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darks-ink · 5 years

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What A Nice Surprise CH.9

Since Tumblr still hates line breaks I’m gonna try something new with them today. If you see this post with (---) breaks it broke spectacularly and I edited them away without changing the author note. As you do.

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Jazz stepped off of the stairs and into the lab, and Danny floated in right behind her. Their parents didn’t look up, laser-focused on… the Ghost Catcher? The invention laid on the table in front of them, partially dismantled. The netting, he noticed, had been removed entirely.

“Mom, dad?” Jazz asked, carefully.

They looked up simultaneously, startled, eyes opening wider when they saw him floating beside Jazz.

“Oh! We hadn’t heard you, either of you.” Maddie turned off her blowtorch and put it down. “I’m sorry, we were so busy we must’ve been zoning out.”

“It’s alright,” Danny assured them, ignoring Jazz’s annoyed nudge. Clearly she didn’t agree, and in most cases he would, too; his parent’s obsession with their work could be aggravating at times. But considering what they were working on, their new stance on ghosts, it made him think that they were trying to be nice. To change themselves, and change their inventions along the way.

Jack put down his tools as well, pulling off his goggled hood. “Jazzy-pants, did you want to talk to us as well, or were you just dropping Phantom off?”

“Oh, well, actually.” She shifted, uncertain, and now Danny was the one to nudge her, encouragingly. “I was thinking… could I invite some ghosts here?”

Their parents exchanged glances. A frown creased Maddie’s brow when she turned back to them. “Like Sidney, or Queen Dora? I suppose that that’s alright. I guess the inter-dimensional phones work, then, Phantom?”

“Yep.” He nodded. “With your Fenton Phones and some of the technology from the Far Frozen Technus managed it. He promised to stop causing trouble in Amity as well, and that he would let me know if he wanted to come visit normally, but I’m not entirely sure I trust him on that.”

“Best not,” his dad agreed with a grimace. “That ghost can cause such havoc, and with his control over technology he can be hard to stop.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Danny shook his head. Then he realized that they had derailed the conversation and bumped Jazz a little forward again. “But, to get back to the original topic, I don’t think that Jazz was talking about Sid and Dora. Not exclusively, at least, right Jazz?”

“Uh, yeah, no.” She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, a show of anxiety Danny rarely saw from her, similar to his own neck rubbing. “I was actually thinking… hoping… to invite other ghosts here as well? I know from Sidney and Dora that there are a lot of traumatized ghosts out there, and they can’t just go to any psychiatrist.”

She shrugged, gathering her confidence again now that she was in her element. “So I thought, why not me? I’m already helping Sidney, and I’m helping Dora, and I’ve got a phone that can connect with them while they’re in the Ghost Zone. Most wouldn’t even come by, I don’t think.”

“And if they do?” Maddie asked, frowning. “What if they’re dangerous?”

“I can stay close by, just in case,” Danny suggested. “Obviously it won’t be perfect, because I can’t be close enough for them to tell, but still. If something goes wrong, she just has to call and I’ll come. But I don’t think it’ll be necessary.”

Maddie clicked her tongue. “And why not?”

“Because most ghosts really could use someone like Jazz.” Danny’s shoulders sagged. “And even those who don’t will respect that. No one wants to see their fellow ghosts miserable. Even the most aggressive, the ones that hunker for a fight, prefer an opponent with a fresh mind and a healthy lust for life. Or, well, unlife. Ghost life? Uh, anyway. You get what I mean, right?”

She looked between him and Jazz, her stern expression softening. “Yes, I understand. Jazz, if you make sure you’re carrying equipment and let us know beforehand, I’m alright with it. Jack?”

“I agree. Let us check the gear beforehand, though, to make sure it all works.” He nodded, once, then smiled. “I’m happy to see you interested in ghosts as well, Jazzy-Pants, even if it’s in your own way!”

Smiling back, Jazz nudged Danny and said, “Yes, well, thank Phantom for making me think of it in the first place. And Sidney, I suppose, for mentioning that most ghosts are traumatized by their life and/or death.”

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess.” He laughed, floating closer to his parents. “Never knew that just acting like myself could’ve done such good, but I’ll gladly take it.”

She tsk’d and shook her head. “You’re an enigma, Phantom.” Then, turning to their parents, she said, “Well, I’ll let you three get working on ghost science then.”

“Good luck with Sidney and Dora,” Danny shouted back as she turned around. She waved a hand as she walked through the doorway, and he grinned.

“So, Phantom, any plans for today?” Jack asked when she was gone.

Shrugging, Danny turned to face them properly. “I was thinking of continuing the testing of my powers? I realized that we never got around to doing the last few, the less basic ones.”

Maddie frowned, thoughtful. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. That leaves mostly your offensive abilities, right? Ecto-rays, shields, telekinesis?”

“Those, and my ice powers, electric powers, and my Ghostly Wail. Not that I’ll show that last one, but still.” He scratched his cheek, mentally checking over his list. Ecto-ray, ecto shield, ghost stinger, ghostly wail, cryokinesis… and duplication, but he didn’t plan on showing that one. He mostly used it to protect his identity anyway. Splitting his strength across multiple bodies was rarely useful in a fight. “Yeah, that should be all of them.”

“Where do you want to start, kiddo?” Jack had bounced over to grab a notepad, which Danny guessed was the same one as earlier. Or maybe it wasn’t. Honestly, who knew with his parents. “Ecto-rays, maybe? We have equipment to measure the strength, and a shooting range for accuracy.”

“Sounds good.” Danny nodded, lifting a little higher in the air. “Where is this shooting range hidden, then?”

A beep and a grinding noise behind him, and Danny whirled around to see one of the walls opening up. His mom stood beside it, hand on a lever. “Right here.”

“Well, damn.” Danny whistled, impressed despite himself. He supposed it made sense that his parents had a shooting range in the lab, but he kind of wished he had known about it sooner. Could’ve helped a lot, back when he first started. “Is the strength-measuring-thing separately, or…?”

“No swearing,” his mom corrected with a tired but parental tone. “And no, as long as you hit the targets they can measure the strength of the blast as well. Their original purpose was to test our guns, after all.”

“Makes sense.” He floated over to the line on the ground, landing soundlessly. “Is this the place you’re supposed to stand, then?”

Jack wandered closer, flipping the notebook to a new page. “Yes, exactly. Can you hit the target with a couple of ‘normal’ strength blasts, first? And then after that we’ll test the range of your strength, the weakest and the strongest.”

“Sounds good to me.” He created a whirling ball of green ectoplasm around his hand, the light reflected on the dented steel walls around them. “Should I hit separate ones, or the same one multiple times?”

“Go for a wider range,” Maddie recommended from where she stood to the side. “It’ll give us a better idea of your aim, too. We’ve seen it in the field, but aim in the middle of battle and aim while standing still isn’t the same.”

Huffing out a laugh, Danny replied, “Yeah, no kidding. I thought I did a good job of teaching myself good aim until I had to fight other ghosts. No wonder people complained about the property damage.”

Lighting up his other hand as well, he stretched out the right in front of him. “I can start already, right?”

“Go for it,” both of his parents chorused, and Danny grinned. It felt good to release his energy without the threat of other ghosts for once.

After his years of practice hitting moving ghosts, the static targets were, well, easy targets. He made sure to modulate his strength, firing blasts and rays of moderate strength. The amount of power he would use against most of his enemies. The humans, he hit only with the weakest rays, and only ever to disarm, rather than direct hits.

“Good show,” his mom commented when he stopped. “Pretty powerful hits, though the exact strength varied a little. Stronger than most of our weaponry, though. And this wasn’t the top of your range, right?”

“Uh, no.” He watched as his dad copied over the notes from the computer. “This is what I usually use against enemy ghosts. I can go a bunch stronger, but usually that’s not really necessary, or it might be too dangerous if the ghost is harder to hit. If there’s a high risk of missing, I don’t want it to be at full power.”

“Good thinking,” his dad complimented, sticking up a thumb in his direction. “Now, have you ever tried out how little power you can put behind your rays?”

“Yeah, actually.” Danny shook out his hands demonstratively, a smirk crawling onto his face. “I only use the weakest of my blasts if I ever aim at human hunters. I never aim to hit them directly, either, only to disarm. And even then, as little power as possible.”

“Well, what d’you know.” Jack scratched his cheek, then shrugged. “Still, I would be interested in seeing the exact strength for that. Go ahead, Phantom.”

“Sure, alright.” He coiled up his power, then made a finger gun and released the tiniest amount of power as he could. The beam, thin and faltering, hit the target dead-on.

“Is the finger gun necessary?” his mom asked, tone somewhere between exasperated and curious. “Or is it just more fun, or more taunting?”

“A little of both,” Danny admitted with a shrug, shooting off another beam with his other hand. “At the weakest, my beams are only small, so its easier to expel them if I fire from a finger instead of the center of my hand. Plus it helps keep apart the different levels in strength – this way it’s easier to not accidentally fire off a full-power shot.”

“You’ve put so much thought into all of these things.” Maddie shook her head with a soft sigh. “But why?”

Danny snorted, turning to face her – and his dad – instead of the targets. “With my reputation I have to think of everything. Ghost hunters already vilify me for firing at them in the first place. Now imagine if I accidentally hit them strong enough to hurt? That would ruin me.”

Then he weaved his fingers together, cracking them loudly. “So, full power next?”

Both of his parents narrowed their eyes at the less-than-subtle topic change, but they let it slide. His dad quickly took note of the data, while his mom nodded at him. “Yes. The targets should be able to survive even your strongest, and the wall definitely will. So give it your all, Phantom.”

“Will do.” He grinned, widely, and grasped for as much power as he could. There was a hard limit to how much energy he could expel at once via his rays, of course. If he wanted to cross that, he had to dip into his Ghostly Wail – and risk transforming back because he expelled too much energy. That didn’t happen with his ecto-rays.

Not anymore, at least. Early on, everything cost way more power, and he had had way less stamina.

His aura brightened in response to the gathering energy, green ectoplasm wreathing his hands. Pushing them together and out in front of him, he fired a ray at his full strength.

The target groaned but, surprisingly, held on. It was, however, severely blackened.

Jack whistled lowly, impressed. “That was pretty impressive, Phantom.”

“Um, thanks.” Danny’s shoulders shot up, a green blush crawling onto his face. “I can, uh, fire a few more?”

“That would be nice.” Maddie looked over the targets with a grimace. “But maybe aim for a different one, just to be safe.”

“Will do.” He focused back onto his core, calling onto his internal ectoplasmic energy. Another shot was fired, and then a third. Finally he launched off a fourth.

“That’s all I can do for now, if we still want to test all my other powers,” he said, panting a little from the exertion. “In a regular battle I would try more, of course, but–”

“–But there’s no need for that now, no.” Maddie patted him on the shoulder. “It was pretty impressive, Phantom, especially those three in short succession. You did great, sweetie.”

The blush returned, and Danny stammered out a “Thanks.”

Jack finished writing, turning back to him and Maddie. “So what’s next? Another offensive power, or the ghost shield?”

“We can do my cryokinesis next.” Danny formed a snowball in his hand, throwing it up and down experimentally. “None of my other powers require the targets. Cryokinesis has a variety of forms, but I normally use it as a ray, similar to my ecto-ray.”

“Good, good.” She gestured over to the targets. “Go when you’re ready, then.”

He threw the snowball first, hitting the closest target dead-center, then followed it up with an ice ray. Ice crawled around the impact site, quickly covering the entire target. Danny let up his power, diverting the energy to form an ice spike instead. This, too, he threw, but at a different target. Another spike, and another hit as a metal target was pierced.

“How was that?” he asked when he turned back to his parents, grinning. But the smile fell when he noticed their frowns. “What? What’s wrong?”

The two of them exchanged glances. Then Maddie cleared her throat and said, carefully, “Are you aware that your… eyes change? When you do that?”

He blinked. Blinked again. Then pinched his nose. “Yeah,” he groaned, “Frostbite mentioned it, way back when I first got them. I kinda forgot. They turn blue, right?” Not the same blue as his human form, Frostbite had said, and the glow helped set them apart. But he really wished he had remembered before now. He could only hope that his parents would grow suspicious, wouldn’t link his human and ghost forms with this new information.

“So it’s normal?” his dad asked, sounding mildly relieved. “Strange though, isn’t it, for your eyes to change when you’re using this specific power?”

“Eh, not really.” Danny shrugged, hoping to play it off, so that everyone would forget it happened. “It’s pretty normal for really intrinsic powers, like my ice and Plasmius’ fire. His eyes get more pink and glowy when he uses that, to match his pink fire.”

Danny held out a hand, slowly building an ice sculpture in the open palm to demonstrate the change of eyes – and another application of his power. “It’s why some people think ghosts have elemental cores. All powers come from the same point in our bodies, the core, but the way it affects the rest of the body differs. It depends on the circumstances – the ghost, the power, and how it’s acquired. Cryokinesis for the Far Frozen yetis is normal, so it doesn’t change them when they use it, but I gained it later. Vice versa, if any of them developed, for example, ecto-electricity, I bet it would change something about their appearance, too.”

“That… makes sense.” His dad’s hand moved quickly as he scribbled all the new information down. “The implication that your powers aren’t set is very interesting, though. I wonder how they’re determined?”

“I dunno, to be honest.” His power petered off again, and he raised the statue to check its clarity. Crystal-clear – Frostbite would’ve been proud. “Some powers definitely seem to be pre-set. And to be honest, I seem to gain powers much more easily than many others. It’s adaptability, maybe? Because I fight so many diverse enemies, I develop a lot of diverse abilities?”

“That does sound logical,” his mom admitted. “It would certainly be interesting to research it further, perhaps speak with other ghosts about it. But for now, which power do you want to try next?”

He shrugged, the ice sculpture melting away again. “Ghost Stinger, I suppose. I assume you have a way to measure the charge, since that’s probably the part you’ll find most interesting?”

“Your… ‘Ghost Stinger’?” Maddie frowned, looking over at Jack and then back to Danny. “I don’t think we’ve heard that name yet.”

“Not?” Then he realized and groaned. “Right, of course, duh. My ecto-electicity, I meant. I call it my Ghost Stinger sometimes, since it’s shorter.”

“Not much shorter,” his dad muttered as he started digging through a box. “Ecto-electro sounds catchier, doesn’t it?”

Danny snorted. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I tend to shorten it to Stinger. Easier to remember. But not very scientific, I’ll admit. It’s an older power, and an older name.”

“Jack, I’ve found it already, honey.” Maddie stepped closer, a machine with two cords running from it in her hands. The ends of the cables, she handed to Danny. “Take one in each hand and send the power through those. It was made to handle our inventions, so it’ll survive you too, I’m sure.”

“Are you sure?” Danny asked with a smirk, taking the ends in each hand. “Maybe put down the thing, just to be sure.”

She did, placing the machine on a table. “Well, do your worst, Phantom.”

Smirk widening into a grin, he did. Crackling green electricity sparked from his core, visibly running down his arms and into the cables. As the charge ran over the cables, his dad whistled once more.

“What a light show!” he called, joyfully. “You can see the power running from his core, look at that, Maddie! It’s incredible!”

Danny released the power, the air loud with static. “Thanks,” he huffed between breaths. “Glad you enjoyed the show.”

Both of them stepped forward, Maddie checking the data while Jack clapped a hand on Danny’s shoulder, ignoring the sparks that still bounced over his jumpsuit. “It was very impressive, Phantom. A scientific wonder, for sure, but also a beautiful show of your power.”

“It was nothing compared to the Ghostly Wail, power-wise. There’s a reason why I never use that power – and why I refuse to show it to you.” Danny grinned tiredly. “But thanks. It’s… nice, to have someone impressed over my abilities outside of, y’know, combat.”

“And what power,” Maddie commented, showing Jack the readings. “It was quite amazing, Phantom.”

Cold flushed down his cheeks, glowing green blush finding its way back. “Thanks. Both of you, really, thanks. But, um. Next power?”

“Shield or telekinesis?” Jack asked, accepting the topic change. “Both would be pretty similar to test, I think.”

“Let’s start with the shield first.” Danny prodded his core, checking his energy levels, but he had plenty to spare. No need to worry about running out and shifting back. “Since it’s a much older power than telekinesis.”

“The shield stops physical objects and ectoplasmic attacks, right?” Maddie reached into the box she had just put the electric machine in, pulling out a tube with tennis balls. “So we can test it with these, first?”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny floated towards the shooting range, hovering in the air. “Those’ll do just fine. I’ll go over here so the bouncing balls won’t wreck your entire lab.”

“Good plan.” She pulled out several balls, handing a few over to Jack as well. “We’ll circle around, try to get you from any direction. Start with a circular shield, and we’ll pause before trying a flat one.”

A green bubble made out of ectoplasmic glass formed around him, and he stuck up a thumb. “Hit me with your worst!”

The first tennis ball hit right in front of his face, and Danny reflexively flinched back a step. “Good throw,” he complimented his mom.

Many more followed it, thudding off of his shield from several directions. Like Maddie had said, his parents were circling around the bubble from the ground, hitting him from various angles.

Then, suddenly, a sound closer to a shink than a thud came, and Danny whirled around inside the bubble. Protruding from the outside was a card, it’s corner buried into the ecto-glass shield.

“What was that?” he asked, turning himself back to his parents, rotating the bubble simultaneously. “I thought we were using tennis balls!”

“We were!” his dad called back, a sheepish expression on his face. “But I was gonna hand you that card, and then I went to throw a ball and I threw the card instead!”

Danny started at the man, incredulous. Then he sighed, collapsing the bubble. The card, now freed, fell to the floor of the lab. “Really.”

“Sorry.” His dad ducked down, grabbing the card from the floor. Then he presented it to Danny again. “Here you go, kiddo.”

He took the card from Jack’s hand, flipping it over the read the other side. It was… a birthday invitation?

“What’s…?”

“It’s an invitation!” Jack boomed, grinning wide but a little uncertain. “For my birthday! It’s a week or two out yet, but I was sending out the invitations and realized I had no way of getting one to you.”

“Thanks, but, um.” Danny paused, looking at the card in his hands instead of his dad. “It’s… I’m just a ghost, you know? Why would you…?”

His dad swung an arm around his shoulders, pulling Danny in close to his side. “Well, Phantom, you’re like a son to me! So of course you’re invited to come, too! Ghost or not!”

Flushing bright green, Danny hid his face in his hands. “But-”

“No buts,” the man insisted, reaching to ruffle Danny’s hair with his other hand. “If you really don’t want to come I won’t make you, Phantom, but you really are invited. I’m serious, kiddo.”

Danny peeked between his fingers, locking eyes with the bright blue of his dad. “…thanks. I’ll, uh. I’ll be there.”

Maneuvering through the crowded living room, Jack glanced at the clock. The party had been going on for a bit, but not everyone had shown up. Not yet. He hadn’t seen Vlad yet, but that man had said that he wasn’t sure he could make it.

More importantly, Jack hadn’t seen Phantom yet. The ghost had said he would come. Had something happened? Had he simply gotten cold feet? Had he realized that more of Jack’s ghost-hunting family members would be present?

Spotting a messy mob of black hair pass him by, he grabbed Danny’s shoulders and pulled him towards himself.

“Danny-boy! Have you seen Phantom?”

His son blinked large surprised eyes at him, then shook his head in the negative. “Nope, sorry. But there’s still time, right? It’s not that late yet.”

Jack sighed, releasing his son again. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry for bothering you, kiddo.”

“It’s fine.” Danny patted his hand. “I’m sure he’ll show up-”

The doorbell rang, and lamely, Danny finished, “-before you know it.”

Laughing, Jack clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks like you were right. It’s either him or Vladdie, I think. Come, let’s greet him.”

“Um.” Before Danny could protest, however, Jack started dragging him along to the front door. How exciting! Danny hadn’t interacted with Phantom much yet, and Jack was eager to change that. The two were of similar age, he was sure, and they both looked like they could use more friends of their own age. Danny, especially, could use more close friends.

Sam and Tucker were nice, but they rarely came over anymore. And he didn’t know if his son had any friends besides those two. Didn’t think so, at least.

The door swung open, and Phantom flickered into visibility almost immediately. The ghost smiled up at Jack, and then glanced past him with a frown.

“Hey Phantom,” he greeted, ignoring this last bit and instead stepping aside to let him in. “Happy to see you made it.”

“Wouldn’t dare miss it,” the ghost replied, still staring at Danny instead of Jack. “After you went out of your way to invite me, of course I came.” Then finally he ripped his eyes off of Jack’s son to look at him. “I brought you a little present too. Do you want to unwrap it here, or later?”

“Oh, you didn’t have to.” But Jack grinned, wondering what the ghost could’ve gotten him. Were there ghostly birthday traditions? Did ghosts even celebrate birthdays at all, or did they celebrate something similar? A formation day? A death day? “Come, I’ll unwrap it in the living room. Can’t hide in the hallway the whole time.”

Phantom laughed, floating after him. “Yeah, right you are.”

Danny had fallen silent, trailing after them. Jack glanced over his shoulder to look at his son, but the boy was staring at the floor. Something strange was going on between him and Phantom, and suddenly Jack started to wonder if Danny’s excuse way before, that he “already saw Phantom so often”, had been true at all. Was something else going on between those two?

They entered the living room, and immediately everything quieted. It was as if everyone’s eye had been drawn to them. Not that this was entirely surprising; Phantom drew a lot of attention with his appearance.

The ghost, apparently made nervous by all the attention, drifted lower and further behind Jack. His son, rather than assist, strode forward and disappeared into the crowd. Jack would’ve tried stopping him, but for the moment Phantom was more important. He could figure out why Danny was upset with the ghost later.

Jack was about to ask Phantom for the present when he noticed his sister pushing her way closer. The woman burst through the crowd, face twisted in a scowl.

“Jack, what’s that doing here?” she yelled.

“He’s my guest.” He crossed his arms, staring her down. “Now, if you don’t mind, he brought me a present and I’d like to unwrap it.”

“Oh yeah?” She sniffed haughtily. “What happened to ‘all ghosts are dangerous’? To ‘never trust a ghost’? But hey, whatever. Your funeral.”

He rolled his eyes, making a shooing motion towards his sister. “Thank you, I must’ve forgotten all about our parents’ rants. If you can’t be nice, dear sister, please just leave my family alone.”

“Your family?” she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the ghost. But she stepped back, further into the mass of people, a sneer on her face. “Whatever.”

Phantom still hovered over Jack’s shoulder, nervously eyeing the crowd. Most weren’t as anti-ghost as his sister – gotta love that Fenton family ghost hatred – but several were out-of-towners who weren’t familiar with ghosts. Who hadn’t realized that they were real, apparently.

“It’s fine, Phantom,” he said, soft and soothing. “You’re my guest, kiddo. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

“If you say so,” the ghost muttered back, landing on the floor next to Jack. He reached into a pocket on his belt, revealing a small but well-wrapped present. Curiously, it glowed much like the ghost himself, the packing paper ecto-green.

“It’s, uh, from the Ghost Zone.” Phantom gestured at it with his empty hand. “As you can probably see.”

Jack took the present from Phantom’s hand, carefully. The wrapping paper was cold, with that barely-there hum of ectoplasm-infused material. “Is it some kind of traditional ghostly present? Or do ghosts not celebrate something similar to a birthday?”

“Eh.” Phantom shrugged. “Kind of depends on the ghost. Some remember their original birthdays and continue to celebrate those. Some celebrate their death days instead, the day they formed as a ghost. Some pick an arbitrary day, wanting the celebration but not knowing their birthday and not willing to celebrate their death. Most don’t celebrate anything similar, though.”

“Huh.” With this new information, Jack looked the present over once more. Then he carefully loosened the bow, opening the lid. And inside…

“Is that… fudge?”

“You like that, right?” Phantom sounded uncertain, a hesitant smile on his face. “It’s, um. From the Ghost Zone, but safe for human consumption. Wasn’t sure what else to get you.”

Jack carefully re-lidded the box, then wrapped his free arm around Phantom. “It’s very nice, Phantom. Thank you, kiddo.”

The ghost blushed, crumpling in on himself a little. “I’m glad,” he muttered.

“I’ll go put this somewhere safe.” He ruffled Phantom’s hair, then, side-eyeing the crowd, said, “You can go hang out with the other guests, if you want. If anyone gives you trouble, come to me or Maddie, okay?”

“I can take care of myself,” Phantom grumbled, but he nodded his understanding anyway.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should have to.” Jack stepped further into the room, Phantom walking after him. Keeping to the ground to seem more human, maybe? In the hopes of not alienating himself as much? It would be exactly the kind of thoughtfulness he would expect from the ghost. “You’re my guest, Phantom, and I want you to have a good time too.”

Phantom huffed out a laugh, nodded again. “I get it, I get it. If there’s trouble I’ll come, okay? Speaking of trouble, though, I think I’ll start with Jazz, if you don’t mind. See how the ghost-psychiatrist thing is going for her.”

“Ah, yes, that sounds good.” Jack glanced over to the people who were now very much pretending not to watch Phantom anymore. “And it might ease some people into your presence, seeing you talk with more people first.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Phantom nodded, then flapped his hands at Jack. “Now go put that fudge away. I can handle it, alright?”

Danny watched his dad finally leave, resisting the temptation to sigh. He had only just gotten here, and he already wanted to leave. Or, at least, dispel the duplicate that was still wandering around. He couldn’t risk having Danny Fenton disappear right before Phantom appeared, but being forced to interact with himself was… uncomfortable.

Keeping a careful eye on some of the other guests, he wandered over to where his duplicate had been trapped in a conversation by Jazz. He hadn’t really been all that interested in Jazz’s success as a ghost psychiatrist – he heard enough about it during dinner and such to know it was a success. That, and the other ghosts were quite enthusiastic about it.

But his duplicate wasn’t as capable at keeping up with conversations as the real him. So to free Danny Fenton, Phantom had to come over and give him an excuse to leave.

He approached the two siblings, pausing next to Jazz and watching as she chatted up a storm against the blanked-out duplicate. She didn’t seem to notice him, so he cleared his throat.

Jazz started, head whirling around in a flash of bright hair. “Oh, Phantom! Sorry, I hadn’t heard you coming.”

The duplicate shot Danny a grateful look, diving back into the uncaring crowd. He didn’t respond, smiling at Jazz instead.

“It’s alright. How have you been, Jazz? Things been going alright?”

“Yeah, actually!” She brightened, animatedly moving her hands along with her story. “There’s been a lot of interest, even though most seem to prefer to stay anonymous. But a couple have come over, besides Dora and Sidney, of course.”

“Oh yeah? I had heard of Ember, that she was willing to stop attacking Amity in return for being allowed to come receive help, but I didn’t know there were others.”

She nodded energetically. “Oh yeah! A couple have come by to try, but the only repeated guests – besides Ember, of course – have been Johnny and Kitty. Their relationship is, uh.” She made a face, wiggling her hand a little. “Well, it could use some help sometimes.”

“Oh, definitely,” Danny agreed with a laugh. “You wouldn’t believe how often Johnny came to me for relationship advice. Like, come on, I’m a teenager with virtually no relationship experience. What was he expecting?”

Also laughing, Jazz shook her head. “And the thing is, Johnny looks so human! He could’ve gone to a regular human relationship expert and that could’ve solved most of their problems already! No knowledge about ghosts necessary.”

“You’re… You’re right.” Danny groaned into his hand. “I can’t believe how much trouble that guy caused me when he could’ve just gone to literally anyone else.”

“At least he meant well?” Jazz suggested, feebly. “And at least he won’t do it anymore. Speaking of disarmed enemies, however, I might be working on getting another off of your back.”

Danny dropped his hand again, looking at her. “Really? Who?”

“Desiree, the, uh, wishing ghost?” She twirled a lock of her hair. “I’m still working on it, obviously, but I think she does what she does because of her trauma. She already reached out to talk via the phone, but I invited her to come if she won’t mess with anyone.”

“Huh.” He thought that over for a moment, frowning in thought. “I’m not sure if that would work, though. I don’t think she can control which wishes she fulfills and which she doesn’t. Not currently, at least.”

“We’ll give it a shot anyway.” Jazz shrugged, glancing past him and into the crowd. “On an unrelated note, while Dad meant well when he invited you, I think he might’ve forgotten how many people are uncomfortable around ghosts. Never mind his ghost-hating relatives.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Danny huffed out. “And I mean, I understand, especially for the ones who haven’t seen ghosts before but…”

“But it’s not very comfortable.” She nodded understandingly. “Actually, I have an idea. Come on, I think you’ve been around long enough to be able to excuse yourself.”

“Have I?” Danny asked, but she had already grabbed his wrist and dragged him off.

“They’ll understand, anyway.” The crowd parted around them, Danny floating after Jazz. He had, previously, stuck to the ground in the hopes of calming the other people down. If he was leaving anyway, he might as well float and make it easier for Jazz to drag him away.

What? It wasn’t like he could stop her anyway. Even if he did use his superhuman strength to hold himself back, why would he?

“Jazz, Phantom,” Maddie said, apparently surprised to see them both approaching. “What’s going on?”

“I suggested that Phantom could leave,” Jazz started explaining, cutting Danny off before he could even open his mouth. “Since the other guests don’t seem that thrilled to have him around, and it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved.”

Their dad looked a little sad, but nodded understandingly. “Of course, kiddo. Like I said, I want you to feel welcome. And if you can’t be comfortable around the others, not yet, then of course you can leave.”

“I’m… Thanks. I’ll just…” Danny gestured with his hands, vaguely. “I’ll just… go, then. Um. See you guys another time? And have fun with the party.”

Jack smiled, and Maddie shook her head with a fond smile on her face. “Yeah, of course! See you soon, Phantom, and thank you for the fudge!”

His lip quirked up into a small smile, and he shot them a quick salute. Then he faded out of visibility, ducking back into the room he had previously left. Now all he had to do was merge back with his duplicate and survive the rest of the party.

Easy.

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #dp fanfiction #phanfiction #jack fenton #maddie fenton #jazz fenton #danny fenton #dark writes #what a nice surprise #i've started adding readmores as one of the first things i do when prepping these posts #bc i kept forgetting them like a big idiot

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