Ack, I got a horrible case of the plot bunnies, I swear there are more in my head than dust bunnies under my bed… *looks under bed… yeah, much more, and these are vicious. Ow. So here this, kinda a random thing, I don't know, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom… sigh, where's Desiree when you need her? I also don't own lie to me.
I looked around the hotel we'd been led to, my parents were in the suite with me and my sister, my friends and even the poplars were somewhere in the building. I looked over at Jazz worried.
"Why are we here again." I asked.
"For the thousandth time, were here because after the Amity Park disappeared and those crazy people in Washington found out about it, they thought it'd be a threat to national security, especially if it were to happen somewhere more… important." Jazz lectured. I sighed still confused.
"So how are they going to figure this out again." I wanted clarification.
"Some buy by the name of Cal Lightman." Mom said coming into the door. Jazz looked suddenly impressed.
"Cal Lightman, of The Lightman group, really!" Jazz was practically levitating and I was the one with the ghost powers, "I've read all his books, he's incredible, he even solved that …."
"Jazz, just tell me who he is." I said growing bored by the way she carried on and on about this guy, I was ready to tell her to just go marry him already.
"He one of the worlds leading deception experts, he know if your lying or telling the truth, he reads your face to find out what you're keeping from him, surprise, anger, fear.." she kept going on and on, one thing I knew for sure was that this, was going to be a long week.
"Hey Danny boy come check out my new invention." Dad called from the other room, there was the sound of something ripping and I smelled smoke, this was going to be a very long week indeed.
"Oi." Lightman looked down the hall his head cocked, "What are you doing with my daughter?" Cal quickly rushed down the hall cornering the lad and inspecting him as if the boy was a murderer.
"I was just bringing her today's assignments, she said I could find her here." The boy said.
"Really now?" Lightman said looking hard at the boy, "What's your name?" he asked.
"Uh… Eric." The boy said slightly scared.
"Well then thank you Eric," Lightman walked away, "I believe you can show yourself out." Emily caught up with her father.
"Why do you do that?' she asked looking at him in disbelief.
"Because I'm your father, it's my job." Cal then walked into the counsel room where Agent Reynolds and Loker were talking.
"When are those ghost town people showing up?" he asked.
"Well, the town isn't a ghost town, there just happens to be g…" Loker started to explain.
"Don't care, when are they showing up?" Cal interrupted.
"The first group should arrive in about ten minutes, why?" Reynolds said looking at Cal.
"Just wondering, sounds like an interesting story that's all." Cal shrugged, then he looked at the two men, "Any of you seen Foster?"
"She just went to get a coffee, down the street, some new shop…" Loker said shrugging, Cal was already out the door, "You're welcome!" he shouted to Cal's retreating figure, Call waved him off.
Cal walked quickly down the hall waving to Ria as he passed, she fell into step beside him.
"This town, what's the big deal with it anyway?' Cal asked stopping his head characteristically to the side.
"Well, it's been haunted by ghosts for the past few years, so they say, and a while ago it just disappeared off the map, the entire city, just gone. Why?"
"I'm just having a hard time believing it was ghosts." Cal said, then he walked away, "See you later love." Ria watched him leave, thinking, oook… and heading back to her work.
I stood nervously in the hallway with my parents, my back against the wall surveying every movement and calculating their potential danger. I was paranoid to no end that these people were 'reading' me now, as Jazz put it. That with a single look they'd know what happened who I was, and everything. Jazz told me to relax but I couldn't. Mom absentmindedly petting my hair while I was practically vibrating with anticipation. A short man with dark blonde brown hair passed in a dark suit. He slowed looking at me, Jazz was having an aneurism of some sort and beaming as she held out her hand and introduced herself. I looked away from him not liking the way he looked at me, but I made sure to watch him out of the corner of my eye.
"Right then, you." He pointed to me, then he turned and pointed to Valerie, Jazz and Tucker, "you, you, you…. And you." He said looking at Sam, "come with me." My heart squeezed and took a new residence in my throat. I didn't like questioning from my parents let alone one of the worlds leading deception experts. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously as I followed him. He led us to a room like a counsel room, or the rooms that you see at board of directors meetings, and there were large glass plate on some of the walls in door areas and such.
"Right now," he pointed to a taller male, "this is uncle Loker," then he pointed to a Hispanic female, "And aunt Torres, and they are going to spend some time with you, so have fun." Then he left. My friend and I exchanged, 'oh shit' glances. Jazz looked around like a kid on Christmas. The two at the front of the room sat down.
"So, how long have you two been together," asked Valerie from the back of the room.
"We're not together, that's just standard Lightman." Loker said sounding exasperated.
"So, what kind of tech do you have around here?" Tucker asked swiveling in his chair to the left of me. I was grateful for once of his affinity for tech. I figured Tucker could at least stall for a while if nothing else.
"You know, I really don't know, our tech guy Jerry could tell you though." They guy, Loker I think, said. I guess stalling wasn't an option then.
"So do you know why you're here?" Torres, I believe it was, asked.
"It has to do with the ghost invasion." Said Jazz, "Some big threat to national security." She shrugged.
"Do you know why Lightman picked you five out, rather than any of the adults." Torres asked. We shrugged like we meant it.
"Come on now, we decipher lies of a living, we all know you know why." Torres said getting kind of uppity. I cringed, she looked at me.
"Lets start with you, why are you here?' she asked, I figured if I stuck with the truth as much as I could then I wouldn't be lying now would it.
"Because my parents are ghost hunters."
"Yes, but do you have any idea why Lightman would pick you, out of any of the others to talk about the disappearance of Amity Park?"
"My parents are the ones who built the ghost shield that saved Amity, and it was their battle suit that Phantom used to save the town." That could be a reason, right. Torres didn't look satisfied by she moved on.
"What about you?" she asked Tucker.
"Danny's best friend?" He shrugged, why else would he get dragged into all my messes. I looked down, I was constantly endangering my friends, I hated it, but they followed me whether I wanted them to or not. Now they had to cover for me against the lie guy. Torres turned to Sam.
"Same." She shrugged, then to Jazz.
"What about you?"
"I'm his sister, I guess for the same reasons as him." Jazz shrugged, well not all of the same, but a lot of them.
"You?" Torres then turned to Val.
"I'm friends with Danny too." She said. It was true enough. Torres turned to Loker. Loker sighed.
"So what do you know about the invasion?" He asked leaning forward in his seat his hands folded on the table.
"It was the results of ghosts." Valerie said angrily, I flinched at the hate in her words.
"Actually, it was really one really powerful ghost." I said unable to help defending my ghost half, "Pariah Dark, the Ghost King. He tried to take over the human world after retaking over the ghost zone." I stopped, "He's really old." I said sheepishly.
"Does anyone want a soda?" asked Torres suddenly. We all nodded.
"Who wants what?"
"Pepsi." I said.
"I'll take what he's having." Tucker said.
"If you have some soy milk I wouldn't mind it." Sam smiled. Tucker made a face, Sam tried to kick him but ended up kicking me.
"Ow." I rubbed my leg and shot her a look, she shrugged.
"I'll have a coke." Valerie said resting her head on her hand.
"Ice tea for me if you can swing it." Jazz smiled. Torres nodded and left.
"While she's gone why don't you tell me something about yourselves." Loker smiled all friendly like. He seemed easy to trust, but then again, so did H.H. Holmes, and Ted Bundy.
"I'm a ninth degree black belt." Smiled Valerie, I almost laughed at the expression on Loker's face, he wouldn't be picking a fight with Val anytime soon.
"I'm studying to be a brain surgeon." Jazz said, "As well as to get a PhD in psychology." She smiled.
"I'm Goth." Sam said raising an eyebrow daring Loker to say something, "As well as an ultra-recyclo vegetarian."
"I want to be an astronaut." I said thinking about it. I hoped I could get there, then I frowned, however my grades weren't the best, all the extra curricular ghost hunting was kinda in the way of that.
"I'm sort of a techno-geek." Tucker admitted to my left, I snorted, Sam started laughing, and even Valerie smiled. Jazz just raised her eyebrows then rolled her eyes, "Ok a little more than sort of." He said, I started laughing, "You aren't getting anymore outta me." Tucker said folding his arms.
"What ever you say Tuck." I smiled, I thought about flashing my eyes green at him but I didn't want to take that risk.
"So how'd you all meet?" Loker asked.
"Related." Jazz and I said with a sigh.
"Danny's been my best friend since preschool, I bumped into Dash and Dash was going to waste me, but Danny stepped in and took the beating for me." Tucker smiled.
"Something I've been paying from my entire life." I punched him in the shoulder.
"Hey, I help you out to, who's the one who almost got ripped apart when that ghost dog attacked the school?" Tucker asked.
"That… would be Valerie's lunch and the lunch lady." I said rolling my eyes.
"I was in the room, I could have gotten chomped." ?Tucker said defiantly.
"Yeah, while you were hitting on Valerie." Sam rolled her eyes beside me, I smiled. I looked over at Valerie who was looking a little tense… scratch that a lot.
"At least the ghost dog is gone now right?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"Yeah, but unfortunately Phantom still exists." She glared, though thankfully not at me.
"Ok, there you go." Torres said passing out drinks, Tucker and I greedily grabbed them and gulped them down, letting out a loud burp at the end. Sam buried her face in her hands, Valerie concealed a laugh, and Jazz looked at me.
"Really, Danny, grow up." She snapped, I stuck out my tongue, Jazz rolled her eyes.
"So tell me about this Pariah Dark." Torres said sitting down. I recalled what I knew, taking sips of soda in between.
"He was a very powerful ghost, the king of the ghost zone, from what I've been told he could control the crown of fire and ring of rage, they are very powerful ghost weapons I guess, and wearing both he was unstoppable." I shrugged trying to quote exactly what the ghost's told us.
"So how was he stopped?" Torres asked I thought back.
"I guess some powerful ghosts stopped him as a group, they locked him in the sarcophagus of forever sleep." I finished. Locker raised an eyebrow.
"Ring of rage, forever sleep?" He asked, I shrugged.
"Hey, I don't name these things."
"And if you did, Danny Phantom wouldn't have been called invisobill for the first year he was here." Sam said. I rolled my eyes.
"That was a nightmare." I groaned. Then I took another sip out of my Pepsi.
"So what about the Pariah Dark?" Torres asked, looking suspicious.
"He was the one who captured our town, and transported it to the ghost zone." I said, "He is the reason our town disappeared off the map for a while."
"So who is this Danny Phantom?" Loker asked obviously curious, I opened my mouth to respond but Valerie beat me to it.
"A menace and a disruption to the peace of our city." She growled, Sam rolled her eyes.
"I think he's great, he's helped us out a lot in tough situations and he even saved the town from the ghostly invasion, in fact he's done it more than once." Jazz smiled at me, I ended up blushing under her praise, "I'm glad the town has a hero."
"So who is he?" Torres asked.
"Ghost scum." Valerie glared at Jazz, Jazz acted as if she didn't notice.
"He's a hero Val, he didn't mean to ruin your life." Tucker said shrugging, god I still felt guilty about that. I looked away from her.
"No matter, he's still going down." Valerie growled. If she didn't have all her ghost weapons taken away I'd be scared, well more scared, she still was a ninth degree black belt, but she had gotten to know Danny Fenton more, so I hoped she wouldn't attack Fenton.
"Come one Val, you know he's tried to apologize." Sam said reinforcing what Tucker had just said.
"I don't care, he's still a ghost." Valerie growled.
"So… interrupting this wonderful conversation you all are having," Loker said looked around the table, "I gather Danny Phantom is a ghost, and he saved the town… how exactly did he do that?"
"He used my parents battle suit to defeat Pariah Dark and lock him back up in the sarcophagus of forever sleep." I said, it was still kinda weird to refer to myself in the third person. I shrugged.
"That's a very interesting story." Smiled Loker.
"Uh…" I wasn't sure how to respond.
"It must have been terrifying." Torres said thinking. I thought about it myself, I had been scared, but I'd always buried it with a mask of sarcastic comments and witty banter. I thought about the only time I'd been truly terrified, when my evil self had almost killed everyone I loved. I repressed a shudder.
"Ok, then, I think that we're done for now." Smiled Torres, "we'll probably talk to you and you're families later." She nodded, we got up and left. The man from before, Dr. Lightman presumably watched me with curiously and amusement as we left. He knew something. I thought, or maybe I was just paranoid, I looked away from him.
Sorry, getting to ambitious I published the unfinished Chapter. There only a few more lines so… yeah. Anyway here it is. What do you think, REVIEW OR SUFFER THE WRATH OF USA-CHAN!