DarkFoxKit: Onyx, you can come out of hiding now. It's been 2 weeks, I don't think Andy's coming after us anymore with that weird kangaroo plushy.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Slowly peaks her head out of an amazingly well hidden trapdoor* Are you sure…?

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I've been out here for about 4 hours now and I haven't seen Andy or that plush. Though I am worried about Andy. What do you think happened to him?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Maybe Mew sent him that plushy? You know how mischievous she can get and how much she likes her plushies.

DarkFoxKit: She's not supposed to come on here. I don't think Mew is behind this one… Do you know who sent that kangaroo plushy?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': No idea, I did check the box and there was no sender or return address. The box was also… remarkably clean. The only fingerprints on it were ours and there didn't seem to be any DNA on it that could be traced back to someone.

DarkFoxKit: Well… while we're here, we should get the readers to the new chapter. I already had the camera on so we could just- …. Onyx, don't move.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Andy's behind me… isn't he…?

DarkFoxKit: I don't think Andy's quite himself either…

*Darkzdragon 'Onyx' slowly turns around, and sees a much bigger kangaroo plush that was smiling behind her*

Andy: *Inside the plushy suit* Are you my child?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': NOPE! *Drops back down into the trapdoor, followed by a series of clicks and clunks*

Chapter 107: Party at a Madman's Mansion

The rest of the week at school went by surprisingly fast, likely due to the fact that it was the first week back after the break. There hadn't been a lot of ghost attacks, thankfully, perhaps the ghosts had their own kind of break as well. The most we had for ghost attacks were the small, weak blobs that were just just causing mischief. They were easy to take care of with the Fenton Thermos. Though we had to be careful, since Valerie would likely destroy these ghosts instead of just simply capturing them. Danny and I had to work fast whenever we sensed a ghost in school. Thankfully, Valerie was never quick enough to get out of class and get into her ghost suit. From what we guess, her radar didn't seem to be as sensitive as our ghost senses, and had a challenge detecting the weaker ghosts.

Sam seemed a bit peeved about something for most of the week, though it was likely the invitation. Danny talked to her about it, and Sam was surprised to hear Danny, Jazz, and I would be going as well. That seemed to make Sam feel better, in fact, she seemed to be smiling more after hearing about that. I noticed Danny looked a bit happier about it too. They were such lovebirds.

Mom had us pull out our old formal clothes to see if they fit. This ended up leading to me in front of my mirror with the old tuxedo, just like I had seen in my vision. Like in my vision, my old tuxedo didn't fit me anymore. In fact, out of the whole family, Mom's formal clothes were the only ones that still fit. This ended up with the whole family going out to shop for new formal attire.

While I liked the new formal attire, to a degree as I much preferred casual clothing, my mind was mainly focused on the party itself. I was worried about what trap Vlad had for us. Unlike Danny, I didn't have a crush or a date to take with me to this party, so I was a lot more wary about what was to come.

I took out the once cursed watch from my drawer to try to see if I could see any future visions about the party. While I was still learning to activate my visions on command like the Andy from that anthro animal world could, I still needed the watch if I wanted to trigger a vision right away.

"Are you sure you want to rely on that watch again?" Hope asked me in concern when she saw I was holding the watch again.

"It's just to see what Vlad is planning to do. I'd rather not go to this party unprepared," I explained before holding the watch up to my forehead.

I saw my family and I wearing formal attire, entering a huge mansion. There were other people there, all dressed in fancy and formal clothing. I saw Danny and Sam dancing around together. I also saw Damon Gray, Valerie's dad, as well as Valerie there. I didn't know why Damon Gray was there though, maybe he was going to get his job back. Though thinking about it, perhaps Vlad invited Damon there so he could talk to Valerie. Then I saw two girls who looked familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time, but I didn't get a good look at them as the vision shifted again. I saw that large glass capsule leaning against the wall again.

I came out of the vision, feeling a headache from using the watch. I groaned a bit, putting the watch down before rubbing my head.

"You alright?" Hope inquired.

"Yeah… it's just… using the watch gives me a headache…" I answered with a sigh. "I didn't see any traps or anything that would go horribly wrong though…"

"Then perhaps you can relax a little?" Hope suggested. "Perhaps for the first time in Vlad's life, he's being honest and just wishes to throw a formal party to announce some things and talk about ghosts with Amity Park's most influential. I mean… sure, that in itself is pretty manipulative as he's getting in good with the people who could have the biggest effect on Amity Park, but it's not like he plans on trapping or attacking you and Danny."

I remembered seeing Vlad in two alternate timelines that no longer existed. Both times, it was pretty much the end of the world, and in both of those timelines, Vlad had helped me. I knew there was more to the man than meets the eyes… I just wished that he would show more of that side to himself than the manipulative one that we usually saw.

"I guess… we'll see when we get there," I replied before smiling a little. "On the bright side, at least the food looked delicious."

"Considering Danny thinks that Vlad is just showing off his money, I would hope the food looks delicious," Hope chuckled. "Too bad I can't enjoy that party food."

"Can you not eat as a teddy bear?" I asked, never really needing to bring up such a question before.

"I mean… I've never really tried," Hope replied. "I think it would be best if I didn't, considering it might be impossible to clean food stuff out of me."

At Jazz's insistence, we were all taking her car to the party. Jazz went on and on about how it would be very unbecoming of us if we showed up in a metal RV to a fancy party. Dad had suggested we take a limo, but Mom vetoed that pretty quickly. So in the end, Jazz won and we all piled into her car before heading to the gated community.

Once we got to a large set of opulent gates, Jazz pressed the call button. After a few moments, there was a buzz before the gates started to swing inwards. There were signs on the sidewalk pointing us on where to go, though I was honestly a bit amazed by how long it took us to get to the mansion. While the community itself was gated, there was a wall and gate around each of the mansions, and long driveways up to the front.

As we were heading to the mansion that Vlad had rented, I was looking out the window at all the other mansions, some of which were still under construction. However, it wasn't that I cared to look out the window, it was the fact that Dad was sitting in the back seat with us and my face was being pressed up against the window while my body was pressed up against the door. I was sure it was the same thing with Danny on the other side.

"Here we are," Jazz announced as she started the drive up the long driveway. "Well… here we almost are. How are you guys doing back there?"

"I… feel like I now know what it's like to be a pancake…" Danny groaned as best he could.

"Do… I have to answer?" I groaned as well.

"It is a little tight back here, Jazzypants," Dad spoke up. "Though it is giving me an idea… Perhaps we can find a way to make it so the Fenton RV can transform into something else besides the assault vehicle."

"What were you thinking?" Mom inquired.

"I was thinking about possibly making it transform into a family sized SUV," Dad explained. "Something smaller and more compact than the RV but still pretty spacious."

"As long as its SUV form looked more like regular cars," Jazz added. "It doesn't make sense to make it transform like that if it's still going to look like the military built it."

"That's a great idea, Jazzykins!" Dad laughed. "If we made it look like a regular SUV, it could be the stealth mode of the RV, made to blend in and be inconspicuous!"

"We'll add it to the list of ideas," Mom chuckled as the car started to slow. "For now, we've arrived and Jazz is pulling up to… oh, it looks like Vlad even hired valets."

"It'll be nice to get out and actually be able to move again…" Danny muttered. "I think my… everything has fallen asleep."

I had to agree with Danny, I was glad that we would be able to get out of the tiny car and move around.

When the car was finally parked in front of the mansion, I was more than happy to get out. I needed a good stretching after being squashed in the car by Dad. I saw Danny stretching out too.

"Here you are." Jazz smiled as she handed her car keys to a man in a valet uniform.

"Thank you, Miss, here is your ticket," The valet responded, handing a small ticket to Jazz that had a number on it. The valet then went to park Jazz's car elsewhere, likely with the rest of the other cars.

"Shall we go inside?" Mom asked. "Or do you boys need extra time to stretch?"

"Considering I'm still working on getting feeling in my arms, so we'll probably need a little bit longer," Danny answered before muttering so softly that only I could hear. "Or maybe the rest of the night…"

I rolled my eyes a little. "We don't want to keep you-know-who waiting."

"Right! Vladdie's waiting for us!" Dad smiled, thinking I was talking about Vlad. "I can't wait to see the look on Vlad's face when he sees us."

"Jack, please don't cause too much trouble," Mom spoke up. "We want to be on our best behavior this time, alright? This isn't like the College Reunion party, it's a lot more formal."

Dad frowned. "Which level of 'best behavior'?"

"The most influential people of Amity Park are going to be at this party, dear," Mom pointed out. "I expect you to be on the best behavior possible… even better behaved than our wedding. After all, if we upset anyone here, it'll make our lives harder. Most of the people of Amity Park barely tolerate our louder experiments as it is."

Dad gave a bit of a pout. "I'll be on my best behavior, Maddie."

I was surprised that Mom cared so much about what the influential people of Amity Park thought. She didn't seem to care about it before. Perhaps the incident with Vlad's last party damaged their reputation more than I thought, or perhaps something else happened that I wasn't aware of.

Mom, Dad, Jazz, Danny, and I were finally inside the mansion. I only had a few glimpses of the mansion in my vision earlier, but to actually see it like this, it really felt larger on the inside. All these people wearing fancy and formal attire made me feel out of place. I may be wearing formal attire myself, but I did not feel like I belonged with these types of people.

"Too bad we couldn't bring a plus one for you," Danny softly said, noticing my nervousness. "Though I'm not sure Juliette would've come if she had been able to. What with the invite saying there will be talks about the ongoing ghost menace."

I frowned a little. "Why would I bring Juliette anyways? … Are you implying something?"

"She seems to be able to help you to relax," Danny answered. "And… I honestly don't see you asking Tucker to accompany you to this kind of event."

I rolled my eyes a little. "It's not like I'll be lonely. Jazz doesn't have a plus one either."

"Not that I needed one," Jazz stated, having heard us.

"Welcome, Fenton family!" Vlad greeted with a smile as he walked over to us, extending out a hand to Dad before Dad had the chance to hug Vlad. "I'm so glad you could join us."

I saw Mom eyeing Dad a little before Dad, begrudgingly, took Vlad's hand and shook it. That seemed to surprise Vlad a bit, as his eyes went wide when Dad shook his hand.

"Glad you invited us, Vladdie." Dad smiled, keeping his voice at a normal level instead of yelling.

Vlad seemed even more genuinely surprised, though he quickly put his face back to neutral. "Yes, well, I couldn't host this party without inviting my dear old friend, now could I? Especially when I also wanted to discuss the ghosts that have been plaguing this city for months."

Danny was glaring at Vlad, but didn't say anything.

"I also was hoping that by inviting your family and having you meet the influential members of the city, they might be more willing to let you install some of your ingenious devices across the city," Vlad went on. "Like the Fenton Ghost Shield as an example."

"It would help keep the people of Amity Park safer from ghosts," Mom agreed. "And be less reliant on that phantom boy and his supposed twin brother."

Even though Danny and I knew Mom and Dad didn't trust our ghost halves, it still stung to hear them talk about our ghost halves as if we were a bad taste in their mouths. Surprisingly, I noticed Vlad frowned a teeny bit when Mom said that last part herself.

"I understand that their track record so far is one that is beneficial to the town, for the most part, but I am worried that at some point they won't be able to keep us safe," Mom continued, which seemed to calm Vlad a little bit. "By taking our safety into our hands, we reduce the chance of something going catastrophically wrong."

"Agreed, dear Maddie." Vlad smiled. "I couldn't have said it better myself. And hopefully I can help to convince the members of this city how vital it is to ask you and Jack for help."

"We'll be sure to be on our best behavior and show them the Fentons can help protect them from all ghosts." Dad grinned. "It's good to have your support, Vladdie."

Vlad looked down at me, Jazz, and Danny, giving a small grin. "Good to see you three as well."

"I'm sure it is…" Danny muttered.

"Come now, Daniel, no need to be hostile. I invited you to also have some fun, maybe mingle with other children your age here." Vlad stated in a happy tone. "You know, not everything I do has to be a scheme."

I looked over at Danny, then at Jazz, who was looking nervous herself. I looked back at Vlad. "We thank you for inviting all of us here, Vlad. We'll be sure to try to enjoy ourselves."

"I do hope you will." Vlad smiled. "Especially after I make my big announcement, which will happen after everyone arrives. For now, please feel free to mingle, dance, eat some of the hors d'oeuvres, and enjoy yourselves. I must go greet the other guests, if you need anything just ask one of the helpful serv- staff that I hired."

"Thank you, Vlad," Mom said before she looked at us. "Go ahead and have fun, but be sure to stay on your best behavior, okay, kids?"

"Don't worry, Mom, we'll be sure to stay on our best behavior and see if we can mingle with a few others," Jazz promised.

Danny was already looking around for Sam. Sam was likely the highlight of his evening for this party, otherwise it would just be a boring, stuffy party for him. I just hoped that when Danny found Sam, she would've escaped from her parents.

"Look at all these people…" I muttered. "I didn't realize there were this many influential people in Amity Park." I guess we don't really take a good look at the people we save from the ghost attacks.

"Well, Amity Park isn't just the small town we call home… annoyingly," Jazz informed. "Amity Park is actually the name of the large metropolis city that our town is a part of. I guess we ended up having our own 'New York, New York' situation, but even more confusing. Meaning these aren't just influential people from our town, but the entire metropolitan city and surrounding areas."

"Starting to understand why Mom wanted us on our best behavior," I grumbled.

"I mean… look over there," Jazz said before she pointed towards a group of people. "That's the mayor of the city of Amity Park, and beside him is the governor of our state. There are also a few other politicians over there."

I only got to see Mayor Montez a handful of times, and was confused to see Jazz pointing to someone standing beside them who she had referred to as the mayor of the city of Amity Park. I was a bit lost by that, so I looked to Jazz in confusion.

"The city of Amity Park used to have another name," Jazz informed, seeing my look of confusion. "While our town has always had the name of Amity Park. The mayor of the city, which actually used to be called Chicago, met with the governor of our state, which is Illinois. The mayor proposed the idea of giving the city a more welcoming name and suggested the name of our little suburb, as it sounded peaceful and welcoming. After some time, and a lot of effort and deliberation, Chicago was renamed to Amity Park."

Jazz then frowned. "Hey! Are you listening?"

I blinked a bit. "Uh… didn't we learn about this in school or something?"

"We did, but your look of confusion said that you didn't understand what I was saying before," Jazz explained. "Anyways, the point is that there's not just rich and important families and people here. There are also politicians, musicians, and other people who are pretty famous."

Jazz noticed I was zoning out again. "Oy… Andy, you really should pay attention more when it comes to your own hometown."

"Sorry, I'm just… not really in the mood for another school lecture right now, but I get the gist of what you're saying," I spoke up.

"There she is!" I nearly jumped when I heard Danny's excited voice. "Wait… is that Tucker…?"

I turned to see what Danny was looking at and I was a bit surprised by what I saw. The first thing I saw was Tucker, who seemed to be attempting to stuff his face with appetizers. He was wearing a tuxedo suit like Danny and I, but was still wearing his signature hat. Beside him is what surprised me however, as I saw Sam without much of her usual attire.

Sam was wearing a long flowing black and purple dress that had a built in corset. She was also wearing two long black gloves that went almost up to her armpits. At the end of her right arm, on her wrist, was a purple bangle bracelet. Around her neck was a black choker with a white skull on the front. She was wearing some makeup around her eyes and seemed to have put some time and effort into hair care, as her hair was practically shimmering. At the very top of her head was a single ponytail that was pulled back, however she was letting most of her hair flow freely.

"Holy halibut…" Danny muttered, his jaw dropped open. "Sam looks… looks… gorgeous."

"Perhaps you should go tell her that yourself~" Jazz smirked before patting Danny on the back, pushing him towards Sam. "And you should probably go as well, Andy, to make sure Tucker doesn't third wheel the situation and Danny doesn't make too much a fool of himself."

I gave Jazz a questioning look and she practically read my mind.

"Come now, you and I both know that Danny is going to make at least a little bit of a fool of himself," Jazz chuckled.

I gave a sigh at that, but I nodded. "Maybe today will be the day those two finally confess their feelings…"

I walked over to where Tucker, Sam, and Danny were. I saw Danny's face was turning red as he was staring at Sam, who was looking at Danny sheepishly.

"It was… the only dress I could get my parents to agree to let me wear for this party," Sam explained.

"She's looking pretty hot, isn't she, Danny?~" Tucker grinned, elbowing Danny's side a bit.

I can see what Jazz meant by making sure Tucker doesn't third wheel the situation. I mentally noted, seeing as how Tucker was currently the biggest challenge to their relationship.

I walked over to Tucker and took his arm. "Hey, Tuck, there's some appetizers over by one of the buffet tables that I passed that look quite a bit like meatloaf. You should grab it before it's all taken." I'm surprised Vlad invited Tucker here. I didn't think he would considering Tucker's family is middle class.

"Oh? I was waiting for more of that to be available!" Tucker smiled before he raced off towards the buffet tables on one of the sides of the large ballroom we were in.

"Y-you… look amazing, Sam," Danny nervously said to Sam as he stared at the floor, unable to look in her direction due to his embarrassment and nervousness.

Sam was now blushing as well. "Y-you… really think so, Danny? You… uh… look quite handsome yourself."

"T-thanks…" Danny blushed. "I was worried I'd look like a penguin with this tuxedo suit…"

Sam smirked at that. "Well, you know I absolutely love animals. You'd be the cutest penguin with a tuxedo suit. So, enough of this awkward conversation. Would you like to join me for a dance, my little penguin?~"

I could see Sam was having fun teasing Danny for that penguin comment, but I could also see she was blushing just as much as my older brother. I stayed in the back, remaining as quiet as possible to let them have their moment, and to keep an eye on Tucker and run interference as necessary.

"Y-yeah… sure…" Danny gulped before he slowly looked up towards Sam, his blush intensifying even more.

I couldn't help but smile as Sam gently took Danny's hand, and started to lead him onto the dance floor in the center of the ballroom we were in. I could see there were other teens around our age dancing as well. I felt giddy, hoping that this would bring Danny and Sam close enough to actually admit their feelings for each other. It was about time they became an official couple. Although, that would probably mean Tucker and I would be third wheels… Could two people be third wheels? What would this mean for our dynamic if Danny and Sam got together as a couple?

It wasn't something I thought about much, Tucker and I just wanted Danny and Sam to realize their feelings for each other so they could get together and be happy. But seeing how it was very likely to happen soon, it did make me think how this could change our dynamic with each other as well. I decided it wasn't something to worry about right now, I would worry about it when I cross that bridge. For now, it was nice to see my brother dancing with Sam.

"Excuse me, sir, would you like to dance?"

I nearly jumped at the sudden voice beside me. I had been so focused on Danny and Sam that I hadn't noticed someone had walked over to me. I saw the person who asked me to dance was Valerie. I remembered seeing her and her dad in my vision, but I guess I didn't expect to actually run into them.

Valerie was wearing a sparkling blue dress with a gradient scale. The blue by her shoulders was a light sky-blue and it got darker in color towards her feet, ending in an ocean blue. She was wearing a sparkling blue headband to keep her hair tied back in the flowing, wavy way she was wearing it. Additionally she was wearing a silver belt with a circular golden-looking piece in the center, a yellow choker with a little golden pendant, and triangular yellow earrings.

I figured that all but possibly the pendant wasn't actually gold due to the financial situation her family had been in for a bit. But I quickly cleared that train of thought from my mind and focused back on the situation at hand.

"Well? You gonna leave a girl hanging?" Valerie chuckled. "Perhaps you'd rather I ask Tucker to dance?~"

I blushed as Valerie was teasing me. "S-sorry, I… uh… didn't expect to see you here, Valerie."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Valerie chuckled. "I was surprised when my dad got an invite to the party. I'm hoping that Mr. Masters might be kind enough to get my dad a nicer paying job."

I remembered that Vlad now owned Axion Labs instead of that old boss who fired Damon after the ghost dog incident. It made me wonder why Vlad hired back Damon despite what happened, and if he had some kind of plan for the Gray family. But I didn't want to say this to Valerie since she seemed to trust Vlad to help them with their financial issues.

"I hope Mr. Masters will be generous enough to help you and your dad then," I said instead.

"By the way, what were you doing here?" Valerie asked before she noticed Danny and Sam dancing. "Oooh, I see, trying to hook your brother up with the goth girl?"

"They've had feelings for each other for years," I stated. "It was about time they started seeing it."

"Really?" Valerie blinked before she looked really interested. "So they've finally grown out of their 'I might like you' phase?"

"Uhhh… well… not quite yet, but we're hoping this dance will help them out of it," I answered.

"Ahhh, so that's why you're off to the side," Valerie acknowledged. "You are running interference for Danny by keeping Tucker away."

"Yeah, but I think when Tucker sees them dancing, he'll know to leave them be," I replied. "Speaking of which, I don't believe I answered your question."

"No, no you didn't," Valerie replied with a chuckle.

"I'd love to have this dance with you," I chuckled myself.

I wasn't quite sure what compelled me to want to take Valerie up on her offer to dance. I didn't like dancing myself. But I surmised that being exposed to all this lovey dovey stuff with Danny and Sam might've made me want to dance with Valerie. Valerie seemed to be happy when I took her up on her offer, so that was a plus.

"You want to lead or should I?" Valerie asked as she took my hand and led me to the dance floor.

"You should lead, I'm not a very good dancer myself," I answered with a sheepish chuckle. "I may have gotten dancing lessons as a kid… probably because Mom and Dad wanted the house to themselves for experiments or something, but I don't remember much."

Valerie giggled a bit. "If you've had formal dancing lessons, then I'm sure it'll all come back to you when we start dancing."

Valerie and I began to dance together. It almost felt surreal, because I never had the chance to really dance with someone before. The dance we had at school last year didn't count, since I never got to dance there, instead, I was turned into a dragon. Not exactly the highlight of my night. But this felt like something I should've done during that dance at school. It was pretty nice, and surprisingly relaxing.

"Looks like you ended up taking the lead," Valerie noted as we were dancing together, moving around the ballroom floor.

"Oh, did I?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, you definitely did," Valerie chuckled. "Looks like I was right in saying that those dancing lessons of yours would all come back to you when we started to dance."

We were doing waltz dancing, the orchestral music bringing up memories from my childhood. I held onto Valerie's waist with one hand, and her hand with my other hand. Valerie's other hand was on my shoulder. Valerie spinned and swayed. I didn't even realize I had started leading her in the middle of the dance. But it looked like Valerie was having fun, at least I knew I didn't suck at dancing despite it being years since I had those lessons.

I noticed Tucker had come back from the buffet table, though he was just watching us dance. Likely Danny and Sam were having fun dancing as well. In fact, while we were dancing, I managed to get a glimpse of Danny and Sam. It looked like Danny had taken the lead with the dance as well, and Sam was having fun herself. It was then I noticed just how many other people were currently dancing.

Unfortunately the dancing was cut short as the music stopped playing suddenly.

"I apologize to those that were enjoying themselves on the dance floor, but if you could please all make your way to the grand ballroom, it is time for my announcement!" Vlad declared. "If you need any help to the grand ballroom, please ask one of the staff to give you directions."

"Looks like dancing is over," I remarked.

"Yeah, but it was nice while it lasted," Valerie replied.

Tucker walked over and gave a smile. "You know, Valerie, if you needed someone to dance with, I could dance with you next time."

"I'll think about it." Valerie smiled. "I doubt that was the last dance of the night, since it's so early. Dinner will likely follow the announcement. There will probably be more dancing after dinner, as that's how most stuffy events go on TV."

"What about the conversation about the ghost topic?" Tucker inquired.

Valerie gave a thoughtful look. "Well if this is anything like you'd see on TV, the talk will either happen during the second round of dancing or afterwards. Though… likely during, that way people can go to a variety of activities."

I wondered how interested Valerie was in the ghost topic, since she still hated all ghosts and hunted them aggressively herself. Although she seemed to like my ghost half enough to talk to me without shooting at me.

I looked over at Danny and Sam, both of them were smiling at each other, though they did stop dancing. I wondered if they confessed their feelings for each other yet, or if they were about to. However, all the people around us began walking, likely towards the grand ballroom, so they could hear what Vlad wanted to announce.

"Guess we should get going," Valerie remarked as she looked over at me.

I nodded, even though I didn't want anything to interrupt Danny and Sam's confession. Unfortunately, they decided to start walking too, which made me sigh. One day...

We all entered the grand ballroom, which made that other one look tiny by comparison. The grand ballroom was pretty ripped straight out of Cinderella with how large and opulent it was. There were shiny stone pillars all around the ballroom, a huge dance area, lots of tables where we would all likely sit to eat dinner, and a grand staircase at the back of the room.

As Valerie and I found a place to stop, I noticed that Vlad was standing at the top of the staircase holding a microphone.

"Let me start off by saying that I appreciate each and every one of you that came to this party of mine," Vlad started with a smile. "This is a joyous day for me and my enterprise, and I hope a joyous day for all my investors, supporters, customers, and most importantly, my friends. Today is not just a standard party where I can speak to each and every single person that helps make my business as successful as it is, no. Today is a party in which I will make an unexpected announcement."

"I wonder what it's going to be…" Valerie muttered, which I couldn't help but agree with.

"He's laying on the suspense and buildup pretty heavily," Tucker noted.

"The announcement I have to make may change how many of you see me, though I hope it does not affect our relationships in a negative way," Vlad continued.

"Wonder what he plans to announce…" Danny frowned as he and Sam got closer to us, still not quite trusting Vlad to not pull something.

"Let's wait and see what he has to say," Sam suggested.

"The announcement… is that I have adopted two children who shall become the heirs to my companies!" Vlad stated with a beaming smile, which was kinda creepy. "I had seen the future of my companies looking really bleak as I had no successor to take over after I eventually stepped down. I also felt that, after seeing how many of my friends and supporters have families that have made them into better people, that it was about time for me to have a family of my own, or at least some children."

Vlad's announcement got people to start talking among each other.

"Did… he say he adopted two children…?"

"Two heirs to his companies? The shareholders are going to love this."

"Did Vlad really adopt two children?" Danny whispered to us in surprise. "I kinda got the impression he only wanted Mom, me, and Andy."

"Something weird is going on…" I couldn't help but noted. Vlad isn't the type to just give up so easily...

"Now, without further ado! Please let me introduce you to my two lovely children!" Vlad announced as he turned and motioned his hand towards a set of opulent double doors behind him.

The lights in the room went off and two spotlights shone directly on the door as it began to open. Two shadowy figures began to move towards the light, though it looked like they paused for a second. I noticed one was taller than the other, but couldn't see anything else beside that, even with my enhanced vision.

tiffanymayumi2.0: DarkFoxKit: Nah, they're not going to melt, if they did, they would either need to come back somehow or the story would be cut short. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Hope you liked this chapter too.

Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is speaking through a video call from her bunker* There's always something going on with Vlad, so him hosting a party likely isn't as innocent as it seems.

DarkFoxKit: Um… I think I should tell you that personal life stories aren't going to be answered back, especially when we don't know what you're talking about for most of it.

DP-Marvel94: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised you would guess it since we both read Mortified, pretty much the same source where most of the lore is coming from. XD

Though we do try to add our own twists to the lore so they're not copy and paste, but are inspired by the other DP lores. The taboos won't be talked about much until later on, they're something to have the readers be aware of for… future references. I like to think Clockwork would come to help out when he could because he does care about the twins.

Hehe, I knew you'd be excited for the clones, considering your DP stores are full of them. Don't be surprised if I decide to use some of your ideas for the clones, because I do actually like a lot of your ideas. But Kindred Spirits isn't up next yet, we're just… I guess you could say, foreshadowing it. Double Crossed My Heart is the next episode. But I'm sure you'll enjoy what we have in mind for Kindred Spirits.

GhostHex: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Lore is always fun. The Taboos are known by many names, though the 3 big ones are always the same. And while they aren't mentioned, there are other lesser Taboos that are still as important. And rules can be mentioned without anything coming from it. Perhaps we just wanted to add lore to the world to make it seem like the Ghost Zone was a less chaotic place than it's made out to be.

DarkFoxKit: Admittedly we may have jumped the gun a bit with mentioning the Taboos at this moment. Because we don't go into details with them until later on.

Mana16: DarkFoxKit: I didn't plan for Danny and Andy to count down, that bit was added by Onyx here, because I wouldn't think they would have enough of a humor sense to do it at this point considering they were still dealing with their Death Day.

Well, sometimes ghosts can be made by human imagination. Like how Desiree is able to grant wishes, turning human wishes to reality, even if it's twisted. So the creature doesn't have to exist by natural means to exist themselves. Though I'm sure there are probably mythical creatures that are alive and are just really well hidden.

Desiree is a bit of a special case. Her powers come from how she used to live and how she died, it was likely she had actual magical powers in her days as a human, since she charmed her way into the prince's palace and was granted her own kingdom. Perhaps the prince's jealous wife found out about her and banished her because she had a spell on her husband, but the story was twisted to make it look like the wife was the bad guy. *shrugs* As for if the Observants should've captured her, they seem to only go after the bigger threats. Desiree only becomes a threat if she was left alone long enough to become powerful with all the wishing, which Danny always stopped or she was contained in a magical bottle or something. I don't think she has ties to the Reality Gauntlet, but that's an interesting theory.

Heh, there actually was a Danny Phantom fanfiction I saw that had the premise of a play with all the boys trying for the role of Danny Phantom with Paulina being the judge, and she chose Danny because he seemed to act just like the ghost boy, even when he wasn't trying. It might be something we'll play with ourselves in season 3, but we want to finish season 2 soon, so we'll be avoiding extra arcs and episodes for the time being.

I like to think the Ghost Zone isn't just the flip side of the Earth, but a flip side of the universe. Why is it called the Infinite Realms if it's just the same as the Earth, right? It would make more sense if it was the same as the universe. So destroying the Ghost Zone would destroy the universe, not just the Earth. At least that's my take on it.

We didn't focus too much on the Mansons or the adults in general, since this story is being told from Andy's point of view, and he wouldn't be interested in seeing what the adults were doing. Admittedly, while writing the story from one character's point of view is limiting, sometimes it is a relief to not have to keep track of what every character is doing and just focus on one thing at a time.