Hi y'all!
And now, we are focusing back on Danny, Ty and Abby. Again, I apologise for theirs and Jazz's OOCness in the third chapter; I hope I kept them more in-character this time.
Anyway, this is just going to be just a regular day of cousins bonding while Danny and Jazz see Charlesberg after eight years… or so it seems…
Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and please read and review!
GhostWriterGirl out!
Chapter Five:
A Day Out With The Cousins
"Danny. Danny… Danny, wake up!"
"No, five more minutes Mom," Danny protested lightly, turning over on the air mattress, eyes firmly shut as he tried to sink back into blissful, welcome sleep.
"Daniel James Fenton, you get up this instant!" Jazz commanded in her most authoritative tone, only to be met by a whining grumble as Danny stubbornly tried to go back to sleep.
Huffing, Jazz frowned as she thought of how to get Danny up… and then an evil idea formed in her head.
Pulling out her phone, she scrolled through her photos, until she found the video that she needed. Placing her phone a couple of feet away from Danny's ear as she smiled wickedly, Jazz's finger hovered over the "Play" button… and pressed it.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!" screamed from the phone's speakers as the recording of the Crate Creep(who for some reason insisted that he was called the Box Ghost)played over and over again.
And it did it's job.
Danny's eyes opened, and he screamed, "AHHH!", eyes flashing green as he lunged for the nearest thermos, but got tangled up in the bedsheet and fell unceremoniously onto the duffle bag, causing both clothes and smuggled Fenton Weapons to spew out of the bag.
"Ow…" Danny groaned, rubbing his head, before he glared at his older sister, who was struggling to contain her laughter.
"Not funny, Jazz!" Danny growled as he disentangled himself from his bedsheet and stood up, eyes glowing a fierce green with annoyance.
"Oh come, it was a little funny!" Jazz protested. "Besides, this was the only other one to wake you up after I tried earlier," she added, shaking her phone as it still played the recording of Box Ghost all over again.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"
Danny glared at the phone. "I never should have let you record the Box Ghost shouting both his name and 'Beware'."
"One, it's 'the Crate Creep'. Two, if you hadn't let me record him shouting 'I am the Box Ghost' and 'Beware', then I wouldn't have it as a handy alarm clock, would I?"
"True. And-"
"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"
"WILL YOU TURN THAT DARN THING OFF!?" Danny yelled as the phone continued to play it.
"I AM THE-" started to play before Jazz paused it. Turning it off, she placed her phone back into her pocket, and smirked at her little brother, who still looked annoyed.
"I should have that as your new ringtone, Danny."
"Uh, no way."
"Relax; I was only joking."
Danny mock-scowled as Jazz chuckled, her smirk still remaining, but it faded as she said seriously, "Although, I have to admit that was really close, last night. I don't know what I would have said if Ty opened the door and you weren't there."
Danny looked at her and she continued.
"I understand, you're worried about Amity Park and the ghosts attacking it since Danny Phantom isn't there, but Sam, Tucker and Valerie have it covered. And if things get worse, they can always call Dani, wherever she is. I also understand that if your enemies found out you weren't in Amity Park and decide to come here, you would be putting Aunt Petunia, Uncle Harvey and Ty and Abby in danger, and would risk your secret, but we're prepared in case a ghost does attack while we're here. And I get that you needed to fly and relax and clear your head last night, I really do, but you kinda threw me off-guard last night. Look, what I'm trying to say is, just be more careful with keeping your secret. I know you've kept that you're half-ghost from Mom and Dad and everyone else except for me, Sam and Tucker for two years now, but Ty and Abby, despite them not believing in ghosts, do seem to be not as oblivious as our parents, and may connect the dots. So, just be careful around them. And, I'm not saying this just to boss you around, I'm saying this because I'm worried about what would happen if they did discover your secret, despite them being family."
"I know, Jazz. And, I'm sorry about throwing you off-guard last night. But, you don't need to worry. I'll be careful, sure, but I don't think Ty and Abby will figure out that I'm half-ghost, despite them being less oblivious than Mom and Dad, because they don't believe in ghosts."
"That's a fair point, but still, try not to do anything that will make them suspicious," Jazz warned.
"I will, Jazz," Danny assured her, before he flashed a smile at her. "But, thanks for looking out for me, even though you sometimes worry a little too much."
"Like you're one to talk, Mr. Paranoid," Jazz countered.
Danny mock-glared at her, making Jazz smirk, before she said as she held up her phone, "And, I think I'll use 'I am the Box Ghost! Beware!' as your new alarm clock, Danny."
At that, Danny's eyes widened in shock.
"What?! Jazz, no!" Danny yelled as he lunged at Jazz's phone, but she pulled it away before he could reach it, giggling at his attempt to grab it. Danny growled and glared at Jazz as she put her phone back, still smirking at Danny, before the Fenton siblings walked out of the bedroom, and headed to the dining room where their parents, aunt, uncle and cousins were. When they arrived, they saw that their family had already started eating.
Jack was devouring a huge stack of pancakes, along with some bacon, eggs and toast, Maddie was chatting with her sister while eating some bacon and toast, Petunia was just having some toast, Harvey was having pancakes as well, and Ty and Abby were having cereal. They also noticed that, beside Jack and Maddie, were a couple of their inventions. Luckily, they didn't seem to be turned on.
Jack, noticing Danny and Jazz, boomed, "Morning Danny-Boy! Morning Jazzy-Pants!"
That caused everyone else to turn and see Danny and Jazz standing in the entry way to the dining room/kitchen, and looking uncomfortable.
"Er, morning Dad," Danny greeted awkwardly as he and Jazz sat down in the only available seats; which just so happened to be next to Ty and Abby.
"Er, morning Dad. Fear me," a robotic female voice said suddenly, causing Danny and Jazz to look around nervously, while Ty jumped at hearing the sudden voice.
"What was that?" Ty asked.
Jack, hearing that, brightened and pulled out a device that looked like a cash register with two bulbs on it and one of those line things used to measure your heart rate or sound waves, and answered, "This is the Ghost Gabber! It translates the strange sounds that ghosts say into words you and I use everyday!"
"But for some reason, it just repeats whatever Danny says with 'Fear me' at the end," Maddie added. "Of course, nearly all of our inventions malfunction around Danny. Like the Fenton Finder, which just keeps tracking Danny, no matter how many times we've tried to fix whatever bug is has that causes it to track Danny."
To prove her point, Maddie pulled out the Fenton Finder and turned it on. Immediately, it began flashing like crazy and a robotic female voice said, "A ghost is right in front of you. You'd have to be some sort of idiot to not notice the ghost directly in front of you." And just like Maddie said, it was pointing straight towards Danny.
Danny gave a weak smile as Jazz scowled at her parents, even though her eyes betrayed how nervous she felt. Ty, Abby, Petunia and Harvey were both perplexed and, in Ty and Abby's case, curious about why the Fenton Finder was thinking that Danny was a ghost(despite that ghosts didn't exist).
Maddie, meanwhile, sighed and said, "Like I said, it always tracks Danny. Me and Jack don't know why, but no matter what we do, we just can't figure out how to get it to not track Danny."
"Then why don't you just scrap it? If it doesn't work, then there's no use to keep working on it," Abby inquired.
"That's the thing; sometimes it does work, but that's when it's tracking other ghosts or Phantom. Other times, usually when Danny's around, it doesn't," Maddie answered.
"Oh."
Silence; all that could be heard was everyone eating their respective breakfasts. That was, until Petunia said, "Hey Ty, Abby, why don't you, Danny and Jazz spend the day together?"
Danny, Jazz, Ty and Abby nearly did classic spit takes at hearing that.
"WHAT!?"
"Now, I know it might seem sudden, but it might be good for you four. And, who knows, you might find somethings in common and bond over them," Petunia continued. She then whispered to Ty and Abby, "Ty, Abby, Danny and Jazz are your cousins whom you haven't seen in eight years. At least spend some time with them while they're here."
Ty and Abby looked at each other, knowing that their mom was right. Danny and Jazz were their cousins, and despite last night, it was only fair if they spent some time with them while they were here. After all, they were family.
Danny and Jazz, who had been told the same thing by Maddie, also thought the same things as Ty and Abby did, and looked at each other slightly guiltily.
Ty and Abby looked at each other again and Abby said, "Okay. I guess we could hang out together today."
She then smirked and added, "But Danny, maybe you should put on some clothes before we leave."
Danny, confused, looked down and saw that he was still wearing his pyjamas.
Reddening in embarrassment as Jazz smothered her giggles and Ty cracked a smile, Danny said, "Uh, yeah, I probably should. Excuse me."
Danny stood up and made to leave, until the Ghost Gabber parroted, "Uh, yeah, I probably should. Excuse me. Fear me."
Danny glared at the device while Jazz let out a couple of chuckles before shuffling away into the bedroom, closing the door behind him so that he could change.
As soon as it closed, Jazz and Abby started talking while Ty frowned, thinking over what his aunt and uncle had said.
If they're right, and their inventions are meant to work on ghosts-like they're actually are ghosts-like the Fenton Finder… then why do they malfunction around Danny? It's not like he's a ghost… is he?
…
A few minutes later
A couple minutes later, Danny, Jazz, Ty and Abby were ready to go. The cousins were going to be driving around in Abby's car, with Ty instantly claiming shotgun. Danny and Jazz, however, didn't mind; being in the backseat meant that they could not only talk abut ghost and Danny Phantom related subjects, but also discreetly check for ghosts, even though Danny's ghost sense would tell them if there was any.
Apparently, Abby, Ty, Danny and Jazz weren't the only ones going to hang out with each other; Petunia and Harvey were going to take Jack and Maddie to their respective jobs, their first stop being at Petunia's job at the local university. Of course, they would be going in the Fenton RV, with Jack driving, of course. Jazz and Danny prayed that their aunt and uncle wouldn't throw up during the drive and that the residents of Charlesberg could handle their dad's crazy driving.
"I hope Dad doesn't get fined while driving," Danny muttered as he buckled himself in, him, Jazz, Ty and Abby watching as Jack lurched the Fenton RV down the road, the armoured vehicle tearing down it in a cloud of dust.
"And why would you hope that, Dan?" Abby asked casually, curious, as she pulled the car out of the driveway and drove down the road leading into town.
At hearing "Dan", Danny stiffened, but answered, "Abby, my dad is like the worst driver in Amity Park. Almost everyone knows that it's wiser to shut yourselves into your homes while Jack Fenton's driving."
"It's like our dad just wants to break every road safety rule that there is, especially when he goes ghost-hunting," Jazz added, shuddering at one particularly traumatic experience where she had been six and her dad almost ran over ten people when he was chasing down a ghost(which turned out to be a kid dressed up as a ghost; it had been Halloween that day).
"Trust me guys, whatever you do, try to avoid having our dad drive you; it will probably traumatise you for life," Danny advised, also remembering his own traumatic experiences, both before and after the accident.
Ty and Abby nodded, gulping at hearing how bad their uncle was at driving.
Eventually, after a few more minutes of driving, the cousins had entered the town. It was pretty nice, and reminded Danny and Jazz of Amity Park; except larger and more like a city.
Now, if there was a ghost attack happening every five minutes or so, or if my ghost sense went off right now, then it would be more like Amity Park, Danny thought to himself.
A few minutes later, Abby parked next to the curb, before killing the engine. She, Ty, Danny and Jazz got out, where Danny smiled while Jazz frowned slightly at seeing their destination.
"The arcade?" Jazz inquired.
"I thought it might be fun for us to do together," Abby said.
"Yeah, but… will we even be able to get in? There's a huge crowd of people," Jazz pointed out.
"Relax, I'm sure we will," Abby said assuredly, before muttering, "Hopefully."
After saying that, she, Ty, Jazz and Danny joined the que. It took a little while, but eventually they got inside. Almost immediately, Danny asked if there was a DOOMED game here. Ty and Abby frowned at hearing that, and Abby told him that there wasn't a game called DOOMED here. Danny was a bit disappointed, but that was uplifted when he saw another game and went to play it, before becoming totally absorbed in the game.
Jazz smiled as she shook her head at seeing the gamer in Danny come out to play, before going to the counter to order drinks and food while Abby and Ty went off to other games available; Abby to a dance game, Ty to whatever robot matches/sciencey games were available. As he explored, he noticed there was a huge crowd of people around a particular game, whispering and giggling and smiling.
Curious, Ty walked over to where the crowd was… and gaped.
It was a massive roleplay-like game. It was black with neon green accents, and had the images of neon green blob-like ghosts with red pupil-less eyes all over it, along with a logo of sorts; which was a white D with speeding edges and what looked like a P was cleverly inside the D. And, in the middle, where it showed the logo, were the game's title in big neon green letters: Ghost Hunter: Play To Become The Famed Hero Of Amity Park Himself, Danny Phantom. On the screen, there was several cartoonish ghosts, with names like Skulker and Technus and even Box Ghost, who were defeated with either green-coloured energy beams called ghost rays, ice rays, something called a Ghostly Wail, and the usual punches and kicks, with all the ghosts captured inside what looked to be a thermos, before moving on to the next level. The final level happened to be one where yout had to defeat a shadowy flame-haired ghost with pupil-less red eyes and wearing a cape. The person who was playing launched the usually moves, but the ghost on screen waved them aside with ease, pummeling the player… until the player unleashed that Ghostly Wail combined with an ice attack, defeating the ghost, who was sucked inside the thermos.
"CONGRATULATIONS PHANTOMLOVER! YOU ARE THE WINNER!" was displayed in big bold letters as everyone cheered.
Ty must have zoned out, as he jumped when Abby asked, "What are you looking at, Ty?"
"Geez Abby, you scared me!" Ty exclaimed, semi-glaring at her. "And, to answer your question, I was looking at this game."
Abby looked at the game briefly and said, "Seems to be a new one. What's it called?"
"Ghost Hunter. It's basically this roleplay-like game where you become this 'ghost' hero called Danny Phantom and you have to beat all of his usual 'ghostly' enemies," Ty explained. Unbeknownst to him, Jazz and Danny, who had walked up behind them, had frozen at both hearing and noticing the game.
"Looks to be pretty popular. Though they could go easy on the neon green," Abby commented.
"That's because neon green is the colour of Danny Phantom's eyes," Jazz blurted out.
Danny glared at Jazz while Abby and Ty turned to them, surprised.
"Wait, you've heard of this Danny Phantom guy?" Ty asked his cousins.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Heard of him? Our parents constantly talk about destroying him and ripping him apart 'molecule by molecule'. He's, like, their number one target."
"But, he also happens to be the town's hero. Not only does he protect us from ghosts, but he also saves people, like rescuing someone from a burning building or helping a cat out of a tree," Jazz added, smiling at her little brother since she was proud of his heroics as Danny Phantom. "He's a hero, and me and Danny support him, despite other people saying otherwise."
"What do you mean?" Abby inquired.
"A while ago, he became Public Enemy Number One after he kidnapped the mayor. After that, he was shown stealing from some jewellery stores, a museum and a bank, along with other ghosts. And after that, and this is a weird one, he destroyed everyone's Christmas presents. So, everyone in Amity Park is either on the villain side or the hero side, but mostly everyone believes him to be a hero," Jazz explained, winking to Danny and smiling at him, with Danny smiling back as he knew what Jazz meant.
"He sounds like Spider-Man; the city doesn't know whether he's a menace or a hero," Ty compared.
Danny chuckled harshly. "You could say that…"
"Are you talking about Danny Phantom?" a familiar, snobby voice asked.
Abby groaned before she and Ty turned to face Paige, who was sneering at them. Around her neck was a necklace with the same logo as on the game.
"Yes, we are, Paige. What's it to you?" Abby sniped back at her rival.
Paige sneered some more and said, "Well, if you should know, Danny Phantom is going to be my future husband and-is there something funny?"
Ty and Abby, following Paige's line of sight, turned to see Danny laughing. He was actually holding his stomach from laughing so hard.
When he looked back up at a livid Paige, he said, "Sorry, Paige, but good luck with that. Having Danny Phantom as your future husband, I mean."
Paige blinked, before looking at him coldly. "And why would I need good luck with that?"
"Two words: Paulina Sanchez. She is obsessed with Danny Phantom, and I mean obsessed. She has had a huge crush on him ever since he saved her from being overshadowed-which is possessed, by the way-twice, and believes that he is the man of her dreams and will marry her and pledge his unconditional love to her forever. Almost any other fan girl who is in love with Phantom is afraid of saying so because of Paulina, as she also happens to be one of the most popular girls in my school. In fact, she is so obsessed with Phantom, that not only would she endanger herself by directly heading into a ghost fight to flirt with him, but she also has a shrine of him in her locker. Paige, you would have to literally fight Paulina to the death for Danny Phantom. So, like I said, good luck with that."
Paige laughed and tossed her hair. "No need. I would probably win. Also, who the heck are you, by the way?"
"I doubt that, though. And, I am Danny. Danny Fenton," Danny introduced. "I'm Ty and Abby's cousin, and-"
"Oh. I can see the resemblance. Should have known you would be related to those losers," Paige interrupted. "Now, if you excuse me, I've got a manicure appointment. Later, losers."
And with that, Paige strutted away, leaving Danny gaping and Abby glaring at her.
"I'm going to kill her," she growled.
"Wow; I've never thought I would see another person who is like Paulina, and yet is also like Dash," Danny commented. He looked at his cousin and asked, "I take it you and Paige don't get along?"
"She and Paige get along as fine as cats and dogs," Ty answered. "In other words, yes, they don't get along."
"That… actually reminds me of Paulina and Sam," Danny muttered, before he looked at his cousins and sister. "So, what do you guys want to do now?"
…
A couple of minutes later
After the cousins had left the arcade, they decided to walk and talk. Danny and Ty were still on rocky ground considerng last night, but they managed to talk about some subjects while steering clear of the subject of ghosts, finding common ground in embarrassing their older sisters, with Ty laughing at what Danny did to make Jazz act like her age during a failed camping trip, which cultimated into Danny ripping the stuffing out of Jazz's favourite teddy bear, and Danny chuckling at when Ty called Abby "Lice Lady", causing both Jazz and Abby to glare at them. Eventually, they decided to stop for a lunch break, and found a restaurant that sold some pretty decent food, with the topic turning to each other's lives.
"So Ty, Abby, still into knowing about all things gross and slimy?" Danny questioned, while Jazz shuddered; she could never get over how Abby and Ty could stand gross stuff, much less love it.
The Archer siblings grinned and Abby answered, "Yep, we still are. In fact, you could call it an obsession."
Jazz and Danny looked at each other nervously, knowing that there was something else connected to obsession.
"Hey Danny, do still have that dream of being an astronaut?" Ty asked Danny abruptly, trying to continue the flow of conversation.
"Actually, I think that dream might be getting a bit too out of reach for me," Danny answered.
"Why?" Abby asked.
"Well, my grades have been real low for these past two years; I'll be lucky if NASA even considers me for the space program. Still, I do hope that I do become an astronaut," Danny explained, while thinking, Even though I technically did become one during that whole Technus-Getting-Into-The-Most-Powerful-Computer-In-The-Word thing.
Abby nodded in understanding, leaving the group to be in silence for a bit, until Ty cleared his throat and said, "Danny, I'm sorry."
Danny looked at Ty, a bit surprised. "For what?"
"For last night. I didn't mean to offend you, and I'm sorry that I did. I was just expressing my opinion, and I'm sorry if I came a little too strong."
"Ty, it's okay. Yes, I was a little bit offended, but I get that you didn't mean to and that you don't totally believe that ghosts exist, which is okay. Mostly everyone in Amity Park believed that my and Jazz's parents were complete crackpots for believing that ghosts exist, including Jazz herself, until they started showing up in Amity Park, including Danny Phantom, who fights all of the ghosts that attack the town. Although…"
Danny frowned as he continued, "There's this guy at my school that firmly believes that I'm Danny Phantom. His name is Wes Weston, and he has convinced himself that me and Phantom are the same person, and he is obsessed with trying to 'expose' me as Danny Phantom. Which is completely ridiculous; do I look like a ghost to you?"
Ty and Abby blinked at that, before Danny finished, "No one believes him, anyway; almost everyone is convinced that Wes is Danny Phantom. So, he is crazy obsessed with trying to 'out' me as Danny Phantom and telling everyone my 'secret identity' and proving that he isn't Danny Phantom, which is a pain in the butt, even though nobody believes him."
"Wow, that's rough," Ty commented. "And, it almost reminds me of someone else."
"Really?" Danny inquired. Abby nodded and continued.
"His name is Roger Pink-Eye, and he has convinced himself that me and Ty are Grossologists; Grossologists, by the way, are special government agents who deal with crimes that are too disgusting and gross for anyone else to handle. He is obsessed with trying to find out if me and Ty are Grossologists, and when he does so, reveal us to the entire school. Of course, we don't believe him, and I personally think he's a stalker; he even tried to eavesdrop on my and Ty's conversations once. So, he's kinda like our version of your Wes Weston."
Danny let out a low whistle. "A second Wes Weston. I never thought that would be possible, to be honest. I mean, what the odds? I wonder if he'll walk up right now and try to talk to you and Ty, Abby."
It seemed that fate(or Clockwork, you'll never know with the old Stopwatch), had wanted that to happen, as the bell to the café Dinged! and someone walked up to their booth; a teenager with a mess of red hair, wearing a purple shirt and a black one underneath, jeans and sneakers. He looked pretty average, except for his most notable feature; his right eye, which seemed to have a permanent case of pink-eye in it.
And he was looking directly at Ty and Abby.
"Hello Ty… Abby."
Roger Pink-Eye, the second Wes Weston himself, was here.
This chapter was equal parts hard and easy to write.
I loved the Box Ghost scene. Since I don't think the actual ghost himself would appear, I decided to write something else… and a recording of him shouting, "I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!" which is on Jazz's phone that she uses to wake up Danny by having it play on repeat worked.
I think I did well with Jazz and Danny talking about Danny keeping his secret a secret from Ty and Abby, but I apologise none the less if anything seemed forced or if they seemed out of character. I try very hard not to.
Aside from the Fenton Thermos, I love the Ghost Gabber and the Fenton Finder! I just had to include them in this story!
It seems like Ty's suspicious of Danny already… but will he figure it out?
So yeah, Charlesberg has it's own Danny Phantom game! And we all know who that shadowy figure with the flaming hair at the last level was, right?
Speaking of Danny's alter ego, not only have he and Jazz told Ty and Abby about Danny's ghost form, but Paige also has a massive crush on Phantom, one huge and obsessive enough to rival Paulina's! Actually, I do wonder who will win a death battle between Paulina and Paige for the love of Danny Phantom. Paulina has "perfectly manicured claws" on her side, and Paige… determination, maybe? And vindictiveness? She, I believe is more evil than Paulina. I consider her the combination of Dash and Paulina.
So, Ty has apologised, but he still doesn't believe that ghosts exist though, but Danny respects that. True, their relationship is still rocky, but they're getting there.
And we have Danny telling Abby and Ty about the infamous Wes Weston! I love Wes, though; he's awesome. And Abby and Ty tell Danny and Jazz about Roger Pink-Eye, who has now entered the story! I honestly do believe that he's the second Wes Weston. I really do!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please read and review!
GhostWriterGirl out!