-covered dirt were uprooted as the tree ascended while a squirrel, sensing the strange movement, abandoned its perch. She ignored all of this and focused. 'Approach the wooden platform. Attack.'

The plant obeyed. Having already been rooted into the ground behind the stage, it had taken only a few moments for it to close the remaining distance and attack. The tree did this by swinging its branches towards the stage in an attempt to crush Remember Yesterday. The slight protest of the wood as it shifted was all that warned the three Ghosts of the danger. The stage splintered as everything unfortunate to be on the stage was flattened by the force behind the tree's heavy branches. Only, Remember Yesterday hadn't been crushed.

Remember Yesterday had taken advantage of the warning they had been given to abandon their instruments and dodge the incoming branches. Then, when the tree's branches stretched themselves father and snapped at the Ghosts' ankles, the Ghosts begun their counterattack.

It was during that little skirmish that Sam and Tucker were able to learn about how strong Remember Yesterday was. Ember McLain seemed to be the biggest threat. While Zeke and Tomas could fight and seemed to have a few tricks up their sleeves, Ember was undoubtedly the strongest among them. It gave them a target as well as they noticed that, unlike Zeke and Tomas, Ember's powers seemed reliant on her guitar. If they were able to destroy that guitar, it would even the playing field and give them a better chance of success.

Still, while the tree had allowed them to learn about the band, it hadn't been able to draw them away. Remember Yesterday had destroyed it before Sam was able to get that far. Sam had wanted to use another plant to draw their attention, but Tucker had shook his head and told her that he had already thought of something. His idea?

Tucker used Data Crusher to create a cloud of two-dimensional, digital numbers and hurled it at Remember Yesterday. It soared over the heads of the hypnotized crowd and slammed into the three Ghosts with enough force to send them flying a few feet backwards. Then, when Remember Yesterday got back onto their feet, he drew their attention by raising his voice and taunting them.

"Looks like you guys have hit the bottom of the charts!"

Sam found herself following after Tucker as Remember Yesterday began to pursue them. The crowd made it difficult since they were looking around in slight confusion, but they made it through. Tucker turned around right before they left the grounds by turning around and hurling around cloud at the pursuing trio's faces. He smiled when it hit Zeke in the face before paling as Tomas and Ember unleashed simultaneous bursts of ectoplasm/blue flame at his face.

"C'mon, Tuck!" Sam shouted as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "Move!"

Tucker fell into step behind her. For a while, they continued to run as far away from the park as they possibly could. Neither of them knew exactly how Remember Yesterday was hypnotizing people, but that wasn't their top concern right now. After they dealt with Remember Yesterday, they could go back to the park and see if the crowd was still there. It would be a pain to snap all of those people out of their hypnotized state, but they would do it if they had to.

"Fantôme Mash (Ghost Mash)!" Zeke shouted from behind.

Sam grabbed onto Tucker's arm again and pulled him out of the way. She wasn't fast enough to pull him completely out of the way of the barrage of sewing needles; wincing as the sharpened edge of one of the needles tore into the back of Tucker's shirt and grazed his skin. He grit his teeth from the pain, but refused to cry out. He gave her a small, cocky grin before his eyes widened in alarm. Quickly, he pulled her out of the line of fire before raising a protective barrier with his Data Crusher. A pained hiss escaped his mouth from the movement though the black-haired girl was more concerned with the lightning that Tucker's barrier had protected her from.

"T-thanks. I owe you one." Sam murmured. She soon found her opportunity to return the favor when she spotted a dandelion. She grabbed hold of its Spirit Ribbon just as Ember's fire slammed into the barrier and caused it to shatter. 'Grow.'

Throwing the dandelion towards the incoming flames, she then grabbed Tucker and bolted. The dandelion rapidly expanded behind them—becoming the size of a small car by the time that the flames crashed into it—before the jagged leaves attempted to envelop and smother the flames. It didn't work, but it gave the two humans enough time to put some distance between them and Remember Yesterday.

"Do you think you're going to be okay, Tuck?" Sam asked.

Tucker's smiled tightly. "Yeah. It hurt a lot, but I'll be okay." He was bleeding, but not enough for it to be a major concern. And, even if it was, there was no way he would say anything. He was not going to leave one of his friends fighting in a three-on-one fight when he was still able to do something. 'Danny must be rubbing off on me.' He thought before saying, "Let's just go."

It only took them a minute or so before they had reached their destination; the junkyard. It was risky to have chosen it as the place where they would confront Remember Yesterday, especially considering Tucker's injury, but they hadn't really had another choice. There weren't exactly a lot of places that could handle being subject to a Ghost Attack without sustaining a lot of property damage. And Tucker's uncle did own the place...

"You two dipsticks should have just kept on running." Ember said as she arrived on the scene with her bandmates. Pale fingers became coated within a thin, pale-green glow. She played a few keys before suddenly swinging the tip of the guitar in Sam and Tucker's direction as she hit a high note. "Je vois Feu (I see Fire)."

From the tip of Ember's guitar emerged an wide burst of blue flames. The heat of the flames was stifling, but that was all that Tucker and Sam felt from behind Tucker's Program: Firewall. Sam turned as she sensed something coming at them from behind to see another barrage of needles rushing at them. Unlike last time, however, this time she was prepared.

'Grow. Thicken. Constrict.' Sam thought as she threw two dandelions towards Zeke's projectiles. Like before, the dandelions grew rapidly and served as a makeshift shield as the needles pierced into them. The tip of the needles could be seen from Sam's position before the jagged leaves wrapped around them. "You'll have to do—"

"Ballade de la foudre (Lightning Ballade)."

Sam and Tucker had forgotten about Tomas. The heavyset Ghost had waited to see how they would react to Ember and Zeke's attacks and then struck when they let their guard down. He had emerged from the ground in-between the two teenagers and directed the lightning generated by his technique at both of them. It worked as well as the Ghost expected; the two teenagers screamed from the pain before collapsing into unconscious, twitching heaps.

Tucker's Program: Firewall fell apart as Tomas sunk back into the earth. The hungry flames that the rectangular barrier had been holding off surged through the cracks and rushed towards the unconscious duo with a vicious, eager anticipation. Only, instead of being able to reach the teenagers and burn them alive, the flames crashed into another barrier.

'Is that paper?!'

It was paper. Or, to be more exact, hundreds of white paper sheets layered over one another in order to form into a dome around the two downed humans. Ember and Zeke weren't able to think on it that much as, in the next moment, hundreds of sheets of the white material burst from the earth underneath their feet. These sheets quickly coalesced together to form into thick, strong ropes that bound the two Ghosts' feet before lifting them up and slamming them back into the earth.

If the first blow hadn't disoriented them, then the following five certainly had. It was without much fanfare that the paper ropes hurled the two musicians to the ground for the sixth time. The two Ghosts weren't met with hard earth this time; they were met with a shifting sea of paper. The paper rushed upwards to meet them, but were pushed back by the fire that Ember unleashed towards it.

It was, however, only a momentary reprieve as more paper rose and evaded the flames as it ascended. Like a snake, the paper struck and "bit" into the limbs of the two Ghosts before dragging them downwards. The paper slammed their faces against the ground a couple of times. Then, as Ember and Zeke tried to recover, the paper surged forwards to cover and bind them.

"I have had enough!" Ember roared. A corona of flame blossomed around her body and burned the paper trying to consume her, reducing it to ash. More paper rose up in an attempt to smother her flames and bind her, but she burnt it before it got anywhere near her. Halfway into her counterattack, the paper stopped moving and fluttered to the ground. "Damnit! Those dipshits got away!"

XXXXXX

(Somewhere Nearby)

"That was interesting." Sung-Sun commented, "I didn't know that Humans could develop enough reiryoku to be able to achieve powers of their own." A thoughtful expression crossed her face as she tracked the flight of the ghost as he fled with the two Humans he had saved. "Why do you suppose that they are working together with the ghost?"

"It doesn't matter why they're working together. We should just take them down now while we have the chance. That Dexter guy did send us out to fight someone so that we could weaken these freaking seals." Apacci suggested, eager for a rematch against that paper-manipulating ghost.

Tier shook her head. "No, we will not engage them. From the information both we and Senor Dexter have been able to gather, the most likely person the Arrancar could be is "Danny Fenton". If we eliminate the people he considers his friends, it will make our task of convincing him to come with us all the more difficult." She raised a hand to prevent an outburst from Apacci. "We will, however, keep tabs on those three. It would be in our best interests to try and figure out how they gained their powers and how they got in contact with that ghost."

"What about those three?" Mila-Rose asked, gesturing towards the members of Remember Yesterday as they freed Tomas from his paper bindings. "If the feel of that reiatsu was anything to go by, what they were doing isn't anything good. Should we take them out?"

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile)

Danny Fenton didn't know what to do.

When he and his family had left AmityPark, he hadn't thought that something might happen while they were away. His parents had temporarily shut the Ghost Portal down and, unless Skulker was sharing his personal portal technology, Ghosts couldn't get into AmityPark. He had allowed himself to believe that everything would be fine. That his family would have a good time at his parents' college reunion and his friends would have a great time at the Remember Yesterday concert. If they were still allowed to go considering that they had been grounded.

Only, something had happened. A couple of somethings, actually. First, supposed government agents had shown up at his friends' homes and then questioned his friends about the recent Ghost Attacks. Sidney was then attacked while he was trying to study the Ghost Portal by an Arrancar. An Arrancar. Sidney had managed to subdue but managed to escape when a herd of ghost-bulls had rushed out of the "deactivated" portal.

In addition, Sam and Tucker had managed to stumble across the fact that the members of Remember Yesterday were Ghosts. They didn't to seem to have good intentions either as they had been using a makeshift concert to hypnotize everyone in attendance. Sam and Tucker had destroyed Remember Yesterday's stage and then lured them to the junkyard. And while they had managed to hold Remember Yesterday off for a while, it hadn't been enough and they had been taken down.

"I doubt that your friends were harmed too much. From what they told us, they were only knocked unconscious." Leviatán deliberately didn't mention how tired Tucker had sounded. It would only cause Danny to worry more than he already was. "If they are confronted by that group again, they will be prepared."

That was the thing. Danny knew that his friends were strong, but he was worried about them. What if something happened to them? They could probably take on Remember Yesterday if they had to, but what if Remember Yesterday and that group of Arrancar attacked them at the same time?

"Would you calm down? I thought that you believed your friends were strong. Will you always doubt them whenever they encounter a difficult situation and you aren't around? Have you so little faith in their capabilities?" Leviatán asked. "Even if you aren't there to support them, your friends have proven themselves. Did they not storm Technus' base and defeat everything he threw at them and then fight Technus himself until they managed to free us?"

How could he have forgotten. Not only had his friends supported and helped him in learning to control his powers, they had also been learning to control their own powers. They hadn't wanted to sit on the sidelines during situations where they didn't have any choice but to fight. While they couldn't use the abilities that he had, the natural advantages that his Arrancar form allowed him to have, they were catching up.

"I guess... I'm just scared that they'll get hurt." Danny admitted.

Every time something like this happened, he had been there. With his friends. Now, however, he was in a completely different state relying on text messages to know what was going on. He knew that his friends were becoming stronger, but he was afraid that they could get hurt.

"It's okay to be afraid for them, but you shouldn't doubt them. The Arrancar that Sidney encountered might be strong, but that doesn't mean that it can't be defeated," Leviatán gave Danny a mental nudge. "Reassure yourself. Call them."

Danny nodded and went to pick up his phone. Something caught his eye and he hesitated, turning to see a shadow underneath his doorway before it walked away. 'One of Mr. Master's maids...' Danny thought, but he was unconvinced. What if it hadn't been one of Mr. Master's servants? 'I guess I better see who it was... just in case. Pesquisa (Inquiry).'

With his eyes closed, Danny sat as his reiryoku spread out from him. He "saw" a black-and-white version of his room as his reiryoku passed through it and then a similarly-colored version of the hallway beyond it. The only blob of color happened to be within what appeared to be one of Mr. Master's maids. Emerald.

"Why is there a Ghost here?"

"You should follow her and try to see if you can figure that out." Leviatán suggested, "But do it quietly. It wouldn't do if she saw you following her before you could figure out what she was doing." Danny nodded and slipped his phone into his pocket before leaving the room. "Also, be sure to act normally. Even if she does see you, you could brush it off and say that you were looking for somewhere—the library, the kitchen, the theatre—and got lost."

Danny nodded before suppressing his power as much as he could before he got up and followed the maid into the hallway.

Techniques:

1. Je vois Feu (I see Fire): Using the flame symbol on her guitar, Ember McLain will first play a few notes before unleashing a thick stream of blue flames towards her target(s).

A/N: Author's Note: We are so, so sorry that we haven't been able to update this story in a while. Its just been really busy—college, health issues, conflicting schedules, and the loss of one of my family members—so I hope that this will show that we aren't dead. Just very busy.