Chapter Text
Danny sat down to breakfast, trying desperately to ignore the pain in both his ear and head as he poured milk over his cereal. The loud noises coming from his parents' lab/basement were not helping, and he winced as Jazz took a seat next to him.
Jazz frowned as she saw Danny wince. He looked terribly pale and in some pain. "Bad night?" She asked before taking a bite of her own cereal, frowning as he shook his head.
"Quiet night, actually got a good amount of sleep for once. But, when I woke up this morning, my right ear and head were killing me." Danny took a bite of his cereal as Jazz felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "Well?"
"You do feel a bit warm… well, warm for you at least. Why don't you head upstairs? I'll make an excuse for you." Jazz smiled as Danny gave her a small hug.
"Thanks, Jazz, you're the greatest." He paused, "But what if there's a ghost attack?"
Jazz tucked her hair behind her ear. "Relax, little brother. I think I can handle a ghost. If I'm struggling, I'll call Tucker or Sam, okay?"
"Are you really sure?" Danny asked even as he moved towards the kitchen entrance.
"Get back to bed, Danny. If I really am struggling, I'll call you. Just keep your cell with you, okay?" Jazz asked, raising an eyebrow as Danny finally headed towards the stairs.
"I got it, I'm going and… Thanks again. I should be feeling better by tomorrow."
Jazz rolled her eyes as she returned to her breakfast just as the lab opened and her parents burst out smiling huge, vaguely creepy smiles. "Some sort of success, I take it?"
"Jazzy Pants, just the greatest your Mother and I have made to date. This is going to make hunting ghosts ten times easier, no, one hundred times easier! That ghost boy won't be able to get away anymore!" Jack laughed as he set a small pistol-sized device on the table.
"Speaking of boys. Where is Danny?" Maddie asked, noticing the second cereal bowl on the table.
"Oh, Danny wasn't feeling well at all, and he looked really pale, so I sent him back to bed." Jazz stated as she took the device in her hands, "So what does this one do?" And how am I going to protect Danny from it?
"Maybe I should go check on him?" Maddie glanced towards the stairs.
"Danny is fine, Mom, he just needs to sleep now?" Jazz looked at the square device with a frown. "Is this our old remote control?"
"No, well, alright, yes, but your Mother and I fixed it! This is the brand new Fenton Ecto Phase Modulator! Point it at a ghost, and it knocks out their ability to phase depending on how high you set the dial." Jack took the device back, showing the dial ranging from one to ten. "It might even knock them out if the dial is set high enough. I can't wait to try it out!"
"Uh, well, why not let me try it out for you, Dad?" Jazz said, reaching to take it back, determined to never let such a thing be used on Danny. "I mean, I'm always seeing ghosts around, especially near the school…" She trailed off, thinking how best to accidentally destroy it
"Oh, Jazzy Pants! It does a Father's heart good to see his little girl so interested in the family business, of course you can try it out!" Jack hugged his daughter tightly before sighing, "Now, if only we could get Danno interested, think of the fun we could have!"
"R-right fun…" Jazz chuckled nervously as she envisioned her Father's idea of family fun, likely hunting down my brother… Yeah, I get why Danny hasn't told them. She took the device back, tucking it into her pocket. "I need to get going to school, don't worry, I'll have Sam and Tucker pick up Danny's homework. See you after school!" Jazz grabbed her jacket and bag before heading outside and getting into her car.
"There's no way I can come back home with this still working." She pulled the phase modulator from her pocket and placed it on the front seat, and was just about to start the car when her cell rang. She frowned but answered, seeing as it was her brother's number. "Danny?"
"My ghost sense just went off, it's close, I'm pretty sure the park."
"I got it, Danny, just rest." Jazz said as she started up her car Danny on speaker phone.
"It's close by, Jazz, I could take care of it…"
"And I told you I was handling your hunting for today. If I so much as catch a glimpse of Danny Phantom, I will not be happy. Am I clear?" Jazz headed towards the park as her spirit detector started to go off.
"Crystal. Just be careful?"
Jazz smiled, "I promise, Danny, now try to sleep." She hung up the phone and parked, grabbing the Fenton thermos and, after a moment, the new phase modulator. "I'll just hit them with it on one, and they can destroy it for me. That way, I can honestly say that a ghost took it out." Jazz locked her car and set her detector to vibrate, and she slowly walked in the direction it was indicating.
Resting in a tree playing a few scales was the ghostly princess of Pop herself, Ember Mclain. Jazz couldn't help but grin. There wasn't a ghost more deserving in Jazz's eyes. And, lucky break, Ember hadn't even noticed Jazz's approach. She glanced at the dial to make sure it was on one before aiming at Ember and firing.
Ember jerked as the bolt of reddish energy hit her, almost falling from the tree. She glanced around, clutching her chest. "Who...wha? Dipstick?" As she glanced around, Jazz could see that Ember was growing confused before she finally fell out of the tree. Her eyes glazed over as she finally noticed Jazz. "W-who?"
Jazz took a step back and glanced down at the device. She had been right; this was a really bad device. Unsure of what else to do for the confused ghost, she opened the thermo,s sucking Ember inside. "I gotta get her back into the Ghost Zone asap, I hope they have some sort of hospital." She frowned and tossed the phase modulator on the ground before she brought her heel down on it hard, destroying it with a spark of electricity. "I'm sorry, Ember…"
Kitty hummed as she searched near the dumping site of the Fenton portal. Ember had promised they could go shopping; she just wanted a few hours in the human realm first. Kitty understood. It was well known that all ghosts got this way on their death day. But, when after a few hours Ember never showed up, Kitty figured she'd run into Danny. Not an uncommon occurrence, Ember would likely need a check-up at least before they had their girl time.
"Where is she? She couldn't be hurt that badly… could she?" That's when Kitty saw her. Ember was just floating as if, well, as if she were dead. Kitty's eyes widened as she flew towards her best friend, taking her in her arms. Ember's hand was clutching her chest, and a look of pain was clear on her face.
"What did Danny do to you? Ember, Ember? Can you hear me?"
Ember groaned in Kitty's arms, "N-not Dipstick." She murmured before passing out, her head sagging against Kitty's chest.
"One of those other hunters must have gotten her… Damnit, why couldn't it have been Danny! Hang on, Ember, I'm taking you to Ghostly General!" Kitty cradled Ember as she flew as fast as she could towards the only legitimate hospital in the Ghost Zone.
It felt like hours since they had taken Ember back. Kitty had tried flipping through a few magazines, but her heart just wasn't into it. She glanced between the door and the television as she waited. Finally, a nurse came over to her.
"You brought Ms. McLain in, didn't you, Kitty?" The nurse had a gentle voice and a calm demeanor as she watched Kitty nod. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"We were supposed to spend today together, it's her… You know death day." Kitty explained with a shrug as the nurse simply nodded. "She said she wanted to spend a few hours in the human realm, maybe to visit her grave? I-I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. Ember has never really talked about when she was alive. Anyway, I thought she must have had a run-in with Da er the halfa." Kitty swallowed as the nurse frowned
"Oh yes, him, I get more patients from him than I wish to think about… So what did he do to her?"
"W-well, that's the thing, before she passed out, she told me it wasn't him, or as she said, Not Dipstick. That's what she calls him, you see. I figure another ghost hunter got hold of her. How is she?" Kitty bit her lip as the nurse's shoulders seemed to slump.
"Not well, I'm afraid, she has a burn right over her core and has not regained consciousness. The Doctor is running tests right now. It should be safe for you to come back now, though, if you'd like to see her?"
"Please?" Kitty asked as she followed after the nurse to see Ember in a hospital gown, several wires hooked up to her. She sat next to her bed and glanced around. "Where is Ember's guitar?"
"We have it set aside with her clothes." The nurse stated as she made some notes. "Would you like me to bring it to you?"
"Yes, please. It's her source of power, and she gets testy when it isn't nearby." Kitty chuckled nervously as the nurse smiled and left to retrieve the guitar. Kitty reached over and ran her fingers through Ember's flame-like hair. "Come on Girl, you need to wake up now, we've got a full day planned!"
Had Kitty glanced away from Ember's face, she may have seen Ember's chest rise and fall before a beeping slowly filled the quiet room. Kitty's eyes grew wide as she pulled back just as several nurses and a doctor flew in
"That can't be right, check the connections." The doctor mumbled to one of the nurses as he checked Ember's eyes with a penlight.
"Connections are secure, Doctor registering… T-that can't be right."
"What is that beeping! What is going on with Ember?" Kitty cried out, terrified for her friend as the doctor looked up at Kitty, his face grim.
"That beeping signifies a pulse… your friend is alive."