Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, the characters, or the series that solely belong to Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon, and Viacom International. I just own my characters that I create unless I say otherwise.
Worlds Apart
Five weeks have passed in Amity Park. One can say that it was wild ride for Danny. The first two weeks was a near disaster for the ghost boy. Apparently, the teacher in Health Sciences named Ms. Tetslaf, who is also the gym teacher, has assigned him and, to his disdain, Valerie Gray, to parent a sack of flour designed to act as an infant. One can say that the memory of how the assignment started still lingered in his mind
Flashback:
Danny was in the boys' restroom to transform back to his human self before running down the hall to Health Sciences class. Unfortunately, he bumps into Valerie Gray as she ran to get to class as well. They fall onto floor upon impact before glaring at each other
"Watch it, punk!" Valerie says
"You watch it, creep!" Danny counters
The classroom door reveal a large, heavily muscled woman emerges, getting their attention
"Fenton! Gray! Congratulations." Ms. Tetslaf says. "You two stragglers are paired for a special, week long, Health Sciences project!"
The woman grabs a sack of flour with a happy face and a diaper on it before presenting it to them while saying
"I now pronounce you man, wife, and child."
As they caught the flour sack, Danny rolls his eyes as he said with a glare
"I am so not kissing the bride!"
"What makes you think you can?!" Valerie says with her own glare.
Flashback Ends
Danny heard that Mariko went solo on the assignment, due to a shortage of partners. What he wouldn't give to be her partner instead of being stuck with Valerie. However, along with the assignment, Danny had to deal with Skulker who decided to use the assignment as bait to lure him and Valerie into a trap and hunt them both in the Ghost Zone. They both made it out safely, but the flour sack was heavily damaged. Thankfully, he and Valerie managed to get a C grade.
Fast forwarding to the next three weeks when Casper High was beginning to run ghost drills, in case of a ghost invasion. He was pretty embarrassed when his father rushed into the school and caused humiliation, as he remembered
Flashback
Danny and Jazz were walking down the halls to get to their respective classes
"Thanks for driving me to school, Jazz."
"No problem, Danny." Jazz replies
"You know, sometimes it's nice to avoid the bus and quietly and anonymously slip into school." Danny comments
Suddenly, an alarm went off in the halls while the speakers sounded "Ghost Alert"
"Danny! Hide!" Jazz shouts while grabbing her younger brother's shirt
"Why?" Danny asks in curiosity
Jazz realized what she said as she sheepishly corrects herself while releasing her hold
"Umm...that's an excellent question."
Then, they see Sam and Tucker walk up to them
"What's going on?" Danny asks
Sam holds up a paper and explains
"Didn't you get the memo? The school is running ghost drills now."
"Ghost drills?" Jazz asks
Sam points to Mr. Lancer who was wearing a mask and acting like he was a ghost.
"Who is that supposed to fool?" Jazz asks
Unfortunately, she got her answer when Jack, equipped in armor with the word "Fenton Peeler" on the helmet, rushed in and shouts
"GHOST! I got the memo and I know there are ghosts around here!"
Jack aims his arm that had a sort of blaster as Danny and Jazz tried to convince their father and calm him down
"Dad! No!" Jazz pleads
"It's not a ghost! It's an out-of-shape teacher in a mask!" Danny shouts
Their words go unheeded as Jack says
"We'll see about that, son!" he turns to Mr. Lancer "EAT GHOST PEELER, SPOOK!"
Jack fires the weapon on his arm. The energy blast causes Mr. Lancer to shout in pain as his dress shirt and pants are disintegrated, leaving him in a tank top and boxers with William Shakespeare designs on them while the students point and laugh at him as Mr. Lancer grabbed a portrait to cover himself with a glare
"I'll never respect his authority again!" a blonde kid with glasses declares
Jazz lets out an exasperated sigh as Danny facepalms while Jack looks at the teacher indifferently
"Wow! He is out of shape." he says
Mr. Lancer angrily walked up to Jack as he said
"I can't give you detention" he looks at Danny and Jazz "but someone named Fenton is staying after school!"
Jazz and Jack look at their imaginary watches and said simultaneously
"Whoa! Look at the time!"
They bolt, leaving Danny at the mercy of an angry Mr. Lancer. However, as the other students scatter to get to class, before Mr. Lancer could sentence Danny's punishment, Mariko gets in the way of the teacher as she spreads her arms and glares at him as if she was using herself to protect Danny from harm. Mr. Lancer was surprised at the Japanese girl's actions
"Ms. Watanabe...!"
"Daniel-san had nothing to do with what happened and you know it!" Mariko says as she maintained her glare. "And who's idea was it to wear that stupid mask and act like a ghost in the first place?!"
Mr. Lancer saw that Mariko made a valid point and couldn't argue on what she recently said. The man gave in as he glared and said
"Fine! I'll let it slide...this time."
Mr. Lancer walks away as Mariko lowers her arms while her expression quickly changes to a concerned look when she turned to face Danny
"Are you all right?" she asks
"Yeah." Danny replies with a smile. "Thanks to you."
Flashback Ends
In a room, decorated with gothic style furniture, posters, and complete with candles, a certain goth girl was sleeping soundly. However, she was rudely awakened as the drapes open and a woman's voice was heard in a sing-song tone
"Good morning, sunshine! And how do we greet the brand new day?!"
Sam opened her eyes with a glare to see a woman with red hair and dressed like typical 1950s housewife and a blonde man wearing...odd clothing as he said in the same tone
"With a smile on your face and an attitude of gratitude!"
As they fully open the drapes, Sam uses her pillow to block the sunlight as she moaned in annoyance
"I'm a creature of the night doomed to a family of morning people." Sam proceeds to think
"Wonder if Mariko endures the same thing I do..."
Her parents, Jeremy and Pamela walk up to her bed as the woman sat next to Sam as she said
"Uh, Sam? Sweetie..." she proceeds to pull out a pink dress with flowers on it "I thought maybe we...tried to mix it up with a wardrobe today."
Sam stared at the dress with wide eyes as Jeremy says to her
"Nothing says "Hey world! Look at me" like floral prints!"
"Okay," Sam says before she pulls out a can of spray paint from under her pillow "but I need to add just one little personal touch."
Sam sprays the dress until it was black with a gray collar. Then, the goth girl pulls out a pair of scissors and cuts the dress to shorten it, much to Pamela's horror
At the Watanabe home, in a room, Mariko was already awake as she finished getting dressed into her normal clothes before she hears a knock on her door
"Hairu!" she says
Then, Harumi enters the room as Mariko was putting on her sleeveless bomber jacket
"Ohayo Mariko." Harumi greets
(Translation: good morning Mariko)
"Ohayo okāsan." Mariko replies as she hugged her mother
(Translation: good morning mother)
Mariko noticed that Kenji was missing as she asked
"Otosan wa doko?"
(Translation: Where's father?)
"Ā. Anata no otosan wa kyo hayaku shigoto ni ikanakereba narimasendishita." Harumi replies apologetically
(Translation: Oh. Your father had to go to work early today.)
Mariko shrugged before she says
"Sore wa īdesu. Sukunakutomo kare wa hayaku ienikaerudeshou."
(Translation: That's fine. At least he'll be home early)
Harumi nods before she replies
"Itsumo no yo ni."
(Translation: Like always)
Then, Harumi proceeds to take out some sort of credit card that was gold in color as she hands it to her daughter and said
"Koko ni. Jibun o chiryo suru."
(Translation: Here. Treat yourself)
However, Mariko rolled her eyes before she gently pushed her mother's hand away as she whined
"Haha! Anata wa watashi ga amayakasa rete kiraina koto o shitte imasu."
(Translation: Mother! You know I hate being spoiled.)
Harumi chuckled before she replied
"Mochiron, musume."
(Translation: Of course, daughter.)
Harumi happily hugs Mariko who returned it before the woman said to her daughter
"Kite. Choshoku wa yoī dekite iru."
(Translation: Come. Breakfast is ready.)
Mariko nods before she follows her mother to the kitchen
At the Manson household, Sam, Jeremy, Pamela, and Sam's grandmother Ida were in the kitchen for breakfast as they were watching TV. There was a talk show hostess with a wireless microphone
"Up next, is your teenage daughter moody? Surly? Is her outlook on life blacker than her eyeliner?"
Sam glanced at her parents who narrowed their eyes.
"Take an active interest in your child. Know who her friends are. Learn to recognize a bad influence when it walks in your door."
Then, a knock on the door was heard, catching their attention.
"Come in!" Sam calls
The door opens to reveal Danny who was holding a CD in his hand
"Hey Sam." he greets. "I got that "Cryoshell" CD you wanted."
Jeremy and Pamela give Danny a dirty look, thinking that the talk show hostess called it right
"What?" the boy asks curiously
Suddenly, the show was interrupted as commercial took place. The TV screen became black with a red swirling cloud before a man in a red and black circus ringmaster outfit. He had white skin and red eyes as he advertised a type of gothic style circus
"I am Freakshow. Ringmaster of the Circus Gothica where your nightmares come alive."
The view fades into the red staff that had a crystal orb on it as a skeleton juggles 3 skulls and a clown who screamed, revealing sharp teeth
"Circus Gothica! Where the clowns never smile!"
There was another individual who had tattoos, piercings, and a mask before the view faded into the same staff
"Circus Gothica! Come and get your freak on. With real freaks."
Then, Freakshow fades into view as he announced
"Circus Gothica! Coming to Amity Park! Cross over...to the dark side."
Danny was hypnotized by the staff's crystal as he silently droned
"Cross over to the dark side."
Danny's eyes glowed red before they started to have the swirling pattern that was the same kind as the orb. However, he snapped out of it when Pamela turned off the TV.
"Now there's some mind pollution we won't be seeing anytime soon, sweetie."
"But we already bought our tickets." Sam says
Jeremy and Pamela glare at their daughter as she tried to reason with them
"We'll be fine. It's just harmless entertainment, right Danny?"
"Yeah. We'll be all right." Danny says in agreement
Then, Sam and Danny leave the house, but instead of going to school, Sam was heading in a different direction.
"Uh, Sam? School is this way." Danny says as he points with his thumb
"The Circus Gothica train just pulled into town last night." Sam says with a smile. "I'm cutting first period to watch the opening ceremony at the train station."
Danny had a disapproving glare as he scolded his friend
"Sam...!"
"Take it easy." Sam assures. "Tucker's got first period free." she crosses hee arms with a smirk "He's covering for me."
At a house, Tucker was dressing up like Sam as he applied purple lipstick
"This is so wrong." he says
The boy holds up a dollar bill in his hand before he smiles
"But you make it right."
As Sam runs off to get to the train station, Danny calls out to her
"Don't blame me if you get caught!"
Suddenly, his ghost sense goes off, alerting him. Danny looks back to see a dwarf ghost with a bag of money, running past him. To the boy, it was one of the ghosts that robbed a jewelry store the other night but Danny failed in apprehending the thieves.
"And speaking of getting caught...!"
Soon, three more ghosts fly by with money bags. One was in a cloak, the second was heavily muscled and the third was in a red outfit and black boots. They were followed by the dwarf ghost who took to the air as police cars were pursuing them
"I'm going ghost!"
Danny transforms as he pursues the ghostly thieves. However, he was unaware that a certain Japanese girl witnessed his transformation in complete shock as her jaw was agape.
Danny sees the ghosts as he said
"Opening a new bank account?! Don't forget your free toaster!"
Danny blasts the dwarf who dropped his loot. The money bag falls onto the hood of the police car, causing the driver to crash into a fire hydrant
"Curse you, ghost kid!"
"Oops..." Danny sheepishly said
As the ghosts phase through a billboard that has a picture of Circus Gothica and Freakshow holding the staff, Danny pauses as he became hypnotized again. However, he snaps out of it as he phases through the billboard. Not only did he lose the ghosts, but Danny sees the Circus Gothica train, tents, and quite a large crowd of goths attending the opening ceremony that was about to begin.
"Terrific! The crooks got away! I'm late for school! And..." Danny complains before he paused and looks at the crowd. "I've never seen so many goths out in broad daylight."
Each one of them opened their black umbrellas to block out the sunlight. Sam noticed Danny's presence
"Well! Look who decided to slum it with the troubled teens!" Sam says with a smirk
Danny descends onto the ground as he says
"I'm not in trouble!"
However, police sirens were approaching. Danny dives behind some barrels to transform back into his human form while the squad cars drive down the road. When the sirens were finally silenced, Sam and Danny approached the train caboose that had a skull on it. It opens completely before Freakshow steps out of the darkness, holding the same staff that was shown on the TV commercial
"Greetings, fellow outcasts! I am Freakshow. Your master of ceremonies." he says with a smile. "Are you ready to smile, relax, forget all of your troubles in the pleasant diversions of the circus?"
"NO!" the crowd of goths shout
"Then you've come to the right place!" Freakshow declares. "Prepare to be disturbed and appalled by a small sample of the bizarre and abnormal world...of Circus Gothica!"
Soon, a harpoon was launched to a pole as a woman crawled on the high wire like a spider. The goths gasp in horror as more gothic circusfolk emerge from the train. The goths cheered at the display while Danny sees the staff and once again becomes hypnotized. Nobody noticed it, not even Sam
"This is the greatest moment ever!" Sam says. "Nothing could ruin this for me!"
Unfortunately, Sam gets a wake-up call that by saying "nothing" is a window of opportunity for something to head south. Suddenly, she hears an all-too-familiar feminine voice through a megaphone
"PARENTS OF AMITY PARK!"
Sam sees her parents with a crowd of adults that held various picket signs that says "No Goths" and "Save Our Children" on them as Pamela held the megaphone
"WE URGE YOU TO BOYCOTT THIS MORBIDOUS ASSAULT ON THE MORALS OF OUR CHILDREN!"
While the crowd of goths started booing them, Sam was mortified as she asks no one in particular with an annoyed tone
"What are they doing here?! Why can't they have day jobs, like regular parents?!"
Freakshow climbs onto a crate as he said
"Don't let the rantings of the closed-minded norms beat you down. Show them your true colors!"
Then, the man adds
"And when I say "colors", I mean all black! Make them see you for who you are!"
All the while, nobody noticed that a pair of brown eyes saw the staff and a particular boy's eyes adopting the same pattern as the crystal before stealthily sneaking away.
"Good thing I have first period free." Mariko comments to herself when got to a safe distance
The Japanese girl pondered at what she recently witnessed as she palms her forehead and had a certain smile on her face.
"How could I have been foolish not to see it; Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom? They're similar, yet one and the same."
Mariko then thought of the same staff and how it was affecting Danny, in a way that worried her.
"Still. I don't trust that man." she says to herself before she pondered. "Maybe Jack and Maddie-sama can help me out with...a little something."
The girl proceeds to walk to school as she sees Casper High at a distance
In the principal's office, Danny, whose shirt was spray painted in black, and Sam were in their seats alongside their respective parents next to them. Apparently, Danny gave away their location at the opening ceremony.
"Some might call rebellion, a cry for attention." Ishiyama says, "or should I say...detention."
"Nice job Danny!" Sam hissed
"I'm sorry!" Danny says. "I don't know what came over me back there!"
"Bad judgment, that's what!" Jack scolds. "Next time, think before you act!"
Jeremy and Pamela witness Jack scold Danny as they became skeptical.
"Well, it seems the apple falls far from the tree!" Pamela says. "Samantha, until further notice, you are not allowed to see this boy...or any of your troubled friends."
Then, Mr. Lancer enters the office with Tucker who was dressed like Sam
"This is so wrong!" Principal Ishiyama says as she facepalms.
After school, Mariko was on her way to Fenton Works, carrying a duffle bag in her hand. She climbs up the steps and rings the doorbell. Three seconds later, Jazz opens it to see the Japanese girl.
"Oh. Hi Mariko!" Jazz greets. "Danny's in detention right now."
"Actually, I'm here to see Jack and Maddie-sama, if they're not too busy." Mariko says
Jazz was surprised that Mariko wanted to see her parents.
"Uh...sure. They're home." Jazz says. "Come on in. I'll show you where they are."
"Thank you, Jasmine-san." Mariko replies with a bow
Jazz leads Mariko to the lab in the basement as the redhead sees Jack and Maddie working on a new invention
"Mom? Dad? Mariko is here." Jazz says to them
The Fentons see her here
"Hello Mariko." Maddie greets
"If you're looking for Danny, he's in detention for cutting class." Jack says
"I need your help." Mariko says
Her words got their attention as they see the girl place her duffle bag onto a table and unzip it. Jack and Maddie watch Mariko remove the contents from the bag which were a katana sword, two kunai daggers with chains attached to the bottom rings of the hilts, two steel war fans, and a pair of fingerless gloves as she neatly placed them on the table.
"Please, can you reforge or replicate these to make them effective against ghosts?" she asks politely
"Of course we can." Maddie replies
"It'll be easier for us since you provided the basis." Jack adds
The Japanese girl pulls out her smartphone and taps it several times as she asked
"Also, can you forge a blaster for me that looks and functions" she shows the image on her phone "like this?"
The Fentons get a good look at the image on the girl's phone as they grinned
"Ooh. That baby's a classic! Maddie comments
"Man, that's hot!" Jack exclaims
Then, Maddie shifts her focus to Mariko
"Not to worry Mariko. We'll have them all ready by tonight." the Fenton woman assured.
Mariko writes down something on a piece of paper before she hands it to them.
"This is my number that you can reach me by." the Japanese girl says
"No problem, Mariko! We'll call you when we're done." Jack declares
"Thank you Jack-sama, Maddie-sama." Mariko replies with a grateful bow
Mariko leaves as the Fentons quickly got started on the girl's weapons
Meanwhile, at Circus Gothica, it was several hours until it opens. Inside the main tent, Freakshow stepped out of the shadows as the staff's crystal glowed and had a swirling pattern.
"Slaves! Center ring!"
Upon his command, the cast reveal themselves to be ghosts as they lined up before their master.
"For generations, my family has controlled ghosts with this." Freakshows says
The man placed his free hand on the crystal as he continues his monologue
"Untold power and all they could think to do is entertain en masses."
The muscular ghost brings a treasure chest full of money and jewelry
"Where as I have found a much more profitable use for you minions."
Freakshow looks at a 24K gold necklace before gazing the staff's crystal which revealed an image of Danny Phantom
"And as soon as the newest member of our cast joins us, this entire town will be mine for the taking!"
At Casper High, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were in the library as Mr. Lancer was clipping his toenails, which had rather...messy results.
"I wanted to experience something horrific and unimaginable." Sam says as she looks at her ticket. "This isn't what I had in mind."
"We can always go to the circus tomorrow." Danny assures before adding. "Assuming we're not grounded and your parents don't put a restraining order on me."
"Guess we'll have to settle for the live webcast of opening night." Tucker says
The boy activates his PDA to view the opening night on live stream. However, when the streaming began, Danny became hypnotized once again as he droned while his eyes turned red with a swirling pattern
"Unleash your dark side at Circus Gothica."
Danny stands up and begins to exit the library. However, Mr. Lancer got in his way
"And just where do you think you're going Mr. Fenton?"
In response, Danny overshadowed Mr. Lancer as he walked into the janitor's closet before he phased through the door as Danny Phantom and locked the door. Mr. Lancer noticed too late as he began banging on the door.
"Cask of Amontillado! Let me out! LET. ME. OUT!"
Sam and Tucker walk up to Danny
"Danny?! What are you doing?!" Sam scolds. "We're in too much trouble as it is!"
"No such thing as too much trouble." Danny droned as he turned intangible. "Unleash your dark side at Circus Gothica."
After Danny phased through the ceiling, Sam and Tucker were stunned silent.
"Man. We better follow him." Tucker comments
Sam looks at her ticket as she says with heavy sarcasm
"Oh no! But that would mean skipping detention and going to the circus!"
The African boy just stares at the goth girl blankly.
"Hello? Irony." Sam says
Then, the goth girl drags Tucker out of the library
Meanwhile, at the Watanabe home, it was getting close to sundown as Mariko was waiting patiently for Jack and Maddie to call her in regards of her weapons. Kenji walked into the living room as he notice his daughter sitting on the couch.
"Mariko? Nanika machigaete iru?" he asks
(Translation: Mariko? Is something wrong?)
Mariko sighed before she chose her words carefully and replied to him
"Hai. Danieru-san ni nanika mondai ga arimasu."
(Translation: Yes. Something's wrong with Daniel-san.)
Kenji was surprised at Mariko's words before he heard his daughter spoke again
"Watashi wa...Kare wa kiken ni sarasa rete iru to omoimasu."
(Translation: I...I think he's in danger.)
Kenji sees a certain look on his daughter's face as he asks Mariko with a smile
"Danī fenton wa anata ni totte totemo imi ga arimasu ne."
(Translation: Danny Fenton means so much to you, doesn't he?)
Mariko blushed as she shyly glanced away and said
"Otosan. Kare wa tada no tomodachidesu."
(Translation: Father. He's just a friend.)
Kenji was unconvinced as he chuckled and said
"Anata ga kare ni tsuite kangaeru toki, watashi wa sono hyojo o shitte imasu."
(Translation: I know that look when you think of him.)
Mariko sighed, knowing that her father surmised the truth. Then she said to Kenji
"Izen, watashi wa danī no ryoshin ni, yūrei ni eikyo o ataeru tame ni buki o appugurēdo suru yo ni tanomimashita."
(Translation: Earlier, I asked Danny's parents to upgrade my weapons to affect ghosts.)
Kenji was surprised at first, but then he nodded and said
"Kenmeina ketsudan."
(Translation: A wise choice.)
Before anyone could speak further, Mariko's smartphone started ringing. She immediately grabbed it and answered
"Hello?"
Mariko was silent for a minute before she says
"Okay Maddie-sama. I'm on my way to pick them up."
Once the girl hung up, she said to her father
"Watashi no buki wa junbi ga dekite imasu."
(Translation: My weapons are ready.)
Kenji nods before he said
"Sorenara, ikimashou! Kare o kyūshutsu seyo!"
(Translation: Then, go! Rescue him!)
Mariko nods before she replies with a smile
"Hai, otosan."
(Translation: Yes, father.)
Mariko obtained a determined look as she left her house to get to Fenton Works. The Japanese girl walks up to the steps and rings the doorbell. Maddie answers the door and sees the girl. Then, Jack hands Mariko her duffle bag. Once they finished giving her information on how the blaster, that she requested, works, she bows in gratitude and thanks them before running off home. The Fentons couldn't help but smile at her.
Mariko returns home in time as she enters her room, opens her duffle bag and pulls out her weapons that were upgraded with Fenton Works technology. The girl saw that her katana adopted a more metallic and mechanical appearance. She pulls the sword from its sheath to see the sharp blade that was metallic neon green instead of a silvery chrome in color before sheathing it again. The chains on her kunai daggers were missing but she finds notes on how each of her weapons work
Then, Mariko sees one weapon in particular after pulling out the others; the blaster that she requested as she pulled it from the back holster. It looked like an 1887 lever-action shotgun, but it was high-tech and energy based. The Japanese girl sees six bullet-shaped lights on the right side of the weapon before she spin cocks the weapon and fires a blast through an open window in her room. She looks at the side again to see five lights now. After waiting 10 seconds, the sixth light goes back on.
Mariko nods and holsters the blaster before going under her bed and pulls out a wooden box. Opening it, the girl finds black clothing inside before she changed out of her usual clothes and into a form-fitting ninja outfit that consisted of a black, sleeveless shozoku jacket, black pants, and black boots that were low-heeled. Using a black cloth, she ties it on her head to form a hooded cowl and mask to conceal her identity.
Soon, the Japanese girl arms herself as she connected the belt-like strap of her sword around her waist, inserts her war fans into the calf holsters, sheathed her kunai daggers into holsters that were on the belt and placed on the fingerless gloves that had some sort of silver pads with a neon green section on each one. Mariko grabs her kunai daggers from their holsters and with a throw, an energy rope extends from the palm of her gloved hands as they were attached to the bottom of the hilt of each one. With a pull of her arms, the rope retracts as she caught her weapons before holstering them.
Instead of taking the door, Mariko leaves her home through the window of her room before she runs to the gate while holding the sheath of her katana with her left hand. She gets to the other side with a powerful jump before running off to get to Circus Gothica and help Danny, whom she believes is in danger.
At Circus Gothica, the show started as the spotlight was on Freakshow as he announced
"Please welcome...a performer who puts the death in death-defying acts. The Grim Reaper himself!"
The crowd look up to see the "Grim Reaper" walk on the high-wire as if it were solid ground. They gasp in horror before he handstands on his scythe, causing them to cheer.
Outside the tent, Sam snuck in through the back, ignoring the sign that said "Cast Only". The goth girl looked around among the coffins, spiked boards and other gothic materials. However, she hears a familiar voice behind her
"What are you doing back here?"
Sam turns around to see Freakshow with an unamused look
"Whoa! Freakshow! This is so cool!" she says with excitement.
However, Sam regains her composure as she said to herself
"Focus!" she faces Freakshow. "I'm looking for a friend of mine who's been...acting weird lately."
"Oh. Well, that narrows it down to...oh, everyone in this tent!" Freakshow says with a smile before he laughs like a clown
Then, the Grim Reaper enters the back as Sam and Freakshow notice
"What are doing, dolt?! Get back out there and do your encore!" he commands
The Grim Reaper removes his hood to reveal Danny Phantom in the cloak
"Sam...?!"
This shocked Freakshow as he witnessed his minion free from his control.
"Is that...? Was that free will?" Freakshow asks in confusion before holding up the staff. "Obey me, minion!"
The staff once again takes hold on Danny as he eyes changed again.
"What?!" Sam says in shock "You're controlling him?!"
Freakshow turns to Danny and gives his command
"Get her."
Danny approaches Sam as the girl had a look of horror. She screamed as the ghost boy held up the scythe. However, before the weapon was brought down, a flash of metallic neon green was seen as it collided with the handle of the scythe, cutting it in two. Then, Freakshow, Sam and Danny look to see a masked female ninja sheathing her katana sword that looked high-tech as she stared at Freakshow in anger before pulling out her war fans and opens one of them.
"You will not endanger innocent people anymore!" she declares
Freakshow was surprised yet intrigued that this individual snuck in unnoticed until now
"How did you get in here, so...stealthily?"
The figure gets in stance as she says
"You obviously have weak senses."
Then, a ghost with various tattoos on her body appears behind the individual. With concentration, the tattoos started to come alive and emerge from her body as a variety of ghostly creatures. However, the individual reacted faster than they anticipated as she threw her open war fan at the creatures. The weapon spins as sharp blade cuts through each of the smaller ghosts, much to shock of the ghost as the fan returns to the ninja like a boomerang. She catches it, closed it, and holsters both of them into her calves before drawing her katana sword
"Seriously, who is she?" Freakshow asks Sam
"How am I supposed to know?" Sam counters
The individual uses her sword as she cuts the remaining ghosts that were attacking her. Then, as the ghosts retreat to the main ghost's body, Freakshow calls out as he enters the tent for the crowd
"Ladies and Gentlemen! I regret to announce that we'll have to cut this performance short...dramatically."
Then, upon activation of the staff's crystal, all of the circus performers reveal themselves to be ghosts, much to the terror of the viewers. As Freakshow made his escape with the ghosts following him while the viewers flee for their lives, Tucker finds Sam in the back of the tent
"Sam, we have a problem!"
"I know Tucker! Freakshow is controlling Danny with that crystal ball!" Sam shouts to Tucker. "We've got to help him!"
When Sam turns around, she sees that the ninja was gone as well, much to her confusion
"Huh...?"
"What is it, Sam?" Tucker asks.
"N-nothing. Come on!" Sam says as she drags Tucker
The Circus Gothica train was making hasty preparations for departure. As it begins to leave, Sam and Tucker run out of the tent as they were noticed by a crowd of adult protesters, even her parents
"SAM?!"
"Oh, great." Sam moans as she continues running with Tucker
In another area, Mariko catches up to the back car of the train. Pulling out one of her kunai, she throws it as the energy rope extends from the palm of her gloved hand. The weapon pierced through the wall of the caboose. With a pull back motion of her arm, the rope begins to recoil as she gets ready to jump onboard the train. Once in range, the Japanese kunoichi jumps onto the rail, retrieves her kunai with a tight pull, and holsters her weapon.
"I'm coming, Daniel-san!" she declares
Mariko pulls out her blaster from the back holster and spin cocked it before she kicks the door open and enters the caboose.
Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker reach the bridge where they see the train going underneath it.
"We have to jump!"
"Are you crazy?!" Tucker says. "I can't jump!"
"And I can't abandon Danny!" Sam declares.
The teens jump onto one of the cars of the train as they land, slip, and fall onto their bellies while they still remained on the moving vehicle.
Inside the car, Mariko hears the thud of someone jumping onto the car. Her instincts as she blasted the hatch, spin cocked her weapon again before jumping onto the roof and aims her blaster at Sam and Tucker. The teens gasp at the sight of the ninja before the individual widens her eyes in recognition and lowers her weapon.
"Sam?! Tucker?!"
The teens were confused at first, but then Sam recognized her voice
"Mariko...?"
Mariko pulls down her mask, much to their shock
"Yes. It's me." the Japanese girl says
"How did you...?" Tucker was about to ask
"There's no time for that!" Sam interrupts. "We have to find Danny and help him!"
Mariko pulls her mask back up with a free hand before she holsters her blaster.
"This way!"
At the Circus Gothica tent, Jack and Maddie were inside the Fenton RV, with Jack in the driver's seat.
"Jack, are you sure you know where they're going?" Maddie asks
"Of course I do!" Jack replies
The man pulls out a phone from the dashboard and tossed it to his wife
"Call the cops, honey! We'll head those spooks off at the pass!"
Back at the train, Sam, Tucker, and Mariko were carefully jumping from one railcar to the next as they searched for Danny. Inside one of them, Freakshow and the ghosts became alert at the sound of their footsteps approaching
"What are you waiting for?! GO!" Freakshow commands
Suddenly, the teens were cut off as three of the circus ghosts phase through in front of them. Danny phases in as well.
"Danny! It's us; Sam and Tucker! Your best friends, remember?!" Sam calls to him.
It took a moment before Danny broke free from Freakshow's control as his eyes turned neon green
"Sam...? Tucker...?"
However, Danny's eyes turned red again as Freakshow climbed to the top of the railcar
"Don't waste your breath children." he says. "He's under my control now."
The ghosts slowly close in on the teens. However, Tucker sees a railpass and gets an idea.
"You know, you can try lifting that staff higher." Tucker suggests
"Oh, you mean like this?" Freakshow asks
The evil ringmaster fell for the boy's trick as the staff was knocked out of his hands. Tucker jumps for it to catch the artifact, but missed it. Mariko intercepts the staff and caught the staff and slides it through her belt to secure it.
"No!" Freakshow shouts. "Get her!"
The ghosts surround her as the Japanese girl readies for battle.
"Hey!" Sam shouts, getting Mariko's attention. "Don't hurt them too bad!"
"I won't." Mariko replies before she looks at Freakshow in anger. "It's him I want to hurt!"
Mariko draws her blaster and fires the first shot at the dwarf ghost. She spin cocks after drop kicking the muscular ghost that charged at her before firing another blast upside the head. The girl jumps to her feet, spin cocked her weapon again and fires another blast at the female ghost who was clad in a red outfit and black boots.
However, before the Japanese girl could charge another shot, she ducked and barely dodged an energy blast fired by Danny who had an evil grin. Mariko's eyes widen as she sees the ghost boy ready to fire blast. She sees his eyes red instead of neon green like she normally sees them. Mariko stands up and holds out her hand as if she is trying to gesture him to wait
"Daniel-san!" Mariko calls
Her voice reached a primal part in Danny's mind as he saw her brown eyes; the same brown eyes that became familiar to him since the day he first met her as he breaks free from the staff's power
"It's me..."
Danny watched as this ninja pulls off the hooded cowl and mask, revealing the Japanese girl that he slowly started liking. He gasped as she dropped her mask
"Mariko...?"
Mariko nods at him with a smile
"Wow! You look beautiful in that." Danny compliments, making Mariko blush
Suddenly, they hear Sam shout as they see the dwarf ghost holding the goth girl near the edge of the railcar as Freakshow stepped into view.
"I grow tired of your interference little girl!" Freakshow says before he holds out his hand "Give me my staff!"
Mariko holsters her blaster as she gets in fighting stance while she says in defiance
"Never!"
"Then her life...is forfeit." Freakshow says with an evil smirk
The dwarf ghost pushed Sam over the edge. The goth girl screams as she falls to her doom.
Tucker gasped
"Sam!" Danny shouts
Before the ghost boy could make a move, he sees Mariko jump off the car as she caught up to Sam in free fall. The Japanese girl grabs a kunai and throws it. The weapon pierced through the wall of another railcar before gives it a pull and the rope reels her in. Sam sees that she being lifted to safety when she looks down. Thinking it was Danny, the goth girl happily says
"Danny! Thank you so much! You...!"
She pauses when she looks up to see that it was Mariko who saved her from death as the Japanese girl raised her eyebrow in confusion
"Um...you're welcome."
Sam chuckled in embarrassment before she lowered her eyes and said
"Okay! You can let me fall to my doom."
The girls make it back onto top of the railcar as Mariko gives the rope a tight pull as it retracts with her kunai before she caught and holsters it. When she stood up, the ghost begin approaching as Mariko holds out her hands
"Wait!"
She pulls out the staff as Freakshow grins, thinking that the Japanese girl is going to relinquish it to him
"This is all you want, right?" Mariko asks
"Yes." Freakshow replies as he held out his hand, "Now hand it over!"
Mariko smirks, catching Freakshow off-guard as she says
"As you wish."
With every ounce of strength, Mariko slams the crystal orb onto to the railcar, shattering it into tiny fragments as Freakshow watched in horror before the girl tosses it to him, making it catch it
"NOOOOO!"
The destruction of the crystal orb set off a chain reaction as the ghosts' red eyes faded out, returning them to normal.
"Huh? Where are we?"
"Are we free; finally free?"
"Only one way to find out!" Danny declares as his eyes returned to normal
Freakshow looks in horror as the ghosts grab him and phase him into the railcar that was loaded with all of the stolen goods. Tucker glanced at Mariko before he pulls his PDA out of his pocket
"Mind if we get a picture?" he asks
Sam elbows him in the arm with a glare as he yelped
"Ow!"
Inside, Freakshow was at the mercy of the ghosts that he enslaved as he had a sheepish smile
"Okay. Uh...when I called you "minions", he uses air quotes, "it was really, eh...a term of endearment, like "I love my minions"."
"You wanted a big haul?!" Danny asks as his hand glowed. "Try this on for size!"
However, Mariko jumps into the railcar, making Danny stand down. The Japanese girl glared at Freakshow in anger.
"Allow me. I have, as you say, "a bone to pick with him"." she says as she cracked her knuckles
Danny and the other ghosts move aside as Mariko pulls her blaster from the back holster while walking up to the ringmaster who stood up.
"Listen, erm...I don't suppose we can settle things peaceably, can we?" Freakshow asks with a horrified smile
Mariko glanced up while pretending to ponder. However, she subtly repositioned her weapon before she slammed the back of it upside Freakshow's chin. The girl spin cocked it before aiming at Freakshow in point blank range as she held a thumbs-up sign with a smug smile. Mariko blasts the man as he was sent flying. However, she quickly tossed her blaster aside, grabs his leg, pulls and repositioned him for a knee strike to the stomach.
The impact knocks the air out of Freakshow before Mariko sends a left hook and a right uppercut, sending him into the loot with a crash as it buried him.
"Consider it as my payback for what you've done." Mariko says as she brushed her hands.
"She is so awesome!" Danny thought
Mariko shifts her focus to the other ghosts as she picked up her weapon and holstered it.
"Listen. I know that you're innocent in all of this." Mariko says to them. "So you can go wherever you want to, you're free now."
The ghosts nodded to Mariko in gratitude before they phased out of the car. Then, she turns to face Danny Phantom as he said
"Listen, I just want to say thanks for your help."
"Daniel-san. I know it's you." Mariko says
Danny was shocked that Mariko knows his secret.
"How did you...?"
"I saw you transform earlier today when you pursued those ghosts that were enslaved by that man." Mariko replied
The ghost boy had a worried look. However, much to his shock, Mariko smiled and said
"Daniel-san. You have a solemn vow of silence that what I now know, no one else will."
Danny was relieved that Mariko won't tell any one his secret. However, he said to her
"Well, you're not the only who knows."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Sam and Tucker know my secret too." Danny says
They hear sirens at a distance before Danny asks
"What do you say we get out of here?"
Mariko smiled as she held out her hand. Danny gently grasped it before phasing them out of the railcar as the train pulled over at the blockade, surrounded by a multitude of police cars. The police barge in as Freakshow smiled sheepishly when they see him with the stolen loot.
The police shove a handcuffed Freakshow into a squad car before closing the door and then the driver escorts him to prison
"Nice job kids!" Jack said. "You caught that that weirdo, goth, punk, thief red-handed!"
Danny, Sam, and Tucker smile as they glance at one another
"I'm just happy you're all safe!" Pamela said
"More than safe; they're heroes!" Jeremy says in joy
"We're so proud of you!" Maddie adds. "But..."
"YOU'RE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!" the adults shout
Danny, Sam, and Tucker were at Sam's house in the library, reading books. Much to Sam's annoyance, she was wearing a pink dress with flowers on it over her usual wardrobe as her grandmother noticed
"Trouble?! This is cruel and unusual punishment!" Ida says
"I know!" Sam moans. "But it's the only way for my folks to forget about putting the restraining order on Danny!"
"At least Freakshow's in custody and the stolen good were returned." Danny comments
"So why do I feel like we're forgetting something?" Tucker asks
Sam sighs in annoyance as she thought
"I'll bet Mariko got off scot free."
At the Watanabe home, Mariko was sitting on the couch with a cringed look as a very angry Harumi was standing before her
"Anata wa hotondo watashi ni shinzo hossa o ataemashita!" Harumi shouts
(Translation: You almost gave me a heart attack!)
Mariko's cringed look became mixed with guilt as she said apologetically
"Gomen'nasai, okāsan."
(Translation: I'm sorry, mother.)
"Anata wa korosa reta kamo shirenai!" Harumi scolds
(Translation: You could've been killed!)
"Shitte iru..." Mariko said in a guilty tone
(Translation: I know...)
Suddenly, Harumi smiled before she said to her daughter
"Dewa, naze watashi wa anata totemo hokori no omotte iru nodesu ka?"
(Translation: Then why am I so proud of you?)
Mariko was confused as she asked
"Nani?"
(Translation: What?)
"Anata no otosan wa watashi no subete o itra." Harumi replies
(Translation: Your father told me everything.)
Harumi hugs her daughter who returned it
"Soshite, watashi wa anata ga anzendearu koto o ureshiku omoinasu."
(Translation: And I'm glad you're safe.)
"Okāsan arigato." Mariko says
(Translation: Thank you, mother.)
It was night at Casper High as Mr. Lancer was still banging on the door of the janitor's closet.
"Is anyone out there?!"
Mr. Lancer turns away and says
"This is so wrong!"
Then, a janitor opens the door and placed the wheeled mop bucked inside before saying
"See you Monday."
When the door closes, the teacher tries to pry it open so he can escape, but to no avail.
Whew! Finally done. It took a lot of thinking on this one. Stay tuned for an intermission chapter where a formal dance takes place and ghostly decides to crash the party before I go into season 2 of Danny Phantom where the A-Listers reign will be brought to an end.
A/N: After viewing the episode "Control Freaks", I thought long and hard to figure out which parts to remove, add, redo, and tone down since there were some characters I found annoying. Plus, Freakshow should've got a beat down from the ghosts he enslaved in my opinion
A/N #2: Picture Mariko's two kunai daggers as the Hellfire Kunai of Scorpion from the game "Mortal Kombat 11", the war fans as the Radical Killer of Kitana from the same video game and her blaster is the Chaperone exotic shotgun from the games "Destiny: The Taken King" and "Destiny 2", but energy based, functions like an M1887 lever-action shotgun, and each shot fired needs a ten second delay to recharge it, so for example: use all six shots, Mariko has to wait for a full minute in order to use it again. Plus, she can spin cock it like the T-800 from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".
A/N #3: In the scene where Mariko picks up her weapons and then arms herself, I figured that the music where Mulan cuts her hair and takes her father's place in the army would be suitable. Plus, I'm referring to the animated Disney film of "Mulan", not the live action one.
Guest (1): Glad you liked it
Guest (2): Here you go. Plus, when I do chapters based on episodes, it takes me as while to complete it, making changes to it, trying to adapt to it, the works
Dreams Come True 996: I like that idea, but I have something better. Hope you enjoy this chapter
NiteOwl18: Hope you like how Mariko can hold her own in a scrap for this chapter
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