WoM- 'laughing' It's a curse for this story, I swear it is… Wingedwish finished coloring the first two pages of Flash Photography, and this was her first choice for payment. I'm starting to wonder why I even ask anymore…
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Maddie: (To Vlad) You despicable, lying piece of... cheese!
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Sleight of Hand
"WHAT?"
Mr. Lancer flinched slightly, though he'd been expecting something along the lines of that effect. It was an involuntary reaction with the sheer volume of the screech, though. Still, Mr. Lancer kept a firm look on Danny, the leader of the ragtag group and the one in most danger. The boy still hadn't said a word, and only his widened eyes even showed that he'd heard the teacher.
"But Mr. Lancer, you can't—!"
"I can and I will, Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer took his eyes off of Danny long enough to fix Jazz with the same steady gaze, earning a guilty flinch. "Honestly, though, I'm surprised at your involvement in all of this. I gave you more credit then that, Jasmine."
"It was my fault, Mr. Lancer." Blinking in surprise, the scholar turned back to Danny, who spoke up at last upon the attack on his sister. "Jazz kept my secret because I asked her to, don't blame her for this. Or Tucker. Or Sam."
"No way, Danny." Sam interjected harshly. "I'm the one who talked you into going into the stupid portal."
"And I've been keeping your secret because I'm proud of you." Jazz added with the same firmness.
"We've been with you the whole time, dude," Tucker said, sounding unusually serious. "Through it all. You think we're really gonna let you take all the heat when it most matters, man?"
"It's our secret Danny, remember?" Jazz said quietly as she shared a meaningful look with her brother, grasping his hand firmly in her own. Danny gave her a weary smile as memories creeped back up at the girl's words…
The C.A.T… That's the last time I saw you alive… The big explosion at the Nasty Burger, you, Tucker, Danny's family… And it was all your fault!
Strange how a massive fireball of high combustible condiments can ruin your whole future…
You're responsible for the horrible things that happened to your world and ours! To everyone you've ever come in contact with!
All you wanted was to make the hurt go away…
Maybe that's all anybody needs... a second chance.
Mr. Lancer blinked a couple of times as the memories slipped away again, baffled at the seemingly indiscriminate whispers the boy had been replaying in his head.
What was that about…? He wondered for a moment before he let the question go. His main concern now was keeping his students safe, from the ghosts and from themselves.
"No offence, Mr. Lancer," Danny said, leveling an unwavering gaze at the teacher that drew him from these thoughts. "but I can't do that. I have a responsibility to everyone here in Amity, and I'm not going to stand by and ignore a cry for help."
"Your fourteen Danny." Mr. Lancer reminded the boy with a sigh. "You should be concentrating on your future, not ghost hunting. Think of how much more time you will be able to devote to your school work and other activities you would be doing if you weren't out risking your life."
"Yeah, but do you have to call our parents?" Tucker asked in a pleading tone. "Can't you just give us detention until we graduate or something?"
"I am not going to sit by and allow you children to get yourselves killed!" Mr. Lancer snapped, glaring at them.
"We're doing fine on our own, though!" Sam snapped right back. "The only reason no one's died yet because of a ghost is because Danny's fighting them! It's not fair to do something like this to us, Mr. Lancer!"
"If you make Danny stop hunting, Amity Park will be virtually defenseless." Jazz reminded Mr. Lancer quietly.
"I think you underestimate your parents abilities, Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer told the girl dismissively.
If he wasn't being serious, I'd laugh myself into a coma at that…
"I am being serious, Mr. Foley." Mr. Lancer rolled his eyes as Tucker jumped about three feet into the air. "And I doubt any of your parents would appreciate the fact that you not only lied to them, but put yourselves in mortal peril doing so."
"You think I care what you tell my parents?" Sam countered defiantly, cocking her chin in a silent challenge.
"No, but I do think that they will take action after they learn exactly what you've been doing in your spare time." Mr. Lancer said dryly, remembering Mr. and Mrs. Manson from Parent-Teacher conferences. "You know that if your parents find out about this little after school activity of yours, they'd remove you from the school, and possibly even the state."
Or worse… Danny realized, his eyes going wide before he glanced quickly over at Sam, who wavered slightly under this revelation before she steeled herself again. Knowing the Mansons, they'd use any excuse they could to send Sam to some snobby private school overseas, and this would be the perfect one. Startled, Mr. Lancer saw Danny's resolve start to crumble when he thought about the severity of his friend's punishment. Struck with inspiration, the teacher turned to Tucker next.
"And you, Mr. Foley, you think your parents want you involved in this sort of danger? I'd imagine that if they knew, they would ban you from the use of your precious technology, including your beloved PDA." Tucker when dangerously pale at the warning there, hugging the device close to him in a protective sort of way.
Not my PDA! He wailed in his head, apparently too horrorstruck for words.
"And Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer said, turning to the oldest of the four. "You expect me to believe that you enjoy knowing that your brother is constantly in danger when you can do nothing about it? What would happen if a ghost killed him, hm? You'd blame yourself for the rest of your life, for keeping something like this a secret and allowing him to fight when you could have stopped him." Jazz flinched at the scenario the teacher described, pain flashing in her eyes for a moment before she lowered them to the ground, unaware of her brother's wide eyed stare.
Jazz… He thought, swallowing slightly and closing his own eyes for a moment. I never thought about that… any of it. Jazz, Sam, Tucker… all of them have something they can't afford to lose. And because of me… Opening his eyes, Danny gave Mr. Lancer a defeated look.
"Fine." He said shortly. "No more ghost hunting."
"What?" Jazz gasped, her eyes going wide for a moment.
"Danny—!" Sam started, moving forward as if to stop the boy.
"It's my choice, guy." Danny snapped harshly. "No more. It's over, okay." He leveled another glare at Mr. Lancer, this one different then before. "You win."
Then, without another word, Danny brushed past his sister and friends and made his way to the door, gone before anyone could stop him. Without even looking at one another, the three remaining ghost hunters dashed for the exit as one, apparently intent on stopping Danny.
Mr. Lancer sighed as the door closed behind them, slumping forward and cradling his head in his hands. He felt drained now for some reason, physically and emotionally. But Danny was right, he had won…
…So why did it feel like a loss?
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"…That's all class. You may go." Cheering loudly, the students stood up and charged for the door before Lancer could say another word. The teacher merely straightened up some of his papers, too weary to even remind the kids not to run in the halls.
Ever since his talk with Danny, Mr. Lancer's thoughts were a thousand miles away, something some of his more daring students noticed and attempted to take advantage of.
Needless to say, detention that week was going to be more crowded then usual…
Sighing, Mr. Lancer slipped his work into his briefcase and started for the door, intent on getting home and finding himself a nice book to help him escape the doubts he was starting to feel.
"Lancer!" Groaning, the balding man turned to glower at the oversized gym teacher approaching at a brisk pace.
Of course… He thought sourly.
"Can this wait, Ms Testlaff?" He asked shortly. "There are other matters I need to attend to right now." He and the gym teacher had never gotten along, and after the day he'd just been through he wasn't in the mood to even pretend to be polite to her.
"Can it, Lancer." Testlaff snorted with a glare. "I was just seeing if what Sanchez said was true. She can't come to cheer practice today because of some chit chat thing you set up with her and Manson?" Mr. Lancer blanked out for a moment before he realized what the woman was talking about. When it hit him, though, he groaned helplessly to himself.
Blood and Chocolate… he sighed in his head. Just one of those days.
"It's true, Ms Testlaff." He said out loud, turning to start back to his classroom. "Please send her down immediately so we can start posthaste." The last thing he wanted was to be left alone with an angry Sam Manson for any period of time…
Luck was against him, though, and Sam was waiting when he got back to his room, eagerly greeting his approach with a glare that would freeze fire cold. Unfazed, Mr. Lancer unlocked his door and reentered the room he'd just left, the goth trailing on his heels.
"You know, the whole psychic teacher thing is one serious violation of privacy." Sam drolled out coldly as soon as she took a seat, never letting up her glare. "Isn't that illegal or something?"
"If that's a threat, Miss Manson, I'm afraid it's not a very good one." Mr. Lancer sniffed. "You'd have a hard time proving your accusation without revealing Danny's secret, after all." Sam's eyes narrowed.
"Why can't you just leave us alone?" she growled. "Nobody's been seriously hurt yet, and we're saving people lives. How is that a bad thing, huh?"
"Yet, Miss Manson." Mr. Lancer repeated pointedly. "What will you do if there comes a day when someone is hurt, hmm? Especially if it's Danny?"
"That's not gonna work on me." Sam said, her glare hardening. "Danny knows the risks, and he's willing to take them to protect people. That's what makes him a hero, Mr. Lancer, and that's why I'm doing whatever I can to make sure that the risks aren't as bad as they could be." Before Mr. Lancer could counter this, the door opened and Paulina sauntered into the room in full cheerleader garb.
"This is totally unfair, Mr. Lancer." She complained loudly as she took a seat. "I should be getting ready for the cheer off right now!"
"Life isn't always fair, Miss Sanchez." The teacher sighed.
Tell me about it… Sam thought bitterly.
"At any rate, You two ladies should know what to do now, so I'll leave you alone." Flipping on the tape recorder, Mr. Lancer headed for the door. "Behave yourselves, girls."
Jerk.
"I heard that, Miss Manson." Ignoring the confused Paulina, Mr. Lancer shot the now blushing Sam a dry look before he left, closing the door behind him.
Now what? Mr. Lancer thought with a gloomy sigh. He wasn't in the mood to play mediator for Sam and Paulina, after all, so he'd have to settle on listening to the tape of the conversation later. Right now, he was more worried about sorting out his own thoughts before he tackled those of his students.
Shaking his head, Mr. Lancer headed for the teacher's lounge, full intent on getting himself a strong cup of coffee and a bag of Hart-Munchies to snack on. He needed something to do while he was thinking, after all…
"Mr. Lancer?" Jumping slightly, the teacher turned to see none other then Jazz Fenton, approaching him at a hesitant pace.
Why is it that I'm suddenly incapable of escaping these children? Mr. Lancer wondered for a moment before turning his attention back to the redhead.
"Miss Fenton." He said, straightening himself up. "Is there a problem?"
More then you know…
"Yes, actually." Jazz sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about Danny."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Mr. Lancer asked in a droll tone. Raising an eyebrow, he added, "You stayed after school to talk to me about that?"
"Well, no." Jazz gave a rueful smile at that. "Danny flunked out on an important math test on Friday, so he has to do the re-take now. I stayed after to give him a ride home."
"I see…" Mr. Lancer frowned in a very adult-like fashion. "No doubt your brother would have done better if he was studying rather then hunting ghosts, hm?"
"That kinda what I want to talk to you about…" Jazz said hesitantly. "The whole no ghost hunting thing, I mean."
"Then I can tell you right now the answer's no, Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer said shortly, turning to head to the teacher's lounge again.
"Wait!" Jazz said, jumping in front of him to stop his retreat. "Mr. Lancer, please! Just hear me out, okay?" Rolling his eyes slightly, Mr. Lancer stopped and crossed his arms impatiently, waiting for the girl to say her piece and be done with it. Seeing that he was giving her a chance, Jazz took a deep breath. "Look, I know the whole ghost hunting thing is dangerous. I know you think that Danny's too young and that we shouldn't be involved in something like this…"
"Then we're at an understanding, Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer interjected.
"Please, Mr. Lancer, I'm not done." Jazz pleaded softly. "I know you think you're doing Danny a favor, that you're keeping him safe, but that's not true, Mr. Lancer."
"And just what makes you think that?" Mr. Lancer demanded, bristling slightly.
"Because, you're telling Danny to give up part of who he is." Jazz explained, clearly searching for the best way to word her explination. "Danny's not just the high school student you're trying to make him be anymore. Danny Phantom's become such a big part of Danny's personality, of himself. The things he's done as Danny Phantom are really helping him grow as a person, and being a superhero has given him a real purpose."
Danny needs to be a superhero as much as Amity Park needs him to be one. Jazz added grimly in her head as Mr. Poluka passed by, chatting aimlessly with one of the social study teachers. You can't make him give that up, Mr. Lancer, it's not going to help anyone.
"Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer sighed as soon as his colleges had passed out of hearing distance. "I'm starting to get tired of you four trying to make me feel guilty about what I've decided." Leveling a glare at her, Mr. Lancer drew himself up to his full height. "I'm not allowing Miss Grey to put herself in danger hunting ghosts, and I'm not about to make an exception of your brother. I don't care how much good you think you're doing, the risks are far too much for children such as yourself to be taking." Jazz groaned and shook her head at that.
"But that's just it, Mr. Lancer." she said as she frowned slightly at the teacher. "Danny's not just a little kid anymore. He's grown up so much after everything he's seen, everything he's faced… And telling him to go backwards after everything he's been through just because he's too young isn't fair to him, or Sam and Tucker."
"Well, life isn't always fair, Miss Fenton." Mr. Lancer said stiffly, brushing past the girl to lock himself in the teacher's lounge.
He hesitated a moment, leaning against the door. While he didn't want to admit it, so much of what Sam and Jazz had just said had made sense to him. Enough so that he was in fact starting to feel guilty over the threat he was hanging over their heads…
This isn't the time to second guess myself. Mr. Lancer reminded himself, shaking his head and heading for the vending machine for his Hart-Munchies. I've already decided that this is what's best for everyone, Danny included. If any of them ended up seriously hurt because of this ghost craze of theirs, I'd never be able to forgive myself for not stopping them…
Punching the numbers on the vending machine, Mr. Lancer waited impatiently for the bag to drop out.
Only to see it get stuck on the wire.
"Common Sense!" Mr. Lancer growled out, pounding on the Plexiglas in a rare show of anger.
That's then the entire school shook as if it was caught in an earthquake.
Yelping, Mr. Lancer struggled to stay standing, not even noticing when the 'quake' knocked his snack off of the wire. The teacher's eyes widened when a loud, feral roar made the windows shake in their frames, his heart dropping into his stomach.
Oh no…
Springing for the door, Mr. Lancer raced towards the Math Department of the school, which thankfully wasn't too far from the teacher's lounge. Just as he was rounding the corner he made impact with a much smaller boy, who fell to the ground with a grunt.
"Mr. Lancer!" Danny stiffened, his eyes wide and guilty as Mr. Lancer glared down at him.
"Going somewhere, Mr. Fenton?" He asked shortly, irritated that the boy was trying to get around their agreement already.
"Hehe… What gave you that idea?" Danny asked, flashing the teacher an innocent (and completely unconvincing) smile.
Mr. Lancer's glare only deepened, making the boy flinch.
"I thought we had a deal?" Mr. Lancer said coldly, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, I know, but—!"
"No buts, Danny." Scowling slightly, Mr. Lancer grasped the boys wrist, tugging him to his feet and down the hall. "Now come along. You're going to stay where I can keep an eye on you."
"But Mr. Lancer—!"
"Need I remind you of the terms of our deal, Mr. Fenton?" The teacher asked with a pointed look. Danny merely winced submissively, saying nothing. "That's what I thought. Let's go, Danny." The two of them had barely taken two steps before there was another loud roar, this time followed by a scream.
Darn it, I can't do this! Danny thought harshly in his head. Oh, well… if I'm gonna die, it might as well be with a clear conscience.
"Sorry, Mr. Lancer…" Mr. Lancer frowned, turning to ask exactly what the boy was 'sorry' about…
…When he suddenly realized that he was alone. Not only alone, but alone inside a janitors' closet, amidst all too familiar mops and buckets.
"The Diary of Anne Frank, not again!"
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WoM- Sorry about the ending, but I couldn't help myself. 'giggles shamelessly' Three chapters left now, people! I'm actually gonna be really sorry to see this one go, I'm having fun here… 'grins evilly'
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Thanks to;
MissMeliss4251, angel4u185, Ohka Breynekai, Bunny Bubble, Queen S of Randomness 016, Firehedgehog, epobbp, Ghostboy814, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, jjeeff185, shadow thief wolf, Meiriona, Light Dragon SunsSong, My Eternal Facade, Epona Harper, AkoyaMizuno, Becky Yuy, sugarland31, Jillie chan, Jimmy the Gothic Egg, Sirithiliel, Phantom of a Rose, SquirrelGirl13, xheartkreuzx, CharmedNightSkye, Warrior of winds, Sasia, Balkoth, Shewhodanceswithdragons, PotterPhan21, KittyKiChi, kennyk12, Jessica01, Samantha-Girl Scout, blindyourears, Horselvr4evr123, SilverstarsEbonyskies, purpledog100, Serena, acosta perez jose ramiro, dArkliTe-sPirit, Punker88, Snea, werewulf, giggleaid, emotigone crazy, Kairi7, Daethule, Tetsukon, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, Rambie, Evillittlegurlie, midnightRoadkill, Baka Hanyou Rahvin, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, NebuNeferu, -StarPhantom-, katiesparks, Celestial Pendent, Redwind, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, Miss Selarne, ghostgirl14027, Harm Marie, Invader Johnny, Shenhua Phantom, Fan-Fic-CC27, Zuzanny, Funkatron, DragonEva, timydamonkey, Wingg-ed Wolf, Lumias, conan98002, Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak, BratCat, Kellie Fay, Madame Band Geek, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Witch4ever, Serena the Hikari of Love, phantomshadowdragon, NNF, purrbaby101, ur1crazedupfruitloop, Firefury, CMG13, Gmasangel, Itallia, Kirstyn.T, aussie-dreamer, LovelyxBunchaxCoconuts, shadow929, Raving-Lunatic, AirGirl Phantom, Hiroshi Yakuza Ketchum, CarmenElizabeth, Rob Phantom, Kat, ImMoRtAl-FoOl, Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse, Frodo01228, Narugirl94, DragonSword35d, Anomaly25, avearia, ilikedan, narsaksas, Lt. Commander Richie, BarnOwl93, Tazzel Quickbow, Shi Rurouni of the Aphrodesiac, BadCatGirl, Darth Frodo, JosephineInLove, XThe UnwantedX, fish n chips n vinegar, The Sleep Warrior
Special Thanks to;
Dr. Strangelove Lover, Jessica01, sugarland31, Epona Harper, dragon halfling, fan-girls2.0, PotterPhan21, 'Dark-Independent-Girl-101', acosta perez jose ramiro, The Lady PhantomMage of Conte, sesshyluver, Queen S of Randomness 016, Iaveina, kennyk12, LovelyxBunchaxCoconuts, Emria, Celestial Pendent, DannyandWaffle, Rob Phantom, kawaii chibi shun, ImMoRtAl-FoOl, dl-sPirit, Narugirl94, Sunshine Silverjojo, fish n chips n vinegar, Straying Life, Rambie, winkaku, Sirithiliel, Arabic Blessing, Phantom-Princess93, Bunny Bubble, X-Roosterrelli-X, CMG13, RyuuMahou, Samantha Seldowitz