Chapter Ninety-One: Bad Influence

"Just two more years, and then we don't have to worry about learning from freakin' Ghostwriter again." Danny grumbled as he flew down the halls of the new school that had been created.

"Well, I could still learn one or two things from him." Dan said slyly.

"Ew! No! Bad mental images! Get them out!" Danny waved rapidly at him. "Stop thinking of that – that is GROSS! I will deck you with my backpack! Strangle you with my bandages!"

"Okay, okay!" Dan laughed, nodding. "I'll stop thinking of S&M!"

"THANK you!" Danny groaned loudly.

Dan chuckled, then stopped outside their first class. "Alright, let's go in."

Danny nodded, opening the door and going in. Dani and the other young ghosts were already there, and Dani eyed Youngblood warily as he passed him. He'd noticed that since the Christmas Truce Dani and Youngblood had been spending a lot of time together and he wasn't sure if he trusted him with his sister/cousin/daughter/clone.

"Should've kept an eye out for Dani…" He mumbled to himself.

Phantom just chuckled, nodding. 'She's 14 now, y'know. Let her date.' He thought.

'Yeah, but freakin' Youngblood? There's got to be better choices!' Danny thought, glancing at the costumed brat that was giving Dani looks he didn't like.

'I don't see many other ghosts around her age, do you?' Dan thought, sitting up straight in his seat as the teacher entered.

'I guess not…' Danny thought. 'But I'm still gonna talk to her about this.'

'Yeah, like that'll go down well.' Dan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

.

"I mean, do you have idea the kind of pain in the butt that he can be?" Danny said at lunch. Dani was sitting across from him looking annoyed.

"The same kind of pain you can be? I'm well-aware of what kind of stuff he does, Danny." She bit into her sandwich. "You're not my dad, don't try to boss me."

"And does Vlad approve of this?" Danny asked.

Dani let out a heavy sigh. "I'm fourteen, Danny! Let me live my own life!"

"I'm just worried about you, Dani!" Danny said firmly.

"You're sounding like JAZZ!" She snapped.

He blinked and then looked at Dan in horror. "Why didn't you tell me I was sounding like Jazz?!"

"I decided to wait for someone else to." Dan said, sipping at his soda.

Danny sighed. "Well, someone here has to be responsible!" He said firmly. "I mean, I AM a DAD!"

"But you're not MY dad!" She said firmly. "And it's none of his business who I date!" She whisked her tray off the table and stormed off.

Danny groaned and put his head in his hands. "Did I just make it worse?"

"Well, she IS your clone." Dan said matter-of-factly. "You know as well as I do that you were a stubborn little cuss who wouldn't listen to his elders. Now it's her turn."

Danny sighed. "I guess I was." He looked at Dan. "You could've talked me out of it."

"I did try." Dan shrugged and got up with his empty tray. "Don't be late getting to next class, Danny."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny continued eating his sandwich.

He had wanted Sam to be there with them, but Vlad pointed out that the Ghost Zone wasn't too good for her to be in every day and she had the baby to worry about besides. She would complete her education with the human tutor, while Danny, Dani and Dan finished their education in the Ghost Zone.

.

"You know, eventually you're going to have to contact your parents." Vlad said calmly, watching as Sam read over an essay she was going to turn in the tutor when they arrived. "Especially with Lucretius getting older."

"I'll wait until he's five." She sighed, looking at the baby flying around the room, kept close to her by the tether. "Any luck gauging his power level yet?"

"Nope." Vlad shook his head. "Still fluctuating."

"Well, what do you gauge him to be around?" Sam asked.

"He's fluctuating between 2 and 4." Vlad frowned. "He's really powerful for a baby."

"How high is Danny?" She asked.

"When he was alive, he was a level 7. Now he's level 10." Vlad said, looking at Lucretius. "He's going to be fun growing up…"

"Hopefully it'll stabilize soon." Sam pursed her lips and went back to her essay.

Vlad nodded, eyeing the baby that was trying to get out of his tether by going intangible. "Fun growing up, indeed…" He mumbled, going back to his book.

.

When Dan and Danny returned home, Vlad was waiting for them. "Where's Danielle? Is she not with you?" He asked.

Danny shook his head. "She's on a date." He moved past him, while Vlad's hand dropped to his sides in disbelief.

"A DATE!? With WHO?!" He demanded, Danny and Dan quickly escaping the lab to avoid having to answer the question.

"Welcome back!" Sam greeted when they joined her in the den.

"Daddy!" Lucretius greeted from where he was sitting upside-down on the ceiling.

"That's one way to make yourself light-headed." Danny flew up and pulled him off the ceiling. "Come on, space-case. Get off the ceiling and join the rest of us on the ground. I swear he's worse than I ever was, Sam."

"He got the best and the worst of both parents." Dan laughed.

"Laugh it up; when you have a kid you'll be having just as much trouble!" Danny frowned at him.

"Unlike you two, Valerie and I are careful." Dan raised an eyebrow. "She takes the pill, and we used protection."

"And that was way too much information!" Sam held up a hand.

Danny nodded, looking at Lucretius worriedly. With an uncle like that, how would he turn out?

.

Dani looked around to make sure no one was looking and then slipped onto Youngblood's ship. "Okay, I'm here! Where are we off to?"

"You know, it's considered bad luck to have a woman onboard…" The skeletal parrot said on Youngblood's shoulder as he turned to her.

"Anywhere the wind takes us, my fair Danielle." Youngblood extended a hand to her, smiling. "Ignore the parrot, you're always welcome."

She smiled giddily and took his hand, going to the wheel with him. "Let's sail this vast ocean, my captain!" She said, gripping the rungs.

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Sail on and ne'er look back, only beyond."

The parrot let out a huff, flying off his shoulder to give the two their obviously-desired privacy. "I'm telling you, it's bad luck…"

Geez, who taught Youngblood how to be mushy? Did he start reading romance pirate novels or something?
Danny doesn't approve of her being with him, but who can blame him? The brat's a brat. XD
Sail on, young ones, but be back in time for school! ~ Zone