"One ghost genie, ready to depart."
Shrieking, Desiree felt herself being unceremoniously dumped back into the Ghost Zone. Upon reforming, she managed to catch one final glimpse of the boy's grin before the portal doors closed.
Left alone in the lab, Danny leaned against the wall.
"I've never seen Desiree put up this good a fight," he said to himself. "At least, not since I first fought her." Then he paused, a metaphorical light bulb going off in his head. "And I could have simply wished her back into the Thermos instead of taking that beating. Yep, C student me at work."
"Danny?" Jack's voice came from the stairway, followed moments later by the man himself, Ghost Tuner in his hands. "I heard the portal opening. Was there a ghost in here?!"
He was already tuning the device and Danny was now feeling his movie theater dinner starting to bubble its way out of his gut.
"Uh…no, D-Dad," Every word was strained as he tried to ignore the urge to retch. Slowly, he inched his way past his father. "I was just…testing it out, works great, same as always, you the man."
Whether it was due to the statement or the extra cheesy nacho platter, Danny felt his cheeks puff up and his face start to turn green.
"Are you okay, Danny?" Jack asked, still not bothering to lower the Tuner away from his son.
Giving a weak thumbs up, Danny turned and bolted upstairs.
"Ugh, stupid, interfering, little pest!"
Desiree lingered near the shut Fenton portal, still bitter over her loss. Passing ghosts glanced, but she paid them no mind. All the genie could think about was losing, yet again, to that ghost boy.
"And your goth girlfriend!"
She fumed, her fists shaking as her mind instinctively flashed back to the meteor party again, the one other instance where that same girl had thwarted her. "I was SO close. So close to wiping you both out for GOOD!" Her eyes flared with angry tears. "Then she had to open her big mouth and I JUST HAD TO-"
She froze suddenly, eyes widening in realization.
"Breathe, Desiree," she told herself. Loosening up, she inhaled a deep breath, before slowly and gently releasing it. "There you go, girl. Just like she said."
Calming down, she looked back at the floating door in front of her. Reaching out, she pressed her hands against the metal and tried to phase, but even in her intangible form, she was unable to sink through it.
"Stupid portal," she muttered. "Guess I'll just have to find another way back."
Right on cue, a small crack appeared in the space near her. It opened up, expanding into a small natural portal, rays of daylight streaming in from the other side.
"Uh, that was easy." Shrugging, the genie gracefully dove through the small portal.
"YES, I'M FR-!"
Desiree was suddenly halted. She was halfway through the portal, but her waist wouldn't slide through.
"What?"
She tried to fly forward, but her hips wouldn't budge.
"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!"
She couldn't believe it. Her beautiful, voluptuous hips–the ones that had won her the attention of the Sultan and graced many a palace dance floor when she was alive–wouldn't fit through the portal.
"Ugh!" She sighed, allowing herself to momentarily hang awkwardly from the portal. She couldn't stay like this; freedom was literally in front of her and, more importantly, she had no idea how long this portal was going to remain open. She'd heard stories of what had happened to Johnny 13's girlfriend Kitty and had NO desire in sharing her fate.
Plus, she hated the idea of her backside being helpless and unattended. It wasn't just humans who found her attractive.
Taking a deep breath, Desiree lunged forward, pulling with all her might. After a couple of seconds, she felt her lower half slowly (and painfully) begin to squeeze into the small opening.
"OwowowowowowowowowOW!"
Shouldering (or hipping?) through the pain, Desiree used every ounce of ecto-energy in her to propel herself forward. Its edges bit down into her skin, but bit by bit, she began to heave herself through the narrow gap.
"Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
With a pop, Desiree felt herself launch out of the portal like a rocket. Catching herself in midair, she winced as she rubbed her sore skin.
"I got to start working out." Her tail unfurled, shoulders sinking in relief. "Less belly dancing, more cardio, maybe?"
Turning back to her objective, she scanned the horizon and started her course for Amity Park.
"Well guys, this weekend wasn't a total waste," Sam said, now clad in her pajamas in front of her computer. "I got to humiliate my folks in front of Vlad, the Abominatrix was awesome, and Psychotica survived the movie."
"Again, I say, makes no sense," Tucker insisted.
"I'll tell you what makes no sense," Danny moaned, rubbing his stomach on the other end. He cupped his mouth as a burp forced its way up. "A ghost with acid reflux. Ugh, I really gotta stay away from Dad while he's using that Fenton Tuner."
Sam chuckled, but her smile momentarily lowered as something else occurred to her.
"Something wrong, Sam?" Even in his queasy state, Danny was not lost on her.
Sam paused, considering her next move and the severity of her issue.
She was still a little hung up over what Desiree said. 'You will be made proper.' Not that she wasn't used to taking threats from Danny's enemies, but this particular one just seemed so...oddly directive and personal. It certainly wasn't what she'd expect Desiree to say.
It sounded more like something her parents would say.
A sense of forbidding followed as she thought back to finding them at the fountain where Desiree had conveniently been.
Was it possible...?
No, that was crazy. Her parents couldn't possibly be that desperate (or vile). Besides, how would they even know who was she, let alone her ability to grant wishes? They knew jack about ghosts and never showed any interest in learning (despite, ironically, the girl's own efforts).
No, she was just being paranoid.
Besides, she didn't need (or even want) her friends worrying about her. Not after such a great night.
"It's nothing," Sam said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Night."
Switching off her laptop, she put it away and crawled under her covers. Flicking off her bedside light, she lay back and closed her eyes, the sound of Desiree's threat yet still reverberating in her head.
'They wouldn't do that,' Sam thought as she drifted off to sleep, 'They wouldn't.'
Little did the goth girl realize how incredibly (and frightfully) wrong she was.
In her bedroom, Pamela wept as she flipped through the pages of an old scrapbook, wallowing in self-pity.
"Look at this one, Jeremy!" She pointed. "Look how cute and happy she was!"
Jeremy looked at the old photo, taken from Sam's fifth birthday. Unlike the picture at her bedside, this one, as well as most of those featured around it, all contained a rather disgruntled Sam who didn't look all too pleased at the frilly, pink garments she'd been dressed in.
"We should have offered her more sundaes," he remarked.
"Oh, I'd do anything to have her look like this again!" Pamela sniffled.
"Say the magic words," sang a sensual voice.
Both Mansons bolted up as green ectoplasmic clouds appeared above them. Swirling, they morphed into the gleeful, laughing form of their new friend.
"Desiree!" they both cried, an ecstatic Pam throwing the scrapbook into the air. "You came back!"
"Of course." She flitted between them again, evoking more shudders with her nearness. "A genie never leaves a wish ungranted."
Pam squealed. "Yay!" In her excitement, she did something she never thought she'd do…she grabbed and hugged Desiree.
"Whoa, girl!" The genie pushed her off, utterly repulsed by human touch. "No touching!"
Pam recoiled, smile fading. "Sorry."
"Cause I like you, I'll let that one slide." She circled back to the couple. "Now, where were we?"
"We were about to make our wish," Jeremy excitedly reminded her.
"Ah yes, my favorite part," Desiree emphasized that particular word. "Now…" Her eyes alight with vengeance, she practically hissed, "Say it!"
Together in one voice, the Mansons gleefully cried out, "WE WISH OUR DAUGHTER WAS THE DAUGHTER WE WANTED!"
Feeling the power of their command, the genie shuddered in sheer delight. "Excellent."
She raised a hand. "Now…go to sleep and tomorrow, you will have your wish."
Another mass of green clouds swirled around the Mansons. Their eyes closed and they both collapsed into their pillows. Laughing, Desiree went intangible and flew through the walls of the house, finally ending up in Sam's room.
There she was: the meddlesome little human that had caused (well, co-caused) her so much frustration. Alone, asleep, vulnerable, completely unaware of what was about to happen to her. Were she any more sadistic, the genie might have considered waking her up just to scare her with the horrific fate she was about to bestow upon her. However, something in her said that this was better. Her whole identity was about to change forever, and she wouldn't even know it was happening.
"Oh, girl," Desiree said to the sleeping form. "Say goodbye to yourself."
Blazing with energy, she lifted her hand up above her head and began twirling it.
"So they have wished it,"
A tornado of green clouds swirled around the girl. The genie could no longer contain herself.
"AND SO SHALL IT BE!"
Throwing her head back, she let out a spine-tingling, manic shriek of a laugh as the entire room was engulfed in green light.