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.
Court
Chapter 12: Meanwhile
"Seriously, that rule-obsessed control freak really tried to get you in trouble for THAT?!..."Val asked, frowning and disgusted that he would stoop that low.
"Somehow, I'm not surprised. He's so bad that he makes my mom seem like a free spirit, even on her worst days..." Misty commented.
"Unfortunately, that rule-obsessed control freak who is obsessed with ruining my life just kept trying to come up with excuse after excuse in order to convince the court that I was the bad guy..."Danny said, recalling how that was.
"Even so, if you want to hear more about control freaks who obsess about stupid so-called rules, my mom and her stupid friend kept making fools of themselves trying to win that tennis tournament..." Sam muttered bitterly.
"While my mom and Danny's mom kept getting carried away with that little rivalry with them..." Star said with a sigh as they continued with the story.
Story
Virginia and Pamela were now taking a break mostly because Pamela was exhausted from all the training, or rather, lack of proper training.
Right now, Virginia's servants brought them some iced tea and crumpets, while the two women kept talking. Or rather Virginia was berating Pamela, who was busy making excuses for herself.
"Pamela, I can't believe it We have been training all day and you only managed to hit the ball ONCE! By using the tennis racket to protect your face... and by accident at that!..."Virginia criticized, as Pamela only managed to do so by the skin of her teeth to boot.
Pamela cringed and, being a sycophant to any other wealthy woman who had higher social status than her, tried to make it up to her.
"I'm sorry Virginia, but I was just rusty. I promise I'll keep practicing..."Pamela pleaded.
"You'd better! I am NOT going to let Stella defeat me again. Do you hear me? Have you ever even played tennis before?..."Virginia said, before taking a sip of her tea.
Pamela gulped.
"Oh, how could I forget that when you keep repeating that every 9 minutes when I first mentioned entering this tournament together?..."Pamela thought, deciding not to say any of this out loud.
"I told you that I am a bit rusty but I'm getting better. Watch..."She insisted, as she even tried to show off by using her racket to hit another tennis ball...only to accidentally hit a nearby window.
Virginia glared at her and Pamela flinched.
"Uh...I'll pay for that. Just send it to the Manson estate..."Pamela said, becoming hysterical but Virginia shut her up.
"Just focus on training and make sure not to embarrass me while I crush Stella on the tennis court..."Virginia said, getting a surprised look from her "friend".
However, the wealthy woman continued to act prim as she spoke.
"Don't get me wrong, she's one of my oldest and dearest friends in the whole wide world and she means the world to me..."Virginia began before her smile dropped.
"But I want to see the look on her face when she sees me take her precious first-place trophy away from her..."She added, sounding determined but trying to look classy as she said so.
Pamela nodded.
"I understand and no worries. We're both exemplary ladies of high society and on the day of the tournament, we'll show everyone that we rule at tennis...and crush those two on the court..."Pamela said, still wanting payback against Maddie and Stella too.
"Love the enthusiasm. Use it to ACTUALLY fix your aim and swing!..."Virginia said in a passive-aggressive way, still criticizing her for her rusty performance on the court.
Pamela cringed while her "friend" sipped more of her iced tea and kept giving her "advice" for improving her game and NOT humiliating herself at the tournament.
Across town
Pamela and Virginia weren't the only ones taking a break right now.
"I don't know about this Stella. Shouldn't we keep practicing our tennis moves?..."Maddie asked as Stella dragged her to the club's spa.
"Hey, everyone needs to take a break, unwind, and relax every now and then. Plus, I forgot I scheduled my massage at around 4:30, and Josephine is the best in Amity Park. I always schedule a message from her whenever something overly stressful happens to me and she clears away my stress in less than minutes. I'm more than happy to share..."Stella said, smiling in a perky manner.
Maddie seemed unsure but hissed as she felt a little stiff around the back of her left shoulder.
"Aha, I knew it. Ghost hunting is one thing, but you always need to exercise the muscles you don't use and learn to relax the ones you do use. After all, you're not a machine, you need to take the time to rest and recover..."Stella said in a "got you" sort of way.
Maddie still seemed unsure as Stella put a hand on her right shoulder. She decided to do things Stella's way and see for herself if Stella's methods were all talk or not.
"Trust me, once you get a message from Josephine, you'll thank me. She's a miracle worker and she'll take away those aches in a second. It'll be great..."Stella said.
Maddie reluctantly found herself spending the next hour at the spa with Stella, getting a message...which then led to sauna time and a facial.
"Uh...how does getting a facial or any of this help us with tennis?..." Maddie asked, wearing a mask with cucumber slices over her eyes.
"How does it NOT help? We need to look perfect if we are going to take our victory photo when we win. And this facial and seaweed wrapping is guaranteed to make you glow and look ten years younger..."Stella said as one of the employees wiped her face clean to reveal it.
Maddie rolled her eyes and didn't have any high expectations of the end results. The club spa staff did the same eye roll for hearing someone doubting their skills in spa treatments.
"Oh please, like it will actually make a difference..."Maddie said, only to see her reflection in a mirror and gasped.
"Oh my! I look incredible! My skin hasn't felt this smooth, soft, and silky in years. I don't remember the last time I looked so young..."Maddie said as she admired her reflection for a moment.
She then noticed the smirk on Stella's face and Maddie tried to save face.
"I mean...I guess that I look okay and I feel refreshed...yay..."Maddie said while the blonde socialite continued to look smug right now.
"Admit it. You like this, I can tell. I can see you grinning, especially with you looking younger like that..."Stella said while Maddie looked a little embarrassed now.
"Just admit it already, it's nice to pamper yourself once in a while..."The blonde woman said in a sing-song way.
"I never said that I don't like being pampered at a spa. I just don't see how this will help us defeat that snob Pamela and her little friend..."Maddie said.
"I know what you mean and believe me when I say that I do understand that urge to double down on my own training to better prepare myself for the match. And my old coach taught me that if you go overwork yourself, you're more likely to hurt your chances than help boost your effectiveness during a competition and I've found that out the hard way. I find that it's far better to go into a competitive event with a clear mind to better help prepare yourself for anything that could happen during the tournament..."Stella explained.
"I suppose that makes sense. And I suppose a spa treatment is one way to cool off..."Maddie said as she looked a bit surprised to see that Stella truly was taking this competition seriously.
Stella also remembered one other piece of information to share with Maddie. A really juicy one about who they're up against.
"Also, keep in mind that Virginia is likely the mastermind of the team. Pamela might think she's a leader type but she always ends up kissing up and being a total lackey to whoever gives her the time of day. She's so desperate..."Stella said, unimpressed.
"Why am I not surprised to hear this? Reminds me of the time when she and her husband tried to ban chocolate milk from the school since it wasn't organic or whatever pathetic reason that they had that week..."Maddie said.
"I can see Pamela doing this. She'd do anything to either push an agenda or try to make a quick buck. Like the time she went as far as to bribe Helen, an acquaintance of mine to let her go to a party that she was hosting and even then she came in some gaudy dress to brag about its cost, even though it was supposed to be a charity ball..."Stella said in a gossipy way.
Maddie gasped and tried to hide a laugh.
"Seriously?..."
"Seriously, and she was as obvious as the time she tried to promote that romance novel she wrote...the same one no one bought..."Stella said.
"Pamela writes romance novels?..."Maddie asked, surprised.
"Wrote. Past tense. It was like something that happened a few years before I moved to Paris. My sister Jocelyn was visiting the club at the time and received a big award for one of her books. Pamela got jealous of all the attention she was getting and tried to compete with her..."Stelle began.
"I can see that happening..."Maddie muttered, as she recalled how overcompetitive Pamela can get at times.
"Yeah, but Pamela doesn't have anywhere close to 1/10th the talent my sister has and her book totally flopped..."Stella explained.
"Really?..."Maddie asked, and Star's mother nodded.
"Uh-huh, it was rejected by every publisher she sent it to that she had it self-published...and even then, it totally flopped. She gave up after that epic failure and acted like it never happened...though it's still funny to talk about from time to time..."Stella said with a giggle.
"I can definitely see Pamela doing that..."Maddie said, knowing full well the kind of woman she was. "Was the novel that bad?..."She asked.
"Ever heard of some book called "Pamela Manson's Guide for High Society Ladies Looking to Find Romance With A Proper Gentleman" before?..." Stella asked.
"No..."Maddie said.
"Exactly. Honestly, I only read it once to be polite since she was so desperate and pretty much giving them away, but I couldn't get passed the first chapter. It was so pretentious and trashy, and that's coming from me..."Stella criticized.
"Poor Sam. I'm just glad that she has Ida to be a positive role model..."Maddie said, and Stella nodded.
Present Time
"I can't believe people are still talking about that stupid book she wrote!..."Sam said, looking mortified.
"I can't believe your mom actually wrote a book. Though judging from the title, I can see why it wasn't popular..."Star said while Sam looked worse now.
"She whined for weeks that no one would publish or buy her stupid book and we still have a ton of them gathering dust in the attic. Next to the treadmill that my dad bought but never used..."Sam grumbled, getting a migraine just thinking of that.
"I'm glad my dad isn't so embarrassing. I mean the most embarrassing thing about him is that he likes listening to oldies music and collecting some cheesy junk from a TV show he used to watch as a kid, and that's it. Thank goodness that I didn't inherit that..."Val said while Sam kept ranting over her mother's unsolded books.
"I had hoped the Box Ghost would take the boxes with them, but apparently it looks like even he has better taste than that..."Sam grumbled, while Misty felt some sympathy for her.
"Suddenly, I find myself feeling less worried about my family being the odd ones out of this group. Seems like that's not the case at all..." Misty thought, feeling a lot more at home with Team Phantom.
"Moving on. Now where were we?..."Danny began.
"Your mom and Star's mom were making fun of my mom behind her back..."Sam said bitterly, though she knew her mom's attitude didn't exactly make her sympathetic.
"Right...well...uh...moving on..."Danny continued with the tale.
Back to the story
Stella and Maddie were still chatting or rather making fun of a certain group of snobs that got on their nerves.
"Not only that, Pamela once tried to promote that book during a gala when some movie star was visiting the club, trying to get her to endorse it...but she didn't know who the heck Pamela was and assumed it was a prank. Especially when Jeremy basically tried to act like Pamela's agent to make her look like she actually had some talent..."Stella added.
"That is hilarious! Of course, I can see those two doing that. Always making a spectacle..."Maddie said, looking amused now.
"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised it wasn't enough to kick those two out of the club at the time. Especially since Eleanor had been annoyed by Pamela and her husband even back then..."Stella said.
"You'd think someone, other than us, would've complained or begged Eleanor to have those two removed from the club sooner?..."Maddie commented.
"I know what you mean...also...BTW, you didn't hear this from me...but there is a rumor at the club that Pamela is not a natural redhead or that her husband dyes his hair blonde. After all, their daughter's black hair had to come from somewhere..." Stella whispered to her.
"True..."Maddie said, having also wondered about it herself.
The Fenton matriarch sighed, before giving those rumors some serious thought.
"Now that I think about it, I remember seeing Ida Manson having some black hair around 10 years ago..." Maddie mentioned until she recalled something else.
"But I also distinctly remember seeing Sam's hair roots being blonde once but, since her father is blonde, I just assumed Sam wanted to be like her grandmother. I didn't think much of it at the time, but maybe a part of those rumors does hold some weight..." She said.
"Well, who really knows if those two rumors are true or not? That family is probably hiding more secrets than either of us knows. Or at least as much as any other family does, kind of like yours and mine do..."Stella said, which caught Maddie's attention.
"What do you mean by that?..." Maddie asked, raising a brow.
"Star mentioned something about that. Is it really true that while Sam was friends with Danny since kindergarten, but you two haven't met her parents until high school? I'm only asking because I just recalled and I want to confirm it. So, is it true?..." Stella asked wanting to confirm the rumor she had heard.
Stella didn't believe she was a perfect parent, but when Star wanted to go to a friend's house both Stella and Johnathan had insisted on at least speaking with or the bare minimum of meeting the parents before granting Star permission to stay there with her friends.
Maddie nodded, confirming that it's true.
"Yeah, me and Jack didn't meet them as Sam's parents until high school, though Jack and I knew of them as the rich loons who obnoxiously protested the most random of things like chocolate milk in school or the color purple and blue being too drab to be school colors for a middle school. The kids didn't even go to that school..."Maddie said in an exasperated tone.
"Seriously? Eleanor and I sometimes joined charities or protest groups back in the day, but mostly because they were about something we cared about. Like stuff for the environment or whatever was important at the time. But it just sounds to me like they probably just did all that so as to not stand out amongst the elites. Or because they were so bored that they have nothing better to do with their time and probably just wanted some attention..."Stella theorized.
"I can see that. They're too lazy to do something productive with their time. Honestly, Ida was whom we thought was Sam's primary guardian the most while that son of hers and his wife were galivanting on some vacation, shopping spree, or doing whatever else rich people with no real jobs waste their time on during the day..."Maddie explained, before realizing whom she was talking about.
"Un...no offense...I just meant-..."
"Don't worry, I get it but at least Eleanor and I sometimes do worthwhile things for charity and such, and I'm at least trying to be someone my daughter can respect, not some stranger she just happens to share DNA with..."Stella said as she couldn't help but compare her parent-child relationship with her daughter to Maddie's parent-child relationship with Jazz and Danny.
It was obvious that they were very close and Stella wondered if Maddie had some secret on how to properly bond with one's child. However, her train of thought was interrupted when Maddie spoke up.
"You know...I even remember hearing a rumor that during middle school, the Manson's tried to bribe some of the wealthy parents with popular kids to have their children befriend Sam in an attempt to have her become more sociable in school and distance herself from her actual friends. Can you believe that? Still, it's just a rumor and it's not like I have any proof that they did any of that..."Maddie said, slightly in disbelief at the nerve of the Mansons going that far to have their daughter be more like them.
"Even without proof, that definitely sounds like something those two would encourage. Sadly, I can't say I never did something like that. Though I never bribed anyone...but I am guilty of encouraging my daughter to hang out with those delinquents in the first place. What was I thinking?..."Stella said, looking ashamed.
"At least you woke up and learned your lesson..."Maddie said.
"Thanks. I wish it was sooner, though. So, I'm not surprised to hear that the Manson's are focusing on showing off their wealth instead of attempting to bond with their only child..."Stella said, grateful to know that her parent skills aren't as bad as Pamela's or Jeremy's.
"I can kind of understand wanting to have some things in common with your own kid, but they are acting like Sam is committing some crime just because she likes wearing black clothes and watching spooky movies. Honestly, what's wrong with wearing black as a fashion choice anyway? It's still more bearable to look at than half of what Pamela dresses up in. I swear, those two acts like it's still the 1950's, is it any wonder they were on the club's worst dressed list..."Stella criticized, and Maddie rolled her eyes.
"And they have the nerve to criticize mine and Jack's jumpsuit and yet they aren't exactly fashionable themselves. The nerve..."Maddie grumbled under her breath.
Present Time
"Unbelievable! My folks are always trying to choose my outfits and never have a nice thing to say about me being goth! But apparently Star's mom, who they can't decide if they are jealous of or practically worship, and Eleanor put them on the worst dress list! Seriously!..."Sam shouted in outrage, not caring the attention she was getting now.
"I've seen the kind of dresses your mom wants you to wear...and even I think your better off sticking with your current fashion sense than that..."Star couldn't help but comment, recalling that one dress Mrs. Manson wanted Sam to wear and cringed.
"Wanna know the worst part?..."Sam grumbled.
"What?..."Star, Danny and the others all asked.
Sam turned to Star, who seemed confused.
"Your mom is even richer than my folks, from a snobbier high society family and she made a ton of blunders towards you that makes it obvious why you were still on thin ice before..."Sam began.
"Yeah?..."Star asked slowly, wondering where Sam is going with this.
"And even with all that, she is still more accepting of my individuality than my own parents are. This is so messed up..."Sam grumbled bitterly.
Her friends sent her pitying looks, which she ignored.
"Uh...as much as I like talking about fashion...the story?..."Val reminded, mostly to change the subject since she knew Sam still didn't want to talk about her family issues right now.
"Right..."Danny said in an awkward tone, before he continued.
Story
"Yeah, well with the way you're going, Star will talk to you when she turns eighteen unlike Sam. And not just to visit Pierre..."Maddie commented.
"I hope so. I sometimes wonder if there will still be a place for me in Star's life once she grows older?..."Stella said, sounding insecure.
Maddie was silent for a moment but tried to ease Stella's concerns and worries.
"Well, good news, from what I overheard whenever she's at our house with Danny. She talks about you more often than before and it's usually whenever she's in a good mood. Star really appreciates that you're making a real effort to reconnect with her..."Maddie said, while Stella simply smiled and did her best not to shed any tears in front of Maddie.
"Thank you for saying so, I think I needed to hear that today..."Stella responded, before letting out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding in. "Anyway, that's enough emotional mopping for the moment. Let's continue why we're here, shall we?..."She asked while Maddie nodded in agreement.
"Alright..."Maddie said, getting up.
"Thanks..." Stella said.
"Still, I can't wrap my head around how those two treat Danny and Tucker..."Maddie said. "Even if those boys weren't their only daughter's best friends, they still treat Danny like a pariah and they can't even bother to remember Tucker exists half the time. What is their problem with other people that aren't as rich as them?..."She said in anger.
"Good grief. I know I might not have much of a right to say this, but I at least try and get to know my daughter's friends and their families, at least on a civil level. Honestly, what parenting book did they read that talks about alienating others so your child will be just like you? I wonder if Pamela already wrote one about that, it sounds like something she'd do..."Stella muttered.
"I don't think that exists, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was their philosophy..."Maddie muttered.
"Still, if you think this is bad, you should have seen the time they tried to put a restraining order on my Danny, just because they blamed him for Sam being a goth and they called our jumpsuits tacky..."She said, still holding a grudge about that.
"Seriously? How on earth can Danny make Sam be a goth? I know I might not have known her for long, but even I see she's a very strong-willed girl and I highly doubt she'd let ANYONE tell her what to do..."Stella said.
"You'd be right about that. Especially the strong will part..."Maddie said since she knew that Sam could be quite stubborn like a mule at times.
Present Time
"Your darn right I am, and proud of it!..."Sam said suddenly, before realizing she interrupted the story and was receiving looks from her friends.
"Uh...carry on..."She said sheepishly, before her friends continued.
Story
"I agree, I also doubt that her goth personality is just a simple phase either. She kind of reminds me of Eleanor back in the day. She was pretty strong-willed too...and still can be..."Stella said.
"I'll take your word for it..." Maddie commented.
After seeing how Eleanor acted so far, Maddie wouldn't doubt it. Eleanor seemed to have more respect for her than she did for her parents.
"Sam is a good kid. Thank heaven for Ida..."Maddie said.
"Yeah. Thank goodness that Sam takes after her grandmother more than her parents. I doubt anyone would handle another Pamela..."Stella said.
"I'll say. Can you even imagine a world where she would act just like them?..."Maddie said with a shudder.
"Let's be grateful she didn't take after them. Or inherit Pamela's tacky fashion sense. Like I said earlier, Sam's goth fashion is more fashionable than Pamela's taste in clothes..."Stella said, recalling how saccharine that is.
While she may not enjoy how dreary Sam's choice of attire was, she at least didn't make Stella's eyes feel like they hurt upon looking at her.
"Yeah. She might have questionable taste in clothes and makeup, but she is a much better friend to my darling Star than those delinquents she used to hang out with, especially that Paulina girl..."Stella said as one of the spa employees brought her a diet soda.
They provided one for Maddie, as the two women continued to talk.
"If you mean that girl who obsesses over the ghost kid, I see what you mean. Strange, though. She actually was very nice and polite when she briefly dated Danny that one time..."Maddie said, unaware that girl had been overshadowed by Kitty at the time.
"Danny dated her?..."Stella said, sounding surprised.
"Not sure if you can even call it dating since it was about a week at most before she dumped him. And apparently, she's been chasing after that putrid ghost boy since..."Maddie said, frowning.
"Honestly, I'm glad they broke up since any girl who chooses a putrid, stinking ghost over my son clearly isn't good enough for him. Not to mention Star is such a sweet and lovely girl, I can see why Danny loves her so much..."She said.
"I'm so glad to know that you approve of my Star so much. Her attitude and personality have certainly brightened up a lot after she started dating Danny. I have no idea what he did to spark such a change in Star, to begin with, but I'm still grateful nonetheless. You and Jack did a wonderful job raising him..."Stella said, being sincere.
"Thanks. Danny deserves more credit there..."Maddie said, being humble.
"Still, about Paulina being all sweet and polite, she probably put on a little act to get you to like her since she was dating your son at the time. She tried something similar with me when she and Star were friends, and I could just tell that she was just as desperate as Pamela for attention..."Stella guessed, remembering how Star introduced her new "friend" Paulina to her.
"Maybe..."Maddie admitted since it seemed likely.
"Honestly, that Paulina girl just reminds me of a younger Pamela. Except she at least has a better fashion sense and a somewhat less annoying personality. Though not by much..."Stella said, still comparing those two with each other.
The Fenton matriarch could definitely see what Stella suggesting and nodded in agreement.
"Teenagers, you remember how they are..."Maddie said.
"Oh, I remember..."Stella said, knowing exactly what she meant.
The two women drank from their diet sodas as Stella took this rare opportunity to bond with Maddie.
"So Maddie, I think it's fair to say that you know quite a bit about me and Johnathan after these last few months. And yet, I can't say the same for myself when it comes to knowing anything about you or Jack in that same amount of time..."Stella said as she stared at Maddie and locked eyes with her.
"So why don't we fix that right now? You already know most about my life story, so tell me about yourself..."She added.
This completely caught Maddie off guard as she was currently drawing a blank at what to say as a response.
"Oh...well there's really not much to tell...I grew up in the countryside, even as a little girl I've always had an interest in science and the supernatural, especially ghosts. My family didn't quite understand my fascination with the supernatural, but they never judged or resented me for it which is more than I can say about the rest of my hometown. Once I turned 18, I moved out of my hometown and headed for college the first chance I got thanks to the support of my family and a scholarship I got. I later met Jack and Vlad and the rest is kind of history. Jack and I fell in love in our shared dreams to research the unknown potential of the supernatural we both started our own business together and got married not too long after we graduated. We set up shop in Amity Park and...well I'm sure you can guess everything else..."Maddie explained everything that she was comfortable talking about.
Stella blinked, as she processed everything she heard into memory.
"The countryside? I think that I recall that your older sister was from Arkansas. I didn't figure out you grew up there as well. What was it like growing up in the countryside?..." Stella asked, wanting to know a little more about Maddie back when she was younger.
"Well...it's definitely different from Amity Park, by a long shot and by a large margin that's for sure..."Maddie said.
"Just wait till I explain to you how to travel to my hometown; you won't believe your ears when I tell you..."Maddie explained her favorite method of traveling back to her hometown and Stella had an expression on her face that practically spelled out disbelief.
An expression she hasn't experienced ever since she learned ghosts existed.
"You're a lot more fun than I first thought you were Maddie Fenton. I'm glad I asked for your help for this year's charity tennis tournament..." Stella said.
"Thanks...I think..."Maddie said, before noticing Stella seemed to be expecting her to say something.
"And I'll admit...you're a lot more...unique...than I thought when we first met. And I'm glad that I can help crush that phony Pamela and her snooty buddy...for charity of course..."Maddie said, adding the last part quickly after she noticed she was getting looks.
Stella just kept smiling cheerfully at that.
"Thanks. Yeah, this tournament is definitely going to be amazing. I just know it..."Stella said in a perky way, as a timer started ringing, signaling both women that their spa session was nearing its end.
Once done, the women went back to practicing, feeling a little more relaxed now but still determined as ever to achieve victory. No matter what it took.
Present Time
"Uh, how does ANY of that have to do with the ghost trial?..."Val asked and Misty seemed just as confused.
"And how the heck did you guys even know what they were talking about and in such full detail, if you guys weren't even there?..."Misty asked, just as lost.
"I know it seems unrelated...and it is...but it happened around the same time and trust me when I say that there is a connection. Even if it won't be evident until the near end of the story..." Danny said, getting weird looks from the other girls.
"Back to the story, my dad, being the totally awesome attorney that he is, kept defending my man and making Walker and Vlad look like fools, even when they tried to play dirty..." Star said as she continued with the tale.
Back to the story
Danny glared at the evil warden, who looked smug again for some reason as he made that little declaration of his. Johnathan tried to counter against him.
"Prosecutor, I do believe that what you are saying is absurd. On what grounds do you base your accusation?..."Johnathan asked.
"You have seen that most of the ghosts on the jury have attacked Amity Park at one point or the other...and they did so by going through the FENTON PORTAL! As in, the ghost portal that is owned by that punk's family...that they made with their own hands..."Walker said, sneering.
Johnathan narrowed his eyes since he could already guess what Walker was driving at.
"Your point?..."Johnathan asked.
"Phantom's family made the portal and that gave us ghosts access to Amity Park...and yet they...or rather the punk here never bothered to turn it off..."Walker said, implicating that Danny never had any intention of shutting off the Fenton Portal.
"Hey, objection! That machine is my parents' life's work. There's no way that I can just destroy it. I'm not a huge jerk who'd ruined someone's life work or dreams! Who knows what would even happen if I did? Plus, I tried turning it off all the time but my folks keep turning it back on for their research..." The ghost boy said.
Walker smirks as he knows mentioning Danny's parents might him off. It worked like a charm.
"Plus, not every one of my enemies came through my parents' portal! Skulker is a hitman who shows up under VLAD'S orders, Ember had a music career for like a month before she ever showed up in Amity Park and I still don't know where the Box Ghost shows up. Not that I bother caring!.."Danny shouted, hating that they were pinning all the blame on him.
"Plus, most of the time the Fenton portal is closed anyway..."Tucker added.
"That too..." Danny agreed.
"Irrelevant. A crime of inaction is still a crime..."Walker said, in an uncaring tone of voice.
"So that's the card he's playing, alright then..."Johnathan thought, already getting an idea of what Walker was trying to do.
Still, he tried to rebuttal Walker's accusations.
"Your honor, you must be aware that my client never created the portal in the first place..."Johnathan said.
"True...but he was in fact the one who first ACTIVATED IT!..."The head observant said, simply pointing out the facts.
"Huh?..."Johnathan said as the orb began to show something else.
It showed the day the portal was first activated...and how Danny got his powers.
"Oh no, not that!..."Danny whispered while Star's eyes widened when she saw her boyfriend's past self who walked into the portal that would change his destiny forever.
"I can't look!..."Star said as she covered her eyes and soon heard loud, gut-wrenching screams coming from the orb.
Once done, she saw on the orb's screen that Danny was now in his ghost form, looking hurt and still smoking from the aftermath as his newly acquired ghost powers started healing him. She also saw the horrified look on her father's face, having seen that whole event play out in front of him.
"Oh, my word!..."Johnathan said, suddenly pale but trying to shake it off.
He had a job to do and would ask questions later. Right now, he had to defend his client...who was also his daughter's boyfriend, a half-ghost superhero, and a young boy who clearly had been through a lot at such a young age.
Still...even Johnathan felt a bit shaken from what he just witnessed from the orb.
"How could Jack and Maddie not have known about this?! Where were they at that time?!..."Johnathan thought, almost vomiting after seeing the accident.
Still, he tried to calm himself down and remain professional here.
"No! Stop that, Johnathan! Remember your training! You know Jack and Maddie ARE good people and good parents, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for their absence that day! You can ask ALL the questions you want after this case!..."Johnathan mentally told himself, as he did his best to stay focused on this court case.
Even most of the ghostly jury had noticeably shaken expressions, possibly being reminded of some very uncomfortable memories of themselves. Star and the rest of Team Phantom were surprised by all of the ghosts' reactions from the recent memory the orb showed all of them.
It seemed even ghosts were horrified at that kind of near-death experience. Or at the very least, felt uncomfortable seeing it happen, especially to someone so young. To them, it was a grim reminder of how each of them came to be, but no one chose to talk about it.
Star noticed that Danny seemed a little uncomfortable after the orb showed everyone in the courtroom how he got his ghost powers, and she couldn't blame him. She didn't even know where to begin comforting him after being reminded of such an awful memory.
"Danny-boo..." Star quietly said, as she gently grabbed Danny's hand and softly clenched it within her own.
Present Time
"Oh my gosh! That Walker jerk really had that nerve to show everyone that at the courtroom? That's so awful!..." Misty asked, feeling sorry for Danny.
Even Valerie didn't know how to respond after hearing that, especially after seeing the grim look on Danny's face.
"I'll spare you both about the grim details about that part and just move on from there..." Star said as she held on tight to her boyfriend's hand in a comforting manner.
Danny seemed visibly hesitant to continue the story from that point. No one blamed him for staying quiet. Thankfully, someone else who was there began to speak up and continue the story.
"I'll continue with the story. Anyway, Walker and Vlad stoop really low to show the accident, and thankfully things didn't get any worse from there. Although that doesn't necessarily mean it was all that better right away...yet..."Sam said, as she decided to continue the story for Danny.
Back to the story
While the trial continued on, one person in the courtroom was truly enjoying how everything was being played out. And that person was none other than, Vlad Plasmius, aka Vladimir Masters.
It showed he had no life of his own as Vlad couldn't help but enjoy the dramatic tension going on within the courtroom. It was almost like he was watching one of his favorite soap operas back in his mansion.
"Oh, this is better than what I imagined, had I known this would happen beforehand I would have bought a drink and popcorn for the occasion..."Vlad said as everyone from Team Phantom sent glares at him.
"What a jerk!..."Most of Team Phantom thought amongst each other, while Johnathan continued defending his client in spite of the difficulties.
Thankfully, the defense managed to recollect himself fast enough to get himself into his lawyer zone. He kept himself together and tried to continue acting in a professional manner that was worthy of his status as a professional lawyer.
"Look, there is no evidence that my client has misused his powers and maliciously harmed people. There is also no evidence of my client misusing the Fenton Work's equipment for his own benefit other than to defend his hometown from dangerous individuals..."Johnathan argued.
"That's where you are wrong. The orb here can prove that punk ain't the goody-goody hero he pretends to be. Especially since he even goes as far as to assault classmates and torture his enemies. As well as misusing his parent's gadgets too..."Walker said.
"What's he talking about?..."Star asked while Danny cringed.
"I think I know what..."Danny whispered as the orb showed a memory that he wasn't proud of.
He saw the image of his past self who was holding a box full of frogs and sneaking up on an unsuspecting Dash. Star and everyone else watched as Danny gave the bully a wedgie and dumped the frogs down his pants and Dash started to scream and jump. While Danny's past self was shown laughing at his bully's expense.
Once the memory ended, there was silence...before everyone was laughing hard, including the jury, Star, and Vlad snickered a bit.
"OH MY GOSH! I know you said it as a story but seeing it is so much better!..."Star laughed, to almost tears now.
Even the ghosts on the jury laughed too.
"HAHAHAHA! Oh man, little man! I almost thought you'd chicken out but I got to hand it to you...that was priceless!..."Johnny said with a laugh.
"Ha! I see Baby Pop's got a backbone hidden under all that comic-book heroism. Good to know..." Ember said, almost impressed as she kept laughing.
"Ha Ha Ha! I still remember hanging out with that idiot when I possessed that queen b chick and trust me, that guy definitely had it coming..." Kitty said as she continued to laugh, remembering her brief time possessing Paulina for payback on Johnny a while back.
"I knew upgrading my PDA's camera function was a great idea..."Tucker said as he recorded that particular memory from the orb.
Danny, however, wasn't as proud of it as he initially was.
"Stop it! I know what I did was wrong now and I'm not proud of it. Dash was causing me a lot of grief and I kind of lost it back then. Sidney Poindexter already taught me a lesson a long time ago..." Danny said, as the orb showed more scenes about how he'd used his powers to get back at Dash.
"And even then, Poindexter went too far and totally misunderstood the situation..." Star said, recalling how the nerdy ghost reacted, even if he was also directly responsible for how the A-Listers had been pranked that day.
She also brought up how unnecessary that whole punishment Danny went through was as the orb showed all that too.
"Yeah, and learning I was acting like the Fruitloop would cement it. I know that using my powers to pick on my human enemies is wrong. No matter how annoying they are..." Danny said.
"Oh, really? You learned your lesson?..." Walker asked sarcastically.
"Yes, I learned my lesson..." Danny repeated but realized too late that Walker had another trick up his sleeve.
"Then let's see how your further actions after that event can show us how much you've improved after learning your lesson..."Walker said as he brought up more instances of Danny's less-than-perfect hero-like behavior.
Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the only memory of unheroic moments in Danny's life that the Orb had to show. The orb started to show more memories of Danny's less-than-heroic moments of his past.
They showed the events of how Danny "borrowed" his parents' things and sold them at a yard sale, the same stuff that inadvertently was used by Technus to build his giant robot body. Johnathan saw this and shook his head, while Danny cringed. So did Jazz.
"I can't believe that you were so desperate to go to that stupid party by that un-tutor-able jerk who's always picking on you that you took Dad's old junk just to be popular. Sure, most of that junk was faulty junk and stuff that Mom was going to throw out anyway, but that still does excuse the fact that you took their stuff without asking first..." Jazz said, looking disappointed at her brother, who cringed.
"I put it all back after..." Danny insisted, but his words sounded weak.
"Plus, why are you acting like you weren't there and are seeing this for the first time?..."Tucker asked. "You were there you know how Danny wanted to be popular at the beginning of freshman year..."He reminded.
"I best have a word with Danny later about checking with parents first before deciding to sell stuff that isn't his...and talk to Jack and Maddie about their lab security..." Johnathan thought since he had gone through a similar situation in his own past before.
Both Tucker and Sam were remembering most of these memories with mixed emotions, mostly cringe. Also, some guilt and embarrassment, since a few of those instances were encouraged by one or both of them.
Danny felt even worse after viewing all of his bad choices and flawed decisions being played out in a row for everyone to see.
"I know what I did was wrong, but I made things right in the end. Plus, Mom wanted him to clean out that old shed for years and Dad even said he probably should have gotten rid of it. I didn't think he'd mind..." He said though that argument sounded weak.
"Plus, Mr. Fenton is a major pack rat..."Sam added.
"Stealing from his old man, that's against the rules. No matter if he's a pack rat or not..."Walker said, mostly to make sure that people see Danny as the bad guy.
Especially the watchers in attendance. Even Vlad was a little impressed with what he saw of Danny's past actions.
"So, you stole from your own parents for profit and improve your social standing, succeeded, while covering your tracks, and even managed to get away with it. And you always lectured me about my wrongdoings and tried to claim the moral high ground, don't you little badger? Still, even I'm almost impressed by how underhanded that was..."Vlad said, throwing fuel to the fire.
"I didn't-...I mean...I...I know what I did is wrong and I should have asked...but I refunded everyone's money and got everything back..." Danny argued.
"Regardless of whether or not you returned the property, the orb itself doesn't lie. Theft is theft and returning all the things you stole is irrelevant..."Walker said, looking smug as he continued to make the young hero look bad to the court.
"I hate that he has a point, but I need to get this back on track and think of a way to bounce back from this..."Johnathan thought.
"The worst part is...I kind of understand why Danny went nuts like that. Popularity makes people do crazy things..."Star said since she arguably did worse things back in her A-Lister days.
"As long as you care about your past actions now and try to make things right in the present, then you're better off than how you were before..." Jazz said, trying to comfort both Danny and Star.
"I'm almost afraid to ask what there could be..." She added, sounding concerned.
It didn't end there as the orb continued to show more of Danny's previous "misdeeds". Such as the incident with Cujo and Valerie, how he stole the Fright Knight's Soul Shredder during Halloween and how many people were forced to face their respective nightmares, his role in the Christmas truce disaster, and Grinch-like behavior when he destroyed the Ghost Writer's Christmas novel, as well as how Danny used his powers against Dash for being more obnoxious than usual, as well as a few other incidents that did not paint the ghost boy in a good light.
There were also the times when Danny would overshadow adults to avoid getting in trouble such as during that teacher conference, and the time Danny blasted his parents thinking they were overshadowed during Walker's invasion. As well as several other instances that didn't exactly make the ghost boy look like a good guy right now.
Once done, Danny tried to avoid the looks he was getting. He sank lower in his seat as he felt ashamed of his past actions.
"See what I have been trying to say? That punk, Danny Phantom, has been shown to be nothing more than a troublemaker who got away for too long..."Walker said, thinking he was getting the upper hand again.
"Okay, objection. I just assumed my parents were overshadowed, pretty much everyone close to me was at that time...except for Sam and Tucker somehow..." Danny objected.
"Wait? Why didn't Walker try to overshadow you guys?..." Star asked Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, who all responded with shrugs.
"Maybe he didn't plan things out all that thoroughly at the time?..." Jazz guessed.
Things weren't looking great for his client, so Johnathan did his best to try to turn things back in their favor. A feat that seemed less plausible with each passing second.
"I understand that Danny's own actions were inexcusable and not of a morality side of heroism at the time. But aside from these incidents, I believe that generally speaking, he is still overall a good kid and beneficial asset to the protection of Amity Park..."Johnathan tried to say until Walker argued back.
"I strongly disagree, counselor. That punk you're defending is no hero, he's a dangerous vigilante. And these aren't even his worst crimes..."Walker said, glaring at his enemy.
"I can also present as evidence not one not two not even three but four complete destruction of ghosts at the defendant's hand..." Walker said, getting gasps from the jury.
"Wait...what is he talking about?...oh no..." Danny thought in confusion, before realizing just what Walker was referring to.
Star and the rest of Team Phantom were also confused about what Walker was accusing Danny of. But Johnathan knew exactly what the white-suited ghost was implying and just didn't believe it for a second.
"This is ridiculous! Your honor, most of these claims and incidents that the prosecutor is about to bring up are clearly out of context..."Johnathan tried to defend his client.
"You said, "most". Meaning that you believe that a few of these instances of that punk's actions were unjustified, am I mistaken?..."Walker asked with a knowing smirk.
Johnathan clenched his fist and mentally berated himself for making such a rookie mistake. Even Vlad smirked at the blonde attorney's mistake of falling for Walker's bait.
The orb showed two instances of Danny's fights with the clones of himself. Johnathan at first thought they were normal typical ghost battles, but he watched as Danny's enemies melted into goo. Even Star noticed the flashes of shame appearing in Danny's eyes.
Danny saw this and realized what this was about.
"Of course, this is Walker's plan..." Danny thought as he watched things unfold.
"Those ghosts were clones that Vlad made of me and their DNA was totally unstable. I didn't know they were going to melt. I was just trying to take them down like all the other ghosts I faced before, I didn't mean what happened to them..." Danny said, a haunted look still on his face.
He still felt guilty for what had happened, even if he knew they were just mindless clones who had a limited time due to Vlad's cruelty and selfishness.
Star saw the flashes of shame from her boyfriend's eyes that she saw earlier were now a weight of pain and guilt that Danny held on to for a while. Star couldn't stand seeing him in this state and had no choice but to speak up on his behalf.
"Danny isn't the kind of person who'd do such a thing deliberately. That Fruitloop sent them after Danny, knowing that if they overused their powers, they wouldn't survive..." Star argued, feeling bad for her boyfriend.
"Yeah, he manipulated all of them by telling each of them that he was proud that they were his sons. He isolated and manipulated each of them into thinking the only person they could rely on was Vlad, who only used them as a tool and nothing else..."Sam added, disgusted.
"If any of them had asked for Danny's mid-morph DNA, then we would have given it to them in a heartbeat if it meant they weren't brainwashed by that Fruitloop anymore... not that Vlad would have let us save them..."Tucker spoke up.
"How did you put it, Vlad? That they were accidents and mistakes?..." Star asked rhetorically while glaring at the older half-ghost man since Danny told her about what happened that day.
"You have no idea what you're talking about..."Vlad said. "The loss of my children is a deep personal loss to me as well..."He added with crocodile tears.
Team Phantom, however, knew they were fake and he didn't truly care about the clones.
"What happened was as big a loss to you as misplacing your car keys, wasn't it Vlad?..." Danny shouted at him, knowing what he really felt about those clones.
"You didn't care when they were alive and you don't care now!..."He yelled at his archenemy who continued to pretend to be the victim here.
"You have no idea of my pain..."Vlad said, making an effort to perform as the grieving father to the court.
"I know enough, like when you hunted down Danielle and tried to melt her to study her DNA, you psychotic monster!..." Danny shouted.
"WHAT?!..."Johnathan exclaimed, horrified to hear such a thing.
"Order! Order!..."The head observant demanded.
The orb had shown the scenes of Vlad confessing to Danny what he really thought about his "children", as well as how he tried to force Danielle to overshadow him, fully knowing she wouldn't survive. They also showed the time he tricked Valerie into capturing Danielle and how close he was into actually melting her.
Once done, even Danny's foe's on the jury were disgusted.
"That was just cold, Plasmius..."Ember said, visibly disgusted with Plasmius's actions.
"Oh, like you are one to talk. You left Youngblood behind to save yourself during that pirate ship fiasco..."Vlad pointed out.
"Yeah, but Youngblood's not my kid brother and he's not related to me in any way. And I knew he would have been able to survive since Phantom is too much of a goody goody to actually destroy anyone..." Ember said, glaring at him.
"We might not like Phantom and we aren't siding with him...but what you did was just awful..."Kitty said, looking at Plasmius with disgust, as did Johnny and even Shadow.
They weren't the only ones either, much to the surprise of Team Phantom.
"Weird...practically everyone here tried to destroy me more than a dozen times...and yet they agree with me that what Plasmius did was horrible and they are supposed to technically be on his side right now. Irony..."Danny thought, as they continued to watch this.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, for what you did to your daughter. I always dreamed of having a child of my own, and what you did was just despicable..."The Lunch Lady said, furious while the Box Ghost also glared at the evil halfa with a look of disgust.
"Says the manic who attacks schools just for NOT serving meat loaf or whatever greasy dishes you were obsessed at the time? Also, she wasn't my daughter. Just a scientific mistake that shouldn't have existed in the first place!..."Vlad snapped at her.
Team Phantom was furious upon hearing that, especially Danny.
"JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL AFTER THIS TRIAL, PLASMIUS! YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU NEVER SAID THAT!..."Danny said in rage but couldn't do much due to his restraints.
"Danielle has way more humanity than you do, you sicko!..."Star shouted, and Sam and Tucker kept looking at Vlad with anger.
But they weren't the only ones here who were angry at the villain either.
Johnathan was furious over what he just witnessed and heard from the villain, his face was red, his fists were shaking but he tried hard not to lose his composure. It took all his training and experience as a lawyer not to lose it, though it was still difficult to say the least.
"What a despicable...rotten...horrible...low life! I thought the old hag and Jean-Puke were lousy parents but THIS GUY!..."Johanthan thought, trying hard not to lose it right now.
"Your honor? How is it that we are currently on trial for my client and his supposed misdeeds...and yet a monster like HIM is allowed to roam free and is not behind bars right now?!..."Johnathan said, glaring at Vlad who merely scoffed.
"Monster? I have been called far worse than that..."Vlad said with disinterest, while the Observants ignored his remark.
"We are currently on trial for Danny Phantom to deem whether or not he should be locked up or not. Plasmius's actions are not the focus on this trial..."One observant said, though they themselves did not approve of how he treated the ghostly clones.
"Though, that may change soon if he doesn't watch it..."The head Observant said, which was enough to silent Vlad for a moment.
Even he knew it wasn't wise to get on these guy's bad side...at least until he had enough power to overthrow the Observant council. Even so, one of Danny's enemies couldn't help but continue to mock him.
"I always suspected that Plasmius would make a terrible father, but this is just too much..." Spectra said, criticizing Vlad's caretaker methods.
Though, mostly just to make herself look better in front of Johnathan, who didn't seem to notice her existence right now aside from being part of the jury of this insane trial.
"That critique means very little to me, especially from someone who has never once been a mother in her life or afterlife, you old maid!..."Vlad said, dismissing her.
Penelope Spectra then sent Vlad a venomous glare, daring him to talk back to her again.
"WATCH IT, FRUITLOOP!..."Spectra snapped, looking ready to attack him for that remark.
"MAKE ME, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A QUACK DOCTOR!..."Vlad snapped back, completely unafraid, even as Spectra tried to attack but was held back by the guards.
"Order in the courtroom!..."The Head Observant demanded.
Star and Jazz noticed that Spectra and Vlad's argument seemed more personal as if those two had some shared history prior to their meeting in this courtroom. Their curiosity would have to wait, as they had to deal with this court case first.
After Vlad had whispered into Walker's ear again, the two shared a knowing look and proceeded with the trial.
"Regardless of Plasmius's actions, this trial is still about what a menace Phantom is. And ignorance or not, it doesn't change the fact that he destroyed four ghostly clones. But that's not all. He's not just a threat to ghosts... but to humans as well..."Walker said, smirking darkly.
"What are you talking about?..."Johnathan demanded.
"You should see what your future son-in-law did to your former mother-in-law!..."Vlad sneered.
"…what are you talking about?..." Johnathan asked.
"He terrified her..."Walked answered. "Don't believe me, then watch..."He ordered.
The orb changes to Danny holding Beatrice high up in the air by the collar, with her begging for her life. The jury stares at this scene with widened eyes. Johnathan's eyes widened as he watched the events unfold, not saying anything and simply staring at the scene with an unreadable expression.
The orb then showed a few memories of Danny haunting Beatrice. While most individuals had no idea who this elderly woman was, or why Danny was scaring the heck out of her. Some didn't think that a real hero would scare little old ladies, but others found this to be hilarious. None more than Danny's attorney.
He watched how Danny took Beatrice in the air and terrified her with his stunts, and how it ended with the old hag crying and begging for mercy from the half ghost boy whom she made the mistake of making an enemy out of.
"Hold in your laughter, Strong. Don't laugh out loud in the courtroom..."Johnathan did his absolute best not to laugh in front of everyone in the middle of a trial.
The ghosts all saw this and voiced their own opinions and thoughts of what the orb showed the jury.
"That's good evil..." Spectra commented, laughing.
"I think I'm going to leave Phantom alone for a bit..."Box Ghost thought, not wanting to go through a similar punishment as the old woman did.
"Man, who knew that Baby Pop had such a wild side hidden right under our noses..." Ember said, laughing out loud.
It actually got the blue-flame-haired ghost girl's attention. It was definitely something that she'd keep in mind for the next time Ember decided to make an appearance in Amity Park. The kind where she'd find an excuse to hit on Danny.
"My my, little badger. You say you'll never be like me but becoming me is how you succeeded..."Vlad gloated.
"I am nothing like you, Plasmius! It's not my fault that bitter old bat can drive anyone insane!..." Danny said, not wanting to be compared to his arch-nemesis in any way.
Johnathan, watching what a horrifying scene this was, can't help but try to hold in his laughter. But the more he saw and remembered what happened, the more he tried hard to suppress it.
The sight of seeing the once "mighty" Beatrice Traville, being reduced to a weeping, cowering shell of her former self...he couldn't believe it.
"Some hero, right?..."Vlad used faux-anger in his voice.
Johnathan remained still.
"…Excuse me…" He stepped out of the room.
After a second, a few of Walker's guards followed after Johnathan left. However, once Walker turned in to radio his men on what the attorney was doing, all he heard was laughter coming from his radio and that same laughter could be heard from outside the courtroom doors too.
"HAHAHA! HAHAHA! HAHAHA!..."Johnathan then took a moment to breathe in some air...and then laughed again. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!..."He kept laughing like a madman, unaware that the entire courtroom could hear him, even without the radio right now.
This was the first time in a while that Star had heard her own father laughing that hard before.
"Dad...I guess he just couldn't hold all that in for long..." Star muttered in understanding but still felt slightly embarrassed by her father's antics.
"…I don't think that went the same way as you thought it would…"Walker said, looking surprised by this reaction.
"Hmm...it seems I underestimated how much he hated that woman…"Vlad realized that this was not helpful.
Danny and the rest of Team Phantom were surprised to hear that much laughing from Star's father of all people. They too underestimated how much he hated Beatrice Traville. Johnathan eventually returned to the courtroom, having a straight face, though it was obvious that he was trying to hide more laughter.
"So, that's how it all happened. Well, Danny just earned more brownie points from me for now..."Johnathan thought positively as his opinion of his daughter's boyfriend improved again.
He'd been prepared for a drawn-out battle with the old bat thinking her money was going to get her what she wanted until her sudden and formerly unexplained actions of her backing off from before. However, Beatrice had that fearful look on her face and had left town without an argument, which was shocking to him at the time. Johnathan had assumed the old bat was going nuts. Now he knew the truth.
"I knew Danny had something to do with it..."Johanthan thought, actually feeling proud of the boy, even if the method itself was a bit on the immortal side, but he was willing to look the other way just this once.
The Observants noticed this and called him out on it.
"Is something amusing about threatening old ladies, councilor?..." The lead observant asked in an accusing manner.
"No, your honor. I do not think threatening a senior citizen is in any way amusing. Violence is in no way amusing. However, that moment is indeed taken out of context, if you rewind to two days previous you'll gain the full picture..." Johnathan explained to him, still laughing internally at his former mother-in-law's misfortune.
The Observants complied as everyone in the courtroom observed Beatrice's horrible treatment over her family and her scheming to betroth Star to Loadman forcibly, Danny's attempt to make peace, and her complete refusal threatening to destroy his family's life and do whatever it took to gain what she desires.
They also showed the scene where Donovan tried to force a kiss on Star, then tried to hit her when she rejected him, and how Danny knocked his teeth out as a result. Needless to say, each of the jury members had been disgusted at what they saw in the orb. And a shocking amount of them were on Star and Danny's side.
"Hmm... I have more respect for you, Phantom. If only slightly..." Desiree admitted with a nod.
"Baby Pop's got more restraint than I thought. If that creep tried to do that to me, he'd be deaf or roasted after I dealt with him..." Ember said, clearly disgusted with Donovan's actions.
"I'll say. I don't much care what happens to those little brats but as a woman, I absolutely can't stand seeing a man thinking that they can do whatever they want and get away with it..." Spectra said darkly while eyeing Vlad from the other side of the courtroom.
Vlad simply ignored her and her implications, while some of the rest of the jury voiced their thoughts and opinions.
"You do see Danny's defending himself and his GIRLFREIND from that little worm? And if I ever see him trying to do that to anyone, I'm banishing him myself..." Kitty asked, just as disgusted and repulsed at what they all just witnessed.
"Yeah, and if that punk tried to put a hand on Kitty after getting rejected, he'd be spending a lifetime eating his meals through a tube!..."Johnny said in anger, while Shadow also snarled in agreement.
"Even I find all that in poor taste, and I'm the one saying that..."Skulker said, as even he seemed repulsed by the actions of those humans.
Needless to say that Team Phantom was unsure of how to react to all their ghostly antagonists being on their side on this topic, but to Johnathan it was a good sign that the court was back in their favor.
"Perfect... if we keep this us... we'll win for sure..."He thought.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Beatrice is still trying to ignore the law for her own selfish desires. She doesn't care about any law, but whatever she decides in her demented head should be how the world runs. The orb itself shows that and the orb doesn't lie..." Johnathan said.
"Also, if one looks closer, Danny never PHYSICALLY harmed Beatrice...he only scared her into believing that he WOULD and convinced her to listen to the restraining order that under the law she is breaking, not Danny..."The lawyer ordered.
"In that case, you would be correct..."The Observants said, showing Beatrice's moments of snobbery and cruelty with the orb.
"In light of this, we dismiss the actions of Danny Phantom against Beatrice Traville in this case..."The Observants said.
Walker scowled and clenched his hands against the prosecutor's desk tight enough that handfuls of it were ripped away.
"That definitely backfired on me..."Walker quietly muttered to himself.
"Patience my friend, a few setbacks are unavoidable in situations like this. Relax your nerves and think calmly..."Vlad whispered.
As much as Walker hated to admit it, Vlad was correct in his meaning.
"He's right, I can't afford to lose my cool. This trial isn't over just yet, I still have the whole jury on my side. I can't lose and I won't..."Walker mentally reminded himself, as the trial continued.
However, Walker knew that he might need some insurance in case things went south. So he looked over towards Bullet, his second in command, who looked over and stared at his boss from a distance. Walker then signaled his right hand by tipping his white hat and he saw Bullet nodded his head in response and quietly left the room.
Vlad saw this wordless exchange and decided to create a duplicate of himself without being spotted. He had his duplicate follow Bullet to see what other tricks that Walker had up his sleeve.
After spying for a bit and upon seeing what Walker's second-in-command was up to, the duplicate had been reabsorbed into Vlad, allowing him to know what was going on.
"This is gonna be better than I imagined..." Vlad said as he kicked back and smiled.
If Walker won, Daniel was forced into a situation where he had to accept his help and whatever terms he set. If Daniel won, which was more likely, Walker would look like a buffoon in front of the Observants, and more restrictions would be placed on him, allowing Vlad more freedom for his criminal operations in the Ghost Zone.
Either way, Vlad was certain it meant that he wins.
"Today certainly is looking up for me..."Vlad thought.
Danny, Star, and the rest of the teens glared at Vlad for his attitude during this whole trial. It was clear he was planning something, something unpleasant.
Johnathan sent him a glaring frown at him. He needed to think up another approach to stall this trial until either the Team Phantom thought of a way to get out of this place or Johnathan found a way to actually win this trial.
Although, there was a small part of Johnathan wanting the latter to be the true outcome. His inner pride as an attorney wanted to win this case, mainly because he didn't want to lose to such a person with a crooked and shortsighted view of justice. But also because he knew that his client was truly innocent of these charges. And he knew that he wasn't the only one who thought that way either.
"Come on Strong, Think! You've been in tougher times than this and have figured out ways to overcome them before. This is no different, Think!..."Johnathan thought as he was getting into his lawyer zone.
"Even if we managed to counter against Walker this time, things are still no better than they were an hour ago..." Danny quietly commented, not wanting to break Star's Dad's concentration.
Although she had faith in her father, Star couldn't help but want to make sure of a plan B.
"How's the escape plan?..." Star asked.
"Working on it..." Tucker answered discreetly typing on a PDA.
"I wish that we had our weapons, but Ember didn't know where they were and probably wouldn't tell us even if she did know. And knowing Walker, he made sure to make it impossible for us to wish that Desiree brings them here..."Sam mumbled angrily.
"Even if she did know, I doubt Ember could get the chance to sneak any of it past the security around this place. The whole courthouse is surrounded by guards..." Jazz quietly pointed out, reminding the rest of Team Phantom of the situation they're in.
"Walker definitely went all out with the security to this place..." Star commented as she saw many ghostly guards around the courtroom and half of them were working for Walker.
"He's not messing around this time..." Sam commented.
"This is getting us nowhere. From what I gathered, practically everyone here hates Danny and even if I keep countering against their so-called evidence, we're still at a disadvantage. I got to think of something to balance it..."Johnathan considered before he got an idea.
He recalled how Danny got the Observants to bring Jazz here to testify to defend her brother. Maybe something like that could help them out.
"Danny?..."Johnathan asked quickly.
"Yes, sir?..." Danny asked, still restrained.
"Any chance you have some ghost friends that might be willing to testify on your behalf?..."Johnathan asked.
"Yeah, I do. Unfortunately, Walker didn't bring them here since he knows they'd be on my side..." Danny said bitterly, however this was just the info that Star's father needed to hear.
"Thanks, that's all I needed to know..."Johnathan said.
"What are you planning, Dad?..." Star asked.
"Trust me, Princess. I got a plan to at least buy us some time..."Her father said before he went to speak to the observant judge again.
"Your honor..." Johnathan raised his arm.
"Yes, councilor?..." The Lead Observant allowed him to speak.
"I must say that...the jury and the witnesses brought to the stand are...very biased against my client. I do not believe this at all a fair trial and thus I wish to correct that..." Johnathan insisted.
"What are you suggesting?..."The Judge asked, though he sounded more bored than anything right now as he thought that this was another distraction from the main point of this trial.
"I have been informed that Danny has some ghosts as friends, but they are not here in the courtroom. I would like to hear their testimony, so is there any chance we can summon them here..." Johnathan insisted.
Hearing that, Walker sat up. Recognizing a potential risk to his plan, he rose from his seat.
"I object!..." Walker yelled.
"Overruled!..."The Judge said, sounding more invested after hearing that this courtroom was potentially one-sided.
"This human lawyer speaks the truth...we should allow witnesses from the defendant's side to speak on his behalf..."He said.
"NO!..."Walker shouted.
The Observants slowly drifted their eyes at him.
"...What was that?..."The Judge held a tone of threatening promise as he questioned Walker's sudden outburst.
Realizing he was putting himself in hot water, Walker sat back down.
"I mean...no problem, your honor..."He lied, while on the inside he was fuming.
Star saw what her father did and smiled.
"Of course, why didn't we think of that sooner? This'll definitely turn the tables against them..." Star said.
"I just hope that they don't bring in Danielle, we still need to her out of Vlad's radar..." Danny whispered to Star, who nodded.
"I just hope that they don't bring in Puck, we're already in hot water and we definitely need him to put us in boiling water instead..."Sam said, knowing that fae would just make things even more insane than they are now.
Team Phantom and Johnathan all tried to remain hopeful. All the while, Walker kept glaring at them and the lawyer.
"No matter! At the end of the day, I'll still win and ya'll are going to be my prisoners! All of you!..."Walker thought as his glare went from Danny to Johnathan.
-To be continued-
Next time on Court
An Even Playing Field
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to 61394, Jay The Average Fanboy, Luiz4200 and NeoMark for all their help. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Luiz4200: I see.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Invader Johnny: Yeah.
RonaldM40196867:
1) Johanthan isn't aware of it.
2) Probably.
3) I see your point.
4) Johnathan, Star and Stella had warned Reginald that they would won't hesitate to take legal action if Donovan harasses Star again.
5) I haven't decided.
6) Yeah, Spectra makes Johnathan nervous.
Nicolas Belasco: Thank you :)
Danifan3000: I always figured that Youngblood probably turned invisible just to mess with Danny and make him look crazy in front of his friends.
WinterBlueAngel22: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Rock1030: Yeah, Walker tried to do that.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you and Happy Belated Birthday :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I think Misty would like tennis.
2) I think Resurrected Memories since it takes place after the last episode.
3) No.
4) I'm not sure.
Scooter2: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
ZeroTheOne: Thanks for the suggestions. I will see what I can do.
Jboy44: How is this?
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)