Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Paramount global.
Blackmailed
Chapter 25: Countdown to Disaster! II
Danny was in the middle of having a migraine. One of many he knew he'd be having thanks to who he was stuck with at the moment.
Colette had stepped out for lunch and to make changes to her party, and he was enjoying a rare moment of freedom from her.
He was trying to savor it as much as possible. Before she showed up and went back to tyrannical bossing him around or showing him with more of her disturbing "affection".
"I don't know what is more sick...that she actually made me give her a pedicure of all things...or that she insisted on a kiss before leaving. Who am I kidding? It's the second one..." He thought, still revolted by what he went through.
It was like he was in the middle of a hurricanes eye. But if he tries to fly away from it, the hurricane will hurt his friends, family and especially his girlfriend and he won't allow that to happen without a fight.
However, right now, a fight is the one thing he can't do with Colette, for fear that she would use her weapon against him.
"I really can't wait for this nightmare to be over with..." He thought.
But even though Colette wasn't here, it didn't mean that there weren't any nuisances around.
"Move it, Fentina!..." An obnoxious voice said.
It was Dash Baxter, who rudely shoved passed him.
Danny glared at him but said nothing. He had bigger annoyance to deal with than that stupid jock who was currently acting high and mighty again.
With all the teachers dealing with the criminal antics happening lately, Dash could get back to how things used to be. Before Colette came.
Dash then noticed Mikey walking past him with Nathan, he then looked around and realized that there weren't any teachers around. The blonde jock smiled and cracked his knuckles as he followed the two nerds. He made quick work of them and physically harassed the two, much to his satisfaction as be trapped them on a nearby locker.
"Nothing like being king of Casper high!..." Dash thought with a swagger in his step, having got the chance to mess with a couple of freshmen when the teachers weren't looking.
To him, it was good to be king, even if it was all in his own head.
Granted, he knew everything would go downhill for him after high school, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy things while they were good. Although, admittedly it would've been better if one of the Freshman he punched earlier were Danny Fenton instead, then that would have made his day. But for now, he'll stay out of Colette's way. Mostly since she threatened to blackmail him if he tried to physically hurt him, but he figured he could get away with a simple shoving and verbal bullying when she wasn't around.
He still didn't get why they were dating but he ultimately didn't want to get involved with their drama.
"She can have Fenton for all I care, better him than anyone actually important..." Dash sneered, partly out of petty revenge but also because he was still creeped out by her and suspicious but still had no proof of her doing anything serious.
So he decided not to go near her, mostly out of self preservation than anything else. It's clear she wasn't interested in him, something he didn't get, but at least she's not putting him in trouble anymore.
"Whatever, I got better things to do than to worry about what Colette does with her free time..." The jock said as he left to go join his football buddies, ignoring the unpopular students now.
Danny saw this and rolled his eyes. How he missed the days he didn't have to worry about anything worse than Dash Baxter.
"I can't believe I'm starting to feel nostalgic for those simpler times after that lab accident..." Danny began to think, until he noticed something off about what he just thought.
"Wait...simpler times'? Oh great, now I'm starting to think like how dad talks about his college days..." Danny continued his train of thought while face palming himself.
Yet another reason he was glad to be alone at this moment.
He suddenly heard a ping from his cell phone and had a bad feeling that he knew who it was from. Danny read the contents of Colette's text and frowned.
"Mon amour, hurry up I expect you to meet me at zhis location! Pick up zhe pace. The sooner you arrive, zhe sooner I can shower you in my love!..." The latest text from his 'girlfriend' read.
"And I thought Star and Valerie used to be bossy, but compared to her royal clinginess, they're completely reasonable, even when they were A-listers..." Danny thought, annoyed in the position he's in.
He just really hoped that the sociopathic royal pain would be dealt with sooner rather than later. He took a breath before hearing another ping. Danny checked his phone and saw another message there.
"What now?..." He thought, hoping it wasn't from Colette again.
He smiled when he read its contents and who sent it. He felt his mood lift up a bit.
"Finally, some good news. I was going crazy babysitting her royal brattiness..."He thought as he left for a certain place, wanting to get there before a certain fake redheaded monster came back to make his day even worse.
Thankfully, the half ghost boy knew just the person to distract that bratty nuisance long enough for him to take care of some personal business.
Someone who'd be willing to keep her busy when she shows up, which by now was a fate worse than death, at least in his eyes.
"Best get to it..." He said under his breath.
He knew that his next few actions were going to be more difficult than any midterm exam he's taken before and might lead him to some personal troubles along the way. But at least he'll be away with a much cleaner conscience.
So, to him, it'd be worth it.
After all, being gloomy and miserable wasn't something he wanted to feel for the rest of his high-school life, much less his adult life.
And he knew how to prevent all of that...and knew who he had to get away from in order to do so.
Unknown to him, he wasn't the only one having a miserable time thanks to a crazy fake redhead, though the other one couldn't blame the redhead.
Not entirely.
And unlike Danny, it was his own fault and it didn't really matter whether he knew about it or not.
Elsewhere
Vlad turned around to see Alicia had followed him down into the lab. In his desperation to hide, he forgot to close the entrance.
"Vladdy, what is this?!..." Alicia questioned, not knowing about this part of his life.
"Oh...peanut brittle!..." Vlad cursed while his desire to kill Puck increased ten-fold in that moment.
His unwanted wife had seen his secret lab and was now demanding answers. She also looked rather upset at this revelation.
Vlad panicked and tried to think fast. He certainly couldn't tell her the truth. She'd run to her sister and tell her he was the "Wisconsin ghost" if she found out about it. He'd rather become a FULL ghost then allow Maddie to learn his secret!
"NO! I CAN'T LET HER RISK EXPOSING ANYTHING!..." He thought, losing his rationality.
Briefly forgetting what happened last time, Vlad wanted to go intangible and attempted to overshadow her. However, his powers were still gone and he didn't see that he accidentally stepped on ectoplasmic goo.
The goo and the gravity were an irritating combination and sent Vlad landing on his posterior with a heavy thump.
"OH, BUTTER BISCUITS!..." Vlad said, cursing his luck.
His wife was confused and approached him. However, unfortunately for Vlad, his attempt to get away resulted in him tripping and hitting a nearby desk, head first. He collapsed as the wife he didn't want observed him not moving.
"VLADDY!..." Alicia exclaimed, shocked to see her husband passed out.
She would ask about this secret lab later, right now she was more concerned with her husband. She kneeled down beside him, examining him. She checked his head and was relieved that he didn't have a visible injury.
"Looks like he's got no concussion. Thank goodness. I might not have practiced first aid in a while, but I still know my stuff..." She said, relieved that it wasn't anything serious.
She then put fingers to his neck to check his pulse. Finding it, she was relieved she checked to see nothing was obstructing his airways. But he was still knocked out and not moving. She got worried again.
"Don't worry Vladdy, I've got my certification renewed three months ago. I'll save you!..." Alicia said as she began to perform CPR.
Once she put her lips to his Vlad's eyes sprung open and he couldn't believe them.
SHE WAS KISSING HIM AGAIN?!
"NOT AGAIN!..." Vlad thought as he struggled and tried to push her off.
She shouldn't be kissing him! Only Maddie should be the one kissing him! That is how he saw things.
He managed to break free but Alicia saw that he was conscious again and was relieved.
"Vladdy! Oh, thank heavens! You're up on your feet..."She said, oblivious to his feelings.
"Alicia!..."He exclaimed as he tried to get away from her, but hissed in pain due to his feeling the effects from when a head meets a desk so suddenly.
"Don't you worry, I'm a going to take care of you help you get on your feet. Then we're a going to talk bout our second wedding planning and maybe another honeymoon too!..." She said giddily, lifting him bridal style again.
"AHHHHHHH!..."Vlad shouted, horrified and trying to break free but her grip was too strong.
Somehow he did it. Breaking free from her grip, the evil halfa mentally gagged. He didn't wish this on anyone. Even Jack Fenton deserved better.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and keep his bile from exiting his mouth.
Vlad couldn't understand what just happened, but then it hit him.
"This has to be that wretched Puck's doing. He must have something to do with this..." Vlad thought, vowing revenge for who knows how many times against that fae.
It also didn't change the fact that his so-called wife demanding answers now.
"Vladdie, what's the meaning of this? What is this place?..." Alicia asked.
"Uh, it's for business purposes. This is my personal R and D laboratory..." Vlad quickly lied.
" I use it for researching confidential projects away from the eyes of corporate saboteurs and sometimes I do research at home..." He added, still lying.
"Including ECTO weapons?!..." Alicia asked, recognizing some similar weapons to her sister and brother in laws.
"I..."Vlad paused.
"Don't lie to me. I see ghost stuff in here!..." Alicia argued, sounding angry.
"I..." Vlad tried to say but then he had an idea to use it to get rid of her.
He recalled that Jack's obsession with ghosts was Alicia's reason to hate the oaf and if he played his cards right, he won't have to give her half his fortune in the divorce if she's the one wanting to end their marriage. Or at least, he knew a good lawyer who could make something like that happen.
He summoned all of his acting skills and tried to trick her again.
"Yes, Alicia. I admit it. I am just as obsessed with ghosts as Jack Fenton is. They're a passion project of mine have been since college. I didn't say anything because I know you hate Jack for it. I know your feelings about it and I understand if you are angry and disgusted by this bizarre obsession that I selfishly kept a secret from you. I won't stop you if you decide to leave me because of it..." Vlad said, feigning sadness.
"That should scare her off..." He thought in a cocky manner, thinking that he'd finally be free.
Alicia frowned but then smiled.
"It's okay, sweetie. I still love you and well, since ghosts exist and are a threat to the town you're the Mayor of, I can't blame ya for doing research on them..." She said in a surprisingly calm and understanding tone of voice.
"No! Didn't she hate ghost hunters?! Why is she still so obsessed with me?!..." He thought in a panic.
"B-B-But...I...I thought the reason you hate Jack is because-..." He stammered.
"I admit that I didn't like his ghost stuff back when I didn't know ghosts were real...but the thing I REALLY didn't like about him is that he don't pay enough attention to my little sister and talks about nothing but ghosts ALL the time and makes it the center of his world. I mean, you gotta be really stupid to forget her wedding anniversary 18 YEARS IN A ROW!..." Alicia said, arms crossed.
"True. Maddie deserves SO MUCH better than that oaf.." Vlad agreed, as he mentally used himself as an example.
"I know right. I say she shoulda married a nice, handsome feller like you..." Alicia said, smiling lovingly at him.
"Oh, thank you, Alicia..." Vlad replied sarcastically while wondering the following.
"Why is it that the ugliest Macdonaldson sister is the one with the better taste for men?..." He thought bitterly as his wife hugged him.
"I love you!..." Alicia said, thinking he'd be happy.
Vlad visibly cringed. Not only is she accepting his supposed obsession with ghosts, but he's lost an ideal hiding spot from her.
"I'm going to have sell... no... BURN this chalet to the ground!..." He thought, having too many bad memories of it, most of which involved Alicia.
Even worse, he was stranded here without his powers and he was stuck with ALICIA of all people...
Again!
Meanwhile
In Italy
Puck was in the middle of a picnic with Queen Titania and her family. That includes her human husband Lorenzo and their little girl Luciana.
Lorenzo had found out his wife wasn't human for some time before they married but he loved her regardless. The only downside is that Titania has to hide him from whenever her ex comes to look for her should he need something, fearing he may try to destroy him.
Sure, fairies don't kill and even Oberon wasn't exempt from that rule, but you'd be surprised what you can live through.
"So, Titania tells me you're an artist?..." Puck said.
"Well, I'm aspiring when I'm not doing some gig at my uncle's store or studying to get my license. Hopefully I can become an art instructor before Luciana starts kindergarten..." Lorenzo said.
"Gotcha..." Puck said as he levitated his gelato into his mouth.
The male fairy then noticed the small girl was entertained by why he did. He then began to use his magic and to change his face into a clown, a rabbit and a windmill, making her laugh.
"Papa...Mama...Paul is funny..." Luciana said with a giggle.
"That's Puck, my child..." Titania responded.
"Aww… I don't mind, my queen..." Puck said.
"Be thankful we're not in public, otherwise I'd tell you to use my disguise name..." Titania said with a small smile.
"Sure thing, Teresa..." Puck said playfully, using her fake name.
"Funny..." His queen said.
Before Puck said anything, he heard a buzzing sound.
"Hang on... forgot to put the darn thing on silent..." He said before looking at a phone he made appear in his hand, frowning at the message.
"I gotta go... BRB..." He poofed away.
"I see that little hobby of his has gotten out of hand..." Titania said with a shake of her head.
"You mean his pranks?..." Lorenzo asked since she mentioned that before.
"Something like that..." Titania said as she handed a napkin to her daughter.
A moment later
Puck reappeared in Vlad's chalet and soon found the area was quiet.
He landed on the floor and scratched his head as he saw the chalet was empty, . upper side was.
"So...did I miss anything important?..."Puck asked as he checked the surroundings.
He didn't see Vlad and Alicia anywhere. Even so, he shrugged.
"Whatever, the spell is still in place and whatever she is putting him through, he has it coming..."He said as he went back to the picnic.
Once he appeared, Titania shook her head in disapproval.
"What?..."Puck asked flatly.
"You're having too much fun. You should have just let me handle that miscreant Plasmius..." Titania said.
"And incur the attention of your ex? Not a chance..." Puck said.
Titania thought about it and begrudgingly agreed.
"True. I'd rather not have to see him unless it's the next gathering..." She said, while her husband Lorenzo got up and held their daughter's hand.
"Mama...Papa...Pablo. Let's play catch!..." Luciana said with a giggle.
"His name is Puck, mia principessa..." Luciana said to her daughter.
"Don't worry, I brought the ball..." Puck said as he used his powers to conjure a brand new toy ball.
Luciana saw this and clapped in excitement.
"Neat. Magic trick! Yay!..." Luciana said with a giggle as she held her new toy.
"Cute, now let's see your throwing arm..." Lorenzo said as he picked her up and carried her to where they would play catch.
Titania and Puck followed them.
"Cute kid. So, any idea if she...you know...took after you or your hubby?..." Puck asked, referring to powers.
"She just turned four, so it's much too soon to tell if she had powers or not since she is half human but it doesn't really matter to me if she can use magic or not. I'm just happy as long as she is safe and happy..." Titania said, meaning it.
"Especially since we all know what would happen if Ol' Oby finds out about her..."Puck said, while his queen frowned.
"Don't remind me. Now lets not talk about him now, we're here to have fun. Remember..."The fairy queen said.
"Yes, you're highness..." Puck said, as they went to join Lorenzo and Luciana in a game of catch.
The fears of Oberon's involvement would wait, for it was family fun time now.
Back in Amity Park
Star had left the restaurant and was heading to meet up with the others.
She was fuming and she knew exactly who to blame for all of it.
"That little witch!..." She thought in anger, finding very little silver lining in this situation.
She had to take a deep breath before she acted without thinking. Needless to say that Star wasn't looking forward to making that particular phone call, so she chose to do it through text and was waiting for the response from her mother.
Nothing yet.
It didn't make Star feel any better of this messed up situation.
She needed to take a long shower to help stop her skin from crawling. She wanted to hurl as she felt sick to her stomach after being in close proximity to her wretched step-sister. And most of all, she needed a stress relief in the form of punching something that wasn't valuable to anyone.
Star then spotted an abandoned metal trash can and immediately used it to let out most of her pent up rage and turn the metal can into a metal sculpture of modern art...or at least that's what any random citizens will think it is when they walk passed it.
"If only I could do this to Colette's smug face..." She grumbled, as she began breathing in and out and started calming herself.
However, Star did take a moment to at least take a quick picture with her phone of her handiwork on the metal sculpture. Since it didn't look half bad to her, despite her making it out of seething rage towards a certain fake redhead that needed to be stopped once and for all.
But even with the outlet for her anger fueled frustration, Star still felt lousy.
"As cathartic as this was, I can't let my anger cloud what's important here..." She thought.
"Danny-Boo is counting on me and my friends aren't going to let that monster ruin our lives, Colette thinks she won? That will work in our favor, her arrogance is going to come back to bite her one way or another... I'll make sure of that!..."Star thoughtnas she made a mental note of what to do.
There was also Star's ex boyfriend that she wanted some slight payback on too.
Kwan would be dealt with first, then she needed to steal Colette's phone and any remaining dirt she has on Danny.
"Ex-boyfriend first, start with the small fry before the main course..." She thought.
As soon as Colette and her goons are dealt with, Kwan is gonna wish he never met her. But that was still nothing compared to what she would do to that monster who dares calls herself her stepsister.
Evidently the rage she felt towards the spoiled brat menace hadn't gone away just yet and Star had to remind herself that her anger wasn't going to help at the moment.
"Being angry isn't helping Danny-boo right now, but it will help when my fist meets her teeth when this is all over!..." The blonde thought evenly.
And with that in mind, Star met up with the others, determined to make this work.
By this time tomorrow, everyone who interfered with her love for Danny would pay the price.
A little later
With Star
The blonde girl had arrived at the place they were meet at, the Fenton Ops center, by climbing the Fenton rope ladder.
"Do Danny's parents really need to put the name Fentom on nearly everything they make and own?..." Star asked herself as she continued climbing the rope latter and entered the Ops center.
There, everyone was waiting for her!
Star walked towards the door, remembering Tucker kept checking his PDA and started to think.
"I wonder what kind of cyber nastiness he's got cooking to unleash on that device of his. Whatever it is will be so much better than making that stupid phone call to hand over my birthday party to that little witch..." She thought, not completely rid of her rage yet.
Once Team Phantom was reunited, they had to talk about the elephant in the room. Namely, how Colette reached a new low.
"COLETTE DID WHAT?!..."They all shouted.
"Yeah, she basically forced me to give her MY birthday party tonight. I already sent a message to Mom to make her do that..." Star said, frowning.
All in the room were appalled upon hearing this.
"I knew she was petty, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she would stoop this low...but...wow..." Sam said, speechless.
"The worst part is that she flat out admitted she has no real reason or motive to do all of this. This is just a fun game to her..." Star said in anger.
Everyone was silent as Jazz was fuming. The young psychologist in training looked like she was about to blow a fuse.
It was no joke, she was gonna erupt from anger, but managed to compose herself. Then she began looking at things through an analytical point of view.
"So, she IS a sociopath! Though at this point, she might also be a psychopath!..." Jazz theorized.
"There's no doubt about it after all the stunts she's pulled..." Tucker said.
"Agreed..."Replied everyone.
As Jazz rubbed her temples, Star cleared her throat loudly.
"We gotta hurry this up. The party doesn't matter to me at this point. This isn't just about us anymore. It's about stopping Colette for good. If we let her get away she'll just go on to ruin way more lives for her own twisted amusement and she'll force Danny into doing her evil bidding! We can't allow that to happen!..." Star told the others.
"It goes without saying. That witch is more twisted than Plasmius..." Ember suddenly added as she phased into the room.
"And where have YOU been?!..." Sam asked impatiently.
"For your info, I do have a life of my own, Gothie. Well, after life. Anyway, I showed up because I figured you guys already dealt with that pest already..." Ember said.
"Does it look like we dealt with Colette?..." Star asked sarcastically.
"We got her minions and wiped out most of her dirt but we don't have Colette's phone, which we think is the main source of her blackmailed..." Tucker said.
"And we still don't know what dirt she's got on Star that is keeping Danny from ignoring that brat..." Sam said.
"Seriously? Usually you guys would have already crammed someone into that stinkin' thermos and learned some life lesson by now? At least with me and the other ghosts..." Ember said.
"Believe me, if I could trap her in the thermos, I would have done that and maybe lock away said thermos where it can never see the light of day again, but that's just wishful thinking at this point!..." Star said in anger.
Ember noticed the way she spoke, raising an eyebrow at this.
"So, what did that little brat do this time?..." Ember asked.
Star quickly told her. The ghostly rockstar actually looked surprised before looking appalled.
"Geez, she not only took your man but also your birthday party. And people called me a witch. Even Plasmius I can sort of get being bitter over that lab accident and I still think he's crazy but she is on another level. She's like some crazed sorceress queen who Would give someone a poisoned apple just for being more beautiful than her, only way more vain..." Ember said in disgust.
"How do you know about that? The Vlad thing, I mean?..."Jazz asked.
"Heard about it from Skulker. He' as big of a gossip as Spectra..."Ember said, getting surprised looks from the human teens.
"I keep hearing hearing that name, Plasmius, and I have no idea who he is..." Misty said. "Also, I'm a sorceress and speaking for all of sorderess-kind, we don't claim her as one of our own!..." She said.
"To be fair, if disease filled rats could speak, they wouldn't claim her as part of their community. After all, rats are more pleasant than that snobby brat..." Sam said dryly.
"Fair point..." Misty said, while everyone else nodded in agreement.
"But I would still like to know who Plasmius is..." She requested.
"He's Danny's archenemy. But right now he's not the biggest threat to my little brother's life, Colette is!..."Jazz replied.
"If what Star told us is true then Colette its not just a threat to Danny, but to the whole world at large!..." Tucker said.
"And again, I hate to put this out there but we still have the nuclear option..." He said.
"That's still a last resort, Tuck." Sam said. "If we can still keep Danny's identity a secret, then we will..." She added.
"Wait? Going public with Danny's secret is what you guys have giving each other weird looks for?..." Star asked.
"More like how we'd do it, but there is another idea I have but I don't like it..." Tucker answered as there was a haunted look in his eyes.
"It's something EXTREMELY risky if I can't keep my head while using it..." He said.
"Which is why it's the absolutely last resort..." Sam added in a tone that silently said "don't ask him"
The goth shook her head.
"Wait... talking about that scepter thing?..." Star asked.
"I'm more willing to owe a favor to Puck than to use THAT thing, but you know what they say about desperate times..." Tucker said.
"I'm still willing to waste her. Let's be honest here, I'd be doing everyone a favor by getting rid of her... Permanently..." Ember said.
"Honestly after hearing what that fake redhead has said and how much joy she had trying to ruin our lives, I'm almost tempted to let you do just that, Ember..." Star admitted, surprising even the ghostly diva.
"But the answer is still no, as much as we all hate her, it's not something Danny would approve of. He couldn't bare having something like that on his conscious even if she deserves it. And as much as I hate Colette...that's one line I really don't wanna cross..." The blonde girl admitted.
"You guys are such softies. Fine if the only dirt left is on the brats phone I'll just overshadow her and torch it..." Ember said in annoyance.
"Can't, she's smarter than that...unfortunately. She is probably gonna be wearing a deflector belt she got from my mom...probably because the ghost attacks earlier in the week..."Star muttered.
"Plus, let's say you do waste her..." Sam said. "There's a possibility that she could become a ghost and the last thing we need is for that sociopathic menace to gain ghost powers, especially since she has proven before that she can go mad with power..." She added.
Everyone shuddered with horror at the mere thought of that happening again.
"Ok fine, you made your point. I won't end her miserable little existence but man is it tempting..." Ember said with crossed arms.
"You have no idea..." Sam said.
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say our lives would be better off without Colette in it. She's way worse than any gosh awful curse I can find in my spell book..." Misty said.
This is when everyone heard Star laugh sarcastically while glaring at the her own hands with utter disdain.
"No kidding. Even worse...this is deeply twisted and ironic, isn't it?..." The blonde hissed, to no one in particular.
"What is?..." Val asked confused.
"In a deeply twisted and ironic way, its almost like I ended up making the lives of Danny's friends WAY worse as their ally than I ever could've as their enemy..."Star said.
"What are you talking about? How did you ruin Danny's life?..." Val asked.
"What in the heck are you talking about?..." Sam asked.
"Yeah, Star, you're not making any sense..." Tucker agreed.
"If anything you made things better, not just for yourself but for Danny as well. I mean no one here can deny the incredible self improvement you had since you became a part of our team, and not just his gym grade. And let's not forget how happy you made Danny when you became his girlfriend..." Tucker pointed out.
Sam, Ember and Misty grudgingly had to admit that the Techno geek made a good point.
"That may very well be the case, Tuck..." Star said.
"But I actually feel worse because it's that love that he has for me that got him in this predicament. If we never became friends, Colette would have looked his way, the only way to avoid her and then things wouldn't have escalated up to this point right now. The funny thing is that a part of me knows that Danny might have been better off leaving me for Colette like all my other boyfriends did since at least she would've gotten bored of him and tossed him aside like she did to them. She probably would have left him alone after a few days and found some other 'toy' to play with..." Star said.
"That's nuts!..." Sam retorted.
"Look Star, I've known Danny since kindergarten. I've seen him at his best and at his worst and he would never have a thing for Colette. He would have hated her the moment she showed her personality..."She explained.
"Like he'd hate Chris if he ever pulls a Gregor on you..." Tucker added sincerely, while getting a teasing shot in at one his oldest friends.
Hey, all was fair in love and war and if Sam could cheer up and tease him at the same time... well, two could play at that game.
"Plus, Danny already proven he would have hated her on his own during that time he had amnesia..." Jazz reminded.
"True..." Star said, recalling that adventure.
"Plus...even if that's the case, its not right that you think this is your fault. Colette is the one whose at fault here, not you. No means no, after all..." Jazz said, furious with the fake red head.
"Deep down, I know it's not my fault, it's Colette's. She simply wants Danny because he made me happy and Colette hates seeing anyone who isn't her in a happy relationship. She's a monster that destroys everything that touches and my biggest concern is that... If she actually breaks Danny, then it's game over... For everyone... And I can't let that happen... The thought of him becoming her obedient puppet is a fate worse than death!..." Star said, arms crossed.
"Which isn't going to happen. If Colette is stupid enough to think she can get us arrested and Danny will stay with her secret or no secret, he'll leave, even if he has to risk his secret..." Sam said.
"Yeah, Colette thinks we're just pawns for you and Danny and that she doesn't care what happens to us as long as she gets him..." Tucker added before snorting.
"Heck, Danny would sooner interrupt Lance Thunder and go ghost on live tv than be her stooge..." He pointed out.
"You aren't wrong..." Star said.
"Then that's a good enough reason to not give up ..."Jazz said, as she turned blonde girl.
"Star, you can't blame yourself for Colette's actions, you didn't ask her to come, and it wasn't your fault that your mom had the misplaced thought that you two could get along and that she didn't see the full picture. Colette unfortunately is a skilled manipulator but even a sociopathic like her can make a mistake, we just gotta beat her at her own game..." Jazz said.
"Jazz is right..." Sam agreed with her. "Plus, there's a big factor that can go our way..." She mentioned.
"And that would be what exactly?..." Valerie asked curiously.
"Colette is alone. She might have minions but they aren't her friends or anything close to that..."Sam said.
"True, she's never had any real friends to begin with, much less understand how it works..." Star said.
"That's pathetic. But not surprising that someone like her doesn't have the concept of friendship..."Ember sneered.
Everyone in the room stares at the ghost five quizzically.
"What? You think just because I'm a ghost, I can't have friends?..." Ember asked, feeling offended.
"You wanted to conquer the world and enslave humanity..." Sam pointed out.
"True but like you guys are friends with Phantom, I happen to be good friends with Kitty..." Ember said.
"What about Spectra?..." Jazz asked suspiciously.
"Eh, more like an occasional acquaintance at best..." Ember shrugged.
"Not to stray of subject but can we please get back to thinking how we can save Danny from the cluches of the evil harpy with megalomaniac ideas for world domination?..." Misty asked quickly.
"She's right. My pity party's over, right now it's time to get cracking, the sooner we stop Colette, the sooner everything will be back to normal..."Star said, sounding determined.
"And what Sam said is right. That pest only has money on her side but if we remove that then all her so-called friends and minions will bail on her faster than Tucker on vegetable week at school..." Star said.
"Never again..." Tucker said with a shudder.
"Vegetables or asking out Colette?..."Val asked, wondering what he meant.
"Both..." Tucker said.
This got a dew chuckles out of Valerie, while some of the others expected this answer.
"No, just the latter..." Sam said as she sent an disapproving scowl at Tucker, who rolled his eyes at this.
"Be thankful you have nothing that interests Colette...or that you could be useful to her..." Star said.
"Yeah, did I dodge a major bullet when Colette turned me down..." Tucker thought as he nodded in agreement with his friend's statement.
"Obviously..."Everyone else responded.
Realizing that they were getting off topic again, Star tried to get back to what needed to be done.
"Tucker, how's that thing you've been cooking up all week?..." Star asked.
"It's ready but I've got to get my hands on Colette's phone and upload it directly..." Tucker said, earning a disapproving look from Star.
"Sorry, but I'm not risking this thing getting out into a public network..." He said.
"So we just got to get Colette's phone?..." Sam asked coyly.
"And it just so happens that we know where she's going to be tonight too..." Star said.
Star grinned a moment before looking warily at Tuckers PDA. Whatever he'd cooked up was not something to unleash on the public.
"Better to be safe than sorry. Misty? How're things on your end?..." She asked.
"Needs a few hours to finish brewing..." Misty answered.
"Okay… let us know when you're close. That's when we start cooking… The plan, not what you're brewing..." Star clarified.
Misty made sure to double, even triple check her handiwork
They only had one shot at this.
A little later
In Elmerton
Suzette was in the middle of a very crucial meeting with the mayor of Elmerton.
"As mayor of Elmerton and a representative of this humble town, I would like to express my sincerest thanks for your help in the gentrification project. Hopefully with this, we'll become a nicer town in no time..." The mayor said.
"It's an honor to help such a good cause, Mayor Jameson. Hopefully this will be the beginning of an everlasting partnership..." Suzette said professionally.
"I sincerely agree..." The mayor said with a smile.
The two shook hands and smiled as a reporter took their picture. After that they took some photos for the newspapers and went their separate ways.
Suzette tried to walk passed the many reports trying to get a comment from her for their respective front page news.
"Once this is done, I can't wait to show my daughter the good work we've accomplished..." Suzette said.
"Oh? That sounds delightful..." Mayor Jameson said to her.
After the meeting, Suzette left to go to her next commitment, wanting to be done before tonight.
"So many things, so little time..."Suzette thought in the backseat of her limo, enjoying a coffee from a delightful little cafe that was nearby.
"It's certainly a diamond in the rough in that neighborhood..."She thought.
From her limo, she looked around the area and saw a lot of potential in this admittedly less than luxurious neighborhood.
"A little cleaning up on some of these walls and some tidying up these alleyways. Maybe some floral shops and new markets here and there and this neighborhood will start to look good as new..."Suzette said to herself.
Her ex-husband wouldn't see it, but she could only hope her daughter would also see that there was more value in things that monetary or self gain.
"I wonder if Mon petit ange would like to visit this neighborhood when it is finally all cleaned up?..."She thought to herself.
She imagined something anyone who knew Colette wouldn't do, go to a poor district and be of aid to others.
"My angelic little girl can do no wrong and certainly brightens everyone's day whenever she is around..." Suzette thought, not knowing the irony of it all.
The kind old woman's mind began to daydream about her past with her family. Namely her daughter. Her only child with that man.
She thought back to her marriage to Jean-Luc and even now, she still felt angry and bitter about how it ended when she caught him with one of his little "friends" and she didn't hesitate to give home divorce papers and leave.
"But I should have known it wasn't meant to last. If not for Colette, I wish my parents never introduced me to that pig..." She thought in anger, but was at least relieved he didn't argued against the divorce.
His only objection had been not letting her take Colette with her, which only worsen Suzette's relationship with her ex-husband. He needed an heir, though he preferred a boy but didn't have one yet.
After a grueling court battle, she ended up with a hefty alimony but she was still sad about her daughter.
It was clear that her and Jean-Luc's marriage was a mistake from the start. A mistake that led to the birth of the one thing she cherished from that marriage.
Colette.
Her biggest regret was that Jean-Luc had gotten custody of her beloved daughter, mostly due to him paying for better lawyers and possibly bribing the judge too.
Suzette sighed at how it all went. Things had looked bleak when her marriage had collapsed and she'd lost custody of her daughter to her pig of an ex-husband. She knew he was no positive role model or father to anyone, much less her child who thankfully was still a sweet person.
Her whole world view crumbled like a croissant but she'd turned things around for herself. After the divorce, she had gone back to school, earned a PHD degree in medical science, used her money for something worthwhile and helped millions around the world with her charity work, all while trying to maintain a relationship with her only daughter..or at least she tried.
And she has tried hard in any way imaginable, without even seeing that pig of a man she married if she could help it.
At first, Colette had been eager to visit her but the visits became less frequent over the years until the most she saw of her daughter was her face on a computer screen.
Suzette had offered so many invitations. Sure, she might have been too busy to visit her in-person, but she did try and offer to have her arrive for her charity events. She spent years having invited her to spend birthdays, holidays and weekends with her when she could but work or something else got in the way but Suzette would always make up for it by unknowingly buying her daughter's happiness.
It was a desperate cry to get closer to her daughter, only for it to crumble before it could start.
"Colette..." Suzette thought, in a mixture of regret and longing.
She'd missed so much of her life but she was trying to make things right and be there for her in the best way she could. So far, she didn't think she was doing enough. She tried things like inviting her daughter to all of her charitable events. She'd invited her to see the Serengeti walk in the rainforest, to explore cities all over the world. They would have been wonderful but Colette never came. In fact, she never even responded until later.
As it turns out, Colette outright refused, but lied by saying Jean-Luc's latest trophy wife wouldn't let daughter come for a numerous reasons, such as schools or some other "obligation" she had to do at the time. However, Colette claimed to have been excited to join her and Suzette believed her.
She trusted her daughter's word on these people, unaware it was far from the truth. In actuality, Colette had no interest in going with her mother to such a place to give people she saw as lesser any "handouts" but Suzette always believed her child's words!
It was one of many of Colette's claims that her latest stepmother was an awful, controlling woman who sometimes ignored her wishes due to not being not her real daughter.
Suzette was saddened to hear that and felt further guilt that she couldn't do more for her. However, she blamed that woman and her foolish ex-husband.
"That man. If he had to be a chronic skirt-chaser, couldn't he at least have better tastes?! Or maybe not marry such moronic women every time?!..." She thought.
Suzette didn't know how many women Jean-Luc had been with over the years but by now she was fairly certain it was in the dozens, if not hundreds... That man's brain was clearly nowhere to be found, but she couldn't deny that he had a certain charisma, and could act charming if he tried. It was part of what initially drew her to him but she regretted their marriage after she caught him cheating. That womanizer didn't even have a proper excuse to defend himself, or maybe he just didn't care enough to make one up.
After all, it was a terrible cycle in which he would fall in love quickly but get bored and then go onto the next woman... With the latest being this Stella, who, in Suzette's opinion, was the worst of them all.
Suzette had heard the stories from Colette about each of her stupid stepmothers. That they only cared about spending Jean-Luc's wealth and only tolerated her child at best.
Suzette knew that Jean-Luc would never change his scumbag ways, but nowadays he's been acting worse with every new marriage he gets
She wanted to get custody but her husband had a lot of lawyers and legal connections and there was no proof Colette was being mistreated, just her saying she didn't feel like she was being treated like an actual daughter by these women.
It was heartbreaking!
"I certainly hope that the current witch that is raising my daughter isn't simply spoiling her rotten and simply isn't making light of any misbehavior on their watch..." Suzette thought, unaware of the irony in her words.
"But I guess I don't have to worry much since mon petit angel is such a sweet girl and thankfully didn't take after that pig or those stupid women he brings home..."She thought, trying to take comfort in those words!
She had no idea how wrong she was.
Meanwhile
In Polter Heights
Stella had arrived home.
She was emotionally exhausted and in need of something cheerful to lift her mood. Her walked inside her penthouse, and Alyssa was there with Pierre, who was currently sleeping on his crib.
"I'm home..." Stella said quietly.
"Welcome home, Madame Bevier. I hope you're feeling well..." Alyssa said.
"I'm fine. How was Pierre today?..." Stella asked.
"Oh, he was a little angel. Just as always. I already fed him lunch, burped him and he is napping right now. He's such a well behaved boy..." Alyssa said.
"Thank you, Alyssa. As always, you are a big help..." Stella said, relieved to have found such a reliable babysitter like her.
Although she knew that Star and Danny do make a perfect babysitting duo too, and even Pierre gets excited whenever they both watch over him.
"Oh, it's no bother. Pierre is such a sweet little boy and he's just so adorable whenever he plays with Fifi and his favorite tiger toy. Plus my job has flexible hours and this gig pays a fair wage, so I don't really have a lot too complain about..." Alyssa said.
Stella soon paid the babysitter. With her pay and nothing else done, Alyssa left.
That left Stella alone as she sat down and recalled how that meeting ended.
Both good and bad...at least that's how she saw it.
Now, Stella was alone in her fancy penthouse with her sleeping son. Once she was alone, she let out a sigh.
"Today just felt like a rollercoaster of events, and not the fun kind, but the get stuck upside down because it broke down kind..." She groaned.
It was one of those stressful days that leaves felt exhausted on all fronts. The ones that usually made her schedule an appointment with a spa that offers back massages later this weekend and she did kinda need one right now but her mind wasn't on that.
Stella recalled how that meeting ended.
Both good and bad...at least that's how she saw it.
FLASHBACK
A few hours ago
She, Johnathan, Joy, Kirk, Solene, the Fentons,, Damian, Ida and the Foleys and their respective lawyers with at the meeting to discuss and decide the proper punishment of the 'alleged crimes' that their respective children have committed on school grounds.
Though it was very clear thay all the parents didn't believe that their children were guilty of any 'alleged crimes' of the sort.
No matter what they did, it seemed Superintendent Baxter and Principal Ishiyama had all the cards in this game of Guilty until proven Guilty.
This was going to end poorly, no matter what.
Superintendent Baxter made it clear that he thought that it'd be better to toss the bad apples out of the bunch. That the supposed 'evidence' was valid when it was is officially made public and placed on each of their permanent records what they did, and they found the ideal solution to punish them in a way so the school's reputation isn't stained and to simply expel the troublemakers.
They saw that it'd be less trouble in the end, which is why when the supposed evidence against the Fenton children, along with Sam, Star, Tucker and Valerie, left a bad taste in Ishiyama's mouth.
The superintendent even previously suggested juvie of all things. However, Chief's Boyle's arrival changed things.
"What is the meaning of this?!..." The superintendent asked.
Chief Boyle walked inside the office, followed by a forensics officer.
"I'm Chief Boyle of the Amity Park police department..." The cop said.
Both Jack and Maddie Fenton were a bit nervous to see the Chief of police again after what happened last Christmas, but also knew that he was needed here.
Although that still made making eye contact with Chief Boyle pretty awkward for the Fentons.
"What now? Is that spectral freak Danny Phantom going to show up?..." The superintendent asked sarcastically.
"With all due respect, Sir. I wouldn't be making light of a situation like this with sarcastic remarks like that..."The Chief of police said, in a serious tone that meant he wasn't here just as an officer of the law.
"You have some nerve to be talking to me like that!..." The Superintendent said.
"Apologies, but this isn't the first time I had to deal with the rampant disregard for others by someone named Baxter…" Boyle responded angrily.
Not for the first time principal Lin Ishiyama felt like she had made a bad call.
The past six months had been one incident after another, with each one worse than the last and would make less requests for money from the district a necessary expense with the frequent ghost attacks.
Lin didn't believe that would continue. Superintendent Baxter hated what he called 'unnecessary spending', and hated how she routinely pointed out but since he was her superior, he was the one who had final say. And since she convinced herself that this situation didn't involve any ghosts at all...or at least that's what she is desperately hoping.
Anyway, the forensics officer walked up towards the Educational staff and handed the Superintendent Baxter a folder.
"This is officer Evan Johnson. Head of forensics..."Chief Boyle introduced.
"Nice to meet you, though I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances..."The forensic officer said.
"Nice to meet you..."The forensic officer said, before recognizing one of the attorneys here.
"Oh Alex is here..." Evan said.
"Hey, Johnson. How's the family?..."Alex asks pleasantly.
"Fine, they're on a college tour right now out in Nevada..."He answered.
"I remember what that was like. The legal fees for my client's son and daughter in law paid for my boy's degrees..."Alex answered.
"That's good to hear..."Evan responded kindly.
"You two know each other?..."Testlaff asked.
"We were roommates in college..."Alex answered. "But enough pleasantries, let's begin the meeting since everyone is here..."He said.
Both Alex and Evan then turn to a much more professional attitude and tone of speech.
"I believe you'll all want to take a look at all of the photos that my department took a closer look at..."The forensic officer said.
The Superintendent seemed a little skeptical at the folder he was offered.
"Officer, this is hardly something you need to concern yourself with... "Superintendent Baxter said.
"Chief. It's Chief Boyle..." Chief Boyle corrected.
"Yes, right...uh Chief..."Superintendent Baxter apologized, barely. "But as I said this is a matter discussed about students expulsion, it's hardly something a man of your caliber needs to involve himself in..."He said.
"When matters like these are done with gross negligence and lack of proper maintenance according to the educational system placed by the law, I do believe I should be involved..."The chief said, glaring at the superintendent and other educators.
The superintendent then felt a single droplet of sweat on his forehead fall slightly below eyebrow level as he noticed the serious tension in the room, as did the other educators.
"I understand but… why you, specifically?..." The Superintendent questioned.
"When I first heard the Fentons were involved, I figured it was these two…" Boyle gestured to Jack and Maddie, who smiled nervously. "However, soon I heard it was their daughter who was accused of a crime, I knew it couldn't have been because even they're not that stupid..." He said.
"Right…" Jack said before realizing what Boyle called him "...wait…"
He was then ignored as Boyle continued.
"I'd say we do this. Show everyone what's in the folder, officer Johnson..." Boyle ordered.
With an affirmative nod from, the forensic officer stepped forward, placing the file on the table.
"Through a rigorous barrage of forensics tests and thorough investigation, as well as some of our tech experts wanting to show off their respective skills in detecting falsies we've determined these were indeed photoshopped..." He said, opening the folder.
He pointed to highlights around Team Phantom, along with documents pointing out the technical details, analysis such as the outlining not fitting with the background, how they were added in from other pictures and yearbook photos, as well as some backgrounds were even digitally edited.
"As you can see, we have proven without a doubt that these photos are all doctored. The skills of whoever did this was relatively impressive, our experts in department 17 were able to see through the flaws in the smaller details in these photographs..."The forensic officer said.
"You would have found this out at the beginning of the week had you called the police when this quote unquote evidence arrived... " Chief Boyle said, glaring at them.
Superintendent Baxter looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, while Ishiyama and Lancer gulped loudly. Each of them realized that they had jumped to conclusions and nearly made a HUGE mistake.
"I...Well I didn't see the need to involve the police. It was an open and shut case with obvious juveniles. Why I need to waste the Amity Park Police Department with such a simple problem?..." He tried, but didn't sound too confident in his tone.
"An honor student is an obvious juvenile delinquent?..." Chief Boyle asked sarcastically.
"Well... it's all in the families. If there's something wrong with the parents then there's obviously something wrong with the children..." The superintendent tried to defend his actions.
"EXCUSE ME?!..." Maddie yelled angrily.
"Hey, we all know that all of you and those ghosts have been disrupting the peace in our town. How are we supposed to expect their children to behave on school grounds with their parents setting such bad examples?..." He said rudely.
Jack and Maddie glared at him, obviously offended.
It became clear that Superintendent Baxter may have some unresolved history with the Fenton parents that may be affecting his judgment.
Principal Ishiyama and the other teachers looked at the superintendent with sour looks on their faces. It was made clear that not all of Casper High school faculty agreed with his reasoning. Even if Jack and Maddie Fenton can be a bit of a handful, especially the former.
"Superintendent, I advise not to speak more on this until a more appropriate time. Please wait until the conclusion of said meeting..." The district attorney said nervously.
The Superintendent simply sat back down on his chair, but still glared at both of the Fenton parents. Clearly still holding a grudge against the Fentons, of which neither Jack nor Maddie seemed to be aware of or know what could have caused it to begin with.
Boyle only lowered his sunglasses to glare at the Superintendent.
"Well that explains why we only got one call about a vandalized car and no other calls but the usual ghost attack damage control..." Chief Boyle said, looking at the Fentons
. "Why do ghosts only attack this high school?..." He couldn't help but ask.
"We honestly have no idea…" Both of the Fentons answered.
"We'd need to look into the issue and do more research to make a plausible hypothesis on that particular question..." Maddie explained, while Jack wrote it down on a ridiculously long list of supernatural related phenomenons for them to research on later.
"For the good of kids, right?..." Jack asked.
"Don't agree with me, Fenton. It makes me very uncomfortable..." Boyle quietly ordered, making Jack and Maddie keep their heads down to avoid getting on his bad side today.
"Who exactly called you?..." Superintendent questioned.
"Me. I did..." Johnathan said, as the superintendent looked furious with him.
"What's your name? Because you're fired!..." The Superintendent snapped.
"I'm a lawyer and I don't work for you. And you can't legally fire someone for calling the authorities..." Jonathan said, glaring at him.
"You'd want to fire a citizen for contacting the police about this unfair and biased sentence of punishment towards innocent students?...Chief Boyle asked, raising a brow and glaring at the so-called educator.
"Well, uh... I mean...did I say fired? What I meant to say was...good on you for doing your civic duty…" Baxter stammered out trying to save his overweight hide.
Johnathan rolled his eyes, as did his parents.
"What a fake..." They all thought, as the superintendent even went as far as to fake an appreciated smile too, complete with a thumb up.
The superintended kept it up,.still shining his grin in full view of the chief of police, who's also still in the same room as him.
Boyle was unconvinced as he approached him.
"Remember when I mentioned you're not the only Baxter I've had to deal with? For several months, I've had to deal with harassment in the Nasty Burger, the mall, and the movie theater regarding your nephew..." He raised a finger in warning.
"Watch yourself, Baxter, and your nephew. If he keeps up thinking he's a king, then he's gonna spend his days in the dungeon…"He warned.
Baxter kept his mouth shut, fearing anything he'd say that would get him arrested.
"And as for how you referee children earlier, I'd say that's another point for the defamation case. Shall we continue?..." Johnathan said, to his legal associates.
"Sounds quite right..." Boyle said, and Someone and Alex nodded.
"Defamation case?!..." The superintendent and the other educators .
"Of course...among other charges such as gross negligence and unfair punishment..." Johnathan said, glaring at them.
As things seemed to be coming to a close, Lin hoped with all hope that this meeting wouldn't end with a school getting sued or being dragged through the courtroom.
She did not look forward to dusting off her resume anytime soon.
The chief then pulled out a form that was officially signed. The superintendent Baxter gulped, noticing that this form certainly does have his signature on it.
"This is a warrant to study the original forms, along with the envelope which they came in. Principal Ishiyama, I believe you have a copy as well..." He said.
Principal Ishiyama nodded, pulling out a pair of gloves which she had used to handle the file. She opened her brief case, then immediately handing it over to the chief.
"Here you are, Chief..." She said, glad that she remembered to bring the rest of the alleged evidence to this meeting.
Lancer was quiet, hoping the others wouldn't look at him. He knew that the situation had gotten much more serious and was trying to avoid Kirk's glare.
He did again, making him feel cold inside.
"Why did I have to make eye contact with the old man? I think the hairs on my back just stood up..."Lancer thought to himself.
Kirk grinned.
"Wow, that bald teacher sure can sweat a lot. It's almost funny..." Kirk thought, trying to keep his angry grandpa look on his face.
"What's wrong with the bald teacher? And why does he keep sweating whenever he look at Kirk?..." Joy briefly thought, but ignored it as she continued glaring at the rest of the school faculty.
Especially as their son, Johnathan, was not leaving until his daughter was proven innocent. Which she was now, thankfully.
With all the alleged evidence being proven fake, along with the previous mentioned alibi's, the kids were now proven innocent.
"Well I'd say this has been a rather productive meeting..." Johnathan said, his tone remaining ever so neutral.
"I agree..."The other lawyers said.
A few hands shakes were passed around between the lawyers in professional and neutral manner, to show that there were no hard feeling between any of them with one another.
Satisfied, Johnathan glanced at the faculty.
"Well that's one case closed. Principal Ishiyama , I expect the children will be allowed back in school this Monday. Their records are to be clear and free from scorn..." He said, recalling how Lancer was said to use those words to describe Dash's status as a football star.
Needless to say that none of school facility had any disagreements to these terms, especially after what just happened.
The principal nodded.
"Yes Mr. Strong and on behalf of the district...we apologize for the trouble you and your children were unnecessarily put through. It was cruel and I'll be sure to offer each of them our deepest apologies as well..." Ishiyama said, sincerely apologizing and now regretting her previous actions from falsified evidence.
"Yes, I agree. we'll make sure that this misunderstanding will never happen again..." Lancer said, feeling guilty.
"I didn't even think it was ever Manson who'd steal from a charity. But I should have known better...I should have done a more thorough check of what actually happened..." Tesslaff said, looking remorseful.
"Why were you here? No offense, but gym teachers don't have any authority out of the gym?…"Jack asked.
"None taken Mr. Fenton. I was here since it was still my car that somehow got caught in the crossfire of all this whole mess. Plus. I was trying to tell the superintendent what I knew at the time... which admittedly wasn't much... Testlaff said.
"No, it wasn't…" Baxter muttered.
"We'll make sure that the rest of the school facility is informed of this too..."Ishiyama said, feeling bad.
This put a smile back on some of the parents face, while the other still had stoney expressions, including Johnathan.
"Apology accepted, the kids will see you on Monday. Unpunished and they will receive a proper apology.." Johnathan said, with a hint of warning, until his face and tone took a more serious look and sound.
The current school facility in the room all shook their heads in agreement.
"Superintendent Baxter, Lancer...Ishiyama... believe me we'll be seeing each other much sooner..." Johnathan said with a look that promised pain and that the defamation case hasn't been forgotten yet.
There was a brief chill in the air at that moment. Jack and Maddie also seemed surprised to see this side of their friend, Johnathan. However Stella and Solene had seen this side of him plenty of times, the former slightly more so than the latter
Solene and Stella saw this and both were impressed, but for different, or rather, similar ways.
"What a man. I love it when he gets in the zone~..." Both thought in sync.
Stella was the only one out of the two that shook her head and tried to push that out of nowhere thought to the back of her mind. But said thought still lingered within her mind for the rest of the day.
Then Johnathan spoke up again.
"Unless you can think of some way to fall for false evidence, the kids will see you on Monday..." Johnathan said.
"Alex, I might see you at the health food store when all of this is over..." He said.
"The protein shakes are working great for you Strong..." Alex complimented him.
"I agree..." Solene agreed, appreciating her boyfriends physique
"Well, I'm certainly happy with the new beneficial gains I've recently acquired these past few months..." Johnathan said, pleased.
"So, am I..." Stella thought with an infatuated sigh before she realized what she was doing and snapped out of it.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!..."She thought in distress.
She was a married woman and it was not Johnathan. Not anymore.
Stella then glanced at Johnathan and stared longingly at him for a moment until she realized what she was doing again.
"No! Bad Stella! These strange thoughts have to go away!..." Stella mentally scolded herself as she quickly turned away from her ex.
Thankfully, no one saw this.
Everything was wrapping up nicely. Before anyone else could speak up, there was still one question left unanswered.
"But wait...if these children didn't do it, then who committed all of these crimes?..." Ishiyama asked.
"That's what I'd like to know..." Testlaff said "Whoever the little hoodlum is stole 1,000 dollars worth of charity money with their little joy ride…along with a bunch of other stuff..." She added.
"I'll gladly donate that but your right, somebody's gotta catch that no good rat thief and punish them!..." Ida said.
"Leave that to us Ma'am. Bad Ghosts may be out of reach and jurisdiction for now, but petty criminals won't escape the law for long..."Chief of police said with officer Johnson nodding in agreement.
All that was left was to deduce who it was.
This was an elaborate and overly convoluted plan to get several students removed from school and worse facing criminal charges. There had to be a person, there had to be a motive. No matter how petty and little it made sense to others.
Stella trusted the legal battalion assembled to rescue Danny's friends and her daughter from this frame job. And so far it worked. It had duped several people. Though that was partially because the superintendent judged books by their covers. And was blinded by his unknown grudge against Jack and Maddie Fenton.
His poor choices and attitude would have to wait. Now, they needed to figure out WHO was behind this.
"It's odd...Who would want to get Danny's friends and sister in trouble but not Danny himself?..." Stella asked out loud, wanting to find the mastermind who tried to frame them all.
When she said that, everyone else had no doubts. A collective sigh was heard by everyone except her.
"Good grief, of course it was her!..." Ishiyama added, finally piecing everything together.
"Of Harry Potter!, it's so obvious in hindsight!..." Lancer said, rubbing his temples in annoyance.
"What are you talking about?..." The Superintendent demanded. "Whoever this true culprit is, I want them expelled post haste!..." He demanded.
"We might have already if someone hadn't jumped to conclusions first and if somebody would help out the school. Instead of yelling at it..."Testlaff pointed out.
The superintendent growled red faced, before he stormed out. He wanted no further part of this.
"Just so we're on the same page, we're all thinking of the same student right?..." Maddie asked.
"Duh..." Solene said while most of everyone else agreed with her.
"So, you all have a suspect in mind?..." Boyle asked.
"There's only one. Chief Boyle, I believe the real suspect behind this troublesome mess is someone who has given our boy and his friends trouble since she arrived to this school..."Maddie said, frowning hard.
"As in a spoiled brat who can't take a hint that our boy is too good for her!..." Jack said, looking livid.
"Yes, we are talking about Colette Bevier..." Jonathan said as Stella gasped and became angry.
End of flashback
Present Time
Stella's flashback stopped for a moment when she suddenly heard the sound of whimpering.
"Huh?..." She went, only to see Fifi trying to get her attention.
"Oh Fifi. Hi Baby. I'm sorry but Mama had something on her mind. Do you need something?..." Stella asked her pet.
Her beloved pet poodle barked and went to the kitchen Stella saw her schedule on it.
Stella checked Fifi's daily schedule, which she had given to Alyssa and saw that she already was walked and was fed. Now it seems that her pet wanted another treat.
The blonde woman, despite her stress, went to tend to her pet for a moment, but her mind was still on what happened earlier today.
How the entire world saw Colette was as some unfeeling villain and that she was the only one defending her.
Surely they were all speaking nonsense. It was clear that Colette was innocent.
Right?
-To be continued-
Next time on Blackmailed
A Stepmother's Denial
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to NeoMark, 61394, Jay The Average Fanboy, BCW, Luiz4200, Invader Johnny and RonaldM40196867 for all their help. You guys rock :)
A/N(3): Special thanks to Jay The Average Fanboy for sensing 10 reviews in a row. You rock :)
A/N(4): Special thanks to Soggy Fysher Woods for sensing 24 reviews in a row. You rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Fiction Realm: I guess .wait and see what happens.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
RonaldM40196867:
1) Its hard to say.
2) Colette figures they can't do anything about it.
3) I thought a meeting between Star and Size grew would be interesting.
4) About $10,000 worth, but Yolanda basically scammed most of those items off her previous boyfriends.
5) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
6) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens
7) She is still really rich and so far, they don't have proof that she is doing anything illegal yet.
8) He unfortunately hasn't had a chance to communicate with them today.
9) I will ask him.
10) Which do you have in mind?
11) Brandon, whom she dated almost 2 weeks.
12) Joy probably thought she should.
13) She did, but only after Star stopped being friends with him.
14) Its one of the reasons, another is to make .her own miserable birthday party at the hands of Beatrice.
15) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
16) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Dr. Exposition: I have a few chapters left before the end.
Luiz4200: Not yet anyway.
NightShadow2955: How is this so far?
Invader Johnny: Oh boy, indeed.
Guardian1989: Thank you :)
61394: Thanks again :)
CZS4: I see your point.
0713MM: I am sorry for the wait.
Guest99: Thank you. I wanna Blackmailed and Hot Ectoplasma a little more before working on other fics.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) Beatrice doesn't like sports.
2) No comment.
3) Maybe Frankenstein, because I think he is a classic.
4) No comment.
5) They would find it funny.
Rock1030: Yeah.
CMR Rosa: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) No, not yet anyway.
2) I hope this chapter explains that question.
Bob the mammoth: Maybe to a slight extent but Colette mostly torments Star because its her idea of fun.
PINK-samiam: Colette really is a terrible person.
Jacob Cook: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Jay The Average Fanboy: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) She returned it to Danny.
2) I think he would have trouble with snowboarding first, but would get the hang of it after a while.
3) She plays with games or toys that Danny and Star gifted her.
4) Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
5) I think she dyes her hair and I think she has blonde hair like her dad.
6) I think Tucker's dad is an accountant and Angela is a housewife.
7) Yes.
8) Things have been fine for them so far.
9) I think he does in both forms, depending on his mood.
10) He is probably hunting, fishing or exploring the forest.
Soggy Fysher Woods: Thank you for the suggestion. I will consider it.
Guest: Thank you for the suggestion. I will consider it.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)