Chapter 24: A Deranged Fruitloop

Inside his lab, Dr. Cyrus Bortel was interrupted by someone phasing himself in. "Bortel, I want one of your Neuro-Compliance Chips." Vlad Plasmius said.

"You could've just placed an order through the web." Dr. Bortel commented.

"Your failure to deliver Moodulators made me unwilling to trust you with those." The fruitloop replied.

"I understand." Dr. Bortel replied with a hint of shame. "Well, since you came here in person, I won't charge the delivery fee, meaning you'll only have to pay…"

"I guess you didn't understand me." Plasmius interrupted the scientist. "I said 'I WANT one of your Neuro-Compliance Chips'."

"Uh-oh."

The next day, in Beverly Hills, Danny and Alex were taking a walk together when she spotted a sporting goods shop. "Cool!" She exclaimed. "I need new shoes!"

Danny would have tried to talk his way out of it but he then heard Dash Baxter's voice. "Fenton!" 'Uh-oh. He must've already met Mandy.' Danny thought. 'I'd better follow Alex into the store.'

"May I help you?" A salesperson asked them.

"Yes, I'd like two pairs of soccer boots and, since I'm already here, I'd like a new pair of tennis shoes." Alex eagerly answered.

"What about you, Sir?" The salesperson asked Danny.

Danny didn't want to buy anything but was afraid Alex, in spite of knowing he's Danny Phantom, would assume he's a dork. "I'll buy a pair of tennis for myself, please." He said.

The salesperson asked for their shoe sizes and, after getting them, left to pick up some items for them to choose. Dash entered afterwards. "Fenton, you'll pay for making a fool out of me!"

"Are you threatening this customer?" The salesperson returned upon hearing Dash.

"Uh, I…" The bully tried to come up with an excuse.

"I heard you." The salesperson said. "I'm afraid I must ask you to leave."

"You and which army will make me?" Dash threateningly asked.

Two other guys showed up. "What's wrong, boss?" One of them asked. Dash took his cue to leave.

After Danny and Alex made their purchases (he paid for his and she paid for hers), a tube sucked the both of them away. To Danny's surprise but not Alex's, they found themselves inside Jerry's office and Clover and Samantha were there as well. "Jerry, what happened?" Alex asked.

"I'm glad to see you again, girls and Phantom." Jerry replied and pushed a button that revealed the faces of Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius. "Vlad Masters a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius has escaped GiW custody." He explained.

"What?" Danny asked in shock. "How did it happen?"

"It's unclear because the only reports came from two operatives blaming each other." Jerry explained.

'Typical Guy in White incompetence.' Danny thought. 'Why does it seem more frequent against really evil people?'

"Anyway, Mr. Phantom, since W.O.O.H.P. and the National Super Agency are the only known government agencies to have any sort of connection to you, the President contacted both for input on the ghostly supervillain." Jerry added. "So don't be surprised if the NSA contacts you, assuming they haven't done it already."

Danny's cell phone then rang. "Agent Dicker?"

"Let me talk to him." Jerry asked.

"Agent Dicker, W.O.O.H.P. Head Jerry Lewis wants to talk to you." Danny said. Surprised, Agent Dicker made a video call to Jerry's office. "I see you have also reached Danny Phantom." Rick commented.

"Yes, Rick." Jerry replied.

"Good, because the President wants to meet us." Rick stated. "And that includes you, Danny Phantom."

"The President?" Danny was really shocked this time. "Wants? To meet? Me?"

"Affirmative." Rick replied. "May it be now?"

"S-sure." Danny nervously replied.

"Good." Rick stated. "Just change into Phantom unless you want the President and his bodyguards to know your secret."

As Danny did so, Jerry and the girls were surprised. "Wait." Alex asked. "You already knew his secret identity? Is he one of your agents?"

"Actually, he's a civilian superhero whose help we once needed for classified reasons." Rick explained. "Let's wait until after the meeting with the President for further explanations, shall we?"

Everyone in Jerry's office agreed and the President was added to the video call. "Good morning, Jerry." The President said. "It's good to see you and the girls again. And I'm glad to finally meet you, Mr. Phantom."

"It's an h-h-honor to meet you, Mr. President." Danny said. 'Wait a minute. Alex already met the President before? I'd better ask later or the President might become too curious.'

"So, Mr. Phantom, what can you tell that could help us catch Vlad Plasmius?" The President asked.

"He's a creep who wants to kill m… Jack Fenton and marry his wife Maddie Fenton, Sir." Danny explained.

"Anything else, Mr. Phantom?" The President asked. "Preferably something that would help locate him."

"Unfortunately, the only thing that comes into my mind is to wait near the Fentons for when Plasmius attacks them." Danny answered.

"Understood." The President said.

Agent Alpha then revealed himself to be inside the President's office. "Mr. President, I have a squad of agents ready for the mission."

Danny was now regretting saying that. Fortunately, he didn't need to say anything about it. "Aren't they too busy hunting make-believe witches in California?" The President asked. "Even if I believed they're real, they aren't causing any problems. At least nothing more urgent than Plasmius."

'Good thing tax evaders are considered a bigger threat than witches.' Danny thought.

"Mr. President, I have agents available for the mission." Jerry volunteered.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cyrus Bortel was knocking on Fentonworks' door. "Who's there?" Jack asked.

"Ghost… overshadowing… me…" Bortel said. Jack then pointed an ecto-gun on him. "Leave this innocent man or face the wrath of Jack Fenton, ghost!" He ordered.

"As you wish, old friend." Jack was so shocked upon hearing Vlad's voice the seriously crazed fruitloop had the chance to attach a Neuro-Compliance Chip on him. "Jack Fenton, I command you to kill Daniel Fenton."

"I must kill Daniel Fenton." Jack said while in a trance. "I must kill Daniel Fenton."

"Jack, what're you…" Maddie started asking until she saw Vlad. Before the fruitloop had a chance to react, she drew the Fenton Ghost Weasel she decided to carry with herself ever since she's heard of his escape and sucked him.

"Again?" Vlad asked but then conformed himself. "Okay, my work here is done anyway."

"What're you talking about, Plasmius?" Maddie asked and, while she couldn't see it, he winced at hearing Maddie call him 'Plasmius' instead of 'Vlad'.

"Just ask Dr. Bortel here for details, my love." Vlad replied and Maddie was glad she couldn't see the expression on his face.

Back at W.O.O.H.P. Headquarters, Danny was glad the President didn't listen to the Guys in White and wouldn't support a literal witch hunt. He was so glad he didn't even remember to ask about his girlfriend having met the President before. "Now that's settled, may I fly back to Amity Park to check upon my parents?"

"Sure thing, Danny." Alex replied in understanding. The more she'd rather spend more time with him, she wasn't selfish.

Danny quickly flew towards Amity Park. By the time he arrived home, Maddie and Bortel were assembling some device and the Ghost Blasters had just arrived to take Vlad back to prison. "What happened?" He asked Jazz, unwittingly revealing his presence.

The Ghost Blasters pointed their weapons at him. "Ghost Blas…" They shouted until Jazz placed herself between them and Danny. "Stop!" She told them.

"Weren't you guys told to leave me alone?" Danny asked.

"Only until we catch you doing something illegal." Vid answered. "You were caught invading this home."

"No!" Jazz shouted. "He's not invading! He's here because… I asked for his help. Danny Phantom, this is Dr. Cyrus Bortel. Plasmius overshadowed him into placing a Neuro-Compliance Chip on our… my Dad. Dr. Bortel and my Mom are assembling a Silicon Phase Disruptor to deactivate the chip. Removing the chip without deactivating it first will kill him. Until then." She then showed a tied up Jack who kept saying "I must kill Daniel Fenton".

Taking advantage of that distraction, Vlad Plasmius used his invisibility and intangibility to untie Jack. "I must kill Daniel Fenton." Jack said and then shot at Danny. "Wait a minute." Vlad said. "I never told the oaf they're the same Danny. Daniel, did you tell?"

"No." Danny answered while dodging another shot.

"Jack, how did you know?" Vlad asked.

"It was easy to figure out after learning humans can have ghost powers." Jack commented with the same tone used to say he must kill Danny. He then tried to resume trying to kill Danny but Maddie and the Blasters ganged up on him.

"How did you escape?" Jazz asked. "I thought Mom had caught you with a Fenton Ghost Weasel."

Another Vlad showed up and said "I helped myself". The two Vlads then merged together and shot a blast on the Silicon Phase Disruptor. "After all my work." Dr. Bortle moaned in frustration. Vlad then fled. 'Well, that was fun.' The fruitloop thought. 'Now it's time for bigger plans. To reach the stars.'

While Jack was being tied up again, Sam and Tucker arrived. "We're here, Jazz." Sam said. "Now, what's this emergency you called…" She and Tucker then noticed Jack. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Look!" Tucker exclaimed in horror. "It's a Neuro-Compliance Chip!"

"How do you know about these?" Dr. Bortel asked.

"I read about them from Kim Possible's website." Tucker explained.

"Can't we just pull the device from him?" Sam asked and everybody else shouted "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!".

"If it's done without deactivating the chip with a Silicon Phase Disruptor, it'll kill Mr. Fenton, Sam." Tucker explained.

"And mine would've already been ready for use had Plasmius not interfered." Dr. Bortle.

"And we're here to make sure he won't do it again." Vid added.

"Danny, when did you return?" Tucker asked. "What did you tell Alex…" He was elbowed by Sam.

"Tucker, it's Danny Fenton who has a girlfriend named Alex." Sam reminded her techno geek friend.

"Actually, we already know but that's for later." Maddie replied.

Later on, Jack was shocked that he had no control of his actions in spite of being aware of his surroundings. "So, Dad, how did you figure out?" Danny asked after the Ghost Blasters left and Vid assured him his secret wouldn't be added to their official report.

"Learning that humans can have ghost powers from it happening to Vlad made me realize that, if Danny Phantom is a human with ghost powers like him, it had to have happened from a similar incident." Jack explained. "That meant it had to be you, son, even if the Guys in White dismissed you as too prepubescent. Of course, seeing the both of you at the same time could have thrown me off track but I know some ghosts have the power of duplicating themselves and I already knew my former friend had used that trick before."

Danny nodded.

"And there's also the fact you could use the Fenton Ghost Catcher to split yourself into a human and a ghost." Jack added.

"I was so worried thinking I was seeing things." Jazz commented.

"Now that's been clarified, what did you tell Alex so you could get away with ditching her?" Tucker asked and nobody else would deny to be just as curious.

"Actually, she and her friends learned the truth when I went ghost to protect them from criminals who broke into the mall we were in." Danny explained, giving a covered-up version he and the spies agreed upon so he could tell his friends the girls knew his secret without telling his friends about the girls being spies. "Fortunately, the World Organization of Human Protection was chasing those criminals and were so grateful for my help they removed all security tapes that caught me going ghost. I might even help them on occasion since the Blasters are giving me extra time."

"Danny, are you sure you can trust Alex and her friends with your secret?" Jazz asked.

"Forget about Alex!" Sam demanded even if she found the concern valid. "You're trusting the Government!"

"The National Super Agency never turned on me either." Danny argued. "They could've told W.O.O.H.P. about me but didn't. Now, if you excuse me, I must fly back to Beverly Hills and Alex to preserve my cover." He flied away and took Dr. Bortel home.

End chapter.

Author's Note: Vlad using the Neuro-Compliance Chips was something I intended to do for a while in this fic but the original idea was to have Jack learn Danny's secret by seeing him go ghost under the belief that, once freed from the chip, would forget it. Instead of simply being mentioned, Kim Possible would appear and be the one to later tell Danny that Jack was aware of his surroundings and remembers everything.

Answer to Guest from Chapter 5: Which girls and which rudeness? At worst, Clover was rude because she wondered why Alex would like him. Even she didn't hold Danny's friendship with Tucker against him.

Answer to Leonardo (guest): É, o Jerry não gostou muito que o Danny tenha descoberto as identidades das espiãs mas ao menos ele tem um segredo do Danny. É a sina do Danny. Os valentões de Casper High adoram pegar no pé dele. Tensa mesmo e este capítulo foi só o começo.