Disclaimer: If I owned Danny Phantom, the Dash/Danny pairing would reign supreme! Alas it is but a mere fanfictional slash possibility so no, no it's proof that I don't own it and probably never will. T.T P.S. Chip Skylark also belongs to Butch Hartman.
Author's Notes: Please enjoy!
Chapter 20: The Ragged Reggae
Dash and Sandra walked down the hallway in a bashful silence. Dash tried to act cool, but felt nervous as he walked with the brunette. Their arms occasionally brushed against each other, but neither one moved away. A few students looked at them curiously, some whispering to each other as the pair passed them.
Sandra fidgeted slightly with the notebook in her hands as she asked, "So…how was football practice yesterday?" 'Geez Sandra, can you get any lamer?'
Dash nodded, "Good, really good, although Coach says that we might have some trouble playing against the Oak Creek Woodpeckers next week. Our new formations in offense are still in need of some work, but I think our defense is strong enough to at least do some damage." 'What am I doing? I'm probably boring her to death.'
Sandra gave him a sincere smile as she said, "Oh, well I hope you guys win next Friday."
"Yeah, me too," said Dash casually. "So um how's your arm and legs?"
Sandra bent her elbow as she said, "Better, they're not so sore anymore. My dad still made me go to the hospital the next day though, just to make sure everything was really alright."
Dash raised an eyebrow as he said, "Wow, your dad's really overprotective towards you."
'He's just afraid for me,' thought Sandra.
Her face became one of exasperation as she said, "Yeah, it's a bit unreasonable on his part since we did come to this town because the military base needed help dealing with the paranormal phenomena around Amity Park."
Dash couldn't help but chuckle at the frustrated expression on Sandra's face. Soon enough she joined in his laughter and the tense air between the two lifted somewhat. Sandra saw Dash fidget with his jacket and smiled at recognizing the blond's nervous habit.
Sandra giggled slightly as she thought, 'Paulina's right, if I wait for him then we'll never get anywhere.'
She gathered her courage and asked, "Hey Dash, did you know Chip Skylark's new album came out?"
"No, I didn't."
"Yeah, yesterday a girl in my class let me listen to it and I thought it was pretty cool. I'm going to the mall this Friday to pick up a copy…do you want to come with me?" she asked, a hopeful look on her face.
Dash raised an eyebrow at the other girl's words before a small blush slowly appeared on his face.
Sandra coughed slightly and quickly added, "I-I mean if you don't already have plans. I just figured that because you don't have a game this Friday it'd be cool for the two of us to-"
"Are you…asking me out on a date?" Dash asked slowly.
Sandra stopped walking and looked up at Dash nervously, "Yes…no….maybe." The more she looked at Dash the more she lost her nerve.
"Forget it, just forget I said that."
"No wait, yes!" Dash said suddenly.
Sandra looked at him in confusion as she asked, "What?"
"My answer is yes," he said anxiously.
Sandra frowned slightly as she said, "Look Dash if you're just saying yes out of pity or something-"
"I'm not," the blond said firmly. "I was just…surprised because I've never had a girl ask me out before."
The two slowly smiled at each other, but their reverie was broken when they heard the sound of someone chuckling.
Dash looked behind him and glared as he caught sight of Griffith and Flora leaning against some lockers. Griffith uncrossed his arms and walked slowly towards them. He smirked in amusement as he saw Dash place himself in front of Sandra. The two boys stared face to face and Sandra saw Flora sigh.
Although the rest of Flora's face remained impassive, her green eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke, "Griffith."
Dash and Sandra were startled at hearing the girl's voice and looked at Flora in surprise. They both had her for Geometry and not once did the girl speak up in class. Even on the threat of detention, the girl remained silent and ignored any attempts on Mr. Barton's part to get her to speak. Eventually Mr. Barton left well enough alone when he saw how well Flora scored on his exams.
Griffith turned his head to look at Flora and smiled as he said, "Must you always ruin my fun, Flora."
He turned back to look at Dash and grinned at him. Dash opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he had a flash of Danny's face. He shook his head to clear away the image and looked back at Griffith. Dash frowned as he saw the Goth's face and glared at the other's features. He really hated the fact that the two boys looked so similar.
"Hey meathead, if you don't mind, we need to talk to Sandra before school starts."
Sandra stepped around Dash and gave Griffith a curious look as she asked, "About what?"
"Just some dance committee business," Griffith said while smiling politely. "It's actually about the rather pressing matter concerning my band."
Sandra's eyes widened in understanding as she said, "Oh right, I remember now."
She gave Dash an apologetic smile and began to walk with Griffith. At the last moment she turned back to Dash and stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. Griffith frowned as he saw the two, but inside he was furious at seeing the dangerous action. 'I must remedy this immediately before things escalate out my control.'
Dash blushed profusely as he looked down at the brunette and placed a hand where she'd kissed him.
Sandra blushed at her own audacity and smiled up at him, "I'll see you at lunch and we can talk then."
Griffith cleared his throat exaggeratingly and Sandra gave him a sheepish look before walking with the two Goths. Dash stood there dumbfounded as he watched them leave.
Danny and Tucker held surprised expressions on their faces after having seen the entire incident. They'd been too far to hear the interaction between the others, but had seen the kiss between Dash and Sandra.
"Dude, did you see that? She kissed him!" Tucker said excitedly. "Granted it was on the cheek, but still, it's only a matter of time before she kisses him on the lips. Anybody can see that they really like each other and all you have to do now is… "
Tucker stopped when he saw the astonished expression on Danny's face.
"Danny is something wrong?" he asked with concern.
Danny snapped out of his earlier stupor and half-smiled as he looked at Tucker.
"No, nothing's wrong. I was just surprised, that's all."
His best friend smiled at him and Danny turned his head to watch Dash's retreating form. Although he felt relief at seeing that Sandra clearly liked Dash, at the same time he wondered why he wasn't as happy as he thought he'd be.
"Anyway Danny, I wanted to tell you that Sam and I are still working on the research you asked us to do about Griffith's band. Yesterday I found a lead with Carmen."
Danny smirked slightly as he said, "Carmen, that girl that you're-"
"Yeah, her," Tucker said quickly. He looked away slightly to hide his embarrassment.
"Out of curiosity Tucker, how are things going with her?"
Tucker smiled as he said, "I'm not sure and I don't think I'm ready to face Sam yet."
Danny gave his best friend an encouraging smile and placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder.
"Just be honest Tuck, I'm sure she'll understand," Danny said earnestly. "Anyway, what'd you find out?"
Tucker's face become serious as he said, "She's part of the dance committee, specifically the part that was picking the music. She told me that aside from having a DJ, they decided to have a live band. They held auditions a few weeks ago and picked Griffith's band, who called themselves 'The Grims'."
"How original," said Danny sarcastically.
Tucker nodded, but he frowned slightly as he said, "Here's the weird part though. When I asked her about what they sounded like, she admitted that she couldn't remember the names of the songs, what they were about. She couldn't even hum them a little, yet she says that she really liked their playing."
"Well maybe she just forgot," Danny said with a shrug.
Tucker gave Danny a look as he said, "Carmen's been a music prodigy since she was 4 years old and she has a photographic memory."
"That is weird," Danny said in surprise, "and how is that possible?"
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Jack twirled his pencil in between his fingers as he looked at the Calculus problem in front of him. He knew he'd done the steps correctly, but when he'd looked in the back of the book, his answer didn't match with the one there. He stopped his movements after a moment and smiled as he saw where he'd made his error. As he erased a section of his work he felt more than heard someone walking behind him. He quickly turned around and sighed with relief when he saw it was only Danny.
The brunet looked nervous as he shuffled closer and Jack masked his unease. He gave Danny a small smile and looked at him expectantly. Only when the two finally stood face to face, was Jack able to notice the small flush across Danny's cheeks.
"Can I sit here?" Danny asked nervously. "Everywhere else is taken."
Jack looked at the library tables near them and saw that indeed all of them were occupied by other students who were studying or talking in hushed voices. Although rather small, he liked the table he sat at because it was far in the back and a little secluded. He looked back at Danny and nodded encouragingly.
Danny smiled as he took a seat across from Jack. The auburn haired boy watched as Danny took out his notebook and what looked suspiciously like the geometry textbook. He said nothing however, and returned to working on his own homework. Half an hour passed in silence between them and Jack was now coming closer to finishing his Calculus homework. As he solved another problem he looked in the back of the book to make sure his answer was correct. He smiled to himself as he saw that he was right and was finally getting better at these types of problems.
As he set the pages down he noticed Danny's hand was no longer moving. Jack looked up in time to see Danny staring at him. The brunette blushed at having been caught and quickly looked down at his homework again. Jack felt his heart beat quicken at the realization that Danny had been looking at him.
He gulped nervously and tried to look back at his homework. He was halfway through solving another problem when again he felt like he was being stared at. He did his best to ignore the stare and instead tried to solve the problem in front of him. It would have been easier if he could concentrate, but the boy's incessant gaze was making him nervous.
Eventually he gave up all together and looked up at Danny expectantly. He held the other boy's stare with his own and leaned closer to whisper, "Is something wrong?"
Danny mentally punched himself for his stupidity. He didn't know what in the world had possessed him to look at Jack so much and as he looked back at the caring gaze in front of him, he scrambled to find an excuse.
He gave Jack an embarrassed smile as he whispered, "Yeah, can you please help me with my homework?"
Jack tried not to let his disappointment show as he said, "Yeah, sure. Where are you having problems?"
'Every time I'm near you,' Danny thought in grim amusement.
"Um, I can't figure out the area of this shape inside the circle."
Jack nodded and smiled as he said, "I used to have problems with the areas of inscribed shapes too."
He scooted his chair closer to Danny's side of the table until they were side by side. He looked at the problem written in Danny's notebook and after a moment nodded as he remembered how to solve this type of problem. He looked back at Danny and thought the other boy looked tense.
In a calm tone he said, "Ok so the first thing you should do is write down the givens."
Danny nodded as he wrote several variables and equations on his paper. After a moment he looked back up at Jack expectantly. Jack shifted to point to something on Danny's paper and inadvertently brushed closer against the other boy. Danny gasped silently and stiffened when he felt their arms brush against each other. He felt nervous being so close to Jack and was now regretting even asking for the other boy's help.
The scent of Jack's cologne caught Danny's nose and as he looked at Jack, he subconsciously started to stare at the other boy's lips. The full lips were nothing like a girl's and completely plain in comparison. It was these same lips however, that had made him feel so strange. Realizing he was staring, he quickly looked away and tried to concentrate on what Jack was saying.
"So do you understand now?" Jack asked hopefully.
Danny glanced back at the problem in front of him and saw that Jack had written down the steps on how to solve the problem without actually solving it. He looked back up at Jack's smiling face and nodded without a word.
Jack sighed as he said, "Good then I'll let you work it out on your own. If you get stuck again just ask me for help."
"This isn't what I'm stuck on."
Danny's eyes widened as he realized he'd voiced his thoughts aloud and he looked up at Jack in embarrassment.
Jack raised an eyebrow at him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he asked, "Then what are you stuck on?"
Danny quickly shrugged off the hand, but regretted it when he saw the hurt look on Jack's face. The older boy looked away from him and smiled sadly.
"Well that answers that question."
Jack was relieved when he heard the sound of the bell that signaled the end of study period. He quickly stood up and hurriedly began placing his things inside his backpack. Danny followed suit, but stopped when his hand landed on his notebook. He saw the neat scrawling of Jack's writing and felt his earlier guilt return.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"Don't apologize," Jack replied coldly.
He stuffed the last of his things inside his backpack and started to walk away, but had his arm grabbed by Danny.
"Jack, wait."
The older boy suppressed the urge angrily yank his arm away and waited to hear what Danny would say.
"I…I'm sorry, I have a lot of things on my mind right now and this is all happening so fast that I just can't help but be…"
Jack slowly turned around to face Danny and said, "Scared?"
"Yeah," Danny said with a feeble shrug.
A small smile came to Jack's face as he said, "I know the feeling."
Jack was glad that they were in a secluded part of the library as he grabbed Danny's hand in his, "Just know that you're not alone and that you have me."
Danny blushed slightly as he looked at their joined hands.
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"Can't you just listen to me for once?" Tucker asked in annoyance.
Sam quickly turned around and yelled, "I've been listening to you and so far all I've been hearing is you lying to me!"
Tucker frowned as he yelled back, "I'm not lying to you! She's just a friend who's helping me out!"
"Helping you out? Tell me Tucker, what kind of help involves her hugging you?"
"She wasn't hugging…I mean she was, but it's not what you think," Tucker said in exasperation.
Sam looked at him coldly as she said, "No, I know exactly what to think and right now I'm thinking that I don't want to have anything to do with you!"
Tucker gave her an irritated look as he asked, "Will you stop being angry at me for a second and let me explain?"
"Tucker, there's nothing to explain because we're not even going out anymore. I don't care what you and that girl were doing because there are more important things to worry about, like saving Danny's life."
The Goth girl turned to walk away, but was quickly blocked by Tucker. She was momentarily surprised by the intense gaze in Tucker's eyes before her anger took over and she roughly pushed past him. Tucker grabbed her arm to stop her and was promptly slapped by Sam.
The sound echoed loudly around them in the empty hallway. Sam gasped as she realized what she'd done and saw Tucker hold in his cheek in surprise. He slowly let go of her arm and stared at her, a hurt look on his face. Sam tried to hold on to her earlier anger and schooled her face into a look of indifference.
She squared her shoulders as she firmly said, "We can be friends, but I never want to be with you like that again."
Sam turned around and continued walking away from him, her heart breaking with every step she took away from Tucker. She felt her vision become blurry and tried to blink away the tears forming. In her distraction, she crashed into someone and fell over backwards.
"Sam, look out!" yelled Tucker.
Sam looked up in time to see a cloaked figure float in front of her. A set of emerald green eyes glowed as they looked at her and a deep voice bellowed out, "I can help you with that."
The cloaked figure pointed a hand at Sam and the Goth girl watched as a green goopy substance appeared over it. Tucker literally hauled her up as a slimy ghost blast hit the spot she'd been at. The two teenagers ran down the hallway, the cloaked figure chuckling as it kept a steady pace with them. It fired another ghost blast at Sam, but the Goth girl ducked at the last second and saw the blast hit a few lockers in front of her. The slimy goop trailed down the lockers and unto the floor.
Sam and Tucker both slipped on a stream of the goop and fell to the floor with a hard thud. The cloaked figure gathered a large slimy green energy in his hands before firing the energy beam at Sam. Sam covered her head as she felt the heat of the blast come closer. At the last second she heard an agonized yell and the sound of something hardening.
Sam quickly opened her eyes when she realized nothing happened to her, but gasped in fear as she looked in front of her. She looked up to see Tucker frozen and completely encased in a translucent blob of green plaster.
"Tucker!"
The cloaked figure's chuckling echoed down the empty hallway and it slowly descended closer to Sam. Sam quickly stood up and looked at the figure murderously. The cloaked figure merely chuckled harder, but eventually stopped as it came closer to Sam.
"Stand down," said a voice behind her.
Sam turned her head and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Flora. Sam saw the blonde girl reach into the pocket of her skirt and produce what looked like a big marble.
"Stand down or I'll absorb your energy," Flora said threateningly. "If it was painful to receive it, imagine the pain of losing it."
Sam turned back to the cloaked figure and heard it growl in a low voice.
"Griffith's orders-"
"Are that you work under me or did you forget that?" Flora said, the barest trace of anger appearing on her normally stoic features. "You have no business with them because they are not your mission. Disobey my orders or more importantly, Griffith's orders, again and I will kill you."
The cloaked figure chuckled again as it said, "No you won't."
Flora's eyes a dark green as she yelled, "You test my patience human!"
Sam's eyes widened at hearing Flora's words. 'The cloaked figure that attacked Danny a few days ago is a human?'
The cloaked figure raised his hands up in a placating gesture as the folds of its cloak expanded and enshrouded it. It formed into a green gassy form before disappearing altogether.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly turned around to look at Tucker. Flora saw the other Goth girl bend down in front of the encased boy. Flora quickly closed her eyes and concentrated on making sure that there was no one around them. Although it was after school, she wanted to make sure she'd be left relatively alone to clean up this mess. Her eyes shot open as she felt Griffith's presence nearing the hallway she was standing in.
Sam looked up at Flora desperately as she asked, "Can you help him?"
Flora turned back to Sam and nodded as she said, "Yes, but please stand back."
Sam looked at the other girl curiously, but refrained from commenting. She quickly got up and moved a few feet away from Tucker. She watched Flora place the marble back into her pocket and place both hands on the rough casing around Tucker. Flora closed her eyes and concentrated. She focused her energy forward to break down the molecules of the hardened slime. After a moment Flora's hands began to dissolve the material around Tucker.
Tucker slumped forward on the ground and landed in a large clump of green dust around him. Flora stepped away from him and Sam quickly moved toward Tucker. As she bent down before him, her earlier tears returned, but this time out of happiness. Sam gently brushed away small flecks of dust from Tucker's face and smiled as she saw the calm rise and fall of his chest.
Sam gave Flora a true smile as she said, "Thank you for helping us."
Flora's eyes glowed a dark green again as she slowly said, "Don't thank me yet."
Sam yelled out as she suddenly felt like thousands of needles were stabbing into her brain. The brunette held her head in pain and struggled to stay conscious. Flora raised her hand and quickly engulfed the two teenagers in a green aura. She quickly levitated them off the ground and concentrated on opening their minds.
As she hung limply in the air, Sam felt her nose start to bleed and her eyes kept trying to close. The last thing she heard before going unconscious was, "For the sake of my brother, I can't have you remembering this."
When she was done, Flora carefully set the two teenagers down side by side. She wasn't surprised to feel Griffith suddenly stand behind her. The grim reaper walked casually toward Sam and Tucker and looked down at them carefully.
Griffith made a clicking sound with his tongue and reached into the back pocket of his pants. He produced a small white handkerchief and bent down before Sam to carefully wipe away any traces of blood on her face. He looked at the red stain in disappointment and stood up to face Flora.
"You're getting sloppy."
Flora stood up straighter as she replied, "Forgive me sir."
Griffith refolded the handkerchief and placed it back in his pocket.
He looked at Flora curiously as he asked, "For the sake of your brother?"
Flora sensed the apprehension behind the question and in a calm voice replied, "After all these years Griffith, you still ask?"
Griffith's smile widened slightly as he said, "I suppose I still find it hard to believe that you would do so much for me even though we're not blood. At any rate, have you finally done what I ordered?"
Flora paused as she looked at her superior and felt how tense the air suddenly became. It seemed that in this one moment Griffith would decide her fate. She had decided her own a long time ago, but knew that irregardless of her wishes, there were just some things that she could not control.
"No sir, I am not yet at maximum capacity. I will visit the Baxter and Perkins residences starting tonight," said Flora.
lllll
Derek and Jazz walked towards the library's parking lot in amiable silence. Jazz did her best to stifle a yawn. After a moment Derek followed suit and looked at her in amusement.
"I think you passed it on to me," he said smiling.
"Sorry," Jazz said with a small flush.
Derek gave her an easy going smile as he said, "Thanks again for helping me finish up my English paper."
"It was no problem Derek, I'm always happy to help people," replied Jazz.
Derek huffed slightly as he said, "Calculus problems and calculations I can do, but English papers on Ernest Hemingway are hard."
Jazz giggled slightly at his words and shifted her binder unto her other arm. Derek adjusted the strap to his sports bag and frowned slightly as they neared Jazz's car. The two stopped once they reached it and the girl unlocked her car and placed her things in the backseat.
Derek began to walk backwards as he said, "Well, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."
Jazz looked at him with concern as she asked, "Wait Derek, where's your car?"
"Oh, I didn't bring it. The transmission's busted and I didn't have enough mon- time, time to take it to the shop today," said Derek nervously.
Jazz's eyes narrowed slightly in realization, but her own smile quickly came to her face as she encouragingly said, "Well it is late Derek, how about I give you a ride?"
Derek felt like protesting, but realized Jazz would probably talk him down. He shifted slightly before slowly walking back towards Jazz. The light from a nearby lamppost illuminated her face brightly and as Derek stared at her, he felt his heartbeat quicken. Realizing he was probably acting like a geek by gawking at her, he quickly moved to the other side of her car.
As the two got in, he gave her a real smile and said, "Thank you."
lllll
Jazz tried to distract herself from her earlier nervousness by listening to the radio. As she hummed along to an upbeat song she turned the corner and drove down a long empty street. Her mood began to lift slightly and as she stopped at a red light, she caught sight of two people crossing the street on the other side. It took her a moment to realize who it was and when she did her eyes widened slightly.
Danny and Jack finished crossing the street and Jazz was about to drive near them before she saw Jack suddenly place an arm around her brother. Danny continued walking as if nothing had happened and seemed to be laughing. Quickly gathering her wits about her, Jazz drove on down the block, passing Danny and Jack.
The image resurfaced and as it replayed in her mind, her instincts told her there was something odd about it. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but something about their friendly intimacy seemed off. Eventually she scoffed to herself at her ridiculous worry and chided her own behavior; she really should have stopped to give them a ride.
As her home came into view, she drove around the side and turned into the back driveway. She parked her car and turned the engine off before reaching into the backseat and getting her things. A flash of white on the passenger foot space caught her attention and as she grabbed it, a small smile came to her face. She held the white glove in her hand, noting the green and brown stains on it.
'This must be Derek's,' Jazz thought.
She adjusted the glove slightly and saw how it was so much bigger in comparison to her hand. Then again wasn't Derek so much bigger than her? He was certainly taller than her and as an athlete his frame was much wider in comparison to most of the boys at school. However when it came to his personality, she thought he was in a different category altogether. Although he could be somewhat of a smart aleck at times, he was also surprisingly kind to people he considered his friends.
Jazz had been amazed by the range of how people actually perceived him. Some of her friends considered him to be a class clown, while others thought he was a math genius. Still there had been a few girls in her class that had once gossiped about Derek, saying that him being so good looking had made him nothing short of a womanizer.
She later found out that the rumor was false. During one of the times she'd talked with Derek, he'd let slip the fact that he'd never actually had a girlfriend before. At the time it'd been a moment of humor and understanding between the two, but as the days passed it had unconsciously grown into one of relief for her. It was that feeling that was the most disconcerting of all.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something behind her. She quickly turned her head and saw Danny and Jack walking into the driveway and closer to the back door. At first Jazz was about to step out, thinking about how Jack could give the glove to Derek in the morning, but stopped short when she caught part of their conversation. Jazz quickly ducked down and felt a mixture of guilt and thanks that her window was open.
"Why would you say that?" asked Danny.
Jack paused for a moment as he said, "Well I just didn't think you'd actually agree to let me walk you home, but maybe I should just be happy that you did."
Danny said nothing for a moment and Jazz thought she heard the sound of shuffling. She very carefully sat halfway up and looked into the side mirror to see what was going on behind her. Her mouth hung open in surprise as she saw Jack hugging her brother again. Danny stayed stiff as a board before slowly disentangling himself from the embrace.
Jack let go of Danny and smiled at him. He ruffled the top of Danny's hair before taking a step back.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Danny-kun."
"Y-yeah, see you tomorrow," stuttered out Danny.
Jack waved a small goodbye before walking away from Danny altogether. Jazz watched her brother in surprise as Danny waved and watched Jack leave. Jazz's mind was working a mile a minute as she tried to think about what to do. She peered over the edge of her car door and looked at Danny directly.
When he turned around, she quickly moved to duck down again, but accidentally crashed her elbow into the horn of her car. The short beep echoed loudly in the driveway and Jazz placed both hands on her mouth in surprise. She heard Danny come closer and eventually saw him peer down to look at her in surprise. The two siblings stared at each other in a stunned silence, but Jazz quickly recovered with a nervous smile.
"Um hi Danny, how was school today?"
lllll
Flora felt slightly weary after her encounter with Sandra's dreams. It had taken a lot of energy to change the girl's dream into a nightmare. She hoped that whatever Dash was dreaming about, it would be much easier to manipulate.
She carefully placed the tips of her fingers on top of his forehead and was surprised by how quickly she was able to connect their minds. She felt herself being pulled into his dream and within seconds she opened her eyes to reveal the fact that she was floating. She looked down to see she was high above downtown Amity Park.
A sudden roar caught her attention and Flora looked to her left to see a red and brown ghost dragon terrorizing several people as it crashed into buildings and smashed cars. The dragon roared again and blew a stream of green fire into the air. Two figures floated up in front of the dragon and it growled as it saw them.
Flora's eyes widened slightly and if she was a more expressive girl she would have laughed at what she saw. Dash wore a blue colored eye mask and was dressed in a blue and white spandex suit similar to Danny Phantom's. The blond grinned brightly as he floated next to Danny Phantom. The two smirked at each other before charging forward to attack.
Danny Phantom yelled as he let loose a ghost blast at the dragon. The ghost dragon roared in pain at the hit and began to fall down towards the townspeople. Dash quickly swooped in and punched the dragon's abdomen, sending it several yards away from anyone. Flora floated closer and stood on a building rooftop as she watched the fight in mild amusement.
Her interest peaked however when she saw the dragon crash against a nearby building and cause parts of stone to fall down to the ground. Flora's eyes narrowed as she saw that it was about to fall on an unsuspecting Danny Fenton. Dash saw this as well and quickly swooped in to save the boy.
Danny Fenton yelped in surprise and looked down to see he was floating above the town. The brunet turned back to Dash and smiled at him. Dash grinned back as he started to descend towards the ground to let go of Danny. Flora quickly flew down to street level and hid behind another building to watch them.
"Wow, you saved my life Eidolon!" said Danny in awe. "How can I ever thank you?"
Dash ruffled the top of Danny's head before strongly saying, "No thanks necessary Danny. It's what we superheroes do, now if you'll excuse me."
Dash smiled as he took off into the air again and flew back to help Danny Phantom fight the dragon. Flora watched him fly off and saw Danny stare after him in appreciation. She almost smirked at the ridiculous cliché of a dream the blond was having, but stopped when she realized she had to ruin it into a nightmare.
As she watched Dash and Danny finish off the ghost dragon, she felt her earlier resolve melt slightly. She watched in fascination as Dash played the part of superhero and saw the happiness on his face as he and Danny Phantom captured the ghost dragon into the Fenton Thermos.
Flora sighed as she remembered Griffith's orders and floated upwards. She stood on the ledge of a large building, her eyes glowing dark green as she raised a hand up toward the sky. The sudden laughter of Dash and Danny Phantom caught her attention and she looked back to see the two superheroes high-fiving each other.
Dash and Danny Phantom smiled victoriously as they flew over the town and waved back at the cheering townspeople. Dash looped up and around as he flew away, Danny Phantom smiling in amusement. The more she watched their happy expressions, the more she felt her resolve break.
'This human, who doesn't know anything about the halfa and yet claims to be his friend, lives his life so carefree and unaware of the struggle the halfa is going through to save him. There are so many people close to the halfa, why would Griffith choose him?'
Eventually she lowered her arm and slowly her eyes returned back to their normal green hue. Her face remained emotionless even as she felt a mixture of fear and rebellion rise up in her.
'What is wrong with me? Why am I hesitating?' she thought. 'He is the target and my mission. I have tortured and killed many in the past so why do I suddenly feel so guilty doing this?'
End of Chapter 20
Author's Notes: Sorry if it's a double cliffhanger, but at least this chapter is making it more obvious about who the enemy is and who's becoming a friend. I think after this chapter the possibilities of who the cloaked figure have been significantly eliminated.
I also wanted to apologize for not saying this sooner, but I'm going to be going to another country for about 2 weeks so the next chapter won't be posted until after that. Farewell to you all, have a great summer vacation and I'll see you all soon with the next chapter as a souvenir.
Spidey's Shout Outs:
(because quiet spiders get stepped on)
KimuraSato: Hey girl! As always thanks so much for the constructive criticism in the review and the general merriment:) The reason why Sandra's eyes glowed green will be revealed soon enough. As far as the cloaked figure goes, although there was a big hint in this chapter, I wonder if people will overlook it. .;; The whole issue of being gay is going to come out more in the next chapter. At any rate, hope your own story is going good for you. "Time Tampering" is lovely, keep it up woman! Thanks again for the review!
Reptilian Goddess: Hey! All I can say on the matter of Danny's secrets is simply that Dash will discover them all in due time. The evil guy, yeah, that's a good name for him, better than the cloaked figure. :) Lol, this chapter gave a big hint as to who it is. Thank you very much for the nice review!
hittocerebattosai: Hola! Nope it's definitely a new ghost and this chapter gave some major spoilers as to who it could be. :) :hugs back: Thanks for the nice review and hug! (In these times, I think any author needs both. .
Akiko: Hello again! I wonder if you liked Danny Fenton getting saved by Dash in this chapter. Dash's dreams contrast so much with reality, lol. Still Dash is going to be saving Danny F. in a different way in the chapters to come. :wink:wink: Thanks so much for the review!
YaoiFan26: Awesome a new reviewer! Hello there! Tada, I updated! Hope you liked the mild Dash/Danny at the end. I promise that I will more in the coming chapters and make it more obvious since this fic is going to be winding down. :) At any rate thanks so much for the cool review!
Sora Kohaku: Hey there! You needed more and you get more. :) What Dash did and didn't see will be revealed in the next chapter. Yeah, a lot of people like Jack and feel bad at the fact that he's not going to be with Danny, but his relationship with Danny will not be in vain. I can't answer directly who's messing with Dash and Sandra, but I think it's obvious who it's not. No, Sandra's mother didn't give her life-force, but the possibility of dying is still a problem for her and one she won't face alone.