WoM- There's been a big problem with my computer, so I decided to swap the update dates of FCA and LLL. I'm extremely sorry to all the LLL fans, but it will be updated tomorrow. Let's just hope you see it in your heart to forgive me…
"There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem."
-Harold Stephens
Scene 4
"You two know each other?" Danny asked, surprise flickering in his eyes as he glanced between the girls. Neither paid him any mind, too busy scowling murder at each other.
"Well, well, well…" Electra said coolly, "If it isn't the little gothic hussy."
"That hurts, Eel," Sam said sarcastically, "Especially coming from someone whose sole talent is screwing other people,"
"Take that as a yes," Tucker muttered to Danny.
"Electra! Sam!" Jazz said, jumping in and separating the two before things got out of hand (The guy at the shoe counter was eyeing them already, since the whole tri-county area had probably heard Sam and Electra yell,) "Look, whatever the problem is, insults will get you nowhere. Now if you two will calm down and act like civil human beings…"
"Civil? Her?" Electra snorted, "The monkeys in the Zoo are more civil then Sammy here,"
"There's nothing human about cold-blooded life sucking demons from Hell," Sam insisted at the same time. Both girls narrowed their eyes at each other. Sensing the tension, Danny cleared his throat and tugged urgently on Sam's arm.
"Come on, Sam, now's not the time," He reminded her. Electra watched carefully as Sam's expression softened, and she sighed.
"You are so lucky I'm busy right now," She spat at Electra.
"Time and place, Freak," Electra countered angrily. With one last scowl at the blonde, Sam grabbed Danny and Tucker and led them to the opposite side of the bowling ally.
"Nicely handled, Electra," Derris said smoothly, "I think I've seen more maturity in three year olds. And in front of half the town, too."
"Shut the hell up," Electra snapped. "None of this would've happened if you'd warned me like you should've."
"Wait, how do you know Sam?" Jazz asked, frowning slightly.
"My father went to the same private district as her father." Electra said in a chilled tone. "We've known each other since childhood, since our parents hoped we'd become friends. Naturally, we did not. Our parents had an argument when I was six and Sam moved away, since which I've only seen her at a few parties. End of story." Jazz frowned. This couldn't be all there was to it, but she sensed Electra didn't want her asking any more questions. She might've pressed on if she thought it would be a threat to Danny, but…
"How do you know Samantha?" Derris asked, frowning in confusion. Her couldn't see Jack and Maddie being on friendly terms with what her remembered of Mr. And Mrs. Mansion.
"Oh, I've known her pretty much forever through Danny," She answered, "Sam and Danny are best friends, along with Tucker Foley, that other boy you just saw with them,"
"So that was the Sam he was talking about going to help," Derris mused.
"Friends?" Electra repeated, looking over to where the trio was sitting. The look Sam and given the boy when he asked her to calm down was NOT the look you gave to a 'friend.' Watching Sam's face flame after the Fenton boy laughed and said something Electra couldn't hear as he cast an admiring look in Sam's direction, Electra couldn't stop the smirk from spreading on her face.
Jazz missed this, too busy trying to smooth things over with the man who was still watching them warily, but Derris saw it. He considered saying something for a moment before deciding to turn a blind eye.
After all, if Danny had his hands full with preventing a possible murder, he couldn't bother Derris when he was with Jazz.
Speaking of which, the brilliant red-headed girl had finished her conversation with the guy at the shoe counter and was making her way back to them.
"Bad news," Jazz said grimly. "We've gotta leave."
"Over a yelling match?" Derris said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, normally they don't mind that sort of thing." Jazz sighed, "But see, in this town a lot of public arguments end up drawing the attention of ghosts, and they've already had to clean up after one ghost attack here," Jazz didn't mention that this attack had to do with her ex-boyfriend, his girlfriend and her little brother.
"That's fine," Electra said firmly, "In fact, it's getting kinda late anyways. Would you mind just taking us back to your house so we can catch a ride home with Michael?"
"No, of course no," Jazz said, faintly surprised the girl was being so agreeable.
"Maybe we should bring your brother, too." Electra said, "So he doesn't have to walk home in the dark." Jazz flinched slightly at that one, knowing that Danny was in the middle of talking about something important.
"Uh, actually I don't-!" Not heeding Jazz in the slightest, Electra took off for where the ghost busting trio was sitting. Jazz bit back a groan.
"Jazz? You okay?" Derris asked, concerned.
"Me? Fine," Jazz answered, glancing at Danny again in time to see him stop Sam from going for Electra's throat. "It's Danny I'm worried about…"
"Man, Sam, Last time I saw you with that look in your eyes you were a dragon trying to tear Paulina's head off." Danny said with a weak smile to the still fuming girl. "You okay?"
"Fine," She sighed. "She's just… aarg!"
"Wait, you know Electra Lunette? And you never thought to get me an autograph?" Sam shot Tucker a dry look.
"We're not on the best of terms if you haven't noticed," She said in a droll tone. A smile twitched at the corner of her lips for a moment, before the scowl replaced it again, "I didn't know she was the actress you were talking about, Danny. You should've let Walker tear her to pieces." Tucker and Danny exchanged surprised looks behind her back. Sam never felt that much animosity towards anyone, Paulina included.
"Right, anyways I need to talk you to Tucker." Danny said, changing the subject as they sat down. As curious as he was, he knew Sam wouldn't just tell him what had happened to make things so hostile between her and the actress.
"What about?" Tucker said, picking up on the lifeline instantly. He got the same vibes from the Goth, obviously, and agreed with Danny to give her the space she needed. Sam spared the two a grateful smile, digging through her purse for a pencil to play with. She liked to keep her hands busy during conversations, especially ones she had to do a lot of thinking in.
"I wanted to watch 'Spirits,'" Danny explained, "I want to get a feel for what these people think we do, so I don't give them anything important. And do you think you're up for a little hacking?" Tucker grinned.
"Dude, when am I not up for hacking?" He asked. "Who's the victim?"
"The director of the Documentary," Danny answered. "I don't trust him for one second. He's up to something, and I need you to find out what,"
"If I find anything, I'll give it to you tomorrow in school." Tucker said, "I'll pretend they're notes for Lancer's class of something."
"Thanks," Danny said gratefully.
"You know, we can probably throw the crew workers off a little, too," Sam piped up suddenly, "We can tell people there have been sightings of you around certain places to take some of the heat away. Use the rumor circuit to our advantage,"
"Hey, I never thought of that!" Tucker said, brightening. Danny laughed.
"Leave it to Sam to come up with the ideas that take a drawback and turn it into an advantage," He said approvingly. Sam blushed brightly at his approval. Tucker, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and sighed mentally at the stubborn obliviousness of his friends.
"But it will only work so long as the camera crew is following the rumors." Tucker frowned, finding the flaw in her plan. "After they start catching on, they might stop chasing ghosts that don't exist."
"Yeah, but by then they might think the whole ghost thing is just an urban myth." Sam pointed out.
"An urban myth with the entire town plus as witnesses?" Tucker asked dryly. Danny shrugged.
"They might figure we just said those things for attention," Danny defended Sam, "Our claim to fame, y'know?"
"Right, because everybody wants the world to think they're liars," Tucker said sarcastically.
"There's nothing wrong with a little optimism, Tuck," Danny reminded her, shaking his head.
"Except when it's not realistic," Tucker countered. Danny groaned as Sam's all too familiar argument was used against him by another source, and Sam responded by playfully chucking her pencil at Tucker's face. He ducked away with a yelp, giving her a mock glare. "Anyways, when do you want the 'Spirits' DVDs, Dan?"
"This weekend," Danny responded, "We're crashing at Sam's place. Her parents already cleared it." Tucker brightened.
"I call the guest room on the first floor!" He said instantly.
"Just don't expect me to watch those," Sam said in disgust, ignoring Tucker. "I am NOT watching Eel act,"
"Eel?" Danny repeated, confused.
"It's what I call Electra," Sam smirked. "Electra Estella Lunette. E.E.L. I came up with it when we were like, three."
"Clever," Danny grinned.
"Still can't believe you know her and never said a word to us…" Tucker grumbled.
"To be honest, I'm trying to forget that I know her," Sam snapped. "Trust me, Electra's not as great as you obviously think she is." Sam didn't mention that she didn't even know Electra was an actress now.
"She certainly seemed like a real sweetheart back here," Danny agreed with Sam dryly, motioning towards where the two girls had been fighting.
"Thank you!" Sam said with a vigor, making Danny blush slightly. This time Tucker really did roll his eyes.
"You want me to leave so you two can get a room?" He asked.
"TUCKER!" Danny and Sam yelled as one, obviously embarrassed.
"Hey, you're Danny, right?" All three friends froze at the familiar voice, before Sam's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Uh, yeah?" Danny said uncertainly, puzzled as to why a famous TV star would be talking to him.
"Sorry to bother you-" (Here there was a cough in Sam's direction that sounded suspiciously like 'liar!') "-But I'm afraid that we've been asked to leave. Me, Derris, and Jazz were all planning on going back to your house since Michael could give Derris and I a ride back to the hotel. You wanna come with? It's bound to be better then walking home in the dark," Danny blanched slightly.
"Actually…"
"Actually," Sam cut in coldly. "I think Danny would rather walk then get stuck in the same airspace as a troll like you for more then one minute."
"Well, I was gonna say I had to stay here a little longer and to go ahead without me, but…" Everyone ignored Danny's dry muttering.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Electra said to Sam, not sounding all that sorry, "Didn't mean to make you jealous, Sammy."
"What?" Sam said, caught off guard there, "Jealous? Of you? I'm not-!"
"It's just, since Jazz told me you two were just friends and I'm gonna be seeing a lot of Danny thinks to the documentary, I thought I might wanna start off on the right foot with him. Gotta say though, Sammy, I never expected you to be the over-controlling girlfriend type…" There was a pause for a moment when what she's said dawned on Sam and Danny.
"S/HE'S NOT MY GIRL/BOYFRIEND!" They yelled as one, jumping up. Both of their faces were flaming at the all-too familiar accusation.
"Oops," Electra said casually, "Sorry, my mistake. Though now that you mention it, Danny does seem a little above the level of a little Goth girl…" Sam dived for Electra, and would've had the pleasure of strangling her if Danny hadn't grabbed her to stop the murder from happening.
"Dude," Tucker whispered, giving Danny a pointed look. The Halfa sighed.
"You know what? I changed my mind," Sam stopped struggling.
"WHAT?" She yelled.
"Great!" Electra said happily, "I'll go tell Derris and Jazz!" and with that, the blonde starlet walked away to where the other two were waiting patiently.
"Danny!" Sam hissed angrily, "How could you-?"
"Because she would've stayed until I agreed," Danny muttered back, "And she would've kept pushing your buttons until you got in trouble. Remember what your parents said after the thing with Freakshow?" Sam flinched and calmed down.
"Still," She said, not willing to just let the subject die, "Did you have to agree?" Danny smiled at her weakly.
"Tell you what," Danny said, "You handle the rumors thing, and I'll see if I can get Electra to back off for everyone's sake." Sam grinned at that.
"Deal!" She agreed.
"Danny!" Electra called hastily from where she stood with Derris, Jazz and Paulina. (Who'd leeched herself to the Starlet, like a shark drawn to blood.) "Come on, we gotta go!" Sam didn't miss the naked surprised that flitted across the pretty Latino girl's face when she saw Electra was apparently on close terms with Danny.
"Hang on!" Danny called back. "You two be careful, okay?" Danny whispered to Sam and Tucker, "I've got a bad feeling, and I don't want you guys getting hurt."
"Come on, Danny," Tucker protested, "When are we not careful?" Danny gave him a dry look, and Tucker suddenly remembered their first meeting with Skulker. "Well, when is Sam not careful?"
"Don't worry, Danny," Sam said, giving him a confident smile, "We haven't survived everything we've been through to let any of this bring us down. Not that you'd let it," Danny smiled gratefully a little at the girl's faith in his abilities, which even he had his doubts about.
"Well, see you tomorrow in school." Danny said, walking rather reluctantly over to his sister. Sam's eyes narrowed again as Electra immediately started chatting it up with Danny, still putting on the 'let's-be-friends' act.
"Look at it this way, Sam," Tucker said sympathetically, "At least now you have someone you can hate more then Paulina," Sam look her eyes off Danny and Electra long enough to pin Tucker with a hard glare. "Shutting up now,"
"So, Danny, What's your favorite class in school?" Electra asked in a friendly tone. She'd forgone the front seat, sitting in the back with Danny. Her desire for revenge against Sam was greater then the urge to make Derris miserable.
"I have to pick one?" Danny asked dryly, "They're all just so exciting…"
"Danny," Jazz's warning tone rang, as she glanced into the rearview mirror long enough to glare at her little brother. "I know you've had some difficulties at school, but that's no reason to be so negative about it,"
"Difficulties?" Electra repeated, confused.
"Lancer loves to pin stuff on me," Danny said quickly, looking out the widow at the road rolled by. "I've had so many detentions they're starting to consider just putting my name on the list at the beginning of each week and getting it over with."
"Nice," Electra laughed, genuinely impressed the boy could cause that much trouble.
Danny didn't respond, though he was alert after a sharp chill and a gasp of blue mist. Jazz heard him, too, and gave him another look in the rearview. Though this one read something more like 'Not here!' Before anyone could say anything, loud screams were heard a little ways down the street, combined with the chillingly familiar scent of smoke…
"What's that?" Derris asked, craning his head to see what the problem was.
"I don't know," Jazz answered, her lips pursing together. "But I'm gonna find out. Electra, Derris, follow me so you two can help, too. Danny, you stay here and call for help. Tell them what's going on as soon as they get here." As she pressed her cell phone into her brother's hand, she whispered under her breath so the TV stars couldn't hear her, "There's no cameras in the car," Getting her message, Danny gave his sister a small smile.
"Got it," He said, watching as they took off in the direction the smoke smell was coming from. As soon as they were out of sight, Danny ducked down and cried out "Goin' Ghost!"
Two beams of light later, he phased through the car and flew off in the same direction his sister had taken off in. He stopped in horror when it led him to an apartment complex, completely engulfed in flames. His only grew horror grew when he saw a woman on the ground wailing and struggling against concerned neighbors, trying fruitlessly to get back into the burning building.
"EMILY!" She screamed, "P-Please, my daughter, Sh-she didn't get out! Please!" the rest of the woman's words broke of in favor of sobs that broke Danny's heart to hear. Determination shining in his eyes, he shot into the burning building, ignoring the shouts of surprise from the crowd on the ground.
Danny panicked slightly when he realized he had no idea where the girl was. Avoiding the flames the best her could, he began yelling out for her.
"Emily! Emily!" He could barely hear himself over the roar of the flames. 'I'm not gonna make it to her in time,' He realized, a chill going through him as he thought of the woman crying for her daughter in the crowd. "EMILY!" He yelled again, couching as the smoke started to get to him.
Suddenly, something just clicked in his brain. It was like something in his head cancelled out the sound of the flames and heightened the rest of his hearing at a quick rate, like someone was turning up the volume. Soon it was loud enough so that he could hear panting and whimpering two floors down and three rooms in. He knew somewhere in the back of his head it was a new power, but was too busy to entertain the thought.
Diving down at an alarming rate, Danny took off for the room, the sound turning back to normal as he did. He found her, about six years old with ash smeared on her face and a bad scrape on her left arm, hiding in the back of a closet, eyes closed tight in fear as she clutched the Raggedy-Ann doll in her arms.
"Emily?" Danny said, crouching down. The girl's eyes shot open, and he gave her an encouraging smile and reached out one gloved hand for her to take, "Hey, don't worry, I'm here to get you out. Your mom's looking for you outside," The girl didn't seem to hear him at first but when she did, the first thing out of her mouth was something Danny considered an irony.
"Are you like Superman?" she asked, "Are you a good guy?"
"Yeah, I'm a good guy," He answered, smiling at her warmly, "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe." With all the pure innocence of a child, Emily grabbed Danny's hand, reassured by the simple fact that he was her superhero.
Danny turned them intangible and flew them both out of the building. After getting through the burning walls, Danny turned them both tangible as they floated above the crowd. Landing on the cement, he let the girl's hand go and stepped back as her mother enveloped her in a relieved hug. Danny smiled down at them slightly as the girl returned the hug with a vigor, before remembering Danny again.
"Thank you." She whispered. The little girl's words made her mother look up as well, and her own teary brown eyes met Danny's vivid green ones. Then she did the last thing in the world Danny was expecting.
She threw her arms around in a grateful hug.
"Thank you," She sobbed into Danny's shoulder, "Thank you, Phantom. Thank you…"
"I-it's nothing," Danny said, feeling very awkward at of a sudden. At the same time, he felt a twinge of pride. This moment, this hug, this mother's relief and heartfelt gratefulness at her child's safety… it made it all worth it.
He was brought back to earth, though, when he heard sirens wail in the distance.
"I'd better go," He said, flying up. No one stopped him, Danny saw a sort of kind understanding on everyone's face (Save Jazz, who was too busy wiping away tears of both relief and pride she was not doubt hoping Danny wouldn't notice.) as he went invisible and felt back to his sister's car.
But before he did, he caught a glimpse of burning red eyes and a transparent black silhouette against the moon, which disappeared as easily as he did…
WoM- You have no idea how guilty I feel about not updating LLL when I promised. 'crying' sorry! Also, I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter. I've got a new keyboard which isn't completely broken in yet. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks to-
phantomgirl07
EvilRobotZombieLoofaOverlord
The Wicked Wench of the West
CelloSolo2007
purpledog100
Inumaru12
DannysGirlForever
ChicaDeDanny
epobbp
WhiteMoonDragon
Master of Procrastination
DarkSpellCaster
SevenStar
animekraze
Questions-
phantomgirl07 (Hope this gives you your answer!)
Master of Procrastination (Thank you! 'laughs' sorry. As for the true cause behind Sam and Electra's grudge... you'll see! 'winks')
Next update- December 1st.
See you then!