Winter had come quickly. Gratefully, it guaranteed that he wouldn't get a visit from Undergrowth. Even ghost plants couldn't stand these conditions. Vortex was a bit of a wild card, but then again, it wouldn't really matter once the Christmas truce came around. And it was likely he was going to the party they threw.
Granted, the whole thing with Ghostwriter had helped his mood concerning Christmas somewhat. But as his parents were going to argue about Santa like they did every year, he wanted no part of that. Another part of it was that... he never though he'd say this, but he was hanging with Kitty and Johnny in a way that was actually... what was the word he was looking for? Friendly.
It was strange how they seemed a bit more... normal when they weren't causing havoc. Maybe any teenage ghost would be the same way if world domination wasn't on the mind. There were probably other teenage ghosts he could use as examples.
Kitty was strangely responsible and high maintenance at times, while Johnny was more laid back and chill about pretty much everything. It was unnerving how they seemed like... surrogates for the friends he lost. And that's not what he was looking for, and thankfully, them hanging out with Ember sort of broke that kind of connection. It was still kind of nice.
"Lost in your thoughts?" Hyde suddenly interjected. And then he was reminded of the strange voice that was stuck in his head for whatever reason.
"Ready for the vacation," Danny responded.
"I'm sure. Miss them?" Hyde questioned, and his voice sounded strangely soft.
"A lot. I don't have to brood on it most days, at least," Danny said.
"Ah yes. Your various... distractions. Between your stoner friends and the ghosts you can't make heads or tails of," Hyde responded.
"It's mostly Ember I can't read. I honestly can't tell if she still wants to kill me while Johnny and Kitty seem over it," Danny said.
"Because you've brutalized them into oblivion like you never have before," Hyde said.
"There's that. But..." Suddenly, Danny caught a quick movement on his right and he moved a hand out to react on demand. He had a firm grip on the person who was about to fall. He came face to face with Star, who looked like she didn't know how to react to him helping her.
"Watch out," Danny said simply as he helped her straighten up. He mentally raised an eyebrow at the sight of her not being joined at the hip with Paulina.
"Thanks Fenton," she said hesitantly.
"You're welcome. Just be careful," Danny said simply before starting to walk past her.
"Are you ok?" Danny suddenly paused as he turned to face the blond.
"Why do you ask?" he questioned cautiously.
"You don't exactly look... miserable anymore," Star said, and he could definitely see her point. He just didn't know why she was bothering to point it out.
"I miss them more than anything. But life moves on," Danny said with a shrug.
"I guess," Star said before turning around without a word and walking off.
"That was strange," Hyde said as Danny watched her walk off.
"Extremely. Still, where's..."
"Fenton!" Jeff suddenly exclaimed.
"Never mind," he said to Hyde before quickly wheeling around towards the person in question and speaking out loud. "Sup Jeff!"
"Hop in! It's winter! We've got places to go!" he exclaimed.
"Hold your horses, you knucklehead! I'm coming!" Danny exclaimed, dashing forward and smoothly hopping into the back seat. All passengers included Stephanie, Clark, and Trish. "You are scarily prompt, you know that?"
"We get out less than an hour before you do, and it's just a matter of not being distracted," Jeff reminded him.
"Which he normally always is," Stephanie said with a pointed look.
"Can't hear you!" Jeff said before turning to face Danny. "Happy to be out?"
"Yes. For sure," Danny said, stretching his arms.
"We're about to go meet up with the others. Just thought we'd pick you up," Jeff said.
"Well, it's nice of you to think about me," Danny said as he let an arm out of the window. "Now let's get this show on the road."
"Fenton!" Paulina suddenly yelled, and Danny groaned.
"Friend of yours?" Trish asked with a grin.
"Nowhere near that shallow," Danny said before looking at the approaching Paulina. "What is it?"
"Having a party on Saturday. Tell Phantom to be there," she told him, making him roll his eyes.
"Ok. Now, Jeff! Hit it!" Danny said, his attention immediately going back to his fellow passengers.
"Don't have to tell me!" Jeff exclaimed, speeding off. "So what was that? You owe her a favor?"
"Unfortunately. Thankfully after this, we're even. Now, I hope you picked me up to do what I think you did..." Danny trailed, making everyone laugh.
"You do realize I'm going to have to start charging you for such eagerness," Jeff said with a grin, pulling out a bag of weed.
"Charging. Way to ruin the fun," Danny said, crossing his arms.
"He's kidding Fenton. We all have the cash to supply us for life. Well, at least Chris does," Clark said with a shrug.
"More specifically, Chris' family. And they don't know that's where part of his allowance goes towards," Trish quipped.
"So as long as no one says anything and Chris keeps a stash of body spray on him at all times, we'll be fine," Danny said.
"Basically," Jeff said as he finished rolling the first joint. Then he passed it to Danny. "You first amigo. Here's to your first holiday with a group full of stoners."
"Here, here," Clark said, raising an invisible glass. Danny bit back a grin as he accepted the first joint.
"You know, I feel as if I could knock on God's windowsill right now," Danny said, his eyes glazed over.
"Don't. Believe me, you cannot get that high," Clark told him, his eyes similar to Danny's.
"Believe me. We've tried. It just lead to us staring at the fridge for three hours," Jeff said.
"Here's hoping," Danny said, shutting his eyes briefly before staring up at the sky again. The halfa was in a state of artificial bliss at the moment. He was still in Jeff's car, and they were parked out at a more private area. Luckily, it was hard for weed smoke to glue to you while out in the open air.
"How about we play 'Have You Ever?' We're all stoned, so the chances of dishonest answers are slim to none," Stephanie suggested.
"Shoot. Sounds like it could be fun," Trish said. Even though Danny didn't notice, her eyes glanced over him with an expression of mischief.
"Danny, you first," Stephanie said.
"Ok, um... Have you ever... been part of a ghost attack?" Danny questioned. Danny and Jeff were the only ones to raise their hands.
"You have?" Clark asked, looking over to him. "You never told us."
"It was a minor thing, really. Some short, stout looking ghost told me to 'fear his powers of cardboard,' or some shit like that," Jeff said, shaking his head.
"Box Ghost," Danny said with a yawn.
"Wow. Even his name is lame," Jeff said, making everyone grin.
"And I suppose you've been part of them about everyday?" Stephanie questioned.
"Correct," Danny said.
"Give us one example. One that didn't involve you getting away. Or do you always manage to?" Jeff asked.
"There was one time where I got hit with a ghost's love spell and it made me fall for one of my best friends," Danny said with a grimace. "Not an experience I'd care to repeat. I made a fool of myself."
"If that ever happened, Steph would have my huevos. Ghost or not," Jeff said, making Stephanie roll her eyes.
"Don't listen to him. If anything, I'd want to kill the ghost responsible a second time," she said.
"At the time, so did I," Danny said with a shrug.
"Anyway, Steph?" Jeff asked.
"Have any of you ever snuck out of your house to do something forbidden?" Stephanie asked. Danny considered not raising his hand, but mindlessly, his hand seemed to go up like everyone else's.
"Ooh..." Trish said teasingly. "Just what have you done Mister Mysterious?"
"I'm just going to say it involved a lot of late night fighting," Danny said, only half telling the truth.
"Underground fights? You don't look the type," Clark said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't let appearances fool you. That's probably how he prefers it. Lowers their guard," Jeff said, holding out a hand before looking to Danny. "Right?"
"Works every time," Danny said with a nod.
"See?" Jeff said with a smile. "We'll have to brawl sometime."
"I suggest you do it where your girlfriend won't see you get knocked flat on your back," Danny said with a small smirk, making the others laugh. But Jeff's lingering grin was one more challenging.
"Oh, it is on Fenton," he said before shaking his head and looking to Clark. "You next."
"Have you ever broken a bone?" he asked. Hands up were Jeff, Danny, and Clark himself.
"The others already know this, but I broke my leg in a ski accident. It was not how I wanted to spend my Spring Break," Jeff said sourly.
"For me, it was a practice accident in football. You?" Clark said, pointing to Danny.
"Fighting incident. Had to tell my parents it happened in a ghost attack," Danny said. If he was telling the truth, neither of these excuses were lies. They just happened to be connected. Luckily, he could heal broken bones in no time at all.
"Alright, Trish. Floor's yours," Jeff said.
"Have you ever had sex?" Trish said, and her tone was so blunt, a strange noise came out of the back of Danny's throat from the surprise. Clark looked to the side with his hand covering his face, and Jeff raised an eyebrow at Trish along with Stephanie.
"Way to have no shame Trish," Jeff said sarcastically as he raised his hand.
"You're welcome," she said brightly at she raised hers. Stephanie was the only other to raise their hand. Clark and Danny kept theirs down.
"Well, at least we can feel awkward together," Danny said with a plain tone.
"Nothing to feel awkward about. Just a question," Trish said innocently.
"Yeah, and I'm a thousand foot beanstalk," Jeff said sarcastically. "Danny, back to you."
"Gladly. Have any of you ever stolen anything?" Danny asked.
"Oh, boy. I've got a story there," Jeff said as he raised his hand along with everyone else.
The halfa now flew over the city, observing the place with all the attentiveness he had. He had to restrain himself from smoking too much weed before he left. He had been gone basically all day, and he wasn't sure his parents saw him at all today minus when he left for school. And it's likely he wouldn't be seeing them very much on Christmas if this one ended up like the last twenty times.
"You're so lost in thought," Hyde commented.
"You would know," Danny told him.
"Of course I would. It's a quip. Even then, why are you patrolling shortly before Christmas?" Hyde asked.
"I can't single out the idea of Vortex or anyone causing trouble shortly before the truce," Danny said.
"You know... if he goes causing trouble, I can tell you how to harness his energy without needing moods," Hyde said, and he knew Hyde would be grinning a very vampire like grin if he had a head.
"No Hyde," Danny said flatly.
"Oh, come on! He's caused trouble for you plenty of times! What's leaving him a weak, pathetic husk for a few months?" Hyde asked.
"Given the fact that the Christmas truce may be my chance to make some attacks stop without needed to turn them inside out? I'd rather not leave Vortex with an impression," Danny told him.
"You pansies and your talk of peace. Fine. But if that doesn't work within the next decade or so, we're trying it my way," Hyde told him.
"A decade's a long way off Hyde," Danny told him.
"I've got nothing but time. I'm inside your head, for Pete's sake!" Hyde exclaimed.
"True. Alright, fine. If Vortex is still possibly attacking the town a decade later, we'll try it your way. Shorter, if there's the chance I get impatient," Danny admitted grudgingly.
"Ah, I'll make a textbook sadist out of you yet," Hyde said in a gleeful tone.
"Shut it, you. Do you have an off button?" Danny asked.
"Yes, it's right next to the garbage disposal and patented blender," Hyde said in a tone even enough to be sarcastic.
"Smart ass," Danny said, unable to resist a smirk of amusement.
"Yes, I am smart. Smarter than you? You be the judge," Hyde said.
"I am," Danny said simply.
"If you were smart, you'd say it's me. But you make yourself look dumber by encouraging something that's obviously not true," Hyde told him.
"You're a disembodied voice in my head," Danny said in a flat tone. "I'm not. Ergo, I'm smart enough to not get myself into that situation. Ergo, I'm smarter."
"If you really were smarter, you would've drained all of your enemies and turned them into useless piles of shit every time they tried to oppose you. Maybe you could make this cesspit of a town actually peaceful," Hyde told him.
"You see, you use destruction as a primary method. Not me. You see, I like to try this thing called reasoning. And when that doesn't work, I kick butt. It's a cycle," Danny told him.
"It hasn't really been working, now has it?" Hyde retorted. "You know, that's probably why it's a cycle."
"And annihilating everything in my path is not much better," Danny said, making Hyde snort.
"To you maybe. To me, it's a long term solution to make sure you never have to deal with pests like the Box Ghost again," he said, making Danny look thoughtful.
"Now, that's tempting..." he trailed, making Hyde roar out of a laugh.
"You have your priorities straight, don't you?" he said with a chuckle in his tone.
"I'm a teenager. What did you expect?" Danny said with a grin before his ghost sense off. That quickly wiped the smile off his face as he looked around to see who was around him, but strangely enough, all he saw was a backpedaling Ember. Well, backfloating was more precise. She was lying in a relaxed position in the air with her guitar in hand.
"I thought we've been over this," Danny said in an exasperated tone.
"We have. I'm just bored," Ember said in a tone that matched her statement.
"Where are your friends?" Danny asked.
"Doing things I have no interest in watching," Ember said, making Danny grimace.
"Not an image I needed," he said, raising a hand.
"You asked, dipstick. Entertain me," Ember said, raising a casual hand.
"I'm not a show dog! Entertain yourself," Danny told her.
"If I could, I wouldn't be here," Ember said in an obvious tone.
"Ugh. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but... go do a show or something," Danny said with a grimace.
"Ok, for one, screw you. My music is actually good, you jackass. Secondly, are you for real?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Go ahead. But less brainwash. Maybe you'll be minus quite a few fans without it," Danny said with a shrug.
"Funny dipstick. Real funny," Ember said with an eye roll.
'You gonna go or not?" Danny asked in an exasperated tone.
"Oh, sure. Let me just set up a stage, get the word out, and all the preparations in two and a half seconds," Ember said sarcastically.
"I get the point," Danny said, crossing his arms. "You get what I'm trying to say."
"What's got you in a good mood?" Ember asked.
"Something about flying high just does that," Danny said with a shrug.
"We're not that high up," Ember said with a frown.
"No, I mean weed high, No Hit Wonder," Danny quipped.
"Really?" Ember said before her eyes narrowed at his statement. The halfa only grinned. "You see? This is why we try and kill you."
"And never managed it," Danny said flatly.
"Cause you're too stubborn," Ember said.
"What does being stubborn have to do with stomping a mud hole in all of you?" Danny questioned.
"Because you never gave the thought, 'This is annoying and I'm not going to do it anymore' a try and instead continued to be a pain in the neck," Ember said.
"Yes, because I would so willingly give up the entire world being enslaved or killed," Danny said sarcastically.
"The world would not have been that bad under my control," Ember said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, please. It would've been like Walker having control of the world in reverse. What would've been your first regime rule? Mandatory parties held in your honor?" Danny questioned sarcastically.
"Of course not," Ember said with an eye roll. "It'd be getting rid of all of the adults. Then mandatory parties."
"Oh, God. You're such a teenager," Danny said with a laugh.
"No duh dipstick. I'm a ghost of one. What did you expect?" Ember said with a raised eyebrow.
"The tiniest bit of growth. The smallest bit," Danny said. "I would've thought dozens of beatings would've at least done that."
"You can't tell me life wouldn't be a lot easier if we didn't have parents, teachers, and dumbass adults in general?" Ember said. Danny was unable to answer for quite a while, making Ember smirk in victory. "Exactly."
"Bleh. You win that one McLain," Danny admitted, waving a dismissive arm.
"Of course I do," Ember said with a smirk.
"At least it's almost Christmas. That guarantees a day off. From school. From ghost attacks," Danny said, crossing a leg over the other with his hands behind his head in relaxation.
"Do you plan on being at the Christmas party?" Ember asked.
"Considering my parents argue every year about the same irrelevant thing every year, yes. It's more than likely you will. Probably ahead of schedule," Danny told her.
"What do they argue about that makes you want to leave the house?" Ember questioned with a raised brow.
"Like I'm going to tell you," Danny said with a snort.
"Real nice Phantom," Ember said with an eye roll.
"Who said I was ever nice?" Danny said with a smirk, making Ember lash out at his foot to make him spin in circles. He quickly steadied himself before fixing her with an irritated look. "Don't make me come over there."
"Are you really going to chase me over this?" Ember asked.
"Yes. Because I happen to just be that petty right now," Danny said with a grin.
"Well... don't think you're going to catch me easy," Ember said before flying off.
"She does realize that she's going to get caught, right?" Hyde quipped.
"She probably does, but not like she'll ever admit it," Danny responded before his bottom half turned into a ghostly tail. Then he began to give chase.
"Dammit, why are you so fast?" Ember questioned when she saw he was almost directly behind her.
"Practice. And you're just slow," Danny said with a smirk.
"Oh, that's it," Ember said, her hair flaring up slightly more before her speed suddenly increased.
"That's right. Give me a challenge," Danny urged, making her speed off faster.
"Do you think she'll even make you have to push yourself?" Hyde asked.
"Eh. We'll see. Haven't had a race that didn't involve someone being chased in... well, never," Danny said before speeding up after her.
"Slow, eh?" Ember thought, glancing back slightly to see him casually catching up to her. "We'll see who's slow."
The ghost rocker hit a quick nose dive that Danny was easily able to follow before turning intangible through a building. Danny followed after her, and from what he could hear from the few seconds they passed through, their presence scared a few people. But he was still easily keeping pace with Ember, and he was wondering if he should just catch her now.
"Who's slow now?" Ember said, giving him his answer. In an instant, he sped up and caught to her, grabbing her arms and holding them at her sides.
"Still you," Danny teased next to her ear before releasing her. Ember turned to face him, her face giving off some irritation.
"Damn you," she said simply as Danny turned his tail back into feet.
"Don't be offended. I've gotten pretty fast. The tail just helps with building momentum," Danny told her.
"Meaning you could've ended the race sooner," Ember said flatly.
"Yup," Danny said.
"I should kill you," Ember said.
"One, how's that been going for you so far?" And two, are you bored anymore?" Danny questioned.
No, she actually wasn't. Phantom was still somewhat infuriating, but at least that was somewhat entertaining.
"No. I'm actually not," Ember said.
"Well there you go," Danny said, placing his hands behind his head as he relaxed in midair.
"Now about that show..." Ember trailed.
"I meant it. Go. But if I get the smallest trace of brainwash, I will use your head for a kickball," Danny told her casually.
"I'm quaking," Ember said sarcastically even though she knew he was not bluffing.
"Just know that I did give you fair warning," Danny said, creating a small ice crystal and smoothly moving it over his fingers.
"How'd you even get those?" Ember asked. Danny looked towards her, and saw she was now laid out on her guitar. She wasn't facing him, but looking towards the night sky like he was.
"What? My ice powers?" Danny asked.
"No. Your impeccable taste in fashion," Ember said sarcastically, making him fire a low powered ghost ray at her knee. "Ow!"
"Don't talk about my jumpsuit," Danny told her.
"Then wear something else," Ember said, nailing him in the head with a blast just as harmless. It felt like someone just thumped him.
"I'm with her on this. The jumpsuit sucks. Find something new," Hyde said.
"Great. Two people who are against my choice of attire," Danny said in exasperation.
"Two?" Ember questioned.
"Someone else I know," Danny said vaguely.
"Then whoever it is, they're right. In any case, ice powers. You just showed up with them one day," Ember told him.
"From what Frostbite told me, my body started generating cold energy one day, and until I learned to control it, it acted like a cold," Danny told her.
"So when you sneezed, you froze stuff," Ember said bluntly.
"Not just that. I was like a walking AC. Stuff I walked by froze. It didn't help that I felt like it was winter even when it was scorching," Danny said.
"No surprise that your power is the complete opposite of mine," Ember said.
"Well, it fits given your hot headed nature," Danny with a smirk. Ember only nailed him in the head again without even looking. "Ow!"
"Puns are a crime against humanity and ghosts. Especially yours," she told him.
"Deal with it," Danny said, nailing her back. Even when they weren't fighting, they were still trading hits. "It's part of my charm."
"Lack thereof, maybe. The only person that charm has attracted is the crazy girl in the pink," Ember said, making Danny groan.
"Why did you bring her up? I was in a decent mood," he said, making her smirk.
"Oh, what? You don't like your fan club?" Ember said with a teasing tone.
"Her, no. Those days are long gone. Now she's a headache," Danny said.
"From what little I've seen of her, I don't doubt it. Quick guess: Queen Bee of the school, thinks she runs everything, feels entitled to anything and everything she wants. Am I right?" Ember listed.
"Wow. That's good. You sure you don't spy on the school?" Danny said, making Ember snort.
"No. One plus to being dead is that I can avoid school. People like that were in my school when I was alive, and I stand them about as well I do now," she said before coming to a quick realization. She was talking about school with Phantom. Surreal was a kind way to describe what was going on.
"I could see you doing something like replacing her eyeliner with paint or garlic," Danny said.
"No, but I wish I did think of something like that at the time," Ember said with a smile.
"What?" Danny said with a smile as he turned his gaze from the sky to glance back at her. "Are you telling me you didn't do anything like that?"
"Have you?" Ember questioned.
"Well, no. But you aren't me," Danny said.
"Thank God for that," Ember said with a shudder.
"You would be lucky to be me, and don't sit here and act like you wouldn't," Danny said, smiling wider.
"I'd sooner be Bertrand," Ember told him flatly, but he couldn't see that she was smiling slightly.
"Ok, now I know I'm not that bad. You forget who's his boss?" Danny questioned.
"Ok, so you clear the lowest bar possible. Big deal," Ember said dismissively.
"You could always be Skulker," Danny said casually.
Ember was quiet for a moment. Danny was wondering if he had said something wrong, but when he looked back at her, she was facing the sky with a look of revulsion.
"UGH. Never mind. That is the lowest bar," she said, making him chuckle briefly.
"I've taken him out of commission for quite a while. And if I can help it, it's going to stay that way," Danny said, and Ember didn't miss the tone of darkness that slipped in.
"You know you sound completely different when you talk about Skulker," she told him.
"What can I say? He brings out the worst in me. And for good reason," Danny said through gritted teeth. "If possible, I'd do worse to him. But there's only so much that you can do to such a small, pathetic little creature."
Ember's eyes widened at the venom that entered his tone, and she looked back to see that his face was full of fury. He did relax after a few seconds as he floated upright.
"I think I'll fly on home," he said. "I think I don't smell like weed anymore."
"You don't. And at least you kept me entertained," Ember said, still lying on her guitar. Though she did rotate herself around to face him. Almost as if she was lying in a guitar shaped recliner.
"Not that hard to do. Strangely, you're not that hard to please. Innuendo aside," Danny said quickly, making Ember roll her eyes.
"Just leave before you somehow say something even dumber," she told him.
"I'm gone. But don't forget. Kickball head," he warned her before flying off.
"And he leaves with a threat to maintain what's left of his pride," Ember thought, shaking her head before turning back over and looking up at the sky again.
Something was bugging her though. The fact that talking to him seemed casual. Too casual for someone she wanted(wants?) nothing more to kill. Her not attacking him at first had quite a bit to do with the newfound brutality he was capable of. That didn't mean she had to have friendly races and conversate with him like they were well acquainted. From what she heard, Johnny and Kitty were doing something similar. It was all so strange.
Things were simpler before. They were the ghosts bent on world domination, and Phantom was the good guy determined to stop them. And it all changed. It all changed when he buried his friends. He was still Phantom, but he was a bit more rough around the edges. More unpredictable, darker, and even cynical at times. She knew what she'd do to the guy who dared to hurt her friends, but she didn't think Phantom would react on a similar level. Perhaps even worse.
Then he cracked down. Forced them to respect the peace he desired or pay a far bigger price than before. It was also around the same time they started to see him more on their level. Granted, only because he didn't immediately kick them out of a party they decided to sneak into, but it did happen. And they started to tolerate each other. Much more than they ever had before. It was surreal to think of Kitty or Johnny poking fun at Phantom the way that they would do with her. But it was happening.
Ember then righted herself before going to fly off back off into the Ghost Zone. She decided to take advantage of Phantom's night of goodwill and plan for the idea he suggested. Considering the idea of ruling the world was brutally being put a stop to, it was something she had the time to plan for.
A/N: Main reason I didn't update this was because I hit quite a few dead ends as to what I wanted to do with it. Plus there was one of my other stories that I had quite a bit of fun working on, so I didn't put as much time into thinking about ideas for the story as I could've, but I digress. Hope this somewhat makes up for the absence.
