By Nyassa Kaiba
Danny found Sam and Ember curled up on the futon together the next morning. He smiled softly. He didn't want to wake the two girls up. "No way, curled up together like that."
Sam opened one eye. "Danny, need to talk, and be quiet, you'll wake her up."
"Okay." Danny pulled up a stool.
"According to Ember, a ghost named Nevermore took away her voice and made her human. She doesn't have her powers anymore. And she was rather distraught yesterday." Sam stroked Ember's hair gently. It was no longer flaming, it was blue like it normally was, but it was curly and soft.
"I think somebody's fallen." Danny said with a smirk.
"WHAT? Danny that's like saying that the two of US are a couple, just because it looks that way doesn't mean it is." Sam protested.
Danny shook his head. "Fine, you're not interested in her. You still look like it."
Ember kept her eyes closed, listening.
"I DON'T have a crush on Ember Danny. I swear it until I'm blue in the face. I don't, don't, don'tdon'tdon'tdon't…" donk Danny gave her a swat with a pillow that had fallen in the night.
"Don't deny your feelings Sam, whatever they are." Danny said with a yawn. "Tucker's making breakfast upstairs. We'd better hurry if we want something to eat."
Ember flushed. A crush on Sam Mason? Now that was an interesting take. Ember stirred, yawned, and stretched. She looked at Sam cutely. "Okay, NOW what do you want."
Ember picked up the pad and wrote. /Food. I haven't eaten in ten years. And suddenly my stomach wants to make up for lost time./ Her stomach rumbled.
"Right, sorry. Let's head to the kitchen."
Ember followed her nose until she found Tucker cooking pancakes upstairs. Being this close to food after 10 years of not eating made her stomach rumble again.
"Tucker I didn't know you cooked." Sam commented.
"I only know how to cook one thing, pancakes and bacon." Tucker sighed pathetically. "Which makes it my turn to cook."
Ember chuckled soundlessly.
"And what is so funny?" Sam demanded.
Ember tried to speak, and no sound came out. She sighed disgustedly.
"Um… what's with her?" Tucker asked as he placed yet another pancake on the pile.
"A ghost named Nevermore took her territory, her power and her voice." Sam summed up. "Ember's human now, and has multiple issues."
"ouch." Tucker stated. "Well, I'm sure you're probably hungry." He indicated that Ember take a seat at the breakfast table. "Grandma's special recipe." Tucker told her.
Ember started wolfing down the pancakes.
"Woah. Somebody was hungry." Tucker commented as he went back to his work. "Dude, this is going to be a great week. Spring Break, Danny's parents are out of town, no school. I mean, come on! How could we NOT have fun?"
"Hell-o! Tucker! We need to help Ember change back to her old self!" Sam growled at him.
"Do we HAVE to?" Demanded Danny. "I mean, Ember is Ember and Ember is an enemy! It's that simple, you help your family and friends first, your allies second, and your enemies never!"
Tears stung Ember's eyes.
"Just because she's an enemy doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings Danny!" Sam growled in her defense. "And I saw what this did to her. She isn't herself!"
Ember suddenly felt very grateful for Sam. She pushed back her plate and tried to rise. Sam gently pushed her back down. "Ember calm down okay? We'll find out how to get your voice back."
Ember nodded, tears of frustration coming to her eyes. "I hate being helpless." She tried to say, but again, the words came out soundless. In frustration she kicked over a nearby stool with a low growl.
"We'll help you Ember." Danny said at last. "But I need all the information you have on this Nevermore ghost. We've never faced her. What does her power affect?"
Ember snatched the nearest piece of paper and began to write. /Nevermore's power affects your body. If she wanted to she could remove a limb, or blind you, or separate your human and ghost halves, or freeze you in one form or the other. She could even take away your powers if she wanted to… look at what she did to mine/
"Calm down Ember." Tucker told her, upon reading this. "Consider this a second chance, not a curse. You were given a gift that none of the other ghosts got, you're alive again."
Ember looked at him, then looked down at her hands, at her body. To be truthful, she was torn between two different extremes. Part of her was glad. She'd been turned by an evil ghost named Nightmare, her humanity ripped away in a flash of light and a rush of pain. But the other part of her LOVED being a ghost, missed the freedom and power.
She looked back at Tucker, then at Sam, then at Danny. How did he deal with it? Being of neither world, neither alive nor dead, simply in between?
"You know what?" Sam asked. "I think as soon as breakfast is over, a trip to the mall is in order. And yes, Ember, you're coming with us. Can't leave you out. Besides, I heard Hot Topic is having a monster sale." This was said with a wicked grin. Ember wanted to ask what a Hot Topic was, then she remembered from back in the old days, her old life. A store that sold a ton of gothic clothing.
"And leave the guitar." Danny added. "It might give you away."
Ember nodded, then turned back to her food.
After everybody had eaten Sam lent Ember a jacket (since it was raining) and called her house for her family's chauffeur and car. Danny and Tucker gawked as a Cadillac Escalade came pulling up. "And later you can stay at my house okay?" Sam asked as she buckled in.
Excited, Ember climbed into the seat next to Sam and wrapped her arms around the goth, excited.
"ACK! You're welcome!" Sam cried as she tried to get out of the strangle hold. "But I can't exactly turn you out on the streets can I?"
Ember shook her head, letting go and sitting sedately in the back seat with Sam.
Sam sighed, trying to sort out her feelings for Ember. Was it that she liked her? Couldn't be! But… one of her aunts was gay, and it's supposed to run in families. Sam set the thought aside. It was a possibility. But there were others, like the fact that she really did feel sorry for Ember. Losing her voice? The one thing that made her happy. And what was it like to be living in the ghost zone?
Ember sighed, looking out the other window. She already knew she liked Sam. She'd liked her since they'd first met. Of course, back then Ember had thought it was mere attraction, lust, that's all, and for a turned ghost like her it was not a good idea.
There were two kinds of ghosts, Turned Ghosts, that is to say those that became ghosts due to a magic spell, or an accident like what had happened to Danny. The other kind was a death ghost. These ghosts became ghosts because they died and couldn't pass on for one reason or another. Ember had been turned by a monster calling himself Nightmare. Her previous girlfriend Kari had stayed just long enough to make sure Ember was alright before she continued on to wherever it was spirits went. Ember barely managed to make it to the ghost zone. Since then Ember had vowed revenge.
And then, ten years later, this cute… little… goth had wandered into her life, and Ember's emotions had seesawed between love and hate. Hate because if Sam were working with Danny, that made her an enemy didn't it? And love, because Ember was strongly attracted to her.
/What's wrong with me? She's like… ten years younger than I am. Well… mentally at least… physically I'll be 17 forever. But she'll grow old and die./ Ember wanted to kick something. /Wait a minute, I'm 17 again. I'm human now… we're both teenagers… I mean… okay so I'm three years older than she is… but I'm a teenager again/ Ember wanted to pull Sam into a kiss right then and there, but she HAD to wait until they were alone.
The mall was packed, seriously packed. Ember sort of… hid behind Sam, nervously taking her hand. /like a little child./ Ember thought to herself.
"Now, Tucker if you want to go look at the electronics Ember and I will meet you at Hot Topic in half an hour. Danny, make sure he BEHAVES." Sam handed them each a fifty. "That ought to get you each something. And Danny there's a new Hollisters here. I'd suggest you check them out. Their clothing's really your style."
Danny nodded. "I can pick out my own clothes Sam."
Ember sighed, following Sam to Hot Topic.
"Now, don't worry about money, my parents are loaded. But we need to get you some changes of clothes, hopefully for about a week." Sam explained as she dug though the piles of folded clothes. "Go ahead and pick some stuff out."
Same old store, different music, new styles. It wasn't as if Ember hadn't kept up with clothing styles. But she'd had no reason to need new clothes in ten years. Three pairs of cargoes, a pleather pair of pants, and two pairs of black jeans were the first. Ember then found some T-shirts for different bands.
She recognized Led Zepplin and Aerosmith. But the Ataris, Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, and several others were unfamiliar to her. When she checked Cartoons so were Inu-Yasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, X, and Teen Titans. Ember skirted most of these. And speaking of which she found a black cargo skirt. That fit her perfectly.
Then Ember found a shirt she absolutely HAD to have. It had a silver dragon with blue eyes on it that said, "Blue Eyes White Dragons Love Me, but don't worry, they love you too, for dessert."
With the blue eyes shirt, the Led Zepplin Shirt, and the Aerosmith Shirt on the pile Ember continued looking for shirts. She found one for the Time Warp Dance Steps on it. She also picked three more that had different sayings on them then moved on to jewelry. A collar with dragon head studs, fingerless velvet gloves, and some earrings went on top of the pile. She met Sam at the counter. "You're awefully thorough." Sam commented as she looked through the pile. "Yup, this will do." She held up the Blue Eyes shirt. "Huh, dragons, didn't know you liked Yugioh?"
Ember, forgetting her voice was gone, tried to ask, "What's that?" But it didn't come out.
"Oh, Yugioh is a cartoon." Replied Sam. "There's a monster in it called a Blue Eyes White Dragon. This is a shirt based on that monster." She explained as the cashier rang up the clothing. "Well then." As the clothing was rung up. "We'd better go look for Danny." She handed the woman at the counter a credit card before leading Ember out.
She walked right into Vlad. "OOF… Oh, Vlad… hi…" She said nervously.
"Miss Mason, a pleasure. To what do I owe the occasion?"
"I don't have to tell you. Come on." Sam dragged Ember by the hand.
Vlad stiffened. "Do I know you?" He asked Ember.
Ember shook her head. She knew Vlad's reputation, even if she hadn't seen his human form.
"She's dumb Vlad, she can't answer." Sam replied. "Come on." She took Ember by the arm and gently tugged her away. Ember looked back over her shoulder at the grown up Halfa.
They made it to Hollisters. Suddenly an enormous raven ghost appeared. "Crap." Sam swore. "Ember we need to take cover."
"I am Nevermore, ghost of she who was burned by the sun! Let the one known as Danny Phantom come forth!"
Everybody was running and screaming. Suddenly Danny came through the floor from the bottom half of the mall. He was fully ghost. "What do you want?"
"To challenge you. Many ghosts have fought your might and lost. I want to test their powers and yours." Nevermore replied.
"So you want to turn this into a powerstruggle?" Danny asked, annoyed. "Sorry, I don't do those."
"Then I have no choice." Replied Nevermore. "It is said that if you become fully ghost, you would turn evil, driven to find power and raise yourself to the next level, perhaps then you will respond to my challenge."
Danny turned pale. "You wouldn't! Do you know what that would DO to the world? DO to the city and the people I love?"
"You have left me no choice." Nevermore replied. She opened her beak, which was glowing with green power.
Sam ran forward. "YOU WON'T! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Sam shoved Danny out of the way. The beam hit Sam instead. She screamed in pain before being engulfed in pure, emerald green light. The light turned purple, then faded. Sam fell, unconscious, on the ground.
"Foolish human." Nevermore growled.
An Ectoblast went flying from beyond the battlefield, hitting Nevermore between the eyes. "WHAT?"
"You want a real challenge?" Asked Vlad as he came running over to them. "Fight me Nevermore!"
"Vlad Plasmius." Nevermore cawed softly. "A true challenge."
"Vlad be careful!" Danny warned as he took Sam's pulse. Ember stood, frozen. Then she reached for her guitar and mic, realizing suddenly that they weren't there, that she was totally helpless.
"Ember, we need to get out of here." Tucker whispered in Ember's ears.
Ember shook her head, running over to where Sam lay and taking her form in. Sam's hair had turned pure white, except for a sapphire blue streak on either side of her face. Frantic, Ember shook her gently, then harder. Sam groaned. "Hurts… pain…"
Danny shuddered. "We need to get out of here." He told them. "Ember, do you know anything that could help Sam?"
Ember shook her head vigorously.
Between the three of them they got Sam out of the way. Then Danny airlifted them back to the Escalade and the waiting driver. He ran back for packages and came out of the mall as Danny Fenton instead of Phantom. As he watched, Vlad and Nevermore took the battle to the skies above the mall. "We need to go! Back to Sam's house, quickly!"
The driver nodded, stepping on the gas.
They got back to Sam's house. "Vlad will probably drop by later to make sure we're alright. I don't know whether I'd cheer or throw up. He's so fake." Danny growled. They struggled to carry Sam up the stairs to her room. Ember tugged back the sheets, pulled off Sam's shoes, and tucked her in.
Danny chuckled. "I think the feelings mutual." He commented to Tucker when he saw the look on Ember's face as she tucked Sam in.
"Great, the last thing we need is Ember hanging around. Sorry Danny, but anything we've done concerning her has always been trouble." Tucker told them.
Ember's eyes filled with tears, and she looked very angry. She stuck her nose up at Tucker and sat down on the edge of Sam's bed.
"But what's happened to her?" Tucker asked. "You don't think Sam's been…"
Ember gasped, turning to Sam, biting her lip on her distress.
"I think that's exactly what's happened." Danny said, walking over and sitting on a chair across from Sam's bed. He put his face in his hands. "Now I know how Vlad must have felt finding out about me. And he wasn't even close to me."
"It's worse when it's a friend." Tucker agreed.
Ember looked from one, to the other, but she understood. Danny was seeing his own turning over again. Ember sighed, grabbed the nearest paper and pen and wrote. /Danny, there are two kinds of ghosts, those who died, and those who were turned. I was one of the last. So were you… I wanted you to know… to a certain extent I can feel your pain./
Sam groaned in her sleep. Sweat dripped from her face. Ember gently dabbed it away on the edge of the sheets.
Danny read the sheet. "Really?"
Ember nodded.
"Well I suppose ghosts have to come from somewhere." Danny commented. He set the page aside. "Here's what I figure Tucker. I think that Nevermore was trying to make me all ghost. And since I'm half ghost she'd just need a spell to turn half a person's DNA into that of a ghost. The spell hit Sam, so she's a halfa now."
Ember nodded and curled up next to Sam, with her head on her shoulder. Sam groaned, slowly coming to. Her eyes fluttered open.
"SAM!" Tucker and Danny cried, running over to the bed.
"Nevermore… did we… beat him?" Sam asked weakly. She recognized her own room.
"Vlad took over the fight so we could get out." Danny replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but it's… cold in here…" Sam shivered. "Why… why are you so concerned?" She asked, worried.
Ember calmly held up a nearby beauty mirror. Sam saw her reflection. "No… no it couldn't be… I can't be…"
"Sorry…" Danny took her hand, tears running down his face. One of them fell on Sam's cheek.
Sam looked up at him, startled. Ember was crying too. Even Tucker had tears in his eyes.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"