Chapter 24: Christmas Is Here

Merry Christmas! There was a salvation army Santa at every street corner and a snowball fight in every alley and a snowman on every lawn. Each little house was decorated with lights galore and they flashed rapidly all day long. People were singing in church. Little children were eating desserts. Old enemies were shaking each other's hands on this special day of the year.

But one soul was dark. Somewhere, Vlad Plasmius was plotting the destruction of this one day of the year that brought with itself peace and good cheer.

Danny Fenton was in his bedroom getting dressed for the party later. His own family was downstairs enjoying themselves. Danny had told his parents "I'm going to be with some friends." And they had permitted he and Danielle to leave.

"Are you ready yet?" Danielle came into the room. She was wearing a cute little red dress for the party instead of her usual jumpsuit. "The sun's already gone down."

Danny was wearing his Danny Phantom suit and he had his hair all brushed nicely and he was wearing a red Santa hat. He gave Danielle a green Santa hat.

"Festive." Danielle smiled. The two of them walked downstairs and waved goodbye to their family and then walked out the door so that everyone would see them leave. Then they both changed into their ghost forms and phased down to the basement and went through the ghost portal and were lucky that no one heard.

Danny grabbed his sister's hand. All the realms around them in the Ghost Zone appeared to be ghost-free. "Wow. Everybody must have gotten invited!" Danny said but he couldn't believe it.

"Look over there!" Danielle pointed to a wave of ghosts flying towards a small little building. This little house was decorated very festively, unlike the rest of the Ghost Zone, which merely looked as it had always been.

"I think that's where the party is." Danny decided.

"Duh!" Danielle teased. The two of them went up to a door and a butler ghost let them inside.

"Welcome to Mr. Jingle's manor." The butler said.

"Whoa." Danny and Danielle said in unison as they looked around the place. It was huge. It seemed to have endless floors and they all centered around a gigantic chandelier. Inside here were all the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. In relation to the size of this house, it was not as packed in as Danny expected it to be.

"Let's go get some punch." Said Danielle. She tugged at Danny's arm and they floated over to the punch bowl. "And then we can dance." Danielle gulped down the floor and followed the sound of the music. Wherever there was music, Danielle had a way of finding it. Danny just followed her.

"Hi Danny." Some ghosts that Danny had met and fought before waved to him as if they were friends. Bewildered, he waved back. In all honesty he couldn't believe his eyes.

As he waved to ghosts he knew, he did not see what was right in front of him. He walked right into a great man who was holding a staff under his elbow. "Hello there, Danny Phantom. I'm glad you could make it."

"You must be Mr. Jingle." Danny said.

"Yes, I am actually. Are you enjoying the party?"

Danny nodded.

"Good. Well, it's all about to end shortly so I suggest you enjoy your time while it lasts." The man said with a creepy tone. His hands glowed with ecto energy, ready to fire at Danny.

"Vlad!" Danny shouted angrily. His hands glowed too and he waited for Mr. Jingle to make the first move.

"No, silly, I'm right here." Danny turned around to see Vlad Plasmius standing there proudly. He caught Danny in a headlock which Danny could not get out of.

"Then who's?" Danny looked at Mr. Jingle and watched him laugh evilly as he morphed into a twelve-year-old boy who looked just like Danny. Danny gasped. "Cirth?" Cirth showed Danny the staff, which he had stolen from Clockwork.

"I'm glad I won't have to explain that part to you while I'm destroying Christmas once and for all." Vlad said. Cirth cackled and then disappeared. Vlad tossed Danny into a wall and he groaned from pain. Vlad flew into the center of the mansion. "I now challenge every ghost to a battle." He announced. Everyone fell silent and all the music stopped all the ghosts stared at Vlad but none said a word.

A little red-haired girl in a green dress floated over to Vlad. "You cannot battle today! It's Christmas day!"

Vlad chuckled. "I can too because the treaty is off! Old enemies, new enemies, you're all gathered here today and you have the opportunity to fight each other so why not do it now? The winners will gain power and control more realms if they take out the lower ones! Let the battles begin!"

But everyone was still silent. A ghost entered the room. She was tall and wore a white dress and had long silver hair and beautiful green eyes like gemstones. "I'm afraid it's true—Christmas really is no more." She said sadly.

That was all that some ghosts needed to break out into a violent fight with their enemies. They knew that this ghost woman would not lie to them. Danny approached her. "Who are you? What's going on?"

"I am Midnight Clear. I'm the head of the twelve ghosts of Christmas."

"How come I've never heard of them?"

"Oh you have. You just didn't realize it. Santa is one example. And Holly over there is one too. So are the ghosts that humans often refer to Christmas Past, Present, and Future."

"Danny what's happening?" Danielle appeared at his side.

"Vlad ruined Christmas." Danny said. He looked around, but Vlad was already gone.

"You can fix this." Midnight Clear looked at Danny.

"You're not a very violent ghost are you?" Danny smiled at her.

Midnight shook her head. "I am one of the few ancient ghosts from the olden days—back when Pariah Dark ruled the ghost zone. I was one of those who rebelled against him and searched for hope and peace among our realms. I was there when we formed the treaty in honor of Christmas. Now it's up to you two to help us. You will help us, won't you?" she pleaded.

Danielle and Danny looked at each other. "I'm in." Danielle agreed.

"Just how are we supposed to fix this mess anyways?" Danny asked.

"It's simple: you go to Clockwork's lair and find Cirth using one of the gadgets there. And then you use Clockwork's portal to get to Cirth. Then you challenge Cirth and take back the staff which he stole from Clockwork and then you fix whatever Cirth messed up."

"Simple, right." Danny said sarcastically. "Fine, I'll help you."

"First, I suggest that you look at your world and see what it is like with no Christmas." Midnight bid them goodbye.

Danny and Danielle found the portal back home and flew through it. It was strange. No relatives were home and Jack and Maddie were fretfully trying to fix one of their broken inventions. Danny and Danielle watched from above and they were intangible.

Jack and Maddie were arguing and it was not pleasant.

Danielle didn't like it at all.

"Jazz! Where is she?" Danny realized.

"Probably still at college since there's no Christmas." Danielle whispered. The two of them flew out into the streets, still intangible. The streets were dark and lonely and there was not a single Christmas decoration or garland of lights. The snow had been roughly shoveled off to the side and people impatiently rushed to get home. There were no Christmas carols being sung and no Santas around.

"Tucker?" Danny and Danielle flew to his house. They stood there in his bedroom where he was playing with one of his PDAs.

Danny and Danielle turned visible again.

"Oh hi there guys." Tucker said dully. He was frowning and his eyes were half-closed.

"Watcha doin' Tuck?" Danny asked randomly.

"I don't know, man! My life's falling apart!" Tucker threw the PDA on the floor. "Ever since my parents got the divorce, I've just been a wreck!"

"Divorce?" Danny and Danielle exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. You know how they act. They decided they couldn't stand each other one minute longer, so they split. And they left me here all alone."

"I'm pretty sure that's not legal." Danielle said.

"Sam!" Danny remembered her. "See ya later, Tuck." Danny took Danielle to Sam's mansion of a house. Together they flew in through her window.

"Danny? Is that you? Why are you here?" Sam was taking a nap on her couch and she sat up when Danny approached her.

"Hi Sam." He said. He took a good look at her—she was wearing all black clothes and black lipstick and heavy black eyeliner.

"Sam, you look more goth than usual." Danielle said. "Did someone die?"

"How can you say that, Danielle! I miss my grandmother very much so it's nothing to joke about!" Sam shouted. "She's the only one who understood me besides you, Danny!" Sam had a little tantrum.

"Oh no! But this is the one time of the year you're supposed to be cheery!" Danny insisted.

"What?" Sam looked at them strangely. "During Chanukah?"

"No, it's Christmas!" Danny insisted.

"Danny, I think you should go back home and get some sleep." Sam said.

Danny flew out the window with his sister behind him.

"What do you think happened to Garth?" Danielle said to Danny in a low tone.

"I don't want to know."

"What about Valerie, Dash, Paulina and Cecelia?" Danielle looked around the eerie dark neighborhood. All was quiet and lifeless. All was in a mad rush for progress and to move on. There was no joy or peace and certainly no hope. Christmas was truly gone.

"Take that, ghost!" shouted a voice from below. A blast of ecto goop was hurtling towards Danny but he and Danielle dodged out of the way just in time.

"Oh no." Danny noticed Valerie standing on the sidewalk carrying a gigantic blaster. "We have to get out of here!" Danny pulled his sister along, but Valerie changed into her suit and followed them.

"That's for breaking my heart!" Valerie fired another blast. And she continued to do so until the two ghost teens were at the Fenton house. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

But Danny and his sister didn't listen. They flew through the house and straight into the basement. "Funny, I thought we left the portal open." Danny said when he noticed it was closed.

Suddenly, green gas was all around Danny and his sister. Two pairs of eyes slowly approached them. Danny found himself getting sleepier and sleepier until he could fight it no longer.

When Danny opened his eyes, he and Danielle were on a large dissecting table and their arms and legs were chained to it.

A pair of loaded, middle-aged, overbearing adults stood over the dissecting table observing their subjects. The woman had red hair, but other than that she looked nothing like Danny's mother. Her eyes were squinted and her face was wrinkled and she was angry and held in her hand many sharp dissecting tools. The man had a mullet and he was fairly thin and Danny could just barely see a piece of his father in there.

"Let us go!" Danielle demanded.

"I'm your son, see?" Danny changed back into his human form.

"Don't try to trick us, ghost. We disowned you years ago when you got that power." The man insisted. "Now we only have one child: Jasmine."

"What?" Danielle gasped. "What about me?" If they had disowned Danny then Danielle wouldn't have become a part of their family.

"I don't know you." The woman raised her dissecting knife. "And I don't want to."

Danny and Danielle screamed.

"Wait, I'm a ghost, duh!" Danny remembered that there was nothing stopping him from phasing himself and his sister out of this mess. He did so and Jack and Maddie Fenton expressed their outrage by firing weapons at Danny and Danielle.

Danielle erected a shield around her and her brother while he attempted to open the Fenton portal. "I can't hold off much longer." Danielle winced every time a blast hit her shield. It was weakening her power.

"Come on, come on! There we go!" Danny said happily as the portal opened. "I'll fix this. I promise." Danny said to his parents. They did not listen to him but kept firing. He and Danielle went into the portal and were safe from those who wished to harm them.

"That was a nightmare!" Danielle said weakly.

"Are you allright?" Danny asked her.

"Yeah, I'll get my strength back. For now let's just focus on getting to Clockwork's lair." As Danielle and Danny flew side by side, they observed the ghost zone and its residents.

Sure, it was the same eerie world. But now that Cirth had created thi9s alternate reality, the ghost zone seemed all the more frightening. Danny had never seen the place this cheerless during Christmas time.

Soon the two were at Clockwork's lair.

"You know, you really should get a cool ghostly lair like this." Danielle said to her brother.

"Let's focus, Danielle. Look around what kind of gadget do you suppose would help us find Cirth?" Danny noticed Clockwork's round circular portal. "We'll need that for later."

He made a mental note.

Danielle noticed the time medallions. "Oh, they're so shiny! What do they do?" she reached out to touch one.

"No!" Danny pulled her away once he remembered what those medallions can do. "Look here. It's a scanner thingy." He noticed a small scanning device and picked it up. It made a loud beeping noise and turned on.

"Bethlehem. Year zero." An automated computer voice said. A picture of that time appeared on the circular portal of Clockwork's.

"That must be where Cirth went." Danny said.

"Wow, Clockwork's going high-tech." Danielle said. "The portal must be set for the time that Cirth set it to. That means that if we go back to that time, Cirth hasn't destroyed Christmas yet and we'll still have a chance." Danielle figured out as Danny pulled her into the portal after setting down the scanner.

The two of them found themselves in a poor village. There were many dusty citizens bustling around and all the houses and hotels were packed full. Danny and Danielle walked around a bit. Just outside the village limits was a small dark stable where the animals must be kept. Danny and Danielle couldn't help but smile—they knew the story too well.

Night had already fallen and Cirth was not in sight.

"We should probably try to blend in." Danny said. He and his sister stood off to the side and changed back to their human selves. Danielle was still wearing that red dress.

"Hey I have an idea." Danielle said as she pulled Danny into a market. They exchanged their own clothes for clothes to blend in with the place—mostly browns and grays. And they wore sandals. And their jet black hair made them blend in all the more nicely.

"Let's just look for a kid who looks just like you." Danielle looked at Danny.

"Oh, duh! I'm not thinking. I know where Cirth is!" Danny tugged at her had. "Come on!" and they ran towards the stable. They had to be quiet so as not to be heard. They turned intangible as they walked around the stable until they caught a glimpse of someone crouching in the shadows. Danielle and Danny could see many shepherds approaching the shed from the other side.

Danny didn't have to say anything—Danielle read his mind.

The two of them watched as Cirth slowly made his way to the other side once the shepherds were all inside. Cirth turned intangible and phased through the door to stop the shepherds from giving presents to the baby that was lying in a manger in a corner.

Intangible Danny and Danielle phased through the door as well. They heard Cirth walking and so they found him even though he was invisible. Without turning visible themselves, they both took Cirth by surprise and wrestled with him, keeping him away from the shepherds and the baby.

One thing kept repeating in Danny's mind: if Cirth succeeds, then the treaty will cease to exist just like Midnight had presumed.

And it was while Danny was wrestling with Cirth and trying to get the staff that he…really noticed the humble beginnings of Christmas. This is where it all started, and, people don't mention that very often today. Sure, they'll sing those old age hymns, but they don't really ever think about what they're singing. Nowadays Christmas is about getting, but the very first Christmas isn't about that at all. It's only about giving. That baby is here to give a very great gift later in his life and the shepherds are bringing him all they have to thank him for doing that.