Breaking the sky Chapter three: " Phantoms "

**

The skies over Amity park - Date Night ( Saturday )

Danny Phantom flew over " his town " with the full moon at his back, and a smile on his face. Unknown to him a figure raced below him shadowing his movements from the ground. It had been a long time since the boy had bothered to turn invisible while he traveled.

" Skulker is in a Thermos, Danielle is with Jazz, and Tucker is out of town on a business venture. That means for the first time in a long time It's me and Sam. "

The half-ghost landed in front of the Manson house, and looked over his shoulder as he turned back into Danny Fenton.

" Man, old habits die hard I guess, everyone in town knows who I am at this point. "

Danny rang the bell, remembering the " talk " he'd had with Sam's parents after they learned their daughters boyfriend could turn invisible and walk though walls. Those words still sounded strange in his head " boyfriend & girlfriend ". It could be worse Tucker had scrap book of Sam or Danny making puppy dog eyes at someone else while the other looked jealous. Danny wasn't sure, but his Mother might have helped him make it because he was sure Tucker wasn't at all those parties. The fact that he'd promised a video " for the wedding " made them both blush.

Lost in thought it was a full ten minutes before he noticed no one had come to the door.

Danny cursed the cold fall weather making him see his breath. He really needed to work on that Ghost sense.

" OK my parents sold the Manson's a level four ghost detection system for the house, and a type two weapons package for Sam because of all the trouble hanging out with Danny Phantom gets you into. That means that if Mom set all this up I should be fine, and if Dad did I'll get ripped apart by things with his face on it. Man this is still easier then the old days. "

He powered up and phased through the door without giving it another thought. Behind him a figure in the distance watched.

Danny floated though the house watching for his ghost sense, and listening for any sounds in the huge mansion as he went. The sound of a creaking floorboard made him spin around and charge up for a blast. Nothing was their.

" Over here. "

Danny turned back the other way and saw Sam her hair was pulled back into a pony tail and the sides clean shaven. Her normal outfit was replaced with a pair of tight black jeans, and what looked like black button down a size to small for her tied in a knot half way up leaving her mid section exposed. Their was also what looked like an ecto-pistol in his face, but he didn't notice.

" To slow hahaha. The whole house is wired for ghosts I wanted to test it out. "

" Looks great. "

Realizing what he was looking at she lowered the gun and leaned it for a kiss.

" Mmm, I caught one of Danielle's friends dressed like me on Monday, so it was time for a change. Dating a superhero does wonders for your social status. When are you coming back to school so me and Tuck don't have to suffer without you. "

Danny couldn't help but laugh, as she took him by the hand and talked him down stairs to a den with a big couch and a bigger Plasma screen TV.

" Haha so being popular is a problem now. "

She smiled and blushed as she spoke.

" No Danny more like infamous. You're the Hero, Tucker got elected to replaces Vlad for the last month of his term at 14, then got investigated for illegal tech trafficking by the losers in White, and your " cousin " that popped out of nowhere looks like the other Dani Phantom on tv every so often. Everyone keeps looking at me and expecting something crazy. Oh umm Skulker was in 5th period by the way . . "

" He's taken care of, trust me. "

The pair hoped on the couch beside a pile of dvd's ( Sam refused to get a blue ray player ).

" You're not protecting anyone by sticking with this home schooling Danny. "

" Danielle's a freshman now, and Jazz carries a Fenton peeler everywhere since she interned with Doctor Spengler. You and tucker are better at ghost fighting then they are, so everyone safe. Besides school works easy this way, I just kind of hunker down and get it all done. Jazz helps me study sometimes and we mail something in every once in a while. I get more time to work out now . . say want to go jogging tomorrow? "

The movie started and she leaned on his shoulder. She could felt how tense he still was.

" Is . .this still about that kid from Bellwood? "

He answered quickly, and it made her nervous.

" Kind of. Vlad told me something in that fight. He told me HE made me stronger, and I guess he was right. FrostBite helped me a lot, but Vlad and well that crazy me from the future just kind of made me learn new tricks and fast. Watching them taught me more then I could have learned on my own. "

Sam brushed her fingers through his hair, while she listened.

" Sam I've been from Jupiter's rings to Pariah's keep, and saved the world with a ghost army. Then I meet this Ben kid, with his fancy watch, and I feel like I don't know anything. "

Unknown to both, they where being watched.

**

Bellwood 20 minutes later.

Ben laid on the roof of some building, eating a bag of mini burgers from some fast food join he didn't care to get the name of. Everything the past few weeks was such a downer. Kevin was still sore over his looks even though it was HIS idea to hack the watch, and Gwen was acting weird after that mess with Charmcaster last week. Ben knew he normally wouldn't care, but for some reason he didn't want to talk with her about the trouble with Azmeth, and anything with Kevin slash Gwen relationship crap just grated on his nerves.

" I've got girlfriend issues of my own thank you very much. "

Julie had picked up that Ben asking about Ship a lot meant he wanted to use him on the watch, and now she turned her phone off. . .or Ship realized he was calling and that talking to Ben made Julie upset and put himself on vibe. Ben did a whiny imitation of Julie's voice.

" No Ben my alien dog thing you gave me just didn't ring! "

For some reason Ben was glad the place was out of fries and he ended up with 30 burgers, the bag kept him warm, and gave him something to do while the watch was out of wack, yet again.

" A blue face again, does that mean you're doing something Azmeth? Nice timing, I'm stuck up here. "

Vlad Plasmius voice echoed in his head, like a clown mocking him with what he already knew.

" They will take your precious watch from you Benjamin. "

Ben always hated clowns, and for some reason he hated this situation more.

" Azmeth is pissed I tired to get around the safeguards, and that mess with the ghost zone didn't help. The watch is getting worse, and when it gives out, I have a feeling Ben 10 is done. You save the world a few times just stabbing in the dark, and everyone's happy. Start to feel like a champion, and all of a sudden your an asshole. I should have never let Kevin talk me into screwing with the watch, but no its not his fault! If I was just going to loose fair and square I'd feel better but none of this is my fault. "

Ben grabbed a third burger, as he ignored reality a bit more, totally unaware he wasn't alone on that roof.

" Umm Hello? A-are you the one they call Ben 10? . . I Didn't mean to interrupt or anything. . "

He caught a glimpse of her in the moonlight, she was a tall blond girl in a retro 70's sun-dress with bands of bright colors alternating down the length of it to a pair of legs that made him do a double take. Her hair was in a matched set of pony tails worn down the front of her shoulders their ends hidden under a Jean jacket.

" Ben . . .me yes . .10 I mean hello. "

" Amy. "

She stepped closer, and he figured out she was actually talking TO him.

" Would you like a burger? "

" I haven't eaten in forever. "

She knelt down close to him half for the food and half for the warmth, and Ben started to get his head together.

" Amy, you knew my name, that means you need my help. Are you. . "

She swallowed half a burger, and answered in an unsteady voice.

" I never meet my dad, but they tell me he was a Necro-something. . flies around, walks through walls, stronger then he looked. "

Ben tried to wrap his head around the idea of a half Necrofriggian, seeing as they where asexual, and he himself had given birth to a swarm. . .then Amy leaned in closer to him to grab another burger, and he was distracted by her chest. Somehow he got the idea she might be a bit older then he was, and his face took on a roguish grin. He glanced at the watch and for the moment the face was green meaning it was ready to be used.

" Don't worry Amy, your safe now. So what's your story?"

She gulped down another burger before answering.

" I had a boyfriend, and everything had to be his way. By the time I got he just wanted me for the money I could make him, the square had my future in his hand. "

Ben watched as she reached her hand through the bag like it wasn't their to grab another burger, before speaking.

" You really like the 70's don't you. "

" I do look like a flower child in the wrong decade don't I? "

**

Sam grabbed the remote and punched up the trailers for the 3rd time. Danny was asleep with his arms around her, and she didn't want to wake him by getting up to change dvd's.

She went over her " birthday gift ", in her head again while the GooZombies trailer played. The spectre deflector she was wearing as a belt most days, the pistol she'd pointed at Danny sitting on the table next to their cokes, a communication set with a pair of Fenton phones, and a pair of power cells for each.

" I need to talk to Dad about a heavy rifle when Mom's at the home show next week. "

She rolled to her left away from the tv, and looked up at the sleeping Danny. The past year Mister and Misses Fenton had turned into Jack and Maddie. " Maddie " had called her after then whole Dani thing. Bruised ribs, some crystal shards in his back, and a trip to the dentist later Danny had given her the whole story. Just when you think you get a handle on the world, it turns out to be a lot bigger then you think.

" I don't get why you care Danny. He's a jerk, who cares? You've got your hands full with all the ghosts. "

" Power. "

Danny shifted his weight under her, and opened his eyes as Sam spoke.

" What now? "

" Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep, but Mom was talking to some fancy lawyer about the deal with the alien frog guys so I " trained " with dad today. I must have eaten half a turkey. "

He looked down at her, and that look in her eyes told him the attempt to change the subject wasn't working.

" Sam, that Ben kid has been doing this off and on since he was 10. His grandfather was some kind of retired Guy in White that was actually competent. Dani told me Vlad tracked him down not really even caring that much if he could get the watch or even part of it for himself. He had Ember, and that meant he'd get his chance to win him over like he tried with me. If not oh well Ember sings a song and he's got wind up toy with a really fancy watch. He may have been as my cousin likes to say a jerky jerky face but all that stuff he's done and he didn't see it coming. Sam I made up my mind about the life I want and I don't want that happing to me. "

She didn't move a muscle, and that scared him a little as she spoke.

" Your scared, because you think the after school adventure just got real. Danny it's been real since you walked into that portal. We only get to do the high-school thing once, and you're talking about the kind of stuff that passes for college for our kind of people. "

Danny sounded confused.

" Our people? "

" Think your getting rid of me after all of this your wrong. "

Someone somewhere was taking notes.

**

Gwen sat in the passenger seat of Kevin's car on what he called " a working date ". Ever since that Charmcaster thing last week, they'd not been on the best of terms. Ben had been acting weird since Amity Park, and when Kevin mentioned meeting someone from their she'd talked her way into going along.

" So anything I need to know Kevin, secret handshake or something? "

Kevin flipped on his Id mask before speaking.

" This guy wanted some space rocks that hit the area about a year ago. Some kind of special properties or something. I know a guy that collects meteorites and sells'em at auction. His main buyer ran into some cash problems so I walked away with his entire load for cheap. Hence why we are going out to eat after this. "

Gwen shot him a look,

" And this stuffs not I don't know radioactive or something, right? "

Kevin tried to dance around the issue.

" It puts out some energy I haven't seen before, but it is entirely harmless to humans, and anything else . . .I guess. "

The redhead tried not to sigh in disappointment.

" Somewhere in their we get some information on what happened with Ben right? "

Kevin gave her a roguish smile.

" This guy is new hardly anyones heard of him, and what I've gotten on him is he's information hungry. I'm sure he'll let slip a bit more then someone with experienced would. "

" Like say you? "

" You know it. "

He pulled the car over in front of a local fast food joint. Gwen quipted as she got out of the car.

" Nasty Burger, nice. "

Kevin grabbed a small cooler out of his trunk, and began walking to the door.

" I've done deals in much worse places. "

Gwen followed him in, and looked at Kevin casing the restaurant. Two exits unless they started poking holes in the wall. Their was only one other person on this side of the counter, a black kid in a red beret. Kevin pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number from memory. On que the kids phone rang once, and she watched Kevin approach the table and go to work.

" Fryer Tuck? "

" BigKev11? "

Gwen walked to Kevin's side and tried not to laugh at the sound of his email address. Their client turned to her and laid it on thick.

" We did agree to meet alone, but considering the quality of the company I don't mind at all. Folley Tucker Folley."

Kevin snapped.

" Ignore her she . . my insurance. "

Gwen picking up on the tip and made her eyes glow for a second, but Tucker didn't seem impressed.

" Meh, business before pleasure I guess. May I see the merchandise? "

Kevin popped the top off the cooler, and handed over a baseball sized lump of the yellowish rock. Gwen seemed to think looked like something she'd seen in a book once. Tucker pulled out some iphone sized gizmo that she was sure Kevin would recognize, and waved it over the rocks.

" Your reputation Sir, is well deserved. Mister Blackwell sends his regards. "

Kevin made small talk, as Gwen watched them trying to read each other. .

" Doyle's a good guy. Spring break in Miami last year, he kept me from taking the quick train back to the null void. "

Tucker fumbled through the rocks waving the device over them. He spoke as if distracted.

" He didn't mention that one. Say seeing as this worked out, I could use something else. A 2313 pack, if you can manage it. "

Gwen remembered watching a bond movie with her father when she was 8. It seemed really stupid, and she wanted to go to her room and read something, but that might have upset her father. Kevin wasn't her dad, and in fact didn't even remind her of him in the lest she now realized. Gwen decided to speed things up.

" 2313 sure we can get that from this guy we know, about how long Kevin? "

He looked over at her like she just screamed in church.

" Oh about a day or two. Say Gwen can I talk to you for a second. "

She ignored him, and moved closer to Tucker..

" Good, so Amity park, a lot of Danny Phantom fans in town I guess. "

Foley smiled a clueless smile, as he began to buy what she was selling.

" Why yes, we are close personal friends. "

She put her hand on his as Kevin looked on with daggers in his eyes.

" Tell me about him. "

**

Next: " Warning signs "

Authors notes

throws a dead bunny out a window

I see you have no love for bunnies.

Well this one was finally the length I've been shotting for, but we are back to the style I was using with my eva fics. I need some action next chapter. Also I've got a growing file for stuff that keeps popping into my head but doesn't fit so to speak so I might do a side story in between chapters at some point.

And of course

The Darkscribes are recruiting writers please stop by our forums and get to know our many mentally damaged hangers on and marvel at our large collection of lemons.