Author's Note: I own nothing.
23 A Large Reward
Dani rolled her eyes at the groups that had gathered at the Nasty Burger. Someone had put a bounty on her head, well the Ghost Girl's head. So now not only were the cops looking for her but so were many other people. Most of them had gathered here, since it was one of the last places that the ghost girl had been seen.
A group of college age kids sat at a table outside, likely there because of the large tiger they had with them. Their blue and pink van proclaimed them the Groovy Gang and Scaredy Cat. Inside about six tables away from Dani, Tanya and Sam sat two men in white suits, one dark skinned the other tanned, both with closely shaved hair and dark shades. They were the Guys in White and they worked for the government as their ghost catching devision. Two more college age kids sat at a window seat tossing a hacky sack back and forth between them. According to the Internet they were the Xtream Ghost Breakers. A pair of men walked past them, one with black hair and the other with brown.
"I always take what a ghost hunter says with a grain of salt." One commented. The other laughed.
"You're a ghost hunter now!" He pointed out. Dani shook her head Sam frowned at her.
"You're not at all nervous?" He asked.
"He's right these are the best known ghost hunters in the world." Tanya said glancing after the two men.
"Yeah, best known. Not the best. It's basically who's who of who can't catch ghosts." She sipped her soda. "Which of course means my parents should be here any moment." She was right, her parents appeared a few moments later barging into the restaurant. Dani sighed. The three of them left quickly but didn't make it far. The ghost vultures attacked, the three of them diving out of the way as Jack and Maddie came running to help them. Dani made it behind the dumpster but Tanya and Sam weren't as lucky. They got snatched up by two of the Vultures while Jack was being dragged around by the third. Dani rolled her eyes checking around to make sure she was unobserved. She transformed, taking off as fast as she could. If she was lucky she could get the vultures taken care of and vanish again without the ghost hunters ever noticing her. She knew she wasn't going to be that lucky when something caught her by the back of her suit. She was yanked upward and looked up, meeting the bright red gaze of Vlad Plasmius.
"I see you got the belt off." She quipped. He rolled his eyes at her, snatching her hand with his as she went to blast him. The shot went wild sailing off into the night sky. "The fuck are you doing here."
"Well let's see, your father looks like an idiot, there's a million dollars on your head. I think I'm having the time of my half-life." Electricity blossomed from his hand where he held her wrist coursing through her like fire in her veins. She screamed as he vision blurred. Vlad tisked at her. "Careful, can't have you turning back into Dani Fenton just yet. This may be your father's party but you're the guest of honor!" He laughed as she blinked her vision clearing. Suddenly she was tossed through the air as Sam and Tanya screamed. She had to find them and fast. But before she could she came crashing to the pavement she blinked, looking up at the barrels of at least six different guns and a growling tiger. Dani frowned, she didn't have time for this.
"Uh… Boo?" She really hadn't expected that to work, but the tiger balked, leaping onto the nearest human to get away from her. That human happened to be one of the Guys in White who stumbled backward, dropping his blaster and knocking into one of the Xtream Ghost Breakers, who in turn slipped knocking down a few of the Groovy Gang. Dani held in her laughter and sank into the pavement as her father came barreling around the corner, having lost the vulture. She resurfaced behind the dumpster, spotting Sam and Tanya pulling themselves out of it. She transformed back into herself, helping them the rest of the way out of the trash. Laughter caught their attention and they peeked around the building to see the other ghost hunters laughing at her father on the ground. Dani frowned and stalked away from the group rubbing her lower back with one hand. She was going to be bruised from the neck down for a week after that landing. The trio made it back to the house and Tanya and Sam hopped into the shower one after the other as Dani listlessly worked on her long neglected chores. The beeping from the ghost portal was obnoxious but the filter could wait another minute while she finished washing the beakers.
Sam and Tanya came down to help with her chores and she shook her head.
"I swear Vlad's just here to embarrass my dad. He really doesn't need help with that." Dani was at the sink and didn't see her father coming down the stairs. "I mean did you see the way those guys were laughing at him." Sam cleared his throat and Dani's heart dropped. "He's right behind me isn't he?" Footsteps sounded on the stairs as Dani turned around, pulling off the hazmat gloves.
"Well he was." Sam commented looking reproachfully at Dani. She buried her head in her hands.
"Who needs Vlad, I just did his fucking job for him!" She swore to herself and Tanya stepped forward putting a hand on her shoulder.
"That was pretty harsh Dani. You know what would make him feel better?" She asked. Dani looked up at her shaking her head. "Catching a ghost!" Sam shook his head but Dani nodded.
"Not just any ghost. The Million Dollar Ghost." She said transforming. Sam shook his head.
"Let's maybe think about this for a minute!" But Dani wasn't listening to him. She flew straight through the ceiling. Sam cuffed Tanya around the back of the head. "That was really fucking stupid! I get she wants to make him feel better but did you forget these are the people who are constantly talking about ripping her apart molecule by molecule!" Tanya shook her head.
"The bounty says, 'The specimen must be intact to collect the reward.' This is the only time she can do this and not get hurt."
"Except it's Vlad they're handing her over to! You think that's gonna go well?!" Sam shot back. Tanya shook her head.
"Well no, but she's found a way to beat him every other time." Tanya reasoned. Sam rolled his eyes, he loved his friends but sometimes they were complete idiots. A shout sounded from upstairs that sounded distinctly like Dani. Sam and Tanya glanced at each other before taking off up the stairs. The front door closed as they stepped into the living room. Maddie was smiling, she turned to them a slight bounce in her step.
"Jack caught the ghost girl! He's off to turn her in for the prize money now! Where's Dani? I should let her know." Sam covered their asses.
"She went out to the library, needed to pick up a book for class. All that extra work Lancer piled on her after the Fenton Peeler Incident." He claimed calm as could be. Jack had started the week misunderstanding a city wide memo that had stated that Casper High would be implementing Ghost Drills along side the regular fire drills. Maddie nodded.
"I'll let her know when she gets home then." She checked her watch. "It's getting close to your curfew isn't it? You two should get going." Sam nodded steering Tanya out of Fenton Works. This had to be the stupidest plan ever. Tanya dug in her heels.
"What about the other ghost hunters? We need to keep them busy while Dani takes care of Vlad." She pointed out and Sam sighed.
"Got any bright ideas about how to do that?" He asked, only somewhat sarcastically.
"As a matter of fact I do!"
