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.


Growing Pains

Chapter 14: Back To Square One

Danny returned to the lab, where his sister and friends were waiting for him.

"Any luck?..."Sam asked, but her aged friend shook his head.

"No. I'm starting to think that Helena might be really good at hiding...or she's moved on to another town..."Danny said, looking exhausted from his solo search.

"You didn't run into any trouble there, did you?..."Jazz asked.

Her brother sent her a flat look, and she soon realized what she just asked.

"Sorry...standard question...but seriously?..."She asked.

Danny sighed, as he tried hard NOT to think about what he had experienced earlier in the Ghost Zone.

"I don't wanna talk about it. I'm going to need a shower for hours..."He said, a hand sliding down his face.

"Why?..." Jazz asked, wondering what happened to him.

"Again, I don't wanna talk about it..." Danny repeated, insisting that they drop it.

"Are you okay, Dude?..."Tucker asked, noticing his expression on his face.

"Just tired. I really need to get away from everyone outside this house...and from the Ghost Zone..."Danny said, shaking his head.

"Maybe you should rest. It's already dinner time and adult or not, you still need to eat..."Jazz said, gesturing to the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry, I'm tired..."Danny said, slouching from exhaustion.

"You need to eat..."Jazz said as the other two motioned him to say yes.

Danny was about to say something but a loud growling was heard from his stomach.

"Was that a bear or something?..."Tucker joked, while Jazz sent her brother a "Gotcha" look.

Danny grumbled in misery, hating that he was caught.

"I haven't eaten since lunch, just adding to my list of issues..."Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, I'll order a pizza or something. Then you can rest for a bit..."Jazz said, giving an encouraging smile.

The teens and temporary adult soon went upstairs, hoping to get his mind off trouble.


Later

Jazz had placed the order and counted the money that their parents had left them.

"Okay...this should be enough..."Jazz said, as she placed the money on the living room table.

Soon, the door bell rang and Danny, being closest to the door, went to answer it.

"Pizza's here..."He said as he went to answer it, taking some of the money their parents left for them.

Danny answered the door, and a pizza delivery girl soon arrived, carrying several pizza boxes in her arms.

"Here's your order..."The pizza delivery girl said, before pausing once she saw Danny.

She gasped and blushed the moment she saw him.

"Oh...my..."She let out, blushing and becoming dreamy eyed in an instant.

"And... mark..." Danny thought, mentally checking off when he'd find another woman who found him attractive.

"Hi there..." She said, trying to sound flirtatious but the man didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Hi... and bye..." Danny said as he paid for the pizza, took the boxes and closed the door.

The love struck pizza girl soon left, sighing happily as she walked away.

"What a hottie..."She whispered, as she soon left.


Inside

"Just my luck..."Danny muttered as he left the door, taking the food with him.

He carried the pizza inside, and tried hard not to think about his predicament. Soon, they began eating and trying to discuss their next move.

"So, what do we do next?..."Tucker asked, eating a slice of the pepperoni pizza.

"The floor's open..."Sam said wiping her mouth, after taking a bite from her veggie pizza.

"Simple, we think of another way to find Helena so that I can kick her butt until she changes me back!..."Danny said, slamming his fist into the table before finishing his pepperoni pizza.

It was a mistake since the table couldn't handle his strength and crashed to the ground. Danny saw this and blinked.

"Whoops...Sorry..."He said apologetically, looking a little embarrassed right now.

His friends and sister all sent him looks.

"Easy there, Hercules. Before you break something else..."Tucker said, as he picked up the pizza that there thankfully still in the boxes and still good.

"Sorry...I...I guess that I'm still getting used to this..."Danny said, rubbing the back of his head.

His sister, however, frowned and shook her head.

"Maybe you should lay low at home for now. After all, you still have homework to do..."Jazz nagged.

"But Helena?..."Danny tried, but his sister cut him off.

"You'll find that wannabe-bride ghost like you always somehow find your enemies. Just try and relax and not overwhelm yourself..."Jazz said, wagging her finger.

Danny sighed and felt annoyed that she was still treating him like the child he was mentally.

"I don't believe this!..."He muttered, dragging his hand down his face.

Before he could complain anymore, he heard the sound of people talking happening outside, as well a loud "bang" like sound.

"What's happening?..."Sam asked, surprised.

"No idea..."Danny said, as they went to investigate, assuming the worst.

Danny and the others soon went outside and saw that it was a car that just broke down near the side of the rode. The "bang" like sound was from the engine, that now seemed to be dead.

"Darn it! I just paid for this!..."The driver said while the lookey lou's all witnessed him kicking his door.

Team Phantom saw this and blinked.

"Wow...I guess we are so used to every loud noise either being a ghost attack or dad's inventions going off, that something as mundane as this is a surprise..."Jazz muttered.

Seeing that it wasn't a ghost or an emergency, Danny groaned.

"The one time I want a new ghost to show her face twice in one day..."He said, ready to go back inside his house.

However, some of the women noticed him and pauses what they were doing. They all saw the older Danny and reacted pretty much the same way every other woman did as soon as they saw him.

Lovestruck!

"Oh my, when did we get a new neighbor that looks like that?..."Angie, a 22 year old neighbor said, looking amazed as she saw him.

"What a hunk!..."Another woman said, practically drooling right now.

"Hey Mr. Muscles..."A brunette woman said in a flirty way.

"Do you have a girlfriend?..."Another woman said, waving at him.

"I'll let you take me out to dinner..."A red haired woman said, as she tried to approach him.

More women did so, as they kept admiring the handsome man and tried to ask him out.

"Not again..."Danny said in distress, as he soon found himself surrounded by every young woman from a 5 block radius in an instant.

His sister, Tucker and Sam all saw this. Sam was once again seething in jealousy, Tucker was frowning in envy for his friend's luck and Jazz was expressing her concern for her brother.

"Not again..."Jazz said.

"I'm going to tear them apart!..."Sam said, her jealousy boiling right now.

"Ah dang…" Tucker grumbled, as more women approached Danny.

The ghost man was getting overwhelmed again and had pretty much reached his limit today. Danny managed to escape the women by hiding into a nearby alley and became invisible.

"Please work..."He thought, as he heard them appear in the alley but they couldn't see him.

"Hey, where'd he go?..."One of them complained.

"He's gotta be around here somewhere. Not like he turned invisible..."Another said as they kept looking for the handsome man.

Danny saw this and frowned as he waited for them to leave.

"Now they're literally chasing me?! This is getting nuts!..."Danny complained, hating this.

He waited until he heard no sign of them before getting out. Danny soon phased back inside his home, safe for the time being.

Jazz and his friends soon went back inside and saw him lean on the wall for support.

"You okay?..."Jazz asked before her brother sent her a flat look.

"Sorry, standard question..."She said.

"This is getting ridiculous. The second time that a standard question has been asked. That's two too many..."Danny grumbled, his hands in his hair in frustration.

"I gotta find Bride of Frankenstein before I need an up to date ID..."Danny said, before a yawn overtook him and found his eyes hard to keep open.

"You look exhausted, dude..."Tucker said as he snapped his fingers in Danny's face to keep him open.

"I am...I...I don't know what's going on...but I can barely keep my eyes up..."Danny said, exhausted.

"You have been using a lot of power lately and you haven't been an adult for 24 hours, so your body probably isn't used to it yet. You need your rest...you can continue chasing after Helena after you get some shut eye..."Jazz said.

"But I-..."Danny couldn't even finish his protest as he yawned again and his eyes felt heavier.

"No buts...now go get yours to bed!..."Jazz nagged, pointing to his room.

Despite being tired, Danny frowned.

"How is it that I'm technically old enough to vote now and you're still bossing me around?..."He asked.

"Because I'm the more mature one and Mom and Dad put me in charge, remember? Now march..."Jazz said as she pointed upstairs.

"Says the girl with the teddy bear..."Danny said under his breath, yawning once more.

Having no other choice, Danny went to his room to rest for the time being too exhausted to do anything else right now.

Once he was on his way to his room, Jazz and the others were still talking about what has happened.

"Poor Danny..."Tucker said.

"Let's just hope that he has better luck tomorrow..."Jazz said, worried about him.

"And fewer interruptions..."Sam said, worried but also still ogling him when he wasn't looking.

Unknown to the teens, the entire incident had been witness by some spy bugs who were still sending the recorder data back to it's creator.


Meanwhile

With Vlad

The evil half ghost was up to his usual antics.

After spending a day of "working" as the mayor of Amity Park, he now returned to his home and base of operations in a bad mood.

"I really hate those council meetings. Those fools always nag like mothers..."He muttered, wiping his eyes to keep awake.

He entered his home, and was greeted by his beloved pet cat who rubbed against his leg. Vlad smiled affectionately to his pet.

"I am home, Maddie. Did you miss me?..."The Fruitloop asked, as he picked up his pet.

"Meow..."The cat let out.

"I did too, Sweetums..."Vlad said, as he held her.

He went to his couch and say down.

"Now Maddie, what should we watch? Extreme Nanny Makeover? Embarrassingly laughable reality shows?..."Vlad asked playfully, knowing what he really wanted.

"Meow..."The cat let out once more, as she looked at the remote control.

Vlad projected what he wanted to do, and grinned.

"Good idea, Maddie. Illegally spying on the Fentons, it is..."Vlad said as he pressed a button on his control.

However, as the screen showed footage of his arch-enemy's home, he saw someone there that he didn't recognized. He saw a dark haired man, who was talking to Jasmine and Danny's friends...but he also didn't see Danny anywhere.

"Who is that? And where is Daniel?..."Vlad asked, confused as he couldn't help but feel like he has seen him someplace before.

Before he could wonder anymore about this, a sudden alarm went off and he stood up quickly.

"What in the name of Evil?..."He said, as he phased into his underground lab, and soon saw his Vulture's and Skulker there, though he wasn't wearing his suit for some reason.

"You're kidding right, Helena is back?..."The lead vulture asked, looking horrified.

"Yes, and she's partly to blame for what happened to my suit. As if dealing with that whelp wasn't difficult enough as it is..."Skulker said, as he looked ticked.

"Who's Helena?..." Vlad asked, making his presence known.

"Boss, you're back already?..."The vulture with sunglasses said, looking nervous now.

"You idiots didn't answer my question, who is Helena and what exactly did she do to Daniel?..."Vlad demanded.

"Someone we should hope isn't into you..." Skulker said. "And she's the reason that whelp is now the size of an ox and twice as strong now. My last suit was still under warranty..."Skulker said.

"So, the rumors we heard were true..."The third Vulture said, astonished but their boss still seemed lost.

He frowned.

"Okay, back up. I am still not following, explain from the beginning..."Vlad ordered.

"Okay, well...this is what we heard from the grapevine..."The lead vulture said, as they and Skulker began to explain what had happened.


5 minutes later

"And then he destroyed my suit in an instant and sucked me inside that stupid thermos. It didn't even feel like a fight and that Helena is going to pay for unknowingly giving him more power..."Skulker said in anger, but his real squeaky voice ruined the effect.

Vlad blinked in surprised, as realization dawned on him.

"So that man was Daniel, huh? I knew there was something familiar about him..."Vlad said, frowning.

"Still, why in the world would anyone turn him into an adult? I don't see any way to gain from that..."He said.

"I heard that Helena messed up since she was trying to turn him into an old geezer but this happened instead. No surprised since her aim is about as lousy as her personality..."The lead vulture said.

"And that's saying something. It still doesn't chance the fact that she ruined my hunt..."Skulker grumbled, before he went back to fixing his suit in the lab.

"I see..."Vlad said, fascinated.

He soon turned on his computer, which was linked to the footage that he had previously been watching.

"So...Daniel has now skipped through puberty..."He said, as he fast forward some of the footage, and soon saw something that caught his eye.

"Now what is this?..."He asked, as he saw something from outside the Fenton family home.

The evil Fruitloop then saw footage of his aged up enemy with the various women who threw themselves at him as he's avoiding them. He even tried running away from them and they actually chased him.

He grinned evilly.

"Oh...looks like Daniel is having some trouble with the ladies. Oh, this I have to see!..." Vlad said, zooming in.

He saw Danny being hounded by various women, some of them seemed to be college aged and others were almost as old as his mother.

At first he laughed mockingly, then he realized just how many women there were. At first it seemed to be a few but the number quickly became DOZENS.

"Oh my... that's a lot of females..." He said, no longer finding this funny.

"This is nothing. Johnny 13 told me that whelp almost stole Kitty from him and I heard that Desiree was actually considering taking him as her lover, while many more ghostly females were rendered into fools at the mere sight of him. Disgusting..."Skulker muttered, but it was clear there was some jealousy in his tone.

"Are you for real?..."Vlad asked, but paused.

"Wait...did Desiree even know about his real identity?..."He asked.

"She did, but she figured that it didn't matter since he is physically a man now..."Skulker said, while Vlad looked uncomfortable right now.

"That's...disturbing..."He said, but soon saw more footage that was from various spots all over town.

He saw more clips of the older looking Daniel and there were more women hitting on him or ogling him like he was a famous celebrity or something.

"He...seems to be getting popular..."Vlad said, frowning while his other minions couldn't keep their mouths shut.

"Heh... he's had more luck with women than you do, boss..." One vulture said.

"Yeah, when was the last time you actually had a woman talk to you like that WITHOUT it being a business deal?..."Another vulture asked, not realizing that they were getting on their boss's nerves.

In response, Vlad blasted the both of them, knocking them down and leaving him for his cat to crawl on top of and sleep on.

"Idiots!..."He said, before he floated back to the computer, while their minions glared at him.

"What's his problem?...'The first vulture asked.

"Touchy..."The other one said, while Skulker and their leader shook their heads.

"Plasmius is right, they are idiots..."Skulker muttered.

"How do you think I feel? I have to keep those knuckle-heads in check..."The lead vulture complained, while Skulker went back to fixing his suit.


Back with Vlad

The evil halfa went back to the computer screen to look at the footage of his now aged up enemy.

Vlad then frowned angrily at the sight of all the women Danny attracted, and how they all seemed to be acting like love-struck fools around him. He even saw some news clips about his arch enemy winning some silly convenience store contest and got interviewed by Harriet Chin.

However, Vlad was more ticked by the fact that more women were admiring Daniel. It made him angry, in ways that he refused to admit to.

"He's overshadowing me... and not in the way he usually would..." Vlad said, crushing the remote in his hands in anger.

Before he could complain further and make any plans, he suddenly heard his phone ring, interrupting him once again.

"Oh now what?..."Vlad asked in annoyance as he checked.

He soon saw that it was his "business line". He sighed angrily and wiped himself clean.

"Let's get this over with..."Vlad said in his "charming businessman" voice before answering it.

However, he frowned once he realized who it was that was trying to contact him.

"Mr. Masters. We got a problem here..."His guard said, sounding frantic.

"What is it? I happen to be VERY busy right now!..."Vlad said, wanting him to get on with it.

It's Ms. Romano. She's here for your deal..."The guard said, sounding more desperate.

The villain groaned as soon as he heard that name, already feeling a migraine forming.

"Why is SHE here?! We aren't scheduled to meet until next week!..."Vlad said, not wanting to deal with her.

"I know, but she decided to come and make the deal now..."The guard said, before someone grabbed the phone and started yelling into it.

"Hello, Masters, it's Romano! I don't care about what have planned but let me in right now! We're going to deal with this right now so let me in! Please and thank you! Oh, and that "please" was just a formality since I am not asking for permission. So let me in!.."A shrill voice shouted on the phone.

Vlad frowned when he heard her voice and rolled his eyes.

"I am in the middle of something right now. Just contact my assistant and we can talk la-..."Vlad was cut off and was nearly defeated by the voice on the other end of the phone.

"I'm NOT waiting, Masters! Come now, unless you DON'T want my company to establish a business in this town...and you don't want your cut off the 100M deal with no negotiations, you are going to Open up! RIGHT NOW!..."She said, sounding impatient.

Vlad growled.

"Insolent harpy, the things I do to remain a billionaire..."He thought, giving in.

"Very well, I'm coming down..."Vlad said, pretending to be civil.

As he left the room, he silently ordered all ghosts to get lost by pointing out the window.

All the while, he was ready to deal with someone who was arguably more frightening than his ghostly minions.


A few moments later

Vlad was now in his office, but he was not alone. Right before him is his business client.

Her name is Bridgetta Eloise Romano.

She is a businesswoman in her late 20's, wearing a red business suit and black skirt, high heels and a pair of blue rimmed glasses that just screamed a high powered business woman. She had dark brown hair that was tied up in a neat bun, light green eyes, hair skin, red lipstick, eyeliner, black earrings and a notable scowl.

She also had a confident yet impatient aura about her as she held her briefcase.

"About time, Masters..."Ms. Romano said, sounding upset to have waited.

"Of course, my dear. Forgive me for taking a while. Tea?..." Vlad offered, wanting to drug the tea to knock her out and kick her out his house despite knowing the trouble he'd be in.

"Cut the polite act, Masters. We both know you don't want me here anymore than I want to be here..."Bridgetta said, sounding ticked as she refused the tea all together

"Ah... savvy, aren't we?..."Vlad said, trying not to break his facade.

Miss Romano didn't respond to that, she just got down to business.

"Listen here, Masters. My company sells the best gym equipment and men's athletic wear in the country, but the competition is getting stiff lately. We need more than a new location to sell and we need to go into a new direction now that our top spokes-model is retiring. We need a new face for our campaign and we want someone local..."Romano said, while the white haired man nodded.

"We want someone young, buff, handsome, athletic. We want the kind of guy that makes all men feel inadequate and inferior just by looking at him, and the kind that makes all women wish that their own man looked like. We want someone like that yesterday..."Miss Romano said, making her expectations clear.

"Well, I'll hold special trials tomorrow if that helps..."Vlad said, wanting to get on with this and go back to his evil plots already.

"Fair enough... when exactly can you do it? I want us to be involved in the hiring department...and I want to be involved in that as well since I won't accept just ANYONE to model my company's merchandise!..."Ms. Romano said, arms crossed.

"Oh... let me check..." Vlad said as he opened his laptop, wanting to get this over with.

His eyes widened, seeing Danny's image still there since he forgot to log off earlier.

"Right... I paused it when she arrived..."The villain thought.

He was about to log out, but his client soon noticed the computer screen.

"Masters?..." She asks as she got up.

"Don't look..." Vlad insisted, but the business woman didn't listen.

Miss Romano's eyes landed on the image of the man on the screen...and she was silent...which was VERY rare for her.

"Who...is that?!..."She asked, looking stunned.

"Oh...nobody...just the winner of some silly contest at a convenience store. No one you need concern with..."Vlad said, but his client was still staring at the computer screen.

Not just staring...she was practically drooling right now.

Ms. Romano scanned the image of Danny's older form and soon had an intrigued smile on her face.

Vlad was surprised to see this.

"I think this is the first time I have ever seen this witch actually smile..."He thought, while the business woman kept eyeing Danny's image like she was checking out some merchandise.

"He's... he's got quite the build...I think that he might be just what I am looking for. In fact, I think that he'd be perfect!..."She declared.

Vlad's eyes widened, before he frowned.

"No way I am letting Daniel get involved with my business deal. Knowing him, he'll find a way to blow this deal for me!..."Vlad thought, not wanting to risk losing his cut off all of those millions.

"Ah... well... I don't think he's fit for it...as I said, he's just a nobody. Anyway, I'll get to working on finding people tomorrow at... 1. Meet me at my office at 1 and we can figure things out there. Now... leave?..." Vlad asked, trying to hide his impatience.

Miss Romano soon left the office, but as she left, she pulled out her cell phone and had a notable smile on her face. She had managed to take a quick picture of the man's image before she left.

She kept looking at it, and intrigued look appeared on her face as she kept looking at the image.

She entered her limo, where her assistant was waiting for her.

"Charles..."The business woman said.

"Yes, Miss Romano?..."Her assistant asked, holding a clipboard.

"I need you to go find who that winner of that silly convenient store contest is and get me in contact with him. I think that I just found the man that I was looking for!..."She said, having an usual enthusiasm in her voice.

One that suggested it wasn't about the casting.

-To be continued-

Next time on Growing Pains

Different Times, Same Problems


A/N: Special thanks to NeoMark and Jay The Average Fanboy for helping with this chapter. You guys rock :)


REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:

Boris Yeltsin and Luiz4200 : Yeah.

Invader Johnny: You got that right.

Pokemon fan 1991: Same here.

NiteOwl18: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.

Guest:

1) It is a new one.

2) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.

3) Interesting idea.

4) Which episode?

5) Danny would belong to Gryffindor. Sam would belong to Ravenclaw, Tucker would probably be in Hugglepuff and Valerie would be in Slytherin.

JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)

Here are my responses to your questions:

1) I liked the first time Danny defeated him.

2) He probably died of old age.

3) I think she would be a very loving, if somewhat overprotective parent.

4) No comment.

Fiction Realm: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.

RonaldM40196867:

1) That will be revealed later on.

2) He was busy.

Jebest4781: How is this?

Saberwolf335: Sorry about that.

Pzombie: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.


:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)