The Tag Race
The Next Day
The following morning was the first day of the tag race. Danny arrived there at exactly 8:00am in the morning and everyone in town was there. There were news cameras, no doubt just so the rest of the world could get all of this on camera.
Danny was in his corner, doing some warm ups to get ready, while Lum just stood there, with an innocent smile on her face, like she didn't even taking this seriously.
Danny didn't know if she was doing it on purpose to bug him or if she really was that oblivious.
"You ready man?" Tucker asked as he, Sam and Jazz were here to cheer him on, just like his parents, who were still worried.
They knew nothing about these aliens and had no idea what kind of tricks they have up their sleeves.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be…" Danny said, getting in position.
Since this is the first day out of ten days, he would try and observe what kind of moves Lum has, though it doesn't mean he wasn't going to try to tag her.
They were both in position, blue eyes briefly met blue eyes, one in a glare and the other with playful indifference.
Soon the contest started and Danny sprinted towards Lum, with every intention of grabbing those horns of her. Lum didn't even try to move just yet.
Danny knew she had something up but he had to take a chance. However, as he was only a foot away from her, she jumped into the air, several feet to be more precise and didn't land back down.
Danny saw why, she is just floating in the air, sending him that playful smile on her face as she was in the air.
"YOU CAN FLY?!" Danny shouted at this, while Lum just giggled.
"You should have done your homework…" Lum said in a teasing sort of way as she literally looked down on him.
"WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOUR RACE EXISTED BEFORE NOW!" He shouted
Lum just shrugged with playful indifference.
Danny growled, feeling so frustrated. If he was in his ghost form, he could easily fly after her, but with the entire world watching, that's out of the question.
He has to think of something else…
"TIME OUT! TIME OUT!...'Danny shouted.
"You can't call a timeout!" Lum said to him.
"Your dad said that as long as there is no killing, anything goes!..."Danny shouted at her, shocking her with his tone.
The referee checked the rule book and well…since no one has ever called for a time out before, there isn't really a rule against it, so they allowed it but they would only give Danny five minutes.
He used that time to get to Sam, Tucker and Jazz, as they huddled together to quickly discuss a new strategy.
"I knew that it sounded too easy." Sam said in a displeased voice.
"Now what are you going to do?" Tucker asked.
"I don't know…this is so frustrating…it would be so much easier with my powers." Danny whispered to his team.
"This isn't good Danny, if you don't grab Lum's horns before the deadline…you might have to reveal yourself as Danny Phantom in order to have a real chance." Jazz whispered back.
'Let's leave that as a last resort." Danny said, hoping that it wouldn't have to come to that.
"How can a human catch up with a flying alien girl who probably has more tricks up her sleeves?!" Danny asked in frustration.
Meanwhile
All the way in japan
One household was watching the match that would decide the fate of the world. The Moroboshi family to be more precise, along with Shinobu Miyaki, the girlfriend of the son, Ataru Moroboshi.
"Oh my…" Shinobu said in worry as were Ataru's parents.
Meanwhile Ataru was looking at the screen intensively, but not for the reasons everyone else was.
"Man, oh man, what a fine lookin' big busted babe! I don't see why they didn't pick me to tag her." Ataru said as he drooled over the image of the alien girl, paying close attention to the fact that she is clad only in a bikini.
Shinobu heard this and slapped him across the face.
"You idiotic pervert! Can't you see that the fate of the world is at stake here!" Shinobu yelled at him, along with a few more slaps.
Ataru's parents saw this, did nothing to stop this and the mother just muttered this to her husband.
"We never should have had him…" She said, before they all continued to watch the tag match that would decide the fate of the world.
Back in America
With Lum
The Princess of Uru was still in the air, as she waited for her opponent to finish his time out. Honestly, Lum didn't even know that those weren't against the rules since no one ever bothered to call for one before.
She saw her opponent, a boy named Daniel James Fenton, or Danny Fenton as his loved ones seemed fond of calling him. He is a young earthling, a teenager like her, with dark black hair, blue eyes and a short stature and slim built. There wasn't anything remarkable in his appearance or in his records, so that's why her father thought this would have been an easy match.
However, so far, he seems determined to beat her and was displeased to find out that she can fly. Hey, anything goes during the Tag Race.
Lum saw him talking with some other earthlings, before his time out was up. He then got back in position and he sent her another serious look, which Lum responded with a coy smile.
This is what Lum loves about these competitions… a determined opponent makes this more interesting and it will make her victory all the more worthwhile.
Danny yelled as he ran to chase her and Lum kept flying, remaining purposely out of his reach and jumping and flying away each time he got close, leaving him frustrated.
"Like I told you last night, I'm not easy to catch." Lum said, while the boy made another grab at her, which she once again managed to avoid.
"Well, I don't quit easy, either." Danny shouted at her as he kept chasing her, with every attempt to grab her possible.
This chase continued for hours until the time limit for today ran out and the poor boy could not catch her, despite his best efforts. Once the time limit for the day happened, Danny collapsed on the ground, exhausted, angry and very frustrated.
"Darn it." He muttered, unable to believe that one day was wasted but at the very least he managed to learn some of Lum's tricks.
"Don't worry son…you'll get her tomorrow…" Jack said in compassion to his son, wishing that he didn't have to bare such a burden on his shoulders alone.
"Yes I will…" Danny said as he and his family left for home, trying to ignore the looks of disappointment and even the glares of the other citizens.
The nerve…what do they expect? It's not like I can fly and grab her…as far as they know anyway.
"I really hope that I don't have to resort to that." Danny thought, feeling all kinds of frustrations right now.
Danny soon went to his room, and to his anger, saw an unwanted guest in it.
"What do you want, Plasmius?" Danny shouted at the sight of his arch enemy who sent him a fang toothed grin.
"Oh, nothing special Daniel." He said. "So, I saw what happened on the television today."
"You are aware if I lose, they'll enslave the world. That means you too." Danny pointed out.
"Unless I actually used my powers on her father…" Vlad responded.
"Can it Plasmius, I am in no mood…" Danny shouted.
"I just found it frustrating…you could easily defeat that alien girl if you merely used your powers…though that would mean giving up your secret." Vlad mocked and was nearly hit by an ecto blast from an enraged Danny.
"Well, it seems that I should be on my way…good luck tomorrow Daniel, just remember, should you fail…you'll fail the entire world…" Vlad mocked before disappearing.
Danny gritted his teeth in anger, before trying to force himself to become calm…
"I still got time…tomorrow, I'll beat her…"Danny muttered in determination.
He is going to beat Lum without having to resort to that.
Four days later.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I STILL HAVEN'T BEATEN HER! OW!" Danny shouted and then hissed in pain over the suffering his body took today and the few days after.
He kept chasing after
"What am I going to do?!...'Danny shouted in frustration.
The days are limited and Lum's flying made it impossible for a normal human to catch her. Emphasis on NORMAL… which he is still pretending to be.
"Calm down, Danny!" Tucker said to his best friend, who turned to face him, with a desperate, despairing look on his face.
"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! Tomorrow is the fifth day of the match and I am no closer to grabbing Lum's than I was on the first day!"Danny shouted.
"Danny…" Sam said in concern, only for Danny to punch a wall out of pure frustration.
"This stinks! Beating Lum is so close yet so far." Danny whispered and everyone knew what he is implying.
"Danny, I know what you are thinking but you still have time… you can still think of another way." Sam said as she put a hand on his shoulder, and saw the desperate look on his face.
She knows that Danny is talking about using his powers, but that would mean giving up his secret and… if he does that, everyone, especially the Guys In White would know the truth about him and she is not sure if saving the world will be enough to spare him from the sheer hatred they and many others in this world have against him.
"I am just so lost now…how can a human beat someone that can fly?" Danny asked to himself.
"By evening the odds…'Jack said as he and Maddie suddenly appeared.
"Mom? Dad? How much did you hear?" Danny asked.
They didn't mention his powers, so he was sure they weren't clued in.
"We heard enough… Danny, your father and I have been working and we might have came up with an idea so you can catch up with Lum, even when she is in the air." Maddie said, surprising her son.
"REALLY?!" Danny asked, feeling some hope, the others looked hopeful too.
His dad then pulled something from behind and Danny's grin widened when he saw what it was.
Maybe there really is a chance now.
The Next Day
The Fifth Day of the Tag race
They were late, but they wanted to make sure their ticket to victory was perfect. As Danny walked into town, people were giving his silent glares, wanting him not to fail or else they'd have word with him.
But this time, he was ready.
Lum stood in the middle of the street, waiting for her opponent. She saw him and smiled.
"Ready to fail again?" She asked before she flew into the air. She flew far enough that she was confident Danny couldn't reach her.
"Actually, no I'm not."
To her surprise, Lum looked to her side and saw Danny, flying next to her.
"How?!"
She looked at his back, seeing a jetpack.
"THAT'S CHEATING!"
"You guys said anything goes!" He responded.
Lum groaned, realizing he's right.
"Well, that doesn't mean you can beat me!"
Lum shot a charge of electricity at her opponent, making everyone gasp in horror at that attack, not expecting it from the alien girl.
Suddenly, Danny was sent flying onto a rooftop, much to the horror of the people of Amity Park, including those who know him personally.
However, since no one could see him, Danny chose to use his intangibility to avoid crashing. Once he was sure, he decided to go ghost and fly up. Once he made it to the rooftop, he returned to human form. He noticed the jet pack was smoking.
"Normally, this would be dangerous even for me… but I have no other option." He turns it on and flies towards his target.
He remembered what he talked about last night with his father.
FLASHBACK
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Dad?" Danny asked as he tried on the jetpack.
"You'll be fine, Danny." Jack insisted.
"I don't know… maybe…"
"Maybe what, son?"
"Maybe we could have Danny Phantom dress as me? At least his powers would make it easier to win."
"You want us to work with that Phantom punk?" Jack asks, sounding a bit insulted.
"At least he can fly and shoot lasers at her." Danny defended.
"Even if that Ghost Kid was willing, I doubt we could get away with it. They said anything goes, but you're the one chosen." Jack said. "You both might have the same first name… somehow... but I doubt that's enough to fool them."
"So, how would you win if you were in my place?" Danny asked, sounding worried.
"Just promise me you'll win." Jack said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Look on the bright side, son, it can't be worse than marriage!"...'He whispered, making sure Maddie or the other females didn't overhear this.
Danny rose one eyebrow.
"How does a competition for Earth's survival compare to marriage?"
"Simple…" Jack said with a smile. "Men who marry the women they love have to give it their all for the their whole lives. At least here, you'll never have to see this girl again."..."Jack said in a chipper sounding way while Danny looked at his father strangely.
"Still weird you compare this to marriage." Danny pointed out.
"Marriage is like a battle, you gotta do whatever you can to come out on top."
End of Flashback
"Poor guy… he did show a good effort."Lum admitted as she floated aimlessly and was going to continue to fly until the time ran out.
Until...
"HEY, PRINCESS!" Danny's voice called.
"What?" Lum said as she turned around.
To her horror, she saw her opponent, Danny Fenton, still with his malfunctioning jet pack was now leading in her direction, his arms stretched out and a grin that says "got you" plastered on his face as he came flying at 100 mph.
"WHAT?!" Lum screamed and before she could react or fly away, Danny latched onto her, holding onto her waist since he couldn't properly control the trajectory.
Everyone gasped when they saw Danny clinging to Lum, who was still 20 feet in the air and the alien princess snapped out of it and tried to shake him off.
"Let go of me!" Lum shouted in indignation.
'NOT! HAPPENING!" Danny shouted as he literally tried to climb up her body in order to reach her horns.
"NO!" Lum shouted as she zapped him, shocking everyone who saw it.
'DANNY!" Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Danny's parents exclaimed in horror, they had no idea that Lum possessed a power like that.
A right now, she is using it on poor Danny who was screaming in pain.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" 'Danny screamed in pain but still clung to Lum as if his life was dependent on it.
"OH NO! THIS LOOKS LIKE IT COULD BE IT, FOLKS! DANNY FENTON WAS SO CLOSE TO GRABBING LUM'S HORNS AND THE ALIEN PRINCESS IS NOW ELECTROCUTING HIM…OH, THE HORROR!" The announcer said.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!...'Danny shouted and once the zap was over.
However, to Lum and everyone else's surprises (except Team Phantom, who knew of Danny's super durability) he still held on her, and while still sore, kept his grip on her and continued to climb up her body.
"I… I DON'T BELIEVE IT, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! OUR CHAMPION IS STILL GOING FOR IT, DESPITE ALL THE ZAPS LUM IS GIVING HIM..I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH WILL AND DETERMINATION!" The announcer said as Lum zapped Danny again.
"NO!" Maddie and Jack said as they tried to race to the field to do something…anything to help Danny, only to be held back by some guards.
"You can't intervene with the match or it will be void."One guard said.
"I DON'T CARE! THAT ALIEN GIRL IS TRYING TO KILL HIM!" Maddie screamed as the guards restrained Jack and her, making it unable to for them to interfere.
Meanwhile despite each zap Lum sent him, Danny refused to let go. Lum's annoyance soon was replaced with worry and maybe even some pity, for some reason.
"Just give up already and the pain will stop." Lum said.
To her surprise, Danny, despite the pain that he was in, still had the strength to hold onto her and then sent her a look that surprised her.
"I…WILL…NEVER…GIVE…UP…I….PROMISED…MY…FRIENDS…AND….MY…FAMILY… "Danny let out.
That surprised Lum.
"You promised?" Lum asked, actually stopping that zaps for that brief moment.
"I PROMISED!" Danny shouted and using the last of his strength and Lum's moment of surprise, to climb the rest of the way up and was about to grab her horns.
Lum gasped.
"Oh no you don't!" Lum said as she zapped him once more but it was too late. Danny used all of his strength and grabbed her horns, even as he was in excruciating pain.
"AHHHH!" Danny shouted as he held onto her horns until the zapping stop.
Once he did, Lum, out of shock, floated back to the ground and everyone saw that Danny's hands were on her horns… just as the time ran out.
Everyone could not believe it, but Danny's hands were on Lum's horns, he beat her and the world has been saved.
Soon everyone started cheering and the announcer shouted to the heavens.
"HE DID IT! HE FINALLY DID IT! DANNY FENTON SAVED THE EARTH ON THE FIFTH DAY!" The announcer shouted and Danny, despite the pain he is, smiled as he finally let go of Lum's horns and got up and started cheering widely.
"I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT! I WON! YES!" Danny shouted as he jumped and cheered.
Soon his friends and family ran to him.
'DANNY!" Sam said as she hugged him.
"YOU DID IT!" Tucker shouted as he hugged him too!
"I KNEW THAT YOU COULD DO IT!" Jazz shouted proudly as she hugged her brother, followed by her parents.
"WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!" Jack and Maddie said as they hugged their son and the one who saved their world from being invaded by aliens.
'I did it, I actually did it!" Danny said, still in amazement.
He managed to save the world without having to use his powers… The world and his secret are safe.
This ROCKS!
Soon the crowds came to congratulate Danny over his victory, the reporters took pictures and asked questions and Lum…still stood there, with a stunned look on her face, as everyone continued to congratulate her competitor.
"He beat me…he actually beat me…" Lum thought, still stunned by the whole thing as the citizens of Earth all cheered over their savior and then lifted him up to cheer his name.
"THREE CHEERS FOR DANNY FENTON!"Someone shouted and everyone started cheering for Danny, while Danny was still in amazement.
"I did it...I did it..." He repeated in happiness.
Later
The world was saved, the aliens left for home and all of the humans went off the celebrate the fact that just managed to avoid being invaded and turned into slaves. All the aliens were gone and Earth can finally go back to normal.
Well...almost all of the aliens were gone.
One stayed back, with a very annoyed from on her face.
It is Lum, the princess of Uru and the girl who lost the competition, who was now on top of a sky scraper, looking annoyed and confused.
The alien princess still could not believe that she actually lost the tag race to some weak looking human boy...though his use of that jet pack certainly did help him in the end but something doesn't feel right...
"Just how did he manage to beat me? and how did he even managed to survive everything I did to him?" Lum thought in confusion.
She didn't know a lot about humans but she knew that compared to her species, they are pretty behind of the times and much weaker. They can't fly or seem to have special abilities of their own, other than the ability to make gadgets, which is still limited compared to what her species is able to create. However that...that boy...is so strange.
He not only managed to survive multiple zaps from her and still have the strength to hold onto her but the look in his eyes, in that moment he told her that he was doing this for his family in friends...Lum didn't see a young, scared boy hoping for a miracle.
She was someone strong vowing to protect his love ones, no matter how much pay he would have to endure to pay the cost. Lum actually kind of admired that about him but something just isn't computing here and she does not like it.
Just how did someone whom seem so unimpressive on his profile, prove to be so strong in the end?
That's why she snuck out of the ship and came back to Earth, despite her father's protests since it was against the rules of the tag race. There is just something about that Danny Fenton boy that is confusing her...he is hiding something, something happened during the tag race that she didn't know about that gave him an edge and she is determined to find out. However, the alien princess then noticed a humanoid creature flying, one with white hair and a dark suit.
"Huh?" Lum thought in confusion as curiosity got the better of her and she decided to investigate.
She soon saw the creature fly to a place that looks to have a large space ship on it's roof, called "FentonWorks" thanks to a big sigh.
"Fenton? Is that not the name of the boy I faced in the tag race?" Lum thought as she flew to the window and saw a glowing boy in a bedroom.
That's where Lum finally got a good look of him...
He had white hair, green eyes and wore a black and white jumpsuit and Lum felt a light flush come to her cheeks when she finally saw him for the first time.
He's kind of cute...not handsome like Rei is, but not bad either. Lum was about to introduce herself but suddenly two rings appeared and the white haired boy was soon replaced with a black hair boy with blue eyes and Lum gasped.
"Danny Fenton..." Lum whispered in shock, until realization dawned on her.
He has powers...he clearly does...she didn't know how, but unlike the rest of his species, he has special abilities...
"So that's how he managed to beat me." Lum thought, not liking this.
She wondered if she could ask her father if this counts as cheating but then remembered that it was an anything goes sort of thing. However, she then saw the boy lay on his bed, looking to the ceiling.
"What a day... alien invasion... lighting blast... super hot alien princesses... saving the world as Danny Fenton..." Danny muttered.
Lum heard this and blushed at how he referred to her as being "super hot". She kept listening in on what he is saying, wanting to find out just what the heck he is and what he truly did during the match.
Danny laid on his bed with a tired smile on his face.
After his victory, his folks took him to the hospital, where he had to overshadow some doctors to give some half baked explanation as to how Lum's zaps didn't kill him and how he managed to recover without giving away his secret and thankfully his parents were gullible enough to believe it. After that, he dealt with reporters and his folks and him celebrated and he was happy... until he had to deal with a stray ghost cat who was causing trouble and he sighed.
Even saving the world from an alien invasion, he can't catch a break. He wanted to go to sleep now but he was still thinking out loud about what has happened today.
"Man, if marriage is anything like what happened today, men don't have it easy." Danny chuckled a bit, referring to a conversation he had with his dad before the tag race.
He kept saying that marriage is like a battle, you must do whatever it takes to come out on top.
"Marriage?" Lum asked in a confused tone, shocking Danny as he was now aware of her pretense and he got all defensive.
"WHY ARE YO BACK?! I WON!" Danny shouted, not liking this at all. He then remembered he just transformed. "Did you see anything?!"
What is she doing here?!
Lum blinked in confusion,having heard the part of the boy talking about marriage, just after he was going over what happened at the tag and of course, how he referred to her as "super hot"...and then he said something about marriage.
Marriage? What is he talking about? Lum thought in confusion.
Today was suppose to be a competition to fight for his planet's freedom, what on earth does marriage have to do with any of this?
Unless… Wait…does this mean...that he wants to... marry me? Lum thought, in shock, unable to believe this.
She thought about what he just said and smiled widely for some reason. Danny didn't know what was going on in her head as she suddenly walked towards him and Danny didn't like that weird smile on her face right now.
"Okay, if you insist...I'll marry you." Lum said happily with a smile.
Danny blinked and then froze upon hearing that and blinked again, wondering if he heard her right.
"Um...come again?" Danny asked and to his horror, the alien princess suddenly ran to him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Hey, what...what are you doing?!" Danny exclaimed as he tried to squirm out of her hug, but no such luck.
"DARLING!" Lum exclaimed in glee and Danny froze upon hearing this.
"DARLING?!" Danny shouted as the freaky alien princess then tried to cuddle with him of all things.
"WHAT'S COME OVER THIS CRAZY CHICK?!" Danny thought in horror as she wouldn't let go of him.
"Darling, on my planet, marriage proposals are very sacred... I plan on spending the rest of my life with you..." Lum said in a whisper and Danny froze, his eyes widen when he heard this... "So, you better not cheat on me or..." Lum said and then decided to give him a warning shock.
"AHHH!" Danny shouted over the electric blast, but due to his powers and healing factor, managed to recover, only to find himself trapped in the arms of a very crazy and lovesick alien princess.
'Oh, darling…" Lum said as she held her new love in her arms, who was trying with all of his might to get out.
'WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Danny shouted.
Than you FP11 for your help and patience.
