Faked
is the seventh side story to Stranded written by NeoMark. Georgia and her sister hire a phony ghost hunter.
Tropes:
- And I Must Scream: La Lechuza reveals that being trapped in a statue didn't stop her from being aware of the world around her.
- Bilingual Backfire: Georgia and Alyssa speak English under the belief La Lechuza won't understand them. Not only did La Lechuza learn English during the time she spent hearing their ancestors speak it, she also understood them calling her an "ugly old crow".
- Berserk Button: La Lechuza at first recognized an attempt to anger her and ignored it. However, Myrtles ended up genuinely earning her hostility when he mocked her plumage.
- A Day in the Limelight: After spending her time as a supporting character in previous installments, Georgia is given much more importance in this story.
- Destructive Savior: Georgia won't ask for Jack and Maddie's help with the ghosts haunting her sister's house because they tend to cause more destruction than most ghosts.
- Dirty Coward: Myrtles begs La Lechuza to hurt everyone else instead of him as he runs for his life.
- Everyone Has Standards: As much as Danny loves his parents, he won't contradict people saying "they tend to cause more property damage than most ghosts".
- Exact Words: When Danny says his parents will be out of the house for the day, Star asks if they have a case to deal with and he hesitates before saying they do. Danny just doesn't say that, instead of going to deal with some ghost attack, Jack and Maddie are being sued for damaging Chief Boyle's car.
- Feathered Fiend: La Lechuza is an evil owl ghost.
- Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Subverted. Georgia and Alyssa speak English under the belief the Spanish-speaking specter won't understand them, even calling her an "ugly old crow". Unfortunately for them, La Lechuza reveals she picked up English from hearing people talk over the years and understood them perfectly, even what they called her.
- Hope Spot: Sam reaches into the closet for the box that contained Team Phantom's weaponry. Once they escape the house, they plan to storm back in to defeat La Lechuza. However, upon opening the box, Sam finds it full of things Alyssa wanted to sell online, meaning she grabbed the wrong one.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Myrtles' attempt to scam the Williams sisters and seduce Alyssa falls apart thanks to a real ghost causing trouble, exposing him as a fraud. He also gets threatened with danger from said ghost into paying for damages to Alyssa's house.
- Loophole Abuse: Myrtles points out the contract Alyssa signed makes him not liable for any damage to the premises due to ghosts. However, Danny counters the contract doesn't mean they can't use a ghost against him, forcing Myrtles to pay for the damages.
- Ominous Owl: La Lechuza is a vicious owl spirit from Mexico.
- Parental Substitute: Star admits that she views Georgia as a maternal figure, and thus is rather protective of her.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: La Lechuza is an aggressive owl spirit that was trapped in a statue by Georgie’s ancestor until Drew Myrtles accidentally angers her enough to free her.
- Shout-Out:
- The statistics about how practically everyone in Amity Park prefers to rely on Danny Phantom to protect them and the few who don't chose Valerie is similar to a joke from the Johnny Bravo episode "Candidate Johnny".
- Prior to an attempted rescue, Team Phantom re-enacts the "laser sound effects" scene from Voltron: Legendary Defender.
- While making the "laser sound effects" above, Star reacts to Danny's "pew" by saying it "sounds like a skunk just showed up".
- Smarter Than You Look: La Lechuza was able to learn English while imprisoned by listening to people talk over the years.
- This Is Reality: When Tucker rips up the contract between Myrtles and Alyssa under the belief it would render it null and void, Myrtles reveals he kept copies and says that Tucker's knowledge of how contracts work comes from cartoons.
- Undying Loyalty: Star reveals that Georgia chose to join her and her dad when they moved from New York to Amity Park.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Myrtles' plot to scam the Williams' out of their money angered La Lechuza enough to fully awaken her and attack.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The story is based on The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Spirit of Aunt Lois".
- Working with the Ex: Dr. Myrtles's ex Erin works for him because she needs the pay. She quits in the end, deciding the money isn't worth it.
- Your Costume Needs Work: When the real ghost shows up, Star mistakes it for an even less convincing fake.
