Chapter 8: Beauty

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."

Confucius

Chapter 8: "Beauty"

(Sunday-January 31, 2010)

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" A tall, buff ghost covered in armor screamed as he fled from the terror that was behind him. The attack had happened so suddenly. There was no warning from the beast behind him. One minute he was lifting trucks. The next he was being beaten to a pulp out by the monster that was now chasing him.

"Get back here and take your beating like a man!" Spirit yelled as she flew after what many would consider an intimidating ghost.

'Psh! What a wimp…' Spirit grumbled to herself mentally. 'I thought he was supposed to be tough.'

"Spirit!" Phantom's voice sounded from the Fenton Phones in her ear. "Quit playing around and just capture the poor ghost!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Spirit placed on hand on the new rectangular version of the Fenton Phones. Unlike before, the new design didn't look like puke ear rings. They were green on the sides, but white on the front. Despite their unusual shape, they fit in her ears very well and did not bother her at all…at least when Phantom wasn't talking…

"This isn't supposed to be fun. This is to help get Wulf out of jail." Phantom reminded his partner in crime fighting.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stop being a joy kill. I'll go ahead and capture the stupid ghost." Spirit pulled out her Fenton Thermos and thought of how this man…ghost hunt began.

Memory sequence begins

Spirit fidgeted as she walked down the hallways of the jail with Phantom. Both guards and prisoners were staring at the two of them. The guards had their weapons ready and were whispering to each other. The prisoners, however, were shouting various threats at Phantom, saying how they will kill him painfully.

What a great environment for a ten year old girl.

"I told you that you shouldn't have come." Phantom placed a comforting hand on Spirit's shoulder as he lead her to the warden's office.

"I didn't think it would be like this…" Spirit glanced around.

"We were going to a jail. What did you think it would be like?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know…not like this?" Spirit mumbled.

"Well, like if full of surprises." Phantom pulled his sister close and walked to the door of the warden's office.

Leaning down, Phantom looked Spirit in the eyes. "Now, I and Plasmius said you could come, but this is the point where things get political. This is going to be a very delicate conversation. The only reason I got it was because of Plasmius' connections. And the only stipulation was that Plasmius was not to come.

"This is bad, because I suck at being political. There is a good chance that I will say something stupid on my own. Your comments will only make this work and will kill any chance of freeing Wulf. So, please for the love of God. Don't. Say. Anything." Phantom sternly stated.

"If I'm not allowed to say anything, why was I even allowed to come here?" Spirit asked.

"In case things go South, I will need back up. Klemper and Cujo would be helpless here with all of the guards. Valerie is human and is not allowed. And Plasmius is not allowed to come. Plus, every guard here knows that Plasmius will kill them if something happens to you." Phantom explained.

"…fine, I'll stay quite…" Spirit rolled her eyes.

"Good, let's do this." Phantom stood, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Enter." A stern voice sounded from the office.

As they entered the room, Spirit received her first impression of Walker. He was a rather tall and well built individual. His white suit was perfectly cleaned and pressed. His pure white face was pushed down into a stern frown. His glowing green eyes were glaring at them.

Spirit instantly felt the need to stand at attention.

"Welcome, Punk. Did you finally decide to turn yourself in?" Walker asked.

"No." Phantom led Spirit to two seats in front of Walker's desk. "I'm only here to talk."

Walker's eyes followed them as they sat down. "And what is so important that you would walk into the middle of my jail and risk your life for it."

"Wulf." Phantom simply stated.

"Ah…" Walker acknowledged. "Your…friend is locked up nice and tight in solitary right now. Did you want to visit, because that's against the rules."

"No, I don't want a visit. I'm here to talk about a problem that Wulf can help solve." Phantom informed the warden. Spirit had never seen her brother have this good of a poker face.

"A problem?" Walker raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, someone is drilling a whole into the deepest part of the Ghost Zone. I need to find out who-" Phantom was interrupted by the warden.

"I have no authority there." Walker stated.

"What?" Phantom gained a confused look.

"That is the home of the S-rank ghosts. Even if I allowed you take Wulf for a few hours, which I won't do by the way, it would only bring me more trouble than it is worth." Walker closed his eyes for a moment. "To allow you to take Wulf, I would have to have a squadron of guards to go with you. It would be seen as an act of war to those freaks of nature.

"I might me able to easily handle one S-rank with all my guards, but there would most likely be more than one ghost attacking, probably even a small army. My jail, my guards, and my afterlife would become forfeit. It may be against the rules to drill into the Ghost Zone, another one of your offenses by the way, but there is nothing I can do about it without destroying the precious order that I have fought to preserve." Walker explained.

"All right then, so you can't lend me Wulf." Phantom did not seem discouraged by this revelation. "I never expected that anyway. How about this. What do you want for his complete freedom?"

Spirit looked over to her brother, but before she could go into any deep thoughts, Walker spoke. "You in my prison willingly for the rest of your life."

"What!?" Spirit yelled in outrage. "There is no-" Phantom's hand covered her mouth.

"You already know that I can't do that." Phantom kept his cool. "Is there any other deal we can make?"

Walker turned his chair around and had his back to them. "No. It's either you or him."

"I see. Is that a rule?" Phantom questioned.

"Not yet, but it soon will be…" Walker commented.

"So, it is still up for discussion, then?" Phantom stood and placed his hands on the desk.

Walker was silent.

"Come on, Walker." Phantom pushed. "What did Wulf even do? I doubt it was that bad."

"He made several portals to the human world and forgot to close them. Several ghosts escaped to the human world. If I make a deal with you, there is no guarantee that Wulf will be more responsible then before. And from what I've heard, the last thing we need right now is more attention from the humans." Walker explained.

"What about when you invaded Amity Park?" Phantom gave the warden a skeptic look.

"I made sure no humans were hurt or killed, and the invasion was set in a concentrated area." Walker said. "It was all to make you look like the bad guy. It worked. You received all the negative attention form the invasion."

"Yeah, I remember…" Phantom sighed.

"If ghosts begin to appear all around the world, though, instead of one location, then the humans will take extreme action against us." Walker said.

"…Okay, how about this, then. I will give you my word that if Wulf leaves the portals open again, both him and I will return here and stay in your prison." Phantom stated.

Spirit gasped.

Slowly, Walker turned back around. "Your word?"

"My word." Phantom nodded.

"…Alright, then." Walker walked over to a file cabinet and pulled out a file. "This is a file on ten wanted ghosts that I you to find. If you bring them all to me, I'll let Wulf go."

"…What did they do?" Phantom looked through the file. He didn't want to go hunting down ghosts that just wanted to have a peaceful afterlife.

"We have unspoken rules that not even I have to enforce usually. Many of them would be what humans would be considered unspeakable…" Walker glared at his desk.

"…I see…" Phantom mumbled. Spirit could tell by the looks on the two ghosts that she didn't even want to know what they were talking about.

"These ghosts aren't all that powerful or dangerous compared to some of my other inmates, but they need to be tracked down and stopped before they do any more damage. I would go after them myself, but they fled to the human world to hide. Most of them will probably be hiding in the shadows of your city. Others might be in other well known city. They wouldn't be able to keep themselves in a quiet place for too long, so they won't be extremely hard to find."

"All right." Phantom gestured for Spirit to stand and spoke to Walker. "I'll find these ghosts…but what guarantee do I have that you will keep your end of the bargain?"

"My word." Walker stated.

"…Fair enough. Let's go, Spirit." Phantom took Spirit's shoulder and began to move her toward the door. "I'll be back, Walker."

"I'm not going anywhere, punk." Walker watched them leave.

Memory sequence end

"Noooooooooooooooo!" The armored ghost screamed as he was sucked into the Fenton Thermos.

Spirit sighed. "Soooooooooo boring."

"You complain a lot." Phantom commented as approached his sister.

"Nu uh! You complain a lot!…Shut up!" Spirit grumbled.

"Okay, okay. Don't get all freaked out, small fry." Phantom placed a hand on his ear. "Klemper-"

"Small Fry?! I'll show you small fry!" Spirit tried to send a barrage of punches and kicks at Phantom. Before she could hit him, though, Phantom's other hand gripped her bandana covered head and pushed her to arm's length away.

"As I was saying, Klemper, we've got the ghost." Phantom spoke over the Fenton Phones.

"Great!" Klemper cheered from the station they set up in the mansion's lab. "That makes seven. We almost caught em all!"

"Do you think you can stop me with this?" Spirit questioned. She continued to try and reach Phantom, but she couldn't get close because of his longer reach.

"Yep. Any news on the last three?" Phantom inquired.

"Let go of me so I can hit you!" Spirit shouted.

"None whatsoever." Klemper sounded depressed.

"You jerk! Let do of my head already!" Spirit started to hit Phantom's arm, but he was unaffected.

"Don't worry. We'll get them. With everyone looking and with Vlad's recourses, it won't be long now." Phantom comforted his friend.

"Do you know who I am! I'm Spirit! I'm the girl that's going to burn your house down…with the lemons!" Spirit now was trying to pull away from Phantom's grip.

Phantom laughed. "Hahahah! Portal 2, huh? Nice reference."

"Thanks…now let me go!" Spirit cried out.

"Let me think about that for a second- No. Now come on. Let's go home." Phantom began to drag Spirit with him.

Spirit gained a shocked look. "What? The night is young! Come on, Danny! Let go! I'll kill you….Just let go…Please?"

(Monday-February 1, 2010)

"Hello, this is Harriet Chin, Milwaukee Journal. How can I help you?" Harriet's voice sounded through Danny's Fenton Phones.

"Hey, Harri! It's Danny." Danny spoke as he worked on cleaning an ecto-gun at his lab station.

"Danny Fenton?" Harriet sounded confused. "Good to hear from you, but where are you calling from? My caller id. said that there was no information available."

"Ah…" Danny realized what she was talking about as he finished cleaning the weapon. "My old phone kind of broke, so I made one of my own. Vlad hooked it up to his private satellites. That might be why no info was shown."

"Oh…I understand…I guess…" Harriet didn't sound like she understood. "Not that I mind or anything, but you did call during my work hours. Is there a reason for the call?"

"Yeah, remember back at Lex Luthor's party? You said that if I had any story I wanted out that you would make sure that the story wouldn't be twisted or altered." Danny told the reporter as he inspected his weapon.

"I did. Do you have a story about the ghost activities that you want out?" Harriet questioned.

"No, no ghost story," Danny said. Lifting up his gun, Danny shot a nearby target right in the center. "I have a new Fenton Works product I want the public to know about."

"I thought you said you weren't going to sell weapons." Harriet remembered Danny's words.

"What I'm going to sell isn't a weapon. These are Fenton Phones." Danny inspected the target he hit. The entire thing was scorched and smoking. Danny smiled.

The Fenton Phones Danny wanted to put on the market were different from the ones he was using. They still had the new design, but were not powered by ectoplasm. While they could not filter out ghost noise, they were still high quality head phones. Add in how easy and inexpensive they were to make and it wasn't that difficult to convince Vlad to help him put them on the market.

"Fenton Phones, eh?" Harriet sounded as if she was writing something down.

"Yeah, recently a friend helped me realize that I've just been hiding from the world. I think it is time for me to step out and take advantage of all the fame that I have." Danny remembered his talks with Jenifer.

"Okay, then. Tell me what you want people to know and I'll get the news out there." Harriet seemed ready to go.

"Allrighty then, the Fenton Phones-" "Beep! Beep! Beep!" Danny stopped when he heard the warning signal in his.

Progress with the Tucker Phone had been getting better in the past few weeks. The machine could now make calls and alert Danny to any ghost attacks either via the news or the various sensors that been hidden around town. Besides that, though, nothing else worked. None of the ideas Danny had for the device wanted to work.

…Stupid phone…

"What was that?" Harriet questioned.

"Uhn…something has come up. Sorry Harri, but I'm gonna have to call you back." Danny chuckled to himself.

"You do remember that you called me…and please don't call me Harri." Harriet requested.

"Yeah, but I kind of have an emergency to handle." Danny pointed out. "I'll call you back when everything is sorted out, Harri."

"What did I just say about calling me tha-" Harriet did not get to finish that sentence because Danny cut off the connection.

"I'm going ghost!"

"You sure that you don't need my help?" Valerie offered her assistance.

"Yeah, I got this. It's only one ghost. He may have that huge axe, but size isn't everything." Phantom spoke as he viewed his new enemy from a near by roof top.

"That sounds personal to me." Valerie joked.

"Oh, ha freaking ha." Phantom mumbled. "Since when did you become a comedian, anyway?"

"One: You've been rubbing off on me…shut up." Valerie realized her mistake.

"Wow, I wasn't even thinking that…" Phantom's cheeks reddened.

"Two: I am completely bored here. There's this rally about some beauty pageant. I think that my mind is going numb…" Valerie sounded tired and bored.

"Sorry, but if I start pulling you out of school for the easy stuff, then Dani will start complaining. And that is that last thing I need." Phantom explained.

"I understand, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Valerie sighed.

"Never asked you to." Phantom grinned as he canceled the call.

As he flew to the ghost, Phantom though about just capturing him without a fight. It would be easier, but it would be fair or honorable…Great, now he was channeling his inner Colossus.

The ghost before him was dressed like an executioner. He wore a skull mask over his head and had chest armor. The ghost had a massive build. To anyone else, this guy would be frightening, but Danny had looked evil in the face and lived….aka, an angry Dani. So this wasn't that bad.

"Hey, Axe Dude!" Phantom called out to his opponent. "You haven't really done anything, yet, so I have no problem with you. But! You are making a bunch of people freak out. If you get out of here now, there will be no- WOAH!"

The executioner ghost swung his massive axe at Phantom. Phantom flew back and dodged the strike. The executioner did not let up, tough. Phantom was forced to keep dodging.

Deciding he wanted his space, Phantom waited until the axe swung past him and then he lunged forward. An ectoplasmic enhanced kick landed on the executioner's side and sent the axe wielder back. The blow had its desired effect, too. The executioner was now holding his side.

"Hey! If you needed something you could just axe…Get it? Axe?…Man that was bad. I need a writer for my fighting banter." Phantom mumbled that last part to himself.

Suddenly, the executioner flung a rope at Phantom's feet. Before the rope caught him, though, Phantom grabbed the rope and pulled the rope out of the executioner's hands. Tossing the rope away, Phantom smirked.

"Oh, I get it now. The rope, the axe, the executioner outfit…you're a masochist!" Phantom's smirk turned into a big grin.

The executioner ghost seemed to blanch.

"Don't worry, I'm not judging. We all have weird things that we're into. This one girl I know for example…Hey! Wait! Where you going." Phantom's jaw dropped as the executioner ghost fled into the school.

"Oh, hell no! You do not get to get away from a fight with me that easily." Phantom's eyes turned blue as he chased after the executioner.

Quickly tackling the executioner, through the roof, Phantom froze the executioner's arms to his sides. The axe was stripped away from the ghost and he was left defenseless. Phantom ignored the gasps and screams from the high schoolers as he pulled out a thermos.

"On the bright side, you might actually like being crammed in a small container." Phantom mocked the executioner as he jammed the thermos in the ghost's face and captured him.

Finally looking around, Phantom realized that he was in the auditorium of the school. Everyone in the room was staring at him with wide eyes.

Phantom laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I was in that fight. He ran away. We crashed through the roof…I'll be leaving now."

As he was about to leave, Phantom realized that the axe was still on the ground. Picking it up, Phantom thought to himself, 'Giant axe…Yeah, I can use this…'

"Wait! You're perfect!" A blond haired woman in a blue and green dress approached him. She had a hourglass figure and walked with grace.

"Thanks." Phantom said.

"Aren't you going to ask why?" the woman seemed surprise.

"No. I just take any compliment I can get. Questioning them tends to get them taken away." Phantom admitted.

The woman was a little fazed by this, "W-well, I was just looking for a valiant, courageous knight to pick out the princess for the beauty pageant! And who better than Amity Park's own superhero."

These statements were met with loud cheers of approval from the girls in the auditorium. Apparently he had a lot of female fans.

Phantom only got one thing from the blond woman's statements. "Hero? Well, it's nice to finally be recognized…"

"So you'll do it?" The woman had hopeful eyes.

"Sure…What am I doing again?"

Danny had a lot of doubt about actually judging the pageant. Many would deem it as demeaning to woman. Many being equal to Sam, and to Danny that was all that mattered.

He had, however, already agreed to be the judge. What kind of man would he be if he just backed out. Not to mention the fallout from the fact that the "hero" would be going back on his word. The media would eat it up.

So, he had two options. One: keep being a judge and do something that Sam would obviously disapprove. Two: Back out and loose all his credibility.

Both options really sucked.

It was a difficult choice. Danny thought long and hard about it, but he couldn't really decided. He went to Vlad for advice, but all he got was that this was his decision to make. Klemper wasn't much help, either. He was rather childish and naïve. He could go to Frostbite…nah…

With all the male options for advice gone, Danny was left with his female companions. Well, the ones that knew his identity anyway. The advice was helpful…well, some more than others…

Dani's advice:

"The main thing you need to think about is what you want to do. If you want to be the judge for this thingy, then go ahead. If you don't want to, then don't. It as simple as that. Now, could you explain what this pageant thing is?"

One explanation later.

"Well, that seems stupid. I can get that they want to be thought of as pretty, but why do parade in front of people like that? Wouldn't it just be easier to hang around a bunch of guys that would shower you in complements? This just seems like a vanity thing to me…"

Ember's advice:

"So a bunch of girls want to wait on hand and foot for you? You don't think that letting them is the right thing to do and you are asking me for advice? Are you stupid?

"If the girls are willing to be your servants, then let them! It's their choice to be in this pageant! Take advantage of it, Baby Pop!

"If I was in this situation, I'd make the most of it. I'd let them serve me like I'm their queen…king in your case…and enjoy it! No need to feel guilty, either. It's their choice in the end."

Valerie's advice:

"Well, you did tell that lady that you would be the judge. I think that a person should always keep his word, even if he doesn't want to do something. Unless this makes you really uncomfortable, that is.

"But I do know what this is really about. You know that Sam would be completely against this. She would get up in your face about this and tell you that you are doing the wrong thing.

"That was one of her worst qualities. Don't give me that look, Fenton. I know this is a sensitive topic, but you need to hear this. So, shut up and listen.

"Sam would always cram her beliefs down other's throats. She thought that her opinion was the only one that mattered. Usually, she had a point in a lot of stuff, but the problem was the fact was that she never tried to understand other people's opinions.

"You know what her opinion would be, so here's mine. This pageant thing is pretty stupid, but it is going to happen. If you aren't the judge, then some other guy will be. Not every guy has your morals, though. They will take advantage of the situation and those girls.

"Not with something stupid like homework or dates, either. They would push those girls to do things that they don't want to do and that is wrong. So, I think you should be the judge and stop that from happening. Keep this pageant clean and respectable."

How could Danny argue with that? He couldn't really. So he decided to just be the judge and stop anything bad from happening. It could be worse, at least. This could involve ghosts.

…Poor sucker will never see it coming…

(Wednesday, February 3, 2010)

"Okay, I did agree to be the judge, but why am I here? The pageant isn't until Friday." Phantom pointed out.

"You won't be able to make an accurate decision if you don't get to see the girls practice." Miss Maidenly sang out.

"Shouldn't I stay away to remain impartial?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sure that you will pick whoever will make the best princess. This is just to make sure." Miss Maidenly said in a sweet voice.

"Whatever you say, you're the expert…You okay? You seem…shocked." Phantom gave her a concerned look.

"…Yes, yes, it's just than no one has ever agreed…never mind. I just-" Miss Maidenly was saved by the pageant canidates.

"Look! Danny Phantom is here!" One of the girls yelled.

Phantom was instantly swarmed by a group of girls. All of them were giving him complements, sweets, or were just plain hanging off him. For a second, Phantom relished in the attention. It was nice to have girls act like this around him. But the voices in the back of his head that sounded like Sam and Jazz were getting pretty loud…The weirdest part was Phantom swore he heard his mom's voice mention something about grandchildren…

…Weird…

Quickly turning intangible, Phantom told the girls, "Sorry ladies, I don't take bribes."

Groans and sighs sounded through the group. Deciding to get some distance, Phantom floated to the top of the bleachers. From here, Phantom watched the girls practice. They were practicing balance and working with makeup. It all quite bored Phantom, so he let his mind wander. Of course, his mind went to the thing he most thought about. The Nasty Burger Incident.

Four months later and the wounds were still fresh…but they were healing. The constant pain that Phantom hid and suppressed was fading. The thoughts of his lost family were becoming fewer and fewer. He was no longer consumed by their memory.

Not to say that he was even close to being over it. The grief and nightmares would undoubtedly plague him for a long time, but they were no longer a constant. The love and support of the people around him had helped substantially. Without them around, Phantom would have been completely consumed by his grief. He may have even become…him.

It was a scary thought, but it was true.

Phantom now understood what Clockwork was talking about. The time ghost understood that time and loved ones could heal all wounds. He knew that Phantom would find people who cared about the halfa. That was why Clockwork allowed him to live.

"You look like your deep in thought, ghost boy." Paulina's voice pulled Phantom back to reality.

"Yeah…how long has the practice thing been over?" Phantom sat up and looked around. All of the girls were still there. They were all chatting. What really surprised Danny was that he spotted Jenifer down there. Was she entering the competition?

"It just ended. I was just really excited to see you." Paulina sat down beside him and gave him a longing look.

"Really?" Phantom already knew the answer.

"Yes. I was so worried after that fight you had with that massive ghost." Paulina admitted. "I am glad that you were okay."

"Thanks. I'm glad that someone cares so much." Phantom gave her a smile.

"Oh, I do." Paulina place her hand on his. "So, I was wondering if you want to go to a movie after this pageant is over. I know that you don't want to get involved with a contestant, you're heroic like that, but on Saturday-"

"Look, Paulina…that is your name right?" Phantom pretended not to know her name.

"Yes!" She seemed happy that he remembered her name.

"I'm incredibly flattered by you liking me. Especially considering how beautiful you are." Phantom knew that adding compliments would make this easier.

"So the answer is yes?" Paulina asked hopefully.

"If I wasn't a ghost, then I would saw yes in a heartbeat." Phantom answered. "But I am a ghost and whatever you want to happen between us can't ever happen."

"What? Why? Aren't I pretty enough for you?" Paulina looked devastated.

"That isn't what this is about. You are a gorgeous girl and will only get prettier as you get older, but that doesn't change the fact that we are genetically different species. I'm a ghost and you're human." Phantom

"Love conquers all obstacles." Paulina pointed.

"Not death, though. Paulina, I'm dead. I died in a terrible accident. My life is over and the only thing I have is a bunch of obsessions and compulsions." Phantom took her hand. "You have your life ahead of you. You don't need someone stuck like…this…"

Paulina had tears in her eyes. "Great, first Dash starts acting different and now you reject me…"

Phantom raised an eyebrow, "The quarterback kid? Different how?"

"He no longer parades around the halls like the alpha male he is. He doesn't pick on those lower on the food change. He just isn't acting like an A-lister." Paulina complained.

"What's the problem with that?" Phantom questioned.

"Everything!" Paulina gave him a glare. "We are above everyone else. We were born that way. So the less popular should be below us. It is the way of life."

Phantom chuckled to himself as he sang, "It's the circle of life."

"Exactly." Paulina nodded.

"Tell me, where on the list do you think I was when I was alive?" Phantom asked.

"On the top of course." Paulina sounded certain.

"Nope." Phantom shocked the girl. "I was on the very bottom."

"But you're so strong and heroic." Paulina was shocked. "How could you have been at the bottom."

"I wasn't rich, athletic, smart, or all that good looking." Phantom commented. "Plus, I was miserable. I was picked on everyday by people like you and Dash."

"You…but…are you angry?" Paulina seemed to be afraid.

"No, I'm not" Phantom once again surprised her. "Being angry and bitter over it won't change anything. I instead looked toward the future and what I could do to better myself."

Paulina was silent.

"And maybe that is what Dash is trying to do." Phantom leaned back and looked to the sky. "He's trying to better himself as a person. Being a bully and picking on weaker people isn't heroic. It's just wrong."

"But…I'm better and prettier than them all." Paulina weakly argued.

"And I'm a lot stronger than any normal living human being." Phantom pointed out. "If I wanted to I could make life hell for the people of this city. But instead I choose to defend it, because that is the right thing to do."

"I-I don't-" Paulina stammered.

"That's right, you don't have to do anything." Phantom stood up. "You have the choice to be whoever you want to be. But in my opinion, a kind and caring heart is far more important than outer beauty…I'll see you around, Paulina."

(Thursday-February 4, 2010)

"Any news on those other ghosts we're looking for?" Phantom asked into his Fenton Phones as he continued his patrol.

"No," Vlad sighed, "They apparently caught wind of the fact that you were looking for them. Don't worry, though, ghosts like them can't stay silent and hidden for too long."

"I'm not all that worried about that." Phantom landed on the roof of a tall building. "I'm more worried about Dani..."

"She knows the rules," Vlad stated sternly. "She has to finish her homework before she is allowed to go out."

"Yeah, but I can't bet that she's happy about it..." Phantom trailed off.

"No, she's not, but she will get over it." Vlad pointed out.

"Not before taking some anger out on me, though." Phantom sighed.

Suddenly, a flash of pink light grabbed Phantom's attention. It came from a jewerly store down the street. There were no alarms, but ghosts rarely set off normal alarms.

Fazing through the roof invisibly, Phantom looked aroung the room. He couldn't see anyone, but the ghost might be invisible. The weird thing was that nothing was missing. No jewelry was gone from the cases.

'Maybe I just imagined it...' Phantom thought.

Anther pink light drew Phantom's attention to the back exit. 'Or maybe not...'

"Stop right th...er..." Phantom shouted into the empty alley way behind the store. "Okay someone is messing with me."

"Oh you catch on fast." a voice called from above.

Dodging to the side incase of an attack, Phantom looked up. On the fire escape above him was a girl. The girl had slitted pink eyes and pink hair pulled up into two horns and held up by two black bands. She was wearing a black and purple leotard top that went into a short skirt. Her pants had black and purple stripes. The girl's pale skin seemed to glow in the monlight. If she wasn't his opponent, Phantom would stop and admire her beauty, but now was not the moment.

"And you are?" Phantom eyed the girl carefully.

"Now that would be too easy, now wouldn't it." The gilr flipped off the fire escape and landed in a crouch.

"Maybe it would be, but if you don't tell me your name I'm just gonna call you pinky." Phantom pointed out.

"We wouldn't want that..." The girl smirked. "Fine, people call me Jinx."

"Alright, Jinx, what do you want?" Phantom questioned.

"Oh, I was just seeing what this store had in stock, but you interupted my shopping." Jinx pouted.

"You mean stealing?" Phantom accused.

"Meh, same difference." Jinx waved off his accusation.

"Not really," Phantom glared. "Your a criminal."

"Such hurtful words...true words, of course, but hurtful nonetheless." Jinx stated.

"Doesn't matter. I...you..." Phantom noticed her relaxed stance. This was a set up. "You let me notice you... You're a professional at this. I can tell. No way you would alert someone to your presense so easily."

"Aren't you smart." Jinx giggled.

"The only question is why?" Phantom glared.

"Maybe I wanted to see if you were as handsome in real like as you are on the news...You are by the way." Jinx flirted.

"Don't buy it. You want something from me." Phantom slid into a defensive stance.

"Oh, we all want something." Jinx stated, "But what I want isn't from you. I just wanted to see how big of a threat you are..." Jinx looked him up and down. "Hmm...nothing too big. If we had a fight, you probably would win, but you obviosly aren't all that stealthy..."

"Never tried to be. It's not my style." Phantom began to float toward the girl.

"Obviously, but maybe your style won't be able to catch me..." Jinx suggested.

"Oh, I think that it will be enough." Phantom rocketed herself toward Jinx.

"Think again." A wave of pink energy slammed into Phantom. He protected himself with an ecto shield, but when the dust settled down, Jinx was gone.

"...Why am I not surprissed by this crap anymore?"

(Friday, February 5, 2010)

Phantom was sitting at the judges table. The stage was completely set and there were only a few minutes left until the pageant. There was only one problem. A ghost was attacking.

"You sure you two got this?" Phantom spoke into his Fenton Phones.

"Stop worrying, we got this!" Spirit's voice answered the older halfa.

"A George Lopez reference does not make me feel better." Phantom grumbled.

"Don't worry, spook." Red Huntress assured Phantom. "It's one litte archer ghost. This will only take a minute. You stay there and keep doing your little judge act."

"Your support is really helping." Phantom sighed. "Alright, I got to go. The pageant is about to start."

"Kekeke!" Spirit did her evil laugh. "Have fun."

The whole pageant would have probably been boring…if Phantom wasn't a teenage boy. He paid fantastic attention to every second of the pageant. He also paid special attention to the swimsuit portion…What? Don't judge him!

Throughout the whole thing, one person stood out to Phantom. Jenifer Smith looked radiant throughout the entire pageant. There was no denying that she had a grace that no one else had. Phantom didn't want his friendship with the girl to interfere, but in his opinion. She deserved to win.

So, that was what happened.

"Judge have you made your decision." The announcer who was dressed in the stupidest outfit ever asked the ghost hero.

"The winner is…" Pause for dramatic effect. "Jenifer Smith."

What followed were cheers from the audience and tears from the other contestants. The ending ceremony was full of music, fireworks, and flowers. Then when Dora Maidenly finally placed the tiara on Jenifer's head…the disappeared in a flash of green light.

Silence.

More silence.

Even more silence.

"Was I the only one who say that?!" Phantom asked. "Because I need someone to explain to me what just happened."

"So…they just disappeared in a flash of green light?" Dani asked. "And you just watched?"

"Well, it's not like I was expecting that to happen!" Danny was indigent.

"This is bad." Vlad passed back in forth in the lab. "A kidnapping will be newsworthy. There will be reporters, investigations, members of the Justice League will come…We need to find her. With in a few hours at the least to. We can pass this off as part of the show. If we don't…"

"Bad things will happen." Danny agreed.

"How exactly do we find her?" Valerie asked. She normally wasn't allowed in the lab. Security measures according to Vlad. This, however, was an emergency.

"What was the theme of the pageant?" Vlad asked.

"…It was a medieval princess thing…" Danny waved his hands in distaste.

"Does that help with anything?" Klemper asked.

"Wait!" Valerie said. "We caught two medieval ghosts this week. Maybe they had something to do with it?"

"Right!" Dani was jumping up and down. "Do we still have them?"

"Yep…I was ah to lazy to put them back in the Ghost Zone…" Danny shrugged.

"…It would take less then ten seconds…" Dani deadpanned.

"I was felling really lazy." Danny gave them a sheepish look.

Thus began the interrogation. It really didn't take long. They let the ghosts out in a ghost proof cage and let Dani at them. It took less than a minute really. The poor suckers never stood a chance.

"Alright…so this Prince Aragon wanted a human bride and wanted one who Danny thought was the best?" Both of Valerie's eyebrows were raised.

"Apparently…Should I be flattered or disturbed?" Danny asked.

"Disturbed." Everyone in the room said at once.

"So we need to go the Ghost Zone and get that girl before she gets forced into marriage?" Klemper questioned.

"Sure do." Dani seemed excited.

Vlad interrupted their plan formations. "Wait, you can't just go from here. No one knows about the lab in the mansion. Go from Fenton Works. That will make it easier to explain to the young girl."

"Right." Danny agreed. "And we should take the Specter Speeder. That way we don't have to carry her through the Ghost Zone."

"Wait." Valerie stated as she starred at Danny. "How are you going to explain how a couple of ghost hunters, most of whom are ghosts, were allowed to drive a Fenton vehicle when the only living Fenton wants nothing to do with ghosts."

"Well, first off, you should stay here…don't glare at me Val, someone has to hold down the fort. Second, I have been working on…" Suddenly, a ghost duplicate of Danny few off from the original. "…a little trick with Vlad. Jenifer is a friend of mine…What?"

Valerie had a sour look. "Nothing…"

"So she won't question why I come after her. It makes sense for me to bring ghost heroes to help." Danny explained.

"So both Dannys can go?" Klemper asked.

"Yeah and so will you Klemper. I'm going to need you and Dani to help. According to those two medieval ghosts, Aragon is can transform to a fire-breathing dragon. Something tells me we are going to need some ice." Danny told them.

"Hmmmmm." Vlad sounded like he didn't like this plan. He probably didn't like the fact that Dani was going head first into unknown danger. "Fine. I will try to a little control with the press. Get a story out that it was a part of the celebration."

"Right." Danny nodded. "Let's get going."

"Alright! Mighty Morphing Power Rangers Go!" Dani exclaimed. "What?…Like you never watched Power Rangers?"

It wasn't that hard to find the area of the Ghost Zone were Jenifer. The directions the two medieval ghost gave them was very specific. It was all thanks to Dan too and her…unique interrogation methods. The bad part was…

"Are we there yet?" Spirit asked for the tenth time.

"No! We are certainly-" Phantom all but yelled.

The computerized voice of the Specter Speeder sounded. "Real World item detected."

"-now there." Danny finished for his duplicate.

"Sooooo," Klemper said as they passed through giant doors. "What's the plan?"

"We disguise ourselves as the archer and executioner and a wench. Then-" Phantom was interrupted when the power in the Specter Speeder went off.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh!" Everyone screamed as they plummeted to the ground.

Bam! That was the first impact.

Crash! That was various dead trees they hit.

Slam! That was the Specter Speeder as it began to slide.

Meow! That was…

….Wait was that a cat? That's not right…

"Uhgn…." Spirit groaned. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Fenton said as he stepped out of the vehicle. "It just…

"…stopped working." Phantom finished. "And not only that. Look at my phone. It's not working."

"The technology stopped working." Klemper stated as looked over the land.

"…Yeah…" Fenton agreed.

"Maybe the Ghost Zone just has its own rules of reality that we don't know about?" Phantom grimaced at that thought. There was always more to learn.

"We are talking about a place where dead people come back to life." Spirit noted.

"Right…So, on with the plan." Phantom began.

"Wait? How are we going to get this out of here?" Spirit questioned as she pointed to the Specter Speeder.

"You, Klemper, and I will have to carry it." Phantom stated.

"That sounds like a lot of work…" Spirit groaned.

"Get over it." Phantom rolled his eyes. "Now, the plan is simple. We are going to disguise ourselves. When we get in, We will grab Jenifer. Then, Spirit, you will get her out of there and-"

"Aww….I don't get to fight." Spirit pouted.

"And!" Phantom emphasized. "Come back and help us fight."

Spirit cheered.

"What about your human part?" Klemper asked.

"I'll stay by the Speeder and make sure there was not too much damage. It's not like I'm much use without any weapons." Fenton stated.

"Everyone good?" Phantom questioned.

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

Getting into the castle was easy with the disguises. It was not like they were expecting an attack, either. Quite the opposite really. There seemed to be a …dull…celebration going on.

As they entered the dining hall, they heard. "This is what you brought to me as my future wife!? A klutzy, awkward witch girl?"

"Brother, you cannot believe that a simple human girl could possibly cause all this?" A female voice tried to reason with the male voice.

"What's going on?" Spirit whispered.

"The prince must not like Jenifer…" Phantom noted.

As they drew close, the group saw what was happening. A blue skinned, long haired ghost with purple robes and a spiked crown was arguing with a female ghost with a blue dress and her long blond hair braided into a pony-tail. Next to them was Jenifer. She was wearing a torn pink dress that was covered in food stains.

"None of this was happening until she entered the room! As soon as she enters, chairs began to break. Banners fell. The help simultaneously spilled all the food!" The ghost who was probably Aragon yelled.

"It might be a coincidence?" The ghost who Phantom recognized as the dragon ghost who wanted to go to some ball suggested weakly.

"Stupid girl!" Aragon screamed as his red eyes became slitted and his teeth became sharp. "These are no mere coincidence. This girl is a witch and is no way fit to be my wife."

Aragon then proceeded to pull the tiara off of Jenifer's head and tossed it to the side. He then grabbed Jennifer and pulled her over to some guards. "Take the witch and my sister to the chopping blocks! They will be beheaded immediately."

"Brother!" The girl ghost gasped.

"Be silent, Dora!" Aragon screamed as he grabbed his sister and went to strike her. "You have failed me and have to face the consequences!"

"Spirit, get Jenifer." Phantom hissed as he ran forward.

"Wha?" Spirit exclaimed as Phantom ran forward an flung an ecto covered fist at Aragon.

"Arg!" The prince groaned in pain as Phantom's punch threw him back.

"Hey, jackass!" Phantom yelled as he pulled off his mask. "That is not how you treat ladies! Especially your sister! How about I show his royal jerkness some manners!"

Spirit pulled off her disguise as she ran to Jenifer. The stupid dress could die! But that was not what mattered. She had to save the almost bride.

"Hiah!" Spirit yelled as she blasted the guards away. "You that girl that was kidnapped."

"No, that was the other teenage girl that just recently won a beauty pageant." Sarcasm was dripping off Jenifer's voice.

"Oooooohhhhhhhhhh!" Spirit smiled. "You got spunk! I like spunk. But that won't get you out of this situation. Come one, we-"

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR RRRRRR!" Aragon let out a terrifying roar as he transformed into a huge black and purple dragon. "You dare strike me! You little freak! I'll burn you alive!"

"I'm already dead." Phantom deadpanned.

"Shut up!" Aragon shouted as he flung he grabbed Phantom and flew through the roof.

Spirit went to grab Jenifer before she was crushed by debris. The human girl was already long gone, though. She skillfully cart wheeled and flipped out of the way.

"Wow…" Spirit mumbled as she flew by the girl.

"Yeah, wow." Jenifer smirked as she landed. "Come on, you came to rescue me right? Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, let's go!" Spirit began to fly to the exit.

Both girls headed toward the exit. All of the guards were gone and nothing could stop them. As they drew close to the exit, Jenifer stopped.

"What are you doing?" Spirit questioned as she looked back at the girl.

"I can't just leave Dora like this…" Jenifer was starring at the blond ghost.

"Why?! She kidnapped you!" Spirit pointed out.

"She was forced to. Her brother is to blame for all of this. I can't leave her and let her be a slave for the rest of eternity…or even killed." Jenifer began to run to Dora. "I can't leave someone trapped like this… I can't."

"…Yeah." Spirit agreed.

"Dora!" Jenifer ran up to the blond ghost.

"Huh?" Dora was pulled out of her trance.

"We have to get out of here." Spirit gestured around here.

"I can't leave. This is my home." Dora almost whispered.

"This is not a home." Jenifer glared. "Your brother has abused you for too long. A home is full of love and support. This is a prison for you and now you can leave."

"I can't leave." Dora looked around. "If I leave, my brother will take his rage out on the people. It is my duty to protect them."

"Then take a stand!" Spirit fist pumped. "Show your brother that you won't take anymore of his crap."

"I- can't I-" Dora stuttered.

"Yes, you can. You have the same power as he does, don't you?" Jenifer pointed out.

"Your right!" Dora gained a look of conviction. "I do have the same power as my brother. And…I'm not going to take his trash anymore."

"Yeah! Let's go show him who's the boss!" Spirit grinned.

"Yes, let's-" Dora was interrupted by Aragon crashing through the roof.

Crash!

"Let go of me!" Phantom forced the claws holding him to let open and flew away from the dragon.

In response, the dragon roared and flew over the forest. As he went over the dead trees, the dragon spewed fire all over the forest. In a second, everything was on fire. Phantom was jut glad that the Specter Speeder was further away. His original was still there.

"Wow, that's impressive. Destroy your own kingdom. That's smart…" Phantom drawled.

"Silence!" Aragon roared as he charged at the halfa.

Before he could, though, a bright blue light appeared below him. In an instant, the light struck his underbelly. As ice began to form on his body, Aragon roared in pain. The pain was so distracting that he stopped flapping his wings and plummeted into the mote below.

"Thanks for the assist, Klemper." Phantom smirked.

"No problem. You were right. This fight will be easier with the two of us." Klemper noted.

"Yeah, usually I would want to fight mano a mano, but with me being a duplicate and the original being in human form…" Phantom trailed off.

"I hear you-" "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA RRRRRRR!" Aragon flew at the two of them at high speeds. As he got close, the dragon spun around and swung his spiked tail at them. The two ghost dodged the blow, but were separated in the process.

Suddenly a torrent of fire spewed from Aragon's mouth and rocketed toward Klemper. The ice ghost surrounded himself in a cloak of blue light. The cloak protected the ghost from the burning effect of the fire, but did not stop the kinetic energy.

"Klemper!" Phantom shouted as his friend was sent down to the earth below.

"It's now your turn, ghost boy!" Aragon roared at Phantom. The dragon then tried to slash the halfa with his claws, but the halfa dodged each blow.

Encasing his right hand in blue light, Phantom blasted Aragon in the face with an ice blast. The blast caused the dragon to real back. Using this distraction, Phantom kicked Aragon in the stomach and sent the dragon flying down, but this time, the dragon stopped his descent.

"Personal space, dude. I know your stuck in the past, but this should be a universal concept." Phantom smirked.

"You will not defeat me! I am prince Aragon! I am the ruler of this land! I have power to burn cities to the ground, and you are a weakling that cannot even save his own family!" Aragon yelled.

That stuck a cord with Phantom. Aragon had just made this personal. Phantom glared at the dragon and said, "Alright then. Kid gloves are now off!"

"You speak as if you have any power! I am in control here!" Aragon then sent a torrent of blue fire at the halfa.

The fire never reached him, though. Phantom had already taken in a big breath in his usually unnecessary while the dragon was speaking. Then as the fire began to rocket toward him, Phantom let out a Ghostly Wail.

Now, this Ghostly Wail was different than the usual ones. Because a duplicate was attacking, the wail was only at half strength. Even at half strength, though, it was enough to snuff out the flames and hit the dragon with the force of a semi. Less than a second later, the dragon was sent crashing back into the castle

"Ha…pant…ha…pant…" Phantom wheezed as he finished his attack.

"Did you get him?" Klemper caught up to the halfa.

"I don't know…" Phantom panted out.

Suddenly, another stream of fire raced toward the two. Klemper blocked it with his ice, but that did not ease Phantom's mind. That Ghostly Wail tired him out. If he used another ecto-based attack, then he would run out of energy and disappear.

'Crap,' Phantom thought as he stared down at the castle.

All three of the girls ducked as Aragon sent a wave of fire our the whole he just made. All of them were thinking the same thing. 'Is he trying to destroy his castle?'

"ARG!" Aragon fell to his side. He was trembling and holding his sides. He appeared to be in terrible pain.

Suddenly, the dragons eyes turned to the girls. "Dora! The ghost boy and his companion are too much for me to defeat on my own. Help me!"

Dora began to step forward. Both Jenifer and Spirit tried to stop her, but stopped when they saw Dora's look. It was not a look of fear. It was a look of anger and conviction.

Slowly, Dora began to transform into a dragon. Her huge form cast a shadow over Jenifer and Spirit. Dora then began to walk over to her injured brother.

"Dora-Urg!" Aragon groaned in pain when Dora stomped on him. "Wha-what are you doing, you imbecile?!"

"What I should have done ages ago!" Dora applied more pressure to her foot.

"Ahhhhh!" Aragon writhed in pain.

"Sixteen hundred years of doing your bidding. Sixteen hundred years of suffering your insults. Sixteen hundred years-" Dora was interrupted when Aragon grabbed her snout and switched switched positions with Dora. Now he was holding her down with her foot.

"You!" Aragon glared at Jenifer and Spirit. "This is your fault! You've been filling her head with your modern ideas!"

"So what!?" Spirit stood in front of Jenifer protectively. "These modern ideas are a lot better than your pathetic dark age ideas!"

"Fool! I'll-ARGHHHHHHH!" Aragon was once again hit with a sneak attack. This time, Klemper punched the side of Aragon's side.

As the dragon tumbled to the ground unconscious, Phantom said, "You'll pass out from pain? Why, yes. Yes, you will."

As Aragon turned back to normal, Danny walked over an grabbed the Amulet of Aragon from Aragon's neck. Instantly, sunlight pored in through the holes in the roof. The Dark Ages was over.

"Well," Phantom said as he looked at his now working phone. "That is oddly convenient."

"Isn't a lot of things in our lives conveniently …well, convenient?" Spirit pointed out.

"Touché…" Phantom rubbed his chin.

"…The sunlight…it's so beautiful…" Dora smiled as she gazed through the hall. Slowly, all of the citizens that fled earlier began to pore into the dining hall. None of them seemed upset that Aragon was defeated. Quite the contrary, they were cheering.

"So…it's over? Just like that?" Jenifer questioned.

"Yep," Phantom nodded. He then held out the Amulet of Aragon to Dora and said, "I think this is yours."

Dora stared at the Amulet then shook her head. "No, I already have mine and my brother.. he won't need it in the dungeon. You should keep it. To the winner goes the spoils."

"Cool!" Klemper stated. "You have that and the giant axe. You could start a collection of ghostly artifacts."

"Maybe." Phantom agreed as he stuffed the amulet in his pocket.

"That's fine and all, but could you please take me back to Amity Park?" Jenifer asked. "I really need a bath."

"Yeah," Phantom nodded. "Can you handle the rest here?"

"Yes, thank you so much for your help. I will help my people move forward into the future." Dora smiled. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah," Spirit giggled. "You've been dragon it out long enough…get it? Dragon, Dragging?"

And cue the crickets chirping.

"…Okay, I can't be nice about this." Klemper deadpanned. "That was so terrible that even people from the Dark Ages who have never even heard of a pun thinks that joke sucks. Think about that."

Phantom laughed. "And on that note, let's go."

"So you used this to find me?" Jenifer asked as the original Danny Fenton stirred the Specter Speeder.

Currently, Fenton, Jenifer, and Spirit were sitting in the front seats of the Specter Speeder. Klemper and the duplicate were in the back because of lack of room…and well, because Jenifer and Spirit called shotgun.

"Yep." Fenton nodded. "After Phantom told me about your disappearance, I agreed to help look for you in the Ghost Zone."

"Awe," Jenifer who was in the middle seat pinched Danny's cheek. "You do care."

"Stop that!" Danny blushed.

"Oh?" Spirit chuckled. "Do the two of you have something going on?"

"No!" Danny exclaimed.

"Maybe!" Jenifer giggled.

"Jenifer!" Danny sounded indigent.

"What!" Jenifer just smiled.

"Don't give the girl ideas! She's like ten!" Danny glared at Jenifer.

"Psh!" Jenifer snorted. "You're such a kill joy…"

"I know, right?" Spirit agreed.

As the two girls talked and complained about Fenton and Phantom, Danny thought. 'Great. I have two girls complaining about both of my identities. Life just sucks sometimes…'

For the next couple of minutes, there was silence. Everyone was tired and there was not much to be said. Spirit even went to sleep. She was snoring lightly.

"Never really thought you would be in a beauty pageant." Danny caught his mistake. "I mean, you are pretty enough, but it doesn't seem to be your style..."

"Nice save." Jenifer complimented. "I guess that I just wanted to try something new...It was more of an on the whim thing. Something a normal girl would want to do."

"And you aren't normal?" Danny smirked.

"Normal is overrated." Jenifer voiced her opinion.

"Very true..." Danny trailed off.

"…Danny," Jenifer said.

"Yah?" Danny answered.

"Thanks for coming to save me…" Jenifer stated.

"It was no big deal." Danny smiled.

"Yes, it is." Jenifer gave him a look of joy. "You came to save me from a really dangerous place. You could have just let Phantom and them come get me. They have their powers to protect them. You're just a regular human. You could have died, especially because you had no working weapons. Not many people would go. I knew your were special, but this…It was awesome."

"Hmmm…So it means a lot to you?" Danny questioned.

"Yes it does." Jenifer said sincerely.

"Then, Jenny, you're welcome." Danny said.

"Hey! You finally called me Jenny!" Jenifer smirked. "I'm growing on you, aren't I?"

"I will not justify that with an answer."

Omake

(Saturday-February 6, 2010)

Danny was spending his Saturday peacefully sleeping. Yesterday had been very stressful and he needed a rest. So, Danny had turned off his alarm and decided to sleep away the morning.

It was perfe-"Good morning, Danny!" Valerie cheerfully shouted as she entered the halfa's room.

...well, it was perfect...

"Ah!" Danny bolted upright in surprise. "What is it?! What happened?!"

"Nothing." Valerie stated. "I thought that we could use this morning to train."

"Val, if you don't remember correctly, I had a long week. This is Saturday and I should be resting...And it's eight! There is no way I'm getting up at eight on a Saturday morning to train..." Danny laid his head back down.

"Oh no you don't." Valerie grabbed the halfa and pulled him out of bed.

"What are you doing?!" Danny shouted.

"I decided that we are going to train, so we are gonna train. Besides, you need to work on your hand to hand combat." Valerie pointed out. "So get dressed."

(Four hours later...)

Danny laid on the floor. He was completely soaked in sweat and utterly defeated. His superpowers may have made him more powerful than Valerie, but she was not a ninth degree black belt for no reason. There was no constant, especially considering the fact that Danny was in his human form.

"Oh...my...everything..." Danny groaned in pain.

"Don't be such a wimp." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"Too weak...to make...witty...comback..." Danny gasped out.

"If you say so." Valeried grinned at the halfa.

Danny had just taken a shower and had eaten. Now all he needed was to sleep. But as he made his track up the stairs, a knocking at the door drew his attention.

Sighing, Danny answered the door. "Hello?"

"S'up, Baby Bob." Ember leaned on the door frame.

"Hey Ember." Danny greeted. "I just finished training and was going to rest?"

"Rest? Psh!" Ember grabbed Danny by his arm. "Come on, I've got these tickets to an afternoon concert a few miles away. You're gonna be my date."

"Wait? I just-" Danny never got to finish his sentence.

"No excuses." Ember continued to drag Danny.

"But I-" Danny was cut off.

"No excuses." Ember repeated herself.

"If you just gave me a se-" Danny could not get a sentence out.

"I said no excuses!"

(Five hours later...)

Danny was being pulled along by Ember as they exitted the concert area.

"I can't believe they did three encores!" Ember smiled.

Danny grunted in response.

"Then we actually got to go back stage!" Ember was jumping for joy.

Danny once again grunted.

"Can you believe that we got to hang with the band!" Ember was now shaking Danny.

"...No..." Danny said tiredly.

"What's wrong with you?" Ember questioned. "You should be full of energy!"

Danny just grunted.

'It is so beautiful.' Danny thought as he dragged himself toward his bed. He was really tired and all he wanted to do was sleep.

As he dropped onto his bed, Danny sighed with satisfaction. Time to slee-

"Hey! Danny!" Jenifer slammed the window open. "My dad had a business trip, so I got to stay in Amity Park for the weekend!"

Danny mumbled something into his pillow.

"What are you doing sleeping! It's Saturday night! Let's go dancing!" The girl then grabbed Danny and pulled him out the window. As they crashed into the brush below, all Jenifer could do was giggle.

'Why are girls dragging me all over the place today?' Danny mentally whined

(Four hours later...)

Both Danny and Jenifer had went to an underage club. They had danced and partied the whole time. If Danny wasn't so exhausted, he would have enjoyed the experience. It was very pleasant to have Jenifer dance with him.

"Woo!" Jenifer wiped the sweat from her brow. "Now that was a good time."

Danny said nothing.

"This was a good idea. We should come back here again sometime." Jenifer smiled.

Danny was silent.

"You okay?" Jenifer raised an eyebrow. "You look a little pale."

This time Danny moaned. It's okay people, he's still alive.

Danny didn't even get to take a step into his house this time. As he climbed the steps, Dani as Spirit fazed through the door and carried him into the sky.

"Danny!" Spirit cheered. "There's a ghost attack happening by the docks."

Danny groaned.

"And we have a lead on another ghost on your list! He was seen across the state!" Spirit told Danny.

Danny moaned in agony.

"What are you waiting for? Change already! I won't carry you any further!" Spirit exclaimed.

Danny really should have listened to her because in a few seconds, she dropped him like a sack of patatoes. He barely changed in time to save himself from death. After this development, Danny was now sure of one thing...Woman would be the end of him.

(Eight hours later...)

Vlad walked into the living room with a cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other. He had a fantastic night of sleep last night and was ready for the day ahead of him. Suddenly, he stepped on somthing on the middle of the floor. For a second, he thought it might be Cujo, but it turned out to be...

"Daniel!?" Vlad exclaimed. "Why are you sleeping on the floor!?"

"Couldn't make it...to couch...passed out...so sad..." Danny then curled into a ball and went back to sleep.