Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Paramount global.
Snowed
Chapter 6: Season's Beratings
Star approached Danny's parents, looking furious while the elder Fenton's were surprised by her sudden outburst.
"Star? What's wrong?..."Maddie asked, looking confused.
The blonde girl just glared at them, and the couple wondered what had come over her. She then answered, looking absolutely LIVID with them as she finally spoke up.
"What's wrong?! What is wrong with you guys?! Look at Danny!..."Star yelled as she pointed at her man.
Jack and Maddie did and finally noticed that he was soaked.
"Danny, why are you drenched and what is in your hair?..."Maddie asked, but Star yelled again.
"Oh, so NOW you noticed that your son is soaked...from that lousy snow globe that YOU THREW and SHATTERED right on top of his head. I'm just grateful that he didn't get any broken glass on him, but I guess we can all just chalk that up to being a small Christmas miracle!..."Star shouted.
Danny's parents seemed shocked to hear that.
"Wait, are you sure?!..."Maddie said, while the blonde girl felt one of her eyes start to twitch.
"You've got to be kidding me! You both can't be that oblivious but apparently YOU TWO ARE! You actually do this EVERY year?! You actually think that this is fun?! You think that your son and daughter actually have fun with this?!..." Star shouted.
Both Fenton's didn't see a problem. They just thought that she didn't understand and tried to explain their reasons for this little family tradition of theirs.
"Star, you might not understand, but this is our family tradition and we do it every year..."Maddie tried, but the blonde girl looked appalled.
"Tradition?! It's your tradition to ruin Christmas and make your kids and everyone else around you feel miserable!..."Star said in an appalled tone.
"Miserable?..." Maddie asked, looking shocked.
"Whether Santa is real or not... you two ruined Christmas for both your son and daughter, while you're both too wrapped us with this stupid thing to even notice!..." Star shouted.
"Huh?..." Jack asked, as the blonde girl kept berating them.
"Not only that, but you two ruined ALL of my hard work that I put into making this Christmas special for Danny for once! I spent the entire day today working my butt off to make sure that my boyfriend had a NICE Christmas for once, and you both ruined all my hard work and efforts in less than five minutes with this stupid fight! Why can't you both just give this ridiculous debate a rest and let everyone else celebrate Christmas in peace?!..."Star yelled, while Danny's parents got offended now.
"Star Strong, this is not just some silly debate that Jack and I have year. It's a-..."Maddie tried, but the blonde girl wasn't in the mood to listen to whatever excuses that the woman has probably used many times in the past.
She cut her off and began yelling at them again, nearly frothing at the mouth and her face red as a tomato as she kept berating them.
"I SAID SHUT UP! YOU TWO RUINED THE HOLIDAYS FOR HIM AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE-..."Her rant was cut off when her boyfriend placed a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention.
"No, Star...I got this..."Danny said, as he gently gestured her to step aside.
His parents thought that he was gonna side with them, but their son glared at them, much to their shock.
"Mom... Dad... you two have fun doing this, but I don't. I didn't like Christmas because it was so obnoxious how you do this every year..."He said, barely controlling his own feelings as he spoke.
"You don't like our traditional fighting over Santa?..." Maddie asked, while her son kept that odd expression on his face.
"It's not that I don't like it... it's that I hate it..."Danny revealed, surprising his parents.
"You HATE it?!..." Maddie asked in a surprised tone, while her son sent her a "Duh" look.
"Of course I do! How can ANYONE ENJOY all the fighting, property damage, humiliation, the endless apologizing we had to do to the neighbors and local business owners... and constant obliviousness to all the trouble. I told you last year and it went right over your heads!..." Danny said, his voice getting louder and his anger and misery leaking out.
"Wait... that's what your problem was?..." Jack asked, while his son glared at them for that.
"I spelled it out for you both and you two missed it! I could've worn a neon sign that said "I hate Christmas because of your stupid fighting" and you'd be too busy wondering why I'm wearing a neon sign to see the clear as day message that I'd be trying to show you both!..." Danny said, getting more upset by their obliviousness.
"You were that mad at us?..." Maddie asked, while her husband just looked dumbfounded.
"We thought you were just having one of those random, moody outbursts teens get out of nowhere..."Jack said, as his son shook his head in disbelief.
"I can't believe it! I literally told you guys I was miserable and you guys didn't even seem to notice!..."Danny said, his anger and sadness rising as he said this.
"I'm not surprised, they didn't listen to me either!..." Jazz said, looking just as upset as her brother.
"Jasmine, you too?..."Maddie asked, while her daugther sent her a dirty look.
"Duh, how can I not?! The only reason that I try to put up with it was because I was trying to be strong for Danny. He needed at least ONE SANE PERSON in the family TRYING to be cheerful, otherwise this house would get more hostile for his and even my mental stability!..."Jazz yelled at them, no longer caring of the attention they were getting from the neighbors.
They shook their heads, having clearly heard all of this.
"Poor kids..."One of the neighbors said as they walked away.
"I still don't understand why those clowns haven't been arrested yet? Some parents..."Another neighbor said, surprised that neither parent has gotten themselves a mugshot yet.
"WE CAN HEAR YOU!..." The two went, making their neighbors flinched.
Their son, however, was more bothered that his parents were directing their attention away from the serious conversation that their still having with him than the neighbors hearing said conversation.
The ghost boy, however, refused to let them get distracted and forget what they were talking about.
"Don't yell at them! They weren't the one's who hit me on the head with that snow globe or made me feel miserable every Christmas with their stupid arguments!..."Danny yelled, making his parents flinch at his harsh tone.
Maddie and Jack both cringed and felt ashamed. However, they still tried to save some face and trying to ease the situation.
"Danny, hush. We'll deal with them later..."Maddie said, trying to calm her son down while more neighbors came outside and saw all the commotion.
Her son just got madder and yelled louder.
"NO! We are gonna talk about this NOW! You two always ruin Christmas for me every single year and I'm sick of it!..."He shouted.
"Oh, come on Danny. You're exaggerating, we don't ruin Christmas every year..."Maddie insisted, but everyone sent her disbelieving looks.
"Besides, last year wasn't out fault things were crazy. It was that no good punk Danny Phantom's fault..."Jack said.
"Yeah, that filthy ghost stole everyone's presents and destroyed them too..."Maddie said, unaware that her son didn't like that reminder.
As Danny looked away, his girlfriend came to his defense without his parent's knowing it.
"Then what does that make you?..."Star asked, arms crossed.
"Excuse me?!..."Maddie asked, not quite understanding her meaning.
"If what Danny Phantom did was wrong last year...then what does that make you two do every other year? You both have done nothing but fight, cause property damage, harass innocent people in Santa costumes and ruined your own kids Holidays and even ruined some other little kids childhood sense of wonder with this stupid "debate" of yours. So, I ask you both again...if what Phantom did was bad, then what does that make you two?..."Star asked in a daring way.
Maddie stepped back, unsure how to respond and found herself on edge.
"It's just...I...Uh...well... that's how we celebrate it, is all..."Maddie said weakly.
"Yeah..." Jack agreed with his wife.
"I mean, he's a grown man with the mind of a child, I'm a grown woman who shedded off the idea of something so childish, since he never came to my house as a child..."Maddie reasoned.
"Probably because your sister scared him off..."Jack quietly added, but his wife heard that remark and got angry.
"What was that?!..."Maddie asked out of anger.
"I said that he always visited me and all my siblings throughout our whole childhoods, so he's just got to exist!..."Jack said as he quickly managed to save himself from one anger family member.
"Oh don't you dare start with that old reasoning of yours, I'm talking about actual facts!..."Maddie said with a raised tone of voice, as it seemed like their argument was about to start all over again.
Until someone stopped it dead in its tracks.
"SHUT UP!..."Danny yelled so loudly that Star and Jazz were both worried that he would unleash the ghostly wail.
Thankfully, he didn't but he just ended up yelling so loud that they were sure that half the town heard him. His parents heard this and tried to not lose their own tempers too.
"Daniel Fenton, I-..."Maddie was cut off when her son began ranting.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I can't take this anymore! I tried to be cheerful this year! I made a promise to show more cheer this time, but you two can't even bother to remember your own promises to put it aside!..."Danny yelled at them.
"Young man, I-..."His father tried but his son kept kept yelling at them.
"For as long as I can remember, I hated this Holiday and was always in a sour mood...but now after spending it with Star and seeing how other families celebrate, I realize that it's not Christmas that I hate...I HATE YOUR GUY'S STUPID INABILITY TO JUST LET IT GO ABOUT SANTA!..."Danny shouted, letting out all the his frustrations that he had kept bottled up for years.
"You're serious? Do you feel that way about our family tradition, Danny?..." Maddie asked and her son truly seemed to have snapped upon hearing that.
"Of course I do! Why do you think I've spent all Christmas with Star AWAY from our house?! IT'S BECAUSE I CANNOT STAND SEEING YOU GUYS KEEP FIGHTING AND RUINING THINGS FOR EVERYONE, AND THE WORST PART IS, YOU GUYS DON'T EVEN SEEM TO NOTICE OR CARE HOW THIS STUPID FIGHT MAKES OTHERS FEEL! YOU'D THINK YOUR BABY SON GETTING PEED ON BY A DOG WOULD HAVE CONVINCED YOU TO STOP!..."Danny yelled.
"Danny...I...I'm sorry if you were caught in some crossfire but-..."Maddie tried, but her son cut her off.
"No way, not again! No more excuses! I'm done listening to the same old excuse!..."Danny said, swinging his arm to emphasize. "WELL NO MORE! YOU WOULD HAVE STOPPED THE SECOND AFTER THAT DOG, BUT NO! THIS FIGHT IS CLEARLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN SON! HECK, IF JAZZ OR I WOULD MATTER TO YOU GUYS, YOU BOTH WOULD HAVE MADE A SIMPLE COMPROMISE BY NOW!..."He shouted.
"Danny?!..."Maddie asked, horrified by what he just said. "How could you say that?! Of course, you and Jazz matter to us!..."She said, feeling heartbroken that her own children had felt this way.
"It doesn't feel that way to us. It hasn't felt that way during the Holidays, there are even occasions like today where I wonder if you two care about your own obsessions than you two care about us at all..."Danny said, giving off a somber expression after saying that.
"Danny-boo..."Star said, as she quickly yet gently placed her hand on his shoulder to send her boyfriend a sign that she'll remain right by his side.
She sent a compassionate look at him to remind his that's she's here with him and that everything is going to be okay. More of Danny and Jazz's neighbors saw and heard this and they looked like they felt sorry for the kids more than anything.
The Fenton parents were absolutely a gasped at finally realizing that all the past Christmases they've had with their kids were not as easy-going as they remembered it, while their son and daughter sighed in unison.
"I'm sorry you had to see all of this, Star..."Danny said, apologetically.
"It's not your fault, Boo..."Star said, as she held his hand.
He gave Star a slightly pleading look that told her that he really wanted leave with her, as she quickly sent her boyfriend a quick nod of agreement. He then stormed away, with Star's hand in his, but not before turning to his parents. He still had one last thing to get off his chest before leaving with his girlfriend.
"If you guys don't stop these fights...and if this is gonna keep happening...then you guys can just forget about me coming home to visit you guys for Christmas after I move out...and I am actually thinking of not bringing my future kids to see you guys during the Holidays. I don't want them to see why Christmas here was awful!..."Danny threatened, not even looking at his parents.
Jack and Maddie seemed horrified and that horror continued as Jazz spoke.
"Same here, I don't want my future children to see this insanity and emulate it. I want them to actually ENJOY Christmas, unlike how we did growing up!..."Jazz said, a bitter look on her face as she followed her brother and his girlfriend.
"What's going on?..." Maddie asked.
"Where are you kids going?..."Jack asked, while his kids glared at him.
"Away from YOU TWO! We're going to celebrate Christmas with someone else, someone special who deserves our company more than you two do. Jazz, you wanna come?..."Danny offered.
His sister sent another glare to their parents and nodded.
"Away from a two people who had negative experiences on Christmas and take it out in different ways without realizing how toxic they can be? Absolutely!..." Jazz said.
The Fenton parents are flabbergasted as the teenagers soon left. They wanted to go after them but they had been frozen in place due to processing the hard truth that their children revealed to them
It was then that they noticed that more of their neighbors were outside and witness the entire ordeal. Their neighbors all sent them dirty looks and shook their heads. They all judged the adult Fenton pretty hard after that display of emotional outbursts. Who can blame them after a loud scene like that?
"Oh man, poor kids..."Some guy said, having heard Danny's rant.
"I'll say, this is supposed to be a time for the family to get together and be happy..."His wife said, sending a glare at the so-called parents.
"I don't blame them. I mean seriously. With such terrible examples his parents were setting, I don't blame their boy for hating the Holidays..."An old lady said, also sending a critical look to the Fenton parents.
"I'm amazed that they turned out half way decent with the kind of folks they have..."Some one else said and turned away from them.
"Let's go before they harass someone just for bringing up Santa..." Another said before they leave.
Hearing that was a stab to their hearts. Jack and Maddie were now outside, completely alone as their children had left them and their neighbors were looking down on them.
After the shock of what their children said began to wear off, they began to feel horrible.
"We...We're not THAT bad, are we Maddie?..."Jack asked, looking hurt.
His wife was unable to process this.
"I...I don't know. I...I didn't think that they'd ever say that to us..."Maddie said as a sad look appeared on her face and she was beginning to form tears in her eyes.
"I thought they were having fun too..." Jack said, feeling guilty that his kids felt that way.
"Me too..." Maddie said as they felt went inside their home to escape the dirty looks they were getting.
Once inside, they noticed something on the floor. It was their broken table, the remains of their tree, the exploded turkey for their Christmas dinner and glass shards from a window they broke.
They also knew that some of their neighbor's windows were also pretty unlucky during their "debate". However, their minds were still on that fight they had with their son and daughter...and what they revealed to them.
However, before they could even beginning to speak about it, they heard a loud knock to be heard on their door.
"FENTONS!..." Chief Boyle shouted on the other side.
"Oh man, what does he want?..."Jack asked, cringing as he knew what was going to happen now.
Maddie groaned as she opened the door. She saw a very angry cop at the door, no doubt having arrived due to the complaints...again.
"Chief Boyle? What brings you here this time of year?..." Maddie asked, smiling nervously as the cop glared at them.
They knew that this was NOT going to be pleasant to say the least...almost as bad as what their son and daughter said earlier.
Meanwhile
Danny, Star and left Danny's neighborhood and soon made it to an alley way, where no one could see them.
Once alone, Danny phased off the liquid from the snow globe and his clothes were dry now. However, he was still angry and upset over what had happened.
However, he just wanted to use the map and get to Dani's cabin as soon as possible.
"So, this map?...You just say where you wanna go and it'll take you there?..." Jazz asked, fascinated and wanting to think of anything OTHER than their family issues.
"Just about. Let's go see Danielle..." Danny said, wanting to leave.
However, his girlfriend saw the bitter look on his and Jazz's faces and was concerned.
"Are you two okay?..." Star asked, but the siblings tried to wave it off.
"Why wouldn't we be? We're going to see the only Fenton who isn't messed up by our parent's "tradition" every year..." Danny said, but his tone indicated that he's anything but happy right now.
"Couldn't be happier..." Jazz said, clearly in denial. "I'm overjoyed that we can spent her first Christmas together with her. I'm also glad that she'll never know the horrors of experiencing our parents "traditional way" of celebrating Christmas..."She said, using air quotes, but she wasn't happy either.
"You and me both, Jazz..."Danny said as they made it to a more secluded area in the alley to make sure that no one could see them. There, the ghost boy prepared the map.
Star saw them and felt her heart break over what had happened between Danny, Jazz and their parents. However, it was a necessary ordeal for them to overcome. Still, she never wanted to see her beloved Danny-boo in tears like that. She also knew that Jazz must have spent a long time trying to stay strong for the sake of her younger brother.
It made her wish that she could have done more to help them.
"I know they're hurting more than they want to admit...just another reason to make this Christmas special for them..." Star mused, wondering how she was going to fix this now.
"It's time to go..."A somber looking Danny said, clearly wanting to go see Dani AND get as far away from his parents as possible right now.
Star and Jazz both held onto Danny and the ghost boy then activated the Infi-Map. They soon saw the Infi-map start glowing, signaling that it was time.
They were soon off, ready to go celebrate Christmas with the one family member they WANTED to be around this Holiday.
All the while, Star hoped that seeing Dani and Wulf would be enough to lift Danny and Jazz's spirits and get their minds off the terrible experience they had just endured.
"I hope..."She thought, desperately hoping that there is still a chance to make this a "Merry Christmas" for them.
-To be continued-
Next time on Snowed
From Christmas Stocking To Christmas Talking
A/N: Special thanks to NeoMark and Jay The Average Fanboy for helping out with this chapter. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867:
1) They were there, they were just off-screen.
2) I'll think about it.
3) They are just a bunch of overpriced stuff that Danny would have no interest in, mostly because they are from her.
4) They did get a big scolding from their parents.
5) I would say Klemper.
6) It's tied between Vlad and Ember.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Saberwolf335: How is this?
Eecobeo: How is this?
Phantom Fan 21: How is this?
CZS4: Yeah.
Invader Johnny:While Star was the one who started the rant, it was Danny who finally told his parents off.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) Danny, obviously. I think he can bring out the best in her.
2) Not sure yet.
3) It's when he flirts with other girls in front of Kitty.
4) I think it is pretty normal to get a little emotional when you write scenes like that.
5) I like the final one.
6) Sorry, but I would prefer to keep that to my self.
Luiz4200: Yeah.
Tiamat Dragoness: Thankfully, he managed to phase it out. Also, you're welcome.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)