Jazz slammed down the phone. Yet another journalist looking for a comment from the family. It was the fifth that day and there was usually twelve a day. Maddie sighed.
"Phoney Danny sighting or journalist?" she asked her eldest daughter.
"Journalist," Jazz answered. Maddie rubbed her face tiredly. She'd been having nightmares of her son in the hands of the Guys in White every night since he went missing eight days ago.
"I'd suggest disconnecting the phone but part of me hopes the next time it rings it'll be Danny," Maddie mumbled. Jazz nodded in agreement. Sam, Tucker and Danielle had gone into the Ghost Zone to talk to Frostbite, hoping to borrow the Infi-map.
Jack wrestled his way through the crowd gathered outside the house looking for news or waiting for Danny to return with a bag of groceries. He slammed the door shut and gave a heavy sigh of relief.
"I got some provisions. And fudge!" Jack called.
"Thanks hon. I couldn't face all those people today," Maddie replied as she got up to put away the food Jack bought, hoping there was at least some vegetables in the bag other than fudge and tinned ham. Jazz watched her parents go into the kitchen together. The phone rang and Jazz snatched it up and pressed it to her ear.
"Hello?" she answered hopefully.
"Is that Fenton Works?" a woman's voice asked. Jazz rolled her eyes.
"Yes," she confirmed stiffly.
"I found Danny Phantom. Is there a reward?" the woman told her. Jazz frowned suspiciously.
"Can I speak to Danny first?" Jazz requested. After the first three calls, Jazz and the others had grown wary of people claiming to have found Danny.
"Uh, he's sleeping. Pretty banged up to be honest," the woman retorted nervously.
"Oh, can you describe him for me then?" Jazz decided, very few people were aware that Danny reverted to human when he slept. As long as it wasn't induced by ghostly means.
"White hair, green eyes, black and white jumpsuit. I know what Danny Phantom looks like," the woman described impatiently.
"I'm sorry, that's not Danny. He was wearing something else when he went missing. But thanks for the call," Jazz lied and hung up.
She rubbed her temples as a stress headache started to make itself known, not helped by the numerous voices just outside the house. Eight days and no clues. Whoever took Danny knew what they were doing. Jake had called his friend Spud but the hacker hadn't been able to pin down a car as the one responsible for taking Danny. Unfortunately, the only ecto-sensing traffic cameras in existence were in Amity Park and Danny wasn't kidnapped in Amity Park. There were talks with her parents to fit ecto-sensing traffic cameras in more cities but for now they didn't have that option. They'd searched and searched that Guys in White base for clues. Jake had been there. Kim had even gone to check out the site. Young Justice too. But everyone was stumped. No clues anywhere.
Jazz glanced at the clock. Five in the evening. It was planned that there be a meeting with everyone searching for Danny. The phone rang again. Jazz grabbed it.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Yo, it's Jake. Circling above Amity Park now. Where are we meeting up again?" a male voice replied.
"Fenton Works. You see it?" Jazz replied.
"Ya, I see it. But there's a lot of people there," Jake confirmed worriedly.
"Land on the Ops centre. I'll open the access hatch in a sec. Land towards the back of the house, most of the people are around the front," Jazz advised.
"Thanks," Jake concluded and hung up. Jazz got to her feet and climbed up to the Ops Centre on the roof, unlocking the metal door for Jake who was already there by the time she got there.
"Hey, any luck your end?" Jake greeted. Jazz sighed and shook her head.
"None. Most we've got is a bunch of people lying about seeing Danny or saving him for a cash reward," Jazz admitted sadly. Jake smiled apologetically.
"I've got dragons around the world on the lookout for him. And Fu's called in a few favours. Marty, Grim Reaper, is keeping an eye on his list for us. Danny's not on it," Jake reported. Jazz smiled weakly in gratitude. Jazz led the way down to living room.
"Who's coming tonight?" Jake asked curiously.
"Kim's gonna try and get here. Those heroes you guys met when Rose was controlled. Danielle's with Sam and Tucker in the Ghost Zone but they should be back soon. We've kind of taken over the search from my parents and the police and so on. Tucker's mayor title is really helping us out. The problem, as you can guess, is the people outside," Jazz replied. Jake nodded in understanding. The phone rang again.
While Jazz denied a journalist their comment, Danielle, Sam and Tucker trudged into the living room and flopped on the couch together.
"Hey Jake," Sam greeted tiredly.
"I guess you guys had no luck in the Ghost Zone. Jazz told me," Jake commented with a sympathetic frown. Tucker nodded.
"The Infi-map couldn't get a read. It can only really find ghost stuff you see and if Danny's stuck human or his ghost energy is hidden, the map can't sense it, especially if he's in the Real World, which he probably is," Tucker explained. There was a knock on the door. Danielle hopped to her feet, floating up to see who was at the door before letting Kim inside with her boyfriend, Ron Stoppable.
"Hey guys. Oh, hi Jake. I didn't know you'd be here too. Any luck?" Kim greeted.
"None with me. No sign of Danny anywhere, thankfully not on the Grim Reaper's list either," Jake reported.
"None here either. You?" Sam added.
"Wade's monitoring security cameras and the internet for any sign of Danny. So far, nothing," Kim replied. Jazz slammed down the phone with an angry huff again.
"I hate journalists. Can't they learn to respect our privacy?!" Jazz growled furiously.
"How many's that today?" Danielle asked.
"Six journalists, three fake Danny sightings," Jazz answered as she dropped into a seat wearily.
"It's that bad?" Jake exclaimed in surprise. Jazz shook her head.
"Worse. This is a good day," Jazz corrected.
"Maybe we shouldn't have announced it publicly," Sam muttered.
"We had to Sam. Someone would have noticed Danny's absence. Better to tell everyone now than later after damaging Danny's reputation," Tucker reminded her sadly.
Ten minutes later and there was a knock at the back door before Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Rocket, Artemis and Superboy arrived. The teens gathered in the Ops Centre.
"Okay, maybe we should start from the beginning, make sure we all know everything in order to pool our resources and come up with new ideas," Aqualad suggested. Tucker nudged Sam and the Goth and Danielle recounted how Danny was dragged away by a claw and together Danielle, Tucker and Sam went on to recall the tunnel out the back and finding the tyre tracks and drag marks.
Jake caught Zatanna's eye and smiled in greeting. The girl returned the smile.
"Kim? Anything to add?" Aqualad prompted hopefully.
"Nothing on my end. We went to the site but couldn't find any clues. Wade ran the tyre tracks. It looks like a saloon car took Danny. Can't narrow down the make though, the tyre is common enough," Kim answered.
"It's a start. Jake? I'm assuming you're here because you have something to add," Aqualad pressed with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, uh nothing. My gramps has a lot of contacts around the place. They haven't seen anything though," Jake retorted nervously.
"What about you guys?" Sam asked, to direct attention away from Jake.
"Not with Danny. We found out something similar to Kim. We also think that Danny was either stuck in human form or unable to use his powers as he struggled rather than phased away. We've looked at the drag marks and concluded that Danny put up a fight. He wasn't drugged. But that's all. However earlier today, we learned that a ten year old boy was kidnapped," Aqualad revealed.
"What's that got to do with Danny?" Danielle inquired in confusion.
"We listened to a recording of the kidnapping. The boy, James Isaac Neutron, is a genius and built a robotic dog that recorded everything said. The people behind kidnapping James are dangerous. During our investigation of Project White Flower, we learned that an organisation called the Light were responsible. And the Light have kidnapped James, we believe. We think it's linked," Robin explained.
"They wanted James in order to force him to fix a problem. We're a little concerned that the problem may be with something to do with Danny," Zatanna added.
"Which means, if we find James, hopefully we'll find Danny," Robin concluded with a hopeful smirk.
"Any leads?" Jazz prompted excitedly.
"James was taken away in a van. We've got a recognition system working on finding it using the number plate and the colour and shape. It'll take time to get through all that. But we're also monitoring the airways for a distress signal. James sent one during the kidnapping which unfortunately we were too slow to respond to. But we know the people who took James and we can work on tracking them down," Aqualad reported.
"I just hope that James is quick enough to help us find Danny. Or that he figures out what the people that took him want and acts accordingly," Sam muttered worriedly.
So, yeah. Not much progress on the rescue effort's front. But what they do have is good.
However Danny's kidnapping is taking its toll on his family. You'll see more evidence of it later but I figure when a big celeb goes missing, and world hero is about as big as you get, then the public will take notice. Some people are sympathetic and just want to show support. Some are trying to take advantage of the situation though, such as people looking for a reward for phoney sightings. And the journalists want a story and keep bombarding the family for news.
Let me know what you guys think so far.
Until the next chapter.
