Edit: 5/20/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.
zzz- normal separation
ooo- dream or vision separation
Mental thoughts or distant speaking
"The most sublime act is to set another before you." ~ William Blake
zzz
Danny got to the scene quickly and Valerie wasn't too far behind. He paused in his flight and saw Aragon in his dragon form wrecking the mall. He'd heard Aragon had escaped from Dora's Dungeons some time ago and had been wandering the Ghost Zone looking for a new place to rule. Danny had promised Dora to return him to her if he found her unruly brother. Aragon turned and locked eyes with Danny when a bystander pointed the hero out.
"You!" Aragon roared and turned from the mall and faced Danny and Valerie. He hissed, "I will destroy you for interfering! This world will suffer for influencing my sister!"
Danny crossed his arms, "Dude, you seriously have control issues."
"Silence!" Aragon roared again and then blew bright blue ghost fire from his mouth at the two of them. Danny and the Valerie darted two different directions to dodge the attack and Valerie turned and started to fire missiles at the dragon. They exploded against his scaly skin and he roared in pain, turning to face her. He moved towards her and swatted at her with his claws. She dodged them by dipping and then flying high before firing a few lasers at him. He turned sharply to deflect the attacks with his hard wings. He surprised Valerie by continuing the turn and swatting her harshly with his barbed tail. Valerie yelled out when she was thrown from her board. Danny was going to help when her board shot towards her and saved her from her fall. That slight distraction was all Aragon needed to grab Danny in his claws.
"I shall execute you, knave!" Aragon hissed. He pulled back his head and then blasted Danny and his hands with his own flames. Valerie yelled out in alarm and so did Sam, Jazz, and Tucker when they arrived. Aragon stopped and everyone, watching, waited to see if their hero was no more. Danny was still in the dragon's claws, but he was hardly burnt. Only a few holes were in his suit and he let out a tiny breath of smoke.
"My turn." Danny grinned and then released a wave of fire from his body, burning Aragon's hands and snout. The prince dropped Danny who floated away some. "You aren't the only one who can play with fire anymore!" Two balls of fire formed in Danny's hands and he tossed them at the dragon who was still staring at his claws dumbly. The balls of fire exploded against Aragon's right eye and shoulder. He screeched in pain.
"RAAaaaagh!"
Lancer was actually in the crowd along with Dash and Paulina, who'd been hanging out at the mall.
"Great Balls of Fire!" Mr. Lancer exclaimed in surprise, "He must've learned a new trick."
"Now he's even hotter than before," Paulina sighed dreamily.
Dash frowned slightly but that only lasted for a second since he was more interested in how awesome his hero was. "He's like ten times cooler than before!"
Everyone ducked slightly when Danny was swatted by Aragon's tail during the battle. He was shot over their heads and slammed into the side of the mall. He fell over onto his hands and knees and Paulina ran up to him.
"Oh! Inviso-bil! Are you okay? Let me help you," Paulia spoke and reached for him, as a few others gathered nearby. Danny had a gash in his side that was dripping ectoplasm and a cut on his left cheek. He looked up at her and shook his head.
"I'm kinda hot at the moment, using my fire. You might burn yourself if you touch me. I'm not practiced enough yet not to accidentally burn people at touch. Ice is one thing, I don't accidentally freeze people who touch me anymore. Fire's kinda new," Danny explained nervously as Paulina still tried to reach for him. He wasn't actually lying but he also didn't want her to touch him. He just didn't like her that way anymore and her view of him even as 'Inviso-bil' bothered him a bit. He flinched when she gasped. His eyes diverted to Valerie and Aragon to see her do some damage to the dragon with a couple more missiles. Jazz blasted Aragon with the Peeler before hiding in an alleyway again. Tucker was giving his sister support and he could see Sam making her way through the crowd; she must be worried that he'd been hurt worse than he had. He glanced back up at Paulina to silently ask for the reason of her gasp.
"You… you have… facial hair?" Paulina asked. Everyone then glanced at him and indeed noticed the small points of white glowing stubble on his chin and jawline. They were very small and only someone like Paulina would be able to notice and bring everyone's attention to it.
"Uhhh yeaaaah?" Danny asked nervously. "Look I need to fight Aragon, later!" He then vanished and appeared up above the group of people before shooting out two streams of fire from his hands at Aragon's back. Paulina sighed dreamily again.
"Stubble? This just keeps getting better and better."
Back with Danny, the dragon hissed in pain and anger from Danny's attack before turning. A blast from Sam's Wrist Ray angered him further and he turned to aim a breath of fire at Sam.
"If you aren't to be my wife, then you shall be no one's!"
Danny gasped and shot down towards Sam. He stopped in front of her, arms and legs wide as a shield as the fire struck him instead. Sam shouted in worry but stopped short when she saw the blue fires of Aragon's condense at a point before hitting Danny and actually turning into heat and get absorbed into Danny's chest. She shivered when she felt a very brief chill that came and went. She realized he'd switched cores.
"Like I said, control issues! Someone needs to just cool off!" Danny growled and fired two beams of ice at Aragon and forced as much power into it as possible. Aragon roared once, before he was completely frozen. Danny turned and looked at Sam, "Thermos quick! He might break out with his own hot core soon!"
Sam nodded and fiddled with the thermos on her waist before tossing it to Danny. He uncapped the thermos, right when the ice around Aragon shattered. It was too late for the Prince though, because soon, he was being sucked into the Thermos' beam.
"I swear I will get my revenge! I swear it and I will have the perfect human wife!" Danny capped the Thermos and sighed in relief. An eruption of cheers sounded behind him and he let a tiny smile come to his face. He landed on the ground as the free-lance reporter, tasked with getting new info on him, ran up. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz got scarce before that happened, as to not be seen as too involved with him, Valerie however stuck around. She was floating in the air, quietly.
"This is Jessica Stuart live with Danny Phantom after his victory against the dragon ghost!" The reporter started speaking and then turned to point the mike at Danny. "Who is that ghost, why did he attack, and why is the Red Huntress apparently helping you?"
Danny laughed a bit nervously. "Uh, well in order… That ghost is Aragon. He's kinda a mean fellow and doesn't value women's rights too much, the guy died sometime in the Middle Ages. He attacked because I stopped him from kidnapping a human girl for a bride a while back and the Huntress…" Danny turned to look over his shoulder at Valerie, through her visor. "She's kinda got a truce going with me at the moment… We're still sorta rivals, but who knows… maybe we'll become better friends with time."
"One last question, the fire powers…"
Danny could suddenly hear the sound of the Fenton RV approaching, baring his parents, and turned back around and shook his head. "No comment on that for now." He lifted into the air with a smile. "Later everyone." With that he shot up and away following after Valerie as she did the same. Team Phantom was going to meet back up at the Nasty Burger. Danny and Valerie coasted through the sky together on their way there.
"Interesting way of wording our truce there," Valerie spoke.
"Yeah I thought it was best as to not make things too weird… especially for Vlad." Danny paused and looked at her closer. "Are you hurt? I saw Aragon hit you with his tail."
"My suit tends to handle most hits I take, emphasis on most."
Danny nodded in approval and they were quiet again, but happy, until Valerie stopped dead in her tracks.
"OH Crap!" Valerie exclaimed.
Danny stopped in flight and turned to look back at her, "What?"
"It's my dad! How in the world will I explain why I've suddenly started to help Phantom?"
"Hmm… That's a problem. Maybe just say you found he wasn't too bad and are testing it out?"
"But he works for Axion which is not only working with your parents in ghost technology for its supernatural line of products but also with the GiW in… some aspects. He'll be a little worried about me helping a ghost."
Danny tapped his chin and sighed. He then looked back at her and gave a weak smile. "You could say you're studying me."
Valerie gaped. "No… no way. I won't-"
"Valerie, it's okay. I know you aren't really doing that. We can be selective on what you report too so that when he asks for proof if he ever actually does-" Danny snorted, "Then we can."
"But-"
"It's okay. This job is full of compromises, trust me." Danny smirked.
Valerie sighed. "Fine Danny, but I'm not happy about it."
"It'll work, I hope."
Valerie only laughed before following after him to continue their way to the Nasty Burger. Valerie and Danny found a place to transform when they arrived and then met Sam, Tucker, and Jazz in the restaurant. Valerie smiled at them.
"Well I've got the late shift today, so I better go. I had fun guys, the Zone isn't too bad either."
"Alright, Valerie take care."
"See ya!"
"Later."
"Bye, Val."
Everyone paused and looked at Tucker.
"Excuse me?" Valerie asked.
Tucker fumbled, "I just said bye… Valerie."
"That's not-" Valerie started and then shut her mouth and smiled, "Never mind." She turned and walked away after giving them a last wave.
"Smooth," Sam drawled sarcastically.
"Uh-" Tucker started and then Jazz interrupted.
"Well for a first time fighting with your fire powers, you did well little bro." Jazz smiled.
Danny smiled back. "Yeah I guess I did." He went to lean back and flinched in pain.
"Oh! You're still hurt, Danny." Sam spoke up. She could see the bit of blood dotting his t-shirt from a gash that was under his shirt and the cut on his cheek was beaded up with blood, but not running like it had been. He'd healed some already on the way to the Nasty Burger.
"Yeah, but they should heal soon," Danny spoke in response.
"Come on, let's go to Fenton Works and get you patched up some," Sam expressed and pulled him to stand from the bench by his wrist.
"We could you know… stay here if you wanted us to," Tucker spoke and Sam and Danny looked down at him and saw him wiggle his eyebrows suggestively. Sam released Danny's wrist and kicked Tucker's shin, making him cry out.
"I always knew you losers would end up together!"
Danny didn't get to turn before Dash bumped him into the table edge, unknowingly making him slam his gash into it. Danny yelped in pain which surprised Sam, Tucker, and Jazz until Jazz noticed a bit more blood flowing and bleeding onto Danny's shirt. Danny looked over his shoulder to glare at Dash and Kwan. Paulina and Star were behind them.
"Just go shove a burger in your pie-hole Dash," Sam growled.
"Tch whatever. Like I'd listen to you, geek." Dash spoke and then looked over Sam, noticing how she'd grown, "Although, if you wanted to… I might be willing to honor you with my presence at the back table…"
Danny froze up and Sam paused. The back table in the Nasty Burger was where Casper High had assigned for couples to go to eat. They would eat and then slip into the back room to make-out or even hook up. It was one of those weird traditions.
"First off, ew." Sam grimaced. "And secondly, you just hurt my friend, one of my best friends. You think I'd then go do something like that with you?"
Dash growled, "You think you can just talk like that to me?" He then grabbed her wrist. A few other tables of Casper High students noticed and Valerie, behind the order counter took notice too.
Tucker glanced at Jazz nervously when they started to feel heat pouring out of Danny.
"Lay off, Dash!" Danny growled. Sam could feel the heat from him, but only on her back. If he got any closer, she was sure Dash and the others would question the weird temperature difference. She did the first thing she could think off and slammed her combat boot down hard on Dash's foot.
"OOOOWWW!" Dash yelled out and let go of her. Sam stepped back a bit and put a hand on Danny's shoulder. She flinched at the warmth.
"Danny, cool it," She whispered, trying to warn him. He glanced at her and seemed to get what she meant. She watched him take a deep breath and the cold she normally felt from him came back. The cold that could easily be, by most people, mistaken for Danny just being a bit clammy. She moved a bit to hide the blood stain on Danny's lower left part of his shirt.
Dash growled, "This isn't over, both of you!" Dash then turned and limped away again, with Kwan right behind him. Paulina gave Sam a dirty look. Then she seemed to glance at Danny then back at Sam before she gave a peculiar smirk. Star ran off behind Paulina as the A-listers left. Sam turned and looked at Danny.
"Let's go. You need to change shirts," Sam instructed.
So, the four friends left after saying one last farewell to Valerie and got back to Fenton Works. Jazz and Tucker waited in the living room for Sam and Danny to finish cleaning Danny up. Tucker and Jazz watched the two march up to Danny's room.
Tucker turned to Jazz. "Are you as tired of this as I am?"
"Oh absolutely," Jazz responded without hesitation.
zzz
Danny walked towards his bed first and pointed to his bathroom. "My first-aid kit's in there."
Sam nodded and walked that direction and found the small box in one of the drawers under the sink. She came back in the room to see Danny leaning over the drawer of his dresser, trying to find a new shirt. She watched him for a moment in thought before letting out a breath and moving forward.
"It's already starting to heal."
Sam glanced down as where the gash was as he turned to face her. She could clearly see the gash on the lower part of his left side. It had started to have strings of flesh stretching across the wound; this was how Danny's fast healing worked, the skin and flesh almost seemed to meld itself together. It was still weeping though. In his human form, Danny's blood was red, but had a sheen to it like gasoline was mixed in; this was how the ectoplasm appeared in his blood. When he was in ghost form the multitudes of tiny ectoplasm flecks would light up and glow, making his blood look like pure ectoplasm. As for the cut on his cheek, it was already almost done with its scab and part of it was forming a tiny scar where the scab was already gone.
"Sorry Danny. I still need to check it. Sit down on the bed and I'll wrap and sanitize the gash on your side. The one on your face looks fine."
Danny nodded and walked over with a dark blue t-shirt in his hand. He sat down and Sam kneeled to spray some disinfectant on the wound. He flinched only briefly but didn't speak as Sam then started to wrap the gauze around his waist.
"I'm going to have to figure out an excuse for the blood on my shirt if mom sees it. I hope I can get in one extra wash for it separate without her knowing," Danny spoke.
Sam nodded and continued her work. Danny looked down at her and saw she was blushing ever so faintly; this made him blush a bit in return. Sam finished and stood as Danny pulled his new shirt over his head.
"Told you they'd be almost healed," Danny chuckled.
"Yeah yeah whatever," Sam grumbled at his tease.
Danny stood and scooped up his dirty shirt and walked out of his room with Sam.
zzz
After Sam and Tucker talked with Danny and Jazz for a bit longer while Danny's shirt washed, the two friends left the Fenton's house. The two siblings then got ready for the rest of the night.
zzz
Valerie sighed happily when she'd gotten home from work. She dropped off her bag and walked into the living area to find her father sitting with the news on and reading the paper, which she found redundant.
"Hey dad." Valerie smiled at her father and he gave her a smile in return.
"Hello Valerie," Damon spoke as she moved past him. He suddenly put down his newspaper.
Valerie paused in her movement towards their small kitchen. "Is there, something wrong dad?"
Damon smiled and muted the TV. "No dear, I just wanted to talk to you about something."
Valerie nodded. "It's about Phantom, right?"
Damon frowned. "I'm just confused and a bit concerned, that's all. You used to despise him. Not only that, but even though he appears to be a benevolent ghost, he could still be dangerous. So, can we at least start with why?"
Valerie walked back over and sighed as she sat in the seat beside her father. "Some things happened recently that made me rethink Phantom's credibility. Things he'd said that turned out to be the truth. So, to be honest I'm helping him a bit and just seeing what happens, also I'm trying to use this opportunity to study him a bit. Obviously, he's pretty special as far as ghosts go. He did just learn that fire technique not too long ago and he's already got a decent grip on it."
Damon nodded to everything she said and sighed. "I think that's fine, but just be really careful Valerie. Not too long ago, Mr. Masters expressed concern about how manipulative ghosts can be. For all we know, the Fentons are right and Phantom could be jerking us along, until we aren't useful anymore for whatever it is he wants."
Valerie had to bite her tongue to not say anything about Vlad or defending Danny against what her father was saying. She simply agreed to be careful and shared a hug with her dad. Afterwards they both enjoyed a nice dinner and a few hours after that, Valerie found herself laying on her bed, facing the ceiling. She glanced over at her bedside table and spotted a very important picture frame. She picked it up and held it in front of her. It was a picture of her mother, a year before she'd passed away.
"Mom… I hope… I hope you're proud of me and that I'm finally doing the right thing."
Soon she was fast asleep with the picture of her mother facing her bed.
zzz
The next day came around and Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie planned to meet up to start a day of fun. Jazz was too busy working again on her second volume of writing in her series on Ghost Envy for a college course she was taking. The first volume which had begun as a College Entrance Thesis had become quite well received and published in several journals. Danny was willing to allow Jazz full access to his Ghost Files during these times and she was very grateful for that.
zzz
The four friends had a plan set down for the day. First, they were going to the mall to hang out and shop around, then they planned to go and have some time to enjoy some food in the park, and finally they planned to catch a movie.
"Good thing we kept Aragon from wrecking this place too badly," Tucker spoke as they entered the front of the mall after looking at the cranes and other vehicles that were trying to repair the small amounts of damage to the side of the building.
"That's true," Valerie nodded.
"Yeah, Dora was grateful that we captured him for her." He glanced at each of his friends. "So, do we want to split up and check out the places we wanna go?" Danny asked and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Sounds like a good idea. Meet up at the fountain in the center?" Sam asked.
Everyone agreed and walked off. Sam headed towards the Skulk and Lurk with Valerie actually following behind her; she was willing to check the place out if Sam would do the same to the clothing store Valerie had in mind. Danny and Tucker wandered off towards the Video Game store.
zzz
"Wow… I didn't realize how much black could be in one place," Valerie spoke as the two girls walked through the clothing racks and shelfs of memorabilia in the Skulk and Lurk.
"I know… Isn't it great?" Sam said somewhat excitedly.
Valerie smiled a bit. "It's certainly interesting, but I think I'll stick to my style."
"To each their own." Sam nodded and pulled out a dark purple dress with an almost completely open back. "Happy early Birthday to me."
Valerie cocked her eyebrow as she followed Sam up to the check-out counter. "Why not just tell your parents what you'd like? Do you always buy your own presents?"
Sam frowned a bit and became slightly irritated. "My parents would never in a million years buy something like this for me. It goes against their perception of beauty and perfection. So, I'll buy it for myself."
Valerie nodded. "I guess I understand. Just… you know… don't take your parents for granted, ever."
Sam turned after she finished paying and frowned sadly at Valerie. "I… yeah. I understand."
Valerie smiled. "Okay then, come on. I want to see what you think of my world. Be open, okay?"
Sam sighed. "Okay… just please nothing pink."
"There will be some, but only some," Valerie laughed good naturedly and that made Sam smile.
zzz
Eventually they found themselves at Abyss, one of the more popular teen clothing stores.
Sam sighed. "I'm going to really hate this."
Valerie chuckled, "Aw, it won't be that bad. Ooh!" Valerie walked over to a rack and found a couple t-shirts and a lovely green summer dress. "I do know the summer dress will be cheaper this time of year. I bet this would be a nice color for you to try." She finished and passed a lavender color dress and then a dark green t-shirt to match the stripes on Sam's skirt.
"Uhh… I don't know…" Sam mumbled. "They're so…"
"Girly? Colorful?" Valerie smirked. "Yeah… kinda the point you know? Hey just think about what Danny will think?"
Sam blushed and shook her head, "Danny… he… he doesn't care about that stuff as much as he used to."
Valerie smiled. "Yeah. He's a good guy, but don't you want to treat him?"
Sam frowned. "You're talking almost like we're dating or something."
"Ugh, why aren't you?" Valerie finally said in return.
Sam blushed again, "Well I… I guess…"
"Look I understand you're afraid, but he is too. You both really like each other, go for it!" Valerie spoke out as they neared the changing rooms.
"Well… maybe," Sam murmured.
The two girls disappeared into their separate rooms. After a while, Valerie came out with her choices over her arm having decided on buying the dress and one of the t-shirts.
"Hey Sam, let me see that dress on you," Valerie spoke.
"I don't know… I'm not sure I can do light colors," Sam muttered from behind the door.
"Get out here, girl," Valerie replied and rapped on the door with a smirk on her face.
"Who are you talking to, Valerie?"
Valerie turned and saw Star, Paulina, Kwan, and Dash standing behind her. Star was smiling after she'd spoken, Kwan was smiling too, while Paulina seemed unimpressed and Dash looked a bit bored.
"Oh uh-"
"Fine, I'm coming out. Just don't laugh if this turns out as stupid as I think it will."
Everyone looked at the door and Valerie looked over her shoulder in slight alarm. The changing door creaked open and Sam stepped out.
The lavender dress covered all of her chest and wrapped around her neck like a collar. From there, the dress opened in the back down to the mid back. The rest of the dress simply fell straight to the ground. Sam had removed her ponytail and her ebony hair was resting just below her jawline.
Star gasped, Kwan and Dash's eyes widened ever so slightly and Paulina opened her mouth just the tiniest bit.
"Love of God why are they here?" Sam questioned and glanced at Valerie.
"They just popped up," Valerie replied still a bit surprised. "By the way, it looks wonderful."
Sam looked down at herself and took a breath. "I suppose… I guess I like it. It isn't terrible."
"See? I told you," Valerie smirked.
"Ha ha," Sam replied and rolled her eyes.
Paulina seemed to snap from her stupor. Star was smiling and seemed excited. Kwan and Dash were still looking at her and soon Kwan looked away, letting it go, and Dash stubbornly crossed his arms and glanced away as well.
"So, you've finally succumbed and given up your individuality," Paulina spoke and smirked slightly.
Sam glared at her. "No, I haven't. I won't ever do that. I'm an open-minded individual. I was willing to indulge my friend here."
"Sure… What is it? Are you trying to impress Danny or something?" Paulina asked carefully.
Sam flushed slightly and growled. "That's absolutely none of your business."
"Really? Is that so?" Paulina questioned.
"Yes really," Sam muttered.
"I suppose it might be my business… if I wanted to make a move on him, myself."
Dash tensed up and whipped his head around to look at Paulina. "Say WHAT!? Why would you want to be anywhere near that loser?"
"He is NOT a loser!" Sam hissed.
"All I know is that he's like most guys and would probably trip over himself for the opportunity to date me. Besides I guess you could say he's gotten taller now, or something," Paulina spoke and looked at her finger nails.
"Stop right there."
Paulina glanced up and everyone looked at Sam.
"I want you to get something perfectly clear right now, Paulina," Sam spoke and pointed at the other girl, "I have never ever cared about your opinion of me, ever. I won't stand here though and let you say you think you understand me and Danny's friendship, the same even goes for Tucker. I care about Danny a lot. I care about his wishes, his dreams, his health and his happiness. Unlike you, I wouldn't use him for my benefit. Danny is a special person… you have no idea. So, don't even begin to try and understand our relationship, whether it forever remains on a friend to friend basis or ever becomes something more."
Paulina seemed a bit thrown off before she narrowed her eyes. "This doesn't change my mind. We'll see how well you actually know Danny or boys for that matter."
Star was frowning a bit and gave Valerie a sad look. Kwan glanced at Dash who was steaming slightly.
"Let's go," Paulina spoke and the four teens walked off.
Valerie turned to Sam who was glaring at the popular students as they left, "It'll be okay Sam. Paulina doesn't really register in Danny eyes anymore."
Sam looked up at her friend and gave a hesitant smile. "You think so?"
"I know so. That phase is over for him. You should've seen the aerial view I had. When Paulina reached out to Danny Phantom when we were fighting Aragon, he moved away like she was a hot iron. Come on, let's pay and find those two goofballs of ours."
Sam cocked a brow. "Goofballs of ours? That's quite suggestive… Almost as if you're implying that Danny's mine and Tucker's-"
Valerie's cheeks lit up slightly at the implication and she grit her teeth. "Oh hush! I didn't mean that."
"Your cheeks say otherwise."
"Let's go already."
"Okay okay, let me change."
zzz
"I find the story mode in Rainforest Destruction Two to be lacking compared to the first installment, even if the graphics were far superior," Mikey expressed in earnest. He, Lester, and Tucker were standing and talking about their opinions on various games. Danny had gotten slightly bored by the talk and had walked over to a shelf of games. His eyes landed on something quite surprising. It was a video game about him… about Danny Phantom.
"It's a pretty good game, as far as brawling games go."
Danny looked to his side and saw Brandon. He was one of the band geeks at school, a chunky red-headed fellow that played the tuba.
"Really?" Danny asked and smiled slightly.
"Yeah, they have several of Phantom's most common foes, like Ember, the Lunch Lady, Skulker, and the Wisconsin Ghost, he's the final boss. I think Undergrowth and Vortex are a couple of the mini bosses. Then again that's just what my little cousin told me. Sadly, it doesn't give the player fire powers, since Phantom just started using those, but maybe they'll make a DLC."
"Huh," Danny replied and nodded. "I might have to try it out myself."
Brandon chuckled but then slowly frowned. "Phantom is so brave. I mean I know he's a ghost so he doesn't have to worry about dying like some of the super-heroes in comic books do, but still…"
Danny grimaced slightly at Brandon inaccurate assumption that Phantom didn't have to worry about dying but continued to listen.
"I wish I could be that brave." Brandon sighed. "I guess video games are the only place I can do that though."
"Anyone can be a hero."
Brandon paused and looked over at Danny. "Huh?"
Danny turned his head and locked eyes with Brandon. "Anyone can be a hero. You don't need super powers… Funny thing is… for some reason people seem to think that super powers suddenly gives people a reason to do the right thing and help people. I mean sure powers help with some of the enemies I'd imagine but being brave or helping someone… anyone can do that. You just have to actually try. Help someone pick up their books, talk to someone who seems like they could use a friend. Those things can take just as much bravery as facing down a dragon."
Brandon looked into Danny's eyes in awe before a smile split his face. "Yeah! I could try that." He quieted some but Danny's acute hearing could pick up his words. "I could be brave…"
Danny nodded and picked up the game about him titled, Danny Phantom and the Gauntlet of Ghosts.
"Thanks Danny," Brandon murmured. "I wish there were more people like you at Casper. You and your friends are the only ones brave enough to call Dash and the others out on what they do."
Danny laughed nervously. "Eh, I don't know… maybe I just have a mouth on me."
Brandon snorted in just. "Could be that too."
Danny eventually said goodbye to Brandon and paid for his game with Tucker paying for his choice. Tucker started making fun of Danny for buying a game about himself as soon as they were out of earshot. It was getting about time to meet up with Sam and Valerie when Danny stopped and glanced over at a jewelry booth. Tucker noticed and grinned.
"You thinking of getting Sam something nice for her birthday coming up, hm? Danny are ya? hm?" Tucker spoke and wiggled his eyebrows.
Danny grumbled and elbowed his friend in the side lightly, to avoid hurting him too bad.
"Yeah yeah, but not what you're thinking. Best part is, I don't have to pay for anything but the chain."
"Huh? How's that?"
"Two words, ghost ice."
"Oh dude, so unfair. Other than that, though… I think she'll love it. I mean a necklace of ghost ice? How goth is that?"
"Even more so if I can get ghost fire inside them… or even one. I won't give her that one though until I'm sure it won't hurt her."
"Sounds like a plan to me, dude."
Danny and Tucker made their way over to the booth and soon, Danny had purchased a pretty onyx chain. He hid the bag for the chain in his Game-o-Rama sack.
"Dang, I need to figure out what to get her now."
"I'm sure you'll think of something."
The two friends made their way over to the fountain only to see Sam and Valerie walking over as well.
zzz
"So, let me get this straight… You bought a game about yourself?" Valerie asked as the four friends made their way towards the entrance of the mall.
Danny scratched the back of his head. "I was curious. I wanted to see how accurate they were. Apparently, Vlad's the final boss, according to Brandon's cousin."
"So, no ego involved at all?" Sam asked and cocked a suspicious brow.
"Uh no?" Danny gulped. "Just curiosity."
"Not even a little?"
"Okay maybe a tiny bit."
"That's what I thought."
Tucker pulled the game from Danny's hand and chuckled, "Maybe I'm an un-lockable character or something."
"Doubt it, we try to disappear after the fights," Sam replied.
"Aw, you're such a party pooper, Sam," Tucker grumbled and passed the game back to Danny who put it back in his sack.
"So where in the park will we eat?" Valerie asked.
"I was thinking we could try out this new hotdog stand this guy's set up. Those portable food stand businesses are really getting popular you know," Tucker spoke and looked something up on his PDA.
"I think a hot dog sounds pretty good." Danny smiled.
"You need like three! I swear Danny, you're going to wither away or suck all the emotions out of someone on accident if you don't eat more," Sam expressed.
Valerie glanced between Sam and Danny, "Pardon?"
"Oh yeah, Danny's body needs one and a half times the amount of carbohydrates and other nutrients than a normal human being because of his other half. If he doesn't eat enough, his other half starts to feed on emotions from others, that's why ghosts like to scare people or play with their emotions so much when they exit the Ghost Zone. Not only does it feel good, but it helps their powered form stay stable. Ghosts that don't receive enough emotions to become invisible most of the time, can't pick things up, and certainly can't attack anything. It's because of the Portal that all the ghosts around here can more easily manifest now. There's more energy without necessarily having to scare much," Tucker rambled.
"Oh," Valerie replied simply and looked at Danny. "Does it hurt for people if you feed on their emotions?"
Danny squirmed uncomfortably. "There's only been one time that I actually did it directly. I accidentally made all the guys in the guys' locker room really depressed. Remember that football game that took place that one day? You know, how we lost so bad that one game last season?"
Valerie's eyes widened slightly before she started to laugh. "You've got to be kidding, that was you Fenton?"
Danny smirked and scratched the back of his head again. "I hadn't really gotten to eat much that week. We'd had several big tests, the ghosts were acting up, and mom and dad were creating a lot of things that effected our food in the refrigerator again. So, I tried it and I didn't do it as subtly as I had planned. I don't think it hurt them, but they certainly weren't happy."
"So, you can feed off of happiness? Is that one of the reasons you started to protect Amity?" Valerie asked and a tiny hint of displeasure suddenly entered her voice.
"Yes, I can, but it wasn't the reason why. I honestly didn't even know I could feed off emotions until Clockwork told me once when I visited him and he knew I'd been worn out," Danny replied and Valerie seemed pleased with that answer.
"It should be right over there," Tucker spoke, interrupting them, and pointed down the pathway in the park they were walking on now. Down the way, there was a trailer with people lined up to get food.
"I hope they have veggie burgers or even veggie dogs," Sam mused.
Danny smiled at her and was about to speak when he froze. His three friends slowed to a stop.
"Danny, you okay?" Sam asked in worry.
Danny looked at them with a very confused look on his face. "I don't know what it is… I kinda feel like a ghost is nearby, but my ghost sense didn't go off."
Valerie checked her watch which had a ghost detector on it, "My detector isn't sensing anything."
Danny frowned. "Then why do I feel like something's wrong?"
"I don't know dude, maybe you've just been overworked? It's been a while since we've had a peaceful weekend day," Tucker spoke.
"Tucker!" Sam yelled. "You know you always jinx us like that."
Tucker frowned. "Oh, come on. I know it happens a lot, but surely it can't happen every-single-time, I mention the obvious."
A scream sounded from behind them.
"You were saying?" Sam asked.
Tucker looked aggravated. "Allow me to kick myself this time."
"What is that thing!?"
The four immediately looked over at what people were pointing and shouting or screaming about. It looked like an Ectopus, but instead of the common green variety or the slightly less common blue colored variety, it was a stark dark purple, almost black, with slanted blood red eyes which held no iris or pupil of any kind, at least none that could be seen from this distance.
"Why didn't my detector sense it?" Valerie asked no one and started fiddling with her watch.
"Same reason my ghost sense didn't," Danny replied.
"Then… does that mean, it's not a ghost?" Sam asked. All four friends were silent for a moment in thought about that question before Danny's eyes locked back on the creature.
"No matter what it is, I need to do something," Danny spoke and ran towards a stand of trees. He disappeared within their shadows before Danny Phantom shot out. Danny darted off towards the strange Ectopus while Valerie got ready herself.
The people in the small crowd seemed to relax a bit when they noticed Danny.
"Hey how many times do I have to tell you little guys, you belong in the ghost zone and squirting your ectoplasm ink is not a funny prank!" Danny yelled as a small smirk came to his face. He was eyeing the creature carefully, trying to figure out what could be off about it, but ultimately, he felt certain it was just some weird form of Ectopus and the fight would be over quickly. He reevaluated everything when the Ectopus actually spoke, they never spoke.
"Kill… kill… kill KiLL kILL kIll KilL KILL kill KIll kiLL kill kill… kill… KILL KILL KILLLLLLL!"
Danny was honestly shocked. Though there were some ghosts that were willing to kill or had a general sense of indifference towards life, there were very few, other than Skulker being a hunter, that actually wanted to do nothing but kill. There was always another motive or obsession they had to follow or their whole act was pointless and meaningless to them. This thing though, just wanted blood for the sake of it.
"Whoa easy there, pal. On second thought you can squirt as much ectoplasm as you want. No need to freak out," Danny replied. Valerie coasted up to his side at that moment. He leaned over and spoke low to her. "Something is really weird here. I've seen a lot of malevolent ghosts… but not like this. It just wants to kill for some reason."
"Strange," Valerie murmured.
Before Danny could add anything else, the Ectopus shot towards them. I whipped one of his tentacles at them and managed to slap Danny's arm. Normally, that wouldn't have done anything, but like most everything else about this creature, this wasn't normal. Danny immediately felt searing pain fire through his arm. The pain was so bad that he wailed in agony. He felt something snake its way through his arm like fire as if heading for his heart, but before it could get to his shoulder, it stopped. Danny darted off to the side to hold his arm and try to see straight through the pain still pulsing through him. It felt more like a lingering sort of pain now, but it still hurt badly.
Why did it stop? What was happening? It was almost like…
Danny glanced over at Valerie, watching her dodge the Ecotpus, trying to reach her and hitting it with various lasers and missiles that seemed to do nothing.
Like… a jellyfish. Venom… it was heading to my heart. What stopped it?
He could feel his core pulsing lightly, sending a tingling sensation through him and almost numbing the pain in his arm.
My core? My core stopped it somehow? Would I have… Could I have... died? Again? Wait. VALERIE!
Danny suddenly shot forward. "Huntress, everyone, get away! That thing can kill you if it touches you!"
Valerie whipped her head to look at him in surprise. She glanced back at the Ectopus to see it dodge her last missile and come straight for her. She felt a shove and then she was falling.
"DANNY!"
Valerie heard Sam and Tucker cry out in worry, because of something obviously terrible she couldn't see yet. Valerie felt the air in her lungs fly from her chest when her board caught her and she glanced up and over after sitting up slowly. Danny was where she'd been; the Ectopus' tentacles were wrapped around his shoulders and back, skimming his chest. He was completely silent, but she could see the frozen look of agony on his face. Before she could scream a bunch of profanities out, because he took the hit for her, she and everyone else saw white light forming around Danny's body. It was like an aura and then it vanished. Suddenly, the Ectopus let out a spine-chilling screech as it's body started to disintegrate, it's pieces floating up and away like burning ashes from a fire. Soon the creature was gone, and Danny fell.
So, this chapter marks the first chapter that a hint of the new threat is making an appearance. The next chapter will reveal a tiny bit more about what was going on with the Ectopus. It will take a while though before everything is clear.
Edit: 5/20/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.