Chapter Twenty-One: Breaking the Spell

Wednesday June 11th 1998

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny in the Fenton household. Danny had made it through the night with only the box ghost attacking. It didn't take him more than a few minutes to catch him and he was back in bed before a quarter of an hour had passed. "Halfway though the parent free week," he mumbled to himself. "Not quite the week I thought it would be.

No. Sam, Tucker and Danny had planned hangouts and movie marathons, they'd even discussed working down in his parent's lab on some ghost tech while the adult scientists were away. But none of this had come to pass. Danny wasn't sulking per say but the arrival of one 'Lilly-I-have-ghost-powers-but-I'm-not-telling-you-the rest-of-the-story' had definitely thrown all 'fun' plans out the window.

She had taken up residence at the Fenton household for six days now and it really didn't look like she would be going anywhere anytime soon. They couldn't get one word out of her about where she belonged, what her home might be, not even about her parents; though from what Danny picked up it did seem like she was raised by a single mom and had no other siblings. At one horrible moment Danny thought that maybe she could be an unknown daughter of Vlad Masters, but Sam and Tucker had pieced together that that couldn't be the case. He had made the comment Monday evening while out walking with his two best friends after a day of training with Abbi.

"Remember you told us you asked her if the name Masters meant anything to her and she knew exactly who you were talking about," Tucker said. "If she was his kid, she's have acted more… off about your questions."

"Oh really? And you're some big behavioral annalist now, are you?"

"Well… no… but she didn't seem to be hiding things when you asked about him the way she avoids questions about her family and home," Tucker reasoned, though even he didn't sound too convinced.

"She knows WHO her dad is, she's just never met him before." It was Sam who answered this question. "It's the way she talks, at least that's what Jazz said."

"When have you discussed this with Jazz?" Danny asked.

"While you spend your first week of vacation with a complete stranger, that's when. Did you really think I was going to say at home all week with my parents?"

"Oh…" was all Danny replied.

"Yeah, 'Oh'. Anyway. Jazz supposes that Lilly knows a lot more then she's letting on."

"What makes her say that?" Tucker asked.

"You'd have to ask Jazz for the more methodical explanation. But she says a girl in Lilly's situation should be far more worried about her parents or parent looking for her, about being stuck with no visible means to communicate with her friends or family. She's too comfortable. Like she's been here before," Sam tried explaining. "Picture that it's you in her shoes. From what we know she has no way to get home, no one she knows whom she can contact, and no idea how she randomly has ghost powers? If that was you, wouldn't you freak out a bit more? Even you, Danny, were more worried when your powers started to develop; and you were at home and with friends."

Silence met her little speech. Danny was thinking about it. When he had woken up after the portal started up with him inside… it had been terrifying. The face that looked back at him from the mirror wasn't one he recognized. Black hair made white. Blue eyes turned glowing green. Not to mention the fact he kept slipping through the floor.

His fear had dropped some when he knew Sam and Tucker weren't running out on him, they stuck around all evening trying to find a way to fix him. When he realized he had no heart beat… now that really scared him.

So, no, he couldn't imagine being as calm as Lilly was appearing to be with all that was happening to her. Granted her appearance hadn't changed (that they knew of) and her heart was beating as well.

"So, no. I don't believe that Vlad could be her dad. Even if Vlad didn't know about her. He's also too hung up on your mom to consider looking at another woman in my opinion," Sam cut through the silence, quieting Danny's internal debate.

That little discussion had calmed Danny's fears, but it still left the question of where on earth (or in the Zone) had this girl come from?

Staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom while he lay there, thinking, he wondered when his life had gotten so complicated and why he wasn't more worried about not being surprised that it was complicated.

Half an hour later he was down in the kitchen with Lilly and Jazz eating the breakfast the Jazz made. Having taken on the role of 'babysitter/caregiver' over the two fourteen-year-olds very seriously. Lilly was currently asking Jazz about this seminar that their parents were at for the week.

"They don't get many of these types of things to go to since most of the country still doesn't believe ghosts exist. Even though Mom and Dad have video evidence of the ghost zone, of ghosts attacking the city and just about everything else, people just aren't willing to believe that any of it is real. They think it's all a hoax. Computer generated or green screened, you know. They pass off Amity Park as a great big tourist trap and throw out any evidence they find came from our town," Jazz went on, dishing out the scrabbled eggs onto three plates.

"But then why do they keep going if they aren't taken seriously?" Lilly asked.

"Dad's very passionate about ghosts, willing to talk anyone's ear off about them. Mom is more scientific and is willing to try and persuade as many people as she can through evidence and experiments. They take a lot of their weapons and work with them. The ectoplasm powered guns and suits, diagrams of the portal and other larger projects," Jazz explained, now sitting down with them at the table. "There are the few people they have convinced who like to see what new things they have created. Information on new ghosts that have come through the portal. Some of the people even come back with them and see the town for themselves. More than once have we hosted some 'ghost tours' of the city for their colleges."

"They've never tried to take a ghost with them? Solid proof that they are real?"

"Well… Now don't get me wrong, Mom and Dad are the best in the field at ecto-energy and everything. They just… aren't very good at actually catching the ghosts they hunt…"

Silence hung in the kitchen for a moment before Danny pipped up. "Also the ghosts they do catch seem to get out before any real harm can be done to them, or before they can be taken out of the town," he explained. By me… he thought to himself.

"So… they are excellent scientist… but crappy ghost hunter?"

Jazz and Danny nodded.

"If they are so bad at it… why not quit?"

This caused Danny and Jazz to laugh. "Mom and Dad? Give up fighting ghosts? I can't think of anything that would cause them to give it up. It's their life's work. Has been since collage, maybe even before," Danny laughed. "Wonder what they might do if they ever did think about quitting…" he pondered thoughtfully, trying to picture his parents in some other type of job.

"Maybe they'd open up a fudge factory?" Jazz laughed. "Or at least, dad might."

Before Lilly could make a comment about this, the door bell rang and Danny was jumping to his feet. "I'll get it, it's probably Sam and Tucker."

Sure enough when he opened the front door his two best friends were standing there. "Hey!" he greeted them.

"Hey," they chorused back.

"Ready to go?" Tucker asked, PDA in hand.

"Yeah, just let me grab my shoes," Danny answered, turning and racing up the stairs to his room.

From the kitchen Lilly and Jazz could be heard still talking about the Doctors' Fenton and their life-long obsession to fight ghosts. Not a second later Danny reappeared, taking the steps three at a time and landing at the bottom without so much as a thump.

"Jazz, I'm going out with Sam and Tucker!" Danny called happily.

"Okay! Call if you need anything!"

"Let's go, dude! Come on!" Tucker was halfway down the stairs.

"Have any idea what you want to do today?" Sam asked, walking down to street level beside Danny.

"Something that doesn't involve ghosts or ghost powers," Danny laughed happily.

"How did you get out of teaching the little liar today anyway?" Sam asked.

Danny ignored this jab at Lilly, having given up on changing her view of the strange girl. "I told her yesterday she should take a day off and rest, that it would help in the long run not to over do it too soon."

"Is that true?" Tucker asked.

"I'm not sure, honestly. If she is exactly like me, then it will help a little bit, but we don't know what she is so…" he let his sentence trail off, no real answer to the question.

"So what do you want to do? Hang at the park? Nasty Burger? Mini Golf?" Sam asked, changing the topic without any warning.

"How about Mini Golf, we haven't been to it since it reopened, maybe they've changed some of the courses."

So the three friends headed off to the golf course that sat on the hills to the east of the town. The treck was a bit far but they occupied themselves with discussing the latest horror movies and the ones that were currently being filmed. The latest in the Nightmerica series was due for release around Halloween later that year.

When they did arrive at the golf course there was a bit of a line to wait in. Apparently they weren't the only ones who hoped for a change of course after the ghost attack. Up at the front of the que were the A-listers and their groupies. Some young couples and parents with younger kids took up the rest of the line.

"Wow, guess we weren't the only ones who thought of the golf course," Danny said, eyeing the long line.

"Well it is one of the few places left that is open," Tucker said, tapping away on his PDA. "You can only visit the Zoo so many times before it gets repetitive."

"Still, there are plenty of other places to go," Danny grumbled.

"Like where?"

"Well there's…" Nope, Technus attacked the arcade. "How about…" Oh… Lunch Lady destroyed the mall food court a few weeks ago, I wonder if its open yet? "Well then they can go do…" No… Box Ghost got the trampoline park too, it's never even been open yet and it's needing repairs…

"There's mini golf and the park. Face it, ghosts have been a bit too active the past few weeks," Tucker finished for the resident ghostly ghost hunter.

"Do you think we will ever see a drop in ghost attacks," Danny asked, his voice low and pained. Sam and Tucker turned to look at Danny, seeing his face set in defeat and exhaustion.

"Maybe Danny. They'll have to get bored with always being defeated by Phantom eventually," Tucker tried. "Who knows, maybe your parents will shut the portal for good someday."

The look Danny gave Tucker was clearly not what the tech nerd expected to receive.

"That is… keep it shut more often… to not let as many ghosts out…" Tucker tried to repair his apparent blunder.

"What ever happens in the future Danny, we'll always be here to help in every way we can. If that means taping Tuckers mouth shut, I'd be more then happy to help," Sam said, give the boys a sarcastic glare.

Danny smiled at that. "Thanks guys."

"No problem man," Tucker said. "But you're not really going to tape my mouth shut, are you?"

"It's an option," Sam replied, taking a step forward as the line moved an inch.

They waited in line for an hour before it was their turn to grab some golf clubs and a few balls, then they set out onto the mini course. Ahead of them were families with small kids so even though they finally made it to the course, they still had to stand around waiting for the next course to become free to even move on and play. After another hour of this Sam spoke up. "So maybe the golf course wasn't the best idea, we would have been better off playing Doomed all day."

Danny and Tucked nodded in agreement.

"Should we ditch the last few hold and head to the Nasty Burger?" Tucker asked. Watching as the family ahead of them tried in vain to get their youngest child to hold the club the right way.

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

With that decided the three of them returned their clubs and balls and made their way back into town and towards their favorite burger joint.

It was mid-day when they found themselves at the park sitting by the pond watching the ducks and ducklings swim around. Danny was laying on his back, eyes shut and enjoying the sunshine listening to Sam and Tucker continue with their meat vs. no meat argument when their peaceful day was ruined.

"Hey, isn't that Lilly over there?" Tucker asked, pointing across the pond.

Danny sat up and looked in the direction Tuck was pointing to see the black-haired teen wandering along the bike path in the park. "Yeah, so?"

"What do you think she's doing here?"

"Walking?" Danny offered, not too fussed about the appearance of the strange girl.

"Why isn't she at your house with Jazz," Sam grumbled, glaring at her as she rounded a crop of trees and disappeared behind them.

"There is only so much a person can take of Jazz's psychology babble combined with ghost lectures," Danny said. "I'd try to escape too, if I were her."

"Do you think she's looking for you?" Tucker asked.

"Why would she be looking for me?" Danny replied, confused.

"Because it's you she always seems to be watching?" Tucker answered, in a 'how have you not noticed' way.

Sam cut into the conversation, not liking where it was going. "How about we forget about strange girls that appear out of nowhere wanting your attention and head back to my place for that movie marathon we wanted to have?"

But Danny didn't hear a word she said, a cold chill had just worked its way up his spin and out through his mouth. "No…" he mumbled.

"Who are you calling strange?"

Turning around the three of them caught sight of Ember hanging in the hair, her flaming hair alight behind her, arm's crossed.

"What do you want, Ember? I was finally having a day off," Danny groaned, standing up to face the rocker ghost.

"The Zone was getting boring, and you're always available for a little fun, so I thought 'hey, why not' and decided to stop by; so, who were you calling strange?" Ember asked.

"Ghost!"

The four turned to see a small five-year-old girl screaming at the top of her lungs while pointing at Ember.

"Yeah, so," Ember asked, causing the poor girl to run away screaming.

"Great… now everyone's going to know…" Danny grumbled.

"You still haven't answered my question," Ember pointed out.

"Who said we were going to answer in the first place?" Sam retorted.

"What, a girl can't ask a question?"

Danny cut off Sam's retort. "Is there any chance of you leaving without a fight?"

"Come on, baby pop, what fun is that? I came here for some fun, not an afternoon chat."

"I was afraid of that."

"So let's go! I haven't' got all day," the rocker said, grabbing her guitar from behind her.

"Maybe if I don't do anything, she'll just leave…" Danny whispered to Tucker and Sam.

"Not likely dude."

With no further warning, Ember strummed the wires on her guitar and waves of rock music erupted from it. Danny, Sam and Tucker just made it out of the way before the attack hit, exploding the hill beside the lake and causing a wave to crash over the opposite bank.

With the screams of the little girl and now Embers attack, it wasn't long before some braver people came running to see what the commotion was, rather then running away for safety. Most of them were the young people of the city hoping to catch a glimpse of Phantom. Danny recognized more then a few of his own classmates among them.

"Let's get out of here," he called meaningfully to Sam and Tucker. His friends nodded in understanding and the three of them darted into the undergrowth and behind the trees. Meeting up in one of the groove of trees inside the park. "Ready for this, guys?" Danny asked, his face set with determination as Sam and Tucker kept a look out for stray spectators. "Going Ghost!" Danny called out his catchphrase. It wasn't necessary but by now it was a habit that was hard to break.

Rings of light popped in to view around his waist and split. Black turned white and blue turned green as his heart stopped and Danny Phantom appeared. Shooting into the sky, he made his way back over to Ember where the ghost was waiting, patiently blasting craters into the earth and making the spectators scatter like ants.

"About time baby pop! I was beginning to think you'd run away for good!" she called, changing her target to the newly arrived ghost boy.

"You know I never keep a lady waiting. You're not much of a lady but I guess you'll work for now," Phantom called, sending an ecto-blast her way and bringing the fight higher into the air.

"Is that so!" Ember shouted, aiming a blast from her guitar towards him.

"Care to prove me wrong?" Phantom laughed, darting around and avoiding the blasts, getting into the swing and enjoying the battle.

Down on the ground, Sam and Tucker watched helplessly as the two ghosts battled above. "Come on Phantom! You can do it!" Tucker called, running out from beneath the cover of trees.

"Oh look! It's the ghost boy! Yoo hoo! Phantom! It's me! Paulina!" the Latino teen was standing about twenty feet to their left, waving madly at the two ghosts in the air. "He's so handsome!"

"Hey! Where is Danny!"

Sam and Tucker turned to see Lilly running up to them, panting but not too out of breath yet.

"Why are you here?" Sam demanded, still angry at the girl.

"I saw you all run into the trees. Where did Danny go? Is he still in there?" she asked, ignoring Sam's question and continuing on with some of her own. She turned back to the groove. "Danny!?" she called, heading into the trees when no answer came.

"Great, now we got miss nosy around too," Sam grumbled.

"I'll look after her, and make sure she doesn't try and join the fight. That just seems like something she might do," Tucker called, turning to follow Lilly.

"Fine, but I'm staying here, someone's got to make sure Danny doesn't kill himself…. All the way."

Shrugging it off Tucker ran after Lilly, easily tracking her as she crashed through the trees and was still shouting Danny's name. Soon the sounds of the fight faded to the background as the leaf canopy provided a sound block. Green light illuminated the forest, casting shadows across the ground.

"Lilly!" Tucker called, noticing that the girl was getting farther away from him. "Lilly! Come back here!"

"Tucker?!" Lilly's answered back, the sounds of trees moving stopped.

"Come back, you don't want to get lost when there are ghosts around. Skulker could be nearby too!" Tucker called only half truthfully, Ember and Skulker didn't usually attack together.

"But Da-Danny!"

"You won't find him in here, he was going to head home, make sure you and Jazz were there and not in danger," Tucker lied easily, scanning the trees for any sign of Lilly.

"He went home?" Lilly asked. Tucker could hear her making her way back to him.

"Yeah."

Lilly finally appeared around a large oak tree. Tucked sighed in relief. "It's really not a good idea to go running off when there is an attack. You never know where the ghosts will strike. Phantom tends to aim toward uninhabited areas, and this counts in that description."

"Oh, I… I didn't know."

"Let's get back out of here before anything bad starts here and no one knows where to find us," Tucker said, turning back the way he had come.

"Okay," Lilly said, resigned. "But you're sure, sure sure, Danny isn't in here hiding?"

"I'm 100% sure he isn't in here," Tucker said confidently.

As the headed closer to the edge of the tree line, sounds from the fight reached their ears again. Then a scream ripped through the air. A scream Tucker recognized. It turned his blood to ice.

DP DP DP

Danny was having a blast, in a way. There certainly was a blast that had hit him in the shoulder, but that wasn't the point. He had gone three days without a serious ghost fight, and he couldn't deny that he was enjoying himself just a little. The witty banter, the flight, the adrenaline that came in a fight. Each ghost he battled took a slightly different type of stratagem to defeat, each had their own powers and their own goals. And today, Ember's goal appeared to be a good old fashioned beating. She didn't shout about her boyfriends feeling lame or damage to her wonderful (her words) hair or guitar. She just seemed, as she had said, bored.

"That all you got, dipstick?" she shouted.

"I don't need more to defeat you!" Danny cried, raising a shield as she blasted her guitar again.

"Yoo hoo! Phantom!" Paulina called from the ground.

"Look's like I'm not the only one with fans," Ember called, glancing down at the teen.

"Lucky me," Danny grumbled.

"What? Don't you like strange girl showing up out of nowhere and wanting your attention?" she teased, floating to the left, avoiding a blast Danny sent her way.

"Not really," Danny called. "I seem to have enough of them already, I don't need more!"

"Oh right, how could I forget, you have a thing for the Goth chick, don't you?"

Danny was so glad they were too high up for their voices to carry to the ground. Instead he shot another wave of ecto energy at her.

"Well she's down there right now, isn't she? Hoping that you'll get your head out of the clouds and notice her?" Ember called. All but forgetting about the fight the two of them were having.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, not really caring, just trying anything to knock her out of the sky.

"You and goth chick, isn't it obvious?"

"Ember, get to the point!"

"You are so clueless," Ember called, shaking her head. "Here you got one girl throwing herself at you and you don't want her, but the girl you do want is throwing herself at you and you ignore her."

"Sam does not throw herself at me," Danny shouted, his gaze flickering down to look between the two girls standing yards below them.

"No? You sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I think I'd know if that was the case!"

"Then why don't we test that theory?" Ember called and before Danny could responds, had thrown herself towards the ground, stopping between the two living teens.

Paulina shrieked in fear, jumping away from the blue-haired ghost chick. "Phantom! Save me!" she called.

Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes and he flew after Ember, landing between her and Sam, effectively ignoring Paulina.

"Hey girls," Ember called, grinning like a maniac between the two.

"What do you want, Ember?" Sam asked, contempt in her voice.

"Just to prove a point; and have a bit of fun. Well, mostly to have a bit of fun. See Phantom here thinks only one girl here is throwing herself at him, I'd like to prove him wrong," her eyes landing on Sam as she finished her statement.

"Oh really? And how are you going to do that?" Sam asked. All three of them ignoring Paulina trying to get Danny's attention.

"Oh… you remember my guitar's different powers, right? One twist of this nob and I can make anyone do my bidding," Ember replied, motioning to the small switch on her guitar that had once caused Danny to fall madly in love with Sam, or rather more in love with her.

"Ember…" Danny said in warning, "Don't even think about it."

"Oh, but I already have. Say good buy to your free will," Ember shouted, her aim at Paulina who cowered near the pond.

"No!" Danny shouted, leaping into action to push Paulina out of the way. He only just managed to get to the Latino girl in time to realize it was a diversion. Ember had turned her attention to Sam the moment Danny had passed her.

Sam let out a scream as she saw the pink waves rushing towards her, throwing up her arm's in a feeble attempt to protect herself.

Ember's attack might have hit if Danny hadn't thought fast. Rather than construct a shield that would stop the blast and possibly be broken in the process, he created a new shield he'd been working on. This shield, while less powerful, wasn't designed to stop the attack but to redirect it. He raced towards Sam, all his focus on keeping the shield up as wave after wave slammed the shield and bounced back.

He and Ember yelped in shock as it came back at them, both ghosts able to shoot out of the way as the attack reached them and then passed. Unfortunately, the attack did hit a target, just not it's intended target.

Paulina gasped in pain as the waves hit her. Already being on the ground, the girl didn't have far to fall as she slumped forward.

Screams from the onlookers over took the clearing and many began to run, realizing that a living person had been injured, they didn't want to hang around and be the next victim.

But Ember, Sam and Danny stayed where they were, watching the Latino girl groan as she regained consciousness. "Wh…what?"

Her gaze drifted up and locked on to Danny. "Oh Phantom! Have I ever told you have green your eyes are?" her sappy look clouded with a dazed expression.

"Well, this works I guess," Ember said, giggling as she floated into the air. Paulina still on the ground began to crawl towards Danny who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Um… Paulina…? What… what are you doing?" he asked, backing away from the girl as she drew closer.

"Don't you see?" she asked. "You and I were meant for each other. We're both the most popular kids around. Your handsome and I'm gorgeous. We would make the most beautiful children together," she cooed, grabbing his white boots and working her hands up his legs.

"S-stop!" he called, trying to back away only to fall backwards, prompting Paulina to start to crawl on him. A couple of months ago, Danny might have liked this display, but experiencing it now… was disturbing. "Ge-et off!" he tried again. When that didn't work, he turned his body intangible and fell through the ground, rising back up behind Sam, Paulina looking around wildly for him.

"But where did you go Phantom?"

Danny vaguely heard Ember laughing above them, something about 'best thing ever' but he didn't pay attention to her.

"Leave me be, Paulina!" Danny called when the girl had found him and started towards him again.

"Not likely," Sam said, backing away from the Latino girl as well. "Last time I had to break you out of the spell," she reminded him.

"You had to ki…." Danny didn't finish the sentence.

The realization of what needed to be done to break Paulina free of Ember's love spell hit Sam and Danny like a ton of bricks.

Slowly the two turned to look at the other, both their faces turning bright red.

DP DP DP

"Sam!" Lilly cried out in horror and shot forwards. Tucker ran after her, but Lilly had the advantage of now controlling her ghost powers and was making her way by flight and intangibility. Tucker had to make his way out with no added help. Soon Lilly had vanished into the trees again, but Tucker couldn't be sure that she hadn't just gone invisible.

Arriving at the edge of the woods, Tucker paused to scout out the scene. Blindly running onto a battlefield was Danny's job.

A few yards ahead of him stood Lilly, her posture ridged, hands clenched into fists by her side. But what ever she was looking at was hidden from Tuckers' view. Carefully drawing forward, his eyes landed on the scene that, in different circumstances, might have made him laugh.

Paulina stood by the pond, eyes wide in shock and horror at the two in front of her. Ember was laughing her head off in the sky, pounding her fists on imaginary ground as she watched.

There, in the middle of the commotion stood Sam and Danny Phantom. Sam's arms wrapped around Phantom's shoulders, Phantom's around Sam's waist, kissing like there was no tomorrow.

"No," Lilly whispered, Tucker only just making out her words. "Mom… how could you…?" Tucker was sure he had to have heard her wrong. "Why! Why him!? No!"

Then she was turning her back on the scene and bolting down the bike path, leaving a confused Tucker to watch as his two friends untangled themselves from each other and Paulina fell to her knees sobbing.

Posted 4/15/2019

My heart goes out to all who live in Paris and France as they wait in silence for news of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. I visited the Cathedral myself in July 2007, the sheer size of the church is overwhelming. Never would I have imagined I'd see the day it might be destroyed. 800+ years of history should not be able to be destroyed in a few short hours. Prayers for the firefighters who are battling the blaze and those who must now pick up the pieces left behind. #NotreDame

Morning Bleach