A/N: It's time! She's here! Welcome back for another chapter, and one I'm very excited about. We're Fanning the Flames of love this time my friends, and it's going to be a wild ride. If you didn't see, I also posted a small little challenge fic on Wednesday, so if you want some more of my writing you can go check it out. It's unrelated to this story, so no need to worry about that part. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy! Please comment and review, I read them all!
"Won't you please be my friend?" Klemper asked as he breathed another cold blast in Danny's direction. Danny dodged low, forming a barrier overhead to stop the excess snow from the icy formation they were on from blowing onto him. His ghost physiology was doing pretty well at staving off the cold, and even before then Danny was the kind of guy who would wear shorts when it was snowing, but Klemper seemed to have breath that would make a Minnesotan shiver.
"Where I come from, friends don't usually try and freeze each other into popsicles!" Danny called out, firing a blast before moving to take cover behind a rock. Danny, Kim, Star, Sam, Tucker, and Ron were taking their first real expedition in mapping the ghost zone, and one of their stops was this icy outcropping, which seemed to have its own weather patterns separate from the rest of the zone.
That had been something they were documenting about the zone. Somehow the entire place had an atmosphere, there was air to breathe, and no harmful amounts of radiation. Geiger readings had actually detected the opposite, there was no radiation in the ghost zone, none from the sun, or from any traditionally decaying radioactive isotopes. There was also a very skewed sense of gravity, there was no unifying down, it seemed only thought was what kept you tethered to any mass. There was likely some attractive force, but it was negligible due to the small size of all the masses they had found in the ghost zone.
"Danny! Deal with the guy in the pajamas so we can go home! This ghost zone is spooky!" Ron's voice came over Danny's earpiece. Jack, Maddie, and Technus had developed the Fentonpods, a modified bluetooth earpiece that used ectoplasmic energy to send and receive signals. They also filtered out 'ghost noise' which Technus said was a sort of low frequency sound that the ghost zone, and to a much lesser extent ghosts, emitted. In the amounts one found in the ghost zone, it would supposedly drive a person mad with prolonged exposure. Ghosts were immune to it, but people seemed particularly affected.
"Trying Ron! The ghost zone isn't so bad though is it? I expected a lot worse!" Danny said, as he flipped Klemper and sent him flying. "Alright, I guess that's enough scouting today. Let's head back." Danny flew into the speeder, before transforming back into his normal self. That moment was when all the cold from Klemper's attacks hit him. "Jeez, my hands are like icicles. That Klemper guy has to have been breathing like… -40 or something." Danny said, rubbing his hands together.
"Give them here, we'll warm them up." Star said, taking one of Danny's hands between hers, while Kim took the other.
"Who'd have thought one of the benefits of having two girlfriends would be a hand warmer for each hand?" Danny said with a smirk as the three smiled at each other. Little moments like this had become more common as they eased into the relationship. They had been totally and completely open about it for a while now, and while not everyone approved (James Possible had nearly strapped Danny to a rocket, before his wife calmed him down) they had found comfort in each other.
Sam looked at the throuple with a sigh. She had accepted their relationship, knew they were good for each other, and saw not only how happy they made Danny, but how happy Danny made them. Kim and Star had even seemed to find their own bond in being with Danny, effectively treating it like gaining a sister. While before Kim didn't have much in the way of female friends, being Danny's girlfriend alongside Star had given her one, and the two were incredibly close. A horrible sound brought her out of her musings.
"EMBER! YOU WILL REMEMBER!" Tucker's voice sang off key, his baritone voice attempting to move into a register it just wasn't designed for, breaking every step of the way.
Danny, Kim, and Star took a moment to glare at the beret wearing boy, somewhat upset at him for ruining their moment. "What are you even singing?" Danny asked.
"You don't know? There's this cool new artist, she just dropped this on Spotify last night, it's great! Her name's Ember McClain, she's like KISS meets Avril Levigne meets Kelly Clarkson! She's got this tight early 2000s pop-punk vibe it's sweet!" Tucker said, as he continued jamming out to the music in his headphones.
"Since when is Tucker into pop-punk?" Star asked, looking over at him. "Always took him for an EDM guy."
"He is, but Tuck expands out occasionally. Guess this is one of those times." Danny said.
"Well, if she does sound like that, I guess I'll need to listen later. I do love me some KISS." Star said, smiling. "I guess Tucker found that the Fentonpods do still function as normal earbuds. That's useful, I think they're kinda cute as an accessory."
"You thought so too? I thought they were kinda cool and retro-tech. I love stuff like that, that's why Wade designed my Kimmunicator the way he did." Kim said. "Looks like Danny gave us a cute present without even meaning to. Thanks babe."
Danny flushed, before saying "They do look good on you, but everything does really so that's no surprise."
"YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME!" Tucker's voice sang again. Ruining the mood. Sam couldn't help but laugh.
At school the next day, Danny is getting his things out of his locker when he sees Paige, a girl from his algebra class walk by, Danny stops her for a moment. "Hey Paige, do you know if we need the workbook today?" Danny asked, before stopping and recognizing the name on the shirt she was wearing. "An Ember shirt? Didn't she just drop her album yesterday?"
"I don't know about the workbook, but you like the shirt? I heard her music and just HAD to rush out and buy her merch. It's amazing!" Paige said, before walking off and humming a song to herself.
Danny looked around and saw tons of people wearing Ember merch, from shirts with stylized logos of her name, to pictures of her, a few girls had even gone so far as to match her eye-makeup. "What's happening?"
"Good, I'm not the only one noticing what's up." Kim said as she came over. "We never hear of this girl and overnight she's bigger than Taylor Swift? Everyone in the school is wearing her merch."
"I gave her stuff a listen last night, it's pretty good but not worth going THIS crazy over." Star said, looking around.
"I swear, this feels way too supervillain plot to me." Kim said. "Drakken had a crazy idea for appearing on a singing competition show once to market a brainwashing shampoo, but ended up dropping it when he realized that no one watched those types of shows anymore."
"How do you know that?" Danny asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Shego talks about his failed plans all the time. She really likes making fun of him." Kim said, rolling her eyes a bit.
"She talks while you fight?" Danny asked. "And here I thought quipping with villains was my thing."
"I don't do it quite like you do, but I'm a bit quippy." Kim said with a smile.
"Alright, before you make jokes about tongue battles, I'm going to have to stop you so we can go to class." Star said, pulling the two of them from their little stupor.
In class, Mr. Lancer addressed everyone, "Students, it is my great displeasure to inform you of the upcoming mandatory SAT test. I know none of you are excited to take it, but it is important. Colleges are requiring all students to take this test, and while I know you are Freshman and College seems far off, understanding this test now will prepare you for success in the future. We will be using the results we get from these tests to place you into classes for the next year. Those who perform well will move into the advanced classes, those who perform poorly, remedial. As part of a grant we received from the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology, we are proud to offer you this new study tool they have developed, called the Cram-o-matic." Lancer said, as he revealed what could broadly be described as a VR headset attached to a salad strainer. "This device, developed by the enterprising minds of the MIST research department, will provide you with information and test questions as quickly as your mind can process, through a groundbreaking technique of beta-wave manipulation. Use of the Cram-o-matic is not mandatory, but it is an option that is available to you should you wish. Now, in front of you are practice books. I will be here to assist in any matters you may have trouble with."
Danny looked down at the book, opening the first page, where it gave a brief overview of what the SAT was, what it measured, and how it was proctored. He was beginning to read the first question when a noise came from outside.
"Ember, you will remember…" came from a tour bus that pulled in front of the school, several students jumping up to look out the window at it.
"Hey! That's Ember's tour bus! It's parked outside! Come on, let's go see!" Came the voice of Paulina, who dashed out of the classroom, followed by many other students. When the dust settled, only Danny, Star, Kim, Sam, and Ron remained.
"The Sun Also Rises! What on Earth has gotten into those students?!" Lancer said, using his PG friendly expletives. "You all stay put, I need to go wrangle those hooligans!"
"That's odd right?" Ron asked, and the others nodded at him.
"I've got a sneaking suspicion this is more than just teen mania… there's something going on here." Danny said. "Question is more, is it one of Kim's or one of mine?"
"Another question is why we're seemingly unaffected." Kim asked.
"At the risk of getting in trouble, why don't we go investigate?" Star asked. "I might not be a superhero like everyone else in the room, but I'm sure between the two and a half that are here we can manage."
"Why am I half a superhero?" Ron asked, faux-hurt in his voice.
"Sorry buddy, it's what happens to sidekicks." Danny said with a laugh, as they all got up. "Cover story is that we were pretty sure it was against school rules to be in a room without a teacher, so we went to where a teacher was."
"Seems almost like we're responsible." Star said, laughing a bit.
As the group made their way outside, Kim called Wade to have him look into this Ember person, but to avoid listening to her music if he could. Danny pulled out his phone and dialed for Technus.
"Fenton Works, Nikolai speaking." Technus said, using the practiced response they had for callers.
"Technus, it's Danny. Got any info on an Ember?" Danny asked. Technus had been cataloging ghosts he knew about in the zone in their system, so they could recognize threats as they popped up.
"Oh, that one! Ember is a ghost, former human like myself. Has sound-based abilities." Technus said, before continuing. "Her guitar is a special piece of tech I would love to examine, it seems to amplify her powers unlike anything I've ever seen."
"Know anything about her being able to control people? Or why certain people would be immune?" Danny asked.
"Not impossible given her powers, it's like a less powerful broadscale version of overshadowing. She can't control them completely but could control some thoughts. You being immune would likely be because of your innate resistance to ghost noise, she likely uses it as a basis. Are any of the other immune people wearing Fentonpods?" Technus asked.
"That accounts for three. Ron's immune as well it seems, no Fentonpods in." Danny said, noticing that Kim, Star, and Sam were all still wearing their Fentonpods.
"Curious. I have no explanation for his immunity." Technus said.
"Alright, thanks for the info Technus. It's gonna make the rest of this a lot easier." Danny said, as they finally made it outside.
"So what's the Plan Danny?" Kim asked, deferring to him on ghost matters.
"Figure out what she wants. If she just wants to be a rockstar, make sure she's not using her powers to do it." Danny said, looking over the crowd. On the top of her van, Ember was holding her guitar, a microphone clipped to the side of her head.
"Tell me who you love Amity Park!" Ember said, her voice booming over the loudspeakers on her bus.
"Ember McClain! Ember McClain!" The crowd chanted.
"Students! Calm yourselves at once! All of you come back inside this instant!" Mr. Lancer said, speaking into a megaphone he had acquired somewhere.
"Hey! Don't let the man keep you down! Get him!" Ember said, as the crowd turned towards Mr. Lancer, making their way to him.
"Nope! Can't let that happen." Danny said, as he quickly turned invisible and transformed, flying through the crowd to turn Mr. Lancer intangible and pulling him out of the violent mosh-pit. "Alright Mr. Lancer, this is ghost territory, so I'd like it if you'd leave it to the professionals. Don't blame the students for this, they literally can't control themselves." Danny said, putting on an authoritative voice. Kim had mentioned when saving people, they tended to want a certain tone to be spoken to in, one that made it seem like you had everything under control, even when you didn't.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Phantom? You're real?" Lancer asked, shocked.
"People still think I'm a myth? Really?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes. "Get out of here, I'll deal with this."
Danny flies back to where the crowd had gathered around Ember's tour bus, but it had driven off. Danny flew back over to where Kim, Star, Sam, and Ron were standing and transformed back.
"Great, she's gone." Danny said, looking over at the crowd who it seems had mostly come to their senses and were shuffling back inside.
"Could be worse, we could not know where she's going. She'll be at the music store in town afterschool. Seems like as good of a time as any for Phantom to go on the interception." Sam said. "Although until we finish this, I guess we're going to have to keep the Fentonpods in."
"Probably for the best, although I really wonder why Ron is immune." Danny said, looking over at him.
"Ron never really gave into peer pressure like that I guess, maybe she just can't get a good hold on him?" Kim suggested, giving her best friend a once-over.
"Which would make sense why Tuck would be affected then. He's all about peer pressure and trying to be popular, despite his hobbies." Danny said, watching as a girl did Tucker's make-up to have similar eye-markings to Ember.
"For now, let's head back inside and work out a plan. Kim, let Wade know he needs to be listening to our audio through Fentonpods. I sent him a set, so he should have them. See if he and Technus can work out a way to block or counteract her powers." Danny said, as Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and sent the message.
"I'll grab mine and Tucker's thermoses, Ron can carry Tucker's today." Sam said, looking over at the blond boy. "Welcome to Team Phantom for the day, Ron."
"At this point, shouldn't we be like, Team Phantom-Possible?" Star suggested. "It's not like the lines between them haven't blurred to the point of non-existence anyway."
"You're not wrong." Kim said, thinking about it. "Really all that's separate is that most of the team can't go on missions with Ron and I."
"Don't think this means you're putting me in your uniform." Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Really? It's a black thermal, I figured that'd be up your alley." Kim said.
"The thermal I don't mind, I'm not huge on your pants, why do you think I always wear a skirt and leggings?" Sam said, gesturing to her legs.
"Fair enough." Kim said, while Danny laughed at their banter. He was glad they were mending bridges a bit.
Afterschool, the diminished Team Phantom-Possible made their way to the music store, where a crowd had already formed. Ember stood in front of a massive cardboard cut-out of herself, giving Danny his first really good look at her. Ember was definitely the ghost of a human, roughly 16 or so, her skin wasn't green like most ghosts, but a spectral gray. To someone who didn't know she was a ghost, it would be easy to assume it was simply stage make-up. She had markings around her eyes that accentuated them, drawing the gaze to her blue irises. Her hair was styled in a long flowing ponytail, that was the same blue as her eyes. Her outfit was obviously very 80s hair metal inspired, a black asymmetrical crop-top, tight leather pants, and massive platform boots with skull motifs. Honestly, it was a look Danny could easily imagine Sam trying.
"Gotta admit, she's got style." Sam said. Danny smirked at his correct assumption.
"Regardless, I'm going to go try and confront her. Hopefully she'll give up the mind control, but I'm not holding my breath on that. There's a fire-escape over there that takes you to the roof. Meet me up there." Danny said, transforming and flying off to meet Ember on the roof.
Landing behind her Danny saw her turn around, giving him a confident smile. "Amity Park's Ghost Boy. You've been making a name for yourself babypop. Take down Skulker, cause a mass break-out of Walker's Prison? You're making waves." Ember said, putting a hand on her hip as she looked him over. "Gotta admit, I expected you to be taller."
"I get that a lot. Now, I'll give you one chance to drop the mind control act. You want to be a rockstar that's on you, but you have to do it without the powers." Danny said, throwing on his authoritative voice.
"Ha, you're cute. What do you plan to do about it babypop? I know you're just jealous you can't do it. Bet you'd love a crowd of girls screaming your name." Ember said, giving him a challenging glance.
Danny fumed internally at that. He wouldn't do that, that's the kind of thing Vlad did. Danny wouldn't allow himself to do that. He owed it to everyone to not abuse his powers for his own benefit. "Not on your after-life McClain. I don't want to have to fight you, but I will."
"Bring it then dipstick!" Ember said, as she struck a power chord on her guitar, sending a blast wave at Danny, who held his ground and took it. He shot forward, closing the distance rapidly as he invisibly pulled Ember away from the eyes of the crowd and flipped her over his body to the center of the roof.
Ember narrowed her eyes, before firing another beam at him. Danny made a shield and caught the blast on it, as Kim, Star, and Sam made it up onto the roof. "Phantom!" Kim called out, taking care to use his hero name. It didn't do any good to hide it from the ghosts, they seemed to have a natural sense of his status as a half-ghost, and his identity was already out. There was still a crowd of people below though so secrecy mattered.
"Aw. You have a little cheer squad. I guess you're not as squeaky clean as you act Phantom." Ember said.
"Think again Primadonna." Kim said, slipping on her Ghost Gauntlets as she rushed towards Ember.
Ember batted the initial punch away with her guitar, bringing her platform boot up to catch Kim with a high kick before bringing the guitar around for a swing. Kim countered with a jab that caught Ember off guard, allowing Kim to slam the guitar into the ground to avoid the swing.
"Cheerleader's got moves, so tell me, which one of you girls is babypop's here?" Ember said in a confident manner, knocking Kim back with a shove.
"None of your business Ember!" Danny said, squaring back-up for the fight.
"Doesn't matter then, this should be plenty of trouble." Ember turned a dial on her guitar, the indicator pointing to a heart sticker. "Let me play you a love song babypop." With a powerful strum, a pink heart flew out of Ember's guitar, and slammed into Danny.
"Ha! Didn't even… hurt." Danny said, as his eyes glazed over for a second, before coming back to reality. "What was that?"
"Just what you needed, babypop." Ember said as she saunted over to him, giving him a kiss on his lips. To everyone's surprise, Danny didn't stop her. "Let's leave these losers alone and go have some fun, why don't we?"
"Yeah, let's go." Danny said, his tone somewhat confused.
Kim, Star, and Sam all gazed up as Ember and Danny flew away, as Ron finally made his way up onto the roof. "Woo, made it… where's Danny and the rocker chick?" Ron asked.
"They flew off." Sam said, her voice sadder than usual.
"Oh, so he's fighting her then?" Ron asked.
"No, they're probably making out." Kim spat, angrily. "He didn't even try and stop her!"
"I haven't even kissed him yet." Star said sadly, looking off in the direction they flew off in.
"Sam, fill me in please?" Ron asked, thinking that the fuming Kim or the depressed Star likely wouldn't be any help.
"Ember just walked up and kissed Danny after she hit him with some kind of attack. He didn't fight her off or anything, then she told him to come with her somewhere and he followed." Sam said, shaking off her own feelings on the matter.
"Well duh, he's just being mind controlled like everyone else is!" Ron said, gesturing to the still rampaging group of teens below. "Star, KP, do you really think Danny would just drop you two on a dime like that?"
"No. He wouldn't." Kim said, anger still in her voice, but recognizing Ron's point.
"Still doesn't make it hurt less." Star said holding her hand over her chest.
"We've just got to break him out of it, like the others." Ron said. "KP, see if Wade has made any headway."
Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and opened the feed with Wade, who had Technus beside him. "You two find anything? Situation just got way worse over here."
"Yes, we believe that sufficient shock should manage to undo her control." Technus said, looking over a tablet he had in his hand.
"Looks like the shock needs to be related to the cause though, otherwise a general loud noise would mess it up." Wade said.
"Any suggestions?" Star asked, hopeful.
"I believe that a sufficiently bad singer singing Ember's song would be capable of undoing the damage. It would attribute the positive emotion felt by the song to a sufficiently shocking negative one in hearing it sung badly." Technus suggested.
"If you can get the Kimmunicator hooked into her sound system at her show, Technus and I can broadcast our idea of a counter frequency." Wade said.
"Who are you going to find who can sing that bad?" Ron asked.
"Wade, could you pull the audio from the Specter Speeder yesterday? Tucker was singing her song then, it should be plenty bad." Sam suggested.
"Can do." Wade said. "You said the situation got worse though, what happened?"
"Danny's under her mind control now too, it's different from what she's got on everyone else though." Kim said, still angry thinking about it.
"How did she perform this controlling act?" Technus asked.
"Looked like a blast from her guitar. Not the song, almost like a normal attack." Star said.
Technus pondered for a moment, looking through some files on his tablet. "Well, a more powerful burst of ghost sound would provide similar effects to even a ghost, and Ember's guitar is a powerful amplifier of such effects. Generally though, the process for undoing the effects should be similar. In what way is she controlling him?"
"The goo-goo eyes makes me think she's made him fall in love with her." Kim said, anger crawling back in.
"She did say she was playing a love song… I suppose that fits." Star said.
Technus smiled, before shouting out. "Undoing it should be easy then, simply reinstate your feelings over him. Ember could not create feelings out of nothing, she likely just increased his feelings of physical attraction. You two have a deeper connection, use that and you should be able to overpower it."
"Well, I suppose that's as good of a plan as any." Kim said as the group prepared for their new mission.
Making their way to Ember's concert, the group showed their tickets to outside security. They were fakes, made by Wade and while normally Kim would have many things to say about Wade making fake tickets to concerts, considering this one was a front to take over the world, she'd let him off the hook. This time.
After making their way inside, Kim, Star, Sam and Ron ducked behind a concession building, and began to discuss the plan. "Alright, Ron, you're going to take the Kimmunicator and find the controls for the sound system. Wade and Technus will walk you through everything so it shouldn't be too difficult once you find it." Kim said, handing Ron the device. Outside of Kim, he had the most experience with it, and since Kim was needed to possibly fight the ghost, he was next on the block.
"You got it KP." Ron said, saluting as Rufus popped out of his pocket and mimicked him.
"Alright, the three of us are going to have to sneak backstage, we'll have to figure out some way to either snap Danny out of his trance or fight ember on our own. Star, do you have your ghost gauntlets?" Kim asked.
Star slipped them on and pounded them together. Since Danny no longer had anyone close to him he needed to hide his powers from, he no longer needed to keep these as a back-up for ghost fighting, Star had taken to them happily. "You know it."
"I've got a thermos and a wrist blaster too." Sam said, showing her items. Sneaking them past security had been easy, the Thermos was just a thermos, and once they realized it was empty had been a non-issue. The blaster looked like a piece of funky jewelry, so it had barely warranted a second glance.
"Alright, let's go deal with little miss rock and roll." Kim said, as the group split up.
Backstage, Ember was in her dressing room, preparing herself for her show. Danny sat on a chair in the corner, listening to her as she spoke. "And done. You know babypop, once everyone in the world is cheering my name, we'll have this whole world under our thumb." Ember said, glancing over at him with a look.
"Why would you want that though? Surely just having people like your music should be good enough." Danny said, his good nature fighting through the control.
"Not after what this world took from me, I'm going to make EVERYONE pay." Ember said, the flames of her hair shooting up.
"That doesn't seem like it would solve anything." Danny said.
"What would you know? You're still alive. You still have every chance in the world to be whatever you want to be." Ember said coldly.
"Maybe so, but even if I wasn't, being angry at the world for my misfortunes wouldn't solve my misfortunes. If I died in the accident that gave me my powers, it wouldn't solve the fact that I died for me to try and get revenge for the incident. I've seen what happens when you go down that path, it isn't pretty." Danny said, thinking about Vlad. Vlad had sought revenge for his accident, and all he had to show for it was that he was bitter and alone. Vlad's hatred had stopped him from ever finding any happiness.
"You don't get it babypop. They laughed at me. Ridiculed me for my music. The night before I died, the boy of my dreams stood me up on a date as a cheap joke, just to show me how pathetic I was. I'm not pathetic anymore though, I'm about to have the world in my hands. Everyone will remember the name of Ember McClain!" Ember said, shooting her fist into the air.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but does that goal need you to rule the world? Couldn't you just be a rockstar? Get your name recorded in the Rock and Roll hall of fame and you'll be remembered for a long time." Danny said, standing up and pulling her into a hug. "You don't need to rule the world to be remembered. You don't even need to be famous. If you change one person's life, your legacy will last."
"Man, you're not just some spellbound fanboy are you? Those hero instincts still kicking strong aren't they? I'm going to rock this world, have it eating out of the palm of my hand, and then I'll have everything I've ever wanted!" Ember said, her eyes determined.
"And what is that?" Danny asked.
"Love, adoration. The chance to show everyone they were wrong, that Amber McCain wasn't a nobody, she was the rock star they all wished they could be!" Ember said, spitting bitterly at the end of her speech.
"That was your name then? Amber? Makes sense. It's cute." Danny said, the love spell still holding strong over him.
Ember paused, she hadn't expected to tell him that. She hadn't expected to tell anyone who or what she was before she was Ember. All of that, all that was Amber had died in the fire. Ember was what emerged from the ashes. "Yeah. It was."
"But, you could have love and adoration without the mind control. I'm immune to your song, but I thought it was pretty good. I know my girlfriend Star also liked it, and she was immune too." Danny said, smiling as he thought about it. The mention of Star pulled him for a second.
Ember noticed her control waning for a second, so she pulled him into another kiss. Not that she was complaining about needing to. Danny was certainly interesting to her, and part of that included his status as a DAMN fine kisser. Ember had learned a lot about him recently, and while he was under her love spell, she'd learned even more. It was no secret Danny was powerful, strong enough that he could probably take over a good chunk of the zone. Standing up to Walker and breaking out of his prison, even with the help of Skulker, Johnny, and the others was no small feat. He had that power, yet common talk among the ghosts was a tendency to try and talk it out first. Sidney Poindexter had actively fought him and he talked him down. The Box Ghost had mentioned open dialogue. Technus had even actively chosen to work with him as opposed to fight him. The word from Technus throughout the zone had been 'as long as you aren't trying to do people harm, you wouldn't be fought'.
"She's not your girlfriend anymore babypop. I am. I'm all the woman you need." Ember said, reaffirming her hold on him. She paused for a second as she poured some of her power through the connection she made. Would he have fought her if she wasn't using her powers to control her audience? He had started their fight earlier by telling her to stop the mind control, not to stop entirely.
Could she be a rockstar without the powers? Of course, she thought, she was awesome. The greatest rocker in the Ghost Zone, and soon to be the greatest in the human world. She'd stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats, her name would be remembered alongside them, Angus Young, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Gene Simmons, and Ember McClain.
If she didn't need them though… Why was she using them?
"Ember, babe, you okay?" Danny asked, looking at her with concern.
Ember gazed into his blue eyes, darker mirrors of her own since he had transformed once they were in her dressing room. He was so vulnerable now, he wasn't as durable when he was human, if she wanted him totally removed, it'd be childsplay to simply get rid of him now.
Why couldn't she though?
Everything had been so simple just a few hours ago. Controlling the record label, the recording studio, even the crowds of fans were nothing. Here was Danny though, making her question everything. Why did she need to control people, why did she need to take over the world? Questions she once thought she knew the answers to were forcibly re-examined, and she didn't like the answers. Why couldn't she hit him? Why did the thought of disposing of him hurt her now? It wasn't his good looks, the two jocks who acted as her security, Dash and Kwan she vaguely remembered they were called, were technically more attractive. More muscles, better proportions, everything HE had been when she was alive. Everything she thought she wanted in a partner. Yet, they meant nothing to her, she could easily see herself throwing them away after tonight, it had been her plan after all, they were just more power to her. Danny though… she couldn't imagine that. It wasn't the power, after tonight she'd be stronger than him by a wide margin, if she wasn't already. It wasn't his looks, he was cute, but not THAT cute. What was it? Why was she hesitating?
Why couldn't she deal with him?
"Yeah, I'm… fine." Ember said, looking away. She'd deal with… whatever that ball of feelings in her stomach was after the show. Two hours, that was all that stood between her and having enough power to rule the world.
"If you're not feeling up to it, we can cancel the show, I'm sure everyone won't mind, you are controlling them after all." Danny said, the hero in his voice obviously showing distaste for that action, even if the spell she had him under meant he couldn't do anything about it.
Ember's heart sank at his distaste. She knew her control over him wasn't total, no matter how much power she had, she wouldn't be able to completely control his every thought, she could make him feel something, but that was it. Her powers extended to feelings, she could enhance and suppress them, but couldn't make any that weren't already there. In Danny, she had simply dialed up the amount he was attracted to her, and then once she kissed him, managed to spin a web that was a convincing approximation of love. Danny didn't love her, real love wasn't an emotion Ember could make him have in such a short time frame. Danny thought he was in love with her, and yet was still standing his ground, showing his morals. She had tried to suppress those, but she found that if she tried that, the 'love' she had made started to disappear too. Danny's principals were so important to him, that attempting to remove them was something that could break her hold on him. If she tried to break his principals, make him view them as less important than her, it was too far for him.
A buzzing sound went off, Ember looked over and noticed the time, her show started in five minutes, she needed to get in place. "We'll talk about this after the show babypop. Why don't you follow me out and watch your girl from the stageside huh?" Ember suggested, grabbing his hand and leading him out the door.
Where Ember expected to see her mind controlled security force, she instead found Kim, Star, and Sam, who had knocked the two football players out and now glared at Ember. "You! We're going to take you down!" Kim said, anger in her eyes as she rushed towards Ember.
"Babypop! Get her!" Ember yelled, as Danny moved to intercept Kim.
"Come on Kim, calm down. It's alright." Danny said, holding Kim's arms in his hand. Kim for the first time realized just how strong Danny was. She was giving it her all, trying to move her arm, and Danny wasn't budging at all.
"It's not alright Danny! She's got everyone mind controlled! She's trying to take over the world!" Kim said, stopping struggling. She wasn't getting anywhere trying to outmuscle Danny, so she'd need another tactic.
"I'm not thrilled about it either, but I'm hoping we can work through that." Danny said, looking over to Ember.
"She's got you under mind control too!" Kim said, staring into Danny's green eyes.
"I know. I'm trying to fight it off, but I can't." Danny said, to the shock of everyone present.
"Babypop, you know? You're fighting it?" Ember asked, looking over to him in shock. She'd never had someone fight her control before. What was this guy that he could try?
"Of course I know. I don't fall in love with a girl I just met who is doing something I would never condone. I wouldn't leave my girlfriends who I loved so much just because she said so. I know my mind is altered. It doesn't make any sense for me to do these things if it wasn't." Danny said. "You can't make me do things I wouldn't do. I know you want me to hurt them, but I can't. I would never hurt them."
"Danny, fight it then, we love you, so please, come back to us." Kim said looking into Danny's eyes.
"I know Kim, I'm trying." Danny said, his tone still neutral.
Ember was left confused for a moment, he was fighting it off. She couldn't fully control him, but he hadn't tried to leave, he hadn't told her to stop being a rockstar, just to stop mind controlling people. He'd been insistent about that, even if he couldn't do anything. Knowing he was resistant was one thing, knowing he was actively fighting against it was something else entirely.
Ember pulled out her guitar, turning the dial to a shockwave. "Back away from him girlies, he's mine now!" She said, before strumming, sending a wave of weaponized sound towards them.
Danny turned around and put up a barrier, stopping the blast. Ember looked on in shock. "Babypop! That was supposed to hit them! Why didn't you let it?"
"No Ember, you can't hurt them." Danny said, his voice struggling. His will fought against Ember's control, and she could feel it slipping. She needed to reaffirm it, she needed more power. If she could solidify it while he was actively fighting back against it, it might break him. Might make him stop.
Ember quickly made her way to the stage, calling out her catchphrase: "Amity Park, Tell me who you love!"
"Ember! Ember!" Came the reply from the crowd, their words filling her with power. She fed off of the energy of the crowd, metaphorically and literally as she felt their words wash over her. She glanced over at the cameras, the live feed was being cast all over the world. Anywhere with an internet connection could be tuning into her broadcast, millions upon millions were watching, chanting her name by the compulsion she sent out. Her power soared, manifesting in the massive growth of the flame that was her ponytail. It gave away her status as a ghost, but it didn't matter, once Danny was under her thumb, no one could stop her. She was too powerful, she headed backstage once more leaving her fans with a bass solo from her skeletal bassist as she turned the knob on her guitar to the love spell again. She'd make him love her, not a facsimile, real love. He'd need her, and she'd never be alone again.
"Alright Babypop, say goodbye to blondie! She'll never be your girlfriend again!" Ember said, slamming her hand down in a massive strum, the heart taking hold of Danny again. Ember had poured everything into it. Surely Danny's will couldn't overcome that. Not after all the power, all the chanting. She was the most powerful ghost in history now!
Right?
"Don't wanna… fight…" Danny said, obviously still fighting the control. "Ember… love… mind control bad…." Danny said falling to the ground as he gripped his head in his hands.
Star had enough she leaned down and lifted up Danny's chin, giving him a kiss on his lips. "I love you Danny, so don't you dare fall under this ghost girls spell you hear me?"
Danny paused… Star kissed him? She said she loved him? They… hadn't done that yet. Danny's mind became clearer.
"Star… I'm sorry it was under these circumstances we had our first kiss." Danny said, starting to stand up.
"Lock her in the thermos and we'll have a better second one." Star said, as Danny turned his gaze. "How are you feeling?"
"Honestly? Like someone broke my heart, but I know just who to take it out on." Danny said, before flying at Ember, she tried to retaliate by strumming another chord of her love song, but Danny closed the distance too fast. A solid hit knocked her out of the venue where she was performing and into a field nearby.
Ember got up, confused, hurt, and angry. How had they broken him out of her spell? She was so strong now, her control should be absolute. "Come on Babypop, don't you still have any of those feelings for me?" Ember said, trying to pull back some of her control. Danny was capable of fighting her spell, but he was still somewhat susceptible to it, maybe she could pull some strings and make him slip up.
"Ember, you had every shot if you really wanted me to be with you, that love spell was powerful, you almost had me really believe I was in love with you. But here's the thing about that, I wasn't just a love slave. I didn't like what you were doing, I was hoping I could convince you to see reason. You don't need the mind control to get everything you're looking for, you could do it on your own merit. Now, stop all of this before this gets any worse." Danny said, his voice cold.
"You're lying, but it doesn't matter. With all these people chanting my name? I'm unstoppable. You won't be able to keep up in just a couple minutes of them chanting, and I'm already stronger than you now. Give it up Babypop. You lost. If you join me though, I'll make sure you have everything you want. Fame, money, power. Me." Ember said, letting the energy build up inside her more. She wasn't lying, she was stronger than him now, and as the chanting continued, she'd keep getting stronger and stronger. The gap wasn't widening as fast as she thought it would though, he'd been holding back, and as she got stronger, he was letting loose more and more. She flew at Danny, hoping to catch him off guard and overpower him. She was growing stronger by the second, but she worried he'd somehow manage to catch up.
Kim glanced off in the direction of their fight, watching the blue fireball that was Ember begin pummelling Danny. She was upset that there was nothing she could do, Kim didn't do well with feeling powerless. She tapped her Fentonpod "Ron, Wade, Technus, any update on getting the sound system rigged up?"
"Just finished it up now it's not going to be much use if she can just turn it off and get everyone controlled again, she'll need to be distracted." Wade said over the earpiece, the clacking sound of his mechanical keyboard implying he's working on something.
"Star broke Danny out of his mind control, so he's keeping her busy away from the venue. Send it!" Kim said, and she heard Wade hit a key on his keyboard.
"Ember! You will remember!" Came Tucker's voice over the loudspeaker, pulling together isolated clips Wade had pulled from their call logs to form one coherent, and terrible song.
Kim watched as everyone in the crowd covered their ears, the horrendous noise pulling them from their trance. Looking over at the fight between Danny and Ember, Ember's blue flame began shrinking, she was losing power as people stopped cheering for her.
"What? No!" Ember said, watching as her ponytail shrunk. It was barely an ember now, a small spark.
"Looks like your 15 minutes are up, Ember. Maybe try again without the mind control, you'll go farther." Danny said, as he knocked her to the ground and pulled out a thermos, sucking her into it with little resistance. Danny capped the thermos, before flying back over to the stage, stepping into the back and transforming, pulling Kim and Star into a hug. "I'm so sorry guys."
"It's okay Danny, we know it wasn't you doing all of that, really." Star said, hugging him tighter. "Sucks that we didn't have a better first kiss though."
"Well, how about that one doesn't count and we do a better one?" Danny suggested, leaning forward and kissing Star, causing her to pop one leg up.
"That WAS a better one, how many girls have you kissed Danny? You're way too good at that." Star asked,
"Three, You, Sam, and Ember, although one of those was under mind control." Danny said, being honest.
"Make it four then." Kim said, coming over and giving him a kiss as well, they separated and let their foreheads touch while they both held their hug with Star.
"Four then." Danny said. "I'm glad you're here girls."
"We're glad to be here Danny. No ghostly side-chick is going to push us away." Star said, leaning up and kissing Danny on the cheek.
"I have to admit, I feel sorry for Ember though… While I was mind controlled, she told me a bit about who she was before she died. It was awful some of the things people did to her." Danny said, feeling sympathy for the ghost.
"For her to be that angry in death something would need to happen in life. What did she talk about with you while you were under her spell?" Kim asked.
"Mostly her plans for after she controlled the world, I kept trying to tell her she didn't need the mind control to have her dreams come true, I mean, I was immune to her regular song and I thought it was pretty good. She has real talent as a musician, she could probably pursue a career without the mind control." Danny said.
"She also turned you into a mindless puppet! You're just going to let her get away with that?" Sam asked, speaking up for the first time since Danny came back. She'd been giving the other girls some space, but she wasn't going to sit idly by while this happened.
"No, I'm not. That's why she's currently locked in this thermos. I do wonder… could we like, rehabilitate her? Nothing about her actual goals needed world domination, maybe she just needs to be shown a better way." Danny suggested.
"Danny does always try and see the best in people… I guess that's one of the reasons I fell in love with him." Star said, leaning into Danny's side.
"About that… you said the L word when I was being controlled." Danny said, looking at Star.
"I did, and I meant it. I love you Danny, and I'm glad I'm ready to say it." Star said, smiling.
Danny smiled back, pulling her into a hug. "Not sure if I'm quite ready for the big L word myself yet, but I'll certainly let you know I'm getting there, and it makes me so happy that you feel it."
"Good enough for me Danny." Star said, kissing him again.
"I'm not ready for it yet either, but I know I'm certainly close." Kim said, giving him a kiss.
"Same applies. I'd go through anything for you girls. I'm glad you pulled me back from her spell." Danny said, holding them both close.
Sam smiled as she looked on. She knew Danny really cared for them, and while it hurt her a bit inside that Danny didn't have the same feelings for her, it hurt less than it used to. She'd grown accustomed to their relationship, and it didn't hurt the way it did before. In time… she was sure she'd get over those feelings for Danny. He'd be her best friend, but… that's all he'd be.
As Ember was forced into the Ghost Zone, she looked around and found the room of lost items Spectra and Desiree had mentioned they ended up in when they were captured. She flew out, getting her bearings. She knew where she was, near that icy outcropping Klemper hung out at. Her plan had failed, she'd been stopped by Phantom and his entourage, yet… she couldn't be mad. She wanted nothing more than to be angry, furious, but she couldn't. The rage wasn't inside her. All she felt was… longing. She wanted to be a rockstar, wanted to rock the world. She wanted Phantom to be by her side, a powerful, attractive, heroic bodyguard to protect her from the world.
Why did she want that?
Why did she… feel something for him?
Why did the kiss she saw the blonde girl give him make her feel so… lost?
She should be angry about her foiled plans, be cursing Phantom's name and swearing her revenge, but all she wanted was to be talking to him back in her dressing room, feeling his lips on hers again, feeling his strong hand rubbing her back.
Ember flew towards her realm. She needed to plan, come up with something to deal with whatever emotions she had rolling around inside of her.
She'd find out why Babypop made her feel this way, and she'd do… something about it.
Make him hers probably.