I don't own Danny Phantom, And once more i would like to thank Pterodactyl for beta reading.
Anomaly
Chapter 7
"GHOST, GHOST, GHOOOSSSST!!!!" The man in the orange jumpsuit continued to yell with an ear piercing consistency, as the strange metal device in his hand started to glow. However before he could take action Jazz interrupted.
"Daad!!! That's not a ghost, it's Danny's friend." The red haired girl said as she stood protectively in front of the young Goth. "Can't you use your head, just once?" Jazz said stomping her foot down, as her father lowered his weapon slowly.
"So… She's not a ghost. "The large man said sounding somewhat depressed. "Aw, I wanted to test out the Fenton Scrambler, it makes a ghost completely unable to control its powers making it a threat to itself and everything around it…" He said the former like a child whose toy had been taken away, and the latter with a strange sense of pride.
"Jack honey, maybe you should put that away until we work the bugs out of it." The second of the two adults said. She was also wearing a jumpsuit. Hers however was a more mellow blue color. "Besides I think you're scaring our guest." The woman said in a calming manner, as she removed the head cover of her suit. Sam was surprised when the face of a perfectly normal mother emerged from underneath. "Hello, I'm Danny's mother, Maddie." She said extending her hand to Sam. "And this is his father, Jack." The older woman said motioning to her husband. Sam slowly reached her hand out still eying Danny's father somewhat nervously as Maddie spoke up once more. "And what's your name?" she asked kindly
"Samantha Manson." The young Goth said as the two of them shook hands lightly. She silently wondered why she had used her whole first name. "Sam for short." The young girl said as she pulled her hand away. However before she had time to even react a large gloved hand grabbed hers and began shaking vigorously.
"Nice to meet you Sam, any friend of Danny's is welcome in our home." Jack said refusing to loosen his grip. "I bet you can't wait to listen to me blather on for hours about our ghost hunting exploits." He said not even paying attention anymore. As Sam was about to ask for her hand back both Maddie and Jazz jumped in to save the young Goth.
"Jack don't you want to go fix the bugs in the Scrambler." The woman in the blue jumpsuit said trying to get her husband to focus his attention elsewhere.
"Yeah dad… if you fix that, you might be able to beat that ghost kid." Jazz said with absolutely no belief in her own words. As the two women spoke Jack's face grew bright.
"That's a great plan; I'll get that ghost kid one of these days." Jack said as he held the strange metal device up like it was to be revered. He then dashed back down the stairs into what Sam assumed was their laboratory. The young girl breathed a sigh of relief. She had no intention of listening to anyone blather about anything for hours.
"So you're the one Danny's' been talking about." Maddie said taking a seat at the table. "I was expecting a boy." She said honestly. "Though it's good to know he has some other friends. We were worried when Tucker moved." the woman's face took on a more concerned look. "Those two have been friends since kindergarten." Sam slowly sat back in the seat she had been in when Jazz arrived.
"Yeah, I just started getting to know the two of them when I heard that Tucker was moving." The Goth said trying to be conversational. "Danny looked like he could use another friend, that and the Goth table can be sort of boring." she said somewhat nervously. Some parents didn't like to let their children associate with the "likes of her".
"Well thanks for taking care of him. I know he can be a bit stubborn…he gets it from his father." The older woman said passing the blame. "And sorry about my husband he can be a bit overzealous at times." Maddie said as she turned to her daughter. "Jazz why don't you get our guest something to eat." It may have been worded as a suggestion, however it sounded like an order.
"Isn't that Danny's' job." Jazz, who had been watching the whole exchange from edge of the room, finally spoke up. "Besides I don't think she wants leftover's that can fight back." The redheaded girl said crossing her arms defiantly. Maddie was about to say something when Sam interjected.
"Actually Danny already brought me a glass of water." She said trying to defend her friend, as the other two women looked as though that wasn't nearly enough.
"Where Is Danny anyway? He knows better than to leave his guests unattended, especially a pretty young woman such as yourself." Danny's mother said motioning to her guest. For a few moments Sam sat without saying anything. She figured it must be because his parents dealt with ghosts and the supernatural all day that her appearance didn't faze them. She had a few friends in her middle school that were forbidden from associating with her when she had decided to become a Goth. the young girl felt her heart warm for some reason, she had been accepted here so easily where as her parents were still up in arms about her lifestyle decision.
"He said he had to use the restroom." Sam said as she finally remembered to answer. "He should be back any moment." She actually had no idea when he would be back, but it sounded better than nothing. As the Goth finished her sentence Jazz took up the seat next to her.
"Knowing Danny he could be in there for a while." To Sam it sounded like the older girl was trying to cover for her brother, just in case he happened to be doing something other than going to the bathroom. "He also gets that from our father." She said explaining to Sam half jokingly. The three women let out soft laughter at the joke. Their laughter died down when a noise came from the hallway behind them, as Danny entered the room shivering slightly while mumbling to him.
"Note to self: next time tell Klemper no." As the young boy entered the room he spotted the three women at the table. His face became somewhat ashen as he froze in mid-step. "Mom…Jazz… I take it you've met Sam." He said nervously as his mother eyed him.
"We were just introducing ourselves." Danny's mother said, as she stood up and walked over to him. He shrunk back some as she leaned down to whisper to him. "Remember not to leave a lady waiting, next time we might not be there to save her from your father." What little color was left in his face left. Sam laughed softly, his mother had whispered just loudly enough for her to hear. "Now why don't you two go watch a movie or something and I'll make dinner." Maddie said in her most motherly voice.
"Are you sure it's alright if I stay for dinner." Sam said as she stood up and walked over to Danny. "I don't want to impose." She said apprehensively.
"Of course you're welcome to stay, I would be offended if you didn't." the older woman said as she put on an apron over her jumpsuit. "Jazz would you care to help me." She said, once more it sounded less like a question and more like an order. The red haired girl sighed slightly and stood up to help her mother.
"Alright, but later I want you to help me with my thesis." She said trying to get something out of her predicament. "I'm having trouble with its presentation." Jazz said washing her hands.
"Oh…Sam's like a super vegetarian or something, so you might want to make something…Meat free." Danny said, remembering the preference of his friend.
"Its Ultra Recycle-o-vegetarian or Vegan." Sam said indignantly. "And you really don't have to go through the trouble." She said trying to avoid imposing on them more than she already had.
"Don't worry about it." Maddie said, pulling a cook book from one of the cupboards. "It's nice to know that some children eat healthy." She threw a look at her children. "Now the two of you…Scoot." She said shooing Danny and Sam out of the kitchen.
As the two teens headed toward the living room Danny turned to apologize.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to let you get caught unaware by my parents." He said leading her into their spacious den. "Especially my dad…he's a bit… eccentric." The young boy sat down on the couch, and Sam followed his lead.
"He seemed nice enough though…after he stopped aiming the…Fenton something or other at me." She said laughing some more. "And your mom and sister are pretty cool." She said as her bout of laughter ceased. "I was surprised when your parents didn't automatically give me the stink eye for being a Goth." she said honestly.
"They don't tend to discriminate…unless you're a ghost." It sounded like he was speaking from personal experience. "As long as you have a pulse, you're ok in their book." Danny said as he picked up the TV remote. "So what kind of movie do you want to watch?" He said pressing the power button.
"Horror." Sam said with a wry smile. "It's my favorite."
Danny looked completely embarrassed as both he and his parents were seeing the young Goth off.
The evening had gone pretty well in Sam's Book. The movie had been interesting. Though the best part had been when the ghost in the movie had attacked a young couple so suddenly that it caused Danny to nearly jump out of his seat. It had taken him a moment to realize that in the heat of the moment he had latched onto Sam. He then turned bright red and shot to the other side of the couch claiming he had only jumped because she did, thoughshe had done no such thing.
After the movie had finished Danny's mother had called them for dinner. As everyone gathered around the table Jack had become confused by the meal before them. It was a vegetable soup. The older man had queried as to where there actual dinner was, but was silent once Maddie had told him to eat or he would get no fudge for desert. For the rest of the meal everyone talked happily about what they had done that day, though they all had to duck when jack pulled the Scrambler back out as he described his evening.
As they finished eating Sam began excusing herself, her parents would start to wonder what had happened to her if she didn't get back at some point. However, as it was getting darker out Danny's parents didn't want her to go without some form of protection. So they gave her some of their ghost hunting equipment. She now held in her hands a Fenton Thermos and something called a Mini-Fenton Portable Portal, and around her waist was a strange looking belt called a specter deflector. She had seen the thermos in action but she had to ask what the other devices did.
The two adults had explained to her that the belt, if active would repel any ghost she came into contact with. She learned that it really meant any ghost when Danny had refused to go near her once the belt was on. The second device was small and pistol shaped with the letters MFPP along the side of the barrel. Its purpose was to create a small portal to a place the Fenton's called the "Ghost Zone". If the portal was to be opened next to a ghost it would send them back to their own dimension. However this mini version could only be used once, and then it would need to be recharged so she was told to use it wisely.
"Have a safe trip, and don't forget you're always welcome in the Fenton household." Maddie said pointing to the large sign that hung above their door, the words "Fenton Works" lit up brightly for all to see.
"Maybe next time you can stay and listen to all my stories about ghosts, or embarrassing stories about Danny that he doesn't want you to hear!" Jack said waiving happily to the girl. Through all of this the young boy stood mortified. However he put on a small smile as he waved to her. The look on his face said "sorry about my parents."
"I'll see you tomorrow Sam." He said as he continued to wave. The young girl gave a short wave as she headed in the direction of her house.
"See you later…And thanks for dinner!" Sam called to them.
As she turned the corner at the end of the street she felt a strange sense of contentment it was almost… warm and fuzzy, but she hated to describe it like that. The Goth in her wouldn't allow her to describe anything she was feeling as warm and fuzzy. The strange thing was, the feeling she was experiencing and the one she sometimes got whenever Danny would give her his goofy smile were very similar. Her "darker side" refused to admit that she felt either emotion, so it took the emotions she "wasn't feeling" and hid them as best it could, though at the moment it wasn't very well.
