Chapter 34: A Hero's Welcome
Danny and some other astronauts were in outer space when they saw Lowardians approaching Earth. "I haven't heard news from them ever since I was graduating High School." Danny commented. "I'm going ghost."
Danny phased himself outside the space bus and took a closer look. Supergirl was trying to stop them but they hit her with a green beam and it weakened her. 'It must be Kryptonite.' Danny thought. He turned himself invisible and approached the spaceship holding Supergirl captive. He damaged the controls and Supergirl escaped.
"Thank you, Danny." The Girl of Steel said. "Can you shield me from their Kryptonite beams?"
"Only one way to find out." Danny replied as he made a ghost shield around them. One by one, Supergirl destroyed their ships until the two heroes were hit by too many missiles. It seemed it'd be their end but a different set of missiles hit the remaining Lowardian ships. "Iron Man?" Danny and Supergirl asked.
Thanks to the communicators the three heroes had, all of them could understand one another. "You're welcome." The Golden Avenger replied. "And I didn't come alone."
Starfire revealed herself. "Why didn't you tell me there was a troq among Earth's defenders?" Warhok asked Warmonga with a demanding tone.
"I didn't know!" Warmonga pleaded.
"And that's not just any troq!" Warhok said. "That's their Princess Koriand'r! We can't afford to make enemies of all of them. Retreat!"
Except for Danny, all the heroes returned to Earth to inform the people. "Why didn't Danny Phantom return to Earth with you?" Lois Lane asked Supergirl.
"He still has a space program to finish, Ms. Lane." Supergirl answered.
Meanwhile, in Gotham, Barbara was worried. 'Kara I can trust because she's my friend but Starfire and I barely interacted.' She thought.
Weeks later, the astronauts returned and, since Danny was still remembered for helping Supergirl, Starfire, and Iron Man with the Lowardian invasion, received the biggest welcome but the others didn't mind. Once the press conference was over, Danny went back home and found not only his parents but also his sister Jazz, her boyfriend Antonio, and his own girlfriend Barbara and her father James Gordon. "Barbara!" Danny happily exclaimed and rushed to hug her but being careful.
"I missed you so much Dad relented and agreed to bring me here, Danny." Barbara explained.
"Don't make me regret it, Fenton." Commissioner Gordon ordered.
"Dad, please." Barbara pleaded.
"Commissioner, I also have a daughter so I know the feeling of being overprotective." Jack stated.
"Antonio Garcia didn't make your daughter lose the ability to walk." Commissioner Gordon said.
"What happened to Barbara was the Joker's fault, not my son's." Jack defended Danny.
"One would think those powers would enable your son to protect my daughter." Commissioner Gordon argued.
"Even Superman needs help against the likes of the Joker." Jack argued.
"Who wants cookies?" Maddie asked, hoping to defuse the situation.
"Me! Me! Me! Me!" Jack eagerly replied.
"I'll want some too, Mrs. Fenton." Antonio added.
"Me too." Danny and Barbara said together.
Danny, Barbara, Antonio and Jazz decided to watch a movie as part of a double date. As a thanks to Danny for saving the world, the manager decided to pay for half their tickets. "I thought he'd refuse." The assistant manager commented. "Him being a Leaguer and all."
"The Justice League wouldn't grant full membership to someone without a secret identity anyway." The manager replied.
Unbeknownst to the other three quarters of that double date, Danny couldn't help but let that spy movie without wondering if Alex and her friends weren't doing anything similar.
After the movie, they went to the park. Antonio bought some cotton candy for himself and Jazz. "So, how're things in Panorama City, Antonio?" Jazz asked her boyfriend.
"Oh, the usual." Antonio commented. "I spend most of my days selling fish."
"What about the Power Rangers?" Jazz asked in a whisper.
"There isn't much, if anything, for them to do since the monsters from back home were defeated for good." Antonio explained. Danny then felt his ghost sense.
"Not necessarily for good, whelps." Skulker said as he revealed himself.
"Skulker, don't you have anything better to do?" Danny asked in annoyance as he went ghost.
"And what do you have to do with Nighloks?" Antonio asked.
"Funny thing you should ask, Power whelp." Skulker replied as some monsters Antonio recognized as foot soldiers among the Nighloks showed up. "I chanced upon these guys when I went to your territory to study potential bait for my whelp."
"Moogers." Antonio said and frowned.
"How do we defeat them, Antonio?" Danny asked his future brother-in-law.
"Focus on your enemy, Danny." Antonio replied. "I'll handle the Moogers." Seeing that the civilians ran away after the villains showed up, Antonio morphed into the Gold Ranger. Because Barbara was stuck to her wheelchair, the other stayed near her. While the boys were fighting, Jazz drew her Fenton Thermos.
"Do you think you can aim at Skulker, Jazz?" Barbara asked her future sister-in-law.
"No, I'm aiming at the Nighloks, Barbara." Jazz answered and, to her amazement. Managed to suck one. Barbara was quick to get her own thermos and suck another.
"I thought it only worked in ghosts and people with ghost powers." Barbara commented.
"According to my parents' research, Nighloks came from the Netherworld." Jazz explained. "When I commented about it with Antonio, he said he didn't know if they were similar enough to ghosts for anti-ghost weaponry to work on them."
"Impossible!" Skulker exclaimed in shock. "That can't be happening." Danny took advantage of that distraction to punch the head of Skulker's mecha away and suck the tiny blob Skulker really was into his own Fenton Thermos. With the villain defeated, Antonio quickly demorphed before someone showed up.
Before the heroes could leave, they were approached by Lance Thunder. "Mr. Phantom, what were those creatures that were seen with the ghost known as Skulker?"
"They're some of the monsters who used to terrorize Panorama City before the Power Rangers Samurai defeated their master, Mr. Thunder." Danny explained. "The Gold Ranger even helped me stop them."
Back home, Jack and Maddie were ecstatic. "The Fenton Thermos works on Nighloks?" Jack asked. "Awesome!"
"Danny, if you see the Gold Ranger again, please tell him to come here and discuss the idea of selling anti-ghost weapons to the Rangers." Maddie asked.
"Barb, do you really still want to go on a dinner date in this town?" Commissioner Gordon asked out of concern.
"I feel no less safe here than I feel back home, Dad." Barbara argued.
"Point taken." Commissioner Gordon begrudgingly said.
The two couples then went to a restaurant. "I hope the people who buy my fish back home can cook as well as the people who prepared this one." Antonio commented.
"Danny, what's it like fighting alongside a Power Ranger?" Jazz teasingly asked her brother.
"It makes me feel like having to fight alongside one of the Fantastic Four to say I fought alongside all kinds of big-time superhero teams, Jazz." Danny replied, shocking everyone.
"What about those mutant turtles from New York?" Jazz asked, not believing Danny.
"Already did." Danny answered while remembering April.
"The X-Men?" Antonio asked, hoping to get back at Danny for making light of their team up.
"Already did." Danny answered while remembering the mutant girl with the same name as Johnny 13's girlfriend.
"The Incredibles?" Barbara asked.
"Already did." He answered. Danny might have stayed quiet regarding April and Kitty out of respect for their secrets and a fear Barbara would be jealous but it was no secret he once fought crime alongside Invisigirl and he didn't know for a fact that it was Violet Parr behind her mask.
"Yeah." Jazz added. "Invisigirl came to Amity Park one time."
It reminded Barbara that Batman investigated Danny and found out that incident took place the same day a girl from Metroville dated him. "What about the Winx fairies?" She asked while afraid of the answer.
"Yes, I met one of those fairies and helped her against a trio of evil witches." Danny answered.
'No wonder I couldn't make him feel intimidated.' Barbara thought.
"What about the Sailor Senshi?" Antonio asked.
"I met Sailor Jupiter once." Danny answered.
"I give up." Antonio said. Barbara and Jazz felt the same.
During dessert, Danny told a joke. "Do you know why my nose isn't 12 inches long?"
"I don't know, Danny." Barbara answered and Jazz and Antonio signaled that they didn't know either.
"Because then it'd be a foot." Danny said and the others laughed.
After they paid the bill, they returned to Fentonworks. "Barbara and I are going home." Commissioner Gordon said. "May I offer you a ride to the bus station, Garcia?"
"Yes, Sir. Thank you." Antonio replied.
End chapter
Answer to Leonardo (Guest): É, que bom que ela tenha encontrado seu amor verdadeiro. Quanto à origem da pele azul do Drakken, se isso não foi explicado no filme, duvido que expliquem num revival.