A/N: Welcome to our first update! Glad to see people excited about the first chapter. As of when this goes up, there are rough drafts for every episode up through episode 5 (That's Splitting Images by the way). Something I feel I should clarify. While there will be some Kim Possibleisms in the story, and you can expect some of her rogues to show up, this story is primarily about Danny's adventures. Just assume Kim has a lot of her adventures in the background, since most of the time they wouldn't change since Danny can't exactly tag along to the Amazon or whatever. Also, if there are any other cartoons from this era you would like to see added to this universe, please do let me know. This world definitely contains Danny and Kim, and Kim's world does contain Lilo and Stitch and Jake Long from their crossovers (also more, but the others probably won't show up) I'd love to think about including something like Totally Spies, My Life as a Teenage Robot, or Ben 10 (specifically Alien Force) but I'd want to know if that's something you all as readers would be interested in seeing. The core of this story is Danny's relationship with Kim, Star, and Ember (plus any other girls I may add) so let me know!
About a month had passed since Danny's incident with the Lunch Lady ghost, and he had been settling decently well into his new life as both a high schooler, and Amity Park's resident ghost fighting superhero. While the only ghosts that had come through the portal recently were animal type ghosts, like the less than threatening Ectopusses, Danny was not of the opinion such a thing would last very long. The Lunch Lady had proved that more powerful ghosts did exist, and were more than capable of traveling through the portal, which meant Danny had to be ready.
His superheroics however, were not on his mind right now. He, like all other students at Casper High, had their attention turned towards the upcoming Homecoming celebrations, and in particular, the homecoming dance that would accompany it.
"I really need to find a date for the homecoming dance. KP, do you know any of the cheerleaders who would go with me?" Ron asked his best friend, as the group idly chatted at the lunch table. Ron and Tucker had been moaning about finding dates for the last week largely, and hadn't had any success finding any.
"Why do you guys even care about the dance? It's going to be lame, and just an excuse for the A-List to dress up and lord their superiority over everyone." Sam said, her distaste for the event showing.
"Well, it IS nice to be able to dress up nice for an event like this. Plus it's something we don't get to do often. It's not like any of us get invited to parties or anything, so the chance to go to a social event would be kinda nice don't you think?" Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. While he wasn't as desperate for a date as Ron and Tucker were, being totally fine with just attending alone or with a friend, he would like the chance to have a proper date.
"Well, Kim gets invited to parties. Probably. Actually, do you? Or have we tainted you from that?" Tucker asked Kim. Kim was certainly the only one of them who would receive such invitations, but they'd never heard her talk about any of them.
"Occasionally? It's pretty rare actually. Seems like the people who throw those parties here are Paulina and Bonnie, neither of which have particularly high opinions of me. I don't think I've ever gone to one really, usually a mission comes up. I also out of habit turn down any invitations that tell me I couldn't bring Ron. Even if he wouldn't want to go, anyone who wouldn't let me bring my best friend isn't someone I'd want to spend too much time with." Kim said, taking a sip of her water.
"Aw, thanks KP." Ron said, giving his friend a quick hug. "Back to the homecoming dance though, do you have a date KP? Or Danny? You haven't spoken up."
"I've been wanting to ask Josh Mankey to go, I know it's usually not a thing for the girl to ask, but that's never stopped me before." Kim said, her usually go-getter attitude shining through.
"Oh, that guy in the year above us? Really? Didn't strike me as your type." Danny said, a little amused by it. Danny figured Kim would need someone who is as much of a go-getter as she was, and Mankey was certainly not that.
"I don't have a type. I think. I dunno, he's cute, and isn't a total jerk like half the guys in the school are." Kim said. "I swear it seems like outside of you guys pretty much every guy is like Dash."
"Kwan's not too bad if you get him alone." Danny defended. Kwan had actually been a good friend of the 'loser trio' back in the day, before he decided to play football. His impressive skills as a lineman had earned him a spot on the A-List, and their rules had meant that he couldn't hang out with Danny and Co. anymore. They didn't blame him really, regardless of his football prowess, declining the A-List typically meant you got bullied pretty bad by them. Kwan however had avoided bullying others as best he could, and whenever he did, had managed to secretly slip apology notes afterwards. It wasn't perfect, but it was probably the best he could do.
"Maybe so, but he's still not in my good books." Kim said. "Ron did ask about you Danny, you plan on asking anyone?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, I guess I'd like to ask Paulina, but so does every guy in school. I don't really stand a chance." Danny said with a bit of a shrug.
"Why her? You don't really know her, and from what I do, she's awful. She's probably worse than Bonnie, and I'm sure the only reason I'm not positive of it is Bonnie's specific hatred of me." Kim said, taking a moment to glance towards the A-List table, and her enemy Bonnie Rockwaller. She and Kim had been rivals for years as Danny had found out, largely because of Bonnie's jealousy of Kim. Kim had been head cheerleader in middle school, Kim had gotten better grades, and Kim had deeper friendships. Kim also had enjoyed much better relations with the rest of the cheer squad than Bonnie had, who from what Danny had been told had only managed to have any kind of friendship with Tara, a blonde girl who was friends with pretty much anyone.
"He's thinking with his dick and not his head." Sam said, rolling her eyes at her best friend.
"Hey! And I'm not, really. I mean yeah, she's gorgeous, but mostly I was hoping that if I was dating an A-List girl Dash might leave me alone. Is that shallow? It feels kinda shallow." Danny said, acknowledging the weird selfishness of his desires.
"I mean, a bit, but you're owning up to it, which makes sense. It's also not like there's not a chance for something like that to happen. The question is why don't you stand up to Dash? I know you've trained with both of your parents. You Mom has three black belts and your Dad was a State Boxing Champion in High School. Dash is all muscles and no brains, you could handle him easily." Kim said, having met both of his parents last week. Apparently their mothers had been college roommates, and Anne Possible had been ecstatic to reconnect with her old friend. The entire night had been full of fun stories from their parents days in college, and promises to keep in touch after the fact. Danny was happy his parents had new, or as was the case technically old, friends.
"It's all for self-defense, and Dash isn't worth the suspension it would get me. Plus I'm not a big fan of hurting anyone." Danny said, waving her off. Even before his powers, Danny knew he probably had a better than neutral chance of taking on Dash in a fight, with the strength boost his powers gave him, it'd be more effort not to break his jaw then it would be to win.
"Why do you want to be popular anyway besides that? It's not all it's cracked up to be." Sam said, idly picking at her salad.
"Well, having more friends would be nice. I enjoy hanging out with you guys and all, but the last time I suggested we go play a game of basketball for fun you gagged and Tucker laughed in my face." Danny said.
"I suppose I forget that you don't have only the same interests as I do." Sam said. "Still being popular wouldn't solve that."
"I'll agree with Sam that popularity isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've dealt with Bonnie long enough to know that." Kim said.
"Yeah KP, but you've never been bullied like the rest of us." Ron said. "I still have nightmares of the swirlies I got before you managed to scare off Big Johnny."
"Big Johnny?" Danny asked.
"Bully from Middleton Middle. Particularly hated Ron. Spending the remainder of his teenage years in Juvie for threatening a teacher with a knife." Kim said. "Anyway Danny, if you really want to just do that, instead of Paulina, maybe try Star or Valerie. They're MUCH nicer than Paulina is. I think you might actually hit it off pretty well with Star now that I think about it."
"Hmm, well if you think so I'll give it a shot. I'll see about asking her. If that doesn't work out though, would you or Sam be willing to go as friends? Assuming you two don't find proper dates of your own." Danny asked the two girls he was closest to.
"I'd be happy to Danny, but like I said, I'm going to ask Josh Mankey first." Kim said, smiling at him.
"You know I'm not going to find a date Danny, I'm pretty much only agreeing to go to spend some time with you and Tucker." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Don't appreciate being a second choice though!"
"You're not a second choice, sorry if you thought so. I just figured this would be a good excuse to try an actual date, as opposed to just another time we do something together as friends. Besides, you know I'll probably still dance with you night of." Danny said, shooting a smile towards Sam.
"Fine. Just make sure that if you do go with Star or someone that you don't just ditch Tucker and I during the night." Sam said.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, knowing my luck with girls? I'll get turned down immediately." Danny said, laughing at his own bad luck.
"Don't be like that Danny. There's a lot there for a girl to like you." Kim said. "You could stand to dress a little better, but you're a pretty good looking guy."
"What's wrong with how I dress?" Danny said, looking at his standard T-shirt and jeans get-up.
"Loose jeans like that went out of style in the 90s, and that T-shirt doesn't exactly flatter you." Kim said.
"Why has no one ever told me?" Danny asked, looking to Tucker and Sam.
"I only know about goth fashion, I tried to get you to dress like it once, but you hated it." Sam said. "And Tucker still thinks that beret looks good, so his fashion advice is awful."
"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed, offended.
Arriving home, Danny went down to the lab to see if his parents were home. Sure enough, he found his dad sitting in a fold-out camping chair, with a bizarre fishing rod inside the Ghost Zone portal, and a soda-drinking hat on his head.
"Ah! Danny! Check out my latest creation! The Fenton Fisher! This bad boy can reel in ghosts from the Ghost Zone. It's even got a near-unbreakable line for the really feisty ones." Jack said, waving his hand over his new invention.
"Pretty neat Dad. Any bites?" Danny asked. More than enough animal ghosts came through the portal, it's not impossible for his dad to actually catch something, maybe even an actual ghost fish!
"Nothing yet, can you hold the line for me though? I've gone through two of these cups of soda and I'm gonna burst." Jack said, handing Danny the line before rushing upstairs before Danny had a chance to respond.
Danny rolled his eyes at his dad's antics. That was pretty standard all things considered. Danny tugged at the ghost line a bit. It did seem pretty strong. He grabbed a section between both hands and pulled as hard as he could. Yep, that was certainly pretty tough, might actually be better at restraining ghosts than catching them like a fish though.
Danny didn't get to think on that too long when he felt movement at the other end of the line. He'd been on enough fishing trips with his dad to know what that meant, there was a big one on the other side. Danny planted his feet firmly on the ground and began reeling the ghost in. The pull from the line was incredible, needing Danny's enhanced strength to be necessary to pull it in. Danny finally managed to get the ghost through the portal, and was completely taken aback by what he saw.
"A DRAGON?" Danny guffawed, awed by the cerulean scaled creature he'd just pulled in. "Going Ghost!" Danny yelled, as he tried to pull the hook away from the dragon. It let out a roar and spat a small plume of flame that thankfully didn't damage anything. Danny used his ability to maneuver in the small space to get to an angle that the hook could be dislodged from the dragon's mouth. The hook freed itself from the mouth of the dragon, who thrashed about. The hook caught the necklace the dragon was wearing as Danny began to pull it in, and tore it from the neck of the behemoth. Throwing the rod to the side, and unknowingly opening a hole in his backpack in the process as the sharp hook dug through the worn canvas, Danny flew at the dragon, Shoving it by the nose back into the portal, and slamming the emergency close button immediately after. Danny landed before transforming back into his normal self, before walking back over to the fishing rod, and the necklace he had pulled off the dragon.
The necklace was a pretty thing. Gold in color, though Danny would have no idea of the material, with a green gem in the center of the pendant that hung from the center of the necklace. "Huh, well. Guess I get my first ghost trophy." Danny said, as he put it in his backpack. Danny sat back down in the fold out chair, waiting for his dad to come back down the stairs.
"Ah, that was good, and I got more drinks. Got what for you too Danno. Catch anything while I was gone?" Jack asked as he came back down into the lab.
"Actually I did. It flew back into the portal though." Danny said.
"That's my boy! So, what was it like? Make any observations?" Jack said, pulling a rolling deck chair and sitting beside his son.
"Well, it was dragon-like, as in, looked just like a dragon from a story book, it even breathed fire, you can see the scorch marks there." Danny said, pointing at the scorch marks on the floor. "That's why I had to close the portal after it flew back in, I didn't want it making a second go at it."
"That's my boy! Catches his first ghost and it's a big dragon! So, how'd the Fisher do?" Jack asked, clapping his son on the back. Danny was ecstatic at seeing the proud look on his father's face.
"Better than I thought to be honest, the line never even looked like it was going to break. You might have some luck making a ghost net or rope out of the stuff." Danny said, showing the line.
"Really, I hadn't been able to break it myself, but I thought a ghost might have been able to. We'll look into that Danny. Feel like helping your old man out with it?" Jack said. Danny nodded. He hadn't really got to spend too much time with his father, and since he had sort of joined the ghost hunting business, even if his parents didn't really know about it, it wouldn't hurt to learn what he could about it.
"Alright! Now, to make the ectofilament we…" Jack started, as the father and son got to work on refining the ghost fighting equipment.
"... so I reel it in and this dragon comes out right? And it breathes fire so I have to dodge out of the way and reel the line in. It catches this weird amulet off the dragon's neck and I use the emergency close on the portal, making it head back through." Danny said, explaining last night's ghost encounter to his friends at the lunch table. Danny hadn't told Ron and Kim about his powers yet, so he was recontextualizing the story like he had told his dad, with no fighting the dragon. He was also showing them the amulet he had pulled from the dragon, its jewel glittering in the fluorescent cafeteria lights.
"It's still weird that there is a ghost dimension. If we hadn't seen that Lunch Lady or that Phantom guy I wouldn't believe you." Kim said, shaking her head a bit. "I wonder what makes someone or something a ghost?"
"Well, my parents have a theory that it's an obsession based thing. If you obsess over something in your life, or during your death, it can bind you to the Earth, and the Ghost Zone before you move on. I'm not convinced by that though, since you know, how would a dragon exist then?" Danny said, he also thought about the various animal ghosts he had fought, it's not like they could have obsessions. Maybe some things just became ghosts?
"I guess they ARE the experts. Maybe their research will turn up something." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit. She didn't want to openly say the fact that she, Tucker, and Danny had seen and captured more ghosts than his parents had, but she could heavily imply it to the other two.
Later Danny was opening his locker when he watched Star walk by. Figuring this was a good shot, Danny walked up to her. "Hey, Star!" He called out, trying to get her attention.
Star turned around, and Danny got a pretty good look at her face close up for the first time. They'd never really interacted before, so Danny hadn't really ever had the chance to talk to her or anything. At first, he was kind of taken aback by just how pretty she was. Her long blonde hair complimented her blue eyes very well, and her lips were nice and full, accented by a touch of lipstick.
"Yeah Fenton?" Star asked, she gave him a questioning look, and though she said his last name, it wasn't in the dismissive way that Paulina or Dash did.
"Yeah, I was wondering, uh, if you'd want to go to the homecoming dance with me? I know we don't exactly know each other or anything, but I figure it might be a good chance to try?" Danny said, stumbling over his words for a second. He hadn't planned this out at all. He just braced himself for the rejection he knew was coming.
"Huh. Gotta admit. Didn't see that coming. Mind if I think about it? Like you said, we don't really know each other." Star said, her face a little flushed. She seemed flattered that he asked.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. Think about it. Half figured you'd just say no and call me a loser." Danny said, rubbing the back of his head. That slipped out before his brain could tell him that that probably made him seem like more of a loser.
"No, I'm interested. You're pretty cute, and I think you might clean up nice. Like I said. Let me think about it." She said. "Gotta get to class. I'll let you know soon, 'kay?" She finished as she walked off.
Danny was a bit struck after that. Star was generally accepted as the second hottest girl in school, and she hadn't said no immediately? AND she thought he was cute? That was a win in his book if nothing else. He's glad he took Kim up on the suggestion to ask her instead of Paulina. Now that Danny had seen her up close, he thought that she might be prettier than her, or at the very least, equally so. That had put her pretty much in contention for the number one spot in the school with three other girls. Paulina obviously, while Sam had always said she was ugly in personality, there was no denying that Paulina was beautiful. Danny also thought that Kim and Sam were contenders for most beautiful girls at school. Kim was obvious, and people would usually put her or Bonnie at number 3 by preference, but Danny knew she was every bit as attractive as Paulina was. Sam usually didn't put too much pride in her appearance, but Danny knew if she ever did she would be a total knockout. He'd seen it enough times to be completely swept away by it.
Danny's thoughts were immediately shaken from him by Dash's meaty hands slamming him inside of his locker. "Caught you slipping Fentoni!" Dash's voice said, laughing alongside another member of the football team. If Danny's ears didn't deceive him, that was Dale, one of the few non-freshman on the football team. Danny fumed from inside the locker, before turning invisible and phasing out.
Danny looked at Dash's back, and remembered something from an old horror movie he had watched. Ghosts when they walked through people gave them a big chill down their spines. Danny could probably do that. He stepped forward, trying to walk straight through Dash, when as soon as he stepped inside of him, he noticed that Dash's leg moved forward alongside him. Danny raised his arm, noticing that Dash's arm did what he commanded. He… was possessing Dash? THAT was a cool new power. Danny had Dash trip and fall to the ground, where he then quickly hopped out of his body, and waited to make his next move.
Dash gave a scream of shock, which Danny noticed was higher pitched than Dash would want it to be, before getting up and looking around, fists raised ready to punch whoever tripped him. He didn't see anyone though, and began walking again. Danny however, had while he was looking around, tied his shoelaces together, causing Dash to take another tumble.
While everyone was pointing and laughing at Dash, giving Danny a small measure of vindication for the years of torment that the blond boy had put him through, Danny entered his combination into his locker, before phasing through it, and making it look as though he had opened it from the inside. Danny had gotten good at opening lockers from inside them, but the advent of his powers had made that skill largely useless. Danny was glad he'd never need to worry about that again, but still wished he didn't get shoved in lockers at all.
Danny sighed and just grabbed his bag from his locker, not noticing the necklace fall from the hole that had been made by the Fenton Fisher's hook the previous day.
Danny walked off to his next class, dreading another lecture on English from Mr. Lancer, but held his tongue. He didn't need to make Lancer like him any less than he already did, for some reason.
Paulina had been walking in the same direction roughly twenty feet behind, also on her way to Lancer's class when she saw the golden necklace on the ground. The way it sparkled in the light caught her attention, and she decided to keep it. The green jewel in the center would go perfectly with her dress for homecoming.
The next day, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Ron, and Kim were at the mall, trying to find some clothes for the upcoming dance. Kim flicked idly through some dresses on the rack of the store they were in. Trying to find one in her size. While she did have the dress she had worn to her Middle School prom a few months ago, she had grown slightly, adding almost an inch to her hips, and two inches to her bust. That had made the dress too tight for comfort when she had tried it on the previous night, so she had elected to find a new one. Danny, Tucker, and Ron however had no suits at all. Danny and Tucker had never had a formal dance, since the closest things they had had to proms in Middle School were semi-formals, in which the expected attire was simply a button-up dress shirt and slacks, and Ron had missed Middle School Prom due to a vacation he and his family had taken during that time to Bahia Bay to see a distant cousin and her family.
In another store, the nearby Club Banana, Paulina browsed through some of the displays. One one of them, she found a blue shirt that she thought was simply divine. Looking through the stack of them, she was unable to find one in her size. "Excuse me miss?" Paulina asked to the store worker who came over.
"Yes, can I help you?" Came the store worker's reply. She had dark skin and hair much like Paulina, although hers was much curlier. Her Club Banana nametag read: 'Monique'.
"Do you have any of these in size small?" Paulina asked, holding up the tee.
"Sorry, those have actually been selling pretty well, so there aren't any more." Monique said, apologetically.
"Will any more be coming in?" Paulina asked.
"Afraid not. They were a limited edition run, and stores were only given a select number." Monique said. "Although if you really do want it girl, you could try buying a size up and shrinking it in the wash, or just wait a year and it'll probably come back."
"A whole year? But I want it now." Paulina said, her eyes starting to glow red.
"Sorry girl, them's the breaks." Monique said dismissively, before walking off.
"I. WANT. THE. TEE." Came Paulina's voice through gritted teeth, as her nearly flawless skin became blue and scaly, and her eyes began to elongate. More and more draconic features began to emerge from her teenage body, as she got down on all fours and a massive dragon appeared in her place, roaring inside the Club Banana, where a swing of her mighty tail destroyed many of the displays.
Hearing the roar, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Kim, and Ron peek their heads out of the formal clothing store and see the dragon rampaging.
"Is that the dragon ghost from yesterday Danny?" Sam asked, her eyes wide at the destruction the creature was causing.
"Sure looks like it!" Danny said.
"I've got to go help! Danny! Call your parents or something!" Kim said, as she began to run towards the Dragon, trying to land a flying kick on it. Danny registered that she made contact, but failed to do any real damage before he ran back into the store.
With a nod to Sam and Tucker, who distracted Ron long enough for Danny to jump inside a clothing rack, Danny transformed into Phantom, and flew towards the dragon.
"Hey! Big, Blue, and Scaly! I thought we handled this!" Danny said, flying and delivering a solid punch to the dragon's jaw.
The dragon roared in pain turning her gaze onto Danny, before belting out "Want. Tee." and thrashing some more.
"Well that's good, because I don't think anyone can afford the coffee here. How about some punch instead?" Danny quipped, flying under the dragon's chin and delivering a solid uppercut. This lifted the dragon from the ground, where Danny quickly rotated his body to land a solid roundhouse to the torso of the dragon, sending it flying into the nearby Club Banana store.
Danny flew down to where Kim was, having seen her hide behind some cover when Phantom had engaged the dragon. "You okay Kim?" Danny asked, checking over her. While perhaps her clothes had been ruffled pretty considerably, she otherwise seemed fine.
"Not the drama. I'm fine. Think scaly's coming back for round 2?" Kim asked, locking her eyes in the largely wrecked Club Banana store. "Did he have to destroy my favorite store?"
"Probably not, but I can't say I'm an expert on dragon psychology. He's pretty hard to miss though, and I don't see him anywhere. Must have turned invisible and scampered off. Which is annoying, since that's just another mess for me to clean up later." Danny said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, sorry I'm not being too much help. You'd think with as long as I'd been doing this hero stuff, I'd be able to handle these things." Kim said, frustration clearly evident in her voice.
"Hey, we can't do everything. I certainly can't do the saving the world stuff like you do. I appreciate the help, but you can let me handle the ghost fighting." Danny said, shooting her a smile to ease her worries. Danny knew Kim was the kind of person who hated that she couldn't do everything, so he could imagine the frustration she felt at this. "If you're desperate to help when these things do happen, I could always use help getting people away from the fighting. Makes it a whole lot easier if I can punch a bad guy without worrying about throwing him into a pedestrian."
"I'll see what I can do. I've got to get back to my friends. How would I get in touch with you if something like this happens again?" Kim asked, looking at him.
"I believe I told you last time that I'll be around. Until then, see ya!" Danny said, flying off through the skylight and into a random direction. For him to immediately turn invisible and circle back into the store the others had been in previously.
"Is it over guys?" Danny asked, playing dumb again as he approached Sam, Tucker, and Ron.
"Yeah, looks like that Phantom guy handled it. Kim's on her way back now. Hey KP! You good?" Ron asked, closing the final few steps between him and his best friend while giving her a quick once over.
"I'm fine Ron. Better than I could say for Club Banana over there though. They're probably going to be closed for a month." Kim said, a bit sad.
"Look on the bright side, with so much of the merchandise probably being destroyed, they'll have totally new stock in. It'll be like a brand new store." Danny said, trying to cheer her up.
"I guess you're right on that front. Not like I'm dying for a new look anyway, ready to keep shopping? I still need a dress, and you three are going to be hopeless picking out suits without me here." Kim said, pointing at Danny, Tucker, and Ron.
"I take offense to that. Sam can help me pick out a nice black suit just fine." Danny said, aware of his less than stellar fashion sense. He can't help it, neither of his parents were great at it.
"Yeah, and you guys WILL be getting black suits. I know you want blue Ron, and it's not happening. However, some color in your shirt, vest, or tie would be good, and I'm not convinced Sam wouldn't make you look like you're going to a funeral. No offense." Kim said, looking apologetically towards Sam at the end.
"None taken, I know what I like." Sam said, rifling through a rack. "Tucker I got a message from your mom saying you're going monochrome though, she doesn't want to see that green suit she saw you looking at online."
"Ah, come on." Tucker said, frustrated a bit. "Can't even get like a green tie?"
"We'll have you try one on and see what she says. Especially if you end up getting a date, you don't want to clash with her dress. Although I think you've exhausted pretty much every girl there is, myself and Kim excluded." Sam said.
"... so anyway, Bonnie totally said yes! Score, I'm going to the dance with the second biggest hottie in the school!" Came the voice of Kwan as he and Dash talked loudly when they walked down the corridor of the mall.
"Nice! Weren't you going with Valerie though?" Dash asked.
"I was, but not anymore!" Kwan said, "Now she's dateless!"
The pair laughed, and the group in the formal wear store, rolled their eyes. Valerie wasn't exactly one of their friends, but that's a pretty low move for anyone.
"Huh, maybe I've got a shot. She's probably here in the mall. Sam, you're going to make half of these decisions without me anyway right?" Tucker asked.
"Largely." Sam said, shuffling through and pulling out another suit jacket. Before sneering and putting it back.
"I'll go find Valerie and ask if she wants to go to the dance. If Kwan is just gonna ditch her, I can at least try and make it a fun night." Tucker said, puffing his chest out.
"Fine. Go ask. If by some miracle she says yes, ask her what color her dress is so we can maybe see if you can wear that green tie you want." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit, although a small smile creeped on her face.
"Alright! Back in a flash." Tucker said running off.
"You really think he's got a shot?" Danny asked Sam, who pulled another suit off the rack and looked at it.
"Honestly, maybe. Valerie's not the worst of the A-List, and with her getting dropped at the last minute like this? She might just be desperate enough to say yes." Sam said.
"And the smile?" Danny asked.
"Because if Tuck makes good on his promise, she might decide to stick around. I've heard some talk in the locker room that she has more 'loser' in her than she lets on." Sam said with a smirk. "I'm not about to keep you two boys to myself forever. Tucker's got to find him a girlfriend so I don't have to do this," she gestures to picking out clothes, "all the time for you boys."
"You sure that's it?" Danny asked with a smile.
"All I'm willing to say." Sam replied.
With Tucker, after a quick run, he found Valerie, sitting alone at a table in the food court, looking noticeably sorry for herself.
"Hey Valerie." Tucker said, sliding himself into the seat opposite of her.
"What do you want Foley?" Valerie said, snapping a little, although it was evident as soon as she finished that she regretted being that mean about it.
"Well, I overheard what happened with Kwan. Figured you'd want someone to vent to about it." Tucker said, trying to pick his words carefully. While he was aware he was here for the rebound, he really didn't want to hurt her in the process. The Foley Method required girls to WANT to be in your presence after all.
"Why would I vent to you about it?" Valerie asked, her eyebrow raised.
"Aside from the fact that anything I say could never affect your social standing? I happen to have tons of experience with rejection." Tucker said, laying on the self-deprecation, ladies love self-deprecation.
"Rejected? More like replaced. Kwan and I have been planning to go together for weeks, but drops me the second Bonnie fluttered her eyelashes at him. UGH he's made me so mad." Valerie said, crumpling a napkin. "I just… I already bought my dress, I was really looking forward to this, and it's all ruined."
"Well, it doesn't have to be all bad. I know I'm not exactly your first choice of date, but I'm not as bad as Nathan, and I'm sure we can have a good time. So, how about you forget Kwan, tell me what color your dress is, and we can go together?" Tucker said, holding his hand out to the girl.
"You know what. Sure. We'll go together. You get weird on me though I'm blacking your eye though, got it?" Valerie said, taking his hand.
"Got it. Danny, Ron, and I are getting our suits over at that store over there. Want to come make sure you at least like what I'm wearing?" Tucker said with a gesture.
"Might as well, make sure you don't embarrass me by showing up in some dumb all green suit or something."
"Yeah, I totally wouldn't do that." Tucker said nervously.
Back at the clothing store, Tucker and Valerie arrived with Sam waving Tucker over. "I found a jacket I want you to try on. Your mother agreed to a colored tie OR shirt, provided it could pass both my and Kim's approvals."
"It'll have to get mine too then, since it'll have to go with my dress, I'm wearing gold, so let's start there." Valerie said, as she and Sam started flicking through shirts, Tucker going along with whatever they said.
"Gotta admit, I'm a bit surprised she said yes." Kim said, moving over to sidebar with Danny.
"Eh, I figured it was about 50/50. You haven't really gotten the chance to see it yet, but Tucker's pretty good at working people. He's got to be genuine about it though, the bravado he throws up a lot of the time doesn't work out for him." Danny said, before noticing Star walk by. "Speaking of dates, I should see if I'll have one or not. Back in a sec."
Danny stepped out of the store, quickly jogging to where Star was walking. "Hey, Star!" Danny called, trying to get her attention.
Star turned around, and saw Danny closing the gap between them. "Oh, hey Danny. What's up?"
"Well, I wanted to see if you had an answer for me. We're over here grabbing my suit, so it's pretty much your last chance to tell me if you want it to match at all." Danny said, giving a slightly awkward chuckle. He figured if she hadn't actually told him, she probably didn't have any plans on going with him. He however, was willing to let her tell him herself.
"Oh, well." Star looks around for a second, before quickly pulling him to the side. "Look, Danny, I DO really want to go with you. You're cute, and I think we'd have a nice time. I'm just… really worried about what Paulina or Valerie will say. Paulina's always so picky about the people the 'A-List' can associate with. I don't agree with it, but I don't really have any friends other than her and Valerie so I can't do anything about it."
"Really? That's… awful I'm sorry to hear that. Valerie's going with Tucker, so I wonder what's going on there." Danny said, now more than a little confused.
"I thought Valerie was going with Kwan?" Star asked, now confused herself.
"She was, but he ditched her to go with Bonnie. She's in there with Tucker and Sam now helping him get a suit to match her dress." Danny said, pointing them out through the window.
"Huh… well. If Valerie is willing to do it. I can too. I've been really tired of having to listen to Paulina's rules all the time anyway. I wanted to be friends with Kim when she joined the cheer squad, but Paulina had said that Kim was a no-go because Bonnie said so. So Danny, I will go to the dance with you. Just make sure I have a good time, okay?" Star said, grabbing his hand.
"I'll do my best. Since you're already here, want to make sure I match whatever dress you're wearing?" Danny said, gesturing into the store.
"Sure, got to make sure we look good for pictures after all." Star said, walking into the store with him.
Later at Fenton Works, Danny sat down on his bed, while Tucker and Sam plopped into a pair of nearby bean bag chairs. "Well, preparations for the dance are done. So that's a load off my shoulders. I wonder what was with that dragon though, I know I took the necklace off of it, so I wonder how it had another one?" Danny said, grabbing his backpack.
"Maybe it had a spare?" Tucker suggested.
Danny rifled through this backpack, eventually noticing a hole that one of his fingers slipped through. "The amulet isn't in here. I had it at school yesterday, you guys saw it. I wonder what happened to it." Danny said, thinking.
"Just did a quick search on it, take a look at this." Tucker said, handing Danny his PDA. On the screen was an article about lost artifacts of the middle ages, and Tucker had highlighted a specific section. "It looks like it's called the Amulet of Aragon, it can turn someone into a dragon if they experience extreme negative emotions. It disappeared after the death of Princess Dorathea and her brother Prince Aragon."
"Well, that explains some things, Dorathea must have brought it with her to the ghost zone when she died. My ghost sense never went off at school though, so I wouldn't think she came and grabbed it." Danny said, thinking harder on it.
"Wait… Tucker, didn't we see Paulina wearing a really similar necklace?" Sam said, looking towards her techy friend.
"Yeah, we had joked that Danny gave it to her to try and get her to go to the dance with him." Tucker said, realizing it. "I'd just thought it looked similar, the design isn't exactly totally unique or anything."
"Now that I think about it, the dragon did say it wanted 'tea' when we fought, and disappeared when I threw it into the Club Banana. Maybe it wanted a t-shirt and found it? That's why it calmed down?" Danny suggested.
"Paulina would get mad enough at not being able to find a shirt she liked to trigger the amulet if the article is true. That might mean you fought her." Sam said.
"If she does have it, we'll need to get it away from her. Angry girls are bad enough when they don't become two stories tall and breathe fire." Danny said.
Sam glared at him for a bit, before shrugging. "Fair, you're right to be scared."
"Well, the three of us are just going to have to try and get the necklace away from Paulina while we're at the dance. Surely between the three of us we can manage that." Danny said.
"Alright. What are we going to do if she gets mad though? As temperamental as Paulina can be, all it takes is one clumsy guy spilling some punch to turn the night into a Dragonlance novel." Sam said, some concern prevalent in her voice.
Danny thought about it for a bit. "Well, I've proven I can at least go toe to toe with the dragon… I'll keep some ectofilament that my Dad and I made on me, the dragon wasn't capable of breaking it before, so it probably won't again. That'll probably buy me enough time to get the necklace off. No necklace, no dragon."
"As good of a plan as we'll get I guess. We'll be there to support you if things go south." Sam said, taking a seat next to Danny on the bed and wrapping her arm around him.
"Thanks Sam. I'll make sure you get a dance tomorrow if you still want one." Danny said.
"You better! I like Ron well enough, but you're not leaving me alone with him all night." Sam replied. Since Ron hadn't managed to find a date at all, Sam agreed to be his date so that way his parents could get pictures. While Danny had taken to Kim really well as a friend, and Ron and Tucker had quickly found a new best friend in each other, Sam hadn't really connected with either of them. To Sam, they were more Danny and Tucker's friends than they were hers, which didn't bother her really.
The next night, Danny, Star, Tucker, Valerie, Sam, and Ron arrived in a limousine that Sam's parents had rented. On mentioning to her parents that she had a date, and that it wasn't Danny, but a jewish boy from Middleton, they had gone all out. They'd chartered a limo, and hadn't even complained about Sam's black dress (although her mother had heavily suggested that she accessorize with some jewelry that had some color. They had agreed on a nice amethyst necklace and set of matching earrings.). It seemed that Sam's parents really wanted to give Ron every chance in the world to woo their daughter. It was a shame it was never going to happen. Sam wasn't Ron's type to begin with, and while Ron was partially Sam's type, she had no interest in him.
"You didn't tell me that we were coming in a Limo Danny." Star said, a little shocked as they stepped towards the gymnasium that their dance was being held in.
"None of us did until my parents decided they wanted my date to stick around." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "No offense Ron, but I don't want what they do."
"None taken. Happy to be here as friends. Honestly, I'm just glad to have someone as my date. My mom was so happy to get pictures with someone other than Kim in them." Ron said, happily walking alongside her.
"Does your mom not like Kim?" Tucker asked, somewhat confused by the thought. Pretty much the only two people who didn't like Kim were Paulina and Bonnie, and her supervillains he supposed.
"Oh no, Mom loves Kim. She just wishes I had more friends than JUST Kim. I hadn't really told them that I'd met you guys before now." Ron said.
"Speaking of Kim, do you know if Mankey said yes to her?" Danny asked Ron. She hadn't told the rest of them, but if anyone would know it would be Ron.
"He did, they're on their way as of about 10 minutes ago. Misses Doctor Possible wanted pictures, and she can't take just a few." Ron said. Danny had heard all about how Kim's parents were both incredible geniuses with multiple doctorates. Ron's tendency to refer to them as "Mr. Dr. Possible" and "Mrs. Dr. Possible" was something that constantly made him chuckle. He'd thought about if his parents would want that, but considering that despite the fact that both did hold doctorates, neither ever had anyone refer to them as doctor probably implied not.
"Well, we're here. How about we each spend a bit of time alone with our dates, before we reconvene? I know you two could use the chance to get to know each other, and Ron and I have never had a conversation without Danny or Kim present." Sam said, looking at her best guy friends. "Each of you two owe me a dance tonight, I'll let the other girls decide if we're going to rotate partners during that or if they'll just sit out."
"You got it Sam." Danny said, shooting her a grin.
"You know it." Tucker agreed.
"Good. Now, go have fun, and remember what we talked about." Sam said, before leading Ron off to the side.
Danny and Star took a few steps in the other direction, where Star hoped they wouldn't be seen by Paulina, at least yet.
"Sam talked to you about something for tonight?" Star asked, as she and Danny began to dance to the beat of the slower song that was playing.
"Basic date stuff, trying to make sure we showed you and Valerie a good time tonight. She claims she's not going to hold onto us forever, and we'll need to find girlfriends eventually." Danny said, chuckling a bit. "I think she's happy we found dates, in her own way at least."
"There's never been anything between either of you and her? I don't know you all too well, but I know no one has really seen you apart for too long since third grade." Star said, shifting her weight on her heels.
"No, I know Sam and Tucker would make a pretty terrible couple. They fight like siblings, it's fun. Nothing's ever happened between Sam and I either, barring one kiss we did because a guy kept stalking her." Danny said, he could feel his grip tighten a bit as he thought about it, but relaxed his hands immediately.
"Care to tell me about it?" Star asked, now curious.
"Not much to say, it was just before school let out last year. Some guy from Elmerton apparently had some goth girl fetish and decided that Sam was going to be his. Sam wasn't interested, so had asked either me or Tucker to walk with her everywhere for a month so maybe he'd get the hint she was taken, even if that wasn't the case. He never did, and one time when Sam and I had gone to the arcade together, he approached her and tried to hit on her. She wasn't interested, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. I came over and tried to talk him out of it, when he asked who I was, Sam chimed in that I was her boyfriend, so I played along. Put my arm around her, that kind of thing. He still wasn't getting the memo, so I kissed her, he got mad and walked off. Pretty much the end of that, never saw him again." Danny said.
"Huh, well, what do you think about her then?" Star asked.
"Sam's been my best friend forever. We're really close, and I hope we'll be friends for the rest of our lives." Danny said. "Why the interest in Sam? I figured we'd be trying to get to know each other better."
"Well, I didn't want to think that I was getting in the way if there was something between the two of you, she did demand a dance after all." Star said, her eyes scanning the crowd.
"Well, she didn't want to say it, but I could tell she really wanted to come to this, but had wanted to come with either me or Tucker. Since we both found dates though, she probably was about to sit it out if Ron hadn't suggested they go together, since he'd also not had a date." Danny said.
"Why didn't you go with her?" Star asked. "I appreciate you asking me, but if it was just about getting a date surely Sam would be the better pick."
"Well, I… I'm not going to lie, my reasons were pretty shallow, but you deserve that I be up front about it. I had hoped to go with a popular girl like you, Paulina, or Valerie in hopes that maybe Dash would stop bullying me. Maybe if one of you took a liking to me, he'd realize he'd be in deep water with one or all of you if he tried something. Kim had suggested that we might get along, so I figured you'd be a good choice. Sorry if it's not what you're expecting." Danny said.
Star looked at him for a second, before bringing her hand to her mouth and chuckling. "Well you certainly aimed high didn't you? What made you think one of us would take a liking to you?"
Danny deflated. HIs fears about this were being realized, but it's what he deserved for being so dumb in the first place. "Misplaced hopes I suppose." Danny removed his hands from her waist and started walking away. Cursing himself for being so stupid that this would ever work out. He'd just slip invisibly and grab the necklace from Paulina and chuck it back into the ghost zone. Then hopefully he'd never have to think about this night again.
"Who said they were misplaced?" Star said from behind him, as she grabbed his hand.
"Huh?" Danny said, barely comprehending as he turned to look at Star again. She had a pretty mischievous grin on her face.
"Who said they were misplaced? Like you said before, we don't really know each other yet, so you could have said 'I asked you because you were pretty' and it'd be a decent enough answer for us to try and get to know each other. You were honest with me, and I really appreciate that. I don't like Dash's bullying either, but there's not much I can do about it really. If I told him to stop, he wouldn't listen to me, pretty much the only person who could make him is Paulina, and she's not in any hurry to do so." Star said, pulling Danny back and putting his hands on her waist.
"I see. Maybe Sam and Kim were right about being popular." Danny said, trying to regain his mental footing.
"While I won't say it's worse than getting bullied all the time, Paulina doesn't exactly make it easy." Star said, rolling her eyes a bit. "It's all keeping up with fashion trends, being forced to maintain a specific size at all costs, arriving at just the right time to events. Going to parties whenever possible. While some of it is fun, it is also exhausting sometimes."
"Probably nice to be invited to the parties though." Danny said.
"It would be if you were allowed to enjoy yourself, but you're forced to just interact with the same people, and listen to only specific kinds of music. I have to keep a separate hidden playlist of the classic rock stuff I listen to with my dad, because according to Paulina the only thing we can listen to is the top 40." Star said, rolling her eyes.
"Yikes." Danny said, feeling sorry for the girl. "Why bother putting up with her like that?"
"Aside from the social suicide it would be to go against her? She wasn't always like that. Concerned about her looks and wanting to be popular? Sure, that's always been Paulina. But before it was just make-up, cute clothes, and keeping up with trends. Minor stuff that was honestly pretty fun. Something over the last year changed her though. I keep hoping that maybe she'll realize what's happening with her, but I'm losing hope." Star said, down a bit. "Let's leave that topic alone for the night. I'd rather get to learn a bit about you really."
"We can do that, although I will tell you I'll probably need to do something about Paulina tonight. A necklace of mine that I had brought to show my friends fell out of my backpack, and it looks like she found it, so I need to get it back from her." Danny said, giving her an apologetic look.
"That's fine, I'm sure we'll get a chance. Now, do your parents really hunt ghosts?" Star asked.
"Well, they try." Danny said, as the two began trying to get to know each other a little better. Conversation between them flowed pretty well, Danny learning that they actually had a number of interests in common. Star was also interested in astronomy, although notably it was from her love of painting, she loved how galaxies in the sky on clear nights had these unusual abstract shapes to them, and had been painting star scapes in her off-time for years. She also loved ice-skating, and had dreams of maybe someday competing in the Olympics.
Their good time however, was cut short when Paulina came over to the pair. "Hey, loser. Get away from Star, she's way out of your league." The hispanic girl said, her hands on her hips. "Come on Star, let's get you back to your date. Where is he?"
"Danny is my date actually." Star said, moving back over to Danny. "We're actually having a nice time."
"Ha! That's a good one Star. Now seriously? Where is your date? You are way too good for this loser." Paulina said, grabbing Star's wrist.
"I'm not joking. Danny is my date, and I'd appreciate it if you'd let us get back to it. He was just telling me about what he was hoping to do after high school." Star said, grabbing on to Danny's arm in a somewhat protective manner. Danny could tell she was nervous about speaking to Paulina like this, the nails digging into his arms gave it away. Thankfully, Danny had sprung for a nice jacket that was more than sturdy enough to handle Star's nails, which Danny noticed she had painted a nice blue color that matched her dress. Cute.
"What does it matter what a loser like him is doing after high school?" Paulina said. "You shouldn't be seen with him, he's a loser!"
"Why is he a loser? It's not because he's not handsome, he's pretty cute! If it's his normal clothes, he obviously cleans up nicely as you can see. So why shouldn't I have a nice time with him?" Star asked, obviously frustrated. Danny could see the metaphorical claws coming out. He wondered if he should step in. He would have to eventually, Paulina couldn't get too mad.
"He's a loser because of his weird freaky parents! He's a loser because he hangs out with the other losers! He's a loser because he's always BEEN a loser!" Paulina yelled, obviously getting worked up. Danny noticed the red in her eyes, and was beginning to panic. He needed to do something, fast.
"Look, let's just take a second and…" Danny started trying to curb the emotions running between the two girls.
"He's not a loser! We've seen that there ARE ghosts with that weird Lunch Lady last month! Plus the weird animals that Phantom guy has been cleaning up around town, so his parents were right! I got to talk a bit with Sam and Tucker and Ron, and they seem nice! Sam looks beautiful today! Tucker cleaned up nice too, and he and Valerie look like they're having a great time! Every time I've seen Ron with Kim they look like they're having a blast! It seems like they'd be way more fun to hang around with than Dash and Dale and everyone." Star spat back, angrily herself.
"LEAVE THE LOSER!" Paulina screamed, as the dragon took over. Danny and Star watched as the petite latina girl began to grow large and fell on all fours, her neck extending and scales sprouting from her body. Her long black hair gave way to green spikes, and her nose and mouth extended to become a large snout.
"What is that?" Star asked, while Danny quickly scooped her up.
"Ghost dragon, explain later, run now." Danny said, rushing her away from Paulina's draconian form. Star is aghast at not only how quickly and relatively calmly Danny reacted to this situation, but also how easily he seemed to pick her up and run away with her. Star had always hoped a guy would sweep her off her feet, but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.
Setting Star down beside a table he kicked over to act as a barrier, he saw Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Kim, Ron, and Josh Mankey coming to hide behind it as well.
"Got a plan Danny? We knew this would happen." Sam asked, looking over at him.
"Thinking of one. Give me a second." Danny said his mind was rolling through options. He needed to slip away to become Phantom, but he wasn't sure where he could go.
"What? You thought this would happen?" Kim asked, looking over. "This the same dragon from the mall?"
"Probably, it's actually Paulina. That necklace I showed you the other day from the dragon in the ghost zone? Turns out it's from an ancient princess who would turn into a dragon when she was angry. Didn't know that at the time. Tucker found out yesterday." Danny said, catching Kim up to speed.
"Perfect, I can't even try and fight it in this dress." Kim said, looking angrily at the garment she was wearing. It was a black dress that Sam had seen and picked out for her, while Kim had initially not wanted to try it on, Sam had convinced her, and Kim was impressed. It came down to a few inches above her knees, and hugged her figure in a way that had Danny definitely take notice. It unfortunately did not provide her the range of motion she needed to fight.
"Why are you all so calm about this?" Star asked, looking at Danny, Tucker, Ron, Sam, Kim, and Ron.
"What use is there to freak out? Besides, we were already at ground zero for the Lunch Lady incident, and around when this dragon attacked the mall. After that, Dad ran Sam, Tuck and I through ghost fighting drills. Sam and Ron do super hero stuff all the time, so it's not like they're completely out of their element here.
"I wouldn't say that. I would say we should be running!" Ron said, obviously frightened, but notably still holding his ground.
"Yeah! This is WAY out of my league, I'm outta here!" Josh Mankey said, making a break for it and leaving out of one of the side doors.
"Real brave of that one." Valerie said, eyes rolling. "I gotta admit though, what are the rest of us doing here? Kim and Ron might be superheroes for hire, but the rest of us don't have any experience in this!"
"Wait, Danny. If this is a ghost dragon, shouldn't your parents have something to take it down? Why not call them?" Star asked, her nerves still shot. The others around her though were staying much calmer, and it was easing her worries a bit, they seemed to at least have some idea of what they should be doing.
"You're right, but I have to get somewhere I can do it." Danny said, before noticing the doors that Mankey had run out of. "There. I'll get some help. It shouldn't take too long. Who knows, maybe Phantom's already on his way." Danny nodded at them, before rushing out the door. He immediately made a turn and ducked behind a set of bushes. People didn't have their attention on him, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. The now familiar rings of light surrounded Danny, as he transformed into his alter-ego: Phantom.
Flying back in through the roof, Phantom got the dragon's attention. "Hey! Scaly! I know that there's meant to be a homecoming queen, but she doesn't need to be kidnapped by a dragon!" He quipped, before pulling a long strand of ectofilament from his pocket. Danny and his father had made a large batch earlier in the week, and Danny had hoped that its strength would hold against the massive ghost that he was fighting.
"NO LOSERS" Came the reply from Dragon Paulina's mouth, obviously not really caring about anything he said. It seems that hadn't changed at all during the transformation.
"Only loser I see around here is you!" Phantom quipped, before performing a quick loop around the dragon's mouth, managing to wrap it in the ectofilament. With the teeth, and more importantly the flames, dealt with Phantom got on the dragon's back and pulled with all his might. Paulina thrashed in her draconic form, trying to fight back against the ghost boy's grip on her snout, but her inexperience with the form left her without the strength to counter Phantom's pull. With her head pulled back, Phantom saw what he was after: the necklace. Maintaining a tight grip with one hand Phantom quickly flew and grabbed the amulet, ripping it off of the dragon's body. With the magic of the necklace gone, Paulina began to return back to normal, while Phantom saluted those nearby and flew off.
Danny ran back into the gymnasium a few moments later, faking as though he was exhausted from running a long distance. "I.. just saw Phantom fly off with the necklace… I guess everything's good?" Danny said, knowingly having just dropped the necklace off on the roof. He'd return and get it tonight before he went to bed, but without a wearer, there was no rush.
"Yeah, looks like Phantom saved our hides again." Tucker said, noticeably glad the encounter was over.
"Looks like the dance might be over though." Valerie noticed. While the fight between Phantom and the Dragon hadn't caused much damage, beyond a table that Paulina had stepped on, and a few banners knocked off by the weight of her steps, it seems like most of the others in the gymnasium had left, including the DJ.
"Well, maybe it doesn't have to be. Tucker, you have your PDA on you right?" Danny asked.
"Of course, what nerd wouldn't?" Tucker said, pulling it out of his pocket.
"Think you can jack into the sound system, play us a couple more songs before we leave for the night?" Danny asked.
"Piece of cake, any requests?" Tucker asked.
"Some classic rock maybe, something nice and slow." Danny said, winking at Star, who blushed.
"You got it Danny. Think I know something perfect." Tucker said, as he made his way over to the speaker system and plugged his PDA in. A few seconds later, the sound of Aerosmith's Don't Want to Miss a Thing came through the speakers.
"Care for this dance Star?" Danny asked, holding his hand out to the blonde girl.
"I'd love to." Star said, taking his hand and moving onto the dance floor, where she quickly put it on her hip and stepped close to him.
Tucker and Valerie also got together for their dance, seemingly having a good time, and Sam and Ron decided to have a dance as well.
Kim watched her friends and their dance partners, before taking a moment to look out of the doors that Mankey had run through. Her friends had stood their ground when the ghost dragon attacked. Even Ron, who she knew was scared out of his mind, had held on, hoping they'd figure out a plan so he could help. Kim knew that events like these were going to keep happening, Kim Possible had been ground zero for weird events since she got her first hero gig on her babysitting website. She'd need a partner that was able to keep up with her… at least a little bit. It looked like Josh Mankey wasn't that partner. Kim looked back at the dance floor, and saw Danny laughing at something Star had said. Kim had seen him pick up Star and rush her away from the dragon, and how he had been planning on how to fight back that entire time. Even him rushing to call his parents seemed… calculated. Like he fully expected to need to do that. Kim let it go now though, leaving herself with only the thought that she'd quite like her next boyfriend to be like Danny.