DISCLAIMER: If you saw it on TV, it doesn't belong to me.
Okay, sorry I couldn't get this up on Wednesday, but the next update will be on Wednesday like normal. I'm a little bit nervous about the whole telling-amity-about-Mimic thing, since I really wasn't sure how to write it... Hopefully, it's not too badly done. If Valerie is acting strange, remember this: she's having to admit to the entire town that she was completely and utterly wrong, and that Phantom's actually the good guy. I don't know about you, but it'd make me nervous. Anyway, last time I left Valerie, Danny and Mimic hanging around central Amity Park, about to tell the whole town that they now have two ghostly heroes. Introducing chapter five! Thanks go to sciencefreak330 DPcrazy and Mystinalchemist: I really appreciated your reviews,hopefully this chapter will live up to your expectations!
CHAPTER FIVE: Explanations
The people of Amity Park were curious. They had been going about their daily business on a bright and sunny Saturday morning, when the Red Huntress, Phantom and an unknown ghost had been sighted hovering in the center of town. Phantom was usually only seen fighting other ghosts, so to see him just floating there was unusual, and to see him floating there in the company of the Red Huntress was just downright strange. After all, the Red Huntress hated Phantom. It was well known that she wanted nothing more than to tear him to pieces. So what was going on?
"Amity Park, this is the Red Huntress. If I could have your attention, please?" her voice was heard quite clearly in the street below, thanks to a microphone thoughtfully installed into the mask of hre suit. The residents of Amity Park who weren't already watching looked up to the three flying figures; and cameras started flashing as the local newspapers caught wind of what was happening. Once she was sure she had their attention, she continued.
"Many of you will have seen me around town, fighting the ghosts they have become a constant problem." Valerie said, sweating beneath her mask. She had asked Phantom and Mimic for help with her speech, but that didn't make it any easier. "One of the ghosts all of you will recognise is Danny Phantom, who saved the town from the Ghost King a little while ago." She paused, and scanned the crowd. They were silent, paying attention to what their resident teenage ghost hunter had to say. "I've always believed that Phantom is evil, but I have recently found that I..." she swallowed her pride. This was the part of her speech she was really not looking forward to.
"...I was... wrong. As much as it pains me to admit it, Phantom really is the good guy. And I... I guess I'm trying to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for trying to destroy him when he was trying to help. I... thought that because he was a ghost, he was evil, and I never tried to talk to him, to ask his side of the story. And I should've. So... I'm sorry, Danny Phantom." Shockwaves went through the crowd below her, and people began to whisper amongst themselves, staring at Valerie on her jet-sled, and at Phantom, who was looking extremely embarrassed as he floated in the air beside the Huntress. "Yeah. Anyway. Since Phantom is actually a good ghost, he and I will be working together from now on." The murmuring from below got louder as Danny floated a little lower to make it easier to hear him from the street. He spotted Sam and Tucker in the crowd, and gave them a quick wave. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the crowd, and gave a sheepish grin.
"Right. Um, Hi, Amity Park. I'm Danny Phantom, and like Va- Uh, the Red Huntress said, we're working together now to fight off the ghosts that are invading this town." He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, and Valerie almost laughed at how nervous the normally confident ghost seemed. "But, it's not just the Huntress I'm going to be working with. I'd like to introduce you to a really good friend of mine who'll be helping me and the Huntress with the ghost fighting stuff." The murmur increased as the residents of Amity Park realised where this was going. "Amity Park, this is Mimic." And as the crowd looked up at the three with a mixture of shock and a certain amount of distrust, Mimic stepped out from behind Valerie and Danny, swallowing all her fear and putting up as much false bravado as she could muster.
"Hi, I'm Mimic, like Danny said, and, as I'm pretty sure he also said, or at least, hinted strongly at, I'm a good ghost. I'm going to be helping Danny and Red here defend your town!" she called out, waving with a confidence she didn't feel. "Red?" Valerie hissed at her from one side, and despite the seriousness of the situation, she almost laughed. Gesturing at Valerie to be quiet for a moment, she hid her fear behind her grin again and dropped a little closer to the street below, so that the people of Amity Park could see her better.
"I know that you guys have a hard time trusting ghosts, and heck, I don't blame you. But I really am here to help. Uh, you should probably know that I can... well, I can morph." She said, and a ripple of conversation swept through the crowd. She demonstrated quickly, changing into Danny Phantom in a smart suit and tie, the Red Huntress in a floral pink suit, Mayor Vlad Masters dressed in Jack Fenton's jumpsuit and finally back into herself. A few laughs rose from the crowd here and there, and both Valerie and Danny gave her an annoyed look. Vlad Masters, in his home a few streets away, spluttered as he saw himself in a bright orange jumpsuit on TV. Mimic gave a nervous laugh.
"I thought you should probably know about that... uh, anyway, I promise to be a good ghostie and not muck about with my powers and stuff. And I'll understand if you don't trust me, but... just give me a chance, okay? I mean..." she dropped her self-assured act, looking for the first time as insecure as she felt. "...You gave Danny Phantom a chance. I just want to help." She gave the crowd a helpless look, and a few cameras flashed as the local photographers snapped out of their shock to capture a picture of "Amity's newest ghostly hero?"
Danny stepped in, seeing that Mimic was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. "She really is a good ghost, I swear! Please, like she says, just give her a chance." Mimic gave him a thankful smile, and Valerie decided to fulfil her promise. "Say what you want, but Mimic is good. If it weren't for her, I'd still be hunting the wrong ghost. And... She's my... friend, I guess. And I hate ghosts, so..." she stopped. "...What I'm trying to say is, she deserves a chance." Mimic, grinned delightedly at Valerie, resisting the urge to go and hug her again. "Thanks, Red." She said teasingly. Valerie grinned behind her mask. "Watch it, ghost-girl. I can still change my mind, you know." Mimic laughed, and then suddenly remembered the crowd below her and gave them a panicked look. So far, they seemed more shocked than anything else.
Well, at least nobody's shouting "Kill the ghost!" she thought, as she watched the crowd below. After what seemed like an age, Valerie powered up her jet-sled, and after a quick goodbye, the two ghosts and the one human flew away, leaving a bewildered Amity Park in their wake.
"Mimic: Ghostly Do-Gooder or Shifty Shape-Shifter?" questioned the front page of the Amity Expressthe next day. Antoinette Tanner sighed as she read the article through. At least they're willing to give me a chance, she thought. She folded the newspaper up and put it into her bag, looking around her and waiting for the arrival of Danny, Sam and Tucker. There had been three ghost attacks since Mimic was introduced to the town, but as two had been the Box Ghost and the other had been Skulker, she hadn't had much of a chance to prove her good intentions to Amity yet. She sighed. It took an attack from the Ghost King himself to get them to like Danny. What'll it take to get them to like me? Her thoughts were interrupted when Danny turned the corner, Sam and Tucker bickering a few meters behind him (Tucker probably shouldn't have started salivating at the sight of a new steak restaurant). She grinned and fell in step with Danny. "Ultra-Recyclo-Vegetarian vs. Meat Connoisseur again?" she asked him, smile widening. Danny nodded and sighed, and Mimic laughed.
"Tucker, how would you feel if you were cooked and eaten? Oh, hey Antoinette. And just think of all those poor animals!" Antoinette stifled a laugh. "Hi Sam, Hi Tuck." Tucker grinned. "Hi Antoinette. And Sam, if those poor animals don't want to be dinner they shouldn't taste so good!" Antoinette shook her head, knowing full well that they would probably be arguing until they reached the Nasty Burger. She turned to Danny. "So, loverboy, confessed to Sam yet?" Danny went bright red. "I do not fancy Sam! Honestly, it was bad enough when it was just Tucker..." Antoinette punched him playfully on the arm. "You know it's true, Danny boy. But I'll leave you alone... for now."
They arrived at the Nasty Burger, and Sam and Tucker stopped arguing long enough to order their food. Antoinette ordered ice-cream because "It doesn't matter what I eat, so I eat what I want" and Danny got an order of fries because he'd already eaten at home. As they ate, they discussed Mimic's status with the citizens of Amity Park.
"Well, the polls show that at least 58 percent of Amity thinks you're good news, and another 14 percent haven't decided what they think yet, so that leaves only about 28 percent who actively don't like you, and I'm pretty sure you'll win them over... Danny's popular now, so his sticking up for you means people are going to like you, and Val's helping too, weirdly, because she's telling everyone Danny's good and that you're good too, which means that her fans will be okay with you, for the most part, and..." Antoinette held up a hand. "Information overload, Sam! But I think I get what you mean. But there's still that 28 percent..." she added worriedly. Danny grinned at her. "They'll come round, Ann. Don't worry about it." Antoinette grinned.
"Yeah, you're right, Danny. Come on, guys, let's go to the park."
School on Monday was rife with rumours and speculation about Amity Park's newest spectral defender. Reactions had been mixed: Paulina was upset, believing that Phantom had a romantic relationship with Mimic, which had sent Sam and Tucker into fits of laughter as both Danny and Antoinette looked incredibly annoyed. A few students were distrustful, especially as the new ghost could change form. ("What if she does something bad while she looks like someone else?") Mostly, the students seemed to have decided to wait it out and see what Mimic was like, and reserve judgement until then.
Valerie, true to her word, was firmly on Mimic's side, and seemed quite willing to argue with anyone who wasn't. Danny, Sam, Tucker and Antoinette quite obviously said that they liked her, and other than a few jealous fan girls no one really hated her.
"Okay, they don't hate my guts. I'm happy." Said Antoinette at the lunch table, picking at her mystery meat and wishing she didn't have to eat it to keep up her human disguise. "There's only one thing." Danny gave her a curious look, and was about to ask his ghostly friend what the matter was when Paulina interrupted them, walking past their table discussing Mimic loudly with her friends.
"They're totally going out or something. She's, like, stolen my ghost-boy from me!" she moaned to Starr, who gave her a sympathetic smile. Danny suddenly understood what Antoinette was talking about.
"Danny, please, please kill that rumour next time there's a ghost fight." groaned Antoinette, as Sam and Tucker burst into fresh peals of laughter.
Okay, what do you think? I really wasn't sure about how Amity would react, but I decided that, since Danny would be pretty popular by this point (Just so you know, it's a little bit before Phantom Planet, so most of Amity likes him, and just a bit after d-stabilised, where Valerie seems to be almost friendly towards Phantom, even letting him go when she had the perfect chance to get him, so Valerie's beginning to be more friendly towards ghosts) and because she'd got the Red Huntress's support, most people would be willing to give her a chance, especially after she went to the effort of introducing herself nicely and promised to be good. I felt that the newspapers would probably get bored of the "New Ghost Hero!" story and try to add a new spin to it, which is where the "Phantom loves Mimic" rumour came from, but Mimic won't be dating any time soon. Anyway, I hope you liked it, please leave a review! Thanks.