Chapter One
Danny, Tucker, and Sam were out on their usual patrol. The Ghost-sightings were at an all-time high, and even the townspeople were becoming wary. Amity Park was well used to specters running loose. It had been a few years since this began, and everyone had adjusted accordingly. Danny Phantom was a town icon, and the Fenton family's inventions were trusted tools of protection. Tucker and Sam even received special suits made with said technology. They were more effective and efficient than ever, and this wave of activity was putting them to the test.
At school, life was the same. Even as seniors, they weren't popular. The bullying had slowed, now that Tucker and Danny had both received their growth spurts. They both stood over six feet, just as the jocks had, and the ghost fighting toned them up nicely.
But nothing prepared them for this.
Something was happening in Amity Park. Something entirely different than the town was used to.
The trio stood against the caution tape perimeter, staring at the gory scene before them. Someone had ransacked an entire row of lockers, leaving slashed metal doors hanging loose and strewn about the floor. Papers were being sorted in the mess, and police were photographing the scene. Blood was clinging to the metal edges and in drops on the linoleum floor. This certainly wasn't a Ghost.
"What could have done this?" Tucker whispered lowly, shock on his face.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Danny said. "There's no evidence of an ectoplasmic being here. Whatever did this was living."
"The officers are saying it may have been a wild animal," Sam said.
"What kind of wild animal would ransack lockers?" Danny asked.
"And just this section?" Tucker said. "Nobody even saw anything. This far back in the building, an animal would be seen by someone."
The Police department shut down the school for the rest of the day and organized search parties to find the animal responsible for the destruction of the lockers, according to the news. A curfew was issued for the next few days to assure the town's safety, according to the Mayor.
But the police found nothing, and an attack happened again. This time was worse.
The news headline made Danny stop in his tracks the next morning.
"A group of teens were found early this morning in Amity Park's own grounds, deceased. Local authorities say that this was most likely linked to the animal attack on the school property yesterday afternoon. Markings on the teens' bodies match those found on the locker doors, according to Forensic Labs. Police urge the people to remain indoors from the time of sundown to sunup."
Danny was glued to the screen. A ghost had never done something this gory before. They used objects to cause damage. Whatever this was had used its own limbs, its own claws and teeth. Danny shuddered.
He called Sam.
"Turn on the news right now," he said into the phone.
He heard the same headline that was in front of him through the earpiece, and Sam gasped.
"What is that?" she panted.
"It's nothing like what we're used to," Danny said.
"Call Tucker," Sam said. "He needs to see this."
Danny hung up the phone. Instead, he flew to Tucker's house. His friend was where he always was: at his desk.
Danny landed and knocked on the window frame. Tucker turned around, "What's up?"
Danny grabbed the remote, "Take a look at this."
The news channel was still talking about the attack. A helicopter was showing a shot from above the park, where lumps under black covers were strewn about. Red tinged the grass in sweeping marks, and police were standing in groups or taking photographs.
"What happened?" Tucker gasped at the screen.
"They're saying another animal attack," Danny replied. "That seems to be all they can come up with."
"What animal would do that?" Tucker said, turning to Danny. "In all of the time here, have we ever once had an animal attack that wasn't ghost-related?"
"Never, as far as I know," Danny answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Something isn't right. There's no ectoplasm or anything there. My ghost sense hasn't gone off for a ghost we didn't catch. An animal is the only thing that really fits the situation."
"I wonder what Masters has to say about all of this," Tucker pondered aloud.
"He issued the curfew, but other than that, he isn't offering up anything concrete," Danny said.
"Not to the press," Tucker said. "He always seems to have some sort of agenda. But I haven't known him to be a killer."
Danny thought about that for a minute. "I guess we will have to pay the old fruit loop a visit."