Danny groaned as he slowly woke up, taking in his surroundings. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz surrounded him. "Where am I?" he asked.
"Honestly, you're near a dumpster." Tucker quipped. "Thankfully, you weren't unconscious for more than 10 minutes."
"Yes, it's good to see you awake, Daniel." Vlad looked at him, brushing himself off. "Apparently this thing is far more powerful than even I believed. We'd better start taking steps against him." That being said, he flew off before the trio could say anything more.
"So where is he?" Danny wondered.
"For some reason, he disappeared after he beat you and Vlad." Sam sighed. "I don't understand any of this, but much as I hate to admit it, Vlad's right."
"Danny, keep your distance from him." Jazz pleaded. "I know your instinct is to jump in and help, but he's too powerful for you to even hurt, let alone beat. I suggest we try to find out more about him before we fight him again."
"Jazz, I can't do that." Danny replied. "You've heard what he's been doing, right? Well, I saw it with my own eyes. It was… like a terrible horror movie, only this was real. I can't just step aside and let it happen. The bodies, the scent of burned flesh…"
"Danny, you can stop now!" Tucker exclaimed.
"Sorry, it's just… still in my memories." Danny shook his head. "I'm starting to think it's time."
"Time for what?" Jazz asked curiously.
"It's time to tell my parents that I'm Danny Phantom."
"Are you crazy?" Tucker asked. "What part of ripping ghosts apart molecule by molecule did you not understand?"
"I was going to have to do this sooner or later guys." Danny sighed. "All things considering, I'd better do it now because we're going to need their help."
"It's your choice, Danny." Jazz stated. "I'll support you in whatever you decide to do."
"I'm nervous about this." Danny sighed. "I'd rather fight that ghost again, but this has to be done. They'll react better if I tell them than if they find out on their own. Mom and Dad may be weird, but they are not stupid. They'll figure it out sooner or later."
"And if they don't accept you, you can always stay at my place." Tucker offered.
"Tucker, you really shouldn't have said that." Sam chastised. "He's nervous enough about all this. Danny, how about we come with you, just for moral support?"
"Yeah, we have your back!" Tucker exclaimed.
"I'm proud of you, little brother." Jazz smiled. "It takes a lot of bravery to do a thing like that."
"Then we better go before I talk myself out of it." Danny declared and started walking. He was slow, as he was still not fully recovered. The four teenagers looked around them. A few buildings were completely destroyed, and several were on the brink of collapse. Ambulances and firefighters were already on the scene, putting out the fires that had popped up and seeing to the wounded. Weak as he was, Danny could still hear the agonized moans around him.
Before he knew it, they were back at Fenton Works. Danny shook his head; it seemed like it didn't take any time at all. When they went inside, Jack and Maddie were still watching the news reports. That, more than anything else, told him that things were getting worse. Much as it sometimes embarrassed him, Danny would much rather have seen them work on various inventions.
"Hey, Danny, where have you been?" Jack greeted, but without his usual enthusiasm. "We were worried about you."
"Mom, Dad, there's something I have to tell you." Danny gulped; there was no turning back now. "Can we go somewhere private?"
"Well, Davis is in the lab right now, but we can go upstairs if there's something you want to tell us." Maddie nodded. "Excuse us for a few minutes, kids." They walked up to Danny's room, with him following nervously. Once they got there: "So what did you want to tell us, sweetie?"
Danny stayed silent for several seconds, but then exclaimed: "I'm going ghost!" transforming into Danny Phantom. Jack and Maddie stared wide-eyed at their son, not knowing what to say or do.
"You're… you're Danny Phantom?" Jack managed to gasp out.
"Yeah, this happened to me when I tried to fix the portal." Danny grinned nervously. "You put the on button inside it, I accidentally pushed it, and… well, you can see what happened. I'm not possessed of anything; I'm still Danny."
"Well, this would explain why our ghost detectors always pointed to you." Maddie stated. "I thought they were just malfunctioning, but I guess they worked after all. So you've been out there all this time fighting ghosts? Have you told anyone else about this?"
"Well, Sam and Tucker were with me when it happened, and Jazz found out later. Other than them, though, no."
"So you're the one we saw fighting that ghost on the news, along with the Wisconsin Ghost?" Jack exclaimed. "Ha ha, ghost hunting is in your blood! But seriously, son, why didn't you tell us earlier? I've seen some of the ghosts you've faced out there. We could have helped you with that! You've been risking your life for months and you didn't tell us? You could have died out there!"
"I was worried you wouldn't accept me."
"Of course we'd accept you; you're our son! But from now on, you're not going out there without us! I don't want anything happening to you!"
"Danny, what kind of things can you do?" Maddie asked. "I've seen some of your abilities, but what else can you do?" Danny spent the next 10 minutes explaining his abilities and the concept of a ghost hybrid. He kept Vlad's identity to himself, hoping to try and keep him in line. Besides, they had much bigger things to worry about.
"So what can you tell us about that ghost you were fighting?" Jack asked.
"For one thing, he's a lot more powerful than me." Danny sighed. "Nothing I threw at him even slowed him down, much less stopped him. I highly doubt I could even get him into the thermos, or hold him inside. Also, he's far more deadly than anyone else I've ever faced." Except perhaps for his alternate self, but he wasn't about to tell his parents that. "Most of the ghosts I've fought enjoy frightening people, causing havoc, but very few attempt cold-blooded murder, especially on this scale."
"Well, we'll have to work together to stop him, then." Jack exclaimed. "If I had my way, you'd stay out of it, but you'd just find a way around it. Ghost hunting is not all fun and games, son. It can get extremely dangerous."
"I already know, Dad. I wouldn't keep up with it if I wasn't serious about what I do."
"We just worry about you, sweetie." Maddie informed. "We're your parents; that's just what we do. From now on, we'll be fighting beside you."
"K, mom, but remember: I've been doing this for over a year now." Danny stated. "I'm used to getting hurt out there; comes with the job. Some of these ghosts are too much for you to handle, so I have to do it. Still, I'd appreciate your help. And no, I'm not going to stay out of this. You guys have heard on the news what's been happening. Well, I saw it with my own eyes. It's too terrible to describe, so whatever I can do to stop him, I will." They embraced one another and went back down the stairs. Tucker, Jazz, Sam, and Davis were waiting for them, with the latter three staying as far away from him as they could.
"Well, we managed to work things out." Danny sighed. A great burden was lifted off his shoulders. Now he no longer had to worry about his parents throwing him aside and hunting him for what he was. Obviously, they still had many things to work out, but that could wait.
"I'm glad to hear that, Daniel." Davis looked at him with disturbing keenness. "However, there is something you need to know. At least in Amity, the terror alert level has been raised to red. Vlad's giving a press conference, but there's no need to listen. It's the usual crap politicians say when there's a situation. The only interesting part is that members of the National Guard are being called in to help with security."
"What chance are they going to have against a ghost?" Jazz worried. "Especially one as powerful as this."
"I suppose they have to do something." Davis sighed. "The Guys in White have proven to be completely useless, or near enough. Sigh, we're just going to have to do our best."
"I'm going back to my room; we need to talk." Danny declared, dragging his friends and sister there. Once the door was shut, he stated: "So what do we do? I refuse to even consider staying out of this. Again, I saw what this ghost did with my own eyes."
"Okay, Danny, if you want to continue fighting him, we'll support you." Sam bowed her head. "But we're coming with you, no matter how you try to stop us. We haven't left your side and I don't intend to start now." Tucker and Jazz nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, the topics of conversation became more mundane. Tucker was talking about an upgrade he had gotten for his PDA, Sam was complaining about Paulina's actions once again, and Jazz was simply watching them silently. The trio eventually started playing video games.
"Yes, victory is mine!" Tucker laughed. He was fighting against Sam in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and finally managed to beat her in versus mode.
"So? I beat you over a dozen times!" Sam laughed. "Care to try your luck, Danny?"
"Oh, you don't have a chance." he grinned, taking the controller from Tucker. "Ha, ha, you'll have to do better than that!"
"You know, this is actually interesting to watch." Jazz remarked. "We're debating in our psychology class whether or not violence in the media leads to real-world. I'm honestly not sure which side to take on this debate."
"I think we'd better worry about our resident terrorist first." Danny replied. "Damn, I hate those fireballs."
"Ha ha ha, Danny." Sam retorted. "My main concern is that innocent people will be blamed for all this. Since we've finally got a decent guy in power, I'm not as concerned as before, but we tend to blame a whole group for the actions of a few."
"Hey, Sam, if you knew half as much about the guy as I've found out, you'd wonder why anyone voted for him." Tucker replied. "I mean, seriously; telling people to report to them if they heard anything fishy about his plan? He never considered that we might be alarmed by that? That's something you'd expect in Russia, not the U.S."
"And how is that different from the racial profiling we had after the attacks? Our image in the world is tarnished because of him! Least our president is trying to repair our image in the world."
"If by repair, you mean kiss the ass of every dictator he can find, yeah!" They continued arguing from there. Because of it, Danny managed to beat Sam in the game, but it didn't matter now. Tucker and Sam had always been far more outspoken about politics than he was. Most of the time, he didn't even think of the ramifications, but it occurred to Danny that perhaps he should.
"How do you put up with this every day?" Jazz asked.
"I don't, not all the time. Besides, you get used to it after a while. I've learned to simply stay out of it and let them kill each other, so to speak." They argued for close to an hour before Danny finally had enough and kicked them out. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, even though it was barely sunset.
X X X X X X X X X X
Over the next few days, Danny watched as Amity park was almost transformed. When he patrolled at night, he saw tanks driving through the neighborhoods and soldiers around the entire city. With further buildings being obliterated, the public demanded that action be taken.
"In response to the horrible attacks on our soil, I have declared a state of emergency for Amity Park until such time as this crisis is over." Vlad stated during a press conference. "We are now at code red, and I have requested two divisions from the United States military to help us during this difficult time."
Danny spent a lot of his time wondering around Amity, since school was canceled and he was lost in his own thoughts. Almost everyone was talking about the situation and he couldn't even walk down a street without seeing a squad of soldiers going about their business. Logically, he saw the necessity but it was highly inconvenient when he was Danny Phantom. He had several close calls already and was not eager for more.
"So what do you think about all this?" He heard someone ask.
"I was trapped on the 84th floor of the North Tower and got out less than five minutes before it collapsed." The person responded. "It doesn't get much worse than that. I moved here because I thought this place would be too small for terrorists to target. Shows what I know."
"What about Danny Phantom?" a third asked. By this time, Danny had stopped to listen to their conversation.
"It took me a long time to believe that ghosts actually exist." The woman shook her head. "He's trying to help, but what can he do? We saw that terrorist beat him and that other ghost easily, so he won't be much help."
"I'm not so sure." The third replied. "I've heard of him triumphing in the face of great odds before." he rubbed his temple and sighed. "Every time I go into a building, I always worry that this will be my last day on Earth."
"I know the feeling." the first asked. "Let's see how the government manages to screw this up."
"And I thought I was cynical." the second chuckled. Danny decided to leave, not wanting to hear anything more. He started thinking to himself about why he really became a hero. At first, it was out of a sense of adventure, but as time went on, it became something he was determined to do at any cost to himself.
This is even worse than Pariah Dark. Danny thought to himself. He wondered to conquer Amity; all this other ghost seems to want is to destroy everything he can. He turned to the right, and saw someone being arrested, with the police reading him his rights. Beneath him was a badly beaten man of Middle Eastern descent, although it wasn't clear exactly where he came from. It's going to get worse before this is over. If Sam was here, she'd probably get on the soapbox, declaring that such attacks are nothing but bigotry or something like that. and I can sympathize; i know what it's like to be considered evil because you're different.
Within a few days, Jack and Maddie rushed to their children to tell them the news. "Well, kids, we've managed to find a way to improve the ghost shield's power." Maddie smiled at them. "The government may not be able to keep this ghost out of the city, but we can!"
"V-man's helped us by putting in a few upgrades and power sources around the city." Jack added. "It'll make the shield larger and stronger, able to cover the entire city. We've even shut down the ghost portal. I objected, but Vlad and your mom overruled me."
"As did I, Jack." Davis looked at him, walking into the room. "I believe it's at least part of the reason that ghosts have been frequently sighted here, and it may have been responsible for… other things." he looked at Danny when he said this.
Does he know my secret? Danny worried.
"Davis, I'm asking you for one thing." Maddie stared into his eyes. "Look after Danny and Jazz. Don't let anything happen to them. We don't know what's going to happen, and in case the worst does…"
"I understand; I'll keep them safe." Davis nodded. Jack and Maddie took as many weapons as they possibly could with them and left. The 5 remaining people stared at each other silently. Danny walked out, taking his friends with them.
"I'm going out there as well." Danny exclaimed. "I've got to help them, and no, I'm not letting any of you come along. I can't risk you guys getting hurt. I may not be able to handle him, and I worry about you guys being caught in the crossfire."
"We understand, little brother." Jazz smiled, hugging him lightly. "Just look after yourself." None of them protested when he refused to bring them along. That, more than anything else, told Danny how frightened they were. He transformed into Danny Phantom and was about to fly out when he saw Davis watching.
"Oh, crap." he muttered to himself.
"You know, I can't exactly let you go out there." Davis said mildly. "Your parents made me promise to protect you and that's exactly what I intend to do. Still, considering your abilities, I highly doubt I can force you to stay. Sigh, just be careful."
"How long have you known?" Danny wondered.
"Not long after I met you." Davis remarked. "How I discovered it… is my secret. The world would be a better place if there were more people like you." Danny flew off before he could say anything more.
Once outside, he watched as the ghost shield was activated, covering Amity Park with a green glow. The military and the GIW were getting ready for battle, not knowing just how powerful this ghost was. Danny heard many people that were still in the street cheering them and him on. He waved to them and flew as high as the shield would allow.
After the preparations were made, the whole city was on a watch and wait basis.
The wait was not a long one.
I have to admit, this chapter is not one I like very much, since it's mainly just an interlude before the real action starts. You know, I hate cliffhangers… except when I'm the one writing them, LOL.
As you may have figured out, this is a political story, especially since I've probably said as much before. I'm doing my best not to demonize the other side, so forgive me if it seems that way. The story's about halfway done, and of course, review! It motivates me to continue.