And now, even more characters will be introduced! Its all so very very exciting, really. I'm having a blast writing this, and that you for all my watchers, fans and that one super nice reviewer. Hope you guys like it.
When the bell rang, Danny got up quickly, ready to move on to a class that didn't involve Lancer, and almost forgot that he was supposed to be guiding Illusen. His reminder came when she dropped her necklace, squeaking.
"Oh no!" she whispered, picking it up quickly and turning it over in her fingers. Danny leaned over, looking at the necklace. "I knew I should have gotten it fixed before we left…"
"Everything okay?" Danny asked as the rest of the class filed out.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Illusen said. "Its just that the clasp is broken and its always falling off and I'm really afraid I'll lose it…" Danny took the necklace from her, studying it. It was a pretty simple one, just a fine silver chain with a milky green gem hanging from it.
"Here, maybe I can fix it." he said, looking at the clasp. It looked like the arm broken off, so he compromised, pulling one of the links behind it open with his fingernail and slipped the ring inside before pinching it closed. "I hope that works." he said, passing it back to her. She took it gratefully, slipping it over her head.
"Thank you." she whispered. "It's a present from my dad… I always break it when I move." She looked around. "The class is gone…"
"Oh, right, next class!" said Danny, standing up. "I have a schedule…" He knocked a set of papers off his desk, which were quickly caught by Sam, who had reappeared. "Oh, hey Sam. I didn't see you there."
"I didn't see you either. That's why I doubled back." Sam said, handing his papers. "I don't want you to for get about class and Illy."
"Illy…" Illusen echoed. "I like that." She smiled at Sam, who smiled back before turning to Danny.
"Come on, both of you. I don't wanna sit through math alone."
After a relatively safe first day - no in-school ghost attacks, no crazed students, nowhere near the zoo - Danny felt almost suspicious as Jazz picked him up.
"And how was your first day returned to the hall of building blocks of education?" Jazz asked him, pulling away from the curb as Danny buckled up. "I'm sure it was exciting."
"Jazz," Danny said, leaning back in his seat. "It was school. I'm just glad the Lunch Lady didn't crash our lunch."
"Danny, you know you have pasta in your hair, right?" Jazz asked. Danny sighed heavily and brushed his hair as hard as he could, dislodging even more pasta. "Danny, you didn't get beat up did you? You know, my psychology professor says that-"
"Jazz, it was the Box Ghost, now chill with the psych professor talk." Danny muttered, trying to find all of the pasta. "I don't know how he manages to escape and be so annoying…"
"Uhm… I think I know how he got out this morning." Jazz said, running a red light while distracted. "We're having a glitch with the Portal… Dad's about to explode."
"What's wrong with the Portal?" Danny asked, getting a bad feeling as Jazz, staring intensely at the road, almost swerved off of it.
"Well… it won't close." Jazz said, making Danny groan and sick into his seat. "But nothing really dangerous has come out yet. Just the Crate Creep and the Friendly Fiend… and some snakes. And in other news, it started snowing in Elmertown!"
"Oh boy." Danny said, sighing heavily. "I can already hear the screams." He slumped back in his seat, then sat up straight. "Jazz, why don't I hear screams?"
"Mom has it under control." she said, getting up on the curb and then veering onto the grass, almost destroying a mail drop box before Danny turned it intangible. "Thanks little bro."
"Jazz, get back on the road." Danny hissed through gritted teeth. "And pay attention to driving or someone might notice next time." Jazz was a horrible driver when she distracted, even though she had a spectacularly clean record. Danny attributed that partially to himself. "Is Mom… taking care of all the ghosts?"
"Well, Dad almost caught the Crate Creep this morning, but he got away. I haven't seen him since though." Danny smirked a little, feeling accomplished. Even with the massive failure that day had been, he wouldn't have to worry about being annoyed to death by the Box Ghost. "Here, you can help if you want." Jazz said, pulling into their driveway. "I have the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick. You can swing it at Dad if he gets out of hand."
"No thanks Jazz. I'll be in my room sleeping." Opening his door, Danny noticed something new at the house next to them; a moving truck. "Hey Jazz, is someone moving in next door?"
"Oh, yeah, someone bought the entire place. They've been moving in all day. I've only seen two people so far." She closed the door and locked the car, walking to the front door. "Danny, you coming?"
"No, I think I'll greet the new neighbors." Danny said, moving towards the house. A tall black man was carrying two boxes in the door, and Danny waited by the open back of the truck until he came back. "Hi, I'm Danny Fenton. I live next door. You need any help getting everything inside?" The man moved close, then held out his hand while Danny felt plenty warm. Not a ghost.
"Sure I could use a hand. You can call me Recut. I'm sure you'll see my niece in a minute. Just grab a box and go on inside to stack anywhere." Danny nodded and picked up the nearest box, which was surprisingly light, taking it inside and marveling at the stacks of boxes all around. They lined the walls and went all the way to the ceiling, yet looked in no danger of falling. He looked around, then put his box down near one of the other columns before heading back outside, passing Recut.
"You guys, uhm, have a lot of stuff." Danny said, trying to make conversation. Buying an entire apartment building wasn't cheap, and there was so much stuff. He wanted to know what Recut did. "So, why did you choose to move to nowhere?"
"Ah, I wanted some fresh air for my niece. Plus, we heard there were ghost researchers in the town." Recut laughed a little, and Danny laughed awkwardly too. More ghost hunters made him nervous. "Me and Lou, we're into ghosts. They're pretty fascinating," He leaned in close to Danny. "don't you think?"
"Uncle!" A familiar voice called as footsteps approached quickly. "Stop scaring someone we just met!" Illusen appeared, wearing ragged jeans and a black tank top as she tied her hair back with a green bandana. "Sorry about him, he's just a bit overly friendly, we're kinda new, but we're harmless I-" She stopped, seeing Danny, and blushed red. "Uhm, hi Danny." She turned, punching her uncle rather solidly. "Don't scare people."
"Hey, hey, you two have already met, I don't think I can severely alter his opinion of you." Recut said, backing away, but still watching Danny. "How do you know Lou anyways?"
"Uncle, don't call me that." Illusen said. "It sounds like a boy's name. Danny was the guy who didn't trip me at school today. Uhm, thanks for that Danny."
"No problem." Danny replied, hearing a loud bang that sounded like it came from his basement. He chose to ignore it. "I tend to avoid tripping new people." Illusen smiled softly, then grabbed a box from the stack. Danny did the same. "So, what do you think of our exciting town?"
"Its great." she said, walking into the house. "I love ghosts. Its kinda a dorky past time, but I'm just a big fan. Uhm, I h-heard your name was Fenton earlier." Danny winced. "You're not part of the Fenton inventors, are you?"
"Around here, they call it the Fenton ghost-hunting freaks." Danny said, putting down his box. "But basically, yeah." Illusen dropped her box, which made a surprisingly loud bang, and then, as if she had just remembered something, began digging through the box.
"Wow, that's so cool." she said, pulling out several electronics until she brought out a small remote, that was giving off a high pitched squeak. "Sorry, I need to turn this off." She hit it against wall until the back fell off, then pulled out two squarish batteries and pocketed them. "Sorry."
"No, its cool…" Danny said. The remote had a clear case with several blue, violet and copper wires running through it, and it looked insanely complex. "What does that even do?"
"Uh, it uhm… turns on my… laptop?" She fidgeted a little before taking the remote in two hands and dashing up the stairs. "Excuse me!" Danny looked after her for a moment, confused, then went back outside to get another box.
"My Illusen's a bit shy, if you haven't noticed." Danny jumped a little as Recut appeared behind him, holding three boxes. "She doesn't make friends very easily, but she seems to have taken a shine to you." Danny picked up a box. "Don't make her miserable. We do live next door."
"Uhm, no worries." Danny said, laughing nervously again. "Uhm, Illy seems pretty nice… I think we'll be friends. She's, uhm, cool." A loud bang, and Danny looked over his shoulder to see his father running out.
"Danny my boy! We closed the portal!" Jack Fenton ran over, nearly crushing Danny in a hug. "What are you doing- Hey, new people!" He dropped Danny and stuck out his hand. "Jack Fenton, ghost hunter. We live next door."
"Recut Holden." he said, shaking Jack's hand. "We just moved in this morning. Your son Danny's been helping me unload some of our boxes. We have quite a few."
"A chip off the old block eh?" Jack said, clapping Danny on the back. "Well, even if you are being friendly son, why don't you head on home and look at what your mother and I caught!" He leaned down. "Actually, your mother caught it." he whispered. "But I got a cookie for not interrupting."
Danny turned and headed to his house as his father began moving boxes, and when he opened the front door, something hit him.
"Ow!" he said rubbing his head and then ducking as the Booomerang circled back. "Who let that thing out?"
"Danny, you're home!" his mother said, catching the Booomerang and pushing the hood of her ghost fighting outfit back. "I'm so glad you got here after we closed the Portal back. We've been dealing with some nasty ghosts." She hugged him, then shoved the Booomerang into a drawer. "Oh, but I'm sure you want to see what we caught. Erm, maybe you'll know what it is." And with that, she began dragging him towards the basement. "I don't think this particular ghost has ever bothered us before…"
As she opened the basement door, Danny felt a blast of cold air, and shivered slightly as his mother put her facemask back on.
"Mom, the Friendly Fiend isn't letting go!" Jazz yelled up, and Danny groaned. Klemper was not on the lists of ghosts he wouldn't mind seeing at the moment. "Really, what should I do?"
"Be my friend?" Klemper asked, smiling crookedly at Jazz as she tried to wretch her wrist free of his meaty hand. A snow blizzard was cycling around, and Danny rubbed his forehead to ward off an impending headache.
"We've tried most conventional methods, but we can't hit him without chancing hitting your sister." Mrs. Fenton explained, looking displeased. "And he's just so darn cold…" She shivered, rubbing her arms. At that same moment, Klemper spotted Danny and released Jazz's arm, floating to tackle him. Luckily, his mother reacted before either of them could and grabbed some manner of net, throwing it over the friendly ghost. "Ha, you dirty ghost! I'll send you back where you belong!" And with slightly surprising strength, his mother hefted the ghost through the now open Portal. As the doors closed behind him, she turned to her two slightly shocked children, brushing imaginary dirt off of her hands. "Well then, who wants cookies?"
"Uhm… Sounds like a great idea Mom." Jazz said weakly, rubbing her arms where Klemper had held her. "Don't you think Danny?" Danny just nodded, and his mother beamed.
"Alright then kids, let's head on up to the kitchen!" Maddie Fenton said excitedly, beginning up the stairs herself. "I've been thinking about peanut butter kiss cookies, what do you think?" Jazz answered, while Danny was busy thinking.
The Ghost Portal never malfunctioned; it was always so outside force. The last time ghosts had been spewing out it was his father's fault, but he doubted that was the case this time. His mom would have noticed. As he climbed the stairs, he tried to think of a reason, and failed utterly.
"Oh look Danny," his mother said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "We have new neighbors. Isn't that great? Maybe they like ghosts." Danny looked, and sure enough, Recut was waving at his mother from his front door. "Have you met him?"
"Uhm, yeah." Danny said, waving back. "His niece is new at school. She seems nice."
"A girl?" his mother questioned, pouting slightly. "I thought you and Sam were dating."
"No, Mom, its not like that Illy's just a friend." Danny said, waving his arms and backpedaling furiously. "And so is Sam! Just… friends." His mother gave him a look that plainly said that she didn't believe him. "Erm… Dad is making friends?"
"Hmm… I suppose I should discourage your father before he does anything too detrimental to the new neighbors… You kids stay here, alright? I'm sure you have plenty of exciting homework to do." His mother left quickly, and Danny sighed, leaning again the kitchen wall. Summer break needed to come back.
In her rather dark bedroom, Sam Manson leaned against her headboard, drawing her knees to her chest. Something about Illusen seemed ridiculously familiar, but she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was like she was an old friend or some movie star who was only slightly disguised. She shook it off, thinking of the day.
Danny had seemed more distracted than usual, and the fact that he had gotten into a ghost fight before school did not sit well with her. The fight with Freakshow had been too recent, not even two months, and even with Danny destroying the Reality Gauntlet, she was afraid that something could go wrong. It had been almost comical how Danny had defeated Freakshow, just like Aladdin had Jafar.
"Am I just getting paranoid?" she asked herself softly, stretching her legs out and getting off of her bed. "I probably am… Especially since I talk to myself now." She pulled her boots back on and tried to sneak out of her room quietly and creep to the greenhouse, hoping that her plants would soothe what were surely needless worries.
Illusen pushed her hair back, sighing as she looked at the boxes that surrounded her. Getting all of the boxes in their new house had taken a while, but she felt it was worth it to be where she was. Pulling on a nearby box, she grabbed one of the razor blades that she had been storing in her pocket to cut open boxes and smoothly sliced the tape, peeling the flaps back and dragging out a pillow and a fuzzy blanket just as her uncle walked in.
"So Lou, what do you think?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe. "Its big and empty and dusty… But we have great neighbors." They both grinned. "So, you think you can learn to love it here?" Illusen shook the blanket out. "Middle of nowhere Amity Park?"
"You know I love everywhere we end up Uncle." Illusen said, laying the blanket down and bending over to fold it in half carefully. "But I know I'll love it here… I can just feel it."
"Making friends already? I saw Danny." Illusen straightened up quickly, smiling. "You excited to meet him?"
"Oh, you can't even imagine." Illusen said, shaking her hair softly out of her eyes. "Danny talked to me Uncle, and he seemed so friendly… And I met Sam, and Tucker too," Her uncle's eyes brightened at this ever so slightly. "and Uncle, you wouldn't believe it. I think they like me. First day here, and I already have three friends. And they're so…" She gestured with her hands widely, and her uncle continued to grin. "Oh, but what if later they don't like me? What if it's… New kid pity?"
"Lou, don't worry." Recut said, stepping away from the doorframe and pulling her into a hug. "I'm sure they'll love you. Why wouldn't they?"
"I guess you're right." Illusen said, hugging him back. "Its just…" She smiled, then looked down. "Do you think Dad would approve?" Recut laughed in an earnest, booming way.
"Well, I don't know about this Tucker fellow, but I completely believe your father would approve of Danny next door." he said, letting his niece go. "But you need sleep now. You have school tomorrow and then you have to come home and unpack and wait for your bed to arrive… You sure you don't mind sleeping on the floor?"
"Positive Uncle." Illusen replied. "Its more fun anyways, dreaming of what its going to be like… And the magic of youth will keep me strong!" Chuckling slightly, her uncle walked out, closing the door behind him. "Magic of youth never fails…"
She reached into the box that she had just taken the blanket out of and removed two more things; a battered black notebook and a picture frame. Holding them gently, Illusen sat down and put the book in her lap, looking at the picture.
"Hi Mom and Dad." she said softly. "Just moved to Amity Park. The people are great, don't worry, and school is nice. Uncle and I are doing well. And, uhm… I love you." Telling that to an old faded picture always made her feel silly, but she said it to her parents' wedding picture every night, without fail.
She tucked the picture into her pillow and stretched to another nearby box marked DECORATIONS, opening it swiftly. Inside were several tightly rolled posters and a three pack of tape dispensers, and with a smile, Illusen made her new room just like home.
And herein lies the chapter. Please tell me what you think, what you like, what you don't like, what I did wrong and any mad theories you happen to have. All will be recieved with happiness. And remember, the more often I get positive reviews, the more likely I am to fall off the couch with joy.
~ Natalie