Chapter 22: Spring Break
Thanks to the Ghost Blasters, Danny Fenton had enough time to study to earn the grades his parents demanded as a condition for them to give him money to spend in Beverly Hills. If at least both his best friends could be happy for him.
Flashback begins
"Danny, you're not going to keep letting those Blasters do your job, are you?" Sam asked with a frown.
"Sam, does it really matter who saves the day?" Danny asked in reply.
"Danny, your powers are what make you special." Sam argued in exasperation. "Are you really going to waste it just for more time with a pretty girl?"
"I think he's making a good trade." Tucker commented and Sam punched him for it. "Worth it."
"Sam, having a girlfriend or not, I still would enjoy the free time the Ghost Blasters give me." Danny said.
"Danny, how can you be so selfish?" Sam angrily asked.
Danny was even angrier. "After everything I used my powers for, how can you call me selfish for wanting to enjoy a time off while other heroes protect Amity Park?" He asked.
Flashback ends.
'Well, no time to cry over it.' Danny thought as his plane landed. He could've flown to Beverly Hills as Danny Phantom but was afraid of getting caught in some spy camera.
As he left his plane, Danny looked around hoping to see a sign of Alex's presence or at least a sign with his name written on it. Fortunately, he found both. "Alex!" He called.
"Hi, Danny!" She exclaimed and ran towards him to give him a hug. "Ready to meet my family?"
"Actually, I have to pick my baggage first." Danny answered and then he spotted it. As soon as he got his bag, a guard approached him. "Excuse me, Sir, but I must check your identity before allowing you to take it." The guard said.
"Okay, Sir." Danny replied and, in compliance to the demand, he produced identification documents.
"Daniel Fenton?" The guard asked and Danny nodded. "Alright, you can… wait a minute. It says here you're a minor. Where're your parents?"
Danny produced a paper. "They signed this authorization for me to travel unescorted."
"Where did your flight come from?" The guard asked.
"Amity Park, Illinois." Danny answered.
The guard then pulled a PDA and checked the records to see if they matched Danny's authorization. "Okay, it's all in order. You can go and welcome to Beverly Hills."
After Danny and Alex left the airport, she led him to a car with Samantha at the wheel and Clover sitting next to her. "Thanks for coming." Alex told her friends. "Have you ever tried to park at an airport?"
"No." Both friends answered. "What about you, Danny?" Samantha asked.
"I never got a license." Danny sadly replied. "Skulker attacked me during my practical evaluation. Fortunately, the Ghost Blasters saved me."
"Skulker?" The girls asked in confusion.
"The ghost Alex saved me from back at the Nasty Burger." Danny explained.
"Ooooookay." Samantha reluctantly said and motioned for Danny and Alex to get inside the car.
As Samantha drove them towards Alex's home, some bystanders looked at them in amazement. "What do those girls see in that skinny boy?" One of them asked.
"Maybe one of them is his big sister and they're just being forced to put up with him." Another one suggested.
Oblivious to this, Danny was nervous about meeting his girlfriend's parents when he and the girls heard a familiar (to the girls, at least) beeping sound. "Did anyone just receive a text message?" He asked.
"Oh, it was me." Alex quickly picked up her cell phone to play along with her boyfriend's assumption. "Oh, it's just some advertisement."
Meanwhile, Clover got her compowder. "What's up, Jer?" Clover asked with a whisper. She held the compowder in a way that Danny would appear on camera so Jerry would be careful about he said.
"Clover, the League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow the Spies has been reassembled." Jerry told the blonde spy. "Inform your friends as soon as you can without being overheard by civilians."
"Got it, Jerry." Clover whispered in reply and turned off the compowder.
After Samantha parked, Danny and Alex got off the car. "You lovebirds go ahead." Clover said. "Sammy and I must check our make-up."
After Danny and Alex left, Clover told Samantha about Jerry's warning. "Clover, we have to figure out a way to distract Danny so we can tell Alex!" Samantha exclaimed.
"Yes, but first…" Clover replied and picked up her lipstick.
"Well thought, Clover." Samantha commented. "We have to maintain our cover for Danny."
"No, I just noticed I needed to reapply my lipstick." Clover replied, earning a sigh from her fellow spy. As the two of them entered Alex's home, they heard Alex's Mom allowing Danny to call her "Carmen".
"I see some resemblance." Danny commented. "Are you Aunt Carmela's sister?"
"Did Alex tell you?" Carmen asked.
"No, I've noticed the resemblance on my own." Danny answered.
"Excuse us, but we need to borrow Alex for girl stuff." Clover said as she and Samantha took Alex to the bathroom.
'Probably spy stuff.' Danny thought.
"What?" Alex asked in horror once her friends warned her about the latest development. "The League is back? I won't have to ditch Danny to look for them. Will I?"
"Don't worry, Alex." Clover reassured her friend. "Jerry just wants us to stay alert in case they approach us for revenge."
"Phew." Alex replied.
After the 'girl talk' ended, Alex drove her friends and Danny to the girls' favorite mall in Beverly Hills. "Danny, how come you aren't scared by Alex's driving?" Samantha asked after Alex left the car and Clover had the same question in mind.
"You should've seen my Dad driving when he's looking for ghosts." Danny commented in stride. "He's even faster than Danny Phantom flying."
Samantha and Clover looked at each other. As a result of investigating Danny's family, the girls were already aware of Jack Fenton's reckless driving but wouldn't tell him that. "We'll take your word for it, Danny." Clover said.
One the four of them were inside the mall, they heard an annoying voice. "Look." Mandy told her friends. "The losers got another one to join their ranks."
"What do you want, Mandy?" Clover demanded.
"Nothing you losers can take from me." Mandy arrogantly replied and then looked at Danny. "So, Alex, is this the Amity Park loser that stupid dating service stuck you with?"
"Danny's not a loser." Alex replied in protest.
"And you must be the Mandy Tucker met through the dating service." Danny commented. He barely knew that girl but already hated her. "The way he spoke of you after meeting you leaves no room for doubt."
"Oh, did he speak of my stunning beauty?" Mandy asked with her usual pride and arrogance.
"Actually, he spoke of how he found your voice annoying." Danny replied. "And now I get why."
"Are you sure he doesn't have any good-looking friends?" Clover whispered to Alex.
"Sorry, the only male friends of his I know of are Tucker and the guy working at the Bueno Nacho and I'm not even sure the latter really counts as a friend instead of someone he's on civil terms with." Alex explained.
Mandy scoffed. "I've wasted too much time with those losers." She and her friends then left.
"I bet she and Dash would make a couple had the dating service introduced them to each other." Danny commented and then looked at the girls' reactions. "What?"
"Actually, the dating service did pair them up but she ended up not liking Dash Baxter any more than she liked Tucker, Danny." Alex explained.
"Then she's not that bad." Danny commented. He and Alex then went to a restaurant while Clover and Samantha went to eat elsewhere.
"Sammy, I'm so worried about LAMOS." Clover commented. "They could be anywhere in this mall as we speak."
"Clover, I won't speak about the other villains but I'm sure about where Boogie Gus would hide." Samantha replied as she pointed to a store selling 70's style clothes.
"Good call!" Clover said. "No way I'd get caught in a place like this even if the school had a 70's themed dance."
After lunch, Danny and Alex went to the movies and Clover and Samantha, not wanting to be what Clover described as 'third and fourth wheels', didn't go with them. Actually, they just wanted to be free to look for signs of LAMOS. "Let's not get too far in case they try to get Alex while we're not around to help her." Samantha suggested.
"Great idea, Sammy!" Clover exclaimed and then noticed something. "Look!"
"What?" Samantha asked. "Terry? Myrna? Gus?"
"No." Clover answered with a smile while pointing at two boys. "Look at those boys! That's boyfriend material!"
"Not now, Clover." Samantha scolded her friend. "We have more important things to do."
One movie session later, they still found no sign of LAMOS. "Alex, did you and Danny enjoy the movie?" Samantha asked.
"Yes, Sam!" Alex happily answered. "What did you do while Danny and I were watching the movie?"
"Oh, the usual." Clover said, not wanting to get into details in front of Danny.
"So, what do we do now?" Danny asked.
Before either girl had a chance to reply, some explosions were heard and everyone else ran away. "Missed me, spies?" They heard someone asking.
"Terry?" The girls asked.
"And I'm not alone." Terry replied as one by one, the other LAMOS agents showed up.
"Helga?" The girls asked. "Myrna? Gus? Tim Scam?"
Danny was glad the girls mentioned Tim's name first or he'd slip up and let them know he already knew him. "Who're you guys?" Danny asked.
"We are the League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow Spies!" Terry declared.
"You guys are LAMOS?" Danny asked with a giggle. "Well, that explains your taste for clothes." He then points at Helga. Did you come up with his attire?"
"Just for that, I'll turn you into a mink and make a coat out of you!" Helga declared, prompting Terry to wonder what's wrong with his taste for clothes.
"Danny, I promise I'll explain everything later but you must flee!" Alex pleaded, unaware that her boyfriend already knew her secret. Unfortunately, they found themselves surrounded by some masked thugs.
"It's impossible to escape!" Terry declared.
"Sam, Clover, Danny's a civilian." Alex reminded her friends. "We must figure out how to keep him safe."
"No." Danny replied.
"Danny, I know most guys hate having girls fighting their battles but…" Alex tried to protest until Danny interrupted her.
"I'm not a mere civilian." Danny said as two white rings formed around him and changed him into his ghost form. "I am Danny Phantom."
"What?" Friends or foes, everyone reacted the same.
"H-h-h-how?" Alex asked in horror.
"Alex, I promise I'll explain everything later but we must fight." Danny replied, mirroring Alex's previous statement. He then flew towards Tim Scam. "No jet pack for me to ruin this time?"
"What're you talking about, Phantom?" Tim asked. "We never met before. Even when I tried to destroy the spies in your… turf… It was you! It was you who sabotaged my jetpack! How did you do it without being seen?"
"Intangibility and invisibility are standard ghost powers." Danny explained.
"You could've helped more back then." Clover deadpanned.
"Alex might be strong but she couldn't have thrown that bomb that high with that wind resistance, Clover." Danny explained. "From what I saw back then, it was all the help you needed." He and the girls then started fighting the bad guys. Not wanting to use his most destructive powers on humans with no powers or ghost-hunting equipment, Danny decided to overshadow Terry and hit him with the latter's own hands. "Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
Meanwhile, the girls fought the masked thugs until Clover poked a hole in one of them and the thug started leaking something familiar. "A synthodrone?" Clover asked in disgust.
"Terry knew one of Drakken's henchmen." Myrna explained.
Knowing the masked thugs were synthodrones instead of actual humans made Danny lose all hesitation about using his powers against them. While he turned them into puddles, the girls defeated the remaining villains. "So, who explains first?" He asked the spies.
"Explanations must wait." Jerry said as he entered the crime scene. "We must confiscate all security cameras before some non-WOOHP agent sees the footage of you transforming into your ghostly self."
"Sure, sure." Danny eagerly replied.
"Then we'll talk about you knowing your girlfriend and her friends are spies." Jerry added while standard agents in black did the aforementioned confiscation.
"Jerry, it wasn't my fault!" Alex pleaded. "I didn't even know he knew before your evil twin and his friends showed up. Don't send me to Siberia!"
"Siberia?" Danny asked with a frown.
"I've threatened to send the girls there if they told anyone about being spies." Jerry replied.
"I hope it was an exaggeration to scare them into being quiet." Danny stated. "Now, evil twin? Too cliché."
"We'll discuss this at my office." Jerry stated.
End chapter.
Author's Note: Terry's wearing the same outfit he wore inside the LAMOS submarine. At least he's not wearing the wig this time or Danny would likely have mocked it as well.
Answer to Leonardo (guest): Sim, ele foi a Beverly Hills. Nenhuma dificuldade em particular. Só o problema de encontrar vilões fáceis de lembrar. LAMOS é parecido com "lame" e o Google tradutor tem tantos significados para essa palavra que não tenho certeza de qual eles tinham em mente.
