Spike was wandering around town still stewing over what his grandmother said. It wasn't fair, Danny had fame and powers and apparently money on the horizon. And every girl he passed on the street had a 'Phantom 4 life' badge on their shirts. At the very least his grandmother could have seen the unfair imbalance between her grandsons and gifted him the car. He could have accepted that as a consolation prize. He turned down the next side street and found himself at the cloak and coffin; a gothic surplus store. "Might as well hang with misery crew seeing as I'm miserable" he mumbled.
The overhead alarm sounded like a creaky old door opening as Spike stepped in the dimly lit shop was small but certainly packed full. Ornamental knives, cloaks, but mostly some very attractive Goth girls with intriguing tattoos. "Hi, I'm Spike Fenton" he greeted the first girl.
She turned to look at Spike with a quick once over. He watched the blue shine from her eyes dull instantly. "Sorry I have a girlfriend" she replied.
Dejectedly Spike kept walking down the aisle and eventually wandered into the candles where he saw another girl, in a green and black skirt, with a black t-shirt. "Hi, I'm Spike Fenton"
Sam turned around to face Spike "Samantha Manson, we've met before, you're Danny's cousin"
Spikes mouth slightly opened with realization but quickly clamed up. "Sam, Danny's girlfriend"
Sam crossed her arms and leaned back against the candles "Ex-girlfriend, we split up a month ago" Sam coldly stated. Her eyes and nostrils flaring as she spoke.
"oh that's right, sorry I forgot he just introduced me to his girlfriend back at the house"
The air in the room suddenly died. Sam's eyes stared into a void between herself and Spike. The hair on the back of his neck began rise, an uneasy sensation crept up the back of his spine. He sensed he screwed something up here.
"H-his girlfriend! We just split up and he's bringing another girl home to his family" she snarled.
Spike could swear something ominous was radiating from Sam given that the room temperature suddenly felt freezing. Her rage was clearly boiling to the surface indicated by the facial expressions and ever whitening knuckles she was clenching. If she continued like Spike was sure she'd start foaming at the mouth.
"What. Is. Her name?" Sam spoke so low that Spike barely heard her. "Tell me her name, Spike"
"Crap, he said her name is Valerie" Spike told her. He could swear there was steam spouting from her ears now "hey Sam how about we go get some food, I could use some food and looks like you could to" Spike quickly interjected.
Sam turned on her heels and started for the door. Even Spike knew this was leading to trouble and raced after her. Sam cleared the doorway and was already storming off to the Fenton workshop while Spike was jogging after her "Sam hold up a second!" he called out.
Sam turned again this time shoved Spike backwards "stop following me! Okay Spike, we met one time and hung out for like five minutes, leave me alone!" Sam shouted. Her shouting started attracting nearby onlookers to stop and stare at them. And with Sam's minuscule fame as Danny's Ex people started to pull out their phones to record the drama. "PISS OFF!" she screamed.
"Were you always such a bitch? Or did my cousin mess you up this badly?" Spike shouted.
Sam flinched on the spot and froze solid "I was just trying to talk to you back there maybe get to know you a little bit but one mention of Danny moving on from you sends you 8 kinds of crazy! You just admitted you two split up a month ago, okay a month, thirty days. If you could maybe let up on what was, and tried to embrace what the future holds you might be happier. I don't know what happened with you and Danny and I don't care. You being this angry makes no sense and just makes you look like an absolute standoffish bitch!" he shouted.
Sam stopped her tracks her hardened eyes glaring at Spike. Who in turn looked back at her with a reflected hard stare "Danny being Danny hasn't been easy for me these days he's all anybody wants to talk about. He never plays wingman for me when we do get together and it's messed up my dating life because every girl sees Fenton on my profile and tried to use me to meet Danny" Spiked told her. "I can relate a little ok, I might not understand what went belly up for you two but I can relate to how my relationship to Danny screwed up my life"
Sam kept looking at Spike her eyes flashing between glaring and studying him. The wind began to pick up and blow through the streets kicking the dust and dirt from the pavement. The clouds slowly began to darken even more so then dusk usually did, a storm was beginning to brew.
"So food? Where were you thinking?" she asked him.
"Last time I was in town I wanted to try Kruger's calzones what do you think?"
Sam smirked a little bit she liked Kruger's because they were one of the few spots in town who initiated plant based foods. "sounds good to me" she replied.
Armen was now searching through town. His spell was slowly building overhead and would soon unleash on the town. For now he searched the area trying to map out what used to be where when he was alive. His new body, while deformed due to the deer skull having merged into his form, was pouring with a greater abundance of power. In life he signed a covenant to become a warlock, in the event of his death his curse upon the town created a new deal. One where he was granted immense new powers. He wasn't human anymore that much was clear but his body was flesh, bone and blood nothing related to the disembodied beings he had met in his early ages.
The world had changed. Horses and carts were nowhere to be found, the roads, once dirt were now hardened rock. And the most unusual machines freely roamed everywhere. And the clothes seemed far less weather resistant in this time. It wasn't until he arrived at the local church and saw the ever familiar cross. The symbol of the faith of the man who murdered his innocent wife that he stopped and let his anger vent once again. His long gangly finger reached to the stone siding and began slowly tracing a sigil into the red brick. "Infar Nia" he whispered. Almost instantly glowing hot embers began to smolder in the motor burning through to the inside. Within seconds the wall was engulfed in a raging white flame rapidly devouring the church. Armen walked away whistling it was time to begin.
"Sorin-fia" he cackled casting his black aura around the streets into the sewers and drains. Like rushing water the aura spread up and down the roads scattering as far as the eye could see. As quickly as it came the aura disappeared. "These people will destroy each-other and my storm will cleanse the land of their memory"
Danny splashed water on his face. The talk in the kitchen finally came to an end just after Spike left the house. Finally there was some semblance of silence Aunt Joanie had a long tangent about jazz renting the Chicago house and about grandpas car being willed off but once it became clear grandma wasn't going to contest the will she stopped.
He sat next to Valerie who snuggled in closer to him and let her head rest on his shoulder. Joanie, Bethany and Thorn had all gone to take showers before bed. Jazz and Dani were doing up the cups and Maddie was feeding J.J at the table. The Crash Nebula movie was just starting when the front door opened revealing Tucker Foley looking defeated.
"Tuck? Dude what happened?" Danny asked. Tucker slumped across the floor and dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh.
"I'm under investigation" Tucker sighed letting his head roll backwards on the couch. "Hillary confirmed Sam was authorized as campaign manager, she spent the money and more I didn't know about. There's funds that can't be accounted for and all my preluding contracts are now subject to criminal investigation, and I'm being investigated for embezzlement and fraud. Luckily I'm only 17 so they can't send me to jail but if I'm found guilty I'll lose my job, and I'll be spending 5-10 years in Chicago youth rehabilitation centre."
"Your staff was involved in every transaction though, isn't everything documented?" Valerie asked.
Tucker slapped himself in the face and moaned "not…everything"
"Not everything, tuck?"
"There's one hundred –sixty thousand dollars and forty two cents that can't be accounted for" Tucker replied.
Danny's eye bulged wide at tuckers response "H-how, how is there that much money missing Tuck?"
"The city employed Fenton works to redo the town in ghost proof tech but there wasn't any formal contracts except a little self-printed deal because Fenton Works wasn't yet commercialized"
Before Danny had a chance to reply Valerie placed her hand over his mouth and spoke over him. "Tucker, you said there was a written deal? That's still legally binding and admissible that's a paper trail with documentation and receipts? So it can't be unaccounted for" she told him "everything is therefore documented Tucker"
Hearing what Valerie said brought Tucker to visible ease he might not be going to jail after all. Until something else set in, "Crap, there is still somethings left unaccounted for"
Valerie and Danny sat up and looked at Tucker, slightly worrying now. "Tuck?" Danny queried.
"Remember when I fitted Casper with that relay antenna so the ghost shield could cover the whole town?"
"Yes" Danny hesitantly replied.
"the antenna was salvaged on a budget and the money…" Tucker trailed off on the looks of his friends "the money revamped the ghost the truck project" he finished.
Danny rubbed his eyes and Valerie dropped her face into her hands. The ghost truck project was something Tucker put into circulation just after becoming mayor. A secret personal project that not even his trusted staff knew about. "How much did you invest off the books" Jack asked finally cutting into the conversation.
"Fifteen thousand from the surplus coffers" Tucker shamefully replied.
Jack got up from his seat and went to the designated junk drawer and pulled out a bill book and scribbled something on it before handing Tucker a slip. 'I Jack Fenton herby sell one 2005 hummer Ghost truck to the city of Amity Park for Fifteen thousand dollars –Jack Fenton.'
"Mr. Fenton?" tucker stammered.
"That is a legal binding receipt Tucker, back date it and file it and any further invested funds need to be documented under town ghost expenses" Jack explained. The three teens stared at Jack with slack jaws, what Jack did was illegal but he just saved Tuckers job"
"Dad? You…"
"Tucker has done a lot of good for the city before and after becoming mayor making a few bad choices for the benefit of the people of Amity isn't something he should be condemned for. Good men do bad things for the good reasons, boys just don't keep the habit always keep a record of these things." Jack replied.
"Mr. Fenton…"
"I do this once and only ever this once Tucker, you've been like a second son to this family so you get a onetime pass on a screw up, no more," Jack stated.
"I-I thank you Mr. Fenton from the bottom of my heart thank you" Tucker cried.
"Tucker, that's enough" Jack said holding up a hand to silence any more outbursts "no more breaking the rules"
"yes sir" Tucker replied.
His attention than turned to Danny and Valerie with a curious look "so uh, Val seem pretty comfy cozy sitting in Danny's lap, something I the best friend should know?" he teased.
Valerie pressed her lips to Danny's and separated with a loud audible 'Mwah' before smirking back at tucker "now you Tuck" she said.
Of all the thoughts tucker should have had finding out his best friend was dating again, this wasn't one. 'He did it again! Unfair and it was Valerie, again. Freshmen year was one thing but senior year and Tucker was without a girlfriend all through high-school. But it was Valerie again and she was much hotter than she was the first time they tried to date'. Tuckers seething envy was beginning to bubble. He had to be happy for Danny and Valerie but man was he trying to contain himself. "Congrats guys" he managed to say. "D does Sam know yet?"
"Not her business yet but no one knows" Valerie replied.
Tucker let out a long sigh of relief, today was a stressful day. But now thanks to Danny and his family, again, he could breathe easy. A second chance to keep his job he wasn't going to risk his job again especially after this. Jack took a huge risk in what he did. His fingers were trembling but his breath was steadily slowing down. His watch suddenly blared with a red flashing screen "GHOST" Jack jovially shouted "Maddie, kids lets roll!"
He sprang from his seat only for Danny to push him down again "Dad you have guests in the house, Tuck, Val and I can look into it" he ordered. "Lets go spook some ghosts"