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.
Blackmailed
Chapter 14: Rinse, Wash and Regroup
Sam had managed to get away from her house and was now on her personal mission: To find her friends and clear their names.
However, she has been having a difficult time getting a hold on her friends and she couldn't understand why.
Part of her figured they might have had their phones confiscated, but the Fenton Phones were another matter.
She tried calling Danny again, but no response yet.
"Okay, I am gonna assume that he is dealing with an evil enemy right now, but what about the others? I doubt they're able to get away like me..." Sam said, but as she tried calling her other friends.
She then noticed a familiar face that was out and running.
She saw a girl at a nearby park who seemed to be running in a certain direction. She recognized her color scheme from her clothes and the long blonde hair.
"Is that Star?..." She thought as the goth girl tried to caught up with the blonde girl.
This was easier said than done as Sam remembered just how naturally athletic Star and how she was only in better shape compared to who she was usually with. It showed in the distance between their running speed.
"I guess I should join her in morning jogs..." She thought to herself, realizing how cheerleaders are more athletic than she thought.
With a deep breath, she pushed that issue aside to keep up with her.
She just needed to talk to her right now.
With Star
The blond girl, now carrying the ice crystal that Danny had left her, the same one that she clung to for dear life.
She glanced at it before reaching where she was with Danny. Or rather, where he had been looking earlier.
"Where is it? And what am I even supposed to be looking for?..." She said as her eyes darted almost everywhere.
Star searched the area Danny was eyeing, hoping to find something. Namely, for a clue to whatever or WHOEVER was behind their recent break up.
She had her suspicions but she needed to be sure.
"Please be Ember, please be Ember, please be..." Star whispered to herself, almost like a chant at this point.
She didn't see something yet, but she kept looking.
Star would have continued her search a bit longer had someone she knew not caught her attention seconds later.
"Looking for something?..." A familiar voice of sarcasm asked, surprising the blonde cheerleader.
Peeking out, Star saw who it was. She was surprised to see it was Sam.
"Sam? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in lockdown..." Star commented, while the girl sighed.
"Thank my grandma for that. Never mind that part, if I'm caught, I'll worry then. So...why are you going through the bushes like you're expecting a peeping tom?..."Sam asked.
"Long story short, someone is forcing Danny into breaking up with me..."Star said, sounding upset.
Her words made Sam's eyebrows shot up, genuinely shocking her.
"Wait, what?!..."She exclaimed, almost alerting people of their presence.
"I was absolutely shocked too. It happened here. And he was eyeing this spot like something was here. Or someone..." Star explained, thinking someone spied on them.
"Who was it?..." Sam asked.
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be looking through the bushes to find something, would I?..." Star questioned with slight anger, given the visible scratches she showed on her hands.
"Point..." Sam said before noticing the ground and frowning.
"Seriously? Bad enough they litter here, but behind the bushes?..." The goth girl said, frowning.
Hearing that, Star looked to see said litter, finding it familiar.
"Wait a minute..." Star said, picking it up.
She examined it and her eyes narrowed.
"I know this... this is Colette's favorite brand of French cookies!..." Star said before gasping sharply, her eyes squinting in anger.
"I knew it! She had to be the one who did this to us!..."She yelled, her face turning red in anger.
"Why I am so not surprised to learn she did something?..." Sam said with arms crossed. "But how?..." She asked, still a bit puzzled.
The goth girl couldn't figure out how all this happened from such a foolish, selfish and useless person like Colette.
Star wondered that as well as she recalled something.
"I don't know but Danny also left me this thing..." She said as she revealed the ice crystal.
"Why do you still have that? And why would he give it to you?..."Sam asked, scratching her chin in thought.
"Dunno. The writing is tiny, so its hard to read. Got a magnifying glass?..." Star asked, half sarcastically.
Thankfully, the goth girl had just the item Star needed. Except the magnifying glass in question was the same size as a monocle, but was better than nothing.
"Here you go..." Sam said, noticing the look on Star's face.
"Why do you have that?..." Star asked, confused by this as it's not something most people carry.
"Let's just say one incident at an all you can eat buffet made me more careful what goes on my plate..." Sam answered.
Star raised an eyebrow before deciding it was for another time.
Sam and Star read the secret message and both slightly squinted their eyes as they deciphered Danny's hidden message in the ice .
"Help me! Colette KNOWS! And she has more dirt than you might think!..." Was read.
"She knows?..." Star and Sam both read before the gasped.
"SHE KNOWS?!..." They screamed, horrified.
This news was the worst case scenario to these girls. The idea of someone like Colette knowing was something actively tried to avoid. And now it's happened.
"HOW THE HECK DID SHE FIND OUT ABOUT DANNY'S SECRET?!..." Sam asked, appalled by this reveal.
"I DON'T KNOW, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! SHE KNOWS AND SHE IS USING HIS SECRET AND MADE HIM DUMP ME!..."Star yelled, fists clenching.
"And now I am gonna make her wish that she was never born!..." She yelled, her rage rising and her tolerance nearly vanished into nothing.
Sam looked and felt a little scared of the now enraged blonde cheerleader. While she understood and agreed with Star's volcanic angry, she still tried to talk some reason in her friend.
"Uh, before you do something, we should figure out a plan..." Sam said.
"Easier said than done. We gotta expose her! But..." Star said, looking to the discarded wrapper.
"But what?..."Sam asked, hoping that her blonde friend was finally thinking with her head and not her emotions.
Star gestured to the wrapper, clenching it in her fists.
"This doesn't really prove anything...at least in the eyes of the court is what my dad would say..." Star muttered.
"For all we know, my mom will insists this is too circumstantial and doesn't count as proof. Heck, she might think I stole this to incriminate her in her insane attempts to cling to the misguided belief that Colette ISN'T a piece of walking garbage..." Star said bitterly, knowing how deep in denial her mother is.
Sam thought about it and saw her point.
"Probably..." She admitted.
"Which means that ee have to find some kind of proof and expose her. Otherwise, my Danny-Boo is going to be stuck with her while we're stuck with this on our permanent records!..." Star said.
Sam nodded.
"Right. We'll expose her. Not only to clear our names and save Danny, but I also don't want Danny to break your heart..."Sam said, only to see Star stare at her in disbelief. "...well, not anymore..." She admitted after an eyeroll.
"Aw, you do care..."The Star said as the goth immediately frowned at her.
"Don't make me take back what I just said out of regret. Just focus on the real enemy here..."Sam responded as they both got back on track with their current situation.
"Alright, let's get everyone else up to speed. Hopefully, someone can come up with a plan..." Star said as needed everyone else's help to stop her horribly awful step-sister.
With that, both girls made their next plan.
Star immediately raced towards where the rest of her friends are grouped together, with Sam both figuratively and literally right behind her.
Now, they know who the enemy is... and must find a solution to stop her. And save Danny too.
Later
The girls met up with the others and filled them all in on what's been going on behind thr scenes.
Once they were done giving the details, Star and Sam waited to hear everyone's response.
All of the other members of Team Phantom were silent as they all processed the information they were given. Until each of them reacted in a reasonable fashion.
They freaked out.
"THAT HARPY! NO!That sounds too nice!…"Valerie yelled on the other side of the group call.
Star and Sam winced at the volume of her voice, as did Tucker.
The two girls brought their friends up to speed after putting the pieces together. This reaction was only the inevitable. They just wish they had realized sooner, especially Star, whose heart was still reeling in pain from everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours.
Jazz was livid, seeing this was all some scheme to take her brother away.
The predicament almost took Jazz back. If she had not seen everything supernatural or Collette, she might have doubted how far the fake redhead would go. But other than that, this was vaguely familiar from her psychology books.
"Looks like ghosts won't be the only thing to worry about if we don't take of Colette soon..."Jazz said.
In fact, she deemed Colette a bigger threat than all ghosts put together. Anyone with this level of obsession with a person who doesn't return their affections is to dangerous to ignore.
Vlad was already proof of that but Colette was giving him competition in the creep department.
Valerie could be heard huffing and puffing. If anyone saw her, they'd see a pure red face practically steaming.
Tucker was uncharacteristically quiet. He just kept listening.
"Yeah…I think at this point, we'll need to mark up a better word to describe Colette's new level of evil, but right now—"
"Right now, we need to tear that hussy—that thing—a new one! with a chainsaw! being held by a leopard! With epilepsy! All while live streaming—!"
"Valerie! Calm down!…"Tucker's voice cut the girl out of her deep rage.
He was stern. Anger was clear in his voice as he spoke.
"Right now, violence isn't gonna get Colette to confess anything. If she has Danny under her fingers, then something tells me the direct approach won't work…"He pointed out.
Sam, Star, Jazz, and Valerie were stunned silent by the boy's relative calmness in his words. They knew he was holding back his rage, yet he managed to speak coherently in the situation.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm mad too and I wanna see her get what's coming to her...but right now, we gotta think out our next move carefully since she probably planned everything out..."Tucker pointed out.
There was a new level of respect for the boy as he asked for the next step. Valerie felt herself blush for a moment at his maturity, and his friends appreciated his level headedness here.
"He's growing up, finally..." Sam thought in a bit of relief.
"Tucker's right. Right now, we need to free Danny and clear are names...and we need to do it in order of importance...freeing Danny from that witch who will be mystery meat once I'm done with her..." Star said, curling her fingers like claws.
"But she knows Danny's secret, how do we prevent her from hatching another scheme?..." Jazz spoke the million dollar question.
Though they could foil Colette, nothing would stop her from using this information again.
A question with wasn't easy to answer.
"Okay, so how do they deal with Colette without resorting to methods that will result in jail time if anyone ever finds out about it?..." Sam asked.
Star thought about it and soon smirked.
"We can wipe her memory like last time..." Shs said, getting an idea.
Her friends heard this and knew what she meant.
"You do realize we have to ask HER...right?..." Sam pointed out.
"Yes, I already knew that. But desperate times call measures..." Star said, taking a deep breath and reminded herself who it was for.
Another reason to hate Colette as far as her stepsister was concerned.
She had to ask the one other human girl who wanted Danny and had an obsession with him...
One who hopefully will prove that she isn't as bad as her stepsister.
Elsewhere
In Elmerton
Misty and her family were home right now, honing their magic.
While they did not cast spells on anything or anyone outside the home, the use of their magical abilities made their home life easy. And that made everyone relax.
Months ago, this home was far from ideal, now it's much lighter and easier to live in. Such as right now, as the chores were now completed.
"Ok. Dishes are done. Laundry is folded. The house is clean. And we can relax a bit..."Misty's mother said, checking off a list.
"Finally..."Misty said as her mother smiled.
"Indeed..." Mei said.
Since the revelation of their magical heritage and almost having a monster for a grandchild, the mother had mellowed out. Wearing a smile, she watched as her middle child closed the spell book.
"Okay, finish before your brother gets home..." Mei said.
Her eldest was at class right now, but he came back frequently, now visiting for more than just an education in magic. It was to maintain his decision to be closer with his family.
Misty had kept up her reading, looking for anything the family could train inside the house, along with finding anything that might harm them or anyone.
There was not going to be a repeat of manipulation. So Misty had to be ready for anything.
Seeing the time and getting a bit parched, Mei decided to head to the kitchen.
"Misty, would you like some tea?..."Mei asked.
"Sure, Mom. Thanks..."Misty replied as she watched her mother go to the kitchen.
Misty sat on the couch, still going over her spell book but she had a light smile on her face.
"Mom really has chilled out lately. Awesome..." Misty thought, happy.
Life could not be going better right now.
However, a reminder of her mistakes made its way to her just now. There was a knock at her door. Misty got up, stretching her legs from a long day as she walked over.
"I'll get it..." Misty said as she answered, surprised to see who it was.
Once she did, she was surprised to see it was Team Phantom, most of them anyway.
"Star? Tucker? Everyone?...What are you guys doing here? And where is Danny?..." She asked, noting one member was missing.
That's why we are here. We need your help..." Star said with a serious tone.
"My help?..." Misty asked, surprised to hear that.
"Yeah. Its urgent..." Star said before they were let in.
"Okay... what's this about?..." Misty asks before she heard their reasons for being in her home.
10 minutes later
After walking in with a quick recap, Misty dropped her jaw at the news. Her mother was still in the kitchen, getting tea and cookies, while Team their troubles to the young sorceress.
"And that's the gist of it..." Tucker finished.
"Wow...just wow..."Misty said in shock as she sat down.
She needed a moment as she processed everything she just heard.
Namely the fact that Colette found out Danny's secret and is BLACKMAILING him into dating her now!
""And to think, she could not get any worse..."Misty said, angry.
"Yep..."The P popped in Star's mouth, but it was clear that she was livid.
"Which is why we're here..." Sam said.
"Okay, so, what do you need from me?..." Misty asked.
"Magic..." Star said flatly.
"I knew that, but what kind of magic?..." Misty asked.
"Isn't it obvious?..."Star asked, while Misty thought about it.
"Do you want me to teleport her somewhere farther away than last time?..." Misty asked. "Like inside a sewer? In another city?..." She suggested.
"Fun as that would be, I don't want to be a suspect in a missing person's case..." Star said.
"Then can you be more specific?..." Misty asked with a shrug.
"Can you erase her memory like you did last time? You know, when you erase don't after the time she had ghost powers?..." Star asked, while the dark haired girl seemed troubled now.
"Uh… about that… I can't..." Misty answered.
"WHAT? WHY?..."Star asked, screaming now.
Misty cringed but tried to explain things as best she can.
"While he was in my book, Wufong taught me a lot, including limits of my powers. One of them includes how many times I can use specific spells on specific people. In other words, memory spells can't be reused on the same person in a 2-month period. been a little more than a month since I did that to her..." Misty pointed out.
"For real? The one time I come to you for help and you can't?!.." Star asked, upset.
"Sorry. I actually tried testing it myself after we were rid of him to see for myself. Didn't work the second time. Wufong may have been using me, but he knew magic better than anyone else I knew...even if he only taught me just to keep me under his control..." Misty said, sounding bitter.
Team Phantom was upset that the couldn't use her magic to wipe away Comet he's memory after all.
"Oh come on! The ONE TIME we need magic, and there's a rule about it! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!..." Sam shouted, stomping a boot.
The female sorceress could sense their distress, but tried to defend herself.
"I didn't write the rules about magic!..." Misty argued, not liking Sam's attitude.
Before an argument could break out, Tucker cleared his throat as he tried to think of another solution.
"If you can't cast the spell, what about your grandma, mom or brothers? They probably haven't even met Colette yet..." Tucker suggested as the others nodded.
Misty just shook her head.
"It doesn't matter who casts the spell, the human brain can only be affected by magic from my clan once..."She explained, frustrating the heroes even more.
"Wonderful..." Star grumbled sarcastically, sliding down in her seat from disappointment.
"Look, I got a little more than 2 weeks left until I can do that to her again..."Misty explained, sheepishly smiling.
That didn't satisfy Team Phantom, not in the slightest.
"By then it will be too late. We will all be expelled, I'm gonna be shipped off to London and who knows what kind of damage Colette could do to Danny in that time..." Sam said, ready to stomp holes into the floor.
"Which means we have to do something else and NOW!.." Star got up, Upset.
"Come on, guys..." Star said, going to the door.
But Misty grabbed her by the arm. The blonde girl glared, but softened as she saw determination in the latter's face.
"I can't wipe her memory...but I will help..." Misty said, grabbing her book.
"You will?..." Star asked, almost wondering if this was some ploy to get to Danny.
Misty nodded.
"Yes. I can live with it if Danny is dating you Star...but I will NOT sit by and let that racist witch sink her claws in him. He deserves better..." Misty said, making Star smile a bit.
She could see the sincerity in Mixture eyes and could tell that she means it.
"Okay. So, let's brainstorm a bit..." She said, eager to punish Colette.
"Yeah. Maybe I can zap her with lightning again..." Misty offered.
"First, lets free Danny from her, clear our names and then you can shoot all the lightning you want at her..." Star said, not against Misty going after her step sister like that.
"Deal..." Misty said, opening her book.
"Any spells in mind?..." Star asked, wanting to help Danny as soon as possible.
"I think I have a few but I am gonna need some time and ingredients..." Misty said as she skimmed through the pages, locating at least 2 she could think of to use.
"Whatever, anything to free Danny and get back at that witch with hair extensions..." Star said, as they all worked together for the same goal.
To free Danny, clear their names and get back at Colette.
-To be continued-
Next time on Blackmailed
Danny's Burden
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to NeoMark, BCW, Jay the average Fanboy and Luiz4200 all their help. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867:
1) Maybe.
2) He probably told Valerie.
3) Most likely.
4) He could tell that Danny is a good guy.
5) I don't know. Maybe.
6) I do think that Stella isn't above gossip.
7) Valerie insists that she is independent.
8) She knew that they disliked her, but didn't want to believe that they hated her so much.
9) Its more like she wanted to be nice to her since they were family and thought Stella meant well...even if she wasn't as close to her as Stella thought they were.
10) She at first thought he was self absorbed but she now sees he is much worse than she originally thought.
11) I think pretty much everyone who heard that story.
12) As shown here, they have buried the hatchet with her and Star was willing to ask for her help.
13) She was busy dealing with Pamela and Jeremy.
14) Probably.
15) She finds him annoying.
16) Star, definitely.
17) There is a strong possibility.
18) He likely hoped that Danny's influence would make Valerie give up ghost hunting, which she actually considered doing at one point.
19) She finds him rude and obnoxious, as well as a bad influence on her daughter.
20) Yes.
21) Sure, in the future.
22) Probably.
23) Probably.
24) Its Toadman specifically, but their parents told them to leave Danny and Star alone.
25) Yes.
26) He acted very snobby, possessive and sexist towards her.
27) About A year before the fic series began.
28) Sure, in the future.
29) Because Colette knows Star doesn't like using her real name.
30) I will think about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Pokemon fan 1991, Jebest4781 and guardian1989: Thank you :)
Invader Johnny and Luiz4200: Yeah.
NightShadow2955: While Colette is definitely despicable, we will have to wait and see what happens.
Red Ron: I see your point.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) No.
2) He did dream about it once.
3) She probably would have learned how to speak that language.
4) Right now, she has more to think about than that.
5) He would go even more nuts, .
Cybirddude: Colette is a very judgemental and hateful person and would no doubt mock Star for her partner.
PINK-samiam: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)