Greetings, all Phans who have actually take the time to read my work! I, Hakken-Senshi (formerly Ushina and Ushinawaerata-Senshi), have finally "returned" and am back with a new fresh chapter of A New Ones Rises! I hope you enjoy it and please read the outro for an update on my condition and what's been going on since I last uploaded on .
Chapter 9
Danny woke up slowly at 11 a.m. that Saturday morning to see something black and white floating in front him. As his vision cleared that 'something' was Danielle. The small demi-specter seemed wide awake and had obviously been that way for a few hours.
"Daaad" Dani complained, "you said we would get up early and go out for breakfast this morning, remember?" Her impatience with him was so obvious that he couldn't help chuckling to himself. As a matter of fact, he did promise Danny her that. He smiled drowsily as he shook himself awake.
"Sorry, Dani," he yawned as he looked over at his alarm clock, "we can still go, just give a few minutes to get ready, 'kay?"
"Yeah, 'kay," Dani answered, floating over to the closet to wait in the Lair. She stopped beside the door and looked back at her father. "Dad, I'm sorry for complaining. I was just really excited. I –"
"I know, Dani. It's okay." Danny interjected. Dani nodded and then disappeared behind the closet door as it shut and he heard the sound of a second door opening and shutting as well. He yawned again and forced himself to climb out of bed towards his dresser, grabbed some clothes, and head to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth.
Once he finished preparing, Danny collected his daughter and the twosome walked down the stairs to find Jazz getting herself a bowl of cereal. Her sudden appearance surprised the two Halfas so much that they almost turned intangible on the spot. Jazz, having not yet noticed them, was equally surprised when she turned around to see them. She let out a soft yell and dropped her cornflakes and milk on the floor.
"Uh, Danny – ?" Jazz began.
"Well, good morning to you, too." Danny replied, enjoying the momentary look of confusion on his sister's face. "Remember the deal I made with Dani?"
Jazz took a few microseconds to process those last words. "Oh yeah," she answered, now smiling down at her niece (She still wasn't used to the idea of her younger brother being a father, and her an aunt.). "Well, have fun!" she said as she walked over to get the broom and dustpan. She walked back to the mess and started to clean it up when she noticed the two still standing there. She stared inquisitively though she thought she already knew the question Danny was so reluctant to ask. "Yes?" she asked as she continued to clean.
"Uh, Jazz...can I borrow some money?" Danny asked sheepishly.
Jazz had to keep herself from bursting out in laughter. Her brother, Danny Phantom, the protector of Amity Park, and the world on some occasions, HER brother, was afraid to ask for some money from his big sister? She looked him in the eye and was about to plunge into a lecture about being more responsible, but before she could begin, Dani spoke up.
"Pleeaassee, Auntie Jazz," Dani begged, "can't you let him off this once?"
Jazz wasn't one to give into begging, but she consented to her niece's plea and ran up to her room, returning with a few crumpled bills. "I want the change back," she said placing the cash in Danny's hand. As the twosome headed for the door, she called, "And you will pay me back for what you spend!"
"Yeah, Jazz, some day!" Danny called back as he and his daughter ran out the door. Jazz just smiled to herself and returned to her cleaning.
Danny was enjoying the chance to walk with his daughter for a change. Ever since her return, the two and her mother had been caught up in school, ghost hunting, and barely remembering to eat and sleep amongst it all. They had had very little time to just hang out and bond as a family. Thus, he was quite glad for this welcome, if not brief, change.
Despite the joy Danny was feeling, he couldn't help but notice Danielle's unusual quietness. She was always so bright, talkative, excited about everything since it was still kinda new to her. He hesitated to ask her why, and finally he decided to "man up" and ask the second most difficult question today. "Hey, Dani," he began, "are you alright? You seem kinda down." He reached over to place his hand on her shoulder, but then she suddenly shuddered and swatted his hand away. She then looked at her father with a look of confusion.
What just happened? the young Phantom thought to herself. She vaguely remembered a weird feeling of something ominous, like something was about to happen, then she swatted at something she couldn't see and then everything returned to normal.
"Dani, did you hear me? What's going on, are you okay?" Danny inquired, starting to get worried. He saw her look at him and then shake her head.
"Sorry, Dad, I just had this weird feeling, but I'm all good, okay?" Dani said quickly as she tried to think of something else to talk about. "Hey, Dad, do you ever wish you could use your wealth in this world? You certainly would never have to borrow from Aunt Jazz again, in fact, you wouldn't ever have needed to." She saw her father was not quite convinced, but he was willing to drop it for now.
"Well, yeah, it would be great to be able to, Dani. However, think about what would happen if Danny Fenton suddenly had a bunch of money at his disposal? It would definitely send up more than a few red flags."
"Yeah, I guess," Dani said softly, " hey, Dad, is that it?"
She pointed to a building that looked like any old diner, including a large neon sign which read "Amity Happy Diner". The place itself was nothing special, but it had become quite famous in a short time because of its amazing breakfast options. After wandering around a different part of town and several wrong turns, the twosome had finally reached their destination, breathing a sigh of relief upon entering the establishment.
The two had hardly stepped inside when they heard a call and saw two familiar persons waving them over. A they walked closer, there was no doubt about their identities – Sam Manson, Dani's mother, and Tucker Foley, Danny's best friend besides Sam. The two Halfas sat down with a look of confusion at the unexpected meeting between the members of Team Phantom sans Jazz.
Finally, Danielle asked the question that both her and Danny had been thinking. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" she asked before adding, "I mean it is great to see you it's just we didn't expect to see you here."
Sam just smirked and answered, "Nice save, Dani. Tucker and I felt like surprising you , plus I am your mother so why should I be left out of the celebration?"
"Yeah, and I'm your Uncle Tuck." Tucker interjected as he tried to focus on the conversation and his game at the same time. He finished his level and then saved the game so he could actually interact with the others.
"Okay, you guys, point taken," Danny replied.
A waitress with blonde hair walked over with a notebook and four menus in hand and pulling a pencil from behind her ear. She handed them the menus and a few minutes later walked away with their orders, replacing the pencil behind her ear as she left.
Tucker and the others began to discuss the topic of the formerly missing student for the umpteenth time. The techno geek quickly became bored since they had chatted about it all last night, and no matter what they did to try and change the subject, the student from Darkwood always found its way into the conversation once more reclaiming its position as the main topic. He pulled out the same device from before and played through the net couple of levels while the others continued to talk, oblivious to the secession of their fourth member. He finally reached a point where he couldn't continue without a second player. With the WiFi being sucky in that part of town and his mobile data run out, he almost resorted to a clone player glitch, but decided against it and saved the game before replacing it in his backpack.
Still disinterested in the conversation, he looked out the window and stared lost in thought at the traffic rushing past his window. After a few seconds, he began to wander from circuit boards and HD monitors to something else, something completely different, something like her . . .
"Hey, Earth to Tuck!" Danny yelled into his friends left ear. Tucker was so surprised at the sudden jerk back to reality that he screamed and bumped the table, knocking over all of their water glasses. Dani and Sam gasped and jumped up from the table while Danny shook his head and went to ask for more napkins to clean up the mess. After the situation was "stabilized", the trio glared at Tucker and demanded an explanation for his detachment from the rest of them. Tucker's mind reeled trying to come up with a satisfactory answer when he noticed a silver Dodge Intrepid drive by followed by a moving van.
"Hey," Tucker said, completely forgetting the his previous task, "who's moving?" The others were about to chew him out for trying to change the subject when they too noticed the two vehicles driving off through town. Immediately the former matter was dropped and they all sat down to discuss it when the waitress came over with their food. After thanking her, they all dug into their meals with the intent of further discussion afterward.
Jason jolted into consciousness as his father drove up to their new home. he was experiencing an extreme exhaustion since his return from the Ghost Zone, and his parents were not at all suspicious since he had spent nearly 36 hours in a different dimension/world/reality/etc. (They had no idea which since the Fentons had neglected to inform them properly). Despite his best efforts, he had to allow his father to drive lest he slumber at the wheel. Our hero had just awoken from one major power nap feeling just as fatigued as he had prior to it.
The silver Dodge Intrepid slowed as it turned into the driveway of a three story house that had previously been an apartment building. As the vehicle came to a stop and was turned off, Jason quickly unbuckled and hopped out for a better look at the place. It had plenty of windows and the exterior was made of a mahogany colored brick with a dark gray mortar between them. The front door was a varnished dark wooden door with a faded ornate brass knob.
Jason sighed as he walked up opened the door to reveal a myriad of movers toting crates and boxes and, well, totes throughout the house. in the center of the room was his father and mother directing each and every one of them to put what where and how. Jason loved his parents very much, but it was times like this where it was obvious that their tastes could be a bit. . . much. He maneuvered his way through the traffic of the movers and finally reached his father who noticed him almost immediately.
"Oh, hey Jason, just a second," Mr. Enderson paused as a man carrying a box of dishes walked past, "yes, do put those in the kitchen , but please be very careful. Now, what is it Jason?" he asked when he turned his attention back to him.
"I, uh. . . was just wondering where my stuff was so I could move it into my new room."
"Oh, okay, well it's upstairs. If you want , we are about to stop for lunch and afterward I can help you move your stuff."
"Thanks, Dad, but I'm fine." Jason replied.
Mr. Enderson seemed a little taken aback by his son's denying his help, which he offered only because he didn't want Jason to strain himself so soon after the incident. He knew Jason could definitely do it by himself, but as his father he had a right to worry. "Alright then, you can pick whichever room you want on either the second or third floors. Be right back down though since we are about to have lunch, okay?"
"Okay, Dad!" Jason called since he was halfway up the stairs already. He decided to take on of the four bedrooms, the one furthest from the stairs and began dragging boxes into it. After he had moved a few boxes he found one marked "Books" and decided to take a peek.
At the top was an old photo album full of pictures from past "adventures" and vacations over the years. A flood of family vacations, competitive school events, and plenty of pranks played with or on Sky and Chris. After reminiscing for a few minutes, he placed the book back into the box and sat down with his back to the wall.
[Xeraunius, what do you think of the change of scene?]
[Well, if by 'change of scene', you mean the new home, I like it quite well. Though I have "lived" in a cave for most of my afterlife so I guess it does seem a bit much. It is better than what you have told me an apartment would be like.]
[Yeah. . . ] Suddenly Jason felt Xeraunius tense up like he could sense something. [Hey, what's up?] Jason asked, standing up on the offensive.
[I have picked up on an ectoplasmic signature Jason. It is approximately 1.5 miles west of here.]
[An ectoplasmic signature? You mean a ghost is nearby?] Jason asked now getting excited.
[Yes, now transform and I will guide you.] Xeraunius answered.
[Alright, then, let's go!] Focusing on his ghost form, Jason felt the red halos wash over him transforming him into his new alter ego. He then turned intangible and flew out of the house towards the scene .
Danny and the others had just finished eating plunged head first into the possible reasons why anyone would be moving at this time and who they might be. It wasn't before long that an all too familiar blue wisp escaped the mouths of Danny and Danielle, which was quickly noted by Sam and Tucker putting them all on the alert. Dani stood and tried to get out of the booth. "Dad, let me get this one," she pleaded, but Danny shook his head.
"Not this time, but I'll call you if it gets to that," her father promised as he stood up instead and ran into one of the restrooms. He immediately rushed back out as the sound of screams and yelling emanated from behind the door of the women's room, and he ran into the proper restroom. A slight flash of blue light could be seen under the door, and then Danny flew intangibly through the ceiling out of the diner as he sped away in the direction of the docks.
He soon reached his destination and quickly flew through each of the warehouses until he found what he was looking for – the Box Ghost, his most frequent escapee from the Ghost Zone – but this time he was surprised to find him. The specter had probably never looked so roughed up, except possibly in the alternate timeline when Danny became him. In fact, if it weren't for his usual attire, which was torn in a few places, Danny would never have recognized him among the bruises and welts. The strangest thing about him though was the peculiar red portal that he was disappearing into, which upon further inspection turned out to be a Ghost portal. As soon as the Box Ghost fully disappeared through it, the portal itself made its exit and dissipated.
Danny then flew back to the diner, changed back,then exited the restroom and walked over to the table where the others were waiting for him. All three attempted to ask Danny at once about what had happened, but he just pulled out some money, left it on the table, and walked out of the building with the others quickly following suit. The foursome had nearly reached FentonWorks before Danny finally stopped to explain what exactly had gone down, or at least what he knew of it.
"Wow, " Tucker sighed after Danny had finished, "So do you think it could have been Pariah, or even –"
"No," Danny responded, "Pariah wouldn't have just come hear to beat up the Box Ghost, and he wouldn't have been able to make a red portal. No, whoever this was is someone new."
Well, I hope you liked this one, and now, on with the updating! Okay, so when I last wrote, it was an 'edit' at the end of the last chapter in November. My surgery's one month anniversary will be on Christmas and I already had the stitches taken out as of last week on Monday. I am healing up pretty well, but I am still a little tender and the incision is still only about half healed up. Anyways, since then I have been busy with school, Christmas stuff, and watching a lot of JLU, YJ, and N:MoS. I started typing this chapter like right before surgery and I finally got around to finishing it last night and tonight.
Anyways, if you have also been keeping up with my friend JonBell's story The Phantom's Wings, you will have noticed that he took down Chapter 18. The reason why is I pointed out the poorer quality of the chapter and he agreed with me so I helped pinpoint the issues so he is now in the process of rewriting it into two chapters which I have seen a little something he plans on adding in which makes me quite excited to see when it is done. So if you haven't read it or started reading The Phantom's Wings, then I strongly suggest you do! Another Phanfic I suggest is Paradox Gemby Lost in Flight. Enough of me wasting your time, so see you (hopefully soon!)in the next installment of A New One Rises!