Moi-Moi: Merry Christmas, Everyone! And Happy Holodays to you all! No, I didn't spell that wrong. (Moi-Moi819= CONFIRMED Holosexual).
Anyways, Let me be the first to welcome you to the second story in this Danny Phantom trilogy: "Drowning In Power".
Like I said at the end of the first story, this story will be more action orientated. The foundation for the universe has been laid. So, it's time to build a sturdy house of action, adventure, a bit more romance and small dashes of humor. I really hope you guys like it! :D
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Danny glanced at the pink, digital clock on the nightstand before looking forward again. '8:05'. He had a slightly concerned look in his eyes while he paced the carpeted floors of Kagome's bedroom. He glared at where she was sitting on the floors with her legs crossed. She was staring down at a formerly-bronze goblet that was crusted with black soot. A folded piece of printer paper rested innocently in the goblet. "We're going to be late," Danny reminded.
"Five more minutes," Kagome bargained.
"You said that fifteen minutes ago," Danny said and shot Kagome an exasperated look that she ignored.
"If you're so impatient, you can go ahead without me. I'll catch up," Kagome bargained. Her hands clenched and unclenched as she held them over the goblet. Her brows were knitted in concentration and her lower lip was captured between her teeth.
"The movie starts in ten minutes, Kagome. Sam and Tucker are saving our seats, but we have to go," Danny said.
Kagome didn't reply to him and Danny nearly threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. With his arms folded over his chest, he stared down at her disappointment. Just when he was about to speak up again, Danny's paused with wide eyes. He could smell smoke. Gaze narrowing, Danny moved in closer before kneeling in front of Kagome. The corners of the paper in the goblet were smoking slightly, a tiny flame burning the edges. Danny felt a grin slide onto his face. "Kagome, you're doing it!" Danny exclaimed.
Finally! She'd been working on this for nearly half an hour now. Danny had been about to tell her to give up and try again at another time (particularly when they didn't already have plans) so many times. But, she'd actually done it! Danny was about to cheer and congratulate her again, but was stopped by the sight of the flame growing in size before quickly over taking the entire paper. Despite the paper turning into a small pile of black ashes, the flames weren't shrinking in size. "Woah!" Danny exclaimed as he ducked away from the large flames that had shot out of the goblet like a flamethrower.
With his hands covering his head and his body curled defensively, Danny heard Kagome sigh in disappointment. Slowly, he lifted his head up to stare at her sadly. Kagome was frowning down at the nearly-black goblet with her shoulders slumped. "That's the twenty-third time that's happened. Why isn't this getting any easier?" Kagome sighed and held her head in her hands.
With a frown, Danny rested a comforting hand onto Kagome's shoulder. With a saddened look, Kagome look up at him. "You'll get it eventually. You're too smart not to. I mean, I don't know much about magic, but I believe in you," Danny said with a small smile.
After several seconds, Kagome returned the smile. "Thanks, Danny. I'll try again some other time. Let's get going. You better go Mach 5 if you don't want Sam to nag you about being late," Kagome said as she grabbed her jacket from off her bed. She slipped on the jacket before slipping on her Converse. It was late May, but still uncharacteristically chilly out.
"If you think you can handle it," Danny taunted while transforming into his alter ego. He held a hand out for her with a smug smirk. Kagome rolled her eyes before taking his hand. Pulling her close to him, Danny turned them both intangible before flying through her ceiling and out the house.
Danny couldn't help but smile down at Kagome where she held onto him as he flew over Amity Park. The past six months had been the best time of his life. Kagome knew his secret like he knew hers. Having her know the truth had been extremely helpful with understanding his ghost powers. There were still so many things that he hadn't known that Kagome had the answers to (or she had a book with the answers). Meanwhile, he'd been as helpful as he could be to help her get her powers under control. Moving to Amity Park and being constantly exposed to his ghostly powers had, in turn, heightened her powers. She was like a walking bag of unlimited magic. He'd already lost count of how many times she had unintentionally shocked him or forced him to change into his ghost half.
"See? We're not too late," Kagome said as she pointed down at the movie theater once it was in sight. Kagome squinted with a frown. "I don't see Sam or Tucker outside. Maybe they went inside already?"
"Well, we should join them," Danny said with a smirk before turning them invisible and intangible.
"Danny-" Kagome started, but stopped when Danny flew through the theater roof. "Danny," Kagome hissed quietly with wide eyes.
"Calm down, Kagome. No one can see us," Danny whispered back while flying through the theater. Kagome was about to object again, but Danny cut her off. "Look. There's Tucker and Sam. See? They saved us seats."
Kagome couldn't keep the frown off her face as Danny landed them behind a wall at the back of the room. He changed back into his human half before grinning brightly at Kagome. At her reprimanding look, Danny chuckled lightly and took her hand. His pull on her hand didn't leave much chance for her to object (not that she would have anyways). Crouching in an attempt to not disturb the other moviegoers, the pair slipped into a row near the back before taking the two, empty seats next to Sam.
Sam shot Danny a disbelieving look. "Where were you guys? The movie's already started!" Sam whispered harshly.
Danny grinned at her. "We got a little held up. Besides, it's just the opening credits. No big deal," Danny replied with a shrug.
Sam rolled her eyes. Leave it to Danny to miss an 8:00 meet-up time. With a shake of her head, she offered him some of her popcorn. She'd even gone through the trouble of getting an extra large knowing that Danny'd be late and wouldn't bother getting himself a snack. Danny whispered his thanks to her while accepting the bucket. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw Danny take a handful before offering the bucket to Kagome. Despite the small twist in her stomach at this, Sam didn't react. The twisting feeling went away, however, when Kagome turned down the offer.
It's not that Sam still felt any animosity towards Kagome. The two had been rather civil with each other the past few months. On more than one occasion, Sam had been surprised to find out that she and Kagome had a lot in common. And it was kind of nice to have another girl around to get annoyed with Tucker and Danny's boyish behavior. This didn't mean that they were best friends. But the girls had come to a sort of armistice for Danny's sake. It was a relatively easy thing to do after both Kagome and Danny had made it quite clear that they were not dating (no matter what rumors were going around).
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Mr. Lancer stared evenly at his homeroom students. His eyes were bored and his expression dull, but the middle-aged man was holding back a torrent of laughter. Every student in class seemed to be eyeing the clock, waiting for it to hit three. Unsurprisingly, Kagome was the only one not bothering with the silent countdown- too busy with her head buried in a tattered, old book. Mr. Lancer had glanced at the cover, immediately excited to see what she was enjoying this week. But, he'd been disappointed yet again to see that the title was in Japanese.
"I should remind you all that summer school will be available for those of you who need it. I'll be one of the teachers devoting my time and energy to help students get their grades in order," Mr. Lancer said, skillfully ignored the several, muttered "Yeah right"s from the students. For once, Mr. Lancer hadn't shot a knowing look at Danny Fenton when he'd said this. Mr. Lancer would like to think that Danny had taken his advice from last year to heart and had picked up his grades, but he knew that the truth to Mr. Fenton's success was the new, Japanese girl that he'd gotten so close to this past year. Mr. Lancer was sure that he'd heard a rumor going around that the two had gotten back together after a short breakup before Thanksgiving break...
When the bell rang loudly throughout school, the collective sounds of chairs scraping against the floors could be heard just before the sounds of students chatting happily. Danny grabbed his backpack before turning to his friends with a bright smile. "Finally! Summer vacation is just what I needed," Danny said.
"You say that like this hasn't been the easiest year for you when it comes to ghost fighting. Tell me again. When was the last time you saw Skulker?" Sam responded with a smirk.
"Well, the ghost fighting was slow. But the school work wasn't. It was like I was an actual kid in high school or something," Danny joked. Sam rolled her eyes while Tucker shook his head with a chuckle.
"Imagine that," Kagome said with a knowing look.
"This is going to be the best summer ever. I can feel it," Danny said to his friends as they followed him out of the classroom.
"What makes you say that, dude?" Tucker questioned.
Danny walked backwards through the hall while grinning brightly at the trio. "Because last summer was awesome even though you and Sam weren't here. But this summer, you will be. Now, we can all hang out all summer long. All four of us!" Danny exclaimed with an ecstatic pump of his arms into the air.
Sam tried not to wince, Kagome nervously bit her lower lip, and Tucker shot the two girls a wary look out of the corner of his eyes. Danny was still smiling softly at his friends, patiently waiting for them to pick up on the obvious enthusiasm that he was feeling. In order to save face, Kagome spoke up. "Rain check on the "summer of fun"? I still don't know if my mom wants to spend the summer in Amity Park or if she wants to visit family," Kagome said with a small shrug. "Plus, she says not to get too comfortable with the lack of ghost activity. She thinks the ghosts' extended vacation may be coming to an end."
"Well... It's no big deal. If you do have to leave, we'll just hang out as much as we can before you go," Danny said with a casual shrug.
"And what about the ghosts?" Sam prompted.
"I'll handle them if they show up," Danny shrugged with an easy grin. At the dubious looks on both Sam and Kagome's faces, Danny sighed with a smile. "Relax, guys. If a ghost shows up, I'll fight them, exchange witty banter, and then lock them in the Fenton Thermos. I've done it a million times before. But until then, let's try to have some fun. Alright?"
"Whatever you say, dude," Tucker replied since both Sam and Kagome were too busy exchanging dubious looks. Danny rolled his eyes with a sigh. His friends were such worrywarts.
