Hello once again. Lord Pugsy here. Firstly, I would like to apologise for the late admission. The weather has been playing havoc with our internet, but we muddled through. Without further ado, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Once again, I only own the story.
"Come on Danny." Dani whined loudly. "Please let us look."
"Don't even think about it Dani!" Danny shouted from some way off. "You peek, I blind and gag you. And I'll make sure the binds are really sticky. I'm nearly done anyway."
"Humph." Dani said annoyed, but she didn't look. The ghosts had opted for a day out somewhere, and Danny had had the idea to go to Lake Erie. The area was very secluded and the small quantity of Infected residents had been quickly dealt with; Danny, Dani and Krystal had subsequently created a great wall of ice to encompass the entire camp whilst they had their fun. Then, Danny had told them to close their eyes whilst he tried something out. The only thing that they could tell was happening was that the air around them was getting steadily colder. A few minutes later, Danny spoke.
"Alright!" He shouted. "You can open them now!" The five ghosts opened their eyes to an amazing sight. The Halfa had turned the entire camp into a winter wonderland. Snow capped the tall pine trees and the roofs of the cabins, whilst the lake had been transformed into a colossal ice-rink. The ghost himself was standing at the shore with a smug look on his face.
"So?" He asked, gesturing around him. "What do you think?" Krystal, Dani and Kitty had looks of complete awe on their faces; Johnny wouldn't admit it, but he was very impressed by the skill and power being displayed by Danny. Ember on the other hand, was looking conflicted as she gazed around Danny's creation, which didn't go unnoticed by the teen. Before Danny could comment on it, she put on a mask of indifference.
"Show off." She said, but she was smiling at the same time, letting Danny know that she was joking. "Any particular reason why?"
Danny shrugged. "I missed the snow last year." He said casually. "I'm not that fussed about missing Christmas, but I like the snow. I wasn't allowed to visit The Far Frozen when I was in the Ghost Zone. Clockwork insisted that Frostbite come to his tower."
"So you thought you would create your own?" Johnny asked.
Danny nodded. "When a ghost portal gives you ice powers, make a blizzard."
Dani floated over and punched his arm. "That had to be the most cliché thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth. I worry about you sometimes."
"Don't worry. As my clone, you're bound to come out with some cheesy one-liners sooner or later." Countered Danny, much to Dani's horror; the other ghosts burst out laughing.
"Don't worry Dani," Ember said dramatically, pulling the young Halfa into a hug. "We won't let you go over to the dark side."
Danny raised an eyebrow. "Now who's making cliché comments?"
Johnny gasped theatrically. "It's got to Ember. It's spreading." Now all the ghosts, bar Danny, were laughing loudly, until Kitty took it upon herself to save the blushing ghost teen.
"Come on guys. We're supposed to be having fun here." She started, earning a very thankful look from Danny. She then looked at the five ghosts around her. "Now, are one of you going to teach me how to ice-skate? Or have I got to start banishing some people?" Whilst Dani and Krystal were focussed on creating blades of ice to go on the bottoms of Kitty and Johnny's boots, Danny made his way over to Ember. Two sets of green eyes met each other.
"You all right Ember?" Danny asked curiously, tilting his head slightly. Ember realised in that moment that her mask had slipped.
"I'm fine," she said, not convincing enough for Danny's liking.
"You sure?" Danny asked again. "Because a moment ago, it looked like-."
"Dipstick," she began exasperatedly. "I'm fine. Drop it." With that, she stormed off towards the edge of the iced-over lake, her hair flaring ever so slightly. When she reached the edge, she turned and saw Danny's expression. It was a combination of mainly confusion, with just a hint of hurt; Ember softly sighed guiltily.
"You just going to stand there, or are you going to get your ghostly butt over here and help me with my boots? You should never leave a lady waiting." Danny sighed softly, but couldn't help the small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Same old Ember, he thought as he made his way over to her. But I will find out what's going on.
Meanwhile, back at the school several hours later, the Main Hall resembled that of a circus. People had split off into their own groups and were doing their own thing. Despite this, however, anyone walking in could tell almost immediately that there was an underlying reluctance to them being there. The last time a meeting had been called, the occupants of the school had feared for their lives at Danny's outburst; most of all Paul, who typically, had decided not to attend this particular meeting, just in case there was going to be a repeat occurrence. In fact, the only reason so many people turned up, being roughly more than the amount who had shown in the previous one, is because the Fenton's had discovered something about the cause behind the whole infection which had decimated the world. Of the two hundred or so people attending, nearly a third, mostly comprised of the Army, expected to hear more evidence as to how the ghosts had caused the whole thing; the others had no idea what to suspect. They, in fact, had come to realise that some of their pre-existing thoughts about the ghosts were beginning to unravel before them. Take Danny for example. Ignoring his outburst in the previous meeting, the Halfa had done some incredible things during his short stay. From rescuing a woman and her daughter, to rescuing R&R teams. Whilst everybody was talking amongst themselves, the Fentons, Tucker, Sam, Valerie and Dash were standing on the stage, taking everyone in, and preparing themselves for what they were about to say. Without hesitation, they had all unanimously agreed that the school should be told the true cause behind the infection, and all for the same purpose. They wanted the ghosts, particularly Danny, to be treated with respect; not vilified for something they hadn't done. They wanted the ghosts to finally get the appreciation they deserved; not to be slandered and shot at, at any given notice. They wanted the school to know exactly why Danny blew up at them several days previous; having learned about what exactly happened was still running through Jack's, Maddie's, Dash's and Valerie's mind. Maddie turned to Sam.
"Would you mind?" She asked; Sam nodded. She put two fingers in her mouth and did a sharp taxi-cab whistle to gain the room's attention; it worked, as all heads whipped around, eyes staring with anticipation at the people standing on the stage.
"Good," Jazz began. "Now, the majority of you know why we have called this meeting. For those who don't, we've recently come across some new intel which explains how it was that this infection came into being." Murmuring could be heard all across the hall as people tried to think of what it could be.
"Finally, some actual information."
"It's about freaking time we finally know something."
"Yeah. Those guys in Washington never tell us anything."
"QUIET!" Shouted Sam, looking irate as her amethyst eyes flashed with anger. "Before you get too excited, if anyone, and I do mean anyone, makes a comment before we're finished, I will personally shoot you. And then continue to shoot you until the message really sinks in." She was pointedly looking at David, who was giving her a look of mock innocence, until he noticed that those on the stage had their fingers hovering over their weapon holsters. He wisely said nothing and dropped the face he was making. No one else had to think about questioning Sam; they all knew she would follow through with any threat given. That was saying little about Valerie. When she got angry, she never needed an excuse to inflict pain on someone.
"What we're about to tell you is the truth," Tucker continued, his voice carrying across the room. "We couldn't believe it when we found out ourselves, but it's true. And if anyone dares say something to the contrary…well, let's just say the results won't be pretty." This surprised the hall. Normally, Tucker was the most relaxed of the school's 'leaders'. To hear him make threats was something they weren't usually accustomed to. Every person in the hall leaned forwards involuntarily in anticipation at what they were about to discover.
Dash leaned over to Valerie. "I think we've left them hanging long enough."
She nodded. "Jazz, go ahead."
The group who had been on the stage were back in the Chemistry room an hour later, slumped heavily on their stools. It was well past dinnertime, but they weren't in the mood for food. The past couple of days were beginning to catch up with them, and all they wanted was to rest. They had been pleasantly surprised, and thankful, that once they had finished explaining everything Doctor Fitz-Simmons had done, no one had talked back at them. Not even David and his soldiers.
"So," Tucker began, trying to ease the tension. "How do people think that went?"
Jazz sighed. "To be honest, it could have gone a lot worse."
"She's right." Sam said, nodding. "I was half expecting Paul to come charging in when he found out Danny wasn't there. He rarely misses an opportunity to start spouting off Bible quotes to people."
"There's also the fact that David didn't even speak up once." Valerie said.
"I noticed that," Sam said. "But he looked mighty pissed when he left though. You just know he's going to have a few things to say in a day or two."
"It's a good thing we don't have to worry about David for too much longer then, isn't it?" Maddie asked, sighing in content. "The Army are due to leave in the next couple of days. Then we won't have to see their faces for a few months."
"Thank heavens for small mercies," came a voice from above them. "Now all you need to do is to kick Paul out." Everyone whipped their heads up in surprise to see Danny in Phantom form floating down through the ceiling. He landed softly in front of them as they looked at him with an expression of incredulity.
"Danny!" Maddie exclaimed, rushing forward to hug her 'little boy'. "We didn't know if we were going to see you again."
"Yeah," Jazz said, copying her mother and hugging her brother. "After what happened with Paul, we didn't think you would ever step foot in the school again." When his mother and sister finally detached themselves from him, Danny spoke.
"I haven't." He said impassively. The group were confused until Sam and Jazz guessed what was going on.
"You're not really here, are you?" Sam asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"You're a duplicate." Jazz said; it was a statement, not a question.
Danny nodded. "The idea of physically being in this place makes me want to hurl. And I'm not even sure I can do that in ghost form. So that would be an achievement in itself."
"How come you're kind of here then?" Tucker asked sadly.
Danny sighed as he turned to face his parents, Valerie and Dash. "I had to come to see how you guys were dealing with the whole 'Dan' thing. I'm assuming that Dani gave you three the all-clear."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, she did," she said. "It took a while to get a response though."
Danny gave his parents a sad gaze. "And that response was?" In an instant, Maddie was on her feet again and was hugging her 'son' tightly; Jack slowly hobbled his way over and joined the hug.
"We are so sorry you had to go through that Danny." Maddie murmured into his shoulder.
Danny's green eyes glistened slightly. "You mean you don't hate me?"
Jack looked up in surprise. "Why would we hate you?"
Wow, déjà vu, Danny thought. "Nothing, doesn't matter." He said, as he pulled away from his parents. "By the way, I caught the presentation. I really appreciate you guys in telling the school the truth. I even think a fair few of them believed you."
"We never hesitated." Valerie said truthfully. "We knew the school had to hear it. They had to hear what really happened. How the ghosts never had any part of it."
"So, er," Dash started awkwardly. "Do you think you'll be coming back anytime soon?"
Danny raised an eyebrow. "'You', as in?"
"All of you." He replied. "The place isn't quite the same with the ghosts floating through and giving people a little scare from time to time. I never thought I would miss Ember or Dani's threats before."
Danny supressed a small chuckle as his expression became solemn. "I don't know Dash. As far as I can tell, three things need to happen before we even think about coming back. One is about to happen, but it'll only be temporary, and one actually looks like it might happen after tonight. However, the third one doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. And I don't have to tell you what I'm talking about, do I?" No one said a word. They knew exactly what Danny was talking about.
"Danny-" Sam began, hoping to convince him otherwise, but a glare from Danny silenced her.
"Don't even think about it Sam," he said coldly. "You're lucky this school is still standing. Johnny and Kitty wanted to tear into this place, and I'm sure Dani would jump at the chance. Especially after what Paul said about being 'mistakes'." The group of humans flinched, knowing full well that, despite appearing over what happened with Vlad, the youngest Halfa was still in fact very self-conscious about Vlad's comments regarding her existence. Danny sighed once more, realising that this reunion was coming to a close.
"Anyway," Danny said as his form began to glow a bright green, signifying that the duplicate was about to dissipate. "There was a second reason why I dropped by." He reached into his belt behind his cloak and pulled out a few vials of green liquid, placing them on the table. They looked at him in surprise.
"There's some of my ectoplasm. No one knows how long this mess is going to take to sort out," Danny said as the shimmering became more profuse. "And the way I figure, it's better to be safe than sorry. You don't want your generators to fail." On that ominous note, he was gone.
To put it lightly, David was livid. Being told that the true cause behind the infection was caused by humans and not the ghosts they had been persecuting for the past year, was more than he could handle.
It's not possible, he kept thinking as he marched down the near-empty hallways. It seemed like the school had opted to go to sleep after the surprising turn of events. We were so close to finally being rid of those ectoplasmic bastards. And now that this is out, they may actually start generating some support. Any sense of rationality left as he suddenly struck out and punched the nearest wall in anger.
Okay, calm down David, he thought again. Maybe everything isn't as lost as it appears. If I do this right, then there might be a way to salvage this operation. All I need to do is to disprove the fact that humans could cause an ectoplasmic infection. Maybe it's high time I paid the Doc a visit. A few minutes later, he strolled into the Nurse's Office without so much as a knock to make himself known. Entering, he watched as George stowed away some medical equipment. Syringes from the looks of it; David didn't pay it any mind, but if he had looked closer, he would have noticed that the ends were stained green. Taking a quick look around, he noticed that the doctor's daughter was nowhere to be seen.
A shame, he thought. Would have been nice to see her pretty English face. "George, me old boy." David said cheerfully, walking forwards with his hand outstretched. "How are-."
"No." George stated bluntly, not even looking at David as he interrupted him. The soldier faltered slightly.
"Excuse me?" He asked, confused.
George turned to face him. "What you're about to ask, the answer is no."
"Don't be like that." David said, regaining his composure. "I only came to-."
"I urge you not to insult my intelligence with your juvenile stupidity." George said, interrupting him once more. "I am not a simpleton whom you can charm David. Your façade will not work on me. I am well aware what your intentions are, and I am going to tell you right now, they will not work."
"Oh really?" David asked, anger slightly coming through. "And what might my intentions be you limey toff?" George set down his charts and stethoscope and calmly walked up to David until his nose was almost touching the soldier's.
"You came down here with the intention of finding out whether I would supplement your ridiculous schemes. You thought I might be convinced to inform everyone that it wouldn't be possible for humans to develop an ectoplasmic strain of infection, which in turn caused this apocalypse. Stop me if I start going off track." David could do little but stare in disbelief.
"How could you possibly know that?" He finally asked.
George scoffed. "Call it a Brit's intuition." He said sarcastically. "Do you honestly think that all I do with my time is drink tea and look at pictures of the Royal Family all day? Everyone in this school knows how much you despise the ghosts, despite them showing no hostility towards any of us. Furthermore, I was there in that meeting we just had. And I saw just how cross you were before I left. Honestly, it does not take a genius to work out that you loathe the idea that the ghosts aren't to blame for all of this. To be perfectly honest with you David, I find it difficult to contain my delight at the prospect of seeing your precious little world crash around you." David was reeling from the tongue lashing he had just received.
How dare he talk to me like that, he thought angrily. "You have no idea who you're messing with Doc. And when I return to Washington next week, you're going to wish you never made it across the water."
George faked a yawn as he moved back around to his desk and began to sort through papers. "I'll be sure to mark it on my calendar." He said nonchalantly with a wave of his hand. "I wouldn't want to miss that appointment now, would I? I'll have to get Victoria to remind me." With that, David quick-turned on his heel and began to march out of the office, an angry expression of disbelief on his face.
"Oh, leaving so soon?" George called out behind him. "I was just about to poison the tea."
Exceptionally similar to David's reaction, Paul was beyond pissed at the new information behind the infection. When his acolytes had returned from the meeting, he had been regaled the information, and didn't take it well. The first thing he had done was to scream in rage and destroy his makeshift altar in the Library. After Danny's outburst a few days before, which had thoroughly petrified the teen, Paul was convinced he finally had the proof that all ghosts were evil. That they were sent by the Devil himself, and their presences had to be removed from the school so that they could all receives God's blessing. But now, to be told that the ghosts weren't even remotely involved in the Apocalypse's origin, Paul was now scared for a different reason. He was scared, because now, more support could be generated in favour of the ghosts, and no one would do anything to get rid of them. Paul came to realise that people could potentially go out of their way to help the ghosts, and go against his religious cause; possibly even his own followers if the pressure became too great. Paul was well aware of the influence of temptation, and he vowed never to let any of his flock be swayed from the cause. That was when another thought crossed his mind. A plan that he had been unsure of ever since it came to him. However, he pushed the hesitation aside when he came to the conclusion that not doing anything could be more detrimental than actually enacting his idea. Breathing deeply, he turned to face his followers, who were looking at him with unease. They had never seen their leader so upset about something before. The most extreme emotion they had ever seen on him was annoyance at the ghosts who pretended to be their friends.
"My friends," Paul began softly. "It's time." The group of followers didn't have to ask what Paul was referring to. It was something that they had been discussing in secret for the past two months; it had been designated top secret. So secret in fact, that if anyone was caught divulging even the slightest detail about the plan, they would be cast out and forced to leave the school. By any means necessary.
"Is it truly?" One of them asked, his eyes slightly wide.
"It is Joseph," answered Paul. "The time is upon us, and we must move swiftly. Timing is everything, and we cannot afford to make a mistake. Not tonight." Paul let that sink in for a few minutes. This was the moment that would ultimately reveal whether or not there were any non-believers amongst his group. He needed complete trust in his people. If there was just one person who wouldn't carry out their task to the letter, everything would fall apart, and Paul would fail. And Paul was not about to fail Him. But looking around his believers, he smiled at the fact that all of them had a look of content and somewhat determination at what they were about to do. Paul was proud.
"Okay," Paul began once again. "Return here in precisely ninety minutes, and the Lord's work shall commence." He turned to Jacob. "Please seek out and return with David." Ten minutes later, David walked through the door, and the first thing Paul noticed, was the look of sheer anger on his face.
"Judging from your facial expression, you're just as upset as I am about the meeting in the hall?" Guessed Paul, even though he already knew the soldier's answer.
"You're damn right I'm upset." David said angrily. "The whole fucking point in us being here was to stir up as much angst as possible about the ghosts. And some people think we're actually here to help them. Please, Washington couldn't care less what happens to this stupid school. Despite Phantom showing up out of nowhere, which no one saw coming, everything was working out perfectly. Him being here was actually helping us, as everyone was pissed at him for not being here in the first place when the whole world went to shit; especially with that episode in the cafeteria a couple of days ago." If David saw the violent shudder which racked its way through Paul's body, he didn't say anything. He was too busy ranting as he paced up and down the Library floor.
"And now," David carried on, now thoroughly red in the face. "The whole fucking school knows that everything we've been telling them for the past year was a load of crap. There is not a chance in hell that we're going to be able convince them now." By this point, his rant had ended and his body physically sagged as he exhaled deeply.
"Now that I can actually get in a word," Paul began confidently. "You'll be pleased to learn that our plan is going ahead."
David whipped his head up in surprise. "Seriously?"
Paul smirked. "Seriously. Get your men ready. Thirty minutes David. Thirty minutes, and the Purge begins."
Danny opened his green eyes as he felt his duplicate re-combine with him. He let a small smile grace his lips as he learned that his parents and friends told the school the truth about the infection. He also agreed with what his duplicate said about not coming back yet. Of course he would agree. His duplicate was always going to say the same as him, but actually hearing it out loud made the idea more concrete in his head. Feeling somewhat satisfied with how the night turned out, he got out of his meditative position and went to lie down on his makeshift bed as he let the familiar rings pass long his body, turning him human for the night. All the ghosts had taken to making the Observatory their home for the time being at Danny's request. No one but Dani knew the reason why he was so attached to this particular building. It was the closest he was ever going to get to seeing outer space. Just as he was beginning to relax, he stiffened slightly when he sensed something was off. Sitting bolt upright, he scoured the room and realised that there were only four ghosts sleeping. Tilting his head towards the ceiling, Danny floated up and went through the roof to see Ember sat at the edge of the domed-roof; her legs outstretched, following the curve of the building with her back to him. He was curious as to why she was up here so late. By Dani's watch he had glanced at before moving to the roof, it was after midnight. He couldn't remember how long he stood there watching her before he finally spoke up.
"Ember?" He asked tentatively; she stiffened slightly, not realising he was there. "You okay?"
She kept her gaze fixed over Amity. "I'm fine Danny. Go back to bed."
"Nuts to that," he said, coming to sit down next to her, copying her position with his legs over the edge. "Something on your mind?"
Ember sighed. "Really, it's nothing," she said unconvincingly as she shuffled her feet slightly. Now that Danny could see her closer, he noted how her posture was stiff and her eyes had tinge of red about them, as if she had been crying recently.
"You sure?" Danny asked, trying to sound comforting. "You know, sometimes it helps to talk if something is on-."
"I told you I was fine Dipstick." She said harshly, almost shouting at him as she finally looked at him, her hair flaring slightly. "What, are you suddenly hard of hearing? I'm fine. Just fine." That hurt Danny more than he thought it would as he stared at her. He was only asking to see if she was okay and whether she wanted to talk about anything.
"Fine." Danny said shortly. "Sorry I asked. I guess I'll just leave you to it then." Just as he began to sink through the roof, Ember caught a glimpse of his hurt expression and immediately felt a surge of guilt.
She grabbed his hand to prevent him from leaving and gripped it tightly. "I'm sorry Baby-pop. You didn't deserve that. I didn't mean it." He continued to look at her, his blue eyes seemingly penetrated right through her. His expression was completely void of any emotion, which ultimately began to make her feel comfortable. After what seemed an age, his expression softened slightly and floated back up so he could return to his original seat. Danny gave her a look which clearly said 'explain'.
Ember began to shuffle nervously, which automatically put Danny on edge. Ember was never nervous. "It's just, what you did at the Lake today, it kind of brought back, some, er, memories of when I was, er, human." Danny knew something had bothered her back at the Lake, but he didn't realise that she had had such a negative reaction to it.
"Look, Ember," his voice full of concern. "If I did something which made you upset, I am really, really sorry."
Ember laughed a little at this. "Always the hero." She muttered. "No. What you did was amazing. Really, it was. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun." Now Danny was thoroughly confused.
"So, what's the problem?" He asked curiously. Ember sighed. She had never told anyone this, not even Kitty.
"When I died, I couldn't have been happier." She started. "No more rules, no more restraints and no more people trying to pull me back or hold me down." A solitary tear made its way to down Ember's pale cheek. Danny didn't have to ask what she was referring to. He knew what had caused Ember's death, and he had been pissed beyond belief that someone could do such a thing to her.
"Go on." He said gently.
Ember took a deep breath. "When I was human, snow was something I loved. If there was anything I loved as much as music, it was snow. Everything about it was beautiful. Whenever it snowed, I would always sneak out of my house and just play around it, making snow angels and building snowmen. I even ice-skated a bit. I was nowhere near as good as Krystal is. She practically glides on the ice, but I did reasonable well." Danny couldn't help but smile as he imagined how cute Ember would have been when she was younger.
"You sounded cute," Danny said lightly, nudging her slightly, which she returned.
"I was freaking adorable," she said sarcastically as she smiled, before it dropped off her face. "But when I got to the Ghost Zone, and found out I had a fire core, I couldn't get anywhere near snow. I was so excited to learn about the Far Frozen. But every time I went near the place, I would either melt the snow the moment I set foot on it, or the intense wind would put my hair out, leaving me incredibly weak and drained of energy. You know me and my temper. Imagine how I was when I realised I couldn't get to play with one of my biggest interests." Danny shuddered slightly as he knew exactly how Ember could get when she got mad, before realisation dawned on him at Ember's facial expression of doubt when she saw the frozen lake.
"You thought you wouldn't be able to enjoy it." Danny stated.
Ember nodded as another tear escaped. "Yeah," she said softly. "I thought I would end up melting it and ruin everyone else's day."
"Oh Ember." Danny said as he wrapped his arm and cloak around Ember and brought her into a tight hug. She returned it as she clutched tightly at the cloak and Danny's suit. "You wouldn't have ruined anybody's day. To be honest, it would have been funny to see Johnny fall through the ice." Ember choked back a chuckle.
"In all seriousness though," Danny carried on. "I thought that you might make things a little bit hot out there today, so I pumped in a little extra ectoplasm into my ice powers, just so it wouldn't melt. Even lava couldn't melt my ice. I wanted everyone to enjoy themselves. That includes you." Ember's eyes widened at how thoughtful Danny had been.
He is so sweet, she thought to herself as she gripped Danny harder. He did that for just for me? I could kiss him. Whoa, hold on right there Ember. You cannot be having thoughts like that. I mean, he's only my friend right? A really kind-hearted, sweet, caring, good looking friend…Stop it Ember! Crap, how long have I been silent? Better say something quick.
"Aww, you're so sweet Baby-pop," she said playfully, before looking into Danny's eyes and winking seductively at him. "And for the record, I am very hot." She was expecting Danny to blush and become all flustered. She was therefore surprised when he returned her wink with a small, sly smirk.
"I am aware of that Miss McLain." He said, almost huskily. "I am very well aware of that." They both continued to stare intently at each other before they both burst out laughing, the dregs of Ember's depressed state slipping swiftly away. She loved how Danny could do that; she released her tight grip from the Halfa but continued to lean into him as they turned their gazes back over Amity.
"You know Danny," she began, "I'm impressed. When I did that to you over a year ago in the Wraith & Shade, you started spluttering and choked on your food. Had you been human at time, I reckon you could've passed for a lobster. Even Johnny got a bit ruffled. But this time, you took it in your stride and held your own. What happened?"
Danny shrugged slightly. "When you're trapped in a tower with Clockwork for two months, I guess you pick up a few things. Believe me, I had to learn quickly how to play along, otherwise Clockwork would have floored me after his first cryptic riddle. And there were a lot of cryptic riddles."
"I guess so," Ember conceded softly. "By the way, I did mean what I said. That was a very sweet thing you did for me Danny. I can't remember the last time someone did something like that for me. And thank you for helping me feel better."
"You know, I think I'm liking this new sweet and caring Ember," Danny said, smiling.
Ember scoffed as she elbowed him slightly. "Shut it Dipstick," she said. "You tell anyone about this, I will not hesitate to arrange a very intimate meeting between my guitar and your crotch."
Danny laughed properly as he wrapped his arms around Ember. "And there's the Ember we all know and love. What would we do without her?" He asked, causing Ember to giggle slightly.
Wow, Ember's actually giggling, Danny thought fondly. She's really cute when she's giggling. "Hey Ember?"
Ember turned and looked up to meet Danny's eyes, surprised that she felt a little flutter in her stomach at his gaze. What is going on with me? She asked herself. "What?" She asked out loud, hoping her voice didn't sound too shaken.
"You're very welcome." He said sincerely, smiling down at her. "I will always be around to make you feel better Ember. I already abandoned my friends once. I don't really plan on doing it again." Ember didn't think it was her imagination, or at least hoped it wasn't her imagination, when she saw Danny leaning in closer to her face. She also didn't think it was her imagination when she felt her own face closing the distance either. By the time their lips gently brushed against one another's, their eyes were closed and fireworks literally exploded in Ember's mind. All too soon, Danny whipped his head back, his eyes impossibly wide, causing Ember to open her eyes.
Oh shit, she thought worriedly. What have I done? "Look, Danny," she began shakily, praying to whatever higher power there was in the universe that she hadn't destroyed their friendship. "I'm sorry, I didn't…" Ember trailed off when she realised that he wasn't looking at her, but over her head at something behind her. Turning to see what had Danny's avid attention, her jaw dropped. They were looking at the school, which could easily be seen from the Observatory on any given day as the Ghost Shield was very noticeable. But there was a problem. A big problem. The Ghost Shield was gone.
Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and continue to read on. I did not go into Ember's story because I am assuming that everyone is well versed in it. If not, it is very easy to find on Google. And all rights belong to Winston Churchill for the quote I used. Until next time.
Lord Pugsy.