Chapter 11: Danny's Birthday

"Class dismissed." Mr. Lancer said and noticed his students rising from their seats. "Except for you, Mr. Fenton."

"What did Dash get me in trouble for this time, Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked after his classmates left.

"Mr. Fenton, is that so hard to believe you can be in trouble for something Mr. Baxter has no involvement at all?" Mr. Lancer asked in return.

"Given the odds, yes." Danny answered.

"Mr. Fenton, here's an advice for you: wait for an accusation to be made before assuming you're in trouble." Mr. Lancer said. "I only called you here because your parents came to Casper High to argue against your ban on carrying breakable stuff within school grounds."

"What?" Danny was shocked.

"They said your clumsiness at the time was a temporary result of a lab accident and there's no reason to worry anymore, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said. "Under normal circumstances, we would ignore them but, since it's already been a long time since you were last seen dropping anything outside altercations with Mr. Baxter, Principal Ishiyama and I agreed to give you another chance. Mr. Fenton, consider your ban lifted."

Later on, he shared the good news with his friends. "Awesome, Danny!" Tucker commented. "You should've told your parents from the very beginning."

"You understand why I didn't, right?" Danny asked while fearing Tucker would blab the secret. "I couldn't know how they would react back then."

"Danny, will you still have your birthday party?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, except that this time my girlfriend and her friends will come as well." Danny answered.

"Really?" Tucker asked with a smile.

"And their boyfriends." Danny added, making Tucker sad.

"Even Stacy and Roxanne?" The techno geek asked, earning a glare from Sam.

"I don't know them well enough to invite them, Tucker." Danny commented.

"But you know Ping's and Chrissy's boyfriends." Tucker moaned, prompting Sam to mutter "Jerk" but Tucker ignored it.

"They're the girls' plus ones, Tucker." Danny explained.

"Will they at least be wearing their cheerleading uniforms?" Tucker asked.

"Probably." Danny answered. "I don't think I ever saw any of them without a uniform." He worded his answer in a way that included their superhero outfits without cluing people about their secret.

"Awesome!" Tucker exclaimed.

"Boys." Sam muttered.

Danny then felt his ghost sense. "Beware."

"Get lost, Boxy." Danny demanded, not having any pent-up anger to take on anybody at the time.

"You're no fun." The Box Ghost said and flew away, now without uttering a last "Beware."

A few days later, it was Danny's birthday. "What did you bring him, Tucker?" Sam asked.

"A CD-ROM with the latest version of "Doomed", Sam." Tucker answered. "What about you?"

"A DVD of Femalien." Sam proudly answered.

As the two teens entered Fentonworks, they found out the Groove Squad was already there and Danny was too distracted with Mac to notice them. "It seems like we are the invisible ones instead of him." Sam muttered.

"You had your chance but let this be a lesson if you meet another boy like Danny." Jack said. "Dress up like a cheerleader."

"Mr. Fenton, you must be kidding me." Sam grumbled.

"It does sound like a good idea, Sam." Tucker commented while remembering how Sam looked like dressed as a cheerleader. "Sure, you're no Paulina but it'd work on me."

"Another reason to consider it a bad idea." Sam replied and glared at Tucker.

"Sam, Tucker, welcome!" Danny exclaimed upon finally noticing their presence.

"Congratulations, Danny!" Tucker replied.

"Happy birthday, Danny." Sam neutrally added. "Where are the ultra-recyclo vegetarian snacks?"

"I'll help you with that, Sam." Maddie Fenton said, leading the goth away from Danny.

"Before you ask, Tucker, the hot dogs are that way." Danny commented and Tucker hurried to the pointed direction.

To their surprise, Mr. Lancer was doing the catering. "Mr. Lancer?" Tucker and Sam asked.

"Not every teacher lives on teaching wages alone, Ms. Manson." Mr. Lancer explained. "I do catering for an extra income. There's no shame at doing honest work for a living."

"So, how many more times must the Fentons hire you before you stop favoring the popular kids over Danny?" Tucker asked.

"Detention for you tomorrow, Mr. Foley." Mr. Lancer replied. "And Mr. Fenton would need to become a football star or reveal himself as Danny Phantom."

"Actually, he's…" Tucker tried to say but Sam held his mouth. "Glad to be celebrating his birthday." Sam finished for the techno geek. "How about those tofu dogs?"

"Here you go, Ms. Manson." Mr. Lancer served her some tofu dogs.

"Thank you, Mr. Lancer." Sam replied.

Danny and Mac then approached and Tucker and Sam took the cue to leave. "I still didn't get any…"

"Later, Tucker." Sam demanded.

"One hot dog for me and one for the lovely lady, please." Danny asked Mr. Lancer.

"Here you go, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer professionally replied.

"So, what's it like working like this after humiliating Third Degree Burns over his job at the Nasty Burger?" Danny asked Mr. Lancer without caring about the consequences.

"Even this has more prestige, Mr. Fenton, and you should consider yourself lucky we're neither in school nor doing anything school-related." Mr. Lancer replied.

Danny then felt his ghost sense. 'I hope it's the Box Ghost again.' He thought.

Another ghost revealed himself. "I, Technus, master of all things electronic and beeping, will use all electrical devices in Amity Park to take over the world. Hahahahaha… I did it again, right?"

"I'm going…" Danny started saying until his mother interrupted him. "Going inside for safety." She said and then whispered into his ear. "Mr. Lancer's here, remember?"

"Right, safety." Danny said and ran inside. Seconds later, Danny Phantom showed up. "Give up, Technus." He said.

"Never." Technus replied and summoned a familiar suit of armor. "I, Technus, have broken into a Guys in White facility and borrowed the armor Skulker lost to them and then took some other weapons to improve it. Nothing can stop me now!"

"Tucker, you know what to do." Sam commented.

"Remember Chrissy's dating a guy bigger than Dash?" Tucker asked.

"I meant about Technus, Tucker." Sam replied, annoyed at Tucker's obsession with cheerleaders.

"Oh, right." Tucker said and picked up his PDA. "Cindy, don't fail me now."

'He's a good friend but his habit of naming his devices still creeps me out.' Sam thought.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I'm leaving and don't expect any refunds." Mr. Lancer said as he ran away.

Danny was keeping the fight until the armor mentioned something about a purple back gorilla and flew away. "Now I get why Skulker ditched this armor." Technus commented and tried to flew away but Danny sucked the technology-obsessed ghost into a Fenton Thermos.

"Thank you, Cindy!" Tucker said and kissed his PDA.

"Is he practicing for when a real girl allows him to kiss her?" Fernando asked.

"Probably." Chrissy answered. 'More likely 'if' than 'when'.' She thought.

After Danny Phantom flew away, Danny Fenton and Mr. Lancer returned. 'Danny Phantom was only here while Mr. Danny Fenton wasn't.' Mr. Lancer thought. 'I know one of the Dannys is a ghost and the other one is a human but, could it be?'

"Is it safe now?" Danny asked, pretending to be afraid.

"Yes, son." Jack answered. "Danny Phantom saved us."

'The Fentons stopped hating Phantom ever since the Disasteroid incident.' Mr. Lancer thought. 'It really could be. After all, it was with something they were working on that Vlad Masters became part ghost.'

After that interruption, the party continued and Danny opened his gifts. Chrissy and Fernando gave Danny a football-themed videogame. "Thank you." He said. While Danny wasn't into sports, he had a better opinion of sport-related games. Ping and Zeke gave him a pair of gloves. "You can wear them whenever you learn how to drive." Zeke suggested and Danny liked it. He then opened Mac's gift. "A NASA rocket scale model!" Danny happily asked. "Awesome!"

"Too bad you didn't think about it, Sam." Tucker commented.

"Mac's a cheerleader and a superhero, Tucker." Sam replied. "I cannot compete with that."

"Especially the cheerleader part." Tucker joked.

Sam was furious. "Another joke like that and I'll shove Cindy right into your…"

"MS. MANSON." Mr. Lancer firmly interrupted the goth. "There are people trying to eat here."

"Sorry, Mr. Lancer." Sam replied.

After the gifts were opened, the cake was cut. "What did you wish for, Danny?" Mac asked.

"I'd rather not say, Mac." Danny answered.

"Are you afraid the wish will not become true?" Fernando asked.

"In Amity Park, we have the opposite problem." Danny told Fernando. "The wish could backfire, especially if Desiree overhears it."

"Who's Desiree?" Chrissy asked.

"A wish-granting ghost." Danny answered. "Without careful wording, the wishes she grants tend to backfire."

"No offence, Danny." Ping commented. "I know ghosts exist but a ghost genie?"

"Yeah, I found it hard to believe before meeting her." Danny replied.

"At least you can wish her inside the Fenton Thermos, right?" Ping asked.

"A cheerleader thought about it on the spot?" Sam asked in frustration. "I'm ashamed of myself."

End chapter.

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Sem spoilers.