Author's Note: Alright! I guess I did a good job with Chapter 7. Thanks, everyone. Still, feel free to let me know if this series of Danny/Ember stories seems to be running out of steam. After all, nobody likes it when their favorite stories end up "jumping the shark". Lol.

Last chapter, I said that I would put up a poll to decide whether Sam would fall for Dani or remain straight. I'll let the chapter speak for itself, but I will say that the voting result was a bit of a landslide. Well… it would appear to be a landslide from the perspective of a fanfic author that doesn't have a huge following yet, anyway… It wasn't like I got hundreds of votes. But it did become increasingly one-sided. But you all know what I mean.

I'm going to try something new for a change. Public Review Replies!

Markman12 – Thank you for the review. Glad you liked it. To clarify, I wasn't sure if I did the idea of "Sam's parents wage war against Danny" alright or not. It seems people liked what I did, so that's a relief for me. I just figured that there aren't too many Danny/Sam stories where Sam's parents really put a huge effort into trying to break them up, at least from the fics I have read. Usually, it's either they just glare their disdain at him, say something snobby, or perhaps try one minor tactic and then give up.

Invader Johnny – I mainly figured that, since it's implied that both Tucker and Sam have been getting to know Ember more by way of hanging out with them, I would think that Sam would kinda understand that Ember was trying to cheer her up. It's just that Ember had to do it her way, of course. Why have private "Girl, I understand now" girl talk when she can throw a public show with a significant song choice?

DannyPhantom619 – Time for your Halloween idea! Anyways, fair point. I've seen a few fics with Dani/Youngblood as a side-pairing. However, well… looks like The People want to go with, as you referenced, the "Ultimate Marvel Comics" way. Hope you don't mind that. But I at least hope you think my logic for Dani/Sam is decent and not just some "thrown together crack-pairing" kinda thing. (I've seen some 'random pairing' stories that made me go all like "WTF?", believe me.)

Dragon's Swordsman 2013 – Glad to see I'm not the only one that can see that reasoning for it. I'm a little surprised there isn't at least a few more stories on here exploring that.

Disclaimer: Yeeeaaaahhh…. About that? Still don't own anything that happens to land here.

Chapter 8: Tricks, Treats, and Temptations

Ah, Halloween. Such a wonderful time of year. Especially for the undead. What other time of year do the deceased actually get some attention for their frightfulness, at least in America anyway? There's always international holidays about respecting the dead too. But Halloween was always a favorite among the more sentient ghouls, mostly due to the costumes, the seasonal love of horror movies, and just all sorts of showy excess that helps shine the spotlight on them.

However, this particular Halloween evening in Amity Park… All Danny Fenton wanted to do was to take his beloved girlfriend trick-or-treating. Was that too much to ask? A nice evening where he and Ember could just act like humans in costumes without having to deal with criminals or rampaging ghosts or rivals or whatever.

THUD! A skeleton with a green, glowing aura smashed into a brick wall and shattered to pieces. A foot away from the broken bones, a gargoyle crash-landed onto the sidewalk, skidding to a stop. It clearly had a broken jaw, having been clobbered with one hell of a right hook. Guitar riffs were heard all around the area as random ghouls surrounding a blue-haired woman dressed in black and white were sent flying backward from the sound wave. She then flipped the guitar around to "axe" a malevolent, living tree a few "questions".

While Ember was 'chopping some firewood', her lover was busy duking it out with what looked like a cheap Jason Voorhees knock-off. An obvious tell about what made this enemy a humorously cheap ripoff was that he was wearing one of the more modern hockey masks that one might see on a professional team today, thus giving a relatively clear view of the ugly, maggot-infested, waterlogged deformation that was his face. However, the large machete he was constantly swinging at the now-masked vigilante was no laughing matter. And this guy wasn't slow either.

"Does it always have to be Voorhees?! I mean, I get it! Really iconic franchise, but come ON!" Danny complained as he barely side-stepped an overhead chop from 'Jason'. "Couldn't we run into an undead version of Jason's mother for a change? Ya know, a little nod to the original movie?" Danny's quip was answered with a forward jab with the machete. Danny leaned far back, the blade stabbing harmlessly overhead. The halfa ended up falling on his ass, though.

"Not a fan of the classics, huh Jace?" Danny said before firing an ecto blast at Jason's knee, causing the silent knock-off behemoth to stumble, letting Danny roll over and get to his feet again.

He briefly wondered once again who could be responsible for this invasion of the undead. He mentally chalked up a small list of possible suspects as he ducked Jason's next aggressively wide swing (which ended up accidentally lobbing off the heads of a pair of vampires that were sneaking up right behind Danny).

Ghost Writer? Possible. He had the power to make anything happen as long as he had his book, his pen, and the intention.

Desiree? Who knows? Somebody might've made a stupid wish absently in her invisible presence…

Walker? Doesn't seem likely. Releasing his prison's inhabitants at all would be counterproductive to his M.O.

Fright Knight? Hmm… Now there's a candidate right there. It is Halloween after all, the time when he would be most powerful… But would he be a pawn for somebody, due to the nature of his existence?

Another hurdle of being a superhero: Trying to match the crime with the criminal. Sometimes, it's stupidly easy due to gimmicks. 'Oh, what's this? A crime scene riddled with trick questions or a bomb that can be defused by solving a puzzle? It's the f'n Riddler!' But it was things like this that could make it troublesome to pinpoint a mastermind sometimes.

Leaping up and 'sticking' to a nearby wall (with a little help from his flying ability), the masked hero quickly surveyed the situation. Voorhees lurched his way toward him, seemingly angry for obvious reasons. He saw his thieving lover taking care of business as various types of ghouls now lay knocked out around her. She was apparently clinging to the back of a werewolf, using her guitar to try and choke him out. Or was it to try and cut his head off? Either way, the wolf was desperately trying to buck her off. Danny wondered if this was truly an isolated incident. He hoped so. Even including the Red Huntress, Danielle Phantom, and his parents, that wouldn't be enough to stop an entire undead army from racking some sort of body count by the time an evacuation would be in full swing. Nobody could be everywhere at once…

The moment passed. Building up a little energy in his hands, Danny decided to try and new trick he had taught himself that matched his Halloween costume. Pointing his wrists at 'Jason', his fingers looking sorta like he's giving him two 'devil-horns' hand gestures but upside down, Danny shot two thin streams of ecto-blasts at the lumbering killer. The green energy spread over the malevolent entity like some sort of…webbing?

Yes, webbing. For Danny Phantom was no longer merely Danny Phantom… He was Spider-Man! Or… Spider-Phantom? Spider-Danny? Nah, definitely Spider-Phantom. Whatever his temporary moniker was, he leapt off from the wall and used the momentum and gravity to land one hell of a dropkick on the tied-up monstrosity, finally knocking him down to the ground.

Danny stood over Jason, his smirk hidden by his new black Spidey mask. (Yes, he chose the 'Venom-Spider-Man' attire, since it's black and white, just like his usual attire.) "Hey, ya ghoulie goalie, what's Voorhees-ian for 'get the hell outta my town'? Lemme try… Ch, ch, ch, ch… Ma, ma, ma, ma! Was that it? No? Learn to talk, dude."

Voorhees responded by using his unnatural physical strength to tear through the ecto-webbing. Danny leapt backward just in time, narrowly missing Jason's left hand that had tried to quickly grab him in rage. "Easy, big fella. Jeez, demonic immortality gives you tons of time to bulk up the biceps, huh?" the 'arachnid' jokingly asked, knowing he'd only get a growl at most for a response. Jason sat up, strands of ecto-energy still stuck to him, the murderer paying little attention to his outfit's new glowing accessories.

While it was true that the lesser ghouls seemed to be decreasing in number, mostly due to Ember at this point, Danny began to grow concerned. If this Jason was anything like the movies, defeating him was near-impossible due to his extremely high endurance and the aforementioned near-immortality. Danny briefly remembered some criticism of the movies about his supposed invincibility which wondered why nobody tried decapitating him. Probably a good idea at this point, seeing as the Jason in front of Danny didn't even seem winded at all as the hulking horror icon knockoff managed to stand up.

"Damn… Don't you ever sleep?" Danny asked, exasperated at the fact that his fighting seemed to have no effect on the knockoff, just like in the movies. The murderer stomped toward Danny like a demon on a mission, machete gripped tightly in his right hand. Drawing on his cryogenic powers, Danny concentrated a burst of ice power to form a scimitar-style ice sword, constantly bathed in a cold blue aura. "En garde, you movie stunt double!" he bellowed, pointing his sword at Jason. The demonic being pointed his machete at him, as if understanding his challenge and accepting it.

Then, Jason stomped faster, charging at Danny and swinging downward. Normally, a thin piece of ice would easily shatter upon impact, but this blade was no ordinary piece of ice. His sword blocked the machete's blow and held. Danny only had time to shift the sword's position to his side when Jason tried for a horizontal slash. The halfa was stuck playing defense, driven backward as he blocked. He bumped up against a lightpost, which Jason promptly chopped down in one swing when Danny ducked. The halfa stood his ground as the post fell in their direction, as if the halfa was jinxed. Danny simply turned intangible at the last second, figuring Jason might have a bit of 'tunnel vision' when it came to his focus on a persistent target.

With a loud clang, Danny was proven right. The post hit Jason square on the head before loudly clattering on the ground. A hiss was heard from the killing machine as he seemed to barely sway back and forth. Was it actually in pain? Dazed and disoriented? Or just slightly taken by surprise? The halfa didn't know but he had an opportunity. He became solid again and lunged forward, swinging toward Jason's head.

With a sickly thud, Danny's right arm was halted, the blade hitting something quite solid and sticking. Danny's eyes widened. The blade had cut halfway through his neck, but had lodged itself in it. What had surprised him was what was within the chopped neck…

Tubes, wires, and circuitry. What the hell? An android? Now there's a movie theory for Friday the 13th fans: 'Jason was just a Terminator! Who'd have thunk it?'. Danny let go of his blade and took a step back, his halfway-beheaded opponent starting to twitch and quiver. The sword had managed to sever some key wires and connections. It's hissing and growling starting to take a mechanical tone to itself, sounding like a garbled transmission out of a cheap answering machine.

Danny couldn't resist taking a cursory glance around to see how Ember was doing. It was then that he had noticed that it wasn't just Voorhees that had suddenly turned for the strange. The number of active enemies had dwindled to a handful, but even the defeated entities looked… different. They all seemed to appear mechanical in some way. For instance, a mummy that had so far eluded Ember's 'axe' now looked like it was wrapped in strips of sheet-metal, the red glow in its eyes replaced with a cool-blue glow reminiscent of a computer screen.

'No! What is this?' cried a disembodied voice, seemingly from nowhere. Danny couldn't quite place it, but the voice sounded eerily familiar.

He noticed the scenery also started to change. The horizon seemed to just vanish into nothingness. The surrounding area seemingly the focus, as if it were the only spot left in the world. The sky was just a starry void, giving the appearance that the couple were not fighting within Amity Park, but fighting on a mere piece of neighborhood, lazily floating along space.

Danny was a little unnerved. Just what was going on anyway?

'It can't be… I had them in my grasp!' the voice rang out again, sounding like it was from a distance and yet also within Danny's head. He noticed Cyber-Jason grab onto the still-stuck ice sword and give it a good yank, easily tearing it loose from his neck. The various cybernetic insides writhed and dangled from the cut neck, still managing to creep Danny out a little with how…organic it seemed to look. The concept of what the couple's opponents had somehow changed into was awfully recognizable to the young halfa.

And that's when it hit him.

He was dreaming.

Spider-Phantom woke up to discover two things. One, he was sleeping outdoors. And two, he now knew why. For standing slightly off to the side of his current straight-upward field of vision was Nocturne, the ethereal being that relied on the sleep and dreams of mortals for power. The tall purple/grey-ish being was currently glaring down at him, his night-sky cloak fluttering in the slight breeze, although none of the glimmering stars in the cloak seemed to move with the article of clothing.

"How? HOW did you beat my new power!? I had you two at my mercy!" Nocturne demanded. Danny could never figure out why some supervillains are always surprised when their latest plan backfires. Good thing for him that most of his nemeses don't take too much stock in making contingency plans, even if they were indeed getting stronger…

"New power?" quipped Danny as the Spidey-attired halfa drowsily got to his feet, slowly but surely getting his energy back. He took a quick glance. The neighborhood they were in looked just as normal as any other. Good ol' reality. He noticed Ember sitting up, rubbing her domino-masked eyes to get the 'sleep' out. Her form was somewhat secluded in shadow, being just out of range of the glow of the nearby street lamp. Nocturne's attention was more focused on the Phantom than the Diva.

"Not only can I send people to sleep, but I now can control what happens in the dreams. As you may have noticed, I can make someone feel like they're still awake when I send someone off to the dreamscape. You certainly didn't notice, until your subconscious decided to fight back. Even your brain is stubborn, ghost boy…" Nocturne explained, scowling at the last part.

"So… you were trying to go Freddy Kruger on us?" Danny asked, unable to resist the urge to use such an ironic reference, considering Nocturne's chosen opposition in the dream.

Nocturne's shoulders slumped as he let out a loud sigh of aggravation. This halfa certainly did know how to annoy some people… "Ugh, fine, yes. Think of it how you wish, you and your damn pop-culture… However, that shall be the last reference you make!" he suddenly shrieked as he lunged forward, glowing claw-like hands ready to strike. Not to say that getting pissed off and charging was a bad decision at this particular point, as he was thinking that perhaps the hero was still too drowsy to effectively react in time.

What he didn't factor in was the cat-like reflexes and protective instincts of one ghostly rock star. Before Nocturne could land a hit on the now-backpedaling Phantom, an electric guitar suddenly hit the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward in his momentum. Still semi-lethargic and panicky, Danny fell backward with Nocturne falling on top of him. Fortunately, Danny had gotten his feet up, which caught Nocturne's torso. When Danny's back had fully landed on the ground, he kicked upward. This launched the lanky sleep-obsessed being briefly into the air until he landed on his own back with a bruising thud, a snarl of pain being heard upon impact.

Confused, Danny sat up to see his girlfriend walking over to where her guitar lay. He once-again admired her new Halloween costume as she walked more into the light of the street lamp. A black form fitting bodysuit with what seemed to be long black fur along the suit's forearms and forelegs, a long 'belt' that repeatedly looped around her torso (but was actually a whip-type weapon made of segmented flexible metal) until an end of it drooped down off her back like a 'tail', and her eyes were now donned with a black wide domino-mask. Her hair was now let down, somewhat grown out, turned white (by making her hair go, as she claimed, "white hot"), and spread out to complete the look of The Black Cat. Nonetheless, Ember still deigned to take her guitar with her…

Although, Danny briefly noted in hindsight later on, Nocturne's charge would've been a perfect opportunity to try the Black Cat belt-whip out, seeing as it was custom-made by his parents… But throwing her guitar like a giant shuriken helps too!

"Well, now. New sleep powers, huh? You certainly know how to rub a cat the wrong way, Nocturne." Ember said, a sly smirk on her face as she, guitar in hand, sauntered over. Personally, Danny wasn't sure if she should keep the new black lipstick or go back to her usual pale-blue. Either way, he loved that smirk. But first, business.

Ember effortlessly yanked the belt-whip off by the handle and lashed out at Nocturne as he sat up, the metallic weapon successfully wrapping around the specter, binding him so that his hands can't conjure up any sleep magic again. "Wow, Spider-Pop! Looks like this thing works so far. Lightweight, easy to use… Looks great on me too! Hell, it kinda gives Nocky over here a slight improvement in fashion. All tied up and nowhere to go." Ember thought aloud, posing with a slight lean and a hand on her hip in a sensual 'I'm the queen around here so deal with it' sort of way.

"Except in the Thermos." Danny answered, taking out a Fenton Thermos and aiming it at his enemy. "Catch some Z's while you're at it. You look tired." he snarked as he activated the device, capturing the angry Nocturne for good.

Putting a lid on the Thermos, Spider-Phantom turned to Black Cat. "Well, that certainly was a productive night's sleep, huh?" The response he got was a slap upside the masked head. "Ow!"

"Just because you're Spider-Man for the night doesn't mean you have to inherit his non-stop obsession with corny one-liners, dipstick." Ember said, grinning at him. Yep, he liked the black lipstick on her smile.

"I could say the same to you. 'Spider-Pop'?" he said. Good thing Ember couldn't see his smug expression.

"That's it. No upside-down kiss for you." Ember huffed as she 'tied' her belt back on and walked off. Maybe she could 'sense' his expression? Danny slumped. Ember was never going to let him off the hook for the questionable sense of humor and he knew it. But he had to face facts: Part of the fun was seeing how annoyed she could get sometimes. He would never say it to her face (lest he get brained with a guitar) but she was so adorable when she gets annoyed.

"Aw, Em! You were gonna do that? I didn't even think of reenacting that." he said, amicably. Truth be told, he did think of it, but Tucker had told him before he even said anything about the idea that if he tried doing that, all she would do is yank him down roughly off of whatever he was hanging from. That mayor knew Danny all too well.

"Whatever. Shall we start trick or treating already?" Ember asked. Suddenly, as Danny caught up with her and walked aside her, she drew herself close and wrapped an arm around his. "Or shall we just skip right to the treats, my dear spider?" she asked in a sultry way, her lips near his ear. If he was unmasked, Ember would surely see the small smirk that constituted his piqued interest.

Danny chuckled, somewhat shyly. The thief-attired diva knew what he was probably going to answer. "Well, we are already out here. We might as well do some trick or treating." Danny said, as if not really wanting to. "But maybe if we come across some secluded graveyard or something…" he added suggestively, purposely trailing off to make the appearance that he was deep in thought. Ember rolled her eyes.

"Really, dipstick? You think a graveyard's going to be empty on Halloween?" she asked, making a tsk noise with her tongue and mouth afterward, almost like she was running out of patience. She remembers last Halloween… Never had she seen a cemetery so full of partying spirits. Amity's police were stumped as to why there was cups, remains of food, and even the occasional piece of women's clothing strewn everywhere, as well as ten kegs, all of which had been reported stolen.

"Uhh… I guess it won't." The halfa got flustered again, but kept walking. "Let's just nab some candy and see where the evening takes us." he said, settling on a plan. He'd fully intend on indulging on Ember's idea of "treats" later on.

As to add an effect of 'being in character', Danny and Ember had chosen to rely on their chosen character's methods of getting around as they wandered from neighborhood to neighborhood. For Black Ember-Cat, it was easy. All she had to do was run from rooftop to rooftop. Spider-Phantom, on the other hand, had to try and use finesse with his flying skills, doing his best to make it look like he was web-swinging. As Ember would tell him later on, he needed some work as it sort of looked like he was just slowly flailing his arms while flying along regularly, his altitude adjusting up and down to help the appearance of a swinging motion.

Trick or treating started casually enough, with Ember climbing down each house to stand next to Spider-Phantom as they knocked on each door, get handfuls of candy, and then Ember would climb back up, leap to the next house. Rinse and repeat. Danny was amused by his lover's athletic prowess of climbing and leaping. It wasn't too often that she would show off the fact that her body was more than just sexy, due to her power of flight. Soon enough, during the moments of him walking over to the next house, he began to daydream about Ember, still in skintight costume, stretching… bending… leaping… Something told him that she was deliberately putting an effort into 'showing herself off' as she climbed with ease. Definitely keeping in character, that's for sure.

As they went, they ran across other trick-or-treaters of varying outfits. Some were current trends such as pop stars and 'sexy' versions of certain kid movie characters. Some were classic costumes, homemade and otherwise, your ghosts, vampires, Frankensteins, etc. A few even dared to use topical satire in their outfits. Spider-Phantom had to raise an eyebrow when Dash and Paulina decided to dress up as an "NFL Player" and "Abused NFL Player's Wife", Paulina having used her wide variety of makeup to give the look of her face being bruised and battered.

"What're you lookin' at, Venom? It's funny because it's true!" Dash had snapped when he noticed the black-clothed Spidey stop walking and stare silently. Danny chose not to reveal his identity. Even though he knew that Fenton was Phantom, that fact sometimes didn't stop him from reverting back to bullying him. Guess the novelty had wore off…

'Eh… I suppose it's clever. I bet some neighbors found that a little insensitive, though.' Spider-Phantom thought as he shrugged and moved along. House to house the couple went, occasionally coming across the house of a classmate that didn't bother with trick-or-treating or of teachers. Dash and Paulina weren't the only people Danny knew well that he and Ember ended up running into.

The clanking of metal footsteps gave away the approach. Looking to his right, Spider-Phantom saw…another familiar superhero. One that could almost pass for the real deal. Spidey stood dramatically, a staredown commencing as the other finished crossing the street.

"Stark…" Spidey acknowledged as Iron Man stood across from him.

"Parker." replied the mech-suited hero, a subtle nod accompanying it.

"You do realize that everyone can figure out it's you, Tuck. Right? I mean, the hat? Really?" If only Iron-Tuck could see the smirk on his face… For whatever reason, Tucker had chosen to wear his cap on top of his Iron Man helmet.

"What, it's a Foley trademark. Come on, Danny." Tucker said, clearly amused. There was no changing Tuck sometimes. Ember softly and smoothly landed on the ground near Danny. She was clearly getting the whole 'cat-like grace' thing down. "As if Tony Stark needed to look dweeby…" she quipped, approaching her Friendly Neighborhood Halfa.

"So where's Val?" Danny asked, knowing that wherever the young mayor went, his girlfriend was usually not too far behind. Sure enough, a voice calling Tucker's name was heard from just across the street. Valerie Grey ran toward them, wearing what appears to be a form-fitting jumpsuit of some kind. A small S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem could be seen on it.

"Nice, Val. Guess I'm not the only one wanting a tight outfit." the rocker complimented, striking a quick pose as she said it, leaning forward and placing one hand on her hip, the other behind her head, a purposeful glance in Danny's direction. Spider-Phantom failed to resist the urge to stare. Tucker and Valerie both snickered at her obvious effect on their friend. First he was clueless to love, now he's easily led by it.

"Well, Black Cat, it's certainly necessary to have it for my costume too. Whoever heard of Black Widow fighting in something baggy?" Valerie replied, playfully getting into a non-committal fighting stance. The women spent a few moments taking different poses, just to get reactions out of their respective guys.

"Black Widow, huh?" Danny asked. Dare he go there?

"Double-pun totally intended. It was actually her idea." Iron Tuck answered, placing an arm around his girlfriend, thus ending the costume modeling pose-off.

"Yeah. I thought it'd be interesting to see how people react to an obvious race pun. I know it's mean to say, but sometimes, it's funny to see people squirm about it, the urge to point it out versus the fear that it'll offend us. I got Dash good with this." she explained, her voice taking on a tone of pride when she mentioned the school's most-infamous bully.

"She's not really high-strung about racism, but she can certainly act the part of an offended person quite well. He almost pissed himself!" Tucker guffawed, his voice sounding mechanically muffled by the helmet.

"Guess that explains his gruff attitude when he passed me by." Danny said, grinning. One had to love it when a bully gets taken down a peg or two. Something told him that Dash hadn't reached the end of his bad luck tonight…

"Better believe it, Danny. So… wanna make this a group effort or are we interrupting a date?" the mecha-mayor asked, indicating his half-full bag of candy. There were still a couple of neighborhoods left…

"Em? What do you think?" Danny asked. Tucker, being himself, made the obvious 'whipped' hand-gesture behind Danny's back, to which everyone else noticed. Ember lightly glared at Tucker. "Oh, but this is our prowl, Spider-Man… Why should this rust bucket get in on our heist?" she answered, completely in character.

"Rust bucket? Ha, I didn't think he did that bad a job, flame." chuckled the halfa. My, how the jokes never cease sometimes.

"His arm must be malfunctioning, then. Could've swore I saw…"

"Tucker calling me whipped because I asked for your opinion first?" Danny interrupted her with a grin, surprising Tucker. Valerie nodded approvingly. This was going to be interesting.

"Yep, Baby-Pop. How'd you know?" Ember asked, impressed. Her boy had grown his own side of chicanery after all. She just knew it had to be of her influence.

"Easy. When you've hung out with someone for most of your school life, you eventually get to know things, such as their brand of humor. That, and the fact that Tucker's predictable sometimes… Sorry, dude." Danny explained, shrugging as he apologized. Despite being played, Tucker actually laughed.

"Hey, no biggie, Danny. All in good fun." With that, it was decided that the four should trick-or-treat together.

It was a couple of blocks later that the four would encounter something completely unexpected. It was a small block between neighborhoods, mostly dominated by a pharmacy and the Skulk And Lurk, the little Gothic bookstore/café that was one of Sam's favorite hangouts. Danny could remember the few times that Sam had brought him there during their relationship. It was the epitome of 'home away from home' for his ex-girlfriend, especially considering her actual home life…

The little group happened to be the only ones in the block at the moment, seeing as stores don't exactly hand out candy. Not to mention, time was clearly marching on as the night continued, the number of walkers decreasing as some chose to turn in. Therefore, the noise of a tipped-over garbage can from the direction of the Skulk And Lurk was cause for concern, if not alarm. After all, Nocturne may not be the only ghost out for trouble on Halloween night. Who're you gonna call…?

"Should we investigate?" Tucker asked. Truth be told, he believed it was probably a stray cat or something. A lot of times, it was always just that. Who kicks over a trash can anyway? Well, maybe drunk people trip over them… Still, one could never tell with this town sometimes.

"Probably worth a look. Hell, if ya want, we could be like The Avengers, investigating something." Danny snarked, already starting to quietly make his way over there. He could have hovered, of course, but since when did Spider-Man fly? Ember sometimes couldn't believe her boyfriend's occasional bouts of childish antics. Even though she didn't really hate the fascination with superhero stuff, per se. (Although, very ironic that they'd all still be big fans of it, despite Danny being an actual freakin' superhero.)

The others quietly followed the halfa (Tucker being extra careful, due to his metal boots), noticing him taking cover at the corner of the bookstore, at the edge of the wall before the entrance of the alleyway. It look like he was either waiting for them or bracing himself to look in, as if concerned that sticking his head out would be noticeable to whatever's in there. As they got closer, they could hear some noises. Mostly light noises of cloth of some sort being moved or ruffled and an occasional…groan? A feminine groan.

Was somebody in trouble? Hurt perhaps? As the others caught up with Danny, the halfa nodded to them, starting to signal with hand gestures. It was sloppy, but they were pretty sure that he 'said' that he was going to look first, then go in, then they would follow close behind. Whatever it was, they agreed to it with nods of their own.

Danny faced the alley entrance. With his left hand, he held up three fingers. Three….two… one….

Danny stuck his head out and looked in. Unfortunately, the street lamps weren't positioned in such a way to let much light flow into the alley, so it was mostly shadows and darkness, even with the moon out. He could barely make out the silhouette of…something… squirming in there, close to the tipped-over trash can that had alerted them. Nothing seemed to react to his presence, though. Good. Tiptoeing in, he tried to see what that moving shadow could possibly be. It appeared to be laying down, whatever it was. More noises and the occasional moan.

Could it be someone tied up? Wait… Danny stopped. He suddenly had a feeling, the kind of feeling one would get when one just knows that he's interrupting a private moment… Wanting his suspicions confirmed, he concentrated power to his right hand, the glow from 'holding' the loaded ecto-blast illuminating the area, both interrupting and revealing the forms on the ground.

Sam, hair ruffled and mascara running, was on top. She was also going with the whole superhero gimmick that seemed to be going around with trick-or-treaters, as she was dressed as DC Comics' mystic/superheroine, Zatanna the Magician, complete with fishnet leggings. Although her look seemed to be a little off due to the running mascara…and the lipstick marks all over her cheeks and mouth! It was obvious the "Avengers" had interrupted a make-out session that wasn't so 'fake-out'…

What was shocking was the little figure beneath Danny's ex. Clearly dressed as a younger Rouge The Bat from the Sonic games, Dani's eyes widened as far as they'd go, her arms frozen in place around Sam's neck. There was no way she could be able to get away with saying that it wasn't what it looks like. Such was the risk of playing with the thrill of 'nearly getting caught' during a secret relationship…

"Umm…" stammered Sam, understandably drawing a blank as to what to say. However, she didn't try to break away from her apparent lover. Why deny it now?

"Hi, cousin…" the mini-Phantom lamely said. This apparently jump-started Danny, as he started to sputter and babble the typical sounds associated with a blown mind. "Wha? Dani? You…and her… but you're both… and she…. We were…"

"Way to go, dipstick. We discovered a Goth lesbian." Ember quipped, nonchalant. Truth be told, she was merely poking fun at Danny's lost ability to speak, despite it sounding like a jab at Sam's apparent change of orientation. Whatever Sam or Dani wanted to do was cool with her.

"Oh my…" Valerie simply said. She got to know the little clone over the couple of years, especially due to that one time when she was at risk of destabilizing, and considered her a friend. She never thought that the clone could take after the original's sexual tastes, though. (Although, why would she think that anyway? It's not like it would be an obvious question to ponder.)

"Would it be wrong to say this is hot?" asked Iron-Tuck, which immediately earned glares from Sam and Valerie while Danny facepalmed. Leave it to the mayor to consider a lesbian teen-on-clone-preteen scenario hot…even though you don't see that every day. Maybe he had a point? Gah, what was Danny thinking? Technically, Dani was barely 3 (as in actual years of existence, not her physical/mental age that she appears to be), as well as a female version of him! And she was with his ex! His EX, for God's sake! Although, it was a lot more peaceful than normal breakups… Hmm… Dear Penthouse… No, no, NO! Bad thoughts!

Needless to say, Ember would probably be bothered if she could read Danny's current derailing train of thought. The two girls, meanwhile, had finally decided to split from each other and stand up, Sam helping Dani to her feet. It was at this point that Danny regained his ability to speak clearly, although the shock would take a little while to wear off. "How long…?" he simply asked, once again glad for the Spidey mask on his face to hide what he considered to be probably a stupid facial expression.

"Um… Couple of months now… It was after Dani came back from her last roam around the country. You all were busy at the time and Dani said that she wanted to do something, so I offered to hang out with her." Sam started. She felt awkward that she had to explain this in a back alley at night, practically under interrogation.

Dani took over after Sam trailed off. "Yeah, I was bored. So we went on a little road trip around Amity. Or rather a 'flight trip'. Why bother Sam's family's chauffeur when I can fly, right? So, we went to different places, talked…. Got to know each other a bit better. A part of me still doesn't understand it, but I really started to like her as the day went on. I thought it was just good friendship. Couple days of flying around on patrol later, I… really really wanted to hang out with her again. So, I knocked on her window. We hung out again, this time going to a movie…" The clone abruptly trailed off, her face blushing a little red.

"Umm… Well… Let's just say that at the time, I thought it was a little odd that she'd abruptly decided to try some of those 'at the theater' clichés… You know, stretching then lazily putting your arm on her, two people with one popcorn bucket and both reach at the same time, that kinda crap… Kinda silly, though, since she was too short to do the arm thing and she was obviously keeping an eagle eye on my hands to time the popcorn reach right." Sam added, chuckling. Dani visibly shuffled in place, as if Sam's comments actually made her feel uncomfortable standing. In truth, she was flustered.

"Well… I dunno…. I didn't know why I wanted to do those things at the time…" Dani muttered, pouting. Sam glanced over. Oh no… The Pout… Sam could never resist any of Danny's requests whenever he playfully pouted. Damn the cloning process for making exact duplications… Sam gathered the cute clone up in her arms for a hug, careful not to scuff up the bat-wings of her costume. She felt remarkably less gothic in doing so, but she didn't care (Well… Maybe a little… She does have an image to maintain).

"Hey, that was then, Dani." Sam said, kissing her on the cheek before setting her back down. "We did get some clarity when we hung out the fourth time, remember? When we went to that anti-meat protest after I told you that you'd get to prank Mayor Tucker?"

"Way to remind me… I still find the odd chicken feather sometimes. Jeez, never thought little Dani would be into old-school pranks. I always thought you rigged that up somehow before I even got there, Sam. Glue and feathers all over me… Jeez, 'you are what you eat' indeed…" grumbled the Mayor, recalling his mistake of making an appearance to oppose that particular event. Dani laughed as a result. That was certainly a good day, especially what happened after the protest…

"So anyways, after watching that prank happen, Sam and I decided that we made our point and left the group. She just wouldn't stop laughing about what I did. Kept complimenting me and stuff…" Dani paused for a moment, blushing. "It made me feel weird again, like I shouldn't be without her. Strange, right? So, umm… I thought I'd… well… try something…" she stammered, her hands fidgeting.

"Oh, you 'tried something' alright… Leaping up and kissing me mid-sentence when there could've been other people around… You little devil, was it really surprising that I reacted the way I did?" Sam replied, remembering somewhat-regretfully how she threw the little clone off of her mid-kiss. It wasn't her fault that the Goth, still straight at the time, wasn't expecting this development at all from her friend.

"Yeah, yeah… Blame Vlad for the fact that I've only existed for three years. These wha-cha-ma-call-its… ah, 'social issues'… I'm still trying to wrap my head around why some of those even exist." Dani said matter-of-factly. Sam smiled at this. Only three years of existing and her girlfriend's already seeing how nonsensical some of the cultural issues can really be. No wonder she eventually decided to give her a chance. After a period of time to… simmer, of course. Intolerance may be nonsense, but actually changing orientation? She could understand how that could be a mental mountain to climb for some people, once faced with the idea itself…

'The Kiss', as Sam had titled the incident in her head, including capital letters, was one of those moments that she thought she could brush off. One of those one-off moments of a friend crossing a line. Everyone's had that experience once, right? Someone crossing a boundary of some sort, that is, not same-sex kissing… But as days went on, it kept popping up in her head. When the days turned to weeks, she kept thinking of Dani herself. (It didn't help that the pesky little clone kept occasionally hovering outside her window, clearly sorry for offending her). Not just Dani in general, but how spunky she was, her funny attitude, how easily she bonded with her… How she reminded her so much of Danny in such a short time…

Almost a month later, Sam finally admitted it to herself. She had begun to fall in love with Danielle… She had at least gone bisexual. Gussy up the special 'clone' circumstances all she wanted, it wouldn't be fair to not straight-up acknowledge that Dani was just as much a girl as Sam herself. It wasn't too hard to get Dani's attention shortly after Sam's revelation. She had simply opened her window and waved her in.

"I know, Dani. Remember our little confession session?" Sam asked, smiling down at her 'batty' lover. 'The Avengers', seemingly embracing their role as 'audience', simply snickered. "What?"

"A 'confession session'? Wow. You're good with names, Sam." Iron Tuck said complimentary, his grin hidden behind the metal helmet.

"Yeah, I agree. First 'fake-out make-out', now this. Way to go, Sam." Spider-Phantom added, giving the bi Goth a cocky thumbs-up. Black Ember-Cat playfully struck a 'thoughtful' pose. "Hmm…. Not bad, Sammy. Want to help me name my next album sometime?" the 'thief' asked.

"Umm… Thanks?" Sam answered. Why was she friends with these nuts again? "But anyways, it took some time, but I ended up developing feelings for her. So, I called her over… I apologized, she forgave me, and we… talked."

"Talked?" Valerie asked. If Sam thought her friends would let that slight hesitation slide, she had another thing coming.

"Yes, talked." Sam curtly replied, a light blush starting to appear on her cheeks. She subconsciously fidgeted with her Zatanna top hat, adjusting its position. "Talked about… us. About why she likes me, about what I've been thinking… Us."

"I told her I love her." Dani added. So much for being modest about it.

"Dani! Sigh… Well, yeah. She did say that. And I love her too. In fact, I remember the exact night we had that talk…" Sam said, a fond smirk suddenly appearing on her face, crossing her arms for effect. "I seem to recall a while back a street concert being thrown near my house with a song cover dedicated to me."

Danny and Ember's eyes widened slightly. "Wait, that night? You two hooked up…?" Danny started.

"…when I decided to do that show?!" Ember finished. The girls nodded, Dani grinning mischievously. She liked how her 'cousin' played the guitar. 'The Avengers' looked at each other. Then at the lovers. Then at each other again. That was some random piece of strange timing right there, almost as if life had once again taken a page out of storytelling. The four all then uttered a "Huh" in unison, the kind of calm 'huh' that someone might utter after coming to an understanding about something.

It was unorthodox, to say the least. How much time would it take for this group of friends to get used to this new change? Well, even if Clockwork did the temporal math on it (and carried the 1), it probably wouldn't take too long, considering the sheer amount of strange happenings they've already lived through. A lesbian couple involving a Goth teen and a younger gender-bent clone? Sounds rather pleasant compared to having to fight hell-bent psychotic fruitloops and malicious sadists with strange gimmicks.

"So… Who's up for trick-or-treating?" Sam asked. Dani floated up and kissed Sam on the lips, her apparent way of showing agreement. Tucker predictably grinned at the display but smartly chose to say nothing for once, again letting the helmet hide his expression. After all, Valerie alone would kick his ass for saying something pervy, much less the lovers themselves. Danny nodded to answer Sam's question. Ember glanced at her boyfriend, wondering what he thinks of this, but approved of the idea of more trick-or-treating.

"Alright then." Sam said, her hand unabashedly holding Dani's. "Shall we?"

-Hours later-

The door to Ember's realm burst open as Spider-Phantom hauled his candy in, followed by Black Ember-Cat. What a haul, indeed. But such was the case when trick-or-treating involved a half-assed ambush from The Box Ghost who chose to try and throw crates full of candy at the intrepid heroes. On a positive note, aside from the heaping horde of candy that had literally fallen into their laps, ol' Boxy had elected to pull that stunt as his way of wishing them a happy Halloween. He didn't even put up a fight against the Fenton Thermos this time.

Making his way toward the kitchen and setting his bag down, he turned back to see if Ember had followed. Apparently, she was gone… Only her sack of candy remain, sitting idly on the floor in the middle of the living room. Tilting his head slightly, he went toward it. "Ember?" he called. No response, other than the music from the radio that always seemed to be on at all times, at least on low volume.

"Em?" he called again, the 'arachnid' growing a little concerned. She did come in and shut the door, he knew that much. What was she doing? Looking around, he wandered over toward the bathroom. Nope, door's still open, no water running or anything. On second thought, she was a ghost who only ate when she felt like tasting food or needed an energy boost. The bathroom was merely created for atmosphere (and his benefit, of course). What was that woman doing?

"Flame? Where'd you go burning off to?" he called again, making his way to her (or rather, their) bedroom. Perhaps she was tired of her costume? It did look rather tight on her… Not that he minded, of course. Nothing like being able to see every curve of one's lover.

Just as he was about to call her name again, he suddenly felt something wrap around his legs, bringing them together and tripping him up. He barely activated his powers of flight just in time to stop the harsh landing when he was yanked upward by his feet until he was hanging upside down. Looking up (or was it down now?), he saw his troublesome 'cat-like' girlfriend, clinging to the ceiling ironically like a spider waiting for a fly to come along. She had yanked him upward with her new belt-whip. Despite what she did, Danny knew the look on her face. It was that rare smile that was saved for…special moments.

"Hey, Spider… Fancy meeting you here."

"Well, this is your home, 'Felicia'. I hope I'm not intruding." Danny quipped, using Black Cat's real name. Two can role-play this game…

"Hardly." With that, Ember jammed the end of her belt-whip into the ceiling, before gracefully leaping down to the ground. Landing silently, she stood up and faced Danny, their heads level with each other. "Now… I believe I scolded you earlier about your humor. Buuuut… You seem to have redeemed yourself with how well you behaved tonight. Not to mention, defeating Nocturne's no easy feat. I think I should…" At this point, she unzips the front of her bodysuit slightly. "…reward you." Enough of her bodysuit had been unzipped to give Danny a decent view of her cleavage.

"But before you get your hands on these 'giant Hershey kisses', how about a real one?" Ember said before, reaching up, pulling his mask half-way off, and… you guessed it… reenacting the "Infamous Spider-Man Upside-Down KissTM". Danny forgot everything in that moment except for how that kiss felt. He didn't mind his feet being tied up. The blood rushing to his head was no longer a concern. The upside-down vision he could care less about. Just him, her, and their tongues. After what felt like at least a half-hour, they separated. Danny felt lighter than air. He thought he must've had some loopy look on his face, at the very least, a dorky grin.

He couldn't tear his eyes off of his Ember as she eyed him over like a cherished possession. "That… That was…" he stammered as Ember's fingers playfully ran over his abs.

"Amazing? Spectacular? Sensational? Or perhaps even 'Superior'?" Ember asked in a sweet, sultry voice, her hands randomly roaming his body, almost toying with him.

"Does it count as romantic if I answer 'All of the above'?" Danny pondered. It was funnier to Ember that he asked that with the same seriousness that one asks what the meaning of life is. Just for that, she lightly grabbed him by the hips... and yanked him down roughly off of where he was hanging. It seemed Tucker was partially right on his prediction…

"Romantic? Yeah. I like that you think my kissing's that awesome and I thank you for that, you flatterer. But you're still pretty cheesy." Ember said, shaking her head at his fallen form as he stared dazedly up at her. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard a landing. He'd be ok after a couple of minutes. He then noticed her right hand going for her zipper again. She slowly unzipped more of her bodysuit. "You're a lucky man, Spider-Pop… Corny or not, a diva appreciates a truly devoted admirer…" Her zipper had reached her lower torso.

She shrugged the top of the bodysuit off of her shoulders. Danny's eyes widened considerably and a smile immediately formed on his face.

Ember had gone commando underneath the costume. Moving so that Danny's body was directly beneath her and between her legs, she knelt down and leaned forward, her face and bare chest dominating his field of vision, the 'white-hot' flames of hair flowing down, 'strands' of it tickling his face (without burning him, obviously). "Trick or treat, Spider… Don't bother choosing, 'cause I'm going to give you both before this night's done." she proclaimed before yanking his mask the rest of the way off and claiming his lips with hers again. Again, Danny focused on nothing but the feeling and taste of her.

Moments later… "Are you just going to lay there or are you going to get me out of my bodysuit?" she asked in a mock-scolding tone. "It's getting quite… hot down there." Not even a second later, his gloved hands found the zipper hems of her suit and pushed downward. Ember almost rolled her eyes at his eagerness as her most intimate areas were revealed. He once again vowed to himself that he'll never get tired of seeing this view.

If this is how Peter Parker has a love life, it certainly makes up for the personal hells he gets dealt throughout his story's continuity!

Ember, now fully nude (except the domino mask), suddenly pulled down her belt-whip. "Now, for my 'tricks'. I hope I don't tie you up too tight, my Baby-Pop." she giggled. No, laughed. (Rockers don't 'giggle'!) Danny gulped as Ember unzipped his costume and roughly yanked the top half off. Considering this….

Perhaps Spider-Man truly was one of the few superheroes with the most endurance and stamina, if only for a very good, quite personal reason… Just ask The Black Cat.

Author's Note: Finally, done! This one took a little while to do and I hope this is good, especially since this idea of a Halloween episode was a request. I wonder… Did I do enough Halloween-ish stuff? Could I have added more ghoulish randomness without it being overkill? DannyPhantom619, let me know how I did!

Side Note: For those that might be confused as to what broke Danny and Ember out of Nocturne's dream deathtrap, let's just say that Danny's been playing a little too much Mass Effect lately. Jason Voorhees and the other monsters were (pardon the in-game jargon) "indoctrinated into Reaper troops".

Personally, as for the Dani/Sam lesbian sub-plot, I think I did the best I could with the idea of "someone pondering a change of orientation after someone of the same gender blatantly expresses feelings", this being my first attempt at any sort of homosexual pairing. Not really knowing any homosexuals all that personally (as in 'talking about how their love lives work' or what-not), my expression of how Sam went at least bisexual (might go full-on lesbian if things with Dani go well, which I think they will) may be considered anywhere from 'off' to 'completely wrong' to some people. I mean, with all the talk about it ("Born that way", "It's a choice", "Result of environment", etc.), what I wrote could actually be acceptable about that being a way that a straight person ends up trying it out, for all I know. In any case, if I offend anybody, I apologize and will accept criticism and suggestions of how to re-tweak the Dani/Sam backstory if necessary. ALSO, I did Sam/Dani's origin explanation the way I did because I didn't want a whole flashback scene of it to shoehorn into the Halloween episode, but I felt that it'd be interesting if they were caught during trick-or-treating. You know, a little "extra Halloween surprise" for Team Phantom (or 'The Avengers', shall I say?). Should I have added a flashback? Feel free to let me know.

End of speech! Whew… Anyways, umm…. Reviews? Anyone care to review? I always appreciate word on how I'm doing here. It lets me know if I'm on the right track or not. As always, thank you!