DANNY PHANTOM: THIS TIME AROUND

DIAMOND GRYPHON

DATE: 5/1/07

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

Chapter 3

Sam Manson had gone from the stage of depression, to anger, and back again several times during the week after Danny's disappearance. Currently she was back in the anger faze.

The goth was storming down the sidewalk on her way home from school. She didn't look at the uniform houses that surrounded her, choosing instead to keep her eyes firmly fixed on the ground in front of her feet. This caused her to bump into just about everyone on the way, but she didn't care. Anyone who had a problem with her usually refrained from confronting her when they saw her scowl.

Being a goth had it's advantages.

Sam didn't notice anything was wrong for a while. The only thing that changed was a growing amount of whispers the further she progressed. It was nothing, she hadn't dealt with before. Girls at school were always talking in class, she had learned to tune it out.

It was when the whispers turned to frantic conversations and calls that Sam realized that they weren't talking about her. She paused, looking up for the first time to try and figure out what people were talking about.

"A few blocks from here . . ."

"People are terrified!"

"My husband went to help . . ."

"Where are the Fentons?"

"Too far away. They can't get here in time!"

"But the ghost . . ."

That was all Sam needed to hear. There was another attack in progress. If she got there in time, Phantom would still be there.

She immediately started jogging in the direction that the most desperate shouts seemed to come from. As she went, Sam noticed the crowd becoming thicker and more panicked. Eventually, she had to slow her pace and shove through the crowd to make any headway.

Sam finally emerged from the throng of people to find herself in front of a small store that was surrounded by police and warning tape. It didn't take her long to find out what was going on.

Outside of the store was a soldier. He was holding his position just outside of the door, guarding it from intruders. He had his large automatic firearm at the ready, almost daring anyone to try and enter.

He didn't seem to care that blood stains blossomed on his chest like a rose.

Sam took a few more steps forward to get a closer look. She was only about a hundred feet from the ghost.

"Miss, you need to stay back." A police officer walked up to her, squarely blocking her view of the building. "This is not a safe place for children."

"What's going on?" Sam craned her neck to try and see past the officer but only succeeded in pulling a muscle.

"Hostage situation." He grunted, indicating the store behind him. "That ghost has about ten people in the shop. We've been trying to get them out for over an hour."

"Over an hour!" Phantom was extremely quick on getting to the scene, if the last two attacks were any indication. He should have shown up already.

"Yeah, now could you please get back behind the tape with everyone else?" The man seemed to be getting annoyed with her.

"Can't you just trap him in a Fenton invention?" Sam didn't see what the problem was; ghosts had been attacking the town for years. How was this any different? The cop shifted nervously.

"This is the first time we've had to deal with such a recently dead ghost." He glanced back at the ghost nervously before continuing. "It's had to fight something that can shoot us, while we can't shoot it. Our guns are useless and he could hurt the hostages before we get any anti-ghost weapons locked on him."

Sam mulled this over, slowly turning the information over in her head. The policeman seemed to snap out of it and realize that he wasn't doing his job.

"Miss, you really need to get back behind the tape. Let the adults deal with this."

Sam complied, scowling. She hated being treated like a little kid. She was going to prove him wrong; she would deal with it. If Phantom, the cops, and the Fentons wouldn't help, she would.

Still fueled by the anger at her so called 'friend', Sam worked her way through the crowd. She slowly made her way to her target, the alley next to the shop. She noticed with relief that it wasn't taped off. There was no door from it to the shop.

That wouldn't stop a Manson of course.

Sam smirked, checked to see in she could be seen from the street and reached for her belt. Money had its privileges. Top secret government inventions were definitely one of them. Her parents would kill if they knew that the device that they had brought from the GIW to protect her would actually be taking her deeper into danger.

Irony is beautiful.

Flipping a switch, Sam calmly walked straight through the offending wall. Intangibility belts were still in the prototype stage, she dismissed the jittery feeling in her stomach to the vibrating of the machine. The feeling persisted however, even after she turned off the belt.

So what if what she was planning to do was both stupid and dangerous? She would be fine, right?

Sam pulled a ghost capture device from her pocket and calmly walked toward the door to the outside. She walked with confidence, seemingly unaffected by the utter foolishness of her own plan.

Inside she was screaming and running as far away as possible.

The hostages were huddled in a corner, staring at her with wide eyes. Sam quickly motioned for them to be quiet. They nodded dumbly in response.

She slowly made her way towards the entrance of the store, picking her way around the disturbed displays and scattered merchandise. When she finally reached the door, Sam paused. Taking several deep breaths to try to calm herself down, she checked to make sure her capture device was ready.

She was an idiot. She knew that. Too late to back down now.

All at once she opened the door and activated the device. She missed the ghost by a mile.

Sam was lucky that the device had a wide beam.

The soldier only had time to scream a few well-chosen expletives before he became a hostage to the latest Fenton gadget.

Sam first thought was 'Yes! I got him' and she fell to her knees in relief. She was glad that she hadn't ended up dead. Her next thought came as the police rushed forward to get the hostages and question her.

'My parents are going to kill me.'

Ok, I'm reallly, really sorry for the lack of updates. I spent a couple of weeks in a third world country and then I had my hands full working on all sorts of crossovers(Artemis/DP and Stargate SG-1/DP). Expect me to post them sometime soon in pennence for my lack of postings.

Updates Tuesdays (hopefully), and PLEASE REVIEW!!!

-Gryph