A/N: Here's the sequel to Heroic Build! I really wanted to continue that story because I loved what it grew into—and what you guys made it grow into. There was also so much I didn't get to do in that story that I wanted to and the next thing I knew I had another story.

Enjoy!

Exclusive

"And now the one and only superhero of the world: Danny Phantom!" Lance Thunder introduced as the half-ghost hero phased through the studio's ceiling. Audience and staff alike erupted with wild cheering, drowning out further speech long enough for Danny to get his nerves under control.

"And may I say this is an honor Mr. Phantom? Or is it Mr. Fenton now?"

"It's Danny," he shook Mr. Thunder's hand and hoped it wasn't as sweaty and shaky as he felt. "And I'm not the only superhero out there."

"Danny then. Before we get into this, you are of course free to decline answering any questions and we'll move on to another. Now about your last statement there, who else would you consider a superhero?"

"A lot of people are heroes," Danny said, "But if you mean superhero as someone using their superpowers to protect and rescue people I would have to say the Red Huntress." After her encounter with his 'cousin' she had even helped him as Phantom rescue ghosts from some ecologists. He smiled broadly.

"Speaking of Red Huntress there have been rumors about the two of you," Mr. Thunder began suggestively.

Danny rolled his eyes. "She started out believing, like ghost hunters usually do, that all ghosts are evil, putrid slime balls of life-ruining horror." Rubbing the back of his hair nervously he added, "And I might have made the world's worst first impression on her and given her every reason to hunt me." His hand fell. "Hard for either of us to shake hands and let bygones be bygones after that."

"World's worst first impression?" Mr. Thunder asked.

"Not my story to tell. Hopefully having my secret exposed will help rather than hurt any future alliances. Any other questions you want to ask about Red Huntress should be asked in an interview with her."

"Do you know her secret identity?"

"Ask her," Danny said blandly, but his glare was sharp with warning.

"Right, okay. Moving onto a question we're all curious about given recent events: You were declared 'Not Guilty' in the courtroom? What do you have to say about that?"

"Only this." He looked straight into the camera. "Thank you."

"Did you really think the justice system would convict you and hand you over to the GIW?"

"Maybe? I am half-ghost and the same government that brought us the Guys in White also runs our justice system. I prepared for it just in case."

"Prepared?"

"Wrote out my will. Said my goodbyes. At least others would be there to help protect Amity Park."

Lance Thunder was only silent for a moment; dead air made for dead ratings. "Well I for one am grateful those measures were unnecessary." He jumped to a cheerier topic. "Now a question I'm certain everyone is dying to know: how did you get your powers?"

Danny's expression fell. "I died," he admitted softly, to the disbelief of the viewers.

"What? But…but you're still…alive. Right?" The interviewer suddenly looked distinctly uneasy.

"People can technically die and come back. Your heart can start again after stopping. Not too long ago one of your co-workers, Miss Morrison, reported on a man who died twice in one night and he's walking around now…well, sitting around now." Danny shrugged, "It happens. It happened to me."

"Mr. Garcia didn't get superpowers."

"He wasn't exposed to lethal levels of ectoplasm, or one of my parent's inventions."

"Do you mean that your own parents built the device that killed you?" Mr. Thunder asked dramatically.

The look Danny gave him would have frozen liquid nitrogen solid. Lance suddenly found the couch fascinating, but instead of instant, scandal-stirring denial, the superhero whispered, "For the longest time I thought that. Mom and dad built it. Always thought one of them must have put a button in the wrong place or connected a few wires the wrong way…" A flashback seized him: electricity like a supernova, ectoplasm like a black hole, every cell caught in a war between the two, agony as though he was being ripped apart.

Molecule by molecule.

Instead they'd brought him together. "Only later I learned it was sabotage. Someone wanted revenge on my parents, wanted their invention to fail in hopes that they'd 'accidentally' get killed. They thought it would be," His voice turned sarcastic, "Delicious irony. But mom and dad weren't the first ones to look over the invention. I was." The ghostly hero smirked, "Ended up becoming his worst enemy, constantly messing up every other plot he had."

"Wow? So we have this mysterious enemy of the Fenton family to thank for you becoming a superhero? Now that's ironic."

"No, he just put the trap in place. I was the one who screwed it up; I was the one who decided not to follow his example of using my powers for evil. And he's done everything he can to keep me from being a superhero. He hates it."

"Why did you decide to become a superhero anyway? You were fourteen, shouldn't you have been sneaking into the girl's locker room instead of…risking your life to protect people."

"Sneaking into locker rooms would be abusing my powers. How would you like a gay ghost sneaking into your changing room?"

Danny would be proud that, as badly as he reacted when Sam used that example, everyone else's reaction was worse. "There aren't any gay ghosts…are there?" The interviewer looked three seconds and a 'boo' away from curling in on himself.

"Yes, but only locker room peaking one is in the ghost zone now. Point is abusing power is wrong and always sucks when you're on the other side of the whole power abuse equation."

Lance Thunder smiled, "Valiant defense of locker rooms privacy aside," the audience chuckled, "Why superheroing? Did you read one too many comic books?"

"Should have read more," Danny grumbled. "And I guess it started when the Lunch Lady ghost kidnapped one of my best friends, or when those ectopi broke into my parents lab and tried to attack everyone. I couldn't just stand back and watch people get hurt. I had to help them. It just went from there until Pariah Dark." His eyes flashed a brighter green, "That's when I realized I was willing to die to save people."

"Well it sounds like you're a very upstanding young man—in addition to a parent's worst nightmare." Lance Thunder shuddered exaggeratedly, "Even imagining my little brother doing half the things you're doing is enough to keep me up."

"If I don't who will?" Danny asked honestly, "Lots of ghosts can't be stopped even by the best ghost hunters with the best technology and there's no a line of ghosts waiting to take my place as the ghost zone's most aggravating."

"There are still many people who are justifiably uncomfortable with someone so young taking on such a burden."

"To save lives," Danny pointed out. With more maturity in his voice, he added, "I am no child of Omelas."

Lance frowned, what was Omelas? Oh yes…that story. "Moving on. You have, as Phantom, gone on the record and explained several less-than-heroic incidents that led to your…less than sterling reputation at first."

"Is there a question in that?"

"You have been framed; shot at, jailed and nearly died multiple times. And only until you risked your life in single combat with the most powerful, evil ghost in the entire infinite realms did the majority of people begin not seeing you as scum of the earth. Meanwhile you had to give up your education, access to a paying job, so much of your free time…if those scars are any indication your pound of flesh too. And on top of all that you were hunted down by hundreds of hunters to be vivisected—including your own parents."

"My parents didn't know." Danny interrupted, "And they're kicking themselves over every second they aimed a weapon at me. They thought they were doing the right thing, just like every other ghost hunter. Anyway I didn't take it too personally," he cracked a smile. "Always joked that they missed me but their aim was getting better."

Weak chuckling rippled through the audience.

"Do you regret becoming a superhero?"

"I've had a lot of regrets over the years," his eyes looked to the past. "People who died despite…everything. Times I failed. The Walker invasion. All the danger my friends and family have gone through. All the times I hadn't told my parents." The destruction his evil future self had done. Silence settled for a moment until Danny shook himself out of his funk. "But saving people…it's worth every regret. Besides what kind of person would I be to ignore people who would die without my help?"

"Well said. Speaking of ghost hunters, we've heard a lot from ectologists about ghosts, but what do you think of ghosts?"

"People," Danny said immediately. "People who you can't just divide into 'good' and 'bad' any more or less than anyone else alive."

"What about the current popular theory among ectologists that something inherent in the…err…ghost-making process makes them…you…evil?"

"You mean the 'theory' that dying makes people evil," Danny rolled his eyes. "You realize if ectologists proved ghosts are people their experiments would be condemned faster than they could say boo. You can't just vivisect a human or even rip a rat apart molecule by molecule but ghosts…" Forcing himself to look at Lance, at the camera, at the audience, he continued "…you can do whatever you want with. So they're motivated to prove ghosts are evil and sub-sentient."

"Right," Mr. Thunder said uncomfortably.

"You know my friends and I researched Penelope when she was alive. She was responsible for driving at least one student at Casper High to suicide—and probably several others—back when she was alive. As a ghost, she feeds off misery and still drives teens to suicide. Death has changed her exactly zilch."

"There was also this time when I messed with the timeline to prevent the death of the person who would become Vlad Plasmius. I thought by doing so I could 'fix' everything he'd done—including when he infected my friends with an incurable, fatal disease."

"Woah? And you still saved him? You really are a saint."

"Pff, yeah right. I helped him to stop him. Anyway after messing around with time I jumped back into an alternate present where the still-living Plasmius not only didn't do any of his ghostly crimes, but got everything he ever wanted: the woman he loved, wealth, success, power and life."

"…And he was still the same manipulative, creepy, selfish bastard he's always been. Twenty years of living made no difference." Danny shook his head. "And…I hadn't known it until going back to the present but someone else died in the same accident that killed him."

"And the person who died in Plasmius's place?"

"My dad," Danny whispered softly.

"Oh god! Jack Fenton was a ghost?"

"Actually he wasn't a bad ghost." Danny smiled a little fondly, "Clumsy, just like he is in life, but had his heart in the right place, just like now. He tried to use his powers for good too." Looking past the window he continued. "Dad was lonely though. Didn't have the chance to make a family because he died first. No wife, no kids," he stared straight at Lance, "So in that way he was different but not because ghosts are innately evil or psychotic."

"I suppose that would be bad news for you if they were," Lance teased.

Two words echoed through his head, spoken from a fanged mouth and Danny shuddered. "The worst news." He shook his head, "For me and everyone else."

"But dead or not we're all people. Box Ghost may be annoying to everyone, but he risked his afterlife against Pariah's armies. Poindextar was driven to suicide by bullies and now he makes sure no one else gets bullied like he was. Spectra gets her kicks making children miserable but even she believes in equality. The Wisconsin Ghost has tried to murder people, but still grieved when…his son…died. You can't just box people, ghosts or humans, into categories of good or evil."

"So you think ghosts should have equal rights as humans?"

"If that's not too much trouble," Danny replied sardonically.

"You've still got rights," Lance pointed out. "The jury saw to that."

"Yes. For me. When it really counted. The justice system worked but do you really think the GIW and anti-ecto politicians will let that decision stand? Besides, no one should need to be a saint just to earn the privilege of not being hunted down and tortured and destroyed."

Lance winced, "Harsh but understandable and I would agree, though many people would argue against the ghosts who routinely cause property damage, kidnap or attempt to murder people."

"And that is why everyone needs to be given basic rights and go through a fair justice system like any other accused and either declared innocent, reformed or imprisoned."

"But we have a bit of a problem with that; our jail cells can't hold a ghost," Lance pointed out. "And what police officer could arrest a ghost?"

Danny smirked, "A ghostly cop and ghostly jails can hold ghosts. And that's only one practical reason for needing equality. Now I believe our time is almost up."

"One more question before we leave off," Lance announced: "Are you single?" Danny gave him a disbelieving look and the interviewer held up his hands. "There are a lot of people who want to know."

"I'm going to regret answering that, but yes. Sam and I decided being friends was better after about eight months in."

"I'm certain there are millions of grateful viewers ecstatic to hear that. Thank you for your time. Danny Phantom everyone!"

A/N: Yes I broke Sam and Danny up, not because I hate the pairing. Romance is not something I want to focus on in this story, something I'm lousy at writing and I find it unlikely that two people who hooked up at 15/16 stayed together for years. Even eight months is far longer than the norm. Maybe they'll get back together, maybe Danny will hook up with someone else but they're still good friends.