The Flame and the Phantom

by SreznoJIG

Ember is not evil and helps Danny from the beginning defending Amity Park against the evil ghosts. How will this change everything, as Ember and Danny's friendship slowly grows into something more? Follows the same episodes of the tv-show, with some episodes being altered and adding a few of my own. Expect some plot twists and alternate pairings as well.

4. Attack of the Killer Garage Sale

THE FLAME AND THE PHANTOM in:

ATTACK OF THE KILLER GARAGE SALE

(Near the suburbs, shortly after Ember found her old place…)

Danny, in his ghost form, flew over town towards the suburbs.

When he had just readied himself to go to bed, Danny suddenly started to feel that Ember was in deep sadness. Without a second thought, he instantly transformed into his ghost form and flew out his room to find her.

As Danny approached the suburbs, he felt Ember's sadness getting stronger, knowing that he was close. But when he got closer to where he felt Ember, he was feeling that she was in not only in deep sadness, but also felt that she was in terrible inner pain. What could it be that Ember was in hurt, he wandered.

Then, Danny spots Ember, inside a house that had been burned to the ground a long time ago. She was lying on the floor, curled up with dry tears from her eyes and her flaming hair nearly extinguished. She seemed to have been passed out.

Danny landed close to her and checks on her in panic "Ember!? Ember!" As she didn't woke up, Danny lifted her up and held her in his arms and walked with her out of the destroyed house.

While Danny walked down the street with Ember still in his arms, he could sense her inner pain even better. It felt more than just an inner pain, it felt like… an old wound from her past that had opened. He looked down at her, feeling worried "What could have caused you to feel like this, Em?"

After finding somewhere to sit her down and check on her, she slowly started to open her eyes and saw him "D-danny? …Is that you?"

Danny nodded while softly stroking her cheek "Yes, Ember. It's me."

Even though she was happy to see him, Ember was confused as how Danny had managed to find her "H-how did you find me?"

Danny honestly answered while looking at her in sympathy "I felt… your sadness and it led me right to you." This confused her even more. Danny then asked her "But, what were you doing in that burned down house?"

But what he asked her, caused Ember's emotions becoming too much for her to handle and cried her tears out while embracing Danny, which he allowed her to do for some minutes. Danny had no idea what had upset her this much, so he didn't asked anything else. He took her in his arms and flew with her to bring her to Sam's place.

Meanwhile, Sam was in her room, watching out the window while looking at a picture she held in her hand. It was a picture with her, Tucker and Danny on it. The picture was taking last year in December, when she and her two best friends went to see the movie premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. She smiled at the thought of how she and her friends enjoyed that night, especially at the ending of the movie when Danny was so thrilled if the One Ring would be destroyed or not that he held Sam's hand really tight.

That memory made Sam blush. She admitted to herself that she has a secret crush on Danny for a long time. But being too afraid that this could ruin their friendship, she never got the courage to tell him what she really feels for him. Sam then started to sigh deep, thinking how much things have changed these past few months; with Danny receiving ghost powers and fighting evil ghosts, but also when Ember showed up and helps them, who she, Tucker and Danny now see as another friend. Sam smiled to herself, that her friendship with the rock ghost Ember made her and the others realize that not all the ghosts are evil and that there are some ghosts out there who are as good as Ember.

But then, Sam spots Danny flying over to her house, with an emotional Ember in his arms. This made Sam worried and went upstairs to the attic, to Ember's secret room.

Danny phased with Ember through the wall, entering the attic before turning tangible again. When he landed, Sam walked up into the attic and asked concerned while walking over to Danny "Danny, what happened?!"

Danny placed Ember on her bed while sitting next to her. She still sobbed and held Danny close to her. Danny then looked at Sam, telling "I… I found her like this, in the suburbs." he didn't tell her that he had found her in that burned down house, as it wouldn't be a good idea to tell Sam everything now that Ember was like this. And seeing Ember so emotional upset, Sam knew that it was better that she shouldn't ask. Sam sat next to Ember, rubbing her back, being there for her ghost friend.

After some minutes, Sam stood up and walked out to get some things for Ember to calm down "I'll be right back." Danny nodded while he stayed with Ember, as he wanted to make sure that she was okay.

Danny helped her carefully, so she could lie down on her bed. When he covered her with the blanket, he softly stroke her hair a bit. Surprisingly, her flaming hair felt warm and soft. As she looked at him, he gave her a small smile "You just take it easy, Ember. You're going to be okay."

Ember formed a small smile while glancing at him, giving a nod.

When he began to stand up, Ember suddenly sits straight and kisses him on the cheek "Thanks, Danny." she said softly with a smile, making Danny smile as well. When she lied back on the bed, Danny became intangible and left, phasing through the ceiling.

While he flew back home, Danny rubbed his cheek, where Ember had kissed him. He blushed deep while thinking why Ember had suddenly kissed him. Although he liked it, he figured that she probably just wanted to thank him 'I guess she just wanted to thank me for being there for her.' he mentally told himself.

---

The next morning, Danny called Ember, to see how she's doing. After he'd dialed her number on his cellphone, Ember picked up after a few seconds.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ember. It's me, Danny."

"Oh hi, dipstick."

Danny then asked her, with a bit of worriedness in his voice "How are you doing? Are you feeling any better?"

Ember ensured him "Yeah, a little bit… Sam stayed with me till I fell asleep. But, Danny, I still don't understand. You were able to find me because you could… feel my sadness?" she asked.

Danny wished that he had the answer to that, as he had no idea how this was possible. But told her with honesty "Yeah… I did. I don't know what this is, Ember, but… sometimes when we're close together, I sometimes can… sense your troubles, or when you're happy, or feeling sad or disappointed. And I know this sounds crazy, but… when we fought Skulker, I also could sense your pain, that you were in danger."

Ember was quiet for a moment, as she was completely surprised that Danny could feel the same things that she sometimes can sense in him.

When Danny didn't heard anything from Ember for a moment, he asked "Ember? You still there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here. But… Danny… I can sense those same things in you! When you're feeling troubled, or feeling angry or… when you're hurt… I can sense them in you too!"

This completely surprised Danny "You… can sense my emotions as well?!"

Both him and Ember had no idea what to say. They could both sense each other's emotions.

Then Danny asked "Then… how long have you been… starting to feel this?"

Ember tried to think of how long she has been sensing Danny's emotions, and stated "It… it started with me… several weeks back."

"Me too!"

Ember then wanted to know how well they can sense each other's emotions, so she asked Danny "Then… what are you feeling right now?"

Danny was a bit surprised when she asked him that, but did his best to try. As he focused hard on Ember, he said through the phone "I… I can feel… some sadness and pain… like it's from… an old memory. An old wound from your past. I can also feel… some confusion… because of this mental bond that we share." Ember didn't know what to say. Those were the exact things that she's been feeling. Then Danny asked "Okay, then… what are you feeling right now?"

Ember tried to focus, the same way as Danny and said through the phone "I feel… a lot of confusion of what happened last night. I can also feel… frustration… 'cause of the coming math test, next week and that you feel discouraged that you're… afraid that you are going to fail."

"Yes. That's exactly what I feel!"

Both had no idea what to make of all of this "Danny… what is going on? What is happening to us?" Ember asked.

Danny had no idea what to make of all of this "I… don't know. I really don't know, Em."

Then he heard a knock on his door. It was his sister, Jazz, asking "Danny? Breakfast is ready. Are you coming?"

Danny answered to Jazz behind his door "Yeah, I'll be right there. Just give me a few minutes."

After he was sure that Jazz had left, Danny said to Ember through the phone "I gotta go. We'll… talk later, okay?"

"Yeah… sure. Bye, dipstick." and Danny hanged up the phone and went downstairs to eat some breakfast, still feeling confused at the discovery that he and Ember might share some mental link between them.

As the days went by, Ember was slowly feeling better. However, both she and Danny still had no idea of why they were sharing a mental link together, as this kind of 'power' is not even known in the Ghost-Zone. Danny was thinking that this may could have been caused during the accident, when he received ghost power from the Fenton-Portal, at the same time when Ember was sucked into the human world. Ember was thinking about this as well, but both were unsure if that was the cause of it.

However, that wasn't the only thing on the halfa's mind. Danny had still no idea what Ember was doing in that old burned down house in the suburbs. And when he asked her a few times about it, he could feel Ember's sadness rising, as it was too painful for her to talk about it. So Danny didn't went further on the subject. But deep down, he hoped that some day she could explain this to him, and his friends.

---

Wednesday afternoon, Fenton Works…

(April 21st, 2004)

In the kitchen, Jazz was busy with tutoring Dash at the kitchen table, for Dash had only scored a 'D' for the math test yesterday and she knew he needed some extra lessons to better understand the calculations.

Always, when Dash scored a low grade for a test, he wanted to unleash his anger upon Danny by kicking his ass. Mostly, he couldn't find Danny as he was hiding somewhere till Dash had cooled down. But yesterday, Danny wasn't going to run away from him anymore and was ready to stand up against Dash. However, Jazz had already suspected that Dash would use Danny again as a punching bag to blow off some steam, so before Dash got his chance to get to her brother, she offered Dash to tutor him, in exchange he would leave Danny alone. Dash agreed to that, but only because she was suggesting it nicely (and because Dash thought that Jazz was kinda hot, in his dirty mind).

Jazz was demonstrating on paper what Dash should remember, for next time when he got this math problem "Okay, in algebraic terms, 'A' squared plus 'B' squared equals 'C' squared, where 'C' is the hypotenuse while 'A' and 'B' are the sides of the triangle. Got it?" Jazz asked as she looked up to Dash, only seeing him starting at her dreamily (but was actually looking at her boobs as her blouse was open, showing her ample chest).

"Ahh…" was all that Dash was saying while sighing lustfully.

Jazz frowned her eyes at him, as he wasn't paying any attention "Dash, you have to focus! I'm doing a Thesis on tutoring the un-tutorable and you're disproving my thesis that nobody's un-tutorable!"

While keeping staring at her dreamily, Dash says in a flirty way "You know, you're beautiful when you use the word untu-untu-un…," he scratched his head as he couldn't pronounce 'un-tutorable' correctly "…whatever that word is." he then goes back starting at her dreamily, making Jazz roll her eyes.

At that moment, Danny walks into the living room from the basement stairs, asking Jazz without knowing that Dash was there too "Jazz, have seen my pliers somewhere? I need it to adjust some new snares on my guitar-" he then looks surprised to see Dash in the kitchen.

Danny then frowns at the biggest buly of his school and said coldly "Dash."

"Fentonowski." Dash said while glaring back at him.

Danny then smirks as he asks him while leaning with his arm on the table "So, enjoying my sister's tutoring, or are you more enjoying the sight of her boobs, again?" that last word came while he frowned at Dash, as he knew that he was more interested in his sister's body then her tutoring.

That Danny knew that Dash was only watching Jazz's boobs, made Jazz to look down her blouse, seeing it was showing some of her cleavage and quickly raised it out of embarrassment.

Because of Danny's anger towards Dash, his arm turned accidentally intangible and falls through the table, causing Dash's homework to fly everywhere, including a book landing on Dash's head.

That Danny threw his homework everywhere, made Dash angry and threatened him while raising his tight fists "You want me to kick your ass anyway, Fenton!?"

Danny kept frowning at him, as he wasn't scared of Dash's threats and tighten his fists too, making them glow with green energy, ready to beat up Dash when it came to a fight.

Jazz immediately shook her head to her brother, as this was the very thing she tried to prevent from happening.

Danny glanced at his sister for a moment, seeing her facial expression, begging him not to do anything foolish. Danny sighs, making the green energy from his fists go away and headed to the basement stairs, closing the door behind him.

Jazz sighed in relief, while Dash takes the book off his head and then asked Jazz with a smirk "Now that that twinkie's out of the way, you're coming to my party Saturday, right?" he reaches into his jacket, pulling out an invitation for his party and handed it over to Jazz "It'll be a chance for you to see me in my rightful setting; King of Casper High."

Jazz took the invitation and said in a way that she wasn't impressed with Dash as how mean he is to her brother "And a great place to work on my thesis on the effects of watching my chest, being mean to my brother and then asking me out." but while she looked at the invitation, she did consider it. But then she got a better idea, a way so that both Danny and Dash could get along better with each other and for Danny to finally get popular, as she knew he'd desired it for some time "Hmm. I'll go, on one condition." That made Dash look a bit surprised, not knowing what condition it'll take to ask Jazz to his party.

When Danny walks down into his parents' lab, hoping to find a pliers there, he spots his father who was holding a new invention that he had just made,

"Hey, Danny! Check out my latest innovation in ghost-grabbing technology, the Ghost Weasel!" Jack says while showing the new 'Ghost Weasel' to Danny, what more looked like an self-made vacuum cleaner and explained what it could do "It collects ambient ghost energy and shoots it back into the Ghost-zone."

Although this vacuum cleaner called the 'Ghost Weasel' sounded like another dumb invention from his parents, Danny was somehow curious "Does it work?"

"Why wouldn't it? Only one way to find out." Jack said as he turns on the Ghost Weasel to test it out. But once it had turned on, all it did was sucking in all the loose papers in the lab. Jack had it hard to control the nozzle. The Ghost Weasel then sucks in the Fenton Thermos, that stood on a table nearby, which gets stuck in the nozzle of the Ghost Weasel.

Jack struggles to remove the thermos "Darn it! Better get the Fenton Unlodger." Jack said as he places the Ghost Weasel on the ground and hands over its nozzle to Danny, before running upstairs to get the 'Fenton Unlodger' to get the Fenton Thermos out.

Danny narrowed his eyes, as his father could have just pressed the 'Reverse' button on the Fenton Weasel to get the thermos out "Dad, you could have just throw it into-" Danny says while pressing the 'Reverse' button, which shoots out the thermos "-reverse." The thermos hits the 'ON' button of the Ghost Portal, whose doors open. Danny's warning ghost sense goes off, warning him of danger! "Oh no…" was all that Danny said as a green mist comes out of the portal, laughing maniacally.

When the green mist took shape, it showed a tall green-skinned ghost with white hair that pointed upwards, wearing a white collared shirt with a black tie and a white lab coat that tappers off into a wispy ghost tail, and he also had black glasses on.

The ghost introduced himself "Child! You have freed me, Technus, ghost master of science and electrical technology!"

After hearing the ghost introducing himself as Technus and could control science and technology, Danny was not going to let this techno-ghost to rage havoc on Amity Park "Oh no you don't!" he said as he jumps in the air and transforms into his ghost form "You're not going to use the technology in this lab to take over the world!"

This surprised Technus, as he didn't even had a plan yet to take over the world "What?" he looks around the lab, seeing all the ghost technology. He then smirks at Danny "That's a great idea! Have you ever considered tutoring?" Technus suggested.

Danny was not in the mood for this and charged at Technus, who materializes a lightning rod in his hands and shocks Danny with it, sending him spiraling backwards!

But seeing the Fenton Weasel on the floor, Danny picks up the nozzle while saying "You know what? I've already been dumped on once in my own house. And that's enough for one day!" he turns the Ghost Weasel on and sucked in a bunch of papers, but slowly Technus as well. He tried to fly away from it, but the force from the Ghost Weasel was to strong and was sucked into the own-made Ghost vacuum cleaner. But as Danny wanted to turn off the Ghost Weasel, he accidentally sucks in some lab equipment, which causes its containment chamber to burst, sending green goo all over the lab!

Danny floats with a worried look while holding the broken nozzle "Oh, crap. My dad is gonna kill me."

Just then, he hears his father from upstairs, calling to his son "Danny, I'm coming back, and I can't wait to see the lab looking exactly as I left it."

Danny panicked, but as he checked the time, remembering that he was going to meet Ember, Tucker and Sam at the Nasty Burger soon "Better get going, and getting into trouble later!" he said to himself while he quickly phases out through the ceiling.

Jack then goes in and looks around critically, seeing all the green goo around the lab. But then he smiled and said "Yep. Perfect."

---

A half hour later, at the Nasty Burger…

The Nasty Burger, which is one of the only fast food restaurants in Amity Park and where many of the Casper High students frequently hang out, including Danny, Sam and Tucker. For Ember, the Nasty Burger had also become one of her favorite places to spend time with her human friends.

All four of them were sitting at a table. Danny and Tucker sat on one side, while Ember sat on the other, next to Sam. Danny and Ember had decided to tell their friends that they can sense each other's emotions and that this strange power had only gotten stronger over the past few weeks. Sam and Tucker were both amazed and surprised while listening to this revelation from Danny and Ember.

Tucker was the first to say after Danny and Ember had told them about their mental bond, but quietly so that nobody else in the restaurant would hear them "Let me get this straight. You and Emb- I mean; You and Emily can literally feel each other's emotions?!"

Ember, in her human disguise, nodded while crossing her arms "Yeah, pretty much."

Then Sam asked "But how is that even possible?"

"We don't know, Sam." Danny answered as he had no clue as how he and Ember had gotten this mental link.

For some time, the whole friend group was silent at that point, as none of them knew what to say about all of this.

Then Sam tried to get the mood back, to see what their plans are for Saturday night "Okay, so…, Saturday night plans!" Ember and Tucker looked at Sam while she continued suggesting "I say we hit the amusement park. I hear the new rollercoaster has a free fall that'll take three years off your life expectancy."

Ember liked the sound of that "That's a great idea, Sam! I haven't been to an amusement park in ages."

The changing subject indeed brought the mood back into the group, but only Tucker wasn't in to go to the amusement park this coming Saturday "Hitting the amusement park? No way. It costs 40 bucks just to get in there, not to mention buying food and stuff."

Sam then offered Tucker "Hey, if you're tapped out, I could lend you the cash."

"Sam, 'lend' means 'repay' and 'repay' is out of my reach. Right Danny?" Tucker then asks Danny if he thought of the same thing. But he notices that Danny wasn't paying attention and just looked the other way "Danny? Hello?!"

Danny then looked back and apologized to Tucker, before staring back at what he was watching "Huh? Oh, sorry Tucker. I was… distracted."

Sam, Tucker and Ember then looked to see what Danny was staring at. They all saw Dash handing out party invitations to his friends, who cheered. Dash then hands over an invitation to his girlfriend, Paulina and winks at her, giving him a flirty smile.

Danny sighed deep while he shook his head "Great. It's the hottest party of the whole school year, and I'm not invited, again."

This made Ember not to understand why Danny would even want to be at the Dash's party "I don't understand why you even really want to go to Dash's party? I mean, hello?! He constantly bullies you and tries to beat you up."

Danny then glances at her and tells "I know that, Emily. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Well, if I'm invited to Dash's party, then he and his goons will finally leave me alone. Not to mention that I can finally become popular."

This made Ember even more confused, as why Danny is so obsessed of getting popular. She then rolled her eyes and asked sarcastically "Right, so you can be 'perfectly flawless' like Paulina?"

Just at that moment, Paulina was telling her order to the cashier, and also asked "Okay, uh, let me get the Might Meaty Cheesy Melt. Um, how meaty is that?"

"That would be 'Mighty' meaty." the cashier answered.

Then Paulina suggested, as she still wanted to keep her flawless shaped body "Well, can I get a 'Might'-less meaty?"

The cashier then typed the order while rolling her eyes "That's one Mighty Mini Meaty Cheesy Melt."

Paulina smiles.

That made Sam say sarcastically back "You're right, Em. She's a goddess."

Tucker then wandered "Why don't we get invited to the really cool parties? We've got style, charm, good looks. At least I do, anyway."

Ember shook her head while forming a small smile, as Tucker's style, charm and good looks hasn't won over any of the girls in school.

Sam however was telling that on a scale to one to ten, they will never be invited to any cool parties "Dream on. On the social circuit, we're as invisible as Danny and Emily in their ghost mode. Not that it'll matter five years from now, but we have each other, right?" she finished by saying, letting them know that popularity in high school won't matter to them anymore when they've finished high school.

Ember nodded at Sam, agreeing to what she said.

Tucker didn't say anything, but seemed to agree to her in his own way.

But before Danny could give his answer, Dash all of the sudden slaps an invitation in Danny's face, feeling annoyed he had to invite Danny to his party "Here! Your sister made me invite you." Dash then looks at Ember, and then hands her over an invitation as well while saying more friendly this time "Oh, and here is one for you too."

Ember took the invitation, but was completely surprised that she got invited to Dash's 'biggest party' of the school year.

Sam and Tucker smiled hopefully at Dash, hoping that they get an invitation as well. But Dash frowned his eyes at them, as he pointed to Danny and Ember "Just him and her!" that made Sam and Tucker narrow their eyes.

Then Dash poked Danny while saying with a serious face "Show up, shut it, go home, and nobody gets hurt." before he left, he said friendly to Ember "See you Saturday night, Emily." and gave her a wink before leaving.

While Danny smiled at the invitation, Ember was still confused as she looked at hers "I'm… invited?"

Tucker took a look at her invitation and confirmed "Looks like you are, Em."

A random girl walks by and waves at Danny and Ember "Hey, Danny! Hey, Emily!"

Then Kwan walks up to their table, saying enthusiastic "What's up, Fenton and McLain? Party!" he cheered as he raised his arms and left.

This made Danny smile brighter, as he was finally being noticed and being treated nicely. Even Paulina was being nice and waved at Danny "See you Saturday, Danny." Sam raised an eyebrow after Paulina had left, as how the popular kids were all of the sudden treating Danny and Ember normally, instead of treating them like outcasts.

Danny felt that his big desire had just came true. He was finally invited and was on his way to popularity "I'm… I'm invited! I've arrived!" Danny enthusiastically said while hugging the invitation. But Ember wasn't feeling as enthusiastic as Danny, as somehow, it made her feel uncomfortable, as it reminded her about something that she wish she wouldn't remember. Danny could feel it, but ignored it because he had been invited to Dash's big party.

Sam signed while looking a bit sad and looking down "Swell. Send us a postcard from Popularity-ville."

"I will!" Danny said as he ran out of the Nasty Burger.

Ember watched him going, like he was in a hurry, feeling so happy that his wish had become true. This was a whole other side of Danny that she didn't liked. She began to feel worried. Was she slowly losing her best friend?

---

Two days later. Friday morning, Casper High…

(April 23rd, 2004)

Danny, Ember, Sam and Tucker were walking towards school. For the past two days, Danny hadn't payed any attention to his friends and was constantly with his mind about finally going to Dash's party and was all about being part of the 'IN' crowd. He also wasn't even focusing while training with Ember.

Tucker was the first who told Danny that he was changing and ignoring him and his friends "Seriously, Danny. Ever since you got that invitation, you're all about the 'In' crowd."

Danny chuckled, as he believed he wasn't ignoring his friends "Come on, Tuck. That's ridiculous." but when he sees Kwan, who was talking to Valerie, he yelled while pumping his fist in the air "Kwan! Looking good!"

Kwan heard that and as he turns at Danny, he responds with the same enthusiasm while raising his arms "Fentonmeister! Woo hoo!"

Sam agreed with what Tucker said and told Danny "He's right, Danny. It's like we're not even here."

Ember nodded as told Danny as wasn't focussed anymore "Yeah, all you ever think about is that party and you're not even paying attention to when we train, or when we hunt for ghosts."

Danny then looked at Ember, wandering why she wasn't as happy as she had being invited to the biggest party of the school year too. He also could feel that she was also not happy at him, so he asked her "Okay, I admit that maybe I'm a little bit distracted these past few days, but what I don't get is that why you're not happy about being invited to Dash's party?"

As she was feeling uncomfortable about it, Danny could also sense that it was from an earlier experience and wandered what it could be. Ember tried to tell "Well, I-"

"Hey, Fenton! Emily! Come here!" Dash called to Danny and Ember to see him for a moment. Danny races over to Dash, who stood together with two other football jocks.

Ember just walked over to Dash while he told "If you're coming to my party, you have to look the part," he handed over a magazine to Danny, what had expensive high-end clothes on the cover "This is what we're all wearing Saturday. Very high-end, very hip, very Dash. You have one, right?" Dash asked.

Danny was a bit shocked that these expensive high-end clothes were the dress code and didn't even had these. But thinking that this was his only chance to get popular, he nervously lied to Dash "Huh? Uh, yeah! Oh, sure. I-I have two. That's how hip and high-end I am."

"Well, wear one." Dash said before Ember joined them and had heard their conversation.

She took a look at the magazine and asked Dash while narrowing her eyes "This… is the dress code?"

Dash chuckled and gave a different magazine to Ember "No, that is for the men. This is the dress code for the ladies." Ember took the magazine and took a look. It showed nearly the same expensive high-end clothes on the cover, but was designed for ladies. The shirt had shorter sleeves, showed the ladies their belly buttons, very short pants and boots with high heels. Imagining herself wearing this, made Ember sick, as this hip-hop crap was not her style. She glanced back at Dash, who was smirking at her in a flirty way, what made her raise an eyebrow.

Then Dash glared at Danny, warning him "Let me get this clear to you, Fenton. I might have had to invite you, but if you embarrass me, your sister's going to be doing her thesis on your bruises!"

Danny nodded while giving a nervously smile "Uh… sure! Message received."

While Dash walks off with his jock friends, Ember couldn't believe how Danny let Dash walk over him like that. Normally he wasn't scared of Dash's threats, but now he was just taking it and did nothing about it. Ember narrowed her eyes at Danny, while Sam and Tucker walked over to them.

Danny took a look at the magazine, telling worriedly that he didn't had the money to buy these expensive clothes for the party "Oh man. This must cost a fortune! Where am I going to get the money by Saturday?"

Sam didn't liked how Danny was changing, but he was still her best friend and then nearly wanted to offer him money to buy the clothes "You know, I almost hate to offer-"

"Hey, Danny!" was heard nearby them. All looked and it was Paulina, waving with a music album while sitting on a blanket with a stereo "You wanna hear my new CD? It's really crunk!"

Danny asked Tucker confused "Is crunk good?"

"It's Paulina." Tucker answered while narrowing his eyes.

Danny smiled at that point "Crunk's good! Be right there!" Danny called to Paulina and went over to her and sat next to her.

Ember's mouth fell wide open as she watched how Danny had so easily forgotten how Paulina hurted his emotions when he asked her to the dance several weeks back, and now was acting like he was gonna do anything for Paulina. This made Ember angry and disappointed in him.

Sam narrowed her eyes as she said to Ember and Tucker "Okay, this is getting really annoying."

Ember crossed her arms, while still glaring at Danny "You bet. Someone needs to slap some sense into him."

Tucker checked his PDA and said before leaving "If you guys need me, I'm in the library, studying."

When Tucker left the ladies alone, Sam took a look at the cover of the magazine that Ember was still holding in her hand. Sam then offered her ghost friend "You know, if you need some cash to buy these clothes for the party, then I can-"

But then, Sam was surprised when Ember suddenly rips the magazine in several pieces and said with a angry look on her face "Dressing myself up as some kind of a hip-hop slut and act like one in front of people who aren't even my real friends? Over my pale ass!"

Ember then walks to the school, still in her anger mode. That Ember refused to dress like the A-listers and coming to Dash's party, made Sam feel a little proud at her ghost friend. But when she turns back to see Danny, who was listening to Paulina's new CD and both laughed, Sam sighed deep as she too was disappointed in her best friend for easily ignoring his true friends over the popular kids, who clearly only pretended they were nice to him. Sam then walks after Ember, getting ready for class.

---

Later, after school, Fenton Works…

In the Kitchen, while Jazz was reading a book, her mother and father were working with some sort of cooking gadget. When Maddie turned the gadget on, it began to bounce around and made growling noises.

Jazz narrowed her eyes as she asked her mother "Mom, what are you making?"

"Hot dogs!" Maddie answered with a smile.

Jack then explained how the invention works "We invented a way to cook them ten times faster than a microwave."

At that moment, the gadget dings and Maddie opens the lid, revealing perfectly cooked hot dogs. But then, the hot dogs, which suddenly had faces now, rised up and began to growl and barking! Maddie quickly shuts the lid on them as this was not suppose to happen. Jazz rolled her eyes "Great. You've figured out how to put the 'Frank' back in 'Frankenstein'."

Danny, who had just come home from school, walked into the kitchen and asked his father "Hey, Dad, can you spare me some cash? I need to buy some new clothes for tomorrow."

Jack puts his hand on his shoulder as he was telling his son a lesson about money "Danny, Danny, Danny. You know, as inventors, your mother and I have plenty of money."

Maddie nodded and added "But as parents, we understand that you should understand the value of money. If you want money, you gotta earn it."

Danny looked surprised "You mean, get a job?"

Jack shrugged as that was an option "That, or sell something. Like your old comic books, or CD's that you don't listen too anymore, or some other junk you don't need."

Then Maddie said to her husband "Uh, speaking of which," she then points to some boxes of goo-covered machine parts "That junk from the Ghost Weasel explosion needs to go in the shed, if there's room. That old barn hasn't been cleaned out in years." Maddie finishes with a narrowed eye, as her husband hadn't cleaned out the shed for years.

Danny was relieved that his father hadn't figured out that it was actually him who caused the Ghost Weasel explosion some days ago, when he fought that techno ghost, Technus.

Jack hugs one of the boxes, as he denied that any of the old parts was junk "This is not junk! Every single item in this box is of vital importance to me."

Maddie then took one of the parts out of the box "Do you even know what this is?" she asked her husband.

Jack inspected the part for a moment before taking it back "Not a clue. But I know it's important, so it's off to the shed." Jack then gives the other box to Danny, so he could help his father caring all the old junk to the shed.

A few minutes later, Jack opened the door to the shed and turns on the light. The shed was indeed filled with hundreds of old parts and inventions that haven't been used in years. Danny shook his head as his father still didn't wanted get rid of all this stuff. As he placed the box he carried on top of another box, Jack droped his on the ground. Jack looked around and figured "You know, maybe I should get rid of this junk." but then he dusted off his hands "Ah well, that's a job for another day."

When Jack left the shed, Danny followed, but stopped at the doorway and looked back at his father's old invention, thinking what his parents told him earlier about 'selling his old stuff', and that gave Danny an idea. He could sell all this old junk from the shed in order to get the money he needs to buy the expensive hip-hop clothes for the party tomorrow night "Saturday's another day." Danny said before turning off the light and said before closing the door "And as the old saying: One man's trash, is another man's treasure."

After Danny had closed the door, the goo-covered parts in the boxes began to glow green, and was slowly consuming all the parts in the shed.

---

The next day…

While his parents and sister were out, Danny secretly held a sidewalk garage sale in front of his house to sell all the junk from his parents shed. Ember, Sam and Tucker were there too, helping Danny around after he asked them. Despite that he had been ignoring them for days because of the coming party and being nicely to the popular kids, they agreed to help him selling the junk from the shed anyway. All three hoped that Danny wouldn't be treating them like outcasts anymore and would act normally again.

It was late in the afternoon, when Danny was selling one of the parts to Mr. Lancer "It's a perfectly good vacuum motor, Mr. Lancer. Only used once! 10 bucks."

Mr. Lancer examined the vacuum motor "Hmmm. Looks to be in fine shape. This should fix my Hair Hornet very nicely." he said with a smile as he handed over 10 dollars to Danny for the part.

When Danny took the money, Ember, who was selling an old computer and Tucker, who was lounging in a chair, had heard Mr. Lancer talking about the Hair Hornet. Tucker then said as a joke to Lancer "Hair Hornet? The crazy vacuum cleaner-slash-hair clipper they sell on TV? Don't you need hair for that?"

Lancer looked at his bald head, making Ember to giggle cause of Tucker's joke, as to why Lancer would need a Hair Hornet for as he is actually bald.

Lancer then glanced at Tucker with a serious look "Good one, Mr. Foley. I'll remember that on Monday, when I'm grading tests." Lancer then left, leaving Tucker with a nervous face, as Lancer was now certainly going to lower his grade after giving that 'bald' joke to him.

Sam then walks up to Danny and hands him over some money as she was able to sell one of the parts "Just sold a toaster. You know, I'm surprised your dad's letting you sell off all his stuff. He's such a pack rat." Sam said while holding up a remote.

Danny shrugged while telling "Yeah, well, he's been planning on getting rid of this junk for a long time. He won't even miss it, I hope." he finished saying with a worried look, hoping that his dad won't figure out that he had been selling away all his old stuff.

Tucker, still lounging on the chair, opened up a sun reflector to tan himself with while saying "I'm pleased with the turnout today. We're doing a really brisk business."

Ember narrowed her eyes at Tucker for acting like a lazy ass and had barely helped them out. She took away his sun reflector and told Tucker with a serious look on her face "Maybe if you were actually HELPING us around, then maybe the turnout would be bigger!" Tucker nervously watched Ember, while she saw a customer, looking for some parts. Ember then glanced back at Tucker and pointed her thump to the customer while saying seriously to Tucker "See that customer over there? Help him around." Tucker nodded wildly and quickly went to the customer to help him to pick which part would be best, making Ember to smirk.

While Danny counted all the money they've earned today, he shook his head as it still wasn't enough to buy all the clothes for the party. Just then, Tucker went over to him and said while handing over some cash "Here you go, another 25 bucks."

This surprised Ember, as how fast Tucker had sold some parts "Wow. That was really fast."

Tucker nodded while explaining "Yeah, the guy just needed a new part for his old record player. I just showed him the right one, convinced him it had only been used once and sold it for 25 dollars."

Danny sighed as it still wasn't enough "I'm still 20 bucks short of what I need for those sweats."

While Danny puts the money in his pocket, Sam then proposed an alternative idea for tonight "You're still welcome to hang with us tonight. Mega-movie marathon at my place."

This surprised Danny, as Sam had never invited him or Tucker over to her house before "Your place? Wow. You never invited us to your place before."

"That's because we're usually fighting ghosts with you. I figured it's time-"

But then Sam was interrupted when Dash called to Danny at a nearby table "Hey, Fentina!"

Normally Danny didn't liked to be called names by Dash, but he happily walks over to him like it was no big deal of being called like that. Sam narrowed her eyes as Danny was ignoring her, again "for you to totally ignore me for about the billionth time this week."

Ember glared at Danny for ignoring his friends once again and was acting like a complete different person.

When Danny walked over to Dash, he asked if he had some parts that he could use "Jazz has given me so much extra schoolwork that my computer's overloaded. Got anything to make it work?"

Danny nodded as he picks up a computer part and software "Oh, sure do. This motherboard and this Portals XL operating system will make it work like it's brand new!" he hands over the software to Dash, while also offering an upgrade disk, in order to get the last 20 bucks for the expensive clothes "20 bucks takes it all, and I'll even throw in this upgrade disk."

This sounded tempting to Dash, so he agreed "Done. See you tonight. And just because I can't believe I'm saying it, I will say it again. See you tonight." he finished while he pokes Danny in the chest. He takes the upgrade disk from Danny and walks away, while throwing the money over his shoulder, which Danny catches.

Danny smiled wide as he looked at the 20 dollar bill "20 bucks!" he then raises his hands in the air "I'm in!" but when he checked his watch, Danny realized that he had little time left to buy the clothes "Oh jeez. I better get to the mall before the shops close." He goes back over to Ember, Sam and Tucker, asking "You guys don't mind cleaning up for me, do you?" before any of them could answer, Danny ran off to get his scooter and drove fast to the mall "Great! See ya!"

While Ember's mouth fell wide open how Danny was treating them, Sam crossed her arms saying "So now we're his clean-up crew, too?"

That Danny was doing this to them was the final straw for Ember. She furiously threw computer monitor away "THAT'S IT!" This reaction surprised Sam and Tucker. Ember looked around, to be sure no one else was here and then pressed the Fenton logo on her human disguise belt and transformed into her ghost form.

Before she left, Sam asked her "Where are you going?"

Ember looked at Sam with an angry look in her eyes "I'm going to have a little CHAT with that friend-backstabber!" and she flew off after Danny, trying to slap some sense into him.

Sam sighed, now that it was only her and Tucker left to 'clean-up' Danny's mess from the garage sale "Well, looks like it's only you and me, Tuck-"

But when Sam looks over to where Tucker was standing, he was running off as well, waving back to her "See you tonight!"

Sam annoyingly groans, as she had to do the cleaning all alone now.

Not long after, while Danny had only gotten halfway to the mall, Ember suddenly phased up from the ground and turned tangible right in middle of the road! Danny shockingly pressed all the breaks, trying not to hit Ember, but she didn't move and just stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at him. Danny tried as hard as he could to break, and was able to stop, just inches before her.

Danny breathed heavily of what nearly happened "Ember! Are you crazy?! I almost hit you just now-"

"Danny, we need to talk!" she said seriously, still glaring at him.

Danny tried to tell that he didn't had the time for that now "Can't this wait till-"

"Now, Danny!" Ember said angrily while grabbing the scooter.

Danny could even feel her anger through their mental link. He sighed and stepped of his scooter "Okay, okay, what is it that you need to talk about?"

"About THIS!" Ember said angrily while her flaming hair flared up.

Danny didn't understood that part, making Ember groan annoyingly as she explained "How you have been acting, dipstick! What you are doing is completely stupid and selfish! Ever since you got invited to that damn party, you're acting like a complete different person! You don't stand up against Dash anymore as he walks over you like that, you're acting like some sort of a servant to Paulina who messed with your feelings and what's worse, you completely ignore your own friends and treat us like we don't even exist!"

Danny then told his friend, trying to reason with her "Ember, this might be my only chance to finally become popular. If I do this, the other kids will finally stop calling me a loser and they may start treating me better."

But instead of easing the situation, this made Ember even more angry, as Danny was only thinking about himself instead of the people who do care about him. As her blue hair flared up even more, she he was starting to yell her emotions out "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!? THOSE FUCKING A-LISTERS DON'T CARE A SINGLE BIT ABOUT YOU, DANNY! ARE YOU SO BLIND THAT YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE THAT THOSE ASSHOLES AND BITCHES ONLY CARE ABOUT THEIR STUPID REPUTATION AT SCHOOL?!"

This shocked Danny, as he'd never seen Ember so angry before.

Ember told further in her anger while tears were starting to form in her eyes "I just can't believe my own eyes and ears of what you're doing, dipstick! Those fucking A-listers are not your real friends!"

Danny tried to say "But-"

"Sam is your best friend! Tucker is your best friend! FOR GOD'S SAKE, THEY'VE BEEN YOUR BEST FRIENDS FOR YEARS!"

"But, I-"

"I am your best friend, Danny! You're…" she was no longer angry, but was starting to cry as how much she was disappointed in him. Danny could feel how hurt she was, because of his actions "You were the first real friend that I made in a long time. You accepted me for who I am. A ghost. And I saw something in you! I saw someone that was more than just a geek in the eyes of many, or your family, but you are just too scared to show what you really are! You are the bravest person I met in years. You have a gift, a talent, dipstick. But you're too afraid to admit it, or to show it to anyone else but me!"

Danny had no idea how to respond to this. Every word that Ember said was all true. Ember turned her back to Danny, while her flaming hair calmed down and said sadly "I really thought you were different, Danny, but you are just like the rest of those pathetic fucking A-holes!" and then she flew away, sobbing.

Danny wanted to call her back to him, but no words came out of his mouth. He kept watching her going, while looking sad. He then turned his scooter back on and drove to the mall.

When Danny arrived at the mall a few minutes later, he was feeling ashamed of himself. The words that Ember shared with him, still echoes in his head.

As he then stood in front of the shop that sold the hip high-head clothes, Danny realized that Ember was right, that the A-listers don't give a crap about him and only care about their own reputation at school. He stroke his hair while looking down "Goddammit. What am I doing?" he then looked at his reflection on the glass window, imagining himself wearing the high-end clothes. He finally saw that it wasn't who he truly was. He sighed deep as he walked away and sat on a bench "Ember is right. I have been acting selfish and stupid ever since I got invited to Dash's party."

He took a moment to think, while he also took Dash's invitation to the party from his pocket and looked at it. Is this what he REALLY wanted, or was all along just a thing that he needed, to finally get noticed and never being ignored or treated bad by other people?

The words that Ember spoke to him, that he was more than just a 'geek' or a 'guitar nerd', sounded almost like the same words that Ember shared with him a days ago, during training. That Ember told him that he is far more brave than he realizes and needs to look deep within himself who he really is, and doesn't need to keep himself hidden in his shell his whole life.

Danny then started to wander and asked himself "Who is Danny Fenton? A nerd with a guitar? A ghost-boy? Or a selfish shallow jerk?"

He closed his eyes, trying to think hard. Who was he? What was it that kept holding him back? What did he truly wanted?

After a minute, his eyes opened wide. He finally realized what he wanted. Who he truly wanted to be.

When he stood up, he noticed a different shop nearby that sold all kinds of Rock outfits. When he stopped in front of it, he looked at the many outfits they had for sale, then back at the invitation in his hand.

Danny smiled to himself. It was there that Danny finally embraced his inner self. He ripped apart Dash's invitation and threw it away before he entered the shop

(This is the song 'Breaking the Habit' from the band Linkin Park)

---

Memories consume like opening the wounds
I'm picking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
I don't want to be the one the battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize that I'm the one confused

---

Danny searched the shop for the one outfit that truly showed who he really is. After finding some clothes, he took them to the changing room.

---

I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit!
I'm breaking the habit tonight!

---

After paying for the clothes, Danny then walked out of the ship in his new outfit. He was now wearing a black and red T-shirt with short sleeves, dark jeans with knee holes, a black bandana with skulls on it over his forhead, black finger-less gloves, black combat shoes and a leather black jacket with on the back a flaming guitar on it "Look out everyone. Here comes the true Danny Fenton." he said while smiling confident before leaving.

Some of the students from Casper High, who were in the mall at that time, all looked surprised at how much 'the nerd with a guitar' had changed and how determent he looked.

"Is that Fenton?" one girl asked his friend.

The other girl just gave a shrugt "I don't know, but he looks so… different."

Danny mostly ignored the other students opinions, but smiled to himself as he never felt so confident in himself before.

---

Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more than any time before
I have no options left again
I don't want to be the one the battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize that I'm the one confused

I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So I'm breaking the habit!
I'm breaking the habit tonight!

I'll paint it on the walls!
'Cause I'm the one at fault!
I'll never fight again!
And this is how it ends!

---

Danny threw his old clothes in the trash, saying goodbye to his old self. He stepped on his scooter and drove away fast, to find Ember and his friends to apologize to them.

---

I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity to show you what I mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So I'm breaking the habit!
I'm breaking the habit!
I'm breaking the habit tonight!

---

Later, at Sam's place…

Tucker stood at the front door of Sam's house. He rang the doorbell, waiting to be opened. He had brought some snacks and drinks in his backpack for the movie marathon.

Ember (in her human disguise) opened it and let Tucker in "Hey, Tucker."

"Hey, Em." Tucker said while walking in the house.

Sam was on the phone, ordering pizza "Right. That's three medium, two pepperoni, and one veggie. Put it on my tab."

As Sam hangs up the phone, Tucker walked over to her "I hope they hustle. I'm starved."

The doorbell rings immediately and Sam opens the door to reveal a delivery boy named Nate, carrying three pizzas "Here's your pizza, Sam." he said as he handed over the pizza's.

Sam took them while she hands him over some money "Thanks, Nate."

The delivery boy, Nate smiled bright as Sam gave him a 10 dollar tip "10 bucks? Thanks, Sam!" Nate walks away as Sam closes the door behind him.

Tucker was confused as why Sam tipped the delivery boy 10 bucks "You tipped the guy a ten-spot?"

While it didn't surprised Ember, Sam shrugs as she said "Whoops. Sorry. I thought it was a one." she then walks past Tucker with the pizza's "Come on. We're watching movies downstairs." Tucker and Ember were about to follow, when suddenly the doorbell ringed again.

Tucker wandered who it could be or that Sam or Ember ordered something more "Did any of you ordered something more?" he asked.

Sam shook her head "No. Did you, Ember?" she asked to her ghost friend.

Before Ember could give an answer, she watched the door as she could sense who it was "It… it's Danny!" she said while forming a smile and ran to the door. Tucker and Sam were both confused as she knew who it was.

Ember opened the door, revealing it was indeed Danny, leaning to a wall while asking "Hey. Any room for one more?"

Ember was first overjoyed that Danny did came, but then she frowned at him in disappointment, as how he has been acting lately towards her and his friends. Tucker and Sam also came to the door. Both were first surprised to see Danny in a whole different outfit, but then frowned at him too.

Danny sighed with a sad look on his face, and asked "Can I come in?"

Sam thought about it while putting down the pizza's, and said with a glare at him "Hmmm, I don't know. Weren't you supposed to be at Dash's party, so you can become one of them?"

Tucker agreed and added "And totally blew off your own friends?"

Danny then apologized for his behavior "I'm sorry, alright! I'm really, really sorry that I choose hanging with the popular kids over you guys. I was a selfish and stupid jerk for not realizing that you are my real friends and that I've been treating you all like outcasts. It was cruel and shallow, and I'll never do it again."

Sam and Tucker smiled at each other for a moment before looking back at Danny "Apology accepted." Sam said.

Tucker nodded while giving a thumps up "Good to have you back."

Sensing that Danny was telling the truth, made Ember smile bright and instantly hugged him, what surprised Danny, but allowed it.

When she broke the hug, Danny then told Ember that she was right about all she said "I'm really sorry, Ember. You were right about everything. Guess your talk did indeed slapped some sense into me." Danny finished with a small smile, making her smile as well.

But then Ember wandered why Danny was wearing a whole new rock outfit "Say, what's with the new outfit?"

As Danny walked into the house, Danny just shrugged as he stated "Oh, this? Let's just say that I'm finally embracing the 'real' Danny Fenton."

"And… who is the 'real' Danny Fenton?" Tucker asked confused.

Danny just smirked "Rock-'n-roll, Tucker!" he answered while playing air guitar.

That move made all three of them laugh. Ember was the first to answer with a smile "Well, I got to admit, the new look suits you, dipstick."

Tucker agreed but wandered why Danny ditched his old outfit "Yeah, but what's wrong with your old…?"

"Oh, shut it, Tucker. I think Danny looks great in his new outfit." Sam replied, interrupting Tucker. Sam then lead the rest downstairs, while taking the pizza's "C'mon, we're watching movies downstairs."

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, both Tucker and Danny were left in awe of seeing how massive Sam's home theater was, which included a giant movie screen, four lounge seats, a popcorn machine and a soda fountain.

"This is your downstairs?!" both Danny and Tucker asked simultaneously.

"What? Too much?" Sam asked.

"Uh-huh." Danny and Tucker nodded while walking in further, still in awe of what Sam all had in her house.

Danny then glanced at Ember for a moment when he took off his black leather jacket, seeing the look on her face that she knew about this "You knew about this?"

Ember giggled, while admitting "Yeah. I had the same response as you two had, when I first arrived here and moved to the attic. I promised Sam not to tell you guys about this until she was ready to tell it herself."

While Tucker was amazed by all this cool stuff, Sam explained "Yeah, I know, I should have told you guys this a long time ago, but my family's kind of… filthy rich. Weird huh?" she finished with a nervously smile.

That made Tucker to drop his backpack in surprise "Whoa! Time-out! You're loaded?" he asked Sam.

This made some sense to Danny, as he had seen the expensive stuff in Ember's attic when he brought her home after finding her in the suburbs a few days ago, but didn't asked about it since he had a lot of things on his mind of why Ember was feeling horrible "Hey, that makes some sense as why you had so much great stuff in your attic." he said to Ember.

Ember shrugged with a smile, admitting that that was true "Yeah. I got all of that thanks to Sam's little investment."

Danny was happy to hear that, but he did wander how Sam was filthy rich "But how, Sam? How is your family so… rich?"

Sam honestly answered "My great-granddad Izzy was an inventor. He invented that machine that twirls cellophane around deli toothpicks."

While Tucker sat on one of the louche seats, he couldn't believe that Sam, their best friend Sam, was the deli toothpick cellophane-twirling heiress "You're the deli toothpick cellophane-twirling heiress? No way!"

Sam took a pizza slice while suggesting "Look, if this is too much for you guys, we can do something else."

"Are you kidding?!" Tucker said as it wasn't too much for him at all and thought it was great that Sam was filthy rich.

Danny then said, while he and Ember also took a pizza slice "Too much? You, being rich and having all this cool stuff? This is awesome, Sam!"

Sam was flattered by that, making her blush "Oh, hihihi, thanks…" then she realized that now Danny was here, they didn't had a pizza for him. So she took out her cellphone and asked "Hey, if you want, I can order another pizza for you, Danny?"

Danny appreciated that "Thanks, Sam."

After Sam made the order, she then asked while making some popcorn "Okay, so what movie should we watch?"

But before Danny or Ember could give a suggestion, Tucker first asked "Hold on, I just have a few more questions? Like… how rich are you exactly?"

That Tucker asked something like that, sounded a bit weird, making Sam to narrow her eyes as she leans against the snack bar while folding her arms "How rich is rich for you, Tuck?"

"Well, can you buy a plane?" Tucker asked.

"Yep." Sam answered while rolling her eyes.

"A yacht?"

"Yep."

"Um… a bowling alley?"

"Nope."

"Nope?" Both Danny and Tucker asked surprised.

Sam then presses a button on a remote, making the movie screen wall sliding open, to reveal a four-lane bowling alley, surprising Danny and Tucker, except Ember who already knew about this "There's no place to put a second one." Sam answered while she shrugs.

Right at that moment, Ida, Sam's grandmother, rides out on a motorized scooter onto the bowling alley and bowls, getting a strike. She pumps her fist "Yippee! Bubbe's hot tonight!"

When the movie screen wall closes back, Ember explained to Danny who that women was "That's Sam's grandmother, Ida. She's actually a very nice lady when you get to know her."

Danny then asked her "You met her before?"

"Sure I did. I live in the attic after all. Sometimes when I come to see Sam, doing our homework together, we drink tea together with her gran Ida." but then Ember said with a bit worry and whispers "Honestly, I think she knows that I live in the attic." That last part made Danny to wander why Ida never confronted Sam about it, or told her parents.

Then Tucker sniffs the air for a moment "That's weird, because you don't smell stinking rich."

Sam sighs in annoyance as she walked over to sit in one of the other chairs "Will you stop it? That's the whole reason I didn't tell anybody. Well, except to Ember."

Danny walked over to her and asked "But why? Are you… ashamed of being in a rich family?"

"Yes." Sam answered, but then quickly changed her answer "I mean, no! No, no, I mean…" she then sighs again as she confessed "The reason I didn't tell anybody or to you guys, is that I'm not like all the other stinking rich kids out there! I'm different, and I don't want to change for anything, especially not for the so called 'rich family tradition'."

That made Tucker to wander why she couldn't just use her family's money to her advantage "That's the part I don't get it. If you flash a little of that bling bling, you'd be Miss Popularity!"

Sam frowned at Tucker "I don't need popularity, Tucker, especially not if I have to buy it."

That comment made Danny to sigh, as he had nearly made that same mistake by buying expensive clothes, only to become popular and ignoring his real friends "Yeah, I know. I still feel terrible about the way I treated you guys. Of all people, I should know how it feels to be invisible."

That made a little smile growing on Sam's face and asked him "So would you say you've learned a lesson from all this?"

Danny nodded "Yep. True friendship is not something that you can buy. And also, to be yourself and not something that society wants you to be." after he said that, Ember hugged him for a moment, being so proud at him.

After she broke the hug, Sam looked a bit suspicious at Danny and Ember. But dropped the subject as she pressed another button on a remote, opening a case filled with hundreds of DVD's and walked to it, picking a few "Okay, so which movie should we watch first?"

Tucker walked over to her to see what movies Sam all had. But then he asked "Do you maybe have the new DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King? I've been dying to see that movie again!"

That made Sam laugh a bit "I may be rich, Tuck, but no, I don't have that one. Besides, it won't be coming out on DVD till next month."

Then, they heard the doorbell ringing upstairs. All guessed it was the extra pizza Sam ordered. While Sam went upstairs to take it, Tucker searched through all the DVD's together with Danny and Ember.

Ember then asked Danny and Tucker "I heard you guys talking about these movies of 'The Lord of the Rings' so many times, but I still don't get what they're really about?"

"You don't?!" Tucker asked surprised. Then he smirked as he took out the DVD's of the first two parts of The Lord of the Rings "Well, I know what we're going to watch tonight."

Danny hadn't seen part one and two for some time and thought it was a good idea. He looked at Ember for a moment, wandering if she agreed to it. Ember felt it through their mental link and shrugged "I don't mind. If these movies are as good as you guys tell, then I'd like to watch them."

At that moment, Sam walked downstairs with the extra pizza. She had heard what Tucker suggested and asked "Are you guys sure about that? I mean, I have lots of other good movies here too. And each of these Lord of the Rings movies take nearly three hours to finish."

But by the look on her friends, they didn't seemed to mind "Who cares?" Danny said "It's Saturday night. And maybe next time, we'll watch some of the other movies that you have?"

Sam then shrugged "Okay then. A Lord of the Rings marathon it is."

While Same took the DVD of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Danny recognized the remote that Sam used and asked "Hey, isn't that the same remote that I sold on the garage sale earlier today?"

Sam nodded "Yeah, I thought it was a really cool one. I snagged it for 3 bucks."

That made Tucker to wander, as he took a pizza slice "Can you believe that people actually had spent good money on that old junk from your parents' shed, Danny? Speaking of that, since you bought that new rock outfit, what did you do with the rest of the money you earned from the garage sale?"

Danny shrugged, as he kept most of it in his wallet "I guess I'm keeping it for some other time. Maybe I'm using it to buy some more new clothes and get rid of the old regular t-shirts and pants I always wear. And maybe some other stuff for my room."

That surprised everyone a bit, that Danny finally decided to replace all the clothes that he owned. This was a whole new side of Danny that they never thought was there, and were also proud at him.

As the movie progressed, Danny, Ember, Sam and Tucker all sat on a louche chair, each enjoying either some popcorn, some pizza or a soda. Ember was watching the movie with amaze for the past hour, of how well the story and the special effects were "Wow. This movie looks great." Ember said with a smile, while finishing her pizza slice.

Danny chuckled, as he said to her "This is just the beginning. Wait till you see the rest of it and the final part that'll come out next month."

---

Meanwhile, at Dash's place. Dash was in his room, typing on his computer to do his homework before the party was going to start. Now that he had bought the new computer software, his computer worked flawless and really fast "Maybe Fenton's not such a loser after all. Hehe, as if. But this thing runs like a race car!" Dash said that he was impressed how well his computer works again, but still thought that Danny was a loser, despite he had helped him with the new software.

Then his watch beeps. He reads it's alert, saying 'PARTY TIME', making him to shut down his computer "Whoa! Getting late. Better shower and change before the early birds show up."

After Dash left, the computer screen goes black, but then… Technus' face shows up on it as he smiles and laughs maniacally "Hahahaha! Almost there. Just a little more power and I'll be at full strength again! And then, all shall bow to me; Technus, master of all science and technology! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

---

Meanwhile, at Fenton Works…

Jazz walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge, looking for a snack. But as soon as she opened it, the ghost hot dogs start barking and growling at her, making her scream and shut the fridge "Aaaah!" Jazz narrowed her eyes "Great. Leftovers." Jazz then notices that her little brother hadn't come home yet "That's odd. Why hasn't Danny come home yet?" she then took her cellphone and called Danny. He picked up after some time.

"Danny Fenton."

"Hey, Danny. It's me, Jazz."

"Oh hey, Jazz. You're… probably wandering why I didn't came home, right?" Danny asked through the phone, guessing why his sister had called him for.

"Uh… yeah. Where are you? Are you at Dash's party already?" she asked.

"Not going, not interested anymore. I'm at Sam's place now with Tucker and Emily, watching movies together."

That was an answer form her brother that Jazz had never expected. She wandered why her brother wasn't interested in going to Dash's party anymore, as he was so thrilled to be invited, after she made Dash to do so "But, I don't understand? I thought you always wanted to get invited to go to Dash's big party and that you always wanted to be… you know, popular? The only reason that you finally got invited is because I made Dash to invite you."

She heard Danny sign over the phone as he stated "I did, but… I finally realized that it wasn't something I really wanted, not as I had to sacrifice the true friendship that I share with my real friends, only to be part of the 'A-listers'."

Jazz couldn't believe what she heard from her brother. After all this time, he didn't wanted to be popular anymore, and knew that true friendship was more important to him. Somehow, she was proud at him.

Then Danny asked through the phone "But, hey, listen Jazz."

"Yeah?"

"I think it's probably going to be late when we finish the movie marathon, so we have been talking to change this movie night into a sleepover. Can you… cover for me, please?"

This was all new for Jazz, as Danny never made last minute changes. But figuring that he just wants to have some fun with his friends, she smiled and said "Sure, I'll just tell Mom and Dad some excuse. But you own me for this one, Danny."

Danny chuckled through the phone "Sure, I get it. Thanks, sis."

"You're welcome. Have fun with your friends, Danny. See you tomorrow."

But before she hang up the phone, her father called out loud "Code red!" Jazz was about to leave, but Jack rushed in, looming over Jazz in a panicked state "Somebody's raided the junk shed while we were away!" he then grabs Jazz, still panicking "Jazz, did you see anything?!"

Jazz narrowed her eyes at her father, while breaking his grip on her "Didn't see anything, don't care." but then she found the perfect excuse to cover for Danny, who now decided to sleepover at his friend's place "Maybe you can compare notes with Danny once he gets home tomorrow morning?".

When Jazz left the kitchen, Jack agreed to that "Good plan, honey! Wait… Danny is sleeping over? That's not what he told us." Jack asked suspicious.

Jazz turned herself and explained with a little lie to cover for her brother "Oh, well, it was a misunderstanding. He's actually gonna stay at his friends place for the night." Jazz then left upstairs, going to her room.

Jack thought about what Jazz said for a moment, but then shrugged as he didn't mind his son spending a night at his friend's place "Ah well, in the meantime, I'd better secure the lab before anything else goes 'missing'." Jack opens the fridge while saying to the ghost hot dogs "Cover me, boys. Serpentine!" the ghost hot dogs formed a chain and wrap themselves around Jack, protecting him while barking and growling.

---

30 minutes later, in Dash's room…

Technus was now at full strength and talked out of Dash's computer "Yes! It is time!" his face appears on-screen while the computer floats into the air, Technus called out to all the parts that he had infected "Calling all mechanized spirits! Come to me my minions! It is time to fulfill my destiny! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Green lighting then sparks around the computer while Technus keeps laughing maniacally.

The lightning then shoots out of Dash's window and spreads around town to all the electronics and appliances he infected, from the tiniest chips to all machines like a power drill, a toaster and even a washing machine and dryer glowed green and floated up towards Technus.

Meanwhile, at Lancer's place, the vice-principal lowered his shirt, revealing his full back of hair "I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than with a back-shaving jamboree." he said with a smile as he was about to shave all the hair out of his back. But when he turned it on, it began to glow green and it's blades grow in length! Mr. Lancer tried to control the razor as it rumbles, but it breaks free and dive bumps on him, spinning around him before flying off. Mr. Lancer turns around in shock, seeing a hashtag symbol was shaved into his back "SWEENY TODD!"

At that moment, Danny, Ember, Tucker and Sam were still watching the Lord of the Rings movie. They had reached the point where Gandalf was stopping the Balrog on the bridge in Moria, while trying to fight him off with his magic. Ember had become more exited as the movie progressed.

---

As the Balrog growled, raising his firing blade, Gandalf formed a shield around himself.

"The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udûn!"

Gandalf stopped the attack of the Balrog, making him more angry as it stepped further on the bridge to kill the wizard "Go back to the shadow." Gandalf called to the monster, but his warning fell into death ears as the Balrog formed a powerful fire whip. The entire Fellowship watched with horror as Gandalf was fighting this beast of the ancient world all himself.

Gandalf then summoned his power to destroy the bridge "You… shall not… pass!"

---

But then, the screen pauses and keeps skipping back and forth at when Gandalf tried to destroy the bridge to stop the Balrog.

Sam said annoyed "Guys, if you want to watch a part over again, can you please tell me first?"

All looked at Sam surprised, as neither of them had even touched the remote

"What? We didn't do anything. You're the one with the remote." Tucker said.

But then, the remote glows and floats up from the table between Sam and Tucker in midair, making Danny's ghost warning sense go off, as a blue mist came from his mouth.

All looked surprised as what the remote did "I'm not schooled in the ways of the rich, but do all you remotes do that, Sam?" Tucker asked.

Sam shook her head "No. Well, my toaster does, but it's from Denmark."

Danny then knew that his ghost warning sense went off because of the cursed remote "Oh shit! That junk I sold from my parents' shed must have been contaminated with that ghost goo from my fight with Technus!"

That made Ember looked surprised at Danny "Wait, you fought Technus?"

The cursed remote then shoots a zap of green lightning at the popcorn machine, which breaks and blasts popcorn everywhere, and then another one at the soda fountain, which turns on and sprays soda all over the room. Danny, Ember, Sam and Tucker duck out of the way. The remote then phases up through the ceiling.

All four ran outside onto the street. There, they see a steady stream of electronics and appliances flying through the air, all heading onto one direction.

"This looks bad." Tucker said with worry.

"Really bad." Ember said, knowing how much powerful Technus can become when he gets his hands on any kind of technology "If Technus has infected all that junk from the garage sale, he's getting stronger by the minute." Ember and Danny both glanced at each other, nodding that they need to stop Technus.

"Going ghost!" Danny yells as he transforms into his ghost form, while Ember at the same time pressed the logo on her Human disguise belt and also transformed into her ghost form. Both then flew off, following the stream of cursed electronic parts. Sam and Tucker knew that they had to help their friends, and ran after them, following the stream as well.

While Danny and Ember both flew after the stream, Danny felt sorry for not telling Ember about his encounter with Technus before "Ember, I'm sorry. I should have told you before about my fight with Technus, but because I was only thinking about getting popular, being mean to you and the guys and only thinking of going to Dash's stupid party, I-"

Ember suddenly stopped and looked at him with understanding "Danny, It's okay. I've already forgiven you for acting like a jerk. There is nothing more to apologize for" she then softly stroke his cheek, making him smile. Ember then blushed, making her to stop stroking his cheek and said "Uhh… we should… stop Technus before it's too late. C'mon!" she then flew away, with Danny following her.

Not long after, both saw where all the cursed electronic parts were gathering. Dash's house.

"Looks like all those parts are gathering at Dash's place." Danny stated

Ember then smirked and asked "Ready to crash the party?"

Danny smirked back at her, thinking the same thing "You read my mind."

Both then turned invisible, while phrasing through the wall, entering Dash's house, while keeping invisible. But what they saw, surprised them, as all the party guests were dressed as either Danny, Ember, Sam or Tucker "What the heck?! I thought the dress code was high-head?" Danny asked while being confussed.

At that same moment, one of the girls, who was the only one at the party dressed in high-head clothes, was always ignored by the other guests. So she asked Dash "Dash, I don't understand. Why is everyone wearing, well… nerdy?"

Dash, who was dressed like Danny in his old clothes, looked at her for a moment and answered while leaning against the wall "Oh right, right. You probably didn't get the email. You see, after buying that computer stuff, I didn't have enough money to buy the sweat suit, so I changed the dress code to loser chic."

Then Paulina joined in, who was dressed as Sam, and asked her boyfriend "You like it, hon? It's so horrible, it's cool!" but then she notices the girl in her high-head clothes and said disgusted "Eck, who dressed you, your mom?" Dash then took Paulina's hand and walked away with her, leaving the girl behind in a sad state.

Danny narrowed his eyes as he said to Ember "Good thing that you talked some sense into me before I would basically embarrass myself in front of all these people."

Ember nodded while she also said while narrowing her eyes "And that I refused to dress like a hip-hop slut."

Both hovered further through the house, passing by the party guest, who didn't saw them cause Danny and Ember kept themselves invisible. When they made it upstairs, both became visable while Danny's warning ghost sense went off again, coming from Dash's room.

When Danny opens the door, he and Ember saw Technus (still in the computer) laughing manically as various electronics and appliances floated around him, merging together with Technus, forming a robotic battle suit. He raised his hands as he introduced himself, thinking to spread fear into his enemies "HAHAHAHAHA! I am Technus, master of all things mechanical! And once I complete my construction, you will all succumb to my awesome pow-" but then his face screen glitches and his robotic head momentarily comes loose from his neck "Ow! Ooh! Pow-pow! What is wrong with me?" Technus asks himself, as he didn't know what was causing his new battle suit to glitch.

Ember didn't know as well as she raised an eyebrow. But then Danny spots the upgrade disk on Dash's bed "The upgrade disk! Dash still hasn't upgraded the software!"

That made Ember smirk, as it was giving her and Danny an advantage over Technus "Then let's rock this ghost back in his place!"

Danny nodded as both charged at Technus. But the technology ghost saw them and shoots two ecto-blasts from the toasters on his shoulders, which hit Danny and Ember and send them phasing through a door to land in Dash's closet, which was filled with dozens of letterman jackets… and purple and pink teddy bears.

While Danny and Ember rubbed their heads, both were surprised cause of all the leather jackets, and the teddy bears "Jeez, how many leather jackets does one guy need?" Danny asks when he saw all the jackets. Then he picks up a bear "And these, I don't even wanna know."

For Ember, it was really funny that the biggest bully in school was secretly collecting purple and pink teddy bears. But before she could laugh about it, she saw something on a wall in Dash's closet which made her gasp. Danny looked at where she looked at and looked surprised of what he saw, but mostly envy and anger. What they saw, was a pin-up board filled with dozens of pictures of Ember in her human disguise, with lots of pink and red hearts drawn on it, and also a big sign on top of the pin-up board saying: The girl that stole my heart.

Ember was disgusted by what she saw "Now I see why Dash invited me to his party. He has a secret crush on me! Gross." she said to Danny while she stuck her tongue out, as it made her sick that Dash has a secret crush on her. But strangely, she sensed in Danny lots of anger and envy that Dash wanted to have Ember for himself. It made her to wander something 'Is Danny… jealous? Wow… he really cares for me.' she mentally says with a smile, while blushing when she finished.

But now was not the time for this, as they still had to deal with a maniacal technology ghost. Both flew out of the closet and body slammed Technus against Dash's bed! But then, Technus karate-chops Danny into the wall. He faced Ember "So, we meet again, Ember McLain. You and your boyfriend are formidable opponents, but a little wet behind the ears. Perhaps you could use a little drying off?"

A claw then emerged from the drying in Technus's chest, ready to grab Ember, who was distracted as what Technus said that Danny was her boyfriend "He's not my boyfriend! He-" but before she could finish her sentence, the claw grabbed Ember and was pulled into the dryer, who spins her a bit and ejects her out, sending her flying across the room till she hit Dash's dresser. This made Danny angry and fired two powerful ray blasts from both his hands to Technus, what hit him and send him crash to a wall.

As Technus lied on the floor, trying to get up, he notices the upgrade disk on the floor. He took it while saying "What's this? An upgrade disk? Aha! Now I will finally complete my construction!" Ember quickly reacted by using her teleportation power to make her guitar appear in her hands and hit the strings hard, releasing a pink shockwave, sending Technus crashing into Dash's television and stereo. While Technus holds his head in pain, but then notices that the upgrade disk had slipped into his CD drive, making it spark. His screen shows the upgrade loading and completing its installation. Technus grins evilly as he was now more powerful. Danny and Ember turned intangible and flew at Technus, phasing all three of them through the wall.

Dash ran upstairs and opens the door to his bedroom, seeing the damage done to it, making him look shocked "My bedroom!" he then yelled angry "WHOEVER DID THIS IS A DEAD MAN!"

Not far from Dash's house, Sam was in an abandoned street, a few blocks away, under another trail of floating cursed electronics. Tucker ran to her, carrying the Fenton Thermos he took out of Danny's house "Sam! I got the Fenton Thermos! You know, Danny and Ember really got to start carrying this in some sort of lunchbox."

Even though Tucker had a point, there was no time to argue about this as Sam said "Looks like everything is gravitating here to Dash's house. I just hope Danny and Ember are able to handle whoever this Technus guy is."

But then, a crash is heard, while Danny, Ember and her guitar flew past Sam and Tucker and slammed into the side of a building. Danny saw Sam and Tucker and said dazed "Hi, Sam. Hi, Tuck. Glad you could make it." Both then fell to the ground in pain, with Ember's guitar landing close to her. Another loud crash is heard, making Sam and Tucker turn their back around to see an even bigger Technus emerge. Now with all the cursed electronic parts and technology collected in town, Technus' battle suit was now almost as large as an house.

"I am Technus, master of technology and destroyer of worlds! Behold my awesome electronic fury!" he then bended forward with an evil smirk "WHO'S YOUR DADDY!?"

Danny and Ember stood up and flew up, attacking him, but his battle suit was now so strong that no punch, or kick, or even Ember's powerful guitar attacks worked. Technus raises his hand and knocks them to the ground.

Both Ember and Danny tried to get up, while Ember said worriedly "His armor is too powerful! It's like nothing can destroy it!"

Sam and Tucker then came, helping Danny and Ember getting up. Sam then asked "Is there anything we can do?"

Danny rubbed his arm while telling "I don't know. Technus is running an old version of Portals XL."

Sam frowned "That piece of vaporware? It's the worst software ever."

Tucker then took out his PDA "Keep him busy. I think I know how you both can beat him."

"That we can do." Danny said as he and Ember flew up to Technus.

Danny insulted him by saying "Get back, you hunk of my dad's junk!"

That insult made Technus angry "Could mere junk do this?" several toasts, drills and iron's appeared from his suit, firing dozens of ray blasts at Danny and Ember! Danny quickly formed a huge ghost shield and was able to deflect the blasts, but then were grabbed by two claws and slammed into a wall!

Danny and Ember struggled to get loose. Danny called to Tucker that he needed to hurry "Tucker, any time!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Tucker called back as he did all he could to make Technus weaker, trying to hack into his systems using his PDA, but somehow it didn't work.

Sam then asked Tucker "What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to bypass the program, but I can't! He must have upgraded. I need the latest version of Portals XL, but where are we gonna get it this time of night?"

Sam knew how they could get the latest version of Portals XL, as she grabs her cellphone and dials in a number "Leave it to me."

10 seconds later, a delivery girl named Tracy rides up on a scooter, giving a disk to Sam "Here you go, Sam."

"Thanks, Tracy." Sam says as she takes the disk and hands over a few hundred dollars.

This surprised Tucker, as Sam has even access to the latest technology after hours and asked the delivery girl Tracy "Wow! You have access to the latest technology after hours?"

Tracy nodded "Yep."

Then Tucker asked her flirty "What else can you do after hours?"

This made Tracy frown as she holds up a form on a clipboard "Just sign the voucher, sir."

Technus kept slamming Danny and Ember against the wall of the building. Sam then tried to distract Technus as she called to him "Uh, excuse me? I'm Sam," Technus looked down at Sam with a raised eyebrow "I don't believe I caught your name. Perhaps you should scream it really loud and shout out your motive?"

"Hello." Technus said friendly before he shouts while raising his robotic arms "I am Technus! Manipulator of machines! Lord of all gadgetry! Wizard of integrated circuitry!"

While Sam plugs two cords together, she asked to keep him distracted "Go on. Isn't there more you'd like to tell me?"

Technus looked down with a smirk "Oh, yes! I am also master of-" he then starts to glitch and then fades out.

"What's happening?" Danny asks, not knowing why Technus all of the sudden glitches, but then sees the two long cords trails down from the back of Technus's robot head, leading into Tucker's PDA which reads 'SHUTDOWN'.

Tucker smiled while he was shutting down Technus' robotic armor "Portals XL is happening. Everybody knows that every new version of Portals XL has a gigantic hole in its security system."

This revelation shocked Technus, as he felt so easily for it "What?! NO!"

Technus continues to glitch, making the claws that held Danny and Ember lose their grip and were able to free themselves with their combined strength. Ember took her chance to grab the end of the claw "Process this, techno freak!" Ember says while she shoves the claw into Technus's front disk drive, causing the suit to electrocute and causes 'ERROR' to blink on his screen.

"Wait! That doesn't go there!" Technus screams in shock.

After some large sparks, the suit shots down, hunching forward.

Tucker pulls out the Fenton Thermos and tosses it to Ember "And for my final trick…"

Ember caught the thermos and used it to suck Technus out of the battle suit, into the thermos "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooo…!"

The battle suit then shakes and falls apart into a heap of electronics on the ground. Danny and Ember land on the ground. While Ember caps off the thermos, Sam congratulated Tucker on how he was able to shut down Technus's battle suit "Nice going, Tuck."

"Don't thank me. Thank lousy software." Tucker said while holding up the disk.

Ember gave the Fenton Thermos to Danny while suggesting "We should better send Technus back to the Ghost-Zone, and clean up this mess." Danny looked at his parent's junk, now no longer cursed. He nodded, as it was the best thing they should do.

Both used their ghost powers to quickly pick up all the junk and bringing it all back into the Fenton shed and send Technus back into the Ghost-Zone.

Later on, after they joined again with Sam and Tucker while transforming back into their human forms, Ember started saying while they all walked back to Sam's house "Man, what a night…"

Tucker nodded as he said "Yeah. Danny with a whole new look, crashing Dash's party and sending that maniacally techno ghost back to the Ghost-Zone. But, what are we gonna do with all that mess in your basement, Sam?"

Sam smiled as she stated "Don't worry. I made a call to clean up the movie room while Danny and Ember cleaned all the mess that Technus left behind. Should be done by now."

Danny was happy to hear that "Great, now let's get back and finish the Lord of the Rings marathon!"

All cheered at that idea.

But then, as they all walked pass the same street that lead to the suburbs, to where Ember's old place stood.

Ember stopped as she watched down the street, feeling the same old pain from before.

Danny felt what Ember was feeling and stopped while turning himself to her. He walked up to her and asked "Hey, are you alright?"

Ember looked at him, while Sam and Tucker joined them, wandering why Ember just stopped and watched down the street.

Danny looked for a moment to where Ember looked at, and noticed that it was the same neighborhood where he found Ember several days ago. Danny could feel that despite Ember was feeling bad about that place, she also gathered some courage to say to her friends. She looked at them and said while sighing "Come. I need to show you guys something." she then started walking down the street, with Danny, Sam and Tucker following.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived in the old neighborhood in the suburbs where Ember used to live before she died. They stopped at her old house, which was completely burned beyond repair "Why did you brought us here, Em?" Sam asked.

Danny answered for her "This is… where I found Ember when she was… you know?"

That Sam surprised, but now understood it "Oh."

Tucker was still confused, as they joined Ember inside the old destroyed house "But, what's so special about this old dumb?"

Ember leaned against a wall as she stated sadly "This… old dumb… is the place where I used to live… when I was still alive… and the place where I became a ghost."

This surprised Sam and Tucker, as this old burned down house was once the place where Ember used to live, before she became a ghost. For Danny, it made so much more sense "So this is where you lived…? And died?"

Ember nodded, while she was still sad.

"Ember, how did it happen? How… did you… die?" Sam asked with hesitation, not wanting to make Ember mad, but wanting to know how she became a ghost.

After thinking for a moment, Ember sighed again and gave them all the details of how she died "To better make sense of how I died… I guess it's better that I should tell you what my life was before. You see, my life went to hell when I was just six years old. When we were having a family trip across the country, my little sister, Amy drowned in a river. My mother blamed herself for what happened and went through a mental breakdown. My dad had no choice but to… bring her to a mental hospital. But my mother didn't improve and… I was told that… she lost the will to live and died. Some months after my mom had passed away, my dad remarried a women named, Patricia. That women may looked like a sweet and kind person on the outside, but deep down, she was a horrible person and was always bad towards me… and my dad never believed me and always took her side…. I never felt so alone." Ember said with anger when she mentioned her horrible stepmom, but sobbed when she said how lonely she felt.

"Like you guys, I was also treated like an outcast at school and I didn't had any friends. But despite my sorrow and pain, the only thing that could ease it all, was when I was singing and playing on my electric guitar. I dreamed of becoming a rock star one day."

Ember then took something out of her pocket and showed it to Danny, Sam and Tucker. Danny took it and saw that it was a picture, from a class on Casper high from 1984. All three then looked, and saw in it that one of the girls looked exactly like Ember in her rock-goth outfit. Ember pointed to the girl that looked like her, with below saying the girl's name 'Emily McLain', and said "That girl… was me." that shocked Danny, Sam and Tucker, as they glanced at Ember, who then said what would shock them even more "To tell you guys the truth. Emily McLain isn't a name that I just made up. It's my real name."

Danny, Sam and Tucker couldn't believe of what they were hearing. This was a huge shock to all of them, that they'd see in front of them the girl that had died twenty years.

Ember took the courage to tell further "In the last months of my life, one day, one of the popular kids, a seventeen year old boy named, Rick started talking with me all of the sudden and we spend a lot of time together. And a few weeks later, we started dating and became a couple. While I was dating him, I started to get noticed by the other students and wasn't being ignored anymore. But that all changed, when in September of 1984, Rick didn't called me for weeks. When I found him again, I saw him kissing another girl. I was infuriated with him and when he tried to explain that it wasn't what I thought it was, I knew he was trying to lie his way out of it. So I dumped him on the spot."

Some tears were forming in her eyes, as the memory of her ex-boyfriend from 1984 cheating on her was painful enough "I… I didn't go home because I was so sad and pissed off at him. So I just wandered the streets until night came. When I did came home and fell asleep in my room, I was so tired, that I didn't know that the house was on fire. When I did, I tried to find anywhere to get out of the house, but the fire had already spread so fast that there was no way for me to get out. I called for help… but nobody came. So… with no possible way to get out, I just closed my eyes and prayed that God would help me. When the flames surrounded me, all I could… think was… my little sister, Amy… hoping to see her again in the afterlife…. And before I died in the flames, I yelled my lungs out, calling out her name…. But I did not see my little sister's spirit… instead I found myself… in the Ghost-Zone…" Tears fell from her eyes, remembering that awful night.

Hearing this tragic story from Ember, horrified Danny, Sam and Tucker. Ember cried, as she had never told this to anyone before, not even any of the other ghosts in the Ghost-Zone.

Danny embraced her, letting her cry on his shoulder. He could truly feel so much pain in those memories of Ember and wanted to be there for her "You'll never have to be alone again, Ember. I will always be there for you. Always."

Sam and Tucker comforted Ember as well "We'll be there for you too, Em. All of us." Sam said, as a tear came from her eye.

Tucker nodded as she stroke Ember's back "Yeah. You're our friend, and friends never let each other down."

While she sobbed, Ember smiled a bit, as her friends would always be there for her… always.

---

Some time later, at Sam's place…

The whole friend group had returned some time before to Sam's house, finishing watching the Lord of the Rings marathon.

When they finished watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Ember said after taking a sip from her soda "Okay, that was… amazing. These are the best movies I've ever seen."

The others smiled at her, as they knew that Ember would love the Lord of the Rings movies. Sam then said "Just wait untill you see the final part that will come out next month on DVD."

Danny was feeling relieved that Ember had been calmed down after she'd told about her past, though he could sense that it was still hurting her of even thinking about her past. He hoped that he could help her with this.

Tucker then unexpectedly suggested "So, what's shall we do next?!" this made the others look a bit surprised at first.

But then Sam smirked while pressing a button on a different remote, opening the movie screen wall sliding open to the four-lane bowling alley "Anyone in for a game of bowling then?" Sam asked, making Danny, Ember and Tucker excited to do that.

For nearly an hour, the friend group all enjoyed a good game of bowling, till they were all feeling tired. Danny and Tucker were allowed to use one of the guest rooms, while Sam and Ember both slept in their own beds.

The next morning, after eating some well expensive breakfast, Danny and Tucker both went home. When Danny came home, his parents were completely surprised to see their son in a whole new look. Danny just said that this new rock outfit of his, is expressing for what he really is.

The first thing that Danny did, after finishing his homework, was getting rid of all his old clothes and used the money he had left from the garage sale to buy some new clothes and other stuff to place in his room. Jack and Maddie weren't complaining too much or getting into an argument with their son, but deep down, both were a bit worried, hoping that this was just a phase that Danny was going through.

However, Jazz was thinking about Danny's new behavior while taking some notes and only came to one conclusion: Danny was tired of being someone that he was not and was slowly changing into the real Danny Fenton. She was a bit proud at her brother, that he was searching for his true self, but was also wandering that this might have caused just by himself, or that someone is influencing him 'Hmmm, could this have caused by some influence from Sam… or Emily?' Jazz mentally asked herself while taking some notes.

That same afternoon, a lot of angry people, who'd bought the stuff from Danny's garage sale all wanted their money back. Luckily for Danny, his parents, nor Jazz weren't around. But because he had spend all the money he made, he was in a difficult situation. That was when his friends arrived at the scene. When Danny explained that the people wanted their money back, he was this close to just bring all the stuff he had bought back to the shop and pay all the people their money back. But because Sam knew how Danny was more himself after embracing his 'Rock'n'Roll-side', she instead paid the people their money back, since she was technically wealthy rich. Danny didn't know what to say, but was very thankful for her help.

That night, Danny couldn't sleep that well. He lied on his bed while staring at the ceiling. He sighed deeply while looking at his clock, showing it was 02:00 AM. He then looked around his room, on all the walls were some new posters added with either rock stars or rock bands. The door to his wardrobe was still open, revealing some of the new rock outfits he'd bought. Some were nearly the same as the one he bought yesterday, while a few others were slightly different.

But it was not his new rock-side that was keeping him awake. The young Fenton was thinking about Ember, when she was telling about her past, about this 'mental link' that they were sharing, the many ghosts that they fought together and how much he had improved ever since Ember became his friend and mentor. He had no idea why he was thinking about all of this, neither why he was feeling so angry and envious when he saw that 'shrine' with Ember's pictures in her human disguise, revealing that Dash has a secret crush on her.

After failing to get these thoughts out of his head, he stood up from his bed and took his guitar, thinking that maybe playing some music would calm him down. He sat back on the bed, while playing a bit on the strings, seeing what song come to his mind. But after some minutes, he could not think of any good song. He groaned while he stood up and watched out of his window, looking down into town.

Danny sighed while leaning against the window. All he could think about was Ember.

Unknown to him, Ember couldn't sleep as well. She didn't know either why she was having these things on her mind… about Danny. She sighed deep as she stood up from her bed and walked over to her window, just looking out over town. But then… she could hear some music…. It felt like it came from Danny, like he was using his mind, trying to imagine he was playing it together with a band while playing his guitar.

Back in Danny's house, Danny was playing something on his guitar, while strangely trying to imagine that there are other people playing too.

(This is the song 'I want to know what love is' (the Tom Cruise & Malin Akerman version from the movie 'Rock of Ages'))

---

Danny: I gotta take a little time, a little time to think things over
I better read between the lines, in case I need it when I'm older

---

Danny sighed deep. But then… he could hear Ember's voice, singing along with the song too.

---

Ember: Oooooh Woah-ah-aah In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
Can't stop now, I've traveled so far to change this lonely life

---

Danny didn't know what this feeling was, neither did Ember, but both didn't care and just rolled with it.

---

Both: I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is, I know you can show me

Ember: Aaaah woah-ah-aah

---

In their minds, it was like they were now face to face, standing close together while different lights sparked around them

---

Danny: I'm gonna take a little time, a little time to look around me
Ember: I've got nowhere left to hide, it looks like love has finally found me

---

Both then held each other in their arms, looking into each other's eyes

---

Danny: In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
I can't stop now, I've traveled so far

Both: to change this lonely life

---

Danny and Ember then hovered in the air, not letting each other go, while Ember's hair was flaring up, not out of anger… but out of love.

---

Danny: (Let's talk about love)

Both: I wanna know what love is

Ember: (Love that you feel inside)

Danny: I want you to show me
Ember: (I'm feeling so much love)

Danny: I wanna feel what love is

Ember: (No, you just cannot hide)

Danny: I know you can show me

Ember: Yeah aaaah-ah-aaah

Danny: I wanna know what love is

Ember: (let's talk about love)

Danny: I want you to show me

Ember: (I want to feel it too)

Danny: I wanna feel what love is

Ember: (I want to feel it too and I know…)

Danny: I want you to show me

Ember: (And I know and I know and I knoooooooow)

Both: Aaaaah ah-aaaaaaah

---

Both smiled to each other. Their faces moved closer to each other, closing their eyes. Their lips nearly made contact….

"Danny?" all of the sudden sounded, making Danny to lose focus and found himself back in his room again.

Danny winked several times before turning himself, seeing a sleepy Jazz at his door. Annoyed, Danny asked "Jazz? Don't you ever knock before you enter my room!?"

Jazz wiped her sleepy eyes while saying "I'm sorry Danny, but… I was trying to sleep and your music woke me up."

Realizing that he didn't mean to wake up Jazz, Danny understood "Oh, right. Sorry. I was… going to sleep now anyway." he said while putting his guitar down.

Jazz nodded "Okay, well… goodnight, Danny." Danny just nodded as Jazz went back to her room, closing Danny's door behind her.

Danny then turned back to the window, hoping that Ember was still there. But he didn't sense anything. He sighed deep in disappointed as he went back to bed. He had no idea what had just happened. Well… maybe he did, but didn't know what to make of this. But most importantly, in this 'imagination' or something, he nearly kissed Ember!

Danny's eyes went wide as what this was meaning. He was falling in love with Ember!

In Ember's bedroom, after Danny broke contact, Ember stared at the window frozen of what had just happened. She then held both her hands on her head as she lied back on her bed "Oh my God! I… I almost… I almost kissed dipstick!"

She had no idea if this was just an imagination, or that something came through their mental link, but this was so overwhelming for her. She was nearly kissing Danny! The one that she trained, who was her partner and best friend. Her eyes went wide as she gasped at what this all meant "I… I'm falling in love with Danny!"

She buried her head in her pillows, begging herself that this wasn't true "No. No no no, that can't be! I can't… I can't be in love with Danny! I… I can't be."

---

The next morning, Casper High…

(April 26th, 2004)

Danny (now wearing his rock outfit), Ember, Sam and Tucker walked together through the hallway. Tucker noticed that Danny and Ember have been acting weirdly this morning, like they were a bit uncomfortable when they were together. He raised an eyebrow when he was thinking what could've caused them to act like this, but instead asked "So, Danny? Did you get in trouble for taking your folks' stuff?"

That made Danny to glance at Tucker for a moment. He shrugged while explaining "Not really. Though my dad's been checking every piece for government surveillance devices, so no one can take his junk again."

"Sounds like you got off pretty easily," Sam said "And how did they reacted to your new look?"

Danny proudly stated "Well, they were surprised at first, but didn't argued about it. They probably think that this is just a phase, but no, THIS is permanent."

Ember tried to act a bit normal and said with a smile "Well, you sure make a lot of people turn their heads." she pointed with her thump to some students who looked surprised at how 'the nerd with the guitar' was not looking or acting like a nerd anymore. Danny noticed it, making him chuckle.

Just then, Kwan walked over to them and asked "Hey, Fenton! You and McLain have missed a hell of a party last Saturday."

Danny just smirked while he crossed his arms "I think we already knew what we were missing, Kwan. And neither of us even are even regret of missing it." Ember nodded while she leans against a locker.

This made Kwan confused, but also Danny's new rock outfit made him confused. Not knowing what to say next, he just walked over to Dash and said to him "Yo, Dash! Have you seen Fenton's new look? He's like… a total different person!"

Dash just shrugged while he chuckled "Hahahaha, yeah right. Like that 'more nerdy' look is gonna hide of what kind of a pussy he really is."

Kwan however shook his head, as he wasn't just seeing a new look, but also a different personality in Danny "I don't know, bro. He was like COMPLETELY different to me."

Dash took a look at Danny, who was talking with his friends in the hallway. Danny noticed that Dash was watching him, and gave him a glare. This kind of attitude surprised Dash, as he was indeed seeing a different kind of person in the one who was always his favorite target. But then, Dash looked for a moment at Emily. His smile grew when he saw her and was in a awe moment when his thoughts brought him back at the moment that Emily McLain came to their school.

When he saw her the first time and hearing her voice, his world stood still, as he was looking at the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, in a way he never saw in Paulina before. Though he was hiding it so well in order to protect his reputation and to date either Paulina or another girl as a cover, he made himself swore that one day he will make Emily his girl.

Paulina, who just joined them, noticed that her boyfriend was daydreaming and snapped her fingers before Dash's face a few times "Dash? Dash?!"

Dash snapped out of it and glanced at Paulina "Huh…? What?"

Paulina frowned at him "Were you peeking at other girls?"

"Who? Me? Nah! I was just… thinking of a way to blow off some steam at the nerd with a guitar." Dash lied as he pretended that he was just thinking of a way to bully Danny again today.

Paulina looked at where Dash was looking at, where Danny and his friends stood, making her shrug "I'm sure you going to expose that nerd that that filthy rock outfit is just a mask to cover his fear for you."

Dash nodded while giving a smirk, as he was about to open his locker. But as he opened it, a pile of his collection of teddy bears and pictures of Emily feel out in front of him, shocking him. Some students gasped, not because of the teddy bears, but because of the many pictures of Emily McLain, what held a lot of hearts around them.

Paulina took one of the pictures, and said with wide eyes "You have a thing for that Californian rock chick?!" she then gave a serious glare to her boyfriend.

Dash tried to cover his tracks "I-I-It's not what it looks like, baby! It's-"

Paulina angerly cram the picture and threw it into Dash's face "That's it! You and I are done!" she then turned her back at her 'ex-boyfriend' and left the hallway.

Dash looked back at where Danny and his friends stood, they all laughed as they left for the next class. But Danny stopped, turning his face to Dash with a victorious smirk at him. Dash knew that this was Danny's doing and yelled "Fenton! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!" Danny just walked further, while giving the finger to Dash, making Dash growl in anger. But he took a moment to look at Emily too, what made him somehow calm. Dash then smirked as he thought of a good plan to get back at Danny "Just you wait, Fenton. First I take your girl, then I take your pride. I swear it!"

There you go, people! The fourth chapter of The Flame and the Phantom is here! Sorry for the delay, but I hope it was worth the wait.

Anyway, as I previously mentioned in another chapter of my other story, and on my profile, I'm going to take a little break from writing on this website, in order to focus on writing a book that I have in mind. But don't you guys worry, I won't be gone forever. I will still be there to answer your PM's or reviews.

I don't know yet when I'll be back and write more chapters for my stories, but I'll surely let you guys know. That's a promise :)

Now, the next chapter is going to be a special chapter. And with special chapter, I mean a very own made chapter! It will involve with what happened to Ember's father and stepmom after she died and became a ghost, and a way for Ember to finally bury the past, and move on.

So anyway, like and review! And I'll see you guys, hopefully, VERY soon.

Wish me luck!