Author's Note: Thought or Emphasis; Flashback; Thought or Emphasis in Flashback

I don't own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom: Not All Bad

Part I

"Gotta move!"

In the endless expanse of the parallel dimension known as the Ghost Zone, the protector of Amity Park left a black and white streak across a green ectoplasmic sky. Danny Phantom, in his usual hazmat suit, white hair and glowing green eyes, was on an urgent mission.

He gripped at his collar, something hanging off his back. With the Specter Speeder out of commission—his father had been working on it, enough said—he had to hold the cargo by hand, and take the risk that the source of his worries wouldn't fall off.

The goal was a bit distant, but the journey was a straight line from here.

"Just hold on. We're almost there."

However, the trip wouldn't be so simple.

A laugh echoed through the Zone, to Danny's annoyance.

"Not now!"

In a burst of spiraling flame, an old enemy appeared.

A teenage girl with white glowing skin floated before him, seemingly dressed like a rock star from the 1970s. A black one-shouldered tank top, the strap on her left, revealed her toned midriff. A long glove covered her right arm and hand, only a bracelet on her left wrist. A pair of tight black leather pants, with a gray belt hanging off the waist, showed off the legs that trailed down to skull-faced platform boots.

Eye shadow with lines trailing over her cheeks accentuated the green in her eyes, filed with mischief as opposed to her would-be opponent's anger. Purple lipstick painted her lips and piercings hung in her right ear, further accentuating the rocker look.

Her most striking feature, however, was her robin's egg blue hair, a ponytail and bangs made entirely of ghostly fire.

"This isn't the time, Ember!"

"Anytime's a good time for a Babypop beatdown!" She summoned her guitar, purple with blue flame decals. "I got a new single that'll rock your—"

A blast of ghost ice flew past her face, taking her left bang with it.

"HEY! What's your deal, Dipstick!?" She grew the hair back. "Whatever happened to a little pre-fight smack talk?"

"No time, not for that or your games." A snowball charged with a ghost ray inside glowed in warning. "I've got someone way more important to meet today than you."

Now she joined him in anger. "Who the heck's more important than the hottest singer in the Ghost Zone?" She puffed up her already ample chest.

"For one thing, how about my precious cargo?" He pointed to his back.

"What cargo?" She finally took notice. "You mean that ice cape?" She scoffed. "I know you're supposed to be some goody two-shoes hero, but isn't that a little much?"

"My wha…?" He felt over his shoulders, touching two ice-covered arms acting as a collar for the 'cape' Ember saw at a distance. "NO!" Danny's face blanched. "She's almost frozen solid!"

"She?"

"Ember, get over here! I need you!"

"Uhh…" A part of her not utterly confused at the turn of events was quite flattered. "I mean, yeah, of course you would. It was only a matter of time before you fell for the flame-"

"Your flame is exactly what Danielle needs!"

"Who's Danielle?" What's he trying to drag me into? She didn't like what he was implying. Who does he think I am, Spectra?

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" He was desperate, and turned his back to her. "Shoot me!"

"Huh?" He was only making it weirder. "First, you're trying to flirt, and now you want to-"

"JUST SHUT UP AND FIRE!"

"Fine, Phantom! Just remember," her hair formed a fireball at its tip, "you asked for it!"

Ember's aim was true, striking him right in the 'cape.' The ghostly ice melted into a startling sight.

"Is that... a ghost kid?"

The 'ghost kid' in question resembled the young man she had latched onto during the trip, with the same green eyes and white hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a black and white long-sleeved shirt showing her midriff, baggy pants of the same colors, and white boots.

"Her name's Danielle, and if I don't get her to the Far Frozen, she's gonna end up even worse than this!"

Danielle had come back into Danny's life barely conscious, phasing through the wall and collapsing on his bed, a sheen of frost where she landed. Traveling the world after her stabilization, she had no idea that the cryokinetic power that once blossomed in Danny's body had also begun to grow in hers, but at an even faster rate. Danny understood the symptoms, saw her pain, and rushed through the Fenton Portal without a word.

Ember saw the young one shiver, sending a matching one down her own spine.

"Just tell me what I need to do."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "You're helping me?"

"I'm helping your little girl." She floated closer, putting her guitar on her back. "What do you need?"

"Just keep her warm until I get there." As Ember advanced, channeling the power of her fire core, Danny asked, "Why?"

"In case you didn't know, we don't get a lot of ghost children in the Ghost Zone. The little pirate kid, er, what's his name…"

"Youngblood," Danny reminded her, the group continuing his journey. "And I think he's going through a cowboy phase now…"

"Whatever. Point is, his kind's actually rare around here." She drew on the rumors given around the Zone. "How I hear it, most kids aren't born ghosts; instead, they just move on to the Big Guy Upstairs since they've got nothing keeping them around when they die. So when they do stick around, they're kind of a big deal."

"How big a deal?"

"Ghost Zone unspoken rules, big." Ember watched the blue in Danielle's skin start to fade. "You don't mess with a ghost on her deathday, you don't mess with anyone on Christmas, and you never, ever, go after ghost children… well, unless they shoot first."

"Wow." Danny blinked, before it came to him. "Wait, why wasn't I under this rule? Skulker calls me 'Ghost Child' and tries to waste me once a month!"

"One, you're a teen. You don't count any more than I do, and I'm pretty young by ghost standards." Before Danny could wonder about her age, she went on. "Two, Skulker's sick in that trash can head of his."

"Says the one who dated him…"

"And dropped him like the crapsack he is, 'cause he wouldn't drop that stupid obsession over you!"

Were he not flying, he might have stumbled from the surprise.

"You dumped him… over me?"

"Yes!" Her pale cheeks turned blue. "Wait, I mean, no!" She rushed through her explanation. "We kinda clicked over the 'cut you up and scatter your pieces all over both worlds' thing, and it turns out he's a fan of my music, so it took off from there. But over time it was less about me or us, and more about you. Specifically, your pelt, hanging on his wall."

"Eww."

"I know, right?" She shook her head in disgust. "Anyway, I had enough of that and told him to beat it, or I'd turn that suit to slag. Took a little work," she recalled Skulker had a mean left hook, "but he got the hint."

"So what I'm getting here is," Danny hoped, "you don't want to waste me?"

"Well… maybe I don't want to scatter your bits just yet." She smirked. "I'll admit, my afterlife wasn't nearly as fun until you became my new punching bag."

"Your punching bag?" He glanced back, his eyes taunting. "Need I remind you who sent who home in a Fenton Thermos two weeks ago?"

"Pfft, whatever." She turned her focus to the girl who began to stir. "Hey, your kid's waking up!"

Soon enough, Danielle's eyes opened. "D-Da…" She caught herself. "Danny."

"Dani! Oh, thank goodness." He held one of the girl's hands tight, to let her know. "I'm right here. Everything's gonna be okay."

She weakly mumbled, "I don't wanna go away again."

His heart ached.

Ember looked away, sensing this moment was between the two of them. Still, she recognized the face of loneliness on the child. She had seen it on Klemper...

…and in another life, herself.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight!" He was resolute. A part of him had always worried about Dani since she first left Amity Park, and with this… "We'll talk about it when you're all better, okay?"

"Okay."

Dani's eyes blearily met those of her current source of warmth, the latter's hand hovering over her as they moved. She didn't know this ghost's face, but Danny's kind words and apparent trust in her to help with this unending inner cold were enough to halt any fears.

As she returned to a now more peaceful sleep, she gave a tiny smile.

Ember couldn't help but smile back.

It was a long few minutes before either of them spoke again, but Danny went first. "Thank you for this, by the way."

She turned her attention to him, looking down at the child the whole time. "Well, I'm not all bad, Phantom. I might hate adults, but I'm okay with kids. Besides," she carefully tucked a bit of white hair behind Dani's ear, "I'm not gonna separate a ghost kid from her dad."

"I never said she was my daughter."

"Never said she wasn't either."

"She's my… uh…"

He had been thinking about it since he saw her melt into ectoplasm. She called him her 'cousin,' but…

"…Let's just say it's a long story."

"Guess you can tell it later. Judging by my hair," which had almost gone solid from the temperature shift, "I'm guessing we're at this Frozen place."

"So we are!" Danny proclaimed. Indeed, the arctic island floated before Ember and the Phantoms. "I think I can take it from here, if you can't handle it."

"Can't handle it? Puh-lease." Ember stayed proud, blatantly shivering. Cold from a single ghost was one thing; cold from everywhere was another. "I'm the f-f-femme fatale of flame, D-d-Dipstick. This is n-n-nothing!"

He smirked. "The ghosts here have jackets for others, you know."

"Good…" She stifled her sigh of relief. "Uh, not that I need it!" She flared out more power in resistance.

"Of course you don't."

"But if they had one, I'd take it, since I'm sticking around." She tried to sound noncommittal. "You know, so your brat can thank me in person!"

He chuckled. "Good to know."

With that, they entered the Realm of the Far Frozen, led by Frostbite. Ember had been a resident of the Ghost Zone for a few decades, but meeting a talking yeti was still something new. Even newer was discovering that the ghost boy she tried to barbecue over a half hour ago was known as "Great One" here.

As it turned out, the Far Frozen really did have jackets, which the teen ghosts wore while in a room awaiting Danielle's diagnosis. Danny was unafraid, knowing she was in good hands.

"I really do mean it, Ember." Now at ease, he smiled fully. "Thank you. I owe you big time."

It was weird getting praise from him, but praise gave her power, and it didn't hurt to 'win' something from him for once. "Don't mention it."

He kept up that grin. "You can be humble when you want to be, huh?"

"No, I'm being serious." She met it with a pointed glare. "Don't mention it. The girls would kill me if they found out."

He chuckled once more. "It'll be our secret."

"Rockin'. Now, since we've got the time," she took a seat made of ice (like all other furniture in the realm), "why don't you tell me more about your little girl?"

No doubt, Kitty and Spectra would ask what she did today, and she'd have to make up a good story about a close fight or something. She got enough teasing from the two without them knowing she wanted to meet her arch-enemy's daughter.

I mean, sure, I've fought him more often lately, but it doesn't mean anything!

Still, Ember thought as Danny began his story of the meeting of two kindred spirits, Dipstick does almost look cute when he smiles.

Almost.

END

Ember was one of those characters back in the first days of the show that engendered a bit of mystery, as well as sympathy due to her pre-death origins. She was conceited, manipulative, and had only one catchy song to her name... but I liked her anyway.

Another character, one I didn't expect to like? Danielle. I was like Butch Hartman pulled her right out of a fanfiction, but it worked out anyway (the limited appearances may have oddly worked in her favor). Plenty of fans wondered just what kind of relationship she would have in the future with the Fenton family, especially Danny, whether as cousins, as siblings, or even a father-daughter bond (what with him being a genetic "parent" and all).

Reading an old Danny Phantom fanfiction last week (decent plot, but horrible grammar) and having a separate undeveloped DP story premise of my own, I had an idea of how to start what may be an unexpected bond between these two ghost girls. I thought that if Ember wanted to even lay a hand on Danielle, she'd have to get to Danny first-so the story ended up being about the usual enemies of fire and ice.

I may write another chapter (or that unwritten premise) in the future. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed this little work.