You guys are awesome, do you know that? Thanks for all the hits/reviews/alerts/favorites for the last chapter!

Okay, review relies:

abibliophobia: It cracks me up too! I love his lingo.

Niori: Yeah, I suppose you're right. His hero complex is shown in this chapter, just not causing problems with moving.

The Feral Candy Cane: Thanks for the compliments!

XSuperXStarX: Thanks! I'm glad you liked that line.

Irish Ninja Chick: You really think so? Thanks.

Chibiussa: You're welcome. Thank you for reviewing.

Luiz4200: I guess I should have verified that it was a just local newspaper, instead of assuming using headline a headline with the word local in it would tell everyone that it wasn't nationwide. I'm sorry for the confusion. I hope this chapter is less confusing. :)

hollagirl: Okay.I hope you keep enjoying it.

:)

Never a Break from Duty

Disclaimer: I'm not the one who owns these shows.

At the Skate Park:

"So, Jakey, who is that?" Trixie asked, pointing at the black-haired boy that had followed them from the Longs' house to the skate park.

"That's Danny," Jake replied, "My dad's making me show him around. Supposedly, he's the son of my dad's best friend from high school."

"Dude!" Spud shouted. "I love the shirt and all, but it looks a bit like the oversized 'I Cards' shirt Jake's step-aunt from his dad's side sent him for his birthday."

Danny just mumbled to himself that it was Jake's shirt. Luckily for him, Spud didn't hear.

"Why's he here anyway?" Trixie asked.

"My family's moving here from a small town you wouldn't have heard of. My parents want to get away from . . . from problems back home. Even New York is safer than our old town, now that those . . . heh heh, problems exist." Danny explained. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'problems caused by the Amity Park Banner.'

"Why did you hesitate before saying 'problems'?" Spud inquired suspiciously. "Wait, what problems? What do you mean by problems?"

"Just some problems related to my parents' line of work. It's no big deal, really." Danny half-lied.

Flashback:

"I can't believe my best friend from high isn't coming to our graduating class reunion!" Jonathon shouted. "He said he's too busy with his job. I can't believe he won't take a little time off of ghost hunting to come catch up with everyone! He was interested in ghosts in high school, but now he's obsessed. Every time I talk to him, it's always ghosts this, and ghosts that. I'm telling you he needs to come to this reunion so he can WIND DOWN!"

"Uh, yeah. That's great Dad, I guess he'll just have to come visit another time, when he's not ghost hunting." Jake said.

At the same time, but in another state . . .

Jack traced his finger around the contour of the blueprints. He was figuring, "If we're going to power this Ghost Portal we're making, we'll have to use . . . " he stopped his sentence short of saying what they'd need. Instead, he shouted, "Bathroom break! I'll be back, Maddie."

Present:

"Aren't your parents ghost hunters?" Jake asked.

Danny laughed nervously. "That's really funny. I didn't know that you knew what my parents do for their career."

Changing the subject, Danny shrieked, "Enough about my problems! Isn't it about time we get on the half-pipe already?"

"Yeah, let's go, dudes. There's not much point in coming to the skate park if we don't use the half-pipe!" Spud agreed. He skated off, shouting, "Last one there is a can of six-month-old sardines!"

Trixie shook her head, "That boy is as childish as childish gets."

Talking to Danny, she added, "Now why do you want to get on the half-pipe? You didn't even bring a skateboard!"

Danny shrugged. He said, "Oops! My mistake. Go have some fun. I'll see if there's a way I can rent one."

"Uh-huh," she grunted. "Good luck with that."

Trixie skated off, but Jake was stopped by what he heard: a voice calling in a whisper,"Psssst! American Dragon! Me clan requires assistance!"

Danny saw Jake sneak off, 'I wonder where he's going,' he thought idly.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it. His ghost sense trailed out of his mouth, alerting him of something he needed to deal with. 'Not here, too,' he thought.

Quickly, he found a place to duck, so no one would witness him changing into a ghost. His two rings flashed over his body, as he rushed to transform.

Invisible, he shot into the air. Looked around, he couldn't see any ghosts, but it likely that the ghost was lurking behind one of New York's many skyscrapers. He simply followed his ghost sense until he found the specter.

Even Danny, whose average day could never be considered normal, had never expected this. The ghost was robbing a store called, 'Pot o' Luck'. Leprechauns were panicking, and running wily-nily with armfuls of gold.

A leprechaun wearing a green tuxedo was begging Jake for protection. "Please, American Dragon, ye've got to stop this! If'n tha' monster gets away wi' all our gold, we'll have lost our lives's savin's in delicate gold treasures. Oh that'd be deepest shame fo' a leprechaun clan. Ye've gotta get our gold back, laddie!"

'Gee, I can't let these guys get robbed,' Danny thought, sending an ectoblast at the ghost.

Immediately, the leprechauns' panic increased. The one in the suit shouted, "Only th' Huntsclan uses tha' green energy! They be here for all our merchandise, boyos!"

"Huntsclan?" Danny asked, turning visible. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm just here to help."

"It be another ghastly monster!"

"No, you've got it wrong! I'm only here to help you get your property back." Danny told them.

"Monster, me?" asked the robber ghost. "I'm just after gold, just like you leprechauns. Ta!"

He flew off, and a leprechaun cried, "He be gettin' away wi' our gold!"

"Not for long," Jake declared. He put his fists in the air and roared, "Dragon up!"

He flew after the robber, saying to himself, "How can I stop a ghost?"

Danny caught up to Jake, and answered his question by stating, "You could ask for help."

"Aw man! What do you want?"

"I just want to help. I'm not going to let anyone get robbed by a ghost. It's my responsibility to keep ghosts from causing trouble."

"Say what? I haven't met any ghosts trying to prevent trouble."

"But that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm just going to help, I swear!" Danny promised.

Danny shot another ectoblast at the thief, causing him to drop the wealth. Jake grabbed the bag of gold with his tail as Danny uncapped his thermos.

The ghost shouted as he was sucked in. Triumphantly, Danny screwed the lid back on. He announced, "Got him."

"Okay, who are you?" Jake asked Danny.

Danny introduced himself, "My name's Danny Phantom, and as I said earlier, it's my responsibility to keep ghosts from causing trouble. So you're a dragon, huh?"

"Yeah, and I meant you seem really familiar. Do I know you?"

"Well, we have met, Jake."

This answer frustrated the young dragon. "So, who are you? I don't remember meeting you."

"Fine, I'll show you," Danny said, "but I'm assuming that you won't tell anyone my secret. I know I'm not going to tell anyone yours."

After a second of delay, he said, "I'm Danny Fenton."

Danny turned human.