A/N: Alright then, chapter 2.
…
What? Are you expecting some self-depreciation on the long hiatus, or some explanation? Well, bottom line: life got in the way, okay? That's pretty much it.
I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war. - Georges Clemenceau
Amity Park was enjoying something that had become a bit of a luxury in the preceding three years: peace.
There were no ghosts attacking, no battles raging in the sky. There were ghosts present, though that was to be expected, they were now fairly common in the town. But these were benevolent spirits, only minding their own business. There was no strife caused by them.
Well, almost none...
"Hidden Missiles!" Dr. Doom cried as he summed several small projectiles from under the ground. But X-23 was too fast to be hit, and moments later she was on Doom's neck, slicing through the evil dictator.
"KO!" the announcer said, the words flashing on the screen. "You win!"
"Hey, no fair!" Youngblood snapped, throwing his controller down in frustration. "That is such a cheap move!"
"I wouldn't be talking if I was you," Danielle snapped. "You keep spamming those long range attacks the entire match."
"That's different!" he snapped.
The young clone arched an eyebrow. "How?"
"It...just is!" Youngblood answered. "Parrot, help me out here!"
"Whatever it is, you're wrong, the girl's right," the skeletal bird replied, not bothering to look up from the book he had resting in front of him.
Youngblood gave a groan of frustration. "Why do you always take her side?" he demanded.
"Maybe because my parents are letting him and you live here rent free," Danielle responded, taking a sip of her soda.
"It's not like that and you know it," the other boy shot back. "We're only here because we fight on your brother's team."
"And how long is that going to last?" Danielle laughed. "What makes you think he'll keep you on?"
Suddenly, Youngblood put on a sinister smile. "Because you begged and pleaded with him to let me stay on, Ms. Puppy Dog Eyes."
The female halfa nearly spit her drink out, her face turning red with embarrassment. "W-who told you that?"
"Jazz might have mentioned something in one of our sessions," Youngblood said smugly, almost ecstatic to see his friend on the losing side of one of their arguments.
Danielle's only response was to grab her controller and begin to set up the next match. "Come on, I want to kick your butt again."
"Nah, I'm bored with this," the pirate ghost dismissed, grabbing the TV remote from off Danielle's bed and changing the channel. "Let's see what's on TV."
The first channel that came up was playing a nautical tune. "Man, is this show ever not on?" the pirate complained, changing the channel again.
On screen was a reporter standing in front of a gaming store. "And we're a mere eight hours away from the midnight release of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which will feature twelve new characters and some rebalancing that will make the game play the way it was always supposed to. Already excited fans are lining up to receive their copy."
Indeed, the camera showed several people camped out, all in the name of receiving the latest version of their favorite fighter.
The two small ghost children blinked at the news announcement. Then Youngblood reached over to the Xbox and ejected the game disc.
"Then why are we playing this dumb non-ultimate version?" he scoffed, snapping the disc in half.
"You know, we could have traded that in to get a discount," Danielle deadpanned.
"Come on, let's get going. We can still get an early spot in line," he ignored her, standing up and scooping up Parrot and placing him on his shoulder.
"Wait, who says I want to wait in line for some blatant money-making scheme?" his companion protested, even as she rose to her feet.
"Come on, it'll be like a camping trip."
"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "nothing says roughing it like concrete and a Nasty Burger right around the corner."
Meanwhile, across town, Danny and Sam were enjoying some quality alone time, which was something of a rarity these days. They were currently lying on Sam's couch, cuddling against each other as one of Sam's favorite movies played.
"You know, this isn't exactly a normal date movie," Danny noted as the Repo Man sang about cutting up his latest victim.
"You know, I'm not exactly a normal girl," Sam said right back, cuddling into her boyfriend.
"I know," he said, kissing the back of her head, "that's what I like about you."
"Still with the corny lines," Sam muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Don't pretend you don't like them," Danny said with a sly smile, nibbling Sam's ear.
Sam shivered from the contact. "Well, honestly, I'm glad to hear anything romantic from you at all. It's not often we're alone anymore."
Danny merely nodded. In the three months since Vlad's defeat, his house had gotten crowded. The next door neighbors, already sick of all the snooping fans and constant comings and goings from various ghosts and government agents, finally drew the line when Vlad had attacked their home and destroyed the Op Center. They had moved even before they had sold their houses, leaving them free to be purchased by the government. They were then given right to the Fenton family, who proceeded to merge the houses together into one large base. Thanks to help from the Ghost Zone, it only took a month to complete, and FentonWorks now took up an entire corner of a street.
With the extra room came extra guests. Youngblood moved out of the foster home he had been assigned to and into the home of someone he had previously called his enemy. Ember never moved out of the Fenton home, having little place to go, and simply earned her keep by fighting on Team Phantom.
And, of course, there were always guests. DGA agents, top scientists meeting with Jack and Maddie to discuss further advancements in ghost hunting technology, top psychiatrists to tutor Jazz in her research, politicians, both human and ghost, discussing some policies, regular ghosts registering their presence with Danny, who was in charge of keeping an eye on them, and other members of Team Phantom, checking in and reporting for duty.
So, needless to say, FentonWorks was no place for two young lovers to be alone; which is why they were at Sam's mansion, enjoying a little alone time.
"Still, maybe for once we'll get through a movie without any interruptions."
At that very moment Danny's cell phone rang, and Sam only hung her head. "I should have kept my mouth shut," she sighed as she sat up, allowing Danny to pull out his phone.
"It's Kaufman," Danny sighed, answering the phone. "This is Danny," he said, switching to a professional tone.
"Danny, I'm just giving you a heads up," Kaufman's voice spoke through the phone. "Last night there was a jailbreak at the federal prison. The Blasters, and Operatives O and K...they've escaped."
Danny blinked. "What? How?"
"Some very well-funded supporters," the agent sighed. "We think this might be the Order for Ghostly Suppression."
"Really? They've been pretty legal up until now," Danny noted.
"True, but I felt something like this was inevitable from them. They knew enough to knock out all the guards and open their cell doors without freeing anyone else. Whoever did this was good."
"Well, if this happened last night, why am I just finding out about it now?"
"That's the scary part," Kaufman admitted, "they also knew enough to disable all communication to and from the prison. That slowed down us finding out, for one. Secondly, until we found out about the nature of the escape we figured it wouldn't be a problem for you. I mean, they are convicted felons, it's not like they can get their hands on an ectogun these days."
Danny sighed. "Do you have any leads?"
"We're questioning some high-profile OGS members, but I don't know how far that'll get us. We'll keep you updated on this."
"Let me know the moment you have any leads," he said. "Did you call FentonWorks and notify my parents on this?'
"It's being taken care of," the agent assured. "I wouldn't worry too much just yet. These guys just escaped, it would be foolish of them to make a move this soon."
"I hope you're right," the teen sighed. "Well, I'm on a date, so if there's nothing else..."
"No, that's it. I'll leave you and Sam alone. See ya."
Danny closed the phone and turned to Sam, her expression made it clear she had heard Kaufman. "You seem pretty calm about this," she noted.
"After facing Pariah, Undergrowth, and Vlad with the Crown, a bunch of idiots with a grudge doesn't exactly phase me," he admitted, lying back down and pulling Sam back on top of him.
Even as she cuddled up next to him, she continued to voice her concern. "Still, you're not letting your guard down, are you? I mean, it did take you, Valerie, and Danielle to take them down last time. And who knows what kind of upgrades they'll get..."
"There's not much we can do right now," Danny admitted. "At least, nothing the DGA isn't already doing. You know, unlike the Guys in White, these guys actually know what they're doing. I trust them to get it done."
Sam sighed. "I guess you're right...I hope you're right."
On the outskirts of Amity Park sat a prison. Not the same prison that the disgraced ghost hunters were formally locked in; a brand new one, built in the wake of the Disasteroid incident. While most of the effort toward the integration plan had been on the positive aspects, there was no denying that a normal cell couldn't hold a ghostly prisoner. That's where this facility came in.
Inside the facility there were cells and walls that were specifically built not to be phased through, as well as a Ghost Shield that surrounded the building, ensuring that no inmate could escape during recreation. These were just added protection, because every inmate was fitted with a special collar that disabled all of their powers. When it opened, Tucker had boasted that it was inescapable, and the public believed it.
In the prison's cafeteria sat Skulker, formally the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone, or so he called himself. He still wore his ectoskeleton, if only because it was easier to keep track of than his true form. Sitting at the same table were his former partners, Technus and Walker. The warden's right-hand, Bullet, was with them as well, all of them wearing an orange prison jumpsuit in place of their usual clothes. They had quickly finished off their meals and were now discussing their favorite topic: how much they hated Danny Phantom.
"I don't believe this," Walker muttered. "Seven months, more than half a year, and we're still trapped in this godforsaken place. I would have thought an opportunity to escape would have presented itself by now."
Skulker just tapped his mechanical fingers on the table, clearly as impatient as his companion was. "We've been analyzing every single aspect of this prison to the best of our abilities, we haven't found any kind of weakness."
Walker merely shook his head. "I suppose we have that fool Plasmius to thank for all this," he grunted. "If it hadn't been for that asteroid, that punk would still be mistrusted by the humans, and his entire rogue's gallery wouldn't be locked in here with us."
Indeed, the other tables were filled with every ghost who still decided it was a good idea to pick a fight with the world's savior. Spectra, Bertrand, Desiree, Hotep-Ra, Lydia, and Nocturne were visible. They also knew the Fright Knight was located somewhere in the building, still sheathed in a pumpkin, and that Vortex and Undergrowth were elsewhere, locked in special cells they were rarely permitted to leave.
"This is just great," Technus sighed, for once not shouting to the heavens. "The ghost child is out there free and not getting killed, while we're stuck here."
"Not to mention we're going to have to clear out a load of two-bit traitors like Ember and that cursed child," Skulker spat.
"Well then, you three better pick up the pace," Walker snapped, addressing the whole table. "It's not like a way out is just going to appear out of nowhere."
At that moment, a large explosion rocked the prison.
Valerie Grey and Ember McLain flew through the skies of Amity Park on their routine patrol. They were mostly silent, scanning the ground and skies for any suspicious activity.
"Looks like everything's all clear in this area," the Red Hunter mumbled, checking her wrist computers for any ecto-signatures.
"No surprise," Ember muttered. "Ever since that ghost prison's opened up, Phantom's had a better way of dealing with ghosts than throwing them back into the Ghost Zone." She glanced down at the park. "I guess I picked a good time to turn goody-goody."
Valerie scowled at Ember, but she didn't notice, nor would she have particularly cared if she had. "This is the last sector," she said, closing the monitor shut. All that's left now is double checking the prison."
Ember turned toward her comrade, arching an eyebrow. "Isn't that usually the DGA's department?"
"Normally it is, but with the breakout yesterday Mrs. Fenton insisted we double-check everything," she sighed. "Guess I can't blame her."
"Breakout?" the ghost asked.
"That was what that call was about a few minutes ago," she explained. "Some ghost hunters we fought a few months ago have broken out of prison, we don't know how. Someone broke them out, and whoever did it knew what they were doing, too. Knocked out all the guards, electronically unlocked the cells, the works. Mrs. Fenton is a bit on edge, she wants us to scan the ghost prison, just in case."
Ember rolled her eyes. "Why would the people who broke these guys out help ghosts? Sounds like some sort of anti-ghost group to me."
"Yeah, I think it's just your standard overprotective parent instincts. By the way, Youngblood went with Danielle to some midnight release for something."
Ember was surprised once again. "She actually allowed that? Given the circumstances?"
"I guess she figures the hunters won't try anything for a while. Besides, they both went up against Vlad, they can hold off just about anything, at least until we get there. She probably figured you wouldn't mind, since you're pretty lenient as a parent."
Ember somewhat grimaced at the word, but she couldn't deny it. Jack and Maddie had legal custody of Youngblood, but Ember was the one who spent most of the time raising him. The sole reason she didn't do so officially was her past from before the Disasteroid, which prevented her from legally adopting him, at least for the moment.
"Well, let's get this over with, I've got a song to write."
"Relax, I'm sure everything's going to be…"
Valerie trailed off as she noticed the prison in the distance. From their distance, they couldn't see any structural damage to the building, but they did see two things: there was an unusual amount of smoke rising into the air, and that the ghost shield was down.
The pair only slowed for a moment before picking up speed, Valerie summoning her gun blocks and Ember charging up her fire. They didn't speak a word, but both of them knew what the other was thinking, that it was only a false alarm, simply a fire or some other hazard that was already detained.
However, as they neared the facility, their eyes told them the awful truth, there was a large, gaping hole in the side of the prison.
"I'm calling Mrs. Fenton," Valerie informed, even as they charged into the fray. "Whatever this is, it's not good."
The Repo Man breathed his last breath as Danny's cell phone rang once again. Annoyed but resigned, the couple rose up once more as Danny checked the caller ID. Seeing it was Kaufman again, he answered. "This is Dan-"
"Danny! You've got to get to the ghost prison now! There's a breakout going on, and it's being done by a powerful ghost!"
"What!" Danny exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Do you have any idea who it is?"
"That's just it, Danny," Kaufman's voice came through, and the next words made Danny's blood run cold.
"It's Plasmius. He's back."
A/N: BTW, the plot with Danni and Youngblood isn't just a random thing. It's going somewhere.