It was a rough morning for Ember since she wasn't able to get enough sleep the night before. Even after taking a VERY cold shower, her dreams were plagued by her Baby-Pop in ways that she couldn't say aloud. She just hoped she didn't moan in her sleep and wake up Baby-Pop or worse, Mini-Pop. THAT was a talk she did NOT want to have.
'Why do I have this feeling that it's going to be a LONG day?' she thought with a frown as she entered the sitting area of their hotel room.
"Morning, Ember!" chirped Danielle with a smile as she sat on the couch, watching TV.
"Morning, Mini-Pop," replied the rock diva. She looked around and noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Baby-Pop?"
"Taking a shower."
'There's an image that's not going to leave for awhile,' thought Ember, trying to push down her blush.
"So what are we going to do today?" questioned the ghostling, looking curious.
Ember was thankful for the distraction. "Well, like Baby-Pop said yesterday, we'll probably head to the Hollywood district and whatever that Griffith Observatory is."
"What about where you're holding your concert?"
A teasing grin appeared on Ember's face. "You'll just have to wait to find out, Mini-Pop."
Danielle could only pout while Ember sat next to her to wait for Danny. They didn't have to wait very long as Danny soon came into the room, finishing putting on his shirt.
"Ready to hit the town?" asked the halfa boy with a smile.
-:-
Looking up at the building before him, Danny could safely say that he was excited.
"You look like a kid on Christmas morning, Baby-Pop," teased Ember.
Danny rolled his eyes, but didn't lose his smile. "What can I say? Astronomy is my favorite subject. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I want to be an astronaut one day."
"Yes you did and I have no doubt that you will," replied the fiery girl with a smirk as she looked back at the Griffith Observatory. "Although I thought Amity Park had an observatory of its own."
"It does. It's actually modeled after the Griffith Observatory, so I've always wanted to come here to see the real one," explained Danny. "I'm just glad we came when it finally opened to the public again."
"Wait, this place has been closed down to the public?" questioned Ember.
"They closed it to the public back in 2002 for some remodeling and expansion and it wasn't until late 2006 that it was finished and reopened."
"Well aren't you lucky," replied the rock diva with a teasing giggle.
"Best part is that admission is free," stated Danny with a grin. Seeing the surprised look on Ember's face, he explained. "The observatory's namesake and benefactor, Griffith J. Griffith, left in his will that he wanted admission to be free because he wanted astronomy to be accessible to the public."
"I'm guessing they get money through donations then."
"Yup. Now let's on inside before Danielle becomes even more impatient," said the older halfa as he glanced at the little one, who was fidgeting at having to wait.
The trio headed on inside and started to check out the various exhibits; the Wilder Hall of the Eye, the Ahmanson Hall of the Sky, the W.M. Keck Foundation Central Rotunda, the Cosmic Connection, the Gunther Depths of Space Hall, and the Edge of Space Mezzanine. Ember was surprised that she actually found this stuff interesting and was further surprised that Mini-Pop was paying attention.
"Danny! They have a lightning machine!" said Danielle in whispered awe as she watched the device before them send out arcs of electricity.
Danny let out a laugh. "That's actually a Tesla coil, Danielle. It was invented by Nikola Tesla, who is known as the father of modern electricity."
"I thought that was Thomas Edison?" questioned Ember, looking confused.
The raven-haired boy grimaced. "It's complicated. Edison wanted the world to use direct current, but it was clear that Tesla's alternating current was more effective, which is why homes and businesses use it to this day. Not to say Edison hadn't contributed to the world. He is the reason why we have light bulbs, movie cameras, and record players after all."
"I feel like Technus would really get along with those two."
"Maybe with Edison since both of them are ego maniacs," replied Danny. "Edison absolutely HATED Tesla since Tesla was just a better scientist and inventor."
"…That's actually kind of pathetic."
"You have no idea. Anyway, let's head to the café for lunch before heading out to the Hollywood district."
At the mention of food, Danielle quickly agreed, but Danny had to grab her by her hoodie to keep her from running on ahead and getting lost. Too bad the small group wouldn't be getting any lunch as when they got closer to the café, blue mist escaped the mouths of the Phantom duo and screams of terror could be heard.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Ember, already annoyed with whoever was here to cause them trouble.
Without wasting time, Danny transformed and flew to the café with Ember and Danielle right behind him. Upon ghosting through the doors, they had to stop when they saw what they would be dealing with.
It was a large, green, octopus-like alien with a hooked beak and a glass dome on its head that showed off its brain.
"SKREEEEEEEE!"
"Cool," stated Danielle in awe.
"No, not cool!" snapped Ember, as she noticed some humans cowering in fear. "What the hell is this thing?!"
"Cut, cut, cut!" called out a new voice.
The trio looked over to the other side of the room to find a short ghost, maybe the same height as Danielle, dressed up as a director.
"Okay, who are you?" demanded Danny, getting on guard.
"I am the great director Orson DeMille and you three are getting in the way of filming!" exclaimed the diminutive ghost.
Danny and Ember stared at him with blank looks while Danielle was just confused. Ember then turned to Danny.
"You ever heard of this guy, Baby-Pop?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nuh uh."
Orson could feel his eye twitch in annoyance. Damn youth of today. As much as he wanted to put these brats in their place, he needed to stick with the plan.
"Anyway!" yelled out Orson, regaining their attention. "Time to resume filming! In this scene, the alien has taken over the observatory and the heroine must stop it!"
The two teens glanced at each other and before they say anything the "heroine" made her grand entrance.
"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille!" exclaimed the ghostly woman, soaking up the attention.
"…The hell?" questioned Ember.
"Everyone! I'd like to introduce the star of this film; Miss Gloria Desmond!" exclaimed Orson. "Now, Miss Desmond, in this scene the alien creature has taken the humans hostage and it's up to you to save them."
"Yes, yes, I know what to do," replied Gloria in a flippant tone. She then turned to Orson with a glare. "Just make sure the camera is on me! Got it?!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" squeaked out Orson before turning on the camera. "And action!"
The alien let out another screech as it made its way to the screaming humans. Gloria just stood by, looking at her nails while she waited for her cue. Luckily there was a REAL hero in the house at the moment.
"Not going to happen!" shouted Danny as he flew towards the alien, shocking Gloria.
Danny got in front of the alien and blasted it back with an ecto blast before going after it, gaining cheers from the humans. Watching this, Gloria grit her teeth in anger. She reached up and grabbed Orson by the front of his shirt and pulled him down to stare in the eye.
"Orson, who the hell is that?" demanded the actress with a hiss as she glared at the director ghost.
Shaking in fear, Orson hastily answered. "I th-think th-that's Danny Phantom. You know, the ghost boy who saved the planet?"
Gloria scowled at hearing this. "Why was I not told about him being here?!"
"I didn't know he would be here!"
A growl came from Gloria's throat. It was bad enough that little rock star wannabe was trying to steal her spotlight, but now this halfa freak as well?! Not on her watch!
With Danny, he was still blasting at the alien and dodging tentacles, allowing the humans to escape from harm.
"Ember! Batter up!" shouted out Danny as he blasted the alien and sent it flying.
"Gladly," replied the rock diva as she held her guitar like a baseball bat as the alien came closer.
With a mighty swing, the fiery girl hit the alien dead on, but instead of sending the alien back towards Danny there was a loud crunch sound as the alien broke in half, revealing the gears and mechanics inside.
"It was an animatronic?" questioned the halfa boy, surprised by this reveal.
"Those dipsticks must have possessed it for whatever they've got cooking up," replied Ember, looking at the pile of scrap with a glare.
"All the more reason to stop th-and they're gone," stated Danny, going into a deadpan tone when he turned around and noticed that Gloria and Orson had escaped.
Ember grimaced at this. "Just great."
While Danny and Ember thought of where the two bad ghosts could have gone, Danielle's mind was elsewhere.
"That was so awesome how you smashed that alien, Ember! I bet you could be a great baseball player with the way you swing your guitar," squeaked out the little one. "You could probably even play for the Dodgers and actually help them win a game for once!"
The two teens blinked in confusion before looking back at Danielle.
"Danielle? How exactly do you even know about the Dodgers?" questioned Danny.
"Well…I might have snuck in to watch some games before just to see what all the fuss was about," explained Danielle. Then she got excited. "Ooh! They also have this thing called a Dodger Dog and they're really tasty!"
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, while Ember looked at the ghostling with a blank look.
"We're going to have a long talk about this, Danielle," stated Danny in a no-nonsense tone, causing his little clone to pout. "In the meantime, let me just clean up this mess and then we can head to the next landmark."
-:-
From Griffith Observatory the ghostly trio hiked up towards the nearby Hollywood Sign. On the way, Danny was searching on his phone for any information on Gloria or Orson.
"Find anything, Baby-Pop?"
"Nothing," replied Danny with a sigh as he looked up to his companion. "There doesn't seem to be anything on these two, not even a Wikipedia page. And if there's one thing I've learned about the Internet, it's that if something or someone doesn't have a Wikipedia page then they're not seen as important."
"Oh," was all Ember said as she glanced at Danny's phone. "D-Do I have a Wiki-thingy page?"
Danny's mouth twitched into a smile as he made a few taps on his phone before he handed it to Ember. He couldn't help but love the way her eyes lit up in happiness when she saw her Wiki page.
"So what's the deal with this sign we're going to go see?" questioned Danielle as she looked up at the large letters on the hill.
"The sign was originally used as advertisement for real estate, but it became so recognized that it was left up and became a symbol of Los Angeles," explained Danny.
"And people come up here just to look at it?"
"It's one of those things you should do at least once, Mini-Pop."
As they drew closer to the sign, Danielle kept asking questions with Danny and Ember answering as best as they could. Unfortunately, Danny's ghost sense went off, stopping all conversation.
"Again?" demanded Danny going into ghost mode and then on guard. Ember and Danielle did the same, thinking Gloria and Orson were about to strike.
"Welcome to Hollywood!"
The three blinked in confusion at the friendly tone of the new voice. Looking over at the sign, they found a group of surprisingly friendly looking ghosts.
"…Wait, what?" wondered Danny.
"Wow, it's not often we get other ghosts as tourists!" exclaimed the male ghost with a smile. "So what brings you kids to Hollywood?"
Danny and the girls were still trying to comprehend what exactly was going on right now.
"…You know, I had heard rumors that the Hollywood Sign was haunted. This was not what I was expecting," stated Danny.
Ember turned to the white-haired boy with a narrowed look. "You knew this place was haunted and you still wanted to come?"
"If I remember correctly, YOU are the one who wanted to explore Hollywood," replied Danny, causing Ember to pout.
"Who are you guys?" asked Danielle, looking up at the older ghost.
"We're the movie stars of the past!" answered the man. "We get together up here from time to time to remember the good times."
"Really? Wait, does that mean you would know…what were their names again?"
"You really need to start paying more attention, Mini-Pop," said Ember with a sigh as she patted the little one on the head.
"Oh? Are you looking for someone?" asked the man with a look of curiosity.
Danny rubbed the back of his head. He stayed on guard because he wasn't sure how these ghosts would react. "Sort of. Do you happen to know Gloria Desmond and Orson DeMille?"
The group of celluloid heroes grimaced at the mention of those names. "We wish we didn't."
"Huh?"
"They're annoyances!" cried out a female ghost.
"That's enough, Bette."
"You know it's true, Rudolph!"
Rudolph pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration before looking back at the kids. "Basically Gloria has a big ego. She is not talented as an actress, but thinks she's the greatest actress of all time and will berate anyone who tries to steal her spotlight. As for Orson DeMille, he is a wannabe director who will do anything Gloria tells him to."
"That still doesn't explain why they attacked the observatory," said Danny.
"If Gloria did it then it was probably either for attention or she felt threatened by someone," explained the ghostly movie star.
"Well whatever her reason was doesn't change the fact that she's insane," added Ember with a frown.
"Here, here!" exclaimed the party of ghosts, each holding up a drink.
"She needs to be stopped," stated Danny, a look of determination on his face. "Her ego put people in danger and I'm not going to stand around and let her continue doing that!"
"If that's the case, I wish you luck, young man," said Rudolph. "She's been a pain in our sides for decades. We would have dealt with her ourselves, but she just would have come right back."
"Don't worry, sir. We'll put a stop to her," replied the halfa hero.
Saying their goodbyes, the ghostly trio left the Hollywood Sign and headed back to their hotel to try and come up with a plan to stop Gloria.
"Of course we need to find her first," said Ember. She then turned to Danny, who was in thought. "Any ideas yet, Baby-Pop?"
"Not yet. I'm still trying to figure out why she attacked the observatory," replied Danny. "Rudolph said that she did because she either wanted attention or because she felt threatened…and I get the feeling it was latter."
"How come, Danny?" questioned Danielle, looking confused.
"It's simple. Given her personality, if she wanted attention she would have gone somewhere else where there would be a LOT more people," explained the raven-haired boy. "That and it's obvious that she probably doesn't know what observatory is."
Ember let out a few laughs at that before getting serious again. "So if she did it because she was threatened, what was she threatened by?"
Danny wished he had an answer, but it's not like it would just smack him right in the face.
Something then suddenly smacked Danny right in the face.
"Gah!" yelped Danny as he snatched whatever it was off his face. He glared at it for a moment before he got a better look at the offending piece of paper. "Huh?"
"Hey, it's one of my posters," stated Ember, her eyes lighting up.
"Wait, what?" questioned the halfa, turning to the fiery girl.
"Yeah, I had hired some ghosts to spread these around the city before we arrived as a way to advertise my upcoming concert," explained Ember, looking proud of herself.
Danny had a blank look on his face as he looked at Ember and then at the poster. It didn't take long for a connection was made.
"So that's why Gloria attacked the observatory."
"…Huh? What are you talking about, Baby-Pop?"
He looked over towards his friend. "I think Gloria attacked because of you, Ember."
"Wait, you're saying that it's my fault?!" questioned the rock diva, upset that Baby-Pop would even think that.
"Not like that!" replied Danny, trying to calm her down. "What I'm saying is that since you've been advertising your concert, Gloria saw that as you trying to steal the spotlight from her. At first I thought I might have been the reason, considering I'm world famous and I can never catch a break, but NO ONE knows I'm here in Los Angeles. That just leaves you, Ember."
Upon hearing this, Danielle grew worried. "Does that mean Ember is in danger?"
The older halfa let out a snort. "There's a better chance of Skulker becoming a better hunter than Ember being in danger from Gloria."
A slight grin appeared on Ember's face, not only because of the crack towards the lousy hunter, but because her Baby-Pop had so much faith in her not to be taken down by what was essentially a wannabe A-Lister.
"So then how are going to deal with the crazy lady and her mook?" questioned the ghostling.
"Easy," started Danny with a devious grin. "We bring her to us."
-:-
The Hollywood Bowl, the best place to go for concerts in Los Angeles and the place Ember had planned to hold hers. She and the Phantom Duo were currently at the amphitheater setting up for her concert later that night.
"You sure this will work, Baby-Pop?" asked Ember as she tuned her guitar. She watched as he moved one of the speakers into place.
"If Gloria's as egotistical as we think she is, she won't hesitate to try and stop your concert," replied Danny, looking back at her.
The rock diva scowled at the thought of someone trying to disrupt her concerts. Granted, the boy before her did just that during their first meeting, but that was when she was an angry, "evil" ghost. She's on the straight and narrow now and didn't deserve to have her music blocked, damn it!
"Like you said, Danny, the crazy lady won't be able to beat Ember," stated Danielle as she moved around some of the smaller objects on stage. "The concert will go on!"
A grin appeared on Ember's face as she finished up tuning her guitar. Leave it to Mini-Pop to be optimistic.
"Just be ready," said the older halfa. "Gloria's going to be here any minute."
"What makes you say that, Baby-Pop?" questioned Ember, confused.
"Call it a hunch," he replied in a deadpan tone as his ghost sense went off.
True to his words, Gloria and Orson flew into view and Gloria was clearly not happy.
"I don't know where you get off thinking you can steal my spotlight, you little hussy, but I'll be damned if I allow it!" exclaimed Gloria as she glared down at Ember.
The rock diva glared right back as her hair flared up a bit at being called a hussy.
"Listen up, you washed out old hag! You're out of your mind if you think you're going to stop MY music!" retorted Ember, brandishing her guitar like an axe.
Gloria let out a growl before whipping around to glare at Orson. "Well?! What are you waiting for?!"
"M-My apologies, Miss Desmond!" stuttered out the diminutive director.
With a snap of his fingers, multiple animatronic aliens appeared, ready to attack the small group. Seeing Gloria's little army, Danny could only smirk.
"I had a feeling she'd pull something like this," he stated. He then turned to his little clone. "Congratulations, Danielle. You have the important task in this fight."
"Huh? Wait, you want me to fight those things?!" she questioned, wondering if Danny hit his head. She was good, but even she knew she'd be in over her head fighting all of those ghost robots.
"No, I'll be taking care of the animatronics," said Danny as he created multiple doppelgangers of himself, surprising Gloria and Orson. "You on the other hand get to take on shorty."
"Now THAT I can do," replied the ghostling as she looked towards Orson with a look that promised pain, causing him to shake in slight fear.
The Phantom Duo shot off, Danny and his doubles blasting the animatronics while Danielle chased after Orson.
"That just leaves you and me, you egotistical bitch," hissed out Ember as she glared at Gloria.
"I will not let you take what is mine!" yelled out Gloria, glaring right back at the younger female.
The ghostly actress fired off ecto shot after ecto shot at Ember, who easily dodged the attacks as she drew closer to her target. When she was close enough she swung her guitar with all her might, hitting Gloria and sending her crashing into the earth below.
"And there's more where that came from!" shouted Ember.
There's an old saying of "Hell have no fury like a woman scorned" and right now Gloria's fury was at its peak. Glowing red eyes filled with hatred honed in on Ember as their owner let out a feral screech. She then shot out an ecto blast that was too fast for Ember to dodge and she had to take the brunt of it.
"Gah!" screamed out Ember as she fell to the ground.
"You stupid brat! Know your place!" screeched Gloria, glaring down at the fiery girl. "You are beneath me! You are nothing!"
Using her ghostly abilities, Gloria manipulated the animatronics that Danny was fighting, causing them to go into overdrive.
"What the…?" questioned the halfa in shock. His doubles were soon destroyed and the animatronics captured him in their tentacles. "Damn it!"
"Danny!" called out Danielle, taking her eyes off of Orson.
"Big mistake, little girl," laughed the director ghost as he summoned film reels and wrapped the little one in celluloid.
"Hey! Let go!" yelled Danielle as she struggled against her bindings.
"B-Baby-Pop…M-Mini-Pop…" stuttered out Ember as she struggled to get up.
She glared up at Gloria, who continued to glare back down at her.
"You insolent little girl," hissed out the ghostly actress. "How dare you even think to try and take MY fame away! You think that holding a concert would gain you fans? You're nothing more than an ugly, untalented hack that belongs under my shoes! You are a nobody and always will be!"
Memories of when she was alive assaulted Ember's mind. Memories of those who always made fun of her because of her love of rock music. Memories of being called a loser every day and being told that she would never amount to anything because she would claim to be a world famous rock star. Memories…of parents who were disappointed and embarrassed at having a daughter who loved the "Devil's music" and didn't care that she was dead.
Tears threatened to fall, but she would not allow it, not in front of this bitch. Ember wanted nothing more than to put this woman in her place, but she felt powerless. That was until…
"Would you just shut up?!" shouted Danny, glaring at Gloria and catching everyone's attention. "If anyone here is an untalented hack, it's you!"
Gloria bristled in anger. "What did you say?"
"I said YOU are the untalented hack!" repeated the halfa, continuing his tirade as he struggled to free himself. "NO ONE knows who the hell you are because you're movies were so bad and you couldn't act your way out of paper bag, but EVERYONE knows who Ember is because her music is some of the best out there! In the end, Ember will be the one everyone remembers while you will be the forgotten one.
And you know what, just because it's also true, Ember's way more beautiful than you'll ever be!"
All of the negative feelings and the all of the bad memories vanished thanks to Danny's words. The tears finally fell, but they weren't of sadness. Ember actually felt happy at that moment as she was reminded that she had someone who actually cared about her and loved her music because he genuinely enjoyed it.
Baby-Pop had even called her beautiful, being the first to ever call her as such.
With a struggle, Ember used her guitar to prop herself to a standing position. She glared at Gloria's back as the washed up wannabe shook in rage.
"Y-You insolent, rude, brat! How dare you speak to me that way?!" screeched Gloria, her angry red eyes focused solely on Danny. "I am the greatest actress who ever lived!"
"You're just full of hot air," stated Ember, bringing her arm down to strike a cord.
Caught off guard by the sudden sound, Gloria was punched in the face by a green ecto fist, sending her flying towards Orson and the animatronics.
"Gah!" cried out Orson as Gloria crashed into him. In doing so, this released his hold on Danielle, who then freed Danny.
"You did it, Ember!" squeaked out the ghostling, happy that Gloria was beaten.
"We're not done yet, Mini-Pop," replied the rock diva, readying her guitar as the animatronics and Gloria came closer.
"I will not let you win!" shouted the disheveled woman.
That was when she broke out into a guitar solo. A barrage of ecto fists flew towards their targets, pummeling the animatronics into scrap and knocking the villainess ghost into submission. Orson could only look on in shock as his boss was soundly beaten.
At this point, Danny pulled out the thermos and held it out to Ember.
"I think you've earned this, Ember."
Without saying a word, Ember pointed the thermos towards Gloria and Orson and pressed the button.
"H-Hey! Wh-What's going on?!" demanded Orson as he and Gloria started to get sucked up. "This isn't right!"
Once they were trapped inside the thermos, Ember capped it to prevent their escape.
"Yeah! That's what they get for messing with us!" exclaimed Danielle with a smirk.
Danny merely rolled his eyes at his little clone before turning back to Ember, seeing her glare at the thermos.
"You did great, Ember," he said in a soft tone as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close.
A slight blush appeared on her face, but that didn't stop her from snuggling closer to the boy. "Thanks, Baby-Pop. For everything."
A sudden flash of light caught their attention and standing before them were Walker and Bullet with a prison portal right behind them.
"You got our new prisoners, punk?" questioned Walker, narrowing his eyes on the teens.
Ember merely raised the thermos and gave it a few shakes. "Right here. You might want to have some earplugs on hand when you get back though."
The warden was confused at first, but when Ember released the contents of the thermos it all became clear.
"Wh-What happened?" questioned Gloria, holding her head. Looking up, she made eye contact with Walker, whom she narrowed her eyes at. "Who are you and why are you looking at me like that? Do you know who I am?!"
Orson, who was already in Bullet's grasp, could only facepalm. "That's Walker, Miss Desmond. He's the warden of the Ghost Zone Prison."
"If that's the case, arrest these brats for getting in my way!" demanded Gloria as she pointed at Danny and Ember.
"…She's got guts for trying to order you around, Walker. I'll give her that much," said Bullet with a smirk, while everyone else stared at Gloria with a blank look.
A smile that promised pain made its way onto Walker's face. He was going to enjoy breaking this one.
"It seems you just broke one of my biggest rules, Desmond," stated Walker as he placed some cuffs on the shocked Gloria's wrists. "NO ONE orders me around."
"Except for Clockwork," added Danny, smirking when Walker glared at him. Bullet had to hold back the chuckle that was building up.
"W-Wait! Y-You can't arrest me!" shouted Gloria as Walker started to drag her towards the portal. "I'm Gloria Desmond! I can't go to prison! Horizontal stripes make me look fat!"
"Oh would you just shut up!" snapped Orson just as the portal closed.
The ghostly trio each let out a sigh of relief now that they no longer had to deal with egotistical actresses.
"So now what?" asked Danielle, looking up at her current guardians.
"Well first we need to clear out the scrap metal," said Danny, pointing towards the destroyed animatronic aliens. "After that we can finish setting up for Ember's concert."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to cleaning!" exclaimed the little one, rushing over to the pile of scrap.
The teens could only laugh at her enthusiasm.
-:-
Ember's Los Angeles concert was a huge success, something that didn't surprise Danny. He knew she would rock the Hollywood Bowl and the cheering fans were proof of that.
Right now though, it was late at night, the concert long over, and the small group was back at their hotel, having decided to leave for their next destination in the morning. With Danielle in bed sleeping, this gave Ember a chance to talk with Danny about what had happened earlier that day.
"What's up, Ember?" asked the halfa boy when he noticed how Ember looked nervous.
She fidgeted a bit before looking him in the eye. "You called me beautiful."
It was Danny's turn to be nervous as his eyes widened a bit and he turned away with a slight blush. "Y-Yeah, I guess I did."
"…Did you mean it?"
"Of course I did, Ember!" stated Danny, snapping back to look at her. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't!"
Her core pulsed rapidly in her chest. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she needed to know.
"Danny…what am I to you?"
Now Danny knew people saw him as dense when it came to the opposite sex, but he wasn't dense enough to see the look in Ember's eyes. Truth be told, he had grown close to the fiery girl since the beginning of summer vacation and he enjoyed being around her. This was surprising to him considering this girl was at one point his enemy and one of his more deadly ones, but times change and they were now friends…but he wouldn't mind if they were more than that. He just needed to tell her.
"To me, you are one of my best friends. To me, you are someone I see as my equal. To me, you are one of the strongest women I've ever met, both in a fight and through your convictions, as you never back down from someone who challenges your dream. To me…you are someone I want to be more than friends with and I'd hope that you'd feel the same."
It felt as if her core wanted to jump right out of her chest with how fast it was pulsing. Baby-Pop, HER Baby-Pop, felt the same way! She started to shake slightly as her eyes started to water.
"B-Baby-Pop…"
"W-Wait, E-Ember! Why are you crying?! Did I say something wrong?!" questioned Danny, frantically trying to figure out what he did.
The next thing he knew was that he was glomped by the ghost girl before him.
"You dipstick," said Ember with a giggle as she nuzzled against his neck and shoulder. "I'm just so happy right now!"
"So you do feel the same way?" asked the confused boy as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
Another giggle came from Ember. "Took you long enough, Baby-Pop~"
Danny had a slight pout on his face, causing Ember to giggle for a third time. He then looked at her, a question on his mind. "If I may ask, h-how long have you felt this way about me?"
A blush appeared on Ember's face. "Truthfully? Since you defeated Pariah Dark."
"Th-That long ago?!" questioned Danny, surprised that she's been crushing on him for so long. Maybe he really WAS dense.
"Well we were still enemies at the time, Baby-Pop," replied Ember, rolling her eyes. She then started to lead him to where their bed was. "Come on, we can talk more about this in the morning."
"Yeah, yeah," said Danny as he followed her. "At some point we're going to have to figure out how to break this to our friends."
"We'll worry about that later. Right now, I just want to snuggle with my new boyfriend."
Danny could only grin as he entered the room with his new girlfriend. She was right; they could worry about that later…
…At least until the morning when the ghostling would catch him and Ember making out in the kitchen.
LOS ANGELES END
-:-
I think this chapter ended up longer than expected, but it does have the moment everyone was waiting for. Danny and Ember were originally supposed to get together in a different city later on, but I decided for it to happen here and something else to happen in the other city.
Fun Fact: There are eighteen fictional characters with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. These include; Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Snow White, Woody Woodpecker, Big Bird, The Simpsons, Rugrats, Kermit the Frog, Donald Duck, Godzilla, Winnie the Pooh, The Munchkins, Shrek, Tinker Bell, The Muppets, Snoopy, Minnie Mouse, and Alvin & the Chipmunks.
As a reminder, Los Angeles was not part of the original MHA version, so no recap again.