Chapter 6: Danny - Another Ghost Attack? This Was Supposed to be Vacation!

We walk out of the hotel and head in our separate directions, only to find each other later at the convention. I just told Adrien to look for the sign with the word "Fenton" on it. I have to mention, however, seeing Adrien up close, he really does resemble Chat Noir a lot - especially the hair. His body build is very similar, but it's hard to tell with his looser clothes. They even stand in a similar manner. I shake it off, though, I had other things to worry about first - like my parents.

I feel something on my shoulders as I'm snapped out of my train of thought, and I look up to see that we're outside the convention center. I look back to see Jazz looking back, and as I look around mom and dad are nowhere to be seen.

"Danny! Were you even listening to mom and dad?" she says in my ear, making it louder to me than anyone else.

"Uhhhhhhh….." I reply sheepishly, rubbing my ear and moving a few feet away from Jazz's loud shriek of death. She could give my ghostly wail a run for its money.

Jazz sighs loudly. "I guess I'll explain. Mom and dad are too blinded by their 'fan-gasms'," She says with air quotes and a mock tone to her voice, "to keep an eye on you, so you and I are going to walk around ourselves. After that they just ran." She puts her head in her hands. "I swear they are so childish sometimes. Alright, let's go," she grabs my hand, pulling me through the doors.

"Uh, Jazz? I thought you weren't interested in this stuff," I say with a puzzled expression on my face. "Why are we going in?"

"I'm not interested in this" Jazz rants, gesturing towards the people in crappy costumes and poorly put together booths. "I'm intrigued by a book that someone is selling. It's about how to cope with manic-obsessive parents who have been trapped in the recesses of their minds by the thoughts of mythological creatures, who have been roaming the face of the earth since the beginning of time. I figured ghost-hunting fit into that category."

I roll my eyes instinctively and shake my head to keep myself from going cross eyed at her complex speech. "Well if you want to do that, I'll be in the food court, waiting for Adrien." I concentrate on the part of my arm she's holding, making sure nobody is watching, and phase out of her grip. I stop walking and stan still, rubbing my wrist until she notices.

She stops, looks down at her hand, then up to me. I just smile. "DANNY! Get back here!"

"Sorry Jazz, but when I have the chance to eat food that won't come back to haunt me,, literally, I think I'll take it." I say with a smile and wave to her as I turn to the food court.

By the time I see Adrien, I had tried some of every type of food that the they had to offer. So far my favorite was the cheese steak from the little old man with the small stand in the back. Then again, even the worst of it was a welcome change from school food and the meals my parents have brought back to life. After throwing away my latest food wrapper, I make my way over to Adrien.

"Hey, glad to see you made it this far. I thought you might run at the sight of all the wackjobs in here," I say, glancing over to a person attempting to eat a burger in a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man suit, desperately trying to get a bite without getting his costume covered in the various toppings he has on there.

Adrien followed my gaze and chuckled a bit. "That's nothing. You should see the people in Paris." he says with a grin that reminds me all too much of that Chat guy from yesterday.

"So, have you eaten yet?" I ask him pointing over my shoulder to the food stands. "I know one of these booths sells a mean cheesesteak."
"That doesn't sound half bad…" Adrien starts, but before he continues, my heightened hearing picks up on another, squeakier voice.

"Did someone say cheese?" a small, high pitched voice says from out of nowhere. I look at Adrien confusingly as he swats at his bag.
"Umm, did you hear that?" I ask him. He looks a bit nervous, but before he has any time to formulate a reply, a huge *CRASH!* comes from the main hall.

People start running in all directions, screaming and yelling, "Ghost! GHOST!"

I instinctively grab the closest person to me, which happens to be Adrien, and bring him into the nearest bathroom, making sure it's the guy's room first.

"Great thinking, we'll be safe in here," Adrien tells me before looking quickly back at the door. "Wait, what about your sister! She's still out there, shouldn't you go get her?"

"And bring her into the guy's room? No way, she can fend for herself. Plus, I'm too afraid of ghosts to go out there…" I say lying through my teeth. "If you're so worried about Jazz maybe you should get her along with your guardian," What was her name? I try to think but my mind is racing. I need to get Adrien out of here so I can go ghost and go stop whatever frootloop decided to show up this time. "Natasha? Was that it…? Either way why don't you go make sure they're ok."
"First, her name is Natalie. Second, there's no way I can go out there. I don't know what to do in the event of a ghost attack. Your parents are ghost hunters, right? Why don't you go get them to help?"

'Oh geez..' I think. I completely forgot about them. 'Now I really gotta get out here fast, before they mess anything up. But I can't do it with Adrien in the room unless…..'

I let out a sigh of defeat. I really didn't want to do this, but it's not like I could spend all day arguing with who should leave the bathroom, and in such a crowded environment there's nowhere else I could change. "Look, Adrien." I say grabbing him by the shoulders. "I have a secret, a really important secret that I'm about to show to you, and you can't tell anyone. Not even my parents. Do you understand?"

Adrien looks at me confused. "What sort of secret? Are you actually a girl?" he glanced up to the bathroom sign indicating men's room.

"What?! No!" I say, pulling his attention back to me. "Look, just, promise me you won't tell anyone, and that you won't freak out?" I ask him once more. Slowly he nods, and I let go of his shoulders. "Good." I say taking a few steps back. "I'm going ghost!" I say to help my concentration as I reach into my ghost core and bring my powers to front and center stage. The ethereal rings which start my transformation appear, and run up and down the length of my body, turning me from a warm human being, to an icy cold ghost. I feel myself become weightless as I push off the ground and float in front of him. "Don't worry, I'll be right back," I tell him, the unnatural echo in my voice amplified by the tile walls of the room. I'm about to fly off when I think of something else and turn back to the shocked Adrien. "Oh! And one last thing - if you're going to leave the bathroom, you'd better do it soon." I say with a smile, before taking off and phasing through the roof.

CHAPTER END