The gang's on their way to Vlad's place, yay!
I'm like 90% done the rest of the chapter, but it's been over a month and I thought y'all deserved an update for your patience :)
"...and then after it's completely emptied, you just untwist, put the cap back on, and you're done. Any questions?" Danny asked.
"Nope." Valerie said. "Seems pretty straightforward."
Valerie looked at the swirling portal.
"So this is where the ghosts come from." she said.
"Yup."
"And it's where you...you know..."
"Became half-ghost?"
"Yeah. Sorry, wasn't sure if that was a sensitive topic."
"Eh, not really." Danny stuck his hand into the portal. "Want to stick your hand in?"
"Uh...you sure that's safe to do?"
"Of course. See?"
Danny pulled his hand out and stuck it back in. Then back out, and in, and out, and in, and out, and-
"Okay, I get it."
Valerie took a deep breath and tentatively stuck her hand into the portal.
"Okay, this is weird. It feels like there's something in between a solid and a gas flowing through my fingers. And there's a weird vibe to it, like some kind of cold energy that feels almost...alive...alright, that's enough."
Valerie pulled her hand back out, shaking a few green wisps off of it.
"Now that was an experience I'm not interested in repeating anytime soon." she said, inspecting her hand.
"Okay, we leave in the morning, so I guess I should give you this."
Danny looked at the thermos in his hand for a few seconds before holding it out to Valerie.
"Don't lose this." he said firmly "It's our only one."
"Got it."
"Seriously."
"Danny," Valerie put a hand on the thermos "I got this. You can trust me."
"Right, yeah." Danny let Valerie take the thermos. "It's just one weekend."
"Exactly." Valerie smiled "You all go and have a good time with Mr Masters. Valerie's got the Amity ghosts all under control." Valerie briefly spun The Thermos on her finger like a basketball before catching it and stowing it away in her backpack.
Danny wasn't feeling as confident as Valerie. Hunting ghosts by yourself could be a lot. Even Danny rarely fought ghosts without Sam and Tucker.
Although, Valerie was getting a lot better. She was very capable, and she'd probably be fine on her own for just one weekend.
Probably.
"Alright." Danny relented. "Oh! One last thing, don't touch anything in this lab."
"Don't worry," Valerie glanced at a bubbling green beaker "I absolutely wasn't going to."
"Sorry you can't come with us." Danny said as he and Valerie started up the basement stairs. "I know Sam and Tucker are going, but Vlad hasn't met you, so it'd be kind of weird if I asked him to invite you too."
"Yup. Never met the guy. I hate meeting strangers on my vacation as much as the next billionaire, ha ha." Valerie cleared her throat. "Probably for the best anyway, someone's gotta keep Amity Park safe from ghosts. You just relax and enjoy your lakeside vacation."
"Yeah, alright." Danny forced a smile. Not that he wasn't going to try to relax, but Valerie had no idea how high the stakes were going to be this weekend.
"...and he's got his own vacation home now!" Jack beamed as he zoomed through a yellow light "He only built it in the last decade, so we haven't actually seen it yet, but I bet it'll be great!"
"And it's right on the lakefront, so the view will be spectacular!" Maddie turned in the passenger's seat, her face turning serious "Now kids, Vlad has requested that we don't bring any ghost weapons with us, and we're going to respect his wishes, but I want you all to be careful. The ecto activity is Wisconsin may be lower than Amity, but even if it was zero it's always good to be vigilant."
"That's true!" Jack said. "If you kids see a ghost, just scream and the two of us'll come running!"
The kids all gave each other a look.
"Ooh! This song's a classic! turns it up Madds!"
"You got it Jackie!" Maddie replied, cranking the volume.
The kids averted their eyes as the parents began to 'groove'. It was a horrendous sight for four teenagers, but at least Jack and Maddie were occupied enough for the kids to talk freely.
"Hey Danny," Tucker said "You sure Valerie's gonna be alright on her own for the weekend?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine." Danny smiled reassuringly at Tucker "I left The Thermos with her. Besides, you've seen her fight ghosts, she's been getting a lot better."
"Did you show her how to empty it?" Tucker asked.
"Yup."
"You told not to touch anything in the lab, right?" Jazz's eyes widened in concern.
"Yes Jazz, I told her not to touch anything." Danny rolled his eyes.
"It's not even two full days." Tucker glanced out the back window, despite Amity Park no longer being anywhere in sight "You're right, Danny. She can totally handle herself."
"Hm, you see awfully concerned about Valerie, Tucker." Sam smirked. "Don't worry, your crush can handle herself just fine."
"Oh, lay off Sam!" Tucker glared at her "I do not have a crush on her!"
"Right, because you don't get a thing for literally every girl that talks to you."
"Yeah, well, why don't we talk about your crushes for a change Sam!"
"What?"
"Yeah! You've been making fun of me for forever, now it's your turn! I'm sure you've got some super embarrassing ones we can make fun of!" Tucker smiled evilly.
"Tucker, I don't-"
"Hmm, let's see," Tucker made an exaggerated thinking face.
"Should we intervene or something?" Jazz asked Danny.
"I don't want to be involved in whatever this is." Danny replied, holding a book in front of his face. He failed to notice that it was the RV's maintenance manual, and also upside down.
"You were pretty into the Blood Love books in seventh grade? Maybe you were secretly into Winston MacWolfe or Florence Fanguard? Hmm?" Tucker waggled his eyebrows.
"Okay, first off, never do that with your face again." Sam said "And second, I'm not just some stereotype. Those two would be a terrible boyfriends. Looking back, their relationship with Bethany was so toxic, and they're both literally bloodthirsty monsters. I just liked the battle scenes, and was too young to fully pick up on the misogyny. And also the thinly veiled racism."
"Jeez," Danny turned to Jazz "What happens in those books?"
"Okay, then what is your type? Moody musicians? Old timey poets? Ooh, I know! Since you're not a stereotype, maybe you're a super subversive goth who's into jocks. Sam, do you have a crush on Dash?"
"No Tucker. I do not have a crush on Dash."
"You did kiss him that one time, though."
"Wait, what?" Jazz asked.
"That doesn't count." Sam snapped. "And literally every other thing you said was stupid. I've got way better taste than whatever it is you seem to think of me."
"Okay, what is your taste?"
"Well..." Sam hesitated briefly "I haven't ever actually fallen in love with anyone yet, but-"
"Calm down, Sam. I'm just talking crushes and stuff. You don't have to have figured out who you're going to marry yet."
Sam stared at Tucker for a second before rolling her eyes.
"I've never had a crush or whatever either."
Tucker stopped smirking.
"Oh." Tucker's tone had lost all its joviality. "Oh, jeez. I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean-"
"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Sam asked angrily.
"I didn't realize. I wouldn't have made fun of you if I'd know."
"I don't have some kind of disease, Tucker. We're only fourteen, I think it's pretty reasonable that I haven't had any crushes yet."
Tucker, Danny, and Jazz all looked away from Sam awkwardly.
"Ugh!" Sam rolled her eyes. "Why are you all are being so weird about this?"
"You're right, Sam." Jazz said. "It's perfectly normal to have never had a crush at your age."
"See!" Sam threw out her hand towards Jazz.
"Although, I would say that most people have."
"I know most people do," Sam said. "I just think most of them are a waste of time. Like, what was the point in pining over Paulina?" Sam thrust her hand out towards Danny "That didn't go anywhere and I think we both knew it wouldn't."
"I mean," Danny put the manual back where he found it, disappointed that it had failed to keep him from getting involved "Sure, I guess in hindsight, but it was fun at the time."
"Paulina has the personality of a porcupine that likes to bite. How could going to the dance with her have possibly been fun?"
"Because I liked her."
"Why though?"
"I don't know, I guess she was pretty and popular, and going out with someone like her just made me feel really...good about myself, I guess."
Danny rubbed the back of his neck shyly. It was weird saying all of that out loud.
"Hey, lay off Sam." Tucker cut in "Sure, in hindsight, Paulina's probably not the best choice for a long-term girlfriend, I'll give you that, but wouldn't you go out with one of the most popular guy in school if he asked? Not one of the A-Lister jerks, obviously, but, let's say...Yujin Choi?"
"Hanging out all night at school with someone I barely know? Gee, that sounds fun."
"Sounds fun to me. Even if it was just one date, going out with Jin would be a great boost for my confidence. Not that I'd really need it, I already know I'm great, but I'd still take it."
"Wait," Sam said "Do you like Choi?"
"Yeah, I guess."
There was a stunned silence in the back of the RV. Tucker did not seem to be aware that he'd said anything weird.
"I...didn't know you liked guys Tuck." Danny said.
"Huh? Oh, nah, I'm straight. Choi's just one of those guys, you know?"
"One of what guys Tucker?" Jazz asked.
"One of those every-once-in-a-while guy crushes."
"Um, Tucker, straight people typically don't get crushes on people of their gender." Jazz said gently, her eyebrows creasing.
"Eh, maybe it's just a guy thing." Tucker shrugged "You all know me, I like a lot of girls, but every so often there's a guy who's like, dang. Back me up here Danny, you know what I mean."
"Er..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Gotta be honest with you Tuck, but I think Jazz is right about this one. It's definitely 100% girls for me."
The comfortable smile slipped from Tucker's face.
"Wait, really?"
"Yup."
"Oh."
A heavy silence fell over the group. It was very uncomfortable, but everyone was too afraid to break it.
Jazz finally cracked about two minutes later.
"Hey, who wants to hear some interesting fun facts about Lake Geneva?" she asked, pulling out a brochure from a compartment beneath her seat.
No one responded.
"Before the American settlers forced them out in the seventeenth century, Geneva Lake was home to members of the Potawatomi tribe, who originally called the lake Kishwauketoe, meaning 'clear water'..."
A string of songs from the Fenton parents' era had come on after the first one, much to their delight.
"Ah, that music really bring brings you back, doesn't it Madds?" Jack said.
"It sure does, Jack." Maddie smiled.
Even though it was a commercial break, Maddie left the volume up. She checked over her shoulder. The kids were preoccupied, listening to Jazz talk about the history of Lake Geneva.
She turned to Jack. He looked very excited. Maddie hated to quash that excitement, but she had some concerns she thought it'd be best to voice before they arrived at Vlad's.
"Jack, before we get there, I should probably talk to you about something."
"What's up sweet cheeks?"
"I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but a little while back, Vlad and I had a kind of a talk."
"Is that where he came up with the idea of this trip?" Jack asked.
"Erm, maybe, but it wasn't exactly a very nice talk."
"Oh?"
"I told him how I felt about him avoiding us all the time."
"Oh. How'd he take it?"
"I'm not sure. I kind of stormed off before he could reply and we hadn't spoken again since. Until he invited us up for this weekend, actually."
"Well, he did invite us out here, and he said he'd make sure he'd stick around the whole time, so he's probably not mad at you. I'll bet he actually listened to what you said, and that's why he's doing this. Maybe he'll even explain why he's always avoiding us all this time!"
"Huh, I suppose that makes sense..." Maddie mused. "Might be a little optimistic with that last bit, Dear, but I suppose Vlad wouldn't have invited us down if he was angry. Maybe I really did get through to him."
"That's the spirit Madds!"
Maddie was glad she'd spoken to Jack about her concerns, she was suddenly feeling much better.
"It'll be nice to finally spend some quality time with Vlad. We have so much catching up to do."
"I know Madds. I have so many new inventions to tell him about! Oh, and you brought the kids' baby pictures, right?"
"Yup! The album's in our suitcase."
"Excellent! I know things have been kind of weird between us, but this weekend's gonna be fun! I can just feel it!"
"Wow Sunny, it's cool that you made some lgbt+ content for pride month!"
...Yup, that was totally on purpose and not at all a coincidence. I'm great and very skilled at planning.
I'll try to get the rest of the chapter up soon, but graduation season is a very busy time at my workplace, so we'll see.
Happy pride month!
