WoM- It took me forever to decide what I wanted to do with this chapter! Writer's Block sucks big time… Anywho, here's where things begin to pick up! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find somewhere nice and cozy to hide… 'grins nervously'
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"This above all: TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE. And it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
-William Shakespeare
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"That's him?" A voice asked incredulously as she gaped down at the scene in front of her. She ignored the pretty Hispanic girl, along with the pale one in the dark clothes and the one who looked ready to murder the next thing that twitched the wrong way.
"Yes Ma'am," The man next to her confirmed, "He has no knowledge of our surveillance, and so far he hasn't used any powers in our sight, but all the sources point to this child as the ghost boy."
"Wow," The girl frowned, "Looking at him, you never wouldn't expected it…"
"What are your orders, Ma'am?" The man asked.
"For now, just keep an eye on him." The girl started. "And for god's sake, stay out of sight! Considering how jumpy the kid looks, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew you were watching, even if he doesn't know where you are."
"No need to worry, Ma'am," The man assured her, "I'm a master of stealth."
"Well, make sure to give Alex a few pointers," The girl said, turning to her silent companion. "He's quiet enough, but too slow."
"Is there anything else, Ma'am?" The man asked.
"You mean about the ghost child?" The girl clarified. "Think you can keep an eye on those girls he's with too? And the pretty one with the nasty attitude?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Them man confirmed. Then, a little curious, he added, "May I ask why, Ma'am?" The girl smiled, though it didn't reach he eyes.
"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, bemused. "It's the little things like that that are his greatest weakness…"
"So he fell for it?" Star asked as Paulina rejoined them, her eyebrow kicking up.
"Of course," Paulina scoffed. "You though he wouldn't?"
"Of course not!" Star said quickly, knowing what doubting Paulina would get her. "Fenton's such a loser…"
"Tell me about it." Dash scowled, "That new girlfriend of his, too. I mean, she's got a better body then Manson, but she's such a-!"
"Watch it, Baxter," Paulina narrowed her eyes, "I've got dibs on the Perdedora, remember?"
"Besides," Kwan chuckled slightly, "Why should you let her do any more damage to your ego…" The Asian looked pointedly at the bruise on his teammates cheek, and Dash scowled back darkly.
"Shut up!" He snapped.
"So what are we gonna do once they show up, anyways?" Star asked.
"Leave Fenton and Grey out of this," Paulina said absently, "I need Fenton as bait for Phantom to come, and Grey will just make a huge scene." Secretly, The girl was wary of angering her once best friend any more. She knew how Valerie could hold a grudge, and didn't want a full blast of that animosity turned to her.
"But I wanted to introduce Fenton to the dunking booth," Dash whined, looking like a kid who'd just been told Christmas was cancelled.
"Then wait until after I catch up with Phantom," Paulina snapped, "After that, I could care less what you do with the loser."
"Dunno why you like that ghost so much anyways, Paulina," Dash grumbled. "I mean, it's not like he's looking for a girlfriend. He's dead for crying out loud!"
"Excuse me?" Paulina said, her tone cold as ice. "You have a problem with my taste in boys, Dash?"
"No!" Dash said quickly, "I just thought…"
"Well don't," Paulina snapped irritably, "It's not your best talent. Stick with hitting people, Dash, it's what you're good at." And, without another word to her friends, Paulina stood and left.
"Paulina!" Star called, jumping up to follow her. "Wait up! See ya, boys!" Kwan and Dash watched the two girls go, identical blank looks on their faces.
"Was it something I said?" Dash asked his friend, bewildered. Kwan's only response to him was a confused shrug.
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BLACKBIRD Chapter 9; Fair's Fair---
"Step right up, folks, five dollars to test your strength and win a fabulous prize!" The man called out eagerly to those around him. Raven studied the contraption skeptically as she walked past it.
"It's rigged," She announced dryly to Danny and Valerie. "He's got a stopper about three fourths the way up. There's no way anyone with normal human strength can win at that."
"Really?" Danny said curiously, craning his neck around to look at the machine again. "How could you tell with just one glance?"
'Because one of my friends is a master of cyber robotics,' Raven answered dryly in her head.
"I've got my ways." She told him out loud. Danny laughed and Valerie looked a little annoyed.
"Hey, Danny!" She said suddenly, a wide grin on her face, "Check that out!" Both Danny and Raven turned to look in the direction Valerie was pointing. Raven's eyebrow kicked up as Danny groaned.
"Oh, no…" He moaned. "No, no, nooooo…"
"What's the big deal about the Haunted House?" Raven asked skeptically. Valerie laughed and Danny cringed, his posture sinking a little lower.
"Well…" Danny started hesitantly, "…Remember how my parents are ghost hunters?"
"Yeah." Raven frowned, a little confused, "So?" Before Danny could answer, the reply came in the form of Jack Fenton's loud, booming voice.
"I'M TELLING YOU THE FENTON FINDER SAYS THERE'S A REAL GHOST IN THERE!" He was bellowing at the short man in charge of the tickets.
"Whatever, man," The man scoffed. "You can yell and scream all you want, but facts are facts; You and your wife are still banned from ever entering a Haunted House, or any other attractions with the word 'Haunted,' in it,"
"Listen, pal!" Maddie growled, "If that ghost hurts anyone of your customers…!"
"Lady, if half the stuff I've heard about you two is true, I'd rather take my chances with the ghosts."
"…I see…" Raven said, bemused as she looked between the three red faced Fentons. Though Jack and Maddie were red from rage while their son was horribly embarrassed. "…Anyone up for the bumper cars?"
"I'm in." Valerie and Danny said as one. Danny rushed ahead of the girls, eager to get away before someone recognized him.
"And you say I'm dense to how things work in society?" Raven said wryly with one last glance at the Fentons before she and Valerie followed.
"The Fentons aren't bad if people just give 'em a chance." Valerie shrugged. "Actually, it's kind of fun how wacky and unpredictable things get in their house." The girl started laughing as she added. "Like Jazz's last birthday party. Now THAT was a day for the history books!"
"Do I really wanna know what happened?" Raven asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Long story short, a ghost attacked in the middle of the cake cutting. Spectra, I think her name was… Anyways, the Fentons went ballistic and all the kids from school were outta there before she even finished introducing herself. I was on my way to get my-!" Valerie cut herself off, "Well, Jazz ended up getting so mad at her parents that she locked her dad in the Fenton Stockades for the night and made her Mom write letters of apology to everyone that came to the party." Raven shook her head.
"How is it that Jazz is more a parent then her parents are?" Raven asked wryly.
"It's just her nature, I think," Valerie replied. "She's worse with Danny, though. Acts like she wants to drag him into a hospital every time he gets a scratch. Then again, it's in a Fenton's nature to take overprotective to a whole new level."
"You should fit right in then," Raven said wryly. She didn't mean it to sound anything other then how she said it, But Valerie obviously took it differently considering the way her face filled with color.
"What's with you, anyways?" Valerie asked nervously, glaring at Raven and clearly trying to drive the words from her head.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked, a little taken aback.
"Everyone in this town tried to avoid the Fentons until they get used to their weird ways," Valerie explained, "But you just walk in and barely raise an eyebrow at the way they act. Then you even go as far as to invite yourself on a camping trip with them."
"It's like I said before," Raven sighed, "I'm really interested in the paranormal, okay?"
"See, I fell for that at first," Valerie said coolly, "But not any more. I've been thinking about that you said and I realized how weird it is for a friend to call you by your full name." Raven winced at the accusation.
"It's a nickname," She said, glaring at the girl, "My friends thought it was cool how Rae Venn could sound like Raven, so they started calling me that all the time." Valerie scowled at the girl, looking annoyed.
"You don't honesty expect me to fall for that, do you?" She demanded, "Especially when you're such a terrible liar."
If Raven didn't have bigger things to worry about right now, she'd take offence to that…
Just then, loud explosions made both girls jump, twisting around to see a back and silver bur shoot past them and crash into a booth for throwing balls at stacks of bottles.
Valerie and Raven gasped in union when they recognized the 'blur' as the infamous Danny Phantom, their eyes widening as a strange female ghost with a guitar, a big ghost dressed in what looked like a white suit, and shadowy ghost with glowing green eyes all advanced on the fallen ghost kid.
"Well, Dipstick?" the female asked, glaring down at the ghost below her. "Still think you can take us all at once?" Neither Valerie nor Raven noticed the way the other's eyes narrowed grimly on the screaming crowd around them before returning to the group of ghosts.
"I gotta go!" Raven and Valerie said as one before dashing off in opposite direction, never heeding the other.
"Well look who it is…" Raven scowled at the familiar, cocky voice, turning to glare at the smirking Paulina. "Having fun with the dork couple, perdedora?" Raven's eyes narrowed at the insult, which Bumblebee had translated to 'loser,' when she asked.
"Find someone else to bother, airhead." Raven snapped back, enjoying Paulina's gasp at being insulted in her native tongue. "I'm busy right now."
"You think so, huh?" Paulina challenged, her eyes narrowing. "We'll see how busy you are, you little loser!" Raven snapped then, in a build up of impatience, annoyance and pure loathing for the girl.
"Azarath, Metrion Zinthos," She muttered under her breath. The empty container next to the girl, used to keep the monkeys used for a stage act, came to life in a burst of black light, swallowing her and slamming the doors, ignoring her cries of protest as the lock clicked shut.
"What the-?" Smirking, Raven turned and started away, ignoring the blue eye glaring at her from one of the air holes near the top of the box. "Get back here and get me out! Hey? Are you listening? HEY!"
Raven wondered for a moment if she should've maybe covered the girl's mouth with something too…
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"Every year without fail…" Danny sighed. "I can get dad not noticing how much trouble it causes, but mom?"
"Talking to yourself now, Dipstick?" Danny froze at the familiar voice, groaning as his ghost sense went off.
'Figures this was the one year they're right,' He thought sourly to himself.
"What you to want Emb-?" Danny cut himself off, his eyes wide.
Floating about him wasn't just Ember, but Walker and Johnny 13's Shadow as well. The biker and his girlfriend were at the opening of a nearby alley, along with Youngblood and Technus.
Bullet Spectra, Bertrand and Klemper were off in another alley, and Box Ghost, Lunch Lady, Poindexter, Desiree and several ghosts Danny couldn't name were all crowding into other places here and there.
'…Aw, Hell!' The half ghost cursed to himself, falling back into a defensive position and going ghost without a word, lest he alert the other fair-goers to what was going on. 'Not that I know that myself…'
"Why are you all here?" Danny demanded sharply.
"We're here to capture you before they do, punk!" Walker responded.
"What?" Danny said, confused. "What are you…?"
"No time to talk!" Spectra hissed, "The Haunters could be watching all of us right now!" Danny scowled.
"Whatever this is about, I'm not going anywhere without a fight!" Walker grinned down at him, looking delighted at his words.
"That's what I was hoping for, punk," He smirked. "See, I might not believe in the Haunters, but I'm willin' to take any excuse to lock you up and throw away the key," Before Danny could ask what he meant by that and who the heck the Haunters were, Walker rammed a fist into him, sending him flying.
He stopped when he hit a game booth, blinking up in a daze when Ember, Shadow and Walker flew to hover over him. He heard the screaming and yelling of the people around him and ignored it as usual, too busy focusing on his fight for his life.
"Well, Dipstick?" Ember challenged with a smirk. "Still think you can take us all at once?"
'I might be in trouble here…' Danny thought grimly, wracking his brain for a way out of his current situation.
"What are you waiting for?" Kitty yelled as she and Johnny came upon them, "Knock him out already before the Haunters start coming back!"
"And thought Valerie could hold a grudge…" Danny said as he started to shake off the surprise attack. If he could just keep them talking…
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Kitty snapped back, "Believe it or not, we're doing this for your own good!"
"I choose not," Danny said. And, without waiting for a reaction, the half ghost turned intangible and sunk into the ground, coming up behind Walker and pounding him with an ecto-blast while his guard was down.
Realizing what'd happened, the rest of the ghosts immediately turned on Danny. Before anyone could do anything, though, a blast of energy his Shadow, making him evaporate with a cry of pain.
"You ghosties are goin' down!"
"Aw, crud…" Danny groaned as Valerie flew in and charged up her ecto-gun again, aiming it at the half ghost this time.
"Bye bye, Punk!" Valerie snarled, blasting at him. Danny dodged it, and the next three shots his friend fired before finding refuge behind a hot dog stand.
"Great," Danny said sarcastically, "All of the Ghost Zone has banned together to capture me, one of my closest friends want me dead and apparently someone I don't even know wants to kill me. Can this day get any better?"
"There he is, Jack!" Danny yelped as the wood next to his ear exploded, his cheek hot from the wind of the ecto-blast.
'Ask and you shall receive…' Danny quoted a favorite saying of Sam's for when karma started kicking someone's butt bitterly in his head.
"Look, I don't have time for-!"
"Found him!" Spectra called, wrapping her arms around Danny for a bear hug he was left struggling to get out of. Glaring around him, Danny saw that most of his enemies had gathered around, though Ember and Johnny were left fighting a very ticked off Valerie. Danny was starting to panic now, looking around from one face to another.
'There's just too many of them!' He thought frantically, 'There's too many!' The panic caused a build up on his chest and the next thing Danny knew…
"What the-?" Spectra gasped, jumping away with a hiss and covering her eyes as Danny was engulfed in a brilliant white light. She turned to glare at the boy, but was left gaping instead, along with everyone else there. Even Ember, Johnny and Valerie stopped fighting to stare.
Because floating there wasn't just one Danny, but four very separate and very surprised Dannys.
"Okay, that's a new one," Kitty said, still a little stunned.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Walker demanded. "Get him! …Err, them…Aw, you know what I mean, get the punk!"
With several angry cries, the ghosts attacked the group of halflings in front of them, and Jack and Maddie were left watching the whole thing in bewilderment.
"I'm gonna crush you, punk!" Walker growled, Uprooting a nearby stand to throw at Danny.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Walker yelled in surprise when the stand was enveloped in a black energy and flung back at him, and all four Phantoms faltered and turned to face Raven.
Bullet took advantage of this to send one Phantom flying into another, getting rid of two at once before Raven nailed him with some of her magic. She glared around her as the ghosts watched back warily.
"I believe you guys have done enough damage today," She said coolly, giving the two remaining Phantoms a pointed look. They shrugged as one.
"Fine by me," They said together, disappearing. The ghosts started in surprised.
"You mean, they were all duplications?" Johnny demanded angrily. Ember sighed in annoyance.
"We've done what we can today," She announced, "Let's get back to the Ghost Zone before we're the next ones captured by the Haunters."
And without another glance at Raven, the singer disappeared as easily as Phantom, and the other ghosts followed suit one by one. Walker was the last one left, staring bitterly at the last spot the Phantoms had been in.
"Don't think that stunt will work on me next time, Punk!" He promised loudly before disappearing as well. Raven sighed and shook her head, about to leave when the ghost hunter cut her escape short.
"Who are you?" Valerie demanded, "And what was with the funky black glow?"
"I don't have time to answer your questions," Raven said, pulling her hood up and turning away.
"Where'd Phantom go?" She continued as if she hadn't heard the girl, her tone darker as she added, "I still need to pummel that creep!"
"I don't know, okay?" Raven said, glaring slightly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to worry about right now!" and, with a sweep of her cloak, Raven teleported herself away, frantic to find Danny and Valerie before they got any more suspicious.
"What was her problem?" Valerie muttered to herself before kicking her jet sled 2.0 into high gear to find a place to change back so she could meet up with Danny again and make sure he and Rae were okay.
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Paulina scowled to herself.
She was gonna KILL that no good Rachel Venn as soon as she got out of the smelly, feces-covered cage she was now locked in.
'And these shoes were brand new!' She thought mournfully, looking down at her stylish sandals. Just then a noise outside had her turning back to the air holes and brightening slightly.
Sitting right behind a shed was a haggard-looking Phantom, trying desperately to catch his breath. Paulina watched curiously as he tensed at the sounds of the battle on the other side of the shed he was taking cover behind, looking around it warily to see what was going on. After a few minutes, the ghost smiled to himself.
"Wow," He laughed, "Perfect time to finally get Duplication! Maybe I should just stick to one or two for a while, though. Being five Dannys at once really gets my power running low…" Paulina blinked.
'Duplication?' She thought, 'As in more then one Phantoms?' She grinned at the thought. Shaking herself out of her fantasies, she turned back to call out to the ghost when…
"Better change back while I have the chance…" Phantom muttered to himself. "Besides, I need to catch up with Val and Rae," Before Paulina could wonder what he meant by that, a ring of light circled Phantom's torso and spilt in both directions, leaving another familiar and completely unexpected boy in her hero's place.
Paulina gasped, her eyes wide as she watched Danny Fenton run off, completely unaware of what the cheerleader had seen.
"Danny…?" She whispered to herself, "Danny Fenton is the Ghost-Boy!"
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WoM- There! I think that's a good length for this chapter! Especially since I had such a hard time writing it. Now if you'll excuse me… 'Locks Anti-Rabid Angry Reviewer And Murderous Fans Shelter and hides in a corner with an anti-creep stick,'
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Thanks to;
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Next update; January 28th
See you then! (Hopefully…)