Chapters: 23/? Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ember McLain & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton/Ember McLain Characters: Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton, Ember McLain, Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Kitty (Danny Phantom), Johnny 13 (Danny Phantom), Vlad Masters, Skulker (Danny Phantom), Valerie Gray, Paulina Sanchez, Dash Baxter, Star (Danny Phantom), Kwan (Danny Phantom), Guys in White (Danny Phantom), Nicolai Technus, Penelope Spectra, Cujo (Danny Phantom), Danielle "Dani" Phantom Additional Tags: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Existential Crisis, Canon-Typical Violence, Post-Canon, Past Relationship(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Minor Original Character(s), Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Slow Burn, Banter, Slow Build, Attempt at Humor, Kitty Is A Romance Terminator Series: Part 1 of Fire And Ice Summary:

After encountering a dispirited Ember during a routine patrol, Danny proposes a truce - he'll help with her problems if she'll help with his.

Quite how this leads to benevolent kidnapping, demolishing buildings and Ember waving an axe around, they couldn't tell you.

Now with a TVTropes page! Check it out and give it a fiddle!

zzzz

Dash: “What do you think of the new kicks, Fenton?”

Some stuff from my AU

Dash-Ares

Angry boiiiii

Day 6: Core

a good old fashioned dissection

DannyMay Day 6 - Core

What if ghost cores acted like gems from Steven universe? But more... solid? Like instead of light, cores gather surrounding ectoplasm to form a ghost, and when too much ectoplasm is lost, the remaining ectoplasm and ghostly abilities and stuff retreat into the core to recover, to gather enough ectoplasm to them reform.

Danny of course isn’t very graceful when this stuff happens.

DannyMay Day 5 Doorway

art insta is cbab_00

Give some love to the beefy frozen furry

Core - Day Six

Jack can’t remember when he first started hearing the humming.

It seemed to hover in his ear, buzzing constantly — not in an annoying way that would make him want to destroy everything in a ten mile radius until he found it — but rather a muted humming, like the sound of a bustling city in the distance, or white noise ruffling in the air.

Sometimes it was actually quite soothing. A few times he’d almost fallen over in a trance while inventing, Maddie clearly concerned to why he wasn’t his usual enthusiastic self.

At first, Jack didn’t really mind. It wasn’t as if the sound was annoying him, and the rest of his family weren’t bothered by it (if they were, they would’ve said by now), so he went on as usual.

But as time dragged on, the humming still remained. Faint, but there. Never really going away.

Yet, he still didn’t find himself being annoyed at the sound, rather a growing sense of curiosity at what the mysterious noise was. Where was it coming from? What was it?

Jack was a naturally curious soul, always questioning the why’s and what’s and how’s of the Earth. He’d driven his parents crazy as a child, but he only wanted the answers. If they couldn’t give them, then he’d set out to find them himself.

His ma, Florence, had been like that too. Or maybe not to the same extent, but she had always been a curious one, prancing with him through the wheat fields, while his older brothers and father worked on the farm.

She’d sit him on her lap, red curls pushed back and smiled at him with rosy cheeks and glittering icy blue eyes.

“Now don’t you ever lose your curious streak, you hear me Jack? Always be out there exploring.”

Then she’d died along with his baby sister, and then words had been even more important than ever. Instead of becoming more reclusive, like a majority would, he embarked on exploring on his mother’s behalf, completing adventures that she wouldn’t be able to.

Unfortunately, neither Danny or Jazz seemed eager to embark on adventures or even spend time with him anymore. Danny was distanced more than ever, he’d been splitting from them more, and Jack couldn’t even connect with Jazz anymore.

There’d been a brief time where Danny had wanted to be an astronaut and explore the stars, and Jack had marvelled (even if he had tried to push the career of a ghost hunter towards his son), seeing his mother’s curiosity shining through. But that had fallen and crumbled with the ashes.

So there he was, in the lab, the humming crooning in his ear like a low birdsong. It was stronger, Jack noted, there was a sort of routine. Stronger in the morning and evenings. Nonexistent in the afternoon, although sometimes there may be a slight whistle of invisible sound. On weekends, it was constant.

He was jarred by the humming becoming louder, in the direction of the lab stairs, and Jack watched as his son traipsed down the stairs, blue eyes dull and dreary with boredom.

Just at the same time, a ghost invention rang behind him, wailing loudly, bright crimson lights filling the lab an anxious scarlet.

Ghost core detected! Ghost core detected within a 1 metre radius-

Frustration filled Jack as he slammed a hand on the button of the invention, trying to get it to shut up. Now was not the time!

Ghost core—

Danny had gone quiet, simply frozen in place, staring at his father. Inadvertently, Danny placed a hand on his chest, and Jack stared in confusion, still frustrated that the invention had unsettled his son and ruined any chances of talking to him.

Although Danny's stance was unusual, he thought. The inventions always went off around Danny, that wasn’t anything new. However Jack had tried his best to make sure the Fenton Core Finder wouldn’t detect Danny, but here they were.

What even had the invention detected?

Turning around, the dark blue eyed man grabbed the invention, knocking a few other items over as he did so, glancing at the small digital screen on the bottom of the Finder.

Current Power Usage: 5%

Radius: less than 1 metre, East

Core Status: Stable

Core Strength: 8.3

Worry filled Jack as he glanced at the screen, eyes darting around the room. There was currently a very strong ghost, no more than a metre from Danny and him. They were invisible obviously, just waiting to prey on them both.

He cursed internally for not having the ectosignature finder, Maddie had taken that out on patrol and the other was currently a pile of metal on the floor from where he’d knocked it off the desk. He couldn’t fix it right now, there wasn’t the time and the ghost might attack while he was doing so.

And amongst that was that humming still, Jack had forgotten about it briefly, but it was there, strong and fluttering in his ear.

Danny still had his hand over his chest, almost defensively, just in the exact spot of where a ghost's core would be, he noted with amusement.

However, the look on Danny’s face was anything but amusement. His son looked genuinely terrified.

But, when had Danny not behaved like this?

Ever since the accident, in which he was still in the dark about what happened, Danny had changed. Stopped being the curious person that Jack hoped he would grow up to be.

The Accident.

Since that time, Danny had acted weird, the inventions were malfunctioning around him. Now, Jack couldn’t remember when the humming had started, but something also told him around the start of Danny’s accident.

The humming, it was in the morning and it was in the evenings and now it was even stronger in the lab. But what was it?

Jack glanced at his son again, and back at the Core Finder, back at where Danny was shielding his chest.

Cogs turned in his head. It wasn’t scientifically possible, but there, Danny was holding his chest where a ghost's core would be. The Core Finder had gone off—

No. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible.

“—Always keep exploring”

He couldn’t just give up, because something might not be possible, or didn’t make sense to him.

Jack opened his mouth, and Danny’s body hitched and tensed.

“Danno, are you that humming sound I’ve been hearing for the past six months?”

As a heads up I’ve got exams every single day of the week for the next two weeks (except Monday + Weekends), I should be able to post DannyMay daily the first week but from the 18th — 21st I won’t be as active since those are the exam subjects I struggle with. Next Monday is also my birthday (yay!) so I’ll be busy then too. Looking back maybe it wasn’t the best idea to start a one-shot a day project considering my last track record of DP events have never be completed, but I want to finish this.

Murphy

What if Danny’s jumpsuit had a hood with the goggles (like Maddie’s) but he just didn’t know it because it was tucked in his collar. Then a ghost or someone yanks him by the collar, pulls out the hood and Danny’s like “has that always been there?”

So he begins wearing the hood and goggles because it’s pretty awesome, plus the goggles allow him to see other ghosts who’re invisible. But now he’s got the goggles and jumpsuit, people begin to notice the likeness of Phantom’s jumpsuit to the Fenton’s.

Dannymay day 6: Core

DannyMay2021 Day 6: Core

Word count: 1073 (not beta'd)

“Jack? I think it's trying to trick us.”

.

They have been trying to get the device working since morning. The kids had already left for school when they finished the last few touches on the Fenton Core Detector. Theoretically it should take them to the source of the target ghost's anchor on Earth. And by disrupting the source, the core of the ghost’s existence, the ghost should dissipate without an anchor to hold them on Earth. They've saved the last sample they have of Phantom just for this purpose.

“Aand we're ready!” Jack proclaimed, brandishing the latest invention proudly.

“Here let's get it set up.” Maddie carefully inserted the glass slide with Phantom's preserved ectoplasm into the side slot. The screen blinked a few times then lit up green. It's ready.

.

They've been tracking the anchor all day. As easy as it seemed at first, it got confusing real fast. The screen's arrow took a couple of minutes to calibrate, spinning around a few times before it settling on a direction. They set off easily enough, the direction seems to be headed towards Casper High. The place is well noted for frequent Phantom sightings, suggesting that the ghost might have formed some form of attachment there while alive, it was one of the more likely locations to host Phantom’s anchor. But then things took a strange turn. Every once in a while, the arrow on the screen would waver as if in hesitation, sharply pointing out towards the direction where they came from before flipping just as quickly back towards the school. The first few times this happened it had led them on a merry chase, wasting time backtracking to follow a false lead before turning back towards the school. It had also almost gotten them to backtrack the RV into the park’s lake. They decided to ignore the arrow when it flipped again for the fourth time and drove straight towards the school. But by the time they got there, the arrow has changed direction. It seemed whatever might've been at the school is gone. Which led to the current situation.

‘Did we somehow tip it off that we're tracking it down it's anchor?’ Maddie wondered, rotating the device to check for flaws in the design. The arrow flipped again and pointed straight at her.  “Jack? I think it's trying to trick us.” Jack leaned over to look at the device. The arrow wavered a bit to the left, then slowly slid back towards the right, stopping when it points right behind them. Again. Jack frowned. He shook it a bit, the arrows spinning around to recalibrate again, this time settling due north. He grinned.

“There we go. It might think it's smarter than us but no ghost can escape from Jack Fenton! Let's go Mads, we’ve got a ghost to catch!” He revved up the RV engines.

Maddie took a sip from her normal thermos and nodded,

“Let's go.”

.

Where the arrow took them next was a bit of a surprise to them. Nasty Burger while not exactly new to Amity was also not that old. The building was constructed a few years after the Fentons had settled down in the city; if Phantom had attachments to the place, it must've been a relatively new ghost. ‘Did they know it back when it was alive?’ Maddie wondered. She didn't like the idea that it might have been someone they knew.

They entered the establishment, feeling a bit out of place amongst the teenage regulars frequenting the place. The crowded place, with its grease smeared tiles and loud chattering in the background didn’t seem like a place that held any connection to Phantom, yet it did according to the Fenton Core Detector. They strode inside, keeping an eye on the device while also scanning for something that might’ve belonged to the ghost. The teenagers, long used to the Fentons ignored them for the most part, occasionally glancing at them for signs to relocate seats. Maddie rechecked the device in her hand.

Again whatever the anchor was it's gone, the arrow twitches a bit towards the cashier but mostly stayed true to pointing southward. She sighed and waved Jack over.

.

It was late afternoon by the time they walked out of Nasty Burger, the kids would be home soon. Deciding to call it a day they headed home, detouring to grab a quick takeaway meal from their favorite place. Jack turned on the radio, flipping to his favorite channel and started humming out his favorite parts of the song. Maddie relaxed, snuggling further into her seat. They might not have made much progress today but she's not too upset about it. It's been a while since they did this, ghost hunting with just Jack keeping her company followed by a quick takeaway meal for dinner. Just like their early ghost hunting days. She missed it.

Soon enough their Fenton Works sign came into view, Jack drove over to the back of the house to park the RV. They got out of the RV, Jack holding the food while she took the device to return it to the basement lab to refine the sensors later. Walking into the house, Maddie glanced down at the device, curious as to where the arrow would point now that they’ve returned to the starting point. The arrow, initially pointing at the back of both her and Jack as it did earlier in the day started swaying again. As she walked further into the house, towards the kitchen where the basement lab entrance is located, the arrow started moving faster, swinging from behind her to in front of her then behind her again. She slowed her steps, paying more attention to the device now. Faster and faster the arrow swung until she wondered whether the ectoplasmic appliance in their kitchen is interfering with the device scanners. But it didn’t act up like this earlier in the morning when they left for the hunt. She shook it, trying Jack’s method. It didn’t work. Deciding that its lost cause Maddie dropped her arm holding the device and walked into the kitchen to greet her kids. Seems like Danny’s friends are here too.

“Hey kids, how’s school today?” she greeted before a beep and buzzing vibration in her hand interrupted her. The device is no longer showing the arrow. Instead the screen is blank except for the text displayed on the screen:

“Source found”

====

tldr: Danny’s anchor are his family and friends. The device is working perfectly fine but Phantom’s anchor kept moving around. Maddie never thought the anchors might include her and Jack so she thought Phantom somehow broke their device again.

Sorry that I am a day late with this one, but, this is DannyMay Day 5–Doorways. In the Ghost Zone, there are many doors that open to new worlds, but in this case, 16-year-olds Danny and Lara are looking for that one doorway that leads to he source of her family’s ghost DNA: her great-great-great-grandmother.

Phantom Comic

Page 14 <--> page 16

Begining

Doorway

fanfiction

ao3

picks up directly after my lightning fic

hi guys i had a brainblast on what i could use this prompt for at 5:30 am

After waving goodbye to Dash, Danny hurried through the doorway and into the living room. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, letting out a deep breath. 

That was way too close. If Dash hadn’t been there Danny would’ve been toast for sure. It was a good thing Dash actually seemed to be pretty quick thinking. Danny was sure the ghost hunters didn’t actually see his human form, but Dash’s hoodie and jacket would help hide any resemblance to his ghost form. 

His hoodie and jacket that he was still wearing.

“Uh, Danny?”

Danny jumped when he heard Jazz clear her throat and say his name. He looked at where she was standing by one of the windows looking out onto the street.

“Was that Dash?”

“Yeah.” Danny nodded.

“Why was Dash dropping you off?” Jazz squinted her eyes at him. “And why are you wearing his jacket?”

Danny opened his mouth to respond when Jazz gasped.

“Oh my god. Is this what I think this is?” Her eyes were darting quickly between Danny and the window and he just shot her a bewildered look. 

“Uh, I don’t know what you think this is, but no?” Danny pushed away from the door and started heading towards the stairs. “I got stuck running away from some ghost hunters after they hit me with something that changed me to my human form. I literally ran into Dash and he decided to help me by disguising me and staging a fakeout makeout.”

“What?!”

Danny made a placating motion at her, pausing at the foot of the steps. “Don’t worry there was no touching of the lips and I’m still half alive so it all worked out.”

“Why are you still wearing his hoodie and jacket then? Why didn’t you give them back?”

He shrugged and started heading up the stairs. “I tried but he told me to keep them until Monday since it was raining when he dropped me off. Said he had another jacket in his car.”

Jazz groaned and Danny thought he heard Jazz mumble something, the only word he could make out was “oblivious” though.

Ignoring that, Danny reached the top of the stairs and headed to his room. “Okay well if you need me I’ll be in my room trying to sleep off whatever they hit me with.”

He walked down the hallway and through his doorway, closing the door behind him. Turning on his light he stretched his arms up above him, yawning, and went to go find some pajamas to wear to bed. 

He didn’t know why Jazz was being so weird. It was literally just clothes. And it was to save his life! She should be relieved, not whatever that was. 

Danny shrugged out of the letterman jacket and he looked at it. Dash was just being nice. He wasn’t such an asshole anymore. He was doing what anyone would do when someone was being chased by people who are hunting you down. Yeah. 

Danny pulled the hoodie off and started changing into his pajamas. As he was about to pull on his shirt he looked back at the hoodie, mentally debating. The hoodie was very comfortable, but it was also Dash’s. Would it be weird to sleep in it? Would Dash care? He seemed to trust Danny enough to lend him the articles of clothing for a couple days. 

Shrugging, Danny pulled the hoodie on again and turned off the light before he climbed into bed. Pulling the covers tight around him, Danny tried not to think about what Dash looked like when their faces had been inches apart.

Day 6: Core

What if going through the portal completely fucked up Danny's taste buds and now he's eating bizarre combinations of food as a result, like imagine the shit his poor friends and family gotta deal with....

"What, are you gonna dip your pizza in ectoplasm now?"

*Danny pulling out a cartridge of ammo from his ecto-gun* "Actually, that doesn't sound too bad, let me-"

"NO" Sam and Tucker scream in unison.

Dannymay Day 6- Core

I love those fics where Danny saves the other clone’s cores and restores them later, like those? Own my whole heart, take all my money.

D O O R W A Y

Phic Phight 2021: Love, Vlad. :)

Prompt: Vlad decides he'd rather adopt Danny than marry Maddie... and he decides to get Danny on-board through packed lunches? Operation "Vlad tries to be a better be a better dad than Jack." Danny doesn't get the memo and thinks Vlad is plotting something.

Summary:Vlad decides to do the stereotypical father thing and pack Danny lunch, note and all!

Team Ghost: 1,629 Words, Complete.

AO3

   Vlad knew that marrying Madeline was a lost cause and he was, surprisingly, not that torn up about it. Maybe it was getting a cat and being forced to take care of someone else's needs for once. It was definitely the cat.

   Yes, Madeline would never be his and that would be alright. Daniel on the other hand was a different, more complicated story.

   Daniel was something that Vlad found was difficult to let go of. He was the only one like Vlad, a ghost-human hybrid. 

   Vlad could deal with any loneliness that came with being single but not with the loneliness that came with severing the thread to the only being like him, that could understand him.

   Vlad couldn't get Daniel to denounce his father outright (which in hindsight wasn't the best suggestion) and no longer felt quite that way anymore. Vlad could compromise with Jack existing because he was important to Daniel but he had to be slightly more important than Jack. He had to be better.

   Vlad spent many agonizing weeks trying to think what fathers did for their sons before it hit him: packed lunches!

   He knew that Jack couldn't be trusted to make one for Daniel so he could. Yes, it was all coming together…

…

   Danny knew something was weird. He had been called to the office right before lunch but had only been tardy once today and had felt pretty good about it. So this was definitely weird. 

   Danny entered and the assistant at the desk smiled at him.

   "Hello, Danny," Mrs. Billington said.

    Danny smiled and waved.

   "I was, huh, called, yeah?"

   Mrs. Billington nodded and pointed at the counter next to her. "Your lunch is over there."

   "My lunch," Danny repeated dumbly.

   She hummed in affirmation and Danny turned his head to see the fanciest paper bag he had ever laid eyes on.

   It was a pristine ivory color with an intricate, black floral border. The bag looked terribly out of place in a high school office.

   The whole thing reeked of Vlad.

   Danny gingerly grabbed the bag and brought it to the cafeteria for group inspection.

   As soon as Danny plopped the bag on the table Sam and Tucker asked in unison: "Vlad?"

   "Yeah," Danny said, sitting down and pulling the contents of the bag out.

   There was an apple juice box, a bag of potato chips, a plastic bag of home-made chocolate chips cookies, and a sandwich in plastic wrap with a bright pink sticky note on top.

   "Damn, Vlad really went all out, huh," Tucker said, eyeing his food in awe.

   "What do you think he's planning," Sam asked as she furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

   "I don't know but I don't think he'd poison me. That'd be a bit of a low blow even for Fruitloop," Danny said, picking up the note.

   After reading it, Danny gave a startled snort.

  "What?" Tucker stood trying to read the note.

   "Listen, listen," Danny said, gesturing for Tucker to sit down. "Dear Daniel, I hope your day is going well and that the other ghosts aren't being too much of a nuisance. I packed what your mother said you would enjoy. The cookies were made by my secretary, Claire. I hope you like them. Maddie-Cat says 'hi'. Love, Vlad."

   "What the fuck," Sam said with a shocked expression. 

   "Yeah, tell me about it. Look! Even included a smiley face at the end!!" Danny passed the note across the table and pointed at the end of the note.

   "Oh, he's definitely planning something," Tucker said.

   "Yeah, but planning what?" Danny took a bite of sandwich and hummed in apperaction. 

   The sandwich may be delicious but Danny would get to the bottom of Vlad's nefarious scheme.

…

   A week had passed since Vlad had started packing lunches for Danny. He thought that was going well. 

   Though he began to question himself after a lunch break with Claire. 

   "It's ridiculous how much Jamie shares her food with her friends. I might just have to start packing food for them as well," Claire said with a giggle over her greek yogurt.

   Vlad couldn't think of a time he had shared food with Jack and Madeline in college. Perhaps it was just 'in' with the kids these days. He wondered if Daniel shared his lunches with his friends.

   This brought along a new worry. If Daniel was sharing his lunches then he might not be eating enough to sustain his core! This simply wouldn't do.

   It's not like Jack would know that Daniel needed as much food as him to sustain himself because he knew nothing about ghost cores but Vlad did. Honestly, Vlad would quickly be Daniel's favorite in no time.

   First, he needed to know what Daniel's companions preferred.

…

   "Umm, guys," Danny said with confusion lacing his voice.

   The pair looked up from their trays nonchalantly. It was the same lunch bag Danny had recently been bringing because of Vlad and once it was ensured nothing was wrong with the food itself it had quickly lost its novelty.

   "Yeah, Danny," Sam asked.

   "I think... these are for you..." Danny said, sounding more lost than ever as he handed Sam an expensive salad and Tucker an equally expensive loaded burger.

   "Oh wow," Tucker said joyously as he unwrapped the burger. "Did we get juice too?"

   Danny sifted through the bag before spotting three juice boxes. He handed both of them a box.

   "What is Vlad doing all this for?" Sam stabbed at her salad with a fork.

   "Your guess is as good as mine. Actually, the more that I think about it, I haven't seen him in a while." Danny eyed his sandwich and gave a tentative bite. Normal as always. 

Maybe he could wait it out a bit more.

…

   Vlad watched the dad in the ziploc bag commercial cut the crust off his son's sandwich. Granted the son was seven or eight years old and Daniel was very much past that age but it wasn't like Jack had done it for him at that age. He couldn't be trusted in the kitchen let alone with a knife.

   Vlad on the other hand was well adept in the kitchen if he said so himself and felt confident in providing this slice of childhood to Daniel.

…

   Tucker buried his face into his arms on the table and laughed like an asthmatic hyena. Sam was covering her mouth with one hand while the other slapped against the lunch table obnoxiously as her body shuddered with barely suppressed giggles. Danny glared at both of them in betrayal.

   "It's. Not. Funny," Danny gritted out, his eyes narrowing even more.

   "He… he cut the freaking crust on your sandwich, oh my God I think I'm dying," Tucker wheezed.

   Tears welled and slipped from Sam's eyes.

   "Stop, please, I'm crying," Sam said as she gingerly dabbed at her eyes, being mindful of her eyeliner.

   "That's it! I'm taking your guys' food," Danny said, pulling their portions away from them.

   "No," Tucker shouted as he lunged forward to get the burger Vlad made him. Sam was too busy laughing to care.

   "I've put it off for long enough. I have to find out what the hell is Vlad's deal." Danny firmly crossed his arms.

   Tucker looked mournfully at the burger he stole back.

   "I'm gonna miss these things," he said.

   Sam hummed in agreement as she took a bite of her salad.

…

   Vlad found that packing lunches were very soothing with its repetitive motions and cooking wasn't something he found himself doing much before this and it was great.

   The peaceful moment was shattered when Daniel appeared in his kitchen with a scowl.

  "What are you playing at, Fruitloop?"

   "Don't be silly, Daniel. I'm not playing at anything."

   Daniel's eyes narrowed with mistrust.

   "Then what's with the lunches?"

   Vlad washed and dried his hands.

   "I simply wanted to start branching out to you. An olive branch if you will."

   "You're not trying to kill my dad or seduce my mom?" Daniel let his feet touch the ground cautiously.

   "I've decided to stop pursuing,  Madeline and as for your father… as tempting as it is I have also quit making attempts on his life. I simply want to bond with you," Vlad said, putting things away.

   Daniel nodded slowly.

   "Fine, whatever, I'll hold you to it. But can you stop with the lunch thing? Not only is it weird as hell but it's embarrassing." Daniel started floating again, ready to leave when Vlad agreed.

   Vlad felt a little miffed that his impeccable plan had backfired. Oh, well, he'd figure something else fathers did for their sons.

   "If you want," Vlad remarked.

   Daniel's faced soften a little with relieved triumph.

   "Alright, see you around, Fruitloop." With that Daniel was gone.

   Vlad stood were he was for a moment before partly finished lunch into the fridge and walking to his drawing room to pace. What would he do know…

…

   Danny grinned at his friend's disappointment at his first home-lunch-free day in awhile. 

   No more weird lunch notes from Vlad with their ridiculous smiley faces at the end.

   The rest of the day finished as better-than-normal.

…

   Danny walked home, humming cheerfully. 

   Danny jogged up to the Fenton's Work porch before coming to a dead stop. On the floor near the door was two baseball mitts, a baseball, and a pink sticky note.

  Danny picked up the note with trepidation.

   Dear Daniel,

   I hope you had a wonderful day at school and did well in your classes. I'm inside catching up with your parents. When you can come in we can play a game of catch since the lunches didn't work out. I hope this works better instead. Maddie-Cat says hi!

   Love, Vlad. :)

   Danny wanted to scream.