Still at the Botanic Gardens, the ghostly trio was currently exploring the rainforest within the gardens. While Ember was fascinated at seeing an ecosystem that wasn't common in the Ghost Zone or the United States, Danielle on the other hand…
"Where are the monkeys?"
Danny let out a sigh as they continued to walk the path through the forest. "Hate to break it to you, Danielle, but there're no monkeys in this exhibit."
The little one actually looked heartbroken at the lack of monkeys. "But why? We're in a jungle!"
"Think about it, Mini-Pop. People are allowed to walk through here, so having monkeys here wouldn't be a good idea since they might go after the people," explained Ember.
"And it's not like there's no animals at all here," added Danny as he wrote something in a notebook he had on hand. He then handed the notebook to Danielle. "Here. Why not try to find these animals here?"
The ghostling looked at the list she was given. Common Treeshrew, Common Tree Frog, Common Gliding Lizard, Common Flameback, and the Pink-necked Green Pigeon.
"This is going to be easy if everything here is common," stated Danielle, looking smug.
"We'll see, Danielle," replied the older Halfa with a knowing grin.
They continued down the path with Danielle keeping an eye out for the habitants of the forest. When they reached the end though, Danielle was pouting.
"I only found the pigeon! And that's only because it was making noise!" she exclaimed, upset that she couldn't find the "common" animals. "I'm going back in!"
Before she could take off, Danny grabbed hold of her shoulder. "Maybe later, Danielle. Right now we need to get to Palm Valley. Apparently there's going to be a small concert today."
"Sweet. I'm curious to hear what Singaporean music sounds like," said Ember as they made their way to Palm Valley.
"If I remember correctly, I think they mostly play classical music like Rossini and Beethoven," explained Danny.
The little one tilted her head in confusion. "Who are they?"
"We're going to have to show you some Looney Tunes cartoons when we get back to the hotel, Mini-Pop."
Arriving at Palm Valley, the small group found a nice spot under a tree to listen to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. While Danny and Ember were mainly fans of Rock n Roll, they could appreciate the true classics. Danielle on the other hand…
"It's surprising how she can just fall asleep like this when she always has so much energy," said Danny with a blank look, looking at the sleeping ghostling that was snuggled up against Ember, her head resting on the older girl's lap.
Ember had a soft smile on her face as she ran her hand through the little one's hair. "Leave her be, Baby-Pop. Maybe once she watches some Bugs Bunny she won't get bored by classical music."
"We can only hope," replied Danny with a chuckle. He then wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and held her close, placing a kiss on her temple and earning a giggle from her.
After a few more classical pieces, the concert came to an end and the teens decided to head back to the hotel for the rest of the day so Danielle, who was currently in Ember's arms, could sleep. They could see more of Singapore tomorrow.
-:-
Later that night, as most of the city slept, the waters of the bay bubbled as a figure rose from depths. His eyes, despite being empty, held malicious intent as he looked at the city.
"Tomorrow is the day."
-:-
The next morning, dark clouds covered the sky, indicating rain. For most this was nothing out of the ordinary, but for those on a spiritual level it was something entirely else.
"I don't like this," stated Danny as he looked out the window of their hotel room at the clouds with a narrowed look.
"Same here, Baby-Pop. Something about these rainclouds feels off," added Ember, also giving the clouds a narrowed look.
Danielle looked worried. "Is that the bad feeling I've been getting? Is something going to happen?"
Danny could only let out a sigh. "Looks like it, Danielle. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do at the moment. If this is the work of a ghost, I can't sense them, so we'll just have to wait until they make the first move."
"Great," replied Ember with a groan. "Just what we needed."
"I don't like this anymore than you do, Ember, but it is what it is," Danny said with a grimace. "In the meantime we might as well just continue our vacation."
"Where are we going to today, Danny?" asked the ghostling.
"I figured we'd head to the National Museum today. It holds Singapore's eleven National Treasures that I think would be interesting to see."
With an agreement made they headed out to the museum. As they made their way there, thunder could be heard and once they reached the museum it started to downpour.
"As it wasn't ominous enough," stated Ember in a deadpan tone.
"And it's about to get worse," said Danny as his Ghost Sense went off.
The Phantom Duo transformed and then all three of them headed inside where they were met with a surprising sight.
"Why is there water everywhere?" questioned Danielle, looking at all of the puddles on the floor. She then looked up at the ceiling. "It doesn't look like there's a leak."
"If I had to guess, I'd say those guys are the reason," said Ember, pointing in a certain direction.
Looking over to where Ember was pointing, Danny saw multiple canine-like creatures made entirely of water actually stealing from the museum.
"Well that's something you don't see everyday," said Danny. He then turned to Ember. "How good is your aim?"
"What do you have planned?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Danny looked up in a certain direction with a narrowed look. "Whoever is behind this, I can sense where they are. I'm going to go after them while you and Danielle handle these things, with Danielle getting the museum's artifacts away from them and you evaporating them with intense heat."
Purple lips spread into a wide grin. "Not a bad idea, Baby-Pop. Leave everything here to me and Mini-Pop then and go kick some butt!"
Leaving this to the girls, Danny flew off to find the mastermind of this little event.
"So how are we doing this?" asked Danielle.
"You heard him, Mini-Pop. Get the artifacts away from these drips while I make some steam," replied Ember, her ponytail flickering from blue to orange.
Getting started, Danielle immediately flew towards one of the water beasts and snatched up the artifacts it had, much to the beasts' surprise. Their surprise grew when a stream of fire hit the now empty-handed water beast, turning it into steam. They all glared and growled towards Ember, who merely grinned right back as her flames went wild.
With Danny, he was following his senses, which led him to the Singapore History Gallery where quite possibly Singapore's most important treasure was on display. Entering the gallery, Danny found the culprit.
"At last, the treasure is mine," spoke the figure as he held up what Danny recognized as the Singapore Stone.
Looking back at the figure, Danny was surprised to find that it was a zombie skeleton dressed like a pirate captain, complete with black boots, red coat, brown pants, and a black hat. From what Danny could see of his face, the pirate ghost was missing both his eyes and had a matted red beard along his jaw.
'And things just keep getting more bizarre,' thought Danny with a frown. He then caught the pirate's attention. "Hey! Monkey Island Reject! Just so you know, that stone already has an owner."
"Be gone, landlubber, or ye will be walking the plank," replied the pirate as he brandished his cutlass. "So says I, the Dread Captain Deadbeard!"
"Look buddy, you're not the first pirate I've dealt with," stated Danny, getting on guard. 'Granted the other pirate was just a kid playing pretend, but it's not like he needs to know that.'
Deadbeard let out a raspy laugh. "You've never battled someone like me, lad. Now be ready to be keelhauled if you don't get out of my way."
"Not going to happen!" exclaimed the Halfa as he shot an Ecto Blast, making sure not to hit the Singapore Stone.
"Grah!" cried out Deadbeard as he was hit, but he did not release the Stone. This then earned him a punch to the face from Danny, yet the Stone stayed in his grasp. "Argh!"
"Give the Stone back!" demanded Danny as he flew in to take it.
"Not a chance, lad!" yelled Deadbeard as he slashed at Danny with his cutlass. "This stone will lead me to an even greater treasure!"
Danny raised an eyebrow at that. When it came to the Singapore Stone, no one has ever been able to decipher the text on the Stone itself. Yet this pirate is standing here claiming that he could? Danny highly doubted it, but either way he needed to get the Stone back.
Charging up ecto energy into his fists, Danny went towards Deadbeard in hopes of making him drop the Stone. Unfortunately, Deadbeard was not giving up the Stone without a fight as he tried to once again slash at Danny with his cutlass. Luckily though, Danny dodged the slash and gave Deadbeard an uppercut, which sent the pirate crashing through the window and into the storm.
"Damn it!" snapped out Danny as he followed after his opponent.
The darkness and the heavy rain made it somewhat difficult to navigate, but Danny was persistent in making sure not to lose Deadbeard. The chase went on, Deadbeard unable to lose his pursuer, and the two soon ended up at the mouth of the Singapore River where the familiar mascot of the city could be found.
"I'm impressed, lad! You were able to keep up with no trouble!" called out Deadbeard over the rain as the two ghosts floated over the water.
"I'm not letting you get away!" Danny yelled back, wanting to end this and bring the Stone back to the museum.
Deadbeard could only laugh. "Apologies, lad, but we're in my territory now! As a man of the sea, I control the waves!"
The pirate glowed with ecto energy and drew water towards him, forming what looked like aquatic armor to Danny. At least it would have been if Deadbeard stopped there. To Danny's shock, the water kept coming to Deadbeard and formed a GIANT WATER GOLEM around the pirate.
'At least this explains where those water dogs came from,' thought Danny, staring at the liquid mass with wide eyes.
"Try getting me now, lad!" exclaimed Deadbeard with a laugh from the middle of the water golem. "I'll show you just how treacherous these waters be!"
Danny wasn't sure if he should find this sad or not, to be honest. Now that he was able to assess the situation, Danny found that Deadbeard made this fight even EASIER for him. Deadbeard might have power over water; Danny had the advantage by having power over ICE.
Not wasting any time, Danny gave off an icy chill, as his eyes became an icy blue. He then shot the strongest ice blast he could muster and engulfed Deadbeard's golem, freezing the pirate in an icy prison.
With Deadbeard now trapped, the storm started to let up, confirming what Danny had a feeling about concerning it. With the storm dying down, Danny went intangible and headed inside the newly formed ice golem to retrieve the Singapore Stone.
"I'll be taking this," said the white-haired boy as he plucked the Stone from Deadbeard's grasp. He then pulled out the Fenton Thermos. "And you'll be going in here."
It didn't take long for Danny to suck up Deadbeard into the Thermos. Once the pirate was trapped, the ice golem started to fall apart now that its creator was gone. Over at the museum, the remaining water dogs that Ember and Danielle were dealing with had collapsed into puddles, also because of Deadbeard's defeat.
A familiar flash of light then caught Danny's attention, signifying that Walker was here for pickup.
"You have my prisoner, punk?" demanded the warden, a narrowed look aimed at the boy.
Danny held up the Thermos. "Pirate ghost. Keep him away from any and all water since he can apparently control it."
Walker raised a brow as he watched Phantom release Deadbeard through the portal and into a prison cell.
"Curse you, lad! You haven't seen the last of Dread Captain Deadbeard!" yelled the pirate as the cell door slammed shut behind him.
"Get in line!" replied Danny, referring to all of the other villainous ghosts that vowed revenge.
With new prisoner in hand, Walker took his leave. This allowed Danny to fly back to the museum to meet up with the girls and return the Stone.
He also hoped he could clean up the mess that Deadbeard caused at the museum before anyone found it.
-:-
The following night, Ember was rocking the house at the Esplanade, with Danny and Danielle enjoying the concert from backstage as the Singaporean natives cheered from their seats.
After the concert, the ghostly trio sat on top of the Esplanade, looking at the city in all it glory.
"Aside from what happened yesterday, it's surprising how peaceful this place is," stated Ember as she rested her head on Danny's shoulder.
"I'm more surprised that Clockwork decided to help out with the museum," added Danny, holding his girlfriend close.
It was true. When Danny had returned to the museum, Clockwork started working his magic and reverted the museum to its previous state before Deadbeard had invaded it. This, combined with the earlier storm, and the people of Singapore were none the wiser of what had transpired the previous night.
"Hey, at least we didn't have to clean up anything. I call that a win in my book!" squeaked out Danielle, causing her current guardians to roll their eyes. "Plus, Danny got to kick pirate butt!"
The little one then went back to watching the city. With her distracted, Danny leaned closer to Ember to speak quietly.
"Speaking of pirates, you wouldn't happen to still have that pirate getup from when teamed up with Youngblood, would you?"
Purple lips widened into a teasing grin. "Why would you want to know, Baby-Pop?"
A slight blush appeared on the boy's face. "Honestly? You looked really hot dressed as a pirate queen and I always wanted to see you dressed like that again."
Ember felt giddy as a blush of her own spread across her own cheeks. "Later, once Mini-Pop's asleep, Baby-Pop~"
Danny glanced over at the ghostling and REALLY wished that she would be tired and want to go to sleep. He was almost tempted to just scoop up Danielle, take her to the bus, and bribe her into going to bed so he and Ember could have some alone time.
Almost.
With Ember, she couldn't help but giggle at the grimace on her boyfriend's face, knowing what was going through his mind right now. She almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
SINGAPORE END
-:-
Looks like Danny's in for a long night if Danielle doesn't go to sleep any time soon. Anyway, the stay in Singapore has come to an end, the treasures are safe from pirate clutches, and our heroes had a little help from Clockwork. All is well.
Fun Fact: Singapore is considered both the safest and the cleanest city in the world.
Also, to those who haven't seen it yet, I have a poll on my profile that's slightly connected to this story. So check it out and vote if you haven't already.