Chapter 9: Phantom Planet
Danny and his friends were at Fentonworks trying to recover from the former's last attempt to outdo the Masters' Blasters when his cell phone rang. "Mac?"
"Danny, you sound exhausted." Mac commented. "What happened?"
"I've been trying to show everyone I'm a better ghost hunter than the Masters' Blasters but they always win." Danny answered.
"I didn't know there was a competition, Danny." Mac said.
"Huh?" Danny asked.
"Danny, I know it was Vlad who assembled the Masters' Blasters but, don't you think you're going about this the wrong way?" Mac asked. "I mean, the Mayor could've simply issued a new tax raise to pay for the Blasters' services instead of have them charging the people they rescue right before doing their job but, wouldn't it be better if you simply let them do whatever they can and will and stay rested for whatever they won't? Not only you'll have more time for studies, our dates, and whatever else you do when you're not being Phantom, but you won't increase the risk of being too exhausted for whenever a ghost attack is directed at you."
"Good idea, Mac." Danny commented, unknowingly earning a glare from Sam.
"I'm glad to help, Danny." Mac replied. "Are we still watching a movie in my town?"
"Yes, Mac." Danny answered.
"I'm glad to hear it, Danny." Mac replied. "Bye."
"Bye, Mac." Danny replied.
"So, what did she say?" Sam asked after the call ended and Danny told her everything. "I can't believe it!" She grumbled.
"What?" Danny asked.
"That I didn't think about that risk myself." Sam said. It was a half-truth. While it really drove her mad, she was also upset a cheerleader had a better idea than hers.
"Didn't she come up with a rhyme for Phantom?" Tucker asked, making his friends roll their eyes.
"We didn't discuss it, Tucker." Danny answered and, at that point, their conversation was interrupted by a noise at the living room. They ran there and, to their surprise, saw the Masters' Blasters. "What's going on?" Danny asked.
"We're arresting your parents for harboring a ghost, kid." Masters' Blaster Vid answered.
"You can't do that!" Sam protested. "Everyone's innocent until proven guilty!"
"That's why we've brought this ghost detector!" Vid proudly replied as she produced said device. Afraid of what would happen to his parents, Danny ran to their lab and Tucker and Sam were after him out of fear he'd do something too drastic. To his friends' surprise, Danny once again used the Fenton Ghost Catcher to split himself into two. "Wait outside." Danny Fenton told Danny Phantom.
The Masters' Blasters eventually caught up with the teens and analyzed them. As none of them was identified as a ghost, the Masters' Blasters left. The two Dannys eventually merged back. "Phew." Sam said. "For a while, I thought you'd use the Ghost Portal to lose your powers."
"Sam, if I were sure the portal would do that, I'd have done so back when I had no idea of what to do with my powers." Danny replied.
The next day, while Danny was in Bay City, Tucker and Sam were at the mall when some giant blob-like ghosts showed up and started destroying everything. Danny's two best friends quickly drew ecto-guns and stunned the ghosts. Right after the ghosts were sucked into the Fenton Thermoses, the Masters' Blasters showed up.
"Masters' Blasters stop di…" They shouted until they realized there were no ghosts for them to stop. "Where are the disasters?" Download asked.
"Too late." Sam said with a smirk. "Tucker and I already stopped the ghosts."
"And you did a good job!" A guy said as he showed up. "Thank you for saving my mall. Would you like working here as security detail? Minimum wage plus benefits!"
"What're the benefits?" Tucker eagerly asked, much to Sam's ire.
"10% off in every place at this mall!" The mall's owner answered.
"Does it include the BBQ place?" Tucker asked.
"Of course!" The owner answered like it was obvious.
"I'm in!" Tucker accepted, unable to say 'no' to meat.
The owner then gave Tucker a form. "Have a parent or guardian sign it on your behalf or wait until you're an adult!" He said. "What about you?" He asked Sam.
"No way." Sam bluntly answered.
"Amity Park has enough ghosts for two groups of ghost hunters." Vid replied and the Masters' Blasters left.
As Danny returned from his date, Tucker and Sam told him what happened. "Are you guys ok?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, except for the fact you missed a chance to outdo the Masters' Blasters because of that cheerleader." Sam answered.
"Not a big loss all things considered." Tucker commented.
"Tucker!" Sam hissed at her techno geek friend.
"What kind of boy would rather fight ghosts than date cheerleaders?" Tucker asked Sam.
Sam decided to ignore Tucker. "Danny, I hope this incident taught you not to leave Amity Park for a date." She said. "You have a responsibility as Amity Park's protector."
"Does he?" Jazz asked as she revealed her presence. "My little brother is basically a volunteer with no official obligation."
"Danny mustn't waste what makes him unique." Sam protested.
"My little brother got his powers from an accident that happened because of you." Jazz argued.
"Which gave Danny a fighting chance against Plasmius." Sam argued back.
"Alright, you actually did a good thing but that doesn't give you the right to decide how he uses his powers." Jazz conceded.
Their discussion was interrupted by Jack and Maddie calling them to watch a special report on a giant asteroid. "A Disasteroid indeed." Jack commented upon hearing the asteroid's name.
"Too bad Superman and Supergirl aren't real." Tucker said. "Either of them could easily throw away that Disasteroid."
"Maybe Danny could." Jazz suggested.
"Jazz, you know your brother can't fly." Jack replied, not understand which Danny Jazz meant, nor knowing they were the same Danny.
"I meant Danny Phantom, Dad." Jazz clarified.
"Jasmine Fenton, I know the Disasteroid is a desperate situation but it's not to the point of relying on desperate measures like having a ghost rescue us." Maddie scolded her daughter.
"Yeah, I'm sure the Government will think of something." Jack added.
"If push comes to shove, you could use that rocket pack from Axiom Labs." Tucker whispered to Danny.
Unbeknownst to Team Phantom, Vlad Plasmius was also thinking of a way to solve the problem… in a way that was convenient for him. "The little badger hasn't been declared a ghost by my Masters' Blasters, which means he must have rid himself of his powers to all I have to do is to wait until all world leaders are desperate enough to make me ruler of the world. Isn't it right, Maddie?" Vlad asked his (sister's) cat.
"Meow." It was all the cat with the same name as the woman Vlad coveted answered.
"I knew you'd agree with me, Maddie." Vlad said, pretending to understand cats.
The next day, the Government sent several missiles to stop the Disasteroid and none of them did any harm. "Operative O, I have plans for a rocket that can stop the Disasteroid but I need money for…" Jack was saying until he heard the call ending. "Something must be wrong with their phones." He commented and decided to try again. "Operative O, this is Jack Fenton…" "Again? Now who do I call?" Jack asked.
"How about Vlad?" Maddie uneasily asked. She knew her former lab partner to be a creep who wanted her to leave Jack for him but he had the money the Fentons needed and she still wasn't desperate enough to follow Jazz's suggestion.
"Great idea, Mads!" Jack replied with a smile and called Vlad.
"I'd rather try Tucker's idea." Danny commented to his sister and his friends.
"Uh, Danny, before you do, there's something you need to see." Tucker replied with some hesitation.
The four of them went to Danny's room, where Tucker showed some pictures. "Tucker, where did you get those pictures of the Disasteroid?" Danny asked his techno geek friend.
"In outer space, when we stop Plasmius from mining it." Tucker answered and waited until the others let the answer sink in. "That's right, guys. The Disasteroid is made of Ecto-ranium. Ghost powers cannot stop it from crashing on Earth."
"Where are Superman and Supergirl when we need them?" Sam asked.
"Or Tony Stark." Tucker replied. "If none of his Iron Man armors could stop the Disasteroid, he'd make one that could."
"Let's think of real solutions, shall we?" Danny asked. "Or, if we're unable to come up with better ideas than asking for fictional superheroes' help, we could tell our deepest secrets so we won't regret having never told them."
"What?" Sam asked in shock.
"Yeah, Sam." Tucker replied with a malicious smile. "Anything you'd like to tell?"
"Tucker Foley, if the Disasteroid doesn't kill you, I will." Sam declared and Danny was too clueless to figure out why, as usual.
"Speaking of secrets, do you think I should tell mine to my parents?" Danny asked his friends.
"Wait until your Dad's rocket fails before deciding, Danny." Sam answered.
Jack's plans went without fail, except for the fact some wrong coordinates made the missiles hit the wrong asteroid. "It must be the fruitloop's doing." Danny said.
The next day, Vlad called a press conference regarding the Disasteroid. To everyone's surprise, including even those who already knew the truth about the fruitloop, Vlad Masters revealed his ghostly self. "The Wisconsin Ghost!" Jack screamed. The Masters' Blasters tried to capture him but their weapons didn't work on the ghostly Mayor. Vlad offered a deal: in exchange for making the Disasteroid intangible, the world leaders would make him ruler of the Earth and give him five hundred billion dollars. He also asked people to refer to him by the "slightly eviler" name "Vlad Plasmius", which Maddie agreed was eviler.
Danny's cell phone then rang. "Mac?" Danny asked.
"Danny, I'm watching the Evil Ghost Mayor on TV." Mac said. "If it's possible to make the Disasteroid intangible, why don't you do it?"
"Vlad doesn't know the Disasteroid is made of Ecto-ranium, a substance no ghost can touch or otherwise use their powers on, Mac." Danny answered.
"Any chances Earth can be turned intangible instead?" Mac nervously asked.
"That's an idea but I'll need help from other ghosts, Mac." Danny replied. "Thanks for the suggestion."
The next day, while Danny was in the Ghost Zone looking for help with turning the world intangible, the world leaders signed the paperwork officially accepting Vlad's proposition. As the fruitloop and his former friend Jack Fenton flew into outer space again, Jack asked why someone so fortunate like Vlad would hold the whole world hostage and Vlad gave a rant on how it was Jack's fault for messing with the ghost portal's prototype. As Jack recovered from the shock, Vlad phased himself out of the rocket and tried to make the Disasteroid intangible, only to get a literal shock. A holo-Maddie appeared at his wristwatch and explained that the Disasteroid was entirely made of Ecto-ranium.
Vlad was horrified since it not only meant that Earth was doomed but also that, even if it wasn't, he wouldn't be able to resume his life since he revealed his secret. Upon looking back at the rocket and realizing Jack would leave him stranded in space, Vlad tried to pull the "old friend" card but Jack made it clear he no longer saw Vlad as "an old friend" and left back to Earth.
At home, Jack told Maddie everything Vlad told him. "Our proto-portal did it to him?" Maddie asked in horror. "Impossible! Had it been truth, Danny would've become part-ghost as well when he activated our newest version."
"Which'd explain things like the Fenton Finder identifying him as a ghost; the Ghost Gabber reacting at his speech; and the Boomerang going after him, Mads." Jack pointed out.
While Maddie digested what her husband had just told her, several ghosts showed up at their lab.
End chapter.
Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Sem spoilers.