Desirae pulled herself away from Danny with a deliberately loud audible 'MWAH' grinning to herself as she saw Sam fuming on the sidelines. "So you have wished it, so shall it be" she stated. Amity flashed in a green glow and with a wave of her hand, Desirae reset Amity back to its self before the storm devastated it. "Wish granted" Desirae cooed "if that will be all I shall return to my realm, call me Daniel" she winked.
Sam could be heard, grinding her teeth. Glaring daggers at Danny from behind. Everyone began clearing away from the community center in droves leaving only emergency crews on hand. Team Phantom and the Fenton family returned to Fenton works. Exhaustion was finally setting in, the high adrenaline night finally wearing off Jim and Beth staggered down the hallway to their guest room, Joanie never made it out of the RV. Thorn had a guest room to herself, Jazz and Dani just made it to their room leaving Tucker and Sam sleeping in the living room on the recliner and couch. Spike might not have returned, having chosen to accompany pretty Paulina home, but that wasn't a concern apparently. Danny and Valerie, as per Maddie's allowance were cuddled together in Danny's bed. Valerie's head nuzzled against Danny's chest both comfortably tucked under the duvet. "Danny your hands a little low" Valerie murmured.
"Sorry Val" Danny mumbled back. He rolled himself to allow his body room to sit up. It was only 10 am after such a long drawn out night sleeping all day was a promising plan. But his brain kept telling him to get up.
"Don't you dare get out of this bed" Valerie growled "I didn't shoot Desirae this morning so the least you can do is let me have this alone time with you until I've got my 8 hours in"
With a playful smirk Danny settled back into the sheets and cuddled Valerie once more. Luckily his body overruled his brain, and he fell asleep once again. "Danny, that's my ass" Valerie told him.
The house hold slept the day away not waking until the next morning. Valerie awoke before Danny to the sound of knocking on the partially opened door. Where Maddie was standing just on the threshold "Morning Valerie, glad to see you and Danny respected the conditions of our arrangements"
"Morning Mrs. Fenton, and thank you for the trust. God that's weird thanking my boyfriend's mom for letting us sleep together, Ugh" she moaned as she sat up "what time is it?"
"8:45" Maddie replied "and yes dear that was weird, hopefully this is as weird as it needs to get, breakfast is on the table"
Valerie nodded as Maddie left she readjusted her tank top and rolled over to look at a peacefully sleeping Danny cradled between the pillows. Gently as she could she inched closer to his face and began peppering his face with kisses. Stirring him awake. "Mhm morning Val" he moaned, sitting up himself.
"Morning Danny, your mom was here, breakfast is ready" she replied.
Danny groaned in annoyance and rolled onto his side "wake me when its lunch" he grumbled.
A cheeky smirk flashed across Valerie's lips "well if you insist on sleeping then I'm going to get dressed…since you'll be sleeping I can assume you won't be peaking?"
"No promises" Danny chuckled.
Valerie hopped from the bed and began rummaging through her bag. Catching just a hint of light from Danny's eyes behind her. "Peaking" she laughed.
"Admiring" Danny replied.
"well if you're going to admire you can help me decide, pink or yellow?"
Danny's eyes sprang open and he leapt upright.
They made it down stairs to find everyone in the kitchen bacon, eggs, and sausages with what appeared to be haunted pancakes. Stacked high on the counter top serving as a buffet style meal.
"Morning guys" Jazz greeted them from behind her fish bowl sized coffee mug. Her eyes were still red with weariness, but she did have school work and arrangements to handle today. Thorn sat beside her picking at her plate with her nose buried in a book. Her gothic apparel replaced by a Pikachu onesie complete with hood and thunder tail. Aunt Bethany was with Maddie frying up some eggs and French toast at the stove. "oh ladies" Jazz chimed in "Danny is the first one up, leave your money on the table" she laughed. Puzzled, Danny scanned around the room Jazz was brandishing a satisfied grin while the others, especially Joan all looked rather…disgruntled, was the word he wanted to use. "Seems letting Val stay with him worked against your odds mom, she got his butt out of bed before noon"
Maddie handed Jazz a 20 dollar bill with her own smile. "Did it though? Danny's up and dressed before noon with no complaints and no shouting. I'm calling this a win worth the investment" she chuckled.
"Was this all preplanned or something or is this a routine gamble you guys play?" Danny asked, feeling slightly used as entertainment.
"Oh, relax little brother it's all harmless fun and an investment in my education" Jazz giggled. A joke which earned a side-eyed glare from Joanie. But she kept it to herself, after all the blowouts this weekend some civil family time was made a requirement. Mostly in part that Maddie had made it clear Spike was now riding on thin ice for his actions against Tucker and Valerie (an event that no one had yet told Danny about) whilst she had originally banned him Jack reasoned to try and keep the family at peace for his mother's sake. Evelynn however caught her daughters glare, she knew why Maddie allowed them to stay. She overheard their talk in RV last night.
Danny wolfed back his breakfast then guzzled down his chocolate milk. Long weekend or not, there was a ghost on the loose.
Sam entered the kitchen rubbing the sleep from her eyes drool clinging to the corner of her mouth. She looked like the rising dead. "Creatures of the night despise the morning sun you know, as well as the mindless clucking of morning hens" she groaned.
Offense was taken all round as all eyes zeroed in on Sam for her rude comment. To everyone's shock it was Thorn you replied. "Maybe creatures of the night should crash in their coffin, at their own homes, instead of couch surfing on their Exes couch, you know, like a mooch"
Sam's eyes quickly narrowed on Thorn "figures the fake Goth doesn't appreciate the true nature of the underworld" she shot back.
"Everyone is a fake Goth, Sam, unless you're a recognised witch, necromancer or darks arts specialist actually any standing in the occults is a fake. Outright it's an attention grab or a public kink" Thorn told her.
The snickers and supressed chuckles were faint but thorn merely kept her eyes locked with Sam. She spoke from her perspective, while Thorn dressed the role of Goth, it was for her boyfriends' benefit. He liked the edge- lord look on her so she dawned it for him. But never got into the whole life is bleak and black outlook.
"Excuse me!" Sam barked. "I am no fake, even by your standards. I have standing in the occults I deal with spectres and ghouls on the regular…"
"you're one step above the ghost-facer guys on t.v Sam, even Danny has better claim to the Goth tittle, having been frenched by an actual ghost" Thorn coldly replied.
"I'm sorry what?" Valerie interjected "can you clarify that last statement?"
Thorn shrugged, "did nobody else catch it? That genie ghost stuck her tongue down Danny's throat last night that's why he gagged and tried to push her off"
Valerie rounded on Danny with a stare that would have obliterated him, if looks could kill that is. "Didn't think to mention that, Danny?" There was a bite in her tone warning Danny of his choice of words.
"Thought it was obvious, given my eyes nearly popped out of head, I made gaging noises and struggled to force Desirae back, I figured you all held back because it was the deal I got pimped out on, if that wasn't the case you all left me to get violated" Danny replied.
That shut Valerie's tone down quickly. With a sheepish look she turned back to Sam "how did you catch that but none of us did, Thorn?"
Thorn shrugged again, "I pay attention to detail, I want to specialise in forensic investigation so small details matter" she replied.
"Thorn wants to be a cop?" Sam asked. "False Goth loud and proud submit to the man"
"Forensic investigator, Sam, C.S.I type" Jazz told her.
"False Goth, again. Sam you're an imposter, same as all others as I explained" Thorn stated.
"I banged a ghost Thorn, I'm a true embodiment of gothic culture" Sam snapped.
An embarrassed Danny dropped his cutlery and slipped through the floor as Maddie squeezed her eyes, desperate not to lash out. Valerie however was gritting her teeth. Nope this wasn't going to work out. Sam needed to be at distance for a while. "Goodbye Sam" she growled. "And I mean now! Like really respect right out the window with that one. In Maddie's house in front of her you say that"
Sam went to retort but Evelynn quickly raised a hand "everybody cool it!" she ordered. "Valerie, go talk to Danny. Samantha, that was disrespectful on so many levels, this is Madeline's house, and Danny is her son. To say something so bluntly" Sam went to speak but Evelynn cut her off. "Whatever you and Danny did was meant to stay between you two not to be thrown out at the table in front of an audience"
Sam once again went to speak but was cut off. "Nobody cares about your identity issues, if your image as a Goth is so important that you get disrespectful when challenged then maybe you should see a therapist. Your personality should be made up of more than just your identity. You disrespected Danny, his mother, and your relationships with both with that comment. You labeled Danny as a ghost completely disregarding him as a person, maybe that's why you two didn't work…you couldn't distinguish between the man and icon"
The room went deathly quiet. Not even a cricket dared chirp in this moment. Sam began to tremble in her place, again, she was being blamed again. This wasn't her fault. "Stop blaming me!" she shouted. "Not everything is my fault! Danny and I split not all my fault, Danny had his own contributions! Thorn disrespecting my culture, that's on her, Desirae's pitiful high school mentality can't be blamed on me! I'm not responsible for every little thing that goes wrong around here so stop saying I am!" she shouted.
"OH MY GOD!" Dani screamed as she phased through the roof in her pajamas "Why is there are so much yelling this early in the morning!" her eyes fell on grandma and Sam and quickly knew what was up. "are we doing this already?"
Valerie ducked out of the kitchen and headed to the training room. Sparring with Danny might be a good resolution to this morning's aggravations. She could hear the commotion from the training room. It sounded like a fight.
"Gyah!" Danny growled as his left arm just burst on impact. Another Danny stood behind a shield of ice. "ok, what are we doing wrong here? Every time we land a hit we detonate a limb"
"Could be a compression problem" Valerie suggested. "Are you putting all the power into your fist? If so, try disbursing the power from your fingertips back to your shoulder" she instructed.
Danny nodded and passed the ice block to his one armed clone. The green glow emitting from his fist began to absorb into his fist, then snaked its way up his arm to his shoulder. "That feels better, like I have more control and not so chaotic" Danny stated. He readied his stance and threw his punch. The ice block exploded upon impact with the excess force launching Danny backwards, his clone vanished and Valerie found herself pinned to the wall behind her. "that was impressive" Danny panted flexing his still intact fingers "but it worked, I controlled the punch to direct the energy forward with less blow back"
Valerie stood up dusting herself off "Nicely done Danny but next time be more romantic when you knock me off my feet" she laughed.
"hand to god Val" Danny chuckled back. "I wonder" Danny thought to himself. He took his transformation pose, closing his eyes Danny stood motionless producing two massive ecto balls in his open palms slowly he began to absorb the energy into his body, not just his arm. The green glow now coated Danny's body.
"wow, you look a big flashlight right now" Valerie said "care to find me in the dark" she added, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Danny's green aura suddenly turned blue and gradually intensified. Suddenly Danny flexed his body and his muscles seemed to increase in mass and density. He jacked himself up by about half a shirt size. Valerie stared in awe, her boyfriend just generated a beach bod in seconds before her eyes. "wow, um Danny is this a new look or are you just making yourself hot for me?" she asked.
Danny transformed down to his human form as intended his body was still slightly stronger "haha-ha it worked" he cackled. "I did it Val, power compression. I've compressed my ecto energy into my physical body, basically I've strengthened my human body to be more durable…and did you ask if I made myself hot for you? Am I that ugly I needed an upgrade?" he asked, slightly offend by her comment.
Valerie however was still caught off guard by Danny's new appearance. He was more defined, he wasn't disproportionate like the football players. Big shoulders small legs, Danny was more densely toned. Like martial artist. "Danny, I think I'm drooling, I mean you went from lean runners body to… I have say Scott Adkins, if he played Batman, like seriously cut me a slice I want a piece" she purred.
"You like?" Danny bashfully asked.
Valerie strutted up to Danny planting a quick kiss with a slip of her hands she squeezed his arms, they were so solid now. "Screw a piece, I want all of you" she breathed slamming Danny into the wall her lips pressed against his they might have become air tight.
They could hear the door upstairs slam shut and rattle some loose fixtures. But continued to ignore it, being preoccupied at the moment.
"Danny, how is the training, OH COME ON, AGAIN YOU TWO!" Maddie snapped at the teens. Prompting the two to quickly separate. The red glow in their cheeks could illuminate a dark room. Maddie clapped her hands together taking deep steady breaths before speaking "if this is going to be a regular occurrence with you two canoodling instead of training I will invest in a spray bottle"
"I was training mom, Val was just rewarding me for finally mastering the compression trick you wanted me to learn, look" Danny defended as he presented himself to his mom. He conjured a block of ice with his left hand while his right produced then compressed an ecto ball. With one punch Danny destroyed the ice block into powder and once again the excess energy forced everyone onto their backs. "Little bit of fine tuning but look I'm still in one piece" he eagerly explained.
Maddie checked over her son, he was right nothing had exploded. "You've altered your own physical body, you've strengthened yourself, temporarily?" she asked.
Danny shook his head, I compressed the energy into my very fibres of my muscles, essentially I think I've brought my body to my peak form and it's sustained by ecto energy"
Maddie looked Danny over with a scanner, he might be right, there were no warning lights and nothing appeared to be in distress "your body is sustaining itself? So you generated and absorbed your own energy and compressed it inward to bring your physical form to its peak…Danny if you could absorbs more energy, beyond your own scope could you maximise your body even further?" Maddie asked. Her science brain kicking in and studying her sons' transformation. "In theory sweetie we could push your Phantom form to a new level, maybe even to rival a primordial being, I'll have to run some simulations on the theoretical data beforehand, oh this could be ground breaking stuff"