'Cause you guys were SO AWESOME in giving me SO MANY reviews SO QUICKLY, I'm gonna give you a treat: a new chapter! This is also for my dad, who just barely found out about my strange obsession, and is probably reading this. He still calls DP "Ghost Boy". Those in favor of sending him to cartoon therapy say "aye".

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Nope. Not me. If I did . . . well, things would be a lot different. A lot different.

A Temporary Cease Fire

Chapter 4

Jack and Maddie had been speeding through the ghost zone for a solid twenty minutes, both silent, both intent on their purpose: to have a good talking to to that ghost kid. That meant that twenty minutes had passed by with neither of them really thinking very rationally. Twenty minutes of them speeding deeper and deeper into the ghost zone. Twenty minutes of them getting into deeper and deeper trouble. Twenty minutes for things to get really, really bad.

Maddie snapped out of her irrational mode as she realized something very, very important.

"Jack? We've never actually been in the ghost zone before."

Her husband, surprised at the sudden noise breaking the silence and who was also at the wheel, lost control of the Speeder. Had they been on a road, or even on solid ground, for that matter, a crash most likely would have been inevitable. Fortunately, they were in the ghost zone, where there were no definite levels, and gaining control of the vehicle was easy.

"What? You saw the ghost kid? Where!" Jack exclaimed excitedly.

"No, honey. I was saying that we don't know our way around the ghost zone. We've never used the Specter Speeder before, remember?"

"Oh. Right. So you didn't see that Phantom boy?"

Maddie gave her companion a stern look, indicating that the matter she just brought up was something to be slightly more concerned about. Jack knew that look, and tried concentrate on something other than ghosts for a moment.

"Well, Maddie, it can't be that hard. I mean, look, it's not like there's any roads to get lost on, and besides, I know exactly where home is."

Maddie doubted this, knowing full well that her husband had a very, very small mental capacity, and that the chances of him keeping track of where they were while looking for D. Phantom AND driving the Specter Speeder at the same time were slim to none. All she had to do was give him another one of her looks, and he knew that he was in trouble.

"All right, maybe I don't know. But we still have the Speeder to protect us from any ghosts, and I'm sure that finding our big portal won't be that hard."

"Well, all right. We should find our way home right now, though, and have to pass up finding D. Phantom."

Jack gave her a pouty look, pleading his wife to let them keep looking to their freshly proclaimed foe, but she held to her cause. She wanted to at least be home in time to make dinner. Jack gave in, and turned the Speeder in the direction he thought was their house.

"Oh, all right. We'll go home."

The couple sped off for a couple of minutes through the green world of the ghosts in silence, deep in thought. Jack was the first to speak.

"You know, a map of the ghost zone would really come in handy."


Forty-five minutes had passed, and neither Jack nor Maddie had a clue where they were. All they could see were doors randomly floating around in all directions, and an occasional floating island-type thing. Though neither of them showed it, they were both very nervous. Maddie found it odd that there were not many ghosts floating around, like she thought there would be, and when she did spy one in the distance, they were always going into a door or looked like they were off to find another one. Jack was interested in what was actually behind those doors, and as sorely as he wanted to find out, he knew his wife would prevent him from doing so.

Finally, Maddie broke down and, pulling a very wife-like stunt, asked the question that all males dread.

"Honey, maybe we should ask for directions."

"NO! I know where I'm going. We don't need to ask any stinkin' ghost where our own house is!"

"But-"

"I can do this, okay?"

Maddie crossed her arms and slumped in her seat in a very undignified manner, knowing that this was one area in which Jack's stubbornness could beat hers. She perked up, however, when she saw a very non-threatening looking figure not too far in front of them, who seemed to actually not be rushing off in a direction that would avoid the humans.

"Jack, look, there's a ghost now. Maybe it can point us in the right way."

"But it's a ghost, and I know where-"

Maddie interrupted herself, asserting her rights over her husband's unwillingness to give in. "No, Jack Fenton, you do NOT know where you are going! And besides, remember what D. Phantom said? Not all ghosts are bad."

"But he lied to us." Jack, for once, made a very good point against Maddie. She pondered this for a moment, and gave in to her final weapon.

"It's better than nothing. And besides, if you do this for me I'll made you a batch of cookies."

Jack knew full well what the female beside him was doing, but he had to give in. His wife's cooking was so . . . well, it was unique, anyway, and he couldn't resist all the ghost themes she put into it.

"Fine. You have to do all the talking, though."

Maddie nodded in agreement and satisfaction, and leaned out the doorway as Jack pulled up to the ghost. The brave adventurer was actually not as nervous as she thought she'd be – she never thought that she would actually ask for help from the enemy (her pride normally wouldn't allow it), but her voice of reason usually never failed her, and right now it was saying that they needed to get home by any means possible. Besides, the ghost didn't look very threatening at all. In fact, it looked kind of weak. A closer examination found the explorer looking at a girl – teenager, by her best guess. She was wearing a long, medieval – style gown, and long hair done in a rather fancy style. The expression on her face almost made Maddie feel sorry for the being; the girl looked worried, almost to the point of crying.

"Umm . . . excuse me . . ." Maddie said in the kindest voice possible. The teenager looked her way, surprised that someone was actually talking to her. "Could you kindly point the way to the nearest portal to the human world?"

The worrying specter looked at the ghost hunter, and after pausing for a moment, asked a simple, single question.

"Do you know where the ball is?"

Maddie just stared at the person floating in front of her, and shook her head, no.

The young female looked like she was about to break down sobbing for a split second; but only a split second. The next moment her eyes turned red and her tongue flicked out from between her lips, snakelike.

"I want to go to the ball!" The ghost bellowed as she quickly morphed from her simpler, sweeter form to a large, menacing dragon.

"Jack?" Maddie squeaked, looking up at the dragon, unable to take her eyes off of the huge form in front of her.

" . . . yes?" Jack replied, also in a rather quiet, squeaky tone.

"HIT THE GAS!" Maddie yelled, securing herself into her seat.

Jack didn't have to be told twice, and in seconds they were out of range for any harm to come upon them from their most recent encounter.


Maddie had to wait for several minutes for her heart to stop beating at dangerous levels. When she had most control over herself again, she observed her surroundings, again. There were still lots of doors. And lots of green. She looked at the man sitting next to her. He also seemed to be calmed down, but she couldn't be sure. With Jack, it was hard to tell what was going on in his head. "Jack?"

He jumped slightly, as if he was woken up out of a trance. "Yes?"

Maddie was relieved that he was okay, and she shook her head. "Nothing. Do you recognize where we are?"

Jack looked around all sides intently, smiled, and looked at his wife. She perked up, waiting to hear good news. "Nope!" he replied brightly, and smiled again.

Her husband was so weird.

She was just about to speak again, maybe make a suggestion, when all of the sudden something very heavy slammed into their windshield. The pair in the Speeder snapped up in surprise, and looked at the front of their transportation.

There was a huge ghost attached to the glass, just about as big as Jack. He was blue-skinned, blonde-haired, and seemed to be wearing a pair of pajamas. He also looked not too bright.

"Will you be my frrrriiiiiiiiieeeend?" he gushed.

"Gaaaah!" more surprised at the volume he said this and his rather . . . unexpected arrival than his actual question (though that too was frightening), the two ghost fighters yelled and Jack sharply turned the steering wheel so that the uninvited visitor was flung off in the opposite direction, and again, Jack hit the gas hard and sped off in a direction that got them more lost than ever before.


Maddie was tired, Jack was exhausted, and they were both very confused and very lost. Maddie spotted a large floating island not too far away. It was by far the largest land mass they had seen so far, and it had a lot of tropical trees. They both knew that jungles could mean one of two things. Either protection or hidden danger. They hoped that it was the former. Jack instinctively steered toward the floating jungle, and scanned for an area to land.

He found a clearing large enough to land and for the two to stretch out, yet small enough to block the eyes of any wandering enemy.

Both Jack and Maddie hopped out of the Speeder, grateful for solid land to walk on. Even though this was a blessing, they knew that this was a rather unnecessary relief compared to what they really needed – food and water. Being in the ghost zone, they knew that there probably wasn't either of these. Traditionally ghosts needed neither nourishment nor air. 'But,' Maddie reminded herself, 'we can breathe here, and D. Phantom was breathing rather deeply when we first saw him. For all we know, maybe ghosts need to eat, too.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey, what's that over there?" her husband asked, wonder hinting at the edges of his voice. "It almost looks like one of our inventions, just red instead of green!"

Maddie looked toward the direction that Jack was headed. There was, in fact, a shiny object lying in the grass. At closer observation, she was also filled with wonder at the amazing similarity it bore to one of the small, hand-held ectoplasmic guns they were developing. In fact, it looked almost exactly like theirs, but, as her companion pointed out, it was obviously flowing with red ectoplasma rather than their trademark green.

Jack was close to the object, and even reaching for it, when his wife realized the situation they were in. "No, Jack, don't!"

It was too late, though, and Jack had already picked it up. Maddie dropped to the ground and screamed a single order to her husband: "DUCK!"

Jack was slower than usual from their adventure so far, though, and fell to the dirt slower than his commander would have liked.

As soon as all the darts had flown completely over her, the female genius stood up and rushed to her loved one's side. She prayed that they weren't poison, or that Jack had been hit by any.

Unfortunately, he had. Fortunately, Maddie picked one up on the way to his side and was able to identify the darts as being the only temporarily paralyzing kind.

"Maddie . . . I'm so sorry . . . I love you . . ." Jack murmured dramatically. The more sensible of the two rolled her eyes and replied, "Jack, you're not dying. You're only going to be paralyzed for a little while. You're fine."

Jack looked up at her (with difficulty, seeing as he couldn't really move his head), and grinned sheepishly. "I knew that . . ."

"Stay there. Erm . . . I mean, don't worry, I'll get the Speeder over here and load you up and we'll be on our way again."

And, after several minutes of hard labor trying to get her large husband into the Specter Speeder, Maddie drove off again into the unknown, wondering if things could get any worse.

And thus ends part one of the aimless encounters of Jack and Maddie in the ghost zone. A can of soda and a flamingo named Bert will go to anyone who can identify which episode I referred to in each of the four sections (hint: I use one episode twice).

Thanks to my reviewers:

Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet: I knew I saw your username somewhere before (my name on the BH forum is AuroraZ).

Hearts of Eternity: I love your reviews. Really, you flatter me too much.

Neko-Salosa: A bit of a cliffie, eh? Well, I'm glad I left you hanging there a bit ;). Really; I'm not that good at them, but I'm practicing.

Princess Nightfire: Sorry, I'm allergic to grapes. Oh, and . . . sorry about your sister. My brother got a hold of her and used her as a test subject for his science project. My mom also wants my sister back, so we have to get rid of yours. She told me to tell you, just in case you wanted her before the secret government agency gets a hold of her. She might be slightly green and lumpy, though.

LaBOBuren: In all honesty, I made up that name because I was kinda bored with some of my other usual usernames. But, if you want a story, here it is: I like the name Justina because it's a girl's name that's only one letter short of a boy's name. Bubbles because I like bubbles a lot. If you want me to luv you forever you will buy me Catch-a-Bubbles. (Since I posted that on the internet, do I have to write a disclaimer for it? Disclaimer: I don't own Catch-A-Bubbles.)

Also thanks to: Ghoster14, cakreut12, Just Plain Insane, hikarisailorcat, Catnip070, Firehedgehog, wishing for rain, bluish black dolphin, and KaliAnn