GhostWriterGirl: Hey guys! So, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! In this chapter, Danny gets the power of overshadowing-one of my favourites of his powers, along with his ghost rays, ghostly wail and ice powers! I don't own Danny Phantom, that wonderful show was created by Butch Hartman. I only own this story and Ava, Dustin, Holly, Josie, Nell and Owen. Now, speaking of the latter two… has any reader seen them? They've been missing for the last three ANs. I'm getting worried here.

Nell:*in that room, Owen and Nell are cheering Danny on as he overcomes a certain misery-feeding ghost*Woo-hoo, go Danny! Take that, Spectra!

Owen: You do realise that this is telling us Jazz discovers our secret and Danny's later on, don't you?

Nell:*stops cheering and balks*Oh shoot.

Chapter 12

Chapter 11: Parental Bonding

Third Person P.O.V

"So, Nell, do you wanna be my, uh, date?" Dustin asked unexpectedly, his blue eyes looking uncertain as he asked the most important question to him at the moment-even though it interrupted his and his girlfriend's study time.

"Your date for what?" Nell-Dustin's girlfriend, half-ghost necromancer, adopted daughter of Maddie and Jack Fenton, and ghost-fighting superhero, Storm Banshee-asked her ghost boyfriend back, looking up from the textbook she was dutifully copying notes and questions from into her maths book.

"My date for, um… the dance?" Dustin elaborated, nervous.

Nell smiled. "Dustin, you've been my boyfriend for, what, a month? You know I will always say yes to going out with you as your date for the school dance-or a real date."

Dustin smiled back. "I know. And, is that a yes?"

Nell smirked. "Yes it is, Dusty."

Dustin chuckled. Standing up from the chair he was sitting on, he scooted closer to Nell, pressing his cold, but firm, body against Nell's warm one-despite her being a bit deathly cold from her being half-ghost. The couple immediately laced their hands together, enjoying the other's company.

"Imagine what your parents would do when they discover who their daughter's dating… or more importantly, what she's dating," Dustin unexpectedly said. Nell craned her head to face him.

"Why do you say that?" she inquired.

"Nell, one day they'll want to meet my family. They'll notice that while you age, I don't," Dustin told her.

"Well, half-ghosts age slower than humans; they won't notice that much," Nell assured him, snuggling up next to him. "And anyway, if they do find out that you're a-"

Nell cut herself, before she looked around and whispered, "Y'know, a ghost, then they'll have to go through me, Danny, Ava, Sam, Tucker and Owen to capture you."

Dustin smiled a tender smile at her. "What did I do to deserve an amazing girlfriend like you?"

"Let's see, by being cocky, insufferable, flirty, annoying, charming, sarcastic, witty, funny, overconfident, hot, cute, and reminding me of myself," Nell answered, twisting around till she fully faced him, almost on his lap at this point.

"Well, that, but do you know what you are that I'm not?" Dustin whispered.

"No?" Nell asked back. "What am that you're not?"

"You're fiery, feisty, bold, good, selfless, heroic, and compassionate," he answered. He leaned closer to her, until their lips were barely touching. "And, those are a few of the things I love about you."

Nell didn't respond, only lean forward herself until their lips were an inch apart. There were only a few seconds, before their lips parted and they were kiss-

"Man, that soda really goes right through you!" Nell's adoptive dad, Jack Fenton, exclaimed, racing up the stairs from the lab where he had been "fishing for ghosts" with a line that ghosts couldn't break, which of course made Nell and Dustin nervous. Jack then raced to the nearest bathroom.

Nell sighed, rolling her eyes, before turning back to Dustin.

"Sorry about that," she apologised. "My dad seems to forget he's not soda compatible. Now, where were we?"

"I think we were… here," Dustin responded, and the two leaned in, knowing that nothing would interrupt this moment…

Until Nell's ghost sense went off.

Nell groaned, pulling back.

"Great, just great. First my dad, now a ghost? Am I not allowed to kiss my boyfriend in my own house?" Nell asked sarcastically, changing into her ghost form.

"Didn't Danny go down there to ask your dad about something?" Dustin wondered.

"Yeah, he did. He may have dealt with the ghost already, but still, better safe than sorry," Nell said back as she flew into the kitchen, turned intangible and phased down through the floor into the lab, where she saw Danny transform into his ghostly alter ego, Danny Phantom, and use spectral body manipulation to escape from being held by a… dragon!?

"That's a new one," Nell admitted, watching as Danny flew out of the way of the ghost dragon's attacks, including when the dragon nearly burned Danny to a crisp when it suddenly breathed green fire at him.

Nell was sorely tempted to help Danny, but kept her distance at seeing how well Danny was faring against the large reptile, watching as a kick from Danny sent the dragon flying and some weird-but beautiful-gold amulet flew off the dragon's neck and landed in Danny's backpack.

Shortly after, the dragon transformed into a… peasant girl?

Okay, I think I have seen everything so far, Nell thought, phasing back up into the kitchen but leaving her head phased through the ceiling and into the lab to see what would happen next.

The girl began to speak.

"All I wanted, was to go to the prince's costume ball. And my horrid mummy won't let MEEEE!" the peasant girl said calmly, her voice having a British accent, before raising into a yell. She was soon sucked back into the Ghost Zone.

Deciding that the situation was handled, Nell phased back up into the kitchen, where she turned human again(thankfully, Jack didn't see)and went back to the living room, smiling happily.

"You're happy," Dustin noted.

"Danny had the situation handled. I just watched," Nell responded. Sliding into the space next to Dustin, she pulled him close to her, smiling.

"Now… what should I wear to the dance?"

The next day

It was lunch, and so far, Nell and Dustin were the only two of their friends to have a date; Sam kept saying she didn't want to go to the dance(which Nell and Ava knew meant she really wanted to go), Owen and Ava were too shy to ask the other out, Danny was dateless as far as the others knew, and right now, Tucker was trying to ask every girl he met(with the exceptions of Sam, Nell and Ava)to be his date.

"Hey there, I-"

"No."

"Hi, would you-"

"Forget it."

"…"

"No!"

"I didn't ask you yet!"

Dejected, Tucker came and sat with Sam, Danny, Ava, Owen, Nell and Dustin, the latter two snuggling up next to each other, totally content in the other's arms, the African-American boy moping.

"Strike three, Tuck?" Danny asked jokingly.

"Try strike three thousand," Tucker responded back dejectedly. "Dustin, how did you get Nell to be your date for the dance?"

"One, I'm his girlfriend, and two, we've grown to actually know and care for each other," Nell commented, laying into Dustin's cold, but welcome, embrace and sighing contentedly. However, Nell felt pretty bad about Tucker being rejected by every single girl he met-with the exception of Sam, Ava and Nell herself, of course.

Maybe I can ask Valerie or Star if they could be Tucker's date, Nell thought to herself-before Sam talking drew Nell out of her thoughts.

"I don't know what the big deal is about going to some stupid dance. I don't need to be asked to some dance to know I'm special," Sam ranted, while Nell and Ava shared a look.

She wants to go bad, the other two girls at the table thought, before Sam continued, "I-"

However, she only got that out before she noticed that Danny, Owen and Tucker were looking at something, a look of awe and longing on their faces.

"What!?" Sam and Ava asked. Nell was tempted to say that too, but soon guessed the answer. As soon as she did, Nell's eyes narrowed, she clenched the bench underneath her so hard, her super strength was leaving indents of her fingers in the wood, and her eyes were starting to glow in hate-fuelled anger.

Her guess was confirmed when, as one, Danny, Tucker and Owen sighed, "Paulina."

Shortly after, the shallow-but pretty-Queen of Mean arrived, causing boys everywhere to get into easily prevented accidents that happened because they had stupid crushes on that cruel little witch who was part of the reason why Valerie and Star-two popular, smart and rich girls who had to pretend to be mean to stay popular-couldn't socialise with Nell and Ava at school. Paulina also reluctantly let Ava on the cheerleading squad, though Star helped as well.

"Paulina," the three boys said in unison again, dreamy, puppy-dog-stare looks on their faces.

Dustin snorted.

"A crush on a shallow, cruel A-lister? That's what's keeping Danny from admitting he likes Sam and Owen from asking Ava to the dance?" he inquired.

"Yep. And she is also my and Sam's rival, but mostly Sam's. And how do you know my brother wants to ask Ava to the dance?" Nell answered, tone thick with hatred for the Latina girl, before asking Dustin that question.

Dustin shrugged.

"I spent a lot of time among couples deeply in love; I know what they look like when they're in love with someone, or the crushes they have on someone. Danny has that look for Paulina, but Sam has the same look for Danny-despite them saying they're not lovebirds-and that look is hidden on Owen's and Ava's faces, but it's there," he explained. He leant down and kissed Nell's forehead.

"And of course, I see that look on your face every day Dell Nell," Dustin whispered, before the couple returned back to the world outside their little bubble a minute ago.

"Oh please, Paulina? Girls like her a dime a dozen," Sam exclaimed.

Nell thought she couldn't have been any more shocked when she saw Danny, Tucker and Owen rummaging around in their pockets.

"How much change you got?" Danny asked Tucker and Owen.

"Oh ho, very funny," Sam scoffed. "Just remember, you can't judge a book by it's cover."

"I agree with Sam," Nell added. "When I first met and spoke to Dustin, I judged him as a troublesome ghost that had to be put back in the GZ right away. Never would I have imagine he was actually a sweet, complex ghost boy who cares for his little sister, Ava, and me until I got to know him. Just don't think that because Paulina's as pretty as a fairytale princess, she's as nice as one."

"Well, there's only one to find out," Tucker said, him, Danny and Owen sitting back down.

"Go on, Danny. Go to that library and check out that book," both Tucker and Owen dared Danny in unison.

"I can't. I get weak-kneed when I try to talk to cute girls," Danny admitted-however, he just unintentionally insulted the three girls of the otherwise all-male group. Nell wasn't as offended, since she was Danny's adopted sister and Dustin's girlfriend, but to Ava and Sam, noticeably Sam(since basically everyone could see the feelings she had for Danny)Danny and just offended the two of them.

"Oh, and you have absolutely no problems talking to me and Ava," Sam said, insulted. Ava nodded, eyes narrowed, offended as well.

"Uhhh," Danny stammered trying to find a way to apologise to Sam and Ava.

"Skip it. Go give your weak knees some exercise," Sam cut in, hauling Danny out of his seat and pushing him toward the tree Paulina was eating her yoghurt.

"That will teach him to think twice about what he says around girls," Ava quipped. Nell just shook her head and watched Danny try to ask Paulina to the dance.

Of course, couple a teenage boy's nerves with ghost powers and you get something like…

"Hi, I…" Danny started, but the hand he was using to lean on the tree turned intangible and phased through it, causing him to fall down and face-plant the ground.

Well, you get something like that.

Nell winced, at the same time Paulina said, "Please. Don't say you've suddenly fallen for me; that line is so last semester.

Danny stood up, a bit dizzy from his sudden face-plant into the ground, and tried again, "Yeah, I mean no. Th-that's not it. I'm…"

Paulina looked up at him, bored out of her mind.

"I'm Danny," Danny introduced. However afterwards, his pants turned invisible and fell down, exposing his polka-dot boxers and causing everyone-with the exception of Sam, Tucker, Nell, Dustin, Owen and Ava, who looked shocked-to laugh at him; including Paulina.

"Ha ha ha ha. A gentleman usually tips his hat, but I'll give you points for originality," Paulina commented.

Sam narrowed her eyebrows and walked over to Danny.

"Oh man, this will be good," Nell muttered as she watched the cat fight that was waiting to happen between Paulina and Sam.

"Kudos, Danny. You just set an all-time speed record for drowning in the shallow end of the gene pool," Sam insulted Paulina, glaring at her.

It took about five seconds for Paulina to understand Sam's words.

"Oh no, you did not just call me shallow, did you!" Paulina exclaimed, offended.

"You taking a few seconds longer to figure it out just proves it," Nell whispered, just as Sam shot back, "If you mean, do you think girls like me, Nell and Ava could stand in a puddle full of you and not get our feet wet, then yeah."

Nell and Ava grinned at the well-deserved insult Sam gave to the Hispanic brat.

"Shallow, I'm not shallow," Paulina protested as Sam dragged Danny back to their table and the others; though Nell heard Paulina say, "On the other hand, I'm not so deep, that I couldn't lure a boy away from a Goth geek-and I will."

Nell groaned. This was going to be an interesting week.

The Next Day

It was the next day, and Dustin and Nell were starting the school day by making out in the broom closet. The blissfully happy couple were about to fully go deeper into the kiss when Nell heard Danny exclaim in shock, "In Dash's body!?"

"Oh no," Nell and Dustin groaned in unison.

"He's accidentally overshadowing Dash, isn't he?" Dustin asked rhetorically to Nell.

"Well, I knew that this power would come in a month or so; it was about time for it to show itself," Nell answered him.

"We better make sure he doesn't do anything too embarrassing while he's overshadowing Dash, right?" Dustin asked Nell.

"No. Let him have his revenge. I wanna see and hear what happens," Nell answered back.

Checking the hallway through the small screen in the door to see if anyone was near, Dustin and Nell invisibly phased their heads out through the door into the hallway, where they could see and hear what was happening.

Dash, who's eyes were toxic green instead of blue-purple, was saying to an annoyed Paulina in Danny's voice, "I'm also president of the Casper High geek club and I have every toe nail I've ever clipped! Wanna see them?"

"No," Paulina disgustedly said back.

"Oh, then you should get to know Danny Fenton! He doesn't scrub his mom's feet every night like I do," Danny said through Dash, and it was blatantly obvious to Nell and Dustin Danny was overshadowing Dash and using this to get payback. Dash(Danny) picked up Paulina's foot at the end.

"Ew! Get lost, loser!" Paulina exclaimed, grossed out.

Danny quickly phased out of Dash's body and back into the locker he must have been shoved into by the jock earlier, a groggy Dash saying, "Why do I suddenly feel like scrubbing my mom's FEET!?", before walking away.

Nell and Dustin phased their heads back through the door, fully tangible and visible now, bent over double from laughing so hard at Danny's payback against Dash.

"Oh man, for a first timer, Danny's first payback-through-overshadowing-the-person-you-hate was hilarious!" Nell gasped out between breaths.

"That was too… too… to-hahahahahahaHA!" Dustin started to say before laughing again, nearly falling through the walls from laughing so hard.

"Now, now, Dustin, we must calm down; otherwise, how are we gonna explain this power to Danny?" Nell told Dustin, calming down.

"Alright, alright, we'll explain to Danny about overshadowing," Dustin agreed. He then drew Nell in close, so close their lips were meeting each other. "But not until tomorrow. I mean, what damage can Danny do overshadowing someone by tomorrow?"

Tomorrow

"YOU OVERSHADOWED DAD TO HELP YOU OUT WITH YOUR PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE AND YOU MADE DAD AGREE TO CHAPERONE THE DANCE WITHOUT HIM REMEMBERING SAYING YES!" Nell shouted at Danny, fuming angry.

The siblings had arrived at the mall after school to meet the others after Jazz dropped them off there; Owen couldn't make it because he had to study for a test. Danny had told Nell about his new powers, asking Paulina to the dance, the amulet he gave her, and the conference. Nell admitted she had the power of overshadowing as well and the power she was talking about on the Monday after the accident a month ago-but when she heard about the conference...

To say Nell was furious about Danny using overshadowing to make the conference go smoothly and he had made Dad say yes to chaperone the dance, even though he won't remember it afterwards(a side effect of overshadowing; the person a ghost overshadows hardly remembers what the ghost made them do during when the ghost overshadowed that person)was putting it mildly.

"Okay, okay! I made a mistake. Sheesh, can you stop with the shouting, please?" Danny said back, massaging his ears as he added sarcastically, "You almost burst my eardrums."

Nell winced.

"Sorry Danny; forgot that you have heightened hearing as well," Nell apologised.

She glared at him sternly. "Anyway… Danny, you need to remember that you are responsible for making sure Dad 'remembers' the conference at the dance," Nell reminded Danny as they walked to where their friends were sitting. "I'll help you since I've had this power longer; but remember, you're mostly responsible."

With that said, Nell instantly sat next to Dustin, cuddling up next to him, while she listened to Danny tell their friends what he told Nell earlier.

Later

"So, your dad is going to chaperone the dance?" Sam asked, after Tucker had tried-and failed-to ask a passing girl to the dance.

"Yes, but he doesn't know he's going to chaperone because he doesn't remember that I made him say yes!" Danny exclaimed.

Dustin leaned in next to Nell and whispered, "I guess karma bit me in the butt when I said what damage Danny could do while overshadowing someone before today, right?"

"You think?" Nell whispered back sardonically.

"Let me get this straight," Tucker started, bringing Dustin and Nell back to the conversation. "You can just walk into people and take over their bodies from the inside? Nell, I'm guessing you can do the same too."

"Yeah pretty much," Danny confirmed.

"That's what possession, or overshadowing, means," Nell added as well.

"Hey Danny," Tucker started. "If you could control a girl for just about two minutes…"

Danny, hearing what Tucker was saying, realised what he meant and said, "Forget it. You can get your own date for the dance, like Nell and I did."

"Does he have to take off his pants and act like a dweeb, or will either one do?" Sam rhetorically asked.

Danny got a blank look on his face at hearing that.

Nell just shrugged, before smiling at Ava.

"Wait till you see what I'm wearing to the dance," Nell whispered to Ava.

"Me too," Ava whispered back. "If I get a date to the dance."

"You will, Ave," Nell assured her best friend. "You will."

"Honestly guys, I'm glad I'm not going to the stupid dance. Saves me theembarrassment of wearing the lame dress my parents bought me, heh, heh heh."

"So no one's asked you, huh?" Tucker asked her knowingly.

"Maybe if I was as pretty as Paulina," Sam seethed back.

"Why are you so down on her? So she's pretty, it's not a crime," Danny commented.

"Looks are deceiving, Danny," Sam said back.

Just then, people started to scream and Nell's and Danny's ghost senses went off.

"Ghost time. Can I finish your fries?" Tucker inquired to Danny.

Danny ignored Tucker and raced to the centre of the cafeteria, where a bright ring of light split into two and changed him to ghost form, Nell also transforming into her ghost form as well.

The two instantly flew off to deal with the ghost, which was the same dragon ghost Danny dealt with in the lab.

"Say, haven't we met somewhere?" Danny asked.

The dragon, instead of answering, roared and breathed fire at Danny!

"Danny, look out!" Nell warned, flying straight to Danny and managing to pull him away from being barbecued by the ghost dragon's fire. Danny again tried to talk to the ghost.

"Let's try this again: Hi, I'm Danny Phantom, she's Storm Banshee, and you are?" Danny introduced.

The dragon just roared and slammed it's tail into Danny, sending him shouting and flying into a weenie stand. Nell went to help him, before noticing the golden amulet around it's neck that it had back in the lab.

"How did you get that back? I thought you lost it, and-" Nell started to demand the ghost, before she realised something as her eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh, Danny didn't-no, he wouldn't have known… Paul-"

But before she could say anything else, Danny came back, shouting, "Sorry dude, I think you got the wrong weenie!"

At that, Danny flew straight at the ghost and slammed into it, but the dragon grabbed Danny and pinned him to the ground, where it shouted, "MUST HAVE TEE!"

"First it wants to go to a ball, now it wants a shirt? Make up your mind!" Nell shouted at the ghost, at the same time Danny said, "Tea? Ooo good idea. Coffee can make you a might jittery. Better yet…"

At the end of his sentence, Danny had turned intangible and phased out of the dragon's grip and into the ground, leaving the dragon confused. But it wasn't confused for long, as Danny phased back out of the ground underneath the dragon, turned tangible and yelled, "Have some PUNCH!"

With that, Danny punched the dragon so hard and sending it flying so far, Nell couldn't see where it landed.

"Well, that's the ghost done," Nell muttered, phasing into the ground and phasing back out in front of their friends along with Danny as they changed back into human form.

"Danny, Nell! Are you guys okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. But that's the second time I fought that dragon. We need to investigate," Danny replied back. "How are you guys?"

"Great, if you don't count me still being dateless for the dance," Tucker responded dryly.

"What about Ava and Owen?" Nell wondered, not seeing her friend, brother or boyfriend. "And where's Dustin?"

"Ava and Owen decided to go as friends for the dance. Ava's gone dress shopping while the guys are trying to scrounge up some suits," Sam explained to Nell, just as Tucker said, "Valerie."

At that moment, Valerie appeared, in A-list mode.

"Yeah, hi. Sucker, is it?" Valerie asked, purposely getting Tucker's name wrong.

"Tucker," Tucker corrected. "Or Tuck. Or Tuckerino."

"Which ends with 'no'? Which, by the way, is my answer, unless something happens in the next five minutes that makes me dateless," Valerie refused.

At that moment, Kwan appeared, saying, "You'll never guess what happened! Donna said she would go to the dance with me, so you're dateless!"

Little did anyone know, Nell had overshadowed Donna to go to the dance with Kwan and leave Valerie dateless so that she could go to the dance with Tucker.

Kwan left and Valerie said, "You're on."

"I'll take it!" Tucker exclaimed.

Valerie left as well. Tucker turned around and said, "Some may call it a rebound, but I call it a yes. I got a date! Woo! And the pants are still on."

The Afternoon of the Dance

It was the afternoon, and a few hours before the dance began, and everyone was getting ready. Maddie was putting a tie on Jack, even though the two were just going in their jumpsuits.

"I don't understand why I have to wear this stupid thing," Jack complained as Maddie fiddled with the tie, making sure it was okay.

"Because, it's Danny's, Nell's and Owen's first dance, Jack. If we're gonna chaperone this thing, we've have to make sure we don't embarrass them," Maddie reminded him.

"How would we embarrass them?" Jack asked, confused.

"I think it's great when you guys do anything that doesn't have something to do with your sick obsession with ghosts," Jazz said, glaring at them at the last part. Behind her, Danny was getting a drink while Nell was showing to Owen how to tie a tie; they were all in the kitchen.

"And you just tighten the knot by pulling down on the wide end. Slide the knot up and adjust," Nell instructed, showing him how to do it on a practice tie. She looked at Owen. "You got that?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks Nell," Owen thanked, smiling at her. "Can you imagine my embarrassment at going to the dance and wearing a tie that looked like a five-year-old tied it?"

Nell laughed at that, before saying coyly, "Especially Ava?"

Owen blushed, but defended himself, stammering, "W-we're just going as friends, remember?"

"Uh huh, riiight," Nell said disbelievingly, drawing out "right" and smiling even more coyly, but dropped it at the glare Owen sent her.

"Funny," Jack said, drawing Nell and Owen back to the conversation, "I don't even remember volunteering to chaperone the dance. It's all a vague blur."

Nell shot Danny a glare that said, See what I mean?

Danny sent her a sheepish smile and Nell just rolled her eyes, sighing.

"By the way, Danny and Nell," Jazz started to say as Danny was taking a drink of water and Nell was tightening the knot on Owen's tie after doing it around his neck, "just so you guys know, I'm on to your little secrets."

At that, Danny spat out his water and Nell tightened the knot too tightly, almost choking Owen.

"What!? Wh-what secret!?" Danny and Nell demanded in unison, panicking as they thought Jazz was referring to the secret of them being half-ghost!

"The clumsiness, the nervousness. I can't believe I didn't figure it out before… you have a girlfriend, and Nell has a boyfriend!"

"It's a lie, we're not ghosts!" Danny and Nell exclaimed at the same time, before they realised what Jazz said and Danny covered, "I-I mean, Paulina's not my girlfriend. She's just going to the dance with me."

"And remember, I told you guys that I already have a boyfriend," Nell reminded Jazz. "Remember? I told you guys I was going out with Dust a month ago."

"Oh," Jazz said, remembering that Nell did tell her, Holly, Josie and their parents that Dust Thornton was her boyfriend.

"That's great!" Jack exclaimed. "I can meet this Paulina and talk to her about ghosts!"

"You better let her know your family's insane now, Danny," Jazz "advised" Danny. "If you marry her and she finds out later, that's entrapment. Same for you and Dust, Nell."

"Jazz, I already told Dust that Mom and Dad are ghost hunters," Nell replied back. "And, we're not that far in our relationship to consider marrying each other!"

Danny sighed.

"We better go get ready," Danny said as he, Nell and Owen walked out of the kitchen and to their rooms.

"Okay. So I'm gonna have to dance with Paulina and keep our dad from embarrassing me. I can handle that," Danny said, but then he got an unsure look on his face.

"Don't worry Danny. Like I said before, I'll help. I've got overshadowing down-packed, so I can help with Dad 'remembering' the conference," Nell assured Danny. He gave a small smile to her.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Nell said back as the three siblings left to their rooms to get ready for the dance.

Later

It was a couple of hours later.

Tucker had arrived at Fenton Works a hour ago, and he, Danny and Owen were now in tuxedoes. Danny's was blue, Tucker's was green and Owen's one was red and black. Nell was wearing a purple halter-neck satin cocktail dress, midnight blue, sleeveless leather jacket that came to her thighs and was buttoned up in the middle, covering Nell's torso, her usual black boots, fingerless red gloves that crisscrosses at the top for an interesting feature, her promise ring from Dustin and Nell's usual necklaces. Right now, Danny was doing last minute checks while waiting for Sam-who was talking to them on Skype from her room-for the dragon research.

"Tie straight, shirt tucked in. Unbreakable ghost fishing line tucked neatly away just in case," Danny listed. "What's taking so long with that dragon research, Sam?"

"Alright, jeez! Here, I'm sending you the link," Sam said back. Shortly after, a webpage that had a picture of that same dragon ghost appeared.

"That's it!" Danny exclaimed, recognising the ghost. Clicking on "More Info," he read the rest of the information out.

"'Medieval ghostly legend held that the cursed Amulet of Aragon could transform any wearer into dragon form under any extreme emotional duress or anger.' That's the amulet I gave to Paulina. It must have accidentally fallen into my backpack-wait. You mean, I'm going on a date with a dragon!?"

"Like me and Nell said, looks are deceiving. I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful evening," Sam commented, before logging off, causing Danny's screen to go dark.

"She really wants to go to the dance," Danny realised.

Nell snorted. "Oh, you think!?"

"But she said she didn't want to!" Tucker pointed out.

"We're her best friends, we should have known," Danny continued, feeling guilty.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, right?" Tucker dismissed.

At that, Danny smirked and his eyes glowed green.

"No way. Forget it. Absolutely not. No!" Tucker refused.

Before Danny could respond, Dustin phased through Danny's/Owen's bedroom wall. Dustin wore a black tux, his ratty grey and white Converse sneakers, and his hair in a short ponytail, and he was carrying Ava bridal style. Ava was wearing a form-fitting dress that split off at her leg in a deep, scarlet colour, with pops of green and blue here and there. Her hair was styled up in a halfway-up, halfway-down style, with half of her hair in an elegant bun and the other half of her hair in soft curls. Her bun was held in place by a comb that had blue, green and red jewels in it, Ava had red lipstick and green and blue eyeshadow, blue teardrop-shaped earrings, a necklace with tiny green gems hanging off and a blue teardrop-shaped pendant, chunky blue and green bracelets on her right wrist, green-blue sash tied around her waist, and the spiked bracelet that Dustin gave her when she was twelve on her left wrist.

Just to say, Danny's, Tucker's and Owen's jaws dropped and Nell's eyes widened at seeing Ava.

"Do I look okay?" Ava asked, feeling a bit self-conscious at seeing her friends' looks.

"Ava, you look… you look… you look amazing!" Nell complimented, still stunned at how gorgeous her friend looked. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Ava, you look beautiful," Owen complimented. "Incredibly beautiful."

Ava blushed a deep red that matched the colour of her dress. "Thanks, Owen."

"Nell, are you ready to go?" Dustin asked, making Nell remember that her date for the dance was here as well.

"Yeah," Nell answered, walking up to stand beside him. She smiled at the others. "See you guys at the dance!"

With that, Nell changed into her ghost form, and she and Dustin turned intangible and phased out and flew to the dance.

At Sam's House

A minute later after Nell, Dustin, Ava and Owen left to the dance, Danny had overshadowed Tucker so that he could ask Sam to be his date for the dance. Now, the overshadowed techno-geek had just knocked on Sam's door.

Sam opened the door, and at seeing the knocker, asked, "Tucker? What are you doing here? Where's Valerie?"

"She kinda cancelled on me," Tucker(Danny)lied.

Sam's eyes widened, not noticing that Tucker's voice sounded like Danny's and Tucker's eyes were the same's as Danny's in his ghost form.

"Do you think we could go together, you know, as friends?" Tucker(Danny)asked.

Sam smiled, before it dropped as she had told him she didn't want to go to the dance and she said, "Uh, I don't know. This is so last minute, and-and I do have plans, and-"

"Well," Tucker(Danny)interrupted, shrugging, "I understand if you don't wanna go."

He was about to leave, but Sam stopped him as she said, "Okay, but only because you got stood up. I'll go change into the dumb dress I wasn't going to wear."

At that, Sam shut her door close and Danny-who was in ghost form-phased out of Tucker.

"See ya!" he farewelled.

"That is so unfair!" Tucker yelled after Danny left. "And as soon as Sam comes back, I'm gonna-"

However, he stopped himself as Sam opened the door. She was wearing a purple and black gothic dress; the skirt was purple, the bodice part was black and it laced up over a purple area, she wore fingerless black gloves that were fishnets at the top, her black choker, purple eyeshadow and her usual purple lipstick, and two bunches of her hair in pigtails. She also held a black and purple bag with a purple cat icon on it.

Needless to say, Tucker was a bit happy to now have Sam as his date.

"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Sam reminded him excitedly, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him with her as she went down the stairs.

At Paulina's House

Meanwhile, at Paulina's house, Danny phased out of the sidewalk and turned back to human form again. Waiting in front of the door, he practiced what he was going to say to Paulina to have her give him the amulet back.

"Paulina, about the amulet. It's an ancient family heirloom, and I need to get it back," he said, before slapping himself.

"Ah, no that stinks," he said. He then heard the door opening and, standing in front of him, was Paulina's dad.

"Oh, hi! Um, you must be Paulina's dad," Danny greeted, though he was a bit nervous at seeing Paulina's dad.

"If you upset her, we're going to have a violent talk," Paulina's dad threatened.

"Papa, you're scaring him," Paulina chided her dad. She was wearing a pink dress and pink gloves, and the amulet-which Danny noticed. "Come on Danny. We're gonna be late."

"Have a wonderful evening, baby!" Paulina's dad farewelled as Paulina walked down the stairs to her house. He then leaned in close to Danny and said in a menacing tone, "I know where you leave."

"And I'm glad we had a chance to chat," Danny said back as he followed after Paulina.

In the Sky

On the way to the dance, Nell relayed to Dustin that the amulet Danny gave Paulina was actually a cursed ghost amulet that could turn the wearer into a dragon when angry.

Needless to say, Dustin was shocked.

"Hold, hold up. Are you saying that Danny's going on a date with a dragon!?" Dustin asked, wide-eyed.

"Technically, yes," Nell confirmed. Dustin let a low sigh as he rubbed his forehead.

"I've heard of girls being high maintenance, but that's just ridiculous!" Dustin exclaimed, referring to the amulet. "Poor Danny; he's gotta make sure Paulina's happy all night unless she goes all medieval fire breathing lizard on him!"

Nell laughed at Dustin's attempt of a joke, before she then noticed that they were at where the dance was being held.

"There's the dance venue!" she exclaimed, pointing it out to Dustin. Noticing it, the two ducked into an alley near the school gym-where the dance was being held-but not too near. Nell changed back to human form while Dustin put on his human disguise. Walking out, the couple headed into the gym and straight onto the dance floor.

"Care for a dance, Dell Nell?" Dustin asked Nell.

She grinned at him. "Sure, I love too."

Putting his hands around Nell's waist, the two went into a fast dance as Dustin spun Nell around, not caring about everyone else looking at them as they continued to dance, Nell laughing as she enjoyed her night.

Meanwhile, At the Same Time

During when Nell and Dustin flew to the dance, Ava and Owen were walking together. Owen had to admit, Ava was stunning.

"You look beautiful tonight," Owen complimented. Ava blushed a scarlet red that matched the colour of her dress.

"Th-thank you," she stammered out, twirling a curl nervously.

"No, seriously, you look absolutely beautiful tonight," Owen continued, giving Ava a small smile. Ava smiled back.

Little did anyone know-save for Nell, who guessed it straight away-Ava had a bit of a crush on Owen. It had started when they were in third grade, when Owen had helped her with her books after they were "accidentally" ruined by the A-lister queen bee of the time, Amanda Thurston. Ava still remembered that day, as if it was yesterday…

Flashback-seven years ago

At Amity Park Elementary School, seven-year-old Ava was crying. The local A-lister queen bee, Amanda Thurston, had "accidentally"tipped all of Ava's books out of her bag and scattered them all over the hallway floor, before stepping on them for good measure.

During her crying, Ava began to pick up her books into her bag and was reaching for her next one-when it wasn't there anymore.

Looking up, Ava was stunned to see someone she didn't expect to be there.

"Here, Ava, let me help you."

Ava could only look on as Owen Fenton-brother of Danny Fenton and Ava's best friend Noel "Nell" Fenton-began helping Ava put her books away. He gave her a friendly smile, reddish blue eyes twinkling, before it dropped at seeing her tear-stained face.

"Ava, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Ava only nodded wordlessly as she said, stammering a bit, "Y-yes."

She picked up one of her books and put it in her bag as she said, "You know, you shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?"

"Helping me. I'm just a shy, freaky bookworm who always has her nose stuck in a book and will also be an ugly nerd," Ava said, bitterly saying the insults Amanda always called her.

Owen looked shocked.

"What? Ava, that's not true!" Owen exclaimed, before grabbing Ava's shoulders. "Look at me. You're not a freak, and you're not ugly. You're smart, and you're way more intelligent than Amanda. Who else dresses up as Hermonie every year for Halloween, quotes from Lord Of The Rings, dreams she could have been there to uncover the treasure from Treasure Island, and fantasies she could go out with one of the Three Musketeers?"

Ava smiled shyly. "Me."

"Yes, you. So don't for a second think that just because Amanda Thurston says things about you, doesn't mean they're true. You're more smarter than her, and way prettier than her," Owen continued, blushing a bit at that. "And if anyone says otherwise, don't listen to them. You're you, and that's what matters."

Ava smiled, before hugging Owen.

"Thanks Owen," she whispered. "I needed that."

"Anytime. And, if you want to talk, you can talk to me, Nell, Danny and our friends," Owen told her, before he pulled out of the hug and left to organise his books as well.

As he did, Ava couldn't help but feel as if she had feelings for him. Her heart began to thump harder, and she felt a bit lightheaded-especially when her pulse accelerated when Owen gave her a small, friendly smile.

Yep, Ava was certain she was crushing on Owen.

Flashback Ends

"Ava, are you okay?" Owen asked, noticing Ava's far away look.

"Uh? Oh, yeah I'm fine, Owe. Just thinking," Ava answered. The two fell into a comfortable silence before they arrived at the school gym and entered.

Once inside, they noticed that Dustin(in his human disguise)was spinning a laughing Nell around as they danced, Dustin smiling as well.

Owen turned to Ava and asked, "So, what do you wanna do?"

Ava gave a shy smile as she said, "I would kill for some punch."

Owen grinned, and left to get some punch. While he was gone, Dustin and Nell took a break from dancing, with the couple noticing Ava.

"Hey Ave!" Nell greeted, panting a bit as she walked up to her friend; Dustin had left to go get Nell some punch. "Man, is this dance fun or what?"

"I guess so," Ava admitted. The two girls turned around and smiled and waved as Sam and Tucker entered the gym, closely followed by Danny-and Paulina. Nell gasped at seeing the amulet.

"Nell, what's wrong?" Ava asked, as Owen hadn't told her about the amulet.

"The amulet Danny gave Paulina… it's actually a ghost amulet that turns the wearer into a dragon when angry," Nell explained.

Ava's eyes widened. "You serious?"

"Dead serious."

"Well," Ava started, looking at Paulina again, "this dance is definitely going to be interesting."

"You can say that again," Dustin agreed, coming up to them and giving Nell some punch. Nell took a sip from it. Owen also came up and handed Ava some punch as well, which she gratefully drank from.

Dustin looked at Nell-who was halfway finished-and asked her, "Do you want to dance again?"

Nell gave a smile at him. "You betcha."

Discarding their glasses still full of remaining punch, Dustin pulled Nell onto the dance floor and they danced again, really enjoying the school dance and forgetting about the amulet.

Later

"Isn't this night wonderful," Nell murmured, head resting on Dustin's shoulder as they stood next to Ava, Owen, Tucker and Sam, taking a break from dancing.

"Tucker, Sam, Nell, Dustin, Ava, Owen, we've got trouble," Jack Fenton said to the six teens in Danny's voice, and when Nell looked at her adoptive dad and saw that he had the same glowing green eyes as Danny's in his ghost form, she realised that Danny was overshadowing Jack.

"We had nothing to do with it Mr. Fenton; it was all Danny's idea!" Tucker babbled nervously.

"Tucker, it's me, it's Danny!" Jack(Danny) hissed.

"Sam, Nell, Ava you three try to help me find Paulina. Tucker, Owen, Dustin, keep an eye on my dad. If he starts talking to anyone, page me, got it?" Jack(Danny)ordered, handing them walkie talkies, before walking away.

"This dance gets better and better with every passing minute," Sam commented.

"I am never going to forget this dance," Ava agreed, before she, Sam and Nell raced off to find Paulina while the boys shadowed Jack.

Eventually, Sam noticed Paulina and reported it to Danny through her walkie talkie. "Danny, I got her!"

"Stay on her, I'm on my way. And Sam, don't make her angry," Jack(Danny)reminded Sam as Danny phased out of Jack and left to head to where the girls were.

"We've got it Danny. Sam, me and you are heading to where ever Paulina is heading. Ava, look out for us in case anyone decides to go to where ever we are," Nell ordered. The Goth and bookworm nodded.

Paulina had gone into the girls' bathroom. Ava stayed by the door, while Nell and Sam went in.

"Hey, Paulina!" Nell called out.

"Nice dress," Sam complimented.

"Yes, and it goes so nicely with your amulet, don't you think, Sam?" Paulina said back.

"My amulet? That's not my-" Sam started to say, before she and Nell realised that had probably been what Danny had come up with to try to have Paulina give him the amulet.

"Play along," Nell hissed.

"Right, listen my grandma gave me that amulet, and-" Sam started to say, but Paulina cut in.

"Forget it, sweetie. I'm not giving up this trinket, or your little boyfriend, Danny."

"My boyfriend? Ha ha, and they say pretty girls can't be funny! Danny is not my boyfriend," Sam clarified,

"He's not?" Paulina asked.

"He's my best friend. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow," Sam answered, sincere.

"What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you!" Paulina revealed.

Nell gasped, before narrowing her eyes in anger. That little witch!

Sam had a shocked look on her face as Paulina continued to speak, placing the amulet on Sam. "Here! Take your crummy amulet! I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend."

Unfortunately, that was the worst mistake Paulina could have made. Because shortly after, the amulet, picking up on Sam's anger, transformed her into a dragon, while she shouted, "SHALLOW LITTLE WITCH!"

Nell just gasped in shock while Paulina fainted at the sight. Ava ran in and gasped as well.

"What the-" she started to say, before Nell tackled her to the ground as Dragon-Sam grabbed Paulina and blasted a hole into the roof, flying out of it.

"GO GET DANNY!" Nell shouted at Ava. The bookworm nodded and left the bathroom.

"I'm becoming banshee!" Nell yelled, transforming into her ghost form and flying out of the hole in the roof, following Dragon-Sam.

Outside the girls' bathroom, Danny whispered, "Paulina? Sam? Nell? Av-"

Before he could say Ava's name, the glasses-wearing girl crashed into him, sending him to the floor.

"Danny!" she yelled. "The amulet turned S-"

Before she could finish, Danny gently pushed Ava off him and ran into the bathroom where he gaped at Dragon-Sam flying away and Nell in ghost form following straight after her.

Transforming into ghost form, Danny quickly flew after them. Managing to catch up, he then kicked Dragon-Sam, making her crash into the football field. Danny and Nell then landed shortly afterwards.

"Danny, that's not Paulina, that's Sa-" Nell tried to tell Danny, except he didn't hear her.

"Take it easy Paulina, you don't wanna hurt Sam," Danny said.

At that moment, Danny finally noticed that it was Paulina, not Sam, in the dragon's grip.

"Paulina? Sam?"

Dragon-Sam then rose up and roared, "SHALLOW GIRL!"

"Yep, that's Sam," Danny confirmed.

"That's exactly what I tried to tell you!" Nell shouted exasperatedly, sighing and rolling her eyes.

Sam then roared and breathed fire at them. Danny and Nell turned intangible, allowing the fire to pass harmlessly through them.

Turning tangible again, Danny exclaimed, "Whoa, Sam! Two words: breath mints!"

Danny then flew up and grabbed Paulina out of Dragon-Sam's grip. She roared in anger and the used her tail to hit Danny and Paulina towards the bleachers. Danny turned himself and Paulina intangible and phased them through the bleachers, where they landed in front of Dash and some random girl.

"Uh, sorry," Danny apologised.

Dragon-Sam then lifted the bleachers, roaring in anger, and causing Dash and the girl to run away, screaming in fright. Nell, who was right behind Dragon-Sam, flew behind her neck and tried to unclasp the amulet.

"Danny! The amulet… it's stuck!" Nell exclaimed. "I can probably take it off, but only if you can buy me some time!"

"That I can do!" Danny shouted back-but before he could, his and Nell's walkie talkies went off.

"Danny, Nell, Lancer's getting close to your dad!" Tucker reported to them.

"Go, Danny, I've got this," Nell told him.

"But-"

"GO!" Nell yelled, eyes glowing intensely. Danny sighed, but sped towards the gym.

Nell, meanwhile, gave up on trying to unclasp the amulet and floated down near Dragon-Sam's tail.

"I hate to do this Sam, but you leave me no choice!" Nell yelled as she used her ghostly super strength to pick up Sam's tail and swing her around until she let go, sending Sam flying.

Zooming over to wherever Dragon-Sam landed, Nell sent out an electric pulse and shocked Dragon-Sam, but it just caused her to get even more angry!

Lashing out a hand, Dragon-Sam slammed Nell away, causing her to crash into the bleachers.

"Note to self: don't use electricity on Sam, amulet or no amulet," Nell noted to herself, before flying up, hand curled into a fist and surrounded by white energy as Nell charged up a ghost ray. But before she could fire it, Danny came back, slamming into Dragon-Sam.

Nell let the ghost ray die down and charged in, dodging each fireball Dragon-Sam breathed at Nell and Danny. More flames were thrown, and after the last bout, Danny quipped, "I hate to say this, but you throw fire like a girl!", making Dragon-Sam even angrier.

"Danny, we need to get the amulet off Sam, not make her even madder!" Nell shouted.

"Nell, I said I would buy you time, and I will," Danny responded back. "Right… now!"

At that, Danny pulled out their dad's new invention.

"The Fenton Fisher. It can capture ghosts and dragon ghosts! Way to go Dad!"

Danny flew around Dragon-Sam, using the line to pin Dragon-Sam's wings and clawed arms to her sides until she was as tightly wrapped as a present. Wings no longer of use, Dragon-Sam dropped like a stone to the ground.

Landing beside her and using their ghostly super strength, Danny and Nell ripped the amulet off and Sam reverted back to normal.

"Sam," Danny asked, he and Nell transforming back to human form as Danny kneeled down besides Sam, "are you all right?"

"Wow. Did I have fun at the dance?" Sam asked back, hand to her head.

"Well, uh, let's just say you had a roaring time," Danny answered, referring to when Sam was under the amulet's spell and chuckling a bit. Sam smiled back at him.

Nell, meanwhile, went back to the dance and walked up to Dustin.

"Hey Dusty," she greeted, lacing her fingers around his neck.

"Hey Dell Nell," Dustin greeted back. "What happened?"

"Let's just say that Paulina and Sam had a roaring time," Nell told him. At Dustin's quizzical look, she added, "I'll tell you later. Right now, let's just dance."

Dustin grinned.

"Let's," he said back, wrapping his arms around Nell's waist and swaying her to the music.

...

Later

A minute later, Nell and Dustin took a little break. Danny, Nell and Sam had told Tucker, Owen, Ava and Dustin what happened-especially when Paulina only wanted to go out with Danny because she thought he was stealing him from Sam. By now, the dance was nearly over.

"Dude, sorry that your date didn't pan out," Tucker said to Danny sympathetically. "Where is Paulina anyway?"

Paulina was actually with Dash, who was annoyed that Dash was trying to flirt with her.

"So, do you like quarterbacks?" he asked.

Sam was about to say something, but decided not to and said instead, "Oh, who cares?"

She then noticed the DJ was still playing and continued, "Look. The DJ's still playing. And I think there's time for one last dance."

"Sure, I love too," Danny accepted. He then turned to Tucker and said, giving him the amulet, "Keep an eye on this, will ya?"

Tucker nodded and Sam and Danny went onto the dance floor.

"Come on. Like Sam said, there's still time for one last dance," Nell said, dragging Dustin on the dance floor with her as they started dancing again, Ava and Owen quickly joining them, as the six teens began to slow dance with their respective partners.

"Promise me you'll keep your pants up?" Sam jokingly asked Danny.

"I'll do my best," Danny answered.

Nell rested her head on Dustin's shoulder as he fully embraced her-but she then noticed Danny and Sam dancing together.

"Oh, come on," she murmured. "If they don't recognise their feelings for each other now…"

Nell didn't bother finishing her sentence as she let it trail off and smiled knowingly, nuzzling Dustin's shoulder as she let the music and the gentle swaying of Dustin's body and his comfortingly cold, firm embrace drift Nell away to her happy place and enjoying the remainder of the dance, despite the ghost fight.

Tucker, meanwhile, instantly realised after watching Danny, Sam, Ava, Owen, Dustin and Nell dance with their respective partners that he was all alone again.

"Wait a second. I'm dateless again!? What does a guy have to do to get hooked up around here!" Tucker demanded.

"I'll dance with you, Tucker," Ava said after she excused herself from Owen. Tucker smiled as he and his best friend danced together along with Danny, Sam, Nell, Dustin and a solo Owen, who didn't mind dancing by himself. All in all, this dance was one the seven teens were not going to forget any time soon!

GhostWriterGirl: I know the ending was a bit cruddy, but I hope the rest of the chapter was good! And yes, Ava likes Owen! But, they won't be a couple anytime soon, just so you guys know. Anyone, I know I did third person P.O.V for this chapter, but I think I might mix it up with third person P.O.V and Nell's P.O.V, so watch out for when I switch from Nell's P.O.V to Third Person and vice versa! Anyway, read and review, and no, I do not own Danny Phantom, that belongs to Butch Hartman. If I did, there would have been a fourth season. Now, I need to find Nell and Owen. Anyone know where they are?

Nell:*in the abandoned room, Nell and Owen are up to the twelfth episode of Danny Phantom*Go Sam!

Owen: Man, even in this show, Sam still kicks Tucker's and Danny's butts at video games!