Good morning, everybody! Wow, it's been an exciting week. Fire with Fire fans will be happy to hear that this fic has been nominated for the 2021 Irondad Creator Awards! I truly appreciate the recognition, especially since this story doesn't aim to explicitly be an Irondad fic but rather interweave it into the larger plot.
It was all hands on deck for this chapter. Thanks to all my wonderful friends on my international beta team for providing feedback, hot takes, corrections, questions, and more so that I could make sure this chapter adequately represents/drives my vision while wrapping up act one of this fic.
Now, on to the action. It's almost Homecoming night, and Danny and Peter both just want to go to the dance.
General Notes
"This is dialogue."
"This is alternative dialogue, meaning whispered or spoken from a distance such as on the phone."
'This is thought.'
This and THIS and *this* are emphasis. The *this* emphasis is more along the lines of the snarky or sarcastic.
[This is digital text, such as notifications on a computer or smartphone. It also represents A.I. voices, such as Karen or F.R.I.D.A.Y./"Friday" (because I really don't feel like typing out the full acronym with periods every time she comes up).]
I do not own Danny Phantom nor Spider-Man.
Ch. 08 originally published: Friday, April 9, 2021
FIRE WITH FIRE
08 — What Discord Follows
Astoria, Queens — Thursday, September 22, 12:20
"Pete?"
Peter leaned more heavily against his hand and stared across the room.
"Hey, Peter?"
The boy finally jolted and acknowledged his tablemate. "What's up, Danny?"
Danny wordlessly held up his Spanish textbook.
"Oh. R-right."
Danny set the book back down and turned to a new page in his notebook. "You went all spacey just now. Is everything cool?"
"Yeah, totally fine, one hundred percent cool," Peter denied, surreptitiously darting his eyes aside once more.
Danny sighed and twisted in his chair to see what had distracted his Spanish tutor to such an extent. Spying Liz, he relaxed back into his chair and smirked. "We could double-date, you know?"
"W-what?!" Peter blubbered.
"You and Liz, and me and Betty," Danny explained. "They're super tight, and we live next to each other. Good enough, right?"
"I mean—I don't know what—she doesn't even like me like that," Peter protested with a blush.
"Dude," Danny said, leaning in to whisper. "Her dad totally hinted she was crushing on you when I crashed at their place after the party. Just ask her!"
"That's such stupid advice! That's not proof she likes me like that," Peter hissed back. "Besides...I haven't had the best track record lately…"
"Peter." Danny sighed. "Look, you can spend, like, your whole life liking someone, but you never say anything because...you're afraid of the what-ifs. But sometimes life happens, and you never even get a chance to find out before suddenly she's—" Danny's voice died off, his mind visibly wandering as his brow furrowed.
Peter waited a moment before continuing the thought himself. "So, you're saying I should at least find out before it's too late?" he suggested.
Danny's gaze returned from the library windows. "What? Oh, oh yeah, that's...yeah, exactly."
"Huh." Peter looked Danny up and down before looking over towards Liz once more.
Tony stood at his lab's windows, staring out onto Midtown Manhattan. The triple-pane glass muted all noise from outside, so the life of the city was restrained into a silent ballet of traffic and pedestrians buzzing around below. His fingers ran absently over the blue and red fabric in his hands, feeling the three-dimensional smart stitching containing a relaxed strength within its fibers.
"Tony? Are you still listening?" Happy asked.
Tony recoiled slightly and turned away from the glass. " 'Course I am," he defended. "We were talking about the, uh, ...movies-"
"Moving."
"-moving. So we're still on track for that?"
"Yes, sir, everything's on track for next week, but the Fentons have some concerns."
"What kinds of concerns?"
"Phantom and his wraiths, mostly."
"Since when are they his?" Tony tossed the Spider-Man suit onto a counter and returned to his primary workstation.
"Apparently, sir, Phantom has been seen multiple times in the same locations as the wraiths," Happy explained, producing a tablet as he met Tony, "within minutes or even seconds in some cases. Each time has left him the victor of the fight. Dr. Fenton and Dr. Fenton both assured me that this was his same M.O. back in Amity Park." Happy set the tablet down in front of his employer.
Tony side-eyed the information displayed. "What does this have to do with the move?"
"Well, a wraith has now been seen on Stark property, and Maddie thinks it's only a matter of time before Danny Phantom himself shows up. He has been seen just outside the tower before, after all, and seems to have an obsessive interest in the Fentons' work."
"So she thinks the back-catalog of goodies hanging around the tower would be a considerable upgrade from the thermos he previously stole?"
"Precisely, sir."
Tony sighed. "Alright, accelerate the timeline for the more powerful and expensive belongings. Hopefully, Phantom won't think to check outside the city for them."
"Phantom usually stays within a certain operating radius, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"Have the Fentons set up the hardware for anti-ghost protection upstate ASAP," Tony ordered. "So that takes care of one ghost, but what about the Ghost?"
"Ava Starr?"
"We know she's already been at the compound."
"She has a fairly predictable pattern, though: never breaking into the same place twice," Happy said. "If anything, she'd probably come here next, not the compound upstate again."
"Alright, prioritize the move and have the Fentons throw in some of their tech to be safe. As far as whether their shields work against general quantum phase-shifting rather than ghost-specific shifting, I guess we'll find out when Starr sets her sights on ex-Avengers Tower."
"I'm on it," Happy assured. He started to head for the door.
"Any news on the kid?"
Happy paused. "Danny's struggling in Spanish, from what I gather, but-"
"No." Back still turned, he pointed a pencil at the colorful, discarded suit. "The kid."
"Oh. No, sir, nothing on the news. Looks like he's gone quiet."
"...Good."
Sunnyside, Queens — Friday, September 23, 17:45
Entering his room, Danny dialed his mother's number and shouldered the phone as he sifted through the closet.
"Hey, Danny," Maddie greeted, "We should be done here in the lab in half an hour or so, so we'll be home soon. How does sushi sound tonight?"
"Hey, Mom. No, that's not why I'm calling." Danny checked a hanger which had been shoved to the back. "Do you know where my suit is?
"Didn't you pack it?"
"I-urgh," he grunted, fighting against a falling sleeping bag. "No, I thought you packed everyone's fancy clothes."
"Danny, your father and I were plenty busy with our own things, and the household, and the lab. Why would we grab your clothes too?"
"Because only *grown-ups* think to bring the fancy stuff you only use once a year?" Danny grumbled to himself.
Maddie sighed. "Why do you need your suit anyway?"
"Homecoming. It's tomorrow night," Danny answered, stepping away from the closet to wipe his brow.
"Homecoming? Are you going to Homecoming?" Maddie asked.
"Well, yeah. Isn't that obvious?"
"You didn't tell us that, sweetie!"
"I don't tell you lots of things."
The line was silent for a moment.
"You know we're trying to put more effort into the Fentons as a family, but it goes both ways, mister." Switching to a cheeky tone, Maddie proceeded, "So did you ask a girl to go with you?"
"N-no, she asked me," Danny said bashfully. When she said nothing, he added, "Stop! No, it's not like that. She just thought I might not know anybody and might be…shut up!"
"I didn't say anything!" Maddie protested. "Wait…it's tomorrow and you're just now telling me you don't have anything to wear?"
"Well, I didn't know until now, did I!"
His mother sighed. "Well, it's still early enough. Hey, why don't you come meet me at the Tower and then we can hang out in the city for the evening? A nice, mother-son shopping spree!" she suggested enthusiastically.
Danny groaned with doubt.
"C'mon, you ol' stick-in-the-mud! We haven't done anything just the two of us since that science convention!"
"If I remember correctly, we almost died multiple times that night."
"None of that was OUR fault. Alright, it's a quarter to, so I'll expect you here by 6:30. I'll tell your father he and Jazz are on their own for dinner."
"Isn't this fun?!" Maddie cooed with an ear-to-ear grin, marveling at Times Square around them as she and Danny walked arm in arm. "Shopping in Midtown like all the locals…I feel so Metropolitan."
Danny rolled his eyes. "It's every teenage boy's dream to buy clothes with his mom on a Friday night."
Maddie playfully punched his shoulder. She frowned, though, and wrapped her arm completely around Danny. "You're always so cold!" she chided.
"Augh, Mo~om! Get off! No I'm not!" Danny whined and tried to remove himself from her grip. She held fast, though, so Danny quickly gave up and tried to mentally warm himself.
"So where should we try first?" Maddie asked, looking for nearby stores. "Hey, what about Hm?"
Confused, Danny turned to her. " 'Hm'?"
She pointed. "That one over there."
"You mean...H&M?" Danny asked with a snort.
Maddie smiled. "You knew which one I meant."
Danny laughed and pulled her along. "Come on, Mom! All the cool kids shop at Hmmm!"
The pair soon found themselves upstairs in the men's formalwear section. Danny looked through the suits while his mother focused on the shirt and tie pairing.
Vacuum.
Danny's core pulsed, freezing the air in his lungs. He went wide-eyed and glanced to his mother, who was frowning at the absence of ambient music and noise. Grabbing a random suit, he said, "Uh, hey, Mom? I like this one so let's go try it on."
Maddie allowed herself to be pulled along to the changing rooms. "Danny, what's the rush?! Do you...not hear it, too?"
"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe the system's busted or they lost WiFi." Danny snatched the shirt from his mother's arms. "I'll just be in here trying it on." He sprinted to the farthest cabin and slammed the door shut.
Hearing screams, Danny rushed to kick off his shoes and toss his jacket over the door to give the cabin an occupied appearance. With a steadying breath, Danny stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and summoned his transformation into Danny Phantom.
Hearing screams, Maddie rushed back out to the showroom to see the cause of the disturbance. A line of wraiths phased in through the large windows that overlooked the street corner below and began diving amongst the racks of clothes, cloaked heads peeking above the displays like sharks' fins.
Maddie brandished a compact ecto pistol from her purse and disengaged the safety while cataloging the room. "Everyone down!" she shouted with no response. Her mouth turned down in realization that all noise more than a few feet from her was silenced. One wraith swooped down towards Maddie, and she took aim.
"Whoa, look out!"
A freezing sensation washed over her, and the world desaturated into outlines of aquamarine. Feeling herself free-floating in space, Maddie looked down and saw black-clad arms wrapped around her torso. "Phantom!" the woman sneered.
The wraith sailed towards them, arms reaching for the pair but passing harmlessly through.
"Get off of me, you wretched ectoplasmic manifestation of post-human consciousness!" Maddie snapped and fought against Phantom's grip. He held fast as the wraith tried once more to grab at them. Seeing the more pressing danger, Maddie uneasily settled to formulate a better plan.
"Hey! Someone needs to learn to use their nice words, Mrs. F."
"Doctor F to you!" the woman spat. "Doctor Fenton."
"Sorry for saving your life, *Doctor Fenton*," the ghost quipped in reply.
"I'm an expert markswoman and I had it at point-blank range."
"These guys are nasty, though. Is that rated for power level 10 entities?"
"No," Maddie conceded with a grumble. "Wait, how do you know about our designs' capabilities?!"
"I have to know what'll kill me, don't I?" Phantom grumbled in reply.
"It's a bit late for that."
Phantom harrumphed. "Look, it's us two against all of them. I had a hard time getting rid of two, and there's, like, ten here. If we work together, though, you can weaken 'em with the baby gun and I'll finish 'em off. Deal?"
"So you end up looking like the hero, and everything's business as usual. You never give it up!" Maddie protested. "Why are you helping me anyway?! Aren't they your minions?!"
"Oh, yeah, this is aaallllll part of my master plan to take over the world."
"Will. you. get. off!" Maddie insisted, tugging harder against his grip.
"No way! I'm not letting go until I know you're not gonna shoot me!"
One wraith across the room seemed to notice them floating intangibly. It phase-shifted to their dimensional plane away from the chaos of the store and, now in full color, began charging towards them. Maddie aimed her pistol and fired, hitting the wraith square in the chest. It dipped with a moan of pain but continued forth. Phantom raised his right arm. Aiming straight ahead, he released an ecto energy blast that vaporized the injured wraith. The beast dissipated into the abyss hidden in this plane of existence.
Maddie, seeing her opportunity, wrestled herself free of Phantom's left arm and plunged back into the tangible world. She landed on her feet and whirled on Phantom, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Stay out of my way!" the woman shouted into the void and returned her attention to the wraiths.
Maddie began a rapid-fire assault on the wraiths. Focusing on one straight ahead beyond a table display, she sensed one coming up behind her. Five-six-seven-eight shots, and the one straight ahead disintegrated. She rolled sideways over the table, firing backward as she dropped behind it for cover. One more circled overhead like a vulture, but before she could fire, Phantom tackled it away. He gave an ectoplasmically charged punch to its face before releasing the charge into its torso. Phantom looped back around, so Maddie aimed at him instead.
"OW!" Phantom shouted. With an infuriated glare, he said, "They're the bad guys, not me!"
"Take out the queen, the hive will follow!"
"I'm not a queen bee!" Phantom screeched indignantly. "That...is a sentence which I just said." Now dodging blasts from Maddie while simultaneously keeping an advantageous position, Phantom refocused on the wraiths.
A few minutes of endless fighting left the pair breathing hard, but most of the wraiths haunting the store were down. Maddie had to begrudgingly admit Phantom's higher power level helped get rid of them more efficiently. Soon, only one was left, its disquieting eyeless sockets clearly changing focus to the woman.
Phantom's toxic green eyes widened as he hovered at the far end of the room. He raised an arm and fired ecto energy at the last wraith. The creature recoiled, but it had only been grazed by the blast. It twisted midair with a long, loud screech and whooshed straight towards Phantom.
And the changing rooms.
Maddie gasped. "Danny!"
Sending multiple follow-up attacks which the wraith all dodged, Phantom glanced back over at her. Following her line of sight, he quickly realized where they were all converging. He turned around to make sure the wraith was still following him before darting down the length of the cabins, disappearing through the flimsy cabin door still holding Danny's would-be suit jacket. There was a tussle, a shout, a burst of green, and a white-hot flash of aquamarine as black smoke oozed from beneath and around the door.
"DANNY!" Maddie shouted and sprinted for the stall. Pistol cocked, she kicked in the door.
"ACK! MOM WHAT THE HECK!" Danny yelled, holding a pair of slacks in front of his undressed body as he stood back up, crossly eyeing the door that struck him.
Maddie frowned. "But—but Phantom-"
The boy fumbled to his feet while trying to remain hidden by the slacks. "He left after vaporizing the wraith!"
"He could have seriously hurt you, sweetie! I need to check that you're okay-"
"I'm fine. Now will you please GET. OUT. I'm not DRESSED!" Danny slammed the changing room door in her face.
The sun shone bright that day, a stark contrast to the Fentons' spirits.
"Hey Mads, can you get the door?" Jack asked.
Maddie fished her house keys out of her purse and unlocked the front door. Jack slipped past her, fumbling slightly with the stack of boxes in his hands. Maddie kicked the door shut behind her and followed Jack into the kitchen. The man set the boxes down on the kitchen table and began organizing the parts within them.
"Jack, I don't know how much longer we can do this," Maddie said.
"No, no, it'll work this time, I promise," Jack insisted.
"But every single time-"
"It'll work!" Jack found the circuit board he'd been searching for and set it aside. "It has to work. We don't—this is who we are. And by golly, a Fenton has never accepted defeat before."
"Jack, we've tried everything, and I can't think of a single thing to try which will make that portal-"
"You're dead!"
The two adults froze, letting the house go silent. A few moments of nothing, then-
"We killed him!"
Jack gasped. "That sounded like Tucker!"
"In the basement..." Maddie added.
Both adults jumped into action. They fought to pry open the basement lab door and stampeded downstairs.
Jack froze at the bottom step. "The portal!"
Maddie slammed into his immovable mass and recoiled. "It's working!"
"It's working, Mads! Ha-HA!" Jack cheered.
"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" they heard Sam cry out.
The two adults whirled around to see Sam and Tucker kneeling on the ground and peeking from behind an island.
"Kids!" Maddie said. "What are you two doing down here?! Where's Danny?"
"He…" Tucker began, his haunted eyes subconsciously darting to beside him.
Maddie spied two black boots hidden behind Sam and Tucker's legs. Her stomach dropped. "Oh my god," she whispered hoarsely and forced herself to lurch forward. She shoved the teens out of her way and saw her unmoving son lying prostrate on the floor. "Oh my god!"
"He was—uh—fine! Totally fine," Tucker blurted, "and then he freaked out and collapsed and now I think he's dead again and we killed him and-"
Maddie tuned out the panicking teen. She felt for a pulse and couldn't detect anything through the hazmat suit. Maddie ripped off Danny's singed left glove and pressed two fingers to his wrist...
…
…
...thump-thump…
…
…
...thump-thump…
"It's weak," Maddie announced. She dropped his arm and began gently slapping her son on the cheek. "Wake up, Danny, wake up… Come on, Danny, wake up for me…"
"Wake up, Danny!" Jack chimed in.
"Come on, wake up."
Danny was unresponsive. His mouth slipped open from the jostling.
"Wake up," Sam parroted.
"Come on, Danny!" Tucker added.
Maddie shook Danny's shoulders hard. "Danny! Come on, I know you're still with us!"
"Wake up, Danny!"
"Dan-o, wake up for me bud!"
"Danny, wake up!"
"Wake up!"
"MADS! Wake up!"
Maddie gasped, releasing her grip on Jack's shoulders and sitting back on their bed.
"Maddie, are you alright?"
Maddie panted and pressed a hand to her chest. Her heartbeat began to slow down. "Oh, Jack," she whispered.
Jack shifted to be more upright, using the headboard as a backrest. His bedside lamp cast a soft glow in the room. "What was that about?"
"It was the lab," she explained. "When we found Danny."
"Oh, man, I'll never forget that day," Jack said. "Who knew a day could be so wonderful and terrible all at once?"
Maddie stared ahead for a second then shook her head to clear it. "I'm going to get some water. Go on back to sleep, hun."
With a glance at the clock—3:31 AM—Maddie shuffled into her slippers and opened the master suite door. She was shocked to see the kitchen light on and hear the sound of the fridge shutting as she entered.
Danny stood at the counter with a glass of milk already poured. Uncapping the chocolate syrup bottle, he turned to her. "Nightmare?" he croaked.
"Yeah," she responded, shocked. "How did you-?"
"Wraith," her son explained. "Me too." Danny tipped the syrup bottle over the milk and proceeded to add another inch to its volume in the glass.
Maddie clicked her tongue and went to the cupboard. "Danny, you're supposed to have more milk than chocolate."
"Do you want one or not?"
"Obviously," she replied, smiling. Maddie slapped another cup down next to Danny's.
Sunnyside — Saturday, September 24, 20:00
Jazz half-smiled at her brother fussing in the entryway mirror.
"You're sure this looks good?" Danny asked, over-tightening his new necktie. With a choked cough, he loosened it again and ran his hands along the sides of his head to tame any errant hairs.
"You look great, Danny," Jazz assured.
"Like, actually great, or frumpy Midwest great?"
"Actually great, I promise."
"Our little boy," Maddie cooed from the kitchen archway, "growing up so fast!"
"Mo~om," Danny whined with a roll of his eyes.
Jack came in next to Maddie and embraced her from the side. "Dan-o's becoming a ladykiller just like his old man!"
Danny slumped and stuck out his bottom lip.
Jazz came and stood beside him at the mirror. "Hey," she said softly, bumping his shoulder, "you really do look great."
"Thanks," her brother said. A buzzing noise sounded through the air. Danny withdrew his phone from his breast pocket, the screen shining with a new message. "Okay, she's downstairs. I gotta go!" He began wrestling with the deadbolt, attempting to unlock the door.
"Okay, have fun, sweetie!" Maddie said.
Danny finally got the door open and rushed to call the elevator.
Jazz looked over at the dining room table. "Oh! Corsage!" she called after him and grabbed the plastic container for her brother.
Danny met her at the door. "Thanks," he whispered and bolted.
The elevator was excruciatingly slow as usual. He whirled around to give himself one final visual check in the mirror and felt his pocket buzz again.
Sam: [I expect pictures]
Danny snapped a quick, awkward selfie in the mirror and sent it just as the doors slid open.
Across the foyer and outside the glass doors, Betty stood in a white floral dress with a simple black headband keeping her pale blonde hair pushed back. Her feet were together and her hands were clasped as she stood bathed in streetlight. Betty detected movement and glanced over as Danny came outside. A broad smile split her face after she saw him.
"Hey, Danny! You look great," she greeted.
"Wow. Uh—" Danny cleared his throat. "You look—you look great, too." He heard something rattling inside plastic and glanced down to see the corsage bouncing within its container. He steadied his hand and opened it. "This is for you, I guess. I mean...obviously it's for you, so—"
Betty chuckled. "You're too sweet, you know that?" she said, daintily extending her left wrist.
Danny slid the flower on and crushed the container. Spying a trash bin just outside the front door he walked over and tossed the crumpled plastic.
"Whatever you do, don't look up," Betty advised.
Danny winced and his gaze rose unbidden. Jazz and his parents each leaned out of one of the living room windows, Jazz recording the whole thing on her phone. Danny cringed and offered a shy wave.
"C'mon, everyone's waiting in the limo."
"Limo?" Danny asked.
The boy finally noticed a white stretch limo parked in the street with its hazards flashing. Betty opened the nearside door and slipped inside, leaving room for Danny to follow.
"Hey, new kid!" Jason greeted from beside his disinterested date. Scanning the seats, Danny recognized a few kids from around school surrounding the teen from the morning announcements; he was pretty sure one or two of them were on the Academic Decathlon team.
"Hit it, Bruno!" Betty called to the driver.
The man wordlessly saluted and pulled away, starting up a party anthem as he went. Most of the passengers started to dance in their seats and began chatting. Danny awkwardly fiddled with his hands beside Betty while she started typing a text.
"So Danny," Jason called out over the music, "what are the dances like back at your old school?"
"At Casper High?" Danny clarified. He shook his head slightly. "I don't really know. I went to one last year but it got attacked by a medieval dragon, so I didn't really try after that."
"What?!" Jason asked, bubbling with a laugh that overtook a few of the others. "You're crazy, man!"
Danny blushed. "Oh, right, I forgot that's not a typical shared life experience."
Betty giggled. "I promise we don't have any dragons in Queens, okay?"
Danny smiled. "If you say so."
His date gasped. "Selfie!" she barked.
Danny promptly attempted a casual smile as she held up her phone and snapped a quick picture.
"Aww, I'm gonna send this to Liz." Almost instantly a barrage of clicking emanated from the phone as she composed yet another text.
Liz stared shellshocked at the doors out of which Peter had suddenly sprinted.
Ned gaped. "Uuuhhh…I'd better go see if he's alright," he said and ran out of the room after his departed friend.
Liz turned to the gathered group and wondered, "Did that really just happen?"
"Don't worry about that spastic nerd," Betty spat, pulling Liz into a side hug. "He's not important, just the New Jersey of Midtown."
"What does that even mean?" Danny whispered to himself.
Jason leaned in to explain. "It means he's the worst but he's part of the bigger picture so we just kind of have to deal with his existence."
"Peter's not the worst; he's nice!"
"He just abandoned his crush at her final Homecoming before graduating."
Danny conceded the point with a reluctant nod. "Valid. Hey, why do you all hate New Jersey anyway?"
"Because it's the worst but part of the bigger picture so we just kind of have to deal with its existence," Jason drawled. Seeing Danny's lack of understanding, he sighed and shook his head. "It's a New Yorker thing. You wouldn't get it."
Danny side-eyed the local.
"Come on, Lizzie," Jason teased and pulled her from Betty's hug. "Let's get some punch."
"You know I hate that nickname," the senior fondly chided with a roll of her eyes.
Danny glanced back out the doors where Peter and Ned had run and turned to Betty. "I gotta admit it's nice to not be the weird one out for once," he quipped.
"You're not weird," Betty encouraged with a soft smile, which Danny promptly returned in gratitude.
The group led Liz over to the refreshments to distract her. She remained a little subdued, but before too long she was adding occasional sarcastic quips to the conversation.
A sudden chill ran up Danny's spine, targeting his core and freezing the breath in his lungs. With a shiver, he glanced around.
The room buzzed with activity and life. Some students danced, others socialized on the periphery, and a number seemed focused on the refreshments. The subdued lighting of the gym allowed the vibrancy of the decorations and event lighting to shine. No one seemed any the wiser to impending doom.
"Danny, are you okay?" Betty asked.
Vacuum.
The music died, replaced only with the shuffling and gasps of students within the same radius as Danny.
Danny wetted his lips. "I think there's about to be a-"
A pair of wraiths burst from beneath the hardwood floors, causing numerous people to scream in horror.
Danny's esophagus froze again. More wraiths came flying in the glass doors at the entrance to the gym. Still more came phasing in through the ceiling until a legion of them circled above the students like vultures, their screeches assaulting everyone's ears in violent discord. Some students ducked; others collapsed to their knees as the energy drained from their bodies. The sound of the unpaused music cut in and out of Danny's hearing as the wraiths and their oppressive auras neared and departed.
Danny noticed a nearby table with its cloth hanging nearly to the floor. He grabbed Betty by the shoulders, ordering, "Come with me!" He pulled her over to the table and helped her shuffle beneath the tablecloth without ruining her elegant dress. Once she was hidden, he stayed halfway outside the shroud of the fabric. "You should be safe here! I'll look for Liz and the others and see if they need a place to hide too!"
Without waiting for a response or protest, Danny ducked back out from under the table and stood up, observing the multiple students running around. He fixed his tie and strode nonchalantly for the doors. Danny rounded a corner and, with a glance over his shoulder to ensure there were no witnesses, blipped from the visible spectrum as he sprinted for the nearest closet or bathroom.
Transformed, Danny Phantom flew invisibly from the school until he was amongst some trees at the far end of the sports field. He became visible once more and rocketed back across the fields, arcing down from the sky so his trajectory would be less suspicious to the students pouring out of the school with a few wraiths in hot pursuit. Phantom mentally traced a path and looped to the side, coming in and tackling one wraith into the next. He continued his trajectory into the last wraith to establish a minor distance from the crowds. He flung ecto energy-coated arms out to throw charges at the trio, successfully blasting the first two into oblivion.
Unfortunately, the last one dodged his blast, a few branches of a nearby tree incinerating instead. With a screech, the wraith reversed roles with Phantom and chased him back into the school. The teen hero dodged to and fro between the fleeing students, charging full speed through the open gymnasium doors just above the students' heads. Once inside, the hero turned to face the wraith square on and turned intangible. Just as the wraith reached out for him and slipped into the same shared space, Phantom flared his aura with a strained grunt and became tangible again, the flare causing the wraith to burst apart into black smoke.
Panting, the teen swiveled around to survey the state of the dance. The room had descended into complete pandemonium. "Well, this is all fantastic," he drawled. Movement in his peripheral vision caused him to glance over and see Betty peeking from under the tablecloth, looking left and right most likely for his alter ego. Phantom winced but returned his attention to the gaggle of wraiths. After a moment's thought, he shouted, "Hey, wraiths! Over here!" and began waving his hands charged with ectoenergy to stand out like a beacon.
All the beasts froze in place, students calming out of confusion. The wraiths collectively rotated to face him at an unsettlingly slow pace. It then dawned on Phantom—
"…Oh."
—his plan featured no part 2.
The wraiths launched towards Phantom, smokey trails clouding the upper half of the gymnasium as they approached. The teen wheeled around, reabsorbing the energy into his palms, and phased through the wall back out over the city.
"Dang it dang it dang it dang it dang it-" Phantom muttered in panic and looked to see the entire group of wraiths had locked onto him and were closing in. He angled west over the Hudson and began weaving through the structure of the Queensboro Bridge, using the steel trusses as cover. A handful of wraiths collided with the steel and disintegrated into smoke upon impact, but a number of them successfully navigated the bridge and followed Phantom as he arced towards Midtown Manhattan.
Phantom used every opportunity to flip over and fly backward, picking the wraiths off one by one with frantic ectoplasmic blasts. He looped down through Times Square, doing his best to keep a distance from the crowd below and temporarily suspending his counterattacks until the civilians were out of harm's way.
Clearing the plaza, the black and white blur raced south on Broadway then banked left to spiral up and around the Empire State Building one block over. He resumed his successive blasts at the wraiths now collectively below him. Phantom continued straight up in the air, charging his cupped hands with building power until he stopped his ascent, contorted around, and thrust his hands together below him.
A powerful blast erupted downward, and Phantom grit his teeth under the exertion. One by one the remaining wraiths vaporized as they became exposed to the incessant attack until all that was left was a silent cloud of black smoke drifting away in the evening breeze.
Panting, Phantom looked out over Manhattan below to check for any unusual movement and decided to descend back down to perch on top of the Empire State Building for a few minutes to catch his breath. He landed, pulling one leg up to his chest while letting the other swing off his chosen ledge. Phantom's head lolled back against the building as he took in the peaceful excitement of New York City on a Saturday night.
A distant rumble caught Phantom's attention, and he perked up, looking for evidence of the source of the noise. He sighed deeply and muttered, "Just once I'd like to go to a dance uninterrupted." Phantom lifted off the building and flew south to see what had happened.
A gathering crowd at the Battery Park waterfront came into view just as Phantom passed the World Trade Center. The hero descended closer and realized they were all staring out at a smoke trail originating from a fire atop the Statue of Liberty's torch. Larger flames burst from the torch, causing surprise to ripple through the crowd.
Phantom raced across the water and overtook some approaching police and fire boats as he neared. The hero pulled back his speed and assessed the growing danger of the fire threatening to damage the monument. Floodlights danced across the oxidized copper before focusing on the ghost as well as the inferno.
"Identify yourself!" came a shout from a bullhorn.
Phantom saw a number of officers with their cell phones out and recording. "Just a figment of your imagination!"
"Hey, you think we're stupid or somethin'?!"
Phantom cringed and, returning his attention to the smoking torch, identified the burning mass as a crumpled jet engine. He immediately looked straight up and then around in search of the plane from which it must have fallen.
Another small explosion of fire made Phantom recoil and shield himself with a force field before he could see anything, making it clear the fire needed to be put out as soon as possible. The teen briefly considered dropping it in the river water. However, a foul odor reminded him of the toxic nature of the oil and fuel, so he looked away from the murky depths in search of another solution. A long strip of lights next to clusters of well-illuminated warehouses caught his eye.
"Airport!" he gasped to himself.
Phantom scrutinized the flaming engine and found a break in the paneling which he could use as a grip. Bracing himself against the heat, the teen got ahold of the engine and hefted it into the air. With a final glance down at the policemen descending upon the statue's base, Phantom flew to the airport with the engine in his grasp, fighting against the extreme heat of the flames all the way.
Sweat beaded on the cold ghost's brow as he came closer to the airport, now feeling the heat from the engine deep inside his core. With increasingly worrisome fumbles, he identified some workers outside a brightly illuminated hangar. Phantom silently approached the oblivious workers and went unnoticed until he had just entered the range of the overhead floodlights.
"What the-?!" one of the workers exclaimed.
"Hey, guys!" Phantom awkwardly greeted. "This, uh, fell from the sky? Can you guys find out who it belongs to, please? And maybe make it...not on fire?"
The rest of the men gaped.
After a beat of cringeworthy silence, Phantom's grip on the flaming engine slipped. It crashed to the ground with a heavy metallic crunch. "I'll just, uh, leave this here…" He caught a glimpse of a sign on the wall behind them. " 'Newark Liberty Interna-?' I'm in New Jersey?!"
"Yeah, what of it?" the worker snapped.
"Nothing, really...I was told you're the worst?"
"Hey, Casper, what'd Jersey ever do to you?" the same guy snapped.
"Nothing!"
"Don't hate on Brick City!"
"I didn't say *I* thought it was the w-"
"You fuck'n New Yorkers think you're better than everyone else."
Phantom huffed and leveled an impatient glare at the men. "Look. I'm just trying to stop the Statue of Liberty from melting and generally help the world, but you all just stare at me like I'm talkin' to a wall!"
"You come here and try and dump a literal flaming trash heap on us-" the man gestured furiously at the engine "-and, what, you expect a welcoming committee?"
"At least the people back home run screaming or something."
"Get lost, glowworm."
With a sarcastic salute, Phantom sailed into the air and angled back towards Manhattan. He only made it so far before noticing a pillar of smoke to the south. "Oh, crap, the rest of the plane!" he exclaimed.
Phantom shot off and arrived at Coney Island within a few minutes. Police and fire crews were pouring out of their vehicles and converging upon the beach. A single well-dressed man emerged from a Stark Industries helicopter powering down at the edge of the crash site.
The impact had rendered the plane almost unrecognizable, and crates of goods poked sporadically from the sand. Scattered fires dotted the scene, but at this point, it seemed the main task would be cleanup.
Phantom's gaze drifted upwards to the amusement park's attractions, and it settled on the first peak of the Cyclone. A figure began to take form amongst the shadows. Curious, his body instinctively drifted in the direction of the rollercoaster. The person must have sensed him coming because they rushed to pull something over their head, but not before Phantom had caught a glimpse of brown hair.
"Spider-Man?!" Phantom cried out.
Spider-Man attempted to stand but thumped back onto the wooden structure instead. "Danny Phantom? What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.
"What's with the wardrobe change?" Phantom noticed the state of Spider-Man's uniform then glanced briefly back at the wreckage. "Did—did you just crash a plane?"
"More like I landed a crashing plane," the other hero bit back. "It was being hijacked so I stopped it."
"By crashing it?"
"The bad guy's suit caused the engine failure in the first place! It was my duty to make sure he didn't get away with the stuff, so I fought him and landed the plane as best as I could."
"Well, you did a real bang-up job there, Sully," Phantom quipped.
"Hey, no one died, and the only people who got hurt are me and the Vulture."
"It's 'the Vulture and me,' not- oh, God, I sound like my sister. Who's the Vulture?"
"The bad guy. Look, I just ditched one of the coolest girls ever and got beat up by a guy in a freaking wingsuit, okay? I'm really not in the mood."
Phantom crossed his arms and joined Spider-Man in watching the cleanup. "Well, you in the mood for a ride back to Queens? I'm assuming that's where you live."
"Well-"
"Walking all that way in a superhero costume would probably suck."
"Um…y-yeah, thanks," Spider-Man agreed. He stood and fumbled slightly when he put weight on his left leg. He reached out with his right arm for support but cried out in pain and grabbed that shoulder with his left hand. "You know Astoria?"
"Sure. So…how are we gonna do this?" Phantom asked. "Princess carry? Fireman's lift? Holding under the arms? Piggyback? Or I could do, like-" The ghost held his forearms parallel in front of him with his gloved palms facing up "-a forklift thing under your arms?"
"Ugh, none of those sound fun."
"You think *I'm* looking forward to this?!"
New Avengers Facility — Esopus, New York — 21:15
[Boss, a wraith situation just occurred at Midtown,] Friday announced and pulled up multiple Instagram Live stories.
Tony crossed the lab to the transparent displays and set down his whiskey. "Damn. The kid's not getting involved, is he?"
[Facial recognition scans have not identified him or Spider-Man in any feeds.]
"I guess he didn't build up the nerve to ask the Toomes girl after all. Thank God he's out of harm's way for once." Tony minimized the videos to pull up system controls. "Those other kids are fish in a barrel, though. How long to get a remote controlled suit on site? Any response from the GIW?"
[No GIW response. Danny Phantom was on-scene almost immediately-]
"That's convenient," Tony mused sarcastically.
[-and all sentinels have already been deployed to assist with the quinjet cleanup.]
"The what?"
Tony's phone started ringing.
[Call from: Happy Hogan]
Ten minutes later saw the boys touch down in the Housing Authority gardens. Phantom awkwardly relaxed his grip from under Spider-Man's arms and stepped away from his back.
"Well, thanks, dude," Spider-Man said, favoring his right leg slightly as he stood. "That sure beat walking and making up excuses."
"No problem. See you around, I guess?"
"Yeah, see you."
Phantom left Spider-Man at the gardens, trying not to invade the hero's privacy. He'd been gone from Homecoming for at least half an hour at this point, so Danny took off in the direction of the dance. When he landed back in the school's vacant hallways, he decided to just transform back and rejoin the party as if he'd been in hiding, if the dance were even still going after the attack.
Surprisingly the dance was back in full swing. Danny fought his weariness from the evening to put on a facade for the other students. Danny quickly spotted Betty with Jason and the others from the limo.
"There you are!" Betty said when she saw Danny approach. "Where have you been? I was worried sick!"
"Sorry, I went to make sure nobody else was being targeted and lost track of time!" Danny diverted.
"Since when are you such a hero?" Betty asked coyly.
"Oh...uh...we train for this kind of stuff back home?"
"Did your old high school get attacked by dementors a lot?" Jason asked. "Are you sure you didn't transfer from Hogwarts?"
Danny chuckled nervously. "No, no, just a regular school...that got attacked by ghosts a lot. It got so bad, we didn't even bother with fire drills anymore; we just did ghost drills."
"So ghosts are the next thing now," Jason quipped. "That's cool. That's…*normal.*"
"Was it windy in the hallway?"
"What? No, why?"
Betty snorted. "Your hair looks crazy," she said. Betty produced her phone from her purse and held it up with the selfie camera active.
Danny took in the wind-whipped appearance of his hair. "Oh my god! Well, I was running, so—" He quickly smoothed it into his typical sophisticated tousle. "Better?"
"Much," Betty giggled. "Come on, let's go dance a bit."
"I'll meet you out there," Danny said. "I need a snack."
"Don't take too long!"
Danny trudged over to the refreshment table and grabbed a handful of pretzels from a bowl. He shoved them into his mouth and chewed as he looked out over the sea of teenagers, all oblivious to the near-disaster which had just occurred. He swallowed and said to no one in particular, "Ugh, these pretzels are making me thirsty."
"Punch?"
Danny flinched and saw Michelle standing right next to him. "How do you always do that?!"
"I'm a phantom of the night," she deadpanned. After a moment, she extended her arm with a plastic cup in hand. "You want the punch or not? Looks like you need it more than I do."
"Um…yeah. Thanks." Danny took it and raised the cup to his lips. He paused, remembering the house party.
Michelle noticed his hesitation. "Don't worry; I'm not Flash. It's just punch."
"Good," Danny said with a chuckle. He swallowed half the cup in one go.
"So...you look tired. Any comment, Mr. Fenton?"
"Um—n-no? Is there—is there something to comment on?" Danny gulped the remaining punch. "I'd better get back out there. Betty's waiting."
"Yeah. Wouldn't wanna ghost her."
With a funny look at the unreadable girl, Danny joined Betty on the dance floor.
"He what?!" Tony exclaimed.
"Crashed the cargo plane, sir," Happy replied.
"I specifically took the suit back so he wouldn't be cocky and get himself into unnecessary danger."
"I'm guessing he used the pajamas instead. The kid really stepped up."
"He...he's okay, right?"
"Well he left the crash with the Vulture in a bunch of webbing, so he had to at least be up and moving. I'll check on him, though."
"I can't believe he went after them when I specifically told him he was done and we were working on it."
"Well to be fair, it WAS to stop the bird guy from selling Avengers stock to dangerous people. But...that's not all, Tony. I saw Danny Phantom on-site as I arrived."
"Phantom," Tony grumbled and ran a hand down his face. "What was he doing there? He was just at Peter's high school."
"I'll ask Peter if Phantom had anything to do with it as soon as I find him. He must've got out of here before the cops showed up. Maybe Vulture wasn't the *only* Vulture waiting to feed off our scraps. Or maybe they're in cahoots."
"Multiple enemies colluding: not good." Tony let out a deep sigh. "Well, did we recover everything?"
"Looks like it, apart from a missing jet turbine from the plane itself."
"Keep me posted."
Mixed emotions clouded Tony's face as the line clicked off. He brought up the footage of the dance once more and silently observed the chaos, leaning against the counter as he took a long sip of the whiskey. The man's concerned eyes flicked between feeds, seeing the terror on the exposed students' faces.
"Hey, Friday…"
[Yes, Tony?]
"What about our other Danny of interest?"
[Dr. Fenton indicated she was meeting Danny yesterday to buy clothes for Homecoming.]
"Scan for Danny Fenton at the dance."
The computer beeped as it searched before expanding one video in particular. A box flashed around Danny's form and reduced opacity as it continued tracking. Instead of panicking like his peers, Danny simply adjusted his tie and confidently crossed to the entry doors. He rounded a corner and disappeared.
"Anywhere else?"
[That's it, boss.]
"How did the Vulture know about moving day?"
[Unclear.]
"He must have a source. Did Danny know?"
[Dr. Fenton could have mentioned it in passing conversation.]
"And Danny pulled yet another disappearing act to get out of harm's way right before Phantom showed up to wreak havoc on a high school dance."
[It could've been a diversion so Vulture could hijack the quinjet off the radar.]
"It's like these kids attract trouble!" Tony slammed back the rest of his whiskey. "Peter needs better training ASAP, because he's clearly never going to give up the good fight. Have Happy bring him upstate on Monday once he's done with the cleanup. And prep the Iron Spider armor as incentive. Teenagers love shiny objects, right?"
[I think that's birds, sir.]
Sunnyside — Sunday, September 25, 00:30
"He's wiped out," someone whispered.
"Hey, who wants to see if I can get this Cheeto in his mouth?" added someone else.
"Ew! Has that been in your pocket since the dance?"
"No, he's *my* date; *I'll* wake him up," Betty hissed. In a gentle, slightly teasing voice, she spoke, "Hey, Danny? Danny, wake up, boo."
Danny's eyes split open, and, closing his mouth, he peeled his face from the passenger door's window. He blinked a couple times and saw everyone else in the limo smirking at him. Danny noticed the smeared imprint of his cheek on the glass before refocusing on his apartment building beyond.
"You fell asleep," Jason said, earning a smack from his date for the obviousness of his statement.
"C'mon," Betty said. "I'll walk you to the door."
"No, no, it's okay," Danny protested, opening the door. "I can manage."
The girl's face fell. "O-okay."
Danny gulped. "Er, I mean, if you wanted to, though-"
"Great!" Betty was out of the car before he could finish the thought.
"See you guys on Monday," Danny said to the car and exited to an assortment of goodbyes. Danny mounted the curb and crossed to the walkway where Betty was waiting. "I had a great time tonight."
"Me, too," Betty agreed. "When you were actually there."
Danny chuckled nervously and averted his gaze. Subconsciously letting a hand massage the back of his neck, he said, "I—yeah. Well, tonight was kinda crazy. Ghosts...suck."
"But, we all lived to see another day. And that's what high school's all about, right?" She looked up at the night sky, listening to the breeze jostle the tree branches above. "Surviving."
"Shouldn't it be about finding who you are and figuring out your place in the world?" Danny asked.
"Nah, that's college." Betty met Danny's eyes again before smoothing the crumpled shoulders of his suit jacket. "Well, I guess I'd better let you get to sleep. You seem pretty tired. S—see you at school?"
"Y-yeah," Danny stuttered.
The girl hesitated. She pursed her lips briefly before immediately disguising it with a lick of her tongue. She opened her mouth to say something before the moment was interrupted by an irregular shuffling.
Danny and Betty turned to see Peter Parker hobbling up the walkway while subtly favoring his right leg. His shirt buttons were misaligned, and his wrinkled coat was draped over his left shoulder. Peter's tie hung limply from his left fist and barely hung high enough to avoid dragging along the ground. The newcomer looked up and paled when he noticed who was staring at him. Peter's head quickly dipped down and to his left as he approached, hair falling a bit into his face.
"Peter?!" Danny exclaimed.
"Um...hey," Peter mumbled.
"You better have one hell of an explanation on Monday," Betty growled. With a glare, she marched away, bumping harshly into Peter's right shoulder as she passed. Peter hissed in pain but remained upright and held his breath.
Seeing Betty clamber back into the limo and watching it pull away, Danny abandoned his facade and slumped in exhaustion. Peter similarly crumbled. His head fell back as he tried to maintain control of himself, revealing a split lip, bruised nasal bridge and road rash on his left cheek.
"What happened to you?" Danny asked. "What happened to your face?"
Peter ignored the question and simply limped past Danny. He reached his right hand into his pocket but immediately winced and shook out his hand, revealing some burn marks as it caught the light. Peter tried stretching his left arm across his body but couldn't quite reach in his current state.
Danny sighed and took out his own keys, unlocking and holding open the door for his neighbor. Peter smiled tightly in an attempt to disguise the fact that his breath had hitched.
"Dude, you can drop the act. You are very obviously injured," Danny drawled as they crossed the foyer.
Reaching the other side Peter breathed heavily with exertion and rested his forehead against the wall next to the elevator. "I went for a walk to clear my head and...got mugged?"
"You got mugged?!"
"Oh, so now getting mugged's worth talking about," Peter muttered under his breath. He lifted his right hand to press the elevator call button, but his hand shook almost violently in the attempt and recoiled upon the gentlest contact.
"...What?"
"I didn't see them so there's no point calling the cops or anything. L-let's just move on, please?"
Danny reached around Peter to press the call button then leaned back to give him some space. He noticed Peter's wallet still protruding from his pants pocket. "Alright, well...you wanna talk about what happened with Liz?"
Peter whimpered. "She's gonna hate me."
"Well, yeah, I mean, leaving her at the dance-"
"She's really going to hate me."
The elevator arrived, and the boys entered in silence, each leaning heavily against an opposite wall for support. Danny yawned and fought a cramp in his shoulders from carrying Spider-Man so far. Peter's left hand held his right shoulder and absently massaged it through his dress shirt.
"Doing the right thing sucks," Peter grumbled.
Danny sighed. "Yeah." Then, he frowned. "What?"
Peter shook his head. "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't...pretend."
"I thought you were crazy about Liz?"
"I was."
"Why not any more?"
Peter's brow furrowed as he closed his eyes, head thumping back against the wall. "Can we not talk about this right now?"
Danny offered a halfhearted shrug. "Well, I'm here if you need a bro. I can't promise to protect you from Betty, though."
"Heh, thanks," Peter chuckled. "So...you and Betty, huh?"
Danny's pocket buzzed. He removed it and saw multiple texts from Tucker, the latest being:
Tucker: [Did you crash a plane?!]
Tucker: [Was it the wraiths?]
One final message came from Sam.
Sam: [Are you okay?]
Danny sighed. "Yeah, me and Betty."
Astoria, Queens — Monday, September 26, 12:50
Danny slouched further into his desk waiting for Spanish to start after lunch, chin resting in his right palm. Seeing no new notifications on his phone, he decided to glance up at the newscast that Señor Rupple was watching. He perked up slightly when he saw his alter ego plastered on the screen next to anchor Christine Everhart. "Hey, Señor, can you turn up the volume please?"
"Sure," the teacher conceded just as Peter walked into the room, looking at the television over his shoulder as he came to sit down at his desk next to Danny.
Christine Everhart continued her scripted report: "-a Saturday which left New York City in pandemonium. It would seem that Amity Park-based vigilante Danny Phantom has relocated to the Big Apple for unknown reasons. The 'ghost,' as he claims to be, began the night of chaos by haunting Midtown School of Science and Technology's homecoming dance amidst a barrage of ungodly beasts targeting students with reckless abandon."
Danny bolted upright in his chair, arm still perched on the edge of his desk. The sudden movement caused him to wince in pain, but he stayed focused on the report.
"GIW officials have identified these ominous creatures as 'wraiths,' mythological figures of Gaelic folklore which now breed in the underworld. The growing agency as well as other experts in paranormal science are investigating why these beasts have started appearing in New York City in particular since mid-summer and have been spotted as far away as White Haven."
The feed switched to a shaky camera phone video. "Footage captured by one of the terrified students on-scene suggests Phantom may actually be connected to the wraiths in a leadership role, as he appears to appraise the situation and command the wraiths' actions."
The video angled up to film Phantom from just below. "Well, this is all fantastic. Hey, wraiths, over here!" he could barely be heard saying over the chaos before disappearing from the room with all the wraiths in tow.
"What?!" Danny cried out, catching Peter and Sr. Rupple's attention. "That's out of context!"
"Phantom and his wraiths seem to have a strong focus on the students of Midtown School of Science and Technology, as they have previously been seen attacking a house party in Forest Hills.
"The night of terror continued, however, as Danny Phantom led the wraiths through Times Square, causing many locals and tourists alike to cry out in fear."
WHiH's feed switched to typical tourist videos that immediately refocused on Phantom and the cluster of wraiths arcing above the people's heads. Danny squirmed anxiously in his seat.
"After disappearing from sight," Everhart continued, "Danny Phantom was spotted moments later at the Statue of Liberty, its iconic torch lit ablaze with a damaged jet engine. The ghost finally removed the engine from the statue after several members of New York's police and fire departments arrived on the scene. Phantom deposited the wrecked engine at Newark International Airport before disappearing into the night, bringing the supernatural evening of terror to a close. Many are now speculating, however, whether Phantom played any small part in the plane crash at Coney Island Beach, as the engine was later identified as one missing from the quinjet which had been carrying millions of dollars' worth of Avengers equipment."
"Oh, come on!" Danny whined and gestured frustratedly at the television.
"This morning, WHiH spoke with ectologist Dr. Madeline Fenton after she had had a chance to inspect the damaged jet engine firsthand."
As soon as his mother appeared on screen standing in the Avengers Tower lobby, Danny gasped.
"My husband and I did find latent ectoplasmic radiation on the engine, though it was not enough to implicate a ghost in its destruction," Maddie said. It cross-faded to another portion of the interview. "The menace Danny Phantom has been the thorn in our sides for years as he parades around pretending to be a hero, all the while leaving a wake of destruction in his path."
Mouth agape, Danny turned to gauge Peter's reaction. His neighbor, however, seemed deeply concerned with what was being said in the report.
Maddie continued on screen, "He's teamed up with other ghosts multiple times, so it wouldn't be out of character at all for him to bring the wraiths to New York, specifically so he can be seen defeating them. I witnessed firsthand a Phantom-guided wraith attack on innocent civilians in a clothing store where he admitted to masterplanning the whole thing! I don't trust him at all, and my husband and I are working in cooperation with Stark Industries to develop technology which can help defend humanity against yet another unnatural threat."
The news feed returned to Christine Everhart. "Our reporters also reached out to the G.I.W. and they submitted the following statement: 'Our agency's official stance has always emphasized the psychologically manipulative nature of Danny Phantom's modus operandi. The G.I.W. is investigating Phantom's connection to the repeated wraith sightings across the northeastern United States and remains dedicated to protecting American citizens and our guests from these evil nemeses.' "
The bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch. Sr. Rupple turned off the television and stood to write 'Wraith Preparedness Assembly This Week' on the whiteboard.
"I can't believe she said that," Danny muttered. "I mean, the G.I.W. I understand, but my mom…"
"Isn't she the expert?" Peter replied. "I mean, she would know, right?"
"My parents hate ghosts and only see what they wanna see!"
Peter turned to Danny with a soft frown. "It does explain a lot, though? Danny Phantom does show up pretty much any time there's been a wraith."
"Doesn't that mean he's doing his job?"
"It's not his job! What about the Sokovia Accords we were studying a couple weeks ago? It doesn't seem like he's playing by the rules."
"As if Spider-Man was when he cut a ferry in half."
Peter cringed. "The accords are really more for *international* incidents-"
"And Phantom's saved you before! I—I was there! I saw it! He's always saving people back in Amity, too!"
"Well, yeah, but…what if he is causing the problems just so he can end them? Don't ghosts have obsessions? He could easily have a hero or a martyr complex thing."
Danny glared at his empty desktop. "I need some air," he muttered before clambering out of his seat and storming out the door.
"Class starts in five, Danny!" Sr. Rupple called after him.
Peter frowned in growing concern for his community, the news rekindling distrust for the ghost he'd met one week prior.
A ghost who'd visited him…while hovering outside his arch nemeses' apartment.
This week's Easter Eggs, references and callbacks:
- limo driver Bruno: the name of the family dog which became a footman for the pumpkin carriage in the original Cinderella (1950)
- "Well, you did a real bang-up job there, Sully": referencing the famed pilot Chesley Sullenberger who landed US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson
- Forklift carry thing: Does carrying someone from under the arms have a technical term? I can't find it anywhere haha
- "These pretzels are making me thirsty" - Seinfeld season 3 episode 11 when Kramer gets a single line to speak as a film extra
- White Haven, Pennsylvania: Liz Lemon's childhood home in 30 Rock
Thanks again to everyone for their help on this chapter, and thanks to all of you for coming back every month to see what I've come up with this time haha.
If you're really enjoying Fire with Fire, I invite you to vote for it for the Irondad Creators Awards! Voting opens tomorrow, Saturday, April 10. Check out the awards' Tumblr page irondad-creator-awards for more info. :)