Hello again everyone! :D I hope y'all had a great Holiday and happy New Year! I'm pretty proud of myself for actually getting this done around when I said I would, not very long after Christmas! xD It isn't the longest chapter ever, but I think I included some good stuff!
Thanks to those who followed/faved since last update: Shiranai Atsune, princessbinas, kimcat, ShinyMudkipGal, ErisVodiax, mechenuy, Hinop, Carrot fish, cooldog2go, WyrdGuardian, AngelBlue1852, dragonlover9, Farana123, cg037, abovely girl, Rush721, Shattersoul, The Ghost Prince, awesomeadvice Mewaponny, and brookie248! Sorry if I didn't mention anyone who should have been mentioned, I only go off of the alert emails I get... I used to check for unfamiliar names on the list but by now there's too many for me to do that... xD Anyway thanks to everyone!
Thanks to these incredible peeps who reviewed: Invader Johnny, jeanette9a, Mama May-Eye, Kimera20, memmek10k, YokaiAngel, AlecGateway, Tomato, KitKat2.0, CommanderM2, and cg037! Thank you guys so much, reviews are the best form of feedback I get, so I appreciate your time and dedication! xD
Finally, thanks to these special people who followed/faved me as an author: Vgn Golley, AlecGateway, ErisVodiax, CommanderM2, and AngelBlue1852, and Rush721!
We've hit a milestone as well, recently this story has reached 24,000+ VIEWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE READING THIS, YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! *several heart emojis* *because this site hates them apparently lol*
Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)
"How did you persuade me to come to this, again?" Danny muttered in annoyance, desperately wanting to clamp his hands over his ears to drown out the annoying Christmas music that blared from the speakers above.
"Oh, come on, Ghost Boy, don't be such a downer." Sam rolled her amethyst eyes, shoving her best friend and earning a pair of glowing green ones in return.
The trio of high-schoolers were currently at the Manson's mansion, attending their annual Holiday party (celebrating Hanukkah, the family's Jewish tradition, along with Christmas). Of course, the celebration was invitation only, but the goth girl had somehow convinced her parents to let the Fentons come, no matter how much Pamela and Jeremy disapproved of them and their "hobby."
It was still several weeks until Christmas Day, but the entirety of the town was already covered head to toe in red and green lights and other festive decorations. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood, much to Danny's annoyance. Snow had yet to fall, but the kids and teenagers hadn't lost hope of a white Christmas and many school cancellations soon to follow.
The trio wandered from the empty living room to join the bulk of the guests. Jazzy holiday music played discretely in the background of the great room, accompanied by casual chatting and the occasional clinking of champagne glasses. Formal dress was common with all of the guests, surprisingly even Maddie and Jack Fenton (whom their daughter Jazz had persuaded to wear something appropriate for the occasion). The older sibling hung around her parents, making sure to stop any Santa-related arguments before they started.
The three weaved through talking groups of adults, earning some weird looks in the process. As usual, Tucker made a beeline for the food table, his amused friends following close behind.
As the grumpy black-haired boy went further into the open room, he was halted by a familiar chill.
"Great, just what I need right now." He muttered, earning sympathetic glances from the other two teenagers.
He turned to exit the room and find an adequate spot to transform, but before he departed he caught a glimpse of a familiar face, chatting amongst some other adults and holding a dainty glass of alcohol. Upon seeing who it was, he couldn't help but smile despite his bad mood.
"Hey Fruitloop, I didn't know you were an alcoholic!" The boy said as loudly as he dared, faking surprise and holding back laughter at the man's disgruntled expression.
"Oh, you silly, uneducated child." The billionaire sighed, patting the boy on the back in a pitying fashion and causing the younger to glare at the insult. "Having one little drink does not make me an alcoholic." The dry response caused any overhearing guests to chuckle and return their attention to the previous conversations.
"Good comeback, I gotta admit." Danny muttered, giving the other halfa a playful shove.
"Why thank you." Vlad answered cheekily. "I thought you'd be here, considering your connection to the Mansons." He noticed the other two high schoolers, hanging back behind Danny and engaging in their own conversation. "Hello Samantha, Tucker. How are you two?"
"We're fine!" The two responded simultaneously, causing Sam to glare in playful annoyance at her geeky friend.
"That only leaves the question of how you're here." Danny commented curiously.
"I knew Pamela in high school, and we somehow managed to keep in touch through the years." The man just then seemed to notice his pupil's dark expression, which had quickly returned after the initial surprise. "Sheesh, where's your holiday spirit?"
"Oh, Danny's just a huge Grinch during the holiday season!" Sam explained with an eye roll and uncharacteristic smile, considering her usual emo personality.
"You're kidding." The man muttered in disbelief. "Badger, how could you possibly dislike Christmas?" He gestured to the festive, cheerful party, which clearly radiated the merriment associated with the holiday season.
"Oh, I guess you don't know about... the fight..." Tucker said vaguely, with a cautious look to his friend.
"The fight? What fight?"
Danny groaned in exasperation. He was not at all in the mood to talk about his parents' annoying feud again, that he had been hearing every year for the entirety of his life.
"Well, his parents have some... disagreements... that may or may not have to do with a certain... jolly holiday figure..." The techno-geek explained sheepishly.
After a few surprised seconds, Vlad put two and two together and burst into rather uncharacteristic giddy laughter, causing several party-goers to look over in confusion. "Jack Fenton... believes in Santa Clause?! Oh, that is the best thing I've heard since..." His grin disappeared instantly, as he seemed to remember something. "Uh... not that that particular belief is false, per se-"
Danny scoffed testily, half-offended at the notion that he and his friends believed something so childish. "We're not six, Vlad..."
"Well, you often act like it..." The billionaire muttered, rolling his eyes and moving his gaze over to the Fenton's, who looked to be in some sort of quarrel. And at Danny's incredibly exasperated expression, it was clear what the cause was. Vlad smirked pettily at his former friend. "Oh, this is definitely going on the ever-growing mental list."
"The mental list of what?" Sam wondered aloud to the annoyed boy beside him.
"Basically, reasons why he doesn't like my dad." Danny muttered, partially frustrated at the older halfa's continued grudge, but also understanding in a way. His dad did have his quirks, after all, and being turned into a half-ghost-half-human mutant and essentially having your life ruined wasn't something to be easily forgotten, or forgiven for that matter.
The party went on without much disturbance; no ghosts showed up to wreck havoc, and the Fenton parents only got into a few arguments, which was an improvement from the past Decembers that Danny remembered.
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."
Vlad hummed along to the music, floating along the balcony of his main staircase to hang up a long string of lights. It was mere days until Christmas, and the yellow-and-green-themed mansion had essentially been turned into the holiday itself. A huge, live Christmas tree towered in the middle of the room, the tallest branch only feet away from touching the two-story-high ceiling. Every few seconds a branch shuddered, and if the man looked closely he could spot a glowing white cat climbing up contently through the needles. Tinsel and ornaments glimmered from each bough, a brightly shining star completing the look from atop the tree.
Normally he didn't decorate to this extent, but this year he had a reason. A hilarious, completely worthwhile reason.
Once finished, he floated back to admire his work.
"Oh yes, this will definitely suffice."
He received a muffled meow from the tree's direction, which he chose to take as a noise of agreement.
Not long after, a breath of warm air made him grin in anticipation, and he flickered into invisibility and discretely turned up the music's volume. A flabbergasted Phantom drifted into the room, staring at every decoration with horror and disgust.
"Ha ha, very funny!" He shouted angrily over the blasting music, causing the other floating halfa to appear in the air, unable to hold back an amused grin.
"Why Daniel, what could possibly be funny? I'm just a lonely old man decorating for—"
"Cut the crap, you totally did this just to annoy me!"
"Possibly..." The older half-ghost straightened the tree's slightly-crooked star, casually floating to one side when a green beam was shot up in his direction.
"And I thought I could come here to get away from this terrible holiday..." Danny kicked at some stray ornaments on the floor, looking slightly more satisfied when they shattered into pieces. "And would you turn that stupid music down?!"
"I happen to like the music."
Danny rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Ugh! I knew I shouldn't have come!"
"Yes, you really should have anticipated this." Vlad agreed gleefully, touching down onto the wood floor in front of the annoyed ghost boy.
"Crazed-up Fruitloop..." muttered Phantom with an eye roll. "I don't understand half the things you do."
"Likewise, Daniel." The man playfully ruffled the other's snow-white hair, earning another irritated glare in response.
Green sound waves ripped through the air, blasting several targets in their path into the wall behind. As quickly as the ear-splitting noise has started, it died down into silence once more, only to be unleashed again a mere second later at a different set of objects.
The process continued, sometimes interrupted by twin green ghost-rays as Phantom danced gracefully through the air, not hesitating for even a second in his assault.
Once every wooden target has been knocked to the ground and/or broken into pieces, the ghost halted in midair to steady his erratic breathing, trying his best to ignore the dull ache in his throat.
"That was great! You're really getting the hang of it!" A black-haired ghost praised, flying over to the other in excitement and pride. "Nice job!"
The tired half-ghost smiled bashfully as he lowered his feet onto to the spotless white floor. "You really think so?"
"I know so."
Over the past month, the new task had had been mastering a certain newfound power, arguably the most powerful and dangerous of them all, if misused. At first, Danny had been reluctant to even try, for obvious reasons.
"I—I just can't control it. Once it starts, I can't stop it..." The boy had explained with a shudder.
"Well..." Vlad had replied cautiously, "Everything is that way at first, isn't it? That's why we practice, to become more experienced and comfortable, and able to control."
"Other powers are different, okay? This is... a different kind of uncontrollable." He had grimaced.
"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, I promise. But... we don't know what the future holds." The man had frowned sympathetically. "There's a chance you'll have no choice, if a situation happens to arise."
"But—But I don't want to hurt you... or anyone!"
"You won't." Red eyes had sparkled in trust and certainty. "That's one thing I'm sure of."
And with that, the Wail had become the main focus whenever Danny made the trek to Wisconsin. And over that time, it had evolved from a dangerous, unpredictable ability to a formidable, useful addition to Phantom's collection of powers.
Sighing, Danny closed his bedroom door for the night, simultaneously relieved that the day was over and dreading the following morning: Christmas Day.
After tomorrow, this nightmare will be over, he thought tiredly. Until next year, at least...
Unknown to his parents, he had something else planned that night. The black-haired teenager transformed without a word and made a quick duplicate (fortunately not a back-stabbing one like in a previous experience). The copy settled down in his bed to trick his parents should they enter his room before he returned.
A breath of icy blue alerted him of the other half-ghost's arrival, and Danny took a deep breath before sinking through the floor.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"...Are we there now?"
"Nope."
"...Are we there now?"
"No!"
"...Are we-"
"Would you stop that?" The black-haired ghost rolled his eyes. "We'll get there soon enough; just relax for two seconds, would you?"
"Aye aye, Captain Fruitloop!" Phantom replied with a salute, finally content to fly the rest of the way in silence. The strangely enthusiastic response earned another eye roll from the older ghost.
Every Christmas Eve night for centuries, a large amount of the ghosts in the area had gathered together to celebrate and simply have a good time, without needing to worry about conflicts with enemies or petty grudges. It turned out, the ghost Truce happening during the Earth's common holiday season was a complete coincidence. The day had been declared a conflict-free day by the Ancients millennia before, and since then the Truce had held up.
As they got closer and closer to their destination, a set of open burgundy doors came into view, floating in the Ghost Zone like most of the other lairs and doors. Several ghosts could be seen around and just inside the room, and the sound of friendly chatter could be heard from dozens of feet away. As the two halfas approached, several of the closest ghosts peered over curiously, automatically recognizing the two as hybrids, and also the ones who had defeated Pariah Dark a few months prior.
"I thought you said no one would stare at us." Danny muttered discretely, shooting a look to the ghost beside him.
"They didn't before. It must be because of you." Vlad said with a nonchalant shrug, causing the younger halfa glared at the other's teasing statement. The two floated through the tall doorway, emerging into a large, well-lit lavender room, decorated with various lights and festive decorations. There were dozens and dozens of ghosts tightly grouped around, both familiar and unfamiliar faces in the crowd.
Danny was beyond relieved when he realized that there was no Christmas music playing, for once. He'd had enough of the infuriating carols, and his parents' constant arguments because of them.
"Plasmius, Phantom. Nice to catch a glimpse of my favorite prey once again." A deep voice greeted. Danny's eyes snapped forward, stopping to stare at the "Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter." He couldn't decide if he should be offended or glad that the hunter wasn't attacking him for once.
"Hello, Skulker." Vlad responded, not sounding quite as casual as the grinning robotic ghost. "Happy Truce."
"Likewise." Skulker grinned, and it was the first time Danny had seen him look genuinely excited about something other than acquiring the ghost boy's own pelt.
The two halfas wandered around, making friendly small talk with several of the ghosts there. Vlad seemed to know almost every one, while the younger half-ghost was only acquainted with the usual ghosts that visited (or more often attacked) Amity Park.
"I'd heard the rumors, but I still can't believe it! Two hybrids, now? Never thought I'd see the day." One friendly senior ghost said upon seeing the two halfas.
"Looks like you're not as alone as you thought, huh, Plasmius!" Another piped in with a hearty laugh, soon bringing similar reactions from the rest of the group.
"Apparently so." Vlad replied with a smile, red eyes glowing with a mix of emotions that Danny couldn't quite decipher.
Soon they approached a long crowded table, filled with what looked like a full-sized dinner for dozens, complete with the largest ham Danny had ever seen. It was accompanied by an immense selection of side dishes, snacks, and desserts. At one end of the buffet sat a large bowl and ladle containing an only-slightly-suspicious-looking green drink.
Ghosts, of course, didn't need to eat, but it was a habit of entertainment and remembering their human lives, for the ghosts that had them. It was actually more common in the Ghost Zone than one would thing, especially contradictory to the views of most humans (at least the ones that knew of the existence of ghosts).
"Some party!" Danny remarked, eyeing the impressive spread of various foods. As much as he hated that time of year, he couldn't help but appreciate being at the gathering. It was eye-opening to have friendly contact with a lot of the ghosts; it was nice to see things from a different perspective, one that he never witnessed at his house.
And, there hadn't been a single mention of Santa, thank Clockwork.
"Hey, Punk. And Plasmius, of course." The ghost boy was startled out of his thoughts at Walker's gruff voice, green eyes immediately narrowing in distrust at the warden. A gentle hand on his shoulder and cautious glint in the other hybrid's red eyes reminded him of the Truce. There would be no risk of arrest that night, especially since Vlad was there.
Shaking away his uneasiness, Danny nodded in greeting, slowly taking the purple cup that was handed to him. Now that the boy could see the drink up close, it looked similar to the ghost portals; various shades of green swirled around the cup in a never-ending circular motion.
"Uh... is it safe?" Danny looked over to see that Vlad had taken an identical cup from the warden.
"Yes, it's basically an energy drink for ghosts." The man responded in reassurance. "Only it's a Truce tradition."
"It won't, like, make me drunk or anything, right?"
"No." He chuckled along with a few of the other ghosts around, and he took a sip of his own drink. The white ghostly glow around him almost immediately brightened up, a similar occurrence happening with many of the other ghosts floating nearby.
Danny looked around at the ghosts surrounding him, who were all smiling at him strangely. Raising a suspicious eyebrow, he turned his gaze back to his mentor, who simply nodded.
With a shrug, the ghost boy took a cautious sip, and after a few shocked seconds his face screwed up at the overwhelming taste. Laughter sounded from around him, from both allies and enemies. He had known it was a trick...
He swallowed with minor difficulty, resisting the urge to spit out the weird aftertaste left in his mouth. "Uh... that was... interesting...?"
"You get used to it." Vlad responded, still grinning in amusement as he drank some more out of his own cup. Danny internally gagged, wondering how anyone could actually like the bitter, strong-tasting beverage. "They played the same trick on me at my first Truce... but that was a long time ago."
The conversation was interrupted by a hearty bout of laughter from across the room. The ghost boy smiled at the sight of so many of his enemies and allies having such a good time together, even if it was just for a single night.
He couldn't help but imagine a reality where Earth would do something similar: a day to unite as people and enjoy life together, disregarding the usual disagreements, cliques, and stereotypes that existed.
In a way that his parents would likely never realize, many ghosts had just as much, if not more humanity than a lot of humans. And for that reason, Phantom felt proud to be a part of both worlds, no matter the negative disposition so many people had against everything supernatural or ghostly.
No matter what his parents thought, Danny was proud to be a ghost.
Light seeped through his eyelids, disrupting his sleep and causing him to roll over in annoyance. He began to drift off again until—
Someone knocked loudly against the wooden door. "Danny? Are you ready to go downstairs?"
He groaned at his sister's loud wake-up call, burying his face in his pillow. Why did he agree to staying out that late last night?
"Hey Dannyyyyy-"
"All right, all right, I'm coming! Stop spazzing out!"
"That's the spirit!" He heard his sister victoriously walk away from his closed door. Rolling his eyes, he forced himself out of bed. Shivering at the absence of his blankets, he joined his sister at the top of the stairs.
"So the sleepy-head awakes."
"Shut up, Jazz."
She ruffled his hair. "Make me, little brother!" The youngest Fenton playfully shoved her away, and with that the two siblings began their decent down the stairs. The two parents were already in the kitchen; Maddie watched over a brewing pot of coffee and Jack busied himself by reading the newspaper.
"Hey, kids!" The orange-clad ghost hunter exclaimed. "Are you ready to see what Santa brought?!" He sounded even more excited than the two teenagers felt.
"Now, Jack, those gifts might not be from Santa..." The woman raised an eyebrow at her husband. "But there are definitely plenty of presents to go around!"
In a matter of minutes, the family was gathered around the tree, handing out the colorfully decorated packages. Soon, torn paper and unraveled ribbons littered the carpet, and despite his bad mood even Danny was pleased at the outcome.
After all of the prepared gifts had been opened, the family noticed that there were a group of boxes hidden behind the tree, dressed in unfamiliar paper with intricate designs and topped with beautifully crafted bows.
"Who are those from?" The mother wondered aloud, and her confusion grew when she got merely shrugs in response.
"Santa did come after all!" Jack practically jumped for joy, shaking the whole house. "I knew he was real! I told you so, Maddie!"
"There has to be another explanation..." She shook her head in disbelief.
With four shared smiles, the beautiful paper was ripped open. Astonishment grew at the items underneath the wrapping.
Danny shook his head in disbelief, firmly grasping one of the most expensive telescopes on the market, the one he had had his eyes on for at least a year but knew he would never get.
The four ghost hunters looked at each other, all shocked at the outcome.
"This has to be a mistake. Who would have left these?" Jazz remarked, staring with wide eyes at her new top-of-the-market laptop.
"SANTA!" Jack Fenton bellowed, causing the other three to grin at the man's childlike delight.
Danny shook his head; something still wasn't adding up. He picked up his shredded paper once more, scanning for any clues. He peered over at his sister, who was doing the same, an investigative spark in her teal eyes.
The boy looked back, eyes widening upon seeing the familiar pristine cursive that was written on the tag that remained tied to the wrinkled ribbon.
"No... he didn't!" The boy muttered in shock, voice lowered so only his sister was within earshot.
"Who didn't?" Jazz whispered, meeting her brothers eyes and then coming to the same realization. "Wait... seriously?"
"Kids, did you figure it out?" Maddie asked almost desperately, wanting to somehow disprove her husband's theory.
"Well, let's see... He wears red sometimes, he's way underappreciated..." Danny listed off as broad statements as he could muster, not sure if he should explicitly give away the truth. "He's a Fruitloop..." He added under his breath with a fond eye roll.
"SANTA!" Jack repeated even louder than before, resulting in another bout of laughter from everyone in the room.
"You must be right, Dad." Jazz agreed with a secretive wink to her grinning brother. "You must be right..."
"Here, read this. What do you think?"
"...Mrow."
"Ah yes, I agree..." The man muttered, fingers rapidly hitting the laptop's keys as he added a few additional sentences. In the corner of his eye he noticed the white and grey animal shifting closer, yellow eyes fixed curiously on his moving hands and tail flicking back and forth. "All right, that's a bit better. Any more suggestions?"
"Mrrrow."
It was only a day after Christmas, but Vlad was already eager to end his holiday break and get back to work. After all, over the years he had learned to constantly keep himself busy; the more focused he was on finishing something, the less time he had to reflect on how much things had changed... And the less reflecting, the better.
Eleanor's ears perked up, and yellow eyes flickered to look towards the ground as if she sensed something beneath it. A breath of warmth made him also look up in surprise, and mere seconds later Vlad Plasmius sat in his place. He sunk through the wooden floor, emerging into the main room in curiosity and slight worry as he touched gently onto the tile.
Another form flew up through the floor in a similar manner, solidifying into none other than a certain Phantom.
"What're you doing here? Is there something wro-?" The man was cut off when the ghost tackled him in a tight hug, sending him almost stumbling backwards with the impact.
"You're the best!" The boy said cheerfully, his demeanor the complete opposite than a few days before. "Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you—!"
The man chuckled and returned the embrace. "Okay, you're welcome, just—just calm down-!"
"Yesterday it was like the perfect night and I looked up and I saw Mercury and Mars and Jupiter and I think I even saw another galaxy and—"
"Daniel-!"
"—it was soooo cool and it also does this thing where you can take pictures of what you see and print them out like those old-fashioned cameras did and—"
"It's getting kind of... hard to breathe—"
"—they turned out really professional looking like they were taken from a real satellite and I just can't believe—"
"HEY!" At the shout, the boy finally stopped rambling to take several needed breaths.
He quickly backed away, a green blush quickly rising up from his outburst. "Hehe, sorry... I get really excited about space stuff... Like, really excited."
"I can see that..." Plasmius muttered, smoothing out his wrinkled light grey suit but smiling nonetheless.
Within mere seconds, Phantom had rushed back into the Ghost Zone, frantically explaining that he couldn't stay long because he had plans to meet his friends and he couldn't be late or else he would lose Sam's bet that he would be late again... or something along those lines.
Once again, an amused Vlad was alone in peaceful tranquility; the only sound that broke the silence were the gentle, continuous purrs from a certain glowing white feline, who had followed her owner down to investigate the disturbance.
And everything was just as it should have been.
Welp I hope that chapter was worth the wait.. xD I know it wasn't my best work but whatever, I have plenty of better plot ideas in store that I need to start on! So keep an eye out for next chapter: either another original or something to do with Valerie similar to "Flirting With Disaster"... xD That'll be interesting...
God bless y'all, see (or.. write to?) ya next time and feel free to PM or review with any feedback, ideas or suggestions! :P
-Specter14