Chapter Six

Ember stood proudly, basking in the glory of her accomplishment. Everyone was screaming her name. She didn't appear to notice as two of the monitors switched from live feed to Technus' grinning computerized visage until he quietly wrapped a cord around both of her legs and pulled. She landed hard on her stomach with a gasp of surprise and twisted around to glare at her laughing former ally.

"Oh, so that's how you want it?" she exclaimed. Using her guitar like a bat, she managed to fight her way free.

The whole stage came to life then, and the remaining monitors switched to Technus' face. "I, Technus, will rule this world!" he exclaimed. "And I won't let any…squares like you get in my way!"

High above the battle in progress, Danny howled with laughter and wondered if he should just let them finish each other off. It would certainly make his life easier. He watched as Technus aimed something that looked like a satellite dish and fired a beam of energy at Ember. Unfortunately, the attack missed and nearly hit the hypnotized bystanders. Danny sighed as he realized that he was going to have to interfere after all; neither of the ghost villains cared if people got hurt. "Hey, kids!" he yelled brightly. "Miss me?"

Ember and Technus stopped abruptly and exchanged glances. "Not for long, ghost child!" the latter responded with an accompanying energy blast. Danny easily dodged the attack as he hurtled toward his foes, as well as the second attack courtesy of Ember's guitar.

He raised both arms to fire ectoplasmic energy blasts at two of Technus' monitors. "How could you do it, Technus?" he yelled as he ducked beneath an oncoming support beam.

"Eh? Do what?" Technus seemed honestly confused. Not that it hurt his attack any. As Danny ducked, he angled the swing down and succeeded in knocking the ghost boy into Ember.

"Hey!" yelled the enraged singer. "Watch it!" She let her guitar hang from its strap around her shoulder and fired her own version of an energy blast at Danny, who dove below the stage. After all, it worked last time. As he threw himself out where Ember should have been, however, he crashed headlong into the band's neon sign. Stunned, he didn't even notice the guitar flying toward his face until it hit. Naturally enough, he was given no chance to recover as Technus bound his arms to his side with cords and cables and began slamming him into every intact surface and a few that weren't.

He wasn't entirely certain when the attack stopped, but suddenly Ember had a fistful of his hair to hold his head up. He blinked against the spinning world and tried simply to concentrate on not going human. "How could you frame your own daughter?" he asked vaguely.

"Oh, that?" Technus laughed. "That's easy!" The monitor nearest Danny changed to the same footage he had seen on the news. "Editing video isn't hard, at all."

"That's not what he meant, dad," said a voice Danny never expected to hear again. He shook his head to clear the last of the fuzz and started to wonder if he'd been hearing things. His musings were brought to a halt by the sudden appearance of a green VW Beetle as it flew by, taking out the cords holding Danny and nearly Ember as well.

"What the-" Ember started to demand.

She was interrupted by her once-again ally, who yelled, "Katrina Andrea Technus! You are so grounded for that, young lady!"

Electra, with two SUVs orbiting around her, twirled her copper can and replied, "I am Electra, master of lightning and electrical impulses!" She grinned smugly. "You ain't the boss of me, old man!"

Danny fought his way free of the remaining restraints. With Electra distracting her father, he was free to deal with Ember, making this fight a whole lot easier. He shot an energy blast at his enemy, who failed to dodge because she was watching a Ford Explorer smash through a neon sign. "Told you you wouldn't get away," Danny laughed.

Ember jumped to her feet with a furious growl. "You still can't beat me," she said scathingly. "Not with every kid in town chanting my name." She hit a chord, and Danny dodged while shooting energy blasts. She was right, of course; as long as the kids of Amity Park were chanting her name and giving her power, she had the advantage. He needed to figure out something that would stop the chanting, something really painful, like…

"Electra!" he yelled. "I need feedback!"

There was a pause while a Cadillac Escalade flew overhead, then, "Nice form, but your witty remarks need work!"

Danny squashed down the desire to abandon his fight with Ember in favor of throttling his friend. "From the speakers!" he clarified.

"Not even my offspring can hack into my system!" Technus took that moment for self-glorification. "For I am-"

The sudden squealing that brought a halt to his histrionics could have been considered an improvement. At least, it was more musical. Danny winced at the noise that would have made fingernails on a chalkboard sound pleasant, and easily captured the now powerless Ember in his Fenton Thermos. "You can stop now!" he tried to yell over the noise. It cut off abruptly.

"How did you do that?" Technus asked, bemused.

Electra pointed her cane at his last intact monitor and fried it, rendering him blind and forcing him to leave the safety of his electronic equipment. "Because," she answered haughtily. "I, Electra, am just that good! Now…" She grinned as Danny captured the protesting Technus. "You're grounded, Dad."

They glanced out over the newly awakened teens and watched them try to get their bearings. "Thanks, Kat," Danny said quietly.

"Eh, what are friends for?" she answered with a shrug.

"I can't believe he did that to you."

Kat shrugged again. "Well, he may be my dad, but he's still Technus."

"Danny Phantom!" someone yelled. They glanced over to see reporter Casey Starr arrive with an exhausted cameraman in tow. "Mr. Phantom, can you tell us anything about what happened here?"

Kat snickered and patted his shoulder; he was stunned at how cold it felt. "I believe that's your cue," she said happily. "Cheerio!" With a tip of her hat, she vanished in blue smoke, her usual manner of goodbye.

Danny sighed and looked back at the camera. Part of him insisted that he just go; instead, he began speaking. It couldn't hurt his reputation, and who could tell? Maybe it would help.

Danny flipped on the news later that evening. His family had come home a few hours earlier; apparently, his parents had been ghost hunting on the other side of town, and Jazz had been at the library. She started to walk by behind him, then stopped and leaned on the back of the couch. "You watch the news?" she asked.

"I do, sometimes," Danny defended himself. He wondered why everyone seemed so amazed by that.

"Since when?"

He rolled his eyes and shushed her as the "Exclusive Interview with Danny Phantom" came on. He thought, at first, that they had cut Kat out of the frame and didn't think too much of it, until he heard her parting words.

"Who was talking?" Jazz asked. "Was there someone else there?"

Danny shook his head slightly and started to laugh. "Her name is Electra," he replied. "She doesn't film."