Categories > Cartoons > Danny Phantom
Mutable
By: Anthiena
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DANNY PHANTOM! do own the Elric family and the ghost lady, whose name shall not yet be revealed. Also posted at FF.net (normal, formatted version) and Danny Phantom Online (expanded, with commentary). The text is from DPO, but I left the commentary at DPO. This gets better, believe me.
The time stream has many, many time lines. I have seen many of them thrive, many of them die. I live in four dimensions at once, it comes with the territory. I am able to see many, many outcomes, but I cannot say what may be the outcome of every single decision. I am not all-knowing and I highly doubt anyone could ever be. I see that in one time line, Vlad Masters becomes mayor of Amity Vale. This time line, something has changed, something even I could not foresee. A young woman whose decision to teach in her home town instead of the inner-city school that presented better opportunities.
It is so often the littlest decisions that make or break the world; the decision to cheat on a test, letting your curiosity bring you to the edge between life and death; to go home or even make a promise. These miracles bring change where stagnation is just beneath. How wonderful it must be to be mutable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Episode 1: Blood Lines (Discovery of the Age!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Children of Men! I wasn’t aware that I was selected for a student teacher assistant!” Mr. Lancer declared.
“Well, I wasn’t told much, but this should be all the info you need.” The young woman handed him a printed paper. She had mousy copper hair, hazel eyes and she seemed very young, like she could have been a senior. She was tall and a little on the portly side, wearing a brown long dress and a low-slung belt.
“Alice in Wonderland, you’re a bit young, aren’t you?”
The woman shrugged. “I get that a lot. I’m actually twenty-five.”
“Are you sure you’re up for English and Literature?”
She sighed. “Ever heard of Pilgrim’s Progress? I read that as a Junior on my own time. Or how about the entire Lord of the Rings in one weekend? Both are just as hard to read.” She shrugged.
“Amazing. Most people usually stick to Little Women.” Lancer shrugged.
“Yeah, well my mom was very supportive when I told her I wanted to be a teacher or a librarian.”
“Welcome to Casper High School, Ms. Elric.” The two shook hands.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the final class of the day, the class settled down while Mr. Lancer ran off to answer a summons from the principle. Danny noticed he wasn’t the last one in, an earthy-looking girl was. “Oh, hey, you must be new, what’s your name?” Paulina asked, noticing her clothes were very nice indeed.
The girl seemed a little taken aback. “My name is Diana Elric...” She replied with a shrug. “Mr. Lancer was going to introduce me, but I thought I might do it myself. I’m... staying with my mom right now. She lives right next door to Fenton Works.” Danny sat up and his eyes widened.
“I haven’t heard of anyone moving in...” Paulina was frowning. News got around fast and nothing of that sort had been circulated.
“No, my mom’s lived in town for years. I just came home from where my dad lived. It’s a common thing.” Diana Elric shrugged.
“So... books... boring, right?”
Diana smiled. “I’m a big book nerd. Diana is the maiden Goddess of Hunting and wilds. She asked only for two big things from Zeus: many names and to remain a maiden forever. Elric is a king of Melnibone from The Elric Saga, which was eight books long...” she sighed. “...but very depressing, as it is about the death of a world. Thanks to Elric, no less. Of course, there are always the Elric Brothers, but Japanese Graphic Novels aren’t really in classes much.”
She grinned as Paulina backed off and a cheer or two broke out. “I’m a student, but I’m actually a student teacher.” She grinned. “Thought I was just another kid, didn’t you?”
She wrote a word on the board and underscored it. “Tropes. You have just walked into one and I just used one with my name. Tropes are like named themes-romance, science fiction, those are genres. Victorian, Post Modern, those are movements in literature. Meaningful Name, Not What they Appear, those are tropes. Anyone want to guess the difference?”
The class suddenly got interesting for Danny.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jazz walked back from school, not expecting Danny at all. Ghosts usually attacked at that point anyway and he would probably make it home early enough for their parents not to ask where he was. Or so she hoped. She tried the door and was surprised to find it locked.
“Your father is out hunting ghosts and causing chaos. Your mother and he had a fight and she left for probably a few days.” Called a familiar voice.
Jazz saw an older woman. “Miss Elric? I haven’t talked to you in a while.” Since before the appearance of Danny Phantom, to be exact, though she wouldn’t mention that.
“No, that’s alright. Kids get busy in high school. It was like that for Diana, too.”
“Diana still at college? I’ll bet Danny would love to see her. She used to babysit us all the time and make us play pretend games instead of TV and video games. She got me into psychology!”
Miss Elric smiled warmly. “Actually, she’s in town. You’ll be able to see her later. She’ll be thrilled to see you. She knows more than anyone that the family is your heart, as it is yours and Daniel’s... how is the young man nowadays?”
“Uh... busy...” She replied nervously.
“Ah, he would be. He is a bit less thick-skulled than Jack is, but both have that heart. Not like that friend of theirs. He’d go off into the wild blue yonder without Madelyn close to his heart. Vladimir was always the less stable of the three. His going off into nowhere didn’t surprise me one bit... odd how he came back the year before Daniel was born. He came by my house while Maddie and Jack were out with you. It was almost exactly fifteen years ago, now. He was so troubled.”
Jazz did a retake. “I thought he came around after Danny was born... didn’t he?”
“Oh, dear. I’m gossiping. Swore I would never talk about it. The whole thing was strange, you know. For six months, your mother left that time. I took care of you then for your father. He was heartbroken. I had never seen such a row between them before or since. She came back, had Daniel and Vladimir came back in a rage. There had almost been a divorce and Maddie would have stayed with Vladimir then. The whole thing with it was sort of suspicious.”
“That’s Vlad for you.” Jazz shrugged.
The woman looked alarmed for a second and then sighed again. “Do you ever look in your mother’s diaries, dear? I don’t have all the information, but perhaps that will clear something up. She loves the both of them, the poor girl. It was always that Jack simply needed her more. It isn’t really my place to say more, dear, but it was quite the scandal then. You... probably could find out more than I could, maybe if you asked your mother about it, she might even laugh about it now.”
The older woman smiled as Jack Fenton got back and unlocked the door with a hurry. “Fragglesticks, I knew I should have put a bathroom on the RV!” He commented.
“Good afternoon, Jack!” Miss Elric called. “Perhaps it is a good thing that Daniel takes after his mother in competence.” She muttered while smiling and waving at Jack.
Jazz walked in the door, embarrassed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
“That class was actually cooler than usual. Ms. Elric is a pretty good teacher. And a pretty teacher!” Tucker gushed.
“Enough of that already, I think she was the girl who used to babysit me a lot. She sure changed, though. She used to be a lot different looking, but her voice and everything else are the same!” Danny commented. “I used to call her Deedee... no relation to that other, blond Deedee.”
“I’m betting Dexter would love to switch them.” Tucker cracked.
“Enough of the copyright infringement guys, so why haven’t I met her?”
“She used to be really, really shy.” Danny shrugged. “She only babysat for my Dad. I guess she really looked up to him.” He shrugged.
The trio got to the house and passed a room where odd noises came from... somewhere they didn’t want to think about. Jazz was nowhere to be seen by them, though she peeked at them after they passed her. She went back to the closet where she found the old diaries. She had looked through several already, none from the correct time. Finally, she grabbed one and opened it at random. Today, Jack called me, but I’m not ready to go back yet. He needs to know first what I go through. I’m probably lucky I only have one daughter. She’s a beauty and she’ll be intelligent like I am, I hope... it read.
Jazz put the diaries back into the drawer in impeccable order. She took the diary with her to her own room. It was an interesting find. She didn’t remember anything of that time, being far too young to remember. She opened it to a page and flipped through it, only getting a snippet from different entries.
“Fight here, Vlad flirts here, mom getting called here, Vlad being creepy here, more Vlad, Vlad, Vlad...” It was taking on a pattern that was making her heart sink. She figured out the dates and something almost snapped into place and she found a particularly relevant entry. Tonight for once, I drink. I haven’t since college and I’ll have someone feeling as sad as I do now. This isn’t like me. This isn’t me at all. I married Jack but I wonder if I didn’t make the right decision in letting Vlad slip. It wasn’t on purpose, he was my friend, too. I can almost believe that the one that Vlad really cares about is me, but that can’t be, there was that pretty girl who worked with the college accountant, but she’s got someone else. I’m not sure what to think. I’m usually as sharp as an axe, but I’m seeing that I’m probably as subtle about things as that same axe. Ugh, this isn’t me!
Actually, it sounded like Sam at that point. She went past a couple pages of doodles of what started out as stick figures and ended up as alcohol bottles drawn in an increasingly unsteady hand. It was rather enlightening to Jazz. She saw the date of the next entry, a number of months later.
"I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Jack finally came, broken down, begging me to come back, that the neighbor Miss Elric had been watching Jazzy and I miss home. I miss my daughter and I miss my husband. I know now that as much as I care about Vlad, I love Jack more and I miss Jack’s honest heart.
“There is something different from Vlad and it’s something I don’t care to know... and I really did try. I am going to break it off with Vlad... tomorrow. Tonight, I let Vlad send Jack away. I’ve been unfaithful to them both. It’s better that it ends this way. Maybe after this one, I’ll end this diary and start a new one and get back to being Madelyn Fenton again. This is going to be my last.” Jazz read aloud quietly with growing alarm.
“Last what? There are other diaries and she even says she was going to be writing another.” Jazz was almost afraid of the answer. She flipped through the diary, but it offered no other answers. She would have to wait for the writer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The older Elric woman stared out at Fenton Works. She was very clever and a true friend, but she was also a good judge of character. The revelation would come as a shock, but it would be a good way to make sure of certain things. She pushed herself off her chair and left for a mostly empty room, where the rest of her house was a pack-rat’s fantasy.
She went into the rooms closet and pulled on a robe. She bent over and picked up a small dagger. “By the Gods, this shall be interesting for an old witch... I told them I wasn’t going to the boonies for nothing!” She cackled, though not literally. Her bright blue robe seemed to glow and rustle, though there were no lights and no wind. She put on a necklace with a large crescent moon on it. “Mother Earth, Father Sky, hear me!” She called. She began to chant in English, her voice no longer the open, friendly voice. It was commanding and a small portal opened in front of her. “I think Samantha would appreciate this art...” She smiled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The next few days were peaceful. Only a few ghosts, like the box ghost, appeared, none truly dangerous. An odd thing to Danny, though he chose not to notice it. The mayoral race was coming up and with his luck, Vlad would probably run for it... and win by cheating. He didn’t dwell on it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maddie Fenton came home rested and forgiving. Far less worrisome than when the odd Divorce Party was thrown for her aunt. Jazz let her settle and finally, walked into the room. “Mom...?” She asked. “I know this is private... but what happened before Danny was born? The little... trouble...?”
Her mother looked surprised. “Wow, Kiddo, to think of it, now....” She sighed. "I figured you were too young to remember... you're much more practical than your father..." Maddie looked away. "I don't suppose you found my diaries... or was it something else?"
Jazz felt a pang of guilt. "I actually saw Miss Elric the other day and she was kind of rambling about... Uncle Vlad." She forced the word out. Her mother didn't have to know about Vlad being a halfa. It would make things easier, but it was between him and Danny, now. Danny had to be protected for the moment. "How he was hanging around a year before Danny being born, a big fight and some kind of scandal. She didn't tell me much else, just that it was suspicious. I was curious and I wanted to know... Mom, is dad.... really Danny's dad?"
Maddie looked surprised at the question. "Danny was raised a Fenton and that's all that should matter, Jazz." She looked away. "It's not something you should be worried about, Jazz. We're a family, you know that." Maddie admonished. "Now I'll be needing back my diary, sweety."
Jazz handed over the old diary hesitantly and left her mother quickly. She opened up a year book. "If mom doesn't want to help me, well I'll have to find out my own way." She huffed.
------------------------------------------------------------
"I need your help." Jazz begged.
"I'm a science-biology freak, Jazz, not a psychiatry geek like you." The boy stated with a shrug.
"That's not what I need help with." She rolled her eyes. "I can do you a favor later on!"
"Okay. What do you need?" The young man was suddenly smiling goofily. "I definitely know what I want!"
"Ooookaaayyy..." She gave him a wierded-out look. "I need a DNA test of my brother... without him knowing what's up... or my dad... or another.... and I'll need you to be very quiet about it. Can you do it?"
"That depends." The boy crossed his arms, looking thoughtful. "I'll need a bigger favor."
"Name it." Jazz was about to call it off.
"Okay, I want a date with you and a real kiss."
"I'll set it up, but you'll need to get your favor to me done, first."
"Okay!" He grinned. "Watch, I'll get what you need! My grandpa's dad used to be a snake oil vender. I learned from the very best, trust me! Now who is the third guy?" Jazz whispered in his ear. "Wow. I'm definitely doing it, now!" He grinned and trounced off.
Jazz stared off. "This is soo not the best thing I've ever done... oh well. I have to know!"
----------------------------------------------------------
"Excuse me, Danny are you okay?" came a low-pitched, feminine voice.
"No!" He bolted up. It had been a long night of ghost hunting the night before. He was exhausted. "Um... I mean, yeah, I'm alright!"
Some of the students snickered though Ms. Elric glared at them. "Excuse me, people... I think we have a new series to watch. I will be handing out parental permission slips so I can show you a very special show that has quite a bit to do with being human. Danny, would you go to the nurse?" She went to the desk, wrote a pass for Danny and then started writing furiously while the other kids finished up daily work and notes or goofed off quietly. Danny exited the classroom.
She wrote furiously. "Um... Ms. Elric... what show are you talking about?"
The woman looked up at Sam. "It's a series called Elf Song. It's about family, I think. I actually want to show a couple of different videos to show great literature doesn't just come from musty old books. They all probably like some movie or another based off a famous book." She shrugged. "Boy, am I glad I came back to Amity Park."
Sam gave the student teacher a hard look.
----------------------------------------------------------
"It's great having a teacher that doesn't get on our backs... and someone who tells off bullies, that's just off the chain!" Tucker gushed.
"Yeah, but I don't know. She seems kind of self-righteous about it. I mean, I like her smarts, but she just rubs me the wrong way." Sam shook her head.
"Um, hello Miss Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian?" Tucker pointed out.
"Yeah, well at least she's a lot nicer than Lancer." Danny noted.
Sam glared at them both with a dry expression. "Oh well." She shrugged.
------------------------------------------------------------
"I've actually got a class project." The young man claimed. "I wanted to test one of the smartest guys in Amity Vale!"
Jack Fenton puffed his chest proudly. "It's great that Jazz has a friend like you! You're welcome anytime!"
"Actually, I also wanted to ask you permission to bring Jazz on a date."
"You got it, buddy!" Jack replied as the boy put a large Q-tip lookalike in a little plastic container.
Danny and company walked through the door as the young man left. "Who was that?"
"Some Umino guy who's going to be taking your sister on a date. Be nice!" Jack grinned.. "That young man just made my day! Off to the basement to show off the old smarts!"
"Oh dear..." Maddie followed him from the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
"Ookaay..." Danny rolled his eyes. "Hopefully they aren't working on another Boooomerang."
-------------------------------------------------
Umino held the three samples, using various stains. "You better make this worth it..."
He checked the first one, Jack's. Normal, Anglo-Saxon descent. He identified the main components of genetic code. He knew what bits and pieces meant, but not all of it, he hadn't gone through college yet. He compared it to Maddie's. Totally unrelated. More recent Scandinavian genes, very normal still.
When he put Danny's under the 'scope, he was almost convinced for a split second that he wasn't looking at the right DNA. Extra genetic groups... it was like the stranger things his father had spoken about once on accident while drunk. Stupid Illuminati secrecy. He focused on the normal stuff, comparing it first to Maddie, the mother. Related for sure.
He then checked it against Jack and double checked. He frowned as he looked up the sequences. The only way to explain it was if the father had family from old USSR territory. "Weird." He decided not to mention the extra genes to Jazz, but still. "This can't be right. Jazz will have to see this."
----------------------------------------------------------------
"I couldn't find the third guy, but chances are, sixty percent chance that Jack Fenton is your brother's dad."
"That's good... right?" Jazz asked.
Umino shook his head. "Anything under ninety percent or so is considered a negative. He's not the father, Jazz. Sorry."
"Oh... then that means... Vlad is!" She paled. "Oh man..."
"The only way to tell for sure is if I can find him. He's not exactly easy to find, you know. I'm not so sure he'll be as easy to trick as Mr. Fenton was... your dad is stupid smart. He's got some good ideas... but..." Umino shrugged. "I've heard that Vlad Masters is a pretty sharp guy. I've heard some stories and you know, not all of the old CEOs of his companies were acting wierd when they signed over their companies." Umino declared. "I think he drugged most of 'em, though..."
Jazz laughed histerically. "Yeah... drugged!"
Umino shrugged. "Oookaayy..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Publicity was good at the moment. "How come you withdrew from the race?" came an odd-toned female voice."You probably could have won, possession or not."
"Small time goals usually end up as only small gains. I have larger fish to fry and Daniel will need to wait. There are other goals I need to work towards. Milkshake!" He hissed as sparks flew from the panel he was working on. "I'll need more time for this. Time I won't have if I go through with that farce. Might as well bribe the mayor. That'll be much easier." He took out a circuit board. "Why did you come?"
"Besides talking to one of the infamous halfas? My secret to know and keep. I would imagine you'll find out sooner or later, anyway. Mostly right now, I'm curious about how you and the other halfa are alike and not alike. I'll be around, trust me." the voice promised.
"I do wonder why and how you keep insubstantial all the time." Vlad griped.
"Let's just say that ghosts aren't the only interesting things on Earth and in the Ghost Zone." The voice spoke dryly.
"I really need to get out for a while. This piece of pudding isn't going anywhere and a break could cure my mental roadblock. Oh, Maddie, you were always the engineer..." He stretched and went ghost and phased through one of the walls.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Umino was awake late at night. He'd been following a relaxing Vlad Masters, who was for once doing nothing suspicious, which would have been very much surprising to Danny and company. He was very focused on becoming a scientist and was thinking on genetic research, though physics were more his thing. It was too easy, too well explored at the moment. The spa was wonderful and the employees didn't seem to mind him after he showed the manager something to use to cut in half their utility bills. He was clever like that.
He ended up taking Vlad's toothbrush before he could rinse it off. The older man looked somewhat confused at the missing item, but shrugged it off. Umino took off as fast as he could. He spent most of the night with his microscope and a small tool his sister Naru once thought was for pottery. He'd had to buy another after that. He compared the three samples he had and nodded. He wrote down the results. Test A and Test B. Negative at 60% likelihood, Positive at 98.9% likelihood. He put it in an envelope with a stamp and address already in it and walked out to the post office.
He walked back, whistling. He looked up and stared in wonder as the Ghost Kid flew across the sky. "How awesome would that be?" He grinned. "If only I could fly."
----------------------------------------------------------
Two days later...
"Jazzy-kins, you have a letter!" Maddie called. "It's from Umino!"
Jazz came down hurriedly and grabbed the letter from her mother hurriedly. She opened it and gasped. "What's wrong, Jazz?" Danny asked her. Jazz crumpled the paper in her fist and thrust it behind her back.
"Uh... nothing! Nothing at all, Danny! The world is just right! Really!" She blurted quickly, giggling nervously.
"Huh. The last time you acted like this, was when you knew my problem and I didn't know you knew..." Danny shrugged. "Oh well! Computer games are a-calling!" He grinned and ran off to the lab where the computer was.
Jazz heaved a sigh of relief, going to her room and shutting the door tightly behind her. She looked at a note from Umino on her dresser and compared the two. "What do I say...? Hey Danny, it's not Fenton for you, it's Masters! No... too sarcastic. Shimatta." She swore. "Oh man, I'm picking up Japanese from Umino, now..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
By: Anthiena
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DANNY PHANTOM! do own the Elric family and the ghost lady, whose name shall not yet be revealed. Also posted at FF.net (normal, formatted version) and Danny Phantom Online (expanded, with commentary). The text is from DPO, but I left the commentary at DPO. This gets better, believe me.
The time stream has many, many time lines. I have seen many of them thrive, many of them die. I live in four dimensions at once, it comes with the territory. I am able to see many, many outcomes, but I cannot say what may be the outcome of every single decision. I am not all-knowing and I highly doubt anyone could ever be. I see that in one time line, Vlad Masters becomes mayor of Amity Vale. This time line, something has changed, something even I could not foresee. A young woman whose decision to teach in her home town instead of the inner-city school that presented better opportunities.
It is so often the littlest decisions that make or break the world; the decision to cheat on a test, letting your curiosity bring you to the edge between life and death; to go home or even make a promise. These miracles bring change where stagnation is just beneath. How wonderful it must be to be mutable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Episode 1: Blood Lines (Discovery of the Age!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Children of Men! I wasn’t aware that I was selected for a student teacher assistant!” Mr. Lancer declared.
“Well, I wasn’t told much, but this should be all the info you need.” The young woman handed him a printed paper. She had mousy copper hair, hazel eyes and she seemed very young, like she could have been a senior. She was tall and a little on the portly side, wearing a brown long dress and a low-slung belt.
“Alice in Wonderland, you’re a bit young, aren’t you?”
The woman shrugged. “I get that a lot. I’m actually twenty-five.”
“Are you sure you’re up for English and Literature?”
She sighed. “Ever heard of Pilgrim’s Progress? I read that as a Junior on my own time. Or how about the entire Lord of the Rings in one weekend? Both are just as hard to read.” She shrugged.
“Amazing. Most people usually stick to Little Women.” Lancer shrugged.
“Yeah, well my mom was very supportive when I told her I wanted to be a teacher or a librarian.”
“Welcome to Casper High School, Ms. Elric.” The two shook hands.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the final class of the day, the class settled down while Mr. Lancer ran off to answer a summons from the principle. Danny noticed he wasn’t the last one in, an earthy-looking girl was. “Oh, hey, you must be new, what’s your name?” Paulina asked, noticing her clothes were very nice indeed.
The girl seemed a little taken aback. “My name is Diana Elric...” She replied with a shrug. “Mr. Lancer was going to introduce me, but I thought I might do it myself. I’m... staying with my mom right now. She lives right next door to Fenton Works.” Danny sat up and his eyes widened.
“I haven’t heard of anyone moving in...” Paulina was frowning. News got around fast and nothing of that sort had been circulated.
“No, my mom’s lived in town for years. I just came home from where my dad lived. It’s a common thing.” Diana Elric shrugged.
“So... books... boring, right?”
Diana smiled. “I’m a big book nerd. Diana is the maiden Goddess of Hunting and wilds. She asked only for two big things from Zeus: many names and to remain a maiden forever. Elric is a king of Melnibone from The Elric Saga, which was eight books long...” she sighed. “...but very depressing, as it is about the death of a world. Thanks to Elric, no less. Of course, there are always the Elric Brothers, but Japanese Graphic Novels aren’t really in classes much.”
She grinned as Paulina backed off and a cheer or two broke out. “I’m a student, but I’m actually a student teacher.” She grinned. “Thought I was just another kid, didn’t you?”
She wrote a word on the board and underscored it. “Tropes. You have just walked into one and I just used one with my name. Tropes are like named themes-romance, science fiction, those are genres. Victorian, Post Modern, those are movements in literature. Meaningful Name, Not What they Appear, those are tropes. Anyone want to guess the difference?”
The class suddenly got interesting for Danny.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jazz walked back from school, not expecting Danny at all. Ghosts usually attacked at that point anyway and he would probably make it home early enough for their parents not to ask where he was. Or so she hoped. She tried the door and was surprised to find it locked.
“Your father is out hunting ghosts and causing chaos. Your mother and he had a fight and she left for probably a few days.” Called a familiar voice.
Jazz saw an older woman. “Miss Elric? I haven’t talked to you in a while.” Since before the appearance of Danny Phantom, to be exact, though she wouldn’t mention that.
“No, that’s alright. Kids get busy in high school. It was like that for Diana, too.”
“Diana still at college? I’ll bet Danny would love to see her. She used to babysit us all the time and make us play pretend games instead of TV and video games. She got me into psychology!”
Miss Elric smiled warmly. “Actually, she’s in town. You’ll be able to see her later. She’ll be thrilled to see you. She knows more than anyone that the family is your heart, as it is yours and Daniel’s... how is the young man nowadays?”
“Uh... busy...” She replied nervously.
“Ah, he would be. He is a bit less thick-skulled than Jack is, but both have that heart. Not like that friend of theirs. He’d go off into the wild blue yonder without Madelyn close to his heart. Vladimir was always the less stable of the three. His going off into nowhere didn’t surprise me one bit... odd how he came back the year before Daniel was born. He came by my house while Maddie and Jack were out with you. It was almost exactly fifteen years ago, now. He was so troubled.”
Jazz did a retake. “I thought he came around after Danny was born... didn’t he?”
“Oh, dear. I’m gossiping. Swore I would never talk about it. The whole thing was strange, you know. For six months, your mother left that time. I took care of you then for your father. He was heartbroken. I had never seen such a row between them before or since. She came back, had Daniel and Vladimir came back in a rage. There had almost been a divorce and Maddie would have stayed with Vladimir then. The whole thing with it was sort of suspicious.”
“That’s Vlad for you.” Jazz shrugged.
The woman looked alarmed for a second and then sighed again. “Do you ever look in your mother’s diaries, dear? I don’t have all the information, but perhaps that will clear something up. She loves the both of them, the poor girl. It was always that Jack simply needed her more. It isn’t really my place to say more, dear, but it was quite the scandal then. You... probably could find out more than I could, maybe if you asked your mother about it, she might even laugh about it now.”
The older woman smiled as Jack Fenton got back and unlocked the door with a hurry. “Fragglesticks, I knew I should have put a bathroom on the RV!” He commented.
“Good afternoon, Jack!” Miss Elric called. “Perhaps it is a good thing that Daniel takes after his mother in competence.” She muttered while smiling and waving at Jack.
Jazz walked in the door, embarrassed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
“That class was actually cooler than usual. Ms. Elric is a pretty good teacher. And a pretty teacher!” Tucker gushed.
“Enough of that already, I think she was the girl who used to babysit me a lot. She sure changed, though. She used to be a lot different looking, but her voice and everything else are the same!” Danny commented. “I used to call her Deedee... no relation to that other, blond Deedee.”
“I’m betting Dexter would love to switch them.” Tucker cracked.
“Enough of the copyright infringement guys, so why haven’t I met her?”
“She used to be really, really shy.” Danny shrugged. “She only babysat for my Dad. I guess she really looked up to him.” He shrugged.
The trio got to the house and passed a room where odd noises came from... somewhere they didn’t want to think about. Jazz was nowhere to be seen by them, though she peeked at them after they passed her. She went back to the closet where she found the old diaries. She had looked through several already, none from the correct time. Finally, she grabbed one and opened it at random. Today, Jack called me, but I’m not ready to go back yet. He needs to know first what I go through. I’m probably lucky I only have one daughter. She’s a beauty and she’ll be intelligent like I am, I hope... it read.
Jazz put the diaries back into the drawer in impeccable order. She took the diary with her to her own room. It was an interesting find. She didn’t remember anything of that time, being far too young to remember. She opened it to a page and flipped through it, only getting a snippet from different entries.
“Fight here, Vlad flirts here, mom getting called here, Vlad being creepy here, more Vlad, Vlad, Vlad...” It was taking on a pattern that was making her heart sink. She figured out the dates and something almost snapped into place and she found a particularly relevant entry. Tonight for once, I drink. I haven’t since college and I’ll have someone feeling as sad as I do now. This isn’t like me. This isn’t me at all. I married Jack but I wonder if I didn’t make the right decision in letting Vlad slip. It wasn’t on purpose, he was my friend, too. I can almost believe that the one that Vlad really cares about is me, but that can’t be, there was that pretty girl who worked with the college accountant, but she’s got someone else. I’m not sure what to think. I’m usually as sharp as an axe, but I’m seeing that I’m probably as subtle about things as that same axe. Ugh, this isn’t me!
Actually, it sounded like Sam at that point. She went past a couple pages of doodles of what started out as stick figures and ended up as alcohol bottles drawn in an increasingly unsteady hand. It was rather enlightening to Jazz. She saw the date of the next entry, a number of months later.
"I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Jack finally came, broken down, begging me to come back, that the neighbor Miss Elric had been watching Jazzy and I miss home. I miss my daughter and I miss my husband. I know now that as much as I care about Vlad, I love Jack more and I miss Jack’s honest heart.
“There is something different from Vlad and it’s something I don’t care to know... and I really did try. I am going to break it off with Vlad... tomorrow. Tonight, I let Vlad send Jack away. I’ve been unfaithful to them both. It’s better that it ends this way. Maybe after this one, I’ll end this diary and start a new one and get back to being Madelyn Fenton again. This is going to be my last.” Jazz read aloud quietly with growing alarm.
“Last what? There are other diaries and she even says she was going to be writing another.” Jazz was almost afraid of the answer. She flipped through the diary, but it offered no other answers. She would have to wait for the writer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The older Elric woman stared out at Fenton Works. She was very clever and a true friend, but she was also a good judge of character. The revelation would come as a shock, but it would be a good way to make sure of certain things. She pushed herself off her chair and left for a mostly empty room, where the rest of her house was a pack-rat’s fantasy.
She went into the rooms closet and pulled on a robe. She bent over and picked up a small dagger. “By the Gods, this shall be interesting for an old witch... I told them I wasn’t going to the boonies for nothing!” She cackled, though not literally. Her bright blue robe seemed to glow and rustle, though there were no lights and no wind. She put on a necklace with a large crescent moon on it. “Mother Earth, Father Sky, hear me!” She called. She began to chant in English, her voice no longer the open, friendly voice. It was commanding and a small portal opened in front of her. “I think Samantha would appreciate this art...” She smiled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The next few days were peaceful. Only a few ghosts, like the box ghost, appeared, none truly dangerous. An odd thing to Danny, though he chose not to notice it. The mayoral race was coming up and with his luck, Vlad would probably run for it... and win by cheating. He didn’t dwell on it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maddie Fenton came home rested and forgiving. Far less worrisome than when the odd Divorce Party was thrown for her aunt. Jazz let her settle and finally, walked into the room. “Mom...?” She asked. “I know this is private... but what happened before Danny was born? The little... trouble...?”
Her mother looked surprised. “Wow, Kiddo, to think of it, now....” She sighed. "I figured you were too young to remember... you're much more practical than your father..." Maddie looked away. "I don't suppose you found my diaries... or was it something else?"
Jazz felt a pang of guilt. "I actually saw Miss Elric the other day and she was kind of rambling about... Uncle Vlad." She forced the word out. Her mother didn't have to know about Vlad being a halfa. It would make things easier, but it was between him and Danny, now. Danny had to be protected for the moment. "How he was hanging around a year before Danny being born, a big fight and some kind of scandal. She didn't tell me much else, just that it was suspicious. I was curious and I wanted to know... Mom, is dad.... really Danny's dad?"
Maddie looked surprised at the question. "Danny was raised a Fenton and that's all that should matter, Jazz." She looked away. "It's not something you should be worried about, Jazz. We're a family, you know that." Maddie admonished. "Now I'll be needing back my diary, sweety."
Jazz handed over the old diary hesitantly and left her mother quickly. She opened up a year book. "If mom doesn't want to help me, well I'll have to find out my own way." She huffed.
------------------------------------------------------------
"I need your help." Jazz begged.
"I'm a science-biology freak, Jazz, not a psychiatry geek like you." The boy stated with a shrug.
"That's not what I need help with." She rolled her eyes. "I can do you a favor later on!"
"Okay. What do you need?" The young man was suddenly smiling goofily. "I definitely know what I want!"
"Ooookaaayyy..." She gave him a wierded-out look. "I need a DNA test of my brother... without him knowing what's up... or my dad... or another.... and I'll need you to be very quiet about it. Can you do it?"
"That depends." The boy crossed his arms, looking thoughtful. "I'll need a bigger favor."
"Name it." Jazz was about to call it off.
"Okay, I want a date with you and a real kiss."
"I'll set it up, but you'll need to get your favor to me done, first."
"Okay!" He grinned. "Watch, I'll get what you need! My grandpa's dad used to be a snake oil vender. I learned from the very best, trust me! Now who is the third guy?" Jazz whispered in his ear. "Wow. I'm definitely doing it, now!" He grinned and trounced off.
Jazz stared off. "This is soo not the best thing I've ever done... oh well. I have to know!"
----------------------------------------------------------
"Excuse me, Danny are you okay?" came a low-pitched, feminine voice.
"No!" He bolted up. It had been a long night of ghost hunting the night before. He was exhausted. "Um... I mean, yeah, I'm alright!"
Some of the students snickered though Ms. Elric glared at them. "Excuse me, people... I think we have a new series to watch. I will be handing out parental permission slips so I can show you a very special show that has quite a bit to do with being human. Danny, would you go to the nurse?" She went to the desk, wrote a pass for Danny and then started writing furiously while the other kids finished up daily work and notes or goofed off quietly. Danny exited the classroom.
She wrote furiously. "Um... Ms. Elric... what show are you talking about?"
The woman looked up at Sam. "It's a series called Elf Song. It's about family, I think. I actually want to show a couple of different videos to show great literature doesn't just come from musty old books. They all probably like some movie or another based off a famous book." She shrugged. "Boy, am I glad I came back to Amity Park."
Sam gave the student teacher a hard look.
----------------------------------------------------------
"It's great having a teacher that doesn't get on our backs... and someone who tells off bullies, that's just off the chain!" Tucker gushed.
"Yeah, but I don't know. She seems kind of self-righteous about it. I mean, I like her smarts, but she just rubs me the wrong way." Sam shook her head.
"Um, hello Miss Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian?" Tucker pointed out.
"Yeah, well at least she's a lot nicer than Lancer." Danny noted.
Sam glared at them both with a dry expression. "Oh well." She shrugged.
------------------------------------------------------------
"I've actually got a class project." The young man claimed. "I wanted to test one of the smartest guys in Amity Vale!"
Jack Fenton puffed his chest proudly. "It's great that Jazz has a friend like you! You're welcome anytime!"
"Actually, I also wanted to ask you permission to bring Jazz on a date."
"You got it, buddy!" Jack replied as the boy put a large Q-tip lookalike in a little plastic container.
Danny and company walked through the door as the young man left. "Who was that?"
"Some Umino guy who's going to be taking your sister on a date. Be nice!" Jack grinned.. "That young man just made my day! Off to the basement to show off the old smarts!"
"Oh dear..." Maddie followed him from the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
"Ookaay..." Danny rolled his eyes. "Hopefully they aren't working on another Boooomerang."
-------------------------------------------------
Umino held the three samples, using various stains. "You better make this worth it..."
He checked the first one, Jack's. Normal, Anglo-Saxon descent. He identified the main components of genetic code. He knew what bits and pieces meant, but not all of it, he hadn't gone through college yet. He compared it to Maddie's. Totally unrelated. More recent Scandinavian genes, very normal still.
When he put Danny's under the 'scope, he was almost convinced for a split second that he wasn't looking at the right DNA. Extra genetic groups... it was like the stranger things his father had spoken about once on accident while drunk. Stupid Illuminati secrecy. He focused on the normal stuff, comparing it first to Maddie, the mother. Related for sure.
He then checked it against Jack and double checked. He frowned as he looked up the sequences. The only way to explain it was if the father had family from old USSR territory. "Weird." He decided not to mention the extra genes to Jazz, but still. "This can't be right. Jazz will have to see this."
----------------------------------------------------------------
"I couldn't find the third guy, but chances are, sixty percent chance that Jack Fenton is your brother's dad."
"That's good... right?" Jazz asked.
Umino shook his head. "Anything under ninety percent or so is considered a negative. He's not the father, Jazz. Sorry."
"Oh... then that means... Vlad is!" She paled. "Oh man..."
"The only way to tell for sure is if I can find him. He's not exactly easy to find, you know. I'm not so sure he'll be as easy to trick as Mr. Fenton was... your dad is stupid smart. He's got some good ideas... but..." Umino shrugged. "I've heard that Vlad Masters is a pretty sharp guy. I've heard some stories and you know, not all of the old CEOs of his companies were acting wierd when they signed over their companies." Umino declared. "I think he drugged most of 'em, though..."
Jazz laughed histerically. "Yeah... drugged!"
Umino shrugged. "Oookaayy..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Publicity was good at the moment. "How come you withdrew from the race?" came an odd-toned female voice."You probably could have won, possession or not."
"Small time goals usually end up as only small gains. I have larger fish to fry and Daniel will need to wait. There are other goals I need to work towards. Milkshake!" He hissed as sparks flew from the panel he was working on. "I'll need more time for this. Time I won't have if I go through with that farce. Might as well bribe the mayor. That'll be much easier." He took out a circuit board. "Why did you come?"
"Besides talking to one of the infamous halfas? My secret to know and keep. I would imagine you'll find out sooner or later, anyway. Mostly right now, I'm curious about how you and the other halfa are alike and not alike. I'll be around, trust me." the voice promised.
"I do wonder why and how you keep insubstantial all the time." Vlad griped.
"Let's just say that ghosts aren't the only interesting things on Earth and in the Ghost Zone." The voice spoke dryly.
"I really need to get out for a while. This piece of pudding isn't going anywhere and a break could cure my mental roadblock. Oh, Maddie, you were always the engineer..." He stretched and went ghost and phased through one of the walls.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Umino was awake late at night. He'd been following a relaxing Vlad Masters, who was for once doing nothing suspicious, which would have been very much surprising to Danny and company. He was very focused on becoming a scientist and was thinking on genetic research, though physics were more his thing. It was too easy, too well explored at the moment. The spa was wonderful and the employees didn't seem to mind him after he showed the manager something to use to cut in half their utility bills. He was clever like that.
He ended up taking Vlad's toothbrush before he could rinse it off. The older man looked somewhat confused at the missing item, but shrugged it off. Umino took off as fast as he could. He spent most of the night with his microscope and a small tool his sister Naru once thought was for pottery. He'd had to buy another after that. He compared the three samples he had and nodded. He wrote down the results. Test A and Test B. Negative at 60% likelihood, Positive at 98.9% likelihood. He put it in an envelope with a stamp and address already in it and walked out to the post office.
He walked back, whistling. He looked up and stared in wonder as the Ghost Kid flew across the sky. "How awesome would that be?" He grinned. "If only I could fly."
----------------------------------------------------------
Two days later...
"Jazzy-kins, you have a letter!" Maddie called. "It's from Umino!"
Jazz came down hurriedly and grabbed the letter from her mother hurriedly. She opened it and gasped. "What's wrong, Jazz?" Danny asked her. Jazz crumpled the paper in her fist and thrust it behind her back.
"Uh... nothing! Nothing at all, Danny! The world is just right! Really!" She blurted quickly, giggling nervously.
"Huh. The last time you acted like this, was when you knew my problem and I didn't know you knew..." Danny shrugged. "Oh well! Computer games are a-calling!" He grinned and ran off to the lab where the computer was.
Jazz heaved a sigh of relief, going to her room and shutting the door tightly behind her. She looked at a note from Umino on her dresser and compared the two. "What do I say...? Hey Danny, it's not Fenton for you, it's Masters! No... too sarcastic. Shimatta." She swore. "Oh man, I'm picking up Japanese from Umino, now..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Sign up to rate and review this story