Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Animaniacs or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Viacom International. Animaniacs is the property of Tom Ruegger and Warner Brothers.
GK: Katie's Quest
Chapter 11: A Monstrous Task
Danny was in the middle of ghost fighting.
He was currently fighting a savage ghost squid, who was terrorizing down town Amity Park.
"BRRRRRHHHRRRRRRR!..."The ghostly squid let out, as it tried to squirt toxic ink at him.
The ghost boy dodged it, and the ink hit a nearby lamp post, melting a part of it.
"Geez, I'd hate to find out how ticked you are this week, Squidward..." Danny snarked as he dodged the next attack.
His eyes and hands began to glow blue, as he was ready for his next move.
"Time for some FROZEN calamari, minus the tartar sauce!..."Danny said, as he used his ice powers.
He managed to freeze the ghostly squid, and made it crash into the ground. While it was down, Danny quickly pulled out his thermos and sucked it up before it became coherent again.
Once done, he clasp it shut.
"Nice one, Dude! But did you have to make food puns before we had a chance to eat?..."Tucker said, feeling his stomach rumbling a bit.
"Tucker, you just ate 20 minutes ago..."Sam said, annoyed by his gluttony.
"And now I'm hungry again..."Tucker responded, which cause the tech fanatic and the goth girl to into a small and brief argument about each other's eating habits.
What else was new?
Anyway, Danny shook his head at this.
"Should I step in a moment?..." He thought, but decided against it.
Danny said nothing as the bickering and the fight reminded him of something.
"I sure hope that Katie's feeling better..."He thought as he wondered if she still working on ways to better herself.
As he was distracted by his own thoughts, his friends noticed that he was quiet and seemed to be in deep in thought.
"Danny?..."Tucker asked, snapping Danny out of it.
"Oh...uh...what?..."Danny asked.
"You okay, Dude. You seem to be pretty out of it today..."Tucker pointed out.
"I...I'm fine, just wondering how Katie is doing, that's all..."Danny said.
Sam frowned, as she had a feeling on what he was thinking about.
"I still can't believe that you're actually concerned about her after all the trouble she's causes whenever she has a bad day..."She said.
Danny frowned.
"Sam, enough. I know that you don't like Katie, but she's just trying as hard as she to living her life, despite her family's curse..."He said.
"The same girl who just hulked out and tried to crush Dash, and almost tore the school apart to do so!..."Sam said.
"That wasn't her fault, you know that she can't control her curse yet!..."Danny said.
"She should've just done the smart thing and ignored him, instead of nearly causing the whole school to panic!..."Sam yelled.
"That's easier said than done for her and you know it!..."Danny said, as they began to argue. "Remember all the times that Dash angered us? Including you? Remember all the times you nearly lost it because of that jerk?!..."Danny pointed out.
"At least I never tried to ATTACK HIM!..."Sam argued.
"That's not the point! The point is that you got ANGRY, just like Katie does! The only difference between you two is that she's cursed into acting on that anger against her will and you're not!..."Danny yelled.
"That's what makes her even more dangerous! She gets a little ticked and she becomes a hulking berserker that can level an entire block!..."Sam yelled back.
"One who clearly doesn't WANT to be dangerous!..." Danny yelled back.
The two teens angrily stare one another down, with the other checking his pockets to see if he remembered to pack some quick snacks for their ghost patrol.
"Well, this is nothing new..."Tucker thought as his friends kept bickering.
"She's dangerous!..."Sam shouted in stubbornness, being inflexible here.
"She's trying to change! Give her a break!..." Danny said, losing his patience already.
The ghost boy and goth girl were glaring at each other both being stubborn and wouldn't give in. Again what else was new for these two when they got arguing.
"This is totally expected. You fall for anyone with a pretty face!..."Sam said in anger and pain, thinking is why was Danny sticking up for this girl.
"So did you with Gregor!... Danny said, not backing down.
The two teenagers were fuming, both saying thing the other hated.
"You just crossed a line!..." The goth girl yelled, pointing at him.
"And you didn't?!..." Danny questioned.
"This is so stupid! You of all people should be the one who wants that walking time bomb out of your life the most! But all she has to do is put on a little sobbing act and you suddenly do a 180!..." Sam accused.
"Sam, I don't have feelings for Katie! I just feel sorry for her, and I know she can't control her curse yet and she truly feels bad about all of the trouble that she caused. She just needs help. Why can't you understand that I am just trying to help her control herself before something REALLY bad happens?!..." Danny asked in an exasperated tone.
The goth girl remained stubborn and defensive.
"UGH! You just don't get it, do you?!..." She snapped.
Sam marched away, in a bad mood. Tucker saw this and shook his head.
"Sam's jealousy rears it's ugly hand yet again..."He thought, before turning to Danny.
"Dude. You sure have it rough..."Tucker said, being sympathetic.
Danny sighed, and message his temple. He was already getting a migraine from this.
"Trust me, I know..."He said, sighing deeply.
"What are you gonna do?..."Tucker asked, as his friend took a moment to think about his response.
"I'm gonna go to the ghost zone. As soon as the portal is available, I'm gonna see if Clockwork has any clue to that might help us with Katie and her curse..."He explain.
"Let's just hope that he's in the mood to help out..."Tucker said.
"Yeah, and that he's actually there too..."Danny said.
After making sure no one was around, the ghost boy hid in an alley and changed into his ghost form. Danny then took the skies, hoping that luck will be on his side.
However, he recalled a certain blonde girl who is probably feeling down right now.
"I'd better check up on her, just in case..."He thought, worried about her.
Meanwhile
At the Kaboom's residence
Katie was in her bedroom right now.
After dinner and getting her homework done, the blonde girl retired to her room for privacy.
Right now, she was feeling depressed. Her mind went back to what happened earlier and immediately covered her face with both her hands in shame.
"I can't believe how easily I relapsed like that. I thought that I had a handle on things..."She thought.
She saw her reflection in her bedroom mirror. She stared at her face in the mirror and worried about what else might cause her to morph uncontrollably out of anger...just like in the past.
She felt like a bull in a china shop. All it took was one outburst and everything crashed, crumbled, and turned to dust, unable to be rebuilt.
"If Danny and those mice never showed me that video...I never would have thought I was...a freak..."She thought, feeling depressed.
Her mind went back to her life in Acmeville.
Back then, she used to think that she was a perfectly normal girl, just like everyone else. She used to think that she was just a little clumsy at random times, maybe a little moody at times but she thought that was just part of being a teenager.
Back then, her life was perfect, or she thought so...all the while, unaware of the fear and pain she caused others.
Especially her family.
"Maybe my family would've been better off if I was born a guy instead?..."She thought, feeling a pang of guilt right now.
She was feeling miserable right now, thinking of all the damage she caused and didn't even know it.
How could she be so oblivious? Or was she just subconsciously ignoring all of destructive damages she caused, just so she could focus on her own teenage attics?
Katie didn't want to think about that last thought.
No, she knew that he didn't have any memories of her rampages. As for not noticing the damages, she genuinely thought it was just part of the daily wackiness that came with living in Acmeville.
Or maybe the curse really did mess with her mind and made her think that?
Even she still wasn't sure how far these dreaded curse had affected her outside of her transformations.
All she did know is that she really, REALLY hated this curse.
"Why couldn't I just been one of those people born with a curled tongue or double eyelashes? Why did I have to be born with a CURSE of all things?!..." She thought, hating this.
She hated being a freak!
She hated being a monster!
She hated being cursed!
"So much I've done is wrong! I'm a monster! A ticking time bomb! A teenage abomination!..." She whispered, groaning deeply.
She buried herself into her bed covers. Tears moistened the sheets, unable to stop flowing, her pain too much to bare.
"Sometimes, I wish that I could just disappear...at the very least that way Mom and Dad don't have to worry about more insurance payments..." She said, feeling so many negative things right now.
Katie knew that she's going to be adding this incident to the talks with her next visit to her doctor.
"Seriously, just how long till I hospitalize someone or worse?..."She asked, hating everything about this. "How long until I demolish the entire town?..."She thought with self loathing, as her makeup started to stain her face from all her crying..
The blonde girl sighed in depression, wondering how she can get rid of this curse.
"If only my family wasn't cursed...or if I wasn't so messed up and could control myself better..." She said, wishing that she could get rid of her powers.
But wishing for a miracle is only as useful as a pipe dream. She started to think if maybe it really was hopeless and she was just kidding herself now.
Suddenly, she heard a knock on her window.
"Huh?..."Katie went.
She went to her window, and soon saw that it was her "coach".
"Hi..."Danny Phantom said, as he waved as he hovered outside her window.
Katie blinked, as she wiped a tear.
"Uh...hi..."She said, as she let him in her room.
Danny phased inside, then floated down on Katie's bedroom floor..
"Sorry for the sudden intrusion..."He said, as he scratches the back of his head.
Now a little bit more composed, Katie sent him a slight smile.
"It's okay..."She said, as the ghost boy gave her room a quick glance.
Danny looked around and felt a little nervous and a bit embarrassed as he was in Kate's room.
"Last time I was in here, I was fearing for my life and my lips..."He thought as he noticed that he self-consciously covered his mouth out of habit.
But he mustered his strength as he walked towards the blonde girl, who was wiping away her tears. Feeling every heavy step he takes getting lighter with each step.
"So, what brings you here?..."Katie asked, surprised to see him now.
"I just wanted to check up on you..."Danny said, looking concerned about Katie's condition.
"If by checking up, you mean make sure I don't go berserk again, then by all means..."Katie sniffled, scowling into her blanket.
"No, I mean, checking up on you. I was worried, okay..."Danny said, as he patted the girl on the back, barely keeping his nerves together as he soothed the girl.
Part of him did not know why he was acting like this, but he felt that it was needed.
Hearing what Danny said cheered Katie up, just a bit but not a lot. Still, she appreciated the gesture.
"That was really nice of him. He didn't have to..."She thought, surprised that the town hero showed this much thoughtfulness.
The blonde cursed girl and the ghost boy kept talking and sitting with each other. They started by talking about some random stuff to break the ice.
"So, how's the weather?..."Danny asked.
"Nice..." Katie said not really interested but willing to accept any way to dodge uncomfortable matters.
"Yeah...so, anything else new?..."Danny asked.
"Not exactly..." Katie said, feeling just as awkward.
Then the conversation eventually brought up the incident that happened today. And Danny decided to stop beating around the bush.
"I heard certain sounds of distress in this direction...which is also part of the reason I wanted to check up on you..." Danny said.
"It wasn't because someone saw The Predator, in case you were wondering..." Katie said, bummed to admit it.
"I'm actually impressed that you know what that is..." The ghost boy said, smiling slightly.
Hearing that made the blonde girl smile a bit, though not very much.
Katie could tell that the ghost boy was trying to be supportive of her situation and she appreciated that. She also found this kindness to be touching and a comfort too.
"You know...he kinda reminds me of human Danny...almost a lot..." She thought, still longing for him but accepting that she is no good for him as she is now.
However, she pushed the thought out of her head.
"They're not the same..." She reasoned, but tried to say what she thought he wanted to hear.
"No matter what, I'm gonna work harder and learn to get a better handle on my curse..."Katie vowed, with some determination on her face.
"That's...actually reassuring..."Danny said, as he gave a thumbs up and a smile. "At least you're trying..."He said.
Katie nodded with a low groan.
"Still, I'm not looking forward to my therapy session with doctor Shen tomorrow..."She said.
"It can't be that bad..."Danny said. "I mean, you're not telling her about your...transformations, right?..."He asked.
"Of course, but it's not just that. After everything I've gone through, I thought I had a handle on things. But I just assaulted a jock, just because he was a jerk!..."Katie said, as she buried her face into the covers, almost trying to suffocate her guilt and shame.
"Trust me. It's never that easy..."Danny said, as he took a spot nearby, using the girl's desk chair.
"You're always gonna have this one detail that makes life...go more than a hundred rounds with you..."He said.
Katie stopped to look up, staring at the ghost boy.
"For me, I always have to deal with a ghost that just wants to make my life miserable. It's not even about beating me. He just wants to take up my time so I don't have it for anything else..."Danny said, thinking of Vlad.
"I think I know that feeling..." Katie said, thinking about the same ghost without knowing it.
The ghost boy then sent her an encouraging look, knowing she does want to get over the curse as soon as possible.
"I know that this is tough, but you just gotta keep at it. Dash might have made you morph but at least you're trying. That's what truly counts. You just need to keep practicing and learn to ignore morons like him, and then you will be free. And no matter what, I'll be there to help you in case you transform again..." He said, making her smile a bit.
"Thank you..." Katie said, feeling a little less miserable now.
"Don't mention it. Anyway, I gotta go. See ya, Katie..."The ghost boy said.
Danny flew out of Katie's room, waving goodbye as he disappeared into the night sky.
Katie watched him fly away and walked up to the window, placing a hand on the glass. The night air was soothing, and she felt a sense of calm not felt since this morning.
"I guess...I can take things slow..."She said, as she decided to go to sleep right now.
She decided to clear up her face in the morning, since today had been quite eventful.
She tried to sleep, hoping that things will be better soon..
The Next Day
School has passed and people were going about their business. None more so than Katie Kaboom.
The blonde girl felt uneasy when she saw construction workers fixing the part of the school she damaged, and tried her hardest to avoid Dash and even Danny to avoid a relapse.
After school, Katie was doing her therapy session with Dr. Shen. Katie was now in her office and was talking to the female therapist.
"So...how did everything go this week, Katie?..."Dr. Shen asked, holding her clipboard.
Katie was quiet for a moment, before she spoke up.
"Well...it was kinda really incredibly dumb, I lost my temper with this jerk and...things got say that I regretted my actions afterwards, would be an understatement. I only wish it were an overstatement..." Katie said in an uneasy way.
Dr. Shen listened to that, and nodded.
"I see. In most situations violence isn't the right answer. If you are comfortable enough, could you tell me more about it?..."The therapist said.
"Long story short, I saw this jerk bullying a guy I really care about and I...saw red..." She said, being vague as the therapist wrote it down.
"I see. As I said, violence shouldn't be a first resort...unless someone was genuinely trying to inflict bodily harm..." She said, being serious.
The therapist went her a gentle look and tried to analyze and rationalize her patient's situation.
"What you should do is try to deescalate the situation. Violence is something that should always be a last resort... have you ever considered using your words to end a conflict? Or seek help from a responsible adult to defuse the situation. Granted, you go to Casper High, which isn't that reliable but it's worth mentioning..."Dr. Shen said in a kind manner to the blonde.
Katie was silent as she heard about this.
"I know...but...it's...it's hard...I have such a monstrous task to do..."Katie muttered.
She flinched, having let that out but mistake but Dr. Shen sent her a gentle smile.
"We all feel that way...trying to improve ourselves and breaking bad habits can be difficult and at times overwhelming. But it's worth it in the end..."Dr. Shen said, hoping to comfort Katie.
"Understatement..." Katie snarked while the therapist tried to help her feel hopeful.
But Katie wasn't that optimistic about her chances.
"I know that it seems impossible... everything worth doing does at your age, but it's not impossible..." Dr. Shen said, being encouraging.
Katie's spirits have been lifted a bit upon hearing that, but still felt that little progress was made.
"I just hope that it'll work out..." She thought, scratching the side of her head.
After the session was over, Katie walked out of the office and went to the lobby. Her mother was already there, waiting for her.
"How was your session, Sweetie?..."Margaret asked.
"Fine, I guess..."Katie said sullenly.
They soon left the office and headed to the car, ready to go home. Her mother saw her expression, and tried to cheer her up.
"It'll get better. I'm sure of it. You just have to keep at it and eventually you'll find your new footing in no time. Just you wait..." Margaret said, smiling gently to her child.
"Sure..." Katie said, not all that hopeful right now.
But the blonde girl still smiled to sure that her mother didn't worry to much about her.
"At least make it look like I can handle it..." Katie thought, sighing internally.
As the car drove of, Katie was unaware that someone had been spying on her. Someone who has kept an eye on her for a while..
"This'll be interesting..."A figure thought, before vanishing into the shadows..
With Danny
The ghost boy was in his basement right now.
He stood before the Fenton portal, which was thankfully up and running again.
"Here goes nothing..."He said, as he grabbed his copy of the ghost zone map and flew into the portal.
"I just hope that it goes better than last time..." He thought, trying to be optimistic about this.
The ghost boy soon flew Inside the portal, hoping that the ever vigilant time master was available and could help him.
Otherwise he had a feeling that helping Katie out would be next to impossible...and if he didn't do something, then a first aid kit may be needed sooner rather than later.
To be continued-
Next time on GK: Katie's Quest
Next Stop, Clockwork
A/N: Special thanks to Jay The Average Fanboy, Luiz4200, NeoMark, Beconfuzzled Writer and 61394 for helping out with this chapter. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Super heavy weapons guy, Jebest4781, pokemon fan 1991 and Luiz4200: Thank you :)
RonaldM40196867:
1) No.
2) Danny told her.
3) Right.
4) Almost.
5) Probably.
6) Probably.
7) I guess that their taste is a little similar.
8) Maybe.
9) I suppose so.
10) She hates how rude, dumb and obnoxious he can be.
Invader Johnny: Yeah.
Nightwing Josh: You're welcome :)
Silverwolf7791: LOL!
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)