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 24: Helena's New Target
Helena was still looking for the hunk and getting frustrated.
She was still searching the human world for that half ghost hottie that was the hottest piece of gossip all over the Ghost Zone recently.
From what she had heard, not only was he extremely handsome and muscular, but he was powerful as well. That piqued her interest, and she really wanted to find him.
However, the search was taking a while and she didn't like waiting so much.
"This hunk better be worth it!..."She said, looking impatient as she kept looking around.
She then noticed the same restaurant she previously crashed, and she saw a sign that caught her interest.
"Single's Night, huh? Either that hunk is there or another one is. Either works for me..."Helena said as she went there.
She phased inside and made her presence known by casually approaching the first person that she could find. She expected them to scream and run out the restaurant in panic to spread word of her presence, but they were preoccupied.
"Huh?..."She wondered.
She saw the women, and some men, all arguing with each other and fighting while the men all looked annoyed and jealous.
"It's your fault that Dante ran away!..."Cassandra yelled at Miss Romano.
"MY FAULT?! It's you and all these idiots fault that my future super model left!..."Miss Romano yelled at her.
"It's not my fault that all of you hyena's scared away my future husband!..."Cassandra yelled.
"He's NOT your future husband!..."Tiffany yelled, looking jealous and over-competitive right now.
"Yeah, he's mine!..."Stacy yelled.
"No, he's MY future husband!..."Another woman yelled.
"In your dreams, he's mine!..."Shelly shouted competitively.
"You idiots better wake up, he's my future assistant!..."Principal Ishiyama said.
"You mean he's gonna be my future assistant!..."Miss Tesslaff yelled.
"No, he's gonna be my new pool boy!..."Pamela shouted.
"No, he won't! I refuse!..."Jeremy yelled at his wife, and the two started bickering again.
They weren't the only ones as every began fighting about and over the handsome man who ran away earlier. They didn't even notice the female ghost yet.
Helena didn't like being ignored and tried to get their attention.
"Hem hem..."She coughed.
She was ignored.
"Hem hem!..."She tried again.
And again, she was ignored.
"Ahem!..." She coughed loudly, her eyebrow twitching in irritation.
And once again, she was ignored. She REALLY hated being ignored and got angry.
"Hey!..." She shouted loudly.
Her voice echoed through the hall, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Once they stopped arguing, they finally noticed her and panicked.
"GHOST!..." A collective group of people shouted out loud, horrified at the sight of her.
They all started running around like headless chickens. Helena didn't care, as she was here for one reason and one reason only.
"I heard there's a very popular ghost man around here! So, where is he?..."Helena demanded.
They started running but she blocked their path.
"Just stay still and I'll look for my destined partner!…" Helena shouted, as she began to search around and "examine" the men that were trying to get away.
She spotted one man who the first that caught her attention. He was hiding under the table, shaking like a leaf.
"Don't hurt me!..." One man said, as Helena eyed him and frowned in disapproval.
"It can't be you, you're too scrawny! Reject!..."She said, rejecting him.
The guy ran away in terror, not understanding what she was talking about and didn't care as he ran for safety. He rushed in the women's restroom, a few seconds later, he pushed a woman out and went back in.
The woman blinking in confusion, lipstick in hand. She got angry once she processed what had just happened.
"What the heck is going?!..."She demanded, while another nearby guy panicked.
"GHOSTS!..."That man shouted in fear.
He tried to run away, but ended up running to a punch bowl. He stood back up, now wet and the punch bowl hanging on his head, and ran away.
With an annoyed scowl, Helena kept looking for the so-called hunk that she was sure was near here.
"Where is he!? Doesn't he know it's rude to keep a woman waiting!? I hate waiting!..."She shouted, unaware that someone spotted her.
Meanwhile
Vlad saw Helena and recognized her for both her reputation and soon realized that she must have had something to do with Daniel's current state.
"So, that's Helena the harpy..."Vlad commented.
Curious, he studied her, noting about the pocket watch hanging on her person. He panicked for a brief moment, until he had an idea.
He thought something that put a wicked grin on his face.
"So, that's the little trinket that made Daniel into a man child. This hot mess could work as my newest perfect pawn..."He said, smirking as more ideas formed in his twisted mind right now.
"Time for payback, Daniel..."He said as he slowly looked for a place to morph.
Thankfully, he found a VIP booth that was completely empty which was simply perfect for his needs.
He rushed to the booth's private men's room to transform. However, when he got there, he saw a scared man putting on a dress and a wig, intent on hiding that he was a man so the crazy ghost woman won't attack him.
"Don't tell that crazy lady ghost that I'm in here!..."He begged, as he hid in one of the fancy stalls.
Vlad blinked, as he slowly walked backwards out the restroom.
"I guess it's occupied..."He said, before running to a different place to transform.
Back with Helena
She was checking out and rejecting each man she saw, growing more impatient as none of them met her standards.
They didn't even look worthy enough to stand next to her, let alone marry her. She was getting really ticked right now.
"Where is he?!..."She shouted, losing her cool right now.
"Where is my future husband?!..."She shouted, eyes glowing dangerously bright.
Her nostrils flared as steam was flowing out from her ears, making her look even more terrifying to the frightened men who were trying hard to escape from her. Helena didn't notice or care, as she just wanted to find who she was looking for.
"That handsome half ghost hunk has to be around here somewhere!..."She thought, as she searched a corner where some men were hiding.
She violently grabbed the very first man that she could reach out too. However, it was Mr. Lancer who misunderstood her intentions.
"Please let me go! I'm afraid of commitment!..."Mr. Lancer said in fear, thinking that the classy ghost lady was looking for him.
Helena saw him and sent him a disgusted look, not impressed at all.
"I wasn't talking about you, Cue ball! I'm looking for a stud, not an out of shaped man who's head is covered in crow's feet!..." Helena said, as she dropped him like an unwanted trash bag.
Helena then looked at Falluca and Third Degrees Irvings, who were hugging each other in fear.
"Don't hurt us!..."Falluca said, as he clung to Irving.
"Pride and Prejudice! These are character marks, not crow's feet!..."Mr. Lancer yelled, insulted.
"Don't care! Now get lost, you losers!..."Helena yelled angrily, hissing out flames at Lancer, making the men squeal and running after Lancer.
"AHHH!..."The group of men screamed.
Mr. Lancer ran away, following the rest of the men that wanted to get far away from her. They were scared at the ghost lady, and while Mr. Lancer was relieved that she didn't want him, but he also felt insulted at what she said.
"As thankful as I am to not be in that ghost woman's clutches, she really needs to loosen that unreasonably high standard she has for herself. Not to mention her hurtful words..."He said, as he, Falucca and Third Degree Irving fled the area.
The Manson's were also freaking out by the ghost attack.
"Oh dear, where's Sammy? And Dante?..."Pamela asked, worried about them.
Jeremy glared at her.
"What about me?!..."He shouted, before getting an idea.
Jeremy, seeing that Helena was looking for a hunk, and decided to get some payback and make Pamela jealous.
"Let's see how she likes it when women ogle me!..."He thought.
He suddenly stood up, and took off his shirt before throwing it at her, which phased through her body. Getting her attention, she turned around and cringed in disgust as Jeremy started flexing.
"You…want…a hunk?..."He grunted, his face red and vein pulsing as he tried to make himself look swollen.
"Look…no…more!..."He grunted, but the ghostly woman wasn't impressed at all.
"Ew! Too old and scrawny! Reject!…" Helena said, before floating away in disgust.
Jeremy, who got hurt from the rejection, suddenly fainted as he felt something pop from his over flexing.
"Ow!..."He let out, before passing out.
Ida saw this and sighed in disappointment as she went to go help him.
"Don't worry, Jeremy. I got you..."She said, as she placed her son on her scooter and fled the scene.
Pamela was unimpressed with her wimpy's husband reaction but recalled that they are in danger right now.
"I just hope that Sammy is someplace safe...and far away from a guy who's old enough to be her step father..."She said to herself, as she ran to safety.
However, not all the people inside the building were running away out of fear and terror. As two mildly known ghost hunting teams pushed their differences to work together to bring this new ghost down.
"Like, a ghost?!..."Fran said, the two group stopping their bickering at the crisis at hand.
The Groovy Gang and Extreme Ghost Breakers saw Helena and they decided to call a truce due to their duties as ghost hunters.
Sullivan and Brenner did some unnecessary gymnastics to sneak towards Helena as Fran, Andy, and Scaredy Cat tiptoed towards her.
"This one's a pretty one, but not so pretty we won't shoot her..."Andy said.
"She's not that hot..."Brenner said, as the two groups went to pincer her. "Maybe if she changes her attitude, and put on some more modern clothes…"She commented.
"Whatever, let's bring down this wannabe ghost bride!..." Fran said, as the two groups tried to team up against this new ghost.
"Like, stop there, ghost babe!..." Sullivan went as he aimed a ghost blaster that looked a lot like a paint ball gun at her, catching her attention.
"Oh sure... you call the ghosts by feminine terms, but not your ghost hunting partner!..." Brenner snarled.
"Like... not the time, dude!..."Sullivan said, angering her even more.
"SEE?! YOU JUST DID IT AGAIN!..." Brenner went, gesturing to him.
"I said not the time. Let's just get her!..."Sullivan said, ready to hunt that ghost.
Although, some of them did wonder if they were going to be enough to stand up to this man-hunting lady ghost.
All the while, Helena rolled her eyes. She examined both Andy and Sullivan, and she frowned at what was presented to her.
"You two men aren't nearly handsome enough to be worthy of me, so get lost!..."Helena shouted.
With a swing of her arm, she created a gust that knocked them down.
"Hurtful..." Andy and Sullivan said in unison, before groaning.
Before she could attack them again, someone fired a shot past her head to get her attention.
"What?!..."She said, only to be hit from behind when she was distracted.
"OW!..."She shouted, as she crashed into the buffet table.
"Who dares-..."She was silenced when she saw who attacked her.
Once she saw him, she gasped.
It was then that Danny floated down towards her, eyes glowing angrily, so were his fists. Helena gasped, seeing the magnificent specimen in front of her, her angry instantly evaporated.
"Oh...my..."She whispered, unable to believe her eyes.
Andy, Fran, and Brenner all going googly eyes at him as Sullivan rolled his eyes. Andy was also ogling Danny too.
"You!..." Danny shouted, as he glared as his fists clenched
"Me?!..." She asked in excitement, looking around to make sure he was talking to her.
"You and I have some unfinished business!..." Danny shouted.
Everyone else in the restaurant saw him and the females and even some men were excited to see him.
"Hey! He's back!..." Fran said, smiling warmly.
"Oh...wow... ghost or not... that guy is so my future husband!..." Brenner went, drooling right now.
"No! Mine!..." Fran went, sounding jealous.
"Mine!..." Brenner said, as both women pressed foreheads against each other.
"MINE!..."They both screamed at each other.
"MINE!..."
"Uh... dudes. I mean... dudettes. We got other problems on our hands..." Sullivan said.
"Don't worry about it, man. Everything is okay now..."Andy said, before going back to admire Dante.
Even though he was rejected by him earlier, it doesn't mean he can't enjoy the eye candy.
"Dude. We gotta deal with them..."Sullivan said, but the blonde guy waved it off.
"Like the man hungry ghost bride with terrible and outdated fashion sense dealing with the gorgeous ghost hottie. Unfortunately, it seems that they aren't the only ones who are dangerous right now..."Andy said, before he and Sullivan both tried to separate their respective female teammate from starting another argument with one another.
There is already enough chaos right now and they didn't need any more.
Meanwhile
Danny, all the while was having a mixture of anger and relief.
He was happy that his target finally showed up while the ghostly bride was ecstatic to finally find her perfect man.
She saw the ghostly man before her and he couldn't get over how handsome and muscular he was. She could even sense how strong he is and she was pretty sure that she was experiencing love at first sight right now.
"Oh my...what a man!~..."Helena thought as she kept her heart skipping a beat.
She smiled, a smitten look on her face as she made her choice then and there.
"You...you guys don't...have...to fight for the right to be my groom. He's already here..."Helena said in a dreamy way.
Danny heard this and looked sick upon hearing that.
"Groom?! In your dreams you witch!..."He shouted, with extra venom in his voice.
Hhe felt disgusted by what she was implying. He was angry that the one who caused him the biggest headache in his life started going gaga over him. And this time, he'll let his rejection known.
However, he soon found himself her new target.
"Exactly. You are the man from my dream! Let's get married like yesterday!..." She said, reaching out to hug him.
In response, Danny pushed her back and sent her flying with enough force to send her through the roof. Danny smirked.
"Gotta love that power boost..."Danny said, smirking as he soon followed.
Team Phantom saw this and were both relieved and worried. They were relieved that they found the woman who made Danny an adult, and worried that she might make his situation worst, like turning Danny into an old man or worse than that.
Still, they knew that they to provide backup, just in case Danny needs any.
"Let's follow them..."Sam said, as the others rushed out the building to take part in the battle.
Vlad saw this and looked up the hole in interest, smirking. His curiosity was peaked. He was simply was too curious to ignore how this encounter will unfold.
"So, Helena, the poor groom less bride, has her eyes on Daniel now? No way that I am missing this..."Vlad said, as he needed to witness all this with his own eyes.
He turned invisible and flew through the roof. He could enjoy the show first before grabbing the pocket watch.
He had his own plans for it.
Outside
Danny and Helena were now in the air, with Danny ready to fight,
As he wanted to pay back all the stressful experiences he went through because of meeting her. All the while, Helena seemed to have enjoyed his little push.
"Hm~, I like a man that plays rough..."Helena said, as she seemed unfazed by the attack.
She turned to Danny and smirked.
"You really as strong as the rumors say about you. I like that..."She said, liking this more and more.
Danny just glared at her and snarled, not wanting to deal with anymore desperate females. Especially the female who did this to him.
"I'm only going to say this once... CHANGE ME BACK TO NORMAL!..."Danny shouted, confusing his latest admirer.
"What are you talking about, Handsome?..."Helena asked, eyes taking in his entire form.
"Don't I look remotely familiar to you?!..." He asked, as he gestured to himself.
Helena did just that, admiring the hunk in front of her, enjoying how that black and white hazmat suit hugged his muscular body tightly, especially in the right places, the flowing, white hair, and the intense gaze in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine.
"So handsome!~..."She thought dreamily.
Still, she did her best to ignore how tempting he was as she did her best to recall him. The crazy ghost bride looked at his face as she tries to remember his good-looking face from her past hunting for a man.
"Hmm..." Helena went, trying to place him. "Aren't you the ghost of the guy I tried to marry in Vegas back in 94?..." She asked, sounding clueless right now.
Danny rolled his eyes, before shaking his head and scowling at her. He decided to spell it out loud for her.
"It's me! Danny Phantom! The ghost KID who you attacked the other day and fired that weird beam at me!..."Danny shouted, eyes glowing intensely.
Helena blinked and cleaned out her ear to make sure she heard that right.
"Wait...what?! What happened to you and how long have I been out hunting for a husband?!..."Helena asked, confused as she tried to count the days on her hand.
Danny was now the one that was a bit baffled by what she just said. He then glared at her in anger and irritation, thinking that she was mocking him.
"What are you talking about?! You're the one who did this to me! You're the reason I went from 14 to 24 over night!..."Danny yelled, tired of her playing dumb.
The ghostly wanna-be bride frowned.
"I'm pretty sure that I'd remember turning a snot-nosed brat into a hunk of a man!..."Helena said, not fully believing what the handsome ghost man was claiming.
"I look like this because of that stupid watch thing that you tried to hit me with! You might have missed me by a few feet, but the after effects turned me into this!..."Danny said, explaining what had happened to him.
Helena was stunned, as if she was unable to believe what she had just heard.
"For real?! Wow! I didn't even mean to do that, I didn't even know being in close proximity could do this!..."Helena said as she pulled out the watch in confusion.
Danny's eyes widened as the key to getting his youth back was within reach now.
"That watch?! Give it to me and change me back right now!..."Danny ordered, holding out his hand.
He had quite enough of being the wrong age for more than needed, and he wanted to go back to normal now.
Helena heard this and frowned. She clenched the watch tightly in her hands.
She knew that she could give him the watch and change him back into a dorky, scrawny teenager, or she could just take the hunk in front of her.
She picked the one she was most likely to pick.
"No way! I finally found the most handsome man in the world and I'm not losing him! So, sorry, good looking, but you're not taking this watch! You can have me for eternity instead!..."She said, pulling the watch away.
Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing and grew angry at her.
He couldn't believe that she was actually thinking that she wanted to marry him, despite knowing that he was still a teenager.
He felt his temper rise, as he called her out on it.
"Uh, lady?! I'm still a teenager under this!..." Danny said, gesturing to himself.
"So? Most adults these days have hardly matured since being toddlers. Just look at 90% of politicians..." Helena pointed out.
"You're not wrong..." Danny muttered, as she got a better look at the ghost man.
He then frowned as the wannabe bride floated towards him with a flirty smile until they were just a few feet away. She had the biggest smile imaginable on her face.
"Besides..." Helena said, as she closed the gap further and took his hand. "I'll help you mature..."She said, sending him a lustful look.
In response, Danny was feeling sick to his stomach at being the object of her affection. He pushed her away, looking livid right now.
"The only help that I want is for you to give me that pocket watch!..." He yelled, losing his patience.
After the stress of being hounded like a piece of meat by these crazy, old ladies, he had enough. Helena, on the other hand, wanted to keep him like a trophy.
"I'll give it to you... but only after a decade's past and I want you in this pristine form!..."Helena said, as she tried to negotiate her new groom.
"So...how about we seal the deal with a kiss first and maybe get started on our future?..."She asked, as she puckered her lips.
Danny responded by sending a blast at her, surprising her that instead of a pair of lips, she was met with a beam of ghost energy
"AHHHH!..."Helena shouted.
"So not happening!..."Danny said, as he understood that negotiating with the wannabe bride was a wasted effort.
He flew towards her before she hit the ground then used his advance strength to launch her several feet up. He smiled, feeling quite cathartic as he used this to relieve the stress.
"Been waiting days to do that..."He said, looking smug as he had just done what he wanted to do when he found her.
"You almost tore my dress!..."Helena complained.
"I was aiming for the shrieking harpy in it!..."Danny shouted.
Helena glared at him, fists balled in fury.
"How dare you strike your new bride?!..."She shouted, eyes glowing red in anger.
"You are not my bride and I am taking that thing back, no matter what!..."Danny said, as he felt his eyes glow intensely.
"You have a lot of nerve for striking me. You have a bad attitude for a man that's about to get married. This is happening, no matter what!..."Helena said in anger.
"Not gonna happen, crazy lady. I'm halfway tempted to become a monk when this over..."Danny said, flying at her with the intent to do harm.
"Oh, don't do th-..."Helena didn't have time to finish as a fist connected with her face, knocking her back.
Angered, she tried to backhand Danny, but he pulled away in time while using the momentum to kick her in the chin. Reacting poorly, Helena tried to grab Danny, but he grabbed her arms by the wrist in time before swinging her away.
"You're sloppy. From what I get... you haven't fought a day in your life or afterlife..." Danny commented.
"I'm a lover, not a fighter!..." Helena shouted.
"Well... right now, you're neither of those..." Danny responded.
Helena, however, had an idea.
"You're about to find out how wrong you are..."She said, as she pulled something else.
It was a key of some kind.
"What is that?..."Danny asked, wondering how she'd fight with that.
"Oh, just a little something else that was on sale. Take us...to our wedding!..."Helena said as she fired.
The key the created a portal behind Danny. He was distracted as Helena blasted him behind the back when he turned to look at it.
"GAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!..."Danny yelled, as he was blasted into the portal.
Helena smirked as she saw him land face first into her destination of choice. She giggled.
"I knew that you'd fall for me soon enough..."She said as she flew into the portal.
The portal then closed and the sinister bridezilla was in the ghost zone, with her intended target.
Sam and the others saw this. All of them panicked.
"Danny?!..."Sam shouted in worry.
"We gotta go help him!..."Jazz said as she motioned for them to get to her car.
"Let's get the boomerang and gear up before Helena drags him down the aisle!..."Tucker said quickly.
The trio soon left to mount their rescue, unaware that someone heard all of this and made their own plans.
Meanwhile
Vlad witness Helena capturing Danny and intending to keep him forever.
"Oh my goodness, this is getting more hilarious by the second. It's almost worth getting pummeled by stupid women earlier!..."The villain laughed, as he remained in his ghost form.
"And there was that pocket watch. There is no way that I am missing the rest of this..."Vlad said with sadistic amusement, seeing his real target.
He decided to go follow them and watch the rest of this "comedy" and claim his prize.
"Once you two go down that aisle, Maddie and I will be next." Vlad said, making his own evil plans now.
The evil ghost soon went on his way to go to the ghost zone, to see the rest of this "show".
And to be rid of his teenage enemy... forever.
-To be continued-
Next time on Growing Pains
Danny Phantom vs The Bridezilla
A/N: Special thanks to Jay The Average Fanboy, The White Titan, Invader Johnny and NeoMark for helping with this chapter. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867:
1) Yeah.
2) Thank you for the suggestion. I will think about it.
Danifan3000:
1) I see your point.
2) Yeah.
Luiz4200: :)
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Invader Johnny: Yeah.
JDF Legacier : Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I think Ember.
2) I did like that moment where he and Kitty had at the Ghost Portal before Danny locked it.
3) I think Danny would be a great one.
4) I think it be cool if Danny and Jazz both had powers and were a sibling crime fighting team.
5) Who wouldn't?
6) Thankfully, she's not. She's his sister, after all.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)
