WoM- Now, you didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? And for those of you who were complaining about Lancer not letting Danny fight even after someone screamed, you have to understand that all of that happened too quickly for Lancer to react to that. With that said, here's the 13th chapter of MoC, where we'll be boiling back down to the ending…
Tucker: (To Mr. Lancer, as he's buying a shaving device) Don't you need hair for that?
Mr. Lancer: Good one, Mr. Foley. I'll remember that on Monday when I'm grading tests.
Breakdown
Am I really going to go through with this…?
Mr. Lancer frowned to himself as the thought ran through his head over and over again, his knuckles white as he clenched the steering wheel painfully hard and his eyes glued to the road in front of him without really seeing it.
After two hours of yelling and pounding, a teacher passing by finally heard his cries for help and let him out of the closet Danny had imprisoned him in. Apparently, Paulina and Sam had finished up their hour and left without consulting him, no doubt still bitter over the whole arrangement…
What on earth is making these kids so narrow-minded, anyways? Mr. Lancer thought, sighing heavily. He'd dealt with students who refused to see the big picture before, but this group was borderline ridiculous, and they were going to kill themselves because of it.
Shaking his head, Mr. Lancer popped in the tape from Sam and Paulina's session that day, deciding to listen to it now that he had a free moment. The tape crackled for a moment before there was a harsh sigh from one of the girls.
Might as well get this over with… Paulina thought bitterly, making the teacher blink. He could hear thoughts recorded on tape? That was an interesting development…
"Okay, lets hurry up with this. I've got a manicure at six and I'm not going to miss it because of you."
"Because that's something that just so important…" Sam muttered sarcastically. "Whatever. What do you want to talk about?"
Or is it possible for you to find something to talk about without having a list right in front of you to make it easier? There was a thoughtful pause from Paulina here.
I wonder…
"Boys." She responded coyly.
Mr. Lancer could almost hear Sam freeze up over the tape.
"W-what?" Sam said, her voice going up an octave.
Why do I not like the direction this conversations going in?
"You heard me." Paulina drolled out smugly. "I mean, I'm a teenaged girl and you're a teenaged girl… more or less, at any rate… so what better subject for teenaged girls to talk about then teenaged boys?"
I could think of a hundred things off the top of my head that don't involve putting Danny's secret at risk even more then it already is. Sam thought at once. Hey, wait a second—!
"More or less?" Sam repeated dangerously. "And just what's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Paulina said innocently. "What's wrong? I thought you liked not being like other girls? I mean, you're always going on and on about individuality and being unique…"
"So what?" Sam demanded. "How does that not make me a teenaged girl, huh?"
"I was just saying." Paulina huffed in annoyance. "Sheath your fangs, bat girl, it's not my fault you don't have a boyfriend."
"Ex-cuse me?" Sam hissed. "And just what do you mean by that?"
"Nothing." Paulina said airily, and Mr. Lancer sensed a shrug accompanied the word. "I just figured that was the reason you didn't want to talk about boys is all…"
"Oh, like you do!" Sam snapped. "You're so obsessed with Danny that you don't even notice other boys anymore!" There was a short pause, then furious cursing in Sam's head as she added, "PHANTOM! You're obsessed with Danny Phantom! Not my Danny!"I can't believe I made that slip! Sam scolded herself harshly in her head. Uugh… Well, at least it's just Paulina. She's too dumb to make the connection, anyways.
"Your Danny?" Paulina repeated, sounding faintly amused. "I thought you two weren't dating?"
"We're not!" Sam protested at once. "I just meant— Oh, forget it! I don't have to explain myself to you!"
"I can help you, you know." Paulina said sweetly. "I know what boys like Danny like about girls. I can give you tips that will have him drooling over you before the week's out."
Doubt it… Sam thought bitterly, a depressed tone working it's way into her thoughts. Danny's only interested in girls like you… or Valerie… and I could never be that.
"Let me guess." Sam said coldly. "In exchange, you want me to tell you about your precious ghost boy? Forget it Paulina, I'm not interested."
"So then you do know the ghost boy!" Paulina squealed triumphantly.
Hook, line and sinker… I can't believe it was so easy! And she thinks she's so smart…
…Aw, crap…
"Of course not!" Sam couldn't get the words out fast enough. "What gave you that idea?"
"You wouldn't have offered if you couldn't deliver." Paulina pointed out smugly.
"No! I mean… I just meant…" Aw, darn it… Think Sam, think… "Look I only met the ghost boy a few times, okay? Because of the Fentons!" Mr. Lancer frowned slightly, wondering how many lies like this the group had told to protect Danny's secret… to their classmates, to strangers, to their own parents……To him.
Mr. Lancer stopped the tape there, having heard enough. He drove on down the road in silence, with no one's thoughts in his head but his own. A rare moment for him of late…
Do I really have to tell them? Mr. Lancer always prided himself on being a man of his word. He'd always been the type to think and plan things carefully and choose a path that would be best for everyone. And when Mr. Lancer made threats, he was always one to follow through should the deal not be kept.
And Danny made it quite clear he had no intention of honoring their agreement.
But at the same time, Jazz and Sam's words rang clearly in his head. They were right on many levels, Mr. Lancer had to admit that, but it still didn't change the fact that the defense of Amity Park should not be left in the hands of four teenagers with no formal guidance or training.
It was only a miracle of pure, dumb luck that none of them had been killed yet trying to play superhero… and if one of them was hurt during these ghost hunting escapades, what on earth would they had told their parents? More lies, despite the risk upon the injured party's health?
Besides that, Mr. Lancer couldn't help but think of the worried look on Mrs. Fenton's face that night in the living room, the fears she expressed to her husband… their desire to know just what was going on that their son didn't want them to know about…
Is it really fair to them for him to continue this charade? Mr. Lancer wondered, his lips pressed. No matter what Danny said about things being too complicated to involve them, the teacher felt that they had the right to know just what their son was doing with all his free time… And it was better they found out this way then at the boy's funeral or something equally morbid.
Still, as much as Mr. Lancer told himself this… and as much as he believed it… he really didn't want to be the one to reveal the boy to his parents, and he certainly didn't want to be responsible for the three friends being torn apart by overprotective parents.
As much as he wanted it to be though, there really was no other choice…
Before the scholar could contemplate things further, a glowing figure in the sky caught the corner of his eye, and he wheeled around to see a very overly-pleased looking Desiree flying off to some unknown location. Frowning, Mr. Lancer remembered all the questions he had as of yet to as the genie-ghost, given all the chaos that had been occurring lately.
Besides, it gave him an excuse not to go to the Fentons as of just yet…
Turning around, the teacher followed the ghost as she flew above the skies of Amity Park, apparently searching for something or another without ever noticing that she was being tailed. She found what she was seeking apparently, since she altered her path and headed towards the High School. Stiffening suspiciously, Mr. Lancer pressed a little harder down on the accelerator, keeping his eyes trained on the ghost woman he was following.
Eventually, he found himself back at Casper High, leaving his car and making a conscious effort to keep as quiet as possible as he sneaked around back to the cafeteria entrance, where Desiree floated facing what looked like three ectoplasmic vultures, her back turned to him. Mr. Lancer frowned to himself as he leaned in to listen to the conversation.
"You're sure everything on track?" One of the vultures asked, making the teacher jump slightly.
Talking ghost vultures? He thought, blinking slightly. Oddly enough, though, this didn't surprise him as much as it should have…
"Better then I could have dreamed." Desiree replied arrogantly. "The ghost boy's too busy worrying about his teacher knowing his secret to even give me a passing thought right now. It's only a matter of time now until it all unravels… but I cannot guarantee anything until I get my reward."
"Yeah, yeah…" Another vulture grunted, flapping his wings. "Don't get your tail in a knot, princess! The boss vill deliver vhen you do."
"That was not our agreement." Desiree said coldly. "The deal was that I'd help your employer get his apprentice, and in return Plasmius would help me turn this city into my kingdom!" Mr. Lancer's eyes widened at that.
So that's what the woman was after! But how… and who… Wait… Plasmius? Wasn't that the name Danny and his friends said Vlad Masters went by in ghost form?
Midsummer's Dream, what's going on here?
"Patience, my dear Desiree." A new ghost spoke up, stepping out of the shadows. Mr. Lancer stiffened at the sight of him, chills running down his spine at the ghost's vampiric appearance. "As my dear minions so ingeniously pointed out, your end of our bargain has yet to be upheld. I'll get you your kingdom when Daniel has willingly joined my side, and not a moment sooner." Mr. Lancer frowned. So Danny wasn't kidding about the evil apprentice for all eternity thing… figures…
"I'm not doing any more until you've gone through with your end of our deal." Desiree said stubbornly. "You're not known for upholding your word, Plasmius, and I refuse to be used and fooled by you."
"Yes, you'd know about upholding your word, wouldn't you?" Plasmius responded in a vaguely amused tone. "With all of your wordplay wishes and misuse of your powers to make others suffer…"
"Say what you will, Plasmius." Desiree responded, her words as cold as ice. "But you cannot finish your plan without my help, and I will not help you until you've given me what you promised as mine."
"Relentless now, aren't you?" Plasmius said, not sounding all that bothered with the ghost woman's demands.
"I refused to be cheated of my heart's desire twice in my existence." Desiree said stiffly in return.
"Very well, then." Plasmius said with a nod. "Have you obtained enough power to grant my wish?" Mr. Lancer blinked at that, leaning in to listen closer. Wish…?
"No, not yet." Desiree admitted reluctantly. "Love is a powerful emotion to overcome, especially one that runs deep as love between a family. I will need to grant a few more wishes before I'm strong enough to grant yours."
"In that case, I wish that you will have your kingdom after you've granted my first wish." Plasmius said with a smirk. "That way neither parties are cheated of what they want." Desiree laughed slightly at that.
"So you have wished it, so shall it be." She said smoothly. "I will gather my strength, Plasmius. Meet me here again at midnight so that we may finish our deal and go our separate ways."
"Very well." Plasmius responded, turning to leave with his vultures. "Until then, Desiree…" His eyes wide, Mr. Lancer watched the ghosts leave, sinking against the wall to try and sort out this new information.
Polidori's The Vampyre… He thought, shell-shocked. What next…?
Knock, knock, knock!
"I've got it!" Danny called from somewhere inside the house, followed by the sound of footfall before the door opened to reveal the half ghost. Danny stiffened at the sight of his teacher on his doorstep, An expression of terror on his face that was more suited of being visited by the bringer or death then a high school vice principal. "M-Mr. Lancer…"
"Danny." Mr. Lancer sighed, watching the boy's grip on the door tighten as if he was tempted to slam it closed in the teacher's face. A fury of panicked, incoherent thoughts ran through Danny's mind, much like when the teacher had first discovered the boy's secret. "Calm down, Danny." Mr. Lancer said, trying to drown out the thoughts. "I'm not here for the reasons you think." Danny blinked at that, a baffled look on his face, though his grip on the door loosened slightly.
"You're not?" He repeated hopefully.
Then you're gonna let us fight ghosts after all?
"Not quite." Mr. Lancer said dryly. "I need to speak to you in private for a moment. In regards with the subject we spoke of earlier…?" Danny's eyes narrowed slightly at that, catching the hint that Lancer wanted to talk about his ghost hunting again.
"Mom!" He yelled out behind him. "I'm going out for a little bit, okay?"
"Be back before ten, sweetie!" Mrs. Fenton called back as her son left, leading Mr. Lancer away until they were underneath a streetlamp.
"Okay, Mr. Lancer, What—?"
"The other half ghost is here." Mr. Lancer broke in, watching Danny go dangerously still.
"Plasmius?" He asked in surprise before he grew serious. "Where? Does he know you saw him? Or that you know about him?"
"Yes, him." Mr. Lancer sighed. "He was meeting with that Desiree woman by the school… something about an agreement they had… Neither of them noticed me." Danny's eyes narrowed slightly at this information.
"What agreement?" He asked, crossing his arms.
Vlad should know better then to trust Desiree with something, with her track record for blotched wishes…
"He mentioned something about that." Mr. Lancer said with a thoughtful nod. "Neither of them seemed to trust the other one all that much… But apparently, the agreement was that Plasmius would help Desiree turn Amity Park into her kingdom is Desiree granted his wish. They didn't give me anything more specific then that, though they did mention that Desiree needed more power. Sometime about love being a powerful emotion to overcome…"
"That doesn't sound good…" Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair.
I can only think of a few wishes Vlad would make involving love… and none of them are wishes I want him to make.
"Anything else?" Danny pressed, far more attentive then Mr. Lancer had ever seen the boy before.
If only he put this much effort into his schoolwork…
"They're meeting at the school again at midnight to finish the deal." Mr. Lancer confessed seriously. "Desiree mentioned sometime about granting more wishes to increase her power for their next meeting as well."
"Then I'll just have to stop her before she can grant Vlad's wish." Danny said, scowling. Blinking, the boy glanced at his teacher again, a puzzled look on his face. "Why are you telling me all of this, anyways? I thought you didn't want me ghost hunting anymore…"
So did I…
"I don't." Mr. Lancer said with far more conviction then he necessarily felt. "I'm merely making an exception here. This situation seems to have gotten dangerous, and you're the only one with enough power and knowledge of the enemy to hope to resolve it peacefully. After this, I will reinstate our earlier agreement." Danny's shoulders fell at that.
Figures… He thought bitterly.
"Also, I will be accompanying you to stop this Ms Desiree and Plasmius." Mr. Lancer added, making Danny's head snap around in alarm.
"What?" He said loudly. "But Mr. Lancer, you can't—!"
"I can and I will, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said severely. "Either I go with you to stop these ghosts, or I go with your parents to stop you. It's your choice, Danny."
Some choice…"Alright…" Danny sighed. "Just be ready to duck if things get ugly, okay? Vlad will sink to any level to get what he wants, and I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire."
"I can look after myself just fine, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer huffed stiffly as he turned and walked away.
…I hope.
WoM- :D A lot of you were probably expecting this after a while, weren't you? 'giggles shamelessly' Next Chapter comes out after Blackbird, so be on the lookout, okay people?
Thanks to;
Wingg-ed Wolf, Queen S of Randomness 016, Soultail Omega-Light, Samantha-Girl Scout, iloveJesusJohnnyandDanny, purrbaby101, Serena, Firefury, Jimmy the Gothic Egg, Light Dragon SunsSong, Baka Hanyou Rahvin, Lt. Commander Richie, Lumias, Sirithiliel, Narugirl94, Dr. Strangelove Lover, Ghostboy814, BugzAttack, Writer's-BlockDP, shadow929, KittyKiChi, Kyasarin-Maarukeehii1, Invader Johnny, MissMeliss4251, softballgirl9411, AirGirl Phantom, ur1crazedupfruitloop, dPhantoMfreak, ShiroAndFubuki, ScathingSarcasm, emotigone crazy, Becky Yuy, BratCat, kennyk12, Neferet10210, fish n chips n vinegar, SquirrelGirl13, conan98002, Hiro the Wolf, epobbp, Rob Phantom, robtitan, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, Frodo01228, dragon halfling, angel4u185, xheartkreuzx, JosephineInLove, PotterPhan21, fan-girls2.0, Punker88, Harm Marie, dArkliTe-sPirit, Scribe of Aurora, acosta perez jose ramiro, chaotic.calm, Kirstyn.T, Zuzanny, Redwind, Epona Harper, Fan-Fic-CC27, Anomaly25, Firehedgehog, Jessica01, DiscordianSamba, phantomshadowdragon, Kellie Fay, Rambie, TJ, sugarland31, werewulf, Tazzel Quickbow, SilverstarsEbonyskies, BarnOwl93, CharmedNightSkye, The Sleep Warrior, LokiWaterDraca, egyptianqueen777, DragonSword35d, Emria, narsaksas, ImMoRtAl-FoOl, brittney, Just A Thinker, Witch4ever, XxMidnightWolfxX, Petitio Principii, XThe UnwantedX, Bunny Bubble, Horselvr4evr123, Gmasangel, Warrior of winds, Tornada Silverwind, Kaji Blaze the Crimson Serafin, Meagaisnttheworld, Rachelle Ryan, Twisted Creampuff, midnightpyro, Balkoth, ArcherofDarkness and Callie, Icepaw, WolfDaughter, Shi Rurouni of the Aphrodesiac, Quacked Lurker, Angelgirl963, kirei-Nadeshiko14, Cyllwen, Nonasuki-chan, Mystic Dragon, Marz1, SecretSparkle, Trumpet-Geek, Linariel, Hiei's Cute Girl, Alana-StarSugarCat, PhantomWolf, dragon-game, wierdIT, blackXheart, Serena, ScathingSarcasm, fish n chips n vinegar, dragon halfling, Zuzanny, Rambie, TJ, egyptianqueen777, brittney, Kaji Blaze the Crimson Serafin, WolfDaughter, Shi Rurouni of the Aphrodesiac, PhantomWolf,