(A/N: Happy New Year! After several agonizing days of recovering from having my Wisdom Teeth extracted, I'm finally starting to feel like my old self. I've got some ideas for fics to write after this one that will literally blow you away, and I've almost gotten my idea for how to go about the ending of this one down pat. It's just the middle that's giving me a bit of trouble. Please Read and Review.)

The next day at school, Danny told Sam and Tucker everything (though attempting to play down his ass-kicking) while they studied in the library. "You were at the bottom of the stairs?" asked Sam, not quite getting that part.

Danny nodded in reply and said, "There's only two logical explanations: One, the ghost that beat me to a pulp put me there, or Masters found me unconscious in the living room and carried me to the foot of the stairs before he woke me up."

"Neither of them makes much sense," said Tucker, almost musingly, "unless you take into account the possibility of them being in league with each other. I mean, let's consider the evidence: he was at the guy's mansion in the first place, Masters was called away the morning after it happened, and the ghost even told you to stay away in the future. This says to me that something is rotten in the Alamo."

Danny stared down at his books and replied, "You know, Tuck, that actually makes sense. I was getting some weird vibrations that morning whenever Vlad was around, but it didn't trigger my Ghost Sense. His being allied with a ghost would explain it. However, that still leaves the elephant in the room: What are they up to?"

Before they could come up with any theories to that, however, Danny started to breathe blue gas. Looking out the window, he saw a huge blue thug dressed like a longshoreman floating in the air. Danny looked around and, seeing no other students, went ghost and flow out to meet him.

Facing this new opponent, Danny said, "Okay, name, business, and desired version of getting your ass kicked, preferably in that order."

"I AM THE BOX GHOST," roared the ghost in a loud, irritating voice that could easily rattle a silent night, "And I have come to slay the one known as Danny Phantom and be hailed as a hero throughout the Ghost Zone! BEWARE!"

Danny, straining to his utmost to keep a straight face and not burst out in laughter, replied, "The Box Ghost, huh? So, what's your cool power? Control over boxes?"

"Fool," declared the Box Ghost loudly, "I control not only boxes, but ALL things that are cuboidal and the things that reside in them!" To display his power, the Box Ghost summoned a cardboard box from the school's science class. Unfortunately, it was filled with scalpels used for dissecting frogs. With a wave of his hand, the Box Ghost opened the box and caused the scalpels to rise and point at Danny.

"Ah, crap," said Danny. The scalpels lunged at him and Danny took off, flying this way and that in an attempt to avoid the surgical knives. But no matter how fast he flew, he couldn't shake them.

Okay, thought Danny after his fifth loop-de-loop, I need to come up with some better strategy than this. Suddenly, he remembered that he still had the containment unit in his pocket. And if these scalpels were being manipulated with ectoplasm . . . With a sudden burst of intense speed, Danny flew far ahead of them and drew out the containment unit. Activating it with a small prayer, Danny found the scalpels pulled into the unit's gravitational field. With a surge of joy, he flew back to the Box Ghost and trapped him.

Danny landed on the ground and took a minute to catch his breath. Sam came running over to him and said, "Danny, are you okay?"

Changing back to human form, Danny replied, "Yeah Sam, I'm okay. Tucker, I need you to go and look into Masters' business dealings. Let's see if your little hunch is right." Tucker nodded and ran off to get to work.

Just as Sam started walking off, Danny said, "Sam, wait."

"Yeah, Danny?" she said, turning to face him.

"I was wondering if, uh, we could talk about you and I, for a second," said Danny, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam, a look that could possibly be construed as hope crossing her face.

"Um," stemmered Danny, trying to find the right words, "Wouldyouliketogooutwithmetonight?"

"I'm sorry?" she replied, not understanding a word.

Danny took a deep, steadying breath and repeated himself, "Would you like to go out with me tonight?"

"You mean, like a date?" said Sam, feeling all bubbly inside but trying not to show it.

"I suppose," said Danny hesitantly, "if you want to call it that."

"Sure," said Sam, "I'll come by your place around . . . eight?"

"Great," said Danny, "I'll see you then."

Sam looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a simple yet elegant little black dress with matching low-heeled shoes, her black hair tied up in a simple bun. Wow, she thought with a smile, I look good. And indeed she did. She had used more eyeliner than usual, accentuating the catlike shape of her eyes and bringing out the Eastern mystique that was stereotypical in women of Asian descent. She had also discarded her usual purplish lipstick in favor of a subtle pink. Glancing quickly at the clock, she saw that it was 7:45. Grabbing the purse that she rarely used, she walked out into the hallway to leave.

"You look nice tonight, Samantha," said a tired voice from behind her. Turning, Sam saw her grandmother, Ida Manson. Sometimes Sam felt that she was the only one in her family who understood her.

"I have a date tonight, grandma," said Sam, making no attempt to disguise her glee.

"That's good, Sam," replied Ida with a smile, "You don't go out enough. It worries me, sometimes."

Just as Sam was about to exit to go meet Danny, her mother stepped in front of the door and said, "And just where are you going, Samantha?"

"Out," said Sam, a little more defensively than she'd intended.

"Do you have a date?" asked her father, coming out of his study. Sam bit her lower lip in way that convinced her parents that the answer was yes.

"With whom?" asked Pamela, obviously not thrilled with the idea. Sam didn't answer, which, to her father, was an answer in itself.

"Not that Fenton boy," said Jeremy, crossing his arms resolutely.

"Why can't I go out with Danny?" snapped Sam, "You don't even really know him and yet you pass judgement every time his name comes up!"

"He comes from a family of nutcases!" exploded Jeremy, "A bunch of mad scientists who chase after stupid fantasies, and I won't have my daughter running around with degenerates!"

"That," said Ida in an authoritative voice, "is quite enough. Jeremy, I'm ashamed of you. Ever since you met that boy, you've done nothing but put him down. Why? Just because you don't understand him. Do you even REALIZE how fascistic you sound?"

Jeremy was quiet for a while, but finally he said, "Just be back by curfew." He left for the kitchen. Pamela excused herself and followed him.

"Go now, Samantha," said Ida, "or you'll be late." Sam dashed out the door, mouthing thank you as she left.

(A/N: I'm not very good at first date scenes, but I'll try my best. Please Review.)

TO BE CONTINUED.