The door to the office clicked shut; it echoed in the small room. Danny flinched at the sound, a sound he was far too familiar with for his liking. His parents were sitting on either side of him. Jack's wide frame was barely contained by the chair on his left, creaking and groaning with every futile attempt to get settled. In contrast, Maddie was sitting comfortably on his right. Neither were as jovial as they might ordinarily be, expressions of faint disappointment on their faces. Another thing Danny was far too familiar with.
The vice-principal walked around the three of them and sat down at his desk. He sighed and folded his hands. "We need to talk."
There weren't many more words out there that could evoke as much dread as that.
Danny shifted in his seat, unable to find any position that was comfortable. The small plastic chair was placed perfectly between the two larger ones on either side. It made Danny feel like he was still in grade school.
Knowing Mr. Lancer, that was probably intentional.
Jack leaned forward, placing his weight on his knees. "Of course, what is it?" His large frame shadowed over Danny, making him feel smaller in the room.
Mr. Lancer frowned and rubbed his forehead. "I don't want to mince words here, but well… Daniel here is a good kid." Whatever Danny had expected Mr. Lancer to say, that wasn't it at all. "I've had more than a few children come through my office doors. Some are troubled souls, I need to intervene because they aren't willing to put in the effort. Others, like Daniel… defy explanation."
At the mention of his name, both his parents turned to face him. The sudden movement from both of them made Danny jump a little. His mother's lips were drawn into a thin line; upset, but not surprised. His father's brow was furrowed, but he remained quiet. The moment of contemplation lasted for the briefest of moments as his parents looked at him, considered the statement, and then accepted the fact he was "problematic".
His mom turned back to Mr. Lancer and stated firmly with conviction, "We understand," she said, ignoring Danny as he hunched in on himself. "Jack and I have had multiple discussions with Danny, but… nothing we've said has gotten through."
Mr. Lancer nodded, and he reached over and grabbed the plaque on his desk that titled him as the vice-principal. "As have I. Daniel and I have had multiple conversations over the past couple of years, but as you've said, it feels like nothing has gotten through. There are occasional moments where it seems to. I recall the time in freshman year I supervised his studying successfully, for once. But they invariably don't last." If Lancer was aware of the fact that both him and his parents were speaking about Danny as if he wasn't in the room, he didn't show it. His gaze was fixated on the piece of metal in his hands. Why bother talking to him, after all, Danny thought bitterly. It's not like he would actually tell them the truth, and everyone knew that by now.
Lancer ran his fingers over the brass nameplate before putting it back on his desk. "And in light of that, I would like to make a suggestion."
"We're listening," Maddie answered for all of them.
"The spring festival is coming up. I think it would do Daniel some good to be involved in something greater than himself, to remind him that his actions have an impact outside himself and his circle of friends. The entire town is getting involved. I think it would be a good learning experience for him."
It took all Danny had to not scoff then and there. He was already stretched thin, like a piece of butter over too much toast. It wasn't that he didn't want to do his homework, some piece of him, the tiny piece of hope in him, was still desperately clinging to the dream of being an astronaut. But, he had to put that aside, precisely because he knew far too well the impact he would have if he prioritized himself.
After all, he was the only one in the town who could keep them safe from all the attacks that kept happening.
Who cared what Shakespeare meant when he wrote the lines "To be or not to be" when you were running from someone trying to skin you? Or when the king of the dead decides he's slept long enough? Or when you could still hear the mocking laughter of the monster you could have been echoing when it was quiet?
Jack straightened his back. "While I do think that would be a good idea, I'm not sure adding that more on his workload will help." Jack put a hand on Danny's shoulder, squeezing lightly. The weight of it was comforting, and it drew out a quiet breath from Danny despite himself. His dad might not have known what was going on, but he had always been able to hope he was in his corner.
And as he sat in this office with his teacher and his parents, he needed that.
Maddie sighed and placed her hand against her face. "It's not like he's doing his homework as is…"
"I am!" Danny interrupted, finally finding a place to stand up for himself. Though he immediately regretted it as his parents looked at him with raised eyebrows.
Lancer nodded. "I am willing to believe that," Lancer stated, nodding, thankfully getting the attention off Danny. "While his homework, which accounts for 50 percent of his grade is very much lacking, his quiz and test scores do show that he knows the material." Lancer shrugged, "And… to be frank, while a lot of students inform me of a loss of homework due to the attacks, your family is, unfortunately, heavily involved in all the happenings."
Danny let out a huff as Jack patted a meaty palm against his back. "Of course he does! He's a Fenton! We're natural ghost hunters! This is our natural environment!"
"Quite," Mr. Lancer said flatly, before clearing his throat and picking up a piece of paper. "I have a list of people who Danny could work with. I would assign someone, but I think that's the opposite of what I want to happen here." He folded his hands and looked at Danny for the first time since he sat down. Could Danny remember a time his teacher didn't look at him like that? Stern, foreboding, and more than a little bit resigned to failure where he was concerned.
"So, Mr. Fenton, this is what I'm proposing. This weekend, there is a meeting at the community center to do some of the planning for the festival. I want your parents to take you to the meeting. I want you to find something that you might want to be involved in. I could ask you to write something up for me, but I don't think that'll be productive. Instead, on Tuesday we'll have a lunch meeting where you and I will discuss what happened over the weekend."
Maddie tilted her head and interrupted. "Not Monday?"
Lancer shook his head. "Unfortunately, I have a prior commitment." He turned back to Danny. "In exchange, I'm going to waive your English homework."
"Really?" Danny sat up despite himself.
"Yes, really." Lancer leaned forward. "I know you don't like me, Daniel. You see me as an authority figure whose job it is to make you miserable. That's not my job, my job is to help you learn and flourish." He tilted his head and smiled softly at him. "Some of us aren't good in a classroom."
Danny let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "I'll… try. That's all I can promise."
The kindness in Mr. Lancer's eyes left, instead of the understanding teacher, he was looking at the angry one that punished him for other students, like his bully Dash Baxter. "Daniel, I want you to understand, this isn't just me trying to be helpful, this is your last lifeline. If this doesn't work, you'll be repeating years. Understand?"
"Yes, sir." Danny said around the lump in his throat.
"Good." Mr. Lancer pulled out a set of papers. "Now then, you are dismissed. I'll want to discuss some more with your parents, but I know you aren't good at sitting in a room for more than fifteen minutes."
Danny took the opportunity to flee Mr. Lancer's office. He jumped out of his chair and then moved around his father into the hallway. His two best friends were waiting for him in the hall.
Tucker put away his PDA, that he lovingly called Patricia, before standing up, while Sam glanced back and slammed her locker shut. She offered him a soft smile and handed over his coat before she and Tucker both put on their own winter jackets, much thicker than his. Once the two of them were zipped up, his two friends fell into step with him as he left the school
"So," Tucker began, keeping his voice low, "How screwed are you?"
"Tucker!" Sam hissed.
"Not that screwed," Danny said, sighing and running his hand through his hair. "Mr. Lancer basically wants me to do community service in place of my English homework."
"I thought you said you weren't screwed," Sam muttered as she adjusted her backpack.
Tucker scratched under a beret that he knocked askew. "I mean, he's getting out of his homework, that sounds pretty good to me."
Sam fixed Tucker with a glare. "Tucker, Danny already has trouble staying in class because of all the ghost attacks. Do you think he can handle community service on top of that?"
Tucker didn't flinch under Sam's gaze. "Oh, no, one hundred percent he can't."
Danny sighed as they walked outside and he sat down heavily on the school steps. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tuck."
Sam stood over him for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "Danny," Sam said slowly. "We're not sitting there."
"... Why not?" Danny asked blankly.
"Because it's January! It's freezing!"
"... It is?" He tapped the blocks experimentally, shrugging up at Sam. "Feels warm to me."
"Of course it is, it's concrete with literal ice on it, what... Are you messing with me?"
Danny let that hang for a second or two before his face split into a shit-eating grin. "Am I?"
Sam growled and reached out to finish what the portal started before Tucker coughed into his fist and then reached into one of his many cargo pockets and pulled out what appeared to be a gun. It had the basic shape of one, but it was too smooth and too shiny to be a standard gun. It didn't help that when the safety was flicked off it let out a sharp whine that made Danny's teeth itch. "So! I think it's time for the rest of team Phantom to step up."
Danny whirled on Tucker. "No!" he hissed. "I'm not-"
"You aren't in a position to say no," Sam said, grabbing Danny and pulling him away from Tucker. "Danny, you're always the one running out to fight ghosts, but… you can't. We're in this situation because you didn't let us help." Her eyes softened. "It's just for a little while, alright? And maybe, when it's all said and done, you won't worry about us anymore. Alright?"
Danny felt his mouth open and close several times. "Alright…" he said quietly. "Alright, for now."
Ember felt something vibrate unpleasantly in her core and she sat bolt upright.
There was someone in her lair.
They didn't enter. She couldn't even really describe it as breaking in - none of the usual sensations of forced entry came to her. Just a… presence, walking through the walls of the space she created like they weren't there.
It wasn't Kitty. Kitty wouldn't intrude like this, she'd sit out in front of her lair and sing annoying songs until she was let in. Johnny would pound at the door until he fell in, or Kitty had to come to collect him. Skulker would have shot down the door, or rather would have tried to - more than once his shots had rebounded from the barriers and blew up his armor. Penny would find some minor thing to blackmail her over until she was granted entrance.
Suffice to say, the number of people who would break into her lair was small, and the number who could was smaller.
Ember scrambled up from where she sat, snatching up her guitar as she went..
She found the invader in her "green" room, and Ember could help but add Kitty's oft repeated air quotes about it. While the room was obviously what would normally be called a green room, a waiting area for performers before going on stage, the room couldn't quite be called green; Instead, every fixture, plant, and liquor laid out in the room was tinted the same turquoise as her hair.
Which made the man standing in her lair and pouring out whiskey into two glasses stick out even more, and instantly set her on edge when she recognised him. Oh, sure, he looked human at the moment, but where this guy was concerned, looks meant even less than it did for the goody-two-shoes dipstick in town.
"Excellent timing, Ember," Vlad Masters said, smoothly. He turned and gave her a smarmy grin, dropping a glass into her hand. He raised his own glass filled with her whiskey, the whiskey she had been saving for years, saving for… more or less anything except this, and clinked it against the glass in her hand.
"Plasmius," she growled, "To what do I owe the pleasure."
"Well, my dear, the spring equinox is upon us!" He knocked back the drink and let out an obnoxious gasp as he smacked his lips. "Do you know, this is a much better spirit than I expected from you? My compliments. But yes, the equinox is upon us and I have a particular need for you."
"I'm not dancing around naked in the forest for you, you goddamn pervert."
"Wha… I… No!" Vlad sputtered, his air of smug superiority vanishing in an instant. "That's not what I meant!"
"Right, because you break into just anyone's lair and start babbling about shit only druids care about," Ember deadpanned. "Explain what you want, dipstick, or I'm throwing your ass out."
An absolute bluff, if ever she made one - her and Phantom were about on par with one another, but she knew from the Ghost Zone grapevine (which was mostly Kitty) Plasmius outclassed damn near everyone. But hey, pride.
Vlad closed his eyes and took a deep breath, visibly attempting to regain his composure and thus control of the conversation, before fixing her with a condescending little smile. "Well, I suppose first things first after that little outburst - do you even know what an equinox is?"
Ember scoffed. "It's the start of spring, and it's when night and day are equal in length."
Vlad tutted at her and waggled a finger. "Yes, but that's not all it is. It's also one of the times that the veil between this world and the more mundane one is thin. This year the full moon is on the same night. The veil is so thin already, I feel I can tear it asunder with my bare hands. I imagine even someone like you could achieve that."
Vlad had been speaking for all of thirty seconds, and Ember was already sick of him.
"Fuck it," she said to herself.
Vlad looked distinctly unimpressed as her lair became alive. The furniture shook for a second before flinging themselves across the room to crush Vlad. The furniture passed through the (currently) human like he wasn't even there. He simply cocked an eyebrow and dusted his suit lackadaisically. "Have you quite finished?"
"You invaded my lair, poured my drinks, and you're being vague as hell. Are you finished?"
"Hardly, but apparently you need this spelled out." He lifted his glass again. "Amity Park is already easier to break through than most places, and with a full moon equinox? With the right preparation, this could be a golden opportunity."
"Can you get to the damn point already?" Ember snapped.
Vlad sighed. "If we have someone, anyone with knowledge of what is needed to tear open a portal to the ghost zone, we can tear open a portal to let every ghost, spirit, and forgotten out into the real world."
Ember blinked before narrowing her eyes. "Great, wonderful, what the fuck does that have to do with me?"
Vlad smiled. "Why, my dear, everything." He leaned in and whispered, "how did we humans used to call out to the spirits to guide us?"
"Songs…" Ember whispered back immediately. She shook her head. "So you want me to help you tear open the veil?"
Vlad leaned back. "I'm so glad you've caught up. Yes. That is exactly what I want you to do. I want you to be the medium through which my… associates can breach the veil. I'll help of course, there are other methods, sacrifices, runes, and offerings to make it more potent, to tear the fabric between realities before you rip it apart. But the music, the truest way that humans have communicated with spirits before now, that's what I'm asking for. I'd do it myself, but our mutual enemy would notice if I tried something so overt."
Ember gestured to herself, from her flaming hair to her metal boots. "I'm not exactly subtle here."
"No, I admit everything about you is painfully obvious," the man sneered, and Ember almost tried to throw him out again, futility be damned. "But then, part of the reason for this meeting is I've come to realize I perhaps need to be a little less subtle."
He paused, refilling his whiskey glass. Ember let the silence stretch out, leaning against the wall, and pointedly not asking the question she saw in Vlad's eyes whenever they flicked to her. It was the same look Skulker used to get whenever he wanted to pontificate on something or other, with her as the unwilling audience. She wasn't going to give him the excuse.
He cracked first.
"Must you?" Vlad sighed, turning back to Ember with mild exasperation.
"I dunno, must you? If you wanna spew your plan and why it's totally justified or whatever, then fine, but don't expect me to play along just 'cause you set me up to."
"Oh, very well. I suppose it's only fair for you to know what prompted this request."
Ember rolled her eyes at him.
"You see," he began, sipping from the whiskey. "For some time, I've allowed myself to become… distracted, from the goal I've held above all others. I'm sure nobody would blame me - after all, who could resist the allure of having as powerful a piece as the Fright Knight in my employ, to name but one example. The shadow wars with Daniel for artifacts and power, oh it's all very exhilarating. But then on New Years Eve I was reminded, powerfully reminded of what matters most, the one thing I don't possess that I deserve."
Vlad slugged the whiskey back, keeping the glass in a death grip, rage burning in his eyes. Ember could piece it together easily - everyone knew what pushed Plasmius to do what he does, two and half years of smarming his way around their end of the Zone did that. New Years Eve, a party, a happy couple he couldn't stand to see, something like that.
"Revenge. I let myself get so caught up in winning over Madeline and Daniel, that I forgot the crucial first step of doing so. Destroying his reputation has done me no good. Subtler methods of assasination have failed or been thwarted. I think it's time I stopped trying to be coy about ending the life of the man who ruined me. So. No elaborate conspiracy, no ulterior motive or plots within plots. A single night of chaos to provide adequate cover, and the man I hate most is simply another victim of a ghost incursion no one could have seen coming. And nobody will know, not for sure, that it was me," he finished, punctuating his monologing with a devious smile.
OK, Ember will admit, that isn't a bad plan. Needs some setup, apparently, a lot of stacking the deck in his favor, but the means are simple enough, and so is the goal. Both were usually his problem. From what she'd heard, anyway. This was only, like, the second time she'd seen him, never mind spoken to him.
"Uh-huh. I've heard worse," she shrugged. "Dunno how you expect me to help, though. I stick out. Actually, dunno why you expect me to help. What's in this for me?"
Vlad smiled. "Well, my dear, I can answer both of those questions at once. I'm more than aware of several ways to disguise oneself." He frowned. "I'll admit, the one I have in mind for your reward is in some ways less than ideal for the goal of manipulating events, seeing as unless you go to high school you'll raise far too many questions, but…" he swirled the glass around and his smile grew cruel.
She growled as he sipped at his drink. "Out with it!"
"With the ritual I've discovered, what it can do? For all intents and purposes, you'll be alive."
Ember wasn't sure how long she had stood there. The words echoed in her ears, repeating over and over again and again. She'd be alive. She wouldn't be trapped in her lair or stuck in the endlessly deadly Zone. Stuck in an infinite series of hallways and rooms with the sound of a stage so close that she could never find. She'd be in the real world.
The living world.
"What's the catch?" She finally breathed out. The lair shifted and shook as she shivered.
"No catch. The ritual needs repeating every year or so, but how to perform it will be given to you. You fulfill your role, and you'll get to live, and I'll have an army come through and I'll get what I want."
Vlad raised his glass in the air. "To the death of Jack Fenton."
And Ember numbly raised her glass to the death of a man she never met.
Hazama: Me and Kilaknux started this idea... hoo boy... over a year ago. Almost two. We've been bouncing ideas off each other and making progress but now we're really trying to buckle down and get this going. We've got a buffer. but posting is putting a fire under us so we're gonna be cooking. That being said I'm excited because this has been a lot of fun and we've already had some great moments that I'm excited to get to.
Kilaknux: Hm? What do you mean two years ago? No idea what you're talking about Haz, we did this just now.
Anyway, for the most part in this chapter, I worked mainly on the Ember and Vlad portion of this chapter - I don't know what it says about me that that was definitely the easier of the two segments for me to write. I knew we were in for a fun time when I took one look at the skeleton Haz had provided and immediately slapped in several hundred words of Ember banter and Vlad floundering against it. Nice to know I haven't lost it. And Haz of course gets the horrific awkwardness of the parent-teacher meeting where you have done poorly down pat.
Enjoy, everyone!