Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom in any way or form. (What, expecting something witty?)
I own my socks but not Danny. (There, fear the wit!) I do, however, own Montgomery Price.
Anyhow. Finally, after a hibernation period of about a year...onwards!
Sir Montgomery Lazerous Price was, in short terms, a very powerful man. But that can be an understatement in itself—he was supreme, at the top of his game, and was a mere twenty-five.
In short, Mr. Price was indeed a businessman, in control of a wide chain of scientific labs that…well, if you knew, you would know too much. Anyway, currently the businessman was feeling absolutely torn up inside. He had had to fire a valuable employee that afternoon, and was, at the moment, indecisive about his decision. Now, as the sun began to set and the day turned to night, he decided to go on a well-earned walk across town.
The walk was relaxing enough…a cup of coffee, browsing at the bookstore, walking down the street, that sort of thing. All was right with in Montgomery's world…that is, until the wall of a building came crashing down as a spectral, but very solid, being fell through it. It was a revolting creature, resembling a black octopus with an impossible number of tentacles. It was on the floor, squirming, slapping its many appendages around with a sickening squelch sound. Mr. Price, entranced by the spectacle, watched a good distance away.
He saw as, quite suddenly, a figure materialized above the creature. It was the newcomer that interested Mr. Price the most—mainly, because it looked just like a teenage boy, hovering above the thing and looking ready to attack.
"I don't think you'll make a friendly sea creature, so into the Thermos you go!" the boy cried, taking out a cylindrical object, pointing it at the creature, and letting out a ray of blue-white light that sucked the target in.
Mr. Price knew who this was, now. It was that 'Inviso-Bill' lad…he had read an article about him in the paper. Just as the creature faced its doom inside the Thermos, a thick, spiked tentacle whipped out from the light and stabbed at Inviso-Bill's arm before disappearing. The boy cried out, clutching his arm and watching as a few drops of blood seeped out from between his fingers and onto the pavement below. After a moment he disappeared, one moment he was there and the next…gone.
Mr. Price knew an opportunity when he saw one. He ran across the street, through the crowd that was steadily leaving the scene, and knelt down next to the puddle of the ghost-boy's blood. It was an odd sight—the blood was thick, and a shade of neon green. He whipped a glove out of his coat pocket and dipped his fingers into the concoction. It stuck to the glove, and Mr. Price held it up to the street light to get a better look at it. Oh yes, this was an opportunity indeed….
Earlier that day...
"Sam, Tucker!" Danny called, making his way through the departing crowd to get to his friends. It was the end of the day at Casper High, and as always, there was a rampaging stampede of teens fighting to make their way home and get on with their lives. Sam and Tucker were, currently, waiting for Danny under a tree and giving each other cold looks.
Once Danny had joined their little group, Tucker and Sam continued with the debate they had been having.
"No, Tucker, adding more fancy things to your PDA will not make you a girl magnet." Sam pressed, only to receive and hard glare from Tucker.
"How would you know? Maybe your mind is just affected by all of the plants you eat!" he retorted.
Sam bristled, replying, "For the last time, they're not plants!" She spun around to greet Danny, purposely giving Tucker the cold shoulder.
"Hey, Danny," Sam said, smiling. Tucker gave a disgruntled wave. Danny, meanwhile, was fiercely amused by the whole incident, and eyed the two for a moment.
"Okay, anyway. You two really, really have issues." he informed them, turning and beginning to walk home. Tucker and Sam followed, walking as far away from each other as possible. Sam and Danny had a nice little conversation, while Tucker simply walked in a dead silence. Danny frowned, looking at his friend.
"Hey, Tucker, are you alright? Still thinking about girl magnets?" he asked, grinning.
Tucker looked up. "Ha. Funny. You know that lecture we had today? Well, I was thinking about that Price guy…what's-his-name. He's so powerful, but everything his labs do is so…mysterious."
Danny looked blank. "Who?" he asked.
"It doesn't surprise me you didn't listen in school today. Monty L. Price, some scientist who controls all of these top-secret laboratories and is supposed to donate old equipment to the schools. All of the teachers were buzzing about it today, and how no one really knows what goes on in his labs." Sam reported.
"Ah. Well, donating equipment, that's nice of him. See you guys tomorrow." Danny replied, as the three of them came to the part of their walk where they separated to get home. They said their goodbyes, and departed.
Nothing eventful happened in the next hour or so. Danny came home and went upstairs to study for a test the next day. Jazz suddenly burst into his room, causing Danny to jolt up from his desk. He glared at Jazz, and received a cheerful grin in return.
"Come on, Danny, come say bye." Jazz said. Danny, for the second time that day, looked blank.
"Bye?" he asked. His sister sighed, and said, "Yes, Danny, 'bye'. It's usually a form of saying 'farewell' to someone as they depart from a dwelling. In this case, our parents are going to that ghost-hunters conference, remember?" she asked, dragging out her last few words as if Danny was a complete dunce. Danny paused for a moment, thought, and then remembered.
His parents were supposed to travel somewhere in some-state to meet with other ghost-hunters. They would be gone for about a week…leaving him with Jazz…wonderful.
After a short farewell and reassurances that there would be no monkey business while they were gone, the Fenton parents left for their trip. After the car pulled away, Danny grabbed his bag and made to leave. Jazz blocked his way, staring. "Where do you think you're going?" she pressed.
Danny grinned. "To Sam's house. Tucker and I are meeting there to…study. You know, so I can someday be as smart and successful as my darling big sister?" he replied, eyes wide and innocent.
Jazz frowned, and looked at the clock. "You'd better be back by ten. If you're not home by then…" She trailed off, a hint of menace in her voice.
"Don't worry!" Danny called as he made his way out the door. "Everything will be just fine!"
Jazz shook her head as she watched him leave, full of doubt. Call it female intuition, but she had a hunch things would be anything but fine.
Well! There you go, the first chapter. If you're wondering aboutthe plot, it will show up in the next chapter or so. But in the meantime, reviewing makes Zyphy happy.
And on just a side note, if you're an older DP reader/writer and my style sounds a bit familiar, I used to go by 'Architect04'. Aww, I remember way back when the DP section had only 19 fanfics...hehe.