A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for getting back to me on the smaller filler chapters. I'll probably write a date for each of the girls as a small interlude (those will canonically take place between This chapter and the next one, since this chapter is in Februrary, and the next chapter is in May.) That will hopefully give me some time to really get a backlog going. Currently I've only got one chapter after this one that's finished, and I don't even have notes for the rest of them. I'll make sure to get that handled though, so hopefully there won't be any need for interlude chapters between Episode 17 and 20 (which is the end of Season 1, and the place where I originally intended to include some non-DP based interlude chapters.) Beyond that, I just want to remind everyone to comment and review! I love reading your thoughts on the chapters themselves, and I respond to most questions I get, either through a reply to the comment or a PM. On with the chapter!
Ember sat at her vanity, applying a few final touches of her make-up. Despite what many in the Ghost Zone thought, the markings around her eyes were not a part of her natural form, just make-up she applied regularly. She imagined she could have them be a part of her, but the act of putting it on was almost soothing for her. A ritual that reminded her of being alive.
Looking into the mirror again, Ember checked everything over. The eye make-up was flawless, her face given the nice basic contouring she liked. She noticed that the small amount of blush she applied was a little uneven, but nothing terribly noticeable, trying to correct it would simply make it more obvious. By all accounts, she was ready for her concert. Ready to belt out another punk anthem to the crowd of skeletons that always filled her concert hall.
Why then, did she feel so unready to perform?
She knew the answer, she hated that she did, it was Danny.
Ember drew her power from her emotions, she knew that. The adoration of fans gave her more fuel for her fire, but it was the emotions that gave that flame direction. Danny however, had twisted her emotions all in knots ever since their first encounter. Initially, he was a distraction like any other. A cute ghost boy she made fall in love with her as a means to stop him from interfering with her. She had been attracted to him physically, his jumpsuit wasn't exactly baggy, and gave her a good look at the muscles he had under it. Deciding to mind control him wasn't exactly something she was opposed to. The first kiss they shared was just to tease the girls who were with him, since it was pretty obvious one of them was his girlfriend. That kiss, though, had fired something in her. It felt GOOD, better than any she had remembered from when she was alive, and even more than anything she had experienced as a ghost.
She took him to her dressing room, while her brainwashed fans readied a stage for her to broadcast her performance to the world. He had asked her about her plans, and she had told him. Initially it was just an attempt to gloat, but then he started questioning it. Ember had been forced to internalize why she was using mind control to become a rockstar, rather than just using her own talent. She had, without thinking, spilled the circumstances of her death, trying to find justification for why she did things how she did.
Ember let her mind wander to that again, it was an incident that always held real estate in her mind. David, the boy she had had a crush on for the entirety of her interest in boys, had asked her out to the movies. She had been ecstatic, putting on her best dress and waiting patiently for him at the movie theater. The showtime came and went, but she still waited, thinking that maybe they were going to see a later one. When that showtime passed, Amber McCain, the poor girl she used to be, realized she'd been stood up. David had done this to make a fool of her, and she didn't know how to take it. Dejected, she had walked home, holding in tears. She made her favorite spaghetti, trying to cheer herself up, but she couldn't remember being able to eat much of it. She'd simply gone upstairs to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep. Unfortunately, she had left the burner on the stove on, which had started a massive fire. Amber McCain didn't wake up, her body succumbing to the flames without anyone to notice her. What emerged from the ashes was Ember, the rocker that Amber had always wanted to be.
From beyond death, Ember had watched as her parents mourned the loss of their daughter. She noticed though that that was what they mourned, their daughter. They didn't mourn Amber the person, if anything, they seemed to blame her for her death. Amber's love of rock music was called out as the catalyst for her death, her own mother blaming the 'devil's music' for taking her daughter away.
Ember hated that, she hated that Amber was completely forgotten in favor of this theoretical daughter her parents wished they had. Ember recognized what the purpose of her afterlife was. Amber McCain had died, but that didn't mean her dream had to. Ember burst from those ashes and made a promise to carry on, her rebellious spirit continuing on.
Ember had told all of that to Danny, something she had only ever told Kitty before, back when they exchanged death stories. Danny sympathized, didn't judge her, and simply had her question why she had thought that dream needed her to take over the world. Ember didn't have an answer for that anymore, she supposed she had just gone mad with power, and once she reached an obstacle she couldn't overcome had made her reevaluate what her dream meant.
Danny's ability to fight her control had been something she hadn't accounted for, she knew that total control over him wasn't possible, not without overshadowing, but the amount of resistance he had was staggering. She couldn't MAKE him do anything, even with his 'love' focused on her. It had also taken only a kiss from Star to pull him out of it.
Ember thought about that kiss, and how it seemed so much… more than what she had gotten from Danny. Ember had kissed Danny many times during his tenure under her thrall. He was a damn fine kisser, capable of making her toes curl up in her boots, but what he did with Star? That was a whole other level. Ember saw the love, the care, the affection in that kiss. She had thought she had a convincing approximation to love in her control over Danny, but she realized she wasn't even close. What she could make him feel was like comparing an ant to a crab. Lots of overlap, parts in similar places, but obviously not the same.
A knock on her door pulled Ember out of her musings. She huffed in annoyance, who would dare to enter her realm unannounced and then just knock on her door? Reaching out, she got her answer, and her anger deflated. Kitty was the one person who was allowed to do that. Ember opened the door for Kitty, the green-haired ghost stepping through excitedly.
"Hey Ems! You doing okay today?" Kitty asked, shooting a smile towards her best friend. She stepped and collapsed onto one of the beanbags Ember had in her dressing room.
"Well enough I suppose. Did you need something Kitty?" Ember asked. Kitty was allowed to just drop by, Ember enjoyed her company, but Kitty usually didn't come by without a reason.
"I didn't need anything really. I knew you were just hanging out here alone, and Johnny was just working on his bike all day, so I thought we could have some girl time." Kitty said, a smile on her face.
"Tired of the dipstick caring more about his bike than you?" Ember asked, an eyebrow raised.
"He's doing a lot better. I'm not going to fault him for the bike this time since it actually got a little roughed up in a fight yesterday. It's part of him, so he can have some time with it." Kitty said.
"Someone tried to fight Johnny?" Ember asked, surprised. Johnny and Kitty weren't pushovers, most ghosts knew better than to try anything. You'd have to be someone on the level of Skulker to stand much of a chance.
"Some guy calling himself 'The Phantom Racer', he was trying to steal Johnny's bike to supe up his own bike. Johnny handled him pretty easily, but he managed to get some solid hits on the bike." Kitty said, waving the event off.
"Must be a new guy, haven't heard of him." Ember said, taking a seat back in her chair.
"I hadn't either, but that's besides the point. Something's got you off your game, what's going on?" Kitty asked, her eyes gazing into Ember's.
"What makes you think I'm off my game?" Ember asked, trying to deflect the question.
"You know I can just tell with you. You give off these… vibes. They're different right now. You're thinking about something and it's taking something out of you." Kitty said, squinting a bit as she looked at her. "Last time you were like this was… September. You were like this right before you started planning your big world takeover. Are you thinking about how you died again?"
"Fine, yeah, a bit." Ember said. She should know better than to try and hide something like this from Kitty. Ember swore Kitty had some kind of emotion sensing powers.
"What brought it on? It's not anywhere near the anniversary, and I don't think you've been to the human world for something there to trigger it." Kitty said, looking at her.
"I was actually in the human world last week. New record store in Amity, Last Will Records." Ember said, maybe trying to pull Kitty off the scent. It wasn't a lie, she was there.
"Pick up anything good?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, they had a copy of 'American Idiot' which babypop recommended to me." Ember said.
"Babypop? That nickname you had for Phantom? You're still using it?" Kitty asked, her gaze questioning.
"Yeah, what of it? He's at least gone beyond being a dipstick." Ember said, trying to brush it off. She had let it slip unintentionally.
"Well, I dunno it sounds kind of… flirty. Like you like him or something." Kitty said, gears turning in her head.
Ember scoffed, putting on a veneer of that thought being ridiculous. She knew that Kitty was right on the money though. Phantom, Danny, Babypop, they had a stranglehold over her heart at the moment. She wasn't even really sure how to process it.
"Ah! You do! You've got a thing for Phantom!" Kitty called out, recognizing the look on Ember's face. She'd seen it a thousand times on a thousand different women, the love struck look, and the fear of acting on it.
"What, no! I don't like him." Ember said, her face flushing a light green.
"Nah, you like him. Easy to see." Kitty said, smiling at her. "What's wrong with liking him? He's cute, he's powerful. If I didn't have Johnny I'd think about it."
Ember gave in, realizing she couldn't hide it from Kitty. "It's just… he's human. I'm a ghost. I don't think he'd even give me the time of day in regards to dating. Nevermind the mind control I did on him and everyone else."
"Well, I guess that is a stinker. I don't think you being a ghost is a huge problem. He's human primarily, but he's also half-ghost there's that connection with him. The mind control stuff might be." Kitty said.
"Even if he's as willing to look past it as he said he has been, I don't know if the other girlies will. I've got big competition, babypop's got two girlfriends!" Ember said, frustration in her voice.
"Three, there's a new one since November. Surprised you hadn't met her yet." Kitty said.
"Who, the goth chick?" Ember asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, she wasn't around when you first met him. Her name is Sam, like the goth chick, but they're totally different. She's smart, another red-head with green eyes. I'm wondering if he has a type." Kitty said, tapping her finger to her chin.
Ember tried to internalize that new information. He'd gotten another one? She hadn't noticed for months? She must have been more deep in her own head about this than she thought. Time was strange for ghosts at the best of times, the Ghost Zone didn't have day or night cycles except in a few specific places, and the ageless nature of ghosts meant that keeping track of time in the human world was difficult.
"Anyway, you should still try, Ember. You'll never know what could have been if you don't." Kitty said, trying to hype up her best friend. "Think of how cool it would be! We could double date!"
"Assuming I even could get with Babypop, do you think you could get him and Johnny to stop fighting long enough for an actual date?" Ember asked. Danny and Johnny got along decently well, but they always sparred. Johnny kept trying to get stronger in an attempt to keep Kitty safe, and Danny always relished the chance to practice his powers against someone who wasn't trying to kill him.
"That's half the fun Ems! They'll trade punches for an hour, give us some entertainment, and then they're too tired to resist doing whatever we want!" Kitty said, giggling a bit.
"Doesn't matter anyway, there's no shot I could get Babypop to go out with me. I'd kill to just get him to look at me for a second like he looks at Blondie or the Cheerleader." Ember said with a sigh.
Kitty looked as though she was mulling something over in her head for a second, before she reached into her purse and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here, take a look at this."
Ember grabbed the paper, looking over it. Outlined in it was a plan Kitty had for the next time Johnny's eyes wandered too much. She would overshadow a girl and hit on some guys to make him jealous. "Your weird expectations of Johnny's eyes wandering aside, what does this have to do with me?"
"Duh! You can overshadow a girl and try and go on a date with Danny! Valentine's Day is coming up! It's perfect!" Kitty said, excitement evident in her voice.
"I don't know if that's actually a good idea, Kitty. Even assuming I find a girl I can overshadow and go on a date with him, where do I go from there? I'm not joyriding some random girl forever, that's something Babypop would hate me for." Ember said, her eyes furrowing.
"You go out on one date, take over a girl for like, 2 days tops. Then you tell him that you're actually Ember, you like him. Want his ghost babies, all that jazz." Kitty said, causing Ember to go completely green in embarrassment.
"Woah Kitty. Ease up girl." Ember said, trying to regain some composure. "I guess maybe trying a date wouldn't be too bad, but how would I find a girl to take over?"
"Let's go scout out! Danny's got tons of girls he sees on the daily, surely one of them will be good!" Kitty said, floating out of the beanbag she was in. "Come on! Let's go!"
At Casper High, the Cheerleading team was once more setting up another event for the school. Heart shaped balloons, red and pink streamers, and a selection of fake roses filled the gymnasium in decoration for Casper High's Valentine's Dance. Kitty and Ember floated by the windows, peaking inside.
"Alright! Looks like Danny's girls are all with him right now, plus a few others! You're spoiled for choice." Kitty said, looking down at them. "The redhead there with the blonde and the black haired girl is Sam, though they call her Sammy to avoid confusion with the goth chick."
"Damn, it'd be easier if she wasn't a knockout too. Babypop's got taste I'll give him that." Ember said, taking a moment to admire the girls Danny seemed to have snagged.
"All the more reason you've got a shot! You're smokin'!" Kitty giggled, before turning her attention back inside. "So, who are you thinking immediately?"
"Well, one of the girls he is already dating would make it way easier, I think so that would be the two red-heads or Blondie." Ember said, scoping out her targets.
"I don't think Kim would be easy." Kitty said, looking at the cheerleader who was currently hanging up a banner with Danny. "She's got tons of willpower, if she caught wind that she was being overshadowed, she could probably fight you off before you could stick your hold."
"Is that how overshadowing works? I've never really done it." Ember asked, her relative inexperience with her powers shining through. Despite being a ghost for a long time, Ember never really explored a lot of her powers. She focused so much on her music based abilities that she never really bothered with things like overshadowing, even though it was something she knew she could do.
"More or less. They can only really fight you off for a few seconds once you initially take over. It's harder to push someone out then keep them out." Kitty explained. "So, Star or Sammy."
"Well… I guess Sam might be harder for him to notice something being off about." Ember said, looking at the intelligent red-head. "They've not known each other as long."
"Good idea." Kitty said, looking over at where Sammy was talking with Alex and Clover. "I guess you'll just need to wait for her to be alone to overshadow her. Her friends there would probably notice if you did it in front of them.
Sammy walked away from Alex and Clover, making her way to the restroom. "Jackpot! There's your chance! Go get her girl!" Kitty called out, first pumping as Ember rolled her eyes, phasing through the building.
Sammy felt a chill run up her spine as Ember entered her body. Ember's control was near instant, the shock not giving Sammy any time to fight back. Ember smiled as her hold settled itself over Sammy, taking a moment to admire her temporary body. "She's pretty hot, but this dress is SO not me." Ember said, hearing Sammy's voice for the first time. "That'll take some getting used to." Ember, as Sammy, made her way back to the gymnasium, smiling as she took a look at Danny.
Danny floated a couple of millimeters off of the ladder. He really hated this one, it wasn't balanced well and wobbled a bit. He'd let Kim have the more functional ladder since he only really needed it for appearances. Danny tied the final knot he needed, and his end of the 'St. Valentine's Dance' banner was properly secured. He started to climb down the ladder, minding the wobble as he made his way to the floor.
"Hey B- Danny." Sammy said, capturing his attention.
"Oh, hey Sammy. You need something?" Danny asked his newest girlfriend, something he was still getting used to. Not just Sammy being his girlfriend, but having more than one. Turns out five months wasn't enough time for him to adjust to it not being weird.
"Yeah, you see, with the dance and all. I was wondering if I could be your date." Sammy asked, her face flushing red a bit. Ember flushed internally as well, why did Babypop make her so unsure of herself like this? She's supposed to be a rocker, not a shy schoolgirl.
"Of course you'd be my date. I'm taking you, Star, and Kim." Danny said, somewhat confused by the implication. He planned on bouncing between them all night, trying to make sure they had a good time.
"Well, I mean like… focus on me a bit? Dance with the others sure, but… let me pretend at least for a little bit you're all mine?" Sammy asked, as Ember fumbled with her own words at the event. Sammy's heart was beating fast, and Ember was unsure how to process it, having not felt hers at all in so long. It was an odd feeling, one that pulled her attention for a moment.
"What the?" Came a voice from within Ember's mind. She didn't pay it any attention, too focused on the feeling of Sammy's heart pounding in her chest.
"Uh… well I'm not sure about that. Not that I'm not willing to let you have that, but I have to be fair to the others as well you know? Need to make sure everyone feels appreciated and equal here. If they agree, I'd be happy to. Go talk to them about it." Danny said, shooting her a smile.
God that smile, Ember thought, focusing on it and the feelings it stirred within her. "Alright. I'll be back in a minute then." Sammy said, Ember walking her body over to where Kim and Star were going over their checklist for the decorations.
"Oh, hey, Sammy. What's the sitch?" Kim asked, looking to her fellow red-head.
"Well, I was wondering if you girls would be alright with me being Danny's main date for the dance? He'll dance with both of you still of course, but I'd like the chance for this to be a night I can really show him how I feel, you know?" Sammy asked, Ember hoping they'd buy the excuse. On Ember's side, it WAS true, that's why she wanted it. It was just difficult to know if this was something Sammy would do. Kitty didn't know anything about her personality, but she knew what it was like to be a teenage girl in love.
"Well, I had the homecoming dance alone with him, it was before we were together, but I got to have him all to myself for that dance." Star said. "I'm fine with letting her have a special night, not like we won't get chances ourselves."
"Yeah, I did get to go to that Doctor's Ball over Christmas break with Danny. Sure Sammy, take him for the night, we'll grab a dance towards the beginning and then you can have him until we go to leave. Mom wants pictures first though, so you'll have to share then." Kim said.
"Okay Kim. Thanks, both of you." Sammy said, Ember fist pumping internally as her plan worked. "Do either of you two have plans with him tonight?"
"Nah, I've got to babysit the tweebs." Kim said, looking at her watch. "Have to head out for that soon, actually. Star, you good to finish up without me?"
"Yeah, we're actually pretty much done. I've got to run the checklist one last time, but I'm sure there's nothing I need you for. I don't have any plans with Danny tonight though, no." Star said, looking over her clipboard.
"I think I'll take him out for coffee then. Get a little alone time before everything." Sammy said with a small smile on her face.
"Go for it, although Danny doesn't really like coffee." Star said. "Did you not know that?"
"Guess it never came up." Sammy said, Ember hoping it would cover her tracks a bit.
"Guess it wouldn't probably, I only know because I had him take me to Scarebucks for a pumpkin spice latte." Star said.
"Aren't those like… mostly sugar? Like super bad for your teeth?" Sammy asked. Kitty was an addict on those things, and that's what Johnny always told her. Ember wondered if as ghosts they needed to worry about dental health. Ember brushed her teeth everyday, but she wondered if she needed to for reasons other than freshening her breath, since it can and would smell.
"Not you too! Kim already gets on my case about them." Star said, somewhat overexaggerated despair in her voice.
"Don't come crying to us when you've got more cavity than tooth! I did my time with braces thank you very much." Kim said, before waving goodbye to her friends, sneaking a kiss from Danny before heading off.
"But yeah, go get him!" Star said, turning back to Sammy, giving her a thumbs up before going to finish the checklist of decorations.
Sammy stood still for a moment, watching Star walk off. Ember thought that Sammy was really lucky, sharing her guy with two girls who supported her romantic endeavors as opposed to stifling them to have more alone time with Danny.
"Yeah, I am." Sammy said, Ember reeling as she felt Sammy's consciousness enter her mind. "Now, tell me what on Earth you're doing in my body!"
"Sammy? You can interact with me?" Ember asked, dumbfounded by the experience. "I don't know a ton about overshadowing people, but I do know this shouldn't be possible."
"I get mind controlled a lot, I'm probably just resistant to it." Sammy said, Ember feeling the glare, even if it was in her mind. "What are you doing with my body?"
"Going on a date with Danny." Ember replied, recognizing there wasn't any reason to hide it.
"What?" Sammy asked, now more confused than angry.
"I've got feelings for Babypop over there. They started when I mind controlled him back in September, and I've been fighting them since. A friend of mine told me I should just bite the bullet and try it, see if maybe a date with him would either get it out of my system, or give me enough push to just tell him I really want him." Ember said.
"And taking over my body?" Sammy asked.
"I wasn't sure if he'd give me the time of day. On top of the fact that I'm a ghost and he's human, I DID mind control him once and try to take over the world. He says he's forgiven me for that, but.. What if that's just lip service?" Ember said, her anxieties about the situation coming through.
Sammy could feel the emotions coming from Ember. While they were in the same body, they were in some part her emotions as well. "Danny I don't think holds grudges like that. If you've really changed, I think he'd forgive you."
"I have… I really have. I still want to be a rockstar, but.. I don't need to take over the world. I just want people to like my music… and I want someone who likes me. Not Ember McClain the musician, but… Ember the ghost girl." Ember said, being vulnerable for a second. Having a body with actual teenage hormones was influencing her thoughts. Her mind was pulling itself back to how she was before she died. All the memories of Ember, but the heart, the feelings deep inside was little Amber McCain.
"Then are you sure lying to him is going to be the most effective way to handle that?" Sammy asked.
"I didn't plan on lying to him for long. I just wanted one date where he looked at me the way I'd seen him look at Blondie and the Cheerleader. Seeing him look at you while I talked to him earlier… it was everything I wanted it to be." Ember said. "After the date I'd ask if he had a good time, and then reveal myself, let him know that it was me who he did that with, and I dunno, kiss him silly or something."
Sammy laughed a bit at that. "Well, I guess that's almost like a plan. Look… I get it, Danny's a really easy guy to fall for, and you've known him for a bit longer than I have. I'm not thrilled about you taking my body for a joyride, but… I'll help you at least try and win Danny over. I can feel how you feel for him… if I didn't know any better I'd say you have it worse than I do." Sam chuckled again.
"Okay, we're going to go ask him out to coffee. You just help me make sure I act enough like you that he won't get suspicious." Ember said, as she willed Sammy's body forward.
"Okay, make sure we get a non-fat soy latte. That's my go-to. Danny won't know the difference, he's never been with me when I ordered it, but someone else who knows me might." Sammy said.
Ember stepped up to Danny, straightening her skirt a bit before speaking up. "Star and Kim are both fine with me taking the lead at tomorrow's dance. They're also fine with you taking me out for coffee right now."
"Oh? When were you going to tell me I was taking you out tonight?" Danny asked, his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his mouth. Ember and Sammy both internally swooned.
"I just did, now come on." Ember said, grabbing his hand and locking her fingers with his. The touch, while familiar and comforting to Sammy, was new and electric for Ember. She'd never bothered with a small gesture like holding his hand while she had him under her control, but now she wondered if she should have.
Danny and Sammy sat down in a corner booth at the coffee shop, away from everyone else. Sammy took a sip of the latte she bought, Ember getting to enjoy the flavor. She'd have to try this with her mouth at some point to see if it agreed with her taste the same as it did Sammy's.
"So Sammy, you've got me all to yourself for now, what do you want to talk about?" Danny asked, his eyes locking onto hers in a way that made the girl blush. Neither Ember or Sammy knew which one had that reaction, but both denied that it was them. They both had.
"Ask him about his encounters with ghosts. Start with you and then we'll cover our tracks by talking about some others. You're the first ghost he mentioned to me, so it would make some sense for you to come up first." Sammy coached in her mind.
"Why don't you tell me about some of the ghosts you've fought? I haven't been around for too many. I think you mentioned a rockstar ghost? What was that like?" Ember asked, trying to be somewhat coy.
"Yeah, her name was Ember McClain. You mentioned that Clover had gotten taken over by her music too. Yeah, she was trying to mind control people using her music to take over the world. Even managed to mind control me for a bit. That was an interesting experience." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as he thought about the memory.
"Ooh, I've got experience with mind control, leverage that and ask him how he felt about it." Sam coached again, trying to provide Ember with some personal context to dig deeper into Danny's feelings about the experience.
"I know what that's like, mind control is no fun. What was it like for you?" Ember asked, legitimately interested in learning about his perspective on the experience.
"It was… weird. She hit me with this attack that I just decided to take to make sure she didn't hurt Kim, Star, or Sam who were behind me. But the second it hit, I just felt different. Ember went from being an attractive ghost I was fighting, to like, one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen. Then she pulled me in for a kiss and I just… all I could think about was her. She brought me to her dressing room and used me as a kissing dummy for a few hours. I managed to question her on why she was doing what she did. She told me some stuff, about how she died, who she was while she was alive. How all she wanted was to be a rockstar, to be remembered." Danny said, sort of looking off into the distance. "I tried to tell her she didn't need to mind control everyone to do those things, but I'm not sure if I got through to her."
Sammy's heart thudded as Ember's emotions overflowed. "You did Babypop. Not right then, but you certainly did." Ember said internally, Sammy placing a metaphorical supporting hand on her shoulder in the mindscape they shared.
"Do you hold a grudge over the mind control? I've heard from Star and Kim that she showed up again on Halloween, and a couple other times." Ember asked, Sammy confirming that she'd actually gotten that information.
"As long as she isn't going to try and take over the world with it, I'm willing to let it go. If she's actually changed, that's all that matters. I like to think she has, she stepped up against Fright Knight, when she didn't have to." Danny said, a small smile on her face.
"What do you think of her now?" Ember prodded. Sammy internally expressed that that might have been a bit direct, but Ember had to know.
"She seems… better. More free I think. Probably not ready to start being a superhero or whatever but. I don't think she'll be a threat to the world anymore. Outside of that, I guess I don't really know. She was quick to help Kitty when she was in trouble, Kitty mentioned she was her best friend. The glimpses I've seen of her behind the punk rocker persona are pretty limited, but I think there's a nice person under there." Danny said, smiling a bit.
Ember smiled, internally and externally at that. Covering her tracks a bit, she asked about some of the other ghosts Danny fought, expressing actual interest in hearing his sides of those stories, since she'd heard many of the complaints from the ghosts about their encounters. Conversation between the two was smooth and easy, a rapport between them that Ember simply adored. Sammy smiled in the mindscape, happy to see actual possibility in Danny accepting Ember's feelings. She supposed it would all come down to how tomorrow night's reveal would go.
Sammy held on to Danny's arm as they walked into the gymnasium for the dance. They'd already taken pictures at the large heart arch display by the entrance, Danny taking individual ones with each girl, and then one with all of them, and now were able to just hit the dance floor to their hearts content. "Danny, how about you go ahead and give Star and Kim their dances, so I can have you for the rest of the night?" Ember suggested, as Star and Kim smiled a bit.
"We did promise her, so I guess we better deliver. Kim, you can take the first one, I want to spy on Tucker and Valerie having their dance." Star said, scanning the crowd for her best friend.
"Alright, come on Danny." Kim said, pulling him away from Sammy. The pair made their way to one of the corners of the gymnasium, away from the speakers so they could actually hear each other while they danced.
Sammy smiled at the pair, and Ember realized she didn't feel as much jealousy as she thought she would at seeing Danny with some other girl. "Good thing that it doesn't bother you, jealousy isn't going to get you far in this relationship." Sammy said inside their mindscape.
"I can imagine." Ember replied.
As the first few songs ended, Danny made his way back over to Sammy, taking her hand. "Well, looks like you've got dibs the rest of the night. Here's hoping I can make it as good as you want it to be." Danny said, as he put his hands on her waist to dance with her.
Sammy wrapped her arms around Danny's shoulders, feeling a little self-conscious about the fact that with the heels on, she needed to look down at him. "I'm sure you'll do great." Ember said, mentally stopping herself before she called him Babypop.
Ember relished his touch on her, enjoying the gentle swaying to the music. She appreciated the song, a loving rock ballad that was unfamiliar to her, but reminded her of the styles she grew up with. It wasn't 'Beth' but it would do nicely.
"You having a good time so far?" Danny asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't messing it up. Sammy had proven to be a date he was having difficulty getting a read on, at least compared to Star and Kim. He wondered if it was because of her spy training, or just growing up in different places.
"You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this." Ember said, leaning her head on Danny's shoulder. It was a bit awkward given the height difference, but the connection she felt in that moment was worth it.
Said moment however, was ruined quickly. "I'm sick and tired of this Fenturd." Came the arrogant voice of Dash Baxter. Ember recognized him, one of the dumb jocks she mind controlled for security detail. Sammy in her mentally joked there wasn't much mind to control.
"What do you want, Dash? Can't you see I'm a little busy?" Danny asked, turning to look at Dash, taking his arms off of Sammy's waist in the process.
"I'm sick and tired of you somehow getting every hottie in the school to prefer you over me! First it's Star, then Possible, then Valerie, then the three Beverly Hills hotties show up and they like you better than me too! This is insane! I'm the star quarterback, hottest guy in school, yet I couldn't get a date to this dance while you've got three!" Dash yelled, seeing red. "I oughta pound you into dirt."
"Touch him and you're dead dipstick." Ember said, moving to stand in front of Danny. Ember and Sammy were both annoyed at how Dash treated Danny. "You think just because you can throw a ball well means that every girl in the world should fall over themselves for you. Truth is you're just an arrogant jerk with an ego the size of a truck and the brain the size of a pea. No girl wants to go out with you because the only thing you care about is your ego and football. Now take a hike before I show you how much damage one of these heels can do." Ember said, glaring at Dash.
Dash, utterly confounded by anyone standing up to him, just walked off in a huff, fuming at the girl who had the audacity to talk to him like that. HIM! Dash Baxter! Star Quarterback!
Sammy turned back to Danny, red in the face. Both from the anger she had directed towards Dash, and the embarrassment she felt in blowing up like that in front of Danny.
"Wow, Sammy. That was quite the show you put on." Danny said, taking a look at her.
"Sorry about that, he just got me so mad." Sammy said, avoiding eye contact with Danny.
"How about we step outside before your hair catches fire or something." Danny said, leading her outside.
"Okay Danny." Sammy said, trying to recompose herself.
The February air was quite chilly, something Ember took notice of in the strapless dress she was wearing. The emerald green of it looked good on Sammy, but it wasn't something Ember would wear on her body… unless it showed some more midriff.
"Ember, step out of Sammy. I know you're in there." Danny said, looking into her eyes.
"What?" Sammy asked, dumbfounded.
"Ember. Get out of her. Now." Danny said, his tone not angry, but not leaving any room for argument.
Ember stepped out of Sammy's body, the red-haired girl feeling dizzy for a moment before recovering. The ghost girl turned to look at Danny. "How did you know?"
"Well, the final straw was you calling Dash a dipstick. Sammy would never say that, Ember would say that first thing." Danny called out.
Ember flushed, that was a pretty big giveaway wasn't it. "I'm sorry. I was going to tell you I was doing it tonight. I just wanted to wait until the dance was over."
"Sammy, did you know you were overshadowed?" Danny asked, looking to the red-head who seemed remarkably unsurprised by the situation.
"Yeah, she took over sometime during the set-up for the dance yesterday. I was able to… talk with her in my mind? I guess maybe all the times I'd been mind controlled made me able to do that or something." Sammy said, flushing red. "She's being honest about going to tell you though. She just wanted yesterday and today."
"Why?" Danny asked, looking over to the rocker girl.
"I've… got these feelings for you. Stuff I haven't felt since I was alive, and even then I didn't feel it anywhere near as strongly." Ember said, holding her arm in a shy stance that seemed remarkably out of place on the usually confident punk rocker. "The way you talked to me when under my spell, and then everything I've seen you do since then. You've just… completely stolen my heart. When I first got back to the ghost zone after you stopped me at the concert I was pissed. Fuming, raging against the world like I always thought was the punk rock way. But… every time I thought about punching you in the face, I couldn't. The thought of hurting you, like REALLY hurting you… I couldn't do it anymore."
"So when Johnny and I entered your realm near the end of October? What was that?" Danny asked.
"Being in my realm is… personal. I've been friends with Johnny for years and that was the first time he had ever really been inside. Kitty's allowed in because she's my best friend. The skeletons can be in there because they aren't people, they're mindless. You broke in, I was still working out the difference between the anger I felt at you stopping me, and the love I wanted you to give me. That event, seeing you give everything to help Kitty, a total stranger? That… did something. Then you went and fought Fright Knight. FRIGHT KNIGHT! Probably one of the strongest ghosts in the entirety of the zone… and you beat him. You had help of course, I was there, but you stood up to him even without it. That was braver than anything I'd ever seen. After that I realized that… well that I loved you. That I needed to be with you. I started going to those record stores, even knowing I probably wasn't going to buy much of anything, just for the chance that you'd feel a ghost nearby and come check it out. That we could talk, without needing to worry about one of our friends being trapped in a portal, or about Fright Knight terrorizing everyone." Ember said, not being able to look at him in embarrassment. She smiled though as she looked off into the distance to continue. "It happened once, you found me at that record store and we had a little chat about music. You told me to buy American Idiot, thinking I'd like it. You were right about that, but it was more than just the music they played I liked. It was the insight it gave me on you. You said it was one of YOUR favorite bands, and getting to share that little bit with you… well if I had a heart it would have been beating out of my chest."
"I didn't realize that suggestion would have meant so much to you." Danny said, still trying to process everything.
"I didn't think you would. At the time I wouldn't have wanted you to." Ember said, turning her attention back to him. "I do now though. I want you to know my feelings. I want to openly tell you I'm in love with you Babypop. I know I'll just be one girlfriend in four, but if that's what it takes to have you, then it'll be well worth it." Ember finished, a determined look on her face.
Danny processed the confession, internalizing it deep in his mind. Ember was attractive, he thought that before she had him under mind control, and the mind control's amplification of her opinion on her looks hadn't fully gone away. He still had full memories of their time together, how nice she felt in his arms, even if at the time he was still fighting it from the inside. Could he look past who she had been though? Had she truly changed enough for him to let her in?
"You're not going to take over the world anymore?" Danny asked.
"Not with mind control. If they bow down to me because my music's just too rockin' that's their fault." Ember said, a confident smirk on her face. Danny could accept that answer, close enough to a yes for him to count it.
"No using your powers to hurt or scare anyone?" Danny asked.
"I won't, I promise. I know how much these people mean to you, how much you want to protect them." Ember said, pouring herself into the answer.
Danny sighed, looking to Sammy. "She overshadowed your body for this, how do you feel about it?"
"Not the most thrilled about being a puppet… but we had plenty of time to talk while she was in my head. She's in love with you, has feelings at least as deep as mine if not more." Sammy said, shooting him a smile before continuing. "I'm ready to forgive her and accept her as my weird ghost co-girlfriend."
"Who're you calling weird?" Ember rebutted, mock offense on her face.
"The chick in the skull boots." Sammy said, tapping the skull markings with the toe of her stilettos.
"You know what, fair." Ember accepted.
"I'll go get Kim and Star. They're opinion is important in this too." Danny said, turning to walk back inside and get them.
The moments he was away were torture for Ember. The uncertainty in everything making her want to simply let herself fade back into the ghost zone. But she stood here. She loved Danny, she'd tolerate this for the chance for him to accept her.
Danny returned, Star and Kim in tow. "I explained it to them, but this is an open discussion so they can ask their questions."
"You genuinely thought overshadowing Sammy was the ideal way to get Danny to love you?" Kim asked, some obvious annoyment in her voice.
"No, but it was the way I could think of doing it. I needed him to go on a date with me, have a good time before he realized I was Ember. I didn't think he'd be as receptive to me just openly asking." Ember said, somewhat embarrassed by it.
"So you were willing to lie to him about who you were?" Star asked, before following it up. "How do we know you aren't just going to lie about other things in this? Are you going to get jealous and take over one of us if you don't feel like you get enough time with him?"
"I didn't want to lie, and the intention was always to come clean. I didn't LIKE deceiving him. It made me feel gross and yucky, but I also knew that being a ghost, and being a former bad guy… it would be a tough sell. I wanted him to see that I've changed. That HE changed me, for the better I think. And I hope Sammy here can speak for me… I didn't get jealous at all when he took you away for your dances. It was kind of nice seeing him be so happy with someone, even when it wasn't me." Ember explained.
Kim and Star looked at Sammy, who nodded in approval.
"There'll be ground rules." Kim said, starting it off.
"Trial period, if you start using your powers for the wrong reasons you're out immediately." Star added.
"I'll take any rules you give me, as long as they're fair. Babypop can arbitrate them." Ember said. "I'll prove to you girls that I love him just as much or more than you."
"Danny, it's your call." Kim said, looking to him. "I'm willing to give her a shot, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't want her."
"You can't date Danny Fenton for a number of reasons… but I guess you can be Phantom's girlfriend publicly." Danny eventually said.
Ember lept at him, crushing him into a hug and peppering kisses on his face. "You won't regret this babypop. I'll be the best girlfriend ever."
"Steep competition." Danny said, gesturing to the three others that were present. "Now, I'll give you one dance, but I promised Sammy that she got the night to herself after all."
"He did promise." Sammy said, coming up and kissing Danny on the cheek.
"Fine, give me my dance, Babypop." Ember said, a flame wrapping around her body as her clothes morphed into a form fitting black dress, with a skull belt hanging around her waist.
Danny transformed, turning to Sammy. "I'll be back after this song." He said, as the pair briefly flew up to the roof, the sounds of a love ballad still audible, as the ghostly pair slowdanced in the cold winter air.