WoM- 'leaving her shelter attentively, anti-creep stick still in her hands,' Ah, Hello… now, I know some of you are still a little… upset… over last chapter, but I have something very important to say about the cancellation of Danny Phantom. 'clears throat,' NOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYYYY? 'clears throat again' Thank you.
"Contests allow no excuses, no more do friendships."
-Ibycus
"Amazing!" The girl breathed, grinning widely as she scanned the picture's of Danny fighting, which had been pinned up on the wall in front of her, "Absolutely amazing! Trent was right about him, he could be the missing link we were looking for!" The girl laughed giddily, "Wow! Who would've thought we'd be the generation to find him?"
The girl grinned widely at her companion, but the Shamaness didn't return the gesture. In fact, the older girl's eyes never left the mug in front of her, clouded in thought.
"We shouldn't bring him into the plans," She said softly after a long silence. "Trent should stay content with using the other half ghost and leaving this one be. He has far too much untapped powers to be taken lightly."
"Ah, you worry too much," The other girl shrugged, "No matter how many powers it has, a ghost is still a ghost, and it's our job as the Haunters to determine which Ghosts are worth the time of day," The girl grinned widely, "And boy, is this one a Grade A package or what? Young, fit, smart, strong, fast AND still not technically dead to boot!"
"So then he isn't truly a ghost?" The Shamaness pointed out.
"Ah, why sweat the details?" the girl waved a hand carelessly, "The point is, a chance like this is never gonna come along again. So why don't we take advantage of it while it has and see what makes a Ghost Boy tick?"
"And I suppose the morality of respecting a fellow living creature's spirit doesn't concern you in the slightest," The Shamaness said coolly.
"You're the only religion freak around here, Megumi," the girl said, rolling her eyes. "And let's face it, you're lucky to still be here," Megumi narrowed her eyes before standing and heading to the door.
"Excuse me," She said before she left. The girl giggled in her wake.
"You shouldn't upset her like that." A young voice said as Trent entered the room, giving the girl a disapproving frown. "We still need Megumi's powers, upsetting her with throw off her concentration."
"Yeah, yeah," The girl shrugged, "Dunno why we need her. Father never used magic."
"And where's father now?" Trent asked.
"Good point…" The girl rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well? Are you gonna listen to the goody-goody and let Phantom slip through our fingers, or have I found myself a new pet?" Trent turned and looked at the photos of Danny Phantom's fight at the fair, a secretive smile playing at his lips…
"Hm…" Clockwork said nothing more or less as he floated there, watching the image in front of him. His eyes flicked from the tense couple in front driving to the four teenagers in the back seat, three girls and one boy.
The boy was a half-ghost trying to save the world, one of the girls was a ghost hunter who was in love with her enemy without even knowing it, and another a half demon who'd been prophesized to bring about the end of the world, the last was a fairly normal girl in a highly abnormal setting.
'There is something to be said about today's generation of teenagers,' Clockwork thought dryly, 'They certainly know how to put themselves in the most… interesting situations.'
"Well, Clockwork?" one of the pair of Observants behind him pressed. "What is the course of action you choose?" Clockwork frowned.
"If I choose neither?" He asked mildly.
"You know that is not an option" The other Observant said, "You've interfered and altered the course of history on his behalf once before, Clockwork, any more could reek havoc on the time stream."
"Either you choose to let the boy die…"
"Or hand him a fate that could be worse then death," Clockwork finished. He held up a hand, looking at the small, blood red gem he had dangling from a chain laced around his fingers. "…Danny has overcome adversaries before. I suppose it would only be fair to take a leap of faith and allow him the choice for himself…"
"Is that your answer, Clockwork?" The Observant asked.
"Yes," The Master of Time said, "I will give him the Demon Eye."
"Very well," The Observants said, fading out, "We will report your decision to the Ghost Council. And remember, no tricks this time, Clockwork!" And without another word, the Observants were gone.
Clockwork didn't flinch at their exit, instead staring at the glittering gem a few moments longer before sighing and clenching it in his fist, his face set into a grim determination.
"Forgive me, Danny," He said softly, "All I can do now is wish you the strength to overcome this…" And, after putting the jewel safely in a pocket, the ghost reached for his staff. "TIME OUT!"
BLACKBIRD
Chapter 10; Lamb Among the Lions
"Mom? Dad? Are you two okay?" Jazz asked, concerned for her parents. They were being quiet for once in their life, and considering that the group was heading for a Ghost Hunter's Campout, that was setting off all the balls and whistles in Jazz's head.
Her parents were NEVER quiet. ESPECIALLY when they were heading somewhere ghost-related.
"Fine, sweetie," Maddie answered absently. Danny and Jazz exchanged glances, sensing the lie but not knowing how to approach it, since neither of the other teenagers who were along for the trip could help them. Valerie was currently curled up on one of their bunk beds, fast asleep after a rough battle with Ember and Johnny 13 and a lecture from her father.
It'd taken her the better part of an hour to convince him not to change his mind about letting her go with the Fentons, and the only reason he relented was because Valerie reminded him that he wanted her to stay informed about how to hunt properly since he couldn't stop her from hunting no matter what he did.
Rae had left for the bathroom to make an important phone call home. Jazz was starting to get suspicious about why a person needed to make so many phone calls, but her brother trusted the girl and Danny's judgment, though not flawless, was certainly sound enough to keep them out of danger. (For the most part.)
Even with that, though, Jazz couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with Rachel Venn. After all, her parents hadn't come to see her off, she never talked about her home life or family, or her old hometown as one who has just moved was often likely to do. All she did was pretty much ask questions and poke around…
"I never thought the day would come that I actually missed the Fenton Family Road Trip Sing-Along," Danny said dryly, drawing Jazz out of her thoughts. The older Fenton blinked before smiling at her brother.
"Look at it this way," She said in dry amusement, "At least they're not discussing tactics for filleting Danny Phantom,"
"True…" Danny winced slightly, making Jazz giggle.
"But they have been acting weird since the fair," Jazz admitted. "…Well, weird for mom and dad, anyways. Which is actually 'normal' by normal standards," Danny rolled his eyes, wondering yet again why his sister was so obsessed with the thought of being normal when it was an impossible dream for any Fenton. It didn't run in their blood to be normal.
One thing Jazz had said really stuck with Danny, though, to the point where he decided to voice his question to see it Jazz was wondering the same thing or not. After all, he hadn't been completely coherent when he changed back due to a massive energy loss combined with blind panic.
"Hey, Jazz, you don't think they know something, do you?" Danny asked his sister softly. No reply. "Jazz?" Danny blinked and glanced around, realizing that everyone had gone eerily still. The GAV wasn't even moving anymore, though Jack's foot was pressed to the accelerator. (much further then it should've been, too.) Glancing down he saw a familiar medallion around his neck just as his ghost sence went off.
"Hello Danny," Clockwork said as he appeared in front of the half ghost.
"Clockwork?" Danny said, phasing out of his seatbelt to stand up. He wasn't angry of suspicious, rather just a mixture of surprised and happy. After all, if it wasn't for the ghost in front of him, Danny could've grown up evil, miserable, orphaned and alone. Clockwork laughed at the warmth of the greeting.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He asked, amused. Danny grinned for a moment, but it fell away when he realized something.
"You're here about the Haunter thing, aren't you?" He asked, "Whatever's freaking Vlad and the Ghost Zone out so much."
"Yes," Clockwork nodded, "I am. I cannot tell you anything about it, but I can give you this." Danny stared curiously at the small red gem, the size of a marble, that seemed to almost call out to Danny…
"What is it?" Danny asked as he took the jewel from Clockwork.
"It's called a Demon's Eye,"
"Cheery name," Danny said dryly, "What's it do?"
"It protects the one who owns it from mortal peril." Clockwork explained.
"Then why call it a Demon's Eye?" Danny asked, "I mean, if it helps someone like that, shouldn't it be called the Angel's Eye or something?"
"That's all I can tell you, I'm afraid," Clockwork said. At the serious look in his eyes, Danny frowned darkly at the jewel.
"I'm going to need this soon, aren't I?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.
"I'm afraid so," Clockwork answered honestly. Danny's hand clenched around the necklace.
"Is anyone else going to be put into danger because of it?" He asked.
"I cannot say anything else, Danny," Clockwork sighed, "Only offer you this last token of advice in parting," Danny tensed, looking at the ghost intently, "Always remember that your will is your own, and only you are truly capable of allowing it to die,"
"Got it," Danny nodded. "And thanks Clockwork. Again." Clockwork smiled at him.
"Good luck, Danny," He said, "TIME IN!"
"Of course not, Danny," Jazz whispered to her brother, who wasn't too surprised to find himself buckled back into his seat as it the conversation with Clockwork had never happened. "They would've said something if they did know, and they certainly wouldn't drag you right smack dab into a mob of ghost hunters."
"Yeah," Danny sighed, "You're right. Guess I'm just nervous."
"Well don't be, okay?" Jazz smiled, "I'll cover for ya, Danny!"
"Thanks, Jazz," Danny said, smiling back. Jazz turned to look out the window, and Danny took advantage of everyone's distraction to open up his hand and look again at the innocent-looking red jewel…
"Jack! Maddie!" A skinny man in a lab coat said warmly as he walked over to greet the Fentons, "So nice to see you again!"
"GIOVANNI!" Jack bellowed with a grin, crushing the smaller man in a hug. Giovanni laughed as soon as he had the breath to do so.
"It's nice to see some things never change," He said before turning his attention to the four teenagers behind the large man and grinning at the sight of them, "Oh, you brought your kids too, huh? Mary-Ann's with our trio right now…" Releasing Jack, Giovanni when to shake Jazz's hand vigorously. "Jasmine, right? You were three last time I saw you! Thought I was a grizzly bear…" Jazz blushed and Danny choked with laugher besides her, drawing the man's attention to him, "Ah, Daniel! You were still in diapers last time I set eyes on ya!"
"Uh…" Danny said, going a violent shade of red. Valerie laughed at his embarrassment and Raven shook her head in amused exasperation.
"Those two aren't yours, though, are they?" Giovanni asked Jack, "Danny's girlfriends or something,"
"Girl FRIENDS!" Danny said loudly before Jack got the chance to embarrass him further, "As in friends who happen to be girls, no more, no less,"
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," Giovanni said carelessly as Valerie and Raven roared with laugher. "Anyways, come on, I'll introduce you to all the other kids before I take your parents to visit with the other ghost hunters," Valerie looked disappointed momentarily before shaking it off and following the man obediently with the rest of the group.
'I guess I'll just wait until later to grill the adults…' She thought reasonably as Giovanni led them to two cabins in a large clearing, both alive with the sounds of laugher and conversation.
"That's where all the adults will be," Giovanni told them, pointing to the cabin on the right, "And over there's where the kids 'hang out' or whatever you call it nowadays… You shouldn't be afraid to come over if you need something, but mostly the kids keep to themselves. Something about it being less embarrassing, according to Katie…"
Jazz and Danny exchanged knowing grins.
Giovanni entered the cabin first, holding the door open for everyone else who followed without hesitation. None of them noticed the small contraption with the blinking red light fixed over the door…
…At least not until a wailing much like a fire alarm went off followed by a female voice.
"GHOST ALERT! GHOST ALERT! GHOST ALERT! GHOST ALERT!"
Danny and Jazz froze up as one, paling visibly as Raven and Valerie yelped in surprise and covered their ears.
"TURN IT OFF!" One of the teens yelled angrily. Cringing, Giovanni raced over to the device and pressed a button, silencing the alarm.
"What happen?" A woman's voice demanded as a crowd of worried, tense and extremely weird looking adults came to the door, "Where's the ghost?"
"Everything's fine, Mary-Ann," Giovanni sighed, "It was just a malfunction."
"Right, malfunction!" Jazz repeated with a nervous laugh as she saw some of the weapons and detection devices in the adults hands, discreetly moving to stand in front of her brother.
"Imagine that," A pretty girl with short blonde hair said sarcastically, glaring at Giovanni. The man sighed.
"Now Katie…" He said in a tired voice.
"Don't start, Dad," Katie snapped, "You know your junk never works!"
"Lay off, Blondie," Another girl snapped, (this one with long black hair) coming up along side of the Fenton siblings. "A lot of ghost tech is experimental, of course there are gonna be trial and errors." Katie rolled her eyes and huffed before turning back to the conversation she'd been having before the alarm. The new girl eyed Danny curiously, "Though it's weird it didn't go off until you came in…"
"It's probably nothing!" Jazz said loudly, "Trail and Error, just like you said!" the girl raised an eyebrow before turning back to Danny and brightening suddenly.
"Hey I recognize you!" She announced.
"You do?" Danny asked, surprised. After all, Danny Fenton never did anything extraordinary to speak of…
"You're that kid who organized that big assault to take down the ghost that kidnapped all the adults of Amity!" The girl continued, "Danny Fenton, right?"
"Ah, yeah," Danny said, blushing, "And that was really no big deal."
"Taking a bunch of inexperience high school kids and teaching them to used advanced ghost hunting equipment and organizing a rescue assault without any adult aid at fourteen years old," The girl said dryly, "Right, that's really something anybody could do…"
"Yeah, but it didn't work," Danny said, "Phantom's the one who did the rescuing, not me,"
"Yeah, well Phantom's a spirit from another plane of existence." The girl reminded him, "Hell, he's even a level up of most ghosts, kinda hard to compete with that…"
"Daniel, Jasmine, this is my other daughter, Nephritides," Giovanni said.
"Call me Nene," She said, making a face. "Nephritides is a little hard to pronounce."
"Nene, these are Jasmine and Daniel Fenton, the children of the Ghost Hunters from Amity. And I don't think you've introduced your friends, Daniel…?"
"Danny and Jazz, please," Jazz said, smiling, "And there are Valerie Grey and Rae Venn. It's ah, nice to meet to, Nene."
"I'll get over to the party," Giovanni said, "and remember, if you kids see anything…"
"Relax, Dad," A boy near the back called out, grinning, "We'll tell you if a ghost shows!" A few kids laughed at that as Giovanni left.
"My brother, Erik," Nene said, rolling her eyes. "He's the oldest. Then me, then Katie."
"So what amount of time separates you three?" Jazz asked curiously. The three looked to close together as far as age went…
"Seventeen," Nene said casually. Jazz's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Seventeen years?" She asked.
"Nah, seventeen minutes. We're triplets. Katie and I used to be physically identical before I dyed my hair black and she dyed hers blonde. It's the only thing we've got in common, though."
"So, what are we supposed to do around here?" Valerie asked, crossing her arms.
"Hang out while the adults blather on about ghosts," A new boy said, walking over. "I'm Nathan, son of the couple responsible for the Freakfest this year,"
"Lay off, Nathan," Nene snapped. "What our parents do it respectable, and a lot cooler then the other boring jobs out there."
"Right," Nathan said sarcastically, "Because who doesn't like waking up to find out the ecto-goo in the fridge exploded all over the food."
"Or that your mother tried to cook with ecto-energies again and the food's trying to eat you," Jazz added.
"Or that your parents set up ghost detection devices at every entrance of the school." Another girl piped up. Danny shook his head as kid after kid listed off the things their parents had done.
"I think Jazz just found her new best friends," Danny said dryly. Valerie and Raven laughed.
"Well one thing's for sure," Raven said, smiling. "This is going to be a very interesting party…"
WoM- I don't have time to write anything else. I've gotta get to my friend's sweet 16 in half an hour. (And hope she appreciates it, since I'm even wearing a skirt for her… 'cringes and shudders') Catch y'all later!
Thank to;
puppyface
Light Dragon SunsSong
epobbp
Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse
hikari lady
ShiroandFubuki
Ant Crown
The Halfa Wannabe
Paul Powell
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DannyPhantomFAN#1
Samantha-Girl Scout
I Brake For Ghosts
Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
OldNick
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The Unknown Alias
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conan98002
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DSK
Anime Chick009
Next update; February 4th
See you then!
ATTENTION!
As I'm sure most of you are already aware, Nick is threatening to cancel Danny Phantom after just three seasons (for the official statement from Butch, go here http/ butchhartman. com/ forumIII/ index. php? act ST&f 2&t 7072&st 0# entry170905 without the spaces)
http/ butchhartman. com/ forumIII/ index. php? act ST&f 2&t 7072&st 0# entry170905Naturally, I'm one of the people fighting to keep Danny Phantom running, so I beg you to send in letters with my own to the following address;
Cyma Zharghami or Marjorie Cohn
Nickelodeon
or1515 Broadway
New York, New York
10036
USA
Attention: Programming.
And to sign the petitions below (Again, without the spaces);
http/ www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ SaveDannyplease
http/ www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ fightfordanny
http/ www. petitionspot. com/ petitions/ DannyPhantom