HUGE THANK YOU TO VIN FOR POINTING OUT THAT THIS WASN'T THE DOC UPLOADED! Let's try this again, with the CORRECT document, shall we?
13
"Wolf thing!" Sam's frantic voice shouted through Danny's phone. "Giant, ghost, wolf thing! BY THE NASTY BURGER!"
Danny whipped down the street, finding his friend in the ally behind the fast food restaurant, a green wolf twice her size growling at her.
"Down boy!" Danny landed on the wolf's back, activating the Fenton Thermos and sucking the ghost in. Sam slide down the wall in relief, her phone still in her hand.
"Thanks," She breathed.
"No problem," Danny yawned, sitting beside her.
"You look exhausted." Sam commented.
Danny yawned again, dragging a hand through his hair. "I've been up all night. Every time I turn around there's another-" Tucker's signature Star Wars ringtone cut him off, and Danny answered the call. "Yeah?"
"GHOST SNAKE!" Tucker shrieked. "BY THE PARK!"
Sam gave Danny a sympathetic look as the ghost took off to save their friend.
Tucker panted, gripping his phone tightly as he ran through the deserted park. A HUGE king Cobra was right on his tail. Tucker hadn't paid attention in 8th grade biology, so he wasn't sure if this snake was venomous or not; regardless, it was definitely big enough to eat him. He cursed as he tripped over his shoelaces, his backpack contents spilling out in front of him.
I gotta stop carrying so much geek gear, he thought, eyes trailing on the mess in front of him. He didn't have time to muse over his fallen technology as the snake slithered in front of him, a forked purple tongue darting out. Tucker didn't have time to move as the cobra poised to strike, red eyes narrowing.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Danny shouted, throwing his weight into the snake, as he had seen Star do before. As they landed on the ground and Danny wrestled for the thermos, Danny couldn't help but wonder where so many ghosts had come from.
Back at Fenton works, Jack was proudly showing his wife and daughter the new fingerprint ID he had installed for the ghost portal.
"Isn't this a great idea!" He said, activating the lock over and over again, unaware that ghosts were sneaking out of the portal behind him with each activation. "Now we won't have to worry about evil lunch ladies haunting your school, Jazz!"
Jazz rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "We don't know that was a ghost." She said defiantly. "And even if it was, that would mean it was able to open the portal on the ghost side. Any security measures over here would be ineffective."
Jack ignored her, continuing to activate the portal with his thumb print. "We can also prevent unauthorized access to Spirit Street!"
"We aren't calling it that." Maddie said firmly.
"Boo-villa?"
"No."
"Halloween town?"
"That's copy write infringement, dear. We aren't partnered with Disney."
"Ghost Garrison it is!" Jack beamed, once again opening the ghost portal via thumb print.
On the other side of the Fenton Portal, ghosts were lined up for miles, waiting for their chance for the portal to open, granting them escape. Approaching the end of the line was a ghost on a motorcycle, his girlfriend's arms wrapped around his chest.
"We'll never get out." She sighed, looking at the long line ahead of them.
"Kitty, baby, relax," The driver said, smiling at her over his shoulder. "I told you I'd take you to see the human world and I will, trust me."
"Johnny, we're never going to make it through this line!" Kitty pouted.
"Who said anything about waiting in line?" Johnny nodded down to the shadow beneath him, the darkness taking on it's own shape, green eyes opening up as the shadow smiled.
"Johnny, no!" Kitty argued as Johnny instructed the shadow to keep the portal open. "That thing causes bad luck!"
"Not for us, doll!" Johnny increased their speed.
"Your stupid shadow is going to get us killed, Johnny."
"Can't kill the dead, baby!" Johnny laughed as his bike sailed through the air, over the other ghosts in line, and through the portal his shadow was keeping open. There was a small tunnel between the portal door in the ghost zone and the one in the Fenton household. Kitty screamed as the door on the ghost end shut, snagging her leather jacket and yanking her from the back of Johnny's bike.
"Kitty!" Johnny slammed on the brakes, stopping mere inches from the Fenton door.
"Dammit Johnny!" Kitty snapped, standing as her form began to shimmer in and out of focus. "I told you this was a bad idea!"
"What's going on?" Johnny asked, horrified at watching his girlfriend's body turn to static.
"I'm stuck, you idiot! I'm split between here and the Ghost Zone!"
"Well how do I get you unstuck?"
Kitty growled, muttering some words under her breath before shucking off her jacket and scarf. "Here," she thrust them at the biker. "Get some girl to wear these and I'll be able to possess her. It'll get my spirit out of here and I'll be fine."
Johnny looked at the clothes uncertainly. "Are these powerful enough for that?"
Kitty sighed sadly, form flickering more constantly. "No… Here." She threw her mood ring at Johnny, purposefully aiming for his head. "That should be enough." Kitty hugged her bare arms around herself, her eyes sad. "I gotta go back to the ghost zone or I'm going to be torn apart."
Johnny carefully folded her items and placed them in his bag. "I'll get you out of here, baby," He swore. He swerved his bike around, speeding through the Fenton door as Kitty faded back into the ghost zone. His bike came to a screeching halt as Johnny found himself in a laboratory, three humans not five feet from him. Johnny hide behind a tower of creates, thanking every god he could think of that humans couldn't hear the roar of his ghostly engine.
"SUFFERING SPOOKS!" Jack whipped around, and for a moment, Johnny feared that somehow, he'd been heard. "Where's Danny? I bet he'd love this!"
Jazz rubbed her temples, glaring at her father. "Please just let him have a normal, ghost free childhood."
Johnny regarded her, the exasperated look she gave her parents, the attitude in her stance. He had always had a thing for redheads. She was perfect. "Hello new girlfriend," He smirked, going intangible and backing out of the house.
"COME ON!" Danny whined, brushing dust and debris out of his hair as he hit a wall. "I've been fighting you guys for 24 hours. Can't I get a break?"
Just as he was about to get up and continue fighting the ghost snake, a brick came flying out of nowhere, hitting the snake in the eye and sending it sprawling on the street, hissing in annoyance.
"How 'bout a brick instead?" Star floated down next to Danny, purple eyes bright with amusement.
Danny looked at the ghost girl in confusion. "I didn't call... How-"
"Your techno-geek friend called me." said Star, launching another brick at the ghost snake.
"You got here that fast?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
Star cocked her head to the side. "Fast? I left my place last night- I've been traveling all day to get here."
Danny ducked to the side as the snake punched at him. Star body tackled it to the ground giving Danny time to grab the thermos, sucking the ghost away.
"All day?" He sat down heavily on the sidewalk, grateful to have been given a moment to catch his breath.
Star sat next to him, leaning back on her palms. "Yeah. The technogeek- Tucker, right? He called me yesterday- said you might need help ghost fighting for a couple of days."
"Why would he think that?"
"Apparently you spent your first high school dance battling a dragon? Or rather, trying to get back an amulet that turns people into dragons."
Danny sighed. "Tucker told you all that?"
"And more." Star brushed her hair behind her ear. "He says you seduced your date by loosing your pants in public." Danny's cheeks burned as the ghost girl snickered. "He also said that you really didn't get much sleep during the whole ordeal."
"He isn't wrong." Danny yawned, dragging a hand across his face.
"Why didn't you call me?" Star wanted to know. "I gave you my number for a reason."
Danny shrugged. "You told me not to call unless I was sure I needed help. I wasn't sure, so I didn't call."
Star gave him a hard look before sighing. "Next time, call, even if you aren't sure."
"Ok..." Danny trailed off, looking at the moonlit street. "All day?" He repeated.
"Hmm?"
"You said you were traveling all day."
"Yeah?"
"How far away do you live?"
Star snickered, pointing out the irony in the question. After a brief pause she answered, "About a day away."
"Ok, but, where do you live?"
"I don't 'live'. I'm a ghost, remember?"
Danny gave her a flat stare as she laughed at her own joke. Danny was about to press further when he hiccuped, blue mist floating in the air between him and Star.
Star looked between it and Danny for a moment. "Did.. did you just vape?"
"What?" Danny sprung to his feet, eyes scanning the area for ghosts. "No!"
"Then what the hell was that?"
"It goes off when a ghost is around," Danny informed her, eyes scanning the sky.
"It looked like you vaped." Star stood, eyes trained on Danny's.
"I don't vape."
"But it really looked like-" the roar of a motorcycle engine cut off the rest of her sentence.
The two ghosts whipped around to see Johnny blow through the intersection, ignoring the stop signs and speed limit. Star wrinkled her nose. "Ghost?"
"Ghost." Danny agreed.
Johnny looked at the mood ring on his finger, the jewel filling with a murky image of Kitty. "What's taking so long?" She demanded.
"I've been here all of ten minutes." Johnny said flatly.
"Well hurry up!" Johnny rolled his eyes as the image of Kitty faded, his gaze returning to the rode.
"Um, sir?" Johnny nearly jumped out of his skin when Danny tapped him on the shoulder. "I believe you're speeding."
"I'll show you speeding!" He announced with narrow eyes. "Shadow! Attack!"
The shadow beneath Johnny came to life, a fist coming out of the darkness and punching Danny in the face, sending him crashing to the street. Star flew over him, chasing after the shadow as it passed through a lamp post.
The lamp post, that had been in perfect condition, suddenly flickered, paint beginning to chip off the metal. The screws holding the post to it's base came unscrewed and the lamp fell forwards. Danny was able to role out of it's way just in time, but in the process, he hit the release button on his thermos, the ghosts he had spent all night chasing disappearing into the night.
Star chased the shadow down the street, the light bulbs in the street lamps shattering as the shadow passed them. With a grin, Shadow passed through a fire hydrant, and in an instant it was letting out a torrent of water. Star yelped as she took the blast of water to the face, sprawling on the ground as more water rained down. The shadow laughed and rejoined Johnny at the top of a nearby apartment building before the two sped away.
"Great." Danny sighed, looking at the now empty thermos.
"That sucked." Star commented, standing next to Danny, soaking wet.
"What WAS that?" Danny growled in frustration.
Star gave him a helpless shrug. "A ghost?"
Danny looked at the thermos in his hands before throwing it on the ground, groaning. "I spent all night catching those ghosts! Now I have to go and find them again, and I have to worry about that guy and whatever his friend was and-"
"Hey, ghost boy," Star placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. "Calm down for a second."
"Don't call me 'ghost boy'."
"What should I call you? I didn't catch your name last time."
Danny blinked, surprised by her statement. "Oh. Uh, my name is Danny."
"Well, Danny," Star lowered her hand. "You don't have to worry about anything, okay? I'll go track down the ghosts."
"You will?" Star nodded, gently taking the thermos from Danny's hands. "Why?"
"Because they can't go running around town all night and obviously, neither can you." She gestured to the dark bags under Danny's eyes. "You won't be able to play hero if you're dead on your feet." She smirked. "Ha. Unintentional pun. But seriously, get some rest."
"You'll be okay?"
"This is my job, remember? Now go- I've got work to do." Star turned and started jogging down the street in the direction the ghost wolf went, the thermos slung over her shoulder, leaving a sleep deprived Danny to make his way home.
(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
"She just took the thermos and ran off?" Sam clarified as she, Tucker, and Danny walked down the pier the following night. "That didn't set off any warning bells?"
"She said she was going to find the ghosts," Danny shrugged. "I believed her."
"Based on what?" asked Sam incredulously. "What has she done to gain your trust?"
Danny frowned at her. "She helped us save you."
"Which she seemed absolutely thrilled about."
"Give her some credit Sam, we hardly know her."
"Exactly!" Sam threw her hands in the air, popcorn spilling from her bag. "She didn't even know your name, Danny."
"If you have such a problem with it, talk to Tucker." Danny snapped. "He's the one who called her."
Tucker held up his hands is defense. "I was just trying to help. I didn't know we weren't trusting her!"
"Look," Said Danny, pausing to look at his friends. "Whether you like it or not Star's here. For the first time in two weeks I was actually able to get a full 8 hours of sleep last night. For now, can you just give her the benefit of the doubt?"
Sam didn't look happy about it, but she agreed. Tucker just looked confused.
"Just because she's here doesn't mean she can take over." Sam said. "Maybe Tucker can research shadow ghosts while we wait in line or something."
Tucker pulled out his PDA, ready to bring up Google, when a large hand reached out and snatched it from him.
"Look at me!" Kuan dangled the PDA above Tucker's head. "I'm Tucker Foley, stylin' large with the latest in techno-geek fashion!"
"Dude..." Dash folded his arms over his chest. "You do that a little too well."
Kuan tossed the PDA back to Tucker with a yelp. "TECHNO-GEEK IS CONTAGIOUS!" He and Dash ran off, warning people of the impending techno-geek epidemic.
"I'm sick of being labeled!" Tucker huffed, shoving his PDA into Sam's hands. "You take it- I'm over this."
"Tucker, you're getting pretty worked up over an insult from a guy who thinks you can buy 'gay-dar' online." Said Sam, trying to hand his PDA back.
"It's not just Kuan, Sam. Chrissy said the same thing when I tried to ask her out last night."
"Star called you a techno-geek." Danny added, shrinking away from Tucker's horrified stare. "That's not helping, is it?"
Tucker groaned and stomped away, Sam and Danny chasing after him. They passed Jazz at the clown artwork tent; she was giving the artist her in depth psychological analysis of one of his paintings.
"Sure, he's smiling on the outside," She said. "But I can sense the tortured soul just beneath the surface."
"No," The artist, who was dressed like a clown and surrounded by empty beer bottles, disagreed. "He's smiling on the inside too." The artist passed out.
Above Jazz, on the power lines, Johnny tilted his ring so Kitty could see the pier. "That's her," He said, pointing Jazz out. "She's the daughter of the idiot with the ghost portal."
Kitty gave a dissatisfied grunt. "I guess she'll work. But do this quick, Johnny! I'm getting bored."
Johnny smiled as Kitty's face faded from his ring. "Shadow, truck!"
Shadow took off from beneath Johnny, fixated on an idling truck parked in the middle of the pier.
"Maybe I can be the funny guy..." Tucker said, passing said truck. "Or the smooth guy? Or maybe I'm more of a- ow!" Tucker rubbed his nose.
"DUDE!" Kuan laughed, shaking Dash's arm excitedly. "Did you see that? Foley walked under a ladder and right into your fist, ha!"
"We should call him 'Bad Luck Tuck'!" Dash grinned, punching his palm.
"What?" Tucker backed up from the bully's until his back hit the truck. "That's ridiculous! I'm not bad luck!"
Danny hiccuped, trying to cover his mouth before anyone saw.
"Dude," Dash raised an eyebrow. "Do you vape?"
"What? No!" Danny glared at the jock. "And Tucker isn't bad luck."
"Yeah!" Tucker agreed, leaning against the back of the truck.
A sudden movement of black caught Danny's eye. He watched, unable to do anything, as Shadow passed through the truck door and into the driver's seat. Crap. Tucker gasped as the truck began to move, the breaks no longer functioning.
Dash and Kuan screamed and ran away, paranoid of becoming jinxed. The remaining trio watched as people jumped out of the way of the renegade truck.
The truck broke through the safety fence of the pier's most famous roller coaster and into the coaster itself.
"That can't be good," Danny said.
The impact from the truck cracked a support beam, which cracked another support beam, and on and on, up and up, until the track of the coaster split in two. The carts carrying the riders flew off the coaster and into the sky.
Danny glanced around before whispering 'going ghost' and changing to his ghost form. He raced after the off rail carts, catching all the kids we could. With a horrified gasp, Danny realized he'd missed one, and the child was tumbling towards the earth.
A flash of black and white zoomed by Danny, and suddenly, he didn't see the kid anymore. Instead, he heard a relived sigh and terrified whimpers.
"You are so lucky I was here." A voice snapped. Danny turned to see Star cradling the traumatized child to her chest.
Before Danny could reply, a familiar scream echoed from below him. "JAZZ?" His sister was pinned in a corner by fleeing people, and the runaway coaster carts were heading straight towards her! Danny dove towards her, dropping the kids as soon as he was low enough to do so safely. However, Jazz was pulled away by Johnny, mere seconds before she would have been crushed.
"Danny!" Star landed next to him, placing the child she was holding on the ground and telling him to find his mother.
"What are you doing here?" Danny asked distractedly, scanning the crowds for his sister.
"I'm trying to catch that last ghost from last night. The one that made the fire hydrant explode." said Star, annoyed. "What are you doing here? That kid could have died-"
"But he didn't and I am so thankful that you were here to save the day." Danny finished. "I know the ghost you're talking about and I just saw him break the truck. Maybe you can check there?"
Star put her hands of her hips, stepping in front of Danny to prevent him from leaving. "You seem distracted. What are you looking for?"
Danny let out an irritated sigh. "There was a girl here a minute ago. She's my-" he was about to say 'sister' when he remembered what Sam said about waiting to trust Star. "She's my friend." He finished. "And she almost got crushed by these things, but someone pulled her out of the way."
"And you want to make sure she's okay." Star gave a knowing nod. "Well, my only advice is this; if you want to be her knight in shining… Spandex? What is your suit even made of?" Star rolled her eyes. "If you want to be her knight in shining anything, keep your pants on. I don't want another late night description of your boxers from Tucker, okay?"
Danny's face flushed as Star laughed and sauntered away, promising to try and track down Shadow. Once she was out of sight Danny sighed, reverting back to his human form and began pushing through the crowd to find Jazz.
"I..." Jazz blinked as the dust cleared from her eyes. "You..." Her gaze fell on Johnny and suddenly she was unable to find her words. The biker who saved her life smiled at her, carefully helping her off the back of his bike.
"JAZZ!" Danny ran up to them, relief on his face. He grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her closer to him, checking her face for any visible wounds. "Are you alright?" He asked frantically, crushing her in a hug.
"I'm fine," Jazz said, slightly dazed as she pulled away from her little brother. "Thanks to..." She trailed off and turned to her savor, smiling.
"Johnny," the biker extended a hand. "The name's Johnny." Jazz blinked at him in awe. Johnny glared at Danny. "She's fine kid, why don't you go play somewhere else?"
"Why don't you?" Danny snapped, instantly recognizing him as Shadow's partner.
"Danny," Jazz snapped. "Don't be rude!" She took Johnny's outstretched hand and shook it. "Hi, I'm Jasmine. Well, Jazz." She gasped as she caught sight of her reflection in his side mirror. "Oh, God! I look like I almost got hit by a roller coaster," She ran her hands over her hair, trying to smooth it down.
"I think you look perfect, kitten," Johnny said with a seductive smile. "But if you're really worried about it, here," The biker pulled Kitty's scarf from his jacket and held it out to Jazz. "You can cover up with this."
"Her name's not kitten." Danny ground out, glaring at Johnny as Jazz gratefully accepted the scarf, tying it around her head. She elbowed him when she finished, a disproving look in her eye.
"You can call me that if you want." She said dreamily.
"Ride home, kitten?" Johnny offered. Jazz inhaled sharply and smiled, jumping on to the back of the bike and strapping a helmet to her head. Danny growled, turning to find his friends so they could go home.
"Do you have a last name?" Jazz asked Johnny as they sat on the living room couch together.
"Yeah," Johnny said dismissively. "But everybody calls me Johnny 13. I have this reputation for bringing bad luck."
Jazz leaned closer. "Well, I beg to differ." She shivered slightly, reaching across Johnny for a blanket.
"Cold, kitten?" Asked Johnny.
"A little." Jazz admitted. "My parents always keep the house cold. They say it's to keep their lab samples from going bad, but I'm pretty sure it's just because my dad doesn't want to pay for heating the house."
"Well," Johnny leaned closer to Jazz, his hand resting on her knee. "Lucky for you, I can think of plenty of ways to keep you warm."
The two jumped as the front door suddenly slammed shut, an irritated Danny Fenton glaring at them from the entry way. After a silent glare-off with Johnny, he retreated around the corner and into the kitchen.
"Ain't you got a place in here where we can be alone?" Johnny huffed.
"As a matter of fact, I do." Jazz took his hand and lead him towards the stairs, down to the ghost lab.
Jazz rubbed her arms up and down as she and Johnny entered the lab. "It's even colder down here." She commented.
"Here," Johnny said, draping Kitty's red leather Jacket over Jazz's shoulder. "Can't have you freezing to death, now can we?" Jazz blushed, smiling at the biker. Unbeknownst to her, her blue eyes flashed green for a second; Kitty's influence was slowly taking over.
"So what's this then?" Johnny gestured to the Fenton Portal.
"This?" Jazz opened it with her finger print. "It's what my parents work on."
"Cool," said Johnny, taking note of how Jazz opened the portal, and all the other ghost machinery around.
Jazz scoffed. "No, it's not. But my brother can't bug us down here."
"JASMINE GRACE FENTON!" Jack's voice bellowed from the stairs as he and Maddie rushed down, a smug Danny already waiting at the bottom. "YOU KNOW YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO BRING UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL DOWN HERE!"
"You know better!" Maddie said crossly as she and Jack entered the room.
"You were about to let some strange punk activate the Fenton Portal?" Danny and his father accused in unison.
"Lay off!" Johnny snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "We weren't doing nothing, Pops."
"His name isn't 'Pops'." Maddie and Danny snapped together.
"Whatever," Johnny rolled his eyes, brushing past them as he made his way up the stairs. "This place is a little too cramped for my style anyway."
"I'll walk you out," Jazz called, rushed after him. "Could you be any more like them?" She hissed at her brother.
"I AM NOT LIKE HIM!" The three Fentons yelled after Jazz.
The next day at lunch, Danny filled in Sam and Tucker on the Johnny situation. "The weirdest part," He explained. "Was that my parents and I agreed for once. I'm not like them! Am I?"
"Let's see," Sam set her lunch down on the table. "You're stubborn, overprotective, your last name is Fenton, and you hunt ghosts."
"All you're missing is the hazmat suit, goggles, and an undying love for fudge." Tucker added as he joined Sam.
"It's Bad Luck Tuck!" The kids on the other end of the table whispered, grabbing their lunch trays and leaving.
"I am not bad luck!" Tucker snapped, pounding his spoon on the table. Danny and Sam watched as the spoon flipped up in the air and broke a wasps nest in the tree above them. Hundreds of angered wasps flew out of their broken hive and students began to scream as they were attacked. The school was forced to shut down early due to the attacks, as many students had received several stings.
The student body glared at Tucker as he walked down the front steps of the school, flanked by his friends.
"Suddenly, 'techno-geek' sounds like a term of endearment." He said sadly.
Jazz was one of the few students who hadn't been stung, having spent her lunch in the library. She turned to begin her trek home, only to find Johnny and his bike waiting for her on the street corner.
"Johnny!" She smiled happily, pulling the scarf he had given her tighter around her neck as she walked up to him. "What are you doing here?"
"What can I say, doll," He offered her his helmet. "No matter how hard I try, I just can't stay away."
Danny and his friends were halfway home when Danny hiccuped, the roar of an engine drawing his attention away from the blue vapor coming from his lips.
"Dammit, Jazz!" He cursed, watching her disappear on the back on Johnny's bike. Danny went ghost and took after after his sister, promising to call his friends later.
The two were traveling to the infamous make-out peak- a small hill that could only be reached by bike trail. Danny resisted the urge to gag.
Johnny turned his head to smile at Jazz and noticed Danny following them. "Shadow," He whispered. "Defend."
"Move it ghost boy!" Danny was yanked out of Shadows trajectory just in time by Star.
"What are you doing here?" Danny asked, pulling his arm out of her grip.
"No, see, what you should be saying is, 'Gee Star, thanks for saving me just then! I really appreciate it!'."
They both turned as Shadow circled back around, displeased at missing it's target. It charged at them, grabbing Star's ankle as she turned to run from it; she yelped as she was yanked backwards.
"Star!" Danny dove forward, catching her wrist. He pulled hard, initiating a tug-of-war between himself and Shadow with Star as the rope.
"LET GO OF ME YOU FREAK!" Star snapped, viciously trying to shake out of Shadow's grip.
A beam of sun light caught the reflection of Johnny's mirror below them, hitting at just the right angle to send the sun back up towards the fight. The concentrated beam sliced through Shadow's arm, and the creature hissed and pulled away, sending Star tumbling into Danny with a surprised gasp.
"Bight light," Danny breathed. "Bright light hurts it!"
Star glanced at the sunset. "You don't happen to have a flashlight on you, do you?"
Danny's gaze darted around desperately before landing on the movie theater, the outdoor lights beginning to flicker on in the twilight. "Will that work?"
Star gave him a confident smile.
In the movie theater, Sam and Tucker were purchasing popcorn. "You're bad luck Tuck!" the movie theater worker whimpered.
"And you're minimum-wage Stan," Tucker snapped, swiping the bucket of popcorn of the counter. "But you don't see me broadcasting it."
"This is your own fault you know." Sam said as they walked away.
"How is this my fault?""
"You're the one who wanted to ditch the 'techno-geek' label. Maybe you need a new-new thing."
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "A new-new thing?"
Sam nodded excitedly. "Yeah! You should go goth!" She beamed ad she pulled a black version of Tucker's hat from her bag. "It says 'I'm Tucker, but my soul is tortured with a mysterious and edgy past"."
"Goth?" Tucker repeated, frowning. "Isn't that your thing?"
Danny and Star dove towards the theater, a now recovered Shadow hot on their tail. Danny turned intangible to float through the walls while Star stopped short, waiting outside in case Shadow escaped.
Danny flew through the theater, ignoring the trail bursting light bulbs he and Shadow were leaving. He just needed to find a room that was playing a movie… he phased through the popcorn machine and into the next room, Shadow following.
The popcorn machine went into high gear and exploded with popcorn, the hot kernels sending movie viewers running outside; the theater employee's screaming curses at 'Bad Luck Tuck'.
"You win." Tucker sighed once he and Sam were safely out of range. "Goth me up."
The commotion hadn't reached the theater Danny was in. The previews were set to start in less than a minute. He glanced around for Shadow, but the ghost was perfectly camouflaged in the pitch black theater.
A wispy hand fell on his shoulder and turned to see the narrowed green eyes of Shadow looking at him. Suddenly the screen came to life, and Danny was momentarily blinded by the light. Shadow howled as the light burned him, sending him away in evaporated pieces. When he was sure the shadow was gone, Danny phased back out of the theater.
Danny landed on the roof with a relieved sigh.
"Good job." Star said, floating down next to him. "That didn't kill the thing though. It went crawling back to the biker guy on the hill."
Danny's head snapped up as he remembered the other half of the ghostly duo. "Jazz! She's still up there! I-"
"Do what you gotta do." Star handed the Fenton Thermos to Danny. "I think I'm gonna take a nap. Right here." She yawned and sprawled out on her back on the roof, eyes closing lightly. "Call me if you need me, ghost boy."
Danny looked at her for a second, taking in her wild, un-brushed hair and the dark circles under her eyes. It was entirely likely that this was the first time she'd stopped to rest since promising to track down the loose ghosts for Danny. He made a mental note to look into that further, after his sister was away from Johnny.
Danny landed silently on a tree branch above the two; high enough the we wasn't noticed, but low enough that he could still hear their conversation.
"So, Jazz," Johnny said, his arm slung loosely over her shoulders. "I've been thinking, and I know this is quick, but," He pulled Kitty's mood ring from his pocket. "How would you like to be my girl?"
Jazz's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, her cheeks turning pink. "A ring?" she all but squealed. "You're asking me to be you're girlfriend with a ring? That is so old school!"
Danny's mind reeled as Jazz reached for the ring. With no better ideas, he launched himself off the branch, reverting back to human just before his face hit the ground.
Jazz let out a surprised squawk as her little brother face planted in the grass in front of her with an audible wince.
"Hi there!" He gave Jazz his best innocent little brother grin. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Her nostrils flared as she towered over Danny, yanking him to his feet by the back of his shirt. "What the hell." She ground out in a very un-Jazz-like fashion. "Were you spying on me?"
Danny flinched as his mom yelled the same question in his face. Behind him, Jazz was leaning against Johnny's motorcycle, eyes blazing.
Danny lowered his head shamefully. "Yeah," He admitted. "I was spying on Jazz. And I'm really-"
"Good job!" His dad whispered while Jazz wasn't looked. Danny blinked, dumbfounded.
"Excellent, Danny." His mother praised in a low voice, keeping watch on her daughter over his head. "I want you to keep a through record of anytime you see that hooligan, even if he isn't with Jazz. I'm talking time stamps, voice memos, photographic evidence- anything you can get!"
Jazz glared at her parents.
"AND DON'T DO IT AGAIN!" They yelled, suddenly straightening up with their hands on their hips.
"But seriously," Jack said, "Keep doing it."
(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
"This sucks." Danny complained the next day as school was dismissed. "My sister is dating a ghost, Star won't answer my calls, and I'm turning into my parents." He stopped short as Tucker met up with them on the sidewalk.
His black hair had been spiked out with an ungodly amount of hair gel, he was wearing one of Sam's big skull t-shirts, and he had what looked like a spiked dog collar around his neck.
"I… don't even want to ask." Danny said.
"We're changing his image." Sam explained.
"No more bad luck Tuck!" Tucker agreed.
Danny snickered. "Please. You can't pull off goth!"
Sam scoffed, offended. "Of course he can! Tucker, show him your disaffected scowl."
Tucker scrunched up his face for a second before letting his features fall flat. Danny wasn't impressed.
"No, wrong," Sam clicked her tongue in disappointment. "I can still see some hope. If you need us tonight, we'll be at Tuckers." She narrowed her eyes. "Darkening his outlook on the world."
"Yeah!" Tucker agreed. "We'll be at- wait. We'll being what now?"
(::)(::)(:)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
It was past midnight when Johnny showed up in front of Fenton works, throwing small stones at Jazz's window to catch her attention.
"Johnny?" Her eyes lit up when she saw the ghost on the street.
"Hey Kitten," he greeted. "Is the coast clear?"
Jazz nodded. "My parents are asleep. Want to come up and watch Netflix or something?"
"Yeah," Johnny muttered under his breath as Jazz let him in. "Or something." Instead of going to her room, the two sneaked down to the ghost lab. Johnny once again presented the mood ring to Jazz. "What do you say, kitten? Want to be my girl?"
"She's not your girl." Danny snapped, emerging from the shadows.
Jazz groaned, glaring at her little brother. "Stop spying on me!"
"No! I won't! You wouldn't stop if it were me." Danny marched up to his sister and grabbed her by the shoulders, Kitty's leather jacket sliding down her arms. "Will you take a second and think like the brain surgeon you keep telling me you're gonna be? Does this really feel right?"
The ring in Johnny's palm lit up as an annoyed Kitty appeared. "It's been days, Johnny!" She cried. "I'm sick of waiting!"
"Ya know what," Johnny muttered, flipping the ring. "So am I." He pushed Jazz aside to grab Danny by the front of the shirt, pulling the kid up close to him. The jacket and scarf slipped to the floor. "Guess what, punk? I'm officially at my limit."
"Hey!" Jazz stepped forward, arms crossed. "Hands off the little brother." Danny smiled smugly.
Johnny's eyes narrowed. "Really? Fine." He tossed Danny across the room and into one of the metal storage cabinets; Danny's head collided with the door with a clang and he dropped to the floor. At Johnny's command, Shadow jumped from the ground and into the self, warping and rusting the metal; it fell forward on top of Danny with a sickening thud.
"Danny!" Jazz yelped, suddenly coming to the realization that Johnny was a ghost. "MOM! DAD!" She screamed, making a break for the stairs.
Johnny rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist in a tight fist, shoving the ring onto her finger. Shadow scooped up the jacket and scarf and stuffed Jazz's arms in. Jazz's eyes flashed green before drooping half closed, as if she were half asleep. With a scoff Johnny dragged her over to the control panel and pressed her finger to the scanner, opening the ghost portal.
Jazz's body began to flicker and change into the form of Kitty as blue energy was fed out of the portal. Johnny stood back, victorious.
The fallen self behind him began to shutter as Danny, in ghost form, phased through it. Danny's head throbbed; he blinked a few times to get his vision in focus.
Dazed, Danny charged at Johnny, knocked him into a pile of scrape mental. He took a second to observe the situation- the downed biker, the missing shadow, and the ghost taking over his sisters body.
"I don't know what's going on," he declared as he ripped the ring off Kitty's finger, "But I know you can't do it without this!" Danny spun around and phased through the floors of his home, shouting insults over his back.
"Get the ring!" Johnny roared at his shadow, moving forward to support Jazz.
Danny's head spun as he pulled his phone out, trying once again to call Star, only to get sent to voicemail. Dammit. He tried Tucker next.
"Are you… wearing eyeliner?" Danny asked as Tucker's face filled the screen.
"Long story." Tucker explained, adjusting his glasses. "It ends with me realizing that goth: bad, geek: good."
"Nice sentiment, but I need your help." Danny rapidly switched directions and his stomach turned.
"Where's your ghost girl?" Sam asked bitterly. "Shouldn't you be calling her?"
Danny groaned. "This isn't the time, Sam!"
Sam recognized the desperation and hurt in her best friends voice and leaned in closer to Tucker's screen, face serious. "What do you need?"
"I need geek!" Danny explained his plan in short bursts between dodging Shadow. He and Shadow passed through a car, the alarm suddenly blaring and a tire popping off.
"Guys!" Danny whined.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Tucker yelled.
An icon appeared on Danny's screen- he was getting a phone call from Star. "Hello?"
"Danny?" She sounded frantic. "I saw I missed your calls- I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Where are you-"
"Just meet me at the baseball field!" Danny yelled before switching back to his face call with Tucker. Danny looked up to see Shadow in front of him- it was too late for him to move out of the way. Shadow punched Danny hard across the face, sending the boy crashing into the ground below.
"We're in position!" Sam's voice came from Danny's cracked screen.
Thank God.
Shadow was circling Danny like a vulture, joyous noises coming from it's mouth. Danny sat up and flew back into the sky, shaking his head to stop the world from spinning. "Catch me if you can!" He fled back to Fenton works, the shadow three feet behind him.
Johnny was staring lovingly into the ghost portal when Danny returned. He made sure to pass through the portal's control panel, a small sense of accomplishment filling him as it malfunctioned and closed the portal.
"NO!" Johnny shrieked, beating his fists on the doors of the portal while Shadow gasped in horror. Jazz fell to the ground, disoriented.
"You," Johnny growled, turning to Danny.
"You want this back?" Danny dangled the ring above the biker. "Then you're gonna have to be a lot faster than that!" Once again, the ghost boy disappeared.
"Shadow, return." Johnny hissed. Shadow looked over his shoulder, bewildered. Johnny's eyes glowed bright as Shadow understood the order, merging with the biker. The flames from the motorcycle grew and Johnny's ghostly glow brightened. He was out for blood.
The bike was faster now with both ghosts powering it, and it was a miracle Danny had any lead on them at all. When he came to a clearing in the middle of the park, Danny stopping, landing on the soft grass.
"Smart move, kid." Johnny said, circling Danny. "You couldn't have outrun me forever. Shadow," the shadow separated from Johnny. "Fetch."
Danny smiled. "Maybe I'm not trying to run." Light flooded the area, stopping Shadow in it's tracks. It withered and screeched as it evaporated. Danny covered his eyes as the baseball stadium lights blinded him, his headache worsening.
"Shadow!" Johnny cried, as if he felt genuine concern for the creature. His ghostly glow dimmed significantly, as did the flames from his motorcycle. With wide eyes the biker revved his bike, turning to run.
"You aren't going anywhere." A stern voice said.
Johnny yelped as Star threw him off his bike and into the center of the baseball field, two angry ghosts and two annoyed teenagers surrounding him.
"Better luck next time," Tucker said, pointing the thermos at the ghost.
"Next time, stay away from Jazz." Danny grinned as Tucker handed the closed thermos to him, Johnny safely trapped inside.
Danny sat down hard of the grass, sighing in relief. Star crouched next to him. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I-"
"Get away from him," Sam snapped, stepping in front of him protectively.
"Sam," Danny began.
"No!" The goth glared at the ghost girl. "Where were you? He needed you and you weren't there! What if he had gotten hurt? Were you too busy for him? Or do you just not care?"
Star backed up, slowly getting to her feet. "I-"
"You're supposed to be helping him!"
"Sam," Danny said again.
"You're supposed to help protect him!"
"Sam," Danny's head was pounding, and her yelling wasn't helping.
"If he can't count on you, why are you even-" Sam was cut off as Danny pitched forward, throwing up. "Danny!" Sam fell to her knees net to him, rubbing his back with wide eyes.
"You okay?" Tucker asked, joining his friends on the ground. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
"Hit my head." Danny murmured, eyes clenched shut.
Tucker and Sam shared a concerned look. "What if he has a concussion?" Tucker asked, panic in his voice. "Could his brain be bleeding? What if-"
"He's not concussed." Star said quietly as Danny sat back, crawling a few feet away from his mess.
"How do you know?" Sam snapped, hand still on Danny's shoulder.
Star sighed and carefully crouched in front of Danny, lifting his chin so his eyes met hers. "Where'd you hit it?" She asked softly, ignoring Sam's question.
Danny gestured to the back of his head. Gently Star put a hand to the area and felt around until Danny flinched. "Right there?" The ghost boy nodded. Star brought her hand back, letting out a small sigh of relief. "Well, you aren't bleeding, which is a good thing."
Sam pushed Star's hand away from Danny. "How do you know he's not concussed?" She repeated.
"Ghost's don't get concussed." Star said passively. "We heal too quickly for something like that to ever be a problem." She turned her attention back to Danny. "It'll heal faster if you rest. Make sure you've had a lot of water, and eat something with protein, okay?"
"How do you know all this?" Tucker questioned.
"Is that an actual question?" Star raised an eyebrow. "I'm a ghost- I know because this is what I live with."
"You're sure he'll be okay?" Sam clarified.
"His head will probably hurt like hell for a few days, but yes, he's fine. No concussion."
"Good. Then I guess you're done here."
"Sam!" Danny glared at his best friend.
Star stepped back, hands up in surrender. "I guess so. Call me if you need me."
"We won't." Said Sam.
With that, Star took off into the sky and disappeared.
Danny complained about Sam being rude all the way home and until Sam and Tucker got him to shut up, stop worrying, and go to sleep. Tucker placed 3 water bottles next to his bed and Sam stacked no less than 20 protein bars so that when he woke up, he'd have everything he'd need.
Danny woke up a few hours after returning home, his head hurting significantly less. He pulled out his phone and dialed Stars number; she answered on the second ring.
"Hello?" She sounded sleepy.
"Did I wake you up?" Asked Danny.
"No. Are you alright?"
Danny nodded before he realized that she couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about Sam, she can be-"
"It's fine, Danny." Star's voice was clipped. "Is that why you called? To apologize for your friend?"
"Yes. No. Kinda." Danny sighed. "Why didn't you answer my calls yesterday?" The other end of the line was silent. "Star?"
"I'm still here." She was silent for another moment. "I didn't answer because I didn't hear them. I was… I was asleep."
"Asleep?"
"Yeah." Star sounded annoyed. "It's a stupid excuse and I'm sorry."
"When we were fighting Shadow at the theater, you looked really tired." Said Danny. "Had you taken a break at all from ghost hunting?"
Another long pause. "No."
"That's why you were so tired."
Star let out an annoyed huff. "Yes. Is that what you want to hear? I got tired, I didn't take a break, so I fell asleep, and then I wasn't there when you needed me. It's stupid and I get that I messed up but you don't have to-"
"Why?" Danny interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
"Why didn't you take a break?"
Star took a deep breath. "I told you I was going to catch those ghosts. It's my job."
"It's my job too." Danny argued. "You can't do that anymore."
"Do what anymore?"
"That. Take over and overwork yourself. If we're going to do this ghost fighting thing, then we have to do it together, or not at all."
"We?"
"Yes, 'we'." Danny paused. "I'll make you a deal."
Star snorted. "What kind of deal would that be, ghost boy?"
"I'll call you every time I see a ghost, even if I'm not sure I need help fighting it." said Danny.
"And in return?" asked Star.
"And in return you agree that this is a job that we are taking on together, and that if I call you, you won't take over and try to handle things by yourself. Deal?"
Star exhaled loudly. "You're a real piece of work, ghost boy. Deal."
Danny hung up the phone with a smile.
Star looked down at her phone and sighed. Things weren't supposed to get this complicated- the kid wasn't supposed to get hurt. No one was. Despite the park being deserted, she ducked behind a bench before a flash of light changed her to a human form. Now looking like an average teenager, she sat down on the bench, still staring at her phone.
What are you doing, Liz? She thought to herself, thinking about the ghost boy's words: 'together, or not at all'. She couldn't help up think that maybe the world would be better off with 'not at all'.
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~Piper (::)