Chapter 19: The Cold Truth

10 minutes ago

She woke up not too long ago. Starfire climbed out of the crater her sister caused when she knocked her into the ground. She saw neither her sister nor her beloved were present. "Oh dear… Phantom?!" She gets no answer. "This is most terrible…" She says, holding her hands to the sides of her head. "I must locate him!"

She would look around the town, seeing that most of the civilians have run away. She figured it was the work of her and her sister fighting above the sky. She felt it was safe for them to no longer be present, fearing for their safety.

She thought of her Phantom.

He was going to tell me the truth.

She wanted to know what he was so afraid of telling her.

She decided, even if people saw her and was afraid that she'd scare them away, she had to find Danny by flight.

For about 5 minutes, she looked around until landing. She leaned on a street lamp's pole to think.

"Where would Blackfire and Phantom have gone?" She thought. She looked up and saw something odd flying towards the town. She tried to squint her eyes to get a better look. "What is that object?" Once it got closer, she realized what it was. "A boomerang? Why is there a boomerang in the sky?" She saw it fly past where she stood and head towards a building. She saw it hit the side of it and watch it fall to the ground. Curious, she flew to where it fell, about 2 blocks away from her. She picked it up. "Strange, is this a toy of someone?" She looked into the building. "Perhaps someone there is the owner of the boomerang?" She walked through the doors.

Inside, she saw the lobby of a small hotel. Looking around, she saw a man hiding behind the front desk. She flew towards the desk.

"Go away! Please!" He begged.

"Do not feel threatened. I am not here to cause harm, for I only seek my sister. She has kidnapped one I am the enamored with." She says.

The effect Danny had on her is gone. Likely due to being knocked out by her sister.

The man looks up at her from the desk. He sees her smiling face and believes she's being sincere. He gets up.

"Well… there was a girl who looked like you. She took an unconscious boy with her."

"She kidnapped him. Where my I find them?" She asks.

"I don't know… she broke in and took most of our keys. I don't know which room she's in."

"Then I will find them while opening the one room at a time."

Now.

"It's just you and me, lover boy."

Her words terrify him.

She spun him around and then pushed him to the wall. There, she pinned him with both her hands on his chest and one knee between his legs.

Danny thought of something quick.

"Look, Blackfire." Danny starts to plead with her. "I get you don't take no for an answer. So instead, promise me you won't hurt anyone, including your sister, and I'll do what you ask."

"Where's the fun in that?" She asks.

In an instant, she pulls him from the wall and throws him on the bed. Danny lands facedown, though he tries to get up. As he does, Blackfire hovers above him. She turns him faceup and lands on tops of him. She sits on his lap, her knees on the sides under his ribs. She kneels down and rests her hands between his head.

I gotta get outta here. He thinks.

"I think you and I should spend a little quality time together." Her face moves closer. "I'm curious that if you were in human form, would our offspring inherit your powers or would it have to be that Phantom form of yours?" Danny's eyes widen. She chuckles. "Don't worry, I'm in no hurry to ruin this figure. Although…" Her nose is now rubbing on his. "Doesn't mean we can't cuddle."

After a quick peck on his lips, Blackfire wraps her arms around the terrified human boy. She nuzzles his cheek as he squirms in her grasp. This doesn't make her stop. If anything, she seems more ecstatic to have him in her arms. She then starts planting kisses on his face. This made him even more uncomfortable than when it was Starfire. At least she was genuinely affectionate and not possessive. At least she thought she had found someone who liked her back, which in a sense she did, and not an apparent sociopath who didn't care for her partner's feelings unless they jelled with her own.

"Tucker, where is it?" Sam asks without any patience.

"According to the scanner… it should be here!" Tucker says, looking at the monitor. "Maybe it's buried in the snow?" He suggests.

"Or… maybe it went into the building?" Sam suggests. "Maybe someone picked it up?"

"I guess? Let's land somewhere and find out." Sam says.

The two land the Specter Speeder near the hotel. Grabbing wrist blasters, they run in.

Meanwhile, Starfire is on the fifth floor, knocking on door to door.

"Hello? Is my sister in there? Or my beloved Phantom?" She asks after knocking on a door. No answer. "I will assume there is no danger for I hear nothing." She goes to the next door, knocking on it. "Hello? Is my sister in there?"

Upstairs on the ninth floor, Blackfire has taken a chair and wrapped Danny to it with pieces of the curtains acting as rope. She stands in front of him, confident of his fate.

"So, anything you'd like to say?" She muses.

"Just that I'm totally not all for being some psycho-chick's literal boy toy." Danny says, looking nonchalant despite the danger he's in. "I can't wait to tell my kids how their mom basically kidnapped me."

"Kids? Sounds like you're more eager than I am." She snarks.

"I gotta question for ya."

"Shoot."

"Are you jealous of your sister? Because I get the feeling, she can get a boyfriend faster than you without stealing them from someone."

Blackfire glares and grabs Danny by his collar before kneeling in.

"As my prisoner, you should know better than to open your mouth like that!" She calms down. "But to answer your question, no. I'm not jealous, I just dislike how, despite being the oldest and the strongest, our parents always doted on her more. It annoyed me, so I sold her out to the Gordanians after the attacked our world."

"What about your parents?" Danny asks.

"Oh, they died in the attack." She answers without any emotion.

"What?!" Danny shouted, upset at how uninterested she sounded. "You made a deal with the aliens who killed your parents?!"

She shrugged. "Eh, made things easier to claim the throne." Danny glared daggers at her. "But it doesn't matter, what matters is thanks to Starfire and her little friends, I've been banished from my world and my crimes were exposed."

"So in other words, you are jealous that people like her for not being evil? Good to know." Danny snarks.

Blackfire walks to him and, despite what Danny figured she'd do, sits on his lap. She wraps her arms around him and has her legs around his waist.

"I gotta say, Danny, I kind of admire how tough you're acting." Her playful tone quickly shifts to a menacing and sadistic one. Her legs and arms start to squeeze him a bit. "I could crush you right now if you weren't so cute." Danny grunts in pain before she loosens her grip and she resumed her playfulness. "But I like what I see and what I got right now."

"Someday…" Danny says, trying to sound dangerous despite his predicament. He leans in a bit to her face. "You'll find yourself cornered. You've messed with people for the last time." Ignoring his words, Blackfire presses her forehead into his and looks at him in an almost loving manner. "Your sister or someone else will be too much for you to handle. You'll find yourself unable to fight back, because it finally caught up to you that you can't bully people anymore."

She ignores his words.

"You are a weakling, Danny. What could you possibly do to fight me?" She gets up, and steps away from him. She then lies in front of him, resting her head on her left hand. "I got your right where I want you. I just wanna see you squirm." Danny remains still, only glaring at her.

"Sooner or later, Kory will be too much for you."

"Kory? As in Koriand'r?" She laughs. "My sister told you her real name? That's a laugh. Mine is much better, Komand'r. Like commander, which is what I'll be to everyone someday." Seconds pass and nothing happens. "Well, this is boring." She gets up and places her hands on her hips. "I could just take you with me, but I'm not ready just yet to go back to space. What can we do to kill time?" She asks. An idea hits. "I know… let's make out."

Danny rose one eyebrow. "Yeah… that's gonna happen. Sorry, but even if I'm not charmed by your sister, I'd have to decline. You see, I'm a superhero, you're a villainess. Not the kind where they flirt, the kind where they don't make out willingly."

"You seem to think you have a choice here." She walks up to him and sits on his lap again. "You'll learn to appreciate this."

"Doubt it. There's no way I'm kissing you back."

Blackfire sneers. "Wanna bet?"

She grabs the back his head and kisses him. She starts pulling on his hair, causing him pain. Danny knew what she wanted and tried his best to ignore the pain. However, she then uses her other hand to pinch his abdomen painfully. Unable to ignore it for long, Danny kisses her back.

MUAH!

Blackfire ends the kiss, letting his hair and gut go to look at him, quite satisfied. She then goes to his right ear to whisper to him.

"See, that wasn't so hard." She smiled. "You sure you don't want this?" She goes back to kissing him again. After pressing on his mouth hard, she pulls back. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you so long as you let me have some fun. Now pucker up."

She kisses him again. Reluctantly, Danny kisses her back.

A knock happens at their door.

"Hello?" A familiar voice calls out from behind. "Is anyone in there? I had heard speaking from behind your door."

Annoyed, Blackfire grabs the wrapping that keeps Danny in place and rips it off. She whispers to him.

"Make her leave!"

Taking a deep breath, Danny walks to the door. He noticed Blackfire hid from the doorway so she can't be seen. He thought of telling Starfire the truth then and there, but knew it was a bad idea. His friends were in the area and didn't want them or anyone else harmed.

He opens the door and sees Starfire there.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes." She says with a smile. "You are the first person to answer my knocking for assistance. My sister and a young male were seen coming in here. Have you not seen them? She has long dark hair and he has most lovely white hair." She then notices something about Danny that seems odd and squints her eyes. "Also, have we not met before? You look the most familiar."

Danny pauses. Either she recognized him from the pier on the night they met or he looks too familiar as Danny Phantom. He clears his throat.

"I'm afraid no on both counts, miss."

Starfire looks saddened. "Oh… I see."

She walks away.

Danny felt himself want to punch himself for daring to say something like that to her. He closes the door at stares for a moment before clenching his fist. It was then he noticed it glowed green before he opened his fist and it went away.

Duh, I forgot. My powers must be kicking in now!

"Well, that was annoying." He turns around and sees Blackfire with her left hand on her hip, looking happy to see Starfire gone. "Part of me wanted you to tell the truth, so she'd run off crying. Still, she's gone. Let's get back to what we were doing."

With his powers back, Danny had an idea. He walked up to Blackfire and places a hand on her shoulder. He closes his eyes and puckers up before leaning in. Realizing what he's doing, Blackfire closes her eyes and waits for a kiss. Instead, Danny turned ghost, much to her surprise.

"Chill!" He says before his ice powers kicked in. Blackfire finds herself frozen solid in ice. With her incapacitated, Danny phased through the door and started looking for Starfire. He sees her down the hall, entering the fire escape. He flies to her, going through the door. "Starfire!"

Hearing his voice, Starfire turns from the stairway she descends to see her beloved there. She smiles widely.

"Phantom!" Happily, she flew to him with her arms out. Normally, he'd be afraid, but Danny opens his own arms and returns the embrace of her hug once she reaches him. "I am the happy you are the feeling well!" Her hugs tightens and squeezes him, although Danny finds it comforting compared to her sister. She lets go to look him in the eye. "Where is Blackfire?"

"Out cold." He snarks. "Let's get out of here. I'll tell you whatever you want as soon as we're far away."

She nods and the two fly down the fire escape and into the main lobby.

"Stop!" Sam calls out.

The two pause and see Danny's two best friends, Sam and Tucker, aiming wrist blasters at Starfire.

"What is this?" Starfire asks.

"Get away from him!" Sam demands.

"We got you, bud!" Tucker says.

"Whoa! Stop!" Danny says, getting in front Starfire to shield her from the blasters.

Starfire looks to Danny. "Do you know them, Phantom?"

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sam says as she and Tucker lower their weapons.

"Yeah, you called us for help, remember?" Tucker asks.

"Not that kind of help!" Danny says.

Suddenly, the sounds of crashing can be heard from above them. The ceiling then breaks a hole above them and out comes an angry Blackfire.

"You!" She shouted at the two teens floating.

"Okay, for her, I can use that kind of help."

Blackfire immediately tackles Danny into the floor, causing them to create cracks on it.

"I don't need you to have functional limbs!" Blackfire shouted as she presses Danny hard.

"Release him!" Starfire exclaimed.

She then tackles her sister and they are sent flying out the building. The three teens of Amity Park head out and see the two alien girls duking it out with their fists.

"Whoa!" Tucker says before smiling. "Alien cat fight!" Sam slaps him in the back of his head. "Hey!" He responded, annoyed.

"Danny, what's going on?" Sam asked.

"That's her sister, Blackfire. She's crazy evil."

"And crazy for you!" Tucker says.

"That's not a good thing…" Danny says.

"Neither is the other one being here." Sam says.

"That's why I need your help. We gotta get them back to their world without Starfire learning I'm not like her."

Both Sam and Tucker pause at this.

"You're serious?" Tucker asks.

"Yes!"

"Danny… you should just tell her!" Sam snaps. "The sooner she gets it, the sooner she'll leave you alone!"

"Yeah!" Tucker says, sounding like he agrees with Sam. However, he whispers to Danny, hoping for some help. "While you're at it, make me sound cool." Sam slaps him in the back of the head again. "Hey!"

Before Danny could respond to either of them, he sees Blackfire sucker punch Starfire.

The sight of her getting hit and falling caused something inside to snap.

Without a word, he flew to Starfire at full speed and caught her. He quickly placed her on a nearby bench. He noticed she was knocked out.

This caused him to glare at Blackfire.

"Let's play!" She says, sounding inviting with a fake innocent smile. Not even bothering with a quip, Danny flew to Blackfire. She gets ready. "Okay! Let's-"

Danny threw a punch before she even finished her sentence. The blow causes her to be knocked back several feet higher. Once the shock of the attack ended, she had a smile on her face, one that was sadistic and eager. She then fired her starbolts at him, though Danny quickly dodged them as he flew to her. Once he reached her, Danny threw another punch. Getting impatient, Blackfire grabbed hold of Danny by his collar. In that moment, he used his intangibility to phase through her. The shock of tis distracts her as Danny kicked Blackfire in the back, sending her into the ground. Blackfire's impact create a small crater.

At this point, Starfire wakes up. She sits up and sees where her sister is.

Blackfire manages to get back on her feet, but Danny fires a barrage of ghost rays. He kept going until the blasts create smoke that completely blocks her from sight.

"Stop!" Danny stops firing when he looks back to see Starfire, up on her feet. "My sister is defeated! Please, do not cross the line!" She begs.

Sam and Tucker stare. They can't believe this girl who could break them limb from limb wishes to spare the sister who caused her nothing but harm.

This causes Danny to calm down. He lowers his arms and looks at the smoke.

It finally clears and Blackfire remains standing. However, a second later, she collapses.

Afraid, Starfire runs to her. She checks her sister's pulse. Danny gets to the ground and looks concerned. Fortunately, Starfire smiles in relief and nods. This causes him to let out a breath.

Starfire gets up and walks to him, hugging him and lifting him off the ground.

"I thank you! You have shown her mercy in spite of her cruelty! I believe you are indeed an ideal choice of the boyfriend!" She said with a smile.

"Boyfriend?!" Sam and Tucker shout, though both for different reasons.

That space case can't take him from me! Sam thought.

How does he get a girlfriend from another planet! That's my fantasy!

Starfire starts to swing Danny left and right, giggling happily.

As this happens, Danny looks to his friends exchanging looks of disapproval. Then he thinks to everything he's gone through with her.

Meeting her.

The kisses.

The chasing.

The Eiffel Tower.

Fighting Blackfire.

Dealing with Val-Yor.

His nightmare.

Admitting he liked her.

Now.

Danny knew that he can't hide what he is anymore. He did like this girl, like he said when he thought she found out his secret. He shouldn't hide it. Whether or not she liked him back isn't something he should concern himself with, but rather the fact that hiding this from her is a bad thing, even if she herself thought he was a Tamaranian to begin with.

"Starfire?"

"Yes, darling?" Reluctantly, Danny uses his intangibility to phase out of her arms. This catches her attention instantly. "W-what?" She asks, her tone quiet.

"I've been trying to tell you this since we met, but… I'm not a Tamaranian." He says. Starfire only stares, she doesn't say anything. "Just watch." Closing his eyes, he morphs back into a human, causing a gasp to come from her. "My name is actually Danny, but when I morph, I go by Danny Phantom. The Phantom part is because my body was infused with ghostly energy, so I can turn into a ghost and I use my powers to fight bad guys. At first, I was afraid of you because of how… up close and personal you were with your affection, but aside from that, the more I got to know you, the more I… didn't like hiding what I am from you. But… I have to be honest with you. I'm not a Tamaranian, I'm a human with powers. It's just a coincidence I resemble a Tamaranian."

Starfire only stares, standing perfectly still.

Danny gulps.

This was probably a bad idea.

Sam and Tucker both watch, though one looks more eager than the other.

Now take a hint and get lost, space girl! Sam thought.

Starfire still does not move.

"Now… would be a good time to say something…" Danny says.

Starfire turns around and walks a few steps away from him.

What happened next, none of them expected.

"I had… suspected for a bit… but now I have the confirmation." Her voice said with no emotion. This caught them by surprise, though not as much as what happened next. She looks back to Danny. Her face had a smile, one that looked broken and fake. Her eyes had tears in them. Tears that were now falling off her face. "Thank you for your honesty." She looks away, wiping her tears off with an arm as she takes out her wooden marble.

"Starfire?" Danny asks.

"I will leave!" She says quickly as she crushes the marble, causing a flash of light to happen and she disappears.

The three teens stare at where she just was, none of them unaffected by what they saw.

Tucker looked sympathetic. "That was heartbreaking…"

Sam, despite her earlier jealousy, just felt a large blow of guilt, realizing her desire to make Starfire leave Danny alone worked too well. The tears in Starfire's eyes still in her mind. "Why do I feel even worse than Paulina?"

Danny remains staring at where the alien girl just was. Heartbroken at what he did. "What did I just do?"

It finally happened. She knows the truth, or at least she suspected he wasn't what she thought he was.

But is this the end? I know some were thinking she'd love him even after learning the truth. But the truth is that her feelings for him weren't real love. They were a very strong attraction.

But this isn't the end of it. No! There's more in store for them.