"Danny!" Jazz shouted, racing up to her teen brother's room. She cannot believe the day she is having.
"Jazz? What's going on?" Danny took one look at his sister's face. Sweat drenched her forehead along with green goo and is that blood?
"Mom…ghost…kill," she panted, but could say no more. No sooner, Maddie burst into Danny's room, Fenton foamer in hand.
"Get away from that ectoplasmic scum Danny!" Then she turns to Jazz "And you stay away from my son."
Danny jumps up and moves in front of Jazz, who was swaying back and forth, looking ready to pass out at any moment.
"Mom! What are you doing? This is Jazz! Your daughter; your annoyingly smart only daughter." But Maddie shakes her head. She is not falling for that. And she will not let Danny be hurt or corrupted by that thing.
"That thing is not my daughter. It is a ghost." The fact that Danny is not listening only adds to her anger. Instead, he is trying to rationalize with her.
"First of all, she is not a ghost, second of all, even if she was a ghost, it does not mean she is bad. Good ghosts exist too you know" But Maddie shakes her head.
"Lies! I have been studying ghosts since before you were born. There are no good ghosts." She wonders when Danny became so defensive when it comes to ghosts.
She has been thinking about it lately, too much; why her kids have been so distant. It all started 6 months ago when the ghost portal opened. Ghosts quickly overran the town, targeting her children's high school. Danny became fearful and withdrawn, which is to be expected. Ghosts are terrifying creatures, and he had a normal reaction. She just wished that Danny would stop running off when ghosts appeared, it was after all, affecting his schoolwork.
Jazz on the other hand, she tried to play it off like ghosts don't exist, even getting mad when we brought them up. It is like she was hiding something. Then as if she had some sort of revelation, she began advocating for ghosts and learning the Fenton weapons, taking them with her when sneaking out. She was seen helping ghosts and was even on a first name basis with them. Maddie also noticed the times that Jazz has "accidently" bumped into her to prevent the weapon from striking her target. She must have become a ghost sometime before then.
What she did find strange, however, was when the Fenton weapons began locking onto Danny. The Fenton finder, the Boo-merag, and even the Ghost gabber. It would not repeat after anybody else but Danny. She chalked it up to a coincidence, but now she wasn't so sure. Also, earlier in the fall, Jack suspected Jazz as the ghost and tried directing the weapons towards her. Of course, they didn't work. But why are they working on Danny?
"Mom?" Danny brings her back to the present. He is now watching her warily. She hates what this ghost is doing to her son. She has to figure out how to fix this. How to fix them both.
"Danny, sweetie," she says softly, "I just need a minute to speak to…Jazz…alone." She struggled to say the ghost's name. It hurts that her only daughter became a monster, but she needs to do what is best for the family. She hopes her calm and soothing tone will fool Danny, but he is smarter than she gives him credit for. He shakes his head, taking another step closer to her.
"Look at her! Does she look like a ghost? She is bleeding blood, and don't you think she would have phased out of here by now if she could?" Danny stepped off to the side so his mom can look at his sister. Not his sister, the ghost. Before Danny can register his mistake, Maddie fired the weapon at Jazz. The girl barely has enough strength to jump out of the way, hand getting caught in the crossfire. She fires again but this time Danny is ready. He launches himself in front of Jazz, taking the impact.
"Danny!" Jazz screams. "She's not going to listen. We have to get out of here." This time Danny knows she is right. But how are we getting down the stairs, he thought. Before he can come up with anything, Jazz surprises him. "I am going to phase us through the wall little brother. Let me grab onto you so I can turn you intangible and we can leave." Then she winks at him, and he immediately understands. He always knew Jazz was smart.
"Oh no you don't ghost!" she pulls out a thermos, but it was too late. Jazz grabbed Danny's hand and through the wall they went.
"So, what now?" Danny said as soon as he put Jazz down. He took them to the other side of town, as far away from Fenton works as he could get. "Why did you say that? Now she will never believe your human." He quickly got to working on his sister's wounds. Nothing too deep or fatal.
"She was not going to believe that anyways. I don't know why she thinks I am a ghost, but now I can never go back." Tears well in Jazz's eyes as she comes to the realization. She is homeless, and her parents want to destroy her. She feels a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up into her brothers' eyes. He looks just as distraught as she does.
"We Jazz, we can never go back. I won't leave you on your own." Jazz doesn't miss the sad look in his eyes. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but now we know our parents…the Fenton's," He spits out their name "would not accept their child as a ghost." And who needs them.
"I honestly can't believe they got the wrong kid! You were always getting targeted with their inventions, and you even look like Danny Phantom!" Danny laughs, he really does. Get rid of the white hair and green eyes and they are spitting images.
"They are idiots." Jazz finds herself nodding in agreement. She was never one to insult her parents, but thinking back, they were very neglectful to her and especially Danny. The 14-year-old boy in front of her, who has been getting bullied for years, stuffed in lockers, who was now missing school and failing classes, fighting ghosts during his free time. Their parents missed it all, too busy with their semi-functional ghost weapons that they suck at using.
Jazz has had to grow up so fast. That is why she has always enjoyed psychology and reading about why people act the way they do. She suspects that her mom has some idea of the actual ghost child. However, she is in denial, therefore displacing her anger onto her daughter. She doesn't know how long it will take her mom to cope, but she is not planning to stick around to find out. In the meantime, she wonders.
"What if they come looking for us?" Danny didn't have to ask who she meant. They have been on his mind a lot too. Maddie will definitely tell Jack and he will believe anything his wife says. And they both know that it is not a what, but a when.
"I will protect you," Danny says with such conviction. Jazz does not doubt that. He does have a hero complex after all.
"We will protect each other" she clarifies. He is only 14 after all. And she is 16. Who knows that will happen. No house, no parents; they really were on their own now. Danny nods, leaning his head on her shoulder. They do not need to verbalize their situation out loud, but they will need to figure out the next steps.
As day turns to night, the two teenagers make no attempt to move. They gaze silently up at the stars as time shifts to the early morning hours. Neither one slept. Only when the sun was seen on the horizon, both siblings stood. They looked to each other and began walking towards the sunrise, hand in hand. It's a new day, and new thoughts plagued them both.
Everything will work out in the end.
