It was a dark and stormy night. What had started as a drizzle that came in from the Atlantic that afternoon was now a full-blown thunderstorm, with heavy rains and howling winds persistent with the lightning. It was in this hostile environment that Danny and Sam found themselves running down the street in towards an old warehouse by the seaport as a favour for Danny's dad. Over his normal clothes Danny had an overcoat like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca; Sam had a long black leather coat. To catch their breath and get some relief from the rain, the two ran into an alley and under the fire escape.
"Why couldn't Tucker come again?" Sam said between breaths.
"He said he had something really important to do with his dad."
---
Tucker and his dad were standing by their brand new television system, extremely excited.
"TV?" Tucker's dad asked.
"Check."
"Comfortable chairs?"
"Check."
"Stereo system?"
"Check."
"DVD player and new surround sound?"
"Check."
"DVDs?"
"Check."
"Popcorn?"
"Check."
"You have absolutely nothing to do with Danny or Sam and didn't lie to them by saying we had something important to do?"
"Check," Tucker didn't really pay attention to that last one.
"Well Tucker," his dad handed him the remote, "Are you ready for the all night science fiction movie marathon!?"
"Hit it!" they jumped in the chairs and turned the first DVD on.
---
"So what's your dad need again?" Sam asked as Danny pulled the piece of paper out of his inside coat pocket.
"He got some supplies for ghost-hunting gear from an old friend in high school. Ever since the 'Frost incident' (as his dad put it) he's been doing everything he can to hide from government surveillance, so he had it 'smuggled' into Amity," he looked out at the open road; the rain was getting heavier, "we'd better get this over with," he put the paper away before running with Sam as fast as they could over to the warehouse. They got the door open and headed inside quickly. The room had two sacks of freshly caught fish and hundreds of cardboard boxes, half of them full.
"Well this won't take any time at all," Sam muttered sarcastically.
"It says on the note to look for a blue plastic container, so it shouldn't be too hard to find," the sound of screaming diverted their attention. The manager of the warehouse ran out of the building, being chased by a box. Both Danny and Sam now looked bored and irritated at once.
"Not again," Sam sighed, "How many times in one fanfiction series is he going to..." she was interrupted as ghost vapour came together in front of them, forming...
"I am The Box Ghost!" the ectoplasmic being shouted, "I have power over all things..."
"Cardboard, square, and container in use," Danny and Sam had heard it before.
"Uh, yeah! What you said!" he thought for a minute, "Now tremble, as I am prepared to bury you under the mighty weight, of..." he read a box, "Fresh Mid-Atlantic salmon from the Boston Harbour Fishing Company!" he raised almost all the boxes in the air. Still looking ticked, Sam stepped in front of Danny, who went ghost. Sam stepped back over to the side. As The Box Ghost began tossing the boxes all over the place, Danny just phased through them. Sam just moved out of their way. The Box Ghost held up one box, flying over to Danny as if he was going to smash it down on his head. Danny just punched him in the nose and knocked him back. When he got his wind back, he flew up again, his nose in pain.
"You! You dare to strike The Box Ghost!? Prepare to face the wrath of my correlated cardboard vengeance!" Danny started to form an energy blast. The Box Ghost looked around; all the boxes were damaged.
"Uh..." he thought for a minute, "I've changed my mind!...Sort of. I will indeed have my..."
"Correlated cardboard vengeance," Danny and Sam muttered in monotone.
"Yes! I shall have that thing that you have said! But I shall wait for a more opportune moment! Beware!" he forgot to phase through the wall on his way out, "That was intentional! BEWARE!" he left. Sam stepped in front of Danny again as he went back to normal and the manager came back in.
(He's a Phantom)
(Danny Phantom)
Yo, Danny Fenton, he was just fourteen
When his parents built a very strange machine
It was designed to view a world unseen
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)
When it didn't quite work
His folks, they just quit
But then Danny took a look inside of it
There was a great big flash
Everything just changed
His molecules got all rearranged!
(Phantom, Phantom)
When he first woke up
He realized
He had snow white hair
And glowing green eyes
He could walk through walls,
Disappear, and fly!
He was much more unique than the other guy!
It was then that he knew what he had to do
He had to stop all the ghosts
That were coming through
He's here to fight
For me and YOU!
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)
(He's gonna catch 'em all cuz he's Danny Phantom)
Gonna catch them all cuz he's Danny Phantom
A HOUSE DIVIDED
In spite of the scandals that had occurred in it, Paranormalics continued to hold on to their now fully repaired underground base. The new head of the organisation, General Gary Conrad, had been working for the past few months to completely uncover all the corruption Frost had brought to the department. Half of the Special Forces working for the organisation ended up imprisoned for involvement with The Gateway. Hundreds of illegal ghost weapons were dismantled. Most importantly, the staff had been completely replaced, save one member. The general public didn't treat paranormal activity as science; they viewed it with superstition and fear. They didn't necessarily support Frost, but demanded that the one member of Frost's staff that was not implicated in any scandals remain; Ken Bruce. Conrad, Bruce, and the rest of the staff were now meeting in the conference room, with the head of Paranormal Monitoring speaking.
"The recent sighting was in a warehouse owned by the Boston Harbour Fishing Company in Amity Park," he was saying, "The manager of the warehouse said that the ghost looked like a construction worker and a burglar put together, had a really dumb voice, controlled cardboard boxes, and kept shouting 'beware!'"
"The same ghost has been seen a couple times throughout Amity," Bruce commented, "along with quite a few other ghosts. From all the reports, it could be the most haunted city in America. I propose a full investigation, send in troops, capture a ghost, get some answers..." Conrad interrupted him.
"What was the damage?" he asked.
"Besides a bunch of smashed cardboard boxes? Nothing," the head of Paranormal Monitoring sat back down
"General Conrad," Bruce began.
"Monitor the city as we have been doing."
"But sometimes more important measures are needed,"
"Not when the ghost is a little nimrod who shouts 'beware!' all the time and no serious damage has been reported," Bruce backed off, though cleary disappointed.
---
One of the guards in the base stood at his post, almost falling asleep. They were underground in a secret location (the media couldn't find that out when investigating the incidents with Frost); what was the point of his standing around doing nothing? He hadn't even bothered to turn on his ghost-tracker. This was unfortunate on his part. He couldn't see the ghost behind him, or hear it. It moved in slowly, as stealthily as a panther in the forest. It's eyes and nose showed that it was...or had been human. Now it was covered in small black furs, with elf-like ears and a cat's tail, with glowing yellow eyes. It paused for a minute, smiling and licking its lips. Slowly it rose up on its two hind legs. It could not stand exactly like a human; there was something animal about his stance. It began to change...slowly, but it did change. Change into a strange green ghost fog. This fog flew into the guard's body. He had overshadowed him. At the other four corners of the base, pirate ghosts overshadowed the guards there, although these ghosts could overshadow them in a normal way. Above ground, standing in the ruins of Frost's mansion, their leader awaited a report. He had long hair and was dressed in a very heroic, old-fashioned style (he looked like Orlando Bloom at the very end of Pirates of the Caribbean).
"Velkan?" the words entered his mind through telepathy "We are in."
"Good," Velkan smiled, "Begin."
---
Two more alert guards stood at the first door in the northern corridor. They had their ghost-trackers activated. They began to go off, and they aimed their ectoplasmic lasers at the entrance to the corridor. The guard overshadowed by the panther-ghost stepped out.
"Uh...you seen a ghost?" one of them asked. The guard suddenly seemed to explode, releasing a giant flash of light. The panther-ghost quickly flew out of the light, becoming ghost fog again and flying into one of the now terrified guards. Soon both were gone in a flash of light, and it opened the door, charging down the hallways on all fours. The other ghosts took care of their ends of the base by drawing their rapiers on the guards at the last possible moment. They slowly made their way towards the centre of the base...
---
Sir!?" one of the guards ran in, a nervous wreck, "Overshadowed...men...ghost...heading.... this.... direction!" he collapsed from fear. The staff began muttering to themselves, Bruce pulling out an ectoplasmic laser. Conrad stood up.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I suggest we head to the nearest shelter and bring arms with us. Nothing fatal," he eyed Bruce. They quickly but calmly headed out to the shelter...except Bruce. He made his way to the control room.
---
The guards at the northern corridor were in a panic, trying desperately to avoid the panther-ghost. Snarling like a cat, the being charged down the halls, quickly jumping on the walls to avoid ectoplasmic laser blasts as he overtook the guards. In the other hallways, guerrilla warfare had broken out between the ghosts and the guards, the ghosts clearly having the upper hand, drawing ghost pistols and able to use their blades as shields from the firepower of the guards. Velkan had entered the base, calmly walking down the stairs of the northern corridor and heading down the cleared halls.
---
Although Conrad would have preferred to stay and fight with his staff, they insisted he go alone into the safest room in the shelter. They held their weapons at the door, ready.
---
The halls and corridors were cleared. All the guards lay unconscious, dead or had vanished in the panther-ghost's light. Altogether, ten ghosts had been sent in, all gathered at the door to the conference room. Velkan continued heading down the corridors, using an ectoplasmic laser hidden in his coat to shoot one out of the hand of a semiconscious guard. He arrived, his men lining up in salute (except the panther-ghost, which crouched down). He nodded to the commander of the squadron before opening the door and looking around. Nothing.
"They've headed for shelter" he concluded aloud, "Let us proceed," he walked in, his men following. The shelter was around the corner from the back door to the conference room. Velkan looked down at the panther-ghost, which smiled and slowly transformed into the strange green fog and drifted through the crack at the bottom of the door.
---
The staff noticed the green fog drifting in from under the door, surrounding them. All followed its path with their eyes, but none dared fire for concern of a surprise attack. The fog settled in one place. It lay dormant for a moment. Then it lashed out, entering one staff member who vanished in a blinding flash of light. The rest of the ghosts except Velkan phased through, the battle beginning. The panther-ghost became fog again, drifting into the room that held Conrad. As it re-formed, Conrad pulled out a weak laser and shot it in the shoulder. It fell back onto the floor, going into a violent spasm. After it had finally passed, all the hair shot off it, leaving behind the ghost of an ordinary man.
"Thank you!" he sneezed, "I am terribly allergic to animal fur!" he vanished in a flash of light, leaving Conrad confused. He turned his attention elsewhere. He slowly opened the door, scanning to see if the ghosts were still in it. His staff lay unconscious, save the one member the panther-ghost had claimed. He checked to be sure they were all right before looking around, his weapon ready.
"Good day, general," he felt something on his back, "I'd advise you drop that," he did. Slowly he turned around to meet his opponent, "I am Velkan."
"Good day, Mr. Velkan. May I ask why you've broken into a secured government area?"
"You may ask," it seemed like a light conversation between friends, "I won't answer, but you may ask. This is not a paranormal weapon, it is a real gun. Now put your hands behind your head," Conrad slowly raised his arms up. But Velkan had not noticed the emergency switches on the wall. Conrad flipped the middle one, causing a flash of ectoplasmic rays to shine down on the whole room. Velkan dropped his weapon and threw his hands up to his burning head, quickly phasing out of the room and the base when he discovered this had happened everywhere. Conrad looked over the staff once more before running back into the most secured room to examine the hairs left behind by the panther-ghost. Bruce watched from the control room, recording the security tape.