#sam and tucker started getting a little too excited for the heroing business

[hypewinter]

The expectations from everyone around him had been too much. His sister and teachers wanted him to be a good student. His friends wanted him to be the perfect hero. The town wanted him to be everywhere, all at once. And his parents wanted him strapped down to a table.

Danny couldn't take it anymore. It was all just too much. So he left. He disappeared, covering his tracks and only leaving a note to let everyone know he was okay.

He traveled a while before he eventually encountered some heroes investigating an occult crime. All he did was give them a little hint and suddenly they were all over him. He had panicked for a second. Memories of his suffocating past came to him. But to Danny's surprise, these heroes were more worried about him than anything. Something about the knowledge he possessed being dangerous.

It actually felt a little nice being worried over like that and before he knew it, Danny found himself tagging along with these heroes. Apparently they were called the Justice League Dark and their whole schtick was investigating the occult.

Danny had thought he was over the whole hero thing, but he didn't mind helping the JLD. There where finally capable adults in his life who protected him. Who cared for him. They never expected him to balance two contradicting responsibilities. Nor did they expect him to be their main heavy hitter when facing a threat.

For the first time since he had turned on that stupid machine, Danny was allowed to be a kid again. He was allowed to be annoying, to ask a million questions (no matter how dumb) and most importantly, he was allowed to have fun.

Being a hero with the Justice League Dark never felt like the world ending pressure he was under back home. They had even told him he was welcome to quit anytime! Not that he wanted to.

Sure, Danny felt guilty about never contacting his friends and family and letting them know how he was doing. But he was scared. Scared that they might try some way to force him back home.

He could never go back to that place, he just couldn't. To do that would truly crush his soul.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #winter's tales #everyone from amity park sucks this time around #his parents are obviously too obsessed with their research #and the town only likes phantom when it's convenient #sam and tucker started getting a little too excited for the heroing business #and as danny grew and got more powers #they stopped understanding why he was getting so fatigued from the constant battles #even the great jazz isn't infallible in this one #she kinda understands danny'd struggles #but at the same time still expects him to be on top of his grades somehow #all in all #danny gets pressured from all sides and just dips

[aedelia]

Burnt Bacon and Bright Stars

Truce present for @grimgrinningghoul​ !

Danny has had a lot on his mind since he got his powers.  Even more so since he dealt with Spectra.  He decides to trust his family and finds that some things never change. AO3 | FF.net

Burnt Bacon and Bright Stars

 Danny was stretched out on his favorite starry blue blanket while looking up at the night sky.  His father was next to him on a big blanket the same color as Mars and talking about ghosts. His voice was big and bounced off the shiny walls as he waved his arms around. Danny liked how his dad talked with his hands and tonight, he’d used his hands to point out Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.  To Danny, his father was like Ursa Major, large and bright, and he was Ursa Minor, smaller but still just like him.

“And when the Ops Center is complete, those ghosts won’t be able to hide anymore! This baby will have the most advanced ectoplasm sensing satellites scanning for traces all over the northern hemisphere!”

Danny looked up at his father and wistfully said, “I wanna be a ghost someday. Then I can go to space and fly to the moon.” He rolled over on his side, propped his chin on his hand, and his elbow on the floor. His dad rolled over and mirrored Danny’s position. 

“Oh Danny-boy, you don’t want to be a ghost. Ghosts are scary and want to hurt people.”

“Nuh-uh, I would be a good ghost and not be scary. I would even make sure to do all of my chores and help old ladies with their groceries!”

Daddy said, “But Danny-boy, Mommy and Daddy hunt ghosts. We try to catch them and protect people because ghosts are bad.”

Danny pouted before shaking his head, “I would be a good ghost and save people instead of hurt them, like a superhero!”

His dad chuckled as he stood up.  “Ghost powers would be good superpowers for heroes if they weren’t bad,” he said.

Danny sat up. 

“Ghost powers would be the best for exploring outer space!  If you don’t need to breathe then you wouldn’t need an oxygen tank and you could carry a whole bunch of useful tools and bring back space rocks. If you could go intangible then you wouldn’t have to worry about friction leaving or reentering the atmosphere, you wouldn’t need a space suit and could just fly straight to the moon!” Danny pointed up at the full moon which brightly shined over the town. “It would be so easy to explore the other planets in our solar system with ghost powers.  Dust on Mars wouldn’t be a problem, storms on Jupiter wouldn’t be a problem. I could go count the rings of Saturn and compare them to Jupiter’s ring.”

Danny hugged his knees to his chest before asking, “Daddy, would you and Mommy hunt me if I was a ghost? Even if I was a good ghost?”

Danny’s father crouched next to him and put  his large hand on the boy’s shoulder, “If you were a ghost, I would know you’re good, even if you have big teeth and pointy claws and horns,” He scooped him up and gently swung him around through the air, “Even if you turned green and hairy.  As long as you’re Danny I will always love you!” He brought his son to face him, “Even if you turned into a ghost, you’ll always be my little boy.”

Danny giggled and put his hands on his father’s cheeks and gave him nose kisses.  “I love you too Daddy!”

--

Jack gathered the blankets and slung them over one shoulder and Danny over the other.  He carried the giggling boy down the stairs all the way to the kitchen.  He plopped his son into his chair. 

“Well, Mommy and Jazzy-pants should be back soon from the store, and I think they’re bringing home pizza!”

Danny laughed at the nickname for his sister before cheering, “Yay!  Pizza!” He threw his hands in the air. “Do the pizza dance, Daddy!”

Jack sighed dramatically before smiling and saying, “Ok, I’ll do the pizza dance.”

He danced around the kitchen, waving his arms and occasionally chanting, “Pizza! Pizza!  I want some pizza!”  

Danny wiggled in his seat and yelled, “Pizza! Pizza!” every time his dad did.  They were loud enough that neither of them heard the click of the front door opening and shutting, or noticed that Maddie and Jazz were home until Maddie’s voice joined in the song..

“Pizza, pizza, here’s the pizza!” She sang as she danced into the kitchen with two big pizza boxes.  

Jazz bounced into the room chattering about how excited she was to start first grade and how happy she was to have the big colored pencil box that had all of the important colors and its own special sharpener. Jack danced around Maddie before he pulled her into a spin and dipped her for a kiss while his other hand held the pizza boxes steady. 

“Ewww.” Danny and Jazz said together.

When Jack released Maddie and took the pizzas, she asked, “So what have you two boys been up to while we were gone?”

Jack turned to put the boxes on the counter. As he grabbed paper plates and napkins out of the cupboard he replied, “Me and Danny were taking advantage of the clear sky and were stargazing up in the ops center.”

Maddie turned back to face him with her hands on her hips and a mild look of disapproval. 

“I hope you cleaned up the floor before you let Danny up there,” she said.

Jack kissed her on the forehead before he passed her some plates.

“Don’t worry, I cleaned up the floor and made sure to put down blankets.”

Maddie beamed up at Jack while Danny and Jazz made gagging sounds at their affection.

“I also told Danny a little about ghosts and what they can do.”

“I want to be a ghost someday!” Danny exclaimed from his seat at the table.

“A ghost? Jack!” Maddie scolded as she turned from Danny’s beaming face to Jack’s stiff shoulders.

She kneeled next to Danny’s chair. 

“Danny, why would you want to be a ghost? Ghosts are bad and they attack people.” She explained.

“Ghost powers would be the best for exploring outer space! And I could do my chores faster and go to the Moon and Mars and all of the other planets!” He rambled. “I would be a nice superhero ghost Mommy.”

“I suppose those would be some good uses for ghost powers, sweetie.” She said as she ruffled his hair.

Jazz piped up from across the table, “Ghosts aren’t real, but if they were, Danny couldn’t be a scary or mean ghost even if he tried. So, Danny would be a good ghost if they did exist.”

Maddie smiled and said, “Yes, our Danny couldn’t be a bad ghost. If either of you were ghosts we would still love you.”

--

Danny leaned forward in bed and stretched his arms out over his head. The last several nights he had been thinking hard about whether or not he should tell his parents the truth about his accident. His powers were pretty much under control now. He hadn’t had any intangibility or invisibility accidents for at least a couple of weeks. He had been trying to remember all the times that his parents had mentioned ghosts before the portal was built. This had been on his mind so much now that he had continued to relive his memories in his dreams. If there was a ghost that could affect dreams or memories he’d be concerned, but he hadn’t heard of any with powers like that. 

The memory he had dreamt of this time was from when he was little. He remembered the unfinished walls of the ops center and the silly dance his dad would do whenever they had pizza. Maybe this was the sign he needed that it was time to tell them. 

Danny grabbed his phone from the nightstand and called Tucker. His heart felt like it was beating in his ears as the other line rang. After a few unending seconds, he heard a click, and then Tucker’s voice.

“Danny? Are you ok?”

“Tucker, you know how I’ve been thinking about telling my parents about the whole half ghost thing? I had a dream last night and I remembered that when I was little I told them I wanted to be a ghost.”

There was a lengthy pause before Tucker groaned, “Dude. It’s 4 am.”

Danny cringed slightly as he looked over at his alarm clock.

“Were they ok with you wanting to be a ghost when you were a little kid?” Tucker asked. “Because I can’t see them being too thrilled about it. Even back when we were little they were pretty anti-ghost.”

“I remember I told them I wanted to be a ghost because ghost powers would be great for exploring space and the Moon. I even told them how I would use the basic powers to go into space if I was a ghost. They wanted to remind me that ghosts were bad but they did say that if I was a ghost they wouldn’t hunt me. Dad even said that ghost powers would be good superpowers.”

“Well it seems like you already want to tell them and I have been saying you should tell them since you got your powers. Have you even tried to go to space since you got them?” he asked.

“Tucker,” Danny groaned. “I’ve been way too busy trying to deal with the ghosts that’ve been invading and trying not to flunk all of my classes to even think about going to space.”

Tucker snorted. “I’m sure you’ve managed to at least think of it, but seriously, it’s probably a good idea to tell them before something bad happens and someone gets hurt. Who knows what kind of nasty ghost could attack next?”

“Yeah, you’re right. The longer I wait the harder this’ll be. Thanks for helping me talk it out.”

“Sure thing, buddy. Just, try to keep the existential dilemmas and mental crises to daylight hours.”

“I make no promises.” Danny chuckled.

“Alright, fair enough. But if that’s everything, talk to you later. I’ll even warn Sam for you so she won’t try to talk you out of it.”

“Thanks Tucker, you’re the best.”

“You know it!” Tucker answered before hanging up the call.

Danny laid back down, thoughts racing, as he tried to think of how to tell his parents.

“Hey Mom and Dad, you remember how the ghost portal wasn’t working at first? Well I did get it to start…but I happened to be inside it?” He dragged his hand over his face with a groan. 

“Hey you know how we aren’t supposed to be messing around in the lab because it’s dangerous? Well I may have disregarded the rules…but at least now the portal is working?” He grabbed his hair and tugged at it in frustration.

“Maybe I should start with Jazz. I know she has to believe in ghosts now since she saw Phantom and Spectra after the Spirit Rally last week. She did say that I can talk to her about anything though I doubt this was what she was expecting.”

Decision now made, Danny slid out of bed and crept down the hall to Jazz’s room. Her door was slightly ajar with light spilling into the hallway so she must’ve been awake.  He lightly knocked on the door and poked his head in through the gap. 

Jazz sat in bed in comfortable pajamas with a book in hand.

“Danny? You’re up early.” She checked the clock. “I’m surprised to see you before noon on a Saturday. Come in. Is something wrong?”

Danny shuffled into the room and softly closed the door behind him. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stood by the entrance.  His eyes skipped past his sister’s face as they roved over the bookshelves stuffed with psychology and science textbooks. She still had all of her spelling bee medals pinned and hanging around the border of the cork board behind her desk.  With posters of quotes from famous scientists intermixed with handwritten motivational phrases, her personality practically oozed from the walls. Now that he was actually in her room, it was like all of his confidence had just evaporated.

As the silence dragged longer, Jazz put her book aside and patted the bed next to her.  Danny gingerly stepped forward before he perched on the edge of the bed.

Jazz rolled her eyes and pulled him closer. Once she had rearranged the blankets to cover both of them she said lightly, “Just like when we were little and you would sneak into my bed after nightmares.”

Danny chuckled, tension broken, and said, “Speaking of when we were little, do you remember right when you were in, I don’t know, first grade, and I told Mom and Dad that I wanted to be a ghost someday?”

He felt her go very still. She stared straight ahead for a long moment before she shook her head and answered.

“I do remember that. They were still doing that ridiculous pizza dance back then. Wasn’t that before they finished the Ops Center?  You used to stargaze up there with whoever you could convince to go up with you.”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Well, remember how we basically all agreed that I couldn’t be a bad or scary ghost even if I tried?”

“I do remember that, too.” she laughed. “Of course, now we all know that ghosts actually do exist. But I stand by what I said back then, even if ghosts exist, you wouldn’t be a bad ghost.”

Danny managed a half smile and took a deep breath. 

“So a few months ago when I had the accident in the lab I got more than just a shock. I was in the portal when it turned on and ever since I’ve had ghost powers and can turn into a ghost. I’m not dead! I can turn back to well, mostly normal, very easily. The ghosts call me the halfa, half ghost, half boy. I’ve been catching the ghosts that come through the portal and putting them back in the ghost zone. They aren’t all bad either. I’ve met a few nice ghosts that live in, well haunt, the human world. They’ve been really friendly and helpful! Some of them just want to be left alone, you know? I’m rambling now aren’t I?” 

Danny paused for a breath and raised his head from his knees to how Jazz was taking it. She smiled at him.

“Uh, Jazz? Are you going to say anything?”

Instead of responding, she pulled him into a tight hug. It took a moment for him to relax.

“Jazz?” he asked with a sniff, “C’mon you can’t just-“

“I am so proud of you!” she said. “I know it was very brave of you to tell me a big secret like that.”

“Wait, you already knew?” he asked.

“I suspected something was going on for a while, but I only found out last week during the Spectra thing at the Spirit Rally. I was hoping you would tell me when you were ready. I’m proud of you for telling me, and for all you’ve been doing to protect everyone. I’ve been doing what I could to help cover for you with Mom and Dad and your teachers.”

“You have?” He asked, eyebrows creeping into his hairline.

“I may be your bossy big sister, but I care for you and I don’t want to make things harder or more stressful for you.” She paused, and then asked, “Are you planning on telling Mom and Dad next?”

“I thought you just said that you were trying not to make things more stressful for me.” Danny teased. “But yeah, I guess remembering how supportive they were when we were little was the push that I needed to be ready.”

“Well, I’m sure they’re awake now, and the kitchen should be pretty safe right now. I made them clean up their experiments yesterday. If you’re ready, now would be a good time.”

“Yeah…you’re right, it just feels like a lot to tell them. Even knowing that they’ll accept me, I’m still worried that they won’t see me the same, or that they’ll want me to stop hunting ghosts.” Danny said as he slipped out of her arms and off the bed. “Will you come down and back me up when I tell them?” he asked.

“Of course I will! Just give me a couple of minutes to grab a few things and I’ll be right down.”

Jazz flipped her blankets off revealing her favorite pajamas that were covered in different scientific formulas.

“You’re still a nerd.” Danny said as he ducked back out of her room.

“And you’re a dork.” She retorted.

“I love you too!” he called as he headed towards the stairs.

Danny paused at the top of the steps and pulled out his phone to message his friends.

Danny:           About to tell my parents

                      Wish me luck!

Tucker:          You don’t need luck

Sam:              If things go bad come to my house, I can hide you in                                      my closet.  

                      it’s big enough to have its own ensuite

Tucker:          Sweet!

He let out a humorless chuckle and put his phone away. A few seconds later Jazz walked up behind him with a large binder titled, Reasons Why Not All Ghosts are Bad, and Especially not Danny.

“You had enough time to make a whole thing of why ghosts aren’t all bad?” he asked.

“Don’t be silly, I’ve been working on this since the first ghosts showed up and started adding in the bits specifically about you last week. I thought it might come in handy one day to have all of the evidence together.”

“I both admire and fear your organization.” Danny said.

Jazz sniffed imperiously and said, “As you should.”

Danny went down the stairs slowly with Jazz trailing behind him. He stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, but Jazz gave him a gentle push across the threshold.

“Morning, sweetie!” his mom called from the stove where she was frying up surprisingly non-ectoplasmic bacon and eggs.

“Good Morning, son!” his father said from the kitchen table where he was tinkering with a gadget, parts strewn all across the tabletop.

From behind him, Jazz facepalmed and muttered, “So much for keeping the kitchen clean.” 

Danny cleared his throat. 

“Mom, Dad, I have something I need to tell you.” He picked at one of the holes in his pajama sleeves as he waited for their response.

“Is it about ghosts?” His dad asked.

“Well, kinda.” Danny answered, now rubbing the back of his neck.

“Have ghosts been threatening my boy?” His dad demanded as he leapt up from the table.

“Well yes, and no…” Danny’s voice trailed off. 

“What ectoplasmic scum thinks it can mess with a Fenton? I’ll tear it apart molecule by molecule!” Jack exclaimed with his fist in the air.

“Now Jack, calm down,” Maddie turned from the stove and put her hand on his arm, “I’m sure that whatever is going on will make more sense after Danny has had a chance to tell us about it.”

Danny chuckled nervously, glad that Jazz was behind him for moral support. “Let me just start from the beginning then. A few months ago when I had that accident in the lab and got the portal working, I was a lot closer to it than I told you.”

“How close were you?” Maddie asked.

Danny hugged himself as he answered, “I was inside it, there was an ‘on’ button on the inside and I accidentally hit it while I was looking in it.”

“But Danny, the shock of that much electricity, not to mention the ectoplasm, should have killed you! You were fine when we came home and the portal was working.”

Maddie quickly ran over to him, scrutinizing him for signs of injury.

“I was fine! I still am!” Danny added as he backed away with his hands in the air. “I just had a few more side effects than the tingling and numbness from the shock. What I’m saying is, ever since the accident with the portal, I’ve had ghost powers.”

“Ghost powers? Sweetie, humans can’t have ghost powers.” She put the back of her hand to his forehead to check for a fever and then grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. “You don’t have a fever, and your heartbeat is steady if a bit slow. Honey, you’re not a ghost.”

“I know, I’m still human most of the time, I can turn into a ghost and back at will and can use my powers in either form.” He held up his free hand. “Here, look.” Then he flickered his hand in and out of visibility. 

His mom frowned. “I suppose the high concentration of ectoplasm would have prevented you from crossing to the other side, especially as you would have been effectively on both sides if you were in the portal when it activated. Is this why you’ve been dropping glassware at school?”

“Yeah, getting control of the powers was a little tricky at first and several times they went off while I was holding beakers or flasks in science class. And that’s basically the theory so far, that being in the portal when it activated saved me from actually dying.”

“Son, why did it take so long for you to tell us?” his dad asked.

Danny looked down, unable to meet his dad’s eyes or to look at his mom wrapped around him. “I was afraid.  At first I didn’t want to worry you guys or get in trouble for not obeying lab safety rules. Then I was hunting the ghosts that were attacking the town and I didn’t want you to try to stop me when I’m able to help protect people. I was also worried that you would see me as a ghost instead of your son or not believe me when I told you.” 

“Oh sweetie, of course we believe you’re still you. This does explain why almost all of our inventions were going off around you. You’re very lucky that you didn’t get hurt!  We’ll have to work at modifying them to ignore your signature.” His mom said.

“Whether you’re a boy, a ghost, or something in between, you’re our son and we love you.” Jack added as he picked up both his wife and his son in a hug. “I bet you’ve got all kinds of insider information on ghosts now! Think of how much you can help advance our understanding of ghosts and how they interact with our world!”

“We love you, sweetie. No matter what.” Maddie said.

“I knew everything would be alright.” Jazz cheered as she joined the group hug.

Danny smiled and basked in the acceptance of his family. He’d been pretty sure that they would accept him, but it still felt amazing to have his trust validated.

A moment later, he wrinkled his nose. 

“I think the bacon’s burning.”

Jazz jumped out of the hug.

“I’ve got it! None of you move!” She exclaimed. 

She hurried over to the stove, flipped the bacon, and turned the heat down.

As he sat in his parents’ arms, Danny decided that slightly burnt bacon was his new favorite smell.

#danny phantom #2020 christmas truce #phandom #holiday truce 2020 #fanfiction #phanfic #phic #fic #danny fenton #jack fenton #jazz fenton #maddie fenton #tucker foley #sam manson #good parenting #wholesome family bonding #trace amounts of angst #tucker being a good friend #jazz being a good sister #crossposted to ao3 #crossposted to ff.net #gift fic #prompt fills #fluff #short story #reveal fic #love and acceptance #sorry it wasn't ready earlier #wanted to make sure it was nice #grimgrinningghoul

[datawyrms]

The thrilling conclusion. (may not actually be thrilling/a conclusion) Part 1 and 2 respectively. Why was she actually doing this? Standing outside of FentonWorks and it’s eye searing sign in full ghost fighting gear, preparing to knock on the door. It had to be a trap, the ghost kid must have done something to the ghost hunters to make them want to help it. ‘Wanting to talk’, as if. Yet here she was, blundering right into the obvious bear trap anyway. Danny still hadn’t returned to school, even though Sam and Tucker had been acting like they knew where he was, so they had to be in on it too. If Phantom thought he could use her friend against her, he’d have another thing coming. Several very painful things, even. She clenched her fist hard to stop the slight tremor before knocking on the door.

Jack always struck her as more of a brick wall than a man, towering and orange as the door swung open. He looked puzzled for half a second before beaming. “HA! I was right, you did show up! See Mads, she totally did!” He seemed more like an excited puppy than anything, neck craning back to talk to his wife.

“Yes Jack, I see her.” Maddie still had the hood of her suit up, adjusting the goggles as she peered out to their doorstep at the teenage ghost hunter. “You did come to talk, right?”

“Course she did! He’s gotta trust his friends more, like I do!”

Even with her face obscured, Maddie clearly wasn’t a fan of the ‘trusting friends’ line, lips pursed before patting the boisterous man on the back. “How about you go let him know sweetie, while I let her in?”

“Great idea! I’ll even get some discussion fudge!” He zipped away faster than Valerie thought he could manage, the oppressive positivity swept away with him as the blue jumpsuited hunter crossed her arms.

“You don’t have any weapons? We have more than enough ourselves if you’re worried about your safety.”

“I won’t do anything if that ghost doesn’t.” It was hard to keep the disgust out of her voice, watching them act like this. Maddie had always struck her as the more reasonable Fenton, yet she seemed far more worried about some ghost than Jack did, for all his positivity.

“That isn’t what I asked. So I’ll repeat it. Do you have any weapons on you? If you do, just hand them over and then we can talk.”

She was talking like she was more of a threat than that monster in the basement! Whatever that ghost did, it must have been powerful. Maddie Fenton, worried for a ghost she’d gladly spoken about cutting open in the name of science only a month ago. It felt like she’d walked into bizarro world. Maybe if she waited long enough a white rabbit would run by screaming about the time.

“I didn’t bring any weapons. Even though I should have.”

Maddie watched her for a long moment, as if trying to see past the mask and figure out if the red suited ghost hunter was trying to lie. With the smallest sigh, she stepped aside to allow her into the home that doubled as a laboratory. “Follow me. You’ll be perfectly safe.”

She doubted anyone could be perfectly safe in a lab with a portal to another dimension filled with ectoplasmic fiends in it, adding the most dangerous ghost that liked to play ‘innocent’ just made it worse. She wouldn’t be alone down there, judging by the snippets of conversation that were floating up the stairs.

“-not gonna eat that, just take it.”

“Aww, but it’s the good stuff!”

“You need to try-” Jazz stopped speaking at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, turning to glare at the ghost hunter.

Phantom barely even reacted, only the eerie green eyes flicking towards the entrance. Apparently he was too busy sitting comfortably in what looked like a recliner they’d brought down for the ghost to bother with more than that. It just seemed off, having a ghost looking so grounded. “Left it to the last day, huh?” The confident grin didn’t reach his eyes, and even that vanished after a few seconds, like it had been more of a habit than wanting to act like that.

“Only because I know you’re up to something.”

“Yup. That’s me, plotting evil deeds. Maybe next time I won’t get punched through a wall!” He had the energy to roll his eyes, but didn’t cross his arms like she expected him to. “You can go guys, it’s just a chat. Probably.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea-” Maddie’s concern was sickening, watching someone she could respect sometimes just fawning over a playacting ghost.

“I’ll be fine. This is between us.”

“Sure thing! Oh, if you have any symptoms just yell and I’ll be right there kiddo.” The huge man mussed the ghost’s hair, grin wide despite how wrong it looked. “I totally thought of a new approach, so just sit tight!” He was halfway up the stairs by the time he finished talking, not that the distance made him any less audible. Maddie hesitated a moment longer, but followed the loud love of her life.

The only unjumpsuited Fenton seemed to disagree. “I’m not leaving.”

“Yes you are Jazz!”

“I don’t care if she stays, ghost. You can quit stalling.” Valerie interrupted before the two of them could make her wait for ages with some pointless bickering.

Instead the redhead rounded on her. “He has a name. Use it.”

“Jazz, I really don’t care. Just go already.” He looked almost as irritated as she felt . “I just want to get this over with.”

“I don’t trust her not to do something.”

Didn’t trust her? Over the destructive white haired menace? That was just insulting. “You said you’d talk, so start explaining” she did her best to ignore Danny’s sister, it was probably just whatever the ghost was holding over their heads making her act like this.

“Won’t help if you don’t actually listen for a change.” His eyes narrowed, but more at Jazz than Valerie. “You don’t need to hear this Jazz. Okay?”

“If you think I don’t, I definitely do.” She scowled right back, acting as if they were a bratty younger kid than a ghost that could rip her face off. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Fine! Whatever, be stubborn. Can’t do anything about it.” His eyes seemed to glow more strongly before the ghost slumped back more in the chair. “So what do you think I did then? Since you keep trying to bother my friends.”

“There’s no way you got the Fentons and those two on your side without leverage. Sure, some kids actually buy that hero crap, but the Fentons don’t.” Only having a finger to point at the ghost made her feel unprepared.

The glowing teenager looked bored. “So you think I’m a kidnapper.”

“I know you did something to Danny. The timing matches up too well. So out with it.”

“Or what, you’ll kill me faster?” He seemed to freeze up after the words were out, smacking himself in the face. “Habit. I didn’t do anything, but it’s going to be hard to explain.”

This was such a waste of time. “Because it’s all made up nonsense?”

“It’ll sound like it! But it’s not. I can prove it.” the ghost stopped as if he needed to catch his breath. “At least I think I can. You left this really, really late.”

“You’re getting off track.” Jazz spoke up before Valerie could say something similar but with far less charitable phrasing.

“Right. Just trying to figure out how to say it.” A gloved hand rubbed at his forehead, brow furrowed as the ghost muttered. “You know what ghosts are made of, right?”

“Ectoplasm and bad attitudes. Duh, anyone in Amity could tell you that.” What was this, quiz time? Some sort of ‘How long can I annoy the ghost hunter before she shoots and makes me look good’ plan?

His shoulders barely move, a negative effort shrug. “Close enough.”

“It really isn’t! Ectoplasm might be what a ghost builds their body out of but-”

Phantom cut her off, leaning forward with the air of absolute exhaustion. “Jazz I do not have time to explain the specific inner workings of ghosts to someone who hates me right now!”

“It’ll help with the next bit, but fine. Go ahead and get all confused.” The redhead sat back, arms crossed.

“Thank you.” Green eyes shifted to find Valerie again before the ghost continued. “Thing is, I’m not all ectoplasm.”

“Is that why you’re extra obnoxious? Have some dirt mixed in there?”

The ghost actually laughed. “Probably!” He did hold up a hand while the laugh subsided, apparently having something more to add. “Not all dirt. But you got the important bit. I’m not a proper ghost, exactly.”

“I don’t run some endangered petting zoo, ghost. So why should I care?” Though it did explain the hunter ghost that was always after the obnoxious white haired creep.

“You should care because right now, I’m doing the whole ‘post human consciousness’ thing completely wrong.” He was watching her closely, a strange look on that dead face. Dread, anxiety? It didn’t look right on his face. “In that I’m not post human. Yet.”

Maybe the ghost was just trying to see if he could get a funny reaction. “Sorry Phantom, you look really dead to me.”

“Oh I feel real dead! But nope. Ah- I said I can prove it, don’t start yelling.” he muttered the last bit quickly, eyes flicking away from her obvious disbelieving glare. “Probably. Hurts. Gimme a sec-”

“I just wanted an answer to what you were doing, not this inane story.”

“Inane story very important answering that.” the ghost didn’t seem to even notice he was just dropping words from his sentence, more focused at staring at his own hand.

Jazz got up, hovering over the ghost as if deeply concerned for the absurdity spouting spirit. “I can back you up, you don’t need to prove it.”

“She’ll never believe it without seeing it. Which is why we’re doing this at all. Before I can’t.”

“Mom and Dad are still working on it, they’ll figure out a way to fix it.”

“No they won’t Jazz! I want them to, but they won’t! Not with how they explained it.”

“You’re just letting the worst outcome seem like the most likely one.”

“No, I’m actually understanding what they mean and being realistic!”

Honestly, this entire little exchange felt like something private she’d barged in on. She gave a loud cough, which seemed to startle both of them, heads jerking to look in her direction. They almost looked related, being that in sync.

The psychology lover recovered first. “Urgh. Just say it out loud, you’re obviously struggling.”

Which snapped the ghost boy out of it. “And you’re obviously not helping!”

“So what, you threatened the Fentons with a really bad comedy act?” The ghost winced at the angry rebuke, but she wasn’t done. “I get you being obnoxious, but dragging Jazz into it? You’re pretty sick.”

“He’s Danny.” There was no amusement in her voice, no hint of the concerned smile she kept giving the ectoplasmic pest.

“Jazz!” There was a genuine note of anger, and the temperature seemed to dip as the ghost glared at the one that didn’t want him blasted out of existence.

“I don’t really care what you call him, that doesn’t answer-”

Jazz cut her off, ignoring the cold glare being thrown at her. “It does. Danny isn’t missing, he’s right here.”

“You managed to trick the Fentons into thinking you’re their kid? What did you do to Danny?” Valarie rounded on the ghost, hand reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there.

“Nothing!” His hands were up even as his eyes stayed fixed on the elder Fenton child. “I told you she won’t believe it!”

“Nothing’s happened to Danny. This is him. Only grumpier.”

“You can’t honestly think that thing is your brother!”

“Wow Jazz, you managed to get me called a thing. Great assist, keep it up.” Phantom was muttering, settling back as if he planned to just take a nap. “If you keep this up, maybe she’ll shoot me!”

“You could try standing up for yourself, Danny.”

“Oh no, you dug this hole. You lie in it. I’d say your grave, but I have dibs in that department. Twiceover!”

She was going to punch this ghost. Even if the creature could just phase through it. She wanted to clobber it for whatever THIS was. “So you killed Danny, and took his place. That’s what you’re saying?” At least she had the satisfaction of the ghost looking like it wanted to vanish as she stepped forward.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything. That was Jazz.”

“No! Danny’s always been both. I’ve known for a while, but he had to tell Mom and Dad. That’s why they’re suddenly fine with Phantom.” Jazz insisted, trying to look Valerie in the eye. “He isn’t missing, and hasn’t done anything to us.”

“Danny is not a life ruining monster. I don’t care how convincing that thing seems to you, that ghost is NOT my friend.” Danny was sweet, big hearted and a bit of a shy little dork. Phantom was nothing but a snide, cocky creep that insisted you should just forget anything that made him look like the scummy ghost he was. They were nothing alike.

“And this is why I just wanted to make things quick.” The ghost seemed to fold in on himself, not looking at either of the humans in the room. “You can hate me all you want, just let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain! You aren’t Danny.”

“He is. It explains everything. Think about it logically. Danny goes ‘missing’. He tries to fix the problem himself, but he can’t. We convince him he has to tell our parents. He finally does, and even though Danny is still ‘missing’ they stop saying things like a ghost kidnapped him. Because we know where he is.”

“Or he’s still missing and you’ve bought some nonsense story to feel better about it when this ghost probably just tortured him for information.” Jazz didn’t back down from her snappy response, but did seem to be at a loss.

“Hey! I do not do torture. That’s literally everyone who isn’t me.” the ghost sounded offended, shaking his hand as if trying to get it to do something. “Anyway, this is going to suck. I blame you Jazz.”

“Excuse me for thinking friends of yours can be logical with the truth in their faces!”

“Nah. I get to say I told you so for a change.”

Valrie planned to make the two quit their pointless bickering, but words died in her throat as a set of rings appeared near the ghost’s wrist. It wasn’t an attack she’d seen the menace use before and she was already settling into a fighting stance to combat it. Yet it stayed around the ghost, slowly down his arm. It seemed a bit much as a way to take off a ghostly jumpsuit, but she preferred that first thought to how the ghost changed as it swept over his face.

Black hair, blue eyes. Her friend’s face, Danny’s face set in a grimace of pain as the rings snuffed out, a boy that looked pale and sickly while struggling to breathe where the blight of a ghost had been.

“Yup. Sucks. Ow.” Danny wheezed, eyes unfocused even though he knew the two of them were still there.

Jazz was there in seconds. “You need to switch back. Mom said-”

“S-she’s gotta know it isn’t a trick first.” the boy insisted, and his voice was right. It was Danny’s, without the horrid echo or slimy snaps the ghost made.

Yet it had to be a trick. There was no way her friend had been a lie. Just some rotten ghost who’d gotten close to her as some sort of joke. A ghost that had tricked her after making sure she knew he was nothing but a monster in one disguise. “Who are you.” The question was weak.

“Just Danny. Been this way since the accident.” He looked like he was going to say more but was cut off by a coughing fit, flecks of ectoplasm making his pale skin look even closer to dead as it splattered on his hastily raised hand. “That’s new.” His laugh set her teeth on edge.

Her brain wouldn’t work. It was impossible, it couldn’t be true. She didn’t want it to be true. She’d liked him well enough before. This-she wasn’t sure how else she could take this. “So why are you telling me now.”

“I wanted you to know while I could still prove it.”

“Why? Did you think this would help you? Think I might pity you if you look sick?”

“No.” Blue eyes looked away as the rings returned the ghost to the chair. “I told you so you’d leave my friends alone. Since I don’t think I’m going to stop being missing.”

He’d revealed his nasty trick, but wasn’t mocking her about it, or lording over her with it. It didn’t fit. They couldn’t be the same person. You couldn’t be alive and dead at the same time! She wanted to choke him, but also wanted to help. She hated this, she hated him for making this complicated. “Stay missing?” The sickness had to be an act, right? Like how he pretended he was a friend.

“Yeah. I got lucky in the accident. I wasn’t quite a ghost, and not exactly a human.” Phantom wasn’t looking at her as he spoke, apparently preferring to stare at the wall. “It was a balance thing, I guess. I didn’t really notice at first. Like the obvious I did, the whole having ghost powers thing, being able to switch back and forth.” The rambling didn’t stop even as he started scratching at the back of his neck. “I didn’t notice even as a human I needed ectoplasm to keep my heart going, or as a ghost I could use more than just ectoplasm to keep my energy up. I need both halves, I can’t survive without both.” He hesitated again, getting a reassuring hand on the shoulder from Jazz. “Problem is I managed to get that balance screwed up. Ran myself ragged fighting ghosts, didn’t get enough sleep, basically coasted on my ghost half to keep functioning. And I’m a strong ghost now, I guess. Too strong for my weak human body to manage anymore. So I’m basically eating myself alive and falling apart. It’s great. This is when I have a quip about work life balance or something, but I’m too tired to think of one.”

“He wasn’t hiding this out of maliciousness you know. He was afraid.” Jazz was frowning as she watched how the ghost hunter hadn’t really relaxed, still stiff and angry looking. “He couldn’t even make himself tell Mom and Dad until we basically forced him to.”

“She doesn’t care, Jazz.” he grunted, still not looking, “But you know now. So you don’t need to go after anyone to find out what happened. It’s self inflicted.”

It was too much. The whole thing was absurd. What could she even say to something like this? To have the world invert to show ugly stains you didn’t see before? They would need to talk again. About this. About what he actually was, or wasn’t. Now though?

She could only leave without a word.

#Danny Phantom #fanfic #valerie gray #jazz fenton #jack fenton #Maddie Fenton #reposting because yet again the tags eat it #apparently i only speak ambiguous endings

[sapphiresartblog]

Save the date!

(holy shit i wrote some words?? into an actual fic??? its a miracle)

Danny phantom gets invited to a little girls birthday party!

...

“Look! It’s phantom!”

Danny knew he shouldn’t fly to school so out in the open. Sure it beat going with the bus, but most of the time it slowed him down because of people wanting a picture or Valerie, also on her way to school, would notice him. And Danny didn’t like to be in a fight before school had even started. Fighting before school was a terrible way to start a day.

“Mister phantom! Mister phantom! Help!!”

But of course, when someone needed his help, he couldn’t keep flying!

Danny searched for where the call had come from. He noticed a little girl, wildly waving her arms at him. A young woman knelt beside the little girl and was talking to her, but the girl didn’t listen. She had a pink something clutched in her hand. Danny saw the smile on her face turn into an almost face splitting grin when he waved back at her. She beckoned him with one hand and waved with the other, pink thing waving at him too.

aw heck, what could he lose? the little girl didn’t look like a ghost in disguise, or just someone who was looking to pick a fight in general. He started floating towards her and the young woman. the girl started jumping up and down, pointing at him while tugging at the woman's arm. who also now looked at him. the expression on her face was kinda funny. she looked pleasantly surprised but also mildly horrified. danny stopped floating in front of them.

‘’uh, hi, do you need help?’’ he asked. he felt kind of uncomfortable with the woman staring at him and the girl almost drooling. Now that danny was close enough, he could see what the pink thing was. it was an envelope with disney princess stickers on it. the girl holding the envelope seemed incapable of saying anything. she almost vibrated of excitement. She had short black hair with green hair clips in it, and had big brown eyes, which fixated on him. The young woman kneeling beside her suddenly stood up. she opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if wanting to say something but didn’t know what. then she cleared her throat.

‘’I’m sorry for bothering you, but,’’ she gestured at the girl, who was no longer in awe of him and was bouncing with excitement again, ‘’my daughter has something for you.’’

‘’for me?’’ Danny didn’t really know what to say, so he kept it at that. Neither the girl nor the woman seemed to be in imminent danger.

“Yes!’’ the girl suddenly piped up. she held up the envelope and Danny took it. on the front of the envelope stood mister Danny phantom, written in bright green crayon, and almost unreadable because of the sheer amount of stickers on this envelope.

‘’You're invited to my birthday party, mister phantom!’’ the girl exclaimed.

Danny's eyes widened. ‘’What?’’. he looked over to the girls mom, who looked right back at him with an apologetic smile on her face.

‘’We’re sorry for bothering you, phantom. but my daughter really, uh, admires what you do and she-’’ the mom was cut off by the girl.

“I want to be just like you when I grow up mister phantom!” she said.

“Like, a ghost?” Danny asked. “You shouldn’t want to be a ghost-“

“No! A hero!” The girl said. She put her hands on her hips, striking a superhero pose and grinned. Danny noticed that she was wearing a shirt bright pink with his logo on it.

“Oh” Danny felt His face turn green.

The woman turned to her daughter. ‘’But I’ve already said that mister Phantom is probably way too busy and won’t have time to come to your birthday party, sweety, so-’’

‘’when is the party?’’ Danny blurted out, still blushing a little. the last time he actually got invited to a birthday party was Sam's 6th birthday. His dad had broken the bouncy castle and then Sam wasn’t allowed to invite him anymore. he never got invited to the A-listers parties anyway, and Tucker didn’t like birthdays.

‘This saturday!’’ the girl said. ‘’my house is on the invite.’’

“i think i have time to come saturday’’ Danny said. the girl was ecstatic and the mom looked unsure.

‘’It's really fine if you can’t come. Sarah would understand, wouldn't you Sarah?’’

‘’No, you have to come!’’ Sara said. then the elementary school bell rang, and Sarah pulled on her mom's hand, walking away to the elementary school. ‘’see you on saturday!’’ she yelled and waved at him.

‘’Ok, looks like i have something to do on saturday’’ Danny mumbled to himself. He grinned and started flying towards casper high.

#Danny Phantom #danny fenton #not art #fanfic #danny phantom fanfiction #short fanfic #i might write more if i get inspired again

[ectowaves]

Ectober 5: Harvest

Danny smiled as he leaned against the sign. This had been the best week since the time Dash somehow managed to dye his hair pink. He was out of school and helping his Aunt with her harvest activities.

The week before, his Aunt Alicia had called asking for Danny to help her with the festivities. Apparently, she had taken a liking to him the year before and wanted to see him again. With a little begging from Danny’s part and a lot of psychological babble from Jazz, his parents permitted him to go.

When he asked Jazz why she helped him, Jazz only responded with a grin and an assurance that she and the ghostketeers could handle things. Danny had nearly laughed at the possibilities of Jazz trying to ghost fight with Sam and Tucker. But he made his sister promise that she would contact him if anything went wrong.

“Danny less slacking and more working!” His Aunt called from the field behind him, “There are customers waiting!”

When Danny arrived at his Aunt’s he asked why she had chosen him to help her. Aunt Alicia told him that he reminded her of herself. Danny had been surprised at her answer.

“When I was younger, I did everything I could to keep my family together. I even covered for my mom when she messed up in front of my dad. I see you doing that for that buffoon Jack.” She had informed him and then ruffled his hair, “Come on its time to feed the cows.”

Danny blushed when he saw a woman and her young child waiting patiently. “Sorry ma’am”

The woman smiled, “One of those days huh?”

Danny laughed politely, “Sunny days like these get me thinking. Now how may I help you?”

Before her mother could answer, the little girl around the age of eight bounded up and shook his hand, “My name is Mary Foster! We are looking for a big pumpkin! What’s your name? Do you have any huge pumpkins?” She spread her arms and looked at him expectantly.

“Hi Mary, I’m Danny Fenton. We’ve got a lot of pumpkins here in all sorts of sizes, I’m sure we can find the right one!” With a nod from her mother, Danny picked the little girl up and walked towards the field.

“Wow! That’s a lot of pumpkins!” the girl chirped in his ear, “Do you live in a pumpkin too?”

“I know! My Aunt loves planting pumpkins. They are her favourite.” Danny informed the little girl, “But we don’t live in a pumpkin we live in a house over there.”

Danny turned to point to the house five hundred feet away. The Mary smiled and waved to it.

“Who are you waving at?” Danny asked the girl curiously.

“At the giant pumpkin coming towards us.” The little girl giggled.

Danny turned to look at where Mary was looking. There was the one person he didn’t think he would be seeing for another two days. Why was his dad here? Aunt Alicia was not going to like that.

“Oh, that’s the Pumpkin King. He comes down every once in a while.” Danny started to walk towards the field again, “He’s very busy.”

“Okay!” The girl nodded. Then Mary spotted all of the pumpkins before her. “That’s a lot of pumpkins!”

“It sure is.” Her mother agreed from behind Danny, startling the ghost boy.

Danny put the girl down, and she immediately sprinted into the fields. She looked at several pumpkins nearly the size of her, then continued to sprint in the field.

“Don’t go too far!” Her mother called. Mary stopped then waved to let her mother know she heard.

Danny grinned as the girl searched for the right pumpkin. How long had it been since he was in her position? How long had it been since he could run and be free?

Finally, Mary ran back. She grabbed Danny’s hand and forced him to run where she found the perfect pumpkin. Mrs. Foster ran behind them, laughing with her daughter. Suddenly the child stopped, nearly causing Danny and her mother to crash.

“I want this one!” The girl pointed and Danny blushed gain.

On the pumpkin was his symbol in green spray paint. The previous day, his aunt had requested that Danny label pumpkins ‘not for sale’ in green spray paint. She had told him all the huge ones had to be labelled that way. Halfway during the day, Danny had gotten bored and sprayed his hero symbol on a random pumpkin. Somehow this girl had found it.

“Umm, are you sure?” Danny asked awkwardly.

“Yeah! It has mommy’s and my favourite superhero sign!” Mary attempted to pick up the vegetable.

“I’ll get it.” Danny bent over to hide the blush on his face. He pulled out his pocket knife and cut the pumpkin free. Then he lifted it up and started to carry it to the front. The girl jumped beside him, excited about the pumpkin.

“Do you need any help?” Mrs. Foster asked worriedly. It was a large pumpkin and it looked pretty heavy to a regular person. To Danny, it wasn’t so heavy.

“I’m okay.” Danny smiled at the woman.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yep, besides we are here anyway.” He set the pumpkin down at the table by the sign.

“How much will this cost?” The woman pulled her wallet from her purse.

“Medium-sized pumpkins cost five dollars.” Danny accepted the five-dollar bill from the woman. She then handed him another five.

“For you,” She smiled, “Thank you for carrying that for us.”

Danny handed the bill back, but Mrs. Foster refused to take it.

“You deserve it.”

“Thank you,” Danny picked up the pumpkin, “Now where is your car?”

“Follow me!” Mary giggled as she led them towards a black pick-up truck. Danny couldn’t help but appreciate the girl’s energy and excitement. She opened the truck door and hopped inside.

“Put it beside me!” the girl begged.

“Mary, it’s going into the back.” The woman shook her head at her daughter’s antics. Danny obeyed the mother’s request and placed the pumpkin in the flatbed. He secured it between two bales of hay.

“Thank you for visiting Alicia’s Pumpkin Patch.” Danny shook the woman’s hand. “Have a good Halloween.”

“You too Danny.” The woman nodded.

Mary jumped out of the truck and gave Danny a hug. “Thank you, Mr. Danny!”

“You’re welcome, Mary!” Danny said as Mary got back into the truck. Once the girl had her seatbelt on the vehicle started to pull away.

“Bye Mr. Danny! See you Pumpkin King!” the girl cried out of her window.

Pumpkin King? Danny turned to look behind him to see his dad staring at the truck pulling away.

“Pumpkin King?” Jack asked his son

“Don’t ask,” Danny smirked as he went to the table to get ready to serve the next customer. He hoped that his secret fans would get to enjoy their holiday.

“Need any help son?” Jack asked as he followed Danny.

“I’m good, but thanks, Dad,” Danny told his father.

“Do I hear JACK FENTON!” His Aunt Alicia yelled very much unhappy.

Father and son shared a look then laughed.

Unfortunately for the Fosters and the Fentons, Halloween would be the last holiday they got to spend with their children for a long time…

#ectober 2018 #ectoberweek18 #danny phantom #harvest

[pokibal2001]

Convergence: Nicktoons Drabbles #1 and TATD Random Headcanons # 4

So apparently, my crossover fic is threading dark territories soon and I felt the urge to write something light for once. So here it is! A collection of drabbles featuring the Nicktoons when they are not fighting maniacal supervillains or otherworldly vengeful spirits in their spare time. This will be a fused post of both series for now, and the next two posts will the separate the two.

Spoiler warning though, some of these drabbles can go either pre-C:TATD or post-C:TATD. So there might be moments of OOC among the heroes due to what they had been through in the crossover or unexpected characters that hadn’t debuted yet in the main fic.

Regardless, I’ll just continue anyway. Let’s start with the headcanons first, pre-C:TATD and Spongebob’s variant!

---

Out of all the worlds the Nicktoons came from, everybody in the group agrees that Bikini Bottom is the safest out of all of them.

Retroville and Dimmsdale are constantly filled by accidents of either magical or scientific origins, Muckledunk and Petropolis are often terrorized by persistent racists and mad scientists and last but not least, Amity Park is infested by violent ghosts.

So everyone preferred hanging out together at Spongebob’s world, mostly at the Krusty Krab because of the delicious krabby patties. Even if it means having to use Jimmy’s Neutronic Air Gum to visit Bikini Bottom the rare few moments they managed to get in their free time.

While Dudley, Tucker, Cosmo and Bunsen loved the undersea burgers the most, Sam refused to eat them due to her being a vegetarian. Spongebob, who wants to make up for it, quickly cooked up a vegan variant of krabby patties called the Vegan Patty

To Sam’s surprise, she actually likes the Vegan Patty and she was very grateful to Spongebob for respecting and even catering to her tastes.

On the other side of the spectrum, Timmy, Chloe and Wanda were overworked to clean up the magical farts left behind by Cosmo’s overeating of Krabby Patties.

Poor Kitty also ended up being dragged into cleaning up Cosmo’s mess as well.

Meanwhile, Jimmy was at the corner pondering how on earth are steaming hot burgers that are edible to eat without being soggy are possible at all underwater.

Had Sandy been there (unfortunately, she was busy with her own stuff to hang out at the time), she would have sympathized with him because she has the same confusion about the peculiarity of the non-existent underwater physics.

Danny simply enjoyed watching the chaos unfold from afar, only stepping in when things get a little too far.

The Nicktoons meet Mr Eugene Krabs properly this time (This was Dudley, Kitty, Bunsen and Mikey’s first time. The rest met him during the Syndicate invasion)

While they were somewhat caught off-caught at how obsessive Mr Krabs tend to be with money, they managed to at least kept a friendly interaction with him but with Sam being the most grudging.

They decided to go out into Bikini Bottom.

Spongebob introduced everyone to his best friend Patrick. While Dudley, Cosmo and Bunsen were completely taken with him as fellow best buds, everyone else were not amused. Kitty was the most wary of him.

Timmy wondered out loud why they can’t just swim up in the open water and every sea folk in the near vicinity stared at him like he was crazy.

If there’s one thing that Jimmy and Timmy can agree on despite their bickering nature, is that the underwater physics of Spongebob’s world are way too confusing even by their standards.

Spongebob had offered them a suggestion of visiting Goo Lagoon, everyone was flabbergasted that underwater water lakes are even possible.

However, none of them were expecting Jimmy’s reaction at all. The boy genius simply heave a sigh of relief at the Goo Lagoon’s existence.

“Finally! Something that makes sense in this world! Brine pools are actually real in the other oceans of our worlds too. They form because of the high salinity content-”

“We get it, fudgehead.”

Another infamous argument between Jimmy and Timmy occurs, and everybody worked their asses off calming down the two boys. This is Spongebob’s day, not theirs.

They met Squidward along the way as well. While the Nicktoons were a bit put off and annoyed by his petty behaviour, they can’t deny feeling bad for him when they realize Squidward has been a victim of Spongebob and Patrick’s astonishing ignorance of personal boundaries.

Danny and Kitty made sure to keep Spongebob and Patrick in check if they went too far in bothering Squidward.

Squidward, although not expressing it, was inwardly glad that he’s surrounded by people with common sense.

They passed by the Chum Bucket, and a wary Plankton was observing them with binoculars. Danny, Jimmy and Kitty were the only ones to notice but decided not to call him out since Spongebob assured all of them that Plankton was not causing trouble for now.

By the time they left Bikini Bottom and back into their home worlds, the Nicktoons are left shocked at how drenched they are despite the fact they felt dry back in Spongebob’s world.

---

Here’s the actual drabble at last! The Nicktoons are both equally disturbed and fascinated by the bizarre underwater physics and structure of Bikini Bottom.

“You know? I don’t think I could ever get used to this. It just doesn’t make a lick of sense,” Tucker gestured his hands at the open waters of Bikini Bottom.

“You said it, Tucker. How the heck are we standing on the floor and not floating in the air-water-thing, whatever!” Timmy ranted, throwing his hand up in the water.

“Be careful with you say, Timmy!” Wanda, in her goldfish form, turned to him with an admonishing tone, “We don’t need more fish people staring at us.”

“Yeah, Timmy!” Cosmo chimed in, “One of them kept giving us a stink-eye.”

“What, that old man-fish?” Timmy scoffed, “Like I care what he thinks. At least in my world, magic is the explanation for everything weird that happened there. Bikini Bottom has no magic!”

“You and me both, Timmy. You and me both,” Jimmy muttered loudly, walking alongside Timmy with his arms crossed as he glared at the sea-sky.

“Really?” Bunsen tilted his head curiously before smiling affirmatively as he skipped a step, “It’s not that bad though. At least we can walk here just like on land!”

Kitty shuddered, “Hate to break it to you, Bunsen but the fact that the seawater around us is not weighing down on our fur is a disturbing sensation,” the cat agent glanced to the side with half-lidded lime eyes, “... And to clear my case, look at Dudley.”

Said dog agent was standing on a sandy dune not far from them, jumping around in frenzy as soft grains of sand were sent flying slowly into the open waters. His paws were reaching out wildly, hoping as if he could swim out in the water above.

“Come on, come on!” Dudley hollered in pure frustration as he pulled his long ears, “Why can’t I swim!?”

“See, guys? Even he gets it,” Timmy fumed bitterly, huffing out an air bubble.

“Eh... I think I agree with Bunsen, Timmy. Bikini Bottom is kinda a nice place to hang out at,“ Danny smirked cockily as he floated above the buck-teethed boy and looking down at him, “Besides, do you know how great the water currents feel? They’re just like wind on land, except it’s more watery and it’s cool!”

“Says the superhero who can fly,” Timmy retorted back at the older boy with a twitching right eye.

Spongebob, who was piggybacking on Danny since the halfa offered the ride (it helps that the sea sponge was quite light), peered over his best friend’s shoulder and put on a wide cheerful smile.

“I never fly, or swam, this high up in Bikini Bottom before! And Danny’s right, being up here is so cool!!!” The sea sponge exclaimed happily and the unlikely duo laughed together as they flew around above the group, even going as far as to perform loops in the sea-sky.

Timmy groaned loudly, covering his face with both of his hands. Chloe, who had been quietly admiring the sight of the sea so far, decided to take pity on Timmy and patted his back comfortably.

“It’s okay, Timmy,” The perky blonde told him gently, “Maybe the science of this world doesn’t make sense but at least, we can enjoy the sight here! Ooh, look at the clouds, they’re shaped like flowers!”

“I’m more curious about the aquatic botany around here,” Sam commented bemusedly, observing the floating green kelp and polka-dotted coral near the walking path the Nicktoons were moving on, “It’s hard to believe that some of the plants here are just mimicking corals and not actual corals themselves.

“You’re not going ask if they’re edible or not, are you?” Tucker asked with wide eyes, a nauseous expression on his face.

“Uh, eww. No,” Sam raised an eyebrow in disbelief with an equally disgusted look, “Tucker, only specific types of seaweed and algae are safe for eating. If you don’t know that, I can’t imagine you camping in the wild.”

“Then you don’t see me going near the ocean back home because I’m fine staying home eating sea-I mean, meat,” jested Tucker, nearly stumbling on a taboo subject that the Nicktoons have no desire in discussing.

Dudley, who looked rather disappointed after failing to swim in the open waters of Spongebob’s world, mingled back in the group just in time to overhear the last few words of Tucker’s retort.

He and Kitty shot each other a panicked glance followed by a brief wary stare at the sea folk walking among them, before looking away in the opposite direction and whistled innocently.

“I wll lose my mind if we can actually lit a fire underwater,” Jimmy muttered.

“Sure, we can,” Came Patrick’s unexpected reply.

Everyone halted right in their tracks, all of them giving the blinking sea star varying stares of shock and disbelief. Even Danny was curious enough to float back near the group with Spongebob in tow to see what was going.

“You’re kidding,” came Tucker’s flabbergasted reply.

“You mean, we can?” Bunsen perked up, notably excited at the prospect.

“Yeah,” Patrick tilted his head in confusion, “Me, Spongebob and Squidward went camping that one time and we managed to make a fire.”

“Ugh,” Squidward, who was the least social of the group, grimaced, “Don’t remind me.”

“Oh, yeah!” Spongebob exclaimed as he clicked a finger, peering from above Danny’s head, “I remember that time. Boy, those were fun times!”

“Seriously? You can make fire underwater? For real?” Danny blinked his neon green eyes owlishly, “Wow, you don’t hear that in a spoken sentence everyday.”

Rubbing the back of his head, Spongebob sheepishly smiled, “Really? I don’t know what’s normal in making fire for land critters, but I’m sure we can ask Jimmy for an opinion. Right, Jimmy?” A brief silence, “... Uh, Jimmy?”

Every Nicktoon looked at said boy genius, whose entire body was shaking like a leaf and manic blue eyes twitching. Timmy and Chloe immediately backed several steps away from him as everyone went on guard.

“J-Jimmy?” Chloe asked nervously.

“Are you... feeling well?” Kitty furrowed her brow in concern.

“Oh, I’m just peachy,” Jimmy seethed through gritted teeth, his wide blue eyes kept twitching, “The mere idea that fire can be kindled underwater is absolutely a thing in the realm of possibility. How wonderful.”

“G-Guys....” Dudley stammered, “He’s doesn’t l-look okay...!”

The manic grin on Jimmy’s face grew wider, “Absolutely possible. Possible...!”

“That’s it, fudgehead has lost his head,” Timmy stared at his rival in wide-eyed horror, quickly grabbing his fairies in one arm while holding Chloe in the other, “Sorry, guys! But we’re heading straight to the Krusty Krab first, see yah!”

In a puff of air bubbles, Timmy was seen running for the hills with his fairies and Chloe in tow.

“What about you guys, huh?” Jimmy’s head twitched as he turned to the rest, “Care to kindle a fire with me underwater?”

Danny gulped before yelling, “Hey, don’t forget about us!” as he made the same decisions as Timmy by grabbing a rather shocked Sam and Tucker with both of his hands before flying towards said buck-teethed boy with a yelping Spongebob on his back.

“Don’t leave us behind!” Dudley squealed as he dumped both Kitty and Bunsen over his shoulders, “Dudley!” “Yay, free rides!” 

The only ones left behind with Jimmy were Patrick and Squidward, in which the latter was slowly tip-toeing his way out of the scene. 

“So, Patrick...?” Jimmy asked with a gritted smile.

“Yep!” Said sea star replied eagerly. 

Clapping his hands hands together, Jimmy giggled, “Ready to prove your point?”

Patrick’s black eyes gleamed in excitement, “Sure! Let’s go find some wood and make a fire!”

The manic smile on Jimmy’s face grew wider, “Agreed.”

—-

“Spongebob?” 

“Yeah, Timmy?”

“Fudgehead is going to kill your best friend.”

A massive gasp, “OH NO! We must sent a rescue team right away!”

“Too late about that, they’re already made a fire,” Squidward deadpanned, “Look outside.”

Danny’s dumbfounded voice echoed, “... Is that smoke? Is that even possible underwater?”

Timmy groaned, “I give up. Spongebob’s world does not make sense.”

—-

So yeah... Let’s just say, Jimmy and Patrick caused a lot of underwater fires, as oxymoronic as that sounds. Hope you enjoy reading this post!

#nicktoons #nicktoons unite #danny phantom #headcanon #convergence #fanfic #hope you like it #spongebob squarepants #drabble #jimmy neutron #fairly odd parents

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Bittersweet Future: Chapter Nine

Summary:

Danny awakens to the future he’s created...

If the Nightmare Is Only Beginning...

Danny awoke with a start, sore and terrified from what had to be the worse dream of his life. Time-travel, jet fighter planes, a freakishly competent Guys in White, it was all too unreal. He wrapped his arms around his middle; cold, and shivering not just from the imagined chill. The errant time traveler stood up from his painful position on the floor, rubbing at the twinging pain in his lower back while doing so. Danny rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stumbled from in between the stacked boxes of his make-shift hiding place. After a few extra seconds to bring the minimum necessary higher brain functions online, he walked forward towards where his bedroom door should be…Jazz is going to get a kick out of this one. The sleep-addled teen thought while still wandering, eyes closed, for his bedroom door. He’d made a habit of telling his sister the more disturbing dreams, at her insistence. He stumbled over something lying haphazardly on his “bedroom” floor before grumpily kicking it out of the way and opening his eyes fully to avoid a repeat. For the second time in what was only a week, Danny awoke somewhere he not only didn’t expect, but didn’t immediately recognize. A dark windowless basement greeted his sight. The dim lightening did nothing to disguise the condensation soaked walls or the drooping stacks of cardboard boxes all around him. It especially didn’t stop the jolt of realization currently crackling through his system like a lightning bolt. Oh. God! It wasn’t a dream! A cold terror snaked up his spine as the blunt starkness of reality splashed through him like a bucket of ice water over his head. Danny slid his hands through his hair, willing himself to calm down and think the situation through. A few seconds of forced slow breathing later, the teenaged superhero was slumped in the center of the room, head resting precariously in his hands. Now more than fully awake, he set his mind on auto pilot as the memories came flooding back. A fight with Plasmius, a hasty decision, a family that was his but didn’t know it yet, crazy battles with the last involving a freaking pair of fighter jets; all of it crashed back into the fore of his mind. Ok great! I’m back in the future, without going 88 miles per hour, he thought with a roll of his eyes, but not one that I recognize. First thing I know for sure, my parents do not live in Amity Park. There’s just no way with it being ghost hunter central that I’d be safe, especially with halfa sensing equipment. Danny closed his eyes as a shudder coursed its way across his skin. It wasn’t as if his parent’s ghost sensing equipment never picked him up, it just never picked him out as half ghost. And how in the world do they know about halfas anyway? Danny shook his head, setting aside that mystery to continue his internal monologue. If they don’t live here, there is a chance they still live close by though, because this is the ghost capital of the world. As long as they could be sure I was safe, and being outside the dome-they built a freaking dome?- would do it. Secondly, Danny started before getting up to pace the room. He was restless. There’s a good chance Sam and Tucker would know where I live. If my parents moved, it must have been after I got my powers. It also completely explains why the Guys in White rejects know about half ghosts. I mean, I’m sure my parents were able to get actual funding from Vlad or something and so were actually connected to the rest of the ghost hunting community. So after I got powers, the world knew about halfas. Ok, lastly, Danny stopped pacing and crossed his arms in thought, if Sam and Tucker don’t know where I live, then I’m sure…Vlad does. In which case, if I find him in Wisconsin or wherever, I’ll find the rest of my family. Danny finished off his logical progression with a nod of his head. The first objective was to connect with his friends, and if that didn’t pay off, he could make a flight out to Vlad after his parents’ whereabouts. And considering he still had he’s friends’ phone numbers, it didn’t even require him to sneak back into Amity to find them. He had turned off his cell phone a little after he had arrived in the past. There was really no use for it, he couldn’t even get a signal, and everyone he’d want to call was either in the future, or didn’t know him yet. Danny reached in his pocket and flipped open his phone. A few seconds of startup music later, and he was browsing through his contacts list. He knew both Sam’s and Tucker’s phone numbers, cell and house, by heart. On the other hand, he was nervous as all get out, and the repetitive motion on the keypad was helping calm him down. Should I call Sam or Tucker first? Danny hesitated over the section of his phone with the speed dials, glancing quickly in between their names. His finger hovered over the number a second longer before he made his decision. Sam first. The curling fingers of nerves twisted inside his guts as he waited for Sam to pick up. I’m sorry. The number you have requested cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again. A voice droned from the other side of the line. The long beep of the dial tone rang out as the automated system hung up from the other end. Danny gripped the phone tighter and looked back at his contacts list again. He was sure he had dialed it correctly; he didn’t even have to check it against his list because he knew it by rote memory. He felt a cold sweat break out on his skin, and slick up his palms as he re-dialed the number. I’m sorry. The number- Danny hung up and tried again. I’m sorry.- No. No, no no. This can’t be happening. This is Sam’s cell phone number. It has to be. Danny tightened his grip on the cell phone to stop the fine tremble coursing through his limbs. He took another deep breath, and decided to try Tucker’s number instead. To his immense relief the cell phone actually connected and he could hear ringing on the other side. It rung once, twice, and thrice before he heard someone pick up on the other side. Hey this is Theo. I obviously can’t come to the phone right now, too busy rocking out, so sing your song at the beep, and I’ll maybe get back to you. A long beep issued from the phone as the voicemail clicked over to record mode. Danny nearly dropped the phone in shock. The voice on the other end wasn’t Tucker’s. At the very least he had gotten the voice mail, so he didn’t have to talk to whoever was on the other side of the phone. Danny resisted the compulsion to check the phone for the number again. It obviously wasn’t his friend’s so checking once more wasn’t going to help. The time traveling hero gathered the frayed edges of his nearly destroyed nerves and started thinking things through again. Alright, so their numbers aren’t exactly the same. Phone numbers are a simple thing, they can change really quickly. No reason to jump to conclusions. I’ll just call their home numbers, and if those aren’t the same, I’ll look up the numbers in a phone book or something. No big deal, don’t freak out over nothing. Danny re-steeled his nerves and looked up Sam and Tucker’s house numbers. He really didn’t have to, but once again, the repetitive clicking soothed his nerves. The decision about who to call first was a simple one. Sam’s parents hated him, so calling Tucker’s house was the obvious choice. He didn’t even bother looking at the phone screen this time, opting to instead dial it from rote memory. The other end rung twice before being picked up. A female voice from the other side announced the Foley residence and asked who was speaking. “Hey Mrs. Foley. This is Danny…is Tucker home?” Danny smiled into his side of the phone, excited to finally hear the voice of someone he knew. Angela Foley was a nice enough lady, and just knowing she was still local to Amity made him feel a lot more certain about his deductions from earlier. The other side of the line went quiet before someone said, “Who is this?” The voice on the other side of was angry, accusatory. Danny jumped on the other end of the phone. “It’s Danny, Danny Fenton. I…listen I accidentally deleted my contact’s list, and I can’t seem to remember Tucker’s number. Do you think-” “Well Mr. Fenton,” The voice on the other end sneered, “perhaps you could ask your father what Tucker’s number is. He should even know where he is. And tell that bastard that if anyone from your family calls again, I’ll have my lawyer on his ass faster than he can scream ‘ghost’.” Angela hung up the phone, slamming it down into the receiver. A few years ago, she might have just broken into tears, but now she was too strong for that. Maybe if the Fentons had any sense, they’d never call again. Danny stared into the phone, a beeping dial tone emanating from the receiver. “What the hell was that about?” He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this, but apparently he and Tucker weren’t friends anymore. Did the entire half ghost thing cause that much of a ripple? Danny thought as he reluctantly dialed up Sam’s house number. Mrs. Mason didn’t like him at all, and he could only imagine that if being half ghost put Tucker’s parents that far out, Sam’s probably had a restraining order against him. Still, he had to try. Maybe just contacting the house would get him somewhere. Sam could call him back, going against her parent’s wishes as usual, and maybe he could figure out where he lived. Anything was something at this point. The phone rang one time further at Sam’s house than Tucker’s, before Mrs. Mason picked up the line. “This is the Mason residence, Pamela Mason speaking.” She was in a good mood today. She and her husband had gotten a new measure through on the school board, creating a nice peppy dress code for Amity’s future at the local high school. To top it all off, they were going to a nice restaurant to celebrate. Danny took a deep breath before responding. At least she sounds like she’s in a good mood. “Hey Mrs. Manson, it’s Danny. I was wondering if Sam was home.” He held his breath while waiting for the response. If he didn’t, he was sure he would be panting from anxiety into the receiver. Pamela felt a jolt of heartache shoot through her, one she thought had been buried for years. “You…you have some nerve calling here young man. I don’t know who you are, but if you ever contact this house for some sick prank call like this again, I’ll have your parents ground you till you’re thirty-five! I’m the head of the PTA so don’t think I don’t know your mother!” “Prank call? No listen, I’m sorry Mrs. Manson, this is Danny Fenton, Sam’s best friend, and I know you don’t like me, but please don’t hang up, I just-” “You sick monster! You stay away from my family, and don’t you EVER call this house again.”

Once again a dial tone was the only thing that greeted Danny’s surprised and hurt stare. Admittedly, Pamela Manson had never liked him before, but that was way over the line. A sick monster? Wow. He shook his head and tucked the phone back into his pocket. He wanted to call his sister’s number, but with how bad it had just gone with his friends, Danny wasn’t sure he could risk it. He knew his own sister would never turn him away, but there was a chance it was a different number than the one in his phone, and he would either get the same automated prompt that he had gotten from dialing Sam’s number, or he would get another person entirely, and he wasn’t up to more rejection at the moment. Worse, it wasn’t like his friends’ parents would be forthcoming about his current residence, if they knew it at all. He’d never seen them, their respective mothers, so angry at him. Angry and hurt. It was like he had dredged up some bad memory or something. Still, if they the half ghost thing had gone over as bad as he thought, their reactions made sense. Not like Mrs. Mason needed an excuse, but being half ‘not human’ would be a good one from her conservative perspective. I don’t know what to say about Mrs. Foley though. Danny shrugged and swiveled his head left and right for the exit. He had come in here some way, a stairway if he remembered correctly, so the exit should be…-Ah- He thought catching the sparse light from the first floor shining down an opening. He silently worked his way through the boxes and across to the room and towards the softly falling light. Danny stole up the stairs and onto the ground floor of the building he’d slept in the night before. He hadn’t paid much attention to the layout when he arrived, only looking for somewhere to hid, so he took the opportunity now. It was nowhere near as stuffy and dank on the ground floor as the basement, the cross wind blowing through the gaps in the boarded up windows moving the late spring air. Still, it was dusty and relatively dark on the ground floor, and Danny didn’t want to stay here longer than necessary. It was likely the GSU was still looking for him, and since he’d slept here overnight, he needed to move on soon. Danny looked down at his cell, checking the time. It was nearly noon, and since he had passed out sometime around sunset the day before, sunset coming around 6pm at this time of year in Amity Park, that meant he’d been out nearly 18 hours. On the plus side, he was feeling fully refreshed, and he’d been laying low long enough for the initial search to blow over. On the negative, he could feel his stomach trying to burrow a hole through his abdomen at the moment, and there was nothing to eat. He gripped at the empty feeling in his gut, before something else came back to mind. His powers had been shorted out last night, and he didn’t know whether or not he was able to use them again. Well I better give it a try before I venture outside. Danny decided. He reached inside for the cool feeling of his ghost powers at the pool of energy that usually existed in his chest. A few tentative brushes past the area left him with a wide smirk. His powers were back! Now more calmed than before, Danny started towards the door to the building, confident he’d be able to defend himself. He held his hand over his eyes like a visor as the bright midday sun assaulted them. Off in the distance was the Amity Park city wide ghost shield, its bright blue glow visible even in the height of the day. It easily covered the entire small city and then some, bleeding into some of the surrounding boroughs and districts. The ghost powered teen frowned at the bright unnatural glow off into the distance. Everything he knew was inside that bubble. Ok. First order of business, I need a disguise. There is a good chance the Guys in White rejects saw what I looked like when I just walked up to their hid out. So I need a change of clothes. How much money do I have on me? Danny pondered as he moved away from the shelter of the abandoned building. He felt through his pockets for his wallet and pulled it out as he waited on the corner for the light to change. To his dismay, he only had 20 bucks on him. Enough for a few cheap fast food meals, but not enough for anything else, including a hotel or clothes. Great. So I’m broke too. Danny groused as he finished crossing the street and walked towards the coffee shop on the other side of it. He needed to either make some cash, or get some fast five finger discounts. The thought of stealing sat really badly with his system, a burning coal of guilt already settling into his stomach at the thought. But with no money to buy new clothes, no way to get money quickly and legally, and a real need to get out of town as fast as possible, it was looking like his only option. Danny sighed and leaned against a red brick wall, warm from the noon day sun, as he thought over his options again. If he could just figure out where his parents were, it would be easy. He’d thought about finding somewhere with internet and just looking them up. That would solve the problem easily, but there was a great chance any place like that would be crawling with the GSU. Public spaces like libraries, internet cafes, and most eateries were probably being canvassed as he thought about it. And speaking of, I need to stop standing here. Danny pushed away from the wall he was resting on and walked in a random direction. Staying still wasn’t the best decision at the moment. Since he couldn’t get access to the internet, whether he wanted to or not, that left him with trying more personable resources. Out of those, the only one left was…Vlad. He really didn’t want to end up at his doorstep asking for help again, but it seemed life hated him at the moment. It wasn’t as if I spent the last week in Vlad’s debt or anything. Danny rolled his eyes at the thought and stop against another wall. He needed to get his bearings. It was about noon now, so he couldn’t even tell which way was west or east, and he couldn’t tell from memory where he was exactly, he never ventured this far out of Amity on the regular. Whenever he could figure out which way was west, he’d be going that way. It was quite a flight to Vlad’s Wisconsin home from Amity, at least distance wise, but he’d be able to make it in about two hours if he flew fast. It was times like this Danny was happy he could fly. Even taking a car, if he could drive, would be at least a 6 hour drive. But first, lunch. Danny began walking towards the diner he’d seen just up the street. While he’d personally prefer Nasty Burger, it was inside the dome, which made it off limits to him. At least if he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. He sauntered up to the front of the diner, taking in the fading letters in gold announcing it as “Donna's Place”, before pushing the door open with a tingle of bells. A chocolate haired waitress walked over to the podium at the sound of the entrance bells. It should have been the middle of the lunch rush hour, but most everyone was huddled up inside after the ghost attack the night before. They weren’t common anymore, even in the famous Amity Park area, so it spooked people up a lot. On the other side of the podium was a dark haired young man. She quirked her lips at the boldness of youth these days. The only people who ever came out so soon after an attack were those adults who had to go to work, or the teens who thought they were invincible. Personally, she had thought her boss would have shut up house for the day, but he was almost as money hungry as he was daring. Nothing less than the ghost apocalypse is going to make this store close. Her boss had claimed. And so if the diner was open, she was working, and looking at stupid kids who didn’t know enough to be scared. “Hey, welcome to Donna’s Diner, table for one right?” Danny swept his eyes over the interior of the building. It was conspicuously empty. That surprised him a lot more than he thought it would. It was the middle of the day, so there should be people, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why it was empty. “Uh yeah…actually, I think I’ll just take a seat at the bar if you don’t mind. That way I don’t take up a whole table on my own.” The waitress scoffed and tossed a section of her long chocolate hair over one shoulder. “Don’t worry about that kid; no one’s coming in here today.” She picked up a menu and walked with him towards the bar. Danny felt his eyebrows move towards his hairline. “Why? It’s the middle of the day. Don’t most places have a lunch rush or something?” The waitress sneered. “Yeah usually, but were you living in a hole last night? There was a ghost attack, and you know, everyone’s scared stiff. If adults don’t have to be at their jobs to keep it, they’ll all huddle up in their houses, as if that’s going to protect them from something that can go through walls.” She shuddered and set the menu in front of the dark haired young man. “My name’s Debbie by the way,” she said while motioning to the bright white name tag pinned to her bosom. It had a heart over the ‘I’ the same way she’d done it since high school. “Oh, well I’m Danny, and well I’m not really from around here.” It’s not really a lie; I don’t live around here anymore, my parents moved or something. Danny rationalized as Debbie moved away to the kitchen. He heard her snap something at the cook to actually start up the stove to make something because they had a customer, before moving back towards him. “Oh yeah? What’s a kid like you doing in Amity area if you aren’t from around here?” Debbie leaned against the counter to take pressure off of her legs. Standing up the whole shift was the bad part of waitressing, but she loved meeting the people that just blew through town. “Well I’m on vacation with my family.” Danny shoved down the flutters of shock at how easy lying was getting, even on the spot. A short laugh escaped Debbie’s lips and she shifted her weight onto her left leg to rest her head in the hand on the same side. “And your family just let you wander off after last night’s attack?” She asked incredulous. The nerve of parents! It seemed like some of them didn’t care if their offspring lived or not. Danny pouted under the slight to his family’s honor as he paged through the menu. Plenty of cheap good looking food met his gaze. “Hey I’m not a little kid. I can watch myself. Plus they wanted to go somewhere else for lunch. Besides, we only got here this morning, so we missed all the excitement last night. Good thing too, or I would have never gotten any peace and quiet for myself.” Danny sent an annoyed tinged glance at his waitress’ mirth filled face. Oh he is cute. “Uh huh, and I’m sure you could fight off any ghost that came your way to hot stuff. Peace and quiet eh? Lots of siblings to drive you nuts on the road trip up here?” Debbie couldn’t place it, but she’d seen his baby face and big emotive eyes somewhere before. “No only one, but my parents spent the whole time fighting over what was the fastest way to get here, if we were lost, that they needed to stop for directions, that my mom was driving too fast, or my dad was driving too reckless. By the end of it my sister was even in it, telling them staying in such a closed area was bringing out latent hostile and invoking animal territorial instincts.” Danny chuckled as the last road trip the family took flitted across his mind. “She’s practically an amateur psychologist.” Debbie tapped her lip in thought as Danny’s ramblings washed over her. I know I’ve seen his face somewhere… She shrugged as a lull in conversation required her to respond back, she’d figure it out eventually, she never forgot a face. “Is she? Does she want to diagnose criminals and get inside their nutty heads, or listen to people complain about how much their mediocre life is not like the awesome movie rock star life they were promised by society?” Danny laughed as he came to a decision about his food. “I think she wants to listen to people complain. She wants to help people be better adjusted, or so she says. Er well, that’s why she keeps trying to practice on me. Oh can I get a coke, and a Donna’s special with extra fries? ” Danny closed the menu and handed it back to the waitress. “No problem hun. Earl! Wake up back there, don’t say you weren’t sleeping, I can hear you snoring from here. We have a DS with extra hash coming up, and don’t burn it this time, I like this kid.” Debbie stepped over to the fountain drink station and started to pour her new vacationing teen customer a drink. She heard Earl mumble something back about being worked to the bone, and snickered. Earl was a good worker and the best short order cook in town, but he worked two other jobs. Whenever he was awake, he could make anything greasy under the sun, but most of the time he was sleeping if there weren’t orders coming in, and there weren’t any today. The brunette walked back over to the bar, an extra tall coke in hand. She set it in front of the only customer of the day, and slid next to him on the bar, sick of standing. “Oh no, I only ordered a medium.” Debbie waved off his concerned with an achy dish pan wrinkled hand. “Don’t worry about it kid, we aren’t going to go bust giving you a tall coke with refills today. We’ll be lucky if this place gets back to normal by Friday.” Danny took a long swing from his drink and looked back over at the sitting waitress. “Why’s that?”

She snorted and swiveled to lean against the counter for support while still looking at Danny. “Has it really been that long? I guess most people, let alone kids your age, don’t remember how dangerous ghosts can be.” The chocolate haired woman shook her head and reached for the remote at the edge of the bar. The news and scenes from last night could explain it better than she ever could. “Listen kiddo, I know you aren’t from around here, but ghosts are kind a big deal. Every time the U.S. government thinks they are extinct or some other nonsense, and that the GSU isn’t needed, one or two strong ones they haven’t managed to catch shows up and wreak havoc, like last night.” Debbie paused to flip on the news station. The ring of the bell in the back told the waitress Earl was done with the food, so she moved back around to the other side of the bar. Danny took in this new information with a growing sense of apprehension. Ghost attacks happen so infrequently, that people are scared by them, because all the ghosts have been captured? He was stopped short in his musings as a steaming plate full of fries and a hulk of a burger was set down in front of him. “Woah! That’s a lot more than I thought I’d get.” “Aw, too much food for you kiddo?” Debbie teased while taking her seat back by Danny at the bar. “What? No way!” the hungry teen replied while stuffing a huge handful of fries into his mouth. “I just didn’t think five bucks would buy this much food.” He gulped down another mouthful of fries, before heading into burger territory. The brunette laughed at her customer’s food disappearing powers. “Hey take it easy kid, it’s not going anywhere. Hey look!” She turned back towards the back of the diner where the TV was set up and pointed. “Looks like the news has looped back around to last night’s ghost attack. Took it long enough, maybe if we’re lucky they’ll play the press release from the GSU leader of Amity Park again.” Agent Frank was pretty cute in her middle-aged opinion, and she had a right to a little eye candy every now and then. Danny paused, burger half way to his lips, and twisted around to look at the TV screen. Sure enough there was an overly peppy sunshine colored hair reporter talking about last night’s “ghost attack.” He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the phrase; he was the one who got attacked, not the other way around. Debbie grabbed her only customer’s half empty coke before snatching up the remote to turn up the volume. They usually kept it low, but with no one else around, it wouldn’t be too bad to turn it up. That’s right Lance, last night was a historic event. The voices from the television blared out as she leaned against the counter from the opposite side of her customer again. This marks the first time in four years that a ghost attack has taken place in Amity Park. Our protectors the GSU, have issued a warning to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary to go out. The camera zoomed out from the bright green eyed bottle blond face of the news anchor. As the ghost has yet to be found and apprehended, it is still at large and very much dangerous. You beat ya’ Tammy. Last night’s ghost attack cost the city thousands of dollars, with initial damage estimates in the hundreds of thousands. Luckily, the city will not be charged for the loss of the two fighter jets that were in pursuit of this new ghostly threat, lowering the bill significantly. Several of our viewers have called in to express concern and alarm over the apparent strength of the ghost that attacked last night. They want to know what our defenders and saviors the GSU are doing about it. Of course they do Lance. Naturally, many of our Amity area viewers missed the press release from last night and early this morning due to the chaos of the last 24 hours, so our station will be periodically rebroadcasting the GSU report on the top of every hour for the rest of the broadcasting day. The next broadcast is due in another 30 seconds or so, so stay tuned. The picture flickered over to commercial, with a promise that the press release would be the first thing back on air afterward. Danny finished off the last of his fries absentmindedly staring at the TV screen before grabbing up the newly refilled coke. “Wow, that fight must have been worse than I thought.” “Yeah it was kid, a whole apartment building got destroyed when the first plane crashed, and there are pieces of the second one all over the place. You know what’s weird?” Debbie leaned over closer to her customer conspiratorially. Danny shook his head and leaned over further himself, to play into the faux need for secrecy. “I saw the press release last night, and I know they are saying it wasn’t him, but I think it was.” Debbie leaned back and flicked her eyes over to the TV screen, checking to see if the commercial was over. “He who?” Danny asked, more confused than before she answered the question. “You know the teenaged ghost hybrid. They have pictures of the ghost from last night, and he looks a little different, you know different hair color and all, but the face is really similar, and the ghost looked really human. Only hybrids look that human.” Danny shifted nervously in his seat as the television switched back to the news station from commercial. “Oh? Well I don’t know, maybe we should trust the professionals?” The tired waitress shifted back to Danny’s side of the counter and sat back down next to him. “Yeah well, the government doesn’t always tell the truth, and even if it isn’t him, it has to be another hybrid, and there’s no press release on Earth that will convince me otherwise.” She picked up the remote and flicked the volume a notch higher as the press report from last night replayed. Agent F- Agent F!- Agent- A group of flurried hands shot up in front of the news podium at City Hall. Agent F calmly held a hand out to quiet the crowd before speaking. Gentlemen, please calm down. Save all of your questions until after the press release is finished, and I will answer as many as I can then. The group of reporters settled down as the government agent settled into his place in front of them. Gentlemen, I am here to confirm reports of a ghost attack on Amity Park earlier this evening. At 6:05pm, approximately three hours previous, a ghost set off the sensors outside of the GSU headquarters. Our initial team attempted to quarantine the entity, but underestimated the creatures flying speed leading to a breach of perimeter. In order to contain the entity the GSU Air Division was called in. These were the two fighter jets inhabitants saw flying over the area in the last few hours. The ghost was more powerful than initial estimates and was able to evade and destroy both aircraft before escaping. Neither pilot was injured, nor were there injuries to the GSU’s ground team. There have been scattered reports of minor civilian injuries, but as far as we know, the Amity area sustained no causalities from the encounter with the ghost a few hours ago. The people of Amity Park and its attendant areas are official advised to remain indoors as much as possible and to avoid travel. We are declaring a level orange emergency, and as such, allowing the full cancellation of business hours, at the owners’ discretion, and telling the working employees of the Amity area to call in due to ghost terrorism. It is of course our official recommendation that this not reflect badly on the employees that do take the next day for their own protection. This ends the official press release from the GSU, are there any questions? Agent F stepped away from the microphone and waited for the hands to shoot up. Agent F- Agent!- Amity GSU leader! An especially enthusiastic reporter dove forward with his microphone in hand at the government agent. Agent F nodded and leaned towards the mic. Yes? Agent F, can you give the people of Amity Park an explanation how the ghost got inside the shield and so close to your facility? I’m not at liberty to speculate, we are pursuing all avenues into the cause of the breach.- So you think the Amity Park ghost shield was breached somehow? Allow me to rephrase that, Gentlemen the Amity Park shield is ghost proof. Make no mistake about it, the shield is and was active at the time of the attack.- Then how do you explain the ghost just appearing inside Amity Park? The same reporter as before shoved the microphone back in Agent F’s direction. As I said before I am not at liberty to speculate, however there are several mechanisms that could be at work here. A- Then could you confirm or deny the reports of the ghost being a ghost hybrid of some kind? The same ardent reporter as the last time drew attention back his way. The main camera for the Channel Nine station swung around to capture both the reporter and Agent F in a single wide angle shot. Agent F slid off his government issue sunglasses and hung them off of his pocket. Taking them off made him seem more human, the test polls had said, and he needed the extra element to make this next line convincing. He smiled down into the flashing cameras and said, Gentlemen, I’m not at liberty to speak freely about many things. My line of work requires much secrecy for the good of Amity and the nation as a whole; often times national security is at stake when I decline your questions. However, this is something I can directly respond to. After looking over the data myself, I can deny the reports of there being a hybrid in the city. All known hybrids are closely monitored and this ghost does not match up to any of the GSU records for hybrids. I know it seems strange how this ghost just appeared inside the shield, and we promise we are looking into it, but now is not the time to jump to hurried, messy, and dangerous conclusions about the ghost attack a few hours ago. The ghost was not a hybrid, of this we are certain. Danny let out a breath he wasn’t sure he had been holding and leaned back against the bar. “Yeah thinking it was one of those ghost human mixed freaks worried me too, but I don’t buy their official line.” Debbie poked the diner’s only customer in the shoulder as the press release continued. Now I know many of our citizens reported seeing the ghost in our skies the last few hours and have pointed out how humanoid and even disturbingly life-like the creature appeared. There’s nothing to worry about. I know the creature looked human, even young, I saw it with my own eyes, but it is only a trick ghosts can use to hide themselves. Some are experts are changing their form and shape, like the female ghost Spectra who was caught several years back, or the morphing ghost who was caught just recently. Some ghosts are intelligent enough to exert control over their physical appearance to manipulate humans, so don’t take a ghost’s initial look as proof. Agent F finished his explanation and was about to flip his glasses back on when the nosy insistent reporter who started the Q&A session piped back up. The maybe you can explain this? The picture shifted as the station played an amateur video tape from last night. In it, the mysterious ghost from last night’s attack was seen flying for the Amity Park shield, bright green ball of ectoplasm in hand. Behind him are two ecto-energy seeking missiles, getting closer by the second. All of a sudden, the ball of energy is fired and there’s a bright flash of white light. The screen goes fuzzy for a few seconds and then focuses in again on the ghost on the other side of the shield. The reporter smirked triumphantly at the Amity Park GSU operations leader, waiting for his response. The video had been visible to those at the press conference by way of a monitor facing towards the crowd at the Hall. Agent F barely had time to cover the surprised look on his face before the camera zoomed back onto his face. He pursed his lips into a hard line before sliding his sunglasses safely into place. A cold confident smile erased the firm line previously occupying his face, before he leaned back towards the microphones. Gentlemen are you familiar with the ghost power of teleportation? The standing group of reporters quieted as the question filtered through the room. Agent F chuckled before continuing, I didn’t think so. Teleportation is one of the avenues we are pursuing to explain how the ghost got inside the shield. Now ordinarily, I wouldn’t be allowed to share this information, but the video tape allows me to give you a cursory explanation of this still being researched ability. To make a long story short, some ghosts are capable of moving over large distances nearly instantaneously. Agent F waited for the murmur of surprise to settle before starting again. They do this by transforming themselves into pure energy, spectral energy, and willing this collected energy form of themselves to another location. When in this form, they can disappear and reappear anywhere, being made of spectral energy, they move faster than the speed of light. Gentlemen, the ghost shield isn’t made of a solid energy wall, it would use far too much energy if it were. The shield is like a very fine meshed net. Ordinarily, it’s far too fine for any ghost to slip through, but in this form they can. Now now, He raised his hands to calm the rising terror in the crowd. The ghosts who have this ability number in the few dozen. It is a rare ability, even among the oddities that are the ghost creatures, so there is very little chance of a breach on a daily or even yearly basis, but the chance is still there. That is why there are GSU teams in every major city, just in case one of these powerful creatures gets past our shields and passive defense systems. Are there any other questions? Agent F leaned away from the podium and waited for the rest of their demanding inquiries to come crashing in. “He’s so full of shit.” Debbie moved back around to the other side of the counter to give her customer another refill. He was currently finishing off the last of his burger and gaping at the screen. Danny tore his eyes away from the television and swallowed down the last of his sandwich. “What’d mean? That sounds pretty cool to me, and likely. I mean he does do this for a living you know?” He silently hoped the press release didn’t go into any more detail. It looked like the GSU weren’t too keen on sharing information, and for that he was very grateful. The waitress rolled her eyes as she brought back another refill. “Because, well wait you weren’t around when the last attack happened. Well I don’t want to scare you kid, or ruin your vacation so I won’t give you too many particulars, but I can tell you this…” Debbie leaned over towards her teen customer again, not wanting this info to carry. “That flash of white light you saw and the grey static?” Danny nodded at her to continue and leaned in further. “Well, I was around when the last ghost attack happened and I was close enough to see one of those hybrid creatures transform. Ya see, they look human enough, and they even have human DNA, it’s how they can get past the ghost sensors and shields around most places, but they aren’t really human. When they transform into their true ghost form there’s this flash of light. Now I admit the flash I saw was…black. I know that sounds impossible, light can’t be black right? Well I’m telling you, I saw this guy go from as human looking as one of us, and then poof there was this black light and he was a ghost.” Debbie leaned back away from the counter and looked back up at the television screen. The press release replay was almost done. Danny felt of shiver go down his spine. From the looks of it Vlad attacked Amity Park four years ago, but for what reason he didn’t know. Worse, he had revealed the existence of half ghosts to everyone, what the hell was he thinking? “Oh wow! Um…that’s crazy…” The chocolate haired woman chuckled and slapped Danny on the back. “Take it easy kid, there’s nothing to worry about. The GSU keeps even the people outside of the Amity ghost shield safe. You and your family are in no danger here, even if you managed to come at an exciting time. Speaking of, won’t your parents be worried if you don’t get back soon? It’s already nearly 1:30.” Debbie picked up her customer’s cup and plate and walked it back towards the kitchen. The press release was just ending, and she didn’t want to miss the picture of the mystery ghost at the end. Nothing better to scare the cute teen with than claiming the ghost haunted around here or something. She walked over to ring the kid up, so he could get back to his family before they came to ring him up for worrying them. Debbie peered up over the top of the register as the Channel Nine news room came back on the screen. Well Lance, that was certainly informative. It sure was Tammy. Our boys at the GSU have given us a clear print out of the ghost’s picture to share with all our viewers. Remember if any of you see “someone”, the reporter paused to issue air quotes around the acknowledgment of the ghost’s personhood, who looks like this please report to the authorities immediately. This is not some new punk style or an ordinary teen; it’s a dangerous ecto-entity. Onto the screen flashed of picture of a young looking ghost. It had white hair and iridescent green eyes. The camera zoomed onto its young looking face and a large print warning: Powerful and Dangerous blinked across the screen. Debbie stopped punching the bill through, shocked into pausing mid-press of a button. The close up of the ghost was unmistakable; the ghost looked just like the kid sitting not ten feet from her. She stole a quickly terror filling glance towards her only customer and backed away from the counter. Danny grimaced as reporter put air quotes around the “someone” part of his sentence. Like I’m not even a person or something… He stared in alarm as the picture shifted to a very clear image of him flying through the skies over Amity Park last night. The image quickly zoomed into a picture perfect vision of his face, with a dire warning to stay away as he was powerful and dangerous. He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as he felt the waitress, who had been nice so far, distance herself and stare at the back of his head. Danny took a deep breath and steeled himself; there was no avoiding this confrontation. While most people in his own, what is it future?, didn’t recognize him as Danny Phantom there was a good chance, now that the barrier of humans having ghost powers being impossible was destroyed, that someone here would. The wayward teen superhero swallowed past a lump in his throat and turned back towards Debbie. Until he had turned around, she had been convinced she was wrong. A trick of the light, a bad picture, a faulty memory, anything was more likely than the fact a ghost and likely ghost hybrid was sitting with her in the diner. Afterwards though, the pained fearful look in his eyes confirmed it for her. The brunette waitress worried the inside of her cheek indecision. She should call the authorities right this second and have this obviously dangerous creature hauled away somewhere the hell away from her, but…but, it’s so…What Debbie? Kind? Young? Innocent or something? Get a hold of yourself! This is a ruthless violent creature that destroyed two GSU fighter jets and threatened your town. You have to call the police. The decision made, Debbie reached for the phone hanging just a few inches to her left. “Wait!” She swung her eyes back towards the pleading and very young looking baby blues of the ghost currently sitting at her diner counter. She gripped the thick pink of the corded phone on the wall as the ghost shifted in its place at the bar. “Just um…I…owe you for lunch, at least let me pay you before you call the cops. Heh, you can’t get money from me after they run me out of town.” Debbie felt her heart leap into her throat. Here she was about to sic the dangerous GSU on this creature and he wanted to pay for lunch? Is this thing crazy? Wary over a trick to get close to her, she moved her hand away from the phone, and leaned against the door frame of the entrance to the kitchen next to it. “I don’t want your money, whoever you stole it from.” She watched as the ki-creature- winced across from her. She narrowed her eyes and cursed her kind heart. “You’re a nice, whatever you are; ghost, more like hybrid aren’t ya’?” She watched as his eyes widened and got the confirmation she was looking for. “Listen, I like you, I don’t know why, but I do. That’s why I’m going to give you a five minute head start before I call the cops.” Danny blinked at the offer of reprieve. He’d thought the brunette woman across from him would just call the cops and duck for cover. “I...um-” “Get out of here brat, you’re wasting time. I will call the authorities in five minutes whether you are sitting here or not, and don’t you dare leave any cash here neither.” Debbie turned away from the counter, daringly showing the ghost her back, before slipping back into the kitchen. If she didn’t know when he left exactly, the authorities couldn’t get it out of her, and she wouldn’t know what direction he ran off in either. She never told anyone but on the day of the last ghost attack, she knew why the older ghost hybrid had attacked, and it wasn’t the official story. If it had been her in that position, she’d have fought back too, and maybe that’s why she couldn’t believe that the hybrids, powerful as they were, were inhuman. Nothing inhuman cared enough to risk themselves for others. Danny jumped away from the bar and leaped for the door. He pushed it open and was about to sprint into the street, when he looked back into the quiet restaurant. He caught Debbie peering back into the main part of the diner from the kitchen and smiled the brightest nicest smile he could muster under the circumstances. “Thank you. I’ll never forget this, and I’ll pay you back some day.” The brunette rolled her eyes and pointed out of the door. “Scat ghost kid, four minutes and counting.” Danny nodded his head thankfully, and ran away from the bright glowing blue of the ghost shield. He rounded a few corners before resting against a wall to get his bearings. It was nearly 1:45 in the afternoon now and late enough for the sun to start slanting towards the west. All he had to do it look up and he’d know which way Wisconsin was. The sudden fugitive heard the whirling of sirens back towards the diner and shook his head. Debbie had been really nice to him, and even after hanging out with him, she still called the police. If someone as nice as Debbie could throw him under the bus like that, what would the rest of the world be like? Danny wasn’t sure, but he knew someone who could help him hide until he figured this crazy world out. He hadn’t been sure about going to Vlad before, but the last few minutes had clenched it for him. There’s a serious chance he isn’t at Wisconsin anymore, especially not at that huge castle, after the attack four years back, but that’s the closest place and I could get some clues from there. At least it’s out of Amity Park. Danny moved away from the wall and spied something to hide behind to transform. In a flash of bright light, he left the bonds of gravity behind and flew westward towards the Wisconsin area. Unbeknownst to him a digital signal was sent out when his ghost signature popped to life after transforming.

Washington D.C. 12:45pm EST Pentagon debriefing room

He tugged at the uncomfortable tie currently wrapped around his neck. He hated it almost as much as the polyester lined cotton monkey suit he forced to wear to these meetings. He much preferred the field operative issued suits to the bureaucratic nightmare wear he was suffering through at the moment. However, he was the leader of the Government Spectral Unit now, so he had to suffer small indignities like this to keep his organization running smoothly. The general in front of him blathered on in the slow drawl common to old entitled bureaucrats used to their own power and in love with their own voice. He resisted the urge to sneer and settled for shifting the cuff of his suit again, the itchy nightmare. When it looked like the general was winding down, he quickly interrupted, not wanting to sit through another moment of this waste of his precious time. “I completely understand your concerns General Birch and I will gladly implement all the recommendations you’ve made within reason,” which means none of them, “however, my report address all of your, and in fact, all of the other Chiefs of Staff’s objections and problems, so forgive me, but I fail to see the point of this meeting. I have an organization to run and a dangerous ecto-entity to capture, so you’ll understand my urgency to leave.” “Commander, maybe you don’t see the reasons for this meeting, but I do. Your organization, one that you are so keen to get back to, failed to apprehend a dangerous ghost. The GSU costs millions of dollars a year to keep operating, and has been hemorrhaging funds for years. It’s a money sink, and worse it doesn’t even seem capable of defending the US citizens as commissioned.” “With all due respect Secretary, the ghost we faced yesterday was no ordinary creature. My initial reports and analysis of the situation indicates that creature was a hybrid. Hybrids are amazingly powerful and versatile beings and something incredibly difficult to capture and control.” “Yes,” Secretary of State Fitzgerald started, “I am well aware of the agency’s failures to capture of the ghost hybrids, this country’s greatest threat. In fact, the continued failure to do so is one of the reasons I am so unconvinced about the legitimacy of the continued operation of the GSU.” “Secretary, perhaps I need to remind you of the state of America before my organization’s current incarnation under my leadership. Anarchy. Ghosts haunted every town in America, and hot spots, like Amity Park, were attacked weekly, tri-weekly even, by powerful and dangerous ecto-entities. They terrorized the citizens of these United States and the local and even national ghost hunters could do absolutely nothing to stop them. No professional in the world could stem the seemingly never-ending tide of ghosts flowing into our world. My leadership, and my organization has done what no other has before it, stop the ghost threat. The number of ghost attacks around the world number in the dozens yearly instead of the hundreds of thousands.  Similar organizations around the world are modeled after our own, and yearly attend a conference we host, for plenty of money, to stay abreast of the current findings in the ghost community. The scientific community has never seen greater output, America has never had a greater input on the world scene, and we’ve done it all while destroying the ghosts and making our country a safer place on a balanced budget.” “That’s a wonderful speech Commander, but one that has yet to be corroborated. I’ve had my assistants look into the financials for the GSU and the preliminary findings have it underwater by a long shot.” Secretary Fitzgerald leaned against the table on his palms. The current administration he served didn’t like the GSU, not at all familiar with the time ghost attacks were regular. Personally, he’d never seen the need to eliminate all those weak ghosts while the real threat, the hybrids, roamed free. “I respectfully disagree.” The GSU’s Head Commander leafed through the papers sitting in front of him. He hated bureaucracy. Jill usually took care of things like this for him, tackling the intricate questions while he made the inspiring fund grabbing speeches. She watched over the regular everyday operations while he attended to the grand vision of things. It was what he was best at; the long creative view had always been his strong point.  The mundane details like this just didn’t interest him and he expected his second in command, who wasn’t here at the moment, to know them and be able to spit them out at a moment’s notice. “Well if your word is all we have to go on-” “Not at all Secretary Fitzgerald.” A new smooth voice preened from the other side of the room. The click of determined set steps in heels echoed throughout the room. “If I recall correctly, the annual international gala pulled in a record breaking 500 million dollars, easily covering the operation costs of the GSU for the first half of the year. The second 500 million was partially kindly donated by several captains of industry and partially made by local fundraisers by the grateful citizens of our great nation. After all of that was said and done, the patents for the GSU’s work and the Commander’s personal inventions, whose revenue he has so generously donated to the budget of the GSU, lead us to a 250 million windfall that was immediately reinvested in the organization in the R&D department, scholarships for the bright and upcoming in the next generation, and holiday bonuses for our hardworking employees. We balanced the budget netting a solid neutral after all of that, and we are in line to once again have a positive budget for this coming year. If the Chiefs of Staff would be so kind as to turn to pages 156, 203, and 315 of the GSU’s mid-year report, you’ll find the information yourself.” The speaker finished, turning in a prim tight business suit towards the rest of the room. A warm smug smirk tugged at the edges of the Head Commander’s face that he quickly suppressed. “Thank you Ms. Castle. As you can see Gentlemen, my organization is in fantastic financial shape.” “Well what about your failings to capture of the ghost hybrids?” This time Secretary of Defense Dirk Muller called the organization’s merit and ability into question. The Head Commander swiftly turned to face the newest opponent. “Failings? Yes I admit I have failed in the past to capture the ghost hybrids, but my opponent is cunning, and unlike the other hybrids in the record started out not only human, but one I was intimately familiar with. It and I were in social contact with each other at one time, and the creature uses this to his advantage. Nevertheless, the last capture was aborted purposefully.” He watched as the Joint Chiefs of Staff murmured in unease around him. “Easy Gentlemen, there’s a good reason for this. I need him to be a good scout for us and lead us to the nest.” “The…nest Commander?” “Yes Secretary Muller, the ant’s nest with the rest of his kind. You see, their leader is much too intelligent, much too calculating to reveal himself or the location of the rest of the traitors to democracy. However, a scout, like any good soldier, goes out into the world to test the waters. It forages for food or a safe place to make a new nest for the rest of the colony. This scout comes and goes, but is as weak as link as it is expendable. Gentlemen, do you know how to kill an ant colony?” He paused to look over his impromptu speech’s audience.

The room’s occupants, generals and the Cabinet combined, shook their heads not catching onto the GSU Commander’s meaning. “Why, you poison it of course. Oh but you must be careful, if your poison is too swift, it will kill only the scout who brought it in, or those who taste the food for their queen. Too slow and the entire colony will develop an immunity to it. You must make a poison strong and slow enough for it to reach the queen, once there, she must consume it before the first scout falls, and then by that time it’ll be much too late to stop her inevitable death. You see Gentlemen...” the Commander rounded the table and began walking to the head of the room. “This latest incident has afforded us a unique opportunity. It seems one of Plasmius’ scouts has wandered too far from the nest and right into our trap. But instead of making a play right this moment, a poison much too fast, I have decided to use a much deadlier method. We will monitor the little creature, and watch it carry us, the deadly toxin, back into the folds of its own colony. There we will disseminate among all of its members until even their leader Plasmius finds our influence too late and widespread to do anything about. Then, we would have finally caught them.” He finished the ant poisoning analogy with a wide sweeping glance of the room. “Gentlemen we are at a crossroads. As we speak, I have reports of the hybrid traveling outside of Amity, Michigan, and towards the Wisconsin area, the last known hiding spot of Plasmius. If we intercede now, capture it, we might lose this chance forever. With the creature in our grasp, it may appear as if we have the upper hand, but don’t be fooled, we’ve been in this position before. Whenever we capture one of its scouts, Plasmius sends out a,” the Commander paused to chuckle, “valiant and powerful rescue team, whose attempts have yet to fail. If we have the hybrid with us, we leave ourselves at the mercy of Plasmius’ never-ending conniving and shrewd planning. That is not a position I want to be in again. If we let the creature pass, there’s a good chance it will go right back to its leader, and back to the vulnerable nest where we can do real damage. Even if it doesn’t, we have the hybrid’s signature in the data base and being tracked by satellite. It will not escape.” The room was silent in the wake of the Commander’s stirring recommendation. He offered a chance to rid the country of their worrying menace forever. “What about the public?” This time it was the Sectary of the Interior that spook up. “No need to worry about that Secretary. The public has been informed of nothing, and all reports of hybrids have been denied and silenced. The creature is flying over and towards uninhabited areas. The public has nothing to fear, and if there is any threat no matter how small, we will not hesitate to intervene immediately. You have my word on the matter.” The Commander crossed his arms over his chest and waited for their answer. There was no doubt in his mind they would agree, they were easily control and manipulated, and his years as head of the GSU through 3 Administrations had taught him well. “Well Commander, you drive a hard bargain, but it’s a solid plan, one without any foreseeable pitfalls for public safety. Because of this I will allow this strategy to continue, however I want periodic updates as the creature’s whereabouts and the status of the mission as a whole.” The Secretary of Defense finished up, gathering his things into his hands. This meeting was basically over. The Head Commander smirked and held out his hand to the first general preparing to exit the room. “Thank you for your support Secretary Muller and I promise you will not be disappointed.” The Commander took the Secretary’s hand into a fierce shake, a testament to his physical strength undiminished by years in the upper echelons of the bureaucracy. “Yeah well, you just make sure you don’t screw this up, and I’ll look into convincing the president to approve those forays into the Ghost World your people are always clamoring for.” The Secretary wasn’t of the same opinion as that of Ronan Fitzgerald, the Secretary of State. He was old enough to remember how much the GSU had done to stem and stop the ghost threat. Muller shuffled a few more items off onto one of his many aids and headed for the door with the rest of the Cabinet. “Oh Muller?” the Commander called out just as he met the threshold for the meeting room. “Yeah?” It was well past the scheduled lunch hour, the meeting had run over by a long time, and he was ready for something to eat. “When I put Plasmius’ head onto a pike, you’ll be the first to find out about it. I’m sure your son would…appreciate the gesture of that monster’s death.” Dirk Muller grimaced before turning around for the door. “I’d rather you send me the creature’s heart just to prove your anatomy team correct, because as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t have one.” He said over his shoulder walking quickly down the hall. The Head Commander of the GSU sighed and slumped against the meeting room table. That had been a long and annoying emergency meeting. He pulled the tie straining around his neck into a looser arrangement and fiddled with the cuffs of his suit some more. I hate this dumb three piece of shit. He thought before he felt calloused slender hands begin working the knot back tighter on his tie. “Damn it Jill, I’m off duty for a few minutes, leave the tie be.” He felt more than heard Jill’s snickering. The only evidence of it was held in her warm honey brown eyes. “Forgive me Commander, but until we are safely back in GSU headquarters, you are required to at least look the part of the Head Commander of the GSU.” She re-rolled the cuffs of his suit into a reasonable looking fold, and finished tightening his tie. Her commanding officer never did like anything but the regulation issued spandex suits the GSU underlings wore. Not that she blamed him, business suits weren’t really her style either. “Oh come on Jill,” he half whined, “no one’s watching. If I lose the tie for a few minutes no one will be the wiser. Besides I just spent the last few hours dealing with the F.B. I at least deserve a little reprieve because of that.” He crossed his arms as the tie was firmly re-tighten once more on his large frame and threw up his hands. There was really no arguing with Jillian when she got her mind made up about something, it was why she made such a good second-in-command. “Stop fussing about it. The sooner you get presentable, the sooner we can leave and get back to headquarters where it’s safe.” Jillian Castle stepped away from her superior and began strutting towards the door, knowing he’d follow. “I have a few new reports for you.” “Is that why you were late?” He grabbed a thick and bulging folder from his second, a secretary, scientist, and military leader combined into one. “Partially. I was delayed from departing by Agent’s F’s incompetence. He can read a speech well enough, but he can’t write it. If it wasn’t best he deliver the message as the spokesperson for the GSU in Amity Park, I would have done it to save time. Secondly, I was gathering all of that for you. That’s the latest analysis of the hybrid’s data. I’m not sure who the fuck this is Commander, but it’s not 2nd Priority that’s for sure. Sure its energy signature is close, and the techies down in Amity Park, the miserable shits, couldn’t tell the difference when handed a line up, but I know this creature like the back of my hand. It didn’t fight like it, or think like it. It didn’t look like the hybrid we know, and whether or not ghosts can change their appearance, hybrids aren’t known to, so that’s makes it even more unlikely. Finally, the creature walked right up to GSU central in Amity and acted surprised the sensors went off. Either that hybrid’s stupider than can be imagined, or it was honestly surprised we were there. I’m sure it’s not the former, from how it fought, so it must be the latter, not matter how ridiculous that is. There’s also the question of where this ‘bogey’ came from. You know as well as I the number of hybrids out there, and there’s only one this creature’s age, so your guess is as good as mine about the creature’s appearance.” Jill shrugged up one shoulder as they turned the final corner to exit the pentagon. The Commander frowned as he took in his second’s comments. They mirrored his nearly exactly with the missing sections being the thoughts on its fighting style. “So if this isn’t 2nd Priority, then who are you little ghostling?” He mused out loud as they slid into the limo waiting out from to take them back to GSU headquarters. He had no idea. It was obviously not a ghost, he concluded as he finished flipping through the rest of the highlighted paper his second had given him. At least it wasn’t purely ghost, so that precluded it just being a very good copy cat. That meant it was a legitimate hybrid, and with the only other hybrid its age ruled out, it made it a new one all together, something he couldn’t even begin to fathom. Where had it even come from? He settled into the seat for the hour drive back to his domain. Jillian kicked off her heels next to the Commander, happy to settle in as well. “So Commander, when we get back, what do you thinking about changing back into spandex and grabbing a nice big deli sandwich for lunch?” She spared a tired glance in his direction. She’d gotten on the next flight from Amity to DC after she he finished the preparations in Michigan. She’d arrived late last night into her house, but didn’t sleep. She had realms of data to go through in order to prepare for the meeting today. The Commander had had a much shorter meeting the day before to explain to situation in Amity, but the one today she needed to be prepared for. If she hadn’t gotten stuck in traffic on the way over, she’d been on time. Luckily, the Commander never held it against her as long as she got her job done and made him look good in front of the F.B. She snickered lightly as the meaning of that particular nickname of theirs came back to her. Fucking Bureaucracy indeed. “Oh no I was thinking several chili cheese dogs, but I’ll take deli sandwiches if you buy my favorite dessert Ms. Castle.” He licked his lips at the thought of chocolate and closed his eyes, head falling back into the soft leather cushions of the limousine. “Sir, for Spumoni’s deli delights I’ll buy you dessert any day.” Jillian retorted as the car pulled into DC’s formidable traffic. Looks like it’ll be some time yet before we get anything to eat. Something on her wrist beeped and got her attention. The GSU second-in-command glanced down at her wrist communicator. She’d tied it to the GSU global positioning satellites only this morning to keep track of the ghost hybrid’s travels. The beep told her the hybrid was currently crossing Lake Michigan half way to Wisconsin. Fly fast little ghostling, and bring us closer to ‘Daddy’ Plasmius.

Danny gazed down at the seemingly endless expanse of water below him stretching in all directions. He was flying directly into the sun, and at this time of day, that made it due west. Amity was a lot closer to the Lake Huron side of Michigan than Lake Michigan he was currently crossing, but with how fast he was flying, it didn’t matter. In any case, he’d be into Wisconsin in only 45 more minutes. 

Danny sighed as his hair flipped in the wind behind a small ghost shield he’d made to stop the bugs and other assorted debris from smacking in the face at high speed. On the way out of town, he’d picked up a few new sets of clothes. 20 dollars or not, he’d had no choice but to shoplift. That’s when he learned most places in Amity area had a ghost alarm and sensors. As soon as he’d used his ghost powers to try and shoplift something a big red alarm had dropped out of the ceiling and cried Ghost Alert as loud as possible. He’d been forced to turn whatever else he needed invisible and slip out through the floor before the ghost shield on the place turned on. Outside, he’d blended in well enough, items still invisible on his person. He’d stuffed the clothes and the few other items he’d stolen, snacks, toiletries and the like, into an also stolen duffle bag. He didn’t know how long he’d be on the run or the move, but he’d picked up enough stuff to last for two weeks. At the moment, he was flying over the last part of the lake, the opposite shore coming into view. He’d had a fair amount of time to think about everything at had happened in the last few hours, and he’d come to some conclusions. First conclusion: I should be dead. This future is so obviously different from my own, that I should be really dead. I mean I guess Clockwork’s warning said ‘irreparable damage’ to the timeline, and I also guess that this isn’t irreparable damage level yet, and maybe this is how it’s supposed to be after the changes I made in the past, but plenty just isn’t right. All of the ghost security, Vlad attacking Amity Park, since when is he so stupid, and the public knowing about halfas. It’s all so surreal, and if Vlad attacked Amity four years back, and he was a family friend like I wanted to happen, then there’s no way I got powers. I mean my parents must have known how it happened, so there would be a lot more precautions in the lab to prevent another accident from happening. Which if that’s true, doesn’t explain the press report from that GSU guy talking about “hybrids” plural. Or maybe I do still have ghost powers, and I got them sooner because the portal got built faster with Vlad’s help? Ah…Christ man. This shouldn’t be so complicated. Second conclusion: I wish Clockwork wouldn’t be so damn cryptic. I’m getting the sense that Clockwork knew about all of this shit, and has been giving me clues that can be used multiple times. As if telling me to trust Vlad, as much as I hate the guy, hasn’t panned out multiple times. If only his warning about a time limit was more obvious, stupid time ghost. Danny paused in his internal monologue and shook his head in exasperation. Clockwork was a subject that both confused and irritated him. I’m also still wearing his Medallion, which leads me to the next point. Third Conclusion: He wants me to visit him. There’s no other reason I can think of for his time piece to still be around except him wanting a reason to talk to me again, as if he couldn’t just pop up himself. Obviously, he wants me to come to him, which is annoying. The landscape swiftly changed from the soft blues of Lake Michigan to the deep greens and browns of land. Several small lakeside towns passed underneath Danny’s nearly frantic flight before giving way to the rural countryside. This part of the country was mostly “Southern Canada”, a combination of small rural towns separated by large expanses of untouched wilderness. Danny slipped back into his pensive state as the land beneath him changed into forest. Well this is the first time in like a week I’ve had time to myself to think, and I’m not even sure what to think about. The last week was crazy, my own adventures in being hunted not included. I’m not sure what to make of my parents honestly getting along with Vlad so well, or Vlad being not as big of a dick as normal. I didn’t think he could actually be nice, and care about someone. Most of the time he’s so manipulative, and a jerk. If he was that nice all the time in the future…well ignoring his offers for “apprenticeship” or something would be a lot harder. I’m both glad and upset he isn’t so nice in the future. And I’m not sure what makes me more uncomfortable with the “Vlad can nice too!” revelation from this time traveling mess. Is it the fact Vlad can be nice, but just chooses to act like a dick or that people can change so completely as to be nearly unrecognizable? Sometimes I like to think that people never change, good people are good just because they are, and evil people are bad because they are. It’s like an inherent quality or something, but if…But if that’s not really the case, what’s to stop me from becoming…I mean even now… Danny shuddered as the forest close to Vlad’s Wisconsin residence came into view. He was only a few minutes from the castle of the former Wisconsin Dairy King now, so he slowed his flight to a moderate pace. He didn’t want to zoom past it. Danny pulled up to the western edge of what should be Vlad’s grounds, only to find them in total disarray. In fact, even the castle itself was basically falling apart. Some of it looked like the result of years of disrepair and disuse, but some other parts…Why is there a black scotched hole in the side of the building? Danny wondered as he hovered near the blackened opening. In his humble opinion it looked like an energy burn, one made either by a large ecto-blast or an especially powerful spectral weapon of some sort. The ghost powered teen landed just inside the hole on the western wall and peered inside into the dark interior. “Um…Hello?” Danny’s voice echoed off the empty barren walls of the castle. The room he had landed in was an old living room. Upturned tables still lay, though swollen and beginning to rot in the elements, in the room next to broken vases and shattered glass mirrors. The shadows of opulence still hung over the room, with expensive looking tapestries hung from the wall, torn and burnt in odd places, caught in the signs of a struggle. There was a pervasive feeling of emptiness in the whole space, and Danny realized with a start, there wasn’t even the ambient ghost energy he always sensed when around Vlad’s house. He stepped further into the space, carefully picking through and stepping over the remains of the destroyed room. The door on the other side of the space hung precariously off its hinges and Danny had to gently pull it to the side to prevent it from falling in. Whoever had lived here, however long it ago it was, is definitely long gone. Danny thought as he walked into the main hall of the Castle’s western side. Noticeably absent were the bright gold and green decorations, testaments to Vlad’s unerring devotion to the Greenbay Packer’s. The marble tile floors were covered in dust and a mysterious fine power. The walls were nearly crumbling on the exterior facing portions, or had more scorches and large dents on the interior facing sections. The carpeted areas were ripped to shreds, burnt, or stained with something so close in color to dried blood that it gave Danny shivers. There were no light fixtures throughout the whole of the areas of the castle he’d so far explored, and Danny was thankful for ghost’s enhanced night vision. He finally came to main part of the castle, the grand staircase, or where he remembered it being in any case. Instead of the thick marble banisters of his memory and the shining gold tinted marble steps, there was nothing but a gaping hole. It went straight down from the second floor, where he had entered, to the first, where there was even more extreme damage. The first floor was an indistinct hodgepodge of destroyed furniture, blackened floor and walls, and violent splatters of dark brown, that in Danny’s opinion shouldn’t still be so clear or there at all. He peered down the edge of the broken stairway, contemplating whether or not to head downstairs, when a crash came from off to the left. Danny turned his head at the sound that echoed from towards the original entrance to the castle. Well that came from downstairs, so I guess that’s where I’m going. He still couldn’t sense any ghosts, looks like they got the Dairy King too, so it was likely it was someone human. That only brought up more questions. Vlad’s castle was in the middle of nowhere basically, with any close city at least an hour’s drive away. That ruled out random local kids wanting to explore. It was also surrounded by a lot of woods, but obviously abandoned. So that ruled out campers looking to stock up on supplies or get out of the “camping experience”. There were no cars when he came in, and the roads weren’t well tended to this far out because no one lived here. All in all, who could be making the banging noises coming only feet away from him were a small list of beings, none of whom made sense at the moment to be here. It only made Danny more curious as he rounded the last corner, having turned invisible a few feet back, to sneak a peek into the next room. What the teen hero saw shocked him. Inside were two kids, no older than twelve, shifting through some boxes under what would have been the sink in the kitchen had the building been still intact. One of the kids tossed a piece of pipe out of the way, and the repetitive clanging sound suddenly had a source. Danny shifted back around the edge of the corner and held back the urge to sigh in relief. They obviously weren’t dangerous, but it didn’t explain how they got there. One thing’s for sure though, they were definitely human. He moved away from the corner near the kitchen and transformed. He hadn’t wanted the light from the transformation to carry into the other room and spook the other kids. Danny took a deep calming breath, ignoring the tickle of the dust floating in the air, and walked around the corner. He was wearing stolen duds at the moment, the most obvious being a new hooded jacket with the symbol for Abercrombie and Fitch on the breast pocket. If you’re going to steal, at least get something good right? He refocused himself on the pair in front of him. At the very least they can tell me what happened around here. No way a fight as big as this one didn’t cause stories with the locals. And they were locals, Danny had decided, they had to be. Maybe some kids from a Boy Scout troop got lost and wandered off. “Hey…” He said as he waved at the kids seated a few feet from him. The two of them turned around quickly, almost fast enough to blow the tops of their hoodie jackets back and away from their faces. Two pairs of bright purple eyes stared at the sudden addition to the room with growing worry, before turning back to one another. “Uh oh.” They said in unison, before swiftly standing to their feet and backing up towards the hole where the kitchen sink should have been. “No wait! It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m uh…my name’s Danny-” He hadn’t pulled the top of his own jacket hood down yet. “Danny huh? That’s a cool name.” One of the kids answered. “Quiet Nate, we aren’t supposed to talk to strangers.” “Yeah well, we aren’t supposed to be here either. So there.” The left child retorted. “So you’re Nate are you?” Danny crossed part-way over to the two pre-teens. “Oh yeah!” Nate, the one on the left, answered before getting smacked by the other kid in the room. “Why are you answering that? We aren’t supposed to give out our names either!” “Ah, don’t be such a worry wart Nick. Besides you said my name first.” “He is right you know.” Danny commented before crouching down next to them. “So could either of you two-” Danny started before he was cut off by something hot and painful slamming into his left side. He simultaneously held his stinging side and spinning head, trying to re-gather his bearings on the floor. Before he could make much headway, he noticed something silver and black with a high pitched whine pointing directly at his head. “Wah is-…” “Stay right where you are! If you so much as wiggle a pinky finger ghost, I’ll splatter your ectoplasmic brains across the far wall.” Danny felt ice settle into his being as his vision cleared enough to see his attacker. It can’t be… “Jazz?”

…then Danny might want to stay asleep.

#Danny Phantom #Danny Phantom Fanfiction #Phandom #Bittersweet Future #Balshumet's Fanfiction #Balshumet's Baragouin #Chapter Nine

[jenmedsbookreviews]

Can’t take the credit for the picture this week – that’s from Pixabay – but I was where this was taken, Dundee, on Friday. Had the dubious pleasure of driving across that old Tay Bridge and back on a flying visit to the town. Downside of being so danged busy last week is I am fluffing knackered and have done not a lot of anything interesting. Upside – I managed to complete another audio book.

Well – I take that back. I say I’ve done not a lot of anything interesting but over the weekend I did find the energy to attend the blogger/author bash organised by Kim Nash in Birmingham where I caught up with a number of lovely bookish friends old and new. Always a pleasure and the venue is really nice too. I have no pictures as evidence as I hate selfies, but there are some knocking about the old tinterweb if you care to look about.

Book post wise, apart from a few more Mr Men Christmas books that I bought myself for November’s Christmas month I have had none. Zip. Nada. Nothing for over two weeks now. I am pondering my imminent retirement from blogging as clearly everyone hates me 😦 Just as soon as I’ve read the four hundred plus books I still have waiting for me to read, I’m straight on it.

Bookish buys wise, I’ve had a pretty poor week too. Seems like everything bookish is drying up… I only bought 7 books, 5 of them were Mr Men and 2 of those were even preorders. The 2 non Mr Men books were preorders too. It’s like a virtual bookish apocalypse for me. Unheard of. In case you care, I preordered the new Carol Wyer/Robyn Carter thriller, The Silent Children, due in November, and Kelly Rimmer’s new book Before I Let You Go which is due out next year. Mr Men wise I preordered Mr Happy and the Office Party and Little Miss Shy Goes Online Dating. Yes. That’s right. Mr Men for Adults. I can’t wait. Mr Men for kids wise I am now the proud owner of Mr Men Meet Father Christmas, Mr Noisy and the Silent Night and Mr Men, A Christmas Carol.

Netgalley wise, I picked up four books, three of which are for blog tours so therefore not really adding to my total. Sort of. Ish. These were Bad Sister by Sam Carrington, A Cosy Candlelit Christmas by Tilly Tennant, The Lost Child by Patricia Gibney and Murder Game by Caroline Mitchell. Really looking forward to reading them all.

Reading wise, I’ve been fairly productive considering I had an 18 hour working day on Friday mucking up my plans. Still on track with the three books a week target at the moment so fingers crossed.

Books I have read

The Mistake by K.L. Slater

You think you know the truth about the people you love.

But one discovery can change everything… 

Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead. 

Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy’s death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother?

Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him… and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down.

Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger…

The Mistake is a completely gripping thriller that will keep you up all night, from the top ten bestselling author of Blink, Liar and Safe with Me. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

Loved this. I only meant to start reading a few chapters, maybe half the book, because I was so tired already on Monday evening. Five hours and a lot of nail biting later I had finished. What a story. So many twists and such an occasionally dark but always compelling story, I can’t wait to share my thoughts on it as part of the blog tour. In the mean time you can preorder a copy here.

…

Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances by Sue Watson

Escape to Devon for blustery walks along the beach, hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and proof that miracles really do happen, especially at Christmas. 

A year after she separated from her husband, Gianni, on Christmas Day, Chloe’s heart is still in pieces as she unpacks the decorations for her first ever festive holiday alone. That is, until the phone rings…

It seems Gianni’s new seaside restaurant is in trouble and Chloe must go to Appledore to save the business – and him. Equally famous for his experimental culinary extravaganzas and his explosive temper, Gianni has been really stirring up a sensation with the locals – and not in a good way! 

As pans fly and the temperature in the kitchen rises, Chloe’s calming influence and magic touch might just get critics back on side in time to save the restaurant from sinking like a sad soufflé. But will it be enough to save their marriage? 

Chloe came to Appledore in search of her Christmas sparkle, but when the snow clears, will she finally find the way back to her husband’s heart?

A laugh-out-loud festive treat that will give you the tingle of freshly-hung tinsel. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Abby Clements and Debbie Johnson. 

You know that with a Sue Watson book you are guaranteed a feel good, heart warming and very funny book and this was no exception. Chloe and Gianni are polar opposites – even their star signs are against them – but there is an irrisistible charm about the pair. Full of laughter, ice cream and dishes which sound like they’d make even Heston Blumenthal baulk, this is a book which will make you smile, if only for Gianni’s unique way of describing the beach… My review will be up soon as part of the tour but you can pre-order the book here.

…

The Preplexing Theft of the Jewel In The Crown by Vaseem Khan

The second book in the heartwarming and charming Baby Ganesh series.

For centuries the Koh-i-Noor diamond has set man against man and king against king.

Now part of the British Crown Jewels, the priceless gem is a prize that many have killed to possess.

So when the Crown Jewels go on display in Mumbai, security is everyone’s principal concern. And yet, on the very day Inspector Chopra visits the exhibition, the diamond is stolen from under his nose.

The heist was daring and seemingly impossible. The hunt is on for the culprits. But it soon becomes clear that only one man – and his elephant – can possibly crack this case…

Book two in the Inspector Chopra series sees our interpid hero caught up in the case of the theft of the Queen Mother’s Crown, believed to be an attempt to reclaim the Koh-i-Noor diamond for it’s rightful owner – India. I am loving this series and the setting and pace of the book are brilliant. I’ve listened to rather than read both of the first two books, with book three lined up for a weeks time when I travel to Bracknell. Each book has been laced with a side mystery and more than a little excitement involving the wonderful baby Ganesh. You can order a copy of the book here.

…

Her Last Secret by Barbara Copperthwaite

There are some secrets you can never tell.

The last thing to go through Dominique Thomas’s head was the image of her teenage daughter’s face and her heart lifted. Then the shot rang out.

They were the perfect family. Successful businessman Ben Thomas and his wife Dominique live an enviable life, along with their beautiful children; teenager Ruby and quirky younger daughter, Mouse. 

But on Christmas Day the police are called to their London home, only to discover a horrific scene; the entire family lying lifeless, victims of an unknown assailant. 

But when Ruby’s diary is discovered, revealing her rage at the world around her, police are forced to look closer to home for the key to this tragedy.

Each family member harboured their own dark truths – but has keeping their secrets pushed Ruby to the edge of sanity? Or are there darker forces at work?

Oh my. What an opening. And what a tale. An family nursing secrets, one of which could prove to be deadly. I loved the suspense in this book and was hooked from the first page. I needed to know what happened and why. I absolutely needed to know the secret Ruby was keeping and the reason for her rage. I am sure that when you read it, you will too. You can preorder your own copy right here.

…

Four books. Not quite as impressive as last week but given the week I’ve had, I’ll take it. Blog wise it was another full on week recapped below.

Alison Brodie, author of #Zenka

Guest Post: Billy McLaughlin, author of The Daughter

Review: She Did It by Mel Sherratt

#Blogblitz: Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza

#BookLove: Patricia Furstenberg

#BlogTour: The Frozen Woman by #JonMichelet trans. Don Bartlett

#BlogTour: Reach For The Stars by Colleen Coleman

Guest Review: Forgotten by Neven Carr

This week is just as busy with #booklove from my guest reviewer and older sister, Mandie and blog tours for Maria In The Moon by Louise Beech, Kisses From Nimbus by P.J.Riley, The Surrogate by Louise Jensen, House of Spines by Michael J. Malone, Operation Clean Up Day by Jason Tucker, We’ll Always Have Christmas by Jenny Hale and Lies That Poison by Amanda Fleet.

And finally, I’ll jsut say that my Bloody Scotland giveaway is now closed and the winner will be announced in due course. Watch this space.

Have a fabulously bookish week all. I shall be knee deep in paperwork as I try and prepare next years budget. No small feat believe me.

Jen

Rewind, recap: weekly update w/e 24/09/17 Can't take the credit for the picture this week - that's from Pixabay - but I was where this was taken, Dundee, on Friday.

#Rewind Recap #Weekly Round UP