Intermission 5 : It's About Time... For the Ball
Dedicated to TheFishKing for their idea.
Danny sits on the counter, watching as Megan stirs the chocolate chip cookie dough with a spatula in interest. He had never gotten to see someone baking up close and personal before – with the way his parents' cooking always turned out, and never really hanging out in the kitchen with the red haired Martian before, that wasn't really that much of a surprise – so he's paying as much attention as he can while keeping an inner eye on his Core.
He knows today is important for something to do with ghosts, it's on the tip of his tongue, but he can't quite figure out what, so for now he's going to enjoy himself on his weekend away from Amity – and the break from training his Wail with Canary.
Sudden shouting from the direction of the training room attracts both teens attention. They trade glances, and Megan gets a far off look in her eye as she activates her telepathy. After a moment, she blinks a few times and turns back to Danny.
"Conner says it's a ghost," she says, and Danny stiffens in surprise. "Apparently, he wants to speak with you."
"Right," he says, and is more then a little relieved that the specter in question wants to talk and not try his luck at getting past the ancient protection set in place by the completion of The Second Right. "Let's go see what he needs."
The two quickly fly to the training room. They find the other Team members present (Aqualad, Superboy, and Artemis) surrounding the spook they had spoken of.
Once he gets a good look at him, Danny relaxes. He knows this ghost, and not in a bad way.
He flies over, smiling. "Good day, Sir Favian." he hovers in between Artemis and Aqualad, and extents a hand to one of the youngest Knights of Aragon, who had only just been knighted by their new Crowned Princess. There's a nudge in the back of his mind. There was... something to do with Princess Dora today. Now if only can remember what.
"A good day to you as well, Sir Phantom." Sir Favian returns, clasping his forearm and pulling him into a hug so can pat each other on the back. They draw away as Favian continues. "I am sorry for interrupting you, my friend, but Lady Sam, Sir Tucker, Lady Jazz and the Princess herself thought it best to remind you of the Ball tonight."
Danny facepalms. That's what he had forgotten. Dora was having her Coronation Ball tonight, as well as the first annual celebration for the defeat of her brother, Aragon.
"Thanks, Favian. It completely slipped my mind," he says.
"But of course, Sir Phantom." the ghost answers. "We can't have one of the Guests of Honor not coming, now can we?" He adds cheekily, and Danny roles his eyes, grinning. "Though, I am afraid, with my message delivered I must be on my way. There is still much to be done." he begins to fly away, stopping at the wall before actually phasing through. "Oh, and Lady Sam informed the Princess of your new quest and it's members. She wishes to extent an invite for those who are available on such short notice. Until tonight, Sir Phantom."
"Until tonight, Sir Favian." Danny watches the medieval ghost fly through the wall, then turns to his teammates, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. I completely forgot about the Ball tonight."
"It is fine, Phantom," Aqualad returns.
"So," Artemis says, "a Ball, huh? And you've actually been Knighted?"
Danny nods, a bit embarrassed. Only Team Phantom knew that, and that was only because Sam and Tucker were right next to him. "Yeah, it's a long story, but the short version is me and two teens who have a habit of getting caught in my misadventures helped a kingdom in the Ghost Zone free themselves from their tyrant prince and gave the his sister the confidence she needed to take over. This is the one year anniversary of his defeat, and the Princess' Coronation. Since Sir Favian offered, would you like to come with?"
The others exchange looks, then Megan grabs Superboy's arm and gives him puppy-dog-eyes while Artemis shrugs and Aqualad gives a slight nod. Megan squeals when the half Kryptonian delivers his own affirmative.
"I just one problem," the archer says. "I have absolutely nothing to where to a Ball."
"Oh, don't worry." Megan say excitedly with a clap of her hands. "I'm sure I have something you can borrow." She lunges forward and grabs the blonde's wrist, pulling her away. "Wally's going to hate that he can't come."
Danny turns to the two older boys, who are staring back at him calmly. "Um, right, so... be ready by 6:15. The Ball starts at 7:00, but we need time to get to the Zone, then to Aracon. We'll need to meet up with the humans who have been invited to, and catch a ride with them."
Superboy grunts before leaving the room.
Aqualad gives a small smile. "I shall go inform Red Tornado of the situation. Until then, Phantom."
"Yeah," Danny watches him go, then sighs.
Well, at least he has some time to spend in the ghost proof training room.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Danny floats in front of the Zeta-tubes, waiting for the girls to arrive with Aqualad ( who had tried to get Danny to call him Kaldur, again, even though Danny had made his discomfort in referring to the more experienced teen as such known) and Superboy (who had never told Danny his civilian name, even though he had heard Megan use it).
The half Kryptonian hasn't changed his outfit much, except to add a white button-up shirt, half closed, and a suit jacket over top.
The Atlantean, on the other hand, is wearing a black suit, tie and all.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Megan shouts as she and Artemis rush up to them. Both girls are dressed quite beautifully in ball gowns, the archer's a lovely emerald green and the Martian's royal blue with red and yellow accents. The girls stop and Megan twirls, causing her dress to flare. "Well," she asks, "what do you think?"
Danny can't help but to snicker at the dazed, awed look on Superboy's face.
"You both look very beautiful." Aqualad compliments.
"Yeah," Danny agrees. "You'll fit right in at Aragon."
Artemis acknowledges both of them, but Megan's focus is on the still speechless Superboy. "Conner?" She asks. "What do you think?" The two are close together, only a few inches apart. After a moment of the two gazing into each other's eyes, Megan looks away, a red flush on her checks. "R-right." she stutters. "So where are we going?"
"The Amity Park Zeta-tubes." Danny answers. "Once we're there, I'll fly Artemis and Aqualad and you'll fly Superboy and we'll head to the Fenton's home. The adults aren't home, so we'll be able to head right down for the lab."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Artemis says. "Let's go."
They journey through the Zeta-tubes, and fly to Fenton Works. Danny doesn't bother knocking on the door. Like he told the Team, only those going to Dora's Ball are inside.
He leads them down to the basement lab, where Jazz and Tucker are leaning against the Spectral Speeder, deck out in a dress and a suit, respectively, obviously waiting for them.
"Hey, guys," he greets as he steps of the stairs, his teammates behind him. "Sam not here yet?"
Both of them share a smirk, and Danny has a feeling they're hiding something from him.
"She's putting the last final touches on her dress," Jazz answers, then turns to the young heroes with him. "Hi, I'm Jazz Fenton. Just call me Jazz. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Da- Phantom talks about you guys a lot."
"He does?" Artemis asks at the same time Aqualad speaks.
"The pleasure is ours, Jazz. I am Aqualad, this is Miss Martian, Superboy, and Artemis." The Atlantean turns to Danny with a raised eyebrow. "Who makes a good point." He looks back at Jazz. "I'm afraid Phantom only told us about you earlier today."
Danny chuckles and rubs his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, it just never passed my mind. But I wasn't lying when I say they have a tendency to get caught in my misadventures. It's happened so offend that they've become a bit like tech support and back-up and research helpers all roled into one."
Before anyone can respond, the sound of stomping boots comes from the stairwell.
"Sorry I'm late, guys. My lip-gloss buried itself in my bag and I had to go searching for it." Sam's voice comes down, and then she's there, standing at the bottom of the stairs, Danny's mouth goes dry.
"Wow," Danny breathes. "Sam, you look..." he hovers closer to her, to get a better look. "I-um, wow."
And really, that was all that could describe her. She's wearing purple thigh-high, laced up, high-heeled boots green laces, dark green leggings and shirt, with a black leather half shirt over top. Her skirt is reminiscent of a tutu, black in color with a neon green underside. A ragged purple shawl hangs over it, some of the longer pieces almost brushing the ground. On her hands are black fingerless leather gloves. On her right arm is a netted purple fingerless glove that ends at mid-upper arm, where a golden vine-like bracelet with a purple flower. On the left is a neon green netted glove that ends at her elbow over top a purple one that ends just past. Covering the rest is another golden vine with a purple flower. A matching necklace adorns her neck,and she has spider earrings on as well. Her lips are colored purple, and her make-up is a mix of purple, black, and green. Her bangs hang over her face, and a braided crown of purple and green hair separates them from the rest, which is pulled back into a spiky ponytail held by a purple band.
It's the eccentric, exotic look Danny had come to expect from Sam, and she looked...
"You like it?" She asks, smiling. "Cause I'm not sure if it's appropriate for a Ball, but I figured I should stick with the theme of not caring and – "
"Sam." Danny interrupts, subconsciously taking her hand in his. "You look amazing."
They stand there, staring into each others eyes, and Danny feels like he could stay here forever, just gazing into her lilac eyes.
That is, until a quiet "Aww" comes from behind him. Immediately, Danny let's go of her hand and backs away, flushing a furious green as he turns to face the room's other occupants.
Danny clears his throat and tries to get control of his blush. "So, ah, Sam's here now. Let's head out!" He hurriedly enters the Speeder before anyone can comment, though he can hear light snickering.
~! #$%^&*()_+
The flight through the Ghost Zone is relatively quiet, with a few mutterings of awe from those who had never been and a complaint of a head-ache from Megan, who had forgotten to lock down her telepathy before they entered.
It takes half-an-hour to reach Aragon and another few minutes to find somewhere to park the Speeder. The castle is absolutely crowded, which makes sense this is also celebrating Dora's coronation, which means all other governmental establishments in the Zone have sent either their Leaders or representatives, along with their escorts.
"Alright, guys, follow my lead on this," Danny says as he exits the Speeder. "There's going to be a lot of important ghosts here, it's not every century that a new ruler is coronated, after all. Just stay close to me, Sam, Tucker, or Jazz and you should be fine."
They make their way toward the castle, joining the flow of ghosts that are heading up the steps. Once inside, they continue to follow the crowd into the ballroom, where the orchestra is playing a light, mystical sounding tune that accompanies the dull roar of conversation. They stop halfway down the stairs to the floor, where a ghost has been announcing the names of the guests.
Danny whispers everyone's names into the announcer's ear, then leads the rest of the way down to the floor.
He motions his friends to continue after him and makes his way across the room and over to the throne were Dora sits, prim and proper in her blue ballgown and golden tiara.
"Greeting, Your Highness." He says with a bow.
"Sir Phantom," she answers with a smile. "Lady Jazz, Sir Tucker, Lady Sam. Greetings, and welcome. It is a pleasure to see you again. And who might your guests be?"
"Four of my new teammates. Artemis, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad, our leader." Danny replies, waving toward each person as he calls their name. "Guys, this is Crown Princess Dorathea, of Aragon."
Everyone says hello in their own way, and Dora, after returning them, sends them on there way so she can greet the next guests.
For the next few hours, they wonder around the room, allowing Danny to introduce the young heroes to his ghostly allies and friends, and dance in the center, without going to far, whenever it strikes their fancy.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Later that night, Danny jerks awake as his Ghost Sense interrupts the beautiful dream replay of the dance he shared with Sam just a few hours ago.
He slides out from under his sheets, and changes into his Ghost Form, flying out into the still night air.
He flies higher, trying to see... there! A glow in an ally way.
He swoops down as the light goes out, and waits as his own aura illuminates the brick walls around him.
"Good evening, Daniel."
Danny spins around at the sound of that sleezy voice, finding his arch enemy behind him in his own Human Form. "Vlad!"He sneers. "What are you doing here? Whatever you're planning, it won't work, not while I'm under consideration for the Throne! You can't touch me. No ghost can!"
"No, Daniel," he tuts. "I can't touch you." His smile becomes sinister. "But who says it has to be me?"
Danny's widen in understanding, and he spins around, only to take a hard hit to the temple.
He doesn't remember hitting the ground.
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
Here it is. Chapter 12. Thank you again TheFishKing, who provided the idea for this chapter. You rock!
Fear the Fuzzy Bear : Thank you, I'm glad you like it.
hrisi292 : Sorry, but thank you anyway.
Raphaim : Thank you for catching that. It will be fixed.
Once again, thank you all for reading. If you have any requests, corrections, or comments feel free to review.