Thanks for following and favoriting! I appreciate all the feedback, especially from DigiPhantom! Concerning your question about a 3-way relationship of Danny, Raven, and Ember; You'll have to wait and see. But I have full confidence that you'll enjoy how it all pans out in the end. Sorry again about the late upload. I want to try and release this week by week but we'll see how that works out. Thanks again guys and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!!
Chapter 4:
No Rest for the Wicked
DANNY POVDanny's alarm went off at around 5:40 a.m. He moaned, then proceeded to phase out of his blanket and float on over to the bathroom. He noticed Jazz getting out of her room at the same time as she noticed him, so she rushed over to get there first. Danny smirked and used his ghostly speed and rushed right through the closed door, phasing before he slammed into it, locking it behind him then turning on the light.
"Danny! That's so not fair! It's not like I'm able to do any of that! Jazz complained.
"All's fair in love and war Jazzy-Pants!!!" Danny said with mirth.
"Whatever! Just hurry it up, I gotta get ready as well and I don't need you brooding in there like you usually do. And don't call me Jazzy-Pants. I can barely stand Dad saying it!" Jazz said in a huffed tone. Danny mimicked her reaction word for word before she hit the door along saying
"And stop mocking me, I know you're copying my every sentence behind there. Even if you are a hero you still act so childish!"
Danny jumped at that. "She is so spot on about things it's downright creepy. Maybe she is a ghost." He thought with a smile thinking back when his parents thought she was a ghost. He then rolled his eyes "Bet if he didn't have ghost powers and she did, they would be completely clueless about it. Would probably be chasing him instead" He loved his parents but their almost comedic ignorance was ridiculous at times. Danny peeled off his clothes from last night and he tossed them into the laundry bin in the bathroom. He didn't get to shower last night after everything went down. He barely made it home for curfew. He looked in the mirror and was proud of the body that was sculpted after all the intense training and ghost fighting he did. He sported a nice set of washboard worthy abs, he looked down and then noticed the two scars that wouldn't heal completely with his powers. His healing factor was superb. It usually healed everything within a day, even a few broken ribs. But these wounds were the worst he's gotten. One of the scars was recent. Within the last week. It was about three inches long and it was actually from a knife that Skulker plunged into him from behind. Went through clean and he had to escape from him with the help of Wulf. Thankfully Wulf brought him straight to Tucker and let him know what had happened. Tucker helped Danny wrap the wound and told him that he had to rest, it was one of the worst injuries I had gotten. The other scar was from The Red Huntress. She got him with an upgraded weapons she definitely got from Vlad. I doubt he knows exactly how powerful these weapons are because that one hurt a lot. It left scar about two inches wide and 3 inches tall, on the left lower side of his rib. He didn't know why those weapon hurt more than the others, but he also wasn't willing to find out.
Sam was with him when he got that scar. She was always his rock. Someone he looked to when the going got rough. He always thought in the back of his head that if they were to date, they'd be inseparable. They'd be call the power duo. Everyone else already seemed to think so, and he honestly couldn't believe he didn't think about her this way sooner. But when he finally had the courage to tell her his feelings, she turned him down. She told him that she didn't love Danny for Danny. She loved Phantom more and that killed his confidence in himself as Danny, not Phantom. How could the girl he loves, not really love the him he's been for about 80% of his existence? He couldn't blame her though. Phantom was always calm, cool, collected. He had ghost powers and could make Ice sculptures with his bare hands. He was a HERO. Fenton wasn't any of those things. He was scared of ghosts, hated big crowds, was kind of a loner and had crazy parents who wanted to capture every ghost and dissect them. No wonder girls didn't swarm over him.
He had horrible luck with girls now that he thought about it. Paulina was possessed by Kitty. Kitty was someone he thought about once in a blue moon because he actually got along with her and it felt genuine. But that was Johnny 13's girl and he was okay with that being the status quo. Valerie was honestly his first really big crush. He fell head over heels with her, it's such a shame she hates his ghost side. Huh. Weird. Valerie loved Danny but hated his ghost side, whereas Sam loved his Ghost side but didnt love Danny the same way. Go figure he gets the complicated relationships. He went and turned on the shower and as he shampooed his hair he thought about how he was gonna deal with Sam today at school. "I guess I'll just avoid her today. I'm not ready to face her. Besides, it'll give me time to think about where I want the direction of our friendship to head. We won't be the same after I confessed to her and honestly, I don't think I want it to be. She made her decision. Everything has changed."
Speaking of change, he figured he'd have to tell both Tucker and Sam about his surprise meeting with Raven of the Titans and how be became an honorary Titan himself. Tucker will probably geek out and fanboy like Danny himself wanted to last night. Although he kept a calm demeanor, he wanted to jump at the chance to ask Raven all sorts of questions. She had mystical powers that tied to even ghosts. He wanted to know what she knew about the Ghost Zone and if he could learn moves from her and different spells. He figured he was considered supernatural so maybe he had the ability to do some of the things she could. His telekinesis honestlh sucked. Sadly, he'd have to wait until they became better friends before any of that happened. He understood that freaking out and going all fanboy on her and the other Titans would be super uncool and to be honest he understood that. He didn't appreciate fans like Paulina at all.
He finished washing his body and he turned off the shower head. He phased all the water off of him, leaving him completely dry before stepping out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom.
"Finally! It's already 6:05. We have to leave by 6:40 if we are gonna make it on time for school. You're always so-" Jazz started before she stared at his body
"Jazz? You're creeping me out, and that means a lot coming from a Ghost Boy" Danny said nervously.
Jazz moved forward before she placed her hand on his left rib "How did you get this? I thought your healing factor took care of stuff like this?"
"Red Huntress. She had some upgraded weapon from Vlad and it nicked me harder than I thought. Seriously Jazz, let it go, I'm fine." He said in an annoyed voice
"Oh, sorry. It's just that it surprises me that you really do go out there every night and protect us all. This is just a reminder of the sacrifice that you make every time you go ghost. And I just want you to know that I'm proud of the man you are." Jazz said in an admired tone. "You're such an amazing brother and person so don't ever forget that! Hurry up and get dressed though, you don't want Mom and Dad seeing those scars, it'll cause too many problems"
"Tell me about it." Danny laughed. "and Jazz?"
"Yes Danny?"
"Thank you, I needed that."
"Anytime little Bro."
Danny made his way back to his room where he got dressed and grabbed his backpack along with his cellphone. He messaged Tucker to make sure he was ready
Danny:
Make sure you're ready
Tucker:
Yeah Np. Jazz picking us up still?
Danny:
Yes. We'll be there by 6:40
Danny put his phone into his pocket and put the new Titans communicator in his bag and then headed downstairs to grab some food before Jazz finished getting ready. It was already 6:15. He smelled something that was a mix between socks and bacon. He scrunched up his nose when he realized it was his Mom cooking with ectoplasm again. She had mutated the bacon and it had a weird otherworldly glow to it
"Morning Mom! Did you kill off all the bacon already?" Danny asked incredulously
"Bacon was already dead before honey, but if you're asking if there's more, palatable options, then yes. It's in the microwave along with a suitable meal for you. Eggs and waffles." She returned with a smile.
"Thanks! I appreciate it!" He loved his Mom. And her cooking was great when she wasn't trying to experiment on everything. Maddie Fenton was a true genius. She wanted to know whether you could find suitable ways to use ecto-energy to safely cook food. If she could figure it out, then she would be able to patent that technology and use it to further fund her other more, elaborate experiments and theories. Not that the family was really hard on cash. Ever since Ghost were publicly announced, her and Jack Fenton, her husband, have been getting grants left and right for their research. It paid the bills and got everything moving along nicely. They are the forefront of this research too, so it's not as though they have too much competition. He just wished he didn't have that one hot dog attack him two weeks ago. Still haunted him. Heh. The ghost boy is haunted by ghost hot dogs. The irony in that would make others keel over from laughter. He continued to eat his food and waited for Jazz to finish. Jazz made her way downstairs eating a granola bar at around 6:35 and told Danny to go and meet her at the car when he was finished. She gave her Mom and kiss and told her to tell Dad she loved him.
Danny said bye to his Mom with a kiss and team outside to Jazz and phased right into the passenger seat.
"You know, you're gonna get caught if you aren't careful" Jazz warned
"Maybe, but you're right, I'll be more careful" Danny replied. "Wouldn't want to be confused as a ghost like you were" he said with a smirk
"Ha-Ha! Funny. Buckle up smart-aleck."
"You love me." Danny said
"Only on days the end with S." Jazz quipped
"No day ends with S." Danny replied
"Exactly!" Jazz said as she stuck her tongue at him teasingly
"Punk." Danny said with a smile.
They drove all the way to Tucker and he was waiting outside already. He hopped into the back seat and greeted both Jazz and fist bumped Danny as they made their way to school. Sam didn't like cars so she used her electric scooter to get to and from school. She'd meet them there in front of their lockers. On the drive there, Danny recounted everything that happened to him last night regarding Sam and Raven. Jazz was a little peeved and Tucker was pale. Both were excited about him meeting the famous Titans, but were still hung up on Sam's behaviour. Danny told them not to treat her any different. She was still their friend but he felt both of them deserved to know what happened so they didn't think he was acting weird. Danny asked Tucker what was wrong and that he still looked a little pale, but Tucker said not to worry about it. It wasn't important at the moment. Danny didn't believe a word he said but he let it go...for now.
When they arrived at school, Jazz said she had to go talk to someone before she headed to class. Danny didn't question it. She was always helping someone and he'd be damned if he tried to intrude in her business. He and Tucker made their way to the lockers. Danny spotted Sam almost immediately and not even 2 seconds later she saw him. She gave him and strange look. A cross between shame, shyness, and fear. At that moment, he understood where she was coming from. She spoke from her heart and she was nervous. Maybe he could get through this and they can still be friends. The dynamic trio got together and Sam was about to say something when Danny interrupted her.
"Look Sam, I get it. You're sorry. I'm sorry too. I can imagine it wasn't easy for you to tell me exactly how you felt. You may love me, but it's not the same kind of love I have for you. You're infatuated with the idea of Phantom, but you only love Danny as a brother at most. And as much as that hurts, I can't make you love me the way I want, because that's plain selfish. So, are we cool? Can we just be friends?" Danny said in a wistful tone
"Danny, yes of course! I'm sorry. I fell in love with Phantom and realized that I didn't love you for you. The date was a testing ground and of course I love you, just not the same way you love me. I was too harsh and I didn't mean for it to sound that way. But I couldn't in my right mind string you along like that. I respect you too much." Sam said with tears starting to form.
Danny pulled her into a hug and told her it was okay. It hurt, but he understood that she has to live her truth. He was far from over this feelings. Even just holding her made his heart ache
"Aww, even when you aren't dating you guys still manage to pull the heartstrings." Tucker said with a smile. The other two friend laughed with some tears in their eyes. "You guys are the best friends a guy could have." Danny said with a lopsided smile. "That reminds me, I have to tell you about what happened last night after I left our date." Danny said immediately.
"What do you mean? Did you have to fight anyone?" Sam asked suddenly
"No, not at all. Well, maybe a little." Danny said cryptically
"Spill the beans Danny before I judo flip you." Sam said with a smile.
"Okay okay. I met Raven from the Teen Titans." Danny said in a hushed tone
"WHAT?!?!?" Sam yelled
Heads turned over in their direction and Danny had to cover her mouth before she started babbling.
"Yeah, I'll tell you about it on the way to class. We can't bring more attention to ourselves." Danny whispered to her.
"Okay okay. But you gotta tell me everything"
Danny recounted everything that happened yesterday after he left. Sam soaked everything up and was super surprised that he became an honorary Titan just like that. He said that she gave it to him because helped her. She also might have been able to see how powerful he was. She is kind of an expert in the supernatural. Tucker agreed saying that she deals with a bunch of things that even he hasn't heard of so it'd make sense if she got a gut feeling about him. They all sat down into Mr.Lancer's classroom and Tucker gave him a sad look. Which Mr. Lancer tilted his head inquisitively before Tucker pointed at Sam and Danny without them knowing and then pointed his thumbs down. Mr.Lancer was in complete shock. Foley just gave him the gossip of the century. He'd have to ask him to elaborate after class if they had time.
LANCER POV:
"Daniel and Samantha are no longer a thing? Did something happen? Does this mean the bet is off? Hmm. Looks like I'm gonna be digging into some of my savings for this one. I hope Mr.Foley can further explain the situation. We need to keep this under wraps for as long as possible until we know for sure. They still have a year and a half before the end of the high school." Mr.Lancer thought to himself.
After class Mr.Lancer pulled Tucker aside and asked him what happened. Tucker explained that the bet is off because it's clear that they aren't gonna get together, even in two years. Half the student body was in on the bet and about of them were betting that they'd get together. Tucker saying it'd take a world ending catastrophe for them to realize their feelings, or by senior year. They both ended up agreeing that no one should know about this development yet. The grand pot was $400 dollars and neither of them had the cash yet.
DANNY POV:
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Even Dash hadn't bothered him at all. Looked like he was dealing with some personal things because Paulina looked visibly upset by it. Danny wasn't gonna question it though. Sam and him found a weird balance, they both knew it'd be a while before everything became somewhat bearable but until then it's gonna be awkward. They had all gathered together in the cafeteria so they could eat. Every time he came here, he remembered his first big boss fight with the Lunch Lady. He was so scared and confused about himself and his powers, he was amazed he even lasted that fight. With his mind preoccupied, he barely noticed his ghost sense going off. He shivered. He looked at Sam and Tucker and gave them a look that said
"I need space to go ghost" and they understood immediately. Sam caused a panic saying there were spiders crawling over the cafeteria floor and Paulina was the first to react and jumped away screaming. Danny hid in the masses and transformed and turned invisible. He took a look around a found his target.
"Hey, remember my name?" Danny shouted
"Oh great, how could I forget, Dipstick?" Ember shouted back.
"What are you doing here Ember? Do you need me to transport you home? I'll show you the grand tour of this Thermos if you play nice." Danny remarked.
"No need Dipstick. I'm not here to fight. I'm going legit. I have a higher calling and that's pleasing the masses." Ember snapped back
"Pleasing? Sounds suggestive. How about you actually explain why you are here before I make you?" Danny said in a frustrated tone
"How about you take a hike!?! I told you, I'm not here to cause problems. I broke up with Skulker because he doesn't believe I could make it big without using my powers of mind control. I'm here to prove him wrong." Ember said angrily "Honestly, the nerve of that guy. He calls himself the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone but he can't even find the remote." Ember mumbled
"So you aren't here to take over the world?" Danny said
"No Dipstick. I promise on the Ghost Prince's afterlife." She said with a slight smirk.
"Ghost Prince?"
"Ask around Phantom. You are big talk in the Ghost Zone. Maybe you should catch up on the gossip." Ember said with a wink before she disappeared in a swirl of blue fire.
"Ghost Prince???" Danny whispered to himself. He'd have to ask Clockwork what that meant. Danny made his way back to school to let his friends know what exactly just happened and that they'd have to take an after-school field trip to their favorite Master of Time