IJustShowedUp: Yep, Mystery Meat is next. The heroes have faced their first kind of enemy, and now they're going to face the other kind.
Leonardo: While I agree with you on Dash, I am not sure I agree about Lancer. Glad you understand my view of Adrien's character, he was raised socially isolated so he is still learning stuff about friendship.
Guest: Not everything is about shipping.
GirlFish: Yeah, Lila will be a challenge to tackle. I am nowhere near her introduction yet, and I still know that I will have to figure out how to make her a believable threat without dumbing down the lies. I have to agree with you that she will be a danger to society if she is not stopped before adulthood. Vlad and Hawkmoth do have their similarities, don't they? My goal with Adrien is to make his character development more apparent since the original creator refuses to do so. Chloe is going to be undergoing some changes in this universe. The show does not do a good job of showing Adrien and her being friends, so my hope is to show that friendship.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Miraculous Ladybug. They belong to their respective owners. Any and all familiar dialogue is for the sake of the plot.
One Kind of Menu Change
The first month of school passed by fairly quickly. The week after Stoneheart's appearance, Amity Park held a city-wide thank you party for Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Phantom. After Alya's grounding was ended, Marinette went out to celebrate with her, and they ran into their homeroom classmates in the park. Not wanting to push his luck after being allowed to attend school, Adrien complied with his father's decision to remain at home during the party. Though, he did sneak out for a brief few minutes to attend the event as Chat Noir since he, Ladybug, and Phantom were all invited to appear. Danny got Tucker and Sam to cover for him with the rest of the class, and Marinette found an excuse to sneak away to transform.
During that month, everyone fell into a routine. The city quickly created plans in the event Hawk Moth sent out another akuma. Businesses and schools alike agreed to the proposed plans, especially the schools so they could minimize the damage done by akumas to the students' curriculum. Hawk Moth sent out several more akumas, but all were defeated by the heroes.
Along with the akumas came ghosts. Only Danny and his friends had encountered them so far, always within the Fenton household. As far as Danny's parents and sister knew, the ghost portal was active, but no ghosts had come through yet. Danny fought them back into the portal, and he, along with Sam and Tucker if they were around, would try to fix whatever damage was caused without Ladybug's wave of magical ladybugs around to do it for him. There was an incident with some ghost octopuses while they were in the lab with Jack, but Danny fought them back into the portal while his father's back was turned. [1]
On another one of those routine mornings, Danny sat at his family's kitchen table with a bowl of cereal. Jazz already had her breakfast, and was looking through a psychology textbook while Maddie welded another of her and Jack's ghost hunting inventions. Danny moved to take another bite of his cereal, but his hand went intangible, dropping the spoon back into the bowl. Half awake, it took Danny a few moments before he realized what had happened and quickly hid his hand from sight.
Maddie turned off the welding torch, and held up the device she was working on. "Ta-da! It needed two more days than we thought, but it's done!"
"What did you say?" Jack poked his head into the kitchen, eagerly asking. "It's done?" He hurried into the kitchen, and took the device from his wife.
Growing increasingly annoyed with her parents, Jazz tried to hold her textbook closer to her face to block out the sight of them.
"Uh, what does it do?" Danny inquired, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.
"The Fenton Finder uses satellites to lead you right to the ghosts," Jack answered.
Danny gaped at his parents. "It uses what to track what?" At that moment, his hand returned to being tangible. Before he could get clarification, the Fenton Finder whirred to life.
"Welcome to the Fenton Finder," the machine stated with a womanly tone. "A ghost is near. Walk forward."
Following the blip on the radar, Jack and Maddie followed it around the table towards Danny. He hopped out of his chair in response, attempting to back away from the machine. To his dismay, his parents followed the machine's readings until he was backed up against a wall. Evidently confused, Jack and Maddie looked at Danny, and then at the Fenton Finder.
"Ghost located. Thank you for using the Fenton Finder," the machine said.
As his parents puzzled over the Fenton Finder, Danny's body involuntarily went intangible like his hand had done. Noticing this, Danny quickly willed himself back to normal before they saw him. Thankfully, they were too perplexed by their device to witness their son popping back into visible sight.
"What? That can't be right," Jack murmured, distractedly thinking what could've gone wrong.
Feeling somewhat guilty as the source of confusion, Danny contemplated telling them he was Phantom. Since he didn't have a Miraculous like Ladybug and Chat Noir, he considered that maybe it wasn't as dangerous for him to reveal his identity. Then again, if his parents knew and they got akumatized, they could hunt him down to try and make his teammates hand over their Miraculous for his safety. He couldn't do anything about Sam and Tucker since they were present for the accident, but he wouldn't have it any other way since they were such a big help keeping his secret under control.
Before he could say anything to his parents, Jazz cut in.
"I'll tell you what's not right," the older sister said, joining her family at the wall. "Danny's a growing boy, and he needs guidance that you guys aren't providing."
Maddie stared at her daughter with sympathy, knowing how her daughter got. "Sweetie, I know what we do doesn't make sense sometimes, but you're only-."
"Sixteen?" Jazz cut her off. "Biologically, maybe. But psychologically, I'm an adult. And I will not let your obsession with ghosts pollute the mind of this impressionable little child!" For emphasis on her point, she pulled Danny into an awkward hug. "Come on, you unwanted wench. I'll drive you to school." She ushered Danny over to the table to gather their things, and head out for the day.
Behind them, their parents thought over Jazz's words in perhaps not the way Jazz was hoping they would.
"That's weird. Jazz never offers to drive Danny to school," Maddie remarked thoughtfully.
"Which can only mean one thing," Jack concluded with narrowed eyes, "that's not our daughter. That's a ghost!" Breaking into a run, he ran to catch up to the kids before they left. "Danny, no! It's a trap!"
With just a little hassle from their parents and Jazz's firm denial that she was NOT replaced by a ghost, the Fenton siblings were able to leave for school. One awkward car ride later, Jazz and Danny were at Casper High, splitting up to do their own thing. Danny went to go find Tucker and Sam while Jazz said she had junior things to do. Upon finding his friends, Danny immediately told them about his morning.
"That was way too close. If they had looked up for even a second, I would've been found out," Danny said as they walked down the hall. "And it's frustrating. I've had these powers for a few months now, and I'm still struggling to keep them under control." He growled in irritation at himself. "If somebody catches me, I go from geek to freak around here."
"Kinda like you're doing right now?" Tucker clarified, pointing at Danny's feet.
Danny looked down, and noticed he was sinking through the floor because his waist and everything below it decided to go intangible just like his hand did. Before anybody could notice the strange phenomenon, Sam and Tucker hurriedly helped Danny up, and he willed the lower half of his body back to normal.
"Gah, I like that I can help Ladybug and Chat Noir fight the akumas, but I also wish that since my parents made something that turned me half-ghost, that they could make something that would turn me back to normal," Danny continued to say once the situation was averted.
"Danny, your powers make you unique. Unique is good," Sam said in an attempt to cheer him up. "That's why I'm an ultra-recyclo vegetarian."
"I'm sorry. A what vegetarian?" Alya piped up, and the three friends noticed Alya and Marinette approaching them.
Marinette waved to their classmates. "Hi, guys!"
"Hey, Marinette!" Danny and Tucker greeted.
"Hey," Sam said to Marinette and Alya.
"What was that you were saying about being a vegetarian?" Alya asked, curious. "I know what vegetarians are, but I've never heard of… whatever you said before that."
Sam smiled at Alya, happy to share her preferences. "I said ultra-recyclo vegetarian. It means I don't eat anything that had a face."
Tucker smirked at Alya. "Don't listen to what she says. The meat is where it's at. Did you know for dinner last night, Danny had..." He inhaled deeply. "Sloppy joes."
"Impressive," Danny nodded in approval.
Alya looked at Tucker in stunned admiration. "How'd you do that?"
"Meat heightens the senses, and I've been eating meat for fourteen years straight," Tucker boasted. "You learn to tell the difference between meat smells over time."
Sam shot him a knowing look. "Well, your streak might just end today. Remember that menu change I told you about? It's going into effect today."
Marinette looked at Sam in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You'll find out at lunch," Sam answered, deciding to keep the change a surprise for those who didn't know about it.
Morning classes passed, and the student body prepared to refill their stomachs for the second half of the school day. Most of the students were surprised when they stepped into the cafeteria, and saw posters advertising 'Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian Week- try out new extremely vegetarian food selections!' They lined up to get food, not entirely sure if the lunch staff were joking, and soon discovered the staff were definitely not joking when their trays were loaded.
Marinette and Alya went through the line with Danny, Tucker, and Sam, and the baker's daughter picked up one of the items from her tray.
"A slice of bread with grass on it?" Marinette questioned aloud.
Tucker immediately whirled on Sam with a betrayed expression. "What have you done?"
Sam blinked at the bread Marinette held up. "This is not what I had in mind."
Over at FentonWorks, Jack and Maddie were in the middle of another day inventing weaponry for fighting ghosts. The Ghost Portal glowed green with activity, and unbeknownst to the portal's creators, a humanoid ghost with green skin and wearing a lunch lady outfit emerged.
The ghost inhaled deeply through her nose, and smiled. "Ooh, someone's changed the menu," she said softly, not loud enough to attract Jack and Maddie's attention.
She hovered up through the basement ceiling, Jack and Maddie unaware of their missed opportunity.
"Maybe this is a bad idea," Maddie considered to her husband as they tinkered with their latest invention.
"No, this is perfect! When Jazz gets home, we'll suck the ghost out of her with the Fenton Xtractor!" He held up the invention, which looked like a high-tech vacuum.
Maddie continued her line of thought. "But what if Jazz isn't a ghost? What if we accidently hurt her?"
"Maddie, the Fenton Xtractor doesn't hurt humans. See?" Showing his wife how it's supposed to work, Jack's short hair managed to get caught in the vacuum.
Back at the school, the students picked at their lunches, unsure if they could actually eat the grass included.
Marinette wasn't as familiar with Sam's eating preferences as much as Danny and Tucker were, so she was the first to ask. "Sam, are you sure this was a good idea?"
As Sam smiled, and prepared to respond, she was halted by Mr. Lancer resting his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss Manson," he said, "the school board would like to thank you for speaking up and pushing us to make changes for the students' benefit."
While Lancer spoke, Tucker evidently noticed something in the teacher's breath because he inhaled deeply through his nose and said, "Meat. Near."
Lancer noticed Tucker's strange behavior, and backed away once he realized what Tucker likely picked up on. "No no, the rumors about the new all-steak buffet in the teacher's lounge are completely untrue." The lie was blatantly in his voice, and was further incriminated when he took out a toothpick and picked between his teeth to hide any potential evidence. "Thanks again." He hurried away before he was likely to be found out.
"Yeah," Tucker said bitterly, glaring at Sam when the teacher left. "Thanks again for making us eat garbage, Sam."
Sam raised her hands in defense. "Hey, it's not my fault! And it's not garbage! This wasn't even in my menu plans. I knew people wouldn't dive headfirst into dedicated ultra-recyclo vegetarian diets, so I started off with lighter suggestions in my proposal." [2]
"So, you're saying somebody changed your menu?" Alya checked, taking out her phone and tapping at it. "Sounds like a news story in the making."
Tucker glanced at his tray. "It's still garbage."
A couple tables over, Adrien was seated with Chloe and the A-listers. Unlike everyone else, Adrien, Chloe, and Sabrina all had gourmet meals in front of them while Dash, Kwan, and even Paulina and Valerie had the Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian meals.
"You see, Adrikins?" Chloe said to her childhood friend as she picked up a piece of sushi and ate it. "This is why your daddy has your chef make your lunches. High school cafeteria food has a reputation for being awful. Today, it's especially ridiculous."
Adrien looked at the trays of the other popular kids. "…Okay, Father might have had a point."
In the kitchen, the two or three people on the lunch staff went into the back room, all eager to eat their hamburgers they kept hidden from the students. If they had lingered there for a moment longer, they would've witnessed the ghost from the Fentons' ghost portal phasing in through the ceiling. She only looked around for a few moments before spotting a guide to making meals for ultra-recyclo vegetarians on a countertop. Picking up the book, she began to look through it.
Out in the cafeteria, a sliver of breath escaped Danny's lips. His ghost sense.
Just a few seats away from him inside Marinette's purse, the same happened to Tikki. At the A-listers' table, Plagg experienced the same thing. [3]
"Uh, guys?" Danny spoke up, having been mostly silent since the group entered the lunch room. "I've got a problem…" Something brown and full of grass hit the back of his head.
"FENTON!"
"…Make that two problems," Danny corrected, hearing the familiar yell from Dash.
Dash marched over from the A-listers' table, bearing a plate of mud with grass in it. "I ordered three mud pies, and you know what I got? Three mud pies- with mud from the ground! All because of your stupid girlfriend!"
"She's not my girlfriend/I'm not his girlfriend!" Danny and Sam shouted at the same time.
Using his free hand, Dash grabbed a fistful of Danny's shirt and lifted him off his seat. "These are the best years of my life! After high school, it's all downhill for me! How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days eating mud?!"
"Actually, it's topsoil," Sam found herself correcting.
Alya rose to her feet, the same protective instinct that drove her to get Marinette away from Chloe on the first day of school igniting. "Hey! Put him down!"
Marinette also got up, preparing to intervene. "Alya, don't!"
Dash shoved the two girls aside, and practically threw Danny onto the table. "Stay out of this! He's going to eat it! All of it!"
At the A-listers' table, Adrien watched the moment unfold, horrified. He spun around to face Chloe. "Shouldn't we do something?"
Chloe shook her head, allowing Sabrina to dab her face with a napkin and clear away their lunch supplies. "No way, Adrikins. This is between Baxter and Fenton. You do not want to get in the middle of that, trust me."
Conflicted, Adrien turned back to watch Dash bully Danny. He never encountered this sort of problem before when he was homeschooled.
Danny picked up a spoon, prepared to do whatever he had to do in order to get Dash off his back. Already having her phone out, Alya held it up to record, as did other students with a clear view. Marinette stared at Alya, appalled.
"You're filming this?" Marinette whispered, leaning over to her new friend.
"Just so I can show this to the teachers and get them to do something about it," Alya replied quietly.
Right when Danny was about to insert a spoonful of mud pie into his mouth, his ghost sense went off again. This time, he spotted something green lurking around in the kitchen behind all the students.
A ghost? At the school? They never got out as far as his basement before. He had to do something that would let him slip away and deal with the problem. His eyes went to the mud pie.
That's it!
"Uh, garbage fight!" Danny grabbed the whole mud pie off his plate, and threw it at Dash's face.
That single throw started a chain reaction. Within moments, all the students in the cafeteria were engaged in a food fight. Adrien moved quickly, ducking under the popular table. Chloe, Sabrina, and Paulina joined him soon after; Chloe shrieked how she could not get mud and grass on her designer clothes.
Initially horrified, Adrien soon began to laugh. "It's just like in the movies!" Chloe, Sabrina, and Paulina all stared at him with baffled expressions on their faces.
"It's not garbage," Sam valiantly tried to protest. Before she could argue more, Danny pulled her under the table.
Danny, Sam, Tucker, Marinette, and Alya all hid under the table, avoiding most of the fight. Alya continued to film with her phone, a wide grin on her face.
"A food fight at my new school? This is so going on my personal blog!" the aspiring journalist squealed.
"Alright, here's the plan- Sam, Tucker, and I are going to get more ammo from the kitchen. Given how well it's going over with everyone, there's probably a lot of leftovers we can use," Danny stated, getting the other four teens' attention. He pointed at Marinette and Alya. "Marinette, you and Alya go get Mr. Lancer and Principal Damocles. They'll shut this down."
"But if you're getting more food, you'll get in trouble when they get here," Marinette pointed out.
"So? I'm already in trouble because I made the first throw, and Dash would likely blame this whole thing on me in the first place. At least this way, we have a chance of surviving this mess. Come on, guys." Danny crawled out into the fray, with Sam and Tucker following.
"You're gonna pay for this, Fenton!" Dash could be heard shouting.
Danny rolled his eyes, but continued onward. "Great, I'm still his favorite."
Alya nudged Marinette. "He's got a point, as much as I hate how bad of a point it is, girl. Let's go. Exit's this way." She started to crawl out into the fight, going in the opposite direction Danny and the others went.
Marinette reluctantly moved to follow Alya, but was stopped by the urgent tapping of her purse against her side. Remaining hidden under the table, she unclasped it.
"What is it, Tikki? An akuma?" She asked.
"No, Marinette, but it might be just as bad," Tikki replied, looking worriedly up at her holder. "I sense a ghost is nearby!"
Marinette stared at the kwami. "A ghost? Now?" She looked up and around.
During her look around, she thought she spotted something in the kitchen that didn't look normal…
Marinette gasped. "My friends are going into the kitchen! They don't know there's a ghost in there! Standby, Tikki." Clasping her purse shut, she crawled quickly to try and catch up to Danny and the others.
While Marinette struggled to get past all the fighting, Danny, Sam, and Tucker reached the kitchen door and slipped inside without anyone noticing. On the other side of the door, they found the ghost rummaging through the kitchen.
"Huh. Shouldn't be so bad. She looks kinda like my grandma," Tucker commented as the Lunch Lady examined a bowl of salad.
"Then shouldn't she be haunting a bingo hall?" Danny remarked.
Lunch Lady noticed that the three teens had entered the kitchen, and floated over to them.
"Excuse me, children. Today's lunch is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?" She asked politely.
Somewhat vengeful, Tucker jabbed his thumb at Sam. "Yeah, she did."
In a matter of nanoseconds, the Lunch Lady's civil manner flipped to outrage. "You changed the menu?!" Her wispy hair stared to flap around like campfire flames, and she bared razor sharp teeth. The teens couldn't help but flinch back as she started to exude a green, fiery aura. "The menu has been the same for fifty years!"
"Get behind me," Danny said to Tucker and Sam, aware that their ghostly foe was about to attack.
Sam and Tucker did as he requested, but Sam couldn't resist casting a doubtful look at Danny's thin arms. "Wow, I feel safe."
Ignoring the jab, Danny took a battle stance. "I'm going ghost!"
At that moment, Marinette opened the kitchen door, peeking her head in. "Guys, you need to get out. There's a…" The girl whispered sharply, but lost her voice when she saw two rings of light surrounded Danny and changed his appearance to that of her hero teammate, Phantom. "…Ghost." Her stunned state got even worse when she saw the Lunch Lady, her first real ghost sighting, opposing him.
Fully transformed, Phantom flew up to confront the opponent. Thrusting a finger at her, he declared, "I command you to… go away!"
The order was given hesitantly. Ghosts weren't like akumas, Danny knew that much from growing up with his parents, so he didn't know how to defeat them like he had been doing to Hawk Moth's victims. Especially one so far from his family's ghost portal.
Even if his command wasn't strongly voiced, the Lunch Lady clearly didn't like being told what to do. She raised a hand that glowed green with ghostly energy, and the dishes in the kitchen began to rise at her control. Swinging her hand in Phantom's direction, the dishes soared at him. Unlike his earlier instances of intangibility earlier in the day, Phantom willed his entire body to let the kitchen supplies pass through him. They shattered against the wall behind him, and once the last one had smashed, the ghost hero allowed himself to be tangible again.
"Is that… Phantom?" Marinette spoke up as she fully entered the kitchen, shocking Sam and Tucker into looking behind them.
"Marinette!" Sam darted her eyes toward Phantom and back to her classmate. "Uh, yeah! He discovered that there was a real ghost in the school kitchen, and came to stop it."
"And Danny was so scared by the ghost that isn't Phantom, he hid away in a cupboard," Tucker added quickly. "Living with ghost hunting parents really makes a guy develop a phobia of them."
Marinette glanced at the window into the cafeteria, and pointed. "Close the kitchen! We can't let the ghost hurt the other students." [4]
Sam and Tucker looked where she pointed, and realized she was right. If they could cut the kitchen off from the rest of the cafeteria, they could minimize the damage done by the fight. The pair jumped at the window shutter, and pulled it down so nobody else saw the fight going on. No sooner than pulling it down completely, the Lunch Lady sent a wave of dishes flying at Sam.
Acting quickly, Phantom caught all the plates. When the Lunch Lady sent a third wave at Tucker, he swooped over and caught those as well without dropping any of the ones he already had. He even caught a few with his teeth. Once he was sure the opposing ghost had no more dishes to attack with, he set them on a long stretch of empty counter.
"Well, if this superhero thing doesn't work out, at least I could have an exciting career as a busboy," Phantom quipped, staring into his reflection on a plate. In the reflection, he could see the ovens begin to shake. Whirling around, he saw the Lunch Lady controlling them.
"I control lunch. Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules!" The ghost snarled. Briefly breaking her rant, she held up a ghostly piece of cake. "Anybody want cake?"
Marinette, Sam, and Tucker found themselves nodding in confirmation. Even though the cake was of ethereal origin, it still looked delicious to them.
"Too bad!" The Lunch Lady snapped, returning to her previous raging state. "Children who change my menu don't get dessert!" Phasing through the ceiling, she allowed the ovens to start spewing unnatural fire.
The four kids dodged the flames quickly, and felt an increased sense of danger when the ovens came to life. Fueled by paranormal life, the ovens charged at the children.
"Grab Marinette!" Phantom shouted, diving at the three other teens.
Being the closest to her, Tucker grasped her arm right before Phantom landed behind the trio and extended his powers of intangibility to them. Not wasting any time, Phantom pulled the three teens through the back wall.
The ovens crashed against the wall, all their energy vanishing upon impact.
On the other side of the wall, Phantom and the students landed in the hallway. Phantom let go of them, returning them to tangibility.
"Hey, it worked!" Phantom cheered.
"This is the thanks I get for thinking like an individual," Sam couldn't help but snap in annoyance at the results of her menu changes.
While Sam fumed, Marinette sent a smile Phantom's way. "Thanks for saving us, Phantom. You did really well."
"Thanks," Phantom said, noticing the hallway began to shake and the lights start to short out. "But I don't think this is over yet."
The students yelped as lockers burst open, and other kids' school supplies swirled out down the hall in a strong breeze.
"Wait…" Tucker caught a scent of something in the air, and he, along with the other teens, spotted food floating down the hallway. "Steak? Rib-eye? Porterhouse? Medium rare?"
Notably, all the food that was flying through were meat products. Steak. Hamburgers. Hot dogs. Nearly every kind of meat a person could think of, it was gathering around the Lunch Lady, who stood at the end of the hallway, and formed a suit of meat.
"But… where did it come from?" Tucker wondered before he remembered something that was said earlier. "Lancer!"
In the teacher's lounge, all the instructors were gathered. Principal Damocles and Mr. Lancer stood beside a table covered with a sheet.
"Staff, it is my great pleasure to present your all steak buffet!" Principal Damocles announced as Lancer pulled the sheet off.
All the teachers gasped, Miss Bustier and Miss Mendeliev among them.
Confused by their reactions, Damocles and Lancer looked at the table, and suddenly understood. All the meat that had been laid out had vanished.
"Paradise Lost!" Lancer cried out.
"Prepare to learn why meat is the most powerful of the five food groups!" Lunch Lady declared in her new meat suit, which allowed her to tower over the teens. Just like before, she broke her threatening demeanor to something softer. "Cookie?" She held up a chocolate chip cookie.
They all shook their heads.
Frowning, the Lunch Lady snapped back into her state of rage. "Then perish!"
"Forget it!" Phantom proclaimed, standing protectively in front of the other kids. "The only thing that has an expiration date here is you!"
Without warning, his transformation reverted. In Phantom's place stood Danny.
Marinette gave a sharp gasp, pretending she hadn't seen him transform earlier. "Danny?"
"Whoops, didn't mean to do that." Danny glanced back at the others, unsure of what to do without his transformation available. Not to mention one of his classmates found out his secret…
Roaring in anger, the Lunch Lady swatted Danny, Marinette, and Tucker aside. She grabbed Sam, and took off down the hall.
Getting back on their feet, Tucker turned towards Danny and Marinette. "Come on, Danny. Change back. We gotta go!"
"You three aren't going anywhere!" Lancer seized Danny and Tucker by the backs of their shirts. Still on the floor, Marinette gasped upon noticing the teacher. Beside him was Dash, whose face and chest were caked with mud pies.
"Ha! Told you that you would pay, Fenton!" Dash sneered.
Lancer escorted the three teens to his office. While Danny and Tucker struggled, Marinette went willingly like the good student she strived to be; that and Lancer didn't have a hand on her like he did with the boys. Dash followed behind both to make sure Marinette didn't run off and to see that Danny got in trouble.
The three freshmen sat in front of Lancer's desk while he fished out their files from the designated cabinet. Dash leaned against the wall beside the door, watching the proceedings as if it were some kind of show.
"Tucker Foley… chronic tardiness, talking in class, loitering outside the girls' locker room…" Lancer read off, not noticing Tucker's smile at the mention of the locker room. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng… also chronic tardiness, dropped seventeen beakers since the start of the school year, banned for life from handling fragile school property…" Marinette blushed at the part about being banned. "Daniel Fenton… thirty-four beakers dropped since the start of the school year, also banned for life from handling fragile school property, but no severe mischief before today. So tell me students, why did you plan to destroy the school cafeteria?!" The students flinched at the rise in his voice.
"Dash started it!" Danny objected, pointing to the smug jock. "He was going to force me to eat his lunch!"
Dash pulled away from his corner, and curled his hands into fists. "He's lying, Mr. Lancer! I ate my super vegetarian lunch like the growing football star I am!"
Marinette jumped from her chair at Dash's claim, her berserk button pushed. "No, he's lying! Tucker and I were both there when he came to our table and tried to make Danny do it!"
Lancer hummed, looking between the two sides. "Do you have any proof? Seeing as Mr. Baxter is currently covered in today's lunch and you're not, I'm not very inclined to believe you."
The door burst open, making Dash startle from where he had been standing right next to it.
Alya marched in, a determined look on her face and mud pie scattered all over her shirt. "Mr. Lancer, there you are. I have proof that Danny is innocent."
"Oh, do you? May I see this proof?" Lancer inquired.
The aspiring journalist nodded, pulling out her phone. "It's all right here on my phone. I was going to show you or Mr. Damocles this to expose the bullying that has been going on, but the fight in the cafeteria made it extra important I show you this right away."
Lancer sighed at having to deal with a new development. "Very well. The three of you remain in your seats. Mister Baxter, watch the door. Miss Cesaire, if we could take this out into the hall?"
"Thanks, Alya, you're a life saver," Marinette said as she and the boys remained seated while Alya, Dash, and Mr. Lancer all left the room.
Once the door shut, Tucker spun to face Danny and Marinette. "We have to find Sam. I feel like it's my fault that she got kidnapped."
"Maybe that's because you told the ghost she was responsible for the menu changes?" Danny retorted, spotting a set of monitors tuned into the school cameras and rising from his seat to look at them.
Tucker inhaled through his nose sharply. "The meat is still in the building. Two hundred yards, tops."
Danny looked at each of the monitors until he noticed something on one of the screens. He pointed at the one showing the school's storage space. "Check it out. Meat trail." Going back to Marinette and Tucker, he gestured at the former. "Marinette, you stay here and cover for us. Lancer is going to be really ticked that we ditched."
"And deal with his rage alone? He could get akumatized." Marinette crossed her arms. "No way! I'm coming with you. Besides, I want to help save Sam too."
Danny and Tucker shared a look, silently discussing the issue before Danny sighed heavily. "Fine." Transforming, Danny took Marinette and Tucker by the arm and phased them through the floor. The two inexperienced humans yelped at the sensation.
Moments later, Lancer was leading Alya and Dash back into the office. Alya seemed upset while strangely Dash was the same way.
"I stand corrected, you three," Lancer was saying with eyes closed. Alya and Dash noticed before him the absence of three freshman students waiting punishment. "But, you did technically start the food fight too so you'll all be- in greater trouble!" The vice-principal/teacher finally noticed, and glared heatedly at the empty seats.
Phantom and his passengers descended down into the school storage, and he reverted them back to tangibility. Once his feet hit the floor, Tucker ran to a nearby container of meat.
"Meat, how I've missed you!" The geek spread his arms around the crate as much as he could.
Phantom shot his friend an annoyed expression. "How is it I'm the one with ghost powers and you're the weird kid?"
Marinette raised a finger to her lips, shushing them. "Do you hear that?"
The trio listened quietly for a moment, picking up the sound of chatter. Following the voice, they peeked around a corner, and saw the Lunch Lady hovering in front of Sam, who was trapped in a pile of assorted meats.
"My dear child, meat is good for kids. It helps them grow and makes them smile." The Lunch Lady implored, attempting to feed Sam a chicken leg. "Why won't you eat it?"
Sam stubbornly shifted her face away every time the chicken leg was shoved near it. "We don't need meat. That's fact!"
The Lunch Lady snarled at Sam's reply. "Silence! You need discipline, manners, and respect. You know where that comes from? Meat!" Done with her shouting, she held up the chicken again, along with some cooked fish, as she smiled sweetly. "Chicken or fish?"
Phantom glanced back at Marinette and Tucker. "I'll take care of the ghost. You guys find a way to get Sam out of that pile of meat." Taking flight, he flew around the corner.
Tucker smirked as an idea came to mind, pulling a fork and knife out of his pockets. "Way ahead of you."
Marinette glanced at the tech geek oddly. "Do you always carry those?"
Sensing an intrusion, the Lunch Lady turned to confront whoever was interrupting her business, only to get a white gloved fist to the face. She slammed against a wall, and fell to the floor. Phantom landed before her, silently challenging her to attack back.
Sam felt relief at being rescued by her friend, and then noticed Tucker attempting to cut his way through the pile of meat she was trapped in with his utensils.
"Don't worry, Sam," Tucker said enthusiastically, "I'll have you out in no time."
The extreme vegetarian frowned at him. "You've got to be kidding me." She didn't have to be annoyed for long because Marinette stepped up beside Tucker and tried to wade into the meat pile to reach her.
"Here, let me help," Marinette said, extending an arm to grab Sam's to pull her out. When Sam didn't budge, Marinette grunted, "Man, that ghost has you stuck in there good."
Phantom did a front somersault into the air, thrusting his foot out to kick at the Lunch Lady. Unfortunately for him, he made the attack early enough for her to thwart it by gripping his leg.
"This is why children need meat," the Lunch Lady lectured, "you're nothing but skin and bones!" She threw him at the wall, but he went intangible before he could hit it. After disappearing through the wall, he phased back in, spotting her summon shish kabobs from a crate and send them at him. In an effort to dodge the skewers, he tried to stretch out, only to discover he actually split his body in half at his torso. The kabobs went through the empty space between his upper half and his legs. Realizing he found a new ghost trick he could add to his skillset, he smiled.
The Lunch Lady, apparently angry she had missed, roared loudly and summoned meat from all the crates in the room. Even the hot dog stuck on Tucker's fork he had been about to eat. In the process, summoning the meat also had the effect of releasing Sam from her trap.
Phantom pulled himself back together, and watched as the Lunch Lady gathered the meat around her to form the monster she had become in the hallway before Lancer had busted them. She grabbed him with a meaty fist, and threw him at the wall again. Once again, he phased through the wall, only taking a bit longer to return this time.
With him seemingly taken care of, the Lunch Lady turned her attention towards the three teens still in the room. She loomed over them, screaming loudly.
"Run?" Tucker asked the girls.
"Definitely run," Marinette confirmed.
The three students turned heel and ran to the exit with the Lunch Lady in pursuit.
Phantom returned to the storage, and hearing the frightened screams of his friends, went to go help them. Cutting through several aisles of crates, he caught up with them and gathered them in his arms. The Lunch Lady prepared to pound them with meaty fists, but Phantom turned them all intangible and flew them through another wall, effectively escaping. The meat-commanding ghost, surprised by the kids' escape, hit the wall and fell to the floor in clumps.
On the other side of the wall, Phantom and his friends emerged outside the school.
"Geez, Danny," Sam began to say, seeing how tired the fighting was making him, "fighting meat monsters, flying through walls… you must be exhausted."
"What gives you that idea?" Phantom asked, struggling to remain awake.
The group fell to the ground as Phantom transformed back into Danny. The drained teen fell asleep, slumping to the ground. Watching him sleep, Sam exchanged glances with Tucker and Marinette.
Once school ended for the day, Adrien was driven home by the Gorilla. He had only gotten into the front door when Nathalie appeared beside him.
"Adrien, your father would like a word with you," the assistant stated in her professional tone.
Blinking in surprise by the sudden request, he followed her into his father's atelier.
"You wanted to see me, Father?" Adrien asked, entering the room.
Gabriel looked up from his work station, staring at his son sternly. "The school sent out a message saying there had been an outburst in the cafeteria. A food fight, they said. Do you have anything to say about the matter?"
Adrien was taken aback. "Father, if you're implying what I think you are, I had nothing to do with that. One of the players on the football team tried to force a classmate of mine to eat his lunch because he blamed him for the menu change, and that's what started the fight. I took no part in it. Chloe and I may have been the only two students that didn't participate. We hid the whole time."
"I see," Gabriel said shortly. Parent and child continued to look at each other in silence until Gabriel spoke again. "I allowed you to attend public school, believing you would benefit from the experience. Given that it's only a month into the school year and there's already been a disruption of that magnitude, I am beginning to think otherwise."
"Father…" Adrien felt his chest clench. He couldn't be pulled out this soon.
"I am only beginning to think otherwise," Gabriel continued, seeing Adrien's hurt expression. "Since this was only one major disturbance, I will let it slide."
Adrien quietly let the tension roll off his shoulders.
"However, if I hear of another incident like this again, I will consider returning you to homeschooling. Is that clear?" Gabriel warned.
Adrien nodded understandably. "Yes, Father."
"Good. You may go up to your room and begin your homework." Gabriel finally broke off his gaze, and returned to his work.
Seeing he was dismissed, Adrien left the atelier to head upstairs. Once in his room, Plagg emerged from his pocket in Adrien's shirt.
"Well, today was fun," the cat kwami said, hovering over to his cheese stash.
Adrien began to spread out his homework on his computer desk, sending a glance towards his door before allowing himself to smile. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it? I've seen food fights in movies before, but being in the middle of it was something else. I wish I had thrown something too."
"So why didn't you?" Plagg prodded, tossing up a wedge of cheese and swallowing it whole.
Adrien shook his head, opening a notebook and textbook. "I couldn't. If I had been caught participating, Father would've pulled me out of school faster than you just ate that cheese. You heard him down there. If something like that happens again, I'm back to learning in the dining room with Nathalie. I was already pushing my luck by asking to attend public school. I can't get too greedy."
"Kid, you are far from the greediest holder I've had," Plagg said, floating over to watch the boy do his assignments. "Believe me, wanting to go to school so you can socialize isn't that greedy. But, speaking of school, we should talk about what else happened during lunch."
"That's right," Adrien remembered, peeking at Plagg. "You mentioned something in between periods about a ghost?"
"Yeah, along with kwamis and genies and those sorts of things, ghosts also exist. Ghosts have an ability called the Ghost Sense, which allows them to learn if a ghost they aren't aware of is nearby. While us kwamis aren't ghosts, we have similar enough powers that we are able to use the Ghost Sense like they do."
Humming thoughtfully, Adrien asked, "Then if you sensed a ghost earlier, why didn't we see it?"
Plagg shrugged his little arms. "Some ghosts are less direct with their goals. Instead of getting in your face, they like to sneak around to do stuff. Whatever that ghost wanted to do, it apparently didn't want to bother anybody."
"Right, that makes sense. What do we do, then? How do we stop them? Capture them like akumas?"
"Capture a ghost? Miraculous holders have been trying to capture ghosts for millennia," Plagg exclaimed in shock at Adrien's suggestion. "Miraculous magic is kinda compatible with ghosts, sure, but we haven't been able to do more than just drive them off for a while."
Adrien smiled at Plagg's expression of disbelief. "I'm sure we can figure something out." Returning to his homework, he continued to say, "in the meantime, let's keep a lookout for that ghost. Okay?"
Plagg groaned. "If we're going to be ghost hunting, I'm going to need a lot of Camembert." Flying over to his cheese, he began to eat more wedges.
When Jazz arrived home, she was concerned to find the living room pitch black.
"Mom? Dad?" She stepped through the entryway, and the door slammed behind her.
Two balls rolled to her feet, hissing out smoke and obscuring her vision.
"Now, Maddie! Hit her!" Her father yelled out. "I'm moving in! Get my back!"
She felt something tugging at her hair rather painfully and started to scream. When the smoke cleared, she was able to see her parents clinging to her knees and what looked like a vacuum cleaner they had turned into a ghost hunting weapon trying to suck in her hair.
"This is all going in the memoir," she muttered, not at all shocked by her parents' antics and completely furious.
Her parents rose to their feet, and right as she was about to give them another one of her lectures, the front door opened again. Sam and Tucker carried Danny in, and Marinette followed close behind them.
"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! What a day at school. Danny's so wiped out we're just going to take him up to his room without any parental interaction at all," Tucker said rapidly without leaving room for reply.
"No need to tell us where to go," Sam added as they carted their friend upstairs to his room.
Marinette gave the parents an awkward wave. "And I'm hanging out with them this afternoon, which is why I came here when I usually don't. Okay, bye!" She followed them up, and closed Danny's bedroom door behind her.
Once the group was gone, Maddie sent her husband a bewildered look at the strange behavior of the kids. Looking at him, she could see Jack was thinking and exactly what he was thinking about. "Jack, Danny is not a ghost."
"No, he's not," Jack agreed, gazing over at Jazz struggling to get her hair out of the Fenton Xtractor. "Jazz is."
Danny awoke in his bedroom, laying on his bed. Sitting up, he noticed Sam, Tucker, and Marinette all loitering around.
"What's going on?" He asked, looking at the three of them.
"You passed out," answered Tucker, "you've been asleep for four days."
"Four days!" Danny exclaimed, alarmed by the length of time.
Tucker chuckled at the panic on his friend's face. "Just kidding. You've been asleep for four hours."
Sam elbowed Tucker in the side. "Knock it off, Tucker. This is serious. We almost got killed by a ghost back there."
Tucker jabbed a finger at her, scowling. "Hey, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tried to change the menu. You had to be unique and take the meat away."
"Excuse me for trying to be progressive and make the school more accommodating for students' dietary choices," Sam defended, "Besides, it's like I said earlier, I didn't mean for the changes to be that extreme. Someone messed with them."
Tucker huffed. "Well, regardless of someone messing with your changes or not, I'm going to get our normal menu back."
"Guys," Marinette stood up from her seat, hands raised with caution. "Calm down. You don't want to attract an akuma."
"Trust me, Marinette, I am calm." Tucker assured her. "I'm going to productively channel my anger into getting back my meat." Squeezing past Sam, he made to leave.
Sam frowned indignantly. "No, you're not! Vegetarian Week isn't over yet. It's only the first day!" She stomped out after him, their argument fading as they got further from Danny's room.
Danny and Marinette watched them leave, and Danny sighed, laying back on his bed.
"Aw, geez," he mumbled, hating to see his friends fight.
Marinette sent him a sympathetic glance, nibbling at her lip for a moment. "Hey, Danny? About today…"
Danny glanced at her. "Oh. Right. My secret. Listen, you can't tell anyone. Especially not my par-"
She held up a hand to interrupt him. "It's okay. I won't tell anybody. You can trust me."
"Thanks," Danny sighed. "I can't believe I managed to hide my secret for a whole two months before I blew it to someone. I wasn't careful enough."
Walking over to her classmate, Marinette rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. It was my fault for not doing what you told me and Alya to do. In hindsight, I can see why you sent her and me away while you wanted Sam and Tucker with you." Marinette gasped as a realization came to her. "Ah, Alya! Mr. Lancer!" She began to pace back and forth across the bedroom. "I totally forgot about them. Oh, we're in so much trouble tomorrow!"
Seeing she was having one of her infamous spirals, Danny sat up again. "Marinette, relax. Whatever you're thinking is going to happen probably won't be as bad as you're making it out to be, and besides, we ditched for a good reason."
"…You're right." Marinette took a deep breath to compose herself. She sent a smile over to Danny. "Thanks. I needed that." Thinking for a moment, she asked, "What do we do about Sam and Tucker? I've never seen them so mad at each other before."
"They'll get over it. They never stay mad at each other for long."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Marinette decided to take his word on the subject. He knew them better than she did. "I should get home. See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Take it easy tonight, okay? You've had a crazy afternoon."
She smirked at him. "No less crazy than afternoons have been since the akuma attacks started. Get some rest."
Danny watched her leave before getting up and closing his door to have some privacy. He sighed heavily.
"I really hope things go back to normal," he said to himself.
The next day, Danny entered the cafeteria with Marinette and Alya, the latter of whom had gotten an excuse from Marinette about their mysterious escape the day before. Upon entering the cafeteria, Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes in embarrassment. "Or things could get worse."
The cafeteria was split into two halves. On one side, almost every student had brought a bag lunch from home. Each bag lunch had some form of meat included. Hot dogs, hamburgers, fish, you name it and someone likely had it. On the other side, students had trays filled with assorted vegetables including the bread with grass and the mud pies. Danny was quick to notice his homeroom classmates had split between the two factions. Kim, Alix, Max, Nathaniel, and Nino were on the meat side while Rose, Juleka, Ivan, and Mylene were on the veggie side. [5]
Of course, Tucker and Sam were leading the two sides.
"What do we want?" Tucker rallied, holding a megaphone in front of his mouth.
"Meat!" His supporters chanted.
"When do we want it?" Tucker demanded.
"Now!" The meat side roared.
"Veggies now!" Sam and her followers shouted, waving banners. "Veggies forever!"
When Sam and Tucker noticed Danny's arrival, they left their teams to continue protesting while they went over to where he, Marinette, and Alya hadn't chosen a side. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that Chloe and Sabrina were staying out of this. They seemed to be enjoying it even, at least Chloe was. Sabrina naturally followed whatever Chloe did. What surprised Danny was that Adrien hadn't picked a side.
"You guys put together two protests in one night?" Danny asked, incredulous at their achievement.
Tucker puffed his chest boastfully. "Meat-lovers, Danny. Always ready to fight. And our high protein diet gives us the energy we need to do it quickly."
"Ultra-recyclo vegetarians are always ready to protest," Sam retorted, "and because we don't have to waste time cooking our food, we can do it even faster."
Adrien looked distinctively uneasy at the whole thing. "Isn't this all a little extreme?"
"Sorry, dude, but everybody needs to make a choice. You're either with us-" Tucker responded.
"Or against him," Sam cut in.
The pair loomed over Danny, demanding, "So whose side are you on?"
-LB-CN-P-
In Hawk Moth's lair, the magical villain opened his window into the city.
"Yes. Lots of children with anger over their lunch menu. Either a meat-based akuma or a vegetable-based one would make sense." The masked villain gathered a butterfly in his hands. "Perfect, now to find a suitable victim- wait, what's that energy?" His eyes went wide. "I've never sensed this before."
-LB-CN-P-
An oddly strong breeze began to swirl around the cafeteria. Marinette, Danny, and his friends gasped as they realized what was happening. In Marinette's purse and Adrien's pocket, the kwamis let out a breath of Ghost Sense at the same moment Danny did.
Meat on Tucker's side of the cafeteria flew from the plates and bags. They wove together, forming a giant, red creature bigger than the one Phantom and the kids encountered the previous day.
With glowing green eyes, the meat monster smirked evilly down at the terrified students. "It's lunch time!" The Lunch Lady taunted.
Hearing the meat monster speak set the students off. Almost every kid screamed and ran for the exit.
"Meat, why have you betrayed me?" Tucker, one of the few students to not immediately flee, lamented.
Danny quickly sent a glance over to Marinette, who nodded in silent agreement.
"Alya, come on. We should go," Marinette said, grabbing her bestie's arm.
Alya already had her phone out and was about to record. She turned towards Marinette, a confused expression on her face. "But if we leave, we'll miss the heroes come in."
Ignoring Alya's protest, Marinette dragged her out of the cafeteria. "I think that's for the best."
Danny watched the two girls leave, along with Adrien, and frowned sternly at his two arguing friends. "Guys, I think it's time to make up. Now."
Getting the message, Sam and Tucker ceased their feud and came together around Danny for a group hug. There was a flash of light between them, and when they pulled apart, Phantom stood in Danny's place.
Phantom jumped into the air, ready to deal with the Lunch Lady for good.
Out in the halls with the rest of the students, Adrien inconspicuously slipped into an unused classroom. Plagg flew out of his shirt pocket once Adrien was sure they were alone.
"After this, I think everyone will agree that those two weren't the best food group," Plagg remarked cheekily, "it's obviously dairy."
Adrien chuckled, knowing very well what Plagg was referring to. "We'll see about that. Plagg, claws out!"
Pulling Alya towards the school's front exit, Marinette figured that she gave Danny enough time to transform. So when they were almost at the doors, Marinette pretended to lose grip on Alya's wrist. Just as she thought, Alya spun around to head back to the cafeteria.
"Alya, you shouldn't go back there. It's dangerous!" Marinette reached out a hand to her friend.
Alya gave her an apologetic smile. "I know, but someone has to get footage of the fight. People deserve to know what's going on. I'll try and catch up with you later once things have calmed down, okay?" She took off without waiting for Marinette's response.
Shaking her head at her friend's passion, Marinette rushed into the nearest restroom and hid in a stall.
Tikki flew out of her purse when she opened it. "Your first ghost fight. You ready?"
"I'll have to be." Marinette took a deep breath. "Tikki, spots on!"
While the heroes were transforming and joining the battle, Jazz was outside with another student, one who looked even more goth than Sam or Juleka.
"Spike, you have to open up to your parents." Jazz pleaded with the boy. "Be true to yourself and them. Tell them how you feel. It's not like they're going to attack you or anything."
Suddenly, a glowing green net encased Jazz and pulled her away from Spike, who watched listlessly.
"I've got her!" Jack boasted, reeling Jazz in with what looked like another ghost invention. "And the Fenton Grappler works like a charm."
Maddie watched her husband with a furrowed brow. "I don't understand. If Jazz is a ghost, then why isn't she phasing through the net?"
"Because I'm not a ghost!" Jazz shouted, tearing the net off herself. Her parents flinched at her rage. "You've ambushed me, suffocated me with smoke, and worse, I was pulled away from Spike before he had his breakthrough!" She glared at her parents. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Jack stared dumbly at her for a moment before holding up the Fenton Thermos he had shown Danny on the first day of school. "Eat thermos, ghost gal!" The inside of the thermos lit up like it was about to work, but shorted out. Frowning, Jack shook it. "Darn it. Dang thing still doesn't work."
Back in the cafeteria, Sam and Tucker hid behind an overturned table as they watched Phantom and Chat Noir fight the Lunch Lady.
"He's getting better," Tucker remarked, watching the two heroes. "The akuma fights seem to be good for extra practice."
Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a ghost and not an akuma. Can Ladybug even clean up this mess with her cure since it's not an akuma's fault?" She glanced around with a raised eyebrow. "Where is she anyway?"
Alya hurried into the cafeteria, phone already in hand and recording. She seemed surprised to find Sam and Tucker still there, but joined them behind their barricade regardless. "What are you guys still doing here?"
Sam narrowed her eyes at the blogger. "We could ask you the same thing."
"I'm here to record the akuma fight. What else would I be here for?" Alya returned the annoyed tone.
Tucker raised a finger. "Actually, that's not an akuma."
"What?" Alya asked, taken by surprise.
"Tucker!" Sam hissed in his ear.
At that moment, Ladybug burst into the room, wielding her yo-yo. "I got some calls saying that today's lunch came to life?"
Alya pointed her phone at the spotted hero, squealing. "Ooh, there's Ladybug!" She recorded Ladybug jumping into the fray with the other heroes and swinging her yo-yo at the meat monster. Keeping her camera aimed at the fight, Alya glanced at Sam and Tucker. "What was that you were saying about that meat monster not being an akuma?"
Tucker, against Sam's wishes, explained, "Remember how we split up to sneak into the kitchen yesterday before Lancer caught us? Well, we found that meat monster in there, only it wasn't like that when we saw it. Before the meat monster, it was a ghost that looked like a lunch lady. Apparently it was called to Casper High because of Sam changing the menu, and was trying to set it back." He peeked over the barricade, and saw Chat Noir smack the ghost with his baton, only for it to get stuck. When he tried to pry it out, the Lunch Lady pulled it out herself and threw it along with him against a wall.
Sam threw her hands up in a fit, but reluctantly added, "That's why he, Tucker, and Marinette ditched while Lancer was punishing them. The Lunch Lady kidnapped me, and they came to rescue me." She grinned internally when Danny gave the meat monster a kick to the side of its head.
Alya blinked at the explanation she was given. "…That explains a lot about yesterday."
Tucker looked like he was about to say something else, but that was before the spectators witnessed the Lunch Lady punching Phantom towards the ceiling. Before he could hit it, he went intangible and phased through.
"I hope Phantom can take a punch," Sam commented with a wince.
Ladybug and Chat Noir also happened to see their teammate be punched, which gave the spotted heroine an idea.
"The monster's too big to fight in here," she said to Chat Noir. "We need to take this outside. Can you make us a door?"
Chat grinned at her, readying his claw. "Can do, bugaboo! Cataclysm!" Dark energy bubbled in his right claw. "Cover me!"
Ladybug spun her yo-yo in a shield, letting Chat Noir rush across the room while she blocked the Lunch Lady's blobs of meat.
"What's he doing?" Tucker stared at the cat hero in confusion.
Chat Noir slapped his right claw on the wall, and the dark energy transferred from claw to surface. It spread across the wall, turning all the bricks black and making them collapse.
"Okay, so you're not a ghost," Jack admitted while Jazz glared at her father. "But, sweetie, you have to admit that ghost kid is out there. What if he took over your body or something?"
Jazz rolled her eyes. "I think I would know if a ghost was possessing me, Dad."
There was a sound of crumbling brick, the noise startling Jack into dropping the thermos, and Maddie was the first to notice it. "What's that noise?"
The family turned to find an answer for the source, but since the fight was taking place on the other side of the school, they didn't see anything.
Once the hole was made, Chat Noir gave a sarcastic bow to Ladybug. "My lady, want to show our uninvited guest the door?"
"Gladly, kitty," Ladybug leaped over by him. She waved her arms above her head. "Hey, barbecue blob! Over here!"
Just like they planned, the Lunch Lady followed them out into the daylight. Just in time for Phantom to return by slamming into the ghost. The impact was strong enough to send the meat scattering into several smaller piles that let off orange smoke.
Alya, Sam, and Tucker cautiously approached the hole in the wall and continued to watch the fight.
Ladybug and Chat Noir approached the crater, and saw Phantom climbing out.
"You okay, Phantom? That was quite the re-entry," Chat Noir asked, leaning against his staff.
"Yeah, just a little sore." Phantom rubbed at his arm.
A beep rang out from Chat Noir's ring.
"You only have four minutes left," Ladybug noted, seeing a paw print disappear.
"Quite true, dear," the team turned and found a smaller version of the meat monster confronting them. "You only have four minutes left- to live!" She roared, raising a hand.
The small meat piles around the team moved, morphing into even smaller versions of the meat monster.
"Uh, Ladybug? I think now might be a good time to figure out how to end this fight," Chat Noir said as the team took battle stances.
Phantom readied his fists. "Yeah, especially considering this is a ghost and not an akuma."
Ladybug smiled at her teammates. "Good idea, boys." She spun her yo-yo into the air. "Lucky Charm!"
In her hands fell a red and black spotted cylinder?
"A thermos?" She mused aloud, getting her teammates' attention. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Phantom glanced at her sharply. "Wait, did you say thermos?"
"Watch it!" Chat Noir jumped in front of Phantom, swinging his baton and batting away one of the meat minions.
Ladybug looked up at Phantom. "That's what the Lucky Charm gave me. I don't get… it…" In her vision, Phantom became checkered with red and black spots like the thermos. She gazed at the Lunch Lady, and then the thermos. "Phantom, I think the Lucky Charm is telling me you know what to do." She grinned. "Of course! Chat and I use Miraculous and we have the powers more useful for defeating akumas, so that means you must have some way of stopping the ghost since you have ghost powers."
Phantom understood what she was getting at, and gestured for the thermos. "Give it here." Once she passed it to him, he eyed it for a moment and tried to remember why using a thermos to defeat a ghost sounded familiar…
Phantom's eyes shot open. "That's it! I know how to stop the Lunch Lady." Passing the thermos back, he inquired, "Can you two handle her for a minute? I need to get something."
Another beep rang out from Chat Noir's ring.
"Better make it quick. I'm down to three," the cat hero said.
Nodding, Phantom flew off around the corner.
"Wait, where's he going?" Alya followed his flight path with her phone.
"Alya!" Sam cried out, pulling the blogger back before one of the meat minions could attack them.
It snarled at them, crouching to try again, but a yo-yo string looped around its midsection.
"Sorry little guy," Ladybug teased, yanking it back. "But they don't want what you're dishing out."
Phantom was prepared to make a quick flight home, but to his surprise, his parents were already at the school. Silently grateful he didn't have to go far, he dove down by them. He spotted the Fenton Thermos laying on the grass, and scooped it up while phasing through the ground.
"Thanks for the thermos!" He called out, not wanting them to get a close look at him and figure out his identity.
"The ghost kid!" exclaimed Jack in surprise.
Jazz groaned, tilting her head to the sky. "Back to square one…"
"I'm down to two, Ladybug!" Chat Noir spun his baton around, shielding him from a large clump of meat.
"Down to four! Don't worry, Phantom should be back soon." Ladybug kicked at Lunch Lady's legs.
"You children call these attacks?" Lunch Lady snarled. "You're so weak! Put more meat into your diet!"
Chat Noir stopped fighting to point at the meat monster. "I'll have you know my nutritionist made my diet plan so I have as much meat as I need." A meat minion jumped at him, forcing him to dodge.
Phantom phased out of the ground with the Fenton Thermos in hand. The Lunch Lady saw the thermos, and growled.
"No! Soup is not on today's menu!" She raged.
"I'm changing the menu!" Phantom shot back. "Permanently!" He added in a whisper to the thermos, "Please work…"
Taking the lid off and pointing it at the enemy, he focused on trying to capture the ghost. His hands glowed blue for a moment, and then blue light shot out from the thermos itself. The light formed a net, which surrounded the Lunch Lady.
"Nooooooo!" The Lunch Lady struggled as her ghostly form was ripped out of the meat monster and sucked into the thermos. Once Phantom was sure she was inside, he twisted the lid back on and the thermos went inert.
The meat minions and the main meat monster turned lifeless, dropping into piles of unmoving food.
"Ladybug, your cure!" Phantom shouted to the spotted heroine. "Can it reverse damage from a ghost attack?"
Ladybug smiled at him from where she had been fighting one of the meat minions. "I can try. Miraculous Ladybug!" She tossed the spotted thermos up, and it spread out in the form of magical ladybugs. The swarm rounded up all the meat, and distributed it neatly onto the tables in the cafeteria as if a cook-out was being held. After that, the wall that Chat Noir had broken down was restored. [6]
"Looks like we have an answer," Chat noted, seeing the damage repaired.
"Pound it!" The three heroes bumped fists, and then Chat Noir's ring beeped again.
"You're down to a minute. Go, Chat!" Ladybug ordered.
Chat Noir gave a cheeky salute. "Right. See you guys at the next akuma attack, or ghost attack if these become a regular thing now too."
Using his staff, he vaulted away.
"That was amazing!" Alya gushed, approaching Ladybug and Phantom with Sam and Tucker behind her. "I can't believe I got footage of Amity Park's heroes fighting a ghost! Ghosts are real? This is going to be a really big scoop for the Ladyblog." Alya typed rapidly on her phone, already drafting an article.
"Are you all okay?" Ladybug asked the three spectators. "It was really dangerous of you to hang around like that."
"We're fine," Sam answered before pointing to Ladybug's earrings, "but you won't be if you stay for a few more minutes." Ladybug's earrings beeped as she pointed at them. "You're going to change back soon."
Ladybug put a hand to one ear appreciatively. "Thanks for the reminder. Stay safe now, this lady has to bug out." Tossing her yo-yo, Ladybug swung away to find a private place to change back.
"I need to get going too," Phantom added, shaking the thermos. "I need to figure out what to do with this."
Tucker gave him a thumbs-up. "Great job with that, by the way. Good to know there's a way to catch ghosts like Ladybug can catch akumas."
"Yeah, really good to know." Phantom glanced at the thermos fondly before flying off in a direction different from both Chat Noir and Ladybug.
Sam sighed in relief once the three students were alone. "I'm glad that's over with, but I feel like we're forgetting something."
"Manson! Foley!" The shout of Mr. Lancer made Sam and Tucker jump.
Later that evening in the school cafeteria, Marinette and Danny were with Sam, Tucker, and Dash scrubbing down the room.
"I don't get why we have to clean the place," Tucker said to Marinette. "Ladybug already put things back to the way they were before."
Marinette shrugged, dipping her sponge into a bucket and scrubbing the tile floor. "We did bail while he was giving us our punishments. It was for a good cause, but we still did it."
Sam wiped down a table, frowning. "I'm just upset that the vegetarian week experiment is being shut down when it's only been two days."
"Sam, it caused a food fight and a ghost attack," Danny pointed out. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Dash. "At least he's stuck doing this with us." [7]
"There's one thing I still don't get," Sam said. "The changes made to my proposal. Who could've done that?"
"Your dinner, Miss Chloe," the Bourgeois family butler set a covered tray before Chloe at the penthouse suite's dining table. He took off the cover, revealing an extravagant salad.
"Finally," Chloe huffed, picking up a fork and beginning to dine. "This is much better than Manson's garbage she tried to get served at school." Lifting up a forkful of salad, she stared at it in a taunting fashion. "Sorry, Manson, but there's only room for one student forcing the school board to make changes and that's me."
Notes! Beyond obviously fusing the two shows together, Marinette finding out about Phantom's true identity is one of the biggest divergences. Going in, I knew Marinette or Adrien would have to find out about Danny's ghost powers and become part of his friend group. Based on the story I want to tell and how character development works, it made sense for Marinette to be the one since she and Alya are trying to expand their friend circles beyond each other.
[1]- Ghost octopuses from the Mystery Meat opener.
[2]- A complaint about Sam's character I've seen is her heavily pushing her agenda on other people. To reduce those complaints, I made her aware that not everyone will deep dive into vegetarianism right away and intended to start off with lighter options.
[3]- I think Plagg explained this one nicely later on in the chapter.
[4]- I know there was a food fight going on in canon, but it still bugged me how apparently no one saw the ghost fight going on in the kitchen when the window was apparently open.
[5]- The protests in canon seemed a little extreme for overnight planning and execution, so I made the protests more reasonable within time constraints and budget the protesters had.
[6]- Turns out Ladybug can fix ghost fights. But can she fix them all?
[7]- An example of my refusal to let Dash get away with his bullying unpunished.
Not as many notes this time. I know I've been consistently posting a new chapter each week so far, but now is where the wait gets long since the initial chapters are done. I want to build my chapter buffer back up and stay ahead of the game this time when I usually do not. Review in the box below, and remember reviews are awesome!