It was not a normal family outing. Anyone with half a brain could see that. A giant, armor-plated RV sat in front of a brick house with some kind of strange mechanical contraption sitting on its roof. Above the door was a large neon sign proclaiming "Fenton Works", with an arrow pointing needlessly towards the house. The RV was being loaded with luggage, including several weapon-like devices of dubious purpose, by two adults wearing hazmat suits while four apparently normal teens watched. "Apparently" being the operative word.
The most normal members of the group were Sam Manson and Tucker Foley. Sam was a vegan goth, whose taste in black and purple attire stood out in wonderful contrast to everything around her. Tucker, by disparity, was a connoisseur of meat, as well as being practically obsessed with all things technological. He was never seen anywhere without his PDA, or his red beret.
Next to these two stood the most mysterious member, Katrina Cadwell, or Kat as she preferred. She wore a black top hat and an eighteen hundred's style duster coat over an extremely old-fashioned white dress shirt and black pants. She carried a copper cane in one hand, which she twirled like a baton. And although she otherwise appeared to be a perfectly normal fourteen year-old, she was, in fact, a twenty-six year-old ghost. At least, they thought she was a ghost; none of them were exactly certain, and she was not inclined to enlighten them.
Slightly in front and standing so as to also face the RV was Danny Fenton. Danny appeared to be the least remarkable of the friends, the perfect cover for his particular brand of abnormality. Thanks to an accident involving one his parents' inventions, he had become the half-ghost Danny Phantom, a state that he relished and loathed in turns.
"Okay, so, Vlad bought this house, and he's loaning it to you guys," Tucker was saying skeptically.
Danny shook his head out of exasperation at the obvious ploy his arch nemesis had devised. "Yeah. Apparently, there's a ghost there that he thought Dad would enjoy hunting."
"You mean, there's a ghost there that he'll enjoy watching as it hunts your dad," Sam corrected him.
"You can't leave," Kat interrupted mock-dejectedly. "Who'll drop sandbags on me if you leave?"
"I only did that once!" Danny defended himself. "And it completely missed you."
Tucker grinned. "Barely."
"Come on, Danny!" his father Jack yelled enthusiastically. "Before we leave without you."
"Oh, what a shame that would be," Danny muttered. "Oh, well. At least it's on the beach."
"You have to call me," Kat announced. "Or I will hunt you down and haunt you."
"Yeah, me, too," Tucker agreed. "Well, except for the haunting part…"
Sam looked at her feet for a second before throwing her arms briefly around Danny's neck. "Be careful, Danny," she said quietly, backing away.
"Aren't I always?" he tried to tease. He didn't quite succeed due to the blush spreading across his features.
His friends started to leave, but Kat froze as though remembering something and turned back. "Hey, if you meet a chick named Elizabeth Cadwell, tell her I'm coming for her."
"What? Why?"
Kat made that Cheshire Cat expression that she got whenever she was tormenting someone. "Just to freak her out." Then she was gone before Danny could inquire further.
"Typical Kat," Jazz sighed, as she came out of the house and walked up behind Danny. "I can't believe she just disappears like in front of Dad."
"Oh, that's nothing," Danny informed her quietly as they climbed in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. "A few days ago, we were at the Nasty Burger, and she just vanished in front of everybody. And no one noticed. If I did that…" He trailed off; it hardly needed to be said what would happen.
"Okay, kids," Maddie interrupted their exchange. "Now, just because you're getting out of school for a few days doesn't mean you can slack off on your studies. Danny, I want you to start reading through your text books on the way." Danny grumbled something, but acquiesced. If he was going to be completely honest with himself, he could use the time. Things weren't quite as bad as they had been now that he had his ghost powers under control, but he was still somewhat behind the rest of the class due to the constant parade of spectral villains that marched through his parents Ghost Portal.
Kat had graciously agreed to take care of them while he was away. He wished she would help while he was around, but she refused on the grounds that she hated violence. He had since learned that was a complete lie; Kat loved nothing more than showing off her abilities in as grandiose a way as possible. It usually involved throwing SUVs around with her mind.
Danny had first met the strange girl in the Nasty Burger on a day that had since ceased to exist; time travel had been involved. He had shortly thereafter learned that she was the daughter of one his more annoying enemies, Nikolai Technus. He was still unsure as to the particulars of her existence, and was further unsure that he even wanted to know. All he cared about was that she was his friend, a fact that she proved by appearing to help defeat her father when he and the ghostly rock star Ember had joined forces to take over Amity Park.
That was, quite literally, the most help he had ever gotten from her. She wouldn't even help with his homework, despite his begging and nagging. Although she was worse at math than he was, she was a genius in just about every other subject. He repressed a laugh in memory of the day he had jokingly asked if she got her brains from her mother.
"My mother is a conceited dimwit," she had said jovially. "I inherited my intelligence from Dad."
Danny had raised an eyebrow at that. "Kat," he had said skeptically. "Your dad is an idiot."
She had grinned at that. "Maybe so. But he's a smart idiot. You just can't tell because he's such an airhead." He continued to be dubious of that idea.
By the time they reached the city limits, Danny had made about half of a page's progress. He found himself reading the same few lines over and over in his boredom at the subject and decided to stare out the window for a while. It was a lovely view of grass, trees, and telephone poles; nothing interesting there.
Suddenly, it clicked, and Danny had to mentally smack himself. Kat had told him her mother's name. Not only that, but she had confirmed that her mother was still alive. Of course, he trusted her by now, but he was still dying to know who she really was. He resolved to locate this Elizabeth Cadwell and tried to go back to his Literature book.
Some time later, he gave up with a disgusted sigh and looked over at his sister, the aspiring therapist. Or was it psychiatrist? He could never remember. She was staring out the window in boredom, having also given up on her psychology tome. With a quick glance to ensure that his parents were excitedly chattering about their destination, he said quietly, "Hey, Jazz?"
She looked at him with that slightly worried look that she always got when he began a conversation at that volume. It usually meant he wanted to talk about something he didn't want their parents to overhear, and was important enough that he wasn't willing to wait until they were gone.
He had not actually thought this far ahead, and so took a moment to measure his words before he continued. "You know if Vlad invited us out there, it means he's going to try something, right?"
She smiled, a little sadly it seemed, and covered his hand with her own. "Don't worry," she assured him. "I'll cover for you if you need to…you know…" She jerked her head slightly toward their father, thereby indicating that she understood Danny might need to "go ghost" and save Jack. Danny returned her smile and relaxed back into the seat.
Vlad Masters had been trying to kill Jack for some time now out of revenge for causing an accident he claimed ruined his life. From Danny's point of view, Vlad should be worshipping the ground his dad walked on. Because of an accident similar to Danny's own, Vlad had also been granted ghost powers. He had since become one of the richest people in the world. Of course, without the love of his life, he was also the loneliest. Unfortunately, the love of his life was Maddie Fenton. This, of course, created a whole slew of problems and somewhat explained the older half-ghost's hatred of Jack.
Danny had been a half-ghost for several months now; Vlad had been one for twenty years. If they were forced to fight, there was no question that Vlad would win. He was Danny's superior in every way: faster, stronger, more skilled, and more powerful in general. Still, if it came to a fight for his father's life, Danny would not back down. Even if it meant facing certain death himself, he would fight Vlad. He had too.
It didn't make him any less terrified of the prospect.
He listened to his parents talk about Seattle, Washington's version of Romeo and Juliet for some time and sighed. Why couldn't he have had normal parents?
A/N: I used to live in Federal Way, WA. That's where this one is taking place. In point of fact, it's taking place on the very cliffside I used to live at the bottom of, simply because I know the area so well. Man, I miss Poverty Beach...
Faded, remember in the last one? Danny finds Kat's grave? It says she was born in 1979? /grins/ Don't worry about it. I have to read through the last two stories every time I start a new chapter almost to make sure I'm not forgetting any vital points. I have the attention span of a gnat without my Post-Its.