Disclaimer: The wonderful Danny Phantom still does not belong to me.
Kindly do continue with your wonderful constructive criticism:)
Metanoia
Chapter 5
Keeping up with his peers in class proved far more difficult that Danny had imagined.
Danny had never really worked hard in his freshman year, choosing to remain an unremarkable student, unlike his sister. Jazz had managed to achieve the highest score in the history of the CAT, while taking it a year early, a feat that Danny knew he would never match. If he had been an unremarkable student before, he was now mediocre. He understood next to none of the lessons he was taught, let alone the homework and further reading he had been assigned. He suddenly found himself failing in his attempts to understand three years worth of missed work, a feat made almost impossible due to his unusual education.
Ghost hunting was easy compared to this. He struggled behind in every subject, raising questions from his teachers about what exactly he had been doing in his three years out of Casper High. He told them that he had been home schooled, which was practically the truth. He could hardly tell them that he had been training under a veteran reconnaissance agent to be a ghost hunter for a government organisation.
First he had been home schooled, as well as trained by Vlad to gain control of his supernatural gifts. As his training as Vlad's apprentice progressed, Danny could find less and less reason to continue ordinary schooling, declaring it a waste of time. Vlad had been disapproving, but agreed that Danny should not have to study subjects he did not see the point in learning.
He had been tutored in cryptanalysis, ghost weaponry and various forms of martial arts. Vlad had taught him how to analyze his surroundings, finding his opponents' weaknesses and exploiting them, his benefactor's training equipping him with all the necessary skills a ghost hunter of the finest caliber required. Initially, Danny had been trained to dismantle and reassemble various forms ectoplasmic weaponry blindfolded, instruction he no long required due to the progression of his spectral abilities.
Vlad had been genuinely impressed by the flair his charge displayed for cryptanalysis, his adeptness for code breaking was truly remarkable for his age. Danny had progressed from the simple monoalphabetic cipher to theories of quantum cryptology in less than a year. While Danny was said to possess none of the brilliance of his parents and sister at school, Vlad believed he had finally managed to unlock his protégé's academic potential.
He had even once joked that in the highly unlikely event that Danny were to fail as a ghost hunter, the NSA would gladly take him in as a cryptanalyst. Danny considered that a high compliment coming from the spy coordinator, as Vlad had published various papers on the subject.
Initially Danny had found the training grueling, but over time he had come to enjoy his widespread newly acquired skills. They made him unique, and helped to define him as a person. It was because of his "gifts" that he was so highly valued in Dalv Enterprises. To put it simply, Danny enjoyed being more than human, as he unconsciously began to imitate the arrogance that his mentor possessed. The acceptance of his abilities had given rise to the development of self-confidence that he had not possessed prior to the accident.
He expertly twirled his pen between his fingers as he completely ignored Lancer's lecture, focusing instead on Vlad's plan for his assignment. The first part of the operation would commence that evening after school, and it was imperative that he was in the right frame of mind to perform it. Infiltrating the headquarters of the Guys in White was no easy feat.
He felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end as his enhanced senses informed him that someone sitting behind him was staring at him. He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable due to the unwanted attention. While on assignment, he had been trained to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He felt oddly vulnerable that his human half was also involved in this operation, that he had been forced to betray his second nature of staying hidden.
His alias, Phantom, was extremely powerful, athletic, and although Danny couldn't see it himself, apparently very good looking, according to the Red Hunter's frequent derogatory insults, often referring to him as a 'pretty boy airhead'. His career as a professional ghost hunter was fast on the rise, as he quickly ascended through the ranks at a record breaking speed. He had been considered by many others in the field as prodigious, an extremely welcome asset in the never ending struggle against the paranormal beings.
What, however, did that make ordinary Danny Fenton? Although he possessed the same spectral powers in his human form as he did as a ghost, his human form's abilities were far diminished when compared with Phantom's, an unfortunate parody of his current social life. While he was rapidly making a name for himself as a ghost hunter, he didn't really have much of a life outside of ghost hunting. At least Valerie still had friends in Casper High. His only friends were his partner and his benefactor, Vlad, apart from some casual acquaintances in Wisconsin.
He supposed he would consider Sam and Tucker his friends as well. Although they had spent three years apart, Danny felt as though he could easily trust them as much as he used to. Tucker was the same old techno geek, with the same love for all electronic equipment, but with a new (albeit just as terrible) collection of jokes, which he insisted on keeping with him at all times on his PDA, just in case he ever needed to use any of them as pick up lines on girls. According to Sam, they never worked.
Sam was still the highly opinionated individual that Danny had recalled her being. She was still very much into the Goth subculture, and Danny had to agree that black and lilac were indeed her colours. However, things between the pair seemed... weird, even awkward at times. In terms of personality and appearances, the Goth was hardly any different than she used to be. But Danny could not help but act differently around her. Maybe Sam had hardly changed, but Danny knew that he was no longer the same shy, clumsy freshman he used to be. Perhaps he had perturbed Sam with his unexpected changes in personality.
She was the most confusing girl Danny had ever come across. Nowadays, the ghost hunter didn't even know what to think when he was around her. The Goth was undeniably pretty, with large amethyst eyes and dark raven hair that messily framed the delicate porcelain features on her heart shaped face. Danny had even been contemplating asking her out, but whether she felt the same way about him, Danny had no idea. She probably did not, which would lead to many awkward between them for the time that Danny remained in Casper High. It was best to leave things as they were.
Danny shook his head. What was he thinking of, asking Sam out? He was a professional reconnaissance agent who had been assigned a mission. Getting a girlfriend now was possibly the most stupid thing he could possibly do. Not to mention Vlad would probably kill him.
Danny abruptly stopped twirling his pen, capturing it between his index and middle finger with practiced ease. Someone was still staring at him. He could practically his or her their gaze on the back of his neck, sending unpleasant shivers down his spine. If he had been uncomfortable before, now he was just plain unsettled.
Subtly he let his eyes dart to the very corner of his line of vision, in an attempt to catch the offending starer in the act. He was surprised to realise that the culprit was Paulina Sanchez. The cheerleading captain nibbled her bottom lip thoughtfully as she considered Danny from head to toe in an almost predatory fashion. Next to her sat a very disgruntled Dash Baxter, who obviously was less than pleased with the attention that Danny was receiving from Paulina.
Danny shook his head in disbelief, incredulous.
Was Paulina Sanchez checking him out? High school was definitely not as he remembered.
He turned around and returned her stare, giving her a strange look. What exactly did she want?
The pretty Latina tossed her hair as she waved at him, a suggestive smile playing on her lips.
Danny frowned, fidgeting uncomfortably. That was just too weird. He sorely regretted the fact that the chairs were not backed. He could have sworn that she had just been staring at his ass.
Paulina raised her hand, flashing her perfectly manicured fingernails, painted a provocative shade of cherry red.
"May I be excused, Mr Lancer?" She asked, smiling sweetly.
"Certainly, Miss Sanchez." The vice principal replied. "Just don't take too long."
"Sure." She replied, getting up from her seat. Danny could sense the eyes of practically every male in the classroom follow her sensually swaying hips as she strutted between the desks as if it was her own personal catwalk, making sure to brush past Danny. She lightly trailed her fingers along his muscled shoulder as she passed by his desk, her seemingly innocent gesture blatantly asserting what exactly she wanted from him.
The ghost hunter sighed as the cheerleader left the classroom. There seemed to be only one logical explanation for the popular girl's behavior. Paulina must have somehow found out that he was now the adopted son of multi-billionaire Vlad Masters, and was obviously gold digging. He definitely didn't think that she was actually interested in his looks. While he didn't think of himself as ugly, he didn't consider himself that good looking. At least, not attractive enough for the likes of Paulina to be interested in. The girl was unbelievable.
He failed to notice the glare of burning hatred Sam directed at the cheerleader as she exited the classroom, or the dirty look of pure disgust he received from Dash. Instead, he returned to running the step by step tactics of the plan through his mind, mentally rehearsing the afternoon's operation.
'I must be more nervous than I thought.' Danny frowned. It was not like him to worry so much about a stupid mission.
His train of thought was once again interrupted, this time due to a heavy textbook being slammed on his desk.
"H-huh?"
"Mister Fenton." Lancer admonished, wielding said textbook in a manner that seemed more threatening than any ghost Danny had recently fought. "I understand that the past few years have been difficult for you, but if you continue at this rate, you are going to fail your CAT math."
Danny shrugged. It was not as if he would actually ever sit the CATs. He considered himself beyond ordinary schooling now.
"I am teaching you skills that you will use for the rest of your life." Lancer began, pacing the aisle between the desks. "But I cannot help you, Fenton, if you refuse to even pay attention."
His teacher's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms and imposed a condescending look of disapproval on the young field agent.
"But Mister Lancer," Danny argued. "Most of the stuff we get taught in the CATs we never use in real life."
"Funny you should ask about the relevance of the CATs--" Lancer began, clearing his throat.
The entire class groaned. They knew what was coming next. The vice principal was infamous for his rants about the importance of the CATs and how a single examination could affect the course of your entire life.
Lancer did not disappoint.
"Mr Fenton, as an adult, I believe that I know much more about real life than you do. However, since you ask, there are in fact many applications for this particular syllabus outside an academic career or the Ivy League. For example--"
Lancer's potentially lengthy monologue was interrupted by a shrill, high pitched beeping that seemed to echo throughout the entire school.
Danny started, the alarm shocking him into alertness. He had been informed by Vlad in his assignment briefing about the ghost alarm in Casper High, but he had hardly expected it to go off during his time in the school.
He could practically feel atmosphere in the classroom swifty transform from one of bored tedium to nervous anxiety.
Lancer retrieved a registration list from his desk drawer, and began heading down the hallway to the exit with his students.
"What's happening?" Danny asked Sam, seemingly confused as students stopped whatever they were doing and started heading for the classroom exit in a seemingly very practiced fashion.
Nervous anxiety was rapidly replaced by outright fear when the very walls holding the school up began to shake. Danny could feel the violent tremors underfoot as the room seemed in danger of collapsing.
"Ghost alert!" Replied Sam, shouting over the yells of panic. She grabbed hold of his arm. "We have to evacuate!"
"Where we meant to go?" He asked, as Sam led him out of the classroom, Tucker not far behind them.
"Anywhere but school!" She replied, dragging him along with her as she ran.
The trio passed Valerie and Star further down the hallway, the pretty ghost hunter trying to calm the cheerleading vice-captain, who seemed to be rooted to the spot with fear.
"Where's Paulina?" Star wailed. "She could be in danger!"
"Star, we have to get out of here!" Valerie coaxed, gentling tugging her friend in the direction of the exit.
"Val, what's wrong?" Danny yelled, turning back and sprinting towards his friend.
"Paulina's missing." The ghost hunter said darkly, her lips pursed into a grim line.
Danny had a rough idea of what was going through his friend's mind. Valerie hated Paulina. It was a known fact. The popular cheerleader had ostracized her when her father had first lost her fortune, showing her true colours when she alienated her former friend for shallow, superficial reasons. Yet, even someone as unpleasant as Paulina was still a civilian, an innocent that she had sworn to save.
"Danny!" Valerie ordered. "Get these three to safety."
Danny nodded, ushering Star towards the end of the hallway.
"Be careful." Her friend cautioned, as his way of wishing her luck in the presence of others that did not know her secret.
Valerie offered him a slight smile, before turning her back on Danny and Star raced towards the source of the tremors, narrowly avoiding collisions with terrified students with surprising agility as she sprinted in the opposite direction of the crowd.
There it was again. Once more, Sam managed to catch the fleeting glance of understanding that transpired between the pair before Valerie disappeared without explanation. Danny wasn't telling them something. And Sam intended to find out what it was.
"Where are you going?" Yelled Tucker, but Valerie had already disappeared round the corner of the hall.
"Val's a ninth degree black belt." Danny insisted. "She'll be fine! But we need to get to safety."
Sam listed Danny's possible reasons for secrecy in her mind as they ran for the exit, but each seemed as unlikely as the last. It wasn't as if Danny was being employed by some secret government organisation. The mere thought was ridiculous. It was probably something far more trivial, such as the fact that Danny and Valerie were going out.
Why would they make such a big secret out of it then? It was not as though such a relationship would be socially unacceptable. Danny was more than good looking, perhaps past the borderline for gorgeous, due to his striking features of dark hair that contrasted strongly with his unnaturally blue eyes. And Valerie too was far from unattractive, voluptuous where Sam was svelte, with large chocolate coloured eyes and almost ridiculously long eyelashes.
Sam felt an unexpected stab of jealously. What did Valerie have that she didn't, apart from a more prominently curvaceous figure and the fact that she was more athletic?
Somehow, the idea of the Danny dating another girl abruptly didn't seem so trivial. First Valerie, then Paulina. Why was everyone suddenly so interested in Danny Fenton?
"Sam!" Danny shouted, snapping her out of her reverie. "Look out!"
It turned out that the trio had been heading the wrong way, a fact they quickly discovered as they came face to face with a monstrous dragon, roaring as it snorted pillars of smoke out of its great nostrils, thrashing wildly in the relatively confined space of the hall. In the corner of the corridor was a very shaken Paulina, trembling as she crouched behind a row of lockers in an attempt to hide herself from the ghost.
Star, unable to stop herself, let out a shrill scream at the sight of the giant beast, unintentionally drawing the dragon's attention to them. Sam felt her breath momentarily hitch in her throat as the dragon's eyes glowed an eerie green, rearing itself on his hind legs as it roared in acknowledgment of its new prey.
"Turn back!" Tucker wailed, his voice at least an octave higher than usual. In any other scenario, Sam would have found the situation funny, but things are never funny when a bloodthirsty ghost has spotted you.
Danny felt sick with dread when his ghost sense perceived the power the dragon possessed.
"This is the ghost?" He asked, incredulous "Its huge."
He had never met a ghost as powerful as this one in the field. Although the ghost would hardly be considered strong when compared to Vlad Plasmius or himself, it had to be classed as a level 5 at the very least. This was no ordinary ghost, and he could not help but worry.
Would the Red Hunter be able to handle it alone?
All three of them seemed frozen to the spot in awe at the gargantuan specter before them, roaring and bellowing small blasts of fire as it approached them, the magnitude of its huge footsteps seeming to shake the very earth. Danny was the first to regain his senses, tugging the other two behind him as they fled from the beast.
"We've got to get out of here!" He hissed. "Now!"
The dragon roared again, charging towards the trio at a thundering pace. Not for the first time that day, Sam felt a wave of panic overcome her as the dragon lunged towards them. In a few moments the beast would catch up with them and they would be seriously injured, if not dead.
She stumbled, unable to keep her balance while sprinting as fast as she could as the ceiling in front of her caved in, the approach of the ghost shaking the foundations of the school to the core.
Danny was upon her in an instance, scooping her in his arms before she even began to fall. Sam vaguely wondered how Danny had managed to get to her in time. It would have taken ridiculously quick reflexes to even manage to cushion her fall, let alone catch her. And yet, he had somehow managed it.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concern written all over his striking features.
It felt somehow intimate, to hear him speak in this compromising position, his lips so close to her ear. She could faintly feel his hot breath on her cheek, sending fervent shivers up her spine.
Sam flushed as she felt her hand trail along his muscled torso. Despite the gravity of the situation, she was genuinely surprised to find slabs of muscle underneath his shirt. Since when did Danny Fenton work out? It was odd, yet strangely...nice.
It felt nice to be in his arms.
Sam shook disgustedly. She was being stupid. Nice was not a word. Nice was the most undescriptive piece of vocabulary ever invented by man. Had she not recently taken part in, and won, a recent school debate proposing to remove the word nice from the English dictionary?
She supposed she could describe the experience as enjoyable, euphoric, or perhaps just pleasant, another offensively plain word. But none seemed to fit the circumstance as well as the word nice.
"Leave them alone, ghost scum!" They heard a feminine voice's battle cry.
The Red Hunter sped above them on her jet sled, poised in a battle stance. She circled the dragon before her, her visor hiding the grim expression on her features. The dragon had to be stopped before anyone was fatally injured. The apparition roared, accepting her challenge as it faced the hunter, its previous victims forgotten.
Danny was relieved that the Red Hunter had showed up in time. After all, it was Valerie's duty, not his, to protect Amity Park. If he had been forced to transform and save Casper High, his assignment would no longer remain covert. Putting himself on the radar of the Guys in White was possibly an even stupider and larger encumbrance to his mission than asking Sam out.
Amity Park just wasn't his turf... right?
"Thank God for the Red Hunter." Tucker sighed, snapping Danny out of his guilt trip. "I thought we were goners."
His relief was cut short when the ghost raised its long, whip-like tail, slamming the ghost hunter into the floor. Even at the opposite end of the hall, Danny could feel the tremors from the sheer force of the ghost's assault. The Red Hunter's cry of pain was enough convince Danny that Phantom was needed. The secrecy of his mission was secondary to the safety of his friend. He couldn't let Val take on a level 5 ghost all by herself. Plus, there was a civilian in danger. Paulina needed saving.
"Run." Danny demanded, shoving Tucker and Sam in front of him.
"What about you?" Tucker asked, confused.
"I'm going to find Val!" Danny replied, already running back towards the giant specter. "I had no idea the ghost would be this destructive!"
"You can't! It's too dangerous!" Sam screamed at his retreating figure. "Come back!" But Danny had mysteriously vanished.
"We have to get out of here." Tucker urged, placing a comforting hand on Star's shoulder.
The cheerleader looked shaken, but slowly nodded in response.
The dragon paused and scented the air, bellowing. It had finally noticed Paulina. It charged towards the end of the locker row, its furious rampage fueled by Paulina's shrieks of fear when she realised that she had been discovered. The Latina flinched and buried her face in her hands, as she anticipated the dragon's attack.
The cheerleader's screams were joined with those of Star's, distraught with worry about the safety of her friend.
Out of nowhere, a rapid hurricane of black and white streaked past their line of vision, slamming the dragon backwards into the wall in a single, fluid motion.
Sam gasped in surprise, relief overcoming her usually stoic tendencies.
"What is that?" Tucker wondered out loud, voicing his friend's astonishment.
The ghost roared in pain, glowing green eyes searching wildly for its mysterious attacker.
Danny swiftly materialized in the air above the dragon, adopting a combat stance not unlike that of the Red Hunter's. Sam could not help but notice that unlike the female ghost hunter, the newcomer had no jet sled. She vaguely wondered what was keeping him up in the air.
She was mildly surprised to discover that he was about their age. While it was a well known fact that the Red Hunter was young, she never expected that there would be other professionals around her age as serious about ghost hunting.
Their mysterious savior swept the sobbing Latina into his arms, carrying her as teleported himself to outside the school grounds.
The Goth blinked in surprise as he disappeared from view, performing the physically impossible. Had he just teleported? Even at a time like this, Sam felt annoyance at how unbalanced society was. How much technology was the rich and effluent withholding form the general public? Technology such as this could easily contribute to raising the standard of human life.
Outside Casper High, Danny could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, preparing him from combat. It felt good to be Phantom. He loved the feeling of the raw ectoplasmic energy coursing through his body. It made him feel, ironically, alive.
He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the task ahead. Valerie needed help. The sooner he delivered Paulina to safety, the sooner he could get back to the attacking specter and assist Valerie.
"You'll be safe here." He comforted, setting her down outside the school.
While he had expected the cheerleader to be trembling with fear, he had not anticipated the pure awe and adoration that shone on the popular girl's face.
"You saved me!" She squealed, ecstatic as she leaped onto her savior, clutching him in a manner that Danny could not class as anything but invasive, pressing her ample chest against his collarbone. While Danny Fenton of three years ago would have been thrilled at his closeness with his onetime crush, he had been over her for years. Paulina had wronged Valerie too much for Danny to ever forgive her.
"Whoah, Miss. Personal space." He expressed awkwardly, trying to put some distance between them.
"Why?" She asked, beaming, obviously not used to males rejecting her advances. "You're my hero!"
Danny didn't bother with a reply. He had wasted enough time as it was. He had to return to the school and assist the Red Hunter before the dragon completely destroyed the school. He concentrated on returning to Casper High and teleported back to the hall, dematerialising mid-grope from Paulina's grasp.
The Red Hunter started slightly when her partner abruptly reappeared next to her with a bright flash of light, levitating in a seemingly relaxed battle stance.
"What are you doing here, jerk?" The Red Hunter yelled, her annoyance evident. "Is upstaging me on missions not enough?"
"Relax, Red." Her mysterious savior shouted in reply, blasting the spectral dragon with what seemed to be a massive beam of green energy that appeared from his fingertips. "I'm here to help, if you haven't realised."
"I thought you were in Wisconsin training with Mister Masters." His acquaintance grumbled, blasting the dragon with a massive bazooka. "This is the last place I'd expect you to show your face."
"I was." He replied, before grinning impishly. "Formation Epsilon?" He suggested, smirking.
"As long as I get to do the blasting," The Red Hunter replied, reloading her weapon. "I have no complaints."
Abruptly the monstrous blue beast reared its ugly head, bellowing an immense torrent of emerald flames at Casper High's defenders. Even from the safety of the empty classroom Sam could feel the sheer heat of the dragon's attack. She winced as stinging heat blisters began forming on her skin, inflicting her with first degree burns even though she was not in the dragon's range of attack. She gasped for breath as the surrounding air heated up, making breathing more and more difficult.
If she was experiencing such difficulty even breathing from the estrus of the dragon's attack, how was the Red Hunter and the newcomer to survive the dragon's repeated onslaught of fire blasts? Despite their specialised suits, they were only human.
Sam's disquiet intensified as the white haired boy suddenly altered his flight pattern, turning around and advancing towards the dragon, haphazardly dodging its bellows of fire as he approached the beast.
Perhaps the heat had caused him to become disorientated. Or perhaps the dragon had cast an illusion on him, confusing him. She had heard that there were ghosts which possessed such powers. He had to be warned before--
Sam gasped when she realised what Casper High's mysterious new defender intended to do. He was going to face the dragon head on, and parry its attacks blow by blow. Somehow, the plan seemed too insane to be even attempted.
Roaring, the ghost faced its new challenger, deeming him a bigger threat than the other ghost hunter.
The dragon blasted an immense ball of flame in Phantom's direction, almost double the size of all previous attacks. Sam could not bear to tear her eyes away from the scene. Their savior would be burnt to a crisp. Nothing could possibly hope to survive such intense heat.
Her gaze widened as ice seemed to explode from his fingertips, as he began releasing the frost at an even greater rate, hurling it at his opponent's fireball, his counter reducing the flames to nothing more than a large amount of steam. The force of his attack sent the beast hurtling backwards, demolishing several walls in the process. It struggled to get back on its feet, obviously wounded.
That was all the distraction the Red Hunter needed. Twin lasers materialized on the shoulders of her suit as she uncapped a strange device that looked like a thermos, blasting the creature with two deadly rays of pure energy. In its weakened state, it was incapable of dodging her attacks, a fact that the Red Hunter took to her advantage, blasting the specter with every single weapon that she possessed in her arsenal.
Finally the dragon fell, the ground quaking at the impact. Pressing a button, blue light seemed to emit from the thermos-like device, sucking their adversary into it, despite of its small size. Sam was genuinely surprised that such a small object could contain a creature of that much power.
"Nicely done." The Phantom grinned, offering the Red Hunter a high-five. She stared at his hand as though it was contagious, carrying some form of deadly disease.
Even through her mask, Sam could tell that she was visibly surprised. The Red Hunter looked torn, as if surprised at the way in which her partner was acting, and unsure as to how to react to the situation.
"I suppose you weren't too bad yourself, pretty boy." She finally replied, before returning his high-five.
"I have a name, Red." He protested.
"Don't push it" She warned, mounting her jet sled. "Just because you haven't been acting like an insufferable jerk today doesn't mean I forgive you."
The Phantom merely smirked. "You take what you can get. I'll cover you. Go do what you need to."
"Thanks." She acknowledged, exiting the school through the now non-existent ceiling.
The white haired boy followed her example, disappearing in a flash of light.
Sam, Tucker and Star stared at each other in disbelief, unable to process the events that had just taken place.
"Who was that?" Star breathed, stunned.
"Beats me." Tucker shrugged, pulling his PDA out of his cargo pants pocket as he began inspecting it for damage.
Sam frowned. There had been something very familiar about the ghost hunter in the black and white jumpsuit, but she was finding it difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was. The way he talked, the way he moved, even that smirk... Sam was positive that she had seen him before. Body language was personal. No two people acted exactly alike, not even mindless clones like Paulina.
She scanned her memory in hopes for some clue that would help her figure out the nagging feeling at the back of her mind telling that she was missing something.
"You okay?" Tucker asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, his PDA returned safely to the confines of his pocket. He looked concerned. The techno geek obviously thought she was in shock from the ordeal that they had just undergone.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." She assured him, failing miserably when she attempted a convincing smile.
"If you say so." He replied, shrugging.
Danny Fenton stumbled into the hallway several moments later, his face streaked with dirt, but seemingly unharmed.
"What happened Danny?" Sam asked, concerned, as she ran forward to assist him in case he was too weak to support himself.
"Yeah, where did you go?" Tucker asked, confused. "I swear you just disappeared into thin air!"
"I'm sorry I worried you guys." Danny grinned sheepishly. "I went looking for Val. The ceiling was about to collapse on her when I found her, but this guy wearing a black and white jumpsuit saved her and brought her to safety."
"We saw him too!" Star supplied eagerly. "He saved us from the dragon!"
"I think he works with the Red Hunter," Tucker interjected. "and I overheard that they both work for someone called Masters." He shrugged. "So much for the media's idea of her being a freelancer."
"The Red Hunter has a partner?" Danny asked, frowning.
"Apparently so." Tucker sighed. "At least they're not together," He added, brightening. "she wasn't very nice to him. I still have a chance." The techno geek grinned.
Sam rolled her eyes. Tucker was the biggest opportunist she had ever met.
"In your dreams, loser." Star mocked, although her insults lacked their usual sting, almost as though she was teasing him. She was obviously grateful to them for looking out for her. "You can't even get normal girls, and you're after the Red Hunter? She's practically a celebrity around here."
"Hey, who knows." Tucker shrugged, grinning.
"Yeah," Danny replied, returning his friend's smile. "anything's possible."
Author's Notes: I am terribly sorry that I ended it on such a random note, but I felt that this chapter was getting too long. The last thing I wanted was to bore my readers with too much writing. Hence, I have transferred some of this to the next chapter, to prevent it becoming too wordy.
Danny and Sam are already pretty attracted to each other, but I'm going to step it up a bit more in the next chapter, so that should be fun for my lovely readers, in which a Danny-Sam-Phantom love triangle is just going to add more trouble to the mix;) You'll be glad to know that I've already written half of it. I apologise, but I am a very slow writer. I usually only write a maximum of 500-800 words a day, if I have the time. Now that I am back in school, writing is extremely difficult and I am trying my best to meet the deadlines that I promise you guys.
I am glad that most of you think that Vlad is IC, and I am ecstatic that he is becoming one of your favourites. However, I have decided to include a justification for his characterisation anyway. I believe that although canon Vlad is jealous of how happy Jack Fencon is, his rage has clouded his judgement and caused him to forget how happy he was in his college days with Jack and Maddie. In TUE, a much older Vlad is shown holding a photograph of him and Danny's parents, and he laments that ten years without ghost powers has helped him to realise what was truly important. That was a truly special moment for me, and I think it helped to flesh out Vlad's character a lot more. I hope that you will find this a valid justification for my unorthodox portrayal of our favourite lonely single man in his forties:)
Lastly, I very am grateful that the plot I outlined seems to agree well with all of you, since I believe that keeping you entertained is the most important thing I should consider when writing:) Would you like me to start giving you little snippets of coming chapters so you know what's coming next? I have written at least 500 words for each of the subsequent nine chapters, and I'm working on it slowly. I've already decided on much of the plot, although it could still do with some fine tuning with your help.
Many thanks to: Evil Long Pename Having Individual End, CharmedNightSkye, kia, Black January, twilightgal, AmazonKit86, cariadiorarua, Yuleen75, Vlad Snuffles, and ravenluvah for their awesome reviews. It's great people like you that keep a smile on my face with your extroadinary encouragement:)
As always, thank you all for staying with me and keeping me on my feet with your lovely reviews. Every single review means a lot to me and I always take what you say into account. Thanks once again for your constructive criticism!
Hugs and Kisses,
Twisted Creampuff