Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom
Joes verses Pros Pt 15
Begging your pardon, sir, but 'the professionals' can't handle it," Danny said.
"I realize there have been some problems, but with better funding and equipment, we should be able to handle it," the President assured him.
Danny wondered which 'we' he was talking about. "I keep telling you, you need to do more than just blaze away. You have to talk to them."
"That is why it would better to have it handled by trained negotiators," the President said.
"This isn't like sending someone to talk a gunman out of a hostage situation. It's more like a first contact situation.
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"Which is why I want you and your parents to brief the team about ghost abilities and weaknesses so they are not blindsided," the President replied.
Danny's voice grew tight, "I'm not telling you how to destroy them."
"The United States has nuclear weapons as a deterrent, not because we would ever use them. You could be ordered to turn over the information as a matter of national security," the President threatened. "It is important to negotiate from a position of strength."
"I know. That's why you're not going to threaten me. You need me more than I need you."
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"You're not indispensable," the President countered.
"I never said I was, but you'll have an easier time with my help than without it," Danny told him.
"I am not so sure," the President said craftily. "From what I've heard, a great many denizens of the Ghost Zone want you dead. Your very presence seems to cause conflict. You might be more of a liability than a help."
"There's plenty of ghosts that want me destroyed," Danny sighed, "but that's provided that they're the ones to do it. If someone else interferes, the rest will band together to defend their 'own'.
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Maybe I should sell you to the highest bitter," the President laughed.
That's not funny," Danny grumbled.
"We'll just have to try something else."
Danny sighed, "The situation in the Ghost Zone is complicated. The things that work here won't necessarily work with people from there."
"We've dealt with hostile cultures before," the President reminded him.
Forgetting that the President couldn't see him, Danny shook his head. "The Ghost Zone isn't just some foreign country. The beings that live there don't just look different and have a different language and cul ture. They have a whole different set of natural laws."
My deepest thanks to my beta Truephan without whom this chapter would have been lost and gone forever.