"Hi, you," Paulina said and laughed flirtily. "I just wanted to..."
Dash suddenly slammed Danny into his locker and shut it, then leaned against it. "Meet me? Who doesn't?" the Bully said. Danny invisibly leaned out of a locker a few doors down and glared at Dash. "Dash Baxter. *Danny places his hands-on Dash's shoulders. They begin to glow and fall into Dash's back* All-star quarterback and school hero. *Danny gets sucked into Dash's body* I'm also—" Dash's eyes turned green and he dropped his football. "In Dash's body?"
"What... the... hell..." Lina whispered to herself as she realized that it was Danny talking but he was inside Dash's body.
"Excuse me?" Paulina asked confused.
"Right! Of course! *Paulina stares at him suspiciously* I'm also president of the Casper High geek club, and I have every toenail I've ever clipped. Want to see 'em?"
"No" the girl replied with a disgusted look on her face.
"Oh, then you should get to know Danny Fenton. He doesn't scrub his mom's feet every night like I do" Danny/Dash said, knelt and picked up Paulina's foot.
"Eew! Get lost, loser!" she shouted while backing away from him.
Lina tried very hard to contain her laughter, tears building up in her eyes as she had both her hands in front of her mouth, to ensure she remained quiet and did not give away her position. She didn't exactly feel nice seeing Dash being manipulated like that, but she couldn't help to think that he deserved it.
Plus, it wasn't like he was forced to do something big. Just a little humiliation. She made a mental note to try this possession on Tucker.
Danny left Dash's body and invisibly went back into his locker just as Dash stood up and held his hand up to steady his head, disoriented.
"Why do I suddenly feel like scrubbing my mom's feet?" he asked and walked away while holding his head, having forgotten why he was there in the first place.
Paulina opened up Danny's locker and he fell out with a yelp. The dragon's amulet fell out of his backpack onto the floor as well. Lina's eyes widened as she turned invisible and headed towards them, trying to find a way to take it before it was spotted by someone else; especially Paulina.
The black-haired popular girl knelt to his level. "We have to stop meeting like this. *Notices the amulet* Oh my gosh! *Points to it* What's that? *Picks it up, entranced*"
Shit, Lina thought as she stopped midair and watched the scene unfold in front of her while she was unable to do anything, her mind not sure how to help her.
"That? Oh! Uh, it's a...uh... You like it?" Danny asked while smiling hopefully.
"It's beautiful!"
"Hey, that's great! *Paulina stands up* Because of I, uh, got it for you"
"Really?!"
"Yeah. *Stands up* I-I-in case I got the nerve to ask you to the dance and you said yes, I thought I'd want to give you something and that's what it would have been. It's for you" Angry, Lina grabbed his pants and made them invisible, but he grabbed them before they could fall; all while never taking his puppy-love-sick eyes off Paulina. "Whether you go with me or not"
"Well, you are kind of cute, and you have great taste in underwear. I'd love to go with you *Puts on the amulet*" Paulina then walked away, her eyes glowing green as the amulet's powers overtook her.
Danny smiled but then frowned. "What am I doing? That thing doesn't belong to me. It could be my mom's, or my sister's" he said and started to panic.
Paulina at the end of the hall, waving. "Bye, Danny. See you!"
Immediately, he forgot all of his worries and a goofy smile appeared on his face. "Or I could worry about that later. Because she said yes! Woohoo!" he cheered but his triumph was cut short when Lina took over his body.
However, when she did this the hand that was holding the pants let them go and ended up falling.
"Oh no," she exclaimed as she tried to grab them.
To her luck, Mr Lancer was walking down the hall and spotted her/Danny.
"Pantless again, Mr Fenton? Third time this week I've caught you- how do you kids say it?" he said and took out a book called 'How To Sound Hip For the Unhip.' "Dropping trou. I think it's time I saw your father for a parent-teacher conference" he continued and gave Danny/Lina a notice slip.
"Jack? ... I mean... My... dad?" Danny/Lina said, shocked.
"Until then, here. *Holds out a belt* "It'll help you keep your pants up and... *Consults his book* out of trouble with the man"
Lina/Danny slowly took the belt and with one hand holding the pants she rushed down the hall before taking a sharp into the Janitor's closet.
Then, she came out of Danny's body and collapsed on the floor.
"Oh wow... that was hectic," she said as she let out a sigh of relief, leaning with her back on the floor still in her ghost form.
"What the hell Angel?!" Danny shouted at her, clearly angry as he tied the belt around his waist.
"Hey! I was trying to take that medal back from Paulina. The one you gave away!" she argued up, quickly standing up to be face-to-face with him.
"I... Why do you care? Was it yours?!"
"No you idiot!" she flicked his forehead. "But it gives off a weird vibe. I do not think it is an ordinary one"
"Well then... it happened now so..."
"You need to take it back"
"Okay, I will... After the dance"
Lina facepalms and left out a sigh. She knew that she would not be able to change his mind and truth be told, she did want to see Danny happy for a night. Although, she did question whether Paulina was the right thing. "Oh and sorry about the whole... pant thing"
"Well, the problem is now how to tell Dad"
"Good luck," she smirked, not truly her problem and opened the door. "And by the way, this possession thingy is so cool"
"I know right?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fenton Works' basement
Jack was still sitting and fishing for ghosts, leaning his face on his hand. Danny was standing behind him while Lina was watching from the stairs, her head the only thing visible. Danny gulped and was about to walk away when he turned his head and looked at her.
She brought one hand forward and motioned for him to continue, her eyes flashing red for a second as a reminder that she would possess him and do it herself if he couldn't. He shook his head and gathered all his courage, finding it rather funny how he was fighting real ghosts and even a dragon but got scared to talk to his father.
"Catch anything, Dad?" he asked, trying to get on his good side and maybe make the news easier for the older man.
"Son, I couldn't catch a cold. I've been sitting here all day without a single bite" Jack replied, disappointed.
"Uh... " he exclaimed while holding up the parent-teacher conference notice. He pointed at it but before he could speak, his father continued his monologue. "I'm so frustrated I want to take out my rage on the first person who gives me bad news" The eyes of the Halfa widened and Danny found himself looking at Lina again. "Anyway, you wanted to tell me something?"
She bit her bottom lip and kept watching, her stomach already tied into a triple knot from all the worry she felt.
Danny was in no better position either since unlike her, he couldn't hide behind a wall. "Well, sort of. Mr Lancer—"
"Mr Lancer what? Is this bad news?" Jack asked as he turned to look at him, his eyes narrowed.
"Mr Lancer... " Suddenly he smiled when an idea popped into his mind and he overshadowed Jack when he looked away. "Wants to have a word with us!"
Lina facepalmed hard enough for it to be heard across the room. Jack/Danny turned to look at her with green eyes and she shook her head while moving away from her hiding place, her hands on her hips. "This is not right Danny"
"Oh come on Lina. It's only for this once and it's the only way. I promise I won't do it again" he said, now on his knees.
The female Halfa let out a sigh and rubbed her temples in frustration. "Fine but If I catch you doing this again, I will come in there and drag you out myself," she said, pointing a finger at him while her red eyes were staring into their souls.
"Deal"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, our heroes sat at their usual table on their favourite fast food and were enjoying their food or trying. Danny's appetite was not the best after he somehow messed things worse for him. His possession of his dad didn't go well and now he had another thing to deal with.
Lina ate in peace, not scolding him since he had already realized his mistake while also glancing around her. Boys were asking girls about the dance but of course, not her. She doubted anyone would ever do that and her eyes from time to time glanced at Tucker, who was busy eating and being turned down by any girl he looked at.
"So, your dad is going to chaperone the dance?" Sam asked, not failing to notice the whole scene.
"Yes, but he doesn't know he's going to chaperone because he doesn't remember that I made him say yes!" Danny said and let out a sigh of annoyance.
He had barely explained to them about the possession thingy the two Halfas had just found out.
Tucker swallowed. "Let me get this straight. You can just walk into people and take over their bodies from the inside?"
"Yeah, pretty much"
The dark-skinned pre-teen looked at a girl who was sitting under the tree and reading her book. "Hey, Danny. If you could control a girl for just about two minutes..."
"Tucker!" Lina scolded him, insulted that he had thought of such a thing and wasted no time kicking him under the table.
"Forget it. You can get your date for the dance like I did" Danny added.
"Does he have to take off his pants and act like a dweeb? Or will either one does?" Sam asked and Lina tried to hold back her laughter. "Or you could ask Lina out. She has no date yet"
At those words, the Halfa stopped laughing and her cheeks turned a pinky hue. Tucker looked at Sam and then at her. "You don't have a date?"
"...Not...not yet" she mumbled, not wanting to look desperate or for Tucker to take her to the dance out of pity.
"Ohh...I am sure someone will ask you out"
"Yeah..."
Sam kicked Lina from below the table and the Halfa kicked back in return. A silent contest of glaring started between them with Sam leaving out a sigh in defeat. "Honestly, guys, I'm glad I'm not going to the stupid dance. Saves me the embarrassment of wearing that lame dress my parents bought me" she laughed nervously.
"So no one's asked you too, huh?" Tucker repeated.
"Maybe if I was as pretty as Paulina"
"Why are you so down on her? So she's pretty. It's not a crime" Danny said, and Lina scoffed, folding her hand in front of her chest.
Of course, what would Danny know since he was drooling over a very superficial girl due to her looks.
"Looks are deceiving, Danny," Sam told him.
Suddenly, people started to scream and run in panic while their ghost senses went off.
"Oh come on!" Lina exclaimed and looked up; hands raised as if she was blaming someone mighty above; although she was not truly religious.
"Ghost time," Tucker said and held up the French fries "Can I finish your fries?"
They never replied to him as they quickly rushed to an open spot and turned into their ghost selves. Once that was done, they flew towards the source of fear, which was a very familiar dragon.
"Say, haven't we met somewhere?" Danny asked the mythical creature, which in return roared at them and breathed green fire.
"Move!" Lina ordered and pushed him out of the way while she flew in the opposite direction.
Once safe, they flew next to each other. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Danny Phantom. And you are?"
The dragon roared and smacked Danny with her tail, causing him to fall and crash into the kitchen of the nearby Weenie On-A-Skewer.
"Hey!" Lina shouted and pointed a finger at her, her eyes glowing dangerously after the Dragon dared to hit her brother that way.
The Dragon roared and tried the same technique, but the girl turned intangible before grabbing the tail. She let out curses as she lifted the dragon slightly and then slammed the beast on the ground, cracking it as a result of the weight of the beast.
Angry, the dragon breathed green fire at her and she was forced to fly out of the way. The fire continued its way, going for the store's counter where Danny was. The boy Halfa quickly flew out of the way before any damage could happen to him. "Sorry, dude! I think you got the wrong weenie!"
He then smacked into the dragon, pushing it through the air. She grabbed him mid-flight and skidded to a halt, then pinned him on the ground.
"Must have tee!" it shouted in the same female voice.
"Tea? Ooh, good idea. Coffee could make you a mite jittery. Better yet..." he said and noticed Lina flying up and taking speed. Grinning, the boy turned intangible and sank into the ground, making the dragon look perplexedly at her claws. "Have some punch!" he shouted as he came from the ground.
At the same time, Lina came like a rocket and they both punched at the same spot. The dragon let out a roar of pain and was thrown away from the force of the attack. Panting, the duo smiled in victory and make their way towards their friends, who had left their lunches to check on them.
"Danny!/Lina!" the two humans called their names as their friends changed back to normal.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked.
Lina gave a nod and rubbed the back of her neck. "Peachy"
"But that's the second time we have fought that dragon. We need to investigate. How are you guys?" Danny asked.
"Great...if you don't count me still being dateless for the dance," Tucker said and took out his PDA before start tapping on it. "Sasha, no. Denise, no. I've hit every girl in school except... *Valerie walks up to him* Valerie"
Sam rolled her eyes and once again spoke words with her eyes while staring at Lina, who simply stayed quiet and shook her head in a 'no' motion.
"Yeah, hi. Sucker, is it?" Valerie asked once she had heard her name and Tucker had walked towards her.
"Tucker. Or Tuck. Or Tuckerino"
"Which ends with "no." Which, by the way, is my answer, unless something happens in the next five minutes that makes me dateless"
As if the universe had heard her, Kwan walked up to her. "You'll never guess what happened! Donna said she'd go to the dance with me, so you're dateless!"
"Wow" Lina commented as he walked away not caring that he might have hurt Valerie's feelings by how open he was about dumping her for another girl.
"You're on," the girl said to the nerd, not truly wanting it but refusing to be left without a date on one of the most important nights of a high schooler's life.
"I'll take it! *Valerie leaves* Some may call it the rebound, but I call it a yes! I got a date! Whoo! And the pants are still on!" he pointed down to his pants.
Lina let out a sigh and lowered her head in defeat. It looked like she would either go dateless or not at all, something that might not work for her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The very same night and the two boys were in their suits, prepping for the dance in Danny's room. From the boy's computer, they were in live chat via camera with Sam and Lina, who was sitting on the former's bed.
Since the boys would be gone, Lina had decided to crash in with Sam for the night for some company; considering both of them was not asked out to the dance and refused to go alone.
"Tie straight. Shirt tucked in" Danny said as he checked everything and picked up Fenton Fisher while retracting the pole and putting it in his jacket. "Unbreakable ghost fishing line tucked neatly away just in case. *To the girls on his computer* What's taking so long with that dragon research, Sam? Lina?"
"Alright! Jeez!" the Goth replied and passed the phone to Halfa while she started to type on her laptop. "Here. I'm sending you the link"
A webpage with an image of the ghost dragon popped up on Danny's screen.
"That's it!" Danny exclaimed and started to read. "Medieval ghostly legend held that the cursed Amulet of Aragon could transform any wearer into dragon form under states of extreme emotional duress or anger. That's the amulet I gave to Paulina. It must have accidentally fallen into my backpack"
"Ha!" Lina exclaimed as she rolled on her stomach and pointed a finger at him. "I warned you about the amulet, but did you hear me? Of course not"
"Wait. You mean...I'm going on a date with a dragon?!"
"Serves you right. Oh I love Karma"
"As I said, looks are deceiving. I'm sure you boys will have a wonderful evening" Sam said and ended the video chat, not in the mood to bother with them any longer.
"She wants to go to the dance. Lina too" Danny said to Tucker, now the shock slowly passing.
"But she says she didn't want to! And Lina said she would find a date but guess she was just too late" Tucker replied.
"We're their best friends. We should have known"
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, right," Danny thought for a moment, then smiled mischievously and flashed green eyes at Tucker. "No way. Forget it. Not. No!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on, Tucker found himself in front of Sam's house and knocked on her door. It was opened a moment later by Sam and Lina.
"Tucker? What are you doing here? Where's Valerie?" Sam asked while Lina lifted an eyebrow, finding something about the whole ordeal very suspicious.
"She kinda cancelled on me" he replied but it was Danny talking. Sam lifted an eyebrow as well and Lina narrowed her eyes. "Do you think we three could go together- you know, as friends?"
Sam smiled and then frowned, looking at Lina who was between shock and happiness. "Uh, we don't know. This is so last minute. And we do have plans, and—"
"Well, I understand if you don't want to go-" he began turning around to leave.
"Okay, but only because you got stood up. We will go change. Me into that dumb dress I wasn't gonna wear and Lina on something else" she grabbed the halfa by the wrist and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind her.
Danny left Tucker's body and floated in the air as Phantom; saluting "See ya!" he flew off.
"That is so unfair! And as soon as Sam and Lina come back, I'm gonna..." Tucker stopped when the door opened, and he turned his head.
Sam stood dressed up in a purple-and-black dress holding a matching purse. Then, she moved to the side and motioned for Lina to walk forward. Tucker felt himself forgetting to breathe when his eyes landed on her.
She was a maroon dress which was reaching her ankles and was hugging her body in every curve and turn. The shoulders were exposed but the sleeves were long and there was a small fancy neckline. Sam had added some eyeliner to make her unique eyes stand out and the left side of her hair was tacked by a black clip.
"Come on, we're gonna be late!" Sam said and pushed Lina who stumbled on the steps and fell forward but Tucker caught her in his arms.
Lina quickly blushed as he helped her to her feet, her eyes adverting to the ground at the proximity and how exposed she felt in that dress; considering she always wore pants and t-shirts.
"Wow" was all he managed to comment, his eyes never leaving her.
Sam grinned at the scene but did feel slightly jealous since she wanted to go with Danny and have similar moments with him, but she had to accept what she was given.