This chapter is 3,000 words, yay! And only because I decided I didn't want to split it into two chapters, and skipped a little bit. I hadn't orginally planned for it to happen the way that it did, but I'm satisfied. I think this will be the only chapter I will write today. It took me AGES to write this, but mainly because I kept getting so distracted (glares at Stephamephaniphinaniphie) and yeah. Oh, and if you hadn't heard...
I'm rewriting Changing Fate, and will start in... five minutes, once I have finished uploading this chapter!!! Yay!

And... I AM CONTINUING VORTEX OF DECEPTION :D. So lots of good news.

But also, there is bad news. Now I have less time to update this story. But I have it all planned out, and there SHOULD be approximately 21 chapters, but no less. Which means that I reach my 40,000 word goal, and therefore put my average words per story up! :) But anyway, I hope this chapter is okay. I couldn't be bothered editing it, once again. Maybe one day I will go through it and edit it. Not today. If only SOMEONE would hurry up and read it (glare glare glare) then they could edit it FOR me (steph steph steph)

But here it is!

The Beginning

Chapter Nine

Boldness

Danny froze up. Vlad had something to do with Sam, he just knew it. So it was Danny's task to beat the answer out of Vlad, despite the fact that the girl he liked who was also half ghost, who he didn't particular want to tell that he was Danny Phantom, was standing right behind him. She hadn't transformed yet, meaning that she wanted to hear the exchange between the ghost and Danny.

Danny knew he wouldn't get a straight answer, but he had to ask anyway. "What have you done with Sam?"

Vlad chuckled evilly. "Sam? Me? I have done nothing with your little friend."

"And pigs can fly." Danny retorted.

Vlad smiled and pointed towards a nearby window. Danny knew that if he looked he'd be a complete idiot – he agreed with Skulker when the ghost had warned him to pay full attention to his enemy despite the circumstances – but that didn't stop him. One glance out of the window and his jaw dropped. There was a pig out there. It was flying.

"Ghost pigs can, though," Vlad concluded.

"If you're not going to tell me about Sam, then why are you here, Plasmius? You aren't welcome." Danny announced. Though he didn't like the ghost or even the man very much, Danny couldn't bring himself to call him by his first name. If he did so, Kelly might discover who he was and… something bad would result from that discovery.

"Just to watch you squirm. You will accept my offer one day, Daniel." Vlad responded in his most triumphant voice. "And no, I will not get a cat!"

"How did you know that I was thinking that?" Danny smirked.

Vlad didn't answer – instead he disappeared in a flash of light – teleportation. Danny had not yet learnt to master that power. It was the result of Vlad having had 20 years to be by himself and train, to discover all of his powers. Danny, on the other hand, had only been a halfa for a year.

Danny hadn't noticed that the ghost vultures were still hovering around. Their leader, whose name Danny did not know, flew forward and began to speak. "That is right, we shall have victory. And there is nothing you can do, no portal that you can send us through, gho-"

It was at this exact moment that Danny remembered Kelly's presence behind him. Instead of letting the vulture finish his gloating, Danny decided to shut him up. He launched himself forwards, towards the vulture, and threw a punch. The ghost vulture went down in a flurry of feathers. His other two companions shrieked and launched themselves at him, ready to attack.

Danny's ghost sense went off – Kelly had transformed to save him from the vultures that she thought he wasn't able to fight. He shrugged his shoulders and watched as the vultures flew at him, planning to peck out his eyeballs. Just as he had expected, Kelly-Go-Boom threw herself in front of him. Danny just remained calm, watching as she shot them down with ecto-blasts.

"So, who are you?" he asked calmly, as if he wasn't surprised to see her defending him.

She turned to him with an incredulous look on her face. She couldn't believe that he was asking such a question in the middle of a fight. "Um, just call me KGB for now." She muttered, obviously not wanting him to know that her name was Kelly-Go-Boom, particularly the Kelly part.

"Behind you," Danny nodded to the same two vultures that had been aiming for him. They had gotten up.

Danny could sense the other vulture behind him and saw Kelly's eyes widen in fright. She didn't turn around to stop the ghost vultures from harming her – instead she was fixed on the one behind him. He shrugged his shoulders as she began to fire an ecto-blast towards the vulture behind him and ducked beneath her upraised arms.

Once he was behind her, he sent a high kick towards one vulture and a punch towards the other. Both slammed into nearby lockers, hard enough to leave dents. Kelly had turned around when Danny had slid past her, and had watched his assault on the ghosts with disbelief.

While the vultures were all still down, Danny whipped his trusty Fenton thermos from his bag – he carried his bag around wherever he went for this exact reason - and opened the cap. He was careful not to aim it at Kelly – that would be awkward. Plus, he knew how it felt to be crammed up in such a small container – Jazz had done it many times in the past, just after she'd joined their 'ghost hunting group'.

Once the ghosts had been taken care of, Danny replaced the lid and shoved his thermos hastily into his backpack. He would not risk getting caught with that and teased for the rest of his life. The bell was about to ring. Danny was about to head towards his locker and grab his English books but he could feel Kelly's blood red eyes boring into him.

He looked up with a smile – she looked suspicious. "So what does KGB stand for?"

"Is this normal for you?" Kelly shrieked. "Most people who are visited by ghosts do not converse with them and then attack them! Most people run away screaming! And they do not suck them into thermoses!"

Danny laughed nervously. "Well, that's what you get when you have parents that are also ghost hunters. They make me carry this junk around with me." He tapped his backpack, gesturing to the Fenton Thermos that was inside.

Kelly just narrowed her eyes at him. Danny grinned as the bell went and waved at her. "I'd love to talk," he told her. "But unfortunately, that'd make me late for English, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?" he winked at KGB.

"I'm a ghost!" she cried out to his retreating form. "Why do you talk to me so normally?!"

"Because I know the truth," he muttered beneath his breath.

As it turned out, Danny was on time to his English class. And of course, Mr Lancer was standing up the front, watching his students file into the room. His eyes lingered on Danny and he smiled humourlessly. "Mr Fenton, I'm glad you decided to grace us with your presence for this period. Don't think we are unaware of your disappearing act."

There were a few snickers from the back of the room as Danny nodded curtly. He took his usual seat and smiled – he knew that Kelly would be late. It wasn't like he wanted her to get into trouble, or anything, but he could then question her about her lateness to class. It would be enjoyable, for him, at least.

"Settle down and take your seats," Lancer ordered the people who were still standing around, chatting to their friends.

Danny wasn't talking to friends – the only two he had in this class with him were Sam and Kelly, and neither of the two had shown up. He just slouched down in his seat, trying not to mull over the problems in his life. His eyes watched the door, waiting for Kelly to make her late arrival.

"Okay, I would like you to open your notebooks to page 138 and read the short poem on the nights in lonely China by-"

Lancer was interrupted by the door opening, and Kelly entering. She blushed as everyone turned to stare at her – after all, it was only her second day and she was already late. "Miss Stager, I see you've arrived a little bit late,"

"I'm sorry Mr Lancer," she apologised, ducking her head. "I was in the bathroom."

Lancer's hard expression didn't soften up. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Take your seat and turn to page 138."

Kelly nodded her head and sat down in her seat. She glanced over towards Danny and he grinned at her. "So, Kelly, why were you really late?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

She looked at him nervously, fearing that he had figured out her secret. "I was… in the bathroom," she lied once again.

"No you weren't," Danny argued friendlily. "Next time you're late for whatever reason it may be, don't use the bathroom excuse. He'll think you're under my influence." Danny informed her.

"But I was in the bathroom!" Kelly protested.

"I'll let it drop if you let the thing about me ditching drop," Danny offered.

"Fine," she muttered, opening her notebook.

Danny watched her beautifully upset face for a few more seconds. "I'm sorry I missed History. I was looking forward to talking to you about something. It was just really urgent."

She smiled at him. "That's okay. So… um, what's wrong with Sam? Tucker and Valerie were talking about it at recess when you left…"

Danny knew that that was a lie, and that she was only saying that to hide the fact that she had followed him and overheard his conversation with Vlad. He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. She's just sick," he lied.

"But-"

"Miss Stager!" Mr Lancer cried. "Interrupting my class, are you? Are you better than everyone else? I know for a fact that you failed English at your past school, so you should be paying attention, Missy."

"Excuse me?" Kelly retorted in a hysterical voice. "It's a bit hard to concentrate on English when there's such a boring old bozo up the front of the class with a stomach so fat that you can't see past him, and onto the board!" the people behind her gasped. Danny's jaw dropped. "And besides, Mr Lancer, I'm not the one who thinks I'm better than everyone else! It's you, dammit! You just like to hear the sound of your own boring voice, and so you stop the lesson just because I don't enjoy hearing it! Let me tell you one thing. SHUT THE HELL UP!"

She let out a breath as Mr Lancer's face turned a bright, tomato red. All of the students around Kelly shrunk back, including Danny, not anticipating the explosion.

"Miss. Stager." Lancer growled between gritted teeth. "Out in the hall. Now."

Kelly shut her note book and stormed out of the room. Danny's eyes followed her body with surprise. She hadn't seemed like the angry sort – maybe she was under a lot of stress. It might have been his fault, though, since he had confused her so much out in the hall before English. And then he had not accepted her lie. Danny felt a stab of guilt as he watched her shut the door behind her.

I need to help her out of this. She needs some time to chill out. I just need to think of a way to get Lancer distracted so I can sneak out. Danny told himself.

An idea formed in his head, causing Danny to smirk eagerly. He turned to the kid behind him and whispered a few words in his ear. The kid shrugged and passed the message along. Danny turned to face the front and sat forward in his seat eagerly as Mr Lancer continued to write something upon the blackboard.

There was a groan from the back of the room, followed by a loud thud. Danny smiled – his plan had worked – and watched as Mr Lancer turned around in anger, expecting to see a disobedient child. Instead, he saw Star lying on the floor, pretending to be unconscious.

"Silence of the Lambs," he shrieked, rushing over to his student. "Are you all right, child?"

Excellent, he's distracted. Danny stood up silently and crept towards the door, keeping an eye on the English teacher. He knew he'd get into trouble for what he was about to do, but he would deal with it when the time came to deal with it. After all, he was already in plenty of trouble – his punishment wouldn't get too much worse.

He opened the door, snuck out and quickly shut it behind him again. Kelly glanced up at him in surprise and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing, Danny?" she asked cautiously.

Danny smiled and grabbed her hand, ignoring the tingling feeling that was creeping up his spine. "Come on," he ordered, pulling her towards the school lockers.

It was only then that she noticed that he was carrying both his English books and hers. She allowed him to pull her away, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. "But I'll get in so much trouble… you're going to get in so much trouble, too, Danny. And all because of me,"

Danny stopped at his locker and shoved his books inside, before turning to Kelly and handing her books to her. "It's nothing," he told her sincerely. "I'm willing to help a friend in need. And you desperately need some chilling time. You just about blew the roof off back there."

She laughed nervously as she walked to her locker – which was nearby – and placed her books in. "Yeah, I have a few anger issues," she admitted to him.

"Don't we all?" He laughed. "Come on; let's go before we're caught. But I'm just letting you know in advance… I don't think I'll be at school tomorrow." They jogged towards the main entrance.

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

"Because I think that by that time, my parents would've killed me for ditching school so many times." He pushed the door open for Kelly.

"You should go back," Kelly told him quietly.

"I am not going back in there again. Lancer would kill me before my parents even got the chance." Danny joked.

"I suppose you're right," Kelly smiled. "So, we're we going?"

Danny noticed that he still held onto her hand. He didn't let go. "Come on, I'll show you. It's a really cool place where I like to go when in need of relaxation time."

"Is that where you go to skip? And why you skip so much, since you're in need of relaxation time?" Kelly wondered as she let him pull her along.

"No way," Danny told her. "I skip for reasons of my own. Nothing bad. Dangerous, maybe, but not bad."

Kelly looked concerned. "But you told Valerie that it wasn't dangerous. And how can it be dangerous but not bad?"

Danny laughed. "If I told Valerie the truth of what I was doing, she would come at me with her guns. And it can easily be dangerous while not being bad."

He had pulled her towards the park. He could see it in the distance, but it was not his final destination.

She was silent for a few moments. "What do you mean by she would come at you with her guns? She owns guns?" She wondered as they crossed through the park.

"Oh, not real guns," Danny laughed nervously. There was no getting out of answering that question. "She owns ecto-guns. And trust me, even though designed for ghosts, they really pack a punch with us humans. My father… well, I'll not even get started on him. Let's just say, we've had frequent visits to the emergency room."

"But why does Valerie own ecto-guns?" Kelly enquired.

Danny glanced around him, coming to the place that he had wanted to show Kelly. It was just past the park – a small section of forest. There was a little path beneath the branches of a small tree that led into a pretty amazing clearing. There was even a small pond. "Ever since her life was ruined by ghosts, Valerie has been hunting them. But it's meant to be this totally big secret, so promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"I promise," she whispered.

"Okay, here we are. After you," he offered, holding a branch out of the way for her and gesturing to the path.

She crawled through and he followed suit. She gasped once she was in and moved aside to allow him space to crawl through. He smiled at her expression and took a seat on a patch of green grass.

"It's beautiful," she gasped, coming to sit next to him.

So are you, Danny's mind whispered. She was looking at him, her face lit up by the beauty around her. He noticed that there was a small mole on her left cheek. It only makes her more perfect. The light shone down on her face and Danny's fingers twitched.

She was smiling; her beautifully pink lips looked soft. Danny's heart pounded in his chest. His body was on fire – he couldn't control himself any longer.

He leant towards her, his face moving towards hers. He inhaled her perfect scent and decided to be courageous. His heart fluttered pounding intensely in his chest as she looked into his eyes. His hand reached for her cheek and caressed it admiringly for a few moments.

And then, finally, their lips met in a kiss.

Finally! That was meant to happen in chapter SEVEN. But I kept getting distracted, haha. And originally, they weren't meant to skip school, and she wasn't going to blow up at Lancer... and yeah there was much more that was going to happen, but I'll probably make that happen in the next chapter... which means there may possibly be 22 chapters. It depends on whether I stay on task with all the other chapters or not, since I have planned them out. But i am eager to get onto writing Changing Fate, so this will be kept short.

Please. Do. Review.

Unloved Kirstyn :'(