AN: And we are back with a brand-new chapter, ladies and gentlemen! I hope you are ready for even more angst and some real action! It's time for Chapter 2, baby!
Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing!
The Grief of Parents and Seven Years Later
Pulling up to the Fenton Works was the RV belonging to Danny and Jazz's parents. An RV that's more commonly referred to by their father as the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. But that's way too much of a mouthful, so we're not calling it that. Anyway, as the RV parked in the driveway, Jack and Maddie Fenton stumbled out of the vehicle and into their house. They were utterly exhausted as they had spent most of the night trying to find the ghost boy and capture him so he could no longer, quote-unquote "Terrorize Amity Park.".
"Tonight was a real letdown, eh Mads?" Jack asked as he plopped down in his chair.
Maddie could only groan in response as she flopped down on the couch face first. Usually, she loves going out ghost hunting, especially with the recent increase in ghost attacks and sightings, but tonight was not one of those nights. Not only did they not find that ghost boy who keeps wrecking the town, but there were no signs of any other ghosts afterwards. No ecto signatures, no people or inanimate objects being possessed, not even a sudden appearance by the Crate Creep.
Lady, he's really called the Box Ghost.
But anyway, Maddie was tired like her husband, but she was also feeling sore and achy as she had been moving about near constantly in an attempt to try and find some sort of evidence that would lead them to a ghost or a ghost fight. Unfortunately, she had absolutely no luck in doing so. But then again, neither did the GIW agents who had been patrolling the town recently at Vlad's behest. She couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the thought of that man. She may not like him much due to how he had tried to literally woo her away from her husband, who she loves very much, but she thought that having GIW agents patrol the town for ghosts was a good idea. She and Jack were going to need as much help as they could get.
She glanced up from her spot on the couch and her eye opened fully as she noticed something taped to the whiteboard in the kitchen that wasn't there before. It was a sheet of paper that was neatly folded into fourths with the words 'Read Me!' written next to it on the board. The paper itself was paperclipped to a manilla folder which seemed to contain several documents. Maddie may have been tired and sore, but her curiosity and sense of caution won out on this fight. So, she got up from the couch and slowly made her way to the kitchen much to Jack's curiosity.
"What have we here?" she asked no one in particular.
Maddie quickly removed the paper and folder from the board and set them on the table before unfolding the paper and beginning to read aloud as her husband walked up behind her and began to read over her shoulder while listening to her read.
"Jack, this is from Danny!" exclaimed Maddie.
"From Danny-Boy? What's it say?" he asked.
"Hold on, I'll read it aloud…" she replied.
She wished she hadn't.
"Dear Maddie and Jack Fenton,"
"If you're reading this, then it means that I've finally snapped and left home for good. Don't bother to come looking for me. I know that this is hard for all of us, but it has to be done! You're probably wondering why I left, right? Well, I've left Amity Park for one simple reason… I am, or rather was, the ghost boy known as Danny Phantom. Yeah, that's right! I was the same ghost who was always going out of his way to protect this town from the bad ghosts that legitimately wanted to destroy the town or take over the world! The one that you guys would shoot at first and ask questions never! And if you don't believe me, the proof is in the pudding! Or in this case that manilla folder that I left with this letter!"
"Enclosed is all of the proof that you'll need to see that I was once the same ghost child that you guys and the GIW have been hunting along with data on my ghost half. The powers I had, how I unlocked each one, enemies I've fought, photographic evidence, the works. But, I mean, SERIOUSLY! How is it that no one could make the connection that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person/ghost? We look exactly alike, save for the hair and eye colors, and we even have the same voice! You guys are my parents; how did YOU never figure it out?!"
"Before you say anything, yes, Tucker and Sam knew about this too. They were there when I first got my powers and have been by my side through most of my misadventures. Jazz also knows, but I never told her. She found out by herself during Spirit Week at school. So, if you guys want to learn more about everything, just ask them. Not like it matters since Sam and Tucker cut off all ties with me today."
"The point is that I can no longer handle all of the pressure, all of the pain, and now all of the heartbreak that comes with being a ghost fighting superhero! Especially with my only two friends gone and the whole town against me! So, I've gotten rid of my powers the same way I got them; by going into the Fenton Portal and activating it while still inside. But before doing that, I rewired the portal so that it would self-destruct from all of the ecto-energy and electrical power to prevent any more ghosts from coming through from purgatory and causing problems for Amity. It worked, and now I don't have my powers anymore. The only evidence that I ever had ghost powers in the first place is a streak of white in my hair. And so, without the support of my friends and family, what reason do I have to stay here in a town that doesn't want even my ghost half around? I'm leaving Amity Park for good and never coming back! I hope you improve your ghost hunting techniques, because I'll no longer be there to save the day for you."
"Sincerely, Daniel James Fenton. Formerly, Danny Phantom."
Maddie looked up with tears brimming in her eyes as she asked "Dear Lord in heaven, what have we done?"
"What're you talking about? We drove our son away." Jack replied, oblivious to his wife's rhetorical question as he pointed to the words on the letter. "See? It says so right there in black and white. ...And there."
But even though he made that stupid comment, Jack was also saddened by his son's choice to run away from home. And as they both looked down in shame, their attention was drawn to the manilla folder that supposedly had the evidence of their son and that ghost boy, Danny Phantom, being one and the same. If they were being honest, neither of them wanted to open it. As parents, they didn't want to believe that their son could possibly be one of the ghosts that they've always been commenting on how they're going to dissect or research purposes, and then destroy molecule by molecule. But as scientists, especially in the field of paranormal science, they wanted to learn everything that Danny has supposedly been through as a ghost.
Eventually, their scientific curiosity became too great to ignore and they opened the file. What they saw really put things into perspective for them. The first thing they saw were two photographs. One of their son, and the other of Danny Phantom. They carefully examined the two photos side-by-side as they also recalled their own experiences regarding the ghost boy… and were shocked! They truly were one and the same! Just invert the hair and eye colors, change their outfits, and it's a perfect match! And now that they thought about it, the two DID have the same voice…
"I am so stupid!" Jack said as he facepalmed.
"But… that means…"
Maddie's purple eyes shrunk to the size of pinholes as the reality of everything sunk in full force.
"WHERE IS MY BABY?!" she shrieked in horror and motherly worry.
"Whoa, Maddie! Take it easy, we'll find him!" Jack said, springing into action. "Now, we don't know how long Danny's been gone, but he couldn't have gone far. And like he said in his letter he destroyed the ghost portal, so we won't have to worry about him being attacked by ghosts. Let's get some supplies and gather up a search party!"
Her husband's words and rather sound plan were enough to calm Maddie down enough to the point that she could think rationally again. She quickly wiped her tears away as determination set in.
"Okay, Jack. But in regards to the search party, let's keep the details of our son having been Danny Phantom all this time between us. We don't want to bring that kind of negative publicity to our son because of what must have been honest misunderstandings." Maddie said.
Jack nodded as he knew that with the level of Anti-Phantom sentiment going around, the last thing they'd want to do is expose their son as having been that same ghost.
"You're right, Maddie." Jack said as he pounded his knuckles together. "Okay! Let's get to work! It's time to find our son, bring him home, and apologize for our behavior towards him when he was in his ghost half!"
With that, the Fenton parents began to pack up any supplies they'd need. Jack would load them into the RV while Maddie would make some calls and gather up a search party to find her son. Oh, if only they knew just what he was about to go through.
***With Danny…***
Danny had made some decent distance to the outskirts of the city as he avoided the GIW agents like the plague and continued to put distance between himself and the town. If he wanted to get to The Veil, he'd really need to get the lead out. Lucky for him it was smooth sailing once he got out of the city, and he was now cruising along on his scooter just taking in the sights of nature as he rode along the dirt road to the nearest highway where he'd take the bus to the stop closest to The Veil. From there he'd ride his scooter the rest of the way.
...Yeah, that plan sounded much better in his head.
But as Danny tried to think of a better plan, time seemed to slow down all around him until everything, including Danny, stopped in their tracks. It was like someone hit the pause button! A natural portal opened up next to Danny as a ghost flew through. But not just any ghost; it was Clockwork! The ghost the governs and has control over time itself! His body may constantly shift between that of a child, a young man in his prime, and an old man who has lived a good long life, but make no mistake! He is not to be trifled with!
Clockwork placed a Time Medallion around Danny's neck, enveloping him in a green glow as time suddenly started up again for him. He yelped as he lurched forward and nearly fell off his scooter, but he quickly recovered and noticed who was there.
"Clockwork? Not that it's not good to see you again, but why are you here?" he asked.
"I am here because of your future, Daniel. By getting rid of your ghost powers and resolving to go beyond the Veil, a place no one has dared to go before, you have begun to rewrite your own future. I am merely here to ensure that you have safe journeys to your destination." Clockwork explained. "The Guys In White will never stop searching for your ghost half, which is no more, and Vlad will not give up on making you his son/apprentice. He will more than likely perform tests on you to return your ghost powers to you by force, which would no doubt fully kill you and bring about that dark future you have been working so hard to prevent."
Danny's eyes narrowed at the memory of that future and his evil future self, Dan Phantom, glad that he prevented that future from coming to pass. Even as Clockwork floated closer to him, Danny couldn't keep the scowl off of his face.
"That scooter of yours will not get you to the Veil fast enough, even if you take the bus most of the way there. You need something faster and more reliable." Clockwork said.
Danny was confused by what the time ghost meant, until he tapped his scooter with his staff. Right before his eyes, the small vehicle began to transform from a dingy little electric scooter into one righteous motorcycle! It was a rather beautiful bike that was based on a panhead chopper. It had a silvery-white paint job with hotrod flames that were as black as the night. Danny was amazed by the change in vehicles and knew that this would definitely get him where he needed to go quickly.
He sent a questioning look to Clockwork who simply smiled as his form shifted to an old man.
"Consider that a gift from your friends in the Ghost Zone. And a small reward for saving both or our realms on more than one occasion. Know this, Daniel; even if you are no longer a Halfa you will always have friends and allies among those in the Ghost Zone." Clockwork said as he raised his staff. "Time-In!"
And as Clockwork disappeared, time resumed all around Danny as his Time Medallion disappeared. Danny was stunned by the gift given to him by Clockwork, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He adjusted his helmet and revved up the engine. Danny couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he listened to the purr of the engine. After a minute, he plugged his bluetooth earbuds into his ears, turned on the song Slow Ride, and zoomed off down the dirt road and towards the highway. And with the destination he had in mind, it may very well be the last time anyone would see him in Amity Park.
But his tale doesn't end here. No… This is just the beginning!
***Seven Years Later…***
Seven years have passed since that fateful day when Danny Fenton left Amity Park for good. And in that time, things have gotten a lot worse for the citizens. In fact, things had gotten bad for the rest of the world, even! First of all, Sam and Tucker were wracked with guilt over what they did to their, at one time, best friend. So much so that they both sunk into a deep depression that lasted for most of a year. And it only lasted that long because they learned from the Fentons that Danny had run away from home and had been leaving Amity Park altogether. Naturally, despite cutting off ties with him, they were the first two to join in the search for him. But after a whole month of searching both Amity Park and the surrounding area, the search had to be called off, much to the sorrow of the Fenton Family and Danny's now former best friends. The revelation that Sam and Tucker drove their friend away was heart wrenching for them. Not even anything gothic or advancing technology could bring either of them out of their depressions! Believe me, their families tried.
They did eventually snap out of it, but it wasn't easy to move on with their lives. Especially since there had been no ghost attacks during that year to help them take their minds off of what happened. Things had been peaceful for Amity Park during that first year due to Danny's actions in destroying the Fenton Portal, which Jack and Maddie swore to never touch as a reminder of their failures regarding their lost son.
They did, however, question Jazz about when and how she found out about Danny being a half ghost. At first she nervously tried to deny it, but after showing her Danny's letter and the file she just sighed and recounted to them how she found out. Jack and Maddie couldn't help but wonder why their son didn't tell them about his powers. But when Jack had said his thoughts out loud, Jazz rose to her feet and snapped at them.
"How and why SHOULD he have told you? You two are the ones who were always going on and on about either capturing ghosts so you can perform painful and, quite frankly, inhumane experiments on them! Or shouting about how you'd destroy them molecule by molecule! Danny was obviously scared that you wouldn't accept him and would just treat him like every other ghost in the world because you stubbornly believe that all ghosts are evil!" Jazz had snapped at them.
And after her rant, Jazz had gone upstairs and locked herself in her room to cry herself to sleep.
As much as the shocked couple wanted to refute their daughter's claims, to say that they would have accepted their son no matter what, but as their daughter's words rang in their heads, they couldn't help but truly wonder what they would have done. They spent the better part of that day reflecting upon their past actions, both as ghost hunters and as parents.
But after a year had passed, more and more natural ghost portals began to open up near Amity Park where the ghosts began to terrorize the city yet again. And this time, there would be no Danny Phantom to stop them.
At first the ghosts had been appearing in small numbers, and were weak enough that they could be easily driven back through the natural portals that they appeared from. It had been mostly the mindless, instinct driven Ecto-Pi. Even the Red Huntress, A.K.A. Valerie, was able to fight them off with ease, especially thanks to her upgraded ghost hunting suit and weapons. Of course, she had Technus to thank for that upgrade, but she didn't know or acknowledge that.
Anyway, at first the number of ghosts coming through these natural portals was manageable, as stated earlier, but it didn't stay that way. Soon stronger ghosts started coming though these rips in the dimensional barrier, and in greater numbers! Ghosts like Skulker, Technus, Ember, Prince Aragon, Desiree, Kitty and her boyfriend Johnny 13, Youngblood, Sidney Poindexter, Princess Dorothea, Pandora or Greek mythology, Walker the Ghost Warden, even the Fright Knight all arrived and began to cause untold chaos for the citizens of Amity Park! Some like Skulker, Youngblood, and Technus did so just for the fun of destroying the human town without true interference. Others like Desiree, Kitty, Johnny, Dorothea, Pandora and Ember were doing so to get payback for what the people of this town did to Danny. He helped each of them and was never one of their enemies (more accurately, he wasn't an enemy of Kitty, Johnny, Pandora, or Dorothea. He made peace with Desiree and Ember and ended up befriending them.) and they wanted to give the citizens of this town, the ghost hunters especially, a taste of their own medicine! And the rest of the ghosts just wanted to cause some havoc.
It got so bad that Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Valerie, and what was left of Team Phantom couldn't fight them all off alone. They were just too strong, and there were too many ghosts attacking all at once!
That's when Vlad made his move.
He used his pull as the mayor of Amity Park to create what he called an elite team of ghost hunters that he called the Masters' Blasters. At first the citizens were relieved that this ghost fighting task force was being assembled… until they started charging the people they saved ridiculously high amounts of money! It seemed like only the very rich would be able to afford these kinds of fighters protecting them from ghosts.
But they soon became a moot point when ghosts began appearing through more and more portals in greater numbers and strength! It got so bad, in fact, that the Guys In White had to get involved and the entire town had to live under the protection of the Fenton Family's ghost shield! It did its job of keeping the ghosts out, but unfortunately there were still many more ghosts coming through natural portals causing destruction all over Amity and spreading quickly to the rest of the world. No one knows what to do, but they do know this; their hero Danny Phantom is no longer around to protect them from the malevolent spirits that now plague their world. And they have no one to blame but themselves.
Meanwhile, at an outpost several miles outside of Amity Park, it was complete and utter chaos as Ghost Rays and other weapons were blasting all over the place. It rang with explosions as three GIW agents were trying to fight off the beginnings of an army of ghosts. The ghosts in question were ectoplasm green skeleton ghosts with blood red eyes wearing armor and holding medieval swords, shields, and other weapons as they attacked. And leading them was the Fright Knight himself. One agent stood up and activated his full body ghost shield to reflect the oncoming Ghost Rays. This bought another agent, a large man who was a hulking wall of muscle, enough time to reach down and literally pry a chunk of rock out of the earth and throw it at the invading forces! Funny thing about these ghosts, none of them possess intangibility and are easily susceptible to basic attacks such as punches, kicks, and throwing rocks at them. But their numbers were so great that it didn't even matter.
Three larger skeleton ghosts fired blasts of ectoplasm from the catapults they brought, but the third agent, a man who was lean and fast, activated his wrist-mounted flamethrowers and blasted the ectoplasm! He managed to destroy two of them, but the third one slowly emerged from the smoke as he gasped and realized he wouldn't be able to dodge in time! Fortunately, it wasn't a direct hit, but he was still sent flying back as a result. As he landed, he found that his left leg was bent in a way that it shouldn't be. It was painful, but the adrenaline and his fear lessened the pain.
"Ah!... A-Ah'm hit! Medic!" he cried with a southern accent.
A female medical officer on hover skates quickly weaved through the chaos and to the fallen agent. For the sake of identification, we'll call the medic Red Alert and the wounded agent Hotshot.
"Hang in there, soldier!" exclaimed Red Alert as she arrived.
She immediately started scanning the damaged limb and didn't like what she was seeing.
"The damage is too severe. I'm going to have to amputate." Red Alert said.
"WHAT?!" gasped Hotshot.
"Don't worry, the GIW will issue a replacement prosthetic limb within six to eight business days." Red Alert said as she calmly got what she needed for a field amputation.
"Uh, couldn't I get a second opinion?" Hotshot asked nervously.
But before Red Alert could begin the procedure, she cried out as she was lassoed with a ghostly chain and pulled away. The culprit was a lanky ghost skeleton dressed in punk style armor who used the chain to turn Red Alert into a human wrecking ball. She screamed as she was sent hurdling towards her fellow agents. She crashed into them hard as they all landed in a heap, unconscious and in pain, but alive.
This is what a female agent with white skin and black hair witnessed as she radioed back to base.
"Agent Foxtrot to Amity Outpost, we're under attack! I repeat: we're under attack!" she reported as she drew her Ecto-Crossbow.
It was utter pandemonium in Amity Park as the Guys In White and the Masters Blasters were attempting to fight off an army of ghosts that were marching out of a natural portal that formed just outside of Amity Park. They fought with everything they had as they used their Anti-Ghost weaponry to fight back. But it wasn't enough. These ghostly skeletons just kept putting themselves back together no matter how many times they were blown to pieces! Not to mention that there seemed to be an endless amount of them marching through this portal!
"Stay calm, Agent Foxtrot, and try to hold out a little longer." a GIW agent instructed.
But it did nothing to calm Foxtrot.
"Sirs, I don't know how much longer we can hold out! There are too many of them!" Foxtrot exclaimed, fear evident in her voice.
"You and your soldiers need to fall back! Get behind the Fentons' Ghost Shield immediately! Leave no man behind!" the General ordered.
"Roger that!"
As the call ended, the General sighed and leaned back in his chair. It seemed like the world was ending all because of the loss of one ghost and the disappearance of a young boy. He couldn't shake the sneaking suspicion that these events were connected somehow, but he doesn't know how.
'Kid, wherever you are, I hope your life is more peaceful than life is in this part of the world.'
Back in Amity Park itself, the citizens were going about their lives as they tried to ignore the ongoing battle outside of the shield. They knew that it would end soon and that the ghosts would retreat back to their realm, but they honestly don't know how many more of these attacks they can endure before it becomes too much for them. The citizens, particularly the grown-ups and parents of the current generation, were really regretting their role in driving off the only ghost that could have done something against this ever-increasing army of ghosts.
And back in the mayor's office, Vlad was at quite a quandary.
After Danny had run away from home, Vlad had hoped to confront him and see about manipulating the boy into becoming his apprentice and using his powers the way he does; for his own nefarious purposes. Unfortunately, it would seem as though the boy was faster than he thought because he was already well beyond Amity Park, and the evil Halfa had no idea where he would go from there. But wherever he was, the boy had been doing a phenomenal job at laying low and avoiding detection. Not even his ghost tracking technology had been able to find any trace of the boy.
Little did Vlad know that Danny had gotten rid of his powers, and that's why his tech couldn't find him. Not that he needs to know.
But anyway, Vlad was perfectly aware of how much more severe these ghost attacks were becoming, but he couldn't pinpoint the true reason. Could another ghost have freed Pariah Dark again and the Ghost King is simply weakening their armies to the point where he can just waltz right in and conquer the world of the living? It's plausible, yet at the same time impossible. Every ghost in the Ghost Zone knows how dangerous and evil Pariah Dark is. They wouldn't risk freeing him without good reason. Whatever the reason, if these ghost attacks weren't stopped soon, or at the very least lessened to more manageable levels, there won't be an Earth left!
But he had an idea.
Recently, he's heard rumors about a grand empire beyond The Veil, as crazy as that sounds. And the emperor of this empire was the one to unite his lands after it had been through hundred, thousands, maybe even millions of years of war! They say that he's a warrior unlike any other, and that his kindness and generosity knows no bounds! If Amity Park, nay the world, was to survive this ghostly onslaught, then Vlad was going to have to swallow his pride and take a chance.
He'll gather a group of Ghost Hunters and take a diplomatic trip beyond the Veil to get help from this emperor!
And maybe even use his Ghostly influence to take over said empire and make all of its riches his, but nobody needs to know that.
***To Be Continued…***
Ending AN: And so, the plot thickens! Will Vlad be successful in getting this emperor's help? What has happened to Danny in those seven years? Tune in next time and find out!
