WoM- 'Flops down,' You have no idea how relieved I am that my scheduled is normal again! This whole last weeks been hell for me, but thank god my grounding thing is over now. I've gotta say, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter. I don't care how evil you accuse me of being, either. 'sticks out tongue,'
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one."
-William Shakespeare
Plasmius
"Danny?" I called out as I came into the apartment, flipping the light on. I frowned when I realized that Danny hadn't come home yet, sighing as I set my things in my room, I came back out to head over to Danny's spare laptop. I turned it on, but instead of heading over to DOOMED as I usually did, I brought up the search engine.
When it came up, I pulled the computer closer, tapping a single word into the small box.
Phantom
Clicking 'enter,' I groaned when 23,580,421,789 hits came up, ranging from Phantom of the Opera to Phantom Airplanes and everything in between. Sighing heavily, I went back to the search box, adding another word that would hopefully narrow it down a bit.
Fenton
This left me with 472 hits, a much more workable number. Deciding that I'd check it out then narrow it down if I had to, I clicked on the first link, a newspaper article. I raised an eyebrow at the headline that glared back at me.
Ghost Hunters Theorize on Local Ghost Boy
With everything from the mysterious attack on the mayor during the town meeting in May to the heroic rescue of all of Amity Park months later, questions have been circling around what is becoming the most controversial creature in our small town; The ghost boy Danny Phantom.
"He's a hero!" Says local Wendy Student Paulina Sanchez, an upstanding and respected young lady in society. "Phantom saved my life! I knew he was a hero before anyone else would give him the chance to prove himself!"
Indeed, Ms Sanchez's sentiments are shared by many, as a minor majority of the people of Amity agreed with her during an unofficial poll after the worst ghost attack in the history of Amity Park. Still, enough people still have doubts about the ghost boy's integrity.
"He's completely uncontrollable," Complains resident John Hatfield, owner of Amity Real Estates, "The damage he and his fights cause on the property in this town climbs higher and higher every day! Not that that ghost hunting girl who's always that his heels helps, either…"
While property damage has risen since the ghost attacks began in May, many people still argue that such is a small price to pay for the lives that Phantom has saved in his battles. Such sentiments make this a circular argument, and so we turned to the experts to shed some light on the matter.
"Phantom is a very dangerous ghost," Madeline 'Maddie' Fenton tells us when pressed for her opinion. "Mostly because we can't categorize him anywhere. His ecto-energies are much stronger then any normal ghost, and he advances at a higher rate then Poltergeists. It's almost like he's a completely new class of paranormal manifestations."
"We think it has something to do with the Fenton Portal," Mrs. Fenton's husband, Jack Fenton, adds here. "See, we're starting to think the ghost kid was the first one through the Fenton Portal, and it might've changed him up a bit because of it."
"Jack thinks that," Maddie corrects, "I on the other hand, know that for something like that to happen, Phantom would've had to of been inside the Fenton Portal at the exact moment it was turned on. If the immense and probably incredibly painful charge he would've gotten from something like that didn't destroy what was left of him, it might've made him into a kind of 'super ghost,' if you will. But both my son and his best friend were there when the portal first activated, and they both assured me that neither Phantom nor any other ghost for that matter was in the Portal when it was turned on. Danny got a nasty electric charge, but that was the closest someone got to actually getting in the portal when it was on."
As far as Phantom's willingness to protect Amity Park at all costs goes, Maddie and Jack give us a very logical explanation.
"While I don't think Phantom was in the portal when it was turned on, I agree with my husband that Phantom was probably one of the first ghosts through the Portal, if not then the very first. He sees Amity Park as his territory, if you will, and he's simply protecting when he sees as his property from other ghosts who are trying to escape the chaos of the Ghost Zone. Just like how a dog will protect it's bone from other dogs,"
Few people could argue with the logic behind this reasoning, though the Fentons also admit that Phantom's attitude towards humanity seems far more docile then most ghosts. With that in mind, we can only hope that Phantom stays 'Top Dog' around here for as long as possible.
I stared at the article in shock for a few minutes, working to process all that information at once. Once I did, though, it only brought me more questions that I would have to ask both ghost and ghost hunter about.
'Danny never said anything about an accident,' I thought, frowning in concern, 'is that how he and Phantom met?' But that didn't add up in my mind. There was something here I was missing, something big…
Wait a second…
"Danny Phantom?" I raised an eyebrow, "Phantom's first name is Danny too?" Now that was one freaky coincidence…
'RING!' I screamed out loud at the shrill cry of the phone, jumping about a foot in the air. Blushing, I turned to glare at the phone, which kept on ringing.
Sighing in defeat, I stood up and walked over, picking the annoying piece of plastic up off its cradle.
"Hello?"
"Sam? That you kid?" I blinked for a second.
"Mr. Marchez?" I said, surprised that the teacher was calling me.
"Listen, Kiddo, I need you to call Dan's sister then get down to the art room now," Mr. Marchez said, his tone deadly serious to the point where my stomach was tying into nervous knots.
"Jazz?" I asked, "Why do I need to call Jazz?" My worry growing, I bit my lips before asking in a hesitant voice, "Mr. Marchez, has something happened?"
"Its Dan," Mr. Marchez told me, sighing heavily, "Dan's been hurt pretty badly, kid, and I think it's ghost-related…"
"Is he doing any better?"
I didn't even pause for breath before the question blurted form my lips, even though I'd just basically sprinted about a mile in a minute to get there. I was too worried about Danny to pay too much attention to the burning feeling in my ribs right now as I gasped for air.
"Can't say, kid…" Mr. Marchez said grimly, "His fever's down to 98.8, but he's still sweating like crazy, and he's getting paler by the second. I think we need Jazz here before we do anything else. When will she get here?"
"She said she'd be over as soon as she could," I replied, running a hand through my hair, "Where is he?"
I've got him over on the drafting table," Mr. Marchez answered, "You don't wanna touch him right now, moving him around too much will only make the poison spread faster." I froze at that.
"POISON?" I repeated, my voice squeaking slightly as I paled, "Danny was poisoned? By who?"
"Dunno," Mr. Marchez admitted, sighing heavily, "I found him in the forest and he more or less passed out in my arms."
"Then how do you know it was ghost-related?" I asked, remembering his earlier comment.
"That Phantom guy and that red ghost hunter were flying around a little earlier then that," Mr. Marchez admitted, "I was out taking some nature shots and saw them, so I took a few pictures just so I'd have some for future reference. A few minutes after Phantom disappeared and the Hunter left, Danny came crashing through the forest with an arm full of lethal poison."
"Phantom wouldn't do that!" I said defensively, glaring at Mr. Marchez. "He's never sink that low!" Mr. Marchez gave me a pointed look at that, raising an eyebrow in a questioning sort of way.
"And how'd you know, Kid?" He asked me. "Contact with ghosts is strictly forbidden."
'…Oops…'
"I… uh…" Caught in my own trap, I smiled sheepishly at the teacher. "Can we forget I ever said that?" Mr. Marchez sighed heavily and shook his head.
"I had a feeling you were in on all this ghost stuff," He said dryly. "So you're friends with Phantom, huh?"
"We just talk is all," I said, blushing. "He's not evil. Actually, he's a lot nicer then most of the humans I met recently." I frowned as I said that, thinking of Megan and her manipulative ways.
"Does he know you're a girl?" Mr. Marchez asked absently as he checked Danny's pulse.
"Not yet," I sighed, "I was gonna tell him after I told-!" …Wait a second… "YOU KNEW?" I gaped at my art teacher before realizing what I'd just said, "I-I mean… aw, crud…"
"I told you, kid, it's amazing what you can find out about a person just by asking them ten questions," Mr. Marchez chuckled.
"How did that tell you I was a girl?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "And why didn't you say anything before?"
"Actually, I knew before that," Mr. Marchez said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "No guy your age can have eyes like your, kiddo." Great, now I was blushing… "As for why I didn't say anything… why bother? It ain't any of my business, and you're a better student then most of the guys in my class. Besides, Dan likes ya and you like him, right?" …And it just got ten times worse.
"Um," I shifted around "W-well I…" my blush grew when I saw the teacher's pointed smirk before I took a deep breath. "So, you won't tell anyone?"
"Nah." Mr. Marchez said, "And Dan doesn't know, before you ask… Damn, what did they use on this kid? He's gonna go into a coma at this rate…"
"I'm here Mr. Marchez- Sam?" Jazz gaped at me from where she'd stopped at the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Danny asked me to call his room," Mr. Marchez answered for me, "I had to call Vlad to ask if I could take Dan to the hospital, and after permission was denied I brought him here to see what I could do to help him. Dan woke up a while ago and told me to call Sam and tell him to call you,"
"Why did he want to go through Sam?" Jazz asked, confused.
"Here's a hint," Mr. Marchez answered dryly, "He's a pompous bastard with a large fortune to his name."
"Vlad?" Jazz said, raising and eyebrow and stepping forward to see her brother, "Why would Danny worry about-?" The question fell away when Jazz saw the condition her brother was in, her face paling before her lips thinned in a determined look, "Who did this?"
"We don't know," I answered before Mr. Marchez could say anything. At Mr. Marchez's look, I added (reluctantly,) "But Mr. Marchez said that Phantom and the red ghost hunter were involved."
"She was at it again, huh?" Jazz sighed, "Now it makes sence…"
"Huh?" I said, shooting Jazz a questioning look.
"Never mind," Jazz said, stepping forward. She started to check her brother's wound, and I strained myself to here what she was saying as she did so, "Same poison, but a different potency… probably only meant to knock him out or something instead of killing him…" I swallowed hard at that, almost wishing I hadn't heard it.
Just then, Danny groaned loudly, bloodshot blue eyes opening and fixing on his sister.
"Jazz?" He asked, his tone slurred slightly.
"Hang on, Danny," Jazz told her brother, "I just need to get the poison out, it won't take long." Turning to me and Mr. Marchez, the red head asked, "Can you two clear the room for a while? I'm gonna need some space," I frowned, not liking the idea of leaving Danny in this condition.
"But I-!"
"Let's go, kid," Mr. Marchez said, steering me out the door. As soon as the door closed behind us, I glared at my art teacher.
"That's not fair, Mr. Marchez!" I snapped angrily, "Danny asked for me to be there! I want to help him! I want to know what's going on!" A little more accusingly, I added, "Aren't you worried about him?"
"Course I am," Mr. Marchez said with a dark look, "But I can't help him, not with this, and neither can you. The best thing we can do for him is give Jazz the room she need and wait from him to get better." I sighed heavily.
"I hate not knowing what's going on…" I admitted darkly, crossing my arms.
"Careful with that," Mr. Marchez grinned lightly at me, "That kind of curiosity can hurt you… or someone you love." I blushed and scowled at my teacher, earning a light laughed. Just when I opened my mouth to say something, though, a buzzing sound when off in my pocket, making me jump. "Cell phone?" Mr. Marchez asked, his eyebrow kicking up.
"I left it at home," I said, digging into my pocket and pulling out the Fenton Finder. I frowned when the screen flashed 'CODE RED!' over and over again, showing a picture of an evil looking red eyed ghost with blue skin and a very vampiric appearance underneath it.
"What's that?" Mr. Marchez asked, frowning over my shoulder at the picture.
"Trouble," I answered grimly. Shoving the Fenton Finder into Mr. Marchez's hand, I hastily unzipped my backpack and pulled out a small gun-looking weapon I'd snagged from Danny's room when I'd gotten the Fenton Finder. I figured he wouldn't miss it, since he had about eighty others.
I ignored the look on Mr. Marchez's face, my eyes scanning the seemingly empty halls until I finally spotted the weird air shift thing that told you an invisible ghost was there. Biting my lip and steeling my nerves I fired the gun, hitting the unnamed ghost square in the chest and sending him into a wall. Behind me, Mr. Marchez gave a low whistle.
"Nice aim, kid…" He said, clearly impressed. I rolled my eyes.
'Only he would think of saying something like that right now…' I thought dryly as the door burst opened and Jazz came out, a look of fear on her face.
"Is everything alright?" she asked, "I thought I heard…" She gasped loudly when she saw the ghost, who was starting to recover from the shot, "PLASMIUS?"
'Plasmius?' I thought, raising an eyebrow, 'And I thought Tom Phan sounded weird…' Next thing I knew, though, Jazz had snatched the ecto-gun out of my hand and aimed it at the ghost, a fierce, protective scowl on her face.
"What are you doing here, Plasmius?" She snapped, glaring. The ghost chucked as he stood.
"Why do YOU think I'm here, Jasmine?" He asked with a sneer. Jazz's glare darkened.
"It's too late," She said shortly, "He's already recovering, and I'm not going to let you take him."
"You think you can stop me, my dear?" Plasmius raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"Do we really need a repeat of Last Christmas, Plasmius?" Jazz asked shortly. I blinked as the ghost blanched.
'Okay, what?'
"Fine, fine," Plasmius sighed, I suppose I'll be on my way… for now." I frowned and glared at the ghost, as he chuckled softly to himself and faded out of view. Instead of looking relieved, Jazz bit her lip, her worry growing.
"Okay, that was too easy…" She said, running a hand through her hair.
"What was that about?" I asked, pointing to where the ghost had been, "Who was he?"
"Nothing," Jazz said, looking uncomfortable, "And no one. Just… Never mind, Sam, I've gotta get back and help Danny, okay?"
"But-!" It was too late. Jazz had already ducked back into the room and shut the door behind her. I glared at the piece of wood that stood between me and the answers I wanted.
'What the heck is going on here…?' I wondered to myself.
"Come on, Danny, you did fine," I rolled my eyes and grinned at the boy, who was sunken into his seat.
"That's what I'm afraid of…" He muttered dryly, running a hand through his hair.
It was Thursday, and just four days after Danny's second mysterious accident. He still wouldn't tell me what was going on, or what it had to do with the ghost boy and that weird red eyed ghost, but I was getting the feeling that whatever was happening now was important.
Danny had just finished holding up his end of his deal with Liz, auditioning for the part of Erik in Phantom of the Opera (Which he insisted was ironic, without telling me why,) and I my opinion doing a great job.
"I just wish we'd seen the other auditions…" I said, resting my chin on the back of the seat. "It would've been better to know what you were up against first…" Before Danny could respond to that, Jazz came out on stage with a microphone in hand and the hopeful actors and their supportive friends quieted almost instantly.
"Okay everyone, first off, I'd like to thank you for auditioning today for our play," Jazz said into the microphone, "It's my job to tell you who'd going to be who now, so please keep quiet until we're done." No one made a sound as Jazz paused for breath, "Alright then, First off, for the part of Madame Giry, we have Valerie Grey…" I blinked at that, glancing around questioningly until I finally spotted where the blushing Valerie was sitting with Tucker.
"Did Valerie say anything to you about trying out?" I asked Danny softly.
"No," Danny answered, not looking too bothered, "Liz probably conned her into it, though…" I grinned at that.
"Makes sense…"
We sat in silence as Jazz read off name after name until finally…
"Okay, not for the three main characters!" Jazz grinned slightly as everyone leaned forward in anticipation. "First off, for Raoul, we have Nate Dobson," I grinned at Danny, a little surprised that his name came up too.
'I would've paid to see his performance…' I thought dryly.
"And for Phantom, by unanimous vote, my little brother Danny," Jazz grinned at Danny as he sank into his seat, blushing brightly.
"Kill me now…" He pleaded, making me laugh.
"And finally, For Christine we have Megan Tyranos!" Jazz finished My grin fell at that as a smirking Megan came over, shooting me a triumphant look.
"Wow Danny!" She said happily, hugging my roommate from behind, "How cool is it that we're in the play together!"
"Uhh…" Danny said, looking a little startled. I scowled at Megan, my eye narrowing as he grin widened.
"Say…" She said innocently, "…don't Phantom and Christine have a big kissing scene near the end of the play?"
'WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT?'
WoM- Meep! 'ducks into room and locks door'
(My computer's screwing up right now, so I'll add theThanks to next update. Sorry!)
Next update; March 14th
See you then!
