CHAPTER 3: HAIL TO THE CHIEF

A political campaign is a rough, thankless journey for all people involved; countless hours of labor and time are put in for the effort of supporting one specific candidate, in hopes that their employer will be beloved enough by the American public to be placed into power.

Sitting President Tucker Foley has had his own obstacles to hurdle in his own path to re-election; struggling to keep his approval rate above water, resolving problems with the country that he barely has the understanding to do, and coasting along to victory by the aide of an endorsement from the hero who saved the planet from destruction by a rogue meteor of Ectoranium.

Once before he was brought to the White House with the help of Danny Phantom, and once again he will have that help to reach that power again.

[Soundtrack Cue: Prince - The Future (Mark Moore & William Orbit Remix)]

On this day in Amity Park, there has been an announcement of the Fentons making an appearance in the city, coming down from their place in the sky to touch the little people on the ground again. The news has reached far and wide, bringing many eyes waiting on this day to come with great anticipation.

In preparation, a great festival has been called forth and created in celebration of their heroes to arrive. People come in droves just to get a glimpse of the heroes that have brought their age of greatness to the Earth, selling all manner of merchandise and goods to celebrate the event.

Crawling out from their poor homes and scraping together what little savings they have in their pockets to come to this event, coming from miles away and paying every last dollar just to get a small souvenir to remind themselves that they were here, and they saw history for themselves.

This is, of course, the reality for those who were only able to afford just to stand outside of the event. The privilege of being in the main event belongs to those who can afford to enter the building known as Marmel Stadium; a large sports arena that has been rented out to host a public appearance for the Fenton family.

Those lucky enough to be able to afford tickets inside, paying their entire life savings just to get their tickets, offer their tithe to lay eyes on the people who have brought them the life and purpose that they know and live. Seated all around the stadium, the privileged impatiently await to see the guests of honor, waiting to lay eyes on their modern-day royalty.

Today, the people of Amity Park all congregate to get a chance to get a glimpse of their hero, the one who had ushered in this era of afterlife, shouting his name:

"DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM!" The crowd shouted.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Hearing the crowd shout, the Fentons wait for their moment to step onto the stage, taking in the impatient calls of the crowd with pride and honor at their adoring fans, admiring the attention that they gain and the people who show in droves for the chance just to see them in person.

"Another sold-out crowd. They just can't seem to get enough of the ol' Fenton family." Jack said.

"That's right. Suck it, Kardashians. Smart is the new sexy." Maddie said.

"We ready to put on a show, guys?" Danny asked.

"We're always up for a good show. The love of the audience is half the fun of this job." Jazz said.

"Yeah, Danny. You know how we do. Let's go have some fun." Sam said.

"Alright. Let's go give 'em a show." Danny said.

The Fentons made their way past the curtain and to the stage to prepare their appearance to the crowd, but Danny came to a brief pause before the family had made their way to the stage. Although the entire family of the Fenton clan was present and ready to go, the youngest of the family noticed that absent of their announcement of their preferred political candidate...

...was their preferred political candidate.

"Hey. Where's Tucker?" Danny asked.

"Uh... I think he said he was going to the bathroom." Jack said.

"When?"

"About... half an hour ago?"

"Aw, crap. Guys, go keep 'em occupied. I'll be right back."

"But, Danny, we can't hold a crowd without you!" Jazz said.

"Just talk for a few minutes, I'll be right back!"

Annoyed with being left behind by the most popular member of their group, the Fentons continued to the stage, quickly thinking of how to pacify the waiting crowd to quell their expectations of Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton, his living counterpart, was not without his own needs to think fast, moving to find the missing President Foley as quickly as possible.

His search led him to a backstage room with two Secret Servicemen standing outside it, putting his search to a quick end. Hearing the sounds of laughter from one male and multiple females also coming from the room, he quickly understood that the interruption that they faced was one brought about by the president himself rather than any outside factors.

"How many this time?" Danny asked.

"Twins." A Serviceman answered.

"The show's starting now. Mind if I grab him?"

"Of course, Mr. Fenton."

The Serviceman opened the door for Danny, allowing him to step into the room set aside for the president and any aides he may need. Instead of opting to converse with any political or campaign assistants, he was instead found snorting cocaine with a pair of blonde twins, all with their clothes disheveled and obviously having been removed and crudely thrown back on at some point.

Seeing such a sight on a scenario as fragile as this one is enough to give any political advisor heart palpitations, but, having been subjected to many incidents such as this one before, all it gives Danny is a headache and the urge to let out a loud, annoyed sigh.

His presence soon found notice by President Foley and his guests, with the guests the first to speak up in response.

"Oh, wow, Danny Phantom! I really love your work!" One twin said.

"Yeah! Can you get me an autograph?" The other twin asked.

"Oh, hey, Danny, what's up?" President Foley asked.

"Tucker, what the hell are you doing? I go through all the trouble of this show for you, and you're in the back with hookers and coke?" Danny asked.

"Hey, hey! These young ladies are escorts, and highly respectable ones. And I'll have you know I took cocaine off the scheduled substances list. It's totally decriminalized."

"You know what I'm talking about, Tucker. What are you doing?"

"Just getting the edge off, like I said yesterday. This is a hand job... Heh, I mean, hard job... and I need my vices to stay focused."

"For your sake, I hope it worked, because I'm supposed to be up on that stage, and you're coming right after."

"It's cool, it's cool. I got this. Just give me a minute to clean up. Girls? Playtime's over. I'll call you another time."

"Bye, Mr. President." The twins said in unison.

Waving to the president as they departed, the twins also gave their farewells to Danny Fenton as they left.

"Bye, Danny." The twins said in unison.

With no more distractions in the way, Danny moved to President Foley and made swift revisions to his unkempt suit, trying to save face in a short time span while escorting him to the back of the stage. President Foley did his best to ready himself as well, brushing cocaine and other narcotics off his suit to make himself presentable to the American public once again.

Giving the president as much preparation as he could, Danny peered behind the curtain to the stage, watching his family speak to the crowd to buy him time. Hoping that one of the more intelligent members of the family would take the podium to address the audience, he finds instead the person least qualified to speak to a broad audience.

"Oh, no." Danny said.

Jack Fenton was the primary choice of speaker to offer their filibuster, taking the opportunity to tell various stories regarding his youth; his old age leading him to ramble on the days of his past through a nostalgic lens. Unfortunately, with the degradation of his mental state with each passing day, the topics that he speaks about are less than acceptable for the audience present, and less than pleasant to hear.

Rambling like the old man he was slowly becoming, his choice of topic being his sexcapades, and many of them.

"I tell ya, it feels great watching Danny and Sam running 'round the place, all happily married. Reminds me of Maddie and me back during our college days. The things we used to do, man, I could write a whole book of 'em. That pair of streakers they never caught back in the football championship? That was us! That was a great game, the team threw the biggest orgy you'll ever see! The whole house smelled so bad, no one went in for three whole days! Got the whole thing on film! Of course, I still had plenty of fun before I even got to college and met my lovely Maddie. Lost my flower at the tender age of 15, foreign exchange student. She was a bit lacking on her English grades, but she more than passed the French oral exam, I'll tell you that. And let's not forget about my incident with the golf club and the chew toy, man that was..." Jack ranted.

Every listening ear fed the detailed and disgusting stories to their respective minds, leading their faces to show appalled looks across them as they listened to the stories given by Jack Fenton. Horrified by the embarrassment that his father was putting the family through, Danny was left staring on in shock, unable to comprehend how Jack was given the chance to speak in public again.

Coming to check the curtains for an update, Jazz found Danny returning at last, equally as astounded at the situation.

"Danny, where have you been?!" Jazz asked.

"Getting Tucker to do his job. Who the hell let dad talk?!" Danny asked.

"No one. He put himself on the stage. I tried to stop him, but there was just nothing we could to do hold him back."

"Ugh... Alright, well, I'm ready when you are now. Hopefully he can't do any more damage."

"I wouldn't bet on it. We'll get rid of him, just do your thing."

As Danny returned back behind the curtains, changing to his ghost form once again, Jazz stepped up to the podium to her father, taking him off the microphone as quickly as possible and leading him away to the backstage again. With the delirious old man finally removed and led to the back by Maddie, Jazz remained at the stage to announce her brother to the crowd properly.

"Ahem, sorry about that, folks. Dads, am I right?" Jazz asked.

Jazz's joke, though minor, gained a loud laugh from the audience, relieved that the dirty ramblings of the old man were finally over.

"Right. Now, we've been living in a lot of strange days in just the past decade. Many of life's questions about the meaning of life and what comes after, we've only just begun to scratch. Ghosts were once thought of as little more than myth and urban legend, but we see them every day and we know for a fact now that they are real. The way we see the world and our very ways of life have changed completely. And there's one person we have to thank for all these changes. One person who brought us to the age we live in now. One person who saved the world from destruction from the Ectoranium asteroid that almost hit us 10 years ago. That person is a hero who's fought against the ghosts that tried to attack and terrorize us, a person that's saved all of our lives many times over, and a person that I'm proud to call my little brother. Put your hands together for the one, the only... Danny Phantom!" Jazz shouted.

[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - D.I.Y.]

Music began to fill the walls of the stadium, making a grand spectacle for the hero they called out for arrive at last. Returning to their chants, summoning and calling out to their hero to appear, they offer their praises and hopes to see his face, to give their lives the sense of purpose that they craved to fill the void.

"DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM!" The crowd shouted.

At last, their hero showed himself. Doubts had begun to sink within the crowd that they would never see their hero, perhaps that he had no interest in seeing them. To see him show his face to the crowd is a sign that he does care for his followers, and he does indeed have them at heart.

Watching him float out into the crowd from the curtain, phasing through it as if the object did not exist, the crowd roared in delight as they laid eyes on their hero. They knew of his salvation of the planet had put their lives in his debt; to see the face of their greatest debtor is a reminder to that debt and gives them a feeling that they are alive.

But their hero does not demand any repayments of their debt. Instead, he is delighted to see the lives he has saved, and flies down from his high place in the sky to touch them and be among them. Swooping by for a string of high-fives, each touch he gives feels like a grace of praise and forgiveness; a status above the rest of those still carrying their debts.

Their hero makes sure that none are left unfelt by his touch; each gaining the chance to feel a personal connection to the one who has saved their lives. He loves the attention he is given by those in debt to him; it gives him a sense of pride and joy to be among his people as they say their praises to him.

The event is televised across the world for all to see, given merely a picture, a taste of the personal connection that they could have shared with the hero they all follow. To everyone not present, those who are have the highest honor anyone could hope for, part of a larger family with love.

But their hero is not yet content with the mere praises and love he is showered with by his followers. He followed by throwing his hands up to the air, firing blasts of light out from his hands. The light that he gave out reached a warmth to all present before him, feeling themselves touched by him once again.

Reaching out a lone finger behind him, the hero began firing his light out once again, directing it to the wall behind him. The light began to pierce through all matter in its way; his will overriding reality to shape it into his will. Carving through matter with naught but his own power, the hero cut through the wall to write his symbol, an amalgamation of his initials, displaying it as the crowd chanted it out in praise one last time.

"DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM!" The crowd shouted.

Listening to their cheers and praises, their hero smiled.

"They love me." Danny said.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

At last, the hero descended back to the Earth once again, placed on the same level as his followers once again. Landing himself at the podium, Danny waited for the audience to quell their cheers, patiently biding his time for when he might speak again. The interruption of their cheers lasts a long while, but their cheers are nonetheless a delight for him to hear.

Soon, his opportunity to speak comes yet again, and, he takes the moment to rise more cheers from the crowd once again.

"So, how's everyone doing tonight?" Danny asked.

The crowd shouted out in a cheer once again, answering his question with a unanimous positive communication of noise.

"Good. I'm glad you guys are all here. It's always great to see you guys. I always love to see you all happy. Seeing you happy makes me happy, too. Definitely a step above being treated as public enemy number one like last time I was in this town." Danny said.

Laughter came from the crowd at his joke, looking back on the past with humor. Danny, too, looked to the past, and followed his crowd back to reminisce further.

"But it's amazing looking back at how far we've come. So many technological achievements we've made, all the new areas of STEM we've opened up. I could go on a huge list of all the new technology we've seen and quality of life that's come about from it, but I'll leave those duties to the more qualified science people, coincidentally the best family I could have ever asked for. No, what matters most to me is how far we've come as a people. Together. After 10 years, we've all finally come to the truth about ourselves, that we're all we have in this world, and we're in it together. Our lives are the only ones that we have, and there's nothing for us but what we've got now. It took me just stumbling into the portal my parents built as a way of realizing that. Now, we're all together as one people, living as one. That's not to say we've still had some people that haven't been fully sold yet, and we've got a ways to go to try to convince them. That's why I recommend the man for the job to be a very good friend of mine. You all know how good a job he's done in the last 4 years, and just imagine how far he can take us again with 4 more. Let's hear it for my best friend... President Tucker Foley!" Danny said.

President Foley began heading out to the stage to a large cheer; his own support not nearly as large as Danny Phantom's, but nonetheless gaining much noise from the crowd. Stopping at the podium to shake hands with Danny, the president was soon left by himself before the crowd, set to make his speech.

"My fellow Americans... Like my good friend Danny said, we've come a long ways since we've taken our first forays into exploring the afterlife. It's helped a lot of us put into perspective where we are in the universe and where we belong in our own lives. But like he said, there are some people that weren't ready to handle the discoveries we've made, people who want to turn them to their own advantages." President Foley said.

The crowd seemed to turn to a serious mood, paying more attention to what their current commander-in-chief was saying.

"The world already knows about Danny Phantom, including how he came to be. He stepped into a Ghost Portal, flipped it on by mistake, and had his bodily structure permanently changed to make him half-ghost. Do we know everything about his powers and how this came to be? Why he didn't just die from such a dangerous exposure to raw Ectoplasm and a dimensional rift? No. Even the people at Fenton Works haven't fully mapped it yet. But that hasn't stopped other countries from trying to recreate it. From trying to make their own Danny Phantoms." President Foley said.

The sense of seriousness from the crowd intensified with gasps and murmurs, none sure what to make of the news.

"There have been multiple countries trying to recreate the experiment in their own way. Some of those countries are our allies. Most of those are ones that currently stand as our enemies. Most of those enemies are not just simply using the technology to create their own recreations of Danny Phantom, but they are also trying to make their own gods out of them as well. For all the pushback with facts and knowledge that we've disproven their religions with, they're starting to push back and trying to impose their own gods on us." President Foley said.

More gasps and murmurs came from the crowd, taking the news in distress from their leader.

"One such attempt that we've came across recently came from Saudi Arabia, a country we're guilty of previously doing business ties with pre-meteor. They have had a long list of human rights abuses ranging from genocide in Yemen, anti-sexual diversity, genital mutilation, reduction of women to second-class citizens, just to name a few. They were recently found to be doing their own Danny Phantom experiment known as Project Azrael, in their attempt to make a perfect servant to their religion. Why am I bringing up this specific example out of the many? Simple. Because I stopped it." President Foley said.

Hearing the victory scored from defeating the threat of the project, the crowd gave out a victorious cheer, heaping all of their praises onto their president for the act. The praise is high for his achievement, but it was not his actions alone that led to this victory, and, therefore, he is not the only one who should be receiving the praise.

Part of that pleasure belongs to the ones who brought about the victory personally, and it is the the youngest of the family who holds the most discontent over the misplacement of praise. His anger is silent, but another member of the family soon points out the wrongdoing.

"He didn't seriously just try to steal our thunder, did he?" Sam whispered.

"He's just playing it up for the crowd. I'll talk to him about it later." Danny said.

As the cheering subsided, President Foley returned to his speech once again, making his pledge for re-election.

"That's what I do to keep my people safe, and that's what I'll continue to do if you put me back in office. That's why I'm running again for president in 2028, so, if you want a safe country, and country safe from ghosts, you vote for me. For another 4 years of-" President Foley began to say.

Danny's concentration is quickly taken out from the event as a wisp of cyan breath comes from his mouth, giving him a sense of danger from what is coming to the stadium. Unable to properly warn anyone in time for the incoming danger, he is left to watch what soon comes next.

Terror is what suddenly comes down on the crowd as the roof to the stadium is blasted open by hot undead plasma, coming out from it a group of ghosts. Continuing to fire ectoplasm among the people in the stadium, they seek only to cause ruckus and mayhem towards anything in their path.

They are restless spirits, never having found peace in the afterlife, and now they are here to ensure that no one else finds peace either.

These raging specters destroy all obstacles in their path of the stadium, tearing the walls and ground, breaking away at light fixtures and other electronics, and bulldozing through guest seats, knocking people out of their chairs and onto the ground. They make their destruction well-known and clear to their victims, and they find a twisted sense of bliss in the terror of others.

All are well aware of the chaos unfolding, but none are taking the images in so heavily as President Foley. Having made his speech and platform entirely based on keeping the country safe from ghosts and the threat they pose, to have this attack brought on during his speech is one that could bring damage to his career and re-election campaign and cost him an election.

His petty concerns about his own career are not the concerns of the people in the stadium; they are too concerned with their own lives as they are under threat from lives that have overstayed their welcome in the mortal world. Unchecked and unbridled in their attacks, the ghosts continued on their rampage.

For one ghost, the chaos it wreaked across the stadium is soon controlled to a focus on one target, and one alone: The President. Flying towards President Foley, firing an ectoplasmic blast to his podium and sending him falling to the ground. Trying to crawl away from his apparent and transparent assassin, he watched the ghost prepare a hand to shoot forth its unholy blast of hellfire upon him.

"Freedom... FREEDOM!" The ghost said.

Soon, however, the assassination attempt is quickly brought to a stop with the surprise of an ectoplasmic blast, temporarily putting the entire group ghosts putting their unanimous attention towards it point of origin. As the ghosts turned to see where the blast originated from, their eyes were met with the one figure that all ghosts across the Ghost Zone fear:

Danny Phantom, with the Fenton family at his back.

"Look, guys, I'm all for freedom of speech, but destruction of property's where I draw the line. Now, why don't you make like friendly little ghosts and put the stadium back how you found it?" Danny asked.

Acting fast to avoid prosecution from their extradimensional crimes, the ghosts quickly fled from the phantom of Amity Park, not wanting to fight the most feared ghost hunter in the world of the living. Danny, acting fast to catch his targets, immediately followed them in pursuit.

[Soundtrack Cue: White Zombie - Electric Head, Pt. 1 (The Agony) (Satan In High Heels Mix)]

Chasing the ghosts down to apprehend his undead terrorists, the subjects he followed wasted no time to evade the posthuman defender on their trail, flying across the open airways of the sky in a paranormal criminal pursuit. Firing back at the hero gaining on their flight and speed, the ghosts utilized what defense they could to escape to freedom at last.

None of their attempts had shown any fruit to drive off their pursuer; still did Danny pursue the ghosts, and displayed no signs or intent of stopping the chase. Needing to gain an environment which they could use to slow him down, the ghosts flew down from the sky to the streets of Amity Park, leading Danny Phantom to follow after them.

Moving through the streets of Amity Park, the bustling neo-city of technological breakthroughs and advancements, the ghosts began to use the environment and high populace to their own advantage, beginning with any basic blunt objects that come in their way.

Grabbing at passing objects like lampposts and garbage bins, pulling up the concrete of the ground below, the ghosts threw the various objects back behind themselves, hoping that the obstacles thrown would drive back their pursuer back and give them freedom at last.

Alas, just as the ghosts could easily pass through the solid objects thrown, Danny, carrying all the abilities a member of the undead had, passed through the thrown objects with ease, letting them pass through his body as it turned intangible to each oncoming obstacle. Needing to try another approach, the ghosts tried not for more objects that he could pass through...

...but instead objects that he could not afford to pass through. Grabbing at random strangers on the street, the ghosts began throwing the bystanders towards Danny Phantom, giving him no choice but to stray from his flightpath to rescue them. Catching the innocents thrown in his way, he took care to set them back down, avoiding as much unnecessary harm as he could bring them by trying to save them.

The obstacles that the ghosts try to throw to Danny Phantom are all the ghosts can give, but they are not enough to stop him. He continues on his pursuit to stop them.

Behind the pursuer of the ghosts, a Specter Speeder began following his trail as well, inside the Speeder's pilot seat Jazz Fenton and Sam Manson Fenton. Joining him in his pursuit, the younger Fentons sought to provide their support in stopping and trapping the ghosts.

With Danny's bothersome ghost hunt turned into a strange form of a family activity, the three began their pursuit of the ghosts together. Danny and the Speeder fired their weapons at the ghosts, working together to take down the enemy. The ghosts, however, avoided their energy blasts with ease and determination, moving swiftly and quickly in their flight patterns to avoid the projectiles.

The two pilots of the Speeder are not able to make precise as shots as Danny can, leading them to accidentally cause damage to a nearby building in their pursuit and making rubble fall near unsuspecting citizens below. The citizens were lucky enough to escape unharmed, but none were too happy about the incident.

Danny activated his Fenton Phones to address the accident to his two team members, expressing his displeasure to the two.

"Jazz, what are you doing?! We're trying to capture the ghosts, not trash the city!" Danny said.

"Danny, I've been doing this for 10 years, I know what I'm doing. Relax a little." Jazz said.

"And I've been doing this for longer than that, and I'm also the one with the ghost powers. Maybe I know how to do things a little better than you."

"So what?! I'm still your big sister and the one who irons out the details in planning, stop treating me like the new team member-"

Among the bickering of the two siblings, neither of them were quick to notice a rather large building within their flight path, posing an impending doom to the Speeder should its pilot remain careless. Not involved in the fight, Sam is the one who takes notice of the buildings, pointing out the obvious threat to the two oblivious siblings.

"Uh, guys, hate to split up the sibling rivalry, but we've got a huge building ahead of us! You mind doing something about it?" Sam asked.

The two siblings quickly put an end to their petty fight to see the aforementioned building ahead of them, realizing the immediate problem and shifting their attention to it.

The group of ghosts that the three pursued passed through it harmlessly, turning themselves intangible to move through it. Though Danny could have easily done the same to follow them, he also had a Specter Speeder behind him, carrying inside it the two of the most important women in his life, that lacked the ability to follow him through.

Using his wits to come up with a solution, Danny tightly gripped his body around the Speeder, focusing all his ability to turn intangible through the Speeder itself; a feat which he had never before attempted or thought to try. Concentrating his power through the large object, he fed as much of his control over it as he could.

Sure enough, his gambit, far-fetched as it seemed in mind, worked just as intended in practice. The Speeder turned intangible just as Danny himself did and phased through the wall, allowing the pilots to begin passing through unharmed, with Danny only nearly missing his mark before crashing into the building.

After a few seconds of strenuous effort turning the Speeder intangible, both it and Danny passed through safely. No longer able to continue his hold under the strain, he at last had his chance to release his hold on it; the effort of phasing the Speeder through a heavily taxing experience for Danny.

With the challenge no longer on his list of issues to overcome, he put his focus back on the chase.

"This is the third haunting this month, and the first that they've tried for any high-ranking people. What the hell's causing these sudden increases in ghost activity?" Danny asked.

"You tell me, you've been doing this longer than me." Jazz said.

"C'mon, Jazz. I could use a little cooperation here."

"Yeah. Besides, sarcasm is my area of expertise." Sam added.

"Fine. But seriously, I don't know. They've been quiet these past few years. I don't get the sudden rise all of a sudden. I'll take it up with mom when we get home." Jazz guessed.

Following a long chase from the three ghost hunters, the ghosts no longer attempted to flee, but instead stopped, deciding instead to take a stand and fight. The first of the group, the leader of the pack, threw an ectoplasmic blast towards the Speeder to begin the fight.

Danny, rushing to protect his family, jumped in front of the blast, absorbing the impact in full. Predictably, his reaction to taking a painful blast to the chest is not a pleasant one, but he pushes through the pain, knowing that it was meant for those he cares for and his action had saved them from it.

"Okay. That's how you wanna play it? Then that's how we're gonna play it." Danny said.

Recovering from the blast as quickly as it came, Danny was now eager to deliver due retaliation to the rogue ghosts; rushing the group to fight.

Two ghosts began their attack with simple lunges towards their target, but Danny effortlessly kicked them aside, knocking one into a mailbox, and the other into a car. With the two ghosts temporarily stunned, Danny delivered two ectoplasmic blasts from his hands, each one bringing a forceful impact of pain on the ghosts.

One ghost tried a different approach, instead wishing to keep his distance. Using its own levitational abilities, the ghost raised several objects off the ground, ranging from small objects like bricks and rocks, to larger ones like dumpsters and trucks, launching them all straight at Danny.

Moving to save himself and any bystanders nearby, Danny summoned an ectoplasmic shield, catching all the debris within a bubble of paranormal energy. With the citizens below safely out of harm's way, Danny lifted the debris over the ghost and released his hold of the clutter, causing it all to drop directly on top of the ghost, burying him in his own makeshift projectiles.

Reuniting to plan their next attack, the final three ghosts attempted to make a team effort of their last stand. The three ghosts, acting as one, surrounded Danny, catching him by surprise by their team effort. Taking advantage of his temporary moment of hesitance, two of them grabbed him by his arms, holding him down and preventing him from fighting back.

The third ghost summoned an ectoplasmic sword, one that resembled a cutlass, indicating this ghost was perhaps at one point a pirate, and drive it into the subdued Danny Phantom. Danny, reacting to the threat of the sword, moved out of its way as it came towards him, causing the ghost armed with his sword to instead slice the arm of one of the other ghosts, forcing him to release his grip on Danny and freeing him.

Danny, now free and able to fight back, attacked all three of the ghosts with punches and kicks energized with the power of his ghost form; his blows moving too fast for the human eye to properly comprehend. Each hit landed directly to its intended target; every strike severely damaging the spectral forms of the ghosts.

With Danny's onslaught all but annihilating the ghosts, all three of the invading undead fell to the ground, defeated and exhausted.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

At last, the battle came to an end, with Danny Phantom standing tall in victory over the attacking undead, establishing him once again as the victor and conqueror over them; his dominion over the afterlife still well-established. However, even though the ghosts he fought showed no signs of being able to fight back, that does not stop one of them from trying.

In a last-ditch effort to win, one ghost made itself reappear behind Danny's back, making its form invisible to the human eye. Though unable to be seen by any living eyes, the living dead eyes of Danny Phantom took immediate notice of him, responding to the threat by backhanding him with a single punch, finally putting him out of commission.

With the area secured and all targets subdued, the Specter Speeder flew to the ground, with its pilots exiting the Speeder to help apprehending the ghosts. Offering her assistance to her husband just as she did in years past, Sam handed Danny a Fenton Thermos, giving him the tool needed to imprison the ghosts.

"You forgot to leave home without it again." Sam said.

Danny took the Fenton Thermos with a smile, receiving a smile in return from Sam.

"Thanks, Sam." Danny said.

"Anytime." Sam said.

Opening the cap to the Fenton Thermos, Danny aimed its beam of light at the defeated ghosts, capturing all the souls inside its indefinite prison. Trapping his prisoners inside the Thermos, he subsequently placing the thermos on his belt, fashioning it back on in a means like a gunfighter of the Old West.

With the ghosts successfully apprehended and the day saved, several citizens came out to cheer for his victory; happy that once again their hero had protected them from otherworldly threats. Danny, always one who enjoyed the praise, waved at the crowd and accepted their thanks, even stopping to pose for a few pictures with Jazz and Sam joining in the festivities.

Out of the crowd, a small child approached Danny, grabbing his hand and pulling on in order to get his attention. Taking notice of the small child and his high enthusiasm as he aimed for, Danny looked down to the child, knelt down to face him and give the youth his full and complete attention.

"Hey, kid, what's up?" Danny asked.

"Mr. Phantom, Mr. Phantom! Will you sign my hat?" The child asked.

The child held up a baseball cap with an image of Danny Phantom on the front, posing and giving a thumbs up on the front.

"Sure, no problem." Danny replied.

Danny, taking pride in the child's adoration of him, happily took the hat to sign it. Taking a pen that the child handed him, Danny scribbled his signature on it and placed it on the child's head, playfully patting him on his head. Happy to have met his idol and receive a gift from him, the child lit right up in happiness, jumping for joy.

"Awesome! Thank you, Mr. Phantom!" The child said.

The child's mother then approached him, picking him up and holding him against her body; the child barely able to be contained under his excitement.

"Mommy, mommy, I met Danny Phantom!" The child said.

"I know, sweetie. My son thinks the world of you, Mr. Fenton. You're his hero. Keep up the good work." The mother said.

"Glad to be a good role model. Well, I've got to go for now. Be safe, little guy." Danny said.

Giving the child a small fist-bump before departing, Danny reapproached Sam, gaining a smile by her as she took notice of his kind actions with the child.

"You sure are good with kids." Sam said.

"Hey, I'm a superhero. What kid doesn't love a hero?" Danny asked.

"Mmm. I can't argue with that."

Sam wrapped her arms around Danny, kissing him passionately after the strenuous fight against the ghosts to the delight of the crowd. Among those supporting the public display of affection, Jazz was not one of them. With other matters pressing on her mind, she pressed the two to put their fun to an end.

"Uh, guys, I was planning on eating later. Do you mind?" Jazz asked.

"Oh, grow up, Jazz. We're a married couple. Get used to it." Sam said.

"I can never get used to watching my little brother suck face. Anyways, now that the job's done, we'd better get out of here. We have to get these ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. We've spent enough time doing photo ops."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I just love saying hi to my admiring public." Danny said.

"Don't worry, Jazz, I think I'll take the scenic route back. That is, if it's alright with you, Danny." Sam said.

"You're my wife, how can I say no?"

Handing off his Fenton Thermos to Jazz, picking his wife up in his arms, Danny carried Sam with him as he began to fly off the street and away to the skies. The crowd, always enjoying and impressed to see the reaffirming of their beliefs that a man that can fly, cheered them on as the two departed on their flight.

Leaving the masses of regular people behind, the two shared a peaceful flight over Amity Park, taking in the sights of the technological metropolis of the city. Where it was once seen as an obscure, unremarkable city in Colorado, its infrastructure mediocre by the standards of its time, to see it stand as one of the most technologically advanced cities on the planet gives them both a strong sense of pride.

Danny's eyes, however, have no real care for the sights that the sky provided him, regardless of what they could offer him. Instead the only thing worthy of his attention is Sam. To be married at such a young age would seem foolhardy to most, but, to him, it was the greatest blessing in his entire life, and one that has lasted for 5 years.

Looking at the joyful face of Sam Manson Fenton, Danny finds a peace in his heart that nothing else in the world could give him but her. Likewise, Sam looked to Danny with an emotion not too dissimilar from his own; both of their hearts and minds sharing a special moment and feeling only they were privileged to have.

"How did I ever get so lucky in life?" Danny asked.

"I should ask the same question. We just knew that we weren't gonna be apart since the day we met. I just can't believe it took us until were 14 to really get things started, and it wasn't until we were 19 that you put a ring on it." Sam replied.

"Yeah."

Pleasant as his thoughts are regarding their marriage, Danny cannot help but keep his mind focused on his duty to fight back against rogue ghosts, thinking about the group he had battled not moments ago. His purpose as a hero is one that he loves to indulge in, but the constant threat of a ghost attack can still make him edgy, wishing for easier solutions to his problems.

"Still, I can't help wondering what those ghosts were doing. Why all these sudden resurgences? What's going on with the ghosts and the Ghost Zone recently? They've never attacked any politicians before." Danny said.

"You always put your mind too much at work. You work really hard all the time just to keep people safe, but people are safe right now. How about we just relax for once and enjoy some time together?" Sam asked.

Danny let out a sigh, relieving himself of his troubles with a change of thought and breath.

"Alright. Any suggestions on what we should do?" Danny asked.

"How about a trip to Nasty Burger? Veggie for me and a Barbecue Bacon for you?" Sam asked.

"I think I'll take a Veggie, too. I should watch my calories, y'know."

As Sam gave a chuckle at Danny's joke, the two continued their flight to the Nasty Burger, planning on enjoying a nice dinner together peacefully.

Several feet below the city that the Fentons fly over, however, things are not so peaceful for those below as their gods in the sky. Where the land above holds the heavens of luxury and pleasure, the land below the city holds its counterpart of hell, holding a world of pain and poverty.

As required of all buildings, any new creation must be built on something; a foundation needed to hold it up. When the more advanced and technologically progressed architecture began to take the place of the old city of Amity Park, the past was forced to the bottom, falling below the city to die and decay.

The resulting refuse that was brushed away coalesced and created a new, underground world that holds the ugliness the city tries to hide. As beautiful as the city of Amity Park appears to many, what is seen by most is merely a sugar-coated topping disguised as progress to the rest of the world.

Below its covers is its true nature; a purgatory of poverty and crime from which there is no escape. Now, its people, those who refused to abandon their lives of tradition in favor of progress, stayed behind to the cesspool created around them, living in this hell below Earth unnoticed and forgotten.

One such person is Jebediah Stone, a simple man from a simple family. He has never had much of an eye for anything technological or fancy, instead choosing a simple life as a shopkeeper. The pay he earns is small, but sufficient to live on, and the work he does he finds meaningful.

An unwelcome guest, however, has come to take away that meaning from him. This man, despite his heavy covering with his plentiful clothing, emitted a light green glow, giving the Jebediah all the information he needed to know about this particular clientele in his building.

"Hey, you! Get out of here! We don't allow spooks in here!" Jebediah said.

"'Spooks', huh? I guess prejudice doesn't like to waste its good slurs, huh? You should know that we prefer to be called 'mortally challenged'." The stranger said.

The shopkeeper named Jebediah slowly reached for a contraband ectoplasmic weapon underneath his counter, hoping to use it in defense of the threat in his business.

"Get out of here now before I call the Ectos and have them put you in a soup can!" Jebediah said.

"They won't be coming here. They never do. And you won't be using that little peashooter on me. Shadow!" The stranger said.

Before the shopkeeper could make good on his threats, a shadow began to flow from the stranger onto the floor, slowly making its way to the shopkeeper. Rising from the floor, the shadow took a physical form for itself, surrounding the shopkeeper and gripping him tightly in its immaterial hold.

Recognizing himself to be in severe danger, the shopkeeper's tone suddenly changed from angered to frightened. The unknown ghost, now having the situation in his control, shed his hat and coat to reveal himself to the shopkeeper, showing himself to be the ghost by the name of Johnny 13.

"You know, I don't discriminate myself. I've got the living and the dead in the Unlucky 13s, and they get along just fine. My problem is people like you thinking you own these streets. Thinking that these businesses are yours. They aren't. These are my streets, and this store is my property. I gave you several chances to pay your dues, but you refused. Now, you get to pay me in a different way. Shadow?" Johnny 13 requested.

The shadow complied with his master's request, slicing the shopkeeper's throat with a blade formed from its shape, spilling his blood across the floor. Gathering the blood on one of its tendrils, the shadow drew a large '13' on the window of the shop, marking their territory for themselves.

With its task completed, the shadow returned to Johnny 13, where it returned to its place behind his back.

"Good boy. Let's take the guys for a ride." Johnny 13 said.

Johnny 13, with his territory claimed, stepped out of the shop to his bike, now technologically advanced with the many new inventions created throughout the years giving him a faster, more efficient vehicle. Alongside his bike was the gang of fellow bikers as well, waiting for him to return and lead them once again.

[Soundtrack Cue: KMFDM - Light (Angst Album Version)]

Seating himself on his bike, kicking its throttle, the bike powered up from Johnny 13's motion; its engine growling like a fierce animal from the harshest jungles. The Unlucky 13s followed his lead and revved their engines as well, creating a symphony of loud, hard-edged engines.

With the Unlucky 13s ready to go, Johnny 13 began leading them in their ride across town, ready to wreck the streets as they saw fit.

The Unlucky 13s raced down the roads of the underbelly of Amity Park; their tire treads marking the ground like animals marking their prey after a kill. Not wishing to be among the kills they make, the citizens of the underground all take precaution to avoid their path, keeping away from the streets as much as possible.

Some are not so lucky to get off the streets, but they are not as endangered as they believe. The undead members of the Unlucky 13s, having the ability of intangibility, harmlessly passed through the onlookers, some naughtily lifting up the skirts of any attractive women they encountered.

"Lady, if I had my dick again, I'd be putting it in you right now!" Johnny 13 remarked.

"I've got mine, and I'm gonna find something nice and warm to put it in tonight!" A living biker remarked.

Driving through their route on the streets of the city, they soon encountered a rival gang of motorcyclists, this one a group fixated around fire called the 'Hellblazers'. With their own territory to keep and defend, the Unlucky 13s tolerated not the invaders in their area, quickly heading after the gang to fend them off.

"Hey! It's the Hellblazers! Let's get 'em!" Johnny 13 said.

"Yeah! Get 'em! Mess 'em up! Show 'em this is our turf!" Another Unlucky 13 said.

Driving after the Hellblazers, the Unlucky 13s drew out their weapons, utilizing many blunt weapons like hammers and pipes to use against the enemy. Chasing them down the streets, both gangs continued to drive past many bystanders that had nothing to do with the quarrel, left only to stand by as the two gangs attacked one another.

One Unlucky 13, drawing out a baseball bat, bashed a Hellblazer in the face, forcing him to fall off his bike and crash into a small shop during his fall.

Another Unlucky 13, taking out a pipe, drove it into the wheel of a Hellblazer's bike, driving the whole vehicle to tumble and fall, landing on its driver as he fell on the road.

Yet another Unlucky 13, bashing his bike into the bike of a Hellblazer, made him lose control and slide on the road, leading him to crash into a wall of garbage.

Relish in their victory the Unlucky 13s do, but they are not without opposition for long. Even though this dark dystopia has its moments of chaos, it still has its own law enforcement out of the basic necessity of one. Two police vehicles, noticing the ruckus the bikers were causing, began their pursuit of the biker gang, seeking to end their reign of terror.

The Unlucky 13s were not so easy to surrender to the Hellblazers who invaded their territory, and their attitude is not any different from the law enforcement encroaching them. Prepared themselves for another fight, the bikers continued to pull out chains, pipes, baseball bats, and other melee weapons out of a wide range of choices; fit for any road warriors such as themselves.

Two bikers, taking spiked bats, swung their bats to the tires of one of the police cars, blowing out the tires in an instant and making its driver lose control. With no tires to keep traction to the road, the blowout caused the car to swerve out of control and crash into a nearby building, eliminating the threat of the Unlucky 13s.

Another biker took a chain and dropped it underneath the other car, sending the chain to fall underneath the car and catch under its axles. The cop car, unable to stop fast enough, was caused to swerve out of control as well. Turning to the side, the car subsequently flipped over, tumbling down the street with its passengers inside being thrown around with it.

Taking out the two police cars chasing them down, the bikers were soon joined by more law enforcement, this time on bikes of their own. The Unlucky 13s, having more bikers to battle on the road, believed the change of opponent to be a more interesting fight, preparing themselves for more fun.

One Unlucky 13 took a steel pipe and hit the side of one cop bike, damaging the engine and causing the cop riding it to fall off and tumble onto the road. As he laid on the ground, several more Unlucky 13s ran him over, crushing his arm and foot, eliciting a loud scream from the unfortunate police officer.

Another cop bike found its way directly behind the bike of Johnny 13 himself, where the officer attempted to apprehend him directly and stop the gang leader. Johnny 13, however, had no intentions of stopping for the police officer, instead carrying other ideas on how to address his pursuer.

"Shadow, take the wheel!" Johnny 13 called.

The shadow, obeying his master, took over control of the bike, growing hands to grab the handlebars and safely stabilizing the vehcile. Johnny 13, carefully balancing himself on top of his bike, turned himself around and stood up on the seat of the bike, jumping off it with precise timing.

Johhny 13, making an aerial attack towards his pursuer, landed atop the front of the cop bike with a step and followed by delivering a sharp kick to the officer's face, knocking him off the bike and onto the hard pavement. Landing on the police motorcycle, Johnny 13 then called out to his shadow with a whistle, summoning him back.

Slowing the bike down, the shadow then drove behind the cop bike to catch his master. Seating himself on the commandeered motorcycle, Johnny 13 phased himself through it and onto his own bike, safely landing on it and assuming control of the bike once again.

Taking the opportunity to finish the enemy, Johnny 13 turned his bike around and drove back to the grounded biker cop, running over his head and crushing it like a watermelon. Leaving behind his twitching body on the ground with nothing to his consciousness but a pile of squashed skull and brains, Johnny 13 laughed in victory at his dirty deeds.

In his celebration of victory, however, Johnny 13 was slow to notice a peculiar object standing before him on the road. The road was a person, standing completely still, doing nothing to avoid the oncoming bike. Believing this to be another moment of fun for himself, Johnny 13 increased the speed on his bike to run down the pedestrian, expecting to create a larger mess on the road.

The expectations he had were soon subverted; surprise which he did not expect or contemplate coming about before him. The impact with the lone person did not create a splatter on the street, but, rather, it resulted in his bike hitting a roadblock, launching him off the bike and onto the ground, landing on his face.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Dragging himself off the ground after the brutal pavement kiss on his face, Johnny 13 managed to crawl his way back to his bike, where he found his shadow, also injured from the crash as well. Trying to reunite with his shadow, the two found one more shadow towering over both of them.

The two looked up to the crash site, where a figure emerged from the flames, revealing themselves to be the source of their accident. As the figure approached the two, the figure's hands began to glow green with ectoplasmic energy, frightening the two ghouls awaiting their punishment, as they recognized the source of the energy.

"Danny Phantom? But you've never been down here before! What are you doing down here?" Johnny 13 asked.

"Who said I'm Danny Phantom?" The figure asked.

The voice of the figure was not the male voice of Danny Phantom, but instead a female voice neither had heard before, bringing confusion to the two ghosts. As the figure continued to approach them, the figure revealed herself to be a female doppelganger of Danny Phantom, a 'sister' from years past named Dani Phantom.

Unaware of her past and never before seeing her, Johnny 13 still does not recognize her as a separate being from Danny Phantom.

"Okay. So you got a sex change. Whatever. It's a free country, you're free to express yourself. What's the big deal? What are you doing down here away from your nice rich place? You've never been down here before in your whole life." Johnny 13 said.

"I said, I'm not Danny Phantom. The name's Danielle." Dani said.

Danielle finished her speech with an ectoplasmic blast straight to Johnny 13's face, and another to the shadow, completely obliterating both ghosts and leaving no trace of their forms. Left in their places were piles of green ectoplasm alongside steam and smoke, leaving no trace of the two left in the cosmos.

Johnny 13 and his shadow have been sent to oblivion.

Defeating the leader of the Unlucky 13 gang, Danielle walked away in the distance, moving on to find another foe in the underground world of Old Amity Park to defeat; another threat to people to destroy and protect the innocent from. Her walk to find a new enemy will not be a long one, but her solitude is what makes her walk feel like a prolonged journey.

Her walk is one that seeks out peace, but the time in which she finds it is still a ways ahead of her.