Well, it's been awhile since I've updated or uploaded anything on College sucks at the moment as I'm usually piled with homework for the weekend, but I've been trying to get some one shots together (2 of which I'm almost finished) and the 4th chapter of "Heart of the Hero" will be possibly up in the next couple of weeks. Anywho, this is another new story in which I've got it all planned out so it'll be finished sooner than my usual updates. It is also with sadder news that the Danny Phantom series has finished airing with "Phantom Planet". Therefore, this story will be in the timeline just a few weeks after the events of "Boxed Up Fury" (which wasn't the best episode IMO but I liked the use of Greek mythology).
Please read and review! I'd like to hear if I should continue this.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Danny Phantom" or anything entitled to this show. All credits go to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.
All was quiet in the peculiar realm of the Ghost Zone. As usual, swirling clouds of bright green mist melted among the black sky, along with millions of floating purple doors hovering in mid air. Dozens of unrecognizable ghosts cackled to themselves while they flew into the murky regions of the Zone, their reasons of which were unknown except to themselves.
All was peaceful and relaxed, except for the domain of Pandora. The floating island contained many ancient white houses marked with golden roofs and spiraling columns, well built roads, beautiful urns and a tall four-armed statue of the islands protector, Pandora, herself, in all its glory. Among the astounding architecture was a large hedge maze beginning with a sparking electric blue arch. The too familiar large silver and green craft of the Fenton Specter Speeder was parked at the labyrinth's entrance, much to the inhabitants' dismay.
Within the center of the maze, past the centaurs and minotaurs, was a small building that looked small enough to house two people. Two young teenagers, who were inside the larger than life home, looked upon the dusty antiquities of Pandora's treasury. Each of them was holding a black clipboard in hand.
"Jeez, Pandora should hire a maid or something every thousand years," said an African American boy wearing a large pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose and a red beret. He stoked a finger across a bookshelf to find an inch of dust settling on it. "This place is gross!"
The other teenager, who was a thin girl dressed in black and purple clothes with short black hair and amethyst eyes, brushed a few cobwebs out of her face. "Yeah, I guess, but you know it kind of adds on to the age." She clicked her pen and scribbled something on her clipboard while examining a high cobwebbed bookshelf full of ancient scrolls. "Well, the Forbidden Scrolls of Infinite Knowledge are all in check. How are you doing with those Grecian urns, Tucker?"
"Fine," said Tucker flatly, not even slightly interested in counting the dusty pottery. "Remind me why we're doing this again, Sam?"
"Danny thought that it would be a good idea to keep tabs on Pandora's stuff ever since the Box Ghost stole her box. It's only fair to help her out for all that she did to get rid of the evil the box had unleashed on Earth."
"Yeah, I guess." Tucker shuttered at the memory of the demonic snakes that had cornered him and Sam a few weeks ago. Amity Park was back to normal – well, as normal as it should be at the moment, seeing as it was the most haunted city in the United States, and possibly in the whole world. "But why are we stuck with warehouse duty while Danny's flying around without a care?"
"Tucker, you know Danny's doing as much work as we are," said Sam. "He's still on guard duty for BG, remember?"
"I still can't believe that he still hasn't apologized to everyone yet! He should be done by now."
"Apparently, he's been slacking off a bit since he went to Skulker's island. Was hunter boy ever mad when he saw him!"
Tucker couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the Box Ghost being chased around the self-proclaimed Ghost Zone's greatest hunter's island for two long hours as a little payback for all the chaos Pandora's Box had unleashed on him. "I wonder why?"
"Danny decided not to say why."
"Say what?" asked a suddenly familiar voce from above the two teens.
Sam and Tucker looked up to find the recognizable white haired, glowing greed eyed, tanned face of the half-ghost Danny Phantom peer from the ceiling. The rest of his black and white jumpsuit body followed as he lightly phased through the ceiling and floated down to the ground before them.
"Oh, nothing. We were just remembering how BG was chased by Skulker," said Sam, still trying not to laugh. She looked around, now suddenly puzzled. "Where is the lameo, anyway?"
"Pandora offered to take him off my hands for the time being while he's off apologizing at Walker's prison," answered Danny, massaging his temples. "I swear, if I hear "Beware!" one more time, I'm gonna go insane!"
Tucker couldn't help but wrinkle his sensitive nose at a noticeable stench that was being emitted from Danny's ghostly form. "Aw, dude, you reek!" he cried, pinching his nose in disgust. "Where the heck were you?"
"Oh, yeah," said Danny, now sniffing himself too. "I had to give Cerberus a long overdue bath a little earlier today. I kind of got used to the smell later on."
"Gross," said Sam, grimacing at the smell as well.
"You think that was bad, you should have smelt-"
"Please don't finish that sentence, dude," cried Tucker, his stomach already doing flip-flops. "I just ate..."
"Come on," said Sam to Danny, tucking her clipboard under one arm and holding her nose in the other. "Let's leave Mr. Sensitive here in peace while I help get rid of that eau de wet ghost dog smell off you."
"Are you okay finishing off here, Tuck?" asked Danny.
"Yes! Just go before I blow chunks…"
"You heard him," said Sam.
In the blink of an eye, Danny and Sam vanished through the roof, along with the overwhelming dog smell. When they were finally gone, Tucker breathed in a gulp of fresh air.
"Glad that's over..." he muttered.
As he turned around to walk, he let out a deafening shriek just as he unexpectedly saw a ghostly green spider with four solid glowing red eyes and eight dark green spindly legs, resting at the bridge of his nose.
"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! "He cried trying to swat the arachnid away in pure panic, upon which he lost his balance and fell backwards hard onto the cold floor with a loud shatter of glass hitting marble. The collision kicked up a massive cloud of greenish grey dust, in which a thin film of it partially settled over the lenses of Tucker's glasses. Coughing and sputtering blindly, the African American managed to pick himself up and rub his grimy glasses on his shirt.
"Stupid spider..." he muttered angrily, setting his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. Finally getting a sense of vision back, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Uh oh…"
A mess of shattered pottery lay at his feet. From what Tucker could tell from the remains, this had been once a priceless Grecian urn, yet it wasn't the same colors of black and bright orange that he had seen before. Instead of being made of wet clay, the urn was actually pure crystal. Curiously, Tucker gently picked up the biggest shard from the pile and held it up into the light.
The crystal was a beautiful shade of light purple (amethyst, Tucker thought) with a large jeweled spider in the center. The entire body was composed of polished jade and had four pebble-sized rubies for eyes. The abdomen was entirely encrusted with diamonds the same size as the spider's eyes. Each of them sparkled at the light touched them, making them look like miniature stars. Tucker couldn't keep his eyes off it, but the sudden flashback of a furious Pandora clicked though his thoughts as a warning.
"I shouldn't take this," he said to himself. "It belongs to Pandora, after all…" He looked back at the remains on the floor. "Well, then again, it is broken. I'm sure Pandora wouldn't want a broken urn in her place…"
Making sure no one was around; Tucker slid the shard with the jeweled spider into his pants pocket carefully and for good measure, he bushed the remaining pieces of the urn under a nearby rug.
"That ought to do it. She won't even notice that it's gone." Tucker bit his lip. At least, I hope…
Tucker decided not to stick around and find out. Hopefully, if Sam had gotten rid of Danny's dog problem they could go back home and get the remainder of their homework done. Rushing upstairs, Tucker failed to notice the rug that he had hid his mess under had moved slightly while a thousand tiny pairs of solid glowing red eyes glared within the murky shadows of Pandora's treasury...