Chapter 2: Get Up

Five days after

Black and red collide

The motion sickness past,

I'll be the first to stand.

A couple days passed since the incident.

I took in a deep breath, rolling over on my back so that I was staring at the plain white ceiling above me. I burrowed deeper into the covers, trying to keep my mind blank, but I couldn't help but replay the attack over in my head. I felt the phantom feelings rise up again: the fear when I first encountered the ghosts and the conviction that I was going to die. But, I also felt the relief, the awe when I first saw Phantom. When he took hold of me...

I glared at the ceiling, part of me wondering why it was even white in the first place since the rest of my room was dark, earthy colors.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not one of those girls who were just going to fall over some guy just because he had a handsome face and muscles. No. That's just not how I'm programmed, and I refuse to conform to the dominant population of girls like that.

But...There was more to this guy. I just felt drawn to him, like a magnet. Maybe it's because I always had a flare for the unique and unexplained, which he definitely fell into that category, no doubt; or maybe it had to do with that fact that he saved my life and just left before I could really talk to him or wonder whether or he was going to take me to his lair or whatever ghosts normally did. Or maybe...just maybe I was starting to have actual feelings for him, but that, I still couldn't admit to myself, let alone make it a factor.

Either way, I was stuck. My thoughts revolved around the mystery that was Danny Phantom, and I could not just drop it like I did with everything else. He was branded in my mind, every part of him.

I had to know more.

I sighed, glaring at my sheets, "Sam Manson, you are turning into such a stalker."

I got out of bed and went to the computer stationed on my desk. It didn't take long to boot up; I was already searching in less than ten minutes.

"Okay," I said to myself, I clicked on the internet, going to the search engine, "Let's see what Amity's ghost files have say about you."

I typed in the address, wondering all the while if Amity even knew he was out there, let alone had information on him if so.

I scrolled down, scanning for the D's. My eyes widened when I saw his name: Danny Phantom.

It was strange seeing his name there; it seemed to make him even more real.

I clicked on the link. A fuzzy picture of him popped up, not a very good caption. It looked like he was in mid flight, but I couldn't really tell. Looks like the press had a hard time even trying to get him on camera, which was understandable. He seemed to be the type that didn't really like to be in the public's eye.

I looked down at the stats; there was barely any information on there compared to the other ghosts.

Danny Phantom

Hair: White

Eyes: Green

Age: Unknown. Appeared three years ago. In the form of a teenager. Note: form is changing, resembling growing patterns of a regular human.

Powers: Standard, but rest is yet to be identified.

Power Level: Changing, Unknown

Stability: Unknown

Threat Level: High, when in sight, get to the nearest safe spot and notify the G.I.W. station nearest to you or the Fentons' direct line

Obsession: Unknown

Lair: Unknown

Sightings: Frequently, only when engaging other ghosts

If seen call (800) 906-2499 (Fentons)

(800) 672-5243 (G.W.I., local Amity)

Please, notify Fentons first then proceed with the second number listed.

I read over it a couple times, making sure I wasn't missing anything. Well, that really didn't help. All it told me was how to contact somebody if I were to see him.

I looked at the Fentons' phone number listed. Their direct line, actually, which was a bit of a surprise because they normally let the G.W.I. take care of the calls, and they just get wired in if it's something the station can't handle. Danny must really have them worried for them to be giving out their number at the smallest mention of him.

Then again, after seeing what he could do that night, I could understand.

I went on youtube, then, seeing if the Fentons ever talked about him in an interview. They did this a lot, mostly to just calm the public down and keep them clued in. It would either be about a certain ghost or questions brought up from the citizens.

I typed Fentons' interview: Danny Phantom.

Immediately, something came up. It was an interview in the town's square from 2009, almost three years ago-when he first appeared, according to the Ghost Files. I tried looking for a more recent one but couldn't find any. Settling with this one, I clicked on the clip, hoping that this would give me more than the Ghost Files did.

The video started, showing both Mr. and Mrs. Fenton stationed in front of the camera. They both wore grim expressions, obviously not too happy.

"So do you know anything more about this mystery ghost?" an unseen voice asked, shoving the microphone closer to the ghost-hunters.

"All we've gathered from the interrogation is that this ghost goes by the name Danny Phantom," Maddie said, speaking directly at the camera. "This ghost is different. His power levels have increased in the last three months since we've encountered him, but that is as much as we know."

"Even thought he hasn't shown any signs of hostile behavior," Jack said, his voice steely, his expression serious, which seemed out of place on the man, "we have to remember he is still a ghost. And, not knowing much about him makes it so we have to become even more cautious when dealing with him."

"We are going to study him further...If we can," Maddie interjected. "But, he is not seen in public or even in the human world unless he is fighting a ghost, which makes it difficult because during that time we are fighting the ghosts as well. We will gather as much as we can, and let you know our findings."

That finalized it; the Fentons left the scene and the camera's view despite the protests of whoever was interviewing them.

I tried typing in his name in the search box, hoping some other videos would come up.

I clicked on the most recent one I found, which took place sometime this year.

The video started playing, showing two people stationed at podiums, glaring at one another. It was clearly a debate. One was a woman and the other was a man. The woman had auburn hair pulled back, loose strands outlined her strong face. She was dressed in a typical suit while the other man-I stopped the video, pausing on his face. I almost fell off the chair in shock. His features became more clear, his blond hair and cold blue eyes recognizable. He was my father.

After taking a moment to process this, I clicked the play button again, all the while having a bad knowing feeling of what side my dad was on. I wasn't no stranger to the daily tirades at the dinner table about how all ghosts were "abominations and deserved to be exterminated like the pests they were."

A huge crowd of people was around the stage; one half was rooting for the woman while the other was cheering for my dad.

They finally silenced when the woman began to speak.

She looked evenly at the people before looking at the camera, fixing her deep brown eyes on it. "People of Amity. People of the world. We are playing a dangerous game. We are committing genocide. The spirit that is Danny Phantom has never caused any harm to us, and yet, we hunt him down. We put him on the top of every want list, and what for? To destroy him? To commit vile acts of nature by torturing him, experimenting on him? And, what for? Why do we do this?"

She took a second to stare at each section of the large crowd, demanding their utmost attention. "I will tell you why. Because we have grown to fear all ghosts. Even the ones who remain in the Ghost Zone in parts that are still unknown to us to this day. We fear him because his intentions are not clear and most of him is a mystery.

"Well, I can tell you one thing. He is not fighting us. He is not rampaging the city, trying to destroy and take over. No, he is doing the opposite. He is saving Amity."

She took a second to let this sink in. A few protests from the other half started to begin, but they were silenced instantly by the woman's steely gaze. "I was saved by Danny Phantom. And, I was not alone; many people standing with you were saved as well on different accounts. He shielded some from crumbling buildings, falling debris, and many times from the ghosts doing the attacking. In my case, he stopped a burning car from crashing into my daughter and me. I owe my life and my daughter's to Danny Phantom. So why can't we give him his life too?"

Half the crowd began to cheer while the other side protested and booed in response.

My father smiled at the crowd, raising his hands, gesturing for them to settle down. He looked over towards the woman, a mocking gleam in his eyes. "A beautiful speech by a beautiful bleeding heart."

The woman glared at him, but he ignored her, turning his attention to the camera and crowd. "What my opponent fails to inform us are the facts about this ghost, Danny Phantom," he sneered when he uttered his name. "Everything about this ghost screams danger. His power levels keep increasing despite the fact that no ghosts really ever gain or lose power the way he does. He is constantly improving. And, the fact that we don't know anything about him, including his obsession, makes it even more of a pressing matter that we have him in custody with us once and for all.

"As for the matter of the many accounts stated. He didn't do it to save your lives. It was just convenient for him, maybe he thought this would buy him more time so he wouldn't become a priority of the government to capture and contain. Ask yourselves this, did he ever make direct contact with you? Save your lives directly? No, because those prior incidents were merely mistakes or clever ways to trick us. This ghost proves to be different from the others. Along with his striking, growing power, he is clever as well. He manages to elude every tracking devise we use on him despite the fact that it is programed to detect his ecto energy levels. Danny Phantom is a danger and a threat, not a savior. That is why I am giving my full support to organizations who's main goal is to contain and capture Danny Phantom once and for all."

The crowd favoring my dad went into an uproar, clapping, cheering, raising signs in the air.

I stared at the video as it ended, leaving me with more questions than answers. Hell, I knew more than these people despite the fact that I never paid any attention to this crud. Looks like Amity was more aware of Danny than I thought; but they still didn't know anything.

I narrowed my eyes in irritation. It seemed like the internet wasn't going to tell me anymore about him.

I scanned the other videos listing; then, took a second to just check the time. 11:30.

My eyes widened, crap.

I spun out of my chair, practically flying to my closet to hurriedly put on something decent. I was already late to meet Tucker at the Nasty Burger.

I went back to my computer, deleting the history and turning it off-don't want my anti-Phantom father seeing this. That would not be good...at all.

I rushed into the Nasty Burger to see Tucker sitting at our usual spot. He already had our food spread out on the table: a double meat patty burger (might I add a big yuck to that) with a large fry and vanilla milkshake for him and a full spinach salad with a chocolate milkshake for me.

He was fingering his PDA as he aimlessly ate one fry after another.

I sat in the seat across from him, taking a sip of the milkshake to make sure it was still cold, which it was, so I wasn't too late.

He looked up at me with a smirk. "Late much?"

I rolled my eyes but gave him a smile.

It took the next half an hour of talking about random stuff like the newest Dumpty Humpty cd and some school assignments for me to build up the courage to ask what I've been wondering for the past couple of days.

I took a deep breath during the pause in our conversation, the perfect time for a subject changer, and boy, did I have an interesting subject. I fingered my skirt repetitively while looking at the wall behind him. "So do you know anything about Danny Phantom?" I momentarily looked at my friend, trying to see his reaction.

Tucker snorted. "Of course, Sam; he's constantly on the news," he smiled at me slyly. "You would know that if you watched it for once.

I rolled my eyes, but continued on. "What do you think about him?"

I tried to make my question sound casual as if I was asking him about the weather, but I wasn't sure I pulled it off.

Tucker was silent for a minute with a calculating expression. "Well, the only reason he ever shows up is to fight ghosts-the ones that are attacking us. That's all we really know about him. The town didn't even know his real name until the Fentons interrogated it out of a ghost. Until then, he was called the Mystery Ghost." Tucker chuckled, "Or, some called him Inviso-Bill."

I laughed at that, imagining my rescuer's reaction to the cheesy name. If I ever met him again, I would definitely have to bring that up.

"The ghost hunters just wrote it off as him being another ghost, just one with an obsession for fighting, but that doesn't explain why he hasn't targeted one human yet."

"So," I said, "do you think he's good?"

Tucker looked at me levelly, "Sam, there is no such thing as a good ghost."

I felt a twinge of unexpected defensiveness rise in me. "But, you said so yourself, that he didn't target any humans."

"Yet," he interjected firmly. "This ghost is powerful. He's not like anything the ghost-hunters have ever experienced before. They were able to get a reading on him, and it said his energy levels were still growing. Also, many suspect that he was the one who beat Pariah Dark three years ago. This guy can't be good, Sam."

My eyes bulged, "Wait. Pariah?"

Pariah Dark took over Amity Park three years ago and attempted to claim the rest of the human world as well. He transported Amity to the Ghost Zone, cutting off all ties with the human world so we couldn't gather our resources or aid the others when the armies started to attack different parts of the world. The Fentons were getting prepared to fight the 'king's' rule, but before they could even set up formations and plans of action, Pariah mysteriously disappeared; and the town was back in the human world while the armies of ghostly skeletons began to erode. Nobody truly knew what happened, but we all knew one thing for sure: we never wanted something that terrible to ever happen again.

Tucker nodded. "The news were able to get some pictures of him in some sort of battle suit, flying off towards the Ghost Zone."

"So, he beat the ghost who was trying to enslave us... Yeah, that definitely screams evil, Tuck."

Tucker shrugged. "Maybe he was trying to claim territory; you know how ghosts can be."

"I don't know," I said, not able to keep my stupid mouth shut. "He seems different to me."

"Yeah, that's what some of the town's starting to say; they think he is actually helping us." Tucker took another bite of his hamburger, followed by a quick sip of his milkshake. Then, he looked at me; a suspicious gleam in his eyes. "And, why are you so interested in ghosts all of a sudden? You never liked this stuff because you said, 'it became too mainstream,'" he finished, trying to mimic my voice.

I glared at him, "Well, maybe I'm just interested, now."

He smirked at me knowingly. Uh, I hated when he did that. "Yeah, sure. And, you seem to be very interested in Phantom."

I didn't say anything because I knew that if I did Tucker would just figure it out. I'm a crappy liar when it came to him; he just knew me too well, which was starting to piss me off.

His eyes widened with realization; I could already see the light bulb above his head lighting up with a bing. A smile began to slowly spread across his face. "Unless, you've met him, haven't you? There is no way you would be asking all these questions unless something happened. He saved you, didn't he?"

I stared at him blankly. Jeez, was I that transparent? Tucker was already at the edge of his seat, leaning across the table so close that I could smell the disgusting hamburger in his hands. I sighed, giving up because what was the point if he already knew. He would just keep pestering me to tell. "Yeah, he did."

"What?!" Tucker shouted, grabbing a few people's attention.

"Tucker, shut up!" I growled.

"Oh, sorry," he whispered, but the smile was still in place. "How?" he urged. "When?"

"In order, he rescued me from two ghosts, right after I left your house," I said, leaning back in the booth, crossing my arms.

"Sam," he whined, "you got to give me more than that."

I looked up at the ceiling, annoyed. "Okay. Well, when he fought the ghosts, he made it seem so easy like they were really out of his league. I don't think he even broke a sweat." I looked at Tucker evenly, trying to make him believe what I was about to say. "Tuck, he isn't like the rest. He's different. He had actual emotions, like his expressions were so real; nothing like what we were taught: that all ghosts are unfeeling and only care about their obsession. He was nothing like that. The way he talked...it was like I was talking to a...a friend."

I smiled, remembering the kiss. Yeah, a friend...

"Do you really think so?" he asked, looking at me just as seriously as I was looking at him.

I nodded. "He was nothing like the other two ghosts."

Tucker considered this quietly as he ate the rest of his hamburger. "I'm not saying I don't believe you, Sam, but you have to be careful. Don't think just because he's a little different that he's not like them. He's still a ghost."

I nodded, wanting to argue more, but I knew he was just worried for me. There was nothing I could do to change his mind, at the moment.

One heated discussion about the pros/cons of a meat-filled diet and what was the homework for Lancer's (I finished it already, so mainly it was me trying to help out Tucker who was a notorious procrastinator) later, Tucker and I parted ways, finishing up at the Nasty Burger, telling each other we would see them tomorrow.

I took the long way back to my house, so I could stop at my favorite bookstore, The BookRack.

I usually went during the night, but I didn't feel like hearing my parents rant about 'how dangerous it was to be out at night, especially for a lovely lady like me.' Besides, I was going to pass it up on the way to my house anyway.

It was a small building, having an ancient touch to it that made you feel like you went back in time whenever you stopped by. It wasn't much, but on the inside, it was filled to the brim with books, having everything from Sci-Fi to How To books. It was my sanctuary, one of the places I went to, to just think and be by myself. I pushed the old, black door, making the bell above it ring.

I walked in, going to my normal spot where the dark fantasies and poetry books resided. I heard soft murmuring to my left; I looked up to see Jasmine Fenton standing at the check out counter. She was glaring at a boy my age with ebony black hair. He was glaring back at her; I couldn't help but notice how striking his eyes were. They were a crisp, deep blue that seemed to have many different shades of the color. I looked at the boy, not recognizing him at all, half wondering if he went to Casper. He was tall, with a very good build; it wasn't too stocky but looked like he was built more for agility and speed. But, he still had some pretty decent muscle on him. Yeah, I definitely would have noticed him if he went to Casper.

The two seemed to be having an argument.

The boy said something to Jasmine, but it was too low for me to hear. Whatever he said, made the girl even more annoyed as she crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing even more.

She shook her head at the boy as he continued to say whatever he was saying.

Jasmine said something back to him, but he looked away, not at all amused, rolling those killer blue eyes of his. Then, he noticed me, standing by the shelf, staring at them like an idiot.

His eyes widened slightly as he said something to the girl, not taking his eyes off of me, probably thinking I was some creep. She looked back at me, a small smile forming on her face. I looked the other way hastily, all of the sudden interested in the books on the nearby shelf.

I looked back at the boy momentarily, not able to keep my eyes off of him. Just something about him seemed very familiar, although I knew I never met him before, just something...

The boy looked away from the girl, feeling my eyes on him again. He stared back at me, his eyes unnerving. Looking into them made the familiarity stronger as if I've felt that very gaze before.

I stared back, this time not looking away. His expression looked strained as if he was trying to figure out something; the blue depths of his eyes grew even more entrancing as his gaze intensified. Then, as if a switched was flipped, it changed suddenly. He smirked cockily at me and jumped over the counter, arching his body perfectly. He took Jasmine's hand hurriedly, and all but ran to the door.

Another man, Bobbie, the one who I normally saw manning the store, walked through just in time to almost run into the boy and the disgruntled girl.

I could hear the boy murmur a soft sorry and goodbye, and before I knew it, the two were out of the door leaving a confused Bobbie behind.

Shaking off his confusion, he looked up, finally noticing me in the room. He smiled brightly as he walked over to the counter, setting down all of his stuff in the process. "Hello, Sam, how's one of my favorite customers?"

I smirked at him. Bobbie, as he told me many times before to call him that, was the owner of the store. He was an old man, in his mid seventies. He was balding, with wide rimmed glasses, and a permanent smile to match the light in his dark brown eyes. Despite his old age, he was filled with life, always having something interesting to say and always offering an optimistic light to anything. He was one of those people you could share anything with and know it would always stay between the both of you only. He was the perfect person to talk to, especially when you needed to vent.

"I'm doing great," I said with a smile, trying to forget about the odd boy who was sitting behind that very counter a minute ago.

He chuckled. "Looks like you ran out one of my employees. Hope you didn't scare him too much, Sam." He gave me a knowing look.

I smirked at the man, trying to hide the confusion and uneasiness I was feeling. I couldn't get the boy's blue eyes out of my head, as if he was still staring at me.

I shook off the feeling of deja vu the best I could, turning as much of my attention to Bobbie as I could. "Yeah, hope I didn't." I paused momentarily. "Who is he anyway? I've never seen him work here before."

"Oh, Danny? He works the day shifts, usually the irregular times that nobody ever takes. He's a bit reserved, but he's a good kid. A very hard worker, wish I had more like him," the man smiled. I could tell that he must have liked the boy a lot.

"Huh," I said, trying to match the boy, Danny, with Bobbie's description.

I turned away, looking at the shelves I normally went to, not really focusing on the books, but more on the boy. For some reason, he seemed to recognize me although I was pretty sure I've never met him before in my life, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I actually did meet him. Those eyes...they seemed so familiar.

I looked away, giving up on trying to find a book, not having any interest in anything but this mystery.

I exchanged a quick goodbye with Bobbie, telling him I would see him soon, and left, all the while still thinking about the strange boy with the mesmerizing eyes.

When I came back to my room, it was already dark; but I made it back before curfew. I was pretty proud of myself.

I took off my coat throwing it on my bed along with my favorite book-bag in the shape of a violet spider; that's when I noticed it. I saw the corner of a white sheet of folded paper peeking from under my pillow, just enough so that I would notice it and no one else.

I took hold of the paper my eyes slightly widening as I read it.

If you still want to, come meet me at the park for 8 by the playground.

-Danny

It was scraggly handwriting, but I could still read it. I read it over again, making sure I wasn't just imagining this.

Nope, this was definitely real life. The ghost that was loved by half of Amity-possibly the world-and hated by the other half wanted to meet me again. And, that wasn't even the most messed up part about this. The weirdest and probably the most insane part about this whole situation was that I actually wanted to see him...

I wanted to talk to him again, ask him all of my questions. For some reason I felt this strange pull to him, and somehow, I couldn't escape him. I knew now that there must have been more to this than just my strange obsession with the unique and abnormal. There was something more to it, to him, and I wasn't really sure on whether or not I wanted to find out what exactly it was.

I bit my lip, looking at my window, thinking about how my dad was so outwardly against Danny to the point where he was funding for his capture, and I knew what would happen once he was captured, very bad things. I shuddered, if Danny knew who my dad was...

I shook my head. I shoved on my black coat; squaring my shoulders with resolution, I opened the window, shimmying down the gutter-my normal escape-and started walking in the direction of the park, all the while my list of questions continued to grow bigger along with the knots in my stomach.

A/N: And there is chapter 2! I know I'm so late on this, but all of my updates are going to be later because I'm dealing with a whole lot right now, some good, some bad. Thanks for all the support you guys are given, really every review helps and gives me inspiration. I really love writing this story so far because it's my first true story where there will be a whole lot of things going on, and the plot only gets more interesting. Oh, I can't wait to post Danny's point of view too (but I have to wait because that will ruin all of the bumps and turns I have in store)! The song, Get Up, is by Barcelona (I've been really in to their music lately).