Green Eyes on the Prize
byline: Anubis C. Soundwave
1. Some inner demons...
Danny approaches Jack, the latter in a white T-shirt and large orange knee-length shorts. "Where are you headed, Dad?" he asks. "We just got back from our family vacation-which was pretty eventful," he adds with a smile.
Jack grins. "To hell, son," he says simply.
Danny picks up the map. "Funny," he quips as he studies the map, "you don't have anyplace in Michigan marked on here." He hands Jack the map.
"Keep that sense of humor while holding the fort," says Jack, rolling his eyes as he accepts the map. "You're the man of the house while I'm out." Jack picks up several pieces of ghost equipment along with four duffelbags as he heads to the FFAV.
"So you're going on a ghost-hunting trip," says Danny.
Jack nods.
"When are you and Mom coming back from Georgia?" Danny asks as he hands Jack back the map.
"I'm going alone, Danny," says Jack, loading the duffelbags and equipment inside the FFAV.
Danny blinks a moment, then stares at Jack in disbelief. "Why?" he asks.
"I'm sharpening my skills," grins Jack.
"That might be true," says Danny slowly, "but that's not a reason to leave Mom or us out."
"What do you mean, Danny?" asks Jack, his smile slipping.
"You have dragged us to every corner of the country where there just might be a sign of a ghost haunting," says Danny.
"Yes," says Jack, "I know. I'm beginning to think that's a bit reckless on my part," he adds, scowling.
"Dad...you're hiding something," says Danny.
Jack turns his head away from Danny.
"You're up against something dangerous," Danny continues, "and you're planning to fight it alone!?"
Jack walks away from Danny, headed to the driver's side of the FFAV.
Danny jumps into the passenger side.
"What the hell are you doing?" spits Jack, seated in the driver's side.
"I'm coming with you," says Danny, stubborn as he buckles his seat belt.
"No, you're not," Jack counters tersely. "I need you at home with the rest of the family. Now get out," he orders.
"But Dad-*" begins Danny.
"That's right," says Jack, jerking his thumb at his own chest. "'Dad'. So, 'son'," he asks, tense as he leans into Danny's face, "how many times must I tell you 'no'!?"
Danny seethes.
"Please, Daniel," says Jack, "exit the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle."
Surly, Danny complies with Jack's order. "Irony," he spits as he slams the door, "thy name is Jackson Daniel Fenton!"
"I ain't the only one, 'the Second'!" counters Jack. He drives off.
"Dad's scared," muses Danny as he ducks into an alley. "I won't let him get in over his head. Jack Fenton may not want my help," Danny continues as he changes into the Phantom, "but he's getting it-one way or another."
Danny turns invisible, then pursues the FFAV.
"I've given you everything I know," groans Tucker, cranky. "I never get up this early on a Saturday, Valerie-especially during summer vacation."
"'Early to bed, early to rise', bitch," quips Valerie. "Now quit whining and let's go to the library for more research."
"Where do you think I got all of this!?" sputters Tucker. "And why are you interested in this all of a sudden anyway?"
"Can't I change my mind?" snorts Valerie.
"You hate anything to do with Black History Month," says Tucker noncommittally. "Given our history together as schoolmates," he continues, "you obviously have a hidden agenda."
"Get over yourself. I still ain't interested in Black History Month," says Valerie. "I am interested in my history," she adds, "but as to why: it's none of your damned business. Just accept my help and let's move!"
"It's my history, too, you know," scowls Tucker. "You'd think that learning we share a common ancestor would get you to be nicer to me."
"And you'd think that same information would get you to trust me," scoffs Valerie.
Tucker chuckles. "You're on a ghost hunt, aren't you?" he asks, smirking.
"I honestly...don't care what you think," glowers Valerie.
"I just want the truth," says Tucker. "That helps to build trust."
"Would you believe me if I told you?" asks Valerie, shaking her head in her own disbelief.
"Get off me...!" Valerie shrieked, awakening as she shook with fear.
A girl watched Valerie as she sat up, wiping Valerie's forehead with a handkerchief. "You got some fight in you, girl," she said, a grave smile on her face. "You gonna need it."
Valerie relaxed slightly, only to note that the strangely-familiar looking girl...was translucent. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly snatched up and equipped a wrist-mounted ghost laser.
The girl, trembling, raised her hands in surrender. "I ain't mean no harm to you, Valerie," she said. "Please, take it easy..."
"Who are you, ghost?" spat Valerie.
"My name is Bessie," said the ghost girl softly. "I'd rather you point that thing at the ghost that do mean to hurt you."
"What do you mean?" asked Valerie.
"The sorry bastard who tried to tup you in your dream, girl," said Bessie soberly.
Valerie shook with rage. "Is it that ghost kid!?" she hissed.
Bessie shook her head. "They is kin to each other," she said, touching her chin thoughtfully, "but they ain't workin' together. That ghost boy you talkin' about don't even know about him."
"You...you saved me," said Valerie in realization. "Your voice yelled at me to fight, letting me know I was dreaming."
"I just helped you save your own self," said Bessie.
"I'm not sure why a ghost would help me fight off another ghost," said Valerie, wary, "but...thank you."
"Don't thank me, girl," said Bessie. "I need your help to kill the son-of-a-bitch. If you want to know all the whys about it," she continued, "then help that boy of the Foleys with his church Black History project."
Valerie stared at Bessie.
"I gonna see you again, girl," said Bessie as she phased out of Valerie's bedroom.
Tucker answers a knock at the door, looking through the keyhole. "Looks like your dad and some woman," he says as he opens the door.
Damon enters Tucker's house with a heavy-set woman.
Valerie beams at the woman. "Cousin Bethea!" she squeals, hugging the woman.
Bethea returns the hug. "Valerie! Girl, you lookin' good!" she says. "You almost grown!"
Valerie smiles.
Bethea looks over Tucker. "And Tucker!" she says, staring at the confused teenager. "Don't you look at me like I'm no stranger."
"I...sometimes have a hard time placing faces," says Tucker, nervous.
Damon sighs. "The Grays and the Foleys go way back," he says. "From Oglethorpe Springs, Georgia to Amity Park."
"I know that," says Tucker, "but I need some help."
Bethea grins. "Your cousin sent you this as a reminder," she says, handing Tucker a storage container and a plastic fork.
Tucker opens the container, then grins. "Miss Bethea!" he shrieks, now recognizing Bethea. "You brought this from Virgil's grandmama, didn't you?" he asks.
"You know I did. You also know I had to set a bit aside for myself, now," says Bethea. "That woman cook greens so well she can teach crackers how to cook 'em right."
"'White people'," corrects Damon automatically.
"Sorry, Damon," says Bethea, rolling her eyes.
"I hope you don't lump in Mr. Shane," says Valerie. "He puts his foot in it."
"Damn straight!" says Bethea. "Virgil's grandmama taught him, so Shane better know how to serve up some greens."
Tucker, wiping away drool from the corner of his lips, puts the container of collard greens and rice into the microwave.
A minute later, the scent of the food draws out Tucker's parents, Alvin and Eleanor Foley.
"Yeah, Dad," grins Tucker, guarding the microwave, "it's just what it smells like: Cousin Mary Jane's greens and rice-and this is all mine," he continues as the microwave bell rings.
Alvin looks over to Bethea, standing with Damon and Valerie.
Bethea shakes her head. "Of course I brought more greens, Alvin," she says. "You and your boy are twins, I swear!" She escorts Alvin outside.
"Normally, I don't even eat greens," says Damon, grinning at Eleanor, "but Mrs. Mary Jane's cooking makes me not give a fuck about stereotypes."
"Haters gonna hate, Mr. Gray," says Tucker as he greedily digs into his container of greens and rice. "The only way to eat vegetables!"
"With all of the pig parts in those greens," giggles Eleanor, "I don't think Sam will want any."
"Manson needs some meat in her diet," quips Valerie.
"She's Jewish," says Tucker through a mouthful of food.
"Don't eat with your mouth full, Tucker," Eleanor admonishes.
Tucker finishes slurping off the meat and skin of a cooked pig tail. "Sorry, Mom," he says, waving the tail bones. "Between Sam being Jewish and vegetarian, looking at this would kill her."
Bethea and Alvin reenter with plastic containers filled with collard greens.
"Honey," says Alvin, "please put on a pot of rice."
"No problem," says Eleanor, grinning at Tucker, "because Tucker won't share at all."
"We all may as well just sit down and eat," laughs Bethea, "'cause nothin' gonna get done in here until these greens are gone."
The other adults in the house nod and enter the dining room. Tucker and Valerie gather up Tucker's research paperwork and set it neatly on the coffee table, then they join the adults in the dining room.
"You think you can follow all of these water and compost rules, Manson?" asks Dash. "Because otherwise, you're going to have to hang with Paulina for the rest of the summer. Shane doesn't fuck around when it comes to his farm."
"Of course not," says Sam. "It's his livelihood. Though I will admit that his rules are hardcore," she continues. "I feel like a polluting slacker."
"Don't feel bad. He'll have plenty of veggies for you," grins Dash. "I warned Shane about you over the phone."
"What does he think?" asks Sam.
"That you're a wealthy teenager who can afford to be picky about where food comes from," says Dash, "so you'd probably be pleasantly surprised about his farm." Hearing a knock at the door, Dash answers it; he opens it to reveal Shane, a man resembling Dash, but with light brown hair.
"I still don't know why your parents won't trust the two of us alone," scoffs Sam. "Do they think that our hormones rule us?"
"They think I'll just rut anything that has a pulse," snorts Dash.
"You're teenagers," says Shane, "so your hormones will rule you when boredom sets in. Now get in the truck," he grins.
Sam rolls her eyes; she exits Dash's house with Dash.
"No trust at all," says Dash, locking the door.
"Your cock don't give a fuck about nothin' but fuckin', boy," counters Shane. "Least of all what clique her pussy runs with," he hisses in Dash's ear.
Dash blushes, his cheeks a bright red. He climbs into the back of Shane's "truck", actually an SUV.
Sam starts to enter the back, but Shane grabs Sam's arm.
"No, miss," says Shane. "Didn't you just hear what I said?"
Sam stares at Shane. "I'm hardly planning to seduce your cousin," she snorts.
"Take shotgun, girl," says Shane. "I'm only thirty-nine, and I remember high school all too well."
"You remember what you were like in high school," mutters Dash.
"Damn right, boy," says Shane, hopping into the driver's seat. "I would have been all over Li'l Wednesday Addams here back in my day."
Sam shakes her head as she tosses her bag into the back, then sits in front on the passenger side.
"Don't you young'uns ever act like Ol' MacDonald here don't know shit," continues Shane, grinning as he drives off.
"E-yi-e-yi-oh," say Dash and Sam sardonically.
"You inconsiderate little shit!" seethes Jack, pinning Danny-as the Phantom-to the side of the FFAV.
The Phantom takes a deep breath, struggling to stay calm. "Mr. Fenton," he begins, "it seemed unusual to me that you would go on a full-scale ghost extermination run without your family, so-*"
"You have a pulse," says Jack, tense.
The Phantom blinks.
"That means that you're alive," Jack continues. "That you might have a family that cares about whether you live or die. Why the hell are you following me?"
"Because...I'm a superhero, and I help people in need," says the Phantom, looking into Jack's eyes.
"At your age?" snorts Jack, a wry grin on his face. "You can't be older than fifteen. I can only imagine the crap I'd have been up to at your age with your powers."
"What?" counters the Phantom. "The many times I've saved Amity Park from ghosts isn't enough for you to sway your skepticism?"
"No," says Jack. "You called yourself a superhero, which tells me that you're a kid who's read his share of comic books."
"You've got," says the Phantom, "every anti-ghost armament ever devised by Fenton Works crammed in your vehicle. Whatever you're fighting, you can't possibly fight alone," he continues, "and since your family isn't with you, I intend to join you in their stead."
Jack smiles, then whips out a Fenton Thermos and seals the Phantom inside. "If you can figure out how to get out of this," he sneers, shaking the Thermos, "then I guess I can't stop you. However, you're not welcome on this expedition." Jack sets the Thermos on the curb, then reenters the FFAV and drives off.
Inside the Thermos, Danny sulks. "When he's worried, Dad is such an asshole!" he spits.
A half hour passes. Vlad, on a private errand in the outskirts of Amity Park, notes the Thermos and picks it up.
"Now, why would a Fenton Thermos be left unattended here...?" he muses aloud.
Danny seethes. "Just free me, cheesehead!" he shrieks from inside the Thermos.
Vlad smirks. "How rude of you, Daniel," he says as he complies.
Free of the Thermos, Danny starts to fly off.
"Not even a 'thank you'!?" balks Vlad.
"I don't have time for you," says Danny tersely, reverting to normal. "Unless you have anything to do with the danger my dad's getting himself into," he continues, his eyes briefly glowing green as he glares at Vlad, "then I have plenty of time."
"I honestly have no clue what Jack is up to," says Vlad. "Where did he go?"
"Oglethorpe Springs, Georgia," says Danny.
Vlad's eyes widen. "That is no place for you," he says, "not at your level of power."
"Excuse me," counters Danny. "You don't know what I'm capable of-not anymore. I've defeated Pariah Dark-*"
"I held your hand on that one, boy," says Vlad.
"-and," Danny continues, ignoring Vlad's response, "my own dark side...no. I defeated an unholy fusion of my ghost half and your ghost half: on my own."
Vlad stares at Danny, confused.
Danny smiles. "Oh, that's right," he sighs. "You wouldn't know about that, because he never happened. If we weren't mortal enemies, though," Danny continues, "I'd tell you all about it."
"You don't have to let our enmity preclude civil conversation," says Vlad. "I tried to clone you so that I could have you as a son, remember?" he adds tersely.
"I'm trying to save my real dad's life, okay?" says Danny, sullen.
"Then," says Vlad, "since you're hell-bent on following Jack to Oglethorpe Springs, don't go in blind. This is not a battle where you can afford to be ignorant of your enemy."
"So you do know something about this," says Danny.
"I know enough," says Vlad, grim, "that I want no further part of it. If you hurry," he adds, "you can catch up to Damon Gray and his highly-motivated daughter, Valerie. I believe you know her quite well." Vlad smirks.
"Of course I know Valerie..." says Danny, trailing off as he notes Vlad's smirk. "And of course, that you're a perverted, spying asshole."
"They're going your way, at any rate," says Vlad. "Don't waste any more time glowering at me, little badger. Go."
Danny scowls at Vlad, tensing his fists, then he takes off into the sky, returning to Amity Park.
Vlad sighs. "To master your gift, Daniel, my boy," he says aloud, "you'll have to grow up a bit more." Vlad walks to his car, steps in, and drives off: headed home to Wisconsin.
"Do you ever shut up!?" snarls Jack. He glares at a ghost.
The ghost buffs his fingernails on his salmon-colored suit. "It ain't wrong to note the similarity in our temperaments, Little Jack," he smiles. "You came 'round here to drive me off my property," the ghost continues, "forgettin' that you've got some inner demons of your own."
"You're this whole town's inner demon, Jackson!" spits Jack. "Every damned civic group here has thrown truckloads of money at me to buy your shitty, burned-out plantation," he continues, "so they can have an ol' fashioned prayer meeting to exorcise you from the land."
"And how well is you doin' with your science, Jackson?" sneers the ghost.
"Oh, now you're just trying to sound like a cheesy hick," snorts Jack.
"Listen, son," says the ghost. "This is my land, and everyone here," he continues, grinning, "is a part of my family. A man ought to do everything in his power to keep his family together."
Jack snatches up an ecto-launcher. "You don't know shit about family, Jackie!" he spits, firing the launcher at Jackie. "You killed all the family you had when you were nineteen!"
"They were thinking of letting some niggers walk free," says Jackie, calmly dodging Jack's launcher fire. "That was crazy."
"You murdered your wife when you burned down your own plantation," seethes Jack, "to say nothing of the other people-entire families-you've tortured and slaughtered through the years!"
"They were my niggers to kill, Little Jack. You aim to tell me what I can and can't do with my property?" asks Jackie.
"Barrineau Plantation ain't your property anymore, Jackie," says Jack. "Thanks to you killing yourself, it's mine; and I'm here to evict you, you son of a bitch." Jack fires the launcher, hitting Jackie's arm.
Jackie flinches, rubbing his arm. "Now see, boy," he says stonily, dusting soot off his suit, "I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson in basic courtesy." He overshadows Jack before Jack can activate his Specter Deflector.
NEXT: A gathering of souls.