Chapter 12: Phantom Planet – Part 2
With the Disasteroid about to smash Planet Earth, nobody in Amity Park was thinking about the Masters' Blasters policies. Everyone was too worried about their lives. It was such a worry Danny didn't object (much) to his Dad and Vlad combining efforts to stop the Disasteroid.
"Danny, aren't you worried Vlad Masters might have some ulterior motive to help?" Serenity asked via phone.
"No, Serenity." Danny answered. "He might be a seriously crazed up fruitloop but I doubt he doesn't understand he's got no place to go if Earth is destroyed."
"Well, for as long as your Dad doesn't suffer any accidents on the return trip…" Serenity said, making Danny genuinely worried.
Vlad, of course, couldn't help calling people's attention to the fact he financed the rocket Jack built. Eventually, it seemed they saved the day but it turned out they missed because Vlad 'accidentally' sent the wrong coordinates but somehow people blamed Jack for not noticing the mistake.
Later on, Team Phantom and Serenity (the latter joined via phone) were discussing the latest development. "Danny, do you think Vlad's petty enough to ruin a chance to save Earth just so people would blame your Dad?" Serenity asked.
"Knowing the fruitloop like I do, I'm sure of it." Danny answered.
"We're just wondering what alternate plan he has and hoping he accounted for the possibility of it being the Ectoranium asteroid we stopped him from mining." Tucker commented.
"What?" Serenity asked in shock.
"Tucker thinks the Disasteroid looks like the asteroid from when we went to space to stop Plasmius." Sam explained.
"What if it is?" Serenity asked.
"Ghost powers don't work on Ectoranium, Serenity." Danny answered. "If the Disasteroid turns out to be made of that, it means I wouldn't be able to stop it even if I still had my powers."
"Speaking of powers, any news about the portal?" Sam asked.
"With the Disasteroid, my parents aren't working on the portal anymore." Danny sadly explained.
"Danny, have you thought about telling them just in case your powers could be used to help?" Sam suggested.
"Yes." Danny sadly replied. "I'm not sure if they'll believe me since I no longer have powers to show but yes."
Some moments after the conversation ended, Danny decided to approach his parents. "Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you."
"And what's…" Jack's question was interrupted by Jazz showing up in a hurry. "The Mayor's calling the town for an emergency assembly regarding the Disasteroid!"
Eager to see what his old friend had to say, Jack drove his family to City Hall. To everyone's surprise, Vlad took flight and revealed himself to be the one Jack knew as 'The Wisconsin Ghost'. The Masters' Blasters tried to capture him but Vlad stopped them. Vlad then asked to be called by his 'eviler' name of "Vlad Plasmius" and proposed to use his powers to make the Disasteroid intangible in exchange for 500 billion dollars and being made Earth's ruler.
"Just when I thought the cheese head couldn't be any crazier…" Danny muttered. "Time for Plan B."
"Telling your parents?" Tucker asked.
"No." Danny sadly answered. "Going to the Ghost Zone and ask for help from every ghost I meet. But first, I must tell Serenity just in case I don't come back alive."
One phone call later, Danny was informing his girlfriend of his newest risk. "Let me see if I got this right." She asked. "In spite of you no longer having superpowers, you're going to the Ghost Zone to meet several enemies of yours and ask them to help you save the Earth out of hope their sense of self-preservation is greater than their hatred of you?"
"Basically this, Serenity." Danny sadly replied. "I have no choice."
"I know, Danny." Serenity said while trying to hide the crying sounds. "Just come back safely, my love."
"I'll do my best, Serenity." Danny replied. "Please, don't cry. Goodbye."
At the Zillas' home, Serenity was left wondering how Danny realized she was crying when her mother showed up. "Serenity, why're you so sad?" Crystal asked her daughter.
"Mom, I'm so afraid of what'll happen in the future." Serenity sadly answered. "Will even there be a future?"
"Serenity, we must hope for the best and, as much as I despise violence, people can always revolt whenever a tyrant goes too far." Crystal answered, oblivious to the main reason she couldn't count on Vlad upholding his end of the deal. "Now let's watch the news so we can learn about the result as soon as it comes out."
"Yes, Mom." Serenity answered, hiding her anguish over not being allowed to tell about the Ecto-ranium.
One hour later, everyone watching the news saw Jack returning alone. "Mr. Fenton, what happened?" Reporter Tiffany Snow asked.
Jack's expression was the saddest anyone's ever seen on him. "Unfortunately, the Disasteroid turns out to be entirely made of Ecto-ranium." He said. "That means no ghost can even touch it, much less turn it intangible or otherwise prevent it from hitting Earth."
"Are you saying Earth is doomed?" Tiffany asked.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Tiffany." Danny answered as he phased himself through the floor. "I have a plan."
"Uh, just in case you didn't arrive on time to hear me, the Disasteroid is made of Ecto-ranium." Jack replied. "You cannot touch it, Phantom."
"That's not the idea, Jack." Danny replied, still happy at the prospect of calling his own father by name. "The idea is to make Earth intangible."
"Ha!" Jack scoffed. "Earth is too big for a ghost to single-handedly turn intangible."
"I wasn't planning on doing it alone, Jack." Danny smugly replied as several other ghosts revealed themselves.
"Alright, punk." Jack said with a frown. "What's the catch?"
"The 'catch' is that the Ghost Zone will be affected by Earth's destruction and not all ghosts are evil anyway, Jack." Danny answered. "We're motivated by a mix of heroism and self-preservation. We don't want anything else in return except for equipment we'll need to help channel out ghostly powers through Earth."
Begrudgingly, Jack and Maddie Fenton accepted Danny Phantom's proposal. As people who were previously desperate enough to accept Plasmius' proposal, the world leaders were more eager to accept it.
As the Disasteroid approached, everyone working on the device was finishing it. Jack included. "I still cannot believe it!" He commented in anger.
"That you and Phantom agreed on another truce?" Maddie asked her husband.
"No." Jack answered and then thought it over. "Well, that too but I was thinking about my old friend becoming part-ghost. Especially because he blames me."
"What?" Maddie asked in shock.
"Plasmius says the portal accident back in college was how he got his ghost powers." Jack said. "That worries me."
"Jack, that wasn't your intention." Maddie tried to reassure her husband but he interrupted her.
"That's not what worries me." He said. "If Plasmius became what he became as a result of a ghost portal's explosion, logic dictates the same thing happened to Danny."
"Impossible!" Maddie exclaimed in horror. "We'd have noticed the signs!"
"We did notice the signs, Maddie." Jack said. "We just dismissed them as the devices malfunctioning."
"What're you talking…" Maddie started asking but then realized what her husband meant. "Do you mean how the Ghost Gabber responded to Danny's speech and how the Boomerang always went after him every time it was thrown?"
"Yes, Maddie." Jack sadly answered. "Why didn't he tell us? And why do I feel like it's not the first time I asked that?"
"Jack, something doesn't add up." Maddie said. "If our son is enough of a ghost to trigger our devices, how come the deflector belt you made for me didn't hurt him whenever we hugged or during the time he wore it?"
"Did it happen during that time you and Danny were lost at Plasmius' cabin?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Maddie answered.
"Besides the fact that, as scientists who just recently learned humans can have ghost powers, we don't know where the ectoplasmic similarities between them and actual ghosts end, it's possible Plasmius did something to interfere with Danny's powers back then." Jack theorized.
"Jack, do you think Danny's ghost self is friends with Phantom?" Maddie asked. "It'd explain Phantom having access to our weapons."
"Maddie, I'm afraid our son's ghost self is Danny Phantom." Jack said. "His heroics are his human side rebelling against his ghostly influence."
"Impossible!" Maddie exclaimed. "While I don't agree with the Guys in White's reasoning about Danny being "too prepubescent", we've already seen the both of them together."
"We've also seen Masters and Plasmius together as well, Mads." Jack pointed out. "If he can pull that trick, Danny might be able as well."
Unbeknownst to them, their daughter Jazz was eavesdropping on them and decided to warn Danny. "Don't worry, Jazz." Danny said. "I'm tired of hiding it from them. I'll tell them after the ghosts and I save the Earth."
"Okay, little brother." Jazz sighed.
A new ghost showed up to help. "Am I too late, cuz?" A ghost girl who, gender aside, looked like a younger version of Danny asked.
"Uh, Danny, why does she call you "cuz" and look like a younger version of you?" Jazz asked Danny.
"Uh, because she's a clone of mine created by Plasmius." Danny uneasily explained.
"Plasmius?" Jazz asked in shock as she drew an ecto-weapon.
"No, Jazz!" Danny shouted, placing himself between his sister and his clone. "She rebelled against him after realizing he doesn't really care about her."
"Alright, but I'm keeping an eye on her." Jazz said, not trusting a creation of Plasmius.
Meanwhile, the rest of Team Phantom was discussing ways to hide Danny's absence. "Can't you buy one of those robots and disguise it as Danny?" Tucker suggested.
"Tucker, do you really think Mr. and Mrs. Fenton would fall for that?" Sam asked back and Tucker stared at her until she decided to rephrase her question. "Do you think Mrs. Fenton would fall for that?"
"Good question, Sam." Tucker conceded.
Fortunately, everything was ready on time to save the world. The Disasteroid phased through Earth without harming anything or anyone. Several ghosts approached Danny to give their goodbyes before leaving but none said anything more meaningful than Sidney Poindexter. "Bully, there's something wrong with your sister." The ghost nerd said.
"I'm not a bully and I don't see anything wrong with Jazz." Danny replied while looking at Jazz and wondering why somebody would think there's something wrong with her.
"Not her." Poindexter corrected Danny. "The sister with powers."
Danny then looked at where Poindexter was looking. "Dani!" He screamed in horror upon seeing his 'cousin' bleed ectoplasm.
"How's that possible?" Jack asked. "For once, Maddie and I went out of our way to make sure something would not harm any ghosts."
Mr. Fenton got his answer when two white rings reverted Dani to human form. Eventually, the Fentons took Dani to Fentonworks, which they turned into the same kind of medical facility they turned it into back when Vlad, Tucker and Sam caught ecto-acne. Danny received a phone call from his girlfriend. "Sorry if I'm not there with you but my family isn't sure if whatever your fellow half-ghost has isn't contagious. Speaking of that, do you have it as well?"
"Don't worry, Serenity. I'm fine." Danny replied and then noticed his Mom calling him. "Excuse me, but I'm needed for something regarding Danielle. Bye."
Danny then entered Dani's hospital room. "Son, your sister told me that ghost girl is your clone." Maddie said. "What do you know about her constitution?"
Danny then told everything about his clone including how he once stabilized her body. "And it never occurred to either of you that Ecto-dejecto's effects were temporary?" Maddie asked. "We're talking about an experimental serum here."
"Don't worry, son!" Jack exclaimed. "Your mother and I kept the formula and can make more!"
"Phew." Danny sighed.
"It's too soon to feel relief, Danny." Maddie sternly said. "For all your father and I know, Ecto-dejecto is a medication that can only be used on a patient a certain number of times before it stops working. I'm afraid a more permanent solution like the one proposed by Plasmius will be needed."
End chapter.
Answer to Leonardo (Guest): E eu estou surpreso que você decidiu postar dois comentários similares para um mesmo capítulo.