Chapter 08: Rematch

Danny was entering Casper High when Tucker eagerly approached him. "Danny! Danny! Have you heard the news?" He asked.

"By the tone of your voice, I presume it has something to do with technology." Danny replied, having no clue to Tucker's excitement.

"You got it right, Danny." Tucker said. "Nolan Kasenti is coming to Amity Park!"

"Who?" Danny asked in confusion.

"He's the CEO of KassKorp Tech, Danny." Tucker answered. "Can you imagine the technological advances he'll bring?"

Dash then intruded into the conversation. "Assuming that's the reason he came to Amity Park in the first place, Foley."

"Why else would a technology CEO come so far from New York, Dash?" Tucker asked.

"He's a major sponsor for the New York Dragons, Foley." Dash answered, drawing blank expressions from Danny and Tucker. "I know you're geeks but I expected better from you. They're Michael Collins' basketball team. Once he sees me in action, he'll make me a professional!"

"Or realize Andy Baker is a better option." Danny muttered.

"I heard that, Fenturd!" Dash frowned.

"So did I and I agree with him." Coach Tetslaff replied. "You'll need to improve a lot if you really want a chance to impress that Kasenti guy." To Danny and Tucker's relief, she dragged Dash away.

"At least one good thing came from this upcoming rematch." Tucker commented.

"Two if Liv comes for the game." Danny replied.

"So true." Tucker agreed.

Sam approached them. "Guys, I've got the new Nightmerica movie." She said. "Would you like to watch it with me?"

"Sure." Danny and Tucker replied.

"How about we watch it at my place during the game?" Sam suggested.

"Sorry, Sam." Danny replied. "Liv might come for the game."

"Good call, Fenton." Dale teased them. "Who would miss a date for a female Freddy Krueger?"

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" Sam angrily shouted. "Nightmerica is a totally original character!"

"Yeah, right." Dale scoffed. "She's as original as Rickey Rouse and Ronald Ruck."

"Did he just make a Simpsons allusion?" Tucker asked Danny.

"Either that or he's impersonating Muttley calling Disney characters." Danny joked.

"What did you say?" Dale asked with a frown.

"Shouldn't you be practicing for the game?" Danny asked.

"You're obviously trying to distract me but you have a point, Fenton." Dale conceded and started walking away. "But Nightmerica is still a Freddy Krueger copy."

"No, she's not!" Sam protested and her friends rolled their eyes. They then went to the next classroom to face another boring lecture from Mr. Lancer.

After that class ended, Danny felt his ghost sense and the Lunch Lady Ghost appeared in front of Team Phantom. "Does anyone want meatballs?" She nicely asked.

"Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" Tucker eagerly replied.

"Then here they are!" The Lunch Lady Ghost suddenly shouted and fired meatballs from a bazooka. Danny, Sam and Tucker jumped into different directions and Danny went ghost. "Lunch time is over."

"NO DESSERTS!" She shouted.

"Look!" Sam exclaimed while pointing at a random direction. "A tofu bar!"

"Where?" The Lunch Lady Ghost angrily asked while ignoring Danny, who took advantage of the distraction to hit her with ghost beams. The Lunch Lady Ghost was weakened enough to be sucked into a Fenton Thermos.

"Good work, Danny." Sam said.

"You too, Sam." Danny replied. The rest of the day went uneventful.

The next day, they were watching the basketball game. "Ugh, what's there to see in this game?" Sam asked with disdain.

"The cheerleaders." Tucker answered while staring at the Casper High cheer squad.

"Seeing the A-Listers lose." Danny added.

"I'm supporting my friend." Mike stated.

"My brother." Liv replied and glared at Sam. "If you hate being here, why don't you leave?"

"To help my friends in case a ghost attacks." Sam answered and Liv didn't say anything else.

After the game ended, Ghost Force and Team Phantom were happy with the result. At least until Dash showed up. "You'll pay for making me lose!" The bully declared.

"Baxter, we defeated your team fair and square." Andy protested. "Don't be a sore loser."

"I wasn't talking to you, Baker." Dash explained. "I was talking to Fentonio here."

"Are you blaming him for your team's loss?" Andy asked in confusion. "He was just a viewer."

"He jinxed us by dating someone from the other school." Dash said.

"That again?" Liv asked in annoyance.

"That sounds like a silly superstition and I know ghosts exist." Mike commented.

"Don't mind him." Danny told his New York friends. "He just wants an excuse to take his frustrations on me."

"Don't the teachers here do anything about it?" Liv asked.

"As the star quarterback, he's free from scorn." Danny replied.

"That's unfair!" Andy protested.

"What's wrong with you?" Dash asked. "Don't you and Drake Miller get privileges as your school's basketball stars?"

"No and seeing how you behave makes me glad for it." Andy answered.

"Don't you have losers to do your homework for you?" Dash asked, not believing there are schools where star jocks didn't have the same privileges Casper High's A-Listers had. "Geeks like your friend here but without a rich and famous father?"

"Hey!" Mike protested.

"Don't tell me you think a jock like Baker or me would be friends with you without your Dad's status?" Dash asked, making the others frown.

"You're even meaner than Drake." Andy commented.

Danny then felt his ghost sense. "Gotta go." He said and ran away.

"Coward." Dash said. "Letting others fight for you."

Some ghosts then showed up and everyone not in Ghost Force or Team Phantom ran away. "Should we tell them?" Andy whispered while pointing at Tucker and Sam.

"What're you whispering about?" Sam asked as Danny showed up. "Hide yourselves!" The ghost boy ordered them.

Sam, Tucker, Liv, Andy and Mike hid at a nearby corridor. Sam couldn't stand being stuck with Liv. "Tucker, we must help him." The goth told the techno geek. "Liv, Andy, Mike, you stay hidden."

"We're not staying hidden, are we?" Andy asked.

"Is there anyone watching us?" Liv asked in reply.

Andy was about to say 'no' when Paulina showed up. "Is my ghost boy already here?" The shallow cheerleader asked.

"He's not yours but he's right over there." Andy answered and pointed at the battle as Danny Phantom sucked the ghosts into a Fenton Thermos.

"Thank you." Danny said and flew away. Paulina started running after him. "Wait for me, my ghost boy!"

Later on, as the school day ended, Paulina was annoying the other students with her tales. "You should have seen my ghost boy." She commented with a dreamy expression. "So gallant. Once he makes Myst understand I'm the one he loves, we'll go on lots of dates together."

"Ugh, I had enough of your sick obsession." Star commented. "I thought Valerie had it bad during the time she dated Fenton but at least he used to return her feelings."

"Don't say that!" Paulina demanded. "My ghost boy and I are meant for each other."

"Paulina, if you want to live in denial, move to Egypt." Star replied.

"I never thought I'd say that but, go, Star!" Sam exclaimed as she overheard the two cheerleaders' conversation.

After the game, Nolan Kasenti went to Amity Park City Hall for a meeting with Mayor Vlad Masters. "Mr. Kasenti, on behalf of Amity Park, I appreciate your interest in expanding your business empire to our town in spite of our... ghostly issues." Vlad said.

"Mayor Masters, if I allowed ghosts to bother me that much, my company and I would've already left New York a long time ago." Kasenti replied.

"True, Mr. Kasenti." Vlad conceded. "Anyway, the city council needs to approve your project first."

"I will donate to No Mercy Hospital, Mr. Mayor." Nolan Kasenti replied.

"It's North Mercy Hospital, Mr. Kasenti." Vlad explained. "Some letters fell off the sign but the town will appreciate your generosity anyway."

"Good." Nolan Kasenti said. "Now, if you excuse me, I have another appointment."

20 minutes later, Nolan Kasenti was at Fentonworks. "Kids, isn't that awesome?" Jack eagerly asked Danny and Jazz. "Mr. Kasenti wants to install anti-ghost shields at some of his properties back in New York!"

"Not to mention some of the buildings I will own in Amity Park if Mayor Masters and the town council approve my projects, Mr. Fenton." Nolan Kasenti replied.

Tucker suddenly broke into Fentonworks. "Danny, why didn't you call me about Nolan Kasenti being here?" He asked. "I had to be clued by the fancy car with the KassKorp Tech logo." He then noticed Nolan Kasenti. "Mr. Kasenti, may I have your autograph? Preferably in a million-dollar check?"

"Tucker!" Danny scolded his friend.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I believe you were about to show me how the shields work." Mr. Kasenti stated, ignoring Tucker.

"Mr. Kasenti, when will the next KassKorp PDA be available at stores?" Tucker eagerly asked.

"Whenever I believe PDAs will sell again, which will be... probably never." Mr. Kasenti coldly replied.

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you, Tucker." Danny replied and Tucker pouted.

"Anyway, since I'm here, how about we have a study session?" Tucker asked and Danny glared at him. "What? Do you think I'm just making up an excuse to stay in the same room as Nolan Kasenti?"

"You're saying it, not me." Danny replied, still glaring at Tucker.

"Fine, I am, but I'll stay in your room until he leaves." Tucker pleaded. "Pleeeeeeeease!"

"Okay." An exasperated Danny replied.

"Cookies, anyone?" Maddie asked.

"YES!" Jack eagerly replied and then noticed his wife's glare. "Does anybody else want some?"

"Yes, thank you." Nolan Kasenti replied as he took a cookie.

"Thank you, Dad." Danny said while Tucker said "Thank you, Mr. Fenton." The two teens took two cookies each and went to Danny's room. There, Danny picked two books. "Math or History?" He asked.

"Can't we study videogames instead?" Tucker asked.

"Let's go with math since it's your fault Mr. Falluca increased our homework, Tucker." Danny said.

"Why do we need that now that we have computers that do our calculations for us?" Tucker moaned.

"As a future astronaut, I might be in a situation similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they needed an abacus." Danny answered.

"Please, don't go all Master Splinter on me." Tucker asked.

"Just study, Tucker." Danny replied while waving his math book.

"Alright, Danny." Tucker gave in.

Minutes later, Danny showed a math problem. "Are my calculations right, Tucker?" He asked.

Tucker then used his PDA to check them out. "Yes, Danny." He answered.

"Tucker, you know we aren't allowed to use calculators during tests, right?" Danny asked.

"Yes and that's totally unfair." Tucker moaned. "Does Mr. Falluca think we're cavemen or something? Not that I wouldn't mind knowing what Fred Flintstone's bronto burgers taste like but I wouldn't like to let a dinosaur know what I taste like."

"You know how some teachers think, Tucker." Danny commented. "Because they didn't need certain things during their time as students, they think we don't need them now."

"I hope I never have to find out how they survived a time with no internet." Tucker was horrified at the idea.

Meanwhile, Nolan Kasenti was aboard his private jet flying back to New York while musing about his meeting with the Mayor of Amity Park. "Vlad Masters certainly knows way more about Danny Phantom than what he's letting on." He said. "Once I find out what he knows, I will have an edge."

End chapter.