This idea just jumped out all of a sudden and since keeping it bottled up inside won't do, I guess I better share it with all of you. I really hope you like it, but if you don't…. Like I give a damn, the important thing is that no one questions my sanity. And don't any of you say anything about it; I have enough people thinking I'm crazy. Even my family….
What's Best
Chapter 1
"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel! For heaven sake's where are you?" cried out a woman in her sixties with a British accent. She had the distinctive aura around her that screamed of proper up bringing and of high class society. Her white hair was tied up in a sophisticated, neat bun with not a single hair out of place at all, her clothes were wrinkle free with not a single speck of dirt on them.
Now someone passing by who lived in Amity would be wondering what is a high class woman like that doing at the Fenton resident, for they were the exact opposite of proper… Just meeting the family would be enough to convince anyone that they were the definition of strange and bizarre.
Jack and Maddie Fenton are the world's leading ghost experts and inventors. As ghost hunters they made it their mission in life to capture and study ghosts to learn their secrets and to rid the world of these malevolent spirits, or at least the ones that are in Amity Park. Both Husband and wife made quite the interesting picture.
Maddie is a brilliant scientist that is often the brains behind the operation. With plenty of degrees in the study of the supernatural, universal functions, and in mechanisms as well, she could have easily been one of the greatest minds of her time. But she was the one who was more down to earth and not easily distracted so she can focus on the problem in front of her with little problems.
Jack was different, though a bit of a fool, he is the man behind the whole ghost arsenal. Just like his wife he was a scientist as well, but was more of a follower than a leader when it came to actually hunting ghosts. At times he seemed to be more of a threat than the ghosts to the general public. Just look at his driving skills….
Amity Park wasn't just any ordinary city at all, in fact it hadn't been ordinary since… ever. The city had a high level of spiritual energy and was the cross bridge between the human world and the ghost zone. The barrier was the thinnest there, so it made sense that most ghosts could be found there. Of course there were other natural portals a well but Amity Park was the only place where you could find a man-made portal, a portal, by the way, that was created by the Fentons.
There was another portal there that belonged to the mayor Vlad Masters. He too is scientist and expert on the supernatural world. But unlike the husband and wife Vlad Masters had other wants and interests with the ghosts he comes across and other ways of obtaining them.
Currently the woman who was yelling for Danny was Lady Wellston of the London Wellstons. A woman of high class society, dignified, educated, highly looked upon and respected by all. But more important than her status was the fact that she was Maddie's mother and therefore Jazz's and Danny's grandmother. Who was in town for her yearly week long visit to drop by and check on her 'precious grandchildren'.
"Madeline, where on earth is my grandchild, it's been a year since I've last seen him and I want to make sure that he is safe and sound." She said the last part with a pointed tone looking from the corner of he hawk like eyes at Jack who was currently busy humming a tune while working on a new ghost weapon.
Needless to say it was pretty obvious that Maddie's mom didn't exactly approve of her daughter's choice for a husband. She had expected Maddie to have married someone of… better upbringing. The only thing she liked about the marriage was that Jazz and Danny came to be and the old lady had a soft spot for children.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Maddie sighed. Lately Danny had been sneaking off and it worried her, especially with her mother in town for a visit. She usually called ahead but this year's visit had been a bit unexpected.
"Well he'd better show up soon, it's not proper for a young man to be late."
"I'm sure it's just-"
At that moment Danny came through the door looking a bit roughed up. "Hi I'm home! Sorry I'm late I was-" when he saw his grandmother sitting on the couch sipping tea changed what he was going to say next and instead said, "Grandma, what are you doing here?"
"Well, is that any way to greet your grandmother?" she said with a hint of being insulted before smiling, "Come here you." She got up placing her china down, walking over to Danny to hug him. "Oh just look at how much you've grown, you've become quite the young gentleman."
"It's good to see you again too Grandma," he hugged her back. Even though his grandmother could be a little stuffy at times, he loved her just the same. "But you usually call before you visit." He added a bit confused.
"Oh, I just thought it would be a splendid idea to just come as a surprise for you and Jasmine. By the way where is she?"
"Right here Grandma," Jazz came down stairs from the op center with a book tucked under her arm 'Advance Medical Studies of the Mind'. Lady Wellston stopped hugging Danny and went over to hug Jazz.
"Jasmine… you've become more and more like your mother every time I see you."
"Thanks," Jazz did a great job of hiding her annoyance. She hated when people said that she was just like anyone of her parents and it was starting to get on her nerves a bit, something Danny took advantage of just to bug her a bit. "So what brings you here to Amity Park?"
"I decided to just drop in for a little surprise visit."
"That's great!" Danny said a little strained glancing over to Jazz with a worried face. They didn't have a plan on what to do, and their grandmother was the type of person who noticed everything that wasn't in place. They would have to come up with something good and fast in order to explain why Danny was always rushing off for no reason.
Jack finished working on his weapon and held it up proudly, "It's Done! The Fenton Degenerater is complete!"
Lady Wellston looked at with horror and disgust, "And what does this monstrosity do pray tell?"
Jack didn't noticed her tone and just went on blathering on away, "It locks onto a ghosts genetic code analyzing it so then it can tell us what kind of energy we should use against it that would be the most affective. These little gizmos," he pointed to a row of five tubes of different neon colors, "are different chemicals that hurt ghosts. Not only can we now weaken the ghosts but it stores up the information on the different chemicals used with each ghost."
"Humph, and just how do you know that this machine will actually work?"
"Easy all we need to do is capture a ghost and test it on it, if we here the ghost cry out in pain then we know it works!" The large man practically shouted in excitement.
"He he, you know what Dad maybe you ought to put it away…" laughed Danny nervously. Any new weapon of his parents always made him nervous. Being half-ghost meant that there weapons could hurt him, possibly even kill him. At times the ghost hunters' weapons hurt him more than the ghosts he fought did.
"Indeed…" the Lady added, she turned to address her daughter who was coming up the stairs from the lab after helping her husband store the gun in their weapon's vault. That was now located in the lab for easy storage and handling. "Dear is it safe to have that kind of… danger by your children?"
"Now mother, both Danny and Jazz know all about gun safety and not to go poking around near our work."
"Yes well, didn't Daniel get into an accident last year?" she pointed out.
Maddie was about to speak when Jazz beat her to it, "It was nothing Grandma, really, Danny just got a small shock!" she said nervously. "It's nothing to worry about." Maddie looked at her daughter in amazement, usually Jazz would say that it could have been a lot more serious than just a shock and that Danny could have died.
Lady Wellston narrowed her eyes a bit, she could tell that Jazz was leaving something out but decided that it was probably unimportant anyway. The only thing that mattered to her was that her grandson was okay and unharmed. "Very well then…"
Jazz and Danny both let out a mental sigh of relief. Danny's secret was safe for long, hopefully there wouldn't be that many ghost attacks and Danny could just say that he had school stuff to do or that he forgot to give something to Sam or Tucker, his best friends. And as long as Danny didn't look too bad, he should be alright when he was around his grandmother, and if things got desperate Tucker and Sam could cover for him an take out the ghost themselves.
Maddie and her mother sat down on the couch again to talk while Danny and Jazz sat quietly across from them sipping their tea silently. Jazz was shooting worried glances at her little brother who kept a cool posture, looking down at the cup of tea in his hand. Things would be a bit more complicated with his grandmother here, school would be starting up soon and Danny would be a sophomore.
Lady's Wellston's attention turned to Danny, "Daniel," he looked up when his grandmother talked to him, "How are you doing in school?"
"Fine, I-I guess," he shrugged. It was true, he managed to end the school year with a B- average, which was a huge plus for him.
Thanks to ghost hunting he didn't have much time for studying so that resulted in him having to miss more hours of sleep than he wanted. Summer helped a bit since there was no school, but come next week it was back to getting shoved into lockers and having a ton of homework piled on him.
"That's good to hear, you know I don't really think that these public schools are the best way to get an education, now at Sir Stridden Academy, a young man such as yourself would get a proper education…" she went on about the 'right way' to teach a student and at what schools.
She went into describing the status and achievements of the students who had gone there, "And just last week I met this charming young woman who is the daughter of a dear old friend of mine. I think she's about Daniel's age too." She added slyly looking at Danny who was trying to hide his reddening cheeks.
Ever since he could remember, his grandmother was always mentioning the children of her friends who she thought would be good influences for her grandson. Lately though, it seemed that the lady was trying to play match maker, for both Jazz and Danny. Mostly Danny, Jazz already had a bright future and was sure to succeed, what the old woman was concerned was that her grandson had that same chance.
"You know Madeline, Danny would do marvelous at the academy."
Maddie placed her tea down, "Mother I'm sure he would but his whole life is here and Danny is doing just fine. His whole life is here and I don't think it would be a good idea to just tear him apart from that."
"It's true," Jazz persisted on the subject, "Moving from a familiar area to another that's entirely new is devastating enough for most teens, their sub consciousness is so attuned to what they've known for a majority of their lives that tearing them away from it could have devastating psychological consequences."
"Yes, forgive me, I was being foolish, it's just that… I think that Daniel would do so much better at the academy. You went there Madeline for four years, not that it helped much… " She muttered under her breath so that no one could hear. "But you are right Jasmine."
"I am?" Jazz raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, it would be harsh for him to have to leave all that he's known behind. But you can't blame me for wanting what's best for my only grandson you know."
Stepping into the conversation before her mother could say anything about what was sure to be another lecture on Jack's behavior and poor parenting skills. "Thank-you mother, but Danny is perfectly fine. Sure that it can get a little crazy at times but Jack is a sensible, caring man once you get to know him." Maddie defended.
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
"You were saying."
They all jumped in surprise as Jack came running up the stairs in excitement. "Heyyyy, guess what everyone?" They all looked at him in bewilderment, he had a blue flyer in his hand and he has waving it around in the air like a five year old did when they had a picture they wanted to show their parent right away. "There's a huge convention a few hours ride out of town for ghost hunters and since your grandmother is here visiting I thought that it would be a good idea that we could all go this weekend!"
"A. Ghost Hunter's. Convention?" the pristine woman said.
"Yep," he confirmed, "I already called ahead and reserved us a spot so we leave tomorrow bright and early."
"Jack that's sounds great, but shouldn't we prepare first… I mean I'm sure my mother would love to but-"
"Nonsense, Madeline." Lady Wellston cut in waving her hand, "I'd love to come to this… um, event."
"You would?"
"Of course my child, someone has to make sure that young Jasmine and Daniel aren't harmed by all those so called scientists, especially when they're running around with weapons in the wide open with no concern for the well being of the children." Getting up she neatened her skirt and bid them all a good-bye, "So tomorrow it is, I'll be here in the morning with all my things, good day."
After she had left Maddie sank into a chair near by, the little 'visit' from her mother had gone better than expected but Maddie was always tense whenever her mother flew over seas from London to Amity Park. Her father was a little more understanding but her mother was just…. So stuffy about things.
Danny and Jazz exchanged looks, they hated to see their mom this way. "Mom are you ok?" Danny asked.
"Hm, oh I'm fine Danny," she wavered off the question heading down towards the lab, "Better get started on the packing then."
"Maddie are you sure your ok, I could just cancel and we could just go next year." Jack offered hoping to make his wife feel a little better, "Who cares if they're showing the new research and breakthroughs, and the ghost deionizer, and that all you can eat fudge bar, and… what was my point again?"
The ghost hunter looked back at her spouse smiling, he had seemed so happy when he told them about the convention and he hated to see him unhappy. "Jack it's alright, we're all going."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," she reassured him kissing him on the cheek taking him on a more competitive tone, "Now come on, we have to be ready for tomorrow, we can't let those GIW goons get ahead of us in our research now can we."
Both the Fenton children watched as their parents headed down stairs to the lab where the sounds of heavy machinery being moved could be heard and the occasional small boom or crash of something dropping to the ground. That was all pretty normal in the Fenton household and both of them were more than used to it.
Turning to face her little brother Jazz said, "Ok spill it, who was it that made you late?"
"It was nothing."
"Nooo, it wasn't just nothing, now tell me who was it." She repeated getting even more persistence.
"I said it was nothing."
"Come on Danny, you know you can tell me anything,"
"Jazz cut it out, I don't want to talk about it," he said getting annoyed.
Jazz ignored his tone and kept going, as his older sister, it was an unwritten rule of the universe that she had a duty to keep on annoying him until he talked, and it was something that she took one-hundred percent advantage of. There was something on his mind and she wanted to know what it was.
Danny started to head upstairs to his room with Jazz in tow behind him. "Tell me."
"No,"
"Tell me,"
"No,"
"Tell me, or I'll never stop."
"Fine by me," Danny started to reach into his pocket.
"What are you doing, what are those?" she gestured towards two tiny objects that he held in his hand.
"Oh, these, these are earplugs," Danny said innocently enough, taking one each hand and raising them so it looked like he was a bout to put them in.
"Don't you dare, you hear me! If you do I'll… I'll-" Danny couldn't hear the rest with the earplugs in place. Jazz just seemed to be just opening and closing from his point of view, he started to smile a bit when his sister's face started to sport a soft reddish color, and his guess had to be that she was now yelling at him.
If it weren't for them, then he would have been able to hear Jazz say something about calling Sam and telling her about how he felt about her or telling their parents who was the one who broke Dad's framed collection of famous ghost hunters' autographs.
Danny smiled recklessly and turned around so that his back was to Jazz and he could go off to his room and rest for a bit before having to go into the ghost zone to release the Bow Ghost far, far, far away this time. At least so that Danny can have just one hour without that loser yelling 'I AM THE BOX GHOST' or 'BEWARE' and definitely not 'FEAR ME'.
He was so busy thinking about a few things that had been bugging him all day that he hadn't realized that Jazz wasn't in the hall with him anymore. In fact, she had gone back to get a something that was sure to get his attention. And she knew only one way to get through her little brother's thick headed, one-track mind…
"GGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Hah! Got you!" she cried out triumphantly holding the empty bucket in her hand. Watching as Danny sat there on the ground soaking wet from the water she had dumped over him. "You know, you ought to pay more attention," Jazz sneered as her little brother got up and dried himself by turning intangible so that all the water just fell off him to the ground.
Danny glared up at her, "Look if I tell you what's going on then will you leave me alone?"
"Yep, pretty much!" Jazz chirped.
Sighing in defeat Danny let the whole story spill about how he was fighting Skulker when Clock Work interfered to ask him something very important….
Danny had just finished sucking a squid like ghost into the thermos when he sensed a chill that meant the presence of another ghost nearby. Turning to face the challenge with fists glowing green, he stopped when Danny heard a familiar voice.
"Hello Danny…"
"Clock Work," Danny's tone wasn't threatening, just surprised. "What are you doing here?" he blurted out without thinking first. After all, it wasn't often that the Master of Time just suddenly appeared, usually he preferred for others to come to him.
Clock Work didn't answer immediately, he took a second to look at the scenario that surrounded them. "Danny, I need you to come with me," he said setting a few dials on his staff to his liking then pushing the button on top. Both, powerful ghost of time, and young ghost hybrid were teleported to Clock Work's lair in the ghost zone that resemble a giant grandfather clock.
The ticks, tocks, and turning of the gears in the time master's lair filled the room all around them. Several large screens stood on one side with different pictures and futures in each one. One was showing the Wright brothers getting ready for take off, another were of most likely the future because it looked very high tech, and a few others had scenes of different times and their futures.
Danny looked around to see where he was, "Wow, I see you haven't redecorated this place one bit," he said with a bit of dry humor.
Clock Work smiled at the teen's wit, after all he was still young. There was much in stored for the boy standing right next to him, quite a lot would happen in the future very soon…
"Danny, are you aware of the celestial crystals?"
"No, I-I don't think so, should I?"
Clock Work smiled knowingly, "No, not really, but that is what I'm going to explain to you right now." The ghost of time flew over to one of the screens and pressed a few buttons on the keypad. The picture slowly melted away and blended before reshaping itself to from a new visionary for the two to view.
"Come Danny, there is something I wish to show you..." Clock Work stepped into the screen, Danny followed shortly behind him. He found himself in some sort of strange cavern of some sort where a dim glow seemed to illuminate off the walls.
"Where are we?"
"We are in the larcrescent cavern, a very sacred place," Clock Work explained, "This I where the center most power of the Ghost Zone is kept, it is here where life begins and ends. You see," he continued drawing them closer to a hollow room carved into the stone laid, "all the energy in your world comes from here and then returns here where it is reused again."
As they drew closer Danny could see a large crystal in the center on the room in the center of a circle of fabulous gems. The stone seemed to be alive and full of life that Danny felt good standing near it, like everything was ok and he was free of…everything. It was Clock Work who got him to snap out of it.
"Sorry," Danny muttered a bit embarrassed.
"Don't be, the crystal does that to those who are mortals and are not used to its effects," he reassured the ghost teen. "You're not the first to have fallen under its power."
"But why did I…"
"That is one of the marvelous things about it, it fills those close to it with life, and heals even the deepest wounds of the heart and mind."
"I don't get it why are you showing me this?" Danny asked confused, but then again he was always confused around Clock Work.
"Because with all that is good there is an even greater evil," the dimmed a bit as time flew past them my the years until it stopped to where a malicious looking man in heavy arms stood gazing at the light with greed.
Danny could only watch as this strange man pulled out a glowing red sword and charged at the crystal like a bull. The time changed again and with even more and more men such as the first advancing with full intent to destroy it. "There have been those who have sought the power of the crystal for their own desires, using them to gain what they want most in the world."
Time passed by and Danny watched in horror as war after war raged on with leaving nothing but misery behind and shattered lives from the tears and blood that had been shed. "But isn't there some kind of, of defense or shield to protect it?"
"Sadly no," Clock Work sighed, "The shields would only restrict the power and therefore restrict life…"
Danny nodded in understandment at what Clock Work was implying. "By this time the crystal was very weak and the world was plunged into an era of darkness, in order to avoid anymore abuse of its power it was decided to lock it in a different place."
Again time changed so that Danny could see the same group of ghosts who had locked Pariah up standing in a circle around the dimming crystal. A bright glow encircled them that Danny ha to shield his eyes to prevent blindness. The crystal was now gone and in it's place stood a statue of a dragon with a silver pendant around its neck and a small, light ocean blue, green gem with two tiny jade beads at the top attached to a thin, gold chain.
Clock Work opened a portal back to his lair, Danny stepped through it. "I get the whole good and evil thing but I still don't see how I fit in to all of this?"
The time master reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked very familiar… "Hey isn't that?"
"It is, it is the key to unlocking the celestial crystal, up until now the world has been restored back into a balance, but there is always an uncertainty that someone won't try to steal the power again."
"Soooo, what, you're going to keep it?"
"No, you are."
"WHAT! ME! But I-"
"Are capable of doing this. Danny you've grown since the last time we've met in more ways than you know, you can and you keep this with you at all times." Clock Work placed the chain around Danny's neck. "I know that you can do this, and before you ask I can't have it with me, it is too dangerous to have it here where time is controlled."
"But-"
"Danny you can do this, I'm sure of it."
Danny smiled at Clock Work, he knew for a fact that he could trust him with anything at anytime. After all, he had never been wrong before and this was the guy who had saved Danny from a life of darkness, and who helped Danny find a cure for his friends. If Clock Work had that much faith in him then he guessed he could do it.
Just as Danny turned to leave Clock Work offered him this last piece of advice, "Remember Danny, you can do great things, even without you're powers…"
"Wow, Danny, are you sure you're up to it?" Jazz asked quietly, trying to get everything that her brother had just told her to sink in.
"I'm not sure, I mean… it's just that… what if can't handle it?" Danny sunk into his bed mentally tired of everything he had seen today.
"Of course you can handle it Danny," Jazz encouraged, "And you know me, Tucker and Sam have your back, don't worry."
Danny smiled at his sister but it was an empty smile, "Thanks Jazz."
"Any time 'lil' bro, night Danny," Jazz left the room leaving Danny by himself to star at the ceiling where he had put glow in the dark stars in the form of different constellations. Looking at them always seemed to cheer him up a bit.
Sighing he got up to pack for the trip tomorrow. With that taken care of Danny shed his shirt and got into bed. He took the necklace in his hand and looked at it with uncertainty, "I hope I can be as strong as everyone thinks…" he said under his breath before turning off the light and falling into a deep sleep.
There you go what do you guys think? I hope it's okay, it was a bit long, but then again I had a lot on my mind. If anyone still wants to be my beta reader I'm happy to take any offers 'cause I'm getting tired about people commenting on my grammar and spelling. Just be sure that you're better at those two things than I am.
