Chapter 2: Barbara Visits Amity Park
"Dad, Danny agreed to another date with me!" Barbara happily exclaimed as he read his reply on her computer.
"Have him come over so I can get to know him." Commissioner Gordon replied.
"Dad, Danny and I only had one date so far." Barbara pleaded. 'Even if Danny's not intimidated by a girl who fights kung fu, judo and karate, it doesn't mean he won't be afraid of meeting my Dad.' She thought. "I'm thinking about meeting him in Amity Park."
"Well, at least the worst people have to deal with there are some ghost stories instead of real criminals." The Commissioner commented. "Just be careful, Princess."
"Thank you, Dad." She said and hugged him.
One day later, in Amity Park, Danny was at the airport to wait for Barbara when someone else called for him. "Danny, how did you know I was coming back today?"
"Sam?" Danny asked in surprise.
"Sammy, I don't think you're the reason the Fenton boy is here." Sam's mother Pamela Manson commented as she pointed at a sign reading 'Barbara Gordon'.
"Who's Barbara, Danny?" Sam asked with a frown.
"Did anybody call me?" Barbara asked as she showed up. "Hi, Danny."
"Hi, Barbara." Danny replied. "These are Sam Manson, one of my childhood friends, and her parents Jeremy and Pamela Manson. Sam, this is Barbara Gordon, my chosen date from the dating service You+Me=Love!"
"Nice to meet you." Barbara told the Mansons.
"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Gordon." Sam's parents replied, hoping Barbara will keep him away from Sam.
"Danny, did you really enter a dating website?" Sam asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I had my reservations when Tucker told me about it but now I'm glad I listened to him." Danny commented.
"Tucker." She groaned.
"Sam, what's wrong?" Danny asked in confusion.
"What did you expect after she saw you chose to date someone other than her?" Jeremy Manson asked.
"Mr. Manson, that joke is tasteless." Danny frowned. "Don't listen to him, Barbara! Sam and I are just friends!"
"Danny, have you ever wondered if she wanted something more than friendship?" Barbara asked.
"No, Barbara." Danny answered, unknowingly shattering Sam's heart.
"Sammykins, we must go home." Sam's mother called her. "Leave the two lovebirds alone.
Sam left and Danny was under the impression she muttered "Clueless boy."
Wanting to do something romantic since it's her first time in Amity Park, he took Barbara to Café Des Fleurs. "You're popular here, Danny." Barbara commented upon seeing how the waiters there treated him.
"Practically every time one of the girls I was paired with came to Amity Park for the date, we came here, Barbara." Danny explained.
"And here I thought I was special." Barbara sarcastically commented.
"And you are." Danny replied. "I chose you among all girls who would like to have another date with me."
"Good answer." Barbara said.
After they ate, Danny took them to a park. "It's a beautiful park, Danny." Barbara said.
"Thank you, Barbara." He replied.
"Look!" She exclaimed. "A mime show!"
Before they started watching it, they were interrupting by a teenager with a sports jersey and a dog. "Fentonio, don't tell me that's another girl with bad taste from that stupid website." The dog owner teased.
"Dash, don't tell me you forgot dogs aren't welcome in this park." Danny replied upon seeing Dash's pet.
"What're you?" Dash asked in disdain. "A cop?"
"He's not but I am." They heard someone else answer. "And I've already told you to keep your dog away from this park."
"Officer, that was a shapeshifting ghost impersonating my Pooky." Dash explained.
"Is this guy for real?" Barbara asked.
"In this town, no kind of ghost is too ridiculous to be considered more than fabrication." Danny told her.
"Thank you, Fenton." Dash said, genuinely grateful. "See, officer? His parents are ghost hunters so he knows what we're talking about when ghosts are the topic."
"Either way, dogs are still forbidden here so take your Chihuahua out of here and if I catch it here again I'll call your parents." The officer threatened.
"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." Dash said and then turned his attention to Danny. "You'll pay for this, Fenton." The bully then left.
"Danny, why did he blame you?" Barbara asked.
"Dash Baxter is a school bully who likes to take his frustrations on me." Danny answered.
"Back then, were you just covering for him?" Barbara asked while wondering if Danny was that afraid of bullies.
"While I wouldn't put it past Dash to make up that tale, Danny Phantom knows a ghost with that power." Danny explained. "Just don't tell that part to people who don't know my secret unless you can explain knowing it without being told by me."
"Okay, Danny." Barbara replied. "Speaking of it, does your family know your secret?"
"My sister Jazz and my best friends Tucker and Sam know." Danny explained.
"How did you even get your powers in the first place?" She asked.
"Lab accident with my parents' ghost portal." He answered.
"And your parents don't know?" Barbara asked in confusion.
"They weren't at home and the accident made me afraid they'd dissect me like they said they'd do with a ghost if they ever caught one." He explained while withholding the fact he learned otherwise but made them forget thanks to the Reality Gauntlet.
"How terrible." She commented.
"What about you?" Danny asked. "How did you become Batgirl?"
"Before I tell, I must warn you my origin cannot be told to people who don't know my secret." Barbara said with a serious expression and Danny nodded. "What do you know about the first time Batgirl appeared in public?" She asked.
"I recall something about a corrupt cop who was working with Bat-foe Two-Face having the Com… your Dad arrested for supposedly taking bribes from Rupert Thorne, who had been arrested as a crime lord a little before." Danny mentioned while somewhat unsure he was remembering everything right. "She showed up for a campaign to defend his right to bail and… you were trying to pass as Batman, right?"
"He was busy investigating the case so I tried to impersonate him but my hair came out of my cowl and people realized I'm a girl." Barbara explained. "Fortunately, my Dad was cleared and the corrupt cop can't reveal my secret because he's in a coma."
"What happened to Thorne?" Danny asked.
"His lawyer Mr. Doubleday took advantage of Two-Face's plot to convince the judge to dismiss all evidence against him as forgeries." Barbara frowned.
"Doubleday?" Danny asked while chuckling. "With a name like that, I'd expect him to be Two-Face's lawyer."
"Hehehehe." Barbara couldn't help but laugh as well. "I know, right?"
Danny then looked at his watch. "How about we watch a movie now?" He suggested.
"Cool!" Barbara replied.
After the movie, it was time for a snack. "How about the Nasty Burger?"
"Nasty?" Barbara asked in disgust.
"Don't let the name deceive you." Danny told her. "Their burgers are actually good."
Deciding to trust her boyfriend, Barbara agreed to try at least one. "Wow, this is great!" She exclaimed. "How did they come up with such an ironic name?"
"Legend says it was supposed to be 'Tasty Burger' but somebody changed a letter and they decided to keep it that way." Danny answered.
Barbara started laughing until she noticed Danny wasn't doing the same. "Wait, were you serious?"
"No, that's Harry Potter's Godfather." Danny replied and she gave a chuckle. "That aside, yes, I was serious about the Nasty Burger's legend."
Meanwhile, Valerie Gray was watching from her spot. 'It could've been me.' She sadly thought. 'But I had to protect him from my enemies. Especially Phantom and that other ghost. At least she's better than that girl who prompted practically every boy in Amity Park to enter the dating service.'
After they ate, they left the Nasty Burger. "Danny, it was a fun date but I must take a flight back to Gotham City." Barbara said.
"So, Barbara, will you be my girlfriend?" Danny officially asked.
"Yes!" She exclaimed in reply.
"Fenton!" They heard Dash shouting. "You're going to pay for the humiliation you caused me at the park!"
"It was either your own fault or that ghost's." Danny argued.
"True but you're a more convenient target." Dash replied and then noticed Barbara. "Hi, babe. I'm Dash Baxter, star quarterback and this somebody a beauty like you should be dating instead of this loser here."
"Forget it, jerk." Barbara ordered. "You're a bully."
"No girl says 'no' to Dash Baxter and gets away with it." Dash declared.
"Yeah, right." Danny sarcastically replied, remembering the other times the bully intruded in.
"Why, Fenturd, I should…" Dash threatened but Barbara interrupted him.
"Leave him alone." The heroine said.
"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Dash arrogantly asked. "I've fought tougher girls than you."
"And you lost every time." Danny replied. 'Why am I being so brave?' Danny thought. 'It's Barbara who can beat him up without using powers.'
"In that case, it's time to remind you that you're weaker than a girl." Dash said but Barbara got between them. "If you want to beat him up, you'll have to go through me!"
"I didn't like what you said." Dash frowned.
"Then what would you want me to say?" Barbara asked as a dragon-like ghost showed up behind her and Danny, who sensed the ghost's presence.
"GHOST!" Dash screamed in horror and ran, leaving Danny and Barbara alone with the ghost.
"Ghost?" Barbara asked in confusion until she heard Danny say "Aragon."
"Danny Phantom, it's time you pay for making me lose my kingdom." Aragon declared.
"You were a bad ruler and how did you get your amulet back?" Danny replied and asked while going ghost.
"I got its human equivalent from a museum in a town that was even darker than my kingdom used to be." Aragon explained and tried to hit Danny with his fire-breathing but Danny blocked it with a shield.
"Did you hear it, Bar…" Danny noticed she's absent. "Where did she go?"
"That female wisely left the battle for us men." Aragon answered. "Then again, you're more of a kid than a man."
"I thought you'd already learned not to underestimate women." Danny teased Aragon. "After how your sister finally stood up to your bullying."
"SHUT UP!" Aragon shouted and then tried to hit Danny with his claws but was distracted by a bat-shaped boomerang.
Danny looked around and saw who did that. "Ba… tgirl! Aim for his amulet!"
"Give me an open… oops." Aragon tried to attack Batgirl while she's distracted but she dodged.
Danny, however, was furious. "Batgirl, stand behind me." He told her with such a serious tone she felt she had no choice but to comply. "I'm about to do something too dangerous to be used as anything other than a last ditch effort." He then released his ghostly wail, which weakened Aragon to the point Batgirl managed to use a grappling hook to pull his amulet, reverting him to his basic ghost form. Danny then drew a Fenton Thermos and sucked Aragon in. Because the amulet wasn't sucked as well, Danny picked it up and handed it to Batgirl. "Please hand it over to Batman and don't let anyone wear it." Danny asked. "People with no prior experience wearing these have no control over its powers. Believe me."
"So, what're you doing with this… Aragon?" Batgirl asked.
"I'm taking him back to his former kingdom and hope his sister does a better job containing him this time around." Danny explained.
They then were approached by reporters. "Batgirl, Batgirl, what brings you to Amity Park?" Lance Thunder asked.
"Someone stole this artifact back in Gotham City and I figured out the thief would come here." Batgirl explained so people wouldn't see her presence in Amity Park as a clue to her secret identity.
"Batgirl, are you and Danny Phantom a couple or just fighting crime together?" Another reporter asked.
'That must be a tabloid reporter.' Batgirl thought. "No comments." She answered.
"Mr. Phantom?" The reporter addressed Danny. "Same question."
"Same answer." He replied. "No comments."
"Phantom, do you mind giving me a ride back home?" She asked and he agreed. Actually, he just took her to a point where she could change back into Barbara Gordon without being seen. "You may look around now, Danny." Barbara said after she was done changing.
"So, what do we do now?" Danny asked.
"We do as initially agreed, Danny." Barbara answered. "You escort me to the airport."
"So, no flight to Gotham via Air Phantom?" Danny suggested.
"Unfortunately, my Dad doesn't know my secret or yours." Barbara explained.
"Wait." He asked. "You're not going to try to pass the amulet through airport security. Are you?"
"How do you think I've brought bat-gear?" Barbara asked as a bat-drone showed up. She then placed the amulet and her bat gear inside it and recorded a message with the warning Danny asked her to give Batman. "Batman is inside a jet hovering Amity Park as we speak." She explained after the drone departed.
"I gotta see him!" Danny exclaimed and then tried to sound professional. "I mean, to see if he received my warning."
"Alright but you'd better hurry." She advised her boyfriend, who quickly went ghost and flew off. Unfortunately, he only reached the bat-jet's height on time to see it leaving. 'I hope Tucker forgives me for not getting his autograph.' Danny thought.
Later on, at the Batcave, Batman was checking the data Batgirl sent him. "Master Bruce, what do you think of Amity Park's superhero?" His butler Alfred Pennyworth asked.
"He's a good kid." Batman stated. "Depending on what he says about having attacked his town's then Mayor Ernesto Montez, we might be talking about a future member of the Justice League."
"Or an Avenger if they reach him first." Alfred suggested.
"For as long as Danny Phantom isn't seen in Gotham often enough to attract his enemies…" Batman commented.
"Master Bruce, have you ever stopped to think that, with one or more powered superheroes, Gotham City wouldn't need a Batman?" Alfred asked.
"There'll always be one or more criminals to develop a countermeasure, Alfred." Batman argued. "The Legion of Doom in response to the Justice League; the Cabal in response to the Avengers. Crime must be fought every day. It's like that recorded speech delivered by Mr. Incredible before that superhero ban started."
"Touché." Alfred stated.
End chapter.
Answer to Leonardo (guest): Surpreso num bom sentido, eu espero. É, eu também estou preocupado. Não tenho certeza se o Danny iria corretamente identificar a década, mas seria interessante mesmo.