Danny Potter and the Halfa Prince chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Suspicious Activities of Paul

It's chaos, madness and fun! And it's all happening at the Elrics' new Chaos Wheezes store in Portobello Road! After quitting Toonwarts in the last year, both Edward and Alphonse open up a new shop, with funding from Narnia that gives out jokes, magical stuff and chaotic stuff to pull on people!
Ever-Bashing Boomerangs fly through the air, fireworks goes up, and teacups bare porcelain teeth. As for the brothers themselves, they are standing a counter, selling to their customers that go in and out of the place.
"Step right, come this way!" The brothers call out eagerly to their customers.
"We got Faint Coolies..." Alphonse said with a smile.
"As well as Nosebleed Nuggets," Edward calls out with a smile on his face.
"And just in time for the school year..."
"Puking Pastries!"
One boy stops chewing, realizing what he is chewing on and turns pale green...literally. The brothers call out to him, "Cauldron, handsome!"
The Elrics launch a sloshing cauldron down the counter then heads down to Danny, Ash and Luke, steering him through the store. Edward ask eagerly, "So whatcha think, guys?"
"Amazing," Danny said impressed.
"So this is what you guys has doing since you quit Toonwarts." Ash said as Pikachu looks around the store, impressed.
"Pikachu, Pika." Pikachu said in agreement.
"Hey kid, you pocket that and you will pay more than the usual money!" Alphonse comments to a boy who is trying to take a screaming yo-yo.
"Right, we got eyes in the back of our heads." The two brothers said at once then turn around. The so-called shoplifter screams in alarm as he saw that Edward and Alphonse do indeed have eyes in their heads...phony but enough to make one wink, causing him to run for the hills.
"Bloody urchins."
"Yet affective," Luke comment in amusement. The boys spot a display of orange and black lumps nearby, "Dark Island Instant Darkness Powder?"
"That is a real money spinner." Edward explains with a grin to Luke. If you need a quick escape, it will be real handy; Hey, ladies!"
Edward said this as he and Alphonse, who gave a free sample in Danny's hand, turns to June, Betty, Misty, and Cream who is looking at a display for 'Wonder Cutie Love Poisons'. Cheese looks at the stuff in curiosity while Cream asks, "Love potions?"
"Yes, they really do work." Alphonse explains to Cream with a smirk.
"I don't need a love potion, I already got my man." Misty remarks with a scoff to the two brothers.
"Yeah, yeah, but then again, June, from what we hear, you are doing fine on your own." Edward remarks to his adopted cousin with a smirk on his face.
"What, what do you mean?" June ask Edward, getting a bit concerned.
"Come on. Aren't you dating Redge Koon last time I checked?"
Danny pretends to look at a rack of 'Ten 10 Warts Vanished' but eavesdrops. Ash, Luke and Pikachu notices his concerned look towards June. The boy has been looking at the girl oddly lately. Could it be that he is falling in love with her?
"Look, that isn't any of your business, okay?" June snaps to her cousins in annoyance.
"I agree." Luke spoke up, entering the conversion. "Whoever June is dating is her business, not yours."
"Wow, these look cute." Betty said, noting a cage full of filly ponies, two of them is the original kind which is an orange one with a cowpony hat and a pink pony with weird mane, another is a purple unicorn and a white unicorn, and the last two are a cyan Pegasus pony and a yellow one with a pink mane.
"Those are cute, eh?" Edward asks with a smile. "Little Ponies from Equestria; can't breed them fast enough."
"And you kept them locked in a cage?" Cream asks the two boys upset. "That is mean!"
"Well, maybe you wanna buy them..."
"I will buy them." Shadow said as he appears nearby with a frown, holding a bag of gold. "Heck, I will buy all six of them!"
"Sold," The brothers exclaims as they gave the cage to Shadow who opens it up, letting the ponies freed.
"We will each take each one to take care of, okay?"
The group pick a pony: Cream happily takes the yellow Pegasus pony, Ash takes the cyan one, Misty takes the white unicorn, Betty picks the pink pony; Luke takes the orange Earth pony while Danny finds himself with another pet: the purple unicorn.
"Well, little pony; I guess you and I are friends now." Danny chuckles a bit to the purple fully who looks at him curiously, "I will call you Twilight Sparkle; will you like that?"
Twilight smiles as she nuzzles her new friend/owner. Danny chuckled, wondering if Sam, Hunter and Lily would mind a new playmate.
"Say, Shadow, how come you didn't get a pet?" Ash asks Shadow curiously while Pikachu plays with the cyan Pegasus pony whose is now named Rainbow Dash.
"I got one." Shadow grunts as he turns, seeing a purple baby Dragon gnawing on his spines. "He won't let go since we got here. I am calling him Spike...before he felt like one. Don't tell anyone this."
Just then a boy named Gary Oak passes by Betty, glancing at the girl and smiling. She notices and gave him a faint smile while moving on. The pink pony named Pinkie Pie happily reaches for something but her owner pulls him back.
"Hey, how much for this," Jake calls out as he looks at a tiny wooden man ascending a tiny gallows before dropping.
Alphonse rides a rolling ladder before dropping next to Edward, the two boys calls out to their brother, "Five Galleons!"
"So how much for me, dawgs?"
"Five Galleons."
"Awww, come on! I'm your bro!" Jake protests to his brothers with a frown. Edward and Alphonse could've at least gives him a family discount or something!
"10 Galleons," The Elrics called out, much to Jake's annoyance. No discounts, not even for family!
"Okay, come on, let's get out of here." Swiper said to the group, deciding that now is the time to leave. "We came to Portobello Road for school shopping."
"Right, let's leave." Jake sighs a bit. The friends joined by Gemerl and their new pony friends head for the door.
As the group leaves, they pass Trixie Carter, who gave a flirting look to Jake as she said, "Hey Jake."
"Hi." Jake said, of course the boy didn't notice the look as he and his pals head out onto Portobello Road.
It is becoming dark, the shops are silent while some windows are boarded up or scattered, probably due to the attacks from the other day. Folks scurry by, dodging the scary faces of any witches, wizards and who picks out from the security posters plastered to every lamp post. Of course, on them are Vicky whose poster is labeled 'KNOWN BLACK DRAGON', another is Mephiles the Dark whose poster is labeled 'WEREHOG/MONSTER' and the last poster has Zhao himself which is labeled 'CAUGHT'.
Yes, it was sad because this place was once filled with activity and folks going about their everyday life. Thanks to Vader and the new war, people are scared for their lives nowadays.
"How is it that your brothers are doing it, Jake?" Betty asks in disbelief as she glances at how quiet the place is. "Half the alive is closed down!"
"Well, my brother Edward believes that people needs a laugh every now and again." Jake explains to his friends with a shrug.
"Yeah, he's right." Danny said, glaring angrily at the poster of Vicky. It's as if the evil witch is spying on him, giving him a mocking half smile and taunting the poor halfa. Oh, how he hates her!
"So where did you get the ponies?" Swiper asks his friends, glancing at the new foals being held by their new owners.
"We just bought them." Luke said, holding his foal Applejack who slept in his arms comfortably. "It's better than being locked in that cage forever."
"Right; And Shadow got Spike somehow." Cream said, glancing at Shadow who watches Spike, who stops gnawing on his spines, plays with Cheese, "Cute, eh?"
"Chao, chao, chao," Cheese giggled while playing with Spike.
"Well, luckily, the Council of Narnia has now passed a bill allowing people to own Dragons as long as they have licenses and keep their pets hidden well." Swiper explains to Shadow with a grin. "I will see what I can do to get you one."
"Thanks, Ironic that it wasn't passed when DK has Spyro." Shadow sighs a bit in concern while Spike gave a loving look to the white unicorn Rarity who is being held by Misty. "He wouldn't have problems back in Danny's first year."
"Oh no, look!" Betty gasps in sadness as she saw a sad sight.
The group saw what Betty just saw: it's the remains of Razor's Wand Shop which has been destroyed while the Black Dragons took off with its owner. No one knows why he was kidnapped but it isn't good when Vader is invaded.
"Oh, this isn't commuting well." Gemerl said in concern.
"Yeah, I know. Everyone got their wands from Razor. The young and the old..." Betty said in sadness while looking down.
"The good and the bad..." Ash groans a bit while shaking his head. "Why would anyone kidnapped Razor?"
"I don't know, but whatever the reason is, Vader wants it." Misty said grimly.
The yellow Pegasus pony whimpers while trying to hide in Cream's arms. The female rabbit sighs and hugs her new pony friend, saying, "It’s okay, everything is going to be okay. No meanie will come get you as long as I'm here."
"Speaking of meanie..." Danny said with a frown.
Danny said this for a good reason: he saw something across the avenue. There's Paul with his mother Narissa, glancing around then going down an alley. Swiper in concern spoke, "Oh, man. Something's up bout Zhao's kid."
"Is it just me or does it looks like that Paul and his mom looks like anyone who doesn't want to be followed?" Jake asks in a bit of concern. Paul and Narissa look like they are up to something.
"With Paul, no kidding," Luke said with a frown. "We better follow them. Whatever they are up to, it can't be good."
The group quietly begins to follow Paul and Narissa who does down the dark streets with ease. Betty, Misty, Cream, Cheese and Swiper are lagging a bit, looking up to the skies and see their friends up ahead. The ones with ponies do their best to keep their hold onto them as the ones up ahead turn a shadowy corner, vanishing.
Danny, Jake, Ash, Pikachu, Luke, Shadow and Gemerl hid inside a shop front, seeing where Paul and Narissa are going into: Creeper's, the same place that Danny ended up in by accident in his second year. The group saw them meeting the Creeper who is pointing at something. Paul was walking to some sort of cabinet, putting his fingers over its glassy surface.
"Odd, why is Paul interested in that cabinet," Gemerl whispers quietly, looking concerned.
As Narissa speaks, Paul turns to see the Creeper, holding the curtain to the back room aside. He hesitates then follows his mother into the back. Jake asks quietly, "What are they doing?"
"We better get closer." Danny whispers in concern.
"Wait, where is Betty, Misty and the others?" Ash asks, noticing that some of their group is missing.
Betty's group meanwhile moves through the shadows, peering down the streets which are darker than the others. The gang does their best to keep it together. But Rarity looks up and yelps as she saw a shadow flickering overhead. The group looks up just in time to see Mephiles jumping from one roof to the other.
"What the," Swiper ask startled. "Is that Mephiles the Dark?"
"I don't know...but something is happening." Misty whispers. The group stood still as they heard voices, some of which are familiar to them all.
Danny's group race through the area in hopes to find their friends who lagged behind; Jake ask in worry, "Danny, where are they?"
"I don't know! I turned around for one moment so I don't know where they could be!" Danny explains to his best friend in worry. Betty's group could be anywhere. The halfa hopes that Paul, Narissa or anyone with them or Vader doesn't find them first!
Betty's group during this time creeps to one end of the passage to see who the voices are. Soon they find themselves behind Creeper's. The group watch through a window as Mephiles, Vicky, Narissa are encircling around an old cauldron. And who is in the center: Paul himself!
The group does their best to squints against the fire as the figures twist around as if something is about to happen. Paul extends his left arm, the group was about to see what it is...until a shadow falls over them, someone grabs Betty's arm making her almost scream out in fright.
Betty turns around and saw what grabbed her: Jake. He groans out, "Ugh! Jake! Don't do that!"
"Sorry about that." Jake apologizes to Betty as the rest of the gang joins them.
"What's going on?" Ash asks in concern as the group turns to see what's going on in the back room of the Creeper's. The group yelps as the cauldron in the back room explodes with light. Once it is all done, everyone, Paul included, disperses. "Whoa."
"What just happened?" Danny ask his friends in concern.
"I don't know." Cream said, blinking in worry and fright. "But I think they did something...something not right."
Even the ponies and Spike whimper in fright as they and Danny stares at smoke coming from the cauldron. If the halfa doesn't know any better, he would say that the truth is obvious: the Black Dragons has now submitted Paul into their evil group.

It was a while later as Danny and his friends are on the train heading back to Toonwarts. As of right now, Minia and her brother Grim Jr., the former is wearing weirdo glasses, are holding out the current issue, the Nation Death which has a cover of the witch who is wearing the same glasses that Minia is wearing.
"National Death; National Death," Minia calls out. "There's an article of Brainspurts this month; National Death?"
Of course, the students chose to ignore her; they are used to Minia's loony words by now. Redge meanwhile is whispering to June, smiling mildly as the boy is interested in the brown colt Earth pony on her lap.
"He's lovely." Minia said, glancing at the colt. "You know, it is said that if a Little Pony like him were to meet a possible special somepony, their owners are destined to be together forever."
"Yeah, though it didn't help that I gave him a silly name like 'Ben Mare'...actually, it was Edward who gave him that name." June said, blushing sheepishly.
"Nation Death?"
"Uh, what are Brainspurts?"
Grim Jr. explains, "They are invisible creatures that float in through your ears, causing your brain to go fuzzy." The skeleton chuckles as he and his sister moves on, "Nation Death?"
During this time, Danny's group is in a compartment, talking about what they saw on that night near the Creeper's place. A large, white, fluffy dog runs up to Danny and licks him friendly
Danny laughs, "Okay, down boy!"
Gen came up, smiling as he picks up Chopper, saying, "There you are, Chopper; Down boy."
"I see you've brought a pet this year."
"Yeah, of course he kinda followed me but it's cool. And I see you got more pets."
"Yeah, ponies, cute aren't they?" Ash asks with a smile as the ponies and Spike play with one another, Twilight and Pinkie is playing with Hunter and Lily who are happy to have new play pals.
"Well, come on, Chopper." Gen said as he and his dogs leaves the group alone.
"So what is this theory you have about Paul, Danny?" Misty asks Danny in concern while Jake lets his friend's invisibility cloak play through his fingers.
"The bottom line is that it's obvious." Danny explains to his friends with a frown. "It was a ceremony, an initiation..."
"Danny, stop." Betty sighs in concern and worry, knowing where Danny is going with this. "I know what you're thinking but you're wrong."
"Come on, it's happened! Paul is one of them now."
"One of what," Jake ask in confusion, wondering what Danny's on about.
Betty roll her eyes, explaining, "Danny believes that Paul is now a Black Dragon.
"Wait, what? Come on, Danny, that's whack! What would You-Know-Who want with a creep like Paul anyway? His family is failures big time, especially after Zhao's failed break in at High Command that night!"
"Okay, then answer me, what was Paul doing in Creeper's?" Danny ask Jake with a challenge. "I doubt he would be browsing for furniture."
"Well, that shop is creepy, he's a creepy creep." Jake remarks with a shrug, waving off the idea of Paul being a Black Dragon. "At least put two and two together."
"Danny has a point. His father was a Black Dragon, it makes sense." Luke said with a frown. "Anyway, Betty and her group saw it with their own eyes."
"I told you, I don't know what I saw." Betty points out to Luke in frustration. She saw what happened in the back room but can't explain what has happened.
"I don't know what I saw rather but stranger things had happened." Misty said while grooming Rarity's fur with a brush. "Look, Paul and his mother are with Vicky and Mephiles, two of the most dangerous criminals in the world today. They wouldn't hang out with Paul unless there is a good reason."
"Plus, even the ponies felt that something is wrong." Cream explains as Pikachu, Azurill and Cheese looks worried. "Even Cheese and the Pokémon are sensing it."
"We should tell Ryan about this the moment we get to Toonwarts." Ash said seriously, knowing that Ryan must know what is going on.
Danny pauses then got up, taking the cloak from Jake while saying, "I'm going out for some air."
"Be careful." Lily said to Danny, whimpering as Danny left his compartment.
Danny continues down the aisle and arrived near a car where most students from Bane house are hanging out, reading or playing cards. Bobcat the Wolf and Numbuh 363 are sleeping in one compartment in the car. The halfa stops as the accordion doors to the next car squall opens, revealing a pair of twin girls passing by. As he watches them, Danny heard a voice, causing him to turn back to the car.
There's Paul sitting with Bonnie Rockwaller and another Bane student Conway. The halfa glances at Paul and knows that he must get closer to hear what that jerk is up to. Another boy pushes through the accordion doors. As they begin to close, Danny got an idea as he took out a familiar orange and black lump that the boy was given by Alphonse in his shop that night. Danny must time this.
Danny glances at Paul then the closing door before throwing the lump into the air. It soars through the narrowing ceases of the doors. And as Paul turns to Danny's direction, the lump explodes, raining dark powder that sends the whole train car into darkness.
The whole car fell into chaos as students panicked, wondering what happened. Soon the darkness recedes as the light returns. Paul stood in the doorway of the car, looking around warily while wondering what happened. The students, calming down, return to their seats though Bobcat and Numbuh 363 is the only ones still sleeping, unaware of what happened.
"Odd, what happened? Conway?" Paul ask Conway, wondering what just happened.
"I don't know." Conway said, getting a bit tensed.
Just then a small bag teeters before falling off a luggage rack. Paul turns around and glances at it in suspicion; Very off.
"Aww, relax, boys! The lights just went out." Bonnie assures her pals with a smirk. "Come on, Paul. We will be at Toonwarts soon enough before you know it."
Bonnie pats the seat next to her but Paul kept his eyes on the bag, putting it back onto the luggage rack before sitting back down, not seeing or caring that the Bane girl is stroking his hair right now.
"Toonwarts, the most pathetic excuse for a school and bad enough that Barbarian Ryan and his old man Eli are still there," Paul remarks in disgust. "If I have to continue being there for 2 more years, I would throw myself off the Astronomy Tower!"
"And what do you mean by that?" Bonnie asks Paul, stopping her twisting of his hair for a moment.
"Well, I will say that after this year, you won't see me wasting my time Charms Class next year, I will promise you that." Paul said, giving out an evil grin. Bonnie looks to Conway in confusion, but the student just snorts a bit, finding Paul's claim hard to believe. "Oh, amused, Conway? We will see who is laughing in the end soon enough."
Conway rolls his eyes and looks out the window. Yeah, like Paul would have to not come back to Toonwarts next year; pathetic. Just then a small bag in the upper rack shifts a bit. Paul glances at it in suspicion.

A while later, the Toonwarts Express stopped at the station. Danny's friends got off, followed by Mara Jade who spoke up, "Hey guys. Where's Danny?"
"Weird, he left for fresh air but didn't come back yet." Luke said in concern as he looks around. "And come to think about it, Hunter, Lily and Twilight ran off."
"Maybe he's on the platform. Come on." Jake said with a shrug as the group heads off, they believe that Danny has went off ahead of his friends. Maybe he's waiting for them right now!
During time, Conway and Bonnie were preparing to head out. Paul took down a small dog, gripping the handle thoughtfully as he said, "Hey, you two go on without me. I wanna...check on something very quickly."
Conway and Bonnie chose not to argue, instead they head out. Once his pals are gone, Paul closes the door and uses his magic to let the blinds down. The boy glances around, pausing. He knows it, someone is spying on us...and the son of Zhao knows who it is.
"Fenton...didn't your Mudblood brother told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?" Paul asks darkly. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Paul turns around quickly and points his wand at the luggage rack. He hit something invisible because it hit the floor with a thump. This causes the Invisibility Cloak to fall off, revealing Danny, now paralyzed and trapped. Paul smirks evilly at this.
"Oh right, sorry. I forgot, she was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin." Paul remarks to Danny sinisterly. "And how did I know you were watching? You gotta stop giving yourself away; oh, one more thing?"
Paul suddenly hits his foot on Danny's face hard, causing him to cringe in pain. Blood came out of his nose big time. The villain, frowning, picks up the Invisibility Cloak and throws it over his enemy.
"That's for my father! I hope you enjoy your ride back to Toondon." Paul remarks darkly to Danny. That felt good, getting a bit of payback for Zhao's imprisonment.
Paul in satisfaction left the train, pulling his cloak tightly before disappearing into the night. By the time anyone realized that Danny is missing, he would be back in Toondon, a big mess.
Unknown to Paul, two familiar figures are walking down the aisle, humming while Minia's glasses wobbles on the bridges of her nose. Just then the two spots three familiar animals on the aisle, looking around.
"Hello? Hunter, Lily?" Grim Jr. asks, recognizing two of the animals. "And who's this?"
"Twilight; Hey, have any of you two seen Danny; He's missing." Hunter said in concern.
Minia notices one compartment's blinds shut, stopping her humming. Out of curiosity, she moves her head down, causing light from an overheard lantern to kick off the cheap plastic lenses of her glasses. The animals look amazed as a fluttering cloud appears...of tiny insects, or pixie dust, or maybe a trick of the light.
The siblings heads over to the compartment and opens it. Taking her wand out, Minia send forth a blast of red light, which cause a familiar Invisibility Cloak to fell off Danny's body; Twilight smiles as she, Hunter and Lily goes over to their owner who can move again.
"Hello, Danny." Grim Jr. said to Danny with a smile.
"How did you know that..." Danny begins to say, amazed that his two friends and his pets were able to find him.
"Well, your pets were looking for you...and your head are full of Brainspurts." Minia explains to Danny with an eerie smile.
Danny chose not to argue with that explanation.

Author's note
Phew! That was a close one for Danny. In the next chapter, it's time for another year at Toonwarts as Danny and his pals find out that Skroob is now the Potions master...and Vlad is now the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher! The halfa attends one of Skroob's classes and find a book that belongs to the Halfa Prince, allowing him to do better. Also, Paul and his goons got into trouble for picking on Shadow (alien) and Ashley, resulting in them meeting Saro Koon with the Mask of Masquerade. Read, review and suggest.

Gary Oak is one of Ash's rivals in the Pokémon series.

I added in the MLP: FIM cast as extras.