"Hey, Ember. There's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"What's that, Baby-Pop?" she asked as she snuggled up against the Halfa on the bus' couch as the vehicle was making its way to their next destination.
"Does anyone back home know where you've been holding your concerts?" questioned the boy.
"Really? That's what you wanted to ask?" replied the fiery girl in a teasing tone. "But to answer your question, no. No one knows where I'm holding my concerts and I made sure of that."
"How come?" came the curious inquiry.
Ember had a slight scowl on her face. "Because the last time I held a concert out of town, Kitty tracked me down just so she could complain about something stupid her grease monkey boyfriend did. She might be my best friend, but never again. Which is why I made sure to make it so she can never find me whenever I decide to hold concerts outside of Amity."
"How'd you manage that?" asked Danny with a raised eyebrow.
A grin made it's way onto Ember's face. "I may have asked Dora to use her newfound technology to block any and all searches on me throughout the entire city."
"Didn't want to deal with Technus, huh?" replied the raven-haired boy with a chuckle. "At least Dora's been putting that modern technology to good use."
"And she has you to thank for that since you're the one who chased off that prick brother of her."
"She told you about that, huh?"
"Yes she did," said Ember before she moved to sit on Danny's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She grinned when he gained a slight blush. "So tell me, brave knight, now that you've slayed the dragon, what do you plan to do next?"
Before Danny could reply, the ghostling, who had been playing with her plushies, spoke up now that something had caught her attention.
"Danny fought a dragon?!" exclaimed the little one. She made her way over to the couch to sit with the teens. "Tell me!"
Danny rolled his eyes while Ember giggled as the ghostling bounced in excitement. He figured there'd be no harm in telling Danielle about his fight with Aragon before they reached the next city.
-:-
Looking out the bus window, Danielle stared in awe as they crossed the bridge into the city. What caught her attention was the strange looking building that looked like a sailboat.
"I had a feeling we'd end up here at some point," said Danny, a grin appearing on his face as he too watched the city. "This is the birthplace of AC/DC after all."
A grin of her own made its way onto Ember's face as she felt her core pulse. She loved it when her Baby-Pop talked rock 'n roll. "Damn right we'd come to Sydney! And that's where I'm holding my concert, at the Sydney Opera House!"
"Oh, like Thin Lizzy did back in '78?"
Another pulse.
"…You make it very hard to wait until marriage, you know that, Baby-Pop?"
The older Halfa blushed brightly at the implications, while the little one tilted her head in confusion.
"A-Anyway!" stuttered out Danny, pulling out his phone to distract himself. He was going to need a REALLY cold shower later. "We've already seen the Harbour Bridge and we'll see the Opera House during Ember's concert. Other places we can go while we're here in Sydney are Bondi Beach, Taronga Zoo, and the Queen Victoria Building."
"What's the Queen Victoria Building?" asked Ember, peering over Danny's shoulder to look at his phone.
"A shopping center," was the simple answer.
Ember's eyes lit up in delight while Danielle let out a groan of displeasure.
"I hate shopping," said the ghostling with a hiss. "It's so boring!"
"Oh shush, Mini-Pop. Not everything can be like an action movie. Besides, you heard what Baby-Pop said; we'll be heading to the zoo and the beach while we're here," explained the rock diva with a smirk. "Doesn't THAT sound fun?"
"…I did like the zoo back in New York and the beach back in Los Angeles," replied Danielle, starting to get excited again. "Can we go there now?"
"We have to find a hotel first, Danielle, and then we're going to the Queen Victoria Building," said Danny, causing the little one to pout. "After that, we can spend the rest of our time here doing what you want until Ember's concert, okay?"
A beaming smile was the answer he got.
"I guess that settles it then," stated Ember with a grin. "So let's find a place to stay and then hit the town!"
Danny shook his head in amusement as he kicked back and let the bus take them to where they needed to go.
-:-
Danny was not amused. He should have known the risks of telling Ember about the Queen Victoria Building, but he knew how much she liked shopping, second only to her love for music, and he wanted to make her happy.
Which led to his current situation of being a pack mule, carrying all of Ember's bags as they trekked from store to store. The rock diva must have noticed his displeasure if the taunting grin she gave was anything to go by.
"What's the matter, Baby-Pop? Got a problem with having to carry my bags?"
He rolled his eyes before glancing at her. "It's not so much that I'm carrying the bags in the first place, but by how many I'm carrying. Even with enhanced strength I can only carry so much and I really wish I could make some doppelgangers right now."
Not the answer she was expecting. She was honestly expecting him to complain like the lousy hunter would have. "W-Wait, so you're okay with carrying my things?"
Danny gave off a shrug as best he could. "Let me put it this way. You like shopping and it makes you happy, right?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Then that's all that matters to me."
Ember could feel her face heat up and her core pulse wildly. She always knew Baby-Pop was a better boyfriend than Skulker and this just cemented it. That lousy hunter would always put his own needs before her own and would complain if he had to do anything she liked, which once again made her wonder what the hell was she thinking for ever agreeing to date Skulker in the first place!
Pushing that thought out of her mind, she reached up and placed a kiss on Danny's cheek, much to his surprise.
"What was that for?" he asked as he looked at her in wonder.
"For being the perfect boyfriend," she replied with a smile that made him blush slightly.
The ghostly teens stared at each other lovely, enjoying the moment…at least until they were reminded that they weren't alone.
"Danny! Ember! Look what I found!"
Snapping out of it, the teens turned to where the little one called for them, only to find her holding a long wooden tube that was twice as long as she was tall.
"Uh, Mini-Pop…"
"The sign said it's a diggydoo and it plays music! Can I get one, please?!" exclaimed the ghostling, hope lighting up her eyes.
"It's called a didgeridoo, Danielle, and do you even know how to play it?" questioned Danny.
"Ember can teach me!"
The rock diva just shook her head. "Sorry, Mini-Pop, but I don't know how to play any type of wind instrument."
"In other words we're not getting a didgeridoo," stated the older Halfa, before a thought came to mind. "Then again…I do remember reading somewhere that playing the didgeridoo can help reduce snoring by strengthening the muscles in the upper airway."
"…But none of us snore in our sleep, Baby-Pop."
A prankster-like grin appeared on Danny's face. "No, but my sister Jazz does."
Ember had to hold back the laugh that wanted to escape. "She's going to kill you if you do this, you know."
"Worth it."
Danielle could only pout. "Why does Jazz get to have the didge-thingy and I can't?!"
"Let me put it this way, Danielle. You can either have the didgeridoo or a plushy to add to your collection," said Danny, causing the little one's eyes to widen in slight fear. "So which is it going to be?"
"I want the plushy!" came the quick reply.
"Then Jazz will get the didgeridoo."
Another pout came from the ghostling as she turned and went on ahead towards the checkout to wait for her current guardians. The teens soon followed after, speaking just quietly enough so Danielle couldn't hear them.
"So why not just get Mini-Pop both?" asked Ember, glancing at her man.
"Because in the end she'll get both anyway," replied Danny with a smirk. "I give the didgeridoo to Jazz, she gets mad, I laugh, she tries to throw it away, and in the end Danielle will take it for herself. Everyone wins."
"Except for your sister," said Ember, returning the smirk.
"She'll get over it."
Ember just rolled her eyes with a laugh.
-:-
Danny and Ember looked at Danielle, each with a raised eyebrow. After the shopping trip, the ghostly trio headed back to their hotel room to drop off Ember's bags, but as soon as they did the teens found that the little one had promptly fallen asleep on the couch.
"Looks like we'll have to push back the trip to Taronga Zoo until tomorrow morning," said Danny with a sigh. "Then again, that might be the better option considering how big the zoo is."
"Of course it is, Baby-Pop. That way we'll have all day to see as many animals as possible," replied Ember. She then gave her man a half-lidded look with a sultry smile. "Besides, with Mini-Pop taking a nap, it'll give us a little alone time."
Hearing the tone in her voice, Danny couldn't keep the grin off his face as the two headed to the bedroom for a little make out session.
-:-
The next morning the ghostly trio was at the harbour, waiting for the Sydney Ferry to arrive and take them to the zoo.
"Why are we waiting for a boat again?" asked Danielle, looking up at the teens.
"Because this is the preferred method of getting to the zoo," explained Danny, ruffling his little clone's hair.
"Oh…so what kind of animals are we going to see?" the little one continued to question.
"A bunch of animals you won't see anywhere else, Mini-Pop," said Ember with a smirk. "And before you ask, no we're not telling you which ones. This is going to be a surprise."
Danielle could only pout as the boat appeared and pulled into the wharf. As they boarded onto the ferry, they didn't realize that things were going to get hectic that day.
Meanwhile, at the zoo headquarters…
"Grah! How the hell can we get more visitors to the zoo?!" demanded a tall, muscular brown-haired man dressed in outback garb. "Sheila!"
A busty blonde, also dressed in outback garb, rushed into the room. "You called, Bruno?"
"Of course I did! I want to know how we can get more visitors to the zoo!"
Sheila tilted her head in confusion. "But Bruno, Taronga Zoo already gets so many visitors every day. It's not like the zoo is failing any time soon."
"I know that, scrubber!" snapped Bruno, causing Sheila to frown at the insult. "But I want even MORE people to visit and we need something to get their attention!"
"We could always get more animals," suggested Sheila. "Maybe get some that other zoos don't have."
"Bah, we need something different! Hm…I know what we need," said the zookeeper, a malice grin appearing on his face.
Sheila could only let out a sigh. She had a feeling what he was going to suggest.
"We need an exhibit on ghosts!"
She knew it. Sheila pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering how this man became so obsessed with ghosts. Ever since the Disasteroid Bruno wanted nothing more than to put ghosts on display at the zoo, seeing them as nothing more than animals.
"Bruno, do you have any idea how crazy that sounds? You don't even have any way of capturing, let alone finding a ghost!" stated the blonde.
"That's where you're wrong, Sheila," replied Bruno as he pressed a button on his desk. That was when one of the walls opened up to reveal a collection of ghost hunting equipment, much to Sheila's surprise. "As you can see, I've gathered many ghost hunting devices. I even have a ghost detector that will lead us to any wayward spirits!"
Walking up to the device in question, Bruno turned it on and pressed a button. Much to his and Sheila's shock, the device went off, showing three blips that were IN THE ZOO. Sheila quickly glanced at Bruno and saw that malice grin once more.
The hunt was on.
TO BE CONTINUED
-:-
We've made it to Sydney, one of the cities I've been looking forward to writing for. It also looks like Danny and the girls will have to deal with a new type of hunter.
This was actually a city that was planned for the original My Hero Academia version of this story and I'll tell more about it next chapter.
And since I forgot again with the soundtrack, the last song and this song are…
"Born To Die In Berlin" (3:31) – The Ramones
"Down Under" (3:42) – Men At Work