Christmas Wish
“Who brought a human kid on the sleigh?” Ember asked with a tinge of annoyance.
@floating-pisces here’s your Christmas Truce gift! Sorry to keep you waiting! I went with your prompt “dp villains” and wrote this one-shot, which is set immediately after the episode “The Fright Before Christmas” and inspired by a certain strange thing we see in our last glimpse of the ghosts’ sleigh. I hope you like it!
“I still don’t understand why you wanted the sleigh.” Johnny 13 glanced up at the red and white accessory on his head. “Or the Santa hats.”
Kitty turned to Johnny, looking playfully offended. “Well, if we’re going to be granting kids’ Christmas wishes, we’ve got to do it in style! Flying around, delivering people’s presents? It’s like we’re Santa’s elves!”
Johnny’s mouth curled up in a smile. “Whatever you say, babe.” He leaned in for a kiss.
“Ew! Gross!” Youngblood said, holding his hands in front of himself as if to ward off the impending mushiness.
The skeleton parrot on Youngblood’s shoulder sighed in exasperation. “At least follow that with a threat like ‘Cleave him to the brisket’.”
“Cleave ‘im to the brisket!” Youngblood commanded, waving his hook in the air. He looked suddenly doubtful. “What does ‘Cleave ‘im to the brisket’ mean?”
Desiree chimed in helpfully, “It means-”
Kitty slapped a hand over her mouth. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it.”
There was a moment of silence. Perhaps some of the ghosts were using it to reflect on the lightness of heart each felt after helping Danny that night and to ponder the joy of service. Some may have even decided to change their troublesome ways if that moment had not been interrupted. “Who brought a human kid on the sleigh?” Ember asked with a tinge of annoyance.
Ember’s comment caused the majority of the sleigh’s inhabitants to stare in bewilderment at a small human child who was inexplicably in the back of the flying sleigh with the ghosts. The boy looked bashful under the scrutiny.
The Box Ghost was the first to speak. “Who is this human in our Christmas box of flight?”
The boy perked up. “My name’s Jimmy. I’m four!” He did indeed look like a four-year-old. He was short and chubby, with a smattering of freckles across his face. A disheveled mop of blonde hair was covered by a Santa hat not unlike the ones the ghosts wore.
“What are you doing here, child?” Skulker questioned, raising a mechanical eyebrow.
“I wanted to go outside and see the ghosts, but Mama wouldn’t let me go outside because it’s dark out,” Jimmy pouted. “And I was wishing I could go outside and see the ghosts, and then I was here!”
All eyes turned to Desiree.
“What?” She said defensively. “You know I can’t resist granting wishes!”
“This is so cool! You're all so cool!” Jimmy said, “I get to meet the bad guys Danny Phantom fights!”
“‘Bad guys’?!” Repeated Pointdexter, sounding offended.
“Sweetie,” Spectra began in the honeyed tone she tended to use with children, “You have to go home. Your mommie’s probably worried about you.” That wasn’t the real reason she wanted him gone of course. She couldn’t care less about how his mommie felt.
Jimmy’s face fell. “I wish I could stay here with you guys...” he confided to the floor of the sleigh.
Desiree chimed in immediately, magic leaping to her fingers, “Your wish is my-”
“The truce.” Bertram reminded her.
Desiree deflated.
The Lunch Lady frowned at Jimmy’s sadness. “It would make him so happy.” She remarked to her fellow passengers.
“It would mean so much to him, and cost us so little.” Desiree said.
“Plus, it’s Christmas!” Ember added, “We should let the kid have a little adventure.”
“Yeah!” Youngblood added with an admiring glance at Ember.
“Would it really be so bad to bring him along?” Kitty looked around the sleigh imploringly.
Johnny looked conflicted. “But babe… we already worked so hard tonight to help that Phantom kid.”
Kitty rolled her eyes at him. “That took ten minutes tops.”
“But Spectra’s right!” Pointexter protested, while the aforementioned ghost looked surprised someone was actually taking her comment seriously. “Jimmy’s mother is probably worried about him.”
“She’ll be fine.” Ember said, rolling her eyes. “We’ll have the kid back before morning.”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine!” Youngblood added helpfully.
“I do suppose it wouldn’t cost us much,” Skulker said thoughtfully, who may or may not have been swayed by Ember’s opinion. “I’m all right with the boy coming along, as long as he promises not to cause trouble.” He looked questioningly at Jimmy.
The boy was sitting there with an amazed expression as if this seemed all too good to be true. At Skulker’s implied inquiry he jumped to his feet and testified “I promise I’ll be super good! I’ll be so good. I’ll be as good as Danny Phantom!” He said, with such sincerity that all present almost believed Phantom was the flawless angel of kindness Jimmy seemed to think him. Whatever the case, Jimmy’s conviction to not be a bother was clear. Any uncertainty that might have remained was rapidly squelched by Technus, who felt the need to clarify what every ghost present had already realized.
“While we, being his enemies, do not fully agree with your view of the ghost child, your promise to behave is well appreciated,” Technus decreed.
“If that is the case, we shall gladly welcome you to our portable box of Christmas cheer!” The Box Ghost said, receiving an approving nod from the Lunch Lady.
Aside from a grumble from Spectra, who was still unenthused about the concept of toting a child around with them for any period of time, as well as a hesitant Johnny, who needed a little persuasion from his girlfriend which was tactfully shielded from Youngblood by Johnny’s shadow, it was agreed unanimously that they would bring Jimmy along for their Christmas festivities, at least for a little while.
“Are we there yet?” Youngblood asked, before scarcely a minute had passed.
“No,” Responded the undead bird on his shoulder.
The Box Ghost, who was steering the sleigh, was driving it in circles above Fentonworks, high enough to be safe from ghost-hunting weapons, but low enough to have a good view of the conspicuous house, not that that was particularly difficult. The Fenton portal to the Ghost Zone, their best way to return home, was within that house, which was unfortunately closed off from the ghosts in the sleigh by a shining green ghost shield.
“It seems we shall have to wait until the shield comes down before we can return to the Ghost Zone as well as our usual Christmas festivities,” remarked Technus, to a sleigh full of ghosts who were already thinking the same thing.
The only one who would have benefited from this remark, Jimmy, was currently being distracted by Spectra, who had immediately decided to take advantage of her current situation. She usually worked with teens, not four-year-olds, but she’d been sure it wouldn’t be much different with younger children. She was mistaken.
“Are you afraid of your parents fighting?” Spectra asked.
Jimmy seemed ecstatic at this idea. “They should fight with swords!”
That wasn’t going to work. Spectra tried something else: “Are you afraid of monsters?”
Jimmy’s eyes widened. “Like bad ghosts?”
Spectra nodded, an eager smile on her face, wide enough to expose a good number of fangs. “That’s right, like bad ghosts.”
The boy assumed a solemn expression. “Danny Phantom will fight the bad ghosts.” He shook his little fist for emphasis.
Spectra groped, “Danny Phantom won’t always be there to fight the ghosts, you know.”
“Yes, he will.” Jimmy said, with enough stubbornness to remind Spectra that he could and would spend the entire night arguing his point with that exact same sentence if he had to.
“Honey, the truce.” Bertram reminded her.
Spectra sighed. “Desiree, I wish we were at the Fenton portal.”
Johnny sat up. “Wait, I thought we were-”
“Your wish is my command!” and suddenly they found themselves flying through the portal into the Ghost Zone.
Jimmy let out a long gasp as they flew through the portal into the green expanse. He clung to the arm of Ember, who was lucky enough to be sitting next to him, as he looked around himself in awe.
“Cool, right? It’s the Ghost Zone.” Ember commented.
“Cool.” Jimmy repeated, drawing out the word well past its usual length. “Does Danny Phantom live here?”
Ember rolled her eyes at the boy’s incessant admiration of the halfa. “‘Course not. He’s a human. He lives in Amity Park.”
“Uh huh.” Youngblood confirmed.
Jimmy frowned and knitted his eyebrows. “No, he’s not. He’s a ghost.”
Ember smirked and shrugged. “Whatever you say, kid.”
They flew along quietly for a little while, aside from Youngblood periodically asking “Are we there yet?” with a long-suffering look on his face, to which the answer was always a blunt “No,” from his skeleton assistant. Jimmy gazed in fascination at the simple green blob ghosts floating about them until he got bored and started pantomiming a gun shooting them. “Pew pew. Pew.”
This drew Skulker’s attention to the boy. “Child, what are you doing?”
Jimmy looked up. “I’m shooting the little ghosts!”
Skulker scoffed. “If you want to join in the hunt, you’ll need a weapon.” He pulled a vicious-looking gun out from somewhere and held it out to the boy, who reached out to take it reverently.
“The truce.” Bertram barked.
Skulker grimaced as he reluctantly took back the gun. He patted Jimmy’s head in approval. “You’ll make a fine hunter one day.”
“Are we there yet?” Youngblood groaned, tugging on the Box Ghost’s shirt sleeve.
“Just like I’ve told you a half dozen times,” His parrot began. “No, we are- oh.”
Because at long last they were there. Before them stood the pavilion where the Christmas festivities for this group of ghosts were to be held, the doors hanging welcomingly open with glittering decorations of a plethora of colors visible through the door.
“At last! We have finally returned to the celebration!” Technus said.
“Thank you, Technus.” Spectra said sarcastically.
Jimmy eyed the banquet laid out on a table in the back of the room. His eyes landed on a bowl of peppermints. He tugged on the Lunch Lady’s sleeve. “Can I have some candy?”
She looked down at him in concern. “Oh, sweetie. You know we can’t have dessert before dinner! We need to eat the healthy food first.”
“I already ate my dinner!” Jimmy declared quickly.
Whether or not that was true, it did the trick. “Well all right then honey. Let’s get you some dessert.” The Lunch Lady looked pleased. “Good job eating your dinner!”
And so it was that Jimmy was found only a few minutes later with his cheeks crammed full of peppermints, likewise his pockets and his hands. A sparse trail of dropped peppermints was also left in his wake, having fallen out of hands and pockets that had been overenthusiastically filled. The Lunch Lady seemed to be enjoying Jimmy’s treat as much as he was, she was so filled with satisfaction about the healthy meal Jimmy had surely eaten, and which definitely hadn’t been stubbornly left on the table despite being declared by his mother an obstacle between him and going outside.
As Jimmy proceeded with his sugary feast, Walker entered the building. “The prisoner has been detained.” He said as he straightened his hat.
Pointdexter looked up. “Ghostwriter?”
“That’s right, son,” Walker said.
Pointdexter nodded, glaring at the wall. “Serves him right for using his powers to bully someone like that.”
Walker’s eyes, which had been scanning the room, landed on Jimmy, who was currently discovering a collection of discarded cardboard boxes, which were sitting in a corner after being emptied of Christmas decorations.
“Who’s this little one?” Walker asked.
Pointdexter followed Walker’s eyes to Jimmy before answering, “He wanted so badly to see us ghosts as we were going around helping fix Christmas, but his mother wouldn’t let him come outside.”
Walker’s eyes narrowed. “His mother is his legal guardian. Disobeying her is against the rul-”
“I am the Box Dragon!” A voice at Walker’s feet bellowed.
He looked down to see a large cardboard box with legs standing before him. The box’s corner bumped against Walker’s legs as grunting and growling sounds came from within the box. Now not many people know this - it’s a very closely guarded secret - but Walker has a soft spot for small children. And frankly, this behavior was too adorable for him to handle. His heart melted, and all thoughts of broken rules and sending the child home vanished from his mind. All this happened in an instant, and thankfully Walker was self-possessed enough to show absolutely no sign of this in his countenance.
However, the prison warden was not the only one who’s attention was drawn by Jimmy’s antics. Across the room, the Box Ghost’s face had slowly lit up with astonishment, then morphed into ecstasy. He flew quickly across the room to Jimmy’s side. “Box Dragon! It is an honor to make your acquaintance!” He stuck a hand under the box to heartily shake the small hand of its occupant. “It is always a pleasure to meet one who shares my appreciation of these fine cardboard squares! Perhaps you and I, united in our love of boxes, could prove formidable in combat against our foes!”
“The truce,” Walker said in unison with Bertram, who had somehow known this statement was called for despite being halfway across the room.
“Oh, right,” the Box Ghost relented. He quickly perked up again, gripping Jimmy’s hand and pointing dramatically. “Then let us return to the corner where I have placed many boxes and we shall gather a cardboard army!”
However, a yawn sounded from underneath the box and the small hand held in the Box Ghost’s blue one seemed to lose some of its enthusiasm. “I’m sleepy…” Jimmy mumbled, pushing the cardboard box off of himself.
Kitty, who just happened to be nearby, snapped her head around at the quiet statement, as if it had been as loud and attention-grabbing as a fire alarm. She dropped a slightly confused Johnny’s hand (he hadn’t been astute enough to hear Jimmy’s last sentence,) and rushed to kneel at the young boy’s side.
She let Jimmy slump onto her shoulder as she asked “Do you want to go home, honey?” With all the tenderness of a mother.
“Mmhm…” Came the barely audible reply, with Jimmy seeming to be seconds away from falling asleep on Kitty’s shoulder.
She gently stood up and turned to her boyfriend, who had been left to shadow her curiously. “Can you take him home on your motorcycle?” She whispered.
“Uh, okay.” Said Johnny uncertainly. Kitty gently handed over the boy to Johnny, who held him as awkwardly as though he’d never carried a child before and had no idea where to put what. He did his best though and managed to transport Jimmy to his motorcycle and situate him in a fairly safe-looking position.
The ghosts at the party gathered to see the boy off. He was thankfully just awake enough to receive the goodbyes most present eagerly began to give him.
“If you ever need anything, just say the words, and your wish is my command,” Desiree told him with a kiss.
“Always be nice to people. Don’t be a jerk.” Pointdexter advised quickly.
“Follow your dreams, kid!” Ember said.
“Yeah, do that!” Youngblood agreed with Ember readily.
“Eat well!”
“Be sure and stay on the right side of the law.”
“Always remember the power of technology, I, Technus, included-”
“May you always find nice boxes!”
Walker repositioned the now-sleeping Jimmy into a slightly safer position as he said to Johnny, “Don’t test my patience. You better not break the speed limit again.”
Johnny revved up the engine and responded, “Dude, there’s no speed limit in the Ghost Zone. You made that up.”
As Johnny drove off to deliver the child home (no one realized until later that he didn’t know where Jimmy’s house was), there was a moment of silence. Perhaps some of the ghosts were using it to ponder the night they had just had. How their small acts of kindness towards Jimmy had filled him with such glee. How somehow, despite having seemingly gained nothing from the experience, each felt happier, more contented, lighter inside even than a ghost with the power to levitate usually felt. Perhaps they were drawing near to a change of heart, or at the very least a change of obsession, that might allow them to experience the bliss of helping others on a more regular basis. Perhaps some of them would have even reached it if that moment of silence had not been interrupted.
“Let’s never do that again.” Spectra moaned.
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