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.
Empowered
Chapter 5: Star's Dilemma
Danny had been walking with Star back home. They were no longer wearing their swim suits, but in their casual clothes now. He also noticed that she was silent.
The ghost boy was got curious, so he decided to ask her what's wrong.
"You okay, Starlight?..."He asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"I'm fine, no worries..."Star said, though her tone of concern betrayed her.
Her mind was still on her recent weight gain and she hated that she cared so much about her waistline and worrying if her clothes still fit her or not.
"What's wrong with me?! Why am I so weight conscious lately?!..."She thought, looking down at her belly.
It was still pretty flat, but that didn't guarantee that it would stay that way forever...and she hated that she was still thinking about that sort of thing.
Back when she was an A-Lister, she was under constant pressure to keep the "perfect weight"like Paulina called it and how she needed to stay a size small at all times. She hated all that pressure and how she let that nitwit tell her what to do.
After she was freed from them, she could finally eat the way she wants too and not have people telling her that she had to be a certain way or weight. She was glad about that...but now, she was getting worried that her new eating habits might have gone too far without her knowing it.
"Come on, it's just 5 lbs! It's nothing that I can't get rid of with a little more exercise!..."She thought, trying to calm herself down.
Still, a part of her was still worried about something.
"I wonder...would Danny-boo's opinion of me change if a I gained too much weight?..."She thought, feeling insecure before trying to snap herself out of it.
"No! Of course not, my Boo isn't as shallow like so many other guys out there. But maybe he'd start to look at me differently if I did..."She thought, as her optimism was wrestling with her negative thoughts in her head.
"No...he loves me! That won't ever change! I know that!..."She thought, trying to think of anything else but this.
Star sighed. Looking up at the sky to get her mind off it, she recalled something.
"Oh..uh...Boo...Might have to make a quick stop at Polter Heights for a moment..."She said.
"Why?..."Danny asked, not liking the sound of that.
"My mom wanted to have me pick up papers for Solene for a case, Eleanor is suing someone and needs her help..."Star explained.
"Really? I don't have anything against Solene, far from it, but why isn't she asking your dad?..."Danny asked, mostly since he didn't want to risk running into Jean-Puke and especially Colette of all people.
"It has something to do with the country club and Solene is a corporate lawyer. She specializes in business transactions, business affairs, and stuff like that..."Star explained, as though it was obvious.
"I see..."Danny said, sounding not as experienced or knowledgeable about how to run a business.
Star guessed what he must be worried about and calmed his worries.
"No worries, my mom also said that both Jean-Puke and the witch with no real life aren't home, so now is a good time to go get it..."She said.
"Oh...okay...I'll tag along then..."Danny said as he lead her to an empty alley, making sure that the coast is clear and that no one saw them.
Unknown to them, Colette had been stalking them again for about 10 minutes. She hid behind a bush, but overheard how her step sister referred to her as having no life of her own.
She felt irritated by that insult and turns as red as her fake hair, so much so that it was almost hard to tell what was her skin and what was her fake hair.
"You'll pay for that, Estelle!..."She grumbled as she inched closer.
She saw them head to a nearby secluded alley and frowned.
"Oh, so you plan on having a passionate moment with Mon Amore in a disgusting alley? Not if I have anything to say about that!..."She said as she got out of her hiding spot and ran to confront them.
To her surprise, she saw that the alley was empty and neither Star nor Danny were anywhere in sight. Colette blinked in confusion and frustration, before she started to frantically look left and right.
"Where did they go?!..."She demanded, but received no answer as the two were gone.
Unknown to her, Misty had also been following after them, using her spells to remain undetected and get a good look.
She was also confused and lost.
"Where did they go?..."She asked, wondering where the teen couple went but she also received no answer.
With Danny and Star
As you could guess, Danny had gone ghost, took Star bridal style and became invisible as he took off with her in the air. Once in the air, he regained visibility and felt relaxed.
"Should be there in 5 minutes..."Danny said, as he made sure to have a good grip on his girlfriend.
"Plenty of time..."Star said as she placed her head on his chest and held on tight.
Danny felt his arms tire and sighed as the flight continued.
"Man, kinda tired right now..."He muttered to himself, and unknowingly caused Star to flinch.
"You...don't think I'm heavy...do you?!..."Star asked, sounding insecure as she stare at him in an almost accusatory way.
Danny was surprised by that question and raised an eyebrow.
"What? No! Why would you think that?!..."He asked, wondering how she got to that conclusion.
"You just said that you were tired and I wondered if I was slowing you down..."Star said, sounding a bit squeamish as she asked him this.
"I was just in a fight with a ghost. Star, I've carried you like a hundred times by now and I think that I can tell if you got heavier or not..."Danny said, being sincere as he stared into her eyes.
"Oh, good to hear..."Star said as she avoided eye contact.
Danny felt unsure of what she's thinking, but chose to say nothing for now.
"Is there something that she's not telling me about? She's been thinking of something today a lot. Maybe I should keep an eye out for anything bothering her…more than usual, I mean..."He thought, as the flight continued.
At Polter Heights
Stella was in her pent house, and she was on the phone with someone for...business reasons.
Or at least what she considered to be business reasons.
"I'm just saying Maddie...I think the specter deflectors would get a lot more attention if you added some more variety to color and appearance..."Stella said, attempting to help with sales.
"Stella, they're not meant for recreational purposes. They are suppose to repel ghosts at all times..."Maddie said, trying to stay patient as they spoke on the phone.
"I know that, but I'm just saying is that you should think about it. I think you'd get a lot more people buying them if you offered them in a variety of colors...and in combinations..."Stella said.
"Stella, you suggested changing the color from silver to solid gold. Not only would that be very expensive, but it would be impractical and holds no scientific benefit to color them. It's just not a functional option..."Maddie said.
"Functional, no...but fabulous yes, and it would easily go with any outfit if you did that..."Stella said, already coming with so many combinations.
"I think that you're missing the whole point of the Specter Deflector's true purpose..."Maddie said as she tried to remain patient on her end of the phone.
Before Stella could try and convince her, she heard a buzzing sound and checked her intercom. She saw that it was her daughter trying to call her and decided to cut this business discussion short for now.
"I gotta go now, Maddie. We'll talk later. Oh, and please consider meeting me at that café on this. Plus, I'm sure that you'll love the coffee there, there are simply delicious..."Stella said in cheerful tone, planning on coming back to it another time.
"Sure..."Maddie said before hanging up.
"Not sure why she thinks everything has to be-..." Her phone buzzed against, getting her attention.
"Oh! Right..."She said as she soon answered who was calling her and smiled.
"Hi Mom..."Star's voice was heard.
"Hi, Star. How's my beautiful daughter today?..."Stella asked in her usual tone of voice.
"I'm fine. I just made it and Danny is here with me. He's waiting with me downstairs and wants to know if he can come inside the penthouse, or just head home already..."Star said, as they were still by the entrance.
"Oh, he shouldn't have to. He can come up here too if he'd like..."Stella said.
"I'd have brought him with me, but there are some goons out here that says that YOUR husband said that he's not welcome here..."Star said, sounding irritated as two meat-headed guards were blocking the front entrance and not letting Danny through.
Stella heard this and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I thought that Jean-Luc would drop that silliness by now. Tell them that I said so..."Stella said, as she made a mental note to talk to her current husband soon.
"I wouldn't call what he does silliness..." Star muttered, sounding irritated.
"Hmm?..."Stella let out.
"Nothing. Just let me know when I can escort my boyfriend inside..." Star said as she sounded a bit impatient.
"Of course..."Stella said as she hung up and then made another call to the men downstairs, and told him that Danny had permission to enter the building.
The two didn't put up a fight, and soon Star lead Danny inside and they were to the elevator.
5 minutes later
Star and Danny soon arrived to the Bevier Penthouse and were soon in front of the front door.
They saw that Stella greeted them and lead them to the living room and saw another friendly face that was happy to see them both. They saw Pierre playing in his playpen and Fifi saw drinking water from her solid gold doggie dish.
"Star! Danny!..."Pierre said with a giggle.
"Hi, Pierre. How's my cute little brother?..."Star said in a cooing way as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.
She then turned to the dog who came to greet them and jumped up and down out of joy from seeing them.
"Hi, Fifi..."Star said as the white poodle licked her and even brushed her up against Danny's leg in an affectionate manner.
"Come now, children. Make yourselves at home. Let me get you something. I got some some nice snacks to enjoy..."Stella said as tried to be hospitable.
"That sounds nice, Stella..."Danny said, as Star's mother went to the kitchen.
She soon came back and brought some tea, snack cakes and some baby-safe treats for little Pierre.
"Here, have a bite and relax..."She offered. "Let your worries melt away..."She added, smiling.
"Thanks, Mom..."Star said as she took one.
"Yeah, thanks Stella..."Danny said as he also took one to be polite.
However, Star looked at the snack cake and then hesitated on taking one as she was worried that they might contain some extra calories.
"Uh...Thank you for the tea, Mom..."She said as she then went for the tea first and thought carefully on whether or not she should eat the sweets.
Star's sudden hesitation on eating sweets didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room, except maybe Pierre and Fifi. Danny raised a brow, while Star's mother just kept talking and trying to act like a good hostess.
"So, how was the water park?..."Stella asked, wanting to know how their date went.
"Oh, it was...a total splash..."Danny said vaguely, not wanting to bring up the ghost attack.
His girlfriend then cleared her throat. She then changed the subject, wanting to move to other non-weight related topics.
"Anyway, Mom...you said that you wanted me to get those files for Solene..."Star said.
"Oh, right. Almost slipped my mind. Be right back..."Stella said as she went to get them.
As the teens waited, they played with Pierre and Fifi, both enjoying their presence. The baby who giggled and cooed as he was being doted on by his big sister and her boyfriend, and the dog who demanded belly rubs, which Star and Danny complied with.
"At least these two can't question my weight..."Star thought, doting on her baby brother some more.
Stella soon returned and smiled at seeing Star, Danny, Fifi and Pierre having fun with each other.
"How much I have missed. I'm glad to be making up time..."She thought, smiling to herself.
The blonde mother soon came back and handed a folder to her daughter.
"Here they are, it's all in there. I'm not inclined to tell you what it's all about but Eleanor really needs to meet with Solene within a week in order to finalize everything..."Stella explained.
"Got it. I'll make sure that she gets them..."Star said, ready to get this errand done.
Once Star placed the documents in her bag, she felt her mother tapping her shoulder as the older blonde woman wanted to ask her daughter something.
"So, any other plans for this weekend? Any places that you have in mind? Anything you'd like to ask for help with? Perhaps reservations?..."Stella asked, mainly out of curiosity and wanting to be a helpful mother.
The two teens just shrugged before the ghost boy answered her.
"Not much, we are planning on going to the flea market tomorrow to buy some stuff and look around..."Danny said, sounding like he had plans there.
"Flea market? They still have those?..."Stella asked, sounding surprised.
Star rolled her eyes and decided to takeover this conversation and explain a few things to her mother.
"Yes, Mom. They do and they actually sell some pretty cool stuff and some of them are pretty rare too. I'm going with Danny to find something I want. It saves my money too. Plus, flea markets can be pretty fun too..."Star said, until she paused herself for a moment as she realized what she just said out of habit.
"Fwee...Fwee..."Pierre said, repeating what he heard from his big sister.
"Hopefully this trip won't take up too much time and the rest of our day goes well. I also hope that we have more…interesting things to do…more peaceful as well..."Danny said as he playfully patted Fifi and even scratches behind one of her ears.
The purebred poodle enjoyed the kind gesture, yipping happily as she licked his hand, before rolling on her back once more.
"Definitely..."Star said, as she picked up her little brother, who wanted more of her attention.
Star's mother then pondered the idea of going.
"I see...well, I hope that you both have fun there. I haven't been to a flea market in ages. Not since that time your father took me to find a replacement gold chain to a necklace that I borrowed from your aunt Chasity and made sure she didn't notice..."Stella said, recalling that incident with some amusement.
"Then again, we did spend a good deal of time there just-..."The blonde woman paused as she realized that she was still talking to minors here...and one of them was an infant.
"Just what, Mom?...'Star asked, while her mother seemed embarrassed about something.
"Uh...we had fun..."She said, blushing a bit as she tried to turn this story of her past with Johnathan a bit more family friendly to the kids.
Star raised a brow and suspecting that her mother is intentionally leaving out certain details of a particular date. Details that she's sure is too much for her.
"You know what...I don't even wanna know..."She thought, figuring that the less she knew then the better off she'll be.
Stella looked visibly troubled for some reason, like she seemed worried that her words gave them ideas or something. Her potential future son-law noticed and obliviously asked about her well-being.
"Uh...are you okay, Stella?..."Danny asked.
The wealthy blonde woman flinched, but tried to recover.
"Oh, of course I am. Just thinking that I should get out more..."Stella said, trying to sound cheerful.
"Really?..." Star asked.
"Yes, don't want to get fatter now, right? I mean, you kids eat your pizzas and chili dogs and triple decker burgers and other things Jean-Luc doesn't allow in the house... but at least you go out and walk around to lose weight. Plus, your metabolisms is pretty fast until you reach adulthood..." She said, sounding somewhat envious for a moment before she continued.
"I really should get back to by jazzecizing and my yoga routines..."She said, wondering if Star does the same.
Star heard this from her mother and flinched, getting a bit uneasy about her own gains in weight.
"I haven't walked around that much, have I?..."Star thought, feeling self-conscious once more.
"Star?..." Stella asked, quickly bringing her daughter back to Earth from her own weight concerning thoughts.
"Uh, anyway...gotta get going now. Don't wanna be late for dinner..."Star said quickly, heading towards the door.
"Not to mention, I wanna get away before that witch and her skunk father get back here..."She muttered under her breath.
"What was that, Darling?..."Stella asked, having not heard most of the last part.
"Nothing important..."Star grumbled as quickened her pace.
Stella turned her attention to Danny, who shrugged before following Star. He didn't hear her either. Pierre waved goodbye with both of his small hands, while Fifi simply barked a goodbye to the teenagers.
Stella pondered but ultimately decided to make plans to do yoga.
Outside
Danny and Star soon left the apartment, soon leaving the fancy apartment building itself and walked towards the direction of the blonde girl's house.
"So, Star...any chance of getting a smoothie with me before going home?..."He offered, smiling.
"Uh, actually Boo. I just wanna go directly home now, I also have... to drop off these papers for Solene..."Star said, smiling nervously.
"Umm... okay. But don't forget the flea market tomorrow..." He said.
"Don't you worry, Boo. I won't forget. Prepare to feel like paper cause I'll be sticking to you like glue tomorrow..."Star said, making him laugh.
"Looking forward to that, Starlight..."Danny said, as they both left with one more big kiss.
Colette had seen the couple leave her building and was livid.
"THE NERVE! Papa won't allow me to invite Danny home or even the building itself...but Estella has the nerve to bring him to MY HOME when I am not even there and Mama allows it..."The spoiled brat said, throwing a tantrum and punching the wall of the building, cracking it slightly.
However, she did overheard part of that conversation and pondered.
"Flea market, huh? I wouldn't dare step foot near a place of cheap products sold by hacks with no license...but I'll follow Danny to the ends of the Earth and the bottom of the sea in order to take him from you, Estelle. Be prepared!..."Colette muttered and rubbed her hands.
Misty had seen the two leave and frowned.
"This isn't Star's house. This must be where her mom lives. Dang, she really HAS to be rich if she can afford to live here...all the while, my mom just has a meager librarian salary and a lame house that she still has 15 years left to pay off!..."She grumbled as her eyes flashes green once more and frowned hard.
She decided to put that on hold for now. Misty, using her magic, managed to overheard part of their conversation and heard something that caught her attention and got her thinking.
"The flea market, huh? Never have I been so excited to help out Laolao..."Misty whispered, as she pondered about this opportunity.
She looked into her book and noticed the drawing of a specific item.
"This'll do..." She said, smiling at her plan forming.
"Danny will be mine... also, pretty sure that I saw that hat I've been saving for there. May as well get that too..." She said to herself with a less villainous tone as she walked away.
Skipping her way to the nearest bus stop and make her way home, already making plans for tomorrow.
Later
At Star's house
The blonde girl had arrived home and was now in her room.
She had already dropped off the documents at Solene's house and decided to jog the rest of the way back home to burn off some calories. Now she was home, and he blonde girl was currently checking her reflection in the mirror.
Her eyes were on her stomach and still saw no major change.
"I mean...it's not like I gained THAT much weight...I'm sure that with just some more jogging and laying off the junk food could help me..."She thought as her stomach grumbled.
"Ugh! But now I'm hungry again! I gotta fight it!..." She groaned, clutching her stomach.
Star suddenly got a call on her phone and saw who it was, someone who normally doesn't call her.
"Sam?..."She thought before answering.
"Uh, hey Sam. What's up? Ghost trouble?..."The blonde girl asked.
"No, but it might become that way eventually at the rate he's going..."Sam muttered, sounds of loud chewing heard in the background.
"Uh...what? What does that mean? Who are you talking about?..."Star asked, confused.
"It's Tucker, he's finally gone off the deep end!..."Sam said, as the sound of soda being loudly slurped up in the background could also be heard.
"What happened this time? Did he snap and go on a nerd tantrum and posted angry comments on the internet with his username TooFineTuck again...or did he make another wish with Desireee and become a pervy, cyborg supervillain?..."Star guessed.
"Worse, he's decided that he's only ever gonna eat food from the Nasty Burger as part of some insane "statement", when in reality, he's just upset that Doctor from the assembly told everyone that they shouldn't eat here everyday..."Sam said, the sounds of him loudly eating still heard.
Star blinked in confused and made a face.
"Uh...okay. I know that Tucker can be a sloppy eater and tends to binge on unhealthy stuff, but this sounds too extreme, even for him..."Star said, shaking her head.
"No kidding. But I know Tucker personally and he usually sees the error of his ways. He's just being dumb and will see his mistake either when he runs out of money and his parents cut him off to keep him from eating here more...or he gets a stomach ache and gets sick. Either way, he'll probably learn his lesson at some point. I'm giving him a week tops..."Sam said, groaning as she saw him eat more.
"I'm calling and letting everyone know about this, just in case he starts asking for money to cover whatever tab he is running up and uses it to keep at it..."The goth girl said and sounding grossed out at seeing her tech-loving best friend fattening himself like a Christmas goose.
"Got it, thanks for the heads up...but shouldn't we stop Tucker before he needs an ambulance? Eating all that stuff can't be healthy and he'll weigh more than the steer used for all those burgers combined..."Star said.
"It's not, but you know how stubborn he is and I have spoke to him and he just won't listen. And you guys call me stubborn..."Sam said, already tasting the irony of this situation.
"You are... but his stubbornness could get him killed, just not in the usual way it does for us. Just give us a call if he ends up sending himself to the hospital..."Star said, while the goth girl sighed.
"Hopefully, he'll stop before it gets to that point. I'll keep an eye on him longer... but if I need any help, I'll let you know..."Sam said, before ending the conversation.
The goth girl soon hung up and Star rolled her eyes. She shook her head and facepalmed when done.
"Tucker...seriously?! An all Nasty Burger diet! Why do I get the feeling he's going to be a hungry ghost by this time next year?!..."She thought, only being semi-serious about that.
As she went back to checking her figure, she nodded to herself. However, this didn't make any of her worries disappear all at once. She planned what to do for dinner.
"A light salad...and some milk. Something small..." She said to herself, not completely sure on how to start this new diet of hers yet.
Before she could think about it more, her family's housekeeper knocked on her door and tried to get her attention.
"Star, dinner time. We're having pasta tonight..."Georgia said as she called out to her.
Star heard this and groaned.
"I can't say no to that. She always makes enough for 3 helpings..."Star thought as facepalmed again.
"Fine... tomorrow... no junk food!..." She said, not wanting to hurt Georgia's feelings.
She left her room and went to go have dinner with her father and housekeeper, she'd enjoy one last big meal then tomorrow her new diet begins.
-To be continued-
Next time on Empowered
Disaster at the Flea Market!
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to NeoMark, BeConfuzzled Writer and Jay The Average Fanboy for all their help. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Jebest4781, CZS4 and Pokemon fan 1991: Thank you :)
Dragonrule: No, she's not pregnant.
RonaldM40196867:
1) Stella has tried grounding Colette and told her to leave the couple alone, but Colette is too stubborn to listen to her either way.
2) I haven't decided yet.
3) Yeah, mostly to fill his pockets.
4) Kind of :)
5) I haven't decided yet.
6) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
7) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
8) I'll think about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Danifan3000:
1) Unfortunately, some of the people in Amity Park can be pretty dense. I mean, they don't even notice Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom.
2) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
3) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
4) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Invader Johnny: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Adeeba: I wanna work some more on my Stranded fics, Hot Ectoplasma and GK: Katie's Quest first.
Luiz4200: Even if he didn't, Sam made a point that she's not covering his tab.
Guest: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I might do one with the Addams Family one day. I haven't decided yet.
2) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
3) Ember and Kitty.
4) I remembered someplace mentioning Future Gwen had an interest in politics, and it just stuck.
5) The last one.
Saberwolf335: I'd say Colette, since Misty at least has some scruples, even when dealing with Star. Colette, however, has none when her step-sister is involved.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)