Chapter Forty-One: Hanging Out
Jazz walked through the halls silently, thinking of the last time she was here. It was with Danny, and every shadow she thought she saw him looking around for a secret entrance to a lair. She doubted that Danny would be a ghost, but she swore that she could see him walking the silent halls.
She heard the sound of a drape being tugged at and gasped, turning to it. For a moment, one crazy moment, she saw Danny tugging on the drape to get behind it. Then the image vanished and she realized she was looking at a maid.
"Is something the matter, miss?" The maid asked.
"No, I…I'm fine." Jazz turned away and walked on. She thought that having Phantom still around to help with the heartache, but it just seemed to make it worse.
Sam had found her way to Dan's room, which was still so full of Danny. A picture of Danny was on the dresser, and all the bedding and clothes and even the posters just yelled Danny to her. Dan's new clothes were in boxes by the mirror, still unpacked. What had he been doing in here when he was supposed to be unpacking, then?
She walked over to the mirror, which had handprints on the glass. The ground in front of it was stained with small droplets of ectoplasm. 'Tears!' She realized, looking up at the mirror. 'He looks so much like Danny, it must be painful to be in this room…to see someone who resembles him in the mirror…' She reached out and placed her hand on one of the handprints, trying to imagine Phantom in her place.
He was crying, his hand on what could be Danny's hand, not daring to actually look at the mirror to see him own face crying. She felt tears spring to her eyes and closed them, imagining Danny on the other side. Before she realized what she was doing, she was placing her hand on the other handprint and leaning in, her lips touching the mirror.
Danny was always shy, never sure how to express himself. If he'd had more time, if he had lived, would he have ever told her how he felt about her? She sincerely hoped so, but if she could do it all again…
Do it all again? She gasped, pulling away from the mirror. "Clockwork." She breathed. "He can help, can't he? Make it so it never happened?"
"Don't bother asking him." She heard Dan say behind her. She gasped and turned around to face him; when had he entered the room? He was leaning against the door, apparently watching her, and her cheeks turned red.
"Why?" She asked, moving closer to him.
"Plasmius already tried." Dan closed his eyes. "Apparently it was supposed to happen."
"That's stupid! How can—"
"Stupid or not, he wouldn't help." Dan glanced at her. "Honestly, I'm surprised he helped us at all. I guess what the original Dan did wasn't 'supposed to happen'." He stepped away from the door and walked over to the mirror, placing his hand on the mirror. "How'd you find yourself in here?"
"I was exploring. I never…thought it would…" She bowed her head, tears slipping from her eyes to the carpet. "I'm sorry for intruding."
"I'm never going to redecorate." Phantom said. "As long as everything about this room stays the same, I can pretend he's still with me." He sighed, lowering his hand from the glass. "I don't mind you visiting, but please don't mess with any of his things."
"I won't. I…I just…missed him." Sam wiped at her eyes. "He's…really gone. Sometimes I dream that I wake up and go to school and he's alive and well and smiling."
"I don't have dreams like that." Dan whispered. "I can't dream about seeing him at school. All my dreams of him have us back in that place, complying with their demands for our survival."
"Oh, Dan…" She turned around and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his back. "I'm so sorry…"
He nodded, turning to her. "We both lost him, and it will haunt us for the rest of our lives. Well, your life and my…afterlife." He glanced away.
She smiled and gently kissed his cheek. "Well, you're not alone."
He chuckled a bit, raising his eyebrow. "Hey, are you trying to get me to cheat on Valerie?"
"No, I just…nevermind." Sam pulled away and went to the door. "I'm going to see what you guys eat here."
"Anything but mashed potatoes." Dan replied as she shut the door behind her.
'Geez…I'm not interested in him that way, did he have to turn it awkward?!' She thought, walking away from the door.
"Sam?" Tucker's voice caught her attention and she turned to see him standing by Dan's room. "Were you just…in Dan's room? Alone with him?"
Sam groaned. "Not you too."
Tucker grinned. "What would Valerie say?"
"Nothing happened!" Sam threw her hands in the air, storming off boots stomping. She heard the door open and looked behind her to see Dan and Tucker doing a high-five, grinning. 'Ohhh, those boys!' She thought.
Vlad wasn't sure what he must've missed. Jazz was being extremely quiet as she ate slowly and looked about to cry at any moment, while Samantha was glaring at the two boys. They looked up their food every now and then to grin, whisper something, and then laugh when she threatened bodily harm. One thing was for sure, the contrasting airs were…unsettling.
Vlad cleared his throat. "So, how was training?" He asked.
"Oh, it was going well—until Plasmius started to beat him up emotionally!" Tucker snapped. "You gotta rein that guy in a little!"
"I will not interfere in Plasmius' teachings." Vlad replied. "IF he was 'attacking him emotionally', it was because he wants him to move past the pain or use it in his attacks and not cower like he has been." He set his silverware down. "He has the potential to be very powerful, but he lets fear and propriety get in his way."
"Do we have to discuss this now?" Jazz asked softly.
"…Sorry, Jazz." Tucker looked down at his plate.
"Promises…" Dan muttered to himself. Tucker looked at him, but he just shook his head. "Nevermind."
Vlad sighed. "I don't care what Danny made you promise, Phantom. You are letting fear and propriety keep you from reaching your full potential. And since training isn't working, I think spending a while in the Ghost Zone will build up your ecto-energy enough to get back to training."
"You're kicking me out?" Dan dropped his silverware.
"No." Vlad raised an eyebrow. "No need to be so dramatic. Instead of your usual training sessions, you will be entering the Ghost Zone and absorbing ecto-energy into your body. Plasmius will supervise and keep other ghosts from attacking you while you meditate, and will tell you when it's time to come home."
Dan relaxed and picked up his silverware again. "Sorry. I just…I thought…"
"Dan Phantom, why would I try again and again to make you live with me only to kick you out once you willingly come yourself?" Vlad sighed. "Common sense, boy."
"Sorry…that was pretty dumb." Dan set his fork down and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I just…panicked."
"Yes, well, that 'just panicked' is exactly why you're being to be supervised while meditating." Vlad sighed. "Spend the rest of this week with your friends and Jasmine and then I'm going to start sending you into the Ghost Zone starting next Monday."
He nodded.
After dinner, they all retreated to the den, where Tucker asked to play a game. When Vlad brought out Monopoly, he let out a groan.
"Can't we do something more fun? Like Clue? Or something?" Tucker asked.
"This is game that many people can play and it teaches you how to handle your money. In my opinion, every stupid child should play this." Vlad started to set it up on the floor, the warm fireplace their only source of light in the room at this hour.
"You're showing your age, old man." Dan said teasingly, hopping off his armchair and walking over to sit in front of the game cross-legged. "Most kids play video games, not these."
Vlad rolled his eyes. "The rest of you come join us, too. Let's not leave anyone out."
"Oh, can we invite the maids, then?" Dan asked with a glint in his eyes.
"No." Vlad gave him a stern look that said "don't test me, boy" and Dan just grinned in response. "They're busy working. Now, pick your piece."
Dan picked the dog and the others all picked their pieces – Vlad got the fancy car, of course. They played the game for hours, not even noticing when the maid came in to stoke the fire. By the end of it, Tucker was bankrupt by being too overeager, Sam had been to jail 52 times and Jazz had 18 hotels while Vlad owned the rest of the board. Dan was helplessly bouncing between giving rent to Jazz and giving rent to Vlad before he finally threw up his hands.
"That's it! I give up! I quit! I call bankruptcy!" He scooted back from the board. "You two can fight over my remains, I am DONE!"
"It's not your fault you were up against a billionaire and a genius." Sam said, her character once again sitting in jail. "Can I just, you know, kill myself in jail and quit? It's almost 2am."
"Very well, we'll allow you younger ones to go to bed." Vlad smirked, then summoned a Plasmius clone. "Would you escort them to their rooms?"
"Finally!" Tucker got up, groaning. "Ohh, my legs! I can't feel my legs!"
"Yeah, we were sitting for hours." Sam got up, followed by Dan. "See you tomorrow, Jazz."
Dan took off the bracelet to release his ghost powers, yawned and waved to the two that were now intently staring at the board, trying to figure out how to get land from each other without spending too much. "G'night, you two."
"Come along." Plasmius draped his cape over Dan's shoulders, leading him away.
"Dude, can you knock it off with the vampire-escort?" Tucker commented.
Dan was grateful for the cape, recalling when Plasmius had bitten his neck to paralyze him just before raping him.
They were escorted to their separate rooms, Dan last. Plasmius caught his wrist before he could walk away and whispered into his ear words that made Dan flush even greener than earlier. He gripped the bracelet tightly and then nodded, the older man coming into the room with him and shutting the door behind him.
The bracelet was placed on the bedside table and he turned to find Plasmius had already removed his cape and tunic. He sighed; he was in for a long night.