"I-... I can't," said Danny.
Tucker looked up and down at his best friend, grown up, wearing a suit that looked like the night sky.
"Look," he said. "Which was harder? Telling your parents you were Phantom? Or telling Valerie?"
Danny thought for a second. "Valerie," he said finally.
"Great!" Tucker said. "Then you can think of your parents when you're kissing her."
"TUCKER!"
Before Danny could say anything, else, Tucker added, "And, now you're not thinking how nervous you are."
Danny blinked. "...yeah. Yeah, I guess."
"Look, it'll be fine," Tucker said, gesturing to the huge double doors of the church. The drab building seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. "It's your wedding, Danny. No one's going to shoot at you. There aren't any ghosts around, either— I helped your mom and dad check."
He paused to take a look at Danny's face, then grinned. "Now, take a deep breath..."
Danny followed Tucker's advice.
"...and get in there!"
Before Danny could react, Tucker took him by the shoulder and pushed him through the double doors.
The church glowed inside. It was small, but it felt warm, dust motes dancing in beams from the intricate stained-glass windows.
Valerie was there, wearing a white dress slathered with embroidery. Her bouquet was red and pink— Danny could even see a few (fake) blood blossoms in there, a nod to her chosen profession. (If they'd been real, he would have been ready to pass out about now.)
She smiled at Danny from beneath her veil.
Organ music began to play, a familiar melody. Taking a deep breath, Danny stood beside Valerie as the two began to walk down the aisle; Jazz and Sam stood on Valerie's side of the aisle in their bridesmaid's dresses (pastel yellow for Jazz. Sam had insisted on showing up in purple with red accents).
Without turning his head, Danny glanced around the church, trying to keep calm. The windows seemed to make the sunlight that made it inside a rippling lightscape. He could see Mr. Gray, in his place in the front right row. Off to the left, he could see the cake; Tucker'd brought it into the church for some reason, not taking no for an answer. He was halfway—
"THAT'S MY SON, EVERYBODY!"
Maddie laid a hand on Jack's arm to calm him down, then went back to intently watching Danny as he made his way to the altar. He only had a few more steps to go.
Carefully, Danny shot an extra glance at Valerie beside him. Her veil made it hard to see, but he could tell she was still smiling.
One more step; they'd made it. The priest nodded, beginning to speak his familiar phrases.
"Today, we are gathered here..."
For a moment, Danny closed his eyes. It seemed to be no time at all before it was almost their turn to speak.
"Daniel James Fenton. Do you take Valerie Gray for your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward..."
Danny's mind drifted to Valerie. How they'd met, two confused teens who hadn't known there was more to life than picking a side.
"...to love, honor, and cherish her, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health...
They'd fought more than once. Eventually, it almost had become perfunctory; he'd known Valerie's secret identity soon after she started hunting ghosts.
Eventually, she'd guessed his.
"...until death do you part?"
Something told Danny this would be going on much longer than that. He took a deep breath.
"I do."
The priest turned to Valerie.
"Valerie Gray. Do you take Daniel James Fenton for your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward..."
Valerie looked at Danny, seeing first the weedy high school kid she'd had a crush on, grown up into a man; then, her mind superimposed the cocky, irritating ghost boy she'd hunted (then later, hunted alongside). They were both part of Danny; he was simply deeper than he first appeared.
"...to love, honor, and cherish him, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health..."
Valerie found herself tearing up, very slightly. She closed her eyes, breathing firmly. Things were going to change today, but in a way, they'd be the same as they always had been.
"...until death do you part?"
Like that was going to happen. Valerie opened her eyes.
"I do."
The two placed the rings they had brought on each other's fingers. For Danny, there was a ring with a verdant emerald; he'd returned the favor, slipping Valerie a ring with a blood-red ruby. The priest smiled.
"I now pronounce you man and wife."
Lifting her veil, Valerie threw her arms around Danny. He caught her in a surprisingly strong hug, their faces touching as they kissed. Cheering filled the small church; the light from the stained glass seemed transmuted into fireworks.
And then Walker, the ghost policeman, glowing in his white trench coat, floated through the frontmost window and into the room.
He smiled as he said, "Daniel James Fenton, known as Danny Phantom, you're coming with me."
"Oh yeah?" said Valerie, standing beside Danny. She was already taking a stance. "You and what army?"
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH!
The stained-glass windows burst into shards, all at once; the sunlight turned to a multicolored hail. From every direction, ghost cops flew into the church, batons and weapons at the ready.
"Mine," said Walker.
Maddie looked at Jack. Danny looked at Valerie. Sam looked at Jazz. Tucker looked at the cake.
They nodded.
Everyone leaped forward at once. Danny braced himself so he could size up the situation. Reaching inside her bouquet, Valerie threw the flowers away, pulling the ectogun she'd stashed inside it into her hand. In seconds, she was blasting away.
The families weren't hiding either. Jack rummaged around and pulled out a familiar-looking fishing rod, expertly casting at one of Walker's ghost cops; then, he flicked the one he'd caught with the Fenton Fisher into another, knocking both senseless.
Maddie was more active. Reaching under her seat, she took out a familiar-looking bat (with the word 'Fenton' on it); it had been upgraded from before, and now green veins glowed with light. Gripping the bat, she cartwheeled forward and swung, knocking another ghost cop straight at Walker.
As Walker dodged his hurtling underling, Jazz and Sam moved so they were back to back. Their bridesmaids' dresses, regardless of color, had been designed with a pocket for just this situation. Jazz pulled out the Fenton Peeler, encasing herself in armor; Sam's weapon of choice was a small laser she fastened around her wrist.
Sticking together, the two took aim, fired, repositioned themselves, efficiently targeting the oncoming horde. The Peeler's air blades mingled with the wrist laser's blasts as ghost cops went down.
Over by the table with the cake, Tucker grinned, taking out his phone. He pushed one button.
There was a whirring sound from inside the cake, then its top began to bulge. With a sudden push, a mobile turret shot out from the wedding cake, chestburster-style. It began to lock on to ghosts, blasting away by itself.
Tucker took a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and placed them gently on the barrel.
In all the clamor, Walker kept a cool head. Charging forward, he grabbed Danny around the neck with one ghostly hand.
"Fighting back's against the rules, son," he said, grinning coolly. "And now, you and I are going to—"
CLANG!
Valerie stood behind Walker, fury resplendent in a wedding dress, her ectogun reversed in her hand. As Walker lost his grip and turned, she swung again, sending the butt of the gun crashing into Walker's head. He went flying.
CLANG!
"Now!" Valerie yelled, her hand going to the bracelet on her wrist, the red one she never took off.
With a tiny effort of will, Danny began to transform. White rings appeared around him, transforming his suit into the familiar black-and-white jumpsuit. His hair flickered to white, and Valerie could see his glowing green eyes. Danny Phantom was ready to throw down.
The code Val'd keyed into her bracelet had just as much of an effect. Her red-and-black suit appeared on her, flickering into place as though it'd been projected there. With a whirr, the helmet slotted into place around her head, the visor clearing to show her face. The Huntress was ready, too. She jumped, and her hoverboard appeared beneath her.
The ghost cops pressed in around them, firing their weapons; green belts of energy scythed past Danny, wrapping around pews and table legs. With her suit in place, Val had access to all her weaponry; a handle appeared in her hands, extending into two blades of light. Swinging the battleaxe around, Val sliced through five ghost cops at once.
"Aw, you should have axed 'em if they wanted to surrender, first!" Danny said, grinning as he shot off an ectoblast at Walker (who dodged).
Val shot a look at Danny. "I thought you'd run out of those," she said.
"I never run out of those."
Valerie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well—"
PEW!
Hearing the sound right behind her, Val spun to see her father, Damon Gray, staring at the steaming ectogun he'd borrowed— and the steaming wisp that was the ghost cop that'd been sneaking up on her.
She smiled. "Thanks, Dad."
Across the room, Jack could see ghosts forming a ring around Maddie. She was hitting them left, right, and out the windows with the Creep Stick 2.0, but they kept coming. She wasn't in trouble yet, but she'd need help, soon. He looked around for something he could use.
He spotted the solution immediately: Jazz, battling ghosts with the Fenton Peeler. She and Sam had spread out a little to cover more space, and she was coming close to Jack. He ran over.
"Go long, Jazzy-pants!" he yelled, picking up his armored daughter and hurling her at Maddie.
Jazz flew towards Maddie, frantically trying to find the controls to reconfigure the gun in flight. She found them. As she flew into the knot of ghost cops surrounding her mom, the Peeler extruded a sword of light. One swing of her arm, and half-a-dozen ghosts fell apart.
"Thanks, dear," Maddie said, taking the opportunity to regain her composure. "It's so exciting to see the whole family fighting ghosts together for once!"
Inside the Peeler, Jazz raised one eyebrow. "It still feels weird."
Tucker had gotten separated from his cake, his one defense option (furious dodging) bringing him closer to Sam. She was sighting along her arm, focusing on Walker— and bumped into Tucker.
Sam whirled, aiming behind her. Tucker ducked like a pro.
When he saw it was Sam, and not one of Walker's underlings bent on his skin, he got back up.
Tucker's first words to his friend were, "Oh man, you just brought that tiny wrist laser?"
Sam shot a glance over at the wrecked cake, still merrily blasting away. "I'll stick with something kinda normal."
Tucker began tapping things on his phone again, pointing it at the wrist laser. "How's better than normal sound?"
Sam fired off another shot. "What are you— WHOA!"
The shot split in three. The center one, larger than before, flew straight ahead, while the two side shots homed in on two of the nearby ghost cops.
She looked over at Tucker, and smiled. "I've always said different is better, anyway."
The families had knocked out more than half of Walker's army. No more ghosts surged in the windows; Danny could see his parents making sure to capture at least one ghost cop for testing. It was time to deliver the coup de grace.
Danny caught Val's eye. She nodded.
Smiling, Danny and Val charged at Walker. With one punch, Danny knocked the lawman's ghost in between the prongs of Val's hoverboard; with a flick of her gauntlet Valerie trapped him there with carmine lightning.
As the ghost cops began to fall back, Danny turned to Valerie. "Do you want to, or should I?"
Val retracted her suit's faceplate. "Let's do it together."
"Hey Walker," Danny began, "you know what else is 'against the rules'?"
"CRASHING—" said Valerie.
"MY—" said Danny.
"WEDDING!" the two said together. Danny's ectoblast hit Walker in the same moment as Valerie's ectogun shot scorched him from the other side. Before Walker could react, Danny had pulled out the thermos, drawing Walker in.
"Noooo..."
With thermos in hand, and Walker's underlings in disarray, Valerie and Danny began to lift off from the floor of the church. Waving to his family, Danny shared one last midair kiss with Valerie before she closed her faceplate for flight.
"Where to?" Danny asked her, hovering beside her.
Valerie— the Huntress— smiled, her eyes tracking the fleeing spectral cops as they ran.
"Let's hunt some ghosts."
And with that, Danny and Valerie zoomed through the frame of the stained-glass window, out into the midday sun of the ghost-infested city they loved so much.