Disclaimer: Butch Hartman owns the show Danny Phantom as well as all of it's characters. (Except for the older version of Danielle that R(dot)tistiC made up and that you can still see on livevideo under R(dot)tistiC's channel.)
This is the last chapter with the fight to reclaim Amity Park. Please enjoy.
Chapter 16: Business with the Warden
Danny was in the middle of scaring off some other ghosts in the park when he had gotten the message from his sister that they had gotten Axion Labs successfully taken care of. Things seemed to be going well at the high school too with Wulf's group. Sam reported that people were scared of the huge dog, but having all the students out of the way made the job easier as far as staying risk-free goes. It was best that other people weren't in the way and having a greater chance of getting hurt.
Apparently, they had an ordeal with the Lunch Lady who was throwing another tantrum about another change in the school's lunch menu and had barely avoided becoming mincemeat. Literally. They also nearly got run over by Johnny 13 who was revving it up in the halls on his motorcycle, flirting with the senior year girls (his ghost girlfriend Kitty wasn't too happy about that) and sending his bad luck shadow on anything that would cause additional mischief. But with Wulf's frightening exterior and the two teenager's ghost-fighting experience in battling alongside Danny for so long, Sam and Tucker were able to turn things around in both cases of these constantly trouble-seeking ghosts.
As for Danny and his parents, the park was deserted of any picnickers and kids who usually played Frisbee because of the many ghosts that now haunted it. The majority of them were the kind that fled before the presence of a Phantom, so it wasn't that difficult to clear them off. At least until Skulker sprung a trap on the ghost-powered teen, trapping him in a hunting net. It was practically the hunter's signature greeting for him.
"I was getting frustrated at first when there were suddenly no ghosts to do my target practice on. But when I saw that you were the cause of the barren hunting grounds, I started to cheer up." The metal-suited ghost with a flaming green mohawk said with a triumphant smile at Danny through the net he was caught in. Then a blaster came out of his mechanical arm and he pointed it at the trapped boy. "I was starting to miss stalking my favorite prey." He said, preparing to shoot.
"Ehem."
Skulker turned, confused in hearing someone clear their throat behind him and saw… "The ghost-child?"
"In person." Danny proclaimed as Skulker looked between the Danny he had caught in the net and the Danny that was clearly behind him. Then the teen ghost-fighter suddenly zoomed at the "ghost zone's greatest hunter" side-kicking him right in the stomach and making him spin out of control, away from the other ghost-boy that he had just caught in the net.
Before Skulker's attack, Danny had split himself into four separate ghosts to spread out around the park and scare the ghosts off faster. This move was always difficult for him in the beginning because he had to focus on controlling, not only his own mind, but on physically being more than one person that each had their own minds and wills. But he had mastered the technique over the past year or two and learned to use it as effectively as even Vlad Plasmius himself. He just didn't use it that often because most of the time, he needed all his combined strength when fighting certain ghosts. And his strength diminished a little with each copy he made of himself. In order to make the duplicates, he had to divide his power evenly between them. So none of the copies he made were ever as strong as they were when they were one individual. Still, it came in quite handy when fighting multiple enemies he knew he could handle easily.
Skulker had only attacked one of these duplicates that were frightening the more cowardly ghosts and the other three Danny's rejoined to help the fourth out. After getting Skulker out of the way, all Danny had to do was touch the outside of the net to have the trapped multiple of himself fuse back into him, emptying the net and building his original strength back to what it was before he split himself into four.
Skulker was one of the ghost-boy's toughest enemies. Even with his full strength back, he still had a bit of difficulty with this last specter that lingering in the park. In his past battles with him, Tucker was usually able to hack into the hunter's mechanical suit to help him gain the advantage. But seeing that Tucker was in a different group at the moment, Danny had to come up with creative ways to avoid Skulker's numerous traps he had set all around the park and keep him busy until Wulf's group had arrived with the techno-geek.
At least he had his parents to help him with this. Come to think of it, even back when they didn't know his secret identity, what could he have done without their help? It was their inventions he had been using to protect the city and stop evil apparitions from harming people. It had just occurred to the eighteen-year-old that Danielle didn't really have any parents besides Vlad, and he was long gone now. Not that he proved to be much of a parent in the first place.
How could the young clone have lived without that kind of support Danny had grown up with? Was she able to make any other friends aside from himself and Valerie? Where was she always going after her previous visits to this town? Where had she been staying the last three years while she was away? He never was able to keep in contact with her, so he had no way of knowing what she had been up to all these years or what she was now planning after this was all over. But maybe he would have time to ask before she took off again. She would have to stick around long enough to explain to his family and friends about how she had no real relation with the Fentons. That was for sure.
Danny looked at his parents who were currently armed with their handmade anti-ghost weapons. If Danielle didn't have any other place to stay, then…maybe…
He would have to ask his parents first of course after they explained who and what she really was and how she came to be. And he didn't know how Danielle or his friends would react to the idea he had in mind. But after this whole ghost problem was taken care of and they had a bit of time for a break after such an intense series of events, they would be able to talk it over properly.
It was only a short while before Wulf arrived with Tucker and Sam on his back and the African-American friend was able to use his trusty PDA to take control of Skulker's metal exo-skeleton and purposely make him go into the Fenton Thermos.
With Skulker gone now, the park was now safe for the townspeople to visit again and Danny and Wulf went their separate ways with their assigned groups once more to take care of the rest of the town.
The ghost-fighting mission of the Fentons and their friends went on all throughout the day. Danny couldn't remember there being so many ghosts attacking all at once since the Ghost King had been released from the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. That all-powerful specter had an entire ghost-skeleton army at his disposal and used it to run down the entire city. But on the flip-side, in this current situation, most of the ghosts were afraid of both the Phantoms and the word that the ghost-hero was back with a bit of help seemed to travel fast, thus making the job much easier and take less time than it would have. There were some ghosts that gave all of them a bit more trouble than they bargained for, but whenever that happened, one of the other two groups were able to come to the needing one's assistance. Then they would part their separate ways again.
Danny especially got this problem of being taken advantage of. Sometimes, even though most of the ghosts were spooked at the mere sight of him, the bandages he had on his still-healing injuries from the fire seemed to make him seem more vulnerable. So ghosts would start gaining up on him all at once. But that also worked as an advantage to him because even though he looked immensely weak on the outside, these ghosts thought they wouldn't even need their full power to take him out. But since yesterday, Danny was much stronger than he had been and that they were usually able to predict. In addition, he had the help of his parents and the people on the outer lines of defense, if it ever came to it.
Eventually, the three ghost-accompanied groups' efforts seemed to be paying off. The malevolent spirits haunting the whole city gradually decreased in numbers and their attacks became much less frequent. As the sun started to set, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton drove the RV along the lamp-lit road of Main Street with Danny flying just ahead of them. They kept a wary eye out for any ghost activity they may have missed.
"All right, Tuck." Danny said into his Fenton Phone that he had in his ear, when he didn't see any ghost attacks in his area. "What's the ghost-infestation status with your group?"
"We're just passing the Penitentiary." Tucker responded through the earphone. "Seems Freakshow's back in custody and it's all clear here of any ghosts."
"Jazz, what about your group?" Danny now asked.
"We're at the docks and our cousin's just gotten introduced to the Box Ghost, but we should have him over with, in no time." He heard his big sister respond from her side. "Other than that, we seem to be all clear as well."
"All right." Danny said, excitedly and looking at the town clock tower to check the time. It was nearing eight o'clock "Nice job everyone. Looks like we'll be done even before night falls." Danny looked behind him and smiled at his parents who had heard the message with their own Fenton Phones and they gave him a congratulating, thumbs-up.
Danny looked ahead again, already thinking of getting to sleep after a long day of work when he suddenly gasped at what he saw himself fast approaching in front of him. Three green-skinned ghosts in black uniforms with metal helmets, armor on the shoulders, metallic gloves and utility belts were hovering in the middle of the street with red eyes and broad grins on their faces.
Before Danny or his parents could stop in seeing the unexpected roadblock, the three ghosts each raised a metal tube-like object, that anyone would have thought qualified as a police bat, and fired narrow rays of red energy from the ends at Danny.
"AAH!" He cried, as the beams hit him dead center and sent him careening backwards behind the Fenton RV. He landed on the hard concrete of the road, rolling to a halt that scraped some of his bandages loose, making the healing wounds bleed again underneath.
"Danny, are you okay?" He heard Sam's voice urgently through his Fenton Phone. The others must have heard him scream after getting blasted. "What's happening?"
But Danny had no time to answer before he looked up and saw the RV suddenly get hit from the side by a single blast of transparent, red energy. The Fenton family vehicle spun off the road, rolling onto its side and hit a streetlamp, which dented the roof of the van.
"Mom! Dad!" Danny cried out, getting up and immediately flying towards the overturned RV his parents were still inside.
He was just about to the window of the vehicle to look inside and see if they were both all right, but he was just then hit by another blast of red energy. The force of the blast blew him against a brick wall of a building that was alongside the street, scraping some of the burns on his back as he slid down it to the sidewalk. He shook his head to recover and looked up, seeing the one who had ambushed him and his parents.
"Walker." Danny said, getting up to his feet and looking at the ghost with the utmost loathing on his face. Walker may have had the business look of a respectable warden with his clean white tuxedo, black gloves, boots, and a hat, but Danny had known this ghost-zone jailer for long enough to not have any ability to stand for him lust for power and absurd way of keeping law and order. "I should have known I'd have to deal with "the law" before this was over."
"You're not the only one either, ghost-boy." Walker said in his western accent and pointing off towards the RV.
Danny looked in the indicated direction and gasped as he saw two of the three police-ghosts that attacked him phase into the RV where his parents were stuck. They shouldn't have been able to do that. Whenever his parents drove in that van, they always put up the ghost-shield for an extra precaution, and he knew they had put it up while driving along the street just now. Danny guessed that the crash must have damaged the generator for it, deactivating the shield and allowing the ghosts on the outside access to the interior of the van. The police-dressed ghosts come back out, holding Jack and Maddie, who looked quite a bit off-balance from the crash.
"No! Leave them alone!" The teenage ghost cried, again, flying to help his parents. But more of Walker's police forces suddenly appeared, blocking his way and surrounding him.
Danny looked around at the ghosts with a glare and then split himself into three different Phantoms. Then with the separate forms, he attacked the offending ghosts, shooting his green plasma-ray at them and forcing them away. Then he merged back into one and used his combined strength and some martial arts moves to fight off a few others. But then he was hit from the back and he tumbled to the ground again. When he was able to look up, he saw who had attacked him. "Mom?" He said, surprised.
She and her husband where holding their ghost-fighting weapons, but instead of helping their son to fight off the ghost-army Walker had set on him, they had turned the weapons on Danny. Just one look in their eyes helped Danny to understand why. They were glowing red and had an evil look in them that could only be accomplished by one of his ghostly enemies. Walker's men were overshadowing his parents.
Now, not only did the jailer ghost have Mr. and Mrs. Fenton on his side, more of the police ghosts started to appear from all directions on Main Street and closing in on the teenage hybrid.
"Uh…Attention all units. We'll need backup." He said nervously through his Fenton Phone before being suddenly attacked by several of the ghost-cops at once. There was no way he would be able to take on all of them at once, even with his ability to multiply.
As the young ghost-teen dodged, he relayed the situation to his friends over his end of the wireless connection and Sam and Tucker told him that they were on their way with Wulf. Danielle, Valerie and Jazz were still dealing with their own ghost problems but said they would also be there soon since the rest of the town was clean of spectral commotion.
In the meantime however, Danny would have to find a way to keep the ghost-army off of him and avoid getting arrested, so to speak. Skulker was one thing, but having to fight an entire army was no easy task. He may have fought this many of Walker's cronies before, but he had help those other times and even before the time of the Disasteroid, his parents, though working against him, were never fighting with Walker.
Danny kept glancing in his father's direction in hopes that he would find some hint of him resisting the ghost that had him possessed. He had been able to fight it once before while Vlad was trying to make a fool out of him. But even then, Danny had to remind himself that Vlad was able to get total control despite Jack's attempts to fight him out. The young teenager also supposed that his dad was only able to resist temporarily because Vlad thought the man to be a bigger idiot than he really was. So he probably didn't use his full power at first. These ghosts knew better than that, so they had completely overpowered both Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.
If Jack and Maddie had Specter Deflectors on, the evil ghosts inside them wouldn't have been able to overshadow them and turn them against him. But his parents had refrained from wearing them because it also prevented Danny from going near them. And for various other reasons, none of his other friends were wearing them in the fear of hurting the ghosts on their own side. But from the looks of things, having the metal belts would be a good idea. However, none had been brought along for this mission, so all Danny could do was do his best to until more help arrived.
Danny continued to dodge and fire back as he fought the army on his own, waiting hopefully for his friends to come in time to help him. As he raised his palm to fire another ecto-plasmic ray, that same arm was shot from the side, right where one of his bandaged injuries was. Danny cried out in pain, holding his arm where it hurt. This minor setback was his downfall. Before he could recuperate, several more shots from the police ghosts hit him where he was already injured from the fire the day before. The lone ghost-fighter fell to his knees as Walker's men swarmed around him from all angles and grabbed him.
Danny struggled against them, but there were just too many. Even if he could escape, his chances of getting completely overwhelmed again were great. As the police-clad ghosts kept him down on his knees with his hands pinned behind his back, Walker approached and took the boy's Fenton Phone from his ear. After examining it at eye level, the jailer grinned evilly at the ghost-boy and closed his hand around the communication device, crushing it in his firm grip.
"Now back to the prison for you, punk." Walker said, as his ghost policemen forced Danny back onto his feet with his hands still held firmly behind his back.
A they were about to cuff him, Wulf suddenly came speeding up the street on all fours in their direction and pounced on Walker with a mighty roar. Sam and Tucker soon came up the street in pursuit with Fenton Wrist-Rays and started blasting the ghost policemen away from their friend. This counter-attack came as enough of a surprise that Danny was able to fight the rest of them off with a giant burst of ecto-energy that he emitted from his whole body.
But he was still feeling weak from getting hit so many times prior, so he fell back down to his hands and knees once he was released. Sam quickly ran to his side while Wulf and Tucker continued to fight Walker and his police forces. "Danny, are you okay?" She asked as she took his arm and pulled him to his feet.
"Yeah. Thanks for coming." Danny said with a nod.
"So how do we get the ghosts out of your parents?"
Walker, by this time, had broken away from Wulf and had drawn near the two. "I'd conceder following the procedures of surrender if you're really feeling as tired as you look." He said.
Danny stepped in front of Sam, shielding her and glaring at his enemy. "Sorry Walker, but your in my town now. And here, you don't make the rules."
"Perhaps. But he does." Walker said, eyeing Mayor Foley who was helping Wulf with the ghosts a little way down the street. Danny and Sam both gasped, knowing what Walker was thinking when the warden of the ghost-jail suddenly flew in Tucker's direction.
Unable to stop the power-hungry jailer, all Danny could do was yell, "Tucker, look out!" But it was too late. Walker phased right into Tucker's back and started to overwhelm him. Tucker closed his eyes and held his arms around his stomach, trying to resist the powerful force fighting to take control of him. But once the teenage mayor's eyes shot open again, they started to glow with the deadly reflection of the ghost that now inhabited his body. "No!" Danny cried out, knowing that Walker had succeeded in taking complete control of his friend.
"Oh, yes." Walker said through the African American boy's mouth but in his own voice and western accent. Then he observed the Fenton Wrist Ray strapped on his arm. "Hmm. Nifty little gadget. This always worked so effectively against my employees. Let's see how well it works against you and your friends." Then Walker used Tucker's body to point the handmade ecto-laser at Wulf and fired.
Danny stood, horrorstruck as he watched his doglike friend get hit. Wulf let out a painful bark before the force of the blast made him fall over.
"Wulf!" Danny cried before starting to fly to help him. But before he got far, another police-ghost phased up through the ground in front of him and grabbed him by the forearm as he tried to fly passed him. The next thing Danny knew, the uniformed ghost had him restrained again with his metal, tube-like weapon pointing under his chin and keeping him from reaching his hairy companion.
Danny tried to pull the ghosts arm off of his neck as he looked back at Sam who looked panic-stricken. "Sam, Run!" He shouted at her. But Walker heard this and sent Danny's possessed parents after the teenage girl. Soon, they had grabbed her as well and had their weapons pointed at her, threateningly.
The two teenagers could now only watch as Walker's men surrounded the giant creature and take out double-barreled, gun-like devices that Wulf was all too familiar with. Before the giant dog could do anything, the guns fired a violet energy, whose ends wrapped around the wrists of his front paws and his neck. On contact, the whip-like energy shocked him, making him let out a loud, doglike yelp of pain before being yanked backwards by the restraining energy on his neck. The spectral canine, fell onto his back and two more ghosts came out and threw a net over him, pinning him to the concrete of the road completely.
Danny watched helplessly as the same ghosts that had harmed Wulf numerous times before strapped him down once again. In hearing his black furry friend give off doglike whimpers as if desperate for help, Danny tried again to break free of the ghost that was keeping him from going to help his companion. "Stop it. Let him go!" He shouted at Walker in protest before the cop-ghost holding him nudged his weapon to the teenager's neck, threatening to shoot if he moved anymore.
"Sorry, ghost-boy. That would be against the rules." The jail warden responded, taking out a metal torture collar Wulf had once worn while in the ghost jail. The restrained beast recognized it instantly and Danny and Sam looked fearfully at it. Walker noticed their expressions and smiled even more broadly with Tucker's mouth. "Don't worry, kid. You'll be getting one of these too. And then it's back to the prison for the both of you." Then, still in complete control of Tucker's body, he knelt down to where Wulf's head was.
But before he could insert the collar around the dog's hairy neck, a sudden rush of fast blowing wind came from behind Danny and the ghost policeman that had a firm hold on him. A black, white and green blur had flown passed them and started bolting all over the street, ricocheting off of all the spectral cops, knocking them over.
"What in the…?" Walker exclaimed, completely stunned just before the blur suddenly hit him and the body he had possessed. There was a sudden burst of energy on contact that forced Walker to suddenly fly out of Tucker. The only thing it did to the teenage mayor was made him stumble after being released of the mind control.
The blur went on, heading straight at Sam who cringed in fright at its fast approach. But she barely felt a brush of wind, as the super fast entity seemed to bounce off Danny's parents with the same effect of the ghosts being ejected from their victims. Jack and Maddie also fell over after the ghosts were pushed out, but they weren't hurt.
Tucker and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton looked dazed and rubbed their heads wondering what had just happened and why they were now on the ground. Tucker in particular was confused how he had gotten hold of the torture collar that would have already been on Wulf's neck if the tables hadn't turned so suddenly.
The black, white and green blur raced on and now knocked the ghost-cop holding Danny away from him and proceeded to the ghosts that had Wulf trapped. The evil ghosts were too stunned to move before the black white and green mass hit them all with full force, deactivating the binding energy of the gun-like devices and releasing Wulf, who burst from the net with an enraged roar.
Valerie and Jazz came up behind Danny now, who was looking around, just as stunned and confused as everyone else at what had just happened and where that blur had now disappeared to. "What was that?" He asked the two girls who were grinning as if they knew something no one else did.
They started to hover on the glider just a foot above the ground next to him, and Jazz said, from over Valerie's shoulder, "Our little cousin's just got a new power."
Danny's eyes widened when he understood the meaning of what the college girl just said. "Wait, that thing was…?" but before he could finish, Walker hit him and Valerie's glider with another blast of his red ghost-energy. The three went flying backwards until they hit the ground. By the time they looked up, Walker was standing over them with his hands held authoritatively behind his back.
"Teaming up with a ghost-hunter and a super-smart sister, huh?" He commented, frowning down at the two girls who had just joined in the battle. "No matter. You'll be joining Wulf back at my prison whether you want to or not, Danny Phantom."
Then a young girl's voice said behind him, "Sorry to disappoint you," Walker turned around in surprise as the voice finished with, "But it's not going to be that one today." Just one look at the source of the voice helped him to realize what the girl meant by that one. Danielle Phantom was leaning up against the overturned RV with a confident smile on her face.
Walker cocked an eyebrow in confusion and looked between the two Phantoms. "So even the ghost-half has family." He said in confirmation.
"That's right." Danielle now stepped towards Walker while his army looked flabbergasted at her. "Now leave my cousin, and his peers, alone." She warned with a glare.
Walker chuckled slightly at the girl's demand. "That would be against the rules, little lady."
"Well, your rules stink." Danielle folded her arms, frowning at the warden. "And they don't apply here." Then she tensed into a battle stance.
"We'll see how you feel when you join Wulf and your half-ghost friend in my prison." Then he directed his attention at his remaining policemen. "Get 'er." He ordered, pointing at the rebellious teenage girl.
As the uniformed ghosts started to surround the clone, Danny scrambled to his feet and argued from behind. "Hey, she hasn't done anything."
"Not yet." Walker responded, turning his head a little to look at him. "But seeing as the trouble-making streak seems to be running in your family, it's best to get her behind bars with you before she starts breaking the law like you have a knack of doing."
The greedy warden looked back at the Phantom girl as his men continued to close in on her with their tube-like weapons at the ready, but she only grinned mischievously at them. "Don't count me out just yet." She said, before starting to hover about a foot above the ground. "Your goons have to catch me first." Then with a continuous emission of green ecto-energy from her feet, she shot forward with lightning-fast speed, bouncing off the police-ghosts that surrounded her and then suddenly zooming up to Walker, stopping only inches in front of his startled face.
"Hi." She remarked with a wide eyes grin before grabbing the brim of his hat and yanking it down over his eyes. As he was struggling to get it off, she came around behind him and hit him from the back with a plasma ray from both her hands. He fell forward on the street with a thud as Danielle landed next to Danny who was looking quite impressed.
But then he looked at all of the army men who were getting up again. "There's no way we'll be able to get them all in a Fenton thermos." He said to his family and friends who nodded in agreement.
"So let's just skip that part and give them a one way ticket back to the ghost zone?" Tucker suggested. Then he quickly said a few words in Esperanto to Wulf who was standing on the other side of the recovering army and responded by extending his claws and slashing the air. Danielle looked surprised as Wulf tore a massive hole right in the air, making an opening to a scene that she recognized as a part of the ghost-zone.
Some of the police ghosts were starting to charge at Danny and his peers as he took a deep breath, and released his most powerful technique: His Ghostly Wail.
Wulf jumped out of the way and the ghost fighting squad hurried behind the ghost-hero, covering their ears as green sound-waves emitted from the ghost-teen's mouth, giving off an ear-splitting noise that shook the whole street and sent the entire ghost-army careening backwards. The powerful attack continued to pulse and the concrete underneath it began to crack from the loud wail as the ghosts were pushed back from the unbearable sound and flew through Wulf's clawed-through portal. Danielle used her plasma ray while the others used whatever weapons that were handy to force any ghosts that would have missed the hole to go in that direction and fly through the portal while shrugging their shoulders to their ears in an attempt to shield them from deafening noise Danny was giving off.
Danny felt his ghostly power, as well as his physical strength, start to give out as the last of the spectral police disappeared through the roughly made ghost-portal but before he lost too much energy, he let off the Ghostly Wail and Wulf's portal resealed itself, trapping the ghosts back in the ghost-zone.
The now exhausted teenager took a few deep breaths to recover from the emission of so much ghost power. When he was first learning that technique it would wear him out so much that he would change back to his human form. But he had gotten stronger since then, and even though it still took quite a bit out of him, he learned how to better regulate the constant pulses of the energy so he would keep his Phantom form if he wanted to and not feel quite as fatigued afterwards.
He felt several supporting hands grasp his shoulders, as he looked up to find that Walker was still there. He had ducked in cover, just out of range of the sound waves of Danny's Wail. But even though he wasn't blown back like his army was, he still looked quite dazed from the attack that shook the whole street. And he was the only opposing ghost left. The neatly dressed jailer seemed to realize this too, as he got to his feet, judging by the look on his white-skinned face.
"Who has the army now, Walker?" Danny said, breathing rather heavily from doing his Wail. Walker only glared at him determinedly, despite the fact that he was outnumbered and charged his gloved hands up with the red ghost-energy he possessed.
But before he could use it, Danielle phased up through the ground right under him with her enhanced sped, making him shoot several feet into the air before she delivered a powerful punch that sent him tumbling towards Wulf who caught Walker and pinned him to the ground. Everyone stood around the warden with whatever anti-ghost weapons they had at hand pointing at him. Then Tucker approached with a Fenton Thermos.
"Let's see how you like being locked up." He said, as he removed the lid and pointed the Thermos at Walker's head. Wulf moved himself out of range as Walker was sucked into the ghost-catching device.
"And that's the last one." Valerie confirmed, looking over her spectral scanner. "As of now, Amity Park is officially ghost-free."
Valerie closed the keypad on her arm with a smile of satisfaction as Danny let out a huge sigh of relief, congratulating everyone for a job well done as he wiped sweat off his forehead. He was feeling so exhausted, he might drop at any minute. But it wasn't him that did this. As eh was facing Danielle to thank her for her assistance, she was drifting back down to the concrete, breathing very heavily and drooping forward. Wulf's eyes widened and his ears perked up in awareness as he too watched this happen.
To Danny's surprise, before his young cousin was fifteen feet away from rejoining the others, she suddenly changes back into her human form, and started falling forwards.
Wulf was the one closest and reacted fastest. As the fatigued girl was losing her balance, he rushed up to her and her limp body fell across his furry head. Danny's family and friends gasped at her unexpected collapse and just as she was sliding to her knees off of Wulf's head, Danny quickly flew over and caught her from behind.
"Oh, the poor thing." Maddie said in pity as she and the others started to crowd around the two ghost-hybrids. "She must be completely worn out."
"She did say that new power of hers took quite a bit of her own strength with it." Valerie said, bending over and putting her hands on her knees, looking down at the young girl as Danny gently lowered her down to the ground, keeping his arm wrapped in a supporting way around her shoulders.
"That super-speed must take as much out of her as my Ghostly Wail used to for me." Danny commented. Danielle moaned, putting her hand on her head as if she had a headache. Wulf whimpered, doglike and gently licked her face.
The ghost girl giggled from the friendly gesture and looked up at the people who surrounded her.
"Are you all right?" Danny asked in concern, sitting her up. Danielle only nodded, still looking too tired to even stand, but at least she smiled.
Well, if Valerie's and the Fentons' scanners were accurate, everyone would soon be just fine. All the ghosts were gone and it looked like the remainder of the night would be peaceful. After Freakshow's jailbreak, the kidnapping of Danny's family and friends, his search for them, his especially close encounter with death, and everyone's valiant effort of cleaning up the town of spectral mischief, the whole team agreed that they all deserved a good long rest.
With that, Valerie took off for home on her glider and Wulf turned himself invisible before heading back to his own home in the woods. After Danny flipped the Fenton RV back up again with his enhanced strength, he turned to his human form and everyone else hopped into the still functional van.
All of the kids fell asleep almost instantly in the back of the RV as Mr. and Mrs. Fenton rode in the front, driving home. Mrs. Fenton looked in the back where she saw Tucker and Sam, seatbelted in the captain seats behind her. Tucker was snoring loudly with his mouth hanging open and his head tilted back, but everyone else was just as sound asleep as he was and didn't even mind the snoring. Maddie looked further back to where her own children were sleeping in the back seat with their heads resting on each other. As for Danielle: the teenage, ghost-powered girl that she still didn't really know much about, was seated next to Danny sleeping with her head resting on the glass of the car window.
Maddie turned back to the front as they drove on through the now calm night, thinking. In seeing how Danny and that young girl had fought together against Freakshow, Ember and now Walker, it was clear that they both knew each other rather well. But how could three years have gone by without Danny even mentioning her to them? How did she get her powers?
Well, whoever she was, they would be sure to find out tomorrow when they were all rested. In the meantime, she, like Tucker and Sam, would spend the night with the Fentons.
After all, after the great service this girl had provided Danny as well as the rest of the Fentons and their friends, she deserved nothing less than to be treated the same as the member of the family Danny considered her to be.
Yay! The town's safe now and the Fenton family and friends finally get a break. For now. The Phantom's still have to explain Danielle's past and don't forget the Guys in White. But I hope you guys have enjoyed the story so far.