DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Huh… so it turns out Paulina does have a canon last name. Wish I knew that when I was writing My Brother's a Ghost. Guess I'll have to retcon the last name I used for her back then. This is quite embarrassing, I mean when I looked up Paulina on the wiki, they didn't put down her last name, so I thought the show just never gave her one.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': You could still use the last name you gave her if you want. I mean sure, there is a canon last name for Paulina, but it's still a fanfic. As the author you are free to make changes as you see fit.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Nah, I don't care for Paulina enough to keep the last name I gave her. Besides, the last time I changed a canon character's name, people kept hounding me about it. *cough cough* Delia *cough cough*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Ahhh, well in your defense, you are the one writing the story, they are there to enjoy and comment but not try to write it themselves. They want to write it themselves, they should make a CoM based fanfic.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I wanted to change Delia's name to Delilah personally and it was a conscious decision to do so, because she wasn't actually Delia. But for Paulina, it was honestly an accidental change. So no reason to keep it. Anyways, there's something else too. *Looks at Onyx from in the cage I was in* How long am I going to be in here?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': When you can control yourself and keep from gnawing at everything. You're in that cage now because you tried gnawing on my tail!
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I have perfect control of myself! *Is gnawing on one of the bars*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Oh really? Do you realize what you are doing right now?
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': …. I can't help it! My teeth are driving me crazy! Do you have something tasty and hard I can chew on?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Sighs* I'll try to get you something… for now, just try to keep yourself from gnawing on things you shouldn't be gnawing on. Also, while you're in that cage, you need to rethink hiding food all over the room.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I need to have safe places to store my food. Well… sorry, it's a hamster instinct, I guess...
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I get that it's an instinct to store food… But one, you need to not store food that can go off. And two, you can easily fight your instincts if you wanted to.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I think the longer I stay as a hamster, the more hamster-like I'm becoming.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Dora said she's looking for the solution to turn you back.
Dora: *Knocks on the door before Onyx opens it* Onyx, I'm sorry for interrupting you, but… the plan is about to be set in motion. I'll hurry and get the potion to turn DarkFoxKit back, but you must also prepare yourself as well.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Takes a deep breath and lets it out* Alright… I'll be ready…
Chapter 66: The Beauty Pageant
"So Sam, do you have any questions?" I asked.
Danny and I just finished telling Sam our plan about using her as bait for Prince Aragon after the beauty pageant. We were sitting on the couch in our living room, after making sure our parents were busy in the lab for the day and Jazz was doing her own thing.
Sam stared at Danny and me, the gears in her head turning.
"I think we broke Sam, bro," Danny chuckled.
Sam shook her head before she asked, "Okay, let me start off with the big one. What happens if the dragon prince decides I'm not a suitable wife and tries to kill me?"
"Dora won't let that happen," I reassured. "I doubt that the prince would kill you."
"Will she be there to protect me if anything does happen?" Sam asked in response. "And how long will this whole plan last? I know that the pageant is Friday and that's when I'll be picked as the winner, but I doubt the dragon prince is going to 'wed' me that night."
"We know this is risky, Sam," Danny said with a frown. "But if not you then who else? The dragon prince is going to take whoever is crowned the princess of the beauty pageant. And you're the only one we know who can handle herself in a situation like this."
"As for how long it's going to last, it might take the whole weekend," I answered. "Though from what Dora told us, time doesn't flow the same in Aragon's kingdom. She never gave us an exact ratio, but she did say that time flowed slower in the kingdom of dragons."
"I suppose you would be able to tell with that watch?" Sam asked, pointing at the watch around my neck.
I frowned. "I doubt it. This watch doesn't even work."
Danny chuckled before he said, "That necklace is actually bound to him by a ghostly curse."
"A curse?" Sam frowned and looked at me in concern. "Are you okay?"
"Other than having a harder time using my ghost powers, it doesn't really seem to be doing anything to me," I shrugged before frowning. "At least I hope not."
"We'll get that necklace off Andy after we finish helping Dora," Danny assured confidently. "Though for now it has to stay on. I mean, thinking about it if we can get that necklace off, it might not go back on."
"Even if it does go back on, there is no guarantee that it will have the same cursed properties that we originally bought it for, since it's very likely we'll have to remove the curse to remove the watch," I grumbled, not enjoying that Danny was right.
"Why did you need cursed objects anyways?" Sam asked.
"They will keep us from passing through ghostly matter in our non-ghost forms," Danny explained. "It will also help us blend in while we're in our human forms. The cursed objects will give us a ghostly aura that will make it seem like we're just one of the ghosts."
"It's certainly less flashy than our ghost forms. A lot of the ghosts know our ghosts forms already. And we're also bringing Tucker with us, so we need to give him a cursed object to keep him from phasing through everything in the Ghost Zone," I added.
"Of course, Tucker and I will probably be able to take off our cursed objects," Danny said with a sly smile.
"Probably, huh? What if those cursed objects stick to you?" I grumbled. "Then we'll see who's smiling after that."
"If that happens, we'll have a reason to help you out even more," Danny shrugged. "Now, Sam, any other questions?"
Sam gave a sigh. "You sure that this is the only way?"
"That's what Dora said," Danny confirmed. "And we can't stress how important it is that you don't let this secret slip, hence why Tucker isn't here right now."
"And think of it like this, if not you then we'd have to pick an innocent girl to get abducted by the dragon prince himself. We wouldn't want that, would we?" I pointed out.
"You're just saying that because I'm one of the only girls in Amity Park with ghost fighting experience," Sam grumbled.
"Well, yes, but it also means that we trust you'll be able to handle yourself," I added. Although I am worried about that vision of Sam marrying someone… who could've been Aragon. I just have to hope we'll be able to rescue Sam before that happens.
"I guess I have no choice but to accept," Sam sighed. "After all, you boys would be helpless without me."
"That's the spirit!" Danny smiled. "Now, since we're done discussing those plans, let's discuss tonight's plans. Want to call Tuck and all of us can head over to the Nasty Burger and get a bite to eat before going to the movies?"
"That sounds like fun," Sam said.
"I hear that new Spectacle movie is hitting theaters tonight!" Danny excitedly remarked.
"I hope that Dark Tarantula will be among the ranks this time, she's my favorite," Sam said with a smile.
I looked between Danny and Sam before shaking my head. How they're able to go from serious ghost hunting mode to average teenager mode at the drop of a hat just baffles me sometimes.
"You up to coming with us, Andy?" Sam asked.
"Um… sure, I guess," I shrugged. At least it's not another horror movie. "Are you sure you don't want to prepare yourself or anything for the beauty pageant, Sam?"
"Bro, it's a few days until the pageant, I think that's more than enough time for all of us to get ready," Danny pointed out.
"That and I'd really rather not have to practice any more for the stupid pageant than I'm already being forced to do everyday…" Sam bemoaned.
"I didn't mean-" I began to say.
"Come on, let's call up Tucker and have some fun," Danny said with a smile, cutting me off. "We don't want you stressing out over this."
"I agree with Danny, Andy, if you start trying to plan stuff we'll end up taking way too many ghost weapons. Perhaps you'll even try to make us take a ghost tank or something, and that's not happening," Sam added as she and Danny all but started to drag me out of the room.
Before I knew it, I found myself walking to the Nasty Burger near the movie theaters with Danny and Sam while Sam was using her cellphone to call Tucker to join us. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I'm the only one who actually thinks before doing anything. At least Danny's back to his old self.
"Andy, are you okay?" Danny asked me in concern as he sat up from his bed.
I gave Danny a grumpy look.
"He didn't sleep at all," Hope answered for me. "Andy got maybe an hour of sleep at most last night."
"Why?" Danny asked, frowning.
"I'll tell you why. This stupid thing around my neck is why!" I snapped, grabbing onto the chain around my neck and holding it up while pointing at it. "There's a reason why people take off their necklaces before sleeping, bro!"
"Settle down, bro, you don't need to take your frustrations out on me," Danny replied. "Maybe we should try to get that necklace off you. Perhaps get something else for you from the bazaar instead if we succeed."
"And how do you suggest we get this watch off?" I asked.
"Bolt cutters," Hope offered. "Those things can cut through some pretty sturdy locks after all."
I looked at Danny. "Do we have any bolt cutters?"
"Maybe in the shed or in the Ops Center," Danny answered after giving a little thought.
"Then we should go check," I said before standing up before I walked into a wall. "Ow…"
"Maybe you should splash some water on your face before you handle anything sharp," Hope worriedly suggested.
I grumbled as I rubbed my face. "I forgot I can't use my ghost powers very easily while in human form with this cursed watch on me."
"As long as that necklace is on you, you're pretty much a regular human as a human, bro," Danny said with a small yawn as he got up out of bed. "Let's get you to the bathroom so you can splash some cold water on your face."
I couldn't help but think at the irony of the situation. The cursed watch makes me more like a regular human since I became half ghost, which is something I had wanted after the second accident, and yet I want the watch off. I've gotten used to using ghost powers even in my everyday life. It felt rather strange, living my whole life without ghost powers, and now they're something I use every day. Suddenly not having ghost powers again is weird now, or at least not having easy access to them. I sighed as I walked into my bathroom and began splashing cold water into my face, trying to wash away the grogginess.
As long as this watch is on me, it's like when Danny was half ghost and I was still human. At least I'm still able to transform and use my ghost powers, so it's not quite that bad, but it's still annoying to deal with. I sighed to myself.
When I came out of the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom, I saw that Danny was gone. Danny probably went to get the bolt cutters. I held up the watch and opened it again, seeing the hands being as still as it was the other night, the only thing moving was the one twitching hand.
Why did you come on me? I mentally questioned the watch.
It wasn't just the watch that bothered me, it was also the whole beauty pageant thing. I did tell Sam I trusted her to take care of herself, but I couldn't help but worry what could happen to her. Danny is probably just as worried too, especially since he saw the same visions I did.
I was brought back to reality when I heard a knock on my bedroom door.
"Andy? Danny? Can I come in?" Mom called out from the other side of the door.
"Uh… sure, Mom," I answered since there wasn't a reason to keep her out of my room.
The door opened and Mom walked in. "Hey, Andy, where's Danny?"
"He went out to look for something," I replied. "Did you want something, Mom?" Mom usually didn't come to see us for no particular reason.
"Yeah, I wanted to know how you two were doing," Mom said as she came in and sat down on my desk chair.
"We're doing okay," I said hesitantly. "I mean the whole beauty pageant thing is going to be stressful, but I guess other than that, it's been okay."
"Are you worried about the pageant?" Mom asked with a hint of concern.
Heck yes. "A little," I answered. "I mean, it feels like we lose no matter who we pick as the winner. Everyone wants to win, but there can only be one winner." Not to mention that I'm basically putting up one of my best friends as bait for a dragon.
"You could always bring some armor," Mom suggested.
I looked up at her and saw that she was smiling. "Armor?"
"Well, you remember the Specter Deflector I gave Danny?" Mom asked. "Back when we went to Colorado?"
"Oh yeah, you mean that incident where we had to take Vlad's helicopter to get home?" I chuckled as I remembered the memory where Danny outsmarted the man by putting the Specter Deflector on him.
"I have since worked on it a bit more and turned it into a personal ghost shield," Mom responded.
"You mean the portable ghost shield?" I asked. I remembered using that to protect myself from Corrupted Danny and Desiree's spell.
"Something like that, but not quite," Mom explained. "I combined the Specter Deflector and the portable ghost shield into a belt sized personal ghost shield that protects just the wearer. I admit, I had to find a way to make a small but extremely powerful battery in order to power it, but in the end, I succeeded. Anyways, the reason I brought it up, is because I developed a human version of the shield. Where it projects a small shield around the wearer that keeps humans out."
"Why did you make a human shield?" I asked. I know Vlad made something like that to keep Danny and Jazz from escaping his arena.
"Because your father has an extremely bad habit of rolling around in bed and has, on occasion, rolled on top of me," Mom responded with a sigh and I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of being crushed under Dad's weight. "So I developed the personal human shield as a means to prevent your father from rolling onto me."
"That's clever of you, Mom," I chuckled. "Although I don't think a human shield is all that necessary."
"It could really help you for this though," Mom insisted. "It would keep you and Danny safe from any infuriated girls when you choose the winner of the pageant."
Probably something I should give to Sam and Tucker later… I thought to myself.
"I have a couple of them," Mom said. "So you and Danny could each have one. I am currently working on a model that protects from both humans and ghosts."
"I've mostly been hearing about weapons you and Dad make to mess up a ghost pretty badly," I said. "Dad loves to talk about how the weapons work."
"Of course, most of the inventions are his pride and joy," Mom chuckled before she gave me a thoughtful look. "Where did you get that watch, Andy?"
"Oh, this?" I pointed at the watch around my neck. "A friend of mine gave it to me as a gift. … Ah, don't worry Mom, it's not one of the girls from the pageant."
"I didn't think it was from one of the girls," Mom chuckled. "You aren't the type of person who would take advantage of poor desperate girls. I raised you better than that after all."
"Of course you did." I smiled. She'd probably freak out if she knew where this watch really came from.
"Now, I will get out of your hair and let you get some extra sleep," Mom said with a warm smile before she stood up and walked over to the door. "If you want me to make you any breakfast or lunch, just let me know, I'll be down in the lab."
"Heh, you and Dad making more ghost weapons?" I asked.
"No, I've finally convinced your father to take a break from focusing on weapons," Mom answered as she reached the door. "Though you should try and get some extra sleep. You look exhausted."
"I'll try, Mom." I smiled sheepishly before she left.
"And let your brother know he can call me from the lab too," Mom said before she walked out of my room.
"The coast clear?" Danny's voice asked from under his bed.
I almost jumped from hearing Danny's voice. It probably shouldn't surprise me since he's part ghost, but it always catches me off guard.
"Y-yeah," I answered, calming down from Danny's sudden appearance. "Mom left."
Danny came out of his bed and stretched out his back. "That's a relief."
"You have a nice talk with Mom?" Danny asked with a chuckle, pulling something out from under his bed.
"It was okay," I said with a shrug. "I guess Mom was concerned about the whole pageant thing."
"It's understandable, I mean we are staying home because of it," Danny shrugged. "Now, are you ready to try and get that necklace off? I got the bolt cutters right here."
"Wow… those looked a lot bigger than I thought they would be." I smiled nervously as I looked at the bolt cutters Danny was holding.
"Just hold still, bro, I'll see if I can make this quick," Danny said as he walked over with the bolt cutters.
"Hey, Andy, time to wake up," Danny said as he lightly nudged me.
I slowly opened my eyes, seeing I was hugging Hope close to my chest.
"Bro, it's time to wake up, we have to get to up and get ready for today," Danny said.
"Why?" I bemoaned tiredly. "We don't have to go to school until Monday…"
"Don't you remember? We were going to go to the Opera House and finalize all our preparations for the plan," Danny reminded. "Today is Friday after all, and we want to make sure we're ready for judgement day."
I tossed a pillow at Danny's face. "You're horrible for making that pun."
"I made it because I knew it would get you up." Danny smiled after he threw the pillow back at me. "Now get up or I'm going to read your journal."
I rolled off the bed, not caring about hitting the floor. I slowly stood up on my feet, still holding Hope.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" I questioned before giving a yawn.
"Well, you're up, aren't you?" Danny smirked.
"Ugh, just shut up and change," I grumbled as I put Hope down on my bed. I can't believe I actually got some sleep with this watch on. I guess I've gotten used to it… although showering with this thing on is still awkward.
"You go get showered, I already got showered when you were asleep," Danny said. "Oh and if you're wondering, it's 11, I let you sleep in."
"Ugh, we used to wake up at the same time. How did you become a morning person?" I asked, still feeling groggy.
"How did you become an afternoon person?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
I sighed before I took off my blue PJ top shirt, feeling the coolness metal of the watch against my chest. Danny looked at the watch and sighed.
"Still can't believe that thing broke everything we used to try and take it off," Danny grumbled. "The bolt cutters, the blowtorch, heck, even the old fashioned saw."
"I guess we really will need Clockwork's help in removing this thing," I sighed.
"It was pretty funny to watch you two struggle just to get that watch off," Hope chuckled. "I'm surprised you haven't destroyed it yet."
"It's cursed, Hope, meaning it could be indestructible…" Danny sighed.
I groaned to myself. "I really hope I'm not stuck with this thing forever."
I walked into the bathroom to get myself cleaned up and ready for the day. We have a lot of things to do today...
After I took my shower and got dressed, I met with Danny downstairs in the kitchen. Both of us decided to eat a bowl of cereal before heading out.
"Hey boys," Dad greeted us as he was eating bacon and eggs. "Are you planning to stay home today? Because I have a new invention I would like to show you."
"Ah, sorry Dad. We're planning to go out today," I said before taking a spoonful bite out of my cereal. "It has to do with our judge duties today, so it's kind of important."
"That's fine." Dad smiled. "You boys have one extremely important decision."
"Would you like for me to give you the portable shields?" Mom asked.
"Thanks, Mom, but I'm sure we'll be fine without it," I said with a sheepish grin. Though I might take it later for Tucker and Sam's sake.
"If you're sure," Mom said. "Be sure to have a wonderful day, and don't stress over this too much, okay?"
"Don't worry about us, Mom," Danny said with a small smile. "I'm sure we'll be able to pick the perfect winner."
Danny and I finished up our cereal, and we both headed out of the house after saying goodbye to our parents.
"I brought the Fenton Earphones in my pocket for Sam," I said to Danny as we were walking down the streets. "I figured it would be a good idea to keep in contact with Sam after Aragon takes her."
"That's a pretty good idea," Danny acknowledged. "I was also thinking about grabbing those."
"... And you didn't?" I asked.
"Nah, I figured you would," Danny chuckled. "What about any weapons?"
"I don't think Sam would be allowed to have any weapons on her, even if they were pocket size like the Fenton Lipstick," I said, shaking my head. "Mr. Lancer would confiscate it."
"That's a good point," Danny nodded. "That and Sam will probably be forced to wear a big princess dress, which I believe don't have pockets."
"I think at that point Sam will murder just about anyone with or without weapons," I chuckled.
Danny and I stopped in front of the opera house's door. We looked around to make sure nobody was paying attention before we opened the one door, that Juliette and Scarlet leave unlocked for me and Danny, and then we walked inside.
As soon as we were inside, we saw Scarlet floating in midair, summoning several spears and swords around her body. Scarlet looked like she was concentrating. I decided it was best not to disturb Scarlet right now, and looked at Juliette, who was sitting on the stage, watching Scarlet herself.
I gestured Danny to follow me quietly before walking over to Juliette. Juliette noticed us when we got close.
"Good morning, Andy and Danny," Juliette greeted with a smile.
"Hey, Juliette," I greeted.
"Good morning, Juliette," Danny greeted himself.
"What's Scarlet doing?" I asked.
"Readying her weapons. Sharpening and honing them and all that," Juliette answered before she looked at me. "Still can't get that necklace off?"
"No," Danny grumbled. "We've tried just about everything, and we still couldn't get it off."
"Nevermind that now," I said, the watch being stuck to me was the last thing I wanted to worry about right now. "We came here to make some preparations. We'll be putting the plan into motion tonight, and we don't want anything to go wrong."
Juliette nodded before she said, "Then let us go over the major parts of the preparation. Do you have transportation for the group?"
"We have the Specter Speeder that can easily fit about six people," Danny answered with a nod. "It was also made to traverse through the Ghost Zone. Though… oh great… I remembered something. Tucker has never met Scarlet, so we'll have to do a quick introduction so he doesn't freak out."
"That shouldn't be a problem, as long as Scarlet doesn't try to kill him," I stated.
"I assure you that Scarlet will try no such action," Juliette adamantly insisted. "Now, do you have weapons? Both advanced and primitive? We do not want to be caught off guard."
"Most of the weapons we have are advanced," I answered. "They're in the Specter Speeder. But we also do have the Anti-Creep Stick… which is a regular bat. And the Fenton Rod can be used just as effectively."
"We should perhaps grab a few more primitive weapons on the way to Aragon's kingdom then," Juliette remarked. "Two standard non-technological weapons is not a safe plan by any means. Each person should have two basic weapons on them. For instance, I will be taking a knife with me as well as a sword. I even went with Scarlet to the Ghost Zone to get me an outfit more suited for battle."
I frowned in concern, Danny did too. Both of us realized there was a small issue.
"What's wrong?" Juliette asked.
"I could give Tucker the Fenton Rod to defend himself with," I said. "But he's not much of a fighter."
"He's always been our tech guy, I'm not sure how long he'd last on the battlefield," Danny remarked in concern.
"Perhaps he would be better with a crossbow? Something that is simply aim and reload?!" A voice shouted from the upper floor seating area that caused Danny and me to flinch.
I looked up and back to see Scarlet was looking down at us.
"A crossbow?" I asked.
"It's something that even a peasant can use," Scarlet explained as she leaned over the railing. "Easy to operate and reload, hard to mess up."
"That might work." Danny smiled. "Tucker always had great aim in Demand of Honor and DOOM. Having a long range weapon would definitely suit him more than a melee weapon."
"Then perhaps I'll get two ready for him in that case. But we will still give him a close combat weapon like a dagger or club." Scarlet nodded. "What about you two, either of you good with ranged weapons?"
"I have that pistol we got when we went to the bazaar," I replied. "I haven't had much practice with it, but I can still bring it with me."
"I'm not much of a ranged fighter," Danny admitted. "So I might go with the Fenton Rod and… maybe a sword? I have some practice with swords. And if I really have to fight from afar, I have my ghost rays."
"You're going to fight with the Fenton Rod?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "But you usually just fight with your fists and ghost rays."
"Well, for all we know we are going to be going somewhere that other ghosts have weapons, so going in without weapons would put me at an extreme disadvantage," Danny pointed out.
I looked at Danny. "Said the boy who fought with Skulker multiple times without a weapon. And let's not forget about Technus either."
"... We also might be there for a little bit, I can't waste my energy while we're there by relying on my ghost rays," Danny explained with a small frown at the beginning. "But besides that, I really want to fulfill my childhood fantasies about being a swordsman!"
I chuckled at his enthusiasm at that last bit. "Okay, I suppose it would be wise to save our energy for Aragon himself."
"Which means you should bring something besides your gun with you, Andy," Juliette spoke up. "That weapon only has a certain amount of charge in it before it dies out."
"I'll also be using a Fenton Rod," I told Juliette. "I wasn't going to just go storming into a dragon prince's castle with just a pistol."
"Doesn't that thing use energy though, bro?" Danny asked.
"I don't really have anything else I can use," I said with a frown.
"Why not use a bo staff?" Scarlet asked from upstairs.
"Can it hit ghosts?" I asked.
"You can if it's made by a ghost." Scarlet smirked.
"It would fit you really well, Andy," Juliette commented. "A bo staff is simply a longer version of a baton."
I thought about it before shaking my head. "If I must use a bo staff, I suppose I could, but I think I would prefer to use my Plasma Rod instead. It doesn't use up a lot of my energy, and it's more effective than a long baton."
"Fair enough. By the way, do you guys want to see what Princess Juliette is going to be wearing?" Scarlet asked with a sly smile.
"Scarlet! Don't you dare!" Juliette pouted.
"I was kidding, my princess." Scarlet smiled playfully before her eyes went wide. "Princess… I believe I just had an absolutely outstanding idea…"
"What is it, Scarlet?" Juliette asked with a curious expression.
"I have an idea on how we could get into the deeper sections of the castle without alerting anyone," Scarlet replied. "Juliette, I remember, when we were still alive, your mother and father had to travel to a neighboring kingdom to give their prince a gift as he was being wed. I went as part of their escort and remembered that when at the gate of the castle, we told the guards the reason for our purpose and we were granted immediate access to the castle. What if we did something like that to get into Aragon's castle?"
"So Juliette is going to go as a princess visiting the wedding?" I asked.
"Sort of," Scarlet responded before she explained. "Princess Juliette will go as a princess from a neighboring kingdom that wishes to give the prince a gift for his wedding. I will be there as her knight, one of you can go as my squire, and the remaining two would be the 'gift bearers'."
"Wow… that's… a really great idea," Danny remarked with a small bit of shock. "I was actually wondering how we would be able to get into the castle."
"What do you think of the idea, my princess?" Scarlet asked Juliette.
"I think it has a good chance of working, but that means we would have to find a suitable gift for the prince," Juliette answered. "Right now we need to get some weapons for Tucker and Danny. As for whichever one of you is going to pose as Scarlet's squire, we will need to get you some armor to look the role."
"Shouldn't we figure out our roles when we have Tucker?" I asked.
"Why would you?" Scarlet asked. "The only two I would even begin to consider for my squire would be you two. A ranged fighter would never be in the running for squire."
"So, bro, would you want to be a young knight in training?" Danny asked me with a small smile.
I looked at Danny thoughtfully. "Well, you said you wanted to be a swordsman, so maybe you should go as Scarlet's squire."
"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Danny exclaimed ecstatically. "I was hoping you would say that!"
I chuckled at Danny's excitement.
"Then we should take you to find armor that fits you," Scarlet said. "It would take too long to have armor made for you."
"It would also allow us to gather any remaining supplies like the weapons," Juliette added. "Considering we are going to a medieval environment, we should wear period clothes. Meaning I will have to wear a normal princess dress, Scarlet."
"Does that mean you two will have to go clothes shopping now?" Danny inquired.
"No, not us two, you will have to come with," Scarlet answered. "You need to be with us to find armor that works for you. Andy can stay here if he wishes to, though. The only ones needed would be me, you, and of course, Princess Juliette. Though, we will need to know you and your friend's relative measurements so we can get you clothes that would fit servants of a royal family, Andy."
"Can you get all this done before tonight?" I asked in concern.
"Of course," Juliette confidently responded. "If you stay here, perhaps you could practice with that pistol you purchased."
"Yeah, maybe I will do that," I sighed. "Danny, if you're not back before 5, I'll meet you at the school."
"Okay, bro, we'll try to be quick," Danny replied before he grinned. "Try not to shoot yourself in the foot with the gun, okay?"
"Just try not to cut yourself with the sword, okay?" I grinned back.
I was walking back and forth behind the stage. It was already getting dark, the chairs were filled with people. Mr. Lancer was all dressed up as a medieval flute player, the girls were all dressed up in fancy dresses, who were looking at me with kissy faces and big smiles, hoping to give a last minute bribe to gain favor from me. Sam and Valerie were the only ones just standing there, looking annoyed about the whole thing. Sam was just wearing her usual goth clothes while Valerie wore a bright yellow fancy dress. I wasn't sure where Katrina was, since she was supposed to be the third judge, but Tucker was backstage with me.
"Come on… where is he?" I grumbled.
"Dude, relax, I'm sure Danny will be here soon. I doubt he'd miss this for the world," Tucker tried to reassure me as I was pacing back and forth.
"What if something happened to him?" I question, frowning. "Maybe one of our old enemies caught him and are torturing him as we speak!"
"Andy, relax or you're going to have a panic attack!" Tucker quickly spoke up as he came over and grabbed both of my arms. "Danny can take care of himself, and from what you've told me, he is with a knight and… Juliette…"
I saw Tucker smiling as he said Juliette's name. Does he actually have a crush on Juliette?
Sam came over to us and spoke up. "We're going to be going out there any minute, where's Danny? And… where's Katrina for that matter?"
"Last I checked, Katrina's outside, talking to some people," Tucker replied as he let me go. "So she'll probably watch the pageant when it starts. As for Danny…"
"Danny will be here soon," I quickly interjected, not wanting Sam to worry. I then dug into my pocket. "But before the pageant starts, I think I should give you these."
I held out my fist before dropping the Fenton Earphones onto her open hand.
"Oh! The Fenton Earphones!" Tucker said with a smile. "Did you bring some for me too?"
"You won't need them Tucker," I shook my head. "Besides, I only brought the one pair with me…"
"What if I get separated from you?" Tucker asked with a slightly disappointed tone.
"Then you'll just hide and wait until you see one of them," Sam responded as she took the Fenton Earphones and popped them into her ears. "These are a pretty good idea, but can you see them? I won't wear them if they're too obvious."
"Nah, they're smaller than the previous Fenton Earphones, so your hair will keep them covered up. But if anyone does see them, they won't notice anything as these Fenton Earphones are skin colored," I chuckled. "I made those ones myself using the computer in the lab so they would easily blend into the wearer's ears."
"Pretty… ingenious… bro…" A familiar voice huffed from behind me.
I nearly jumped out of my skin before quickly spinning around to see a tired out Danny panting as he leaned against the stage's wall.
"D-Danny! You're here!" I commented, giving a sigh of relief. "What took you so long?"
"Yeah… sorry… I ran all the way here… from the Opera House…" Danny said between breaths.
"You ran all the way here?" Tucker asked, surprised.
"Couldn't you have just, oh I don't know, flown here?" Sam frowned.
Danny looked up at Sam for a few seconds before he rapidly brought his palm to his forehead, creating a loud smack.
I ended up smacking my own forehead too, due to my brother's lapse in judgement. "Well, at least you're here now. Did you finish your business with Scarlet and Juliette?"
"Yeah, we got everything," Danny answered, after catching his breath, with a thumbs up. "They're just waiting on us now."
I nodded. "That's good."
"What business did you have with Juliette and her knight anyways, dude?" Tucker asked. "Andy wouldn't give me a straight answer."
"I had to get some non-technology based weapons as well as some medieval outfits for us," Danny openly answered. "I also had to help pick out a 'gift worthy of a dragon prince' for his wedding. We'll fill you in on everything else when we're on the way there, Tucker."
"Oh, that's cool," Tucker said with a smile, before he gave a frown of confusion. "Wait, fill me in on what?"
Before Danny could answer, Mr. Lancer came up on stage, announcing the start of the beauty pageant.
"Will all judges and spectators please take their respective seats?" Mr. Lancer announced.
"That's our cue," I noted. "Good luck out there Sam."
"Yeah, good luck," Danny agreed.
"You two better make good choices," Tucker said.
"Oh, I'm sure they will," Sam sighed. "Let's just get this over with."
Danny and I walked out of the backstage area and headed over to the long table that was reserved for the three judges. I could see Katrina was sitting on the far left seat. Katrina took notice of us and gave a wave. Danny and I smiled at her as we walked over to the judge's table ourselves. I sat in the middle while Danny sat to the far right.
"Hey you two, thought I would have to be judging this thing all on my own," Katrina said with a small giggle.
"We wouldn't miss this for the world," I chuckled. "It's not every day we would get picked to be judges for an event after all."
"Yeah." Danny smiled. "Of course we wouldn't miss this chance."
"Are you sure you're okay with not being able to participate in this pageant yourself?" I asked.
"Yeah, I don't feel the desire to compete," Katrina responded with a small wave of her hand.
"You're one of the few then," Danny chuckled.
"We better pay attention. The beauty pageant is starting," I pointed out.
The girls were already walking in a single file line across the stage. Soon, they started coming onto the stage, one at a time, to perform a talent of their gracefulness. And as the judges, we were to decide which one had the best performance, style, and grace. Too bad that we've already planned out a winner. I just hope Sam will do something that'll validate her spot as the beauty pageant princess.
"Hmm, gonna have to give Star a mark for that slight stumble," Katrina remarked as she wrote something on a sheet of paper in front of her.
I looked down at the sheet on the table in front of me. Looking closer at it, I saw there were different fields that we were supposed to be judging the contestants on. Mostly on things like poise, grace, style, and beauty. Oh great, I usually couldn't care less about things like these, now I'll have to carefully judge each girl on this.
Throughout the entire pageant, I began to question if I was actually asexual. Danny seemed to be enjoying himself, and Katrina was… well, she was more into judging if a girl messed up or if they were good enough to pass. I was bored though, it was cool to see these girls showing off different talents and whatnot, but after a while it just felt like a long meeting at work that I was forced to attend to. You'd think with me being a teenage boy, this would be a dream come true for me. I only really paid attention to Valerie, who decided to juggle large plastic knives. Valerie was surprisingly really good, she managed to juggle about 6 large plastic knives while staying on her feet gracefully. And she ended the juggling by catching three knives in each hand and gave a curtsy.
Finally, we got to the last girl, who happened to be Sam. I couldn't help but feel like Dora had Sam go last on purpose. Sam walked up on stage and looked at the crowd.
Sam picked up the microphone on stage and looked like she was waiting for something. Music began playing from backstage. Oh, is Sam going to sing?
After a few seconds went by in the music, Sam began singing the lyrics of a song I didn't quite recognize. Sam had a really great voice, I never knew she could sing this well. Sam's voice kept in beat with the music, and her voice raised and lowered at just the right tone. I looked over at Danny for a second to see he was staring at Sam in awe. I almost wanted to tease him, but decided to remain quiet.
Sam soon finished the song and gave a curtsy before she put the microphone back on the microphone stand. The audience suddenly gave a loud round of applause. The audience have given applause to the other girls too, but they were pretty loud this time. I guess a lot of them really liked Sam's singing. Sam curtsied again before she made her way backstage.
Mr. Lancer came back on the stage. "It is now time for the judges to deliberate. Who will be the chosen princess?"
Looking at the sheet in front of me, it looks like we'd have to pick third, second, and first place winners.
"If the judges wish to deliberate in private, they may do so," Mr. Lancer stated. "Once you have reached a decision, you may announce the third place winner first."
I looked between Danny and Katrina. "It's a pretty hard decision for the third place winner. All the girls did pretty well."
"Yeah, but only a few deserve the top three spot," Katrina said as she reviewed her own sheet. "For third place, I'd say either Paulina or Abigail. They were both very graceful, beautiful, and poised, but their talents are pretty… self serving."
"Hmmm, I think between the two, Paulina had the best performance," Danny decided with a smile. "Her talent was definitely more grand than Abigail's performance."
"Paulina did have a little more style than Abigail did," Katrina agreed. "What do you think, Andy?"
It was hard for me to be invested with this. I didn't like Paulina too much personally, and what she and Abigail did just blended together with everyone else. But I decided that since both Danny and Katrina thought Paulina was the better of the two, I wouldn't argue.
"Yeah, Paulina did have more pump in her talent," I chuckled sheepishly. Even if it was self serving.
"So that's our third place winner figured out." Katrina smiled. "Now how about second place? I honestly was thinking Valerie for second place."
"Oh yeah, with how well Valerie juggled, she definitely stood out more from the rest of the girls," I agreed with a smile, now this was something I could invest in.
"I actually could imagine her doing that juggling with actual blades and being just as good," Danny added.
"So it's unanimous on Valerie being the 2nd place winner?" Katrina asked before Danny and I both nodded in agreement. "Now here comes the tricky one… who will be the first place winner?"
Danny and I hesitated, we both already had someone in mind, but the trick was to get Katrina to agree to it.
"I think with Sam's magnificent singing, she was more than deserving of first place," Danny responded. "I mean even the crowd acknowledged how well she did."
"I agree with Danny." I nodded. "We're not picking her just because we're her friends, Sam clearly earned her spot as the princess winner here. The crowd will probably agree with us on that."
"You guys don't have to worry about me thinking you were choosing her because you're friends," Katrina chuckled. "I agree with both of you. Sam's voice was… absolutely amazing. In fact, she could easily be a professional singer if she wanted."
I couldn't help but smile at that. Congratulations Sam, even if we hadn't planned to pick you, we still would've picked you as the winner.
Katrina raised her hand, signaling to Lancer that we've made our choices.
"It seems the judges have all come to an agreement on the winners," Mr. Lancer announced. "Judges, who is our third place winner, the winner of the 250 dollars and the gemstone earrings prize?"
"We have decided that Paulina Sanchez would be the 3rd place winner," Katrina answered.
"Paulina Sanchez, please come up here on stage," Mr. Lancer said.
Paulina came out onto stage smiling and waving to the audience. I saw Dora walking on stage herself, handing Mr. Lancer a small wad of cash, and a pair of golden earrings with a small ruby gemstone in each pair.
Paulina smiled as Mr. Lancer brought the prizes over and handed them to her.
"Thank you so much, this is such an honor!" Paulina announced with a bow of her head.
With that said, Paulina stepped back while Mr. Lancer faced us again.
"Now, judges, who is our second place winner? The second place winner will get 500 dollars and a beautiful sapphire necklace," Mr. Lancer asked us.
"We've decided the second place winner will be Valerie Gray," I spoke up.
"Valerie Gray, please come up to the stage," Mr. Lancer ordered.
Valerie walked up on the stage, looking surprised. I guess Valerie didn't expect to win at all. Valerie walked over to Mr. Lancer before Dora gave Mr. Lancer a bigger wad of cash, and a silver necklace with a decent size sapphire placed in the middle.
"I am happy to give these to you, Valerie, you earned this," Mr. Lancer said as he passed the rewards to Valerie. Placing the necklace around Valerie's neck.
"I-I don't know what to say, but… thank you," Valerie said in a soft yet cheerful tone before giving a curtsy to us.
With that said, Valerie stood back and beside Paulina. Mr. Lancer looked back at us. "And now, who will be crowned as our Beauty Princess? The Princess will be showered with a whopping 1000 dollars to take home, a bouquet of beautiful flowers, as well as the main prize, an authentic royal tiara."
Danny smiled and stood up. "We have chosen the winner to be…"
Reviews
Anime lover 3593: DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Oh? What kind of 'certain ghost' did you have in mind? Being vague makes it difficult to know what someone is thinking. ^^'
Weird things aren't happening because of the necklace. If you mean Andy thinking Danny is being weird, it's because Danny is trying to be more logical like Andy, not because of a time thing.
We've been working on this story lately, so we've been updating a little more frequently.
Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': They definitely need to add a like button. And if you want ideas for what you could put in reviews besides 'great chapter' you could comment on some scenes in the chapter that you especially liked or if you have any suggestions. While in the AN I said the readers shouldn't try to write the story, that doesn't mean they shouldn't suggest ideas we could use or help shape the future of the story.
haloguardian452: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I think a sniper rifle might work better for Andy as he seems to like range. With a sniper, he would be able to do significant damage from a distance.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Honestly, I'm not too sure how often I'll have Andy use a rifle, but I'm using it because I feel it's a step closer to his real range attacks in the future.
The Moonfox Collective: DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I'm not sure who or what you're talking about there, Moonfox. You'll have to be more specific than that. As for the clock, we have an idea for it, but we won't say yet. Danny is trying to be more logical like Andy is, but Andy finds that weird. Danny is supposed to think more with his heart, while Andy thinks more with his head, it has nothing to do with some kind of weird powerful force or anything. But kudos for making a cool theory on what was otherwise a mundane thing.
As for the watch being stuck on 5:58, it was just to signify that it was frozen at that time. There aren't any big plans for that specific time, well… not yet anyways, you never know with us.
Well… I'm not entirely sure what you meant by 'little 'wasted' or unnecessary dialogue'. It sounds like you're saying we're not using dialogue as a distraction to bad guys or vice versa? I mean, there hadn't been any reason to do that, considering they're not battling anyone right now. They're just going through the Ghost Bazaar to pick up some things and get ready for Aragon's castle.
The watch is cursed, the curse is meant to make humans have ghostly properties so they won't phase through everything in the Ghost Zone, though at the same time, it makes ghosts more… human, I guess you could say? That's why it's sapping Andy's ghost powers, because it's making him more human than ghost. But the watch itself isn't doing that, it's the curse that's on the watch. If you take away the curse, then Andy will be back to full strength regardless if he still has the watch on or not. Also, nice outro there.
eeveemaster: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It'll be a bit tricky to get it off. I will say, the watch is more than just a 'cursed object'.
b c jc: DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Um… thanks.
Mana: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's fine for not reviewing until now. Everyone has a period of time where they're off. Yes, the picture for the story did change and it is now a spectacular piece of artwork that one of the readers so kindly made for us.
Sorry if I'm skipping around a little on your review, but I wanted to go directly into the whole 'Tucker with a bow' thing. He honestly could be that accurate. I mean yeah, it would take practice, but aiming is something he might have down pretty dang well from all the video games he's played where you have half a second to line up your target and pull the trigger or let loose your arrow. While yes, transferring that ability over from game to IRL would take work, I believe Tucker has it in him to actually pick up those things quickly and with the proper teaching, would be able to take what he learned from gaming and use it to be at least proficient with a bow. I mean he isn't an archery god, he's still going to miss every so often, but he's not going to be a total newbie.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Not to mention in canon, Tucker was able to have perfect aim with his PDA when he used them with a bow.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': That was more 'writer wanted to make character look like they're contributing in a way that fits them' scenario. PDAs wouldn't have flown as straight or as far as they did, so it was a lot of plot shenanigans.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': More like cartoon logic, but anyways… Yeah, you could see it as the amulet thing all over again for Andy, but unlike with the amulet, other than the dragon transformation, the watch stuck itself on Andy's neck instead of a dent that made it difficult to get it off. As for Sam, there wasn't a reason to give her a spell book or a cursed item, because she's going to be taken to Aragon. I think the tiara is a cursed item for her. The swords are going to be something Andy uses later, because I feel it's fitting for him to move up from the rod to swords, and also because his future self used swords.
I don't know too much about how Sam gets away with being goth with her parents. Ida Manson didn't seem to put up too much of a fight with Jeremy and Pamela, but she does support Sam in her own way. Sam likely just keeps her goth dresses hidden, and wears them to spite her parents. Likely they were the ones who had driven Sam to be goth in the first place so she could rebel against them. That's just my theory on it anyways.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It would make sense. Growing up, they probably forced her to be a little princess… also I just realized. Her parents might've made her do pageants as a kid, which we totally could've used as another reason for why she wouldn't want to do the pageant or why she would've protested them.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': We kind of implied that when we had Sam join the pageant because of her parents, rather than because she wanted to make a statement that really wouldn't have gone anywhere.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah, I know, but we didn't flesh it out past that.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Well… something to keep in mind for the future then. It's time we go for now, until next time everyone, we look forward to hearing from you.