Author's Note: And here's the next chapter. Quicker than I thought it would take. Enjoy.
Chapter 9: How to Date Your Dragon Part 2
Hearing his sister's shout, Danny, alongside Danielle, quickly moved to dodge the stream of fire. Once they were safe from the flames, Danielle would say, "Okay. Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Danielle Phantom and this is my brother Danny Phantom. And you are?"
Letting out a roar, the Dragon Ghost would use its tail to hit the Ghost Twins. Sending them flying backwards toward a hot dog stall. "Ahhh," screamed the Ghost twins, as they were sent flying. They would only stop their screaming when they collided with the back wall of the stall.
"Testy," said Danny, as both he and his sister stood up and rubbed their heads, "Got it." But the Dragon wasn't done yet, flying forward a few feet, it would let out another breath of fire at the ghost twins. The twins would once again move quickly though and fly out of the stall just as the flames consumed it.
"Sorry dude," said Danny, "I think you got the wrong weenie."
Rolling her eyes at her brother's comment, Danielle and Danny would then use their whole bodies to ram into the Dragon's stomach. Sending the Dragon flying backwards. But as the Dragon went flying back, it would do something unexpected to the twins. It would use its front claws to grab both of them.
The Dragon then skidded to a halt before jumping and slamming the twins down to the ground holding them together in place with its claws. "Must have tee," shouted the Dragon.
"Tea," said Danny, getting a good quip in his head, ""Ohh, good idea. Coffee could make you a mite jittery." After a moment, Danny would wink at his sister and add, "Better yet." Going intangible, he and Danielle would sink into the floor. This caused the Dragon to not only raise its claws back towards its face but look at them in confusion.
"Have some punch," shouted Danny, as he reappeared from the floor and punched the Dragon. Sending it reeling backwards..
Reappearing next to her brother soon after the punch, Danielle would sigh and say. "Have some punch? Really, bro? Couldn't you think of something a tad better than punch?"
"What," said Danny, shrugging, "I thought it was clever."
"Of course you did," said Danielle, as the twins flew in the direction the Dragon Ghost went, "Wait… Do you see the ghost anywhere? I... I don't see them."
"Me either," said Danny, as the twins stopped where they were and looked around them only to come up empty with the ghost's location, "Let's get back to Sam and Tucker and take stock, shall we?"
Nodding her head in agreement, the twins would look around the immediate area for their two friends. Spotting the techno-geek and goth a little ways away, the two would lower themselves down into the floor and a moment later emerge next to their friends.
"Danny, Danielle," shouted Sam, as the twins appeared before her eyes, "Are you ok?"
"Fine," said Danny and Danielle together, as they changed back to human form.
"But that's the second time I've fought that Dragon," Danielle would add, with a frown.
"Sounds like we need to investigate," said Danny, as he looked at his sister, "When did you last fight it?"
"At home, yesterday morning," replied Danielle, "Dad had just thrust the Fenton Fisher in my hands to use the bathroom when it caught the dang thing. I thought I had beaten it though and sent it running back to the Ghost Zone."
Nodding his head at Danielle's words, the ghost boy would then turn his attention to Sam and Tucker. Looking at the pair, Danny would ask, "How are you guys?"
"Great," replied Tucker, "If you don't count me still being dateless for the dance." Pulling out his PDA, Tucker would then go through a list of girls he had on it, "Sasha, No. Denise, No.I've hit every girl in school except…"
"Except who," asked Danielle, as she noticed Tucker looking off into the distance slightly. Following his gaze, Danielle would see Valerie. Another popular kid.
"Valerie," said Tucker, as the aforementioned girl walked up to the group.
"Yeah, Hi," said Valerie, deciding to be nice, "Sucker, is it?"
"Tucker," corrected Tucker, "Or Tuck. Or Tuckerino.
"Which ends with no," said Valerie, "Which by the way is my answer. Unless something happens in the next five minutes that makes me dateless."
And almost like it was fated to happen, a jock named Kwan would run up and say, "You'll never guess what happened! Donna said she'd go to the dance with me, so you're dateless!"
As Kwan walked off, Valerie would turn back to Tucker and say, "You're on."
"I'll take it," said Tucker, with excitement as he turned back to his friends and Valerie walked away, "Some may call it the rebound, but I call it a yes! I got a date!"
"Congratulations, Tuck," said Danielle, happy for her friend but that was soon to be ruined.
"Whoo," shouted Tucker, "And the pants are still on!" Hearing this, the twins and Sam would frown at the techno-geek.
"Uncool dude," mumbled Danielle, as Danny and Sam shook their heads as the trio began to walk away.
The rest of the day would fly by for the twins and soon they and Tucker would find themselves in the twins room getting ready for the dance. Looking herself over, Danielle would nod her head to indicate to the others she was all ready to go. She was currently wearing some simple black dress pants and white collared shirt with a shirt pocket. There was no way she was going to be caught dead wearing a dress. Too girly in her opinion. Some might call her tomboy, but she was okay with that.
"Tie straight," said Danny, as he stood a few feet in front of his computer's webcam, "Shirt tucked in. Unbreakable ghost fishing line tucked neatly away just in case."
Nodding her head in agreement, Danielle would also put away another copy of the said fishing line and watched as Danny approached his computer screen. "What's taking so long with that Dragon research, Sam," asked Danny.
"All right, jeez," said Sam, her voice sounding irritated for being rushed, "Here I'm sending you the link."
After a moment Danielle would say, "That's it," as she and Tucker watched Danny open the link and a picture of the Dragon in question showed up on screen.
"Medieval ghostly legend," Danny read, "Held that that cursed amulet of Aragon could transform any wearer into dragon form under states of extreme emotional duress or anger." Then the moment of realization hit the ghost boy, "Wait, that's the amulet I gave to Paulina. It must have somehow got into my backpack. Wait, you mean… I'm going on a date with a dragon?"
"Wow," said Danielle, with a chuckle with Sam adding, "Like I said. Looks are deceiving. I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful evening." And with that, Sam would end the call and the screen would go black.
"I… I think Sam really wants to go to the dance, guys," said Danielle, as she pieced some things together in her head.
"But she said she didn't want to," said Tucker, incredulously.
"We're her best friends," said Danny, catching on to what Danielle was getting at, "We should have known."
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, right," replied Tucker, with a shrug as he looked at the twins who both looked at one another before grinning. As they smirked, their eyes went ghostly green.
"No way, forget it," said Tucker, as he realized what the twins were thinking, "Absolutely not! No!"
A few minutes later, Tucker was knocking on Sam's front door. "Tucker," said Sam, surprised as she opened the door, "What are you doing here? Where's Valerie?"
"She kind of canceled on me," said Tucker, "Do you think we could go together- You know, as friends?"
"Uh, I don't know," said Sam, slightly nervous, "This is so last minute. And I do have plans, and="
"Well, I understand if you don't want to go," Tucker interrupted Sam. But as Tucker began to leave, Sam would respond, "Ok, but only because you got stood up. I'll change into the dumb dress I wasn't going to wear." With that Sam would close the door to go change.
With the coast clear, Danielle would then leave Tucker's body and appear, floating, right next to the boy. "See ya," said Danielle, as she waved at Tucker before speeding off into the night sky without waiting for a response from him.
Danielle would fly straight to the school after that. Finding a place to land behind the bleachers on the school field, she would transform back to human form before continuing her way on foot to the gymnasium. As she arrived at the entrance to the school, a familiar voice would call out to her.
"Yo Dani," shouted Zack, as he ran up to the raven-haired girl, "I thought you said you weren't coming?"
"Unfortunately my plans changed. My brother got my parents to chap-," Dani began to say, as she turned to face her silver-haired friend only to pause in her tracks when she saw what he looked like tonight. Zack's normally messy silver hair was combed and out of its usual ponytail with his bangs parted evenly to both sides of his face. Instead of his usual clothes with the leather jacket, Zack wore a pair of black dress pants, white collared shirt with red tie, and black dress jacket. But what really stood out on the boy was the red bass guitar that Zack had slung over his shoulder.
"-erone," said Dani, as she felt a light blush appear on her cheeks, "Hey Zack.. W-Why do you have a guitar with you?"
"Hmm, Guitar," Zack asked, before he realized what Danielle was asking about, "Oh this thing. I-" Zack would let out a sigh before continuing, "Alright you got me. I'm one of the saps that Mr. Lancer got to form a band for tonight's dance. Not too lame , is it?"
"N-No, not lame at all," said Dani, as she shook her head to get it back on track, "You should have told me yesterday that it was you that was playing. I totally would have changed my plans to come hear your performance and cheer you on. That's what friends are for, right?"
"I-I thought you might see it as lame," said Zack, as he rubbed the back of his neck only to stop when Dani lightly punched his shoulder.
"I wouldn't have thought it was lame," said Dani, "I already know you want to be a musician when you're older, dummy. I would just have been surprised that you were picked to be the musician at the dance. I would have thought the type of music you're probably going to play wouldn't be to your taste."
"Actually, Mr. Lancer is being pretty lax about the type of music we're being allowed to play," said Zack, as he began to move towards the gymnasium again with Dani in tow, "He's a pretty cool teacher when he's not trying to sound hip that is."
"Yeah, I guess I can see that of him," said Dani, as another thought crossed her mind, "So who else is playing with you anyway? We, usually, means more than one."
"Hmm," said Zack, as he glanced at Danielle, "Oh. A student named Lillian McCloud and Zeke Stones. They're both seniors in the band alongside me."
"Pfft, McCloud," said Dani, "Is she a fox that can pilot?"
"Oh haha, Dani," said Zack, with a laugh, "She's honestly pretty cool. She's going to be the lead singer for most of the songs, as well as the lead guitarist. I could see you two getting along actually. She's a big video game fan too."
"Really," said Dani, as the duo approached the doors to the gym, "I look forward to hearing what you guys play then."
"Hope we rock your socks off," said Zack, as the duo stopped by the gym doors, :"Oh before I forget.. Y-You look really nice, Dani."
"Th-thanks," said Dani, as she blushed once again, "Y-you don't look so bad yourself." With that said, Dani would then give Zack a fist bump before the two would separate so the silver-haired boy could get ready and meet with the other members of the band. Something she was grateful for, as she didn't want Zack to see her blushing like crazy right now.
Thirty minutes later, and the dance would officially begin. Danielle would find herself leaning against the gymnasium wall when Zack and the rest of the band would take the stage. As the group began to play a few slow songs, Danielle would look over Zack's bandmates. The drummer, as mentioned by Zack before, was a boy named Zeke Stones. He had wild fiery red hair and wore blue jeans and white t-shirt. He even had a small goatee on his chin.
As for the lead singer/guitarist, that was the aforementioned Lillian McCloud. She had short curly blond hair that reached her ears and piercing sapphire eyes that matched her sapphire dress she currently wore. Her blue guitar was front and center as she strummed the chords to the song the group was currently playing.
"She looks pretty," thought Dani, as she watched the girl play, "Wonder what she's like to talk to. Zack said she's pretty chill."
After a few minutes of listening to the music and watching the crowd, Danielles eyes would catch sight of Tucker and Sam entering the gymnasium together. In fact, Dani's eyes would widen when she saw the dress her female friend wore. "Wow," whispered Danielle, "Her parents chose that for her. That's… A shocker. Bet Sam was surprised too."
Standing up from the wall and raising her hand up, the ghost girl would wave to get her two best friend's attention and soon they joined her over by the gymnasium wall. "Hey Sam," said Danielle, as she gave her female best friend a hug in greeting, "Love the dress."
"Thanks. Can you believe it was my parents that picked it out," said Sam, with a smile, "Cause man I was thrown for a loop when I saw it."
"Yeah, I can't believe that's something your mother picked out for you," said Danielle.
"You look really good as well, Dani," said Sam, as she looked over at her friend, "Bet Zack is smitten."
"S-Sam," said Danielle, as another round of blush appeared on her cheeks, "It's not like that! And you know it."
"Uh-huh." said Sam, with a teasing smile, "Have to admit though, the band the school got is really good. Zack and the other two students are really killing it."
"Yeah," said Tucker as he moved his hips side-to-side as he watched Lillian McCloud play, "I agree with ya there Sam. Plus the lead guitarist is HOT."
Danielle and Sam would roll their eyes at Tucker's comment, but wouldn't comment on it themselves. Mostly because Dani's father, Jack, would arrive to talk to the trio.
"Danielle, Tucker, Sam," said Jack as he stopped in front of the trio, "We've got trouble."
"We had nothing to do with it, Mr Fenton," replied Tucker, "It was all Danny's idea."
"Tucker, it's me," said Jack, being controlled by Danny, "It's Danny."
"Really bro," said Danielle, as she facepalmed, "You took control of Dad again."
"Had to, Sis," said Danny controlled Jack, "Mr. Lancer was going to talk to Dad about the parent-teacher conference."
"Which wouldn't have ended well," sighed Danielle, "Anyway what's up?"
"Sam, Dani, you try to help me find Paulina," said Danny controlled Jack, as he handed each of the trio a walkie-talkie, "Tucker, keep an eye on my dad. If he starts talking to anyone, page me. Got it?"
"This dance gets better and better with every passing minute," said Sam, a little excited which caused Danielle to giggle. That was one way to put this dance.
"Bathroom," asked Danielle, which Sam would nod to before both girls would run off in the direction of the gymnasium's school entrance.
As soon as they arrived at the doorway to the gymnasium, Sam would notice Paulina right off the bat and raise her walkie-talkie to her mouth. "Danny! Danielle and I got her," said Sam
"Stay on her, I'm on my way. And girls don't make her angry," said Danny through the walkie-talkie.
"We know," Danielle would reply back, with both girls running off towards Paulina, who entered the bathroom.
As they entered, they would see Paulina fixing her hair in the school mirror. Deciding to try to be civil with the girl, Sam would approach the latino girl and say, "Hey Paulina. Nice dress."
"Yes," said Paulina, as she turned to face Sam, "And it goes so nicely with your amulet. Don't you think?"
"My amulet," said Sam, with Danielle thinking at the same, "Her amulet? OH!"
"That's not my-," Sam began to say, before being elbowed in the rib by Dani, "Right! Listen… My grandma gave me that amulet, and-"
"Forget it, sweetie," said Paulina, as she interrupted Sam, "I'm not giving up this trinket or your little boyfriend, Danny."
"My boyfriend," asked Sam, confused, "Ha ha! And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is not my boyfriend."
"He's not," said Paulina, incredulously.
"He's my best friend," replied Sam, "Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow."
"What a bummer," said Paulina, with a sigh, "I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you. Here take your crummy amulet."
"Nice-," Danielle began to think, before gasping as Paulina put the amulet around Sam's neck.
"I'm going back inside," continued Paulina, as she began to exit the room, "To dump your dorky friend."
"Shallow little witch," growled Sam, as her voice began to change as she got angry due to the now attached amulet around her neck.
"Shit," said Danielle, as she began to move towards her friend to try to take the amulet off only to be hit by Sam's emerging dragon tail that would cause Dani to go careening into a bathroom stall and hitting her head.
It would only be a few minutes until Danielle awoke. "Danielle," said Danny, as he shock his sister, worried for her in his voice, "What happened? Where's Sam and Paulina?
"Ugh, what hit me," said Danielle, as Danny helped her to her feet and she rubbed her head.
"That's what I want you to tell me," said Danny, "As well as what did this to the bathroom?"
"Did what to the bathro- Oh," said Danielle, as she looked around her immediate area to see a large gaping hole in the bathroom's wall and ceiling, "Crap… You think the school has Dragon insurance?"
"Dragon," asked Danny, "Paulina changed form?!"
"No, Sam," said Danielle, as she remembered what happened, "Sam was able to convince Paulina to give the amulet to her, and then she got Sam mad. I tried to stop it, but Sam's emerging tail whacked me in surprise. And… You know the rest."
"Well we can't leave Sam like that especially with Paulina," said Danny, "Are you able to fight?"
"You know it," said Danielle, as she wrist bumped her brother, "Let's save Sam from making the terrible mistake of eating Paulina!" Nodding their heads to one another, they would look up at the hole in the wall with a determined expression before changing to their ghost forms and flying up into the sky.
Looking around the immediate area, the twins would instantly notice the Dragon Ghost flying away with Paulina in clawed hands. Flying after the Dragon, the twins would catch up fairly quickly before both would send a kick into the Dragon's back causing the Dragon to fall down onto the football field below.
Landing in front of the Dragon, Danny would say, "Take it easy Sam. You don't want to hurt Paulina."
"I think she does though," said Danielle, with a frown as the Dragon roared out, "Shallow Girl!" It then let out a breath of fire at the twins, who went intangible to avoid the flames.
"Whoa, Sam," said Danny, as the twins reappeared, "Two words: Breath mints."
"What do you want to do bro," asked Danielle, as they stared down the Dragon.
"I'll get Paulina," said Danny, "Can you keep Sam distracted while I do that?""
"Sure thing," Danielle replied, as she gave Danny a thumbs up in confirmation before flying towards the Dragon at full speed, "Sorry Sam!" With that said, Danielle would punch the Dragon in the face which would cause the Dragon to not only roar again, but drop Paulina in surprise. Seeing his chance, Danny charged forward and caught Paulina bridal style. With the Latino girl in hand, Danny turned around and headed for the bleachers.
"I got you covered, Danny," shouted Danielle, as she gave the Dragon another punch in the face only to receive a whack from one of its clawed hands which sent her flying up into the sky screaming.
"Sis," shouted Danny, before turning his attention back towards the approaching bleachers. He would then go intangible and through them.
"So do you like quarterbacks," Danny would hear Dash ask someone as he phased through the bleachers before appearing on the other side staring at the back of the jock and some girl he was trying to woo.
"Uh, sorry," said Danny, to the surprised duo before the Dragon would lift the bleachers up off the ground and roar at the assembled group of kids.
"Ahhhhh," screamed the girl and Dash as they ran away in fear.
Letting out another roar, the Dragon would toss the bleachers backwards with Danny saying, as he placed Paulina down on the ground, "Now, Sam, be reasonable."
Then the walkie-talkie on Danny's hip would beep and Tucker's voice would be heard, "Danny! Lancer's getting close to your dad."
Hearing Tucker's voice through the walkie-talkies, Danielle, as she regained her sense of direction, would shake her head to clear it before grabbing her walkie-talkie and speaking into it. "I'll take care of Dad, Danny," said Danielle, "You take care of Sam."
"You sure," said Danny, through the walkie-talkie as he stared down the Dragon.
"Yeah," said Danielle, as she sped off for the school, "Take care of Sam!"
Going intangible, she would enter through the ceiling of the gymnasium. After a moment of looking around, she would spot her father as he was approaching her mother and Mr Lancer. She would then speed herself right to him and enter his body.
"Woah," thought Danielle, as she placed a hand on her fathers head, "This.. This is going to take some getting used to.."
Eyes going wide a moment later, when she noticed her mother and Mr. Lancer were waiting for a response from her father, Danielle controlled Jack, said, "Oh right! Sorry, this lighting… It…In this light made you look so much like George Clooney." Grabbing her mother around the shoulders, something again that Danielle would mentally think, "This will take some getting used to," she would add, "Isn't he sharp,M-Maddie?"
"Well, haha," said Mr. Lancer, "Thank you."
"Now if you'll excuse me," said Danielle controlled Jack, "I'd like to dance with my spouse. That's what us adults do. Dance with our spouses." With that Danielle would pull her mother onto the dance floor, where they proceeded to dance together.
"Aah," said Maddie, "Doesn't this bring back memories?"
"Uhh.. If by memories, you mean things you remember that I don't, yes," replied Danielle controlled Jack, "Go ahead and remind me of stuff. I'll totally agree to remembering."
"And getting back to Danny," Danielle would think, as she left her father to dance as the music began to end.
Flying back outside a moment later, she would spot her brother and the dragon over at the football field still. In fact, as she approached she would notice the Dragon was all tied up in the line of the Fenton Fisher that Danny had with him.
"Wow, good job," said Danielle, as she landed by her brother who was approaching the downed and dizzied Dragon
"Thanks," said Danny, as his hands grabbed the amulet around the Dragon's neck, "Dad taken care of?"
"Yep," said Danielle, as she pulled out the Fenton thermos as Danny yanked the amulet off the Dragon. Which immediately transformed Sam back to her normal self. Handing the amulet to his sister who then stuck it in the thermos before capping it, the twins would transform back to human form with Danny bending down to check out Sam.
"Sam," asked Danny, "Are you all right?"
"Wow," said Sam, as she placed a hand on her head, "Did I have fun at the dance?"
"Well, uh, ha ha," said Danny, "Let's just say you had a roaring time."
As soon as Danny said his pun, Danielle would let out a groan in embarrassment. Would it be wrong for her to release the Dragon again?
A few hours later, the dance was coming to a close and the four kids would find themselves out on the dance floor. In fact, they were some of the only people left at the dance.
"Dude, sorry your date didn't pan out," Tucker said, "Where is Paulina anyway?"
"Oh who cares," said Sam, as she noticed that the band was still playing, "Look! The band is still playing. And I think there's time for one last dance."
"Sure, I'd love to," said Danny, as Sam led him out further onto the dance floor.
"Well," said Danielle, next to Tucker, hand on her hips, "Don't they make a cute couple."
"Yeah.. Wait a second," said Tucker, realizing something, "I'm dateless again? What does a guy have to do to get hooked up around here?
Before Danielle could respond though, another voice would, "I want to go to the ball," the ghost that originally had the amulet shrieked.
"I got this," said Danielle, as she pointed the thermos at the ghost and sucked it up.
"Thanks Dani," said Tucker, with a relieved sigh as he pretended to wipe some sweat off his brow.
"No problem, Tuck," said Danielle, as she had her eyes go green, "No problem."
Author's Note: And there's Parental Bonding all wrapped up. Next is the first Technus episode. Here's hoping the beginning of that doesn't tke me forever to figure out what to do. If you liked the chapter, or like the story so far, don't be afraid to leave a review. Seeing them motivates me in writing more and hopefully better. See you next time!