AN: Late Christmas special to get over the holiday season time-frame in-story.
I felt like I couldn't just gloss over the Holidays and the Christmas Truce, so I'm lightly-glossing over it with a bit I've had in mind for years.
Enjoy!
The last bell rang through the school and a stampede of students erupted out of Casper High into the snow-covered landscape. It was officially Winter Break.
Sam and Tucker talked about their holiday plans. Sam was having some cousins over for Hanukah celebrations while Tucker was going out of state to see his grandma for Christmas (his other grandma, not the one who asks for footrubs, apparently).
"Yeah, I'm actually thinking about going home, too." Danny commented.
"You mean… home home?" Tucker emphasized quietly, glancing around them.
The half-ghost nodded, "Yeah, I mean, its not unusual to be out and about for a couple months in the Zone, but at the same time it's kind of a thing to be around for the Christmas Truce."
"No Hanukah Truce?" Sam frowned playfully. "I feel underrepresented."
"Nah, it's just the unofficial name for it." Danny explained. "It's traditionally a Winter Solstice Truce for some old-timey Ghostly society thing, but enough ghosts eventually said 'screw-it' and put it on Christmas Day."
"Hey, it's an excuse to exchange presents and party," Tucker offered.
"Yep! That's the idea!" Danny beamed. After they split, he flew invisibly to the cemetery portal, with a quick detour to a certain decrepit building.
"Ahh, Zone sweet Zone," Danny quipped, flying through the eternal void of the ghost zone. Unfamiliar purple doors mingled with landmarks in a constant swirl of change. The green hue felt calming and the constant hum of ectoplasm was like a literal breath of fresh air.
For a ghost, at least.
Slung over his shoulder was his schoolbag he had emptied specifically for this trip. He was mindful for Walker. Knowing the rule-loving ghost, Truce or no Truce he'd find someway to ding Danny for 'possession of Mortal Realm Items'.
Plus the 'contraband' he was carting along, but as long as they kept it hidden in their lairs, Walker wasn't a concern.
The ever-changing scenery of the Zone became more familiar (don't ask him how, it was like a ghost instinct or something) and he found a rocky outcrop floating in the void, already populated with a couple familiar faces.
"Danny!"
"Babypop!"
Danny waved down at Ember and Youngblood as he landed. The rocker ghost had her usual black outfit and appearance with a little white Santa-like trim for decoration.
Youngblood, however, was in full-Santa mode, with the red and white suit, an almost comically long Santa hat, and a little Radio-Flyer-wagon-sized sleigh. Of course, his ever-faithful parrot companion was a skeletal 'Rudolph' pulling it, glowing nose and all.
"Hey, guys," He greeted, "Any updates on-" He was cut off by the sound of an engine roar careening towards them, 'skidding' to a stop against the Nothingness of the Zone and landing on the outcrop. Johnny and Kitty took off their 'helmets', letting them fade to ectoplasmic vapors.
"Sorry we're late," Kitty waggled her fingers. "Johnny had to dodge one of Walker's goons on the way here."
"Solid," Ember held up a fist for Johnny to pound. "So, now that we're here, anybody want to start giving out gifts?"
"Well, I've got something, but I'm gonna need you to keep a secret," Danny interjected, conspiratorially.
The group leaned in to hear him continue, "Okay, so I haven't told my parents, but... I visited the mortal realm."
"Shut up!" "No way!" Johnny and Ember gasped.
Kitty's eyes were wide with worry, "Are you okay? I heard there's this ghost who fights anybody who goes there."
"Yeah, his name is Phantom; no relation," Danny lied. "But he's just out to keep the town safe. I met him and he was okay with me as long as I wasn't causing trouble or destroying stuff."
"Heh, sounds like we're gonna have a problem when we visit," Johnny smirks, eyeing Shadow floating beside him.
Danny held up his hands, "Careful, though; the town's on pretty high alert and there's a lot of people not too keen on ghosts there."
"We can take 'em," Johnny retorted confidently.
"No, I mean they know what they're doing." Danny began.
"It's true!" Youngblood interrupted. "I heard from Anastasia that the Producer was caught. Like, permanently caught in the mortal realm! He hasn't come back to the Zone."
The others stilled. "But, Boxy gets caught, like, every other day," Ember pointed out.
"Yeah, by Phantom," Danny explained. "Phantom's got a catch-and-release sort of thing with most ghosts. They cause trouble, he stops them, catches them, and sends them back to the Zone. The Producer was caught by a couple humans and I don't know where they put him." Danny (technically) told the truth.
"Woah," Johnny murmured, "Talk about a buzzkill." Shadow warbled softly beside him.
"Meh, the guy was a creep," Kitty reasoned. "I found him years ago in a crummy part of the Zone. He had those shackles, too, so he was always sort of a bad egg from the get-go."
"He was putting mortal kids in comas to keep them 'watching' his shows," Danny explained. "I heard he was caught, but that was the end of it."
"Still, pretty hardcore of you to stick around," Ember commented worriedly.
The halfa grinned, "Hey, Phantom's cool as long as you're cool about visiting. Speaking of… can anybody say 'Walker-decreed-contraband'?"
The group crowded around, mood lightened as Danny upended his backpack of wrapped presents. He sifted through and gifted each to the specific recipient.
"Man, I forgot how… real human-world stuff is," Ember commented, playing with the little ribbon on her present. "It's nothing like an ecto-construct."
"You better enjoy it," Danny joked. "I spent, like, an hour trying to figure out how to wrap everything."
"Me first, me first!" Youngblood exclaimed, holding up a lumpy package with his name. He tore the wrapping paper and gasped when a colorful collection of Human-World candies spilled out.
"I promised, didn't I?" Danny smirked. Youngblood leapt in excitement as he stowed the loose candies in his hat.
"Hey, what's this?" The ghostly-child paused, holding up a little flat box with an elaborate cover.
Danny grinned, "You might need to see someone with a DVD player and TV for that or Construct one if you can. I know you're not really the type for TV, but I figured 'Pirates of the Caribbean' was right up your alley." Youngblood gleefully put it in the back of his sleigh construct.
"Okay, next up is Kitty," Danny said, offering her box next.
The ghostly-girlfriend opened the package and shrieked in excitement seeing an elaborate makeup kit. "Thank you! Thank you, I love it! Oh, my god it has a color for my skin tone!"
"Babe, your skin is gray-green," Johnny commented.
"Exactly! Blush #12 is perfect for Winter types!" She squealed happily.
"So long as you're happy," He shrugged, accepting his own gift from Danny. "Aw, man, no way!"
He pulled out a pinup poster detailing modern motorcycles and several sunglasses of varied designs.
"This is awesome, Danny!" Johnny said, putting on a pair of reflective aviators.
"And last, but not least," Danny announced, gesturing for Ember to open hers.
She carefully tore the paper and untied the ribbon. She gasped when she saw the gifts. "These- these are the real deal!"
She held up a set of several flat records in their boxes. "ACDC, The Beatles, The Eagles, Nirvana,… *gasp* Led Zepplin!"
She constructed a record player right then and set a needle on one of the disks at random. A guitar rift played and then the lyrics:
"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long I'm glad to be back-"
"Oh, I love Led Zepplin!" Danny said, cluelessly.
…
If looks could kill, Ember would probably have killed him again.
"A-anyways, where did you find these?" Kitty distracted from the vaguely murderous aura.
"A thrift store. They're pretty popular, actually," Danny shrugged.
"Wait, you bought these?" Johnny asked, eyebrow raised.
Danny squirmed, realizing as a ghost he can't exactly walk into a store an 'buy' things. And nobody here knows Danny Fenton has money from the neighborhood jobs.
"I, uh, um-"
"You totally stole these," Ember cheered. "Aw, Babypop!"
"Nice one, little dude," Johnny congratulated. "We'll make a delinquent out of you yet."
"No, no, no, it's just…" Danny paused, then drooped defeatedly, "Look, just don't tell Phantom, okay?"
"Lips. Are. Sealed." Kitty said, mimicking a zipper.
Internally, Danny didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or groan.
Johnny nodded, "Not sure if I can top Human World gear, but let's keep going!"
Danny left after what was probably hours with his ghostly friends reconnecting. Gifts were exchanged, rumors discussed, and he fielded lots of questions about the Mortal World.
Eventually, he drifted off the rock, a backpack full of bits and bobs his friends exchanged with him, and headed out.
In no time at all, really, he found himself landing back on the front porchstep of a tall brownstone building with the burnt wreckage of the Ops Center on top. He knocked on the door, grinning.
"Just a second!" A voice called. The door swung open and a figure in a teal jumpsuit appeared.
"Danny!" She gasped, arms opened for a hug.
"Hi mom."
"Come in, come in, sweetie! Jack! Danny's home!" She shouted, ushering her son in the home.
"Danny-boy?" A voice called from the basement lab. "Glad you came back for the Truce dinner! Your mother's bringing fudge!"
"Oh, yes, I'm trying a new ectoplasm-to-ecto-chocolate-ratio for the fudge and I think it'll be a real hit this year," She said, smiling. "Well, I'll let you get comfortable. After that, I could use some help in the kitchen, if you want."
"Sounds great, mom." Danny answered.
His mom pressed a quick kiss to his forehead, "It's so wonderful to have you back, sweetie. I want to hear all about what you've been up to lately!"
Danny's smile froze a little as he mentally constructed a convoluted timeline of lies, "Uh-huh. Well, I'm gonna go upstairs, might be a little while I'm *yaaaawn* really tired. Long flight."
"Okay, rest up dear, we've got a couple Truce Dinners we were invited to this year," She called up.
"Is one of them Ghost Writer?" He cautioned.
His mother rolled her eyes, "Sweetie, he really is a nice man. And to be fair you ruined his manuscript that year."
"I said I was sorry!" He defended.
"Well, either way he didn't invite us this year." She admitted, "But we're still going to Pandora's. This is the year I finally pester that baclava recipe out of her," His mom chirped, retreating to the kitchen.
Danny smiled as he floated up the stairs and knocked on his sister's room. "Oh Jaa-aaazz!"
The door flew open and the ghostly teenager wrapped her arms around her brother. "Danny! I was so worried about you!"
"Hey, hey, I'm alright," He insisted.
"I heard about that Phantom person catching ghosts in the mortal realm and I was so worried for you when I didn't hear from you."
"Not so loud," Danny hissed quietly. "It's fine, Jazz. Really, I talked with the guy and he's really cool. It's just people like Boxy or Spectra being annoying or malicious that he fights. I visited and he was totally fine with it as long as I didn't cause trouble."
"Still…"
"Hey," He interrupted, holding up a gift, "would a new female-role-model autobiography book make it better?"
Her eyes glowed (literally) with fondness, "Oh, Danny, you know Ghost Writer just Constructs any book in existence to his library, right?"
"Yeah, but you're always saying how you miss the feel of a real book!" Danny offered.
His sister accepted the book and gave another hug. "I'm glad you're back, Danny."
"Love you, too, Jazz."
Further in the ghost zone, Technus spritzed himself with a ghostly cologne, admiring his Truce Dinner tux in the mirror. "You are looking sharp, Technus. Or as the kids say; 'funky-fresh'!"
He hummed a little ditty to himself as he ambled around the lair. The Master of All Things Beeping paused when he noticed a package left on one of his workbenches.
Curious, he drifted over, spotting the card on top. "Hmm. 'To Technus, I hope you enjoy this. It's all the rage in Mortal Japan. Signed, your Secret Santa'. I did not know there was a Secret Santa this year!"
He delightedly opened the paper and pulled out a gray sweater. He turned it around-
"No…"
The adorable whiskered face.
"No!"
The rectangular body.
"NO!"
The… RAINBOW FARTS!
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A scream echoed throughout the Zone. Jazz paused, breaking away from the hug with Danny as he struggled to control his laughter.
"What did you do?"
"Whaaaaat?" He asked innocently. "Is Technus not a cat person?"
AN: That Technus joke's been on my hard drive for years. Finally able to pull it out!
I saw 'Far From Home' with the family on New Years Eve, in case anyone got the joke.
.
Well, that settles up the Truce and Christmas, now onto actual Plot and the gloomy, murky, gray winter months of an Illinois December 26th to March-ish! Woot!
Seriously, if you don't live in the Midwest, it's like all of the "winter cheer" and snowy fun gets stuffed up after December 1st and just *dies* at 11:59 PM on December 25th. After that, it's a gloomy slog through three months of cold, dark, slushy, icy, snowy winter until the Thaw.
Then we immediately hit Spring Allergies season... yaaay...