Danny exited the room, placing the first aid kit on a night stand, he shuffled to the couch in the middle of the room, and flopped down exhausted from the day. Landing face down on the cushions, he pulls out his phone and begins dialing, the three rings it takes them to pick up feels like an hour, finally he hears the click, followed by his best friend's voice "hey Danny what's up" he says groggily.
"Hey tuck" Danny says "lolling his head to the side, sorry about the late hour but I need a favor"
His friend replies, "Of course man anything, you know I got your back"
"Thanks man, you have no idea just how much that means" he says thinking of how lucky he is to have a friend like tucker.
"So what's the favor dude?"
"You saw the news?"
"Yeah, huge mess downtown, I take it that was your handiwork" tucker says already knowing the answer.
"Something like that, it's complicated" he evades
"No doubt"
"Anyway, I need you to run interference" he says flatly
"Interference?" tucker questions
"Valerie"
"What, she give you trouble?" tuck asks
"Not yet, but with me back in a big way, well let's just say we never really buried the hatchet.
"Say no more dude, I'll keep her so distracted that she won't have time to think about phantom let alone chase him. Danny could practically hear the smirk in tuckers voice
"Appreciate it dude, it means a lot
"No prob if I couldn't keep my girlfriend entertained what use would I be he chuckled. So phantom huh" tucker questions
"Yeah about that"
"So when were you gonna tell me" tucker replies sounding dejected
"It's not like that dude" he defends
"It's cool, it's cool you don't have to explain anything to me"
"Dude you're my best fucking friend my secrets are your secrets but it I hadn't really planned on it, it just kind of happened if I had planned it out I would have told you" Danny explains
"I get it dude shit happens, whatever you do you know I'm with you
"I know man, I know
"Well, personally I think it's a step in the right direction, I know shit went south last year but you can't keep beating yourself up over it." He says attempting to console Danny
"Dude, we both know what happened was my fault"
"Yeah, not gonna deny that it was but he had it coming, and as for the whole Sam thing, it is what it is."
"You know, it's been a while since we just talked" Danny states
"It happens dude, sometimes life gets in the way, but that doesn't matter what matters isn't how often we shoot the shit it's about knowing that no matter what we've got each other's back no matter the weather" tucker explains
"When did you become all philosophical?" Danny scoffs
"After jazz left someone had to, I mean if not who would have kept your mess together he laughs god knows you can't do it yourself" Danny laughs along with his best friend the first genuine laugh he's had in a long time
After a minuet of laughter they both calm down, and Danny says "alright man I'll let you get some sleep"
"Yeah dude, who calls at four in the morning" he says sarcastically as they both broke out laughing again.
"Later man"
"Later." Tucker paused "and Danny"
"Yeah?" he answers hesitantly
"I know you got a lot of stuff going on in your head but don't wait so long to reach out to a friend next time"
"I'll keep that in mind" he says before hanging up
Jack and Maddie Fenton sat in two very large chairs around a conference table, a dim light obscuring their faces, from the rest of the room. All in all there were six chairs around the conference table sat representatives of the government organization the guys in white, and a group known as the extreme Ghostbreakers.
The guys in white's representatives, operative's k and o stand up, "the menace of the amity park, phantom has finally resurfaced after a year of prosperity. We have gathered you here today to discuss potential solutions"
The extreme Ghostbreakers stood up "it's gotta be extreme"
Operatives k and o just face-palmed "who invited them" asked k under his breath
At this point Maddie Fenton stood up from her chair and slammed both palms down on the table "this is serious, the ghost boy is more powerful than he was a year ago. We took ambient readings from the area after his appearance, and the particle density showed that after one hour there were still 140000 microns of ectoplasm per square foot" Maddie takes a moment to examine the blank looks on the faces of her colleagues
With a sigh she begins to explain again "this level of ectoplasm is toxic, but its disposition seems to have changed, has letting off a different variant of ectoplasm, it seems to stimulate growth in organic life. Given the half-life of ectoplasm in an ambient environment and our own experience with phantom, it seems that in his year of absence he has gone from being a class 3 to a class 5 specter, an unprecedented growth in power over such a short period of time, the only specter close to that level of power is the class 4 specter the Wisconsin ghost, given phantoms more aggressive disposition it would not be unreasonable to expect for him to become more territorial"
Operative o interrupts "Until today their hadn't been a ghost sighting in over a year and according to your report he seems to have come to the aid of the class 3 specter code name ember how is that more territorial"
"We've come up with 2 plausible explanations, one being that ghosts by the nature of being instinct driven creatures, might have some type of animalistic mating ritual system." Maddie explains.
At this point operative k scoff audibly "The other more likely explanation, is that the specter known a ember is subservient to phantom as survival instinct, much like the behavior exhibited in dogs with the most powerful member of groups being considered the for all intents and purposes the "alpha male" although it is still unknown whether or not ghosts are able to identify or have any concept of gender" says Maddie.
"So doctor Fenton what do you propose" says agent k crossing his arms over his chest.
"My proposition is to capture the ghost boy," she says "he could provide an unlimited amount of power if properly contained"
"Or we could harness his energy and weaponize" it says operatives k and o in unison. "How doctor Fenton, would you think to capture such a dangerous specter"
Maddie Fenton smiles a dangerous smile as she begins formulating a plan.