Chapter 28: A Time with Friends

In spite of having a girlfriend and having his superhero duties expanded beyond the limits of Amity Park, Danny found some time for his friends. "You should be glad your parents let you out after that childish rant of yours, Tucker." Sam commented.

"It wasn't that childish." Tucker protested.

Flashback begins

"Nooooooooooo!" Tucker shouted in horror while banging on the floor. "It cannot be!"

"Tucker Foley, what's wrong with Winston Deavor being the new owner of LexCorp?" Angela Foley asked her son.

"Don't those LexCorp executives realize they're just trading a supervillain for another one, Mom?" Tucker asked.

"Not that theory about Winston Deavor being a screenslaver like his sister, Tucker." Maurice Foley scolded his son. "We had enough of it."

Flashback ends

"Well, they had a point." Danny commented. "But never mind that. I just want to enjoy a ghost-free day for as long as it lasts." His ghost sense activated as soon as he said that.

"BEWARE!" The Box Ghost said.

Danny held a bored expression as he picked up his Fenton Thermos and sucked the Box Ghost in. "Free from ghosts who can pose a real threat, I mean." Danny said and his friends nodded.

The three friends then decided to play bowling. They were having a good time until they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a shallow cheerleader known as Paulina Sanchez. "Paulina?" Sam asked in surprise and then frowned. "Since when do you like bowling?"

"Ever since I learned my ghost boy likes it." Paulina answered with a dreamy expression.

"Paulina, I am NOT your ghost boy." Danny replied.

"And besides, are you saying that, if Danny jumped off a bridge, you'd do it as well?" Sam asked.

"Of course I would." Paulina answered with no hesitation. "He would rescue me."

"The worst part is that she has a point." Danny whispered to Sam.

Tucker drew a malicious smile. "So, let me get this straight. Are you saying that, if Danny ate the greasiest meal at Nasty Burger, would you eat it as well?"

Paulina hesitated. "But if I do it, I risk losing my perfect skin and then my ghost boy wouldn't like me anymore."

"You were right, Sam." Danny commented. "She's a shallow girl." Team Phantom resumed the game and Paulina got a lighter bowling ball for herself.

After Danny and his friends ended their game, Tucker picked up his PDA and started filming Paulina's struggle with her ball. "That's the biggest bowling fail ever since that old guy from Springfield." The techno geek commented. "Funny thing I can't remember which state he's from."

After filming enough of Paulina's humiliation, Tucker and his friends went to the Nasty Burger. Paulina went after them. "You'll not put my failure on the Internet, will you?" She desperately asked.

"No, I won't." Tucker replied, making Paulina smile until he added "Because I already did it!"

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Paulina screamed in terror and then her cell phone rang.

"Paulina, it's Star." Star said. "I've just watched your video. Are you related to that old guy from Springfield?"

"I wish." She answered with a dreamy expression. "He's a billionaire."

Team Phantom decided to ignore Paulina. "So, anyone up to watching Femalien 2: The Revenge?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Danny answered.

"Me too but I hope it brings back the classic feeling from the time notes like "no extraterrestrials have been harmed during the making of this movie" or "any similarities to real extraterrestrials are purely coincidental" were jokes like the one in The Flintstones movie about no dinosaurs being harmed." Tucker commented.

"They're probably afraid of offending actual aliens." Sam commented. "Have you imagined the PR nightmare if Superman, Supergirl or Starfire decry a movie as offensive to them?"

'Is that the reason the game Die Alien Scum had its name changed?' Danny wondered. 'I never thought about that.'

"What's next?" Tucker asked. "Movies about witches needing those warnings just in case they exist?"

"Witches do exist, Tucker." Sam replied, shocking Danny. "They stay hidden to prevent the chaos of witch hunts." The goth looked at Danny and mistook his shock for surprise at the notion witches exist. "I'm a goth. I know stuff. Of course, there are bad witches as well but most come from another magical dimension."

"The bad ones would likely mistake you for one of them because of your dark style." Tucker teased Sam.

"You're probably right." Sam replied, not realizing Tucker wasn't serious. "That dimension's magical girls are divided into two groups: fairies and witches. Fairies use positive emotions to feed their magic and prefer bright colors, ewww; and witches draw their magic from negative emotions and prefer dark colors."

'Sam and Musa would probably be great friends if they met each other." Danny thought. 'Especially since I didn't choose Musa.'

His thoughts were interrupted by police sirens. "I'm going to see if the cops need my help." He said. "I'm going ghost."

Flying after the cops, Danny followed them to a bank that had some layers of ice. 'Mr. Freeze must be in town.' Danny thought. Upon phasing inside, Danny realized his mistake. "That's not Mr. Freeze! That's Captain Cold!"

"Now that everyone here but me is frozen, nothing can stop me!" Captain Cold stated.

"What happened, Cold?" Danny teasingly asked. "Is it because the Legion is out of cash or is Mr. Freeze suing you for copying his style?"

Angered, Captain Cold drew his weapon and pointed it at Danny. "Let's see you laugh after being fro… what?" He asked as some invisible force pulled his gun from him.

Another Danny Phantom revealed himself. "Gotcha!" He said before merging with the original one.

Disarmed, Captain Cold tried to flee but forgot about the cops outside. Some of them shot at his legs to stop him. Danny left the bank without being seen but, thanks to the bank's security cameras, everyone knew he saved the day.

Later on, Danny was telling his friends and his sister about the adventure. "And Captain Cold will be transferred to a secret facility belonging to the National Super Agency until he's healed enough for jail."

"But I find it suspicious one of Flash's enemies would come to Amity Park just for a bank robbery." Sam commented. "If that was the idea, why not just going somewhere with no superheroes to stop him?"

"Sam, do you think he was just distracting Danny while other members of the Legion of Doom did something else?" Tucker asked.

"Do you mean like breaking Luthor out of prison or stealing some superweapon he was working on?" Danny theorized.

DevCorp – Metropolis

Legion members Riddler, Scarecrow and Solomon Grundy broke into a facility that formerly belonged to Lex Luthor. The three villains were wearing gas masks to avoid being affected by Scarecrow's fear gas. "Are you sure we can trust that Mercy girl, Scarecrow?" Riddler asked the Master of Fear.

"Solomon Grundy saw Mercy girl talking to Luthor!" Solomon Grundy exclaimed. "Solomon Grundy knows Mercy girl enemy of Superman! An enemy of Superman is a friend of Grundy!"

Fentonworks

After the talk about superheroes ended, Danny and his friends decided to study for upcoming tests. "Danny, don't you think it odd your newfound popularity isn't making the teachers give us a better treatment?" Tucker asked. "I mean, I know you're the only one of us with superpowers but Mr. Lancer should be letting Sam and me out to help you."

"My parents signed the permission." Danny explained. "Yours didn't."

"Whatever." Tucker and Sam replied. Sam also didn't like not being let out of class to help Danny. Especially when Violet was there with him.

Their study session was interrupted by Danny's cell phone ringing. "Danny speaking."

"Danny, it's Invisigirl!" The person on the other side said. "You're needed in Metropolis! Break-in at DevCorp! Scarecrow, Riddler and Solomon Grundy!"

'Think of the devil.' Sam thought as she overheard Violet's voice.

"Batman's enemies?" Tucker excitedly asked upon recognizing the names. "If Batman's there, get me his autograph!"

"I'd rather give that blackmailer a piece of my mind." Danny frowned as he went ghost and flew away.

Tucker then noticed Sam glaring at him. "What? He just wanted to protect Supergirl and Batgirl!"

Back in Metropolis, as Solomon Grundy carried was seemed to be a laser cannon outside the DevCorp building, he and the other two villains found themselves surrounded by Superman and several Special Crimes Unit officers. The Riddler looked at Maggie Sawyer. "Shoot her, Grundy."

"Grundy shoots." Grundy did as he said and, out of instinct, Superman placed himself in front of the beam.

"Just like I planned." The Riddler maliciously commented. "That skinny version of Wilson Fisk wouldn't have done better."

"What're you talking about?" Superman asked. "And why did I have trouble hearing it?"

"Because you were hit by Luthor's power disruptor." Riddler answered. "You're Super weak now."

"We don't have superpowers for you to take from us." Maggie Sawyer said as she and the other cops kept their guns on the villains. "Hands up or I'll shoot."

The power disrupter suddenly flew away and Danny revealed himself. "Superman is the only superhero you'll depower."

A yellow beam pulled the villains away. "We already got what we wanted." Sinestro said as he took the other villains away.

End chapter.

Author's Note: This version of the Riddler is based on Batman: the Animated Series, where he was voiced by John Glover.

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): E eu espero não precisar do Disney + pra assistir a essa série.