Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International.
Stranded
Chapter 2: Specter Island
Star was not having a good week. Not at all. If anything, it was down right. ..cruddy.
First she and Kwan had a fight last Monday, which resulted in one of their bi-monthly "breaks", which left her with no dates for the rest of this week, which totally blows. Then on Tuesday a huge ghost attacked the mall and it totally wrecked her favorite store Abyss, and she couldn't buy the new designer, turquoise blouse she had her eye on since the supplies got blown to bits by the fight between that ghost and Danny Phantom , but Paulina being Paulina, she managed to get one since she had hers special ordered before the attack.
It was soooo not fair!
After that it was a pop quiz in Lancer English class, Ms. Teslaff assigning everyone extra laps this week, cheer practice had to be cancelled because of another ghost attacking the school and worst of all is that her dad had to leave yesterday to handle a huge case in New York and won't be back for a week or more, leaving her home alone, though it's nothing new really, it has happened before.
Now she is stuck with one of her least favorite people to do an assignment for one of her least favorite classes. So yeah, she's not having a good week but that doesn't mean she can't make it work, especially with her popular friends around.
"Hey guys.." Star sighed as she went to greet her fellow A-listers.
"Tough luck getting stuck with Fentonosky, the sea king of the sea dweebs..." Dash said, using another "creative"insult for his favorite target.
"You're telling me...of all the people, I had to get stuck with the class weirdo..."Star said with her arms crossed.
"At least you can boss him around to do the work you don't want to do, that's what we always do when we get paired with geeks..."Paulina reminded.
"It's the only thing that they are good for..." Dash said with his arms crossed, upset that it has to be either him or Paulina on this assignment.
She's hot but when it comes to school, she's not his first choice for a partner...though he could always forced Mikey later to do any work they are missing later...which they will, without a doubt.
"I know guys but I still don't like it..." Star said to them.
"Remember that as soon as this smelly voyage is over with, it's off to Kwan house for a party, his parents are out tonight and they just added a new hot tub, and I got a new swim suit ready for it, did you remember to buy a new one?..." Paulina asked her fellow cheerleader.
Star tried not to make a face at that. Paulina knows that she and Kwan are on a break and she's not really in the mood to see him outside of school, but she knew that if Paulina was expecting someone at a party, they had to go...regardless if an ex will be there too.
That's just how it is...
"Yeah, I bought one, the white bikini we saw at Abyss yesterday..."Star answered and Paulina smiled in approval.
"Great, I told you that it would look best on you..." Paulina said with her popular girl smile.
"Take your places students, whales will be arriving soon, and you need those photos. .." Mr. Lancer walked by to remind them.
Dash and a Paulina both sighed and left to get this over with and Star knew she had to do the same, she is NOT going to get a bad grade today.
"Move it, Fenton!..."Star called to her lame partner in order to get this over with.
Because the sooner they start, the sooner it's over with and she can get back to her social life as a popular A-lister...and go to a party she doesn't even want to go to, as well...
Later
Over half an hour has passed since the groups were assigned and now each group were at the railings with cameras, in order to take pictures of the whales when the finally come up to breach. And it has been over half an hour since Star started bossing Danny around.
"Keep the camera steady, don't drop it..." Star said from behind him, since she forced him to be the one to take the pictures.
"I know how to take a simple picture, Star..." Danny shot back as he kept the camera steady..."Also, didn't Lancer say we both have to take pictures. .." He pointed out.
"No he didn't, he said that each group needed to have the pictures taken, he never said that we both had to take pictures, so long as we get them..." Star pointed out.
"So what are you going to do, just stand there and do nothing?..." Danny asked rhetorically.
Star merely ignored him and started filling her nails, making Danny very irritated, before he sighed as just adjusted the camera once more.
"The sooner those pictures are taken, the sooner I can get away from her. .."Danny muttered.
"What was that?..." Star demanded, having heard his mumbling.
"Nothing. .." Danny said as he tried to keep a cool head and wait for the whales to show up.
Suddenly they both heard some commotion from their fellow students.
"Look! LOOK! I see them..." Mikey shouted as he saw some whales finally coming to view.
"Cameras ready everyone..." Mr. Lancer ordered as he pulled out his own.
"What are you waiting for?take the picture!..." Star ordered.
Danny just diligently took as many pictures as he could of the large, majestic sea mammal, that even far away still looked amazing.
"Wow..." Danny said as he admired the sea creature as he took more pictures.
"Did you get them?..." Star demanded to know.
"Yeah, I got them, about a dozen..." Danny said as he showed her the camera.
Star took it and began to see the whale pictures with a critical eye, before losing it.
"I guess that they will do. .." Star said in a snotty voice, making Danny frown.
Before he could retort to that, Mr. Lancer got everyone's attention once again...
"Alright students, remember that in about 20 minutes we will be arriving at Specter Island in order to take pictures of the native flora...so be prepared to find your assigned flora..." Mr. Lancer shouted to his students.
Danny then saw Star beginning to text something on her cell phone and he knew now it was pointless to talk to her. He then decided to look out to the water and he could see from a far distance, their destination. ..
Specter Island...
20 minutes later
At Specter Island
Specter Island is a large, uninhabited island not far from the coast, that only ever gets visited by people wanting to study it's unique plant life, such as right now but no one lives here, due to the many stories it holds...
Once the students got off board, they soon looked at their surrounding and started swapping tall tales about this place...
"I heard this place is called Specter Island because it's suppose to have a monster living in the forest that snatches anyone foolish enough to come here..." Dash said in an almost scared voice.
"I heard that there is also a cursed cave near here that traps anyone inside it..." Kwan said in the same kind of voice to a captivated island which excluded the members of Team Phantom.
Danny was getting annoyed by what he saw as juvenile ghost stories but Mr. Lancer was the one to break it all up...
"You are both, this uninhabited island is called Specter Island because it was discovered in 1890 by the Explorer Timothy D. Specter during one of his voyages..." Mr. Lancer said, boring his students with the facts. .
"Now students, you will all be searching this island to look for the plant I will be assigning you, you will both collect a sample and take a photograph of the specimen and then bring it back with us...remember, your grade depends on both the plant and the pictures. .." Mr. Lancer said in an strict way as he gave the students their assigned flora.
Tucker and Sam got assigned a plant called acer rubrum or red maple as it's more commonly known, while Danny and Star were told to look for some flower called Blue Eye grass...
"Okay, since I took the whale pictures, I think it's fair if you. .." Danny stopped once he saw that Star had flat out walked away and saw now talking to her fellow A Listers and she left the camera behind and Danny was smart enough to know that it was on purpose...
"I can't believe this..." Danny grumbled under his breath before he sighed and went to look for that flower by himself since he knew Star wasn't going to even bother helping at all.
Whatever, he doesn't need her and he's not going to get an F today because of her laziness. So the angry boy started searching the area for the missing flower and soon found it near some puddles by the creek...
"There you are..." Danny said as he pulled out the camera and started taking the pictures of the blue eyed grass...
It really is a nice looking flower, it's about 12 inches tall, blueish purple with a bright yellow center and it was almost star shaped.
"Star..." Danny muttered as he thought about his not so helpful partner.
Why did he had to get assigned a partner that is so rude and mean to him and who so far, hasn't done even the slightest bit of work?
Just another sign of how life works for him, he supposed...He just decided to take more pictures and collect his plant sample, since he knows that regardless of what he says, Star isn't going to listen to him.
With Star
Star had stepped away to talk with Paulina and Dash, mostly because they called her over to start gossiping about the plans for Kwan party tonight...
"So remember, the party is suppose to be at 8 and as per rule of fashionably late, we are expect to arrive no sooner than 8:45..." Paulina said, going over the popularity rules once again.
"I know Paulina..." Star said.
She really wasn't in the mood to go to this party, especially so late but this is an A-Lister party and her presence is mandatory, the only thing that can excuse he is either a medical emergency or being captured by a ghost and she can't fake either of those s to save her life...
In other words, she was stuck here...
"I can't wait, I have been dying to show off my six pack and Kwan's pool is the best setting..." Dash said as he flexed some of his muscles to the girls..
"Speaking of Kwan, get this...I heard from Ashley, who heard from Brittany, who was told by Mia, who heard from Rebecca that she overheard Kwan says that he's thinking about apologizing and asking you to come back to him..." Paulina whispered, as if giving a juicy secret.
Star blinked, usually it takes about two weeks for her and Kwan to get back together, and it's only been one week so far...
"Are you serious?..." Star asked, not out of eagerness but curiosity.
"Like, totally...you know that Rebecca always gets the juiciest dirt..." Paulina said.
Star looked at Dash who looked disinterested in the whole thing...
"Don't ask me, guys don't talk about relationships, just sports..." Dash said, causing both girls to roll their eyes at his uselessness. ..
"Either way, it looks like the break will be ending early...and someone is off the market again..." Paulina said with a smile.
"I'm not sure..." Star said under her breath.
"What was that?..." Paulina asked, causing Stat to flinch...
"What I mean is...if Kwan wants me back, he's gonna have to work for it...if not some girl at his beck and call, if he wants me, he's got to prove it..." Star said, trying to sound as proud as possible and Paulina nodded in approval.
"That is so right, girls like us...if a guy wants us, he has to earn us back..." Paulina said in a proud way.
Star didn't tell her that the reason she's not excited is because, she's not sure she even wants Kwan back, sure she likes him and he's one of the most bearable of the jocks to date with but lately, she doesn't know, she just knows she's not ready or in the mood yet to go onn again with him...
"Uh guys, just out of curiosity...who's taking pictures of your plant?..." Star asked, wanting to change the subject.
"I already "persuaded" Mikey and Nathan to find the dens-densta-...desta-whatever-its-name. .."Dash answered as if it was obvious...
"Either way, our project is getting done..." Paulina said carelessly.
"Speaking of which, I think I got to go back to Fenton..." Star said, only to get a weird look from Paulina and Dash..."Hey, he's not as brainy as Nathan or Mikey, so I got to make sure he doesn't mess up my grade by finding the wrong plant..."She said and her friends seemed to understand.
She however wouldn't tell them that she would be the one planning on taking the picture, since its just photo and it is kind of her turn since Fenton took the whale pictures, but she's not telling since regardless how easy an assignment is, A-listers don't do work if they can make someone else do it.
It's one of the rules of the clique...
"Really stinks you had to get the least useful loser out of the class..." Paulina said as she examined her nails.
Star said nothing and went back to find her project partner, only to see that he was gone and the their camera was gone too.
"Now where did that dweeb go?..."Star said in annoyance as she soon tried to search for her wayward project partner.
All the while, she wondered why she had to get stuck with him...
Back with Danny
Danny had finally got out of the woods and came back to the shore he saw his friends and classmates all talking about the plants they collected and everything. And he still didn't see Star either...Before he could call, he suddenly found himself tripping forward and landing on some slippery rocks...
"Ouch..." Danny hissed but he was at least grateful that the camera didn't get busted.
"Oops, sorry about that Fenton..." Nathan said as he helped him up.
Danny got up and noticed that all of these rocks had a strange, almost glowing green substance on it...and his hands were on it too.
"I'm alright...what is this?..."Danny asked as tried to wipe his hands, though some of the weird looking Algae was still on his hands.
"Well after, we did our assignment, me and Nathan found these fascinating Algae in the shallow end of the water and they looked positively fascinating,we just had to collect them them..."Mikey said.
"We are gonna take them back with us to examine the microbes on them. .." Nathan said as if that was exciting.
Danny didn't comment on any of that super geekiness , he just go up and got a closer look to that weird looking Algae, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a weird tingling on his hands and felt a little dizzy,which was noticed by the two geeky boys.
"Are you okay Danny?..." Mikey asked in corn.
"I...I think..." Danny said but the strange tingling in his hands would, don't stop, Danny got a closer look to the Algae stains on his hands and then the weird rocks and he suddenly got an idea and he didn't like it...
"Uh, Mikey, Nathan..." Danny started.
"Yeah?..." The two geeks said in union.
"Where did you guys say you found this stuff? ..." Danny asked, hoping that he is wrong.
"In the shallow end of the water. .." Mikey answered.
"And was this stuff by the coral, and did it have a strange luminescent tint before you picked it up?..." Danny asked in an almost worried voice.
"Yeah, why?..." Nathan asked.
"No...no reason..." Danny said before he ran to Sam and Tucker who had witness Danny's fall from a distance and had been on their way to help.
"What's wrong, Danny? You look like you just saw a field of blood blossoms..." Sam asked.
"Because I might as well have..." Danny whispered to them, getting their attention..."That luminescent moss that Nathan and Mikey found is called Spectral Algae..." He said in an alarmed voice.
"Spectral what?..." Tucker asked, not liking the sound of this.
"Spectral Algae, it's a type of aquatic plant that has some kind of natural effect on ghosts...my parents have studied it...they say that if a ghost comes in contact with it, it neutralizes it's power..." Danny said, causing his friends to look alarmed.
"Are you saying that it did something to your powers?..." Tucker whispered back at him.
"This what I gotta check, come on..." Danny said as he and his friends hid behind a thick tree, away from any unwanted eyes.
Danny tried to change forms but soon lost control and reverted back to his human form...
"Oh man, I was afraid of this...I can't access my powers because I got in contact with that stuff..." Danny said in a distress voice.
"Calm down Danny, did your parents say anything else that could be helpful?..." Sam asked, wanting to be sure that he is okay.
"The good news is that this stuff is suppose to be temporary..." Danny said.
"And the bad news?..." Tucker asked in a pessimistic voice, since there is always bad news...
"I don't know how long temporary is...it could be hours or even days..." Danny said with a sigh...
"Don't worry man, as soon as we get you home, we'll runs some tests and see if we can find some kind of antidote..." Tucker said.
"I hope, all I know is that I have to be as far away from that stuff as possible..." Danny said.
"Then I suggest not going swimming, there is a ton of that stuff all over the shore..." Sam said as she pointed to the water, which had the faint luminescent sea plant that could cause Danny so much harm...
"As long as there is no more contact, I won't have it worse..." Danny said, though he had a worried feeling that he might have jinx himself...
Before he could do or say anything, he felt someone yanking him and turning him around and Danny was soon face to face with an irritated looking Star Strong...
"Where have you been?!..." Star asked with her hands on her hips.
"Doing the assignment, what else?..." Danny said sarcastically as he gestured to the camera.
"Where have you been?..." He shot back.
"Looking for you, loser...We are suppose to do this thing together and I need to make sure you didn't mess up my grade by getting the wrong plant..." Star said.
"That didn't look like it when you ignored me to chat with your buddies, either way I got the picture and the sample and it's not wrong..." Danny said as he presented the evidence of the hard work he did..alone...
"I had to talk to Dash and Paulina over an important matter..." Star said in her defense.
"And I have to NOT fail science, which is an important matter to me..." Danny said in his defense.
Star looked at the plant and then him, but she still didn't lose that irritated look on her superficially pretty face.
"You're just lucky you got the right plant..." Star said in a warning voice...
"Excuse me?..." Danny asked in an incredulous voice as Star carelessly turned her back on him.
Before he could openly complain, Lancer got everyone's attention again...
"Come now students, it's best to be on our way, I just got word that a storm is coming later today, so we best head back to the mainland before then..." Lancer said before he ordered all of his students to head back on the boat.
Star and Danny continued to glare at each other, before she gave a haughty "hmpt " and marched back to the boat. Danny rolled his eyes but followed, eager to get off this lousy island and head back to the lab so he could cure himself the effects of Spectral Algae before something bad happens.
And with his luck, something bad is bound to happen real soon...
-To be continued-
Next time on Stranded
The Storm
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:
Invader Johnny: So far, it's getting worse, but hey, the story is just starting...
CMR Rosa: In "Flirting with Disaster", she called Danny a freak to his face, so I am just following cannon. Anyway, as I said, it's only just beginning...
Iimdanielle: How's this? And we got a little bit of Star's point of view too.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)