A Foreign Power Chapter Two
In the police station of Amity Park, Chief Olivia Ruiz, a 38-year-old African American woman sat sipping her first cup of coffee as she prepared for another long night. Getting into an old rhythm she used to deal with the paperwork she kept an eye on her squad's newest recruit Valerie Gray.
Today this fresh police officer was in charge of one of the dispatch phones. Ruiz listened as Gray picked up the phone every once and awhile as the usual complaints came in. A few complaints about neighbors, teens, and two calls about some entities that had been spotted in the Garden. Ghost cow entities who were eating the crops Ruiz learned as she continued to listen.
Shaking her head amused Ruiz wondered if there were any existing animals that didn't come back as entities in the Ghost Zone. They were easy enough to deal with and with a call to one of the officers patrolling that area and the cows would soon be at the Ghost Ranch, which was a farm slash zoo. The Ranch was one of the most popular sites in the town where people from all around the world were able to study some of the lowest levels of ghosts.
Getting up to refill her coffee mug Ruiz wasn't there when the call came in. When she came back to the tense atmosphere, she silently prayed that is was just another ghost invasion. It wasn't though, and Amity Park had its first murder after a decade of peace.
As the information was patched through to the nearest squad car in the area Ruiz called the necessary people to canvas the crime scene. Placing the phone down she could see that the fellow members of her team seemed excited about the idea of solving a crime. Ideas were floating around about what type of person could have done this and whether or not they would just be able to interview the spirit of the victim. Listening to them Ruiz wondered if living in a town where the dead walked around daily made them numb, or if it just hadn't really hit them that a person had been killed, not just died.
Irritated Ruiz was able to silence her force with a look that put any idea of being the town's first Sherlock out of their minds. Instead, those who just showed that they weren't busy were called over to help her look through the files of missing people. It was a very short list compared to other towns, but Ruiz had a feeling that one of them wouldn't be missing much longer.
A few minutes later the situation grew worse as another call came in from Janks. This time he called for backup and ambulances for his partner, and Nathan Blake. When Nathan's name was said everyone turned to look at Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Steven Blake, Nathan's older brother by three years.
"Go, but keep me posted on his condition." Ruiz told Steven.
"Thank you Ma'am." Steven said. Heading to the door he didn't even stop to grab his coat.
"What about Danny? Is he fighting a ghost?" Valerie asked into the mike, but Janks didn't answer. Worried looks were exchanged around the room.
"Sergeant Janks, tell me what's happening!" Ruiz ordered.
"He attacked Sato and Nathan, I'm bringing him in. Have the ghost room ready to go." Janks finally answered.
"You're bringing who in?" Ruiz asked.
"Phantom." Janks replied.
"What!" Valerie shouted.
"Explain Janks!" Ruiz ordered.
"Phantom attacked them, I'm bringing him in. We'll be there soon" Janks said before cutting off.
Ruiz rubbed her forehead in irritation. "Do as he says." she ordered after a moment. Next thing she did was pick up the phone to dial a familiar number.
"Maddie, I need you to come down here." Ruiz said.
…
When the police cruiser arrived at the station many of the nearby town's people had stopped and stared while the natives recognized what the green glow meant. Quiet murmurs broke out as they wondered which ghost had been caught breaking the treaty. Then a silent sort of shock rippled through the crowd at the sight of their local hero being dragged out of a cop car. By the time Danny reached the doorway, he had already seen several people on their phone and his picture had been taken at least a dozen times.
Though that didn't compare to the greeting he got inside the station. Due to the Amity park having a very low crime rate the police force was filled to the bare minimum for a town their size. Meaning, there were only five people inside the small station.
'Great.' Danny thought as Valerie hurried over. Her new police uniform still had that fresh ironed look, so her shift must have just started.
"Why did you say he attacked people!" Valerie demanded as she turned to face Janks.
"Stand aside rookie!" Janks said pushing Danny past her. He had just slapped a smaller version Specter Deflector around Danny's waist when Ruiz marched over not looking at all happy.
"Chief, I didn't attack them! There's a strange..." Danny got out before Janks shoved him growling "Quiet."
It was at that point that Ruiz's unhappy face turned into a full out glare. "Corporate Wells, escort Danny to the ghost room. His mother will be here soon." she ordered not taking her eyes off of Janks.
"Yes Ma'am." Wells and Danny said wisely ducking into the room and out of the line of fire.
"Janks, follow me into my office. We need to talk." Ruiz said after the door closed.
"But Ma'am I need to…" Janks began to say.
"Follow me now!" Ruiz growled turning on her heel.
…
"Janks! You better have a good explanation for your actions!" Ruiz snapped once her office door was closed. "I know you have never liked the kid, but nothing gives you the right to shove him! Especially when he's telling me his side of the story!"
"Ma'am." Janks said starting to sweat "That boy is dangerous. He attacked them. I saw it, I was there. I've had my suspicions ever since I learned what he is. I've got to..."
"Do nothing!" Ruiz interrupted. "What he is, is a human boy who gained some ghosts powers!" Ruiz snarled.
"No he attacked them, and he'll attack us too!" Janks protested.
"You! You! You? Janks… are you feeling alright?" Ruiz asked. She had been staring down the idiot when she noticed that his eyes had a slight glow to them.
"I'm fine! It's that ghost you need to be worried about! He probably killed that girl!"
"Janks, where is your belt?"
"What? I forgot it at home. What does that have to do with the ghost?" Janks asked confused.
"Janks."
"Yes Ma'am?"
"Hold still you idiot."
*Zap!*
Ruiz watched with a taser in one hand as Janks fell forward knowing that he was going to feel that in the morning. "Gray, Frank get in here!" Ruiz yelled out as she kept an eye on Janks in case she needed to zap him again.
"Yes Ma'am?" They said. Coming to the doorway they both couldn't help but stare at Janks. It took another second to realize that he was still breathing.
"Get this idiot to the Ghost Catcher." she ordered.
"You mean...? What ghost would dare!?" Valerie asked. As both of their eyes widen with their understanding of the situation their hands automatically checked that they were wearing their own belts.
"We'll soon find out, now hurry before he wakes up!" Ruiz said.
"Yes Ma'am." they said as Valerie grabbed Janks arms while Frank grabbed his legs.
As Ruiz lead them down the hallway they were greeted by Maddie Fenton who just walked through the front door. Her angry expression flickered as she took in the sight before her.
"Ollie, what's going on?" Maddie asked staring at Ruiz.
"I'm not sure myself Mag. Mind waiting with your son? He's in the ghost room."
"Ghost room!?" Maddie said.
"I'll explain what I know in a moment. I've got to make sure this idiot gets de-ghosted." Ruiz said.
"De-ghosted! Is there a problem with his specter deflector?" Maddie asked.
"No, the idiot just wasn't wearing his." Ruiz said.
"Ah." Maddie said turning to walk to the room her son was in.
…
A few minutes later Maddie looked up as Ruiz joined her and Danny in the ghost room.
"What's going on Oliva? Who arrested my son?" Maddie demanded to know.
"I'll let you know as soon as I do." Ruiz answered.
"What do you mean? Didn't the ghost catcher hold the ghost that was possessing Janks?" Danny asked.
"I'll tell you in a moment." Ruiz said stepping forward and shine a penlight into his eyes. Not a fun moment when your eyes are developed to see in the dark.
"Good." Ruiz sighed relieved. "Your eyes have no sign of being red. Glad to see your not going evil on us kid." she said removing the specter deflector from Danny's wrist.
"You thought I was going evil?!" Danny asked.
"No, but I had to check after you were accused of assault. That's why we're in the ghost room."
"Oh…" Danny said.
"Well, now that you know that he's innocent will you tell us what's going on?" Maddie asked.
"After you to tell me what happened in that alleyway." Ruiz said looking at Danny.
"Alright." Danny said as he sat back down with a nod. "I was flying back home when my ghost sense went off…" Danny said, launching into a description of the meeting the spirit and his interactions with Sato, Nathan, and Janks.
"Wait, Nathan walked through the spirit and she didn't overshadow him?" Ruiz asked.
"Yeah, she was still floating behind. So I didn't think anything was wrong, but then Nate just started freaking out. He hit Ken with his camera. That's when I tackled him, though that seemed to be the only thing that Janks noticed." Danny said irritated. "Then he read me my rights and tossed me into the car..."
"Was the spirit still there when you left?" Maddie interrupted while Ruiz was radio-call her people at the crime scene.
"I don't know. Janks arrested me so fast that I'm not sure what she did next." Danny said.
"Adkins, Murray respond!" Ruiz said into her radio.
"Adkins here. What's going on?" Adkins asked over the radio.
"Are you two still at the crime scene?" Ruiz asked.
"Yes."
"Are you wearing your specter deflectors? Janks was possessed and a hostile spirit was seen hovering around the body."
"Yes Ma'am… Wait, did you say spirit?" Adkins asked.
"Yes I did. Close off the crime scene for now and let none approach." Ruiz ordered.
"Yes Ma'am. Though Ma'am I believe I saw this spirit when we first arrived." Adkins said.
"Did you touch her?!"
"No Ma'am. She disappeared before I could get close. I don't know where she is now."
"Noted. Continue to close off the area just in case she comes back." Ruiz ordered.
"So what now?" Maddie asked as Ruiz put down her radio.
"Now you two will come with me, and see for yourself what was separated for Janks." Ruiz said heading for the door.
…
The Ghost Catcher's design hadn't changed much. It still had that dream catcher look; only a container had been attached hold any ghost who dare possess any citizen of Amity Park.
Yet in the container, under special made light enabling all to see what was in inside, wasn't a ghost the Danny recognized. Instead, it was some sort of blackish greenish mist.
"Well, what kind of ghost is that?" Ruiz asked glaring at the mist.
"I don't know?" Danny admitted. "I don't even know how it got in him. I mean Janks didn't even touch her."
"Do you think there could have been another ghost?" Maddie asked.
"I didn't sense any others." Danny said.
"But ghosts have hidden from you before." Ruiz said.
"Yeah, but my ghost sense has grown a lot since then. It would take for a ghost to be just as powerful as I am to hide from me." Danny said.
"Are you sure." Ruiz asked.
"Yes… Well, I thought so, but I'll ask Clockwork if he can tell me anything during my next lesson." Danny said changing his answer after some thought.
"That's if he decided to answer you at all." Ruiz muttered getting an annoyed look on her face.
*Knock, Knock* The three of them turned to see Wells sticking his head in. "Excuse me Mrs. Fenton, but the rest of your kids are here." He said with a smile.
"Tell them we'll be right there." Ruiz said, and Wells gave a nod back before leaving the room.
"Really? I'm free to go?" Danny asked.
"Yep, as far as I can tell you did nothing wrong. Go home and eat. You must be starving by now." Ruiz said with a smile. "Though one thing Daniel. Stay out of this case."
"But…" Danny started to protest.
"No buts about this. You are not an adult, and we do have the technology to track and take down a spirit, and whatever else we are dealing with is this case. If you truly want to join the force then you need to learn how to follow orders, or did this year of volunteer time with us teach you nothing?" Ruiz asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes Ma'am. I'll stay out of it." Danny grumbled.
"Good." Ruiz said.
"Thanks for everything Ollie. Call if you need anything." Maddie said shaking her friend's hand.
"No problem Mads, I will." Ruiz said with a thin smile.
…
Danny was greeted very loudly as stepped into the front of the station.
"Hey guys. I'm alright." Danny said once he managed to get out from underneath the group hug.
"So what happened?" Sam asked they all looked Danny over concerned.
Danny found himself describing what happened again to his friends. Though those officers in the room gravitated closer to listen in as well.
"So, is it some new type of ghost?" Tucker asked.
"Not sure. But with this town, we'll know soon enough." Danny answered.
"True, and just like I told Danny anyone not assigned to the case had better not be investigating this case on their own." Ruiz said looking around the room causing those on shift to suddenly get back to their own work.
"Other, than that you kids get out of here and go straight home. No patrolling tonight." she said looking at Danny.
"Yeah, enough talk. let's get out of here. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry." Sam said as her stomach grumbled.
"You didn't eat?" Danny asked surprised as the others' stomachs grumbled as well.
"We were about to when the internet lit up about your arrest. We all just headed right over." Tucker said.
"But, don't worry the foods already cooked." Dana said.
"Oh, then let's go." Danny replied. Yet when he got home he wasn't hungry and eventually went to bed before the others as he laid down and tried to process what had happened, and how he could find a way to help anyway.
…
The next morning Danny came downstairs after everyone else had been up for a while. He didn't look like he had slept much. Entering the dining room he was surprised to see Dad and Jazz there with Tucker.
"When did you two get here?" he asked. Dad had left the day before to visit Jazz at her college in New York. When she said that she wanted to get away from the family Danny hadn't thought it would be across the country. Extremely proud of their firstborn, his parents were willing to pay for all of the housing allowances as long as one of them could ghost proof the place.
"Flew in an hour ago. What, you didn't think we would let you face this alone?" Jazz said giving Danny a hug.
"What about school?" Danny asked.
"Online class this term." Jazz said waving her brother concerns away. "Dad hadn't even unpacked so it was easy to head here when we got the news. Don't worry though, Mom already told me what's going on. Are you hungry?" Jazz asked.
"A bit." Danny said with a relieved sigh.
"Good because I spent a lot of time cooking this meal so you better eat it before it gets cold." Dana said from behind them.
Danny smiled as Dana entered the room carrying a bowl of cooked apples while their Mom and Sam followed closely with more food. Looking behind them Danny got up as he noticed that the pitcher of orange juice still needed to be brought to the table.
"Come sit down Danny, Dana cooked this for you."
"Really? Wow, this all looks great Dana!" Danny said as Maddie quickly grabbed the orange juice.
"Thanks, it new recipe I got offline. Hey, Danny gets the first bite!" Dana snapped as Tucker grabbed a piece of bacon. Her eyes then glared at Jack who was quickly trying to hide his chewing.
"This breakfast is for Danny! No one eats until he does." Dana said phasing out the table which caused a couple of people to lose their balance and fall to the floor.
"Danielle Fenton! No powers at the table!" Maddie said giving Dana a stern look.
"But they… fine." Dana huffed letting the table come back into existence. A bump sound from beneath the table followed hissed filled with pain. Dana gave Tucker a small smirk as he came out from under the table, but looked away and tried to suppress it when her mom gave her a look.
"It's alright, let's just eat." Danny smiled as he ruffled his little sister's hair. Dana gave him an annoyed looked as she swatted his hand away, but looked relieved to see him smile. Danny didn't mind as he was already moving away to load up his plate.
"Snow Pea, this is delicious!" Jack said his mouth full as he forgoed putting any syrup, or the spiced apples on his french toast.
Looking around at her family enjoying the food Dana sighed as she gave up on trying to tell them how to put it all together and just dug into the food herself.
…
Once the food was gone, mostly thanks to Jack and Tucker, everyone helped clean up.
*BARK! BARK, BARK!*
"What now?" Maddie sighed.
"I'll check it out." Jack said. Grabbing a blaster he headed out the door. A moment later some shots were fired along with the sound of Jack yelling followed by the sound of a car screeching off.
When he came back inside Jack had this annoyed look.
"Reporters?" Maddie asked.
"Yeah, they couldn't get past Cujo though." Jack said grabbing a glowing green steak from the fridge.
A year ago after the world had learned about Danny's secret the reporters had camped outside their house and the Fentons had lost all sense of their privacy. That had changed though when a week later Cuju had wandered in from the ghost zone and had chased those parasites away; while destroying many cameras in the process. It was at that moment that Maddie became a dog person and the Fenton family had a new pet.
Some of the reporters had tried to retaliate with a lawsuit, but the Fentons had their family lawyer Suzanna. After years of keeping the Jack Fenton out of jail from his driving, to his failed inventions; she was very good at her job. Plus it helped a lot that Danny was still a minor especially when one of them actually made it into the house and took pictures of Danny when he was undressing.
After that incident, Suzanna was able to crack down hard on any reporter that crossed the line and harassed Danny or his family. A some of them even ended up paying the Fentons money while others were now out of a job. However, that didn't mean that no one was able to report about Danny's actions. It just meant that the more polite news stations that worked with Suzanna and Danny's parents were able to get their interviews at scheduled times. While the others got restraining orders.
…
The next morning Danny was sitting in the kitchen as he going through some of the books he had been given by Clockwork. Flipping through the pages of one book he tried to remember where he had read about black mist before. The only problem was that he had a room full of books from his teacher, and only a glimmer of an idea of which book it was in. Closing on book Danny was about to reach for another when Ruiz walked in with his mom.
"Hey Chief." Danny called out not bothering to stand up.
"Danny, how are you holding up?" Ruiz asked taking a seat at the kitchen table. She gave Maddie a slight smile when a cup of coffee was placed down in front of her.
"Fine. But I got an appointment with Dr. Garner at 2:00." Danny answered talking about his therapist. Other than his year of working with the police to help deal with the damage from his fights with ghosts, the court has also ordered that he had to see a therapist.
His parents had found Dr. Garner who met with Danny at least once a month to help him deal with his obsession with the people of his town, and anything else that he was having trouble with.
"That's good to know." Ruiz said.
"Is there something wrong?" Danny asked looking between his mom and the chief.
"We've identified the victim." Ruiz said getting to the point.
"Who is she?" Danny asked nervously.
"Melinda Diller." Ruiz said. "Do you recognize the name?"
"Ah… Yeah." Danny said sitting down as he made a connection. "She is... was one of my fan club members. Do her parents know?" Danny asked.
"They were informed, and have already confirmed that it's her. When she didn't come home yesterday, her parents thought she was just out with some of her friends, while her friends thought she went home early from the market. None of them can think of anyone would want to hurt her like that." Ruiz said.
"She was at the market yesterday!?" Danny said going pale.
"There was nothing you could have done. Your senses are attuned for ghosts. How could you have known about murder?" Ruiz asked Danny
"I was there. I don't know what I could have done, but I was there." Danny repeated.
"No one can be everywhere at once, but don't believe for a second that I'm will to let this crime go unanswered." Ruiz said with a determined look.
Danny smiled weakly at that but didn't say anything. Ruiz finished her coffee. Getting up she gave Danny's shoulder a squeeze. She was headed for the door when Danny called out to her. "Thanks for telling me." he said.
"No problem kid." Ruiz replied before waving goodbye to Maddie.
…
After Ruiz left Danny couldn't concentrate on his books anymore. Knowing her son Maddie pushed him out of the house to clear his head with a flight around town. She knew it would be better to talk afterward during his appointment.
Flying through the air Danny didn't have anywhere in mind to go, yet he ended up at the park before too long. There he spotted several officers questioning people who had been there that day. Turning invisible he floated in to listen to what people were telling the officers. Unfortunately, no one had seen where Melinda had gone after she had left her friends.
Getting nowhere, Danny tried questioning some of the ghosts in the area. Yet they didn't know anything, but they promised to keep an eye out for the poor spirit. Thanking them Danny spotted Tucker entered the park.
"Hey, Tucker." Danny said floating down to land beside him. Figures that he would have heard the news by now. Though Danny did wonder where Sam was.
"Danny, there you are. So how goes the investigation." Tucker said doing some finger quotes.
"Shh." Danny said looking around real quick. "No one saw a thing once she left the market."
"Yeah, that's the same thing that all of the witness reports are saying." Tucker said looking at his PDA.
Danny sighed frustrated. "...There just has to be a way to find a clue to who did this!" he growled as his hands clenched tightly into fists.
Tucker frowned thoughtfully. "Well, you've worked around detectives. What would they do next?"
Danny thought for a moment before getting an idea. "Hey, you can you give me Melinda's address?"
"Sure." Tucker said pulling it up.
"Thanks." Danny said before flying off.
…
Arriving at Melinda's house Danny floated above for a while. He had come here hoping that Melinda might have tried to return home. However, Danny couldn't bring himself to knock on the door and ask. Already he could tell that they had visitors by the cars that were there. In his ghost form, he could hear the sound sobbing from within. Now wasn't the time for him to intrude. Soon Danny thought he would have to leave with no new information. Then his ghost sense went off.
