Chapter 314: On the Edge of Amity
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"Why did I think this was a good idea?" asked the president, shivering. "God, it's cold out here."
"It is the middle of winter," said the president's aide.
"Then why are they all in t-shirts?" asked the president, gesturing at the slightly translucent shield. It had become more transparent over the last few days, but it was still very much present.
"I think Princess Jasmine mentioned something about the shield acting as a greenhouse."
"Well, at least it'll suck for them in the summer, I guess," said the president, tucking his hands into his pockets. His suit was not warm enough for this at all.
"Probably not, it does seem like Prince Phantom has ice powers, after all."
The president groaned. "We're still in contact?"
"We're still in contact."
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Danny peered through the shield, then turned back to Ishiyama. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
"I'm sure, Danny," said Ishiyama. "But it's quite a thing, isn't it, seeing the president like this, making a deal with him? I was only just worrying about the school."
"Me too," said Danny. "Worrying about school, I mean. Although I guess I was worried about different parts of it than you."
"I think you'd be surprised," said Ishiyama. "I know I worried about the school falling down, too, you know."
"Ha, that's true," said Danny. He looked back over his shoulder, at where the cameras were setting up. Harriet and Miles waved at him. Danny waved back. "I should go soon." For political reasons, Amity Park didn't want to appear to be too closely tied to the Ghost Zone during this particular ceremony. Even though it was. It was, after all, because of Danny and the Ghost Zone that they could even be semi-independent.
But it would be useful, going forward, for them to portray themselves as being more neutral, with regards to America and the Infinite Realms. Even if it wasn't entirely true. Especially if it wasn't entirely true.
Or, even, mostly untrue. Amity Park was still Danny's haunt.
Ishiyama nodded, then frowned at something over Danny's shoulder. "Wait," she said, "don't put that there—"
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Alicia traced the curve of the dome up and over and back again. She couldn't properly remember the last time she'd been here, but, man, had it changed. Giant force field domes and portals to alternate universes would do that, apparently.
So would death.
Danny was dead.
Danny had been dead.
She hadn't even gotten to talk to him about it, really. She hadn't even gotten to talk to Jazz about it, even with Jazz theoretically being more available. Jazz had been busy, and the president was picking Alicia's brain for everything, on account of her being 'a personal acquaintance of the prince.' Personal acquaintance. Ha. They were family. Or, at least, that's what Alicia'd always thought. She didn't know what Danny thought anymore.
He hadn't even told her he was dead. Yeah, she could understand not bringing it up with all eyes on them, but not even before all this? When he'd visited her in Spitoon? Or maybe some other time?
Maybe she was being callous, expecting something like that, though. Dying. It couldn't be easy to talk about. To share. To explain. Not even when your parents weren't crazy for ghost hunting and most everyone else thought they were just plain crazy. It couldn't have been easy, period, probably.
No. Not easy at all.
What had Danny done to get to be king of all those ghosts, anyway?
What about those extra 'siblings?' Where did they all come from? She got how Jazz was a princess, now, at least, but that 'Dmitri' fella? David? How did they figure into the whole mess? They looked way too much like Danny to be unrelated, and she wasn't buying that they were all just adopted shapeshifters or whatever. They just didn't shapeshift enough for that, in her view.
Yeah. There were a lot of questions.
Not that she was sharing hers with the president. Some things were meant to be kept in the family, not blabbed about everywhere. She knew the difference.
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"Hey," said Sam, "I thought you would have left by now."
"I was about to," said Danny. "I just… I'm nervous, you know? If there's anything else I can do to help…"
"You can go pick up your bodyguards," said Sam, tilting her head back the way she came. "They're losing their minds looking for you."
"I… Seriously? I told them where I was going."
"Apparently Damien is under the impression that you lied to him. Badly."
"Oh. No," said Danny, flatly. "Whatever could have given him that impression."
"Just get into position," she said, nudging him. "We're fine. Do you need any help?"
"Oh," said Danny. He tugged a little on his cape, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "No. I'm fine, too. Thanks." He smiled. "Just one more step on the way to actually having a treaty between the US and the Infinite Realms, right?" He floated up, just high enough to let him see over the nearby wall and out of the shield. "We're almost there. Just one step at a time."
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Tiffany Snow led one last check of the cameras, the swarm of 'junior reporters' eager to please. Soon. Soon.
"Are you ready for the show of a lifetime?" asked Harriet chin.
"Boy, am I," said Tiffany. "Lance?"
"This is all that's left to me," he said, heroically. "There is no weather under the dome."
"Yeah, there is."
"Alas, for the clear skies of my youth."
"Is he okay?" asked Harriet, leaning towards Tiffany.
"I'm at least eighty percent sure this is a bit. He always gets it together once the cameras are rolling, anyway."
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The representatives of Amity Park, Pamela, Sam, Inky, Wes, Montez, Irving (now mostly recovered from his ordeal at Freakshow's hands), and Janet, walked (or, in some cases, flew, crawled, or were carried) across the shield barrier. It parted around them like curtains of glassy water. Mayor Ishiyama, elected leader of Amity Park, followed them through, accompanied by her son, Kwan. They stopped, just outside the shield, waiting.
The president's party – consisting of the president, a number of diplomats and aides, and a great deal of bodyguards, walked away from the tents, and similarly stopped. They were close enough to the other group for both of them to fit comfortably in a camera shot. Image was important.
Then, the portal opened, preserving the illusion that the ghosts were not coming from or through Amity Park. Danny flew out, lightly touching the ground, followed by Fright Knight, Damien, Sojourn, and Frostbite.
Ishiyama inhaled slowly, then gestured behind her. "Let me welcome you all to Amity Park and say that I am thrilled about the historic agreement that's been reached here and the unique opportunity it affords all of us." Her voice carried easily, a holdover from being a classroom teacher, Danny supposed.
She continued with the preplanned speech. It was, maybe, a bit of a stretch to say that they were doing this 'in' Amity Park, but as no one wanted to rehearse going through the shield… Or, you know, go through the shield at all…
The term of the month was 'political theater,' it seemed.
But it was alright. Ishiyama finished her speech, and everyone converged.
"Mayor Ishiyama, President Klein, can I introduce Lord Frostbite, Ancient Master of Ice and the chairperson of the Regency Council?" asked Danny, softly, but not terribly quietly. "He will be the primary signatory for the Realms today." The other signatures, apart from Danny's and Frostbite's, had already been added to the documents. Similarly, the signatures of the Amity Park representatives had already been added and were just waiting for Ishiyama's signature on their end.
"It's good to meet you," said the president, offering his hand rather hesitantly.
Frostbite clasped him on the shoulder. "This will be remembered as a great day between our three nations."
"I hope so," said Ishiyama.
"Shall we, then?" asked the president, motioning over the secretary that had been standing by with the actual, physical documents in triplicate.
Danny and Frostbite paged through their copies, checking to make sure nothing had been added or removed. Ishiyama and the president briefly did the same, but Frostbite was coming from Ghost Zone disputes where exact wording was very, very important and Danny had his frailty to consider.
Danny signed first. Since he technically didn't have the power to officially ratify treaties – that being left to the Regency Council – his signature was the least important and the most symbolic.
Of course, all signatures were sort of symbolic to begin with, weren't they…?
Before Danny could throw himself down that rabbit hole, Mayor Ishiyama signed. Then the president.
And just like that, it was done. Amity Park, Elmerton, and the stretches of unincorporated territory Danny had caught under the shield were now, collectively, the Protected City of Amity.
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Many miles away, Vlad raised his glass in a toast. "And so," he said, "the world changes!"
"Are you day drinking again?" asked Maddie.
Vlad hunched his shoulders. So what if he was? He was rich. He was in his own home. It was one drink. He was commemorating a major historical event.
"Drinking alone in front of the TV is no way to spend a morning!" declared Jack. "Come on over and help us with this tracker! You've got that good ol' practical eye for practicalities!"
Vlad had, in fact, been successfully avoiding thinking about the mess Jack and Maddie were making of his kitchen and dining room while making a machine designed to track the unique ectosignature of their ghost weapons. Personally, Vlad thought his algorithm trawling the internet for their blueprints would ultimately be more useful, but that was just his (correct) opinion. He didn't want to join in on whatever crime against nature his two erstwhile college friends were whipping up.
On the other hand, someone really should teach them proper lab safety and separation of working and living space before they were allowed to contact Daniel again. Vlad just wished it didn't have to be him.
He finished off his drink and returned to his self-inflicted penance.
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After the tenth or so round of photographs and soundbite begging, the president cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to talk about the broader treaty," he said.
"I think we have time in our schedule," said Danny, glancing at Frostbite. Tonight, the night of the twentieth, was Yaldā, Solstice Eve, and the night Vlad was scheduled to work at the Dairy Kingdom. There were a lot of things he had to do.
And he thought he'd seen Aunt Alicia. So. He kind of wanted to at least try to clear things up with her.
On the other hand, Danny wanted to keep an eye on the shield. No one had actually tried crossing it, yet, but Danny was thinking permeable thoughts at it, so hopefully no one would do a bird into glass impression in the next few minutes, but he wanted to be on hand to troubleshoot. Or something.
"We can talk here for a few minutes," concluded Danny.
"We won't be able to talk details," said the president. A camera flashed as if underscoring his point.
"We wouldn't be able to talk details anyway," said Danny. "We don't have the time. I'm triple booked right now." At least, he thought he was. He might actually be quadruple booked. In any case, there was a lot of stuff going on.
The president sighed. "On reflection and consultation with my cabinet," he said, "I think it might benefit both of us if we work on some of these things in isolation rather than as a larger document."
Morally, Danny had no objections to that. It was harder to hide weird stuff in smaller laws. However, reducing the number of things they were bargaining over also reduced the number of things they could negotiate with.
"I personally don't have a problem with that, but it would be up to the Regency Council."
"Indeed," said Frostbite. "I anticipate that there would be strong opinions to that proposal on both sides."
"I think certain minimums would have to be agreed on first, before we really broke things down," said Danny. "Most people aren't happy with all the uncertainty."
"Oh? I had thought…" The president trailed off.
"Chaos is one thing," said Danny, "but no one really likes change." He shrugged. "Well, that's not true, but I think you know what I mean. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about, or shall we go in?"
The president made a face. "Unfortunately, I'm busy at this time of year, too."
Danny heroically refrained from making any sounds of disbelief.
"However, Ambassador Smith is looking forward to touring Amity." The president made an expansive gesture towards one of the diplomats.
"That will be more Mayor Ishiyama's area than mine at this point," said Danny, tilting his head towards Ishiyama.
As he did so, he spotted one of the more junior members of the president's group standing near the shield. Judging from the people watching him and general body language… He'd been bullied into being the first through, hadn't he?
Danny held his breath, watching closely.
The junior diplomat visibly squared their shoulders and… stepped through, with little resistance.
Danny sighed in relief, then looked up. The shield was still there. That was… also a relief. Thank goodness, that he was letting people through. Thank goodness, that the shield was still there, protecting Amity and all its inhabitants. He needed that. They still needed that. Getting a missile launched at them was scary.
Haha. Understatement.
Probably useful
"Hey!" shouted Miles, barely audible behind the shield. "We're getting broadcast signal again!"
Yeah… that was probably unrelated. He hadn't changed the shield subconsciously at the very last possible microsecond. Nah.
(It was probably more related to the actual signing, a contract being a kind of promise.)
(Probably.)
(Why didn't he test that angle earlier?)
"Mr. President," said Ishiyama, her voice still pitched to carry. "Will you be joining us for our celebrations?"
The president didn't cringe, but Danny would just tell he was thinking about it. Especially when he glanced at the reporters.
"Just for a little while," he said, finally.
"Sir," hissed a Secret Service agent. The president waved him off.
Danny looked up at Frostbite and nudged him slightly with his elbow. "I think that's our cue, too, don't you?"