Chapter One
Change

Night set over Amity Park like a blanket. One could look at the Minnesota city and think that it was your usual, boring, shitty small town.

If you told that to any of it's residents, you'd be laughed at.

This could be evidenced by Danny Phantom- resident ghost boy and protector of the city-, being thrown through a window, screeching in pain.

Phantom spit ectoplasm and a piece of glass out of his mouth, glaring at Plasmius as the sound of emergency vehicles and the building's alarm system wailed in his ears.

"Oh, Daniel..." Plasmius sneered, "You really need to work on your defense,"

"Fuck you," Danny spat, pulling himself to his feet. He wiggled his fingers, and ice spread from his fingers, ""Let's go,"

He lunged at the other halfa, the two of them soaring into the air. The officers below shouted encouragements to the Ghost Boy, who was grabbing Plasmius' arms, ice spreading. Plasmius kneed him in the chest, and Phantom gasped in pain, letting go of his enemy.

Plasmius proceeded to kick Phantom in the face, causing a shriek of pain from the younger halfa.

Phantom laughed humourlessly, "You'd think you'd be nicer to the kid you cloned,"

Plasmius growled, grabbing Danny's wrist, "You'd think you'd be nicer to the man who spares your father every day,"

Phantom began to howl with laughter, "You think you're intimidating, but if you layed a finger on my father I would turn you to fucking dust,"

"You have much to learn, boy," Plasmius sent a shock up Danny's arm, just for extra kick, and flew off, leaving the ghost boy shaking.

He hated electricity.

"I told you, Mama, I'll be fine,"

Tsukino Usagi bounced up and down on her toes. She had slept through the 12 hour flight- and oh boy, had she needed it-, and was very, very excited as she waited for Jazz.

"I'm just going to miss you," Ikuko said on the other end of the phone. It was 1 AM in Tokyo, now, and Ikuko would rather be on the phone with her daughter than sleep. Usagi was touched, but her mother needed her sleep.

"I know, Mama." Usagi smiled, "But this is going to be really good for me,"

"And I know that," Ikuko sighed, "Just be careful, my bunny,"

Usagi felt the blood rush to her face at the nickname that she hadn't heard in a decade, "I will, Mama. Get some sleep. I love you,"

"I love you too,"

And her mother hung up.

Usagi stood in the doorway of baggage claim, explaining to the security officer that she was waiting for her host to pick her up about every 10 minutes. Customs had been anxiety inducing, and she was glad for Mamoru helping her with English, and also that Pluto had helped her in at the Time-Space door so that no time had really been taken up. English was so weird. Why was it that the wind blows, but you wind a clock?

She would never be able to write it.

She wondered what Amity Park was like. She'd heard the stories of ghosts that roam the streets- and they were, undoubtedly, true- but it had been so long since she'd heard of what Endymion had called "The Reflection", since Queen Serenity had told her of the brutal civil war they were enduring, since she'd told her their king had been locked away...

But, that didn't matter! She wasn't here for Senshi business (though she doubted nothing related to the Crystal or Silver Millennium wouldn't come up. It always did), she was here for herself. For school. To learn more about the world that she would come to rule.

Of course, she hadn't told anyone but the Senshi, Luna and Artemis that last part.

A young woman stepped inside baggage claim. Usagi immediately recognized her as Jazz Fenton- they'd talked over Skype- and she looked exasperated.

"Hey!" She said, waving for Usagi to follow.

Usagi grinned, pulling the handles of her suitcases up and kicking them so they would roll behind her.

She bounded along beside Jazz, who huffed.

"What is wrong?" She asked, Jazz looking up.

"We have no other vehicle other than the Family Assault Vehicle-"

"The wh-"

"So I had to park way over there," She pointed across the parking lot, then looked at the heels Usagi was wearing, "Sorry,"

"Oh, do not worry!" Usagi put a hand on Jazz's shoulder, "It is all right! You would be impressed what a girl can do in high heels!"

Jazz gave a small smile, "Awesome," She looked towards the car as they walked, "My brother had to stay home from school today," She said, "He has a concussion,"

"Oh." Usagi knew how that felt. Haruka and Mako often threw each other around when training, and Usagi had made the mistake of trying to walk through them.

"He'll be okay," Jazz assured, "I'd even bet that he'll be okay by tonight,"

Somehow, Usagi felt as though Jazz wasn't joking.

Danny was fine.

At least, now he was.

The second he'd detransformed last night, the pain of his battle with Vlad had hit him like a wall. Of course, it usually did, being made up of so much is very different from being made up of ectoplasm. However, it appeared that being kicked in the face, electrocuted and thrown through a window doesn't exactly bode well with one's physical state.

He'd healed over the course of the night, though Jazz had insisted that he stay home. Of course, he'd immediately tried to leave the room via intangibility, but his parents had heard the commotion, and Jazz just had to tell them what happened.

He'd been taken to the hospital, which, after several CAT scans, had come to the conclusion that he had a concussion, and that his body temperature was so severely low that they were impressed he was still alive.

His parents had been giving him blankets and making sure he didn't do anything to exert himself all day, and he was worried that they would be in the room during a ghost attack.

He'd had concussions over and over, they healed overnight. But it was clear that the physical marks had remained. Somehow.

He needed to sneak out.

Jack and Maddie Fenton were not stupid, though. His mother often said that Danny and Jazz could not con her, as she'd "done it all".

Well, Danny often countered internally, you weren't half ghost.

He hovered invisibly in the corner of the kitchen, waiting for his parents to go down to the lab. Jazz, upon returning to Amity, had gone directly to school with the Japanese student; this was good, as she would not make him stay in bed, but bad, as she could not cover for him.

Danny bit his lip as he watched his parents chatter about fighting ghosts. He was in ghost form right now, and he feared what would happen if his parents saw him.

His mother stood, placing her bowl in the sink, and Danny shifted to leave.

He felt relief wash over him as he slid through the wall, soaring into the air above Amity Park. It was always a beautiful feeling, piercing the air as if a knife through flesh.

… Well, maybe not that exact metaphor, but one understands.

He spotted the Famiy Assault Vehicle, and soared down towards it, through the roof and in his seat.

Jazz looked up in the rear-view mirror and snorted.

"'Sup, Phantom?"

Danny almost questioned the use of his alter ego when another young woman turned around, blue eyes shining.

"So this is Danny Phantom!" She said, grinning, "I am Tsukino Usagi. It is a pleasure to meet you!"