The Superstition Spectrum (Danny Phantom)

Prologue

Link to the podcast reading by Ephirae of this chapter: https://soundcloud.com/ephirae/tss-prologue

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A smartly-dressed middle-aged man sat at his desk, a mug bearing a television channel's logo emblazoned on its side in hand and an award-winning grin on his face. However, this was no mere office space-- enormous cameras were trained on him and the stage upon which he sat. The overhead lights were hot, but not unbearably so, and after so many years of hosting talk shows such as this he was certainly used to their uncomfortable temperature.

"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen," he said enthusiastically. "Your patience is about to be rewarded, as we've just received word that our star guest of the night has arrived from her skirmish downtown. You all know who I'm talking about: Relle Phantom!"

The captive audience rose up with cheering, and it took a few seconds for the crowd to settle down. The host, commonly known simply as Ray, held out a gesture for the room to quieten. "Yeah, I'm just as excited as you are! Our first undead guest on this show. Just think! Maybe we'll have the real George Washington or Ray Charles in here one day-- although maybe that's a little too much Ray in one room." The most faithful people in the audience laughed at the inside joke they only understood through continued viewership of the show. Ray himself had to take a second to collect himself after that but was back on track, as professional as ever.

"But let's stop waiting around and get right down to it. Relle Phantom, everyone!"

A sweeping motion of his arm toward stage right encouraged a spotlight to follow along, where it found a teenaged girl with blue hair and a few singe marks on her costume standing stiffly. Her first couple of steps into plain view were wooden and nervous, but she found her rhythm just before shaking Ray's offered hand. Before she knew it, her butt was planted into the end cushion of a couch and the crowd was beginning to die down. Her flushed complexion, on the other hand, was definitely not dying down any time soon.

"Welcome, Relle, welcome," Ray began kindly, and Relle Phantom cleared her throat before answering.

"Th-Thanks for having me," she said.

"You nervous?" he guessed knowingly.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Relle answered, her tone carrying a hint of a groan. "I've never been on this side of the camera before." Not true-- her mother had brought her into an episode or two of her cooking show every so often before this particular evening.

"Nah, there's no need to be nervous," Ray assured her. The audience was palpably silent in anticipation for the conversation going on in front of them. "And I think I'm about ready to believe anything after the last few months Bailey Lake's seen! Tell me: what's it like being the hero of such a big city?"

"U-Uh, well," Relle stuttered as she mulled the question over. "It's... not easy. And definitely not something I ever planned to be, honestly. Not that I would go so far as to call myself a 'hero,' per se..."

"Why wouldn't you?" Ray asked somewhat rhetorically. "You've been protecting us from all those ghosts that come out of nowhere to attack the city. Isn't that something a hero does?"

Somehow, it was possible for her bright pink cheeks to blush hotter, and as they did so a slight tint of orange peeked out beneath her makeup. "I suppose so, if all the comics are anything to go by."

"So, Relle, you're our city's first ever superhero, which is amazing. But you're also a ghost, and you've been protecting us from ghosts. Is there a specific reason why you're on our side?" he asked intently.