Author's Notes: As I type this out, I'm enjoying Spring Break. By the time you're reading this, I'm probably back in school. Man, I needed this chance to relax. Couple of things...

First of all, Freedom Force 2 is awesome. So awesome, I just had to write in a scene about it in this chapter.

Second, this goddamn message board is once again attempting to foil my attempts to join my City of Heroes friends. Despite my registering with a whole new username and everything, it's still convinced that I don't actually exist. And now it won't even load the page. I don't know why this site has such an animus against me. I'm trying to get people on the inside to contact the admins and figure out what the fuck is going on. I can't be the only one this is happening to.

Finally, I'm going to have to take a short hiatus when I'm done with the various chapters I'm currently working on in my different stories. I'm feeling a little burnt out on writing. It's not that I don't have the ideas, it's that I don't have the energy. Writing is like flexing a muscle; I can only keep it under pressure for so long before I have to relax it. It can be a pretty exhausting process sometimes, but it's worth it. Anyway, just giving you the heads-up.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 5- Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

Sam was paralyzed. She just clung to Danny in fear, unable to figure out what to make of the situation. Fortunately, the answer was supplied for her as Danny began speaking in a language she had never heard before.

The monster in front of them started speaking in the same strange tongue. They were conversing! "D-danny?" she asked nervously. "W-what's going on?"

Danny smiled down at her. "You don't have to worry. This is a friend of mine. Name's Wulf." With that, Danny turned back to the monster. "Esperanto is his first language. He doesn't speak very good English."

Wulf shook his shaggy head. "Vocabulary is fine," he stated in a rumbling snarl of a voice. "Grammar is a pain in the ass. Too many rules."

"Your slang's getting better," Danny offered consolingly. "But seriously, big guy, what brings you here? Last I saw, you were out trying to help finish mapping the Ghost Zone last year."

Again, Wulf shook his head and frowned as much as his canine snout would allow. "Trouble. Better to talk in private."

Danny nodded, and Sam gasped as he scooped her up in his arms bridal style and quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear before transforming into Danny Phantom. They lifted off into the air and Wulf leaped after them onto the roof of the dorms, landing silently. Danny landed and set Sam down. "Alright, Wulf. What's going on? This is starting to spook me, no pun intended."

"Time is short," Wulf explained as he looked back and forth with his nose testing the air. "I come to warn you that there is something wrong in the Ghost Zone."

At the suddenly nervous look on Danny's face, Sam felt butterflies of her own starting up in her stomach. "Wrong like how?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

Wulf fixed his spectral gaze on her and Sam felt her certainty in being a vegan redoubled. Being the center of attention to that look made her understand what the prime rib special at a steakhouse must feel like. "Not sure," the lupine ghost growled at last. "Someone is organizing other ghosts. Planning attacks. I am hunted even now."

"Hunted? Let me guess," Danny dryly quipped, "you know too much?"

Wulf nodded once and folded his massive arms over his chest. "Ghosts attacking lately?"

Danny ran a hand back through his bangs and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, actually. Three in the last week. I was wondering where they've all been coming from since we're miles from the nearest gateway. You think this has something to do with me?"

"Yes," Wulf stated simply. He sniffed the air a few times and the fur on his neck seemed to stand up. "I must go now. Lay low and I will return later and explain."

Danny pursed his lips, clearly unhappy with the situation, but nodded in acquiescence. "Alright, I'll try to keep a low profile. Be careful out there, buddy."

Wulf nodded once more and bounded off the roof, vanishing into the suburbs beyond the campus in a flash. There was a faint howl in the distance, which started up barking and howling from every dog in the neighborhood. "Guess he's trying to throw whoever's after him off the trail," Danny thought aloud. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"How did you meet that... thing?" Sam asked, not wanting to dwell on such sinister thoughts.

"Long story," Danny sighed. "And I told you, his name is Wulf. It happened back when I was fourteen. I'll give you the whole story later. Come on." He offered his hand, which she took without hesitation, realizing that the strange feeling of safety and security she felt in his presence had never left her, even when Wulf appeared out of the blue and scared the living shit out of her.

Sam let out a soft gasp as a cool, soothing sensation swept through her body and she could no longer see herself or Danny. She felt one of his arms go around her waist and the ground rose up to meet them. Before she knew it, they passed through the roof and were in the middle of the hallway of the top floor! "Where's your dorm?" she heard Danny ask.

"Th-third floor," Sam managed to stammer out. "Room 313." Once again, she found herself passing through solid objects and floating unseen until the door to her room was right in front of her.

She felt her feet touch the ground and she and Danny once again became visible. He darted his eyes around the empty hall before transforming back into his human form. "Shame the mood got killed," he said with a sad smile.

Sam smiled back. The evening wasn't a total waste, at least. "Maybe. But I wasn't quite finished with that kiss. I'll be by tomorrow to collect."

Danny's face went bright red and his smile turned to an embarrassed one. "I'm looking forward to it."

Sam gave Danny a kiss on the cheek and unlocked her door, casting a final flirtatious glance over her shoulder before slipping in and gently shutting it behind her. She leaned back against the door and, much to her own surprise, let out a contented, lovelorn sigh.

"I take it your big date went well?"

Sam felt her face heat up and looked over to see Monica laying in bed propped up on a stack of pillows and peering over the top of a comic book at her. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" she continued without waiting for a response. "So, was he as charming as he is handsome? Did he offer to pay for everything? Did he try any lame one-liners to impress you? Did he try to find any excuse he could to touch you? Did you kiss him or did he kiss you? Either way, how was it?"

Sam frowned slightly at all the questioning. "Monica, you of all people should know better than to interrogate me."

"My mother was stereotypically nosy," Monica relied nonchalantly. "You don't live with someone for nineteen years without a little of them rubbing off on you. And you know how persistent I can be."

Sam heaved a sigh of resignation and went over to her bed before slipping her boots off. "Yes, yes, no, yes, I kissed him, and it was nothing short of incredible." Sam arched a brow when she was finished as if daring Monica to try any more questions. "You done with your little inquisition?"

"Just one more question," Monica replied with a smile.

"Yeah...?"

"Whenever you plan on having him 'stay the night,' you will warn me in advance so that I have time to set up my webcam, right?" That earned Monica a tossed pillow to the face, which promptly lead to an all out war that lasted until midnight.

-x-

The next day, Danny was seated in Romero Dining Hall eating lunch with Tucker and Paul. Of course, it wasn't possible for them to have a normal conversation. "You're crazy." He bit into his turkey sub and shook his head.

"No, really," Paul said with one hand up as if to defend himself. "Think about it. In the first game, we all knew that Alchemiss and Man-Bot had their little romance going."

"Naturally," Tucker supplied.

"And in Freedom Force 2, we get another two relationships. Bullet and Tricolour diggin' each other, and Tombstone mentioning to Sea Urchin, very prophetically I might add, about her 'future husband.'"

"Still kind of weirds me out." Tucker took a bite of his apple and gestured for Paul to continue.

"But you can't tell me that Minuteman and Eve weren't shacking up at the very least." Paul seemed pretty resolute in his stance. "Think about it. They've got the whole boyscout/girlscout thing going. They're both ageless."

"In theory," Tucker interjected.

"Right, but anyway... Minuteman was always the first to stick up for Eve when she and Alchemiss had their little catfights. Eve expressed concern for Minuteman going into battle while injured. Their powers complement one another."

"Now you're just stretching," Danny interrupted. "I don't know, man. It just seems kinda weird."

"Says the halfa," Paul shot back. "Come on, which of us here would not bang a girl like Eve? You can't deny that after hours Minuteman is, shall we say, 'getting back in touch with nature.'"

Before he could make a witty comeback, Danny felt a slender pair of arms drape over his neck and warm pair of lips touch his cheek. "Afternoon, boys. Fascinating conversation." There was that voice he could spend his whole day listening to. A goofy grin spread over Danny's face and he tilted his head back to look Sam in the eyes.

"I'm assuming your date went well. Hot damn!" Tucker whooped. "Jack owes me my five bucks back."

Danny arched a brow and looked over at Tucker. "How many bets have you two been taking on my love life?"

"Just one more," Tucker conceded. "Tell you what, we got a double-or-nothing going and I don't feel like losing another ten like yesterday. If Jack asks, can you tell him you two had sex last night?"

Danny felt his face heat up. "Just for that, no I won't tell him. Besides, we didn't sleep with each other, anyway."

Paul stifled a snicker as Tucker frowned and rolled his eyes. "Oh well. Guess we can't ask for two miracles and have you lose your virginity on the same night you get yourself a new girlfriend."

Paul was now trying very hard to hold back his laughter as Danny craned his neck back again to see Sam glaring at Tucker. "I'll hold him and you bludgeon him in the stomach with a chair."

Sam just grinned evilly. "Or we could just wait until he's asleep and let me cast a spell on him."

Tucker's expression immediately turned to one of worry. "You're bullshitting me. You wouldn't really do that."

"Try me," Sam answered evenly as she sinuously turned and sat herself in Danny's lap, looking positively wicked. She kept her arms around his neck and let her hair tickle his cheek. Damn, that was hot. A guy could get used to this. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put on that smile she seemed to like so much.

"I think I should just count my losses on this one." With that, Tucker got up, took his empty tray, and left.

Paul glanced over at the two remaining people at the table and smirked. "Slick. Do you really believe in magic?"

Sam just shrugged and grinned. "Sort of. I'm not actually a Pagan, I'm agnostic. But Tucker doesn't know that. And I plan to keep it that way."

"Gotcha," Paul answered with a nod. "My lips are sealed." He glanced at his watch and gathered his tray up. "Anyway, I've got Public Speaking in an hour. I'll see you guys around."

As the skinny drummer walked off, Danny grinned at Sam. "You get the feeling they want to give us some alone time?"

Sam didn't actually respond. She just pressed her lips to his quickly before pulling back, teasing him.

"Come to collect on that kiss?" He hoped he was able to pull off a sexy tone of voice. As an actor, he was average at best and he had very little experience with women.

"Mmm, not here. But definitely today." Now that was a sexy tone. How did she do that? "You doing anything tonight?"

"Nothing I couldn't move around. How about a little movie night at my room?"

Sam gave him another peck on the lips. "What did you have in mind?"

"I just got The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra on DVD." Danny wasn't really sure how much of a limb he was going out on with this one. A movie made by independent filmmakers to spoof cheap 50's era sci-fi flicks. Oh yeah, that was real smooth.

Sam's eyes widened. "You have that? I've been dying to see it!"

Ka-ching! He hit the jackpot with Sam, alright. One more test to go. "I also have Mystery Men if you're up for a double feature."

"I want to make out with you so bad right now." A woman who wore her emotions on her sleeves, was willing to kick the whole world in the ass, had no qualms about walking to her own song, and liked geek movies. God, she was incredible. What was she going to tell him next? That she loved video games? That she read comic books? That she came from money? ...Okay, the last one sounded kinda shallow.

"What classes do you still have to get to today?" Though Jack and Tucker were shameless flirts, they weren't exactly a pair of ladies' men. Bram was much more competent when it came to women. He had a girlfriend himself back in Amity Park who he talked with every night on IM or his cell phone. And one piece of advice he had given Danny was to play it cool in the early stages. Don't act arrogant or untouchable; just try to pretend that you were the one in complete control. Unfortunately, Danny didn't have a lot of practice, so he was mostly just testing the waters and easing into this whole "playing the peacock" thing. This would have been so much less difficult if he could be Danny Phantom right now. It's easier to act confident around other people when you're a friggin' superhero.

"None," Sam replied with a soft smile. "I'm free for the day."

"Convenient," Danny purred as he placed a kiss on her neck. "I've only got two classes in the morning, and hey, how about that? It's not the morning anymore. In fact, why don't we just start now?"

"Forgetting something, Danny?" asked an unseen booming bass voice from behind. Damn. Bram must have gotten out of class early. He and Sam seemed to be the only ones who could sneak up on him. Odd, because being half-ghost had sharpened his senses to preternatural levels.

"God? Is that you?" Danny faked a wide-eyed expression before quickly averting his eyes.

He felt a large hand slap him lightly on the back and heard a rumbling chuckle and a feminine giggle. "Seriously, dude. You've got practice today, remember?"

"Shit, yeah." He was right. Bram was like a personal trainer to Danny. While his mother taught him all of her martial arts skills, Bram helped him with weight training for strength, free running for endurance, Tai Chi for grace, and yoga for flexibility. The last two also significantly helped him with concentration, which greatly increased his control over his powers. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were for Tai Chi and yoga. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were weights and free running. "I'll be there."

"You got an appointment or something?" Sam asked.

"Sort of," Danny replied. "Bram's made it one of his life goals to get me into shape."

"Ah. What kind of a routine do you have?"

Bram slid into a seat beside them and snatched a potato wedge off of Danny's tray. "Today we're doing Tai-Chi and yoga for an hour each."

Sam nodded slightly and rested her head against Danny's shoulder. "Just don't bulk him up too much. I don't like guys with too many muscles."

"I didn't make him for you," Bram mock sneered in his best Tim Curry impersonation, which was followed by a hearty laugh from all three of them.

Sam had insisted on coming along to watch Danny train. She stopped off at her dorm to grab her schoolwork so that she could get something constructive done in the process. The next two hours were spent with Danny running through his exercises and twisting his body into shapes that most would find intensely uncomfortable. And Sam just kept glancing up from her notes and sketchbook and smiling at him. It felt a little awkward at first, but the feeling passed. The only challenge for Danny was not letting his thoughts drift to his evening of having Sam all to himself. She was the first real girlfriend he'd ever had. And she was everything he'd ever dreamed of. Everything he thought he'd seen in his other crushes at first. That kiss last night... living proof that there was love at first sight. It just felt so right, as cliché as it sounded.

Danny changed after they were done, and Bram stuck around to do his own weight training, which he had scheduled for the alternate days when he was helping Danny. It was almost four o'clock now, and Danny really wanted to just spend the rest of the day with Sam. He took her hand as they went back toward Craven Hall. "You want to grab some dinner before we start the-" He was abruptly cut off as his ghost sense went off, the wisp of blue mist drifting in the direction of the computer lab which they were passing by. "Shit," he grumbled. "I'll be right back."

Without a second thought, Danny took off toward the nearby double doors, faintly aware of Sam calling out to him. No time, though. He had to make this quick. Fighting ghosts in broad daylight was always tricky business. In order to keep a low profile, he would need to go in, defeat the ghost, and get out fast and as efficiently as possible. Which meant avoiding witnesses.

Danny threw open the door to the computer lab, thankful that classes were over and it was empty for the time being, only to be greeted by an incredibly obnoxious sight.

"I, Technus, master of all things digital and programmable, have returned at last!" Sure enough, there was the egotistical technophile ghost floating in the center of the room and laughing maniacally with his fists in the air as various electronic odds and ends levitated in circles around him. One of the computer monitors was still glowing with ectoplasmic energy and a few strands of his tattered ghostly lab coat were hanging in it.

"How the fuck did you get out of Level 0?" Danny blurted out in shock. "And how did you end up here of all places?"

Technus started slightly in surprise and looked over at Danny, hands dropping to his sides. "What? The ghost boy is here?" He then grinned wickedly and raised his fists into an offensive position just as Sam came skidding around the corner, much to Danny's alarm. "No matter. For I, Technus, shall teach you a lesson once and for-"

"Oh shut the hell up," Danny snapped as he dropped his duffel bag and took out the Fenton Thermos. "I don't have time for this." He widened his stance and transformed in the usual flash of light. He glanced over at Sam, giving her a look that clearly warned her to stay back before glaring over at his opponent. "I'm just going to get your ass-kicking done and out of the way before you get a chance to possess all the school's technology."

"What?" Technus looked around the room, seemingly noticing for the first time just where he was. "Again with the great ideas!" he shouted gleefully. "You could make a lot of money as a consultant, you know."

"God damnit! You'd think I'd have learned by now to stop talking around this jackass!" Before Technus had the chance to go for any of the equipment in the room, Danny split himself into three clones, all of them launching themselves at the arrogant ghost.

It was always an unusual sensation. He imagined that this is what sentient computers would feel like. Each clone was self-aware, capable of its own thought processes, but was still him. And they were all networked. Essentially, it was like being able to carry on three trains of thought at the same time, and be in three different places at once to carry them out. Whoops, correction: four.

Despite Danny's silent warning, Sam came into the computer lab anyway. God, she was stubborn. As two clones engaged Technus by delivering punches simultaneously to the face and stomach, the third split again. Danny number 4 swept away and scooped Sam up bridal style, carrying her away down the hall. "Sam, you have to get out of here! I've fought this guy before, and he can get pretty dangerous."

Not waiting for her to respond, Danny took off back toward the computer lab, monitoring the progress of his clones.

Danny number 2 gave Technus a hard elbow to the gut, which Danny number 3 followed up with a round kick to the head.

Danny number 1 grabbed Technus by his ghost tail and smirked. "He's a little something I like to call The Linda Blair." Grasping the ghost tail in both hands, he swung his opponent up over his head before pulling him back down and slamming him face-first into the floor before repeating the whole stunt two more times. He then let go to let Danny number 4 fall out of flight like a stone into an elbow drop on Technus' back.

"You young whippersnappers!" Technus wheezed in pain. He shakily tried to rise up into the air again, but found the Fenton Thermos shoved under his chin like he was being held at gunpoint.

"How did you get out?" Danny number 1 snarled.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Technus haughtily replied.

"Wrong answer." With that, Danny uncapped the thermos and let it suck the technophile ghost within in a flash of green light. "But I don't need to know right now."

His clones merged back into one body just as Sam peered around the edge of the door. "All clear," he told her.

She sighed in relief and walked into the room, looking around as if still unsure. It made Danny wonder just why she seemed so persistent in following him. Seeing Wulf last night caused her to nearly pass out. Why was she suddenly so determined to get herself in the line of fire? Best to find out now. "Sam, I told you to keep back. Why did you keep following me?"

Sam folded her arms over her chest and looked away with a frown. "I just... I'm new to this whole ghost hunting thing, okay?"

Though she hadn't said it out loud, Danny knew what she meant. She was worried about him. She didn't want him to get hurt. That guilty look on her face said it all. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Danny transformed back into his human form and pulled Sam into a warm embrace that she quickly returned. He gently tilted her head up by her chin and smiled. "Why don't you collect on that kiss I owe you?"

Sam didn't need any more encouragement and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. It stayed "innocent" for all of about 10 seconds before they slipped their tongues into one another's mouths. All of Danny's blood was rushing to his head and a couple other regions of his body. The world around him was spinning wildly and there was nothing but him and Sam that stayed still. When they at last parted for hair, his lips, lungs, and every nerve where the two of the touched were on fire. It was like in a cheesy romance flick where his eyes fell on the girl of his dreams and everything else in the background turned into an unfocused pastel haze.

Sam herself looked a little flushed as she smiled up at him before resting her head on his shoulder.

But the moment ended like the screech of a vinyl record being poorly stopped as a small group of students walked into the computer lab and halted at the sight of the couple in front of them. "Sorry," one girl said. "We interrupting something?"

"Kinda," Danny mumbled. He took Sam's hand, discreetly hid the Fenton Thermos behind his back and retrieved his duffel bag as the two of them made a hasty retreat.

"As I was saying before," Danny beamed as they stepped outside, "you want to grab some dinner before we he back for our movie night?"

What Danny never said though was that something at the back of his mind was bothering him. First, ghost attacks escalate. Then Wulf shows up and warms him that something big is about to happen. And to top it all off, Technus somehow escapes from Level 0, ending up on Sleepy Hollow campus of all places. The attack and Wulf at least had a connection. But this... Something didn't smell right about all of this. And Danny would need to find out soon before somebody got hurt.

-x-

Author's Notes: I'm still feeling pretty burnt out on writing. But I'm going to see Sin City tomorrow, so maybe that will make me feel better.

On a side note, my money situation is pretty bad. Looks like I won't be doing much spending until some time in June. Damn. Hopefully I'll be in good enough financial status by then to go see Judas Priest.

The plan for my website is coming along. I have a few ideas for scripts to write, and I'm working on the essentials for the site design. At the moment, I'm thinking of naming it Witching Hour Studios.

LaBOBuren: It seems you procrastinated on those e-mails as I took this long without getting one.

Amy: Again, it's good to know I can get through to people with a wider range of music.

Terrasina Dragonwagon: I really think Butch Hartman is trying to create Danny as the type of person going through that transitional phase in adolescence where he's desperately trying to find his identity. I wouldn't call it an inferiority complex so much as teenage awkwardness and insecurity.

They-Call-Me-Orange: I'm familiar with all of those bands already. They're growing on me.

bbmylove: I'll leave a review for your work sometime in the near future.

Anomaly25: I wish I was in a band, but I haven't gotten good enough yet. Besides that, I don't know many musicians back home. The locals aren't exactly the most sophisticated types when it comes to music either.

Izayoi: Being addicted to Edguy can be a good thing. Especially with their ass-kicking attitude.

Lady Katreina: W-U-L-F is how it was spelled in the credits. Yes, I finally got to see the whole episode.

Tmansdc: Not the best Priest album, but AoR was still pretty solid. It's their first work with Rob in fifteen years, so I imagine they're trying to rediscover their old work to elevate their sound. And Ripper is doing great with Iced Earth.

Natasha: Now that you've got Danny's reaction to the kissing, did it live up to expectations?