A/N: So here's chapter three. Thanks so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate that so many of you the stories, and thanks for all the compliments on my writing! It really makes a girl feel good! Sorry that this one's on the shorter side, but I promise that the next one will be nice and long. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. (This is going to be the last time on this story that I state this. By now you all should know thatI don't.)

Chapter Three
Preparation

Danny awoke next morning after a brief and rough sleep and screamed as he saw a photographer sitting in the tree outside his window, snapping pictures. He turned invisible and draped his bed sheet over the window. He really needed to buy blinds. Then he went intangible and stuck his torso through the covered window, scaring the photographer. Danny grabbed the camera from him and smiled as he threw it up in the air and shot an ecto-blast at it.

"Be thankful that wasn't your head," he warned as he returned back into his room. He heard his parents knocking at his bedroom door. He opened the door to find his concerned parents peering into the room.

"Danny, what's wrong? Why did you scream?" his mother asked.

"Oh nothing, I just woke up to find a photographer sitting outside my window snapping pictures of me while I slept. Don't worry though, I took care of it. I blew up his camera," Danny smiled mischievously.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're alright. I hope this all ends soon, for your sake."

"I'm just glad it's a Saturday. I would hate to have to go to school today." His parents laughed.

"I'm really proud of you Danny," his father gushed as he clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder, making his knees buckle. "Not because of what you do as the ghost boy, but because of how well you're handling this. That's the sign of a true Fenton."

"Thanks Dad."

"I always knew you had it in you to be a ghost hunter. I said it from day one, didn't I?"

"Alright, I think you should get dressed," his mom interrupted, knowing that Jack would start squealing about how happy he was to have a real ghost hunter in the family. "We don't want to be late for the press conference and you want to look your best."

Danny nodded as he headed into the shower. Then he looked into his closet and found his blue button down shirt that matched his ice blue eyes and a pair of black pants. He was fully dressed except for the black tie, which he was having trouble with. His sister walked into the room, just as Danny was about to get frustrated and screw the tie. She was wearing a black cocktail dress with spaghetti strap shoulders and frilly bottoms that swished as she walked. Danny had to admit she did look really nice.

"Need some help?" she asked as she noticed Danny fiddling with his tie.

"Please!" he begged as she grabbed his tie.

"You know, you clean up pretty nice little bro," she said as she continued tying his tie.

"Thanks. You too," he complimented.

"Don't get used to this. I'm about to die in these heels."

"I was just going to say the same thing except minus the heels part," Danny remarked while smiling at her.

"It's good to see you smiling Danny, given the situation. It's good you're keeping your morale up. There, done. See, it's not that hard," she joked.

"Easy for you to say," he remarked. He looked into his mirror as he fiddled with the bottom of his tie.

"Relax, it's going to be fine. You don't have to answer every question, and if it gets to be too much, just fly away. Just remember Danny, by calling this press conference, you're calling the shots. You're in charge, and if they get out of control, you can just leave. You're the one with the powers, don't be afraid to use them."

"Thanks Jazz." He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge hug. "Thanks for everything."

"It's nothing. You are my baby brother after all, and someone has to look out for you."

He smiled at her as his mother's voice drifted from downstairs. "Jazz, Danny, hurry up! We don't want to be late!"

Danny and Jazz walked downstairs and met their parents, who, to no surprise, were still wearing their usual hazmat suits.

"Oh Danny, you look so handsome! And Jazz, you look lovely! I need a picture."

"Mom!" Jazz shouted, exasperated.

"Just a quickie. It's not everyday that your children head off to a press conference. Alright now…where's Danny?" His mother and father started searching for him, not sure where he went. Then it clicked.

"Daniel Fenton, you turn visible right this instant and let me take a picture! We're not leaving for the conference before I get a picture!"

Danny appeared standing next to Jazz, looking depressed that his mother had caught him. He hated posing for pictures, especially when his grandmother was around. He'd never met a more camera happy person in his life. His mother obviously inherited some of her genes.

"There you are, alright, smile both of you!" his mother demanded as she took the picture.

"Alright, to the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle!" his father cheered.

They started pulling out of the garage when they were met with bright flashing lights of photographers. Paparazzi and fans covered the entire corner around the Fenton house so they couldn't get out.

"Argh, aren't they supposed to be at the press conference?" his father asked angrily.

"I guess they wanted to follow us there," this mother offered.

Jack's fingers moved towards the weapon activation button but Maddie slapped his hand away. "Jack, they're civilians, you can't use weapons on them!"

"But if we can't get through, we're going to be late!" Jazz panicked as Jack pouted.

"Not if I can help it," Danny stated. He shut his eyes and went intangible, and then turned the entire RV intangible. "Drive!" Danny told his dad as he opened his glowing eyes. Jack backed up the car right through the photographers and drove it down the street. Once out of the way of the mob, Danny turned the car tangible again.

"Danny, that was amazing!" his mother complimented as Danny blushed. They continued to drive to the town hall to find that, just like their house, the town hall was packed, but this time there were police to clear the way for them. They parked along the back and a group of police officers greeted them as they opened the doors and stepped out of the RV. Once Danny emerged large screams emitted from the fans near the car and they raised signs declaring Danny their one true love.

"We've been asked to take you safely inside," one of the police cops told them. Danny nodded in agreement as three police officers flanked each member of the family. They ushered Jack through first, then Maddie, then Danny, and finally Jazz. As they walked in between all the screaming fans and paparazzi, Danny thought about going invisible. He quickly turned the thought down though as he realized that it wouldn't really do any good since they knew he was there anyways. Besides, he didn't think using his powers would be that good of an idea while surrounding by squealing fan girls; it would probably make them scream louder.

Finally they made it into the safety of the stage wings where they were hidden from the people already sitting outside.

"I'm going to go check it out, see how many people are there," Danny stated.

"Are you sure?" his mother asked.

"I'd prefer to be shocked now when no one can see me than when I'm standing behind the microphone," he reasoned as he turned invisible. He walked onto the stage and looked in shock. The auditorium was packed with people. Every seat was taken except for seven in the first row. He knew that five of them were for his family and Tucker and Sam, but he was curious as to who the other two belonged to. He saw Paulina sitting close to the front wearing a t-shirt with his face on it. Half of his face was the raven haired blue eyed Danny Fenton, while the other half was the white haired green eyed Danny Phantom. Of course, now that she discovered they were the same person she would have a crush on him as well. Even though Danny had desired that for such a long time, he found he no longer wanted it. She only liked him because of his ghost half, not the human half that he cared about the most. He saw Dash and the rest of the football team smirking. He knew he should expect some wise comments from them. He saw some of his teachers and wondered what they were thinking about. He looked around and didn't see Lancer anywhere. He thought Lancer would be here for sure. Maybe he was just running late, but then again, Lancer was never late. He continued to survey the crowd, looking for familiar faces. Then he noticed Valerie, pouting in the corner. He really wondered how she felt. She had long hated Danny Phantom and had even come close to severely hurting him once or twice, but she also had a huge crush on Danny Fenton. He was interested in seeing what she was planning on doing next. Would she see the error of her ways and stop hunting him, like his parents? Or will this make her even more infuriated and make her want to hunt him more? Judging by her facial expression right now, he really couldn't say. Then again, he didn't really think Valerie could say either.

The rest of the crowd seemed to be made up of newscasters. Danny noticed that even big name new stations like CNN and MSNBC had even shown up. He figured that the rest of the country may or may not have heard about the ghost problems in Amity Park, but they sure would be interested in seeing proof that a ghost exists. He even saw the Discovery Channel! This must be really big. Butterflies started churning in his stomach as he headed back to his parents.

"CNN, MSNBC, and the Discovery Channel are all here!" Danny stated worriedly to his parents as he became visible next to them.

"Danny, you have to relax. It's going to be okay. Just breathe. You can do this," his mother comforted. Danny then noticed Mr. Lancer standing behind the stage with them.

"Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked.

"Well well, Danny Fenton. I must say I was extremely surprised to hear your name being blasted from every station on the radio all day yesterday. And here I thought you'd never amount to anything," Lancer joked as he smiled. Danny smiled back. "Good luck out there," he wished as he shook Danny's hand.

"Thank you sir."

Mr. Lancer turned around and left to find his seat as Tucker and Sam showed up and gave Danny a hug.

"We just want you to know that we're right beside you Danny," Sam reassured.

"Yeah, we'll be sitting in the front row next to your parents. If it's ever too much, just concentrate on us. We'll be there," Tucker promised.

"Don't worry, we've got your back. We'll stick up for you."

"Thanks guys. You're the best friends a guy could ever have," Danny thanked.

"Well, at least the best friends a half ghost could ever have," Tucker joked as the three of them started laughing. Unfortunately, Paulina must have been able to distinguish his laugh because he heard her voice shouting.

"I heard Danny! He's behind the stage right now!" All the fan girls started screaming.

"I don't know what's going to be harder, the rabid fan girls or the nosy press," Tucker commented.

"The rabid fan girls," Danny and Sam both replied.

Then Jazz rushed over to them. "Alright you two, give him your luck and then go sit down. It's a minute 'til eleven and we need to get started."

Tucker and Sam both gave him a hug and then hurried off to their seats. Danny could tell when they finally reached them because he heard cameras taking pictures and more news casters talking. They obviously had started bothering Tucker and Sam. Then his parents walked over to Danny, wished him luck, told him he'd be fine, and gave him a huge hug as they too walked to their seats to the increasing sound of cameras. The mayor came over, told Jazz what to do, and then walked past Danny, giving him the cold shoulder as he sat down as well. Clearly he still believed that Danny had attacked him. Then, the only people left behind the stage were Jazz and Danny.

"Don't worry little brother, you'll do fine. Just remember what I told you in your room," she consoled as she gave him a hug and then a kiss on the cheek. For once, Danny didn't mind. Then he watched her walk up to the platform as white flashing lights peppered the stage.

"On behalf of my brother, I'd like to thank you all for coming. I'd just like to lay out some protocol. First, please treat Danny with the respect he deserves. He is not some animal out on display; he is a living breathing person who has saved your lives on countless occasions. He has willingly arranged this conference to answer your questions honestly and quickly, and therefore deserves your respect.

"Second, there will be no questions asked regarding his personal life." Danny heard a lot of newscasters groan in disappointment. "This isn't a very illogical request, since none of you seemed to care about Danny Fenton's personal life before yesterday, so why should it make any difference now?

"Third, Danny has the right to refuse to answer any question he wishes as well as the right to leave whenever he wants, regardless of whether you've asked all your questions or not.

"Fourth, this will run like a professional press conference. In other words, if you have a question you will raise your hand and Danny will call on you. Do not overwhelm him with a million and one questions all at the same time; just be patient and wait your turn. If you are badgering Danny with questions the mayor has been kind enough to inform me that the police will escort you from the premises and place you in prison for the rest of the day.

"Fifth, would the fan girls please refrain from screaming and shouting and all that annoying stuff that fan girls do. This is not the time, nor the place. If this happens, you will find yourself in the arms of a police escort on your way to jail. Also, any questions that border on the lines of 'Will you marry me?' or 'Will you go out with me?' are forbidden, and anyone asking them will also be escorted to jail by the police.

"Finally, and probably most importantly, I would like to let you know that once this press conference is finished and all your questions answered, we expect you to leave us alone. We're not celebrities who's job is to pose for pictures day and night. We're students and adults who need to attend school, go to work, and have fun with our friends. We don't want people following us around taking pictures all the time. We just want to live our lives in peace, or as much peace as we can, and we don't need paparazzi following us everywhere we go. Please respect our wishes, and be mindful that we have lives too, and we would like to live them. And now, I would like to introduce to you my brother Daniel Fenton."

Jazz walked off the stage to applause and Danny took a deep breath and walked onto the stage, ready to plunge into the greatest and most brutal battle yet.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffie. I know a lot of you have been looking forward to the press conference, but I'm going to make you wait one more chapter.