It has been a grueling summer for the victims of what has been called the 'Camp Eerie Horror' as the case of Baxter v. Amity Park took up most of the summer. Despite the efforts of his parents, Dash was found guilty and charged of three homicidal counts. Dash continued to plea his innocence, but the only ones who believed him were his parents. All of his 'friends' testified against him and brought up his bullying record that he was once so proud of. Despite his bullying habits being thrown out as irrelevant, it had the effect that helped the masses to continue viewing young Baxter as the monster that he claimed to have possessed him. However, because of his claims, Dash was deemed mentally unstable and was sentenced to life in an asylum for unstable patients. As he was being taken away he continued to plea his innocence to everyone.
On the other side, Danny was regarded as a hero for saving his peers from the former bully turned murderous cannibal. However, Danny found a way to get rid of that unwanted title during Dash's trial. The youngest Fenton told the court how he could care less about what happened to the victims because of his own hard times in the school that he went to. Danny pointed out that out of everyone in his school, he hated Dash the most with a passion and would look for any excuse to beat the former jock into a pulp. This had the desired effect of Danny being regarded as not a hero, but a violent teen that shouldn't be near other students. However, there was one problem with his plan to down play his role in turning himself back into the outcast of Casper high.
Sam, who also testified against Dash, pointed out that it was Danny that did indeed save his peers and him alone. She also got several of the other students to agree to admit about Danny saving them from the 'possessed' Baxter. So, opinion on Danny being a hero was a subject that was debated by many in Amity Park.
Regardless, the former classmates of Dash Baxter will never forget or forgive him for what he had done to them. The town continued to blame Dash and in turn made the Baxter family into a 'family of monsters' and were demonized more than Jack and Maddie were by the public. Another problem was that there were still some missing students along with Coach Tetslaff. So the people continued to pin the blame on the Baxter family.
After the trial, the victims of the horrible camping experience tried to live their lives in a false peace for the remainder of their summer vacation. For Danny, he was able to enjoy his time with Janelle, who was practically all over him after she found out what happened to him. Another thing was that Vince was teaching Danny how to ride a motorcycle since he was more into motorcycles over cars. Vince was impressed with how fast Danny caught on to riding a motorcycle and commented that Danny had a knack for bikes. He told his nephew that if he passes the training course, he will get whatever motorcycle he wants for his seventeenth birthday. Well, Danny passed the training course with flying colors and proudly showed his certificate to his family.
Vince and Jazz were very proud of Danny for passing, but Jack and Maddie didn't think much about it. They were more focused on once again hunting down ghosts, especially the two Ghost teens that are usually seen. Vince was very upset with his brother and sister-in-law for their lack of interest in their son's accomplishment, but didn't say anything about it. Another person who was proud of Danny was Janelle, and she decided that the two of them were going to spend some time together to celebrate.
It was eleven at night, and the Fenton home was fast asleep with the exception of Danny. Danny was lying down on his bed waiting for his family to be completely asleep. When he was sure that everyone was sleeping, he turned to his ghost form and floated into the basement. He saw that his parents have left the portal open and saw Janelle exit the portal to the Ghost Zone. As expected, the ghost girl didn't really change at all during the time Danny met her. However, Danny didn't mind that she hasn't changed and like her the way she is.
"Hey there beautiful," greeted Danny.
"Hey yourself handsome," replied Janelle as she wrapped her arms around Danny's neck. "You ready for a fun time?" she asked kissing his cheek.
"You know it," answered Danny kissing his girlfriend's lips before the two of them flew out of Fenton Works.
What the two ghost teens didn't know was that something else decided to leave the Ghost Zone. Two dark shadowy figures looked around the lab and phased out of Fenton Works. Once they were out of the Fenton home, they flew towards the abandoned North Mercy hospital with blinding speed.
As for Danny and Janelle, the young ghost couple was flying around enjoying the peaceful night. Janelle spun to her right and Danny spun to his left, both heading away from each other. Danny landed on a fence and covered it in a sheet of ice to slide on it. He slid forward like an ice-skater, only he's sliding horizontally much to Janelle's amusement as she looped in the air. The two ghost teens continued to have fun as the night carried on with them flying around and having a good time.
The two teens returned to Fenton Works and floated into the basement. They stopped at the portal's entrance and looked at each other. The two young ghosts smiled at each other and shared a hug.
"Did you have as much fun as I did Danny?" asked Janelle.
"Of course, and I'm glad we were able to spend the night together," answered Danny.
"I'm glad too," said Janelle as she leaned forward to kiss Danny.
Danny leaned in as their lips touched and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. It was a nice kiss, much like the ones these share throughout their relationship. However, Danny noticed that something seemed to be missing when he kissed Janelle. It was like the passion was dead and Danny was fighting to keep it going. Either way, the couple broke off the kiss as Janelle entered the portal.
The next day Danny woke up around eleven in the morning. He let out a yawn as he headed towards the bathroom for a shower. After about ten minutes, Danny headed back into his room to get dressed. After getting dressed, Danny headed downstairs to grab something to eat. Danny entered the kitchen and saw his Mom working on another invention on the kitchen table much to Vince's annoyance.
"Maddie," started Vince.
"Yes Vince," replied Maddie.
"You and Jack have a lab in the basement right?" asked Vince.
"Yes of course," answered Maddie.
"You build things in a lab right?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she answered.
"And you eat on the kitchen table?" he asked.
"Of course," she answered.
"So tell me, why you're not using your GOD DAMN LAB INSTEAD!" yelled Vince.
"But I always use the kitchen table for my small inventions," argued Maddie.
Danny looked at his mother's 'small' invention and saw that it was roughly the size of a m134 minigun only colored metallic silver with a picture of his dad's face at the end of the barrel. There was a belt feed lying to the left of the weapon that was glowing. The strangest thing with that there was scope that was moving on its own. The scope stopped in front of Danny and the barrel started to slowly spin. Danny started to slowly back away from the weapon, but there was a whirling sound coming from it. Maddie and Vince stopped arguing and looked at the minigun in confusion.
Before the two adults could react, the minigun opened fire at Danny. The youngest of the Fenton family ducked behind the wall as the gun shredded through the barrier between it and Danny. Maddie freaked out for a moment as her invention continued to fire at her son.
"TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF!" screamed Danny as he tried to find more cover.
Maddie scrambled to her weapon and tried to shut it off, but saw that she didn't install the override function into the minigun.
Scissor arm-play track
Suddenly, the large arm mounted sword came down on the out of control gun and sliced in half. The minigun stopped firing as the barrel fell onto the ground. Said barrel was smoking and the inside was slightly melted. Danny crawled out of his hiding spot and looked franticly at the insane weapon before looking at his Uncle clad in the F.A.S.T armor. Vince took of the belt and glared at his sister-in-law.
"Is it safe to move now?" asked Danny in a frightened tone.
"Danny!" yelled Maddie as she hugged her son tightly. "Are you alright sweetie?" she asked as she tightened her grip.
"Am I alright?" repeated Danny as he struggled to get free from his mother's grip. "I've just been shot at by your half assed invention!" he yelled as he broke free.
"Danny, you know I don't like that kind of language," scolded Maddie.
"Haven't you been paying attention Maddie!" yelled Vince. "That crazy minigun tried to kill your son, and you're upset about Danny's language," he added.
"But it shouldn't have reacted like that. It was designed to open fire at ghosts, not people," argued Maddie.
"Was it a prototype?" asked Vince.
"Well yes," answered Maddie.
"Well there's that problem!" yelled Vince. "Prototypes need to be tested in a controlled environment, not a kitchen!" he continued.
"Forget this, I'm going out to eat!" shouted Danny as he left the house.
As Danny left, Jazz entered the house just as Danny was about to open the door.
"Hi Danny," greeted Jazz.
"Yeah, yeah whatever," muttered Danny as he moved past his sister.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Jazz as she entered the house.
"Your brother was shot at by your mom's minigun," snapped Vince as he left the kitchen.
"WHAT!" screamed Jazz in shock.
"Your mother figured it was a good idea to use the kitchen table to place a loaded minigun," retorted Vince.
Jazz looked at what happened in the kitchen and frowned at her mother who was going back to working on the deranged weapon.
Meanwhile, Danny was walking towards the Nasty Burger to eat. He looked at the ground as he walked towards the fast food joint. If he had looked up he would have noticed that Tucker was heading towards the Nasty Burger as well. The two boys got close to the doors and reached out for the door handle. They both noticed each other's hands just before they pushed the handle to enter. Danny looked at Tucker with an indifferent look while Tucker had a disappointed look on his face. They both headed towards the counter to order their food.
Valerie was working the counter and saw Danny and Tucker heading towards her. She smiled at Danny, who returned with his own smile. Behind Danny, Tucker gave Valerie a flirtatious smile much to her annoyance.
"Hey Danny, what can I get ya?" greeted Valerie.
"Hey Valerie, just a regular Nasty Burger today," replied Danny.
"Coming up," said Valerie as she punched in the order.
Danny paid for his food and grabbed the cup that Valerie gave him. He thanked her and headed for the soda machine to get a drink.
"Hey there good looking," greeted Tucker. "I'll have a triple Mega Mighty Meaty meal, an extra-large order of fries, an extra-large drink, and a double Mighty Meaty burger," he ordered. "And be sure to leave out all vegetables too," he finished.
"Coming up," replied Valerie as she punched in the order.
"So, when are you on break today?" he asked with a flirtatious tone.
"Please don't hit on me while I'm working," said Valerie. "I'm not interested," she added.
"Oh come on Valerie," complained Tucker. "I'm just as good as any other guy," he whined.
"Tucker, you've been trying and failing at getting any girl to go out with you," deadpanned Valerie. "I'm sorry, but no girl in our school is interested in you," she added.
"What, no way," griped Tucker.
"Hey geek, move it!" yelled a jock that was standing behind Tucker. "Nobody cares about your social life, so beat it," he barked as he shoved Tucker out of the way.
Tucker landed on the flood as several teens started to laugh at him. He looked up and saw nearly everyone pointing and laughing at him. He looked around and saw Danny drinking his soda as he headed for a table. The techno-geek got up and glared at the jock that pushed him. The jock didn't pay any attention to Tucker as he made his order.
"Order sixty-three!" called out another worker.
Tucker watched as Danny got up from his table and headed towards the counter to get his food. The beret wearing boy turned his head away from Danny as he tried to look like he was ignoring him. Regardless, Danny didn't even look upset about Tucker's antics as he grabbed his food and returned to his table.
After getting his food Tucker headed towards his own table that was adjacent to Danny's table. He watched as much to his surprise and extreme shock as Star walked up to Danny. Tucker's mouth was opened wide in disbelief as Danny talked to Star. Danny was calm throughout the entire conversation as the blonde girl talked to him. Tucker leaned in a bit to listen in on them.
"So….uh…do you think you can come over?" asked Star as she fidgeted a bit.
"Sure, around two-thirty right?" answered Danny.
"Yeah, thanks Danny," replied Star as she got up and headed towards a different table.
The blonde girl walked past Tucker and headed towards her table. When she passed by Tucker watched her for a while, more specifically watching her swinging hips that seemed to put him in a trance. He snapped out of his self-induced trance after getting hit by a soda cup from some random jock. Once again, Tucker was laughed at by the majority of people in the Nasty Burger. The only ones not laughing were Danny, Star, and Valerie at Tucker.
Danny wasn't laughing because he finished his meal and was leaving. Valerie wasn't laughing because she didn't find any amusement in Tucker making a fool out of himself. Star wasn't laughing because she realized that Tucker was gawking at her like a pervert. She looked at Tucker with a hint of annoyance before turning away from him. Tucker looked down on the ground embarrassed again.
'Damn it,' Tucker mentally cursed. 'Why is it that I'm the big time joke of this town now? That used to be Danny before he went all crazy on Sam and me,' he mentally ranted. 'I apologized to him didn't I?' he asked himself. 'So why won't he swallow his own damn pride and just go back to being his old self?' he continued to question.
Normally I would forgive you for your stupidity, but what you wished for was very self-centered.
Tucker started to remember what Danny told him after he confessed to Danny about his wish. He also remembered how his wish was responsible for the death of both Kwan and Brian. Because of his wish to have a power that cancels out Danny's ghost powers whenever the two of them were near each other, a ghost killed the two jocks when it was after Danny.
"Like, I don't get why you even talk to Fenton these days Star?" said one of the girls Star was with.
"He tried to help save Kwan's life," said Star.
"Yeah, but he still died," retorted the girl. "Besides, didn't that ghost try to kill the geek too?" she asked.
"Who knows, what I do know is that unlike all of you, Fenton stayed to help while all of you ran away," snapped Star.
"Hello, that was some crazy killer ghost, of course we ran," retorted another girl.
"And maybe that's why I feel like talking to Fenton!" snapped Star. "He's more of a man than any of the boys here," she added.
'Danny more of a man?' thought Tucker in disbelief.
After hearing all of this Tucker finished eating and headed outside to find Danny.
Over at another part of Amity Park, Sam was sitting on a bench at the park. She was watching as three kids, two boys and one girl played a game of catch with a big orange ball. She sighed before smiling at the kids playing their little game. She continued watching the kids as they moved further away from her line of sight.
'To think that used to be Danny, Tucker, and me years ago,' thought Sam.
As she continued to sit on the bench, Sam started to think back to what her parents were complaining about.
Flashback
"I can't believe that horrible thing had happened," said Sam's mother, Pamela.
"I know, and to think the Baxter family's son was the culprit," agreed Sam's father, Jeremy.
Sam's parents were discussing over the events of the 'Camp Eerie Horror' while Sam was listening from upstairs. Her parents were very shocked at how Dash tried to kill everyone in the camp. Much like the Manson family, the Baxter family was regarded as a high class family due to Dash's father being a successful business man and his mother a model housewife. So when Dash was accused of killing two fellow students and Mr. Lancer, they were shocked but they didn't do anything to help the Baxter family. Jeremy and Pamela had a policy of never getting involved with other high class families if they are seen in public in a negative light. Basically, they associate with anyone that is to their benefit but as soon as things go bad, they will have nothing to do with you. It was one of the many things Sam can't stand her parents for.
"I'll bet it's that wretched Fenton boy's fault, he always attracted trouble," accused Pamela.
"You're right Pamela, young Dashiel was always such a model boy," agreed Jeremy. "That Fenton boy must have done something to frame the poor boy, he added.
That was another thing Sam hated about her parents. They always treat Danny like he was the lowest type of person to walk the earth. She continued to eavesdrop on her parents as they continue to talk badly about Danny. She clinched her fist as her anger grew as her parents continue to berate Danny. The few plants that were in the den started to slowly rattle as Jeremy and Pamela continued to talk. Unknown to Sam, her eyes started to turn completely green as one of the plants exploded out of its pot and flew towards Pamela's head.
Pamela let out a scream when the plant made contact with the back of her head. Jeremy gasped at what happened to his wife only to be hit in the stomach from another plant that flew towards him. He fell onto the floor with a thud and started to panic along with his wife as they ran out of the den screaming.
Sam saw the whole thing from upstairs and gasped in shock at what happened. Her eyes returned to normal as she headed back into her room.
End of flashback
Ever since that unexplained incident, the Manson couple kept all plants outdoors. For Sam, she was worried that there may be traces of Undergrowth's ectoplasm still inside her. However, she didn't want to bring it up to Danny due to her still being nervous to be around him because she's still not ready to be his friend again. Another reason is because she was worried that Jack and Maddie might find out and try to experiment on her. She's not their kid so they wouldn't feel any moral consequences over their actions. At least that's what she was starting to think of as their reasoning.
'I'm starting to see why Danny doesn't want them to know that he's half ghost,' thought Sam.
Sam looked at some of the trees and smiled at how green they have become. Since Undergrowth's invasion and enslavement of Amity Park, Sam has learned to accept how things turn out. She still wishes people would learn to appreciate nature, but now she was more accepting of progress. What really humbled her was when she regained control of herself and saw what happened to Undergrowth.
She watched as her 'father' was beaten and from what she can tell killed by Danny. She shivered at the thought of what would happen if it was her taking those hits instead. A part of her was scared of Danny and his new found power.
It's time I show you why plants are at the bottom of the food chain.
Those words coming out of Danny's mouth told her that the young ghost hybrid wasn't playing around with Undergrowth and his assault proved it. The severe beating that Danny gave showed that Danny was far more powerful than anyone could even begin to imagine. It was because of him killing Undergrowth that the other ghosts in the Ghost Zone didn't come out as much.
Only ghosts like the Box Ghost come out and tried to cause trouble, but much to the Box Ghosts relief, Danny didn't care what he did anymore. However, the Box Ghost had to worry about Jack and Maddie who have opened fire on him whenever they see him. Fortune has seemed to smile upon the Box Ghost due to Jack and Maddie causing more property damage than he ever could. Another ghost that seems to be seen in the human world more was Desiree, but she hasn't caused any trouble in fact she hasn't done any known wish granting much to Sam's confusion.
'It is strange that Desiree wouldn't be causing any wild wishes,' thought Sam as she stood up from the bench she was sitting on. 'Why is that?' she wondered as she headed off to the Skulk and Lurk.
Meanwhile on another park of the town, Danny was walking around listening to some music. Several yards behind him was Tucker, who seemed to be trailing Danny while ducking behind any type of cover he could find. So far Danny hasn't noticed him and if he did, he didn't seem to care at all. As Danny rounded a corner, Tucker looked over the corner and saw Danny standing in front of one of the jocks of their school with four others. Danny took off his headphones and wrapped them around his iPod.
"Fenton," growled the jock standing in front of Danny.
"I'm guessing you guys believe that I set Dash up huh?" asked Danny.
"Of course you set him up, you little ass wipe," answered the jock.
"That's an interesting claim, but it's kind of hard to believe when all of the other campers testified against him," replied Danny. "So how do you plan on proving Dash's innocence?" he asked.
"By beating out the confession from you," answered the jock as he cracked his knuckles.
"Sounds like fun," replied Danny. "I actually like to see you try," he joked.
"Why you!" yelled the jock as he threw the first punch.
Danny took a step back to avoid the punch and lunged forward driving his right arm into the jock's stomach. The jock gasped in shock and pain just before Danny threw a left uppercut under his jaw. The jock fell backwards and his head met the pavement very hard. Danny looked at his down foe feeling disappointed.
"All bark and no bite," commented Danny as he looked at the other jocks.
The jocks started to back away before running away from Danny. The dark haired boy rolled his eyes before putting his headphones back on and turned on his iPod. He continued heading forward with Tucker still watching him from the corner.
'Holy crap,' thought Tucker in shock. 'He took that guy down even with me close enough to cancel out his powers,' he mentally added as he followed Danny slowly.
A while later, Danny arrived at a decent sized house, he looked at the mail box and saw the name of the owners of the house. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. He waited for someone to open the door and it was Star and she beckoned him into the house.
Tucker watched from a fair distance in surprise as Danny entered Star's house. He continued to watch for at least fifteen minutes until Star and her parents left the house. Danny was standing in the doorway waving goodbye to Star's family before closing the door. Tucker was confused as to why Danny would be in Star's house and the blonde girl leaving.
Inside the house, Danny was heading into the kitchen and opened the pantry to take something out. It was a large bag of dog food that was already opened. He found the cup that was used to scoop up the dry dog food. He walked towards two bowls and poured the food into one of them. He went back to the bag and scooped up some more to pour into the other bowl.
"Alright girls, time to eat," called out Danny.
At the sound of Danny's voice, two dogs ran from where they were and headed towards the kitchen. One dog was a white American Pit Bull Terrier pup and the other was a purebred bulldog. Both of them barked happily as they went to their bowls and started to eat.
'Funny, I would have thought a girl like Star would have those tiny dogs like Paris Hilton,' thought Danny as he headed towards the den.
The next day things were much more normal than the hectic time for the summer. Danny looked at his calendar and saw that there was about two weeks of summer left. It would seem that thanks to Dash's trial, Danny's summer has been less than enjoyable. He shook his head as he headed downstairs to the den. He saw his uncle watching TV from the couch.
"Hey Danny take a look at this," beckoned Vince.
"Sure Uncle Vince," replied Danny as he took a seat next to his uncle.
In recent news, the outcome of young Dashiel Baxter, local student and star quarterback of Casper high school has been finally placed in Chester Mental Health in Chester, Illinois. Young Baxter is the prime suspect in what is regarded as the 'Camp Eerie Horror' for the murders of young Michael Baker, Brittney Perlman, and high school teacher Ronald Lancer. Due to being minor, Dashiel Baxter will be given a life sentence of incarceration after being deemed mentally fit by psychiatric doctors. What still goes on to the minds many in Amity Park is why did he do it?
The news report ended and changed topics, but it was enough for Danny and Vince.
"Guess Dash didn't get as lucky as some would think," commented Danny.
"Well, he should be glad that he's a minor and got the life sentence," said Vince.
"Why do you say that?" asked Danny.
"Well Danny, that boy was tried as an adult since it was indeed homicide or possibly murder, so the American Justice system has to put him on trial as an adult," explained Vince. "If he was a legal adult, he would have been given either life sentence or the death sentence," he added.
"So either way Dash won't be able to do anything with himself?" wondered Danny.
"Even if he were to admit to kill those people, he would still get life because it would be seen as inhumane to kill a teenager in the name of justice," said Vince. "There may be a chance that he could be let out early, but I doubt it," he added. "But if he was able to get out early, he would be alienated by everyone around him because he would be seen as evil, a monster, even called a demon, Satan's pawn or some other type of crap to make him feel even worse than he must feel already," he finished as he headed into the kitchen.
Danny nodded his head as he thought about Dash's fate.
'Maybe he would have been better off sentenced to death,' thought Danny.
Author's note: Well that's really all I can really do for this chapter. To be completely honest, I don't really like how it went at all. I was hoping to make it more interesting, but I guess a filler that shows how the students are coping with what happened is important. Now for Dash's sentencing, that is what his fate is, being placed in a mental ward due to his claims of being possessed by the Wendigo from the last chapter. I know a few of you readers believe that Dash was possessed and I had always planned for Dash and the Wendigo possession to be ambiguous. Meaning that everyone can believe what they think on that subject. Either way, he will never return in this story. I've also decided to show a glimpse of Sam's plant based powers that she got from Undergrowth. They should play a big role after the next chapter because I want to take care of another plot element that needs some attention before we get to the real fun stuff.
