CHAPTER 20

Danny Phenton

…

"This is Lance Thunder, Action News, wondering why a weatherman is doing the anchor's job." For what seemed to be no other reason than the peaceful setting, Lance Thunder was standing in the middle of Amity Park's Amit Park, and sending a sour look at someone off camera. "Lately the Survivalists, as they've been titled, have been the center of everyone's attention, and it's no surprise. As the government employs search parties, everyone else sits and watches, eager and apprehensive to see the fate of those lost in the crash. With the days witnessed in these mysterious videos barely numbering four, there's no way of knowing at this point whether the crash survivors are even alive, or if the next video we see will be their final moments. Along with the videos, many theories have sprouted up online."

Lance started walking down the park path, and a few citizens in the background waved at the camera.

"The most recent and prominent theory to take hold concerns Amity Park's own ghostly protector, Danny Phantom, and how much of a ghost he really may be. The discussion was sparked by blogger Haley Wilkes who, after the most recent video, published an article detailing ghostly psychology and physiology. At the end of the article, she concludes that Danny Phantom, due to his differences from other ghosts, may be partly human."

"Phantom rules!" A voice shouted from of screen. The head of a young teenage boy popped into view, and he gave a quick fist pump before ducking away. Lance watched the boy scamper away with a bored expression before resuming.

"Many people have questioned Wilkes' reasoning, especially when the article seems to jump to the conclusion, and doesn't list all the facts. Wilkes' more loyal followers have defended her strongly. Other theorists have since uploaded their own articles detailing bolstering Wilkes' opinion, or tearing it down. There has been little talk over Phantom's actual identity, if Wilkes' conspiracy proves true, but one forum has sparked the strongest debate yet. Amity 117 Chat Forum is a private, and anonymously owned and operated site by an individual calling themselves KingArthur. The forum, created not long after the first video appeared, is a place for individuals eager to discuss the Survivalists to gather. It also appears to be the place where the name 'Survivalists' was first used to describe those stranded on the island."

Lance stopped walking, now in a more populated section of the park. Behind him, and coming closer, a boy could be seen that looked strikingly like Danny Phantom. His hair, though red, was styled similarly, and he had green eyes. He looked to be the right height and was fairly lean. Replace the red hair with white, and the basketball uniform with a black and while jumpsuit, and he could be the town hero.

"While the last session ended in the forum crashing, the last message sent from one of the users could be the biggest revelation of the decade. User BoyWes, local Amity resident and Casper High student Wes Weston, boldly stated that Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom."

In the corner of the screen, a shot of the chat forum flashed across the screen, featuring Wes' announcement. The redhead that had been slowly approaching was level with Lance now, and stopped beside him rather than continuing on his way.

"With my I have Wes Weston himself to voice his thoughts on the subject." Lance turned to the boy who looked like Danny Phantom. "Most people of Amity Park know Danny Fenton to be a quiet and clumsy boy with poor or average grades. What led to make such a rash conclusion?"

Wes slipped his back off his shoulders while he started talking. "I wasn't really interested in it at first. Like everyone else, I thought Phantom was cool and just thought he was a ghost. But after his approval rating went up, a few people came up to me and asked if I was Phantom, which is ridiculous."

Wes scoffed and shook his head. "Some of them even knew me, and knew I wasn't dead, but they still thought I could be Phantom. So I decided to find out who he was myself. Once I started looking it didn't take long."

He reached into his backpack and took out a stack of papers. He took the first one and shoved it towards the camera. It was a line graph. The horizontal axis read 'Bathroom Breaks' while the vertical one was titled 'Ghost Attacks.'

"I've always had a lot of classes with Danny, and after a while I noticed he asked for a lot of bathroom breaks, and a lot of times right before Danny Phantom would be seen fighting. I started logging the number of times Fenton asked to be excused, and compared it to the number of Phantom sightings. The more times Danny disappeared from the class, the more Phantom was seen during school hours." He shoved the chart back in his back and held out the next paper. It had a series of pictures, obviously taken while trying to be unnoticed, of Danny Fenton. His aging was obvious, as well as the slight wardrobe changes. "Fenton was a scrawny nerd when he started high school. After I started watching him, I saw he started to wear long, baggy clothes more. Obviously to hide the scars from ghost fighting, and the muscles. He even opted out of the few swim classes that are part of our gym curriculum, claiming it was for some medical condition."

Wes put the creepy, stalker style photos away and raised two full sized photos. One of Danny Phantom, obviously taken from a newspaper. The other a yearbook photo of Danny Fenton. He held them close together so everyone could see the similarities. "I mean, come on. They have the same face! How dense do you have to be? Not to mention the names. Danny Fenton, and Danny Phantom. It's not even that creative!"

Wes' voice had risen and he was talking faster now. "I've been saying it for years, but no one ever believed me! They always said he couldn't their hero because he's a loser, or clumsy. Or because his parents are ghost hunters, and they would know! You know what Fenton used to say to that? His parents couldn't catch a ghost if it was living under their noses! He wasn't even trying to hide it, and no one besides me ever saw it. But you all believe me now, right?"

He had stepped towards the camera, yelling into it. His eyes were wide and he was pointing accusingly. It was no surprise that the camera shook a little as the person holding it back away. Lance was staring blankly at Wes. As the only reporter ever to be swarmed by vicious skeletal ghosts, one conspiracy crazy teen was nothing.

"Thank you, Wes." Lancer nodded at the camera and started walking briskly away. Off screen Wes must have recovered from his excited state, because he was shouting after them.

"I always knew it!"

"There you have one… interesting theory about Danny Phantom and his identity. Is it true? Could Danny Fenton be the ghost boy we all know and love?"

The words Danny Phenton drifted across the bottom of the screen.

"Tune in to Ghost Watch with Tiffany Snow tomorrow, where she will interview Haley Wilkes, the Fentons will return once again, and a surprise guest will make an appearance, perhaps to settle this debate once and for all."

…

'See' you next time!