Sorry this took so long, guys. The chapter was very uncooperative ;P

The really bad thing about the way I reply to reviews now, is that it just feeds on procrastination. Gods dang it! It is not procrastinator friendly! It didn't really help that my dog thought my laptop's power cord made a nice chew toy -_- I'll give thanks here, and see what I can do later. Probably reply to both reviews if you review again.

Thanks to: LynnBrook, AnimationNut, Aurora Borealis 97, Kung-fu Blaziken, mandolindoodler, Phantomgirl96, Keeper 101, stick fight3, Danny Phantom Phanatic, 1337kitsune, Rubble, Kiomori, isadorathegreat, , Dracon Ashara, KatiekkXD, Biisaiyowaq, Ghostdragon 101, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, MiyamotousagiFan, Codiak, Xeiden, Tay1019411, Making it through, GhostDog401, Alactricity, TweenisodeOrange, Adisynne, Souxie2.0, readingisawesome, acosta perez jose ramiro, DP-shrine-in-closet-girl, fawnlovesyou, Hebi R., Kristallos, The Silver Radio, nightmaster000, Trinity Fenton-Phantom, Color like whoa, Breathe Breathe Breathe, CaligoAngelus, irezel, Silverbulletsdeath, Mikoto-chan92, tsuki107, Fugitive of Gray, Saphireswimming, ShoyDragon, iJuStbARfED, Crazy-ghost-girl, Star1the2friend, Trolly's Bara-chan, Mak8907, i love Danny Phantom, hahahippo, Serlenia, nightmarekitt, Aria, Hanzo of the Salamander, Sarahhaley, Little bit 1o1, obsessivereader95, and Osprey Eamon. Thanks you guys!
I feel really, really bad because there were a lot of awesome reviews, and coupled with the late update, I feel so ashamed, like I let you guys down...I'm gonna go draw in the dirt now...

I don't own Danny Phantom, and beta'd by dragondancer123 (and I think I'm posting this without her clearance so shh...) Hope ya like!

Chapter 11
Arrival of Doom

If Madeline were to walk into a room full of hostile ghosts, she wouldn't yell a greeting and draw every eye to herself. She wouldn't proceed to run into said hostile room, dodging around each undead specter as if they weren't twitching with the urge to separate her soul from her body. Truce or no truce, secret on the line or not, Maddie would never take such a thoughtless risk.

Therefore, Vlad was convinced Daniel inherited said reckless behavior solely from his idiot father.

Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose, but followed Daniel and his clone into the throne room at a more sedate pace. Each step echoed off the walls as the specters watched the infamous group enter their domain in hushed silence. Vlad smirked, and was amused when a few weaker ghosts backed away.

He didn't understand why the two Phantoms were so worried. Lance was safe in the company of the Tribe of Abominable Snow-people. And while Vlad was sure his contemptuous feelings toward the Tribe was mutual, the Far Frozen were allied with Daniel. They would keep Daniel's (and by extension, Vlad's) secret safe.

"Mr. Thunder!" Daniel managed to stop his momentum before he could run into the reporter, but he didn't give himself or Lance a chance to breathe in relief. He grabbed the man's shoulders and began searching him for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

Danielle floated above Daniel's head so her eyes were inches from Lance's own. "Did anybody scare you?"

"I mean I doubt they can hurt you—"

"No, but they can scare him, and you said he can't breathe when he gets scared!"

"Oh yeah, good point! Did they scare you? How long weren't you breathing?"

Lance blinked at the worried Phantoms. "Uh…"

"Oh my gosh, Danny!" Danielle fisted Daniel's hair and used her grip to shake his head. "Forget scared! He's scarred for life!"

"What did they do to you, man?"

"They're mental terrorists, Danny! They could have done anything to him without us there to protect him!"

"Oh my—"

"That's enough, children." Vlad snagged Danielle from the air and grabbed Daniel's shoulder, pulling them away from the stunned reporter. Daniel stumbled, but regained his composure, and glared at the man. Danielle struggled out of his grip and joined her original in glaring.

Vlad ignored them in favor of smiling gently at Lance. "I must apologize for their behavior, Lance. They were very concerned when we lost you."

Lance smiled shakily back. "I—Uh, yes, that's understandable, I suppose. I was quite scared myself. It was rather overwhelming."

Daniel shifted on his feet. "I'm sorry, Mr. Thunder. I promised I would protect you from danger, but when it came down to it, I couldn't bring myself to…" He cut himself off and looked down at his shoes.

Lance frowned, but didn't comment.

"At any rate," Vlad said, "I am pleased to see you unharmed, Lance. No doubt we have the…Far Frozen to thank."

Daniel perked up at this. He turned to Frostbite and the Far Frozen, smiling gratefully. "Yeah, thanks. I don't know what I would have done without your help." He paused, and, almost as an afterthought, placed his hand over his chest and executed a—wobbly—bow. "I am in your debt."

Frostbite smiled, pleased with Daniel's attempt at formality. "On the contrary, it was our pleasure to aid you, Great One." He placed his own hand over his core and inclined his head. The remaining the Far Frozen followed their leader's example. A crowd of fierce snowmen bowed humbly to a half-human teenager. The other ghosts in the room began whispering amongst themselves.

If Vlad had been presented with such a show of deference and humility, he would have glowed with pride and basked in their worship. Daniel, child that he was, merely blushed and rubbed his neck, embarrassed, but pleased.

Vlad felt a burning in his eyes, signifying the eerie stare, dubbed scary eyes. It was his dream, his destiny to be king, not Daniel's. And yet these fools bowed before a boy that thought a steward was a type of soup.

Vlad forcefully shook his head and shoved the spark of jealousy to the back of his mind. This was not the place.

Lance was diligently recording this scene, as enthralled as the other ghosts in the room. Vlad cleared his throat, but when the reporter didn't respond, he dropped a hand on his shoulder. The human jumped in surprise and faced him with wide eyes. Vlad allowed him a second to compose himself, also using that second to select a topic change.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to your camera, Lance?"

Lance blinked and looked down at the camera in his hands. "Oh, well, I'm not quite sure…"

Danielle flew over and inspected the camera for herself. "It kind of looks like the Red Huntess's outfit, doesn't it, Danny?"

Considering the last discussion they'd enjoyed with Lance, Vlad was unsurprised when Ms. Gray's title earned Daniel's full attention. "Yeah." He frowned, tilting his head to the side. "But she got her suit from Technus, Master of Monologuing, and he only did that to distract me. Why would he upgrade someone else's camera?"

Lance's eyes took on the Reporter's Glint Vlad was so familiar with. "You know the Red Huntress?"

Daniel flinched. "Um…maybe…"

Danielle cut in cheerfully, "He does! He knows her very well."

"Danielle?"

"Hmm?"

Daniel jerked his clone into a headlock. Before she had a chance to squeak a protest, Daniel scrubbed his fist against her scalp.

Danielle shrieked, and struggled to escape his grasp. "Ow! Ow! Danny, stop! Ow, my hair! You're ruining it, ow! Let go!" Cujo barked excitedly and jumped around the Phantoms' feet.

"Are you going to stop?" Daniel asked her, an evil grin on his face.

"Stop what?"

"You know what."

"No, I—" Daniel scrubbed harder. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay! I'll stop!"

Daniel paused. "Promise?"

"I promise!"

Daniel grinned triumphantly. "Good." He unhooked his arm, and his clone quickly flew out of his reach. She pouted and combed her fingers through her hair. "So this is what it's like to have a little sister."

Danielle stuck her tongue out at him. "Being your cousin is bad enough," she said. "I don't think either of us would survive the sibling rivalry."

"Yeah, I guess not."

Lance cleared his throat. "You do know the Red Huntress? Better than most ghosts?"

Daniel flinched. "If I say 'yes' you're going to ask a lot of personal questions, aren't you?"

Lance frowned and straightened his shoulders. "It's my job, Mr. Phantom. I'm sure you understand."

The boy crossed his arms over his chest. "No, Mr. Thunder, I don't. I can't answer questions about the Red Huntress because they aren't questions I'm allowed to answer. She's already after my hide—I don't need her breathing down my neck for another imagined wrong."

"'Another imagined wrong'?" Lance asked, leaning towards Daniel. "Am I to assume you have wronged her before?"

"What? No!"

"But you said—"

"I never did anything wrong! She just blames me!"

"For what?"

"Everything! A ghost dog attacks Axion Labs, must be my dog, therefore my fault. A metal robot kidnaps us—both of us, my fault. Hell, she blames me for her relationship with her boyfriend going sour! If her tire goes flat, it'll be my fault, because I just live to torment her."

"So…" Lance smiled. "How did you two meet? How did she become the Red Huntress? Is there a romantic spark buried beneath all that hatred? Do you know her secret identity? What is your opinion of her?"

Daniel opened his mouth. Stopped, then groaned and slapped his forehead. Repeatedly.

"Great One."

Daniel looked at Frostbite with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, Frostbite?"

Frostbite pointed up at the multicolored lights bobbing around the room. Vlad stared at the orbs. He had seen something similar created from his own hand when he needed a light source, but he'd never seen so many in one place or in such a variety of shades and colors. However, he had researched the protocol of ghost weddings and knew what these lights represented.

He grinned. "Ah, yes. The Orbs of Attendance. I almost forgot."

Daniel frowned. "The what of what now?"

"Why, the Orbs of Attendance," Vlad repeated. "It's there in the very name."

Daniel's frown deepened at his superior tone. Ah, he loved tormenting the boy. "Sorry, I didn't take Cryptic 101. Explain, Plasmius?"

Vlad sighed explosively. "If I must." Daniel scowled, no doubt becoming more annoyed by the second. "Certain occasions such as Century Meetings and Ghost Weddings command every ghost, no matter how weak or strong, to attend. But as you can imagine, there are far too many ghosts existing in the Ghost Zone for any one body to keep track of. So the ancients devised a way to—"

"I really don't need a history lesson, Plasmius," Danny said. "Just skip to the point."

Vlad glared at him. "My dear boy, history is very important. But if you insist…" Daniel nodded unnecessarily. Vlad sighed. "Upon entering the designated meeting place—in this case, the Throne Room of Pariah Dark—ghosts are to create a ball of ectoplasm and allow it to float freely above them. When all the ghosts are present and all the activities taken care of, the Orbs gather together and illuminate the altar and the aisle. This is the signal for the wedding to begin. After everyone has taken their designated seats and positions, the bride shall walk down the glowing aisle."

"Oh." Daniel blinked. "That's…that's fancy…"

"You're dealing with ghosts, Daniel," Vlad said. "Ghosts have powers humans can only dream of having, so of course a spectral wedding will be more extravagant than a human wedding."

"Sometimes a simple display is more powerful than a fancy presentation." Daniel smiled. "Learned that in English class! I mean the notes from English class…" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, just create a ball of ectoplasm?"

Vlad sighed. "Yes, Daniel. Be sure to give it enough power to keep itself stable, but not so much it's too heavy to float on its own."

Daniel frowned. "Uh, right…"

Vlad rolled his eyes. "Like this…" He held out his hand and willed his energy to condense around his palm. A small ball of pink ectoplasm began to form. It was about the size of a golf ball, but its radiance extended to that of a softball. Vlad lifted his hand into the air and the pink orb floated off to join the others hovering above them.

Daniel watched it float away before looking down at his own palm. "All right, here goes." His brows furrowed in concentration, and slowly a ball of neon green energy formed. It was larger than Vlad's, but it gave off less light.

"Condense it," Vlad instructed.

The orb in Daniel's palm pulsed, contracting and expanding in bursts. Daniel scowled, and muttered, "Harder than it looks…"

Danielle held out her own hand and began gathering an Orb of Attendance. Her look of concentration was unsettlingly similar to Daniel's to anyone who didn't know their connection.

"Why is it so hard for Mr. Phantom to create an Orb of Attendance?" Lance asked. "Surely he is strong enough…?"

Vlad smirked. "Creating an Orb requires very little power, Lance. Ghosts of varying degrees of ability are gathered here, so it would be senseless to force everyone to create an object that required power outside the weaker ghosts' scope. Daniel is more accustomed to brute strength, however, which is why he is having so much trouble using his brain to mold the energy."

"I heard that, Plasmius," Daniel grumbled.

"I did it!" Danielle cried. She raised her hand, showing off her brightly glowing orb. She tossed it between her hands a couple times before throwing it up to join the others.

Daniel groaned. "This is just embarrassing…" His Orb shrank, and Danny narrowed his eyes, concentrating on shrinking it further.

"Well, girls are said to learn faster than boys," Danielle said.

"Shh, Dani, I'm concentrating."

"If you want I can give you some hints?"

"No thanks."

"You—"

"Dani, hush!"

Danielle huffed and crossed her arms. "I was just trying to help."

"I don't need help."

"Are you sure about that, my boy?" Vlad asked. "I expected you to have it by now."

"Shut up, Vlad."

"Perhaps if you allowed me to train you…"

"Never going to happen."

Frostbite cleared his throat. "On their first attempt, some ghosts prefer to use both hands, Great One."

Danny glanced at him, before bringing his other hand over the Orb. It expanded briefly, but Danny pressed his hands closer together. As he compressed the Orb, it gave off a steady expanse of light, reaching past Danny's hands. He cupped his hands around it, the green light escaping between the gaps of his fingers. A few seconds later, he carefully removed his hand from the, now perfectly sized, Orb.

"I got it!" He grinned, admiring his creation. "I've done something like this before," he added thoughtfully. "But it wasn't as bright—or as hard to make. It's kinda like a mini sun. Temperature and pressure are needed to keep it stable."

Vlad rolled his eyes. "Yes, congratulations, Daniel. You finally created what took your cousin and me a few seconds to make. When you're finished admiring your handiwork, kindly allow it to join the others so we can make your arrival official."

Daniel scowled at him. "Do you ever get tired of being pompous, Plasmius?"

Vlad raised a mocking eyebrow. "Oh? You know that word?"

"Duh."

Vlad smirked. "Your sister taught it to you, didn't she?"

"…No…" Daniel coughed into his fist, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. "Right! So I have officially arrived once I let this thing go?"

"Yes, Great One," Frostbite answered.

Daniel smiled and raised his hand, palm face up. The momentum lifted the light-weight Orb off his hand. It continued to float upwards until it was surrounded by the other ghost-made lights. The Orbs seemed to migrate toward the newcomer, welcoming it as they crowded around it.

A second later, its creator faced the same fate when he was mobbed by overeager ghosts below it.

The hunters at the ghost convention watched as Danny Phantom was mobbed by his fellow apparitions. It was confusing to watch, but since Lance and his camera were insubstantial in that world, the camera's vision wasn't obscured too greatly by the ghosts jostling around him. Phantom looked completely mortified just before he was buried beneath the ghosts.

"Interesting," Maddie mused aloud, tapping her pencil's eraser against her chin. "Those ghosts are treating the Ghost Kid like a celebrity."

Jazz chuckled. "I guess he has Phans everywhere. I don't know who's more surprised. Him or us."

"WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Maddie and Jazz shared an amused look. "Him," they said together.

Maddie smiled as she wrote down their newest discovery about Phantom. Jazz leaned back in her foldable chair, and watched her little brother fight for his freedom.

"Whatever happened to the no fights allowed rule?" Danny shouted. His voice was muffled by the ghosts' bodies and their loud questions, but it was easily discernable to Jazz.

"They aren't trying to fight you, Danny!" Dani replied. Her voice was easier to hear over the ghosts' commotion. Probably because she and Vlad were standing next to Thunder. "They just want to touch you! Maybe get a few strands of your hair, your saliva, some harmlessly gathered blood…"

"What are they? Piranhas? 'Harmlessly gathered blood' sounds like an oxymoron!"

"It's not, Daniel," Vlad said, his tone amused. "But nice try."

"GET THEM OFF ME!"

"Say the magic word, Daniel."

"Get. Them. Off. Me!"

"I said 'word', my boy. As in singular."

"Plasmius!"

"That's better, but not quite what I'm looking for."

Jazz tried not to laugh at her brother's expense, but Vlad made it so hard. His remarks appealed to her intellectual side. Besides. How would Danny know she found his archenemy funny?

"I wonder why they hold him in such high regard," Maddie said. "I'm sure I have seen him fight some of those ghosts."

Jazz shrugged. "The ones who are his enemies might be following the crowd so they can irritate him while still saying true to the truce. The others are probably like the Far Frozen ghosts; they might want to see the ghost who defeated the Ghost King."

Maddie hummed. "Possible. But it may also be we are missing a vital point here. He may be in cahoots with these ghosts…A leader of some sort…"

"Do you have evidence to back up your theory?" Jazz questioned, her eyes narrowed on her mother.

Maddie pursed her lips. "It's merely cautious speculation, Jazz, sweetie. This ghost knows how to access our lab with ease. Now more than ever, we have to keep our guard up where Phantom is concerned."

Jazz winced. Her parents would doubtless start inventing more high-tech security to protect their equipment as soon as they returned home. Higher security meant more trouble for Danny, which meant more work for Jazz.

"Besides," Maddie continued, her hands fisting around the pencil and paper. "He humiliated us in front of all these hunters. He's going to pay for that."

Jazz sighed. She knew his actions were going to come back and bite Danny on the butt.

They were at the ghost convention. At present, the convention hosted over more than two hundred devotees, including the most experienced ghost experts, Jack and Maddie Fenton.

Once ghost hunting started being taken seriously, so too were the Fentons. They were finally given the respect and acknowledgement due for all their years of ghost hunting. A fan base had even been established for them. When they entered the ghost convention, they were greeted by applause, praise, questions, and apologies—something they had been craving for a long time.

But it had all gone downhill when Danny Phantom entered their laboratory, stole their most impressive invention, and mocked Maddie without fear. It was a crushing blow to the Fenton's pride. All in all, Jazz was unsurprised by her parents' newest grudge against her little brother's alter ego; though she wished they would just forgive and forget the older ones.

"When I get my hands on that spook," Jack ranted beside Maddie, "I'll tear it apart molecule by molecule! And then atom by atom! No one humiliates us Fentons!"

"Shh, Dad," Jazz hissed. "You're disturbing everyone."

"What a riot, dude!" one of the Ghost Breakers cried.

"He's, like, being assaulted, man," the woman from Groovy Gang said.

"Or you would be," Jazz mumbled, "if we were among ordinary people …"

"You wanted to come here, Jazz," Maddie reminded her.

"Yeah," Jazz agreed, "to put the finishing touches on my college thesis. I'm surrounded by people suffering from ghost envy, but I'm unable to do anything about it because they're all too absorbed with Danny Phantom to answer my questions!"

"Jinkers!" the guy from Groovy Gang exclaimed. "Like, keep it down. Some people are, like, trying to watch this, you know."

Jazz made a face and sunk into her chair, cheeks burning from embarrassment.

On the tarp-screen, the ghost version of Danny's Phans were finally backing off, allowing Danny his breathing space. The reason why became apparent a second later as Cujo, in fearsome guard dog mode, was revealed standing over Danny, growling threateningly at the Phans.

Danny, curled into a ball to protect himself, lifted his head from his arms and looked around cautiously. His hair was disheveled, and his suit jacket was wrinkled and askew, but otherwise he didn't look overly ravaged. A little disoriented and freaked out, but not too terrible considering this was the first time he'd been successfully mobbed.

He warily eyed the nearby ghosts as he climbed back to his feet. From the new perspective, Jazz could see his undershirt was as rumpled as the rest of him. It was untucked and a few of the buttons undone. Even though Jazz found the whole incident amusing, seeing her little baby brother like this…violated by his own Phans… It was disturbing.

Danny rebuttoned his shirt and straightened his jacket, keeping a wary eye on the few Phans lingering outside Cujo's range. He ran his fingers through his white hair, and though Jazz would never admit it, she envied his ability to fix his hair without needing a hairbrush or comb.

"I never want to go through that again," he said, sounding shaken. He placed his hands on the small of his back, and leaned backwards until Jazz heard an audible 'pop'. He sighed and let his arms drop to his side, his whole body sagging.

"Feel better, old man?" Danielle asked.

"Much better, no thanks to you, youngster."

Cujo looked over his shoulder at Danny, sniffing him for injuries. Danny grinned and jumped on him, hugging the ghost dog's massive neck. His momentum jerked Cujo slightly off balance, but neither seemed to mind.

"Who's the best guard dog around?" Danny cooed, adopting his 'baby talk' tone. He scratched Cujo's ear vigorously. The dog's tongue rolled out as he leaned into Danny's touch. "Yeah, buddy, you're the best! The best bodyguard a guy could ask for!"

The praise and scratching proved too strong for his anger, and Cujo soon shrank back to his puppy form. For a few nanoseconds, he and Danny remained suspended in the air where Cujo's head had been. Then they fell together in a heap. Danny laughed and rubbed Cujo's belly, Cujo wiggling in delight. Danny stood up, and Cujo hopped onto his feet again, running around Danny's ankles.

Danny chuckled and dropped to his knees. Cujo ran into his arms, and began licking his face. "We forgot to dress you up, didn't we, boy?" he said. He gently pushed Cujo away. "I love you too, Cujo, but right now I need you to sit." Cujo sat. "Good boy."

Danny reached for his tie, but found his collar empty. His eyes widened, and looked down, searching with his eyes and hands. "Hey, where'd the tie go?" He paused, sighed, and faced the remaining Phans. "Alright, which one of you stole my tie?"

The Phans—mostly female—giggled, as if they found his indignant attitude cute.

Danny groaned. "It's not funny! Lady Hairdresser is going to kill me if I don't return this suit whole and intact. She even told me so!" His eyes widened and his lower lip trembled slightly. He used his puppy face so often, Jazz wasn't sure if he was even conscious of its usage now. "Please give it back?"

The Phans giggled again and made cooing noises.

The innocent look vanished from Danny's visage. He scowled at them and huffily crossed his arms. "Jerks…"

"Really, Daniel," Vlad said. "You should know by now asking politely won't have any impact on bloodthirsty fans."

"Oh yeah?" Danny asked, turning his glare on Vlad. "Then how do you suggest I get the dang tie back, huh?"

"Who knows?" Vlad replied, nonchalant. "As soon as your possession is captured in their greedy little hands, you might as well forget about it."

"Can't I just get it back after the wedding is over?"

"By that time, the thief and your tie will either be long gone, or impossible to find."

Danny grimaced. He looked down at Cujo, his lips pursed and his shoulders sagging. "I don't suppose you can fetch it, Cujo? I doubt they could hide it from you." Cujo's tail wagged as he returned to all fours. Danny smiled. "Might as well give it a try, I guess. Alright, go fetch, boy! Find the tie! Fetch the tie!" Cujo barked, and ran towards the Phans. He disappeared into the crowd, but his barks could still be heard.

Jazz heard Vlad scoff. "You can't possibly believe that mutt can find your tie, Daniel."

"Why not?" Danny asked. "He knows my scent."

"It takes a certain amount of intelligence for an animal to connect the English language to an item or command."

"Cujo is smart," Danny defended, his eyes narrowing.

"Undoubtedly," Vlad said, though his sarcastic tone spoke his doubt.

"Just watch. He'll—"

A girl's angry scream rose above their voices. A second later, Cujo came running back to Danny, the missing green tie clamped in his mouth. He jumped into Danny's outstretched arms. He gazed up at Danny, his tail wagging and his ears perked up expectantly for scratches.

Danny grinned triumphantly in Vlad's direction. His hand absently scratched Cujo's ears and head. "See?"

"Interesting," Maddie said. "That dog is either very intelligent, or trained exceptionally well to search for missing objects."

Danny grabbed the tie and tried to pull it from Cujo's mouth, but the ghost dog clamped down on the tie and tugged back. Danny's eyes narrowed. "Oh no, Cujo. Not now, and not with this tie. Drop." Cujo jerked his head from side to side, hauling against Danny's hold until he was no longer in Danny's grasp. His tail wagged widely behind him. "Cujo! Drop it!" The boy and his dog entered in a one-sided tug-a-war game.

"Well," Maddie amended, "mostly trained."

"Oh no, you're right, Daniel," Vlad said. "I cannot believe I misjudged his intelligence. Why, he must be as smart as you."

"Ha…ha…" Danny grunted.

A tear began to develop on the tie. Danny's eyes widened, before narrowing in determination. He heaved the tie and the struggling dog into his arms, but Cujo refused to let go. His playful growls increased in volume as Danny tried to—gently—separate him and the dress tie. Danny leaned down and blew air into Cujo's upright ear. Cujo jolted in surprise, and Danny quickly jerked the tie out of his mouth.

Cujo whined in protest, and tried to bite the tie again, but Danny held him firmly against his side. "No, Cujo. This is not a chew toy. But if you behave, I promise to play with you later, alright?"

Cujo wiggled in his grip. Danny let him go, and the puppy jumped out of his lap. He faced Danny, his eyes locked on the tie dangling in his hand. Danny gave him a stern look and commanded him to sit. After a second's hesitation, Cujo's rump lowered.

Danny smiled. "Good boy." He brought the tie towards Cujo's neck. The puppy snapped at it, and Danny quickly pulled it away. "Cujo," he said warningly. Cujo whined unhappily, but when Danny brought the tie towards him again, he didn't try to bite it. Danny quickly tied the tie into a bow around Cujo's neck. Danny grinned and stood back up. "There. Now I don't have to wear it."

"You did all that," Dani said, disbelief in her tone, "just so you wouldn't have to wear a tie?"

"No," Danny said. "I did all that so I wouldn't have to learn how to tie a tie."

"I could have tied it for you, Daniel," Vlad pointed out, sounding slightly hurt.

Danny mocked a laugh. "And willingly let you near my neck? Not in this lifetime, Plasmius."

"You FINALLY arrived!"

Danny spun around. Thunder pointed in the direction Danny was facing. The camera found the Box Ghost rocketing over the crowd of ghosts and diving headfirst towards Danny. Before Danny could react, the box loving ghost catapulted into him, engulfing the surprised boy in a bear hug and spinning them around in the air a few times.

They stopped spinning, and the Box Ghost switched his hold on Danny. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and surveyed the crowd before him with an important air. "Now that my best man is here," the box ghost exclaimed formally, "we shall finally begin the preparations!"

The ghosts cheered, but Danny's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait! What?"

Jack jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at the tarp-turned-screen. "The Caterer Ghost is in cahoots with that Phantom creep!"

The ghost hunters around them shouted in agreement.

Jazz groaned and wished for the thousandth time she was born into a normal family—one that didn't talk during movies and shows.

So how was that? Not a whole lot happened considering you all had to wait three months to get this, but it was still entertaining, right? hehe, poor Danny...

Nobody took up my challenge from last chapter, so I might try it in my one-shot collection. Might. If you want to do it yourself, please go ahead.

I'm almost halfway done with the next chapter, so it shouldn't take as long. I'm trying to get Danny's reaction to Box Ghost's announcement just right, as well as getting Box Ghost in character. Surprisingly, I'm having trouble with our box-loving ghost o.O

Thanks for reading! Leave a review and I promise I'll get back to you as soon as I can.