Danny was putting some spare shirts into his blue suitcase when his cell phone rang. He ran over to his desk, where the thing was charging, and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Danny!"
"Hi, Sam. What's up?"
"I should be asking you that. What happened once you got home?"
"You're never going to believe this," he took a deep breath. "Apparently I'm the star of a TV show on Nickelodeon. That ghost I fought earlier today was a character on the #1 rated show, and the network is angry at me for sucking him into the thermos. They're going to cancel me, and now I have to go to Nickelodeon Studios in Florida to defend my case." There was silence on the other end.
"Sam?"
"That has to be the dumbest excuse I've ever heard. Seriously, what happened?" Danny laughed.
"I'm not kidding! That's what the guy on the other end told me!"
"So you're saying that there are people that have been filming you without your knowledge for some time now and making a popular TV show out of your life? Cry for attention, much?"
"Sam…"
"Alright, alright, don't blow a gasket. So what are you going to do about it?"
"The only thing I can do-go to Nickelodeon Studios and fight against my being cancelled."
"So you want to go all the way to Florida just to protest against some people you don't even know who want to stop invading your privacy?" Danny sighed.
"Pretty much," he replied weakly.
"Why can't you just let yourself be cancelled? It's not like it'll affect you in any way, right?"
"Apparently I have a fan base that'll be disappointed if I get cancelled." Danny could practically see Sam roll her eyes on the other end.
"Fine, Danny. Go fight a legal battle against people you've never met in order to protect people you'll never see again. I'll be waiting for you when you get back."
"Thanks, Sam. I'll try and be back as soon as I possibly can. Bye!"
"Ciao." Sam hung up and half a second later Danny followed suit. He plugged in the charger and placed the phone back onto his desk, and resumed packing.
The next morning arrived bright and cool. Danny blearily opened his eyes, crawled out of bed, and trudged into the shower. After a long, hot shower he shuffled back into his room, changed into the clothes he had laid out the night before, slung his suitcase over his back, and made his way downstairs.
"Hi, sweetie!" Maddie greeted him.
"Hey, mom." Danny let the suitcase fall to the floor with a THUD and went to get cereal, a bowl, a spoon, and some milk.
"Your father and I are going to drive you to the airport as soon as you finish breakfast," his mother explained. "I realize it's only 8 AM, but you know how security is, we need to have you there at least a couple of hours in advance." Danny just nodded.
"Oh, and those DALV people faxed over a boarding pass for you." She placed the ticket on the table next to Danny's cereal bowl. It had the word DALV Corp. written on the top in cursive lettering.
I wonder how they knew about my excuse from yesterday, Danny thought. Oh wait, they were probably filming me. Ugh, this is going to get really aggravating. The young hybrid finished his cereal and put the boarding pass in his pocket. He put the now-empty bowl and spoon in the sink and followed his mother outside and into the Fenton RV, and fell asleep almost as soon as the vehicle began moving.
Danny was awoken by his father's booming voice announcing that they had arrived at Amity Airport. He grabbed his blue suitcase and followed his parents inside. Unfortunately, the airport didn't allow non-passengers to go past security. So, right before Danny got on the line that went through the metal detectors, his mom kissed him goodbye and his dad nearly suffocated him in a Fenton Bear Hug. The teen waved goodbye to them and joined the queue to go through the metal detectors.
Once he made it through security, Danny checked the gate on his boarding pass and headed over to A7. He plopped down on one of the plastic seats and waited for his flight to be called.
About half an hour later, an announcement for his flight came over the intercom. "Will Danny Fenton please report to gate A7?" the announcer asked. Danny got up and began walking towards the counter, but then stopped dead in his tracks. He looked out of the massive window that afforded passengers a view of the runway outside and saw the plane that he was supposed to board. It was a huge Boeing 747. But that wasn't what caused Danny to stop. The plane was painted bright orange. It's like my dad in airplane form, the halfa thought. Danny shook his head slightly to regain focus and approached the counter.
"Mr. Fenton?" the woman behind the counter asked.
"Yes, ma'am,"
"Do you have a boarding pass?"
"Sure, here it is." Danny held out the pass that had been in his pocket. The woman scrutinized it carefully. She smiled and handed it back to him.
"Everything seems to be in order here. Have a good flight, sir!"
"Thank you." Danny stowed the boarding pass back in his pocket and carried his suitcase down through the tunnel that connected the airline terminal with the plane. He was greeted by a pair of polite stewardesses when he entered the plane and was led to his seat. As soon as he sat down, the plane taxied away from the terminal and approached the runway.
"Aren't there any other passengers?" Danny asked. The stewardesses laughed lightly.
"No, Mr. Fenton. This plane was sent just for you by Nickelodeon executives."
"Oh…great…" They're probably trying to endear me to them so that I'm more apt to agree with whatever they might suggest to me. Well, it's not gonna work!
Danny grimaced as his ears popped and hastily began chewing a stick of Juicy Fruit that he had purchased at the Duty Free while he'd been waiting for the plane to arrive. After his head stopped aching, he pulled an iPod out of his pocket and started listening to some music.
After about half an hour or so, a series of TV screens descended from above the seats and an image of a stewardess appeared on them. Danny took off his headphones so that he'd be able to hear the announcement.
"Attention passengers, the captain would like to inform you that we're entering the third dimension at this time. If you experience an inordinate amount of discomfort, please don't hesitate to ask one of our flight attendants for assistance."
Third dimension? What the… the hybrid's thoughts were interrupted by a sucking noise that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. He felt strange, as though he was literally being stretched out from all directions. He was in this painful predicament for about ten seconds, but then the sucking and stretching stopped with a loud pop. Danny opened his eyes, which had been screwed shut due to the pain, and gasped. His two-dimensional world was now 3D.
"Everything looks so…real…" the halfa said to himself. He looked down at his hands and noticed for the first time that his skin had depth and texture that it had never had before. Danny turned on his three-dimensional iPod, put the three-dimensional headphones into his three-dimensional ears, and began listening to his music once again.
His plane landed not too long after that. Danny looked outside at the sunny Florida sky and wondered if he'd get a chance to go to the beach while he was here. As he was getting off the plane, one of the flight attendants told him that his ride to Nickelodeon Studios would meet him in the baggage claim area. Danny thanked her and exited the plane.
Danny followed the signs until he reached the baggage claim area and looked around for the person that was supposed to be driving him. After a couple of minutes, he spotted a man holding a sign that said "Danny Fenton" on it. The man was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. His black hair was in a part, and his face was sympathetic and kind-looking. All in all, he looked to be in his mid-forties. Danny approached the man and shook his hand.
"Hi, my name is Butch Hartman, I'm the creator of your show. It's great to finally meet you in person, Danny." Danny's grip tightened.
"Wait, so you're the one who's responsible for everyone spying on me?" Butch grimaced.
"Not responsible, no. I was approached by the Board of Directors and asked if I wanted to be in charge of deciding which clips would go into various episodes. They'd been the ones who were spying on you, I just decided which aspects of your life your fans got to see. Oh, and speaking of which, try not to be overwhelmed when we go outside."
"They're all here? Now?" Butch chuckled at the boy's nervousness.
"They wouldn't be allowed inside of Nickelodeon Studios, not unless they wanted to be arrested for trespassing. Unfortunately for us, there's nothing we can do about them congregating here, though."
"W-what do they want from me?"
"Probably an autograph, maybe a display of powers, that's about it." Danny froze for a second.
"You mean everyone here knows my secret?" Butch shrugged.
"Pretty much, yeah. Don't worry, though, you'll never see any of these people ever again, so it's not like their knowing will affect you in any way."
"Still, it's a bit unsettling…" Danny muttered as Butch led him outside into the bright sunlight. All of a sudden, Danny was deafened by what sounded like half a million shrieks.
"Oh my god, it's really him!"
"I love you, Danny!"
"Danny and Sam forever!"
"I loved you in Memory Blank!"
"Vlad is so cute!"
"Flirting with Disaster was so awesome!"
"Dan is so hot!"
"Marry me, Danny!"
Danny blushed at the last one and signed every last shred of paper that was thrust at him. At the crowd's behest, he went ghost and showed them intangibility, invisibility, flight, ectoblasts, and splitting his body in half. He absolutely refused to show them the Ghostly Wail though; he claimed that it was too destructive to use in such a crowded place.
Danny turned himself and Butch intangible so that they were able to make their way through all of the fangirls and over to the black Mercedes that was waiting for them. Danny had to make the car intangible so that it was able to pass through the crowds, and didn't stop until they had reached the safety of the highway. He looked over at Butch, who was grinning at him.
"So, what did you think?" the older man asked. Danny chuckled.
"It was…interesting," the halfa replied. "Ironic, though, that I'm the most unpopular kid at my school but I'm a celebrity here." Butch shrugged.
"Phantom's a celebrity."
"Yeah, but it's not the same. Phantom is famous for his heroics. Nobody back home takes the time to notice me for who I am, though."
"Sam does."
"True…from an outsider's perspective, do you think she really likes me back?" Butch shrugged again, this time with a twinkle in his eye.
"C'mon, we're here," was his reply. He got out and Danny followed suit. The hybrid followed Butch through the doorway and into Nickelodeon Studios with thoughts of his Goth friend swirling around his head.
