Chapter 58: Montana Monsters Part 1
It was the day after, with school already over. Danny was out with his friends when a very unlikable person stood in their way.
"Hey, Fenturd!" Dash said. "Some hottie yesterday blew me off, so I'm taking it out on you!"
Danny rolled his eyes.
"Dash, I have better things to do then be your punching bag. Why not find someone else to blow you off?"
Dash gritted his teeth and was about to threw a punch, when someone caught it from behind his back.
"Hey!" Dash shouted as he looked over his shoulder. "Who's the wiseg-" He gasped in horror. "YOU!"
"You remember me?" Kim asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm almost flattered…"
Kim, with an innocent looking Ron eating a bag of potato chips, was glaring at Dash. Dash immediately ran away crying as soon as Kim let him go.
"Wow… what a wimp." Ron admitted, with Rufus nodding while eating a chip. "Even Brick's not that turned off by Kim."
"So… are you free?" Kim asked Danny.
"Yeah…" He answered without even thinking.
"Uh… free for what, exactly?" Sam asked, not happy about how Danny is seemingly going somewhere with Kim.
"Kim's uncle is apparently going to get some big, scaly visitors." Danny explained. "I'm going for the extra muscle."
"So… it's just me and Sam?" Tucker asked before glancing at Kim with an interested smile. "Because, I don't mind if-"
"I need you guys to make sure ghosts aren't causing trouble. Take Jazz with you."
Tucker frowns in annoyance, while Sam huffed that Danny is going to be with Kim.
"Fine…" They both answer in disappointment.
"Come on." Kim said as she gestured for Danny to follow her and Ron.
Once they walk a few feet away, a helicopter landed in front of them. Danny was surprised that it arrived so quick.
"That… was fast…"
"Thank Wade." Ron said. "Anything ever happened to us, he'd be a great travel agent."
While Sam scowled and Tucker looked envious, Dash was rather bitter to see this, even from far away. He started walking away, hunched.
"Not fair… how'd that loser get close to a hottie like that?!" He asked aloud.
Angered, Dash kicked an empty can on the ground. That can went flying into a car that was pulling out of the parking lot. The hit towards the windshield made the car swerve to the right, where it was hit by another car.
Seeing this, Dash panicked and ran in the opposite direction.
The owner of the car hit with the can, Tetslaff, got out.
"Oh… come on!"
Someone well known in Middleton nearby who was jogging stopped and then came towards the crash.
"Excuse me, you alright ma'am?" Barkin asked Tetslaff, who sighed.
"Yeah… physically anyway…"
In a jet, now above the Lazy C ranch in Montana, the three were discussing.
"Okay… so, when they meet you, I'll do the talking." Kim told Danny before looking to Ron. "Do not add a single word, got it?"
"Kim, give me credit here." Ron said with an insulted tone. "I'm not a total blabbermouth…" He said with an arm cross and his head turning away for good measure.
Kim rolled her eyes.
She looked to Danny.
"Sorry, but it looks like we only have two parachutes. Usually, it's just the two of us and I guess they didn't get the memo."
Danny shrugged.
"It's cool. I can just fly down."
He morphed in front of the two, ready for departure.
At the Lazy C, where Joss was practicing with a grappling hook, and still dressed as her cousin, she spotted something above.
"Pa! Look up!"
Joss pointed up, where her cousin Kim and sidekick Ron were parachuting towards them.
"Kimberly Ann?" Her uncle Slim asked.
That's when Danny Phantom was seen flying past them, something that caught Joss's attention fast
"Danny Phantom!"
Kim and Ron landed in front of the two, removing their parachutes via the straps.
"Uncle Slim. Cousin Joss." Kim greeted.
"Kim!" Joss shouted happily as she ran to hug her.
"Well, my favorite niece…" Slim greeted. He saw Ron. "And her friend, Ronald."
"And me!"
Danny walked out from the other side of the barn.
Slim and Joss took notice.
"Who are you?" Slim questioned.
"I'm Danny..."
He sent Kim and Ron a wink, indicating it was time for their cover story.
"He is a new friend. His parachute landed a little further from us and he left earlier, so he had to walk here..."
Unfortunately for Kim, Ron added.
"Which means he has NOTHING to do with the OTHER Danny who flew in and landed in the same location and has a similar name and hairstyle as this one!"
Ron smiled while his friends looked at him with their mouths agape.
It took a moment to sink in.
"You're Danny Phantom?!" Joss asked with a big smile.
"Huh... now that you said it, the similarities are hard not to piece together..." Slim said as he examined the boy.
Kim and Danny glared at Ron, who looked sheepish.
"Ron! Secret identity, remember?!" Kim shouted.
Ron shrugged defensively.
"I panicked! What was I supposed to say?!"
"Nothing! You were supposed to say NOTHING!" Danny shouted.
Ron shrugged while Rufus was giving a rather embarrassed groan.
Kim sighed. "Well, them knowing you're Danny Phantom might help us." She looked to her cousin and uncle. "Long story short, we think a mutual enemy of ours is after something you built. From what I got, it has something to do with sound."
"Sound? Hmm…" Slim started thinking. "I may have something like that. I'll give it a look. Meantime, y'all enjoy yourselves."
As Slim walked away, his daughter approached Danny.
"Howdy... I'm Joss..." She said with her hand out.
Danny smiled as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Joss, I'm-"
"Danny Fenton... Kim's new friend..." Joss said.
Danny blinked just to make sure he heard that right. "How did you know that?"
"Joss was and is Kim's biggest fan... she knows practically everything about her..." Ron whispered to him.
"Aww, that's sweet..." Danny said.
"Yeah, but she can take it to a critical level at times..." Kim whispered to him.
Danny rose a brow. "I'm afraid to ask…"
"I'm a HUGE Danny Phantom fan! Check out what I did to my room!"
Joss insisted as she ran along, waving her hand to get them follow along.
"Well… while we're here…" Kim said as she and Danny followed. She saw Ron not moving. "Coming, Ron?"
Ron shrugged.
"Nah, I think Rufus and I are gonna head to the nearby Smarty Mart to pick up some snacks and drinks."
"Yeah!" Rufus went.
Kim shrugged as the two walked off.
While her back was turned, Danny had a very smitten look on his face for Kim, one that did not escape Joss.
After this, Joss showed Danny and Kim her room. Both of them gasped. It was once littered with photos of Kim, now it's littered with Danny Phantom's photos.
"Uh... neat." Danny said, sounding somewhat flattered yet still disturbed.
"So... I see you have a new hero." Kim said.
"I do!" Joss said. "And I can't tell you how happy I am that my favorite cousin and favorite hero are friends!" She looked to door to see no one there and smiled slyly. "Are you two datin'?"
Both teen heroes just froze in place.
"Come again?" They both went.
"I see the way you stared at my cousin." Joss said to Danny. "She don't normally have boys starin' if the see her roundhouse kick anyone... so that must mean she don't mind it, so she must like you too."
Both of them glanced at each other unsure how to answer her.
"Uh… you know… I think I should go with Ron… in case he and Rufus overload on snacks…"
Danny quickly morphed and phased through the floor fast, leaving Joss with Kim.
"So, is he your boyfriend?" Joss asked with an interested look.
Kim blushed brightly. "What? No... Uh... why would you say that?" She asked, looking awkward.
Joss looked amused.
"Because it's obvious you like him and he likes you, I can tell from the way he was looking at you." Joss said.
Kim was surprised before remaining stern.
"Joss... Danny is just a friend of mine and right now, we have an important mission to do together..."
Joss rolled her eyes.
"If you say so, cousin...but he is cute..."Joss said.
"So?" Kim asked before shaking her head. "Not that I care or anything…"
"So, if you actually do like him, you better be careful since the cute ones don't stay on the market for long..." Joss stated.
Kim raised a brow. "Joss, you're 12... how do you know this?"
Joss shrugged. "Agony County might be delaying with their Danny and Charity's hook up but it does have its moments..." She explained.
"Okay, you're way too young to watch that!" Kim said sharply.
On the island where they made their base of operations, the Terakons were waiting for their portal tech to finally recharge.
"Is it almost ready?!" Slashfang asked.
"Almost…" Seastorm said as he oversaw the device. "This time, I will go."
Slashfang glared, he did not like that.
"I can handle it with the others."
"Obviously not, because you would have returned with more than just information." Seastorm said.
Slashfang looked ready to pounce him, when someone flew in.
"You will go together with Slashfang, Seastorm." Thirorex said once he landed. "You alone combine intelligence and precession to make this work in spite of idiocy."
Seastorm bowed. "It will be done… my king."
Slashfang looked away, annoyed.
How am I going to make myself king with that windbag constantly looking over my shoulder?!
At the local Smarty Mart, Danny was pushing the cart while Ron was grabbing whatever tasty looking snack he spots.
"Ron, dude… we're not exactly carrying hundreds here…" Danny said.
"Relax, D." Ron assured. "I got coupons good for any Smarty Mart!" Ron grabbed a packet of pudding and tossed it in. "Weird that there's no Smarty Mart in Amity Park."
Danny shrugged. "I guess adding it wasn't part of Vlad's plans for world domination." Saying that name got Danny thinking. "Come to think of it, he's been super quiet since the Faction came to an end. I guess he's trying to stay quiet to make sure our scaly friends don't find him."
"Well, while he's MIA… I got corndogs!" Ron said with glee as he held a box in his hands. "Awesome!"
Rufus happily clapped.
"Is Smarty Mart like the only store you go to?" Danny asked.
"Cha!" Ron went.
Danny rolled his eyes.
"Well, let's just get this done, before flying dinosaurs show up." He says. He sighed. "I actually miss being hunted by Skulker… At least I can put him in a thermos."
"Oh, soup! They got a deal on alphabet soup!"
Ron ran towards the aisle for soup, leaving Danny just unsure of what to think of him.
"So… he's older than me, right?"
Slim Possible was looking around in an old storage shed, looking through boxes.
"Lemme see here… Kimmy says it's got to do with sound. If I recall, I made something I never got around to patenting on account of me meeting Joss's ma." He said to himself as he scratched the side of his head. "Now where'd I put that thing?" He took another step forward, only for his foot to hit a box. He looked down and saw something sticking out. He smiled. "Eureka! I found it!"
Kim was out, trying to look for her uncle as Joss was following, still asking about Danny.
"Is it true he fought some kinda king of them ghosts?" She asked.
"I guess… that was before I met him." Kim answered.
"Is it true his folks don't know he's a Phantom?"
"Yeah, afraid so…"
"Is it true-"
"Joss." Kim quickly, yet politely, cut her off. "I recommend you ask Danny yourself when you see him."
Joss thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Sure thing." She then whispered. "You sure you two aren't datin'?"
Kim stopped and her shoulders raised in shock.
"Joss…" She turned around, trying to maintain her composure. "He's two years younger than me."
"So? Most women who get older go for younger men…" Joss said. "That's what the adults in Agony Country do…"
"Once again, you should not be watching that." Kim scolded.
"So… you two never kissed once?" Joss asked with amused look and her arms crossed.
Kim turned red.
"N… no… we never kissed once." Kim answered.
"A-ha!" Joss pointed with a grin. "Once! That means it's been more than once!"
Kim groaned with a facepalm.
That's when Slim came out of his storage shed.
"Kimberly!" He called for her. "I think I found what these villains are looking for!"
As Danny was walking back, carrying all of the bags while Ron was eating a chocolate bar with Rufus, Danny huffed.
"Ron… you're older than me. You should at least carry some of these."
"Aw… but who is Rufus gonna share chocolate with?" Ron whined. Danny dropped the bags in irritation, to Ron's horror. "Dude! The corndogs!"
Danny groaned loudly.
"Ron… you-" Before Danny could argue, he saw something atop a hill. It looked to be a large portal. "Uh oh…"
"Uh oh?" Ron asked. He started turning his head. "What's so- OH MY GOSH!"
Two figures stepped out. One Danny was familiar with, one he wasn't. Both of them, however, were very large and dinosaur-like in appearance.
Getting serious, Danny ran behind a nearby car and, seeing nobody around, morphed. He flew out to speak to Ron.
"Tell Kim we have visitors, I'll go deal with them!"
Danny flew off. Ron just stared at the dropped bags. He groaned.
"I guess I gotta take these…"
"This is the modern world?" Seastorm asked as he looked around. "The environment looks very… weak." He expressed his disgust.
"I agree…" Slashfang admitted. "So, let's find this man called "Slim" and take this invention of his."
"Hey! Remember me?!"
A voice from above caught their attention. They looked up and a large snowball bigger than his own head flew into Slashfang's face, knocking him down. Seastorm, unfazed, saw the floating human glaring down at them.
"I take it this is the one known as Danny Phantom?" He asked.
Slashfang, wiping the snow off, snarled. "Indeed…"
As he was getting up, Seastorm stuck his arm out.
"I will handle this…"
Slashfang glared at his partner before shrugging and looking away.
"And… you are?" Danny asked the beast he's not familiar with.
"I am Seastorm, proud tactician of the king. Allow me to show how I got my name…"
After briefly inhaling through his nostrils, Seastorm fired an attack from his mouth. It was an attack that knocked Danny down and hitting the ground.
As he was getting up, Danny noticed he was wet.
"Water?" He looked grossed out. "Ew! Did you spit this at me?!"
"I do not spit… I shoot compressed water from my throat at a force that is the equivalent of crushing a bug with a large rock." Seastorm explains. "Allow me to demonstrate once more!"
After inhaling, Seastorm fired a powerful stream that Danny flew out of the way.
"You need to chill!"
Danny fired a blast of his freezing power. The ice followed its way, but Seastorm closed his mouth before the ice could reach.
Before he could make another move, Seastorm is punched in the face by Danny. This actually makes him step back.
"Ha! Your king and Trescorn took more than that!" Danny boasted.
Hearing this, Seastorm tried to reach out, but Danny dodged and uppercut his foe.
Seastorm grabbed Danny, but the ghost boy used his power to turn into mist and get out before reforming.
"How?!" Seastorm questioned.
"Oh yeah, I'm half-ghost." Danny admitted. "I can't overshadow you guys, but I can take a hit and give it!"
"Are you certain?!" Slashfang questioned before flying at Danny.
Danny bobbed and grabbed him by the tail before throwing him at Seastorm, who backhanded him out of the way.
"Clearly… I should just handle this on my own…" Seastorm said before launching more blasts of water that Danny flew around.
However, one of the blasts hit Danny in the back, sending him to the ground. Upon impact, Danny got on his feet.
"This might be slightly tough…" He muttered under his breath.
Seastorm groaned. "This is taking forever… fortunately, I set the portal to activate in case we need back up…"
He snapped his fingers and the portal opened up.
Danny looked concerned at what was coming out.
"Okay… even tougher…" He groaned.
"So… this is it?" Kim asked.
She was in the storage unit with her uncle and cousin. Slim was holding some kind of device. It looked like a satellite attached to an old-fashioned VCR.
"It was something I was doing before I met Joss's ma. It was meant to be a kind of emergency broadcast in case something awful like an alien invasion happened. It's meant to hijack all audio systems, but so far it can only about a 10-mile radius. I realized it might not work because I would need a larger unit and an equally large source of power." He tells her.
Kim observed the weird device.
"How much power are we talking?" Kim asked.
"About enough power to light up a city." Slim said.
"Hmm…" Kim thought about it. "I wonder what they'd want with something like this?"
"So who's comin' to take it? Drakken? Dementor? One of Danny's bad guys?" Joss asked.
"Oh…" Kim realizes she hadn't said who was coming. "Uh…" She drew a blank, unsure what to say.
"KIM!" Ron's screaming voice caught her attention.
"Ron?"
Kim left the storage room, her uncle and cousin following, and saw Ron was gasping for air with his knees buckled.
"We got…" Panting. "A problem!"
Ron pointed to behind him. There, to Kim's surprise, she saw Danny fighting what appeared to be smaller dinosaurs with wings.
"Are those… raptors?" Kim asked.
Danny was firing at each of these creatures, sending them flying before they could attack him. However, some of them saw the other humans and ran towards them. Kim went on the defensive, she flipped forward and countered one of these monsters, kicking it in the throat. Another came in behind, but Kim kicked upward in its face. One of them snapped at her with its mouth, but Kim elbows it in the face.
Two more tried to attack, but a blast from behind froze them in ice. It was Danny.
"Hang on, Kim!" Danny flew ahead.
Upon reaching her, Kim spoke to him.
"I'm guessing they're here?" She asked.
"So is Slashfang, and another one named Seastorm." Danny said.
The sound of trees being pushed was heard. To the teens' horror, they saw the two Terakons pushing their way through and reach.
"I see the Nyklaw found a human home." Seastorm said. "Is this the location of Slim Possible?"
Slim, who was just as baffled as his daughter, answered. "Who's askin'?"
"We are!" Slashfang answered with a toothy grin.
"Kim?" Joss asked, looking genuinely surprised. "Who or what are those?"
"Oh... did I neglect to mention the ones after you are prehistoric sentient dragons brought to life by our supervillains in a misguided plan for an army to takeover the world, only for they themselves to rebel and make their own plan for world domination?" Kim asked sheepishly.
Both Slim and Joss just stared blankly before he responded.
"You might have left that part out… "
Part 1 of a 2 parter involving Kim's uncle and cousin. Anyone else wish Joss had more appearances?
So now, what do you suppose they want with that thing? I guess you'll have to find out.
Joss has been added to the list of people who like seeing these two together.
Special thanks to Flower Princess11 for some parts.