Dance

Dora glided across the floor, twirling gracefully. It was the one-year anniversary of her coronation, and she'd invited Sir Phantom and his human friends to celebrate. After all, they were the ones who'd put her on the throne.

Master Foley stood by the refreshments, flirting incorrigibly with her maids. Sir Phantom and Princess Samantha glided over. They talked for a moment, then Tucker took Samantha's hand and waltzed across the floor. Daniel danced with his sister, the Lady Danielle. On Dora's other side, Lady Jasmine waltzed with a young ghost she'd never seen before.

The dragoness smiled blissfully. She loved to dance.

Dark

He knew that everyone had something ugly inside them. For Tucker, it was jealousy. For Sam, rage.

After the incident with the C.A.T., Danny learned that his own heart-shadow was bitterness. That was a problem, since between the ghost attacks and ghost hunter attacks, he had more than enough reason to be bitter.

But he had seen what would happen if he let that vindictiveness take over. He saw it every time he went to visit Clockwork.

Which was why he was floating here in space, extending a hand to someone who hated him. Vlad stared back, disbelieving. Danny scowled. "Are you coming or not?"

Death

The Dairy King panted for breath. Was this the end? It couldn't be; he was only fifty-two, far too young to die. Yet here he was, bedridden and gasping in a futile attempt to fill his lungs.

He didn't want to leave. He loved his castle, his friends, his business, his family. What would happen to them when he was gone? Would they-

-the pain stopped, and with it his heart. Around him, his family sobbed.

The Dairy King stared at his hands, amazed.

He was fifty-two years old, a businessman in his prime. He was also a ghost.

Deception

"You're not mad, are ya, V-man?"

Mad? Why would I be mad? All you did was ruin my life, infect me with a hideous disease, half- kill me, and steal the woman of my dreams. Why on Earth or in the Ghost Zone would I be mad about that?

Vlad fought back a snort. "Of course not, Jack. I know perfectly well that it wasn't your fault."

The fat man sounded ecstatic. "If that's the case, of course we'll come to the reunion! And-"

The halfa grimaced. "Jack, I have to go now. I think my phone is dying."

And Jack, of course believed him. Why would his old buddy lie?

Delegate

It was a good thing he'd waited until they were alone. Tucker's reaction was loud.

"They want you to join the UN?"

Danny flinched, cursing his sensitive hybrid ears. "Yeah. Phantom me, at least. I'm supposed to be their liaison to ghost culture and stuff."

"Will you do it?" demanded Sam.

"Well yeah! I just have to run it by the High Observant Council and stuff."

"But what about your parents? You can't just tell them you're the Ghost Zone's ambassador to the United Nations."

Danny's smirk was positively evil. "Oh, they already said yes."

As if on cue, Jack opened the door. "Didja hear? Danny won a trip to Disneyland!"

Deserve

"One hundred percent? You gave me a one hundred percent?" Danny's voice was incredulous, and Lancer didn't blame him. His student was lucky to get low B's, much less a perfect score.

The English teacher smiled warmly. "Of course, Mr. Fenton. This was the best paper I've ever read about Jekyll and Hyde."

The disbelief was wearing away, replaced by almost childish glee. "Thanks, Mr. Lancer. I hate to gush, but you have no idea how much this means to me." A grin split his face. "I've gotta go show Jazz!" He darted off.

Lancer chuckled. "It's no more than you deserve, Mr. Phantom."

Desperate

"Will you be my friend?"

"NO!" The human jerked away in horror, eyes bulging. Klemper sniffled. He didn't understand it. He was a nice person, so why wouldn't anybody be his friend? Why was the world so mean to him?

Normally, he would have rebounded immediately and gone after another person. Today, though, he couldn't stop the tears.

"Are you okay?" It was the ghost boy, the one they called Phantom. "Klemper?"

The ghost remained silent.

Phantom closed his eyes. "Stupid hero complex…." He opened them, bright and brilliant green. "Will you be my friend?"

Dinner

Danny was used to disapproving stares from just about everyone: his family, his teachers, his peers, ghost hunters. But none of those gazes intimidated him half as much as the Mansons' suspicious glares.

"You're using the wrong fork," Sam muttered, too softly for any human to hear. Her boyfriend blushed, grabbed another utensil. "Still wrong."

In a futile attempt to distract his hosts, the halfa began small-talking. "Great weather we've been having, right?"

They kept glaring. Danny groaned.

The appetizers arrived, carried by a snooty-looking waiter. Sam sighed. It was going to be a long, long night.

Dorm

When Jazz first arrived at Hartford College, she found that her room was already filled to bursting. Oh, it wasn't a matter of possessions- her roommate Liz was one of those people who just took up space.

"Oh, we're going to have so much fun," she squealed, grasping the redhead's hand. "We can do all that cool roommate stuff like check out guys together and go to concerts and paint our nails and-"

Liz's mother grimaced apologetically at her daughter's new friend. "But first, Liz, she needs to unpack." She glanced at the girl's suitcase. "And so, daughter dear, do you."

Dream

Ever since he was a little kid, Danny had wanted to be an astronaut.

It wasn't the spaceships that appealed to him, though like any young boy, he'd been intrigued by them. No, it was the thought of flying through the sky, of exploring new worlds that no human being had ever seen before. He'd wanted the excitement, the adventure, the novelty of outer space.

When he first became half-ghost, he despaired of achieving this dream. Astronauts needed good grades, and his GPA was plummeting rapidly. Then he realized something wonderful: space might be forbidden him, but the Ghost Zone was not.