Chapter 5: The Cabin
"We're here!" Jack said.
The SUV parked in front of the cabin, a nice looking spot near the woods.
''Nice..." Danielle said, liking this place while she and her older siblings got out of the SUV.
They walked up the stairs while noticing Jack and Maddie were still unloading from the trunk.
"Okay, you three will have a room of your own. Your father and I will set this up for tonight. Eventually, we'll be set up and ready for tomorrow." Maddie said.
''We have to share a room?" Danielle complained but her parents were busy unloading. "Hey!"
"It's cool… you can take the top bunk." Danny said.
Hearing that, Danielle smiled as she followed along.
"Okay then… I hope we can roast marshmallows too." She said as they reached the room.
"Alright, let's set up." Danny said as he noticed Jazz was clinging to her book, shaking. "Uh… Jazz?"
"Y-yes?" She asked, sweating profusely.
"You're gonna do this again, aren't you?" He asks, not wanting to go through that again.
"No…" Jazz said, smiling as best as she could as she looked at her journal again. "Still… it wouldn't hurt to go over it… again… for the 40th time." She said as she walked towards a bed as she looked through it.
''Not again..." Danny grumbled.
"Uh, is she gonna be okay?" Danielle asks.
"Don't worry. It's fine. Change of plans, let's get a little fun into our systems before we go ghost hunting." He said as he motioned for Danielle to join him.
Hearing that brought a smile to her face as she did so.
"Yeah… just us…" She said, figuring it's unlikely they'd see the girl he met again.
Jazz, meanwhile, read her book thoroughly and intensely as she became ready to make sure she made no mistakes.
"Can someone get me some coffee?! I'm gonna be doing this for a while!" She called out.
Meanwhile, in Amity Park
Sam and Kwan were at the pier.
Sam didn't want to be here but Kwan insisted. Now, they are here and the jock was acting little better than a dumb little kid, gawking at everything around him.
"Ooh! What's this? I should get my face painted. And look at that! Sad clowns!" Kwan went.
"Uh… are you always like this?" Sam asks.
"No, I have to act tough for the sake of the group." Kwan admits.
"Peer pressure, wonderful… though I can't blame them too much…" Sam muttered.
"Cotton candy!" Kwan gushed.
Sam rolled her eyes.
Why did I agree to this? She thought as the jock stuffed his face.
"Want some?" He offered.
"Too pink and not all-natural enough." She refused.
Kwan didn't sense any hostility and shrugged.
"More for me…" He said before stuffing his face.
"Ugh… it's a bigger, dumber Tucker…" She said under her breath.
It got worse as some clowns were nearby, entertaining the crowds as Kwan laughed obnoxiously, getting some cotton candy in her hair.
I'm actually really starting to miss Vlad right about now… She thought miserably.
It carried on.
Kwan tried ring toss, only for it to bounce off the wall and hit Sam in the chest. He got a picture of himself with a big grin, holding up to Sam, who had to pitch in since he was $10 short. He managed find a $5 bill on the floor, unintentionally making Sam trip, which angered her.
The two walked together as Kwan ate popcorn.
"Wow… this is just what I needed. I feel great." He said.
"Glad one of us is…" Sam muttered.
"Huh? You say something?" He asks, having not heard her well enough.
Sam stopped and groaned. But before she could vent, a scream was heard.
"Someone help! My husband is choking!" A woman went.
''What?" Sam shouted as she saw a middle aged man choking on something.
"My husband! Someone do the Heimlich maneuver!" She called out.
"Uh oh…someone should-" To Sam's surprise, Kwan ran towards the choking man. "Uh… Kwan?"
To her surprise, Kwan quickly went to him to do the Heimlich maneuver, placing his hands where they needed to be and readied.
"Ready?" Kwan asks as the man weakly nods. "Here we go!"
He pulled him in, causing the man to lift off the floorboards. Kwan counted to 5 under his breath before doing it a second time. After the third attempt, the man coughed out what was blocking his throat.
"A candied apple?" Sam asks.
Kwan noticed what came flying out.
"Dude, have you ever heard of chewing?" He asked as he let him go.
The man gasped for air, relieved he was fine.
"Thank you…" He said happily.
"Oh, thank you so much…" The wife said as she hugged Kwan.
''Oh, no problem..." He said as the couple nodded and left.
Sam stood there in shock, astonished by what she just saw.
"Uh… how did you know how to do that?" Sam asks.
"My mom showed me what to do in case that happened to someone." He explained rather plainly.
Sam blinked.
"Oh… umm… that was kinda cool." She admits.
"Eh, it was nothing." Kwan said before grinning and walked off. "Now, where's that roller coaster?"
Sam looked back to the candied apple, then back to Kwan, surprised by what he just did.
She shook her head and decided to ignore it, figuring it was just the excitement of the situation. She followed him.
In Canada
Danielle and Danny were outside, having a snowball fight.
"Gotcha!" Danielle went as a snowball hit Danny's chest..
"Remember, no snowballs made by you. I might've taught you how to, but you gotta use what's around you." He said.
"Sure, I'll still win." She said.
The two had their battle.
Danielle threw a snowball, but Danny managed to evade and hide behind his pile of snow he used to protect himself. Piling up some snow, he got up and readied to throw before noticing Danielle seemed gone. He at first thought she turned invisible, but she in fact used her smaller size to roll and threw the snowball at Danny's chest, causing him to drop his larger snowball onto his head.
"Awesome!" Danielle went happily.
"Well, you're having fun." Danny pointed as he wiped the snow off.
"How couldn't I? A paid vacation, and we're miles away from any ghost we normally deal with. Just take care of this new guy and we're good." Danielle said.
"Alright." Danny said.
Before they were about to keep doing, someone spoke up.
"Danny?" Nat asks.
Danny stopped and turned his head, looking to see Nat there, weaning light blue snow pants and green snow boots, along with a green beanie and light green gloves.
"Nat?" He asks, smiling.
Danielle looked confused.
"They know each other?" She asked.
"Didn't recognize you at first, then I saw your face." She said.
"Cool, but, what are you doing here?" He asks.
"Like I said at the mall, I'm going snowboarding. This area was the best choice. We actually got the cabin next to you." She said.
"Oh yeah, I guess it's kind of snowy..." Danny said as they began to chat a bit.
Danielle saw this and started to frown.
This must be the girl he met… She thought, not liking this girl taking up their brother-sister time.
"So, didn't think you'd be here of all places." Nat said before noticing a certain someone behind Danny. "And who's that?"
Danny, recalling who he was with, stepped aside and gestured for her to join them, much to Danielle's dismay but she obeyed.
"This is my little sister, Danielle." He said.
Nat scoffed.
"Danny? Danielle? Your parents aren't that creative." She pointed.
"Actually, that's what my folks were going to name me if I was a girl… then an actual girl happened." He explained.
"Oh, well, nice meetin' ya." Nat went as she buckled her knees to make eye contact with Danielle.
Despite being annoyed by the older girl's presence, Danielle chose to act civil for Danny's sake.
"Hi." She said, offering her hand.
Nat took it as she smiled at the two.
"I see you two were having fun." She points at.
"Yeah, we have fun." Danny said as he patted Danielle's head.
"So, you guys wanna join me for snowboarding tomorrow? You'll have fun there too." Nat offered.
Before Danielle could say anything, her brother spoke.
"Sure, sounds fun..." Danny said, really just looking for an excuse to spend time with her.
Danielle frowned at this.
"Cool, cool. I'll let my friends and my mom know. Be seein' ya." She said.
"You will. Two Danny Fentons for the price of one." Danny responded with a thumb's up.
This caused a light chuckle from Nat, much to Danielle's surprise.
She actually laughed at his joke? Even Sam never did that… She thought.
Once Nat headed back to her cabin, Danielle sent an annoyed look at her older brother.
"Since when do you snowboard?" Dani asked.
He responded with a shrug.
"I managed to land a shuttle, this shouldn't be that hard." Danny defends his decision.
"You really wanna impress that girl, don't you?" She asks.
"Uh… maybe?" He admits with his cheeks turning pink.
Danielle pouted at that.
"I was kinda hoping it would just be us… minus the ghost, of course."
"Relax… Nat's… neat. Her friends are… well, at least one of them's nice. The other… not so much…" He admits.
"And you want me to come too?" She asks.
"Not like you have a huge list of things to do. Ghost here notwithstanding, that is." He points out.
Danielle groaned.
"Do I gotta?" She asks.
"Pretty please? With three triple scooped ice creams with bananas, nuts, sprinkles of both rainbow and chocolate with gummies and two different sauces on top? And now that I said that I'm realizing we need to really cut back on what you eat." Danny said, going from begging to wanting to save her from diabetes.
"Fine…" She said in defeat before looking up. "The pretty please part, not the ice cream thing." She clarified.
"Thanks." He said as he patted the top of her head and headed to the cabin. "Come on, it's getting dark."
Danielle, still staying behind, huffed.
"On one hand, this girl's really cutting into our time. On the other hand… Danny might mess up, making her lose interest and giving me something funny to show his friends later…" She smiled. "Maybe it won't be so bad…" She said before following him.
20 minutes later
With a few calls, Jack and Maddie were now interviewing the victims of the entity that had attacked.
Normally, they were not afraid to go charging in and attack, but Danny and Jazz had convinced them during the flight to learn what exactly they encountered, less they cause trouble with the locals. Despite wanting to do things their way, they conceded and figured knowing what they're fighting was a smart move.
The first was the hunter.
"So, you said that you were attacked after you shot an animal?" Maddie asked.
"Well, I was in the middle of hunting and I came across a deer. I shot it and followed it. I was going to sell the meat, I had to miss my kid's birthday for it…" He explained.
"Did you want to attend your son's birthday?" Maddie grilled him.
"Uh… kinda?" He responded, sounding like he wasn't that interested.
Maddie sent him a dirty look as Jack cleared his throat.
"So… the creature?" He asks.
"Well, I saw it eating the deer when it saw me, it followed me. I hid behind a tree before it found me. I was actually afraid I was going to die when… for some reason, it acted like something else caught its attention."
"What?" Jack asks.
"I don't know. I didn't see or hear anything. It was like something only it noticed…" He explained.
Once that was done, the next victim was brought in.
Billy, the boy who was in his home when an unknown intruder tried to make him open the door.
"My parents were out because they wanted to try some cafes in the area. They wanted me to go too but I just wanted to have some cookies so I faked being sick from the cold… Billy admitted.
Jack and Maddie both shared a look before the mother of the two shrugged.
"Well, he's just a kid. Not surprised..." She said before looking back at Billy. "Then, this thing spoke to you in your mother's voice?"
"Yeah, but that's not the weirdest part… It knew my name. Like it was watching us long enough to know us…" He said.
As his mother wrapped her arm around her son, seeing him nervous, Jack and Maddie both looked unsure on what to think.
The final interview was with a young couple, in their early twenties, who had recently tried to elope.
"You see, our parents don't like each other or us very much... So, we were going to run away together..." Laura admitted.
"Yeah, after we kind of stole $10,000 from them, we were all set to hide from them until we found a place to stay..." Shawn said, now noticing they had earned a frown from the Fenton parents. "Uh… it was for our kid… when we have one…" He claims.
"I don't really believe that..." Maddie scolded.
After they finished, the Fenton parents sighed.
"What a weird bunch..." Jack muttered.
"What on earth would a ghost want with them?" Maddie wondered.
"And did you notice how selfish each of them were? From the couple running off with stolen money, to the kid, to that hunter?" Jack asks.
"About as selfish as Sam was for hiding Danny's secret from us, and calling him selfish for giving it up…" Maddie grumbled.
"Maddie…" Jack scolded.
"I know…" Maddie sighed. She went over her notes, all of the descriptions of the creature that attacked were the same. Something tall and gray. Odd how I'm getting little ghost readings that aren't Danny or Danielle…" She said, holding up the Fenton Finder.
That's when they heard a knock at the door.
"Do we have another eyewitness?" Jack asks.
"No… that was all." Maddie said as she got up and answered. "Yes?"
It was a woman who looked to be close to their age, but with long auburn hair and blue eyes. She was also dressed in lavender winter wear and black snow boots.
"Hi… I'm Anna, Anna McDaniel." She said graciously before bowing. "Your son met my daughter…"
Meanwhile, inside their room.
Danny and Danielle were playing a game with their hybrid console while Jazz rocked in her chair while reading her journal.
"Kids! We have guests!" Maddie called out.
"Aww, I was gonna win too..." Danielle muttered.
Danny smiled while Danielle sighed bitterly.
They came to the living room and, to Danny's surprise, he saw her there.
"Hey there." Nat said, waving at them with her friends at her side.
"Hi." Susan went happily.
"Whatever…" Ellie went with a dismissive tone.
"Nat?" Danny asks.
"Oh crud…" Danielle moaned under her breath.
"My mom thought we'd come by." Nat said.
"Oh… heh… cool…" Danny went, blushing hard.
Jazz looked confused, but Danielle filled her in.
"This is the girl who handed her information to Danny… not out of pity." She said.
"What…?" Jazz went.
Nat noticed Jazz, who was gasping right now in the presence of a girl.
"Who's this?" Nat asks.
"My older sister, Jazz." Danny said.
"H-Hi… you're the mystery girl that Danny was somehow able to talk with?" She asks, shaking.
Danny's eyes darted away nervously as Nat whispered to him.
"She always like this or-"
"No, this is rare. She doesn't take it well when she's wrong about something." He explained.
"Really?" Nat asks.
"If I had a nickel for every time she freaked out after finding out she's wrong, I'd have two nickels… which isn't a lot but it's still weird it happened twice, right?" He asks.
"You should see how she reacts when her hot stepbrother does something responsible for once." Ellie remarked with a small smile.
"Okay, first? Eww! Second, I do not act like that!" Nat went.
"Yes, you do..." Susan said, getting an annoyed look from Nat.
"So, why don't we have dinner? Hmm? Get to know each other?" Anna asks eagerly.
"I don't see why not." Maddie said.
''Yeah, sounds good..." Jack said, eager for some grub.
"Come girls, let's get what we ordered." Anna said.
''Sure, Mom..." Nat said.
"Oh, can someone else take the soup? My hands don't do well with heat." Susan went as she followed Mrs. McDaniel.
"They don't do well with anything…" Ellie snarked as she followed along.
"Danny, wanna give me a hand?" Nat asks.
"Sure thing." He said with a smile.
As he left, Danielle pouted, something Maddie noticed.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
"Me?" Jazz, who stood next to Danielle, asked out of a mistake thinking it was her she's talking to. "Well, I have this refusal to admit I'm wrong, so I've been going over-"
"Not you... the frowning phantom next to you." Maddie clarified.
"Nothing..." Danielle went, crossing her arms.
Her parents and older sister started to huddle closer.
"Uh oh… someone's jealous that someone is taking her brother's time away." Maddie went.
"No I'm not!" Danielle insisted.
"Well, now's a good time for you to call your own friends and let them know how you're doing." Jazz points out.
Danielle flinched upon hearing that and avoided eye contact with her right now.
"Uh… I didn't give them my number…" She states.
"Probably because you haven't made any friends." Maddie said.
"I do so have friends! I was just too busy since I gotta fight ghosts with Danny." Danielle said.
"Danielle, while it's great you love hanging out with Danny, you gotta learn to make your own friends." Jazz said.
"I have friends! Tucker, Sam, Valerie… Mr. Frostbite… Wulf… Dora, maybe…"
"Technically, those are Danny's friends." Jazz points out.
Danielle tried to come up with an excuse, but found nothing, so she looked away.
"I have way more fun with Danny anyway…"
She thought back of all the times they had since she joined the family.
From sodas, to watching movies, to taking turns pummeling the Box Ghost.
As far as she knew, that's all she needed.
"Heck, the sodas, movies and beating up the Box Ghost was just the last 3 days before we got here." Danielle stated.
The little ghost girl was confused as Maddie knelt down and patted her head.
"Sounds like someone's scared of meeting new people. Remember how you met us?" She asks.
"I do…" Danielle swatted her arm away as Maddie laughed it off.
"It's not like he's getting married. But still, you didn't really think you'd be hanging with Danny forever, do you? Like when he goes to college?" Maddie asks.
"Or when he gets married?" Jazz adds.
"Or when he's… uh…" Jack thought hard when he realized what he was about to say. "When he becomes a dad!"
Jazz and Maddie stare disapprovingly, knowing what he almost said, before going back to Danielle.
"Point is, if Danny can take the time to meet new people like this Nathalie girl, you can take the time to make your own friends. You need your own buddies, not necessarily like Sam or Tucker." Jazz said.
Danielle pouted as she looked away.
"Promise me you'll at least try?" Maddie asks.
"I… I guess so…" Danielle went before walking away.
Seeing her down, Jack spoke up.
"Hey, little princess? Why don't we play while we wait for dinner to get ready? I'll let you pick the game." He offers.
Danielle thought about it before smiling at the idea. She did want to play with someone, so she agreed.
"Sure Dad…"
"You're still going down!" Jack declared.
"In your dreams!" Danielle went.
The two hurried to the room to play, leaving Maddie and Jazz somewhat hopeful for her.
An hour later
The dinner was finished.
Jack laid back in his seat, satisfied. Maddie and Anna were talking, Jazz was reading through her book, Susan was sipping her drink, Ellie passed out.
Meanwhile, Danny and Nat were still talking.
"An astronaut, eh? That's a cool job." Nat said.
"Thanks, though I guess it's not as exciting as being an athlete. I get to sit on my butt in space, talk about boring things." He joked.
Nat chuckled.
Danielle, meanwhile, was still eating up some mac n cheese as she rolled her eyes.
It wasn't that funny… She thought.
"Junior certified, too." Danny said.
"Impressive." Nat said.
Jealousy bubbled up within her as Danielle thought of something that would potentially embarrass Danny and make Nat lose interest in him.
Hmm...maybe… She thought mischievously.
She then raised her hand, getting their attention
"My brother makes model rockets and shuttles. He totally spends hours making them in his room." Danielle said.
Danny looked like he was about to jump out of his skin before Nat blinked.
"That true?" She asks.
"Yeah… kinda." He said.
She smiled.
"That's kinda neat." She said.
Danny smiled while Daneille frowned.
"Thanks." Danny said.
"So, Bro? Why not tell Nat about your comic book collection? The one you had since you were 6?" Danielle suggested.
"Danielle." He said to her with a nervous but also annoyed tone.
Nat giggled.
"Really? You do that?" She asks, sounding more interested than weirded out. "My stepbrother does the same thing but with old pulp magazines, but he hides it so girls won't think he's a loser..." She said.
"Seriously?" Danny asks..
Realizing it wasn't making her lose interest, Danielle tried one last thing.
"Uh… he's also into anime and classic movies no one sees.?" Danielle went.
"For real? What kind? I'm kind of interested in some old horror films." Nat said.
As Danny smiled, Danielle made a face at that. One of disbelief.
"Amity Park must be filled with the worst girls possible then…" She said under her breath.
Later
The McDaniel family and their guests have long since gone back to their cabin.
As Jack fell asleep, Maddie putting a blanket on him, Jazz was walking back and forth, looking jittery. This was something Danny noticed as he finished brushing his teeth.
"Jazz… lie on your bed already." He insisted.
"I can't… I drank too much coffee because I'm going to be busy!" She snapped.
"Busy doing what? Hold that book until your hands fall off? Walk until your feet stop working?" Danny asks.
"I have to go through my books to see for sure I'm right that Dad has never given you good advice!" Jazz insisted.
"He gave me a class ring to give to Sam… admittedly, he didn't know it was Valerie, but still." Danny points out.
"You know she stopped wearing that thing like a week or so before the trip to Kentucky. Something about it being dated and not fitting her taste in jewelry… meaning it wasn't dark enough!" Jazz pointed out as she kept pacing back and forth.
Danny rolled his eyes, allowing him to notice another sister in bed. He walked towards her and saw her back turned to him.
"So, what was going on back there? Why did you say all that?" He asks.
"I don't know what you mean…" She said, sounding tired.
"At dinner. It's like you wanted me to look like a joke to her." Danny pointed out.
"I was just doing it for your sake, hope she wasn't as snooty as most girls you know." Danielle claims.
"Really? Doesn't seem like that. Seemed more like you wanted to scare her away." Danny argues.
"Well… she seems interested…" Danielle points out.
"Yeah…" He thought about it and smiled. "I guess she is."
As Danny got on his bed, thinking about Nat, Danielle kept her face hidden, still looking depressed.
Danny. Danielle thought.
An hour later
Danny was still in bed, smiling up at the roof of the bunk above him.
His mind was on Nat.
She didn't make fun of his interests, she didn't think his parents were weird, she just seemed to like his company.
As he took in a breath and smiled to himself, a shocking realization hit him.
He was still on for meeting with her during the day and he has never snowboarded in his life.
He sat up and thought to himself.
"I should probably rehearse how I'm going to talk to her." He got out of bed, passing the still pacing Jazz. "Be back soon…"
"Mhmm…" Jazz, pacing with a book in her hand, went without really caring.
Wanting to have a little alone time, Danny morphed and left the cabin, heading outside and flying some distance away so he can be by himself as he thinks.
"Now… how to handle talking to her?" He asks himself.
He went out to think about what he'd say to her. He had no idea he'd encounter other trouble.
New chapter with thanks to Flower princess11.
Stick around for the next chapter.
Also, please add tropes to Danny Phantom Vs The Paranormal.
LockAndKey989: Makes sense, not every straight girl will show interest in you. Also, he's making a choice to at least try someone out of town.
Invader Johnny: She tried... but it backfired.
danifan3000: Yeah, alongside Ember, the dating pool will be wider.
Themetavoorhees: Probably not.
pokemon fan 1991: Maybe? Not sure yet.
Luiz4200: No they don't... or at least just Jazz.
Leonardo: Someday I might. They're not Wendigos. I have no real opinion of DC Super Hero Girls overall.
SoundVenom: It's not his fault it's going pretty fast. Kind of mine... :)
RonaldM40196867: I wanted to make Danny fight things that aren't ghosts. I just thought it'd be kinda funny. Don't think so... at least not here.
