#omw to steal toes

[lxrdivlis]

I haven’t slept in so long

I am unstoppable

[mischiefandspirits]

Parental Bonding: Chivalry

S01-E02, part 2 of 2: Trying to keep his dad from embarrassing him while facing off against a teenage girl in dragon form keeps Danny on his toes.

Last time on Living Phantom

“I don't understand why I have to wear this stupid thing,” Danny’s dad complained as his mom adjusted his tie.

The two were standing in the kitchen preparing for the Spring Formal. His dad was in his normal hazmat suit, though with a tie around his neck while his mom wore a black dress. Jazz stood nearby in her own dress, checking her purse. Danny was next to her, tugging at his own tie and occasionally glancing down at his phone.

“Because it's Danny's first big dance, Jack,” his mom answered. “If we're gonna chaperone this thing, we have to make sure we don't embarrass him.”

“How would we embarrass him?”

Jazz and Danny shared a quick look before their mom turned to them and came over to fix Danny’s tie as well.

“I think it's great when you guys do anything that doesn't have something to do with your sick obsession with ghosts,” Jazz said pointedly.

“Funny,” their dad said, eyes narrowed. “I don't even remember volunteering to chaperone the dance. It's all a vague blur.”

Danny’s shoulders crept up and he tried to push his mom’s hands away.

“By the way, Danny, just so you know, I'm on to your little secret.”

Danny jerked backward, nearly choking himself as his mom was still holding his tie. “What?! Wh-what secret?”

“The clumsiness, the nervousness. I can't believe I didn't figure it out before. You have a girlfriend!”

“I can expl-I-I mean, she's not my girlfriend. She's just going to the dance with me.”

“That's great!” their dad cheered, wrapping an arm around Jazz. “I can meet her and talk to her about ghosts!”

Jazz rolled her eyes and pushed his arm off so she could adjust her hair. “You better let her know your family's insane now, Danny. If you marry her and she finds out later, that's entrapment.”

The doorbell rang and Danny sighed with relief. “That’s Sam and Tucker. I’ll see you guys at the dance.”

Jazz took that as her opening and grabbed her purse. “I should get going too if I’m going to pick up Michelle and Robin in time.”

As Danny and Jazz slipped into the living room, he thought, Okay, so I'm gonna have to keep Paulina calm and keep my dad from embarrassing me. I can handle that.

He patted where the Fenton Ghost Fisher was hidden inside his jacket in its collapsed form then opened the door.

“Mr. Fenton,” a man in a suit greeted him. “I’m Donald. I’ll be your driver tonight.”

“Uh…” Danny looked past the man to see a limo -- a luxury stretch limo -- parked at the curb. One of the windows was rolled down to show a waving Tucker. “Right, thanks.”

He glanced up at Jazz as he followed the driver to see her staring at the car, floored. The driver opened the door and Danny slipped inside.

“Dude.”

“I know!”

“I thought you said Sam’s parents were taking us.”

“I thought that’s what she meant. I didn’t think she was going shell out for a limo!”

“There are sodas and juice in the mini fridge,” Donald said as he got in and started the limo.

“It’s all included,” Tucker said, grabbing an open soda from his cup holder.

Danny glanced at Donald, who nodded in the mirror. He grabbed a clear soda just in case he spilled then slid over to sit next to Tucker.

“You ready for your dragon date?”

Danny elbowed a snickering Tucker with a glare. “I’ve got it handled.”

“Uh-huh, sure buddy.”

Danny elbowed him again and Tucker elbowed him back.

The two chuckled and shoved each other until they pulled up next to Paulina’s house.

“Good luck,” Tucker teased, patting Danny on the back as Donald opened the door for him.

Danny flipped him off then headed up to ring the doorbell.

What to say? The heirloom idea is stupid. Maybe he could say it belonged to someone else? Someone like…

The door opened and Danny looked up. And up.

He blanched as he looked up into the angry face of a tall, muscular man. Nervously, he said, “Uh, hi! Uh, you must be Paulina's dad.”

“If you upset her, we're going to have a violent talk,” the man said, punching his palm.

“Papa?”

Danny blushed as Paulina stepped out from behind her father. Her curly hair had been straightened and half pulled up with a large glittering clip that was a soft pink color to match her dress.

It made the gold and green collar stand out all the more.

She smiled at him. “You're scaring him. Come on, Danny. We're going to be late.”

“Have a wonderful evening, baby.” Her dad kissed her cheek, then gave Danny a death glare. “I know where you live.”

“And I'm glad we had a chance to chat,” he chuckled weakly as Paulina took his arm.

She gasped as they turned to the street. “You got a limo?”

“Yeah, well Sam did,” he said, opening the door for her. “I-I thought we could all go together.”

“Hey, Paulina,” Tucker said a little breathlessly.

“There are drinks in the fridge,” Danny added as he got in and she grabbed a sparkling water.

“It’s nice,” she said once they were on the road again. “Really nice. How did she afford something like this?”

Danny frowned at her tone, but shrugged it off. “Her parents must have lent her the money.”

Paulina hummed disbelievingly.

He turned to Tucker, who clearly didn’t get it either. Yeah, it was a limo, but it couldn’t have been that expensive, right?

They pulled up to Sam’s house and Tucker got out, looking grouchy.

Danny focused on Paulina, giving her a smile. “You look really nice, by the way. I meant to say earlier, but your dad, uh…”

She chuckled and pat his hand. “That’s okay. I know I look nice, silly. It’s me!”

He nodded and glanced out the window.

His jaw dropped.

Sam stood on the stoop in the same black and purple gothic medieval dress that she’d been looking at when they’d gone shopping -- no way her parents bought that, he knew she wanted to come -- with artful dark purple makeup to match. Her hair was braided up her head then pulled into a flower-like bun on the top while roses had been shaved into the short side of her head.

She smiled at Tucker before pulling him down the steps.

A throat cleared behind Danny and he turned to see Paulina glaring at him. Her eyes were a bright red with slit pupils.

“S-sorry,” he said, raising his hands. “It’s just, uh, weird to see her all dressed up like that.”

“Your right,” she snorted. “She does look weird. What’s up with that dress?”

A frown tugged at his mouth, but her eyes had gone back to normal so he forced himself to keep smiling. “Right.”

~~~~~~~~~~B~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Sam glanced around the gym thoughtfully. She was about to ask Tucker if he wanted to dance, just to give them something to do, when she spotted Paulina standing on her own. “Where’d Danny go?”

“What?” Tucker followed her gaze. “Maybe he went to get snacks?”

“Do you think it's safe to leave her alone.”

He smiled. “Well, I could always -”

“Tucker, Sam, we've got trouble.”

The two looked up to see Danny’s dad standing over them.

“We had nothing to do with it, Mr. Fenton. It was all Danny's idea.”

“Tucker, it's me. It's Danny,” their friend in his dad’s body huffed. “Sam, you need to keep an eye on Paulina. Text me if she starts looking angry. Tucker, watch my dad just in case I need to go deal with Paulina. If he starts talking to anyone, text me, got it?”

They both nodded and he left.

“This dance gets better and better with every passing minute,” Sam snorted and followed after Paulina.

It only took a few minutes before the popular girl started looking annoyed and Sam sent Danny a quick text before trailing after her into the bathroom. She hesitated in the doorway a moment before pasting on a smile and stepping in. “Hey, Paulina. I should have said before, but that's a nice dress.”

“Yes, and it goes so nicely with your necklace, don't you think?” the other girl asked, turning to her with a smirk.

Sam frowned. “My necklace? That's not my -- Right! Listen, my grandma gave me that, and -”

“Forget it, sweetie. I'm not giving up this trinket or your little boyfriend Danny.”

“My boyfriend?” Sam choked. “Haha! And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is not my boyfriend.”

“He's not?”

Sam rolled her eyes. She and Danny had known each other since kindergarten. She’d slept beside him at a time when they could still share a room for sleepovers. She’d comforted him after he found out about his father. She’d been there when his family had gotten back from two years in California and he tried to convince the few middle school classmates they had that knew him in elementary school that he’d actually always been a boy and they were misremembering. She was the one to threaten those who didn’t buy it to keep quiet. She’d held his hand when he’d nearly begged their seventh grade English teacher to call him Danny, not Daniel, because it sounded too close to Danielle.

Sure he was cute -- especially when his hair fell into his face just right or when he and Tucker would let her put some makeup on them for Dumpty Humpty concerts -- and his ghost form was really sick looking, but they weren’t like that.

“He's my best friend. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow.”

Paulina laughed. “What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you.”

Sam froze, barely noticing as Paulina took off the collar and put it on her. She had… She had… to DANNY? Danny, who was too sweet for his own good and…

“Here, take your crummy necklace. I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend.”

Sam’s fists clenched as she felt a blazing heat flow through her. How dare she? HOW DARE SHE!

“Shallow little witch!” she roared and everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~B~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Danny was grabbing a couple glasses of punch when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his dad’s pocket to see Sam had texted him.

🕷Sammy-kins : Your dates ticked and heading to the bathroom.

Me: OMW

He opened a new message and texted Tucker.

Me: Going to deal with Paulina. Watch my dad

🎮TuckNo: 👍🏾

He slipped out of his dad and grabbed his phone. Invisibly, he flew over the gym, heading for the bathrooms. He tucked his phone into the pocket inside his jacket.

He paused as its weight disappeared the moment his hand left it.

He reached back into the pocket and his eyes widened as his hand kept going. “Oh my god, it’s a literal pocket dimension!” he whispered, pulling his jacket open so he could look inside. He reached in again, this time purposefully trying to grab his phone.

He found it immediately.

“Oh man, wait until I tell Tucker! Also, note to self, stick a thermos in here, just in case.”

A roar sounded, just barely audible over the music, and Danny’s eyes widened. He dropped down behind a trash can near the bathroom and transformed back.

“Paulina? Sam?” he called into the bathroom. When no one answered, he checked that everyone was looking away then slipped inside.

His eyes widened as he saw the destroyed wall and ceiling. He grabbed the fisher out of his pocket and turned back into a ghost. Once the fisher was stored in his -- Poltergeist Pocket? Pocket of Holding? Spectral Space? Yeah, that one! -- Spectral Space, he flew out to see the blue dragon soaring over the football field. Eyes narrowing as he saw the form held in her claws, he shot towards her and kicked her to the ground.

“Take it easy, Paulina. You don't want to hurt Sam,” he said, landing in front of the dragon. He looked at the girl and frowned when he realized Sam wasn’t the hostage. “Paulina?” He turned to the dragon as she opened her eyes to glare at him. “Sam?”

“Shallow girl!” she roared, standing.

“Yep, that's Sam.” He rolled to the side to avoid her fire. “Whoa! Sam! Two words: breath mints.”

He flew up to free Paulina, but Sam’s tail slammed into them the moment he got her free. They were knocked towards the bleachers and Danny turned them intangible before they could hit. Instead, they landed in front of the fence, spooking a kissing couple into fleeing. Danny set down Paulina just as his phone went off.

🎮TuckNo: Your dads heading towards lancer

Great, one short-term fix, coming up. Danny dove into the ground and came up behind the dragon. “I hate to do this, Sam.” He grabbed her tail then pulled her off the ground, swinging her around until he built up some force. He let her go and she flew off into the distance. “Heh, I made a dragonfly.” His eyes widened. “Oh, man. Dad!”

He bolted down into the gym and looked around. He spotted his dad standing over Mr. Lancer with a fierce glare and quickly dove into the jumpsuits man.

“Jack, this is Mr. Lancer from the parent-teacher conference,” his mom was saying, the second half in a whisper.

“Right, right. I'm sorry, it's just in this light I thought you were Vin Diesel. Isn't he sharp, Mom? I mean, Maddie,” Danny stuttered, trying to make his voice as low as possible.

He wasn’t sure if he was the only one who heard his normal voice, it seemed like it, but just in case.

“Well… Thank you,” Mr. Lancer chuckled.

“Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to dance with my wife. That's what we adults do, dance with our wives.” Danny grabbed his mom’s hand and led her onto the dance floor.

He briefly wondered if he should dance normally or like a parent, but then just danced like himself.

He was trying to make sure his dad didn’t embarrass him, after all.

His mom sighed. “Doesn't this bring back memories?”

“If by memories you mean things you remember that I don't, then yes! Go ahead and remind me of stuff. I'll totally agree to remembering.” Smooth.

The song ended and Danny blinked as his fellow students started cheering for him.

Well, that’s one thing down.

He slipped out of his dad and flew back out of the gym.

Just in time, it seemed, as Sam was quickly approaching the school. He dove around the fireballs she shot at him and reached into his pocket. He brought out the fisher and extended it. He arced around another fireball as he swung the line towards her, catching it on one of the scales near her wing. Then he started circling her, dodging her tail and fire until he had her wings bound in the glowing wire.

As it turned out, ghost dragons did, in fact, need their wings to fly.

Or maybe it was just a mind thing? She did seem to hover for a few seconds and Danny stood by his assessment that those wings couldn’t support her weight on their own. If it was just a mental thing then -

Focus!

Sam dropped to the ground and Danny landed next to her neck. As soon as he pulled the necklace off, she shrunk down into herself. He stuck both the necklace and rewound fisher in his Spectral Space then ran up to Sam, transforming as he went. “Sam? Are you alright?”

“Wow,” Sam said, sitting up and holding her head like she had a headache. “Did I have fun at the dance?”

“Well, uh… Let's just say you had a roaring time.” She gave him a look and he blushed. “You somehow got the dragon necklace on you and, well, I think you can put the pieces together.”

“Paulina,” Sam growled.

“Yeah, sounded like she did something,” Danny said, helping her to her feet.

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it. She stared at him for a moment then shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Come on, I think you owe me a dance.”

He smiled. “Sure, I'd love to.”

“Promise me you'll keep your pants up.”

“I'll do my best.”

~~~~~~~~~~B~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

“So how long until your parents get back?” Sam asked as Danny let them into his house.

“Mom said they had to stay until the end of the dance, so another half hour at least,” Danny said.

“I can’t believe I still ended up dateless,” Tucker huffed. “Couldn’t you have at least ditched Paulina in a way that left her open for me to swoop in for the rebound?”

“I didn’t ditch Paulina,” Danny denied.

“She ditched him,” Sam said.

“Yeah, when she came back into the gym to find you two dancing,” Tucker snorted. “She looked ready to breathe fire even without the amulet.”

“I didn’t see her,” Danny worried as he pushed open the door to the lab stairs. “Should we have waited for her? We were her ride.”

“Nah, she took off with Dash right after. Some A-lister afterparty. No worries,” Tucker said. “Anyways, what are you going to do about the amulet? Just chuck it through the portal?”

“I don’t know. I thought maybe -”

Danny paused and his friends leaned down to look over his shoulder.

Floating in the lab was a green-skinned ghost with long blonde hair and an electric blue medieval dress. She looked like she had been searching for something, but stopped when they came in.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Danny said, eyeing her and trying to push his friends back.

“My amulet! I must return with my amulet,” she wailed, tears in her eyes as she stood up from her crouched position. “But it’s nowhere to be found!”

Danny nodded. “You were the original dragon ghost, right? The one who wanted to go to the ball.”

She sniffled and nodded. “And you are the knight who fought me off.”

“Right.” Danny transformed and dug into his Spectral Space.

Danny didn’t see her eyes go wide, but Sam and Tucker did. “I thought I had imagined it,” they saw her whisper.

“Here,” Danny said, holding out the necklace. “You can take it, but only if you agree to go straight back where you came from. Deal?”

“Of course. I must return to my brother. I’ve been gone for far too long, but I needed my amulet.”

Danny hesitated. “Your brother, was he the one that hurt you?”

She took the necklace from him and put it on. “Thank you, Sir Knight.”

“It’s Danny. Uh, Danny… Phantom. You didn’t ans-”

“Thank you, Sir Phantom,” she said, giving a curtsy, then flew into the portal.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes,” Danny sighed. “I hope she’s okay.”

“She can turn into a giant dragon, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Tucker said.

“Sure, except the legend says her brother can do the same,” Sam pointed out.

“Oh, yeah.”

The three watched the portal for a moment before Danny pulled the fisher out of his Spectral Space and tossed it on the table. “Come on, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go get changed and turn on some movies.”

They agreed and the three trudged upstairs, their earlier post-battle excitement lost.

“Danny Phantom?” Sam said.

“I panicked. Besides, it’s kind of a pun. Phantom, Fenton.”

“You're a ghost called ghost,” Tucker snorted.

“Shut up, I’ll come up with something better.”

“Nope.”

“You’re Danny Phantom now.”

“No takebacks.”

“I hate you both.”

“Love you too, dude.”

~~~~~~~~~~B~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the late posting. I had to take my mom to the doctor's yesterday and didn't get a chance to post until it was too late. Next chapter should be on time as usual.

[violetkatgrove]

In lying on my couch n my toesies r cold its time to Destroy My Toes

omw ill steal kinoshitas axe while he isnt looking its time for the toes to lea ve