Happy belated birthday, Tweenisode! This one's for you. I found it in my backlog and thought you might like it.

(My plan of giving General Montgomery legendary pokemon will have to wait.)

In less upbeat news, I'm not sure if I'll be able to have a Freddy oneshot after all. I tried, I really did, but I just can't get his character right. I'll see what I can do, but...yeah, I'm really sorry if it doesn't happen.

Review replies;

TweenisodeOrange: YAY FELLOW ANIMORPHS FAN! :D Hope you had a good birthday. :) Thanks for reviewing.

Cartooniac55: I'm not sure, I'll have to check some time. :/ Thanks for reading!

Movie-Brat: God help us all if they try to let out Cthullu. XD Thanks for the review.

Zim'sMostLoyalServant: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks very much!

unknown20troper: Very true. XD Filler is hard to write. Thanks!

Heroics

Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes. – Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1804-1881)

Amity Park, IL.
Fourteen Years Ago…

The giant vehicle raced through the darkened streets of Amity Park, narrowly avoiding the late evening traffic. At its wheel, a man in an orange jumpsuit looked worriedly at the time on the dashboard. 8:47; he had but thirteen minutes left.

Jack Fenton swerved the Fenton Ghost Assault RV into a small back road, screeching to a halt in front of an abandoned warehouse.

He smashed open his door and darted into the warehouse, neglecting to even lock the door of his ride. He didn't care. There were more important problems tonight.

He stepped into a darkened section of the warehouse, and glanced around. Suddenly the door slammed, and an evil laugh filled the air.

"Really, Fenton, did you believe you could take me on?"

A villain stepped from the shadows, chuckling as he looked at Jack.

"I've taken down…four, maybe five of the so-called heroes you have sent at me, as well as three full waves of the police department," the dark one reminded, "What makes you, a simple normal, think you can take me on?"

"You have my wife, spook," growled Jack.

"That I do," nodded the villain, "And the minute she gives birth, I will have the son I've always wanted, and Madeline will have no choice but to be the wife I always wanted."

"What're you talking about, Plasmius?" demanded Jack.

"Isn't it obvious," chuckled Plasmius, "Who do you think I am, Jack?"

"I don't know your identity," snapped Jack, "Now give me Maddie."

The unnaturally angry Jack raised his hands. The Fenton Ghost Gloves were worn on them, ready to take on the ghostly villain.

"The answer is no, I'm afraid," snarled Plasmius, "Shall we?"

He fired an ectoblast at Jack's head. Jack ducked under the blast, before his jumpsuit brought out an ectopistol and fired three bursts at Plasmius, who easily dodged.

Jack lunged at his opponent, his great girth knocking the smaller Plasmius back. Plasmius scowled, and returned a kick into Jack's gut. As Jack flinched from the wound, the dark one gave a punch to the larger man's jaw.

Angrily, Jack grabbed Plasmius, picked him up, and flipped him hard onto the ground behind him. He then stepped back, applying pressure to Plasmius' chest. The ghost cringed, and turned intangible, rolling out from under Jack.

Plasmius jumped to his feet and delivered a swift uppercut to Jack's chin, followed by another punch down over his head. Jack fell back, but regained his composure and returned a punch into Plasmius' jaw, followed by a knee into the chest.

Plasmius licked his lip, and tasted his pink ectoplasmic blood. He had several bruises, but still looked the cleaner of the two. Jack had a cut on his chin from the uppercut, one on his left cheek and many bruises.

Plasmius grinned. He could keep this up for far longer then Jack could.

Plasmius leapt at Jack, grapping the larger man in a stranglehold. Jack elbowed his attacker in the stomach, but Plasmius only flinched at little and delivered two punches – one in the left eye, the other in the nose. He finally let go, and kicked Jack in the back.

The bigger man fell down face first. Before he could get up, he found Plasmius' foot on his back, prohibiting him.

"You are a fool, Fenton," sneered Plasmius, "I will tell that to my wife. I will make sure that my son and my daughter are told every day what an utterly pathetic man Jack Fenton was-"

"NOO!"

Jack found strength he never thought he had, throwing Plasmius off his back. The ghost slammed into a wall, hitting the back of his head on the hard bricks.

Dizzily, and somewhat queasily, Plasmius looked at Jack, who was holding an ectopistol at his face.

"Now Jack," Plasmius begged, "You don't want to do this…"

"And why not?" growled Jack.

"B-because I'm VLAD!" yelled Plasmius, "I'm your best friend! You wouldn't do this to your best friend…YOU WOULDN'T!"

"No," agreed Jack, "I wouldn't kill my best friend."

Vlad calmed down.

"You on the other hand…"

"Jack!"

Jack turned and watched as Maurice Foley, alias the Technomancer, entered the room, wheeling in a familiar woman on a wheelchair.

"Maddie, your…" began Jack.

"Don't do it, Jack," said Maddie, weakly, "He…he'll go to jail, he'll never harm us again, but if you killed him, you'd stoop to his level."

Jack nodded, and holstered his gun.

"Have you…"

"It's a boy," grinned Maddie, "I'm thinking…of Daniel for a name. We could call him…Danny…"

"LOOK OUT!"

The next few seconds played out in slow-motion for everyone.

Vlad had climbed to his feet, inciting Maurice's warning. He had aimed a massive ectoblast at the bespectacled man, but he was still dizzy and his aim was off. The massive wave hit Maddie in the wheelchair.

Jack's anguished scream echoed through the room as the blast vanished, leaving nothing but some burnt metal leaning off a part of the wheelchair had managed to survive.

Vlad stared in horror at the remains, his jaw dropped.

Maurice angrily aimed his hand. A wave of binary slammed into Plasmius, knocking the man unconscious.

The door slammed open and the police poured into the warehouse.

Then there was silence, save for a large man in an orange jumpsuit, shattered and on his knees.

It was days before Jack was emotionally capable to see his children, looked after by the Foley's. It was then that he named his new son.

Daniel Fenton. Danny for short.

Fourteen Years Later…

The Fenton RV drove down the Walter Harris Memorial Drive, a secret road in the Rocky Mountains that civilians were not generally allowed along. One needed a special card for the guards to allow you onto it. For those who were allowed on it, the scenery was stunning.

The RV was full today. Maurice Foley was at the wheel (the vote had been unanimous against letting Jack drive). Jack sat next to him, talking about ghosts. Maurice's wife, Kimberly Foley, was sitting behind them, joining the (extremely one-sided) conversation. Jack's daughter, Jazz Fenton, looked boredly out the window, somewhat embarrassed by her father.

In the back, Danny Fenton was engaged in a conversation with the Foley's only son, Tucker.

"I'm telling you, Danny, things are looking up," beamed Tucker, "No more secrets, no more Dash, no more Lancer, just the cool stuff."

"The cool stuff?" demanded Danny, "Tucker, you're useless when you don't have any machines near you."

"For now," grinned Tucker, "Just wait until I learn how to do that cool binary thing dad can do!"

"What about your mom?" asked Danny, amused, "Aren't you looking forward to tapping the vast potential of steam?"

Kimberly Foley was known to the press as Steam Woman, due to having control over steam and steam-powered machines. Many people laughed off this power as useless, but Danny, Tucker and anyone who had ever operated a steam engine knew its scalding – and potentially deadly – properties. It was, after all, superheated water.

"Yeah, I guess that works too," nodded Tucker, absently, "But think about it. I'm the son of two of the top superheroes in the CONUS. You're the son of Jack Fenton, the man who took on Plasmius and lived."

Danny grimaced.

"Oh, sorry, forgot we don't bring that up," sighed Tucker.

"I know, it's OK," nodded Danny, "It's just depressing sometimes that my birthday is the anniversary of the day mom died."

"Our parents did all they could," reassured Tucker, "Like Mom said when we were five, we have our whole lives ahead of us."

"You actually remember that?" enquired Danny.

"Yeah," nodded Tucker, "It was the day you barfed in Jazz's face."

"I heard that!" snapped Jazz.

All three children were in the car to attend a top-secret academy in the Rockies for superhumans. There, they'd be taught to harness their powers for the sake of good. The academy did not have a particular age for a particular grade – you started when you got the letter, no questions asked. Jazz had been the second oldest new student in history, surpassed only by Irving 'Third Degree' Burns, a particularly inept firemancer.

Jazz and Danny shared the same power, something common in siblings, and that was the same as their late mother, Maddie Fenton. They had, in essence, ghost powers – the ability to turn intangible and invisible. They could also fly. Tucker, meanwhile, had inherited from his parents, combining elements of Maurice's technomancy and Kimberly's steam control.

Suddenly, the Fenton RV was plunged into darkness as it entered a long tunnel. When it came out again, they were inside a small underground parking lot, patrolled by a sole (extremely bored looking) sentry.

Maurice parked the RV and the sentry walked up to the window.

"ID?" he asked, in dull monotone.

Maurice pulled out an ID and showed it to the man.

"Maurice Foley, alias Technomancer, you're clear to pass," the sentry sighed.

The group got out of the car and headed towards the edge of the car park. Maurice swiped the card on a control panel on the wall. The wall moved aside, revealing a secret passage.

A man and a woman were waiting for them. The man had cropped brown hair and wore a white suit, while the woman had short blonde hair and wore a black suit.

"Greetings, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, Mrs. Foley," smiled the man, totally ignoring Danny, Tucker and Jazz, "I'm Operative C, the liaison guy from the Guys In White…"

"…and I'm Agent 16, from MERF," the woman interrupted.

"I thought the GIW and MERF hated each other?" mused Danny.

The Guys In White and the Military Extra Terrestrial Research Facility (MERF) were two top secret branches of the United States Government, that were known for being rather vigorous in executing their plans, and for wishing horrible deaths on each other.

"We do," nodded Agent 16, brightly, "We work together in the interests of the people…and making sure none of you commit high treason."

Danny gulped.

The agent and operative led the group to an elevator. It was a short trip on it, but for some reason Danny felt queasy. What he didn't know was that the lift was being propelled hundreds of miles below the ground, then about twenty six kilometres east, and finally all the way up to surface level. If there hadn't been gravitational stabilizers, the group would have been thrown around at really, really, really dangerous force.

The elevator pinged as it reached its final destination, a computerized voice announced 'Academy Foyer' and the doors opened.

Danny gasped.

The foyer was easily the size of his house, gleaming silver and well polished. It was rather like a hospital foyer, come to mention it, except it was full of superhumans, guys from the government, machines, creatures that were most definitely not human and…was that a tank?

As they walked through, Danny caught some figures. The tank turned out to be Walter Harris' (the Red Devil's) personal tank, a Centurion Tank with liberal upgrades. Trees of both human and alien nature stood in pot plants, some tall enough to reach the roof. Three statues of the world's most renowned superheroes stood in the centre, looking extremely heroic.

They were ushered towards a gathering of people, obviously the new students and their families. Danny noticed that there were fewer then he had expected.

A woman stepped to the front of the crowd. Danny recognised her at once as the Principal, who had given him his letter personally. No one knew her name, just her position. Danny suspected it was probably her secret identity or something.

"Students!" the Principal declared, "You are standing in the shadow of the three of the greatest superhumans in our history."

She pointed to each one in turn.

"Walter Harris, the Red Devil, Britain's saviour in the dark days of 1940. Successfully fought off the Herrenmensch at Arras, allowed the British Army to escape at Dunkirk and changed the course of history!"

"Our very own Stan Richards, the GI, who fought of the German Army in the Battle of the Bulge, worth the same amount as a thousand tanks and planes! Defeated the Aryan outside Nuremberg and brought him to justice!"

"Sing Li-Mai, the Maiden of the Yellow River, stopped the Japanese advanced into China, and prevent the Soviet Union from placing her home into their sphere by defeating the Peoples Warrior…"

Danny stifled a yawn. He'd never been into history, which was probably why he was getting a D in it at Casper High.

"You could be as great as these people! All it requires is application…"

"Get on with it!" someone in the crowd bellowed.

"Of course," the Principal nodded, curtly, "Without further ado, I present the man overseeing the inauguration here today, our sponsor, Mr. Richard Tang."

The Principal stepped aside, allowing the richer man onto the podium.

"I'm going to keep this short and to the point," Mr. Tang began.

A heckler cheered, receiving a glare from Mr. Tang.

"Tang Industries will only fund the best of the best," he continued, "I am sure we have found the best right here."

"Rehearsed," whispered Tucker.

"I am sure all students here, regardless on gender, race or family linage, will excel at this academy. That is all."

Danny turned around and saw his father scowling. He suddenly realized that Mr. Tang's emphasis of the words 'family linage' was aimed at him and his fist clenched.

Mr. Tang walked off the stage, adjusting his tie as he went. He shot a dark glare at the Fentons. Jack returned it.

The nest half-hour was very, very boring. Danny, Tucker and Jazz were ordered to stand around in the foyer. One at a time, students were called in to talk to the Principal and official dignitaries. They were then sent into the main school.

Jazz was sent in first, then Tucker. All alone, Danny suddenly realized his heart was beating faster then normal. What if they didn't accept him? How would his dad take it if he walked out, and had to explain that they were sending him right back to Casper?

"Daniel Fenton?" called a voice.

Danny stood up, trembling. Jack saw this and put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"You'll be fine," he reassured.

Danny nodded.

"See you, dad."

"Goodbye, Danny," farewelled Jack.

Danny headed to the person who had called him. It was a man, looking visibly uncomfortable in a suit he'd obviously been forced to wear.

"My name's Hugh," the man greeted, as they walked down the corridor, "Now, I know it's hard to go to a new school, especially a superhuman one, but I'm sure you'll do just great, I went here for years and everyone accepted me, they used to tell me things like 'aw man, you stink!' and 'go back to your hole!' it was the best time of my life!

Danny smiled. Despite talking his ear off, Danny liked this man.

They entered a forbidding-looking office, a small one with a desk, and a wall of pictures labelled 'Greatest Students'. The Principal and Mr. Tang were standing inside.

"Name," the Principal asked.

"Hugh Ne…"

"I meant the student, Lint Man."

"Daniel Fenton," greeted Danny.

"Alter-ego."

"What?" demanded Danny.

Mr. Tang rolled his eyes.

"Alter-ego," the Principal repeated, dryly, "Your superhuman name."

"Oh, yeah, that," nodded Danny.

He remembered talking with Tucker a while back on a secret identity. Danny picked the one they had eventually decided on.

"Phantom, ma'am," he replied, "Danny Phantom."

"Former school?"

"Casper High," answered Danny.

"Age on emergence of powers?"

"Five."

"Current age?"

"Fourteen."

"IQ?"

"Untested."

"Probably brick-level, given your father," snarled Mr. Tang.

Danny ignored him.

"Powers?"

"Ghost stuff," replied Danny, "Right now, I've got intangibility, invisibility and flight, that's all I know. I think I might be able to fire ectoblasts like Jazz can…"

"We'll just say 'spectralmancy'," nodded the Principal.

"Did you make that word up?"

"Yes."

The Principal filled in the sheet and looked Danny in the eye.

"You came in with Tuckard Foley and Jasmine Fenton, did you not?" she asked.

"Yeah," nodded Danny.

"The three of you were recommended for the elite class by an anonymous source," explained the Principal, "We have overviewed the application and accepted…"

"What?" snapped Mr. Tang, "That's absurd!"

"Come now, Richard."

"No!" bellowed Mr. Tang, "You're letting the son of the halfwit wonder into the…"

"SHUT UP ABOUT MY DAD!" screamed Danny, jumping to his feet.

For a few moments, there was silence. Danny and Mr. Tang were glaring daggers at each other. If looks could kill, the whole site would be radioactive.

At last, the Principal spoke.

"Richard, please watch your tongue," she ordered, "Mr. Fenton, please calm down."

Danny sat back down.

"Your mother was Madeline Fenton?" asked the Principal.

"Yeah," nodded Danny, "I got my powers from her."

"I see," replied the Principal, "We expect great things of you, Mr. Fenton. Please follow Lint Man into the school. Richard, I'd like to speak with you alone."

Danny got up and followed Hugh out the door.

The Principal spoke, not looking at Mr. Tang.

"You should control your temper, Richard," she reminded.

"How would you know, Madame Stoic?" sighed Mr. Tang, rolling his eyes, "There are three kinds of people in this world; us, normals and Jack Fenton. There's a caste system, ma'am, and Fenton needs to learn his place…"

"Dangerous talk, Richard."

Danny heard this discussion, but shrugged it off as a large door at the end of the corridor opened and he stepped into the academy…