Rogue was walking to the elevator as all the X-Men had been summoned by the professor to meet him down in the Danger Room. On her way, she saw Kitty yawn as she phased through their bedroom door.
"Not enough sleep?" She teased Kitty as the brunette was putting her hair into a ponytail. "You and Lance were still on the phone at 1:30. So did you ask him?"
"To the dance?" Kitty replied. Tonight was the annual Sadie Hawkins girl choice dance, and everyone at Bayville High was scrambling for dates. While Kitty wanted to ask Lance, she was uncertain whether it was a good idea considering they were on opposite sides.
"No." The valley girl answered. "You know what everyone here would say."
"Who cares?" Rogue told her, not understanding what the big deal was. "Just ask him."
"You asked Danny yet?" Kitty asked, trying to change the subject.
Rogue smirked playfully. "Of course I did. Unlike you, my guy is just a couple doors down."
"Not that there really was a point in asking." Vampira gave her two cents. "After all, why ask for something that already belongs to you?"
Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, Kitty replied, "Rub it in, why don't you?" They then entered the elevator. "So you think Jean's going to ask Scott to the dance?"
"Considering Duncan is her boyfriend, not likely." Rogue pointed out. She didn't know what the red-headed mutant saw in that brainless jock. "But if that girl is as smart as everyone says she is, she better dump the chump and get with Scott. It's what I would do."
Kitty took this moment to tease Rogue. "You would get with Scott?"
Rogue looked disgusted at the very idea. Don't get her wrong; Scott was one of her friends, but she could never see herself dating him. He was way too high-maintenance for her.
"The one with the stick up his ass?" Vampira was equally repulsed by the suggestion. "Eww."
"If I were Jean." Rogue reiterated. "But I'm not. Soldier boy's too stiff for my taste." She added. "I like my guys to be more fun-loving."
"Hold that elevator." Just then came the girl they were talking about. The two girls moved aside to let her in. "Thanks, guys. Forgot to set my alarm."
"Perfect Jean forgetting something?" Rogue chuckled. "Now that's a first."
"Wonder what could've caused it?" Kitty joined in on the teasing.
Rogue put her finger on her chin in a joking manner. "Perhaps she was dreaming about a one-eyed mutant carrying her off into the sunset."
"No." Jean blushed at the implication. "I just forgot we would be waking up early for this experiment with Kurt."
"Speaking of which, why do we need to be at this anyways?" Kitty wondered. "It's just a test for Kurt."
"We work as a team." Jean said. "So it's important to know each other's strengths and weaknesses."
Kitty nodded before asking another question. "So are you going with Duncan to the dance?"
Jean frowned. "He thinks so. He even got the tickets already."
Raising an eyebrow, Kitty asked, "Isn't it a girls ask boys dance?"
Jean's frown deepened at that. "Don't get me started on that." Duncan seemed to forget that tiny detail, which annoyed Jean to no end. "Besides, I just might have to disappoint him." She muttered, though the other two heard her.
The three girls joined the rest of the X-Men, who were watching Forge work on some kind of harness.
"I got so excited when I dreamt this up." Forge said excitedly.
Forge had planned for this to help Kurt's teleportation. While studying how it worked, he theorized that Kurt teleported through another dimension to get wherever he wanted. When he was bringing this theory up to the professor, the two decided to see if they could explore this other dimension. Danny was overhearing this conversation when he volunteered to help, stating that he had experience with other dimensions.
When the younger mutant genius asked what Danny meant by this experience, the hybrid explained about the Ghost Zone, which drove Forge's imagination wild. It was then that he vowed he would find a way to the dimension. And so the plan to try to enter the dimension that Kurt teleports through was scrapped. Instead, Forge set his sights on entering the Ghost Zone.
"Soon, we'll be able to see the Ghost Zone." Forge vowed, wanting to see proof of the afterlife.
"You sure this is a good idea, Forge?" Danny looked over the thing that would break the barrier between their worlds, and honestly, he was doubtful of it working. "I understand you're curious, but I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt." He added the last few words hesitantly, remembering how Forge's previous invention got him and Kurt stuck in the Middleverse.
"Don't worry, Danny." Forge replied as he continued working. "This will go off without a hitch."
"Are you sure I'll be able to help?" Kurt asked, feeling a bit intimidated about traveling dimensions again after the last time. "Two miles is my limit. I don't think I'll be able to teleport to a whole other dimension."
"This device will negate that limitation, Kurt." Xavier told him. "Don't worry."
Kurt was still unsure. "How does it help, exactly?"
"Forge believes when you teleport, you actually pass through another dimension." Xavier explained. "Wearing this will change your course and send you to the Ghost Zone so we can gather information about it."
"Alright." Forge finally finished the device. "Ready to boogie?"
"Boogie?" Kurt was confused by his word choice.
"Yeah, you know, trip the rift, go where no man has gone before." Forge replied.
"Seventies, Kurt." Danny deadpanned.
"Oh, right, I forgot." Kurt realized as the gadget was placed on him. "How long will I be in there?"
"Just enough so we can capture enough footage." Forge promised as he made a few adjustments to his invention. "And if anything goes wrong, you can always teleport back."
"Scott, make certain his breathing mask is secure." Xavier ordered.
"He doesn't need one." Danny revealed. "You can breathe in the Ghost Zone."
"It has oxygen?" Xavier asked. "Fascinating."
"You ready, Kurt?" Scott asked his friend, making Kurt give him a thumbs up. "Good luck." He added.
"Are you sure he should go alone?" Danny asked once more, still hesitant about letting Kurt go alone.
Forge tapped his invention "This baby isn't powerful enough to let him bring more people with him yet." Forge reminded him. "Besides, it's only for a few seconds."
Danny sighed in defeat. "If you say so." He turned to Kurt. "Just be careful, Kurt. The Ghost Zone can be a dangerous place. Don't let your guard down."
Kurt nodded. "I won't."
"Alright, let's do this." Forge went to the controls as Kurt looked at everyone. They were all giving him encouraging looks.
"When you arrive, report back via your communicator." Xavier said to his student.
With that last instruction, Forge pressed the button, activating the machine as Kurt teleported. In a flash of light, the blue mutant found himself surrounded by a green void.
"It worked." Kurt said over his communicator before exploring this new place. When he tried to take a step, he ended up floating off the ground as he hovered forward, much to his awe.
As he proceeded through the dimension, he failed to notice an ectopus behind him, observing his every movement with curiosity. Deciding to make sure he could get back home, he teleported again and found himself back in front of the others.
"Whoa, what a trip." Kurt said to everyone as they gathered around him, pressing for questions.
"Are you all right?" Danny questioned. "Did anything try to hurt you?"
Kurt shook his head. "I didn't see anything there." He said, making Danny sigh in relief.
"So what was it like, Kurt?" Rogue asked interestedly. She had totally wanted to go into the Ghost Zone to see what it was like, with Vampira also desiring to see it as well.
"It was so..." Kurt could only use one word to describe it. "Green. I can't wait to go again."
Forge was practically jumping up and down at seeing his invention work with no consequence. "Man, I can't believe it actually worked." He then took his invention off Kurt and started to work on it. "Now to modify it so you can bring others along on the ride."
"I call dibs on the next trip." Rogue said, wanting to go.
"Why do you get dibs?" Kitty complained.
Rogue smirked as she crossed her arms. "Because I'm a ghost. That takes precedence."
"Fine." Kitty relented. "Then I go next."
"Then me." Scott added.
"Don't forget about me." Jean also wanted to go.
"Kurt, did the Ghost Zone have some cool places to skate?" Evan asked, making Danny roll his eyes.
"You want to bring your skateboard to the Ghost Zone?" Danny thought that if Evan ever became a ghost, his obsession would no doubt be skating.
"Of course, man." Evan answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
The students continued to chat before eventually the excitement calmed down and everyone left the room. Leaving no one there to witness a ghost portal materialize for a brief second before vanishing.
At school, Kurt was walking the halls with Danny, Scott, and Jean. He was still going on about how cool the Ghost Zone was.
"I've never seen anything like it in all my life." Kurt described. "And I floated off the ground."
"Yeah, it has low gravity." Danny confirmed.
"I can't wait to go again after school." Kurt gushed.
Scott smiled. "It sounds pretty cool from what you described. Even the professor seemed excited."
"Hey, when you have access to technology that can capture footage of the afterlife, wouldn't you be excited as well?" Danny brought up.
"Good point." Scott acknowledged.
As they were about to continue talking about the Ghost Zone, Jean decided to head off. "Sorry guys, but I've gotta run." She apologized. "Scott, uh, can we talk at lunch?" She looked at him shyly.
"Yeah. Sure." Scott played it cool. "Outside in the quad?"
"Okay, good." Jean waved goodbye. "I'll see you then. Bye, guys." She walked off to class, leaving the three guys alone.
Danny grinned at Scott. "You think Jean is going to ask you out to the dance?"
"Nah." Scott brushed off as he opened his locker. "She's going with Duncan."
"Hey, man, don't doubt me." Danny tried to cheer him up as he saw how disappointed Scott looked. "I can sense these things."
Scott had a smile on his face as he took a book out of his locker. "Alright, can you tell if that girl in Kurt's math class is gonna ask him out today?"
"Who, Amanda?" Kurt's voice took on a tone of timidity before thinking of the shy girl in his class who always smiled at him. "Her friends say she likes me, but she's so shy." He crossed his fingers. "Here's hoping." He headed off to class.
"Be cool." Scott advised with a chuckle.
Meanwhile, Lance was getting a drink from the fountain when he heard Kitty's voice.
"Hi, Lance. What's up?"
"Oh, hey, Kitty." He greeted as the two walked to class. "Not much."
"It was fun talking last night." Kitty told him.
"Yeah." Lance said shyly. "Well, see you around." He was about to leave when Kitty went up to him.
"Lance, would you like—I mean, would you go to the dance with me?" She stuttered a bit as she finally asked him the big question.
"Uh, I'll have to think about it." Lance tried to play it cool and make sure he didn't seem too excited.
"Oh, okay." Kitty was disappointed, thinking Lance was going to say no later. "I understand. Let me know." She turned to leave when she heard Lance respond.
"Hey, Kitty. I thought about it, and the answer's yes." He told her, getting the girl to smile back at him before she left.
"Alright." Lance cheered at his victory, losing control of his powers for a brief moment as the ground shook. As everyone looked confused and possibly frightened, Kitty turned her head and smiled at Lance, who returned the look.
A scream interrupted the cute moment as everyone turned to see Principal Kelly standing over his broken coffee mug, which he had dropped in surprise at the sudden earthquake.
Lance and Kitty tried to hide their giggles at the man's misery.
In Kurt's math class, he looked back at Amanda, who smiled at him as the bell rang. He had to admit the girl was pretty cute when she acted all shy around him.
As everyone was leaving, Amanda was talking to her friends, who were encouraging her to go ask Kurt. While leaving the classroom, he found himself walking next to the girl.
"Have you been asked to the dance yet?" She asked.
"Uh, no. Actually..." He stopped as Kurt realized he was stuttering. "I mean, no, oh, not anyone has asked me, no, not yet."
"Would you go with me?" She asked breathily, silently hoping he would say yes as her friends watched.
"Who, me?" Kurt was surprised that someone would actually ask him. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Okay." His shyness was now replaced with excitement.
"You would?" Amanda was equally shocked at Kurt's response. She turned her head around and muttered to herself. "Awesome." She then turned back to Kurt. "So I'll call you later, okay?"
Kurt couldn't form words; he was too nervous as Amanda waved goodbye and left with her friends. He then smiled as he realized he had a date.
In the computer room, Xavier, Logan, and Forge were looking over the footage that Kurt captured.
Unfortunately, the images were mostly blurred, giving them a very warped look of the ghostly dimension.
"Looks like the Ghost Zone interfered with our equipment." Forge sighed. "I'll have to install a different kind of software for the cameras."
While Xavier and Forge were looking through the other data Kurt brought back with him, Logan was still watching the footage when he noticed something was watching Kurt. Though it was blurry, he could tell there was something else with the elf. He narrowed his eyes as he rewound it and paused it. "You might want to look at this."
"What is that?" Forge was intrigued as they were looking at the heavily distorted image of a ghost.
"Amazing." Xavier breathed.
"It's a good thing you ironed the kinks out of your gizmo, bub." Logan told Forge. "Cause I think Kurt will need some protection on his next trip."
Xavier nodded as the three continued to observe the picture they had of the ghost.
Danny was putting some books into his locker when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was a girl. One of Jean's friends—Sandy, he believed her name was—was giving him a look that made Danny uneasy. The kind of look that a cat has when it finds a juicy rat to snack on.
"Hi." Danny greeted as he speculated on why Sandy wanted to talk to him. He didn't think he ever shared a single word with her.
"Hi." Sandy said back happily. Danny thought it sounded a little too happy. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me."
"Uh..." Danny couldn't believe that she was asking him this question. Didn't she know about Rogue? It was obvious to everyone at the school that the two were an item, so he didn't know how Sandy seemed to miss that important tidbit.
As the half-ghost was left dumbfounded by the question, Rogue was walking down the halls trying to find her boyfriend when she spotted him talking to Sandy.
'Who's that?' She wondered to herself. Danny didn't really have any friends outside the Xavier Institute, and the girl didn't look like the type he would speak to.
"Who cares?" Vampira said in her head. "She's female, and she's speaking to our man. That's already enough to be concerned about."
At this, Rogue felt a surge of jealousy flow through her before she forced it back down.
"What's wrong with you, Rogue?" Her friend demanded. "You're really gonna let that hussy move in on Danny?"
'They're just talking.' Rogue replied, not wanting to come across as the clingy, jealous type to her boyfriend.
"Talking about how she would love to steal him away from us." Vampira shot back. "Go stop this!"
'Look, they're not doing anything.' Rogue tried to rein her friend in while Danny was currently dealing with Sandy.
"Uh, I have a girlfriend." He said to her, but she didn't seem to be disappointed by it.
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind." She placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned in closer as Danny pushed himself against the locker to back away.
Rogue saw this and decided that now it was time to take action.
"Finally." Vampira approved at seeing Rogue do something.
"Actually, she really would." Danny said as he took her hand off him. He then tried to leave, but Sandy got in his way, blocking him off.
"Well, where is this girlfriend of yours?" Sandy wondered as she raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"She's right behind you."
Turning around, Sandy was greeted by Rogue, who was glaring furiously at her.
"You're his girlfriend?" Sandy scoffed as she took in Rogue. She never understood why goths wore the clothes they did. It made them look hideous. "No offense. But I think he could do a lot better."
This set off Rogue, along with her ghost half, who was begging her to wipe the smirk off the bitch's face.
"Drain her, Rogue." Vampira egged on. "Show this bitch she picked the wrong person to mess with."
Rogue decided to do something more subtle. She made her green eyes flash for a sec, making Sandy gasp in fear as she ran down the hall.
"Whoa." Danny was a bit surprised at what Rogue did before his goth girlfriend grabbed him and kissed him.
Rogue then pulled back; her earlier anger gone thanks to the kiss.
"I still say you should've drained her." Vampira couldn't help but say. But her comment was ignored as the two lovebirds gazed lovingly at each other.
"You all right?" Danny asked, hoping that Rogue wouldn't be mad at him. "You're not angry with me, are you?"
Rogue shook her head. "Me? Angry with you? No, sugar. I'm just mad at that skank thinking she can take you from me."
"I don't know why she was doing it." Danny said. "I told her I had a girlfriend."
"Who knows? But she knows now, and let's hope she remembers it." Rogue then grabbed his hand and led him outside. "Now let's go eat. I'm starving."
"What should I wear?" Kurt asked his friends as they sat at a table in the quad. "I mean, is it formal, semiformal, what?" He then glanced at his watch. "The prof's gonna have to reprogram my holowatch."
"That's right, bro." Evan realized. "She's gonna feel two furry fingers."
"Oh, man, that's right." Kurt replied. How was he going to get out of this one? There's no way that Amanda wasn't going to notice that important detail. "What am I gonna do?" He panicked. "Oh, I've gotta call this off. What was I thinking?"
"Whoa, whoa, Kurt, calm down." Scott tried to calm his friend down. "No problem. Just wear gloves. She'll never know."
"Gloves?" Kurt responded. Who wears gloves to a dance? "But won't she think that's kind of weird?"
"Rogue wears gloves." Danny pointed out. "You calling her weird?"
"You calling me weird?" Rogue raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"No!" Kurt said, not wanting to anger Rogue. "I just..." He sighed as he tried to think of another way to get out of this.
"Look, just make up some excuse, like you've got a rash or something." Scott recommended. "It's like whenever anyone hassles me about my shades, I just say I have an eye condition, and they buy it."
"I don't know." Kurt wasn't entirely on board with the idea.
"Kurt." Danny said. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to take that nice girl to the dance. And you both will have a good time. She's gonna see the gloves and raise an eyebrow or two at most. You'll dance, drink some punch, and have fun. Everything is going to be fine." He reassured his friend.
The blue X-Man felt better after Danny laid down what was going to happen. "You're right." And he was; there was nothing that would tip off Amanda that he's a mutant. Everything was going to be all right. "Thanks, Danny."
"Anytime, Kurt." Danny then saw Jean coming over. "Oh, Scott, it's Jean."
Scott turned to see Jean walking towards them.
"Let's give Scott some space." Danny suggested to the others, as they all left Scott alone.
As Scott was watching the girl of his dreams come closer, Taryn appeared on his left.
"Hi, Scott." Taryn beamed. "Will you, like, go to the dance with me?"
Kurt and Evan, who were watching from a distance, looked at each other. What was Scott going to do?
"Uh." Scott didn't know what to say as he glanced back at Jean, who saw Taryn and awkwardly walked away, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Feeling discouraged by this, he turned back to Taryn, who was hoping that he would say yes to her.
As Scott and Taryn were talking, Danny and Rogue were sitting at a table, watching the drama unfold.
'Man, who knew Scott's love life could be so fun to watch?' He said to his girlfriend telepathically.
Before Rogue could agree, she heard a gasp come from Vampira.
"Wait, he can speak to us telepathically?" Rogue could practically feel Vampira glaring at her. "Why didn't you tell me that before?" All this time, she could've introduced herself to Danny.
Danny couldn't help but chuckle. 'I guess you're Vampira, then?' He asked the other personality. She sounded just like Rogue, except more outgoing.
"You got that right, handsome." She replied, excited to be talking to her counterpart's boyfriend. "You should talk to me more often." She flirted. "The things I would do to you."
'Vampira!' Rogue was scandalized at the way she was behaving while Danny was amused by her forwardness.
"What?" Vampira couldn't understand why Rogue was making such a big fuss. "Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing."
"So, how do you think the love rectangle with Scott, Jean, Taryn, and Duncan will play out?" Rogue asked out loud, not wanting her other half to speak with Danny and say anything else embarrassing.
"Don't you ignore me." But Rogue did, as she saw Danny think over her question.
"There are three ways this could possibly end." Danny raised a finger. "One, Scott spends the night with Taryn, neither happy nor unhappy, while Jean has a miserable dance with Duncan." He raised another. "Two, Jean dumps Duncan and confesses her feelings to Scott as they dance and become a couple."
"And the third?" Rogue asked.
Danny snorted. "Eh, it's very unlikely to happen."
"But what is it?" The goth pressed.
"Well, it ends with Jean and Taryn deciding to share Scott." Danny revealed, making Rogue break out in complete laughter.
Students were looking at her strangely. It was a weird sight for them to witness the stoic goth, who acted coldly toward pretty much everyone, laugh her head off.
Danny also couldn't help but also laugh at the absurdity of it all. "I did say it was unlikely to happen."
As school let out, Taryn was talking to her friends about Scott.
"And when he said yes, I just about melted right there." She told them.
"You are so lucky." One of her friends congratulated her. "He's hot. Totally Hollywood in those shades."
They passed by Jean, who was getting into Duncan's car.
"Hi, Jean." Taryn waved.
"Hi." Jean responded quietly as she buckled her seat belt before the car drove off.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Taryn's friend was in awe at the way perfect Jean had acted as all three girls giggled. "She's, like, so jealous of you."
"Yeah." Taryn agreed. "But it's her own fault. She's had plenty of chances at Scott."
At the Brotherhood house, everyone had found out about Lance and Kitty going to the dance, so the rebellious teens used this as an excuse to tease him.
"Here goes Lance, looking for romance." Blob mocked as everyone else jeered at him.
Tabitha sat on the arm of the chair that Lance was in. "What's gonna happen, huh?"
"We wouldn't be caught dead at that stupid dance." Blob joked.
"Yeah." Toad laughed in agreement.
"Really, Freddy?" Tabitha asked in a faux-innocent voice. "Aw, that's too bad because I was thinking about asking you." She tapped his nose, catching Blob completely off guard.
"Uh, you were?" Blob asked genuinely, as Pietro shook his head in disgust at the way his team was acting.
"Yeah, but if you don't wanna go." Tabitha walked away, only to run into Toad, who was jumping up and down.
"Ooh, ooh." Toad raised his hand as if he were a student who had the answer to the teacher's question. "Ask me. I'll go."
"Pathetic." Pietro sneered as he lay on the couch.
"Hey, Speedy, you think you're too good for me?" Tabitha jokingly challenged
"Nah." Pietro answered. "You couldn't keep up with me. I mean, I can keep four girls busy dancing at the same time." He said as he sped around the room.
"Well, alright." Tabitha cheered. "Let's all go and show that school how to party. Wahoo!"
The Brotherhood all shouted out in agreement as Lance watched on with a smile. At times, these guys drove him crazy, but he couldn't deny they had their moments.
At the institute, the X-Men were all down in the Danger Room, watching the footage that Kurt had captured. They were all intrigued by the image of the ghost.
"Whoa, what is that thing?" Evan asked.
Danny looked closely and was able to recognize it, despite the image being distorted. "It's an ectopus."
"Ectopus?" Everyone asked.
"Yeah." Danny looked at the creature with a hint of nostalgia. "They were one of the first few ghosts I ever fought. They're pretty harmless." He then thought back to the time a pair attacked Sam and Tucker. They had been pretty easy to take down even when he first got his powers and only became more effortless to catch as he improved. Though they can be annoying, he recalled a time when one stole his lunch tray during the Pariah Dark incident.
'Why did it even steal my food?' He thought. 'Ghosts don't eat, do they?' He recalled back when he was in Walker's prison how they served some kind of sludge at the cafeteria, but it didn't resemble any kind of human food. 'Maybe it just took it to be a dick.' He assumed before seeing Kurt get the harness attached to him.
"Alright, second trip." Danny was excited to go back to the Ghost Zone. Whether it was due to nostalgia or feeling connected there due to being part ghost, he didn't know. "I actually kinda miss that dimension." He confessed.
"Can I go?" Rogue turned into her ghost as she joined Danny and Kurt. "I want to see what it's like."
"I am interested in seeing it as well." Vampira said to her human half.
"Sure." Danny said, happy to show her the Ghost Zone. The two half-ghosts joined hands with Kurt so he can teleport them there.
The professor gave them the thumbs up as Kurt teleported the two into the Ghost Zone.
"Welcome to the Ghost Zone." Danny said as his girlfriend immediately started to take in all the sights. It was so amazing. And she could feel that she was more at home here. She glanced at the doors. There were so many of them. Floating through the empty sky above them.
"Incredible." Rogue gasped. "It's so beautiful."
"I feel at home here." Vampira commented, as she too was impressed by this place.
As the three were admiring the world around them, they heard the sound of an engine.
"What was that?" Kurt asked as he looked around wildly. Maybe they shouldn't have come back here.
They then heard the sound again.
"It sounds like a motorcycle." Rogue said as Danny then facepalmed. He knew that could only mean one thing.
On cue, a motorcycle flew across the skies of the Ghost Zone before it made its descent on the rock formation the X-Men were standing on. The bike slowed down as it came to a stop in front of the trio.
Danny sighed as he recognized the two people on the bike. Riding in front was a young man with blonde hair. He wore a trench coat with dark pants, combat boots, and fingerless gloves. He also sported a necklace that had a green skull attached to it.
The person behind him was a young woman with shaggy green hair. She wore a red leather jacket with a red mini skirt and fishnet stockings.
These two ghosts were Johnny 13 and his girlfriend, Kitty. Two frequent adversaries of his. And he was sure they were here to pick a fight. However, he didn't expect their reactions to be those of surprise instead of the usual hostility.
"Phantom?" Johnny breathed as he looked at the ghost for the first time in forever. "Is that you?"
"Danny?" Kitty was also shocked to see him back here.
"Yeah, it's me." Danny confirmed as Johnny's shadow, which always caused bad luck, more often than not to Tucker of all people, appeared, and it too was shocked to see him.
"Man!" Johnny exclaimed as he got off the bike. "I never thought we would see you again."
"Yeah, we heard about what happened to your family." Kitty said sympathetically.
Danny looked down at the reminder of his family's deaths as Rogue grabbed his hand to comfort him.
"I'm sorry about what happened." Johnny offered his hand, which Danny accepted, caught off guard by their sincerity.
"Thanks." Danny couldn't think of anything else to say at seeing two former enemies showing him compassion.
"And we would also like to apologize for everything we've done to you." Kitty added.
"Yeah, like using your sister to bring Kitty back." Johnny mentioned, feeling ashamed for what he had done.
"Or forcing you to date me to get back at Johnny." Kitty stated, making Rogue give her a weird look.
"Say what?" Rogue thought she had misheard that last part. This caught the bikers' attention as they noticed Rogue.
"Danny dated this piece of biker trash?" Vampira scoffed in disbelief.
"Whoa, who's this?" Johnny noticed the Danny Phantom logo on Rogue's belt. "You got yourself a sidekick?"
"Sidekick?" Rogue was offended by that. "I'm his girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Both Kitty and Johnny were surprised at that.
"Well, congratulations, kid." Johnny patted Danny on the back. "Nice to see you found someone special."
"She's very pretty." Kitty complimented, making Rogue blush. "You got yourself a good one." She told Rogue. "By the way, who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you around."
"This is my first time here, actually." Rogue admitted, making Johnny and Kitty look at each other.
"What do you mean this is your first time here?" Johnny asked. "Did you just die already?"
Rogue rolled her eyes as she transformed back into her human form, making the two ghosts curse out in shock.
"You're a hybrid too." Johnny found his words. "I guess that makes three now."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm half ghost, big deal." Rogue brushed off as she narrowed her eyes at Kitty. "Now, what did you say about forcing Danny to date you?"
While the two couples were talking, Kurt was looking at Johnny's shadow in amazement. He reached out to touch it when it slapped his hand away, not liking Kurt invading its personal space.
"Ow!" He rubbed his hand before sticking his tongue out as he and the shadow continued to make faces at each other.
Back with Kitty, she laughed nervously as she felt fearful of Rogue. "Well, you see, it's a funny story. Johnny and I were going through a difficult time, and I wanted to make him jealous." Rogue's glare deepened as Kitty tried to make the story go faster. "So I overshadowed a girl he liked and dated him while blackmailing him." She then held her hands up. "But it's cool, right, Danny?" She looked over at him, hoping he would save her from his terrifying girlfriend.
"It makes sense that she would blackmail him to keep dating her." Vampira said. "Just look at her. She's not anything special."
"Yeah, we're cool." Danny pulled Rogue back as he accepted their apologies.
Rogue merely grumbled to herself.
"She's just lucky that there are too many witnesses around." Vampira raged.
"Well, we better get going." Johnny said as he and Kitty got on the bike. "It was nice seeing you, kid." They then sped off, with the shadow following them.
"Huh, I never thought I'd run into them again, much less bury the hatchet." Danny said, happy to have made peace with two former foes. Well, three if you count the shadow. "Want to explore more?"
"As long as we don't run into any of your previous girlfriends." Rogue crossed her arms. "How many do you have?"
"Hey, that was blackmail. That doesn't count." Danny defended himself, making Rogue look down.
"I'm sorry, Danny." She apologized, realizing she had been harsh on him. "I guess I just feel jealous. I mean, she looked like, what, old enough to be in college? I just didn't think you were into older women."
Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, that was just some awkward situation I was dragged into. I don't feel anything for Kitty. Never did. I love you, Rogue."
Rogue smiled back. "I love you too. And I'm sorry about being a bitch."
"You're not a bitch, Rogue." Danny assured her.
"I beg to differ." Vampira joked, but was ignored.
The two then kissed again and were ready to go back to exploring.
"Alright, Kurt. You ready to move on?" Danny asked before realizing that Kurt was missing. "Kurt?"
The furry X-Man flew through the Ghost Zone. He had gotten bored with the conversation between Danny and Johnny and decided to go off on his own. As he was passing by some doors, he kept wondering what was in them.
Deciding to satisfy his curiosity, he went up to one. "I wonder where this one goes to." He opened it and found himself surrounded by several floating boxes along with other items and knickknacks.
"Cool." Kurt went over to explore some of the stuff when something appeared in front of him.
It was a short blue man, wearing overalls and a gray cap.
"Intruder!" The ghost boomed. "How dare you invade the lair of the Box Ghost!"
"Oh, sorry." Kurt apologized for trespassing. "I was just leaving." He left the room, failing to notice that a necklace got caught on his tail. As he was looking around, Danny and Rogue were trying to find him.
"There he is!" Rogue pointed to him. Danny turned to see Kurt opening another door.
"Kurt, don't!" He tried to warn him, but it was too late. Inside the door was a little boy watching a television.
"Hello." Kurt said, making the boy's head turn around 180 degrees.
The boy glared at him. "Get out of my room!" He bellowed as he transformed into a giant monster, making Kurt slam the door in fear.
"There you are, Kurt." Danny and Rogue had caught up to him.
"Okay, I had enough." The mutant said to his friends. "Let's bail this place." He grabbed them and teleported back to the real world in front of the rest of the X-Men.
"Okay, I had my fun." Kurt was now dead set on never returning there. "Now I'm done. Creatures, claws, teeth." He pulled off the harness. "Who needs it?"
"What a wimp." Vampira couldn't help but say.
'Shut it, Vampira.' Rogue said, annoyed at her other half's lack of sympathy for Kurt.
"Well, it looks like we did get some decent footage." Forge said as he looked over the footage.
However, Xavier was more concerned about the wellbeing of Kurt. "Don't worry, Kurt." He told his student. "You won't have to do it again."
"Thanks professor." Kurt said gratefully before giving Danny an incredulous look. "How the heck did you miss that place?"
Danny just shrugged. "I just feel connected to it."
Rogue nodded in agreement. "I do as well."
Kurt shivered. "Yeah, well, I want to be as far away from it as possible." He then ran to his room, deciding there had been enough teleporting for one day. As he passed by the door to Scott and Danny's room, the necklace that was attached to his tail fell off and slipped into the crack under their door.
Back with the others, Logan had a question for Forge.
"You don't think those ghosts will be able to follow them back, do you?" He asked.
"The only way would be if Kurt's dimensional gates didn't fully close behind him."
"And what are the odds of that happening?" Logan questioned.
"Pretty slim, I'd say." Forge answered. "Or it probably would have happened already."
"Well, let's just hope it never does." Xavier hoped as they all left, leaving the room unattended. A ghost portal opened up, letting out an ectopus before closing. The fiendish ghost flew through the roof of the institute and began to explore Bayville.
Principal Kelly was about to head over to the school to be one of the chaperones. He was walking to his car when he noticed the ectopus sitting on top of it.
"What are you?" Kelly cried out in fear as the ectopus roared. "Ahh!" Kelly screamed as he began to run with the spirit chasing him.
Scott was heading to his room to get ready. As he walked in, he heard a clinking sound. Looking down at his feet, he saw that he had stepped on some kind of necklace. "What's this?" He picked it up to examine it when Jean passed by him.
"Nice necklace." She admired its beauty before frowning. "Is it for Taryn?"
"Uh, no." Scott answered as he saw Jean look at the necklace with desire. Thinking fast, he came up with an idea. "Actually, it's for you." He handed it to her.
"Really?" Jean's eyes shone in delight before taking the necklace. "Oh, Scott, it's beautiful." She complimented as she looked it over. "This will go really well with my dress. Thank you."
The leader of the X-Men smiled. "No problem."
Soon, everyone was ready for the dance. The boys had gotten into their suits while the girls finished putting on their dresses and applying their makeup.
As everyone was getting ready to leave, Danny was standing down in the foyer, waiting for his date to come down. When she finally did, Danny's jaw practically hit the floor.
Rogue was wearing a stunning green dress that glowed in the light. Normally this would leave some of her skin exposed; however, it was covered by the full-body pantyhose she was wearing underneath her dress. A pair of matching heels completed the outfit.
She had also done her hair. It was now curlier, and Rogue had done it deliberately to look like the hair that her alternate self had back at the mountains. As she walked down the stairs, she smiled at how her boyfriend was reacting to her appearance.
"Wow." Danny uttered.
Rogue blushed crazily at his reaction. "I guess you like it then?"
Danny could only nod, making Rogue giggle. It was nice to see him so awestruck by her.
Vampira was also appreciative of his reaction. "If this is how he reacts to the dress, imagine what he'll be like if he sees us naked."
'Vampira!' Rogue scolded mentally before focusing back on Danny, who snapped out of his daze.
"You are the brightest star in this universe, you know that?" Her boyfriend said, making Rogue roll her eyes at the cheesy line, but she was flattered that Danny liked it. Despite him always assuring her that she was beautiful, she still had some insecurities about her appearance.
The ghostly superhero offered his arm to his date. "Ready to go?" Rogue eagerly accepted his arm, and the two joined the other X-Men as they made their way to the school.
At the dance, everyone was having a fun time, with the exception of Principal Kelly, who was still bruised after his encounter with the ectopus. Danny and Rogue were enjoying each other's company. Scott was having fun with Taryn. Evan was jamming to the music with his date. And Lance was impressing Kitty with his fun dance moves.
"Come on, guys." Tabitha said as she, Blob, and Toad walked onto the dance floor. "Let's get out there and show them how to move."
"Hey, look." Toad pointed over to Pietro, who entered the school with four girls.
"Whoa, dude." Fred said impressed as Pietro gave them a two-finger salute.
"Now, that boy knows how to work it." Tabitha said as the others agreed.
Rogue and Danny were getting some punch when they saw Pietro with his four dates.
Rogue was incredulous at the sight. "How the hell does that happen?"
"This is a dark world we're living in, Rogue." Vampira said grimly.
Danny was also flabbergasted by the sight. What girl in their right mind would go out with Pietro? "My money's on blackmail." He guessed before pulling out a small bottle and pouring it into the punch bowl.
"What are you doing?" Rogue asked, making Danny smirk.
"I always wanted to spike the punch at one of these." He explained.
"Usually that involves alcohol, not hot sauce." She replied.
Danny shook his head. "Hey, I may be daring, but I'm not crazy enough to steal Logan's beer."
"Beer!" Logan snapped awake out of his chair as he raced over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He sighed in relief. His beer was still there.
"Everything all right, Logan?" Xavier asked as he rolled into the kitchen.
"Yeah, Chuck." Logan closed the fridge. "It's just that for a sec, I thought someone had taken my beer."
"Come on." Rogue led him back to the dance floor. "I want to dance some more."
As Danny and Rogue were having a good time, Kurt was trying not to turn into a pile of mush as he saw Amanda look at him sweetly as they danced. Just like Danny had said, Amanda didn't make a big deal about the gloves, but he still felt weird wearing them to something like this.
"Sorry about the gloves." He apologized. "I feel like such a dork. I mean, getting a rash the day of the dance. Must be my nerves."
Amanda just smiled sweetly. "I think they make you look handsome and debonair."
"Really?" Kurt said in surprise. "You don't think I look like a butler or something?"
Amanda giggled. "No. I'm glad you came with me."
"Well, I'm glad you asked." The two then stayed quiet as they swayed with the music.
While most of the X-Men were having fun with their dates, one was not. Jean was just standing alone, her arms crossed, as Duncan was away talking with his friends instead of dancing. She glared enviously as she watched Scott and Taryn dance. She sighed, wishing Duncan could be more like Scott. As she saw her boyfriend get some punch, she decided it was time to give him a piece of her mind. Stomping over to him, she was about to let the jock have it when Duncan spat out his drink.
He screamed as he ran out of the room and to the bathroom to put some water on his tongue.
While Jean was left alone once again, the music started to get slower as the couples started to slow dance. As everyone was enjoying this intimate moment, Amanda decided it was time she told him what she knew.
"Kurt, I have to confess something." She said. "I know about you. That you don't always look like this."
"Yeah. I know." Kurt tried to play it cool. There was no way she knew who he really was. "This is one of my good days. You should see me in the mornings."
Amanda, however, knew better. "You know what I mean. The real you that you hide. Ever since I found out, I can't stop thinking about you." She placed her hands on Kurt's cheeks, making the German boy put them down.
"Amanda, I'm not sure what you're talking about." Kurt told her defensively. "I'm..." He couldn't let her know his secret. "I'm what you see. That's all."
Amanda gave him a look of understanding. "Okay, Kurt." She relented. "I can wait until you're ready to show me." She brought him closer as they continued to dance, with Kurt wondering what just happened.
"Man, this looks so amazing." Forge said as he, Logan, and Xavier were in the observatory deck watching more footage of the Ghost Zone.
"Indeed." Xavier was also in awe at what they were witnessing. "I never thought in all of my years that I would be staring at proof of the afterlife."
Logan's attention was caught by a glint of green that was coming from the Danger Room. As he walked over to the glass to look down, Xavier and Forge joined him.
"What's going on down there?" Forge asked as they watched a ghost portal open and release a ghost before closing. The ghost was a young woman wearing a medieval kind of dress.
The three widened their eyes at the ghost.
"Oh, I can't dance anymore." Blob said tiredly as he and Toad waited by the girl's bathroom as Tabitha was doing her business.
"Me neither." Toad agreed in exasperation. "And she's just getting warmed up."
Back in the gymnasium, Jean was confronting her date. "Duncan!" She found him chatting with his friends.
"Oh, hey, Jean." Duncan greeted, not noticing his girlfriend's angry expression. "What's up?"
"What's up?" Jean repeated furiously. "We've been here for at least two hours, and not once have you danced with me. All you've done is joke around with your friends and run off to get some ice cubes because you said you burned your tongue."
"I did burn my tongue." Duncan defended himself before he narrowed his eyes. "And when I get my hands on the person who-"
"Duncan!" Jean interrupted, making her boyfriend look at her in confusion.
"What?" He couldn't understand why Jean was being so tense with him.
Jean pointed at herself. "I worked really hard to look this good. The least you could do is give me one dance. That's all I want."
Duncan sighed. "Look, Jean, I-" He was cut off as a football came towards him, and he caught it.
"Yo, Duncan, nice catch!" One of his friends praised him, making Duncan grin.
"Go long!" Duncan threw the football back before leaving Jean to have fun with his friends.
Jean's eye twitched at how she was brushed off by her date. "Oh, come on!" She decided to go to the bathroom to clear her head, passing by Toad and Blob without giving a glance at either of them.
Going in front of the bathroom mirror, Jean reflected on how lonely she felt tonight and how obtuse Duncan was acting.
"I can't have one dance." Jean said to herself. "One fucking dance." She cursed uncharacteristically before her anger was amplified by the amulet as she punched the mirror, shattering it. She then gripped the sink in front of her as she felt some kind of energy enter her body.
Tabitha came out of the stall and saw Jean moaning sickly.
"Jean?" She went up to the girl. "Hey, girl, are you okay?"
Jean turned to her as Tabitha gasped at what had happened to her. Her skin was now looking like blue scales as her eyes narrowed into slits with a fork tongue in her mouth.
"Duncan!" Jean roared in a deep voice, making Tabitha run away in fear.
"There she goes." Toad said as he and Blob reluctantly followed her back into the gymnasium.
Tabitha was shaking before she spotted her friends. "Guys, we got to get out of here."
"Why?" Toad asked curiously, wondering what spooked her so badly.
Tabitha wasn't the only one who knew something was going on, as while Danny and Rogue were dancing, their ghost senses went off.
"Oh, no." The two said in worry.
'Can't I go to one dance without something supernatural happening?' Danny thought to himself as the two looked around for anything unusual, passing by Lance and Kitty, who were able to bond despite being on opposite sides.
"See?" Lance said to her cheerfully. "Being with me hasn't been so bad, has it?"
As Kitty was about to reply, the ground shook as everyone looked around, confused. "Lance, what are you-" She was cut off by her date.
"It's not me, I swear." Lance promised before the school shook again. Then a giant blue ghostly dragon burst through the doors and roared at all the students.
"Duncan!" The newly transformed Jean cried as she darted her head around to locate her boyfriend. She started to crawl around, her tail swinging wildly, knocking some students around.
Kelly, filled with terror at the giant reptile, ran out into the hall, where he locked himself in an empty classroom.
He sighed in relief. "It's all right. I'm safe. I'm safe." He then heard growling and turned around to see the ectopus from earlier grinning at him menacingly, making the principal shriek.
As Kelly was busy with his own ghost problems, the X-Men were all dealing with Jean as she moved towards them. With the students' attention on fleeing for their lives, they didn't see Scott fire his optic blast at Jean. However, she turned intangible to avoid the blast. Lance tried to use his powers to make the ground shake, but Jean made her wings flap, lifting her off the ground.
The surge of wind from Jean flapping them made Amanda fall into Kurt's arms.
"Kurt, get us out of here." She begged.
"How? We're trapped." Kurt said, playing dumb as Jean turned her head in their direction.
"Make us disappear." Amanda implored. "Hurry. I've seen you do it. Please."
Kurt looked at Jean as she advanced towards them, making Amanda let out a scream as Kurt teleported them out of there and into the hall.
"Wow, that was amazing." Amanda said at experiencing his teleportation for the first time.
"We've obviously got a lot to talk about, but first, let's get you out of here. Come on." Kurt led her out of the school as the others were trying to figure out where the dragon came from.
"What the hell is that thing?" Scott cried.
"It's Jean!" Tabitha revealed to them. "I saw her turn into that in the bathroom."
"Jean?" The X-Men, with the exception of Danny, were in disbelief at that monster being their friend.
Meanwhile, Jean set her sights on Duncan and grabbed him. "Lousy boyfriend!" She shouted.
This convinced Rogue. "Yep, that's Jean." They all then witnessed Jean burst through the wall and onto the football field as they followed her.
"How did she even get that amulet anyway?" Danny muttered to himself.
"Amulet?" Scott turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"That amulet transforms whoever wears it when they're angry into a dragon." He explained, internally scolding himself for not noticing she was wearing the amulet.
Scott looked back at Jean, who roared at Duncan, making the jock cry.
"What do we do to change her back?" Scott inquired.
"We got to get it off her." Danny answered.
Nodding, the X-Men leader came up with a strategy. "Okay, here's the plan. Danny, I need you to get her attention." He then turned to Rogue. "While she's distracted, I want you, Rogue, to turn invisible and get Duncan to safety while I remove the amulet."
"Do we have to rescue the blonde idiot?" Vampira whined, thinking it was a waste of time.
'Sadly, yes.' Rogue replied reluctantly.
"Let's go!" Scott ordered as Danny and Rogue turned ghost and flew off to accomplish their respective tasks.
"Hey, Jean!" Danny flew above her and waved his hands. "Over here!"
Jean fired a torrent of flames from her mouth at Danny, who moved out of the way.
"I hate to say this, Jean, but you spit fire like a girl!" He mocked, enraging Jean further as she tried to attack him, not noticing Rogue pull Duncan, who passed out in fear, out of her fist.
With the hostage secured, Scott fired his optic blast, severing the amulet. "Gotcha!" He cheered as he saw Jean shrink down as she turned back to normal.
He went up to her. "Jean, are you okay?"
"Scott?" Jean looked around and was surprised to see they were on the football field. "What happened?"
Scott rubbed his neck, not knowing how to explain it. "Let's just say you had a roaring time at the dance."
Danny went to pick up the amulet when his ghost sense went off again.
"My amulet."
The X-Men all turned to see Forge and a ghostly woman come up to them.
"You again?" Danny recognized her as the owner of the amulet.
"Who is she?" Rogue asked him.
"She's the one who owns the amulet." Danny answered as he handed it back to her.
"Turns out the amulet ended up on this dimension, and this lady here came to get it back." Forge explained.
"I really need to stop losing this." The ghost said to herself. "And I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble I've caused." She apologized. "Farewell." She then vanished.
Scott helped Jean up to her feet as they walked back into the destroyed school. "Jean, are you okay?"
Jean looked at the ruined gymnasium with shame. Scott had told her what happened, and she felt guilty for all the trouble she had caused. "I've ruined everything."
"Hey, don't be like that." He comforted before noticing the music starting back up. He looked to his right to see Danny winking at him, signaling that it was his doing. The half-ghost mouthed good luck before he and the others gave them some privacy.
Seeing an opportunity, he smiled at Jean. "Besides. I'm sure there's still time for one last dance."
Jean smiled back as they danced together. She couldn't help but be a bit amused that all it took to get one dance was to turn into a dragon and wreck the place.
Outside, Danny and Rogue were heading back home.
"Well, that was fun, excluding the whole dragon part." Danny said, making Rogue nod.
"Yeah. I'm just glad everything's back to normal." Rogue's ghost sense went off, along with Danny's, as they saw Kelly run past them with an Ectopus chasing him.
"Well, almost normal." Danny commented before he and Rogue laughed.
"So, how did you know?" Kurt asked Amanda as he walked her home.
"A few months ago, I saw you arguing with your friend in the hallway at school." Amanda revealed. "I already liked you then, but I don't think you knew who I was. Anyways, when you suddenly changed into..." She didn't know how to describe it. "Into something else and then disappeared; I couldn't believe it. At first, I thought it must be some kind of trick or something. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I haven't told anyone else. I mean, who would believe me? All I knew was I just had to get to know you."
Kurt couldn't believe it. She knew he was different this whole time and didn't have a problem with it. "I don't know what to say."
"Will you show me, please?" Amanda begged. "Like I saw you that day?"
Kurt sighed. He knew that this would come, and he knew how it would end, with Amanda screaming at him in fear. "You won't like what you see up close."
Amanda was undeterred. "Let me decide that."
"Alright. Here goes." Kurt pressed a button on his watch, revealing his true self in all its glory. Amanda let out a gasp and stepped back as Kurt got ready for the inevitable reaction. "Well?"
Amanda stepped closer and put her hand on his chin. "Did you know that blue is my favorite color?"
She accepted him. She wasn't afraid of him; rather, she liked him even for his appearance. He clasped her hand, showing his three digits, but that didn't disgust her either. "So I know a good shortcut to the ice cream shop." He informed her, happy over this turn of events. "Up for it?"
"I'm buying." Amanda stated.
"Oh, an offer you may regret." Kurt joked as he teleported them there.
In the end, Kurt had been right all along.
Chicks really do dig the fuzzy.