AN: NEW CHAPTER ALERT! NEW CHAPTER ALERT! ALL HANDS ON DECK! That's right, everyone, we have reached chapter numero tres of the story! And things have gotten a lot worse for Amity Park and most of the world since Danny got rid of his ghost powers and left for good. Let's see just what's going down, shall we?

Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom or any other franchise used in this story!


Mission to the Veil!


At a local diner, a now older Sam Manson was meeting up with Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie. Not much has really changed about Sam, except for her now longer hair which now falls to mid-back, and the fact that she's more developed due to age as she now had more defined curves in all the right places. But unlike some young women, especially a certain Cuban girl who was once the most popular girl in high school, she didn't flaunt her looks. Normally, Sam would be wearing more gothic attire as she usually did, but right now she was wearing a smart business suit with pants instead of a skirt. She graduated college with a degree in law and business and went on to start her own company as a way to both stick it to her family (except her grandma, Sam loves her dearly.) and give herself a little more independence.

But I'm getting off track.

Sam sighed as she sat at a booth where Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie were waiting for her. None of them were really hungry, they were just there to talk about the one person who isn't there with them. That's right; they're lamenting the loss of Danny Fenton.

But Sam's not the only one to have changed in the seven years that Danny's been absent. Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie have also changed. Tucker's still as tech savvy as he was in high school, having graduated college with a degree in computer science and getting a well-paying job at Microsoft, but he's now a married man with a wife and child. And one on the way. His once short black hair was now a little on the longer side being shoulder length, and done up in a set of short dreadlocks. His wife actually talked him into styling his hair this way. He's dressed in some of his more casual clothing which consisted of a simple yellow T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of boots. He also no longer wore glasses, choosing instead to wear contact lenses now that he could more readily afford them.

They were uncomfortable at first, but he quickly adjusted.

Valerie hadn't changed much physically, other than being taller, but she did cut her hair to have a crewcut much like her future self from the dark future that Danny had prevented with a little help from Clockwork. She was dressed in a simple sleeveless shirt, a pair of cargo shorts, and sneakers.

Then there's Jazz, who really developed well with age as she changed from a brainy and slightly bossy sixteen-year-old to a beautiful, kind, and caring twenty-three-year-old woman. Ever since her brother left, Jazz had sunk into a deep depression believing that if she had tried harder, he would have been able to whether the storm of hatred from the people of Amity. That he wouldn't have felt he needed to run away.

She just went through every day robotically, not really putting her heart into anything she did. And she hardly ever smiled anymore for a time, and when she did it seemed strained, like she was forcing herself. This continued for most of the first year that her brother had been gone until she met a nice young man who was about two years older than Jazz at the time, Joseph Slade, who could understand where she was coming from as he too had a sibling who had cut ties with his family due to a serious disagreement with their parents. The two got talking and found that they had much in common, even though they did have their differences, like how Jazz wanted to be a neurosurgeon and Joseph wanted to become a famous artist when he graduated from college. Yet despite this, the two hit it off well as they both managed to mend each other's broken hearts. They dated for three years before Joseph popped the question. With happy tears in her eyes Jazz said yes, and the two have been married ever since. And they even have a two-year-old daughter who Joseph looks after as the stay-at-home dad.

The atmosphere at the table was somber as the four friends took a moment to collect themselves.

"It's been seven years since that day." Tucker commented sadly.

"Yeah. Seven years since we pushed Danny over the edge when he was already dealing with enough bullshit from the rest of this town." Sam added as she looked down in shame and regret.

Jazz sent the two a look of empathy. When she had learned what the two did to her brother, she had been furious and figuratively, almost literally, ripped the two a new one as she gave them the worst verbal lashing she's ever given someone! But after two years of avoiding the two and not speaking to them, she decided that it was time to bury the hatchet and try to rekindle the friendship they once had. Eventually, things had mostly returned to normal between them. If not for the fact that Danny was still out there in the world, alone and probably fighting for his life because of all the ghost attacks and no longer having his powers.

Valerie sighed and said "When I started fighting ghosts after my dad lost his job at Axxiom Labs, I knew that I might be seriously hurt or die in one of those fights, and I was ready for that. But I wasn't ready to learn the truth about Danny the way I did. ...And I still have just one regret."

"You mean when you broke up with my brother because you were scared for his safety." Jazz commented.

She could understand Valerie's reasoning at the time. She hadn't known that her (Jazz's) brother was a Halfa and could defend himself just fine, so she was worried that he might get caught in the crossfire because of her own ghost hunting excursions. She chose to break things off with him in an effort to keep him safe. And in the end, Valerie lost what could have been the best thing to ever happen to her.

"Hey, Sam, how do things look on the outside?" Tucker asked, referring to the recent ghost attacks.

"It's bad. If I'm right, Vlad might actually seek help from an outside source." Sam replied.

She rubbed her eyes as tears started to gather in them.

"If only Danny were here right now. He'd have an idea about what to do against all these spooks." she said.

"We can't change the past, Sam. But what we can do is look towards the future, and try to move on." Jazz said.

She knew that Jazz was right, of course, but that didn't mean that Sam had to like it. She and Tucker still felt immense guilt and how they abandoned their friend and essentially drove him away. They wanted to find him, apologize, and try to restore their friendship. But after seven years and no word from Danny, not even on his cellphone, they were slowly losing hope that he was even alive right now.

The group was broken from their musings when an injured GIW agent walked up to their table. Judging from the crutches, how his leg was in a cast, and the various other indicators of injury, he must have been in a battle. Likely one of the survivors.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but here." he said as he handed Jazz an envelope with Vlad's seal. "You've been summoned for a meeting with the mayor."

The group looked at each other warily, shocked that they would be called to this meeting. Whatever it was about must have been important if they were being called. Then again, it's not too surprising considering that they're some of the most experienced ghost hunters of their generation. Maybe it had something to do with the worsening ghost attacks.

Whatever it was, they were quick to get up and leave for the mayor's office. They needed answers, and it seems like they're gonna get them from the, as Danny would call him, 'fruitloop who seriously needs to try online dating. Or get a cat.'.

...Now they miss Danny even more!

Since they rushed to the mayor's office it didn't take them too long to get there. About twenty minutes, tops. But they were breathing hard because of it since none of them thought to drive because of their little get together, especially since that diner was in walking distance from their houses. They were quickly ushered in by Vlad's butler who got them some water to help them a little, and found that they weren't the only ones that had been called to this meeting. There were several GIW agents, about ten of them in total, along with Jazz and Danny's parents.

Both Jack and Maddie had been hit especially hard by the loss of their son. Maddie's age was beginning to catch up to her as she now had small yet noticeable wrinkles around the corners of her eyes and the edges of her mouth, and her hair was beginning to gray a little. Though she was still in top physical condition due to her time fighting ghosts. But Jack had been in a deep depression like their daughter had been and at first had lost weight rapidly because of it. He'd been losing weight faster than his wife could cook! Normally, Maddie would have been glad that her husband was thinking about his health and trying to get into a healthy weight range, but the amount of weight he'd been losing was just unhealthy and would lead to even greater health risks than his obesity could have.

Eventually, Jack did snap out of his funk and got back to doing what he does best: fighting ghosts and making technology to stop them! He was going to protect this town to honor his son! Both parents could feel that their son was still alive out there, but they didn't know where he was since he did a remarkable job in covering his tracks. But they were determined to find him and do two things to him. The first being to apologize for their behavior towards him, especially when in his ghost half, and for making him too scared to tell them that he was half ghost. And the second to bean him over the head for making them worry so much, and for running away in the first place!

Not that they blamed him for doing so.

Jack did manage to regain all of his lost weight, much to the relief of his wife and daughter, but now it was mostly muscle rather than fat. He had a muscular physique despite his appearance, but that was because of his own natural body type rather than any workout routine or dietary supplements.

"So, you were all called here, too?" Maddie asked, though it sounded like a statement.

"Yes, we were." Tucker replied as he and the others took their seats. "Any idea why we've been called here?"

"I assume it has something to do with all of the ghost attacks we've been having so far. But I have a pretty good feeling that we're about to find out." Jack said.

And he'd be right about that as Vlad walked into the room, prim and proper as always, but he had this air about him that told everyone that he was in total business mode. Sam and the rest of Team Phantom, plus Valerie, gave Vlad subtle glares as he stood behind a podium but decided to hear him out. Because quite frankly, they don't know just how many more ghost attacks the nations of the world can take before human civilization completely collapses.

"Alright, thank you all for coming. Now, I'm certain many of you are confused, and wondering why you're here." Vlad started out professionally.

"Your gain finally died?" Tucker asked with a grin.

"What? No." Vlad said.

"You're finally coming to terms with being a shitty mayor?" Jazz asked with a smirk of her own.

"Hey! I am not!" Vlad denied. "I'll admit my idea to form the Masters Blasters did backfire, but-"

Sam just laughed cynically and said "The fruitloop's in denial."

"I am not a fruitloop, and I am not in denial! I am a fantastic mayor!" Vlad said with a glare.

"Oh, perhaps his girlfriend finally left him." Valerie guessed.

"Perhaps for that rich foreigner I heard was in town last week." Sam added.

She and the rest of her group cackled at Vlad's expense as Tucker said that joke was a good one. Maddie had a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles, but if you looked from the right angle, you could see the upturn of her lips as she was smirking behind her hand. The GIW agents remained stoic as ever, so you couldn't really tell with them. But Vlad was clearly not amused.

"Goddamnit, this isn't the roast of Vlad! I'm here to talk to you about something important!" snapped Vlad. "It has come to the attention of the world leaders that nobody, literally nobody, can end these rampant ghost attacks on their own. Even the best trained soldiers from the GIW are helpless against this army of ghosts that has arisen over the years. But as luck would have it, I may have a solution. I'm sure you've all heard of a place called The Veil, yes?"

Maddie shuddered and said "Who hasn't heard of it? It's a place that's been around possibly since the dawn of time. Nobody knows what's really behind it, though. Every researcher who's ever tried to go past it and document what's on the other side… has never come back!"

"Not in one piece, that is. And certainly not with their lives." Jack added, a grim frown on his face.

Everyone else knew that the place beyond the Veil had to be bad if even someone as oblivious and ghost focused as Jack Fenton was this serious. Vlad simply nodded at his two former college friends' words. He was hesitant to implement this plan of his, but if it meant that the world survived long enough for him to conquer it then, really, what other choice did he have?

"Yes, all of that is very true. However, recently a squad of drones was sent through the Veil in order to attempt to safely find out what was on the other side, and what was discovered might just be the key to our world's salvation." Vlad said as he walked to a window. "What we discovered was a great and mighty empire! Completely at peace, seemingly no conflict whatsoever! And their technology was advanced beyond what we have now, from the brief glimpses we managed to obtain!"

The whole crowd was stunned by this news. An entire empire has been behind the Veil all this time? And they never knew about it? And from the sounds of it, it was a place that could only exist in a fantasy book just from what Vlad has told them alone.

Vlad sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't analyze anything because the drones were quickly shot down and destroyed before any relevant data could be transferred to us."

"Let me guess: you want to cross the Veil and ask the person in charge of this empire to help us with these ghost attacks, figuring that their far more advanced technology might be able to turn the tide of this spectral war." Jack guessed.

"That sounds pretty risky, considering no one's ever come back alive from that place." Valerie commented.

Vlad merely sighed and said "Maybe so. But what other choice do we have?"

As much as Team Phantom didn't want to admit it, they knew Vlad was right. All around the world, people are being forced to live under ghost shields for their own protection as the ghost attacks are becoming larger and more frequent. Many people, mostly soldiers, have already died to the more ruthless ghosts such as Fright Knight, Undergrowth, and Skulker just to name a few. If this keeps up, humanity will truly face extinction!

And they can't allow that to happen.

So, with some reluctance on their part, everyone left Town Hall when the meeting was over to pack their supplies. The Fentons especially were packing ghost hunting equipment for everyone's own protections, much to the approval of the GIW as they wanted to make sure there were no civilian casualties on this mission. They packed things like multiple Specter Deflectors, a pair of Ghost Gauntlets, the Fenton Bazooka, the Fenton Foamer, the Fenton Ghost Peeler, a pair of Fenton Wrist Rays, and lastly the Wraith Wrangler.

True, it may seem excessive to bring along so many gadgets, especially on a diplomatic mission like this one, but they figured it would be better to follow an old saying. 'Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.'. Jazz and Tucker said their goodbyes to their families with the promise that they'd return safe and sound very soon. Though Sam had a sneaking suspicion that Vlad had a hidden agenda for going to this empire beyond the Veil.

And I'll be honest, she's not wrong to suspect him of such.

But there was no time to ponder. As everyone loaded up into the recently expanded Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle, they drove off towards the Veil not knowing just what to expect upon arriving there.

Little did they know they'd be encountering someone familiar in the empire.

A ghost of their past.


***To Be Continued…***


Ending AN: Ooohhh! Now the Ghost attacks are even more rampant than before! Things are certainly heating up for Amity Park, aren't they? Oh, and for those of you who don't know, that scene where Team Phantom was roasting Vlad? I got the inspiration for it from a DevilArtemis video on YouTube called The Perfect Intervention, so go and check out DevilArtemis because he makes amazing and hilarious animated parodies! Well, I have much work to be done on my other stories, so this is SaurusRock625 signing off!