Edit: 6/5/18: Next wave of grammar fixes and wording tweaks or some scenes altered to avoid cliches. Took out AN question and answer sections.
Edit: 6/15/18: Fixed my mistake with Agent M and Alpha.
Hey everyone. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it a decent amount. Still nothing super exciting and mostly more events that are context for later things. I like it though.
zzz- normal separation
ooo- dream or vision separation (could be a past event of some kind)
Mental thoughts or distant speaking
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead.
zzz
Foley Residence. 7:23 AM.
-Bing-
-Bing-
-Bing—Bing-
-Bing-
-Bing—Bing—Bing-
-Bing—Bing-
-Bing-
Tucker groaned in pure irritation as he opened his dry and red eyes. "That's what you get Foley, for not taking out your contacts before bed."
"Get up! Get up right now, child, and shut off your accursed computer! It has been making the irritating dinging noise all night."
Tucker looked over at the thermos under his bedside table. After getting Technus to heal Valerie, he'd been unable to go the night before and return the ghost to the portal. "Computer?"
-Bing-
Tucker sighed and got up, walking over to his desk and seeing that he had hundreds if not thousands of emails in his inbox. Some of them had subject titles that were less than kind. Tucker grit his teeth and turned his monitor and system off. "As if strangers could understand."
"Will you be taking me back now!?" Technus semi-demanded.
Tucker walked over and squatted so Technus could hear him clearly. "Yes, I'm going to, after I visit Valerie at the hospital. She's been discharged."
"Hmm…" Technus was quiet for a moment as Tucker went through the motions of getting dressed for the day. Because of the botched field trip, Casper's schools had been canceled for the next several days; the business with Danny and Vlad might have only added to that, but it wasn't publicly stated. "Is it true that Plasmius went coo-coo and revealed himself and the ghost child?"
Tucker paused, wondering if answering truthfully would come back to hurt him or his friends. "Yeah, he did."
Technus snorted and was silent a moment longer before he asked another question. "How have the humans taken it?"
Tucker walked over, fully dressed, before picking up the thermos. "They're afraid. I'm guessing the Guys in White are going to come soon. Honestly I need to go to Danny's for that reason as well as to release you."
"So, they will take him and not even let him speak?"
"Normally, yes, but Sam has been working on something with a lawyer… I don't know. The government hasn't said anything."
"Ah taking it to court?"
"Maybe."
Technus then got very quiet and Tucker didn't speak either as he walked down the stairs to face his parents that morning. He wasn't sure why, but his parents had hardly talked to him since everything had gone down and it was a bit unnerving.
"Morning."
Angela glanced up as she placed some breakfast in front of Maurice. "Oh, morning sweetie."
Tucker frowned at the plain greeting and moved down the stairs.
"Want some breakfast, son?" Maurice asked and took a sip from his coffee cup.
Tucker walked up to the table but didn't sit. He hooked the thermos to his belt and then gave his parents a critical look. "Okay, what the heck? Why are you guys so mellow?"
Angela sighed and put down her cup before glancing at Maurice. He was the first to speak. "To be honest Tucker, we were kind of relieved to know the truth."
"Parents say what?" Tucker rambled in response, rising both brows.
His mother smiled shakily. "We had been concerned about what you were doing with Danny and Sam all this time. We felt a bit more assured you weren't doing anything bad when Valerie became your girlfriend." She paused. "But now we know the truth and we're proud of the good you did and the loyalty you showed your friend."
Tucker's face slowly softened. "Wow mom, dad… I don't know what to say."
Maurice got up and walked over before hugging Tucker and Angela when she joined. "There's not much to say. I don't know what will happen now that the public knows Danny's secret, but I feel it's honestly the right thing to do to stay behind him and his family."
"They may have been somewhat troublesome in the past and them meddling with ghostly things was a bit frightening, but your friend has been saving peoples' lives."
"Although I would like some explanation behind some of the less pleasant things Daniel did." Maurice suddenly added.
Tucker nodded as the family untangled themselves from each other. "I'll explain everything. I need to go visit Valerie first though. It's important that I do. Can you guys trust me with some things just a little bit longer?"
Maurice and Angela shared a glance before Angela looked Tucker in the eyes. "Tucker, is it something you believe in with all your heart?"
Tucker gave her a determined nod. "Yes, no doubt."
"Okay then," Maurice breathed out. "Just a bit longer, then explanations."
Tucker nodded and turned to walk out. His hand was on the front door knob when he heard his mother's voice.
"Be careful."
His cheekily reply was, "I would be very dead by now if I wasn't careful. Heck careful is my favorite word or maybe my new middle name!" He rambled until he shut the door behind himself.
Angela glanced up at Maurice who was still looking at the door. "Do you think we did the right thing?"
Maurice let out a very long sigh. "I hope."
zzz
Hospital. 8:01 AM.
It had been a bit harder to get to the hospital than Tucker had hoped. When he'd exited his home, he'd happened to exit at the same time that a reporter from some kind of news channel was doing a small segment about him and his family regarding his possible involvement of knowing Danny's secret. The young man and his cameraman had practically chased the poor boy down the street until a bit of convincing from Tucker prompted Technus to make him 'disappear' in a dead end, past a corner.
Once they'd gotten to the hospital, he'd given Technus another apology before having him to return to the thermos.
"I am not one of those pocket monsters the hip kids are crazy about you know!?" Technus offered, in irritation from the confines of the thermos.
"You mean, pokémon?" Tucker asked with a cocked brow.
"Yes dem, with the empowered pets."
Tucker rolled his eyes and walked inside the lobby after telling Technus he needed to be quiet for a bit. After talking with the lady at the counter, he found that Valerie had already been discharged. Before he could leave, he saw Valerie and her father walking down the hall towards them.
Damon got one quick look at Tucker and grabbed his daughter's arm. "Oh no. Come on Valerie."
Valerie halted in her tracks, as Tucker looked between the two in mild shock. "Dad, let go!"
"No, you won't be around them. Not anymore. I won't stand for this."
"But Dad!"
"No Valerie."
"Mr. Gray?" Tucker offered, only for the angered adult to round on him.
"You stay away from my daughter, you understand? If it wasn't for Fenton, Valerie would've never gotten involved in any of this."
Valerie got very angry at this comment. "I also would've never known what it was like to have true friends or find someone who loves me!"
Damon and Tucker both stared at Valerie in equal parts shock and awe.
"Valerie, we're going home and we aren't going to get involved in any of this, period."
"Dad! It wasn't Danny's fault this happened, it was Vlad's!" Valerie then lowered her voice when the three noticed a couple people in the lobby videoing the conversation.
"May I at least talk with you someplace else, Mr. Gray? I honestly came here just to see how Valerie was."
Damon let out a slow but slightly uneven exhale. "No. I'm sorry Tucker, but I can't."
"Dad!" Valerie replied, not being able to help her reaction.
Damon turned his head and stared at her. "End of discussion."
Valerie narrowed her eyes at her father. "You can't make me go with you." She then thrust her arms out as though to put on her suit.
Nothing happened.
Valerie tried again and the same results answered her. "What? What wrong?" She looked at Tucker as if he had answers but he seemed just as shocked as her. Tucker glanced down when he felt Technus rattle quietly against his hip.
"You can't use…" Damon shook his head and then gestured to the exit. "Now."
Valerie gave Tucker a look and he only gave her a weak smile. "It's okay, Val. I'm glad you're healthy again."
Valerie looked at Tucker and nodded. "Thanks. I'll see you later?"
Tucker looked at Damon and got a slight glare in response. "I…" Tucker stared at the floor and the gave Valerie a mischievous smile. "I guess Time will tell."
Valerie seemed to get his hidden message. She turned and walked off with Damon before Tucker whipped out his PDA and walked out. Hacking into those people's phones and deleting that one video from each of them was easy; sure, it was illegal, but hey they had no shame if they were willing to video something like that.
Once he was in a quiet alleyway, in between his house and Sam's, he let Technus out.
"What is it?"
Technus folded his arms. "I heard the conversation you had with the ex-Huntress."
"Oh and… wait, ex-Huntress?" Tucker asked in suspicion.
Technus let out a sigh. "In order to heal her from the nano-bots, I had to purge everything electronic from her system. I hardly could pick and choose without being able to see the entire system under proper equipment and settings. I knew we were pressed for time and so I figured you'd prefer her life as the most optimal option."
"You mean…?" Tucker whispered.
"She no longer has her suit I bestowed her. She is entirely a normal human child again."
Tucker was silent for a few moments to let that settle in. "Okay… thanks Technus."
"Technus didn't reply before he allowed himself to be sucked into the thermos once more. So, Valerie no longer had her battle suit? Tucker pondered over the consequence of that as well as how Valerie would handle it. Something told him she wouldn't be happy.
It was then that he heard the sound of a helicopter. Looking over head he spotted four different ones. Two of them had the letters of the GiW on them, while the third was completely black and the last was a news copter.
They were heading in the direction of FentonWorks. Tucker felt the blood drain from his face and he vaguely thought he would pass out. Of course, he knew they would come and of course he knew they would come soon, but he was sort of suddenly hit with the reality that they came and they had come soon.
He took off running in the direction of FentonWorks, noticing the city had gotten even busier than it had moments before. People and cars, both, were heading towards the same direction at different speeds.
zzz
Ghost Zone. 3:32 AM. Earlier that Morning.
When you wrote it down on paper or even tried to describe it to someone, everything about it sounded ridiculous.
A hybrid man floating through a parallel world full of dead people and ectoplasmic entities, while holding a diet soda.
Yep sounded completely sane and never the less, it was what was occurring. Vlad had eventually gotten to the point where he knew he had to either lie down and wait for his illness to kill him or he could stop pitying himself for a little bit and try to find other options. The businessman in Vlad always tended to look for more options; it was only logical.
So, recalling the various places he'd researched when learning about the Zone and the powers the Infi-map had over portals, he'd travelled to a natural portal which he knew lead to the Ghost Zone of his own time, when it opened.
It hadn't been easy, teleporting in spurts to reach the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. The natural portal there could be accessed by humans if it wasn't partially engulfed in the lava within the caldera. This, however, was no problem for a ghost or hybrid that could go intangible. With a stolen diet soda in hand, Vlad dove into the volcano and used his intangibility in order not to be fried to a crisp.
Now he was in the Ghost Zone, searching for a virtually non-sentient ectoplasmic creature. Before long, even in his weak state, Vlad had dispatched a small bird-like creature and mixed its ectoplasm with the soda. As much as the idea of eating raw ectoplasm from a previously existing creature disgusted him, he didn't have the equipment available to condense atmospheric ectoplasm. He obviously couldn't return to his homes or labs and a twinge of hurt and sorrow entered his heart at the thought of his sweet cat being alone when the feds would come and invade the mansion.
He ruefully downed the drink and could already feel some of his pain vanish and his energy return. Unfortunately, he felt his core wasn't balanced like the cure had done for him before.
"Snicker-doodles!" Vlad hissed and gripped his chest. "Why didn't it work properly? I did the same thing as it was done last time." Vlad grumbled in frustration before transforming into his human form. As much as his ghost form intimidated most creatures he knew in the Zone, the ability to move through constructs was more helpful for the time being, especially since he was mostly stuck in the Zone now and being arrested here wouldn't turn out well for him.
He decided to walk about the island he'd ended up in and saw that it was mostly sparsely forested and seemed to match the environment of the Central Americas. Across a gap of space, Vlad could see another island, filled with some type of ancient columns and though he was a very learned man, he found himself unable to identify what culture they came from. Feeling that place would put him more at ease than a false jungle, he jumped off the edge only to plant his feet on the side and push off, gliding like he normally did in ghost form. Once near, he grabbed the other island's edge and hefted himself up.
It was somewhat barren, though it did have a few buildings to match the style of the chipped and broken pillars. He simply walked throughout the empty place for a while, passing time and inspecting everything. This would likely be a good place to rest while he thought through his current options, no matter how meager they were.
He froze though, when he felt a cold dread settled in his chest, like his ghost sense often caused. Vlad didn't have a visible sense like Danny, but he always felt a flush of heat through him when a ghost was around; this was a bit different though, as the bit of dread came, but no flush of heat. He immediately wanted to play it off as his core being imbalanced, but that was before he caught sight of a hell-hound sniffing around the island.
He almost tripped backwards in an attempt to hide himself. The hell-hound was most definitely Malus' creation and because of the chain of events that had occurred, he at least knew that he no longer had the ability to reason or fight with such a creature.
When he'd first come up with the plan to take over the world, using the crown and ring, he'd learned of Malus in his studies. There wasn't much written about him, even in the Ghost Writer's library, which was the only one he technically had access to mind you, so he knew very little. Seeing the evil being's power appear when Daniel had fought the Ectopus had been merely troublesome, but that was when he had had a plan to gather all the artifacts for himself in case Malus did make a return one day during his earthly rule. After all this time, he still didn't know which of the three items could harm such a deadly being.
What he knew for certain was that touching the hell-hound would be bad and painful and even though he'd seen Daniel survive it, something made him feel unsure he would, especially with his core in the state it was.
Vlad eyed it intently through a thin crack in a wall. It walked about, sniffing every place it could, leaving behind cracks and aged damage where it touched. It was hatred; it was death.
When the creature came close to Vlad's hiding place, Vlad made the decision to dive into the floor intangibly and hope he could keep it up long enough for the hound to leave. After several minutes, it turned and sprinted towards the edge before leaping off and rushing away through the empty space of the Zone.
Vlad rose and let out a gasp, from the exertion of using his powers in his state. A curious look crossed his face. "What is Malus searching for?"
zzz
Sam. 8:23 AM. Back to a more Current time.
Sam left her home through a back window to avoid various reporters that come to ask her questions about dating a dead guy. It was annoying and rude, the things they were asking; the most unsettling word that she kept hearing was necrophilia over and over. It wasn't that. Danny wasn't a corpse or even a walking corpse; he had a living body that had adapted to the changes ectoplasm had done to him.
Regardless of that, she needed to get to Danny; she'd heard helicopters.
She rushed through alleyways and shortcuts she and her friends knew in order to avoid the main crowds of people and cars. The crowds were getting thicker, the closer she got to FentonWorks. When she was finally forced to exit her secret pathways and get on the main street, she almost ran right over Kwan.
"Whoa!"
"Watch it!"
"Where do you think-"
The flurry of complaints stopped, when everyone there recognized the other's faces.
"Manson?" Dash asked.
Sam huffed and put her hands on her hips. "No, I'm actually Santa Claus."
Dash frowned at that, before Paulina spoke, "What's happened? Where's Danny?"
Sam paused at the odd sense of concern in Paulina's voice and she noticed that the A-listers were all paying complete attention to her. "I… FentonWorks."
The small group noticed several other people walk towards them and saw they were Norman, Mikey, Lester, Brandon, AJ, Brad and the others that had come on the trip.
"So, then this crowd…" Brandon murmured and Sam nodded slowly.
"I… I need to go." Sam started to turn, before Star's voice interrupted her.
"Wait!"
She looked back over her shoulder to see Star giving her a determined expression. "We want to help, however we can."
"Yeah! Danny's been helping us all this time." Dash added.
"Even in the Zone." Norman offered.
"This is a breach of his rights," Brad expressed, getting strange looks. "What? I know some law terminology. I watch cop shows and stuff."
"Yeah, this is messed up, yo." AJ nodded.
"Sam, I asked my brother to represent Danny."
Sam looked at Star closely. "But I already asked someone to represent him."
"Who?" Star asked, surprised. "David said he-"
"David?" Sam parroted. "Wait…" Sam facepalmed. "Duh, David Hudson. Hudson is your last name. I can't believe I missed that."
Star smiled. "Well at least we're on the same page."
Sam gave her a weak smile before she remembered what was happening. They all shared a look before running off towards the commotion down the street.
zzz
Gray Residence. 8:20 AM.
Anger seemed to be the only emotion that could be contributed to Valerie for the last few years. Anger from losing her mother, anger from losing her popularity, anger at Phantom, anger at Vlad and now she was, of all things, angry with her father. It was starting to become a really annoying pattern.
"Dad-" Valerie tried, right after the door swung closed.
"No TV, no internet, no phones until I deem it okay," Damon rambled off.
This of course left Valerie gapping in shock. "You, you can't do that!"
"I'm your father and that's the rule."
"Then I'll leave."
"You'll have to run from the police-"
Valerie narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, because they will totally focus on one run away teen when Vlad's still loose."
Damon's face when from somewhat passive to angered. "Valerie, enough of this!"
"No!" Valereie shouted. "I won't stand by! I won't stand by and watch an innocent boy be murdered! Mother fought for the rights of people and she would agree with me, I know it!"
"Don't bring your mother into this. Besides, you can't murder something that's already dead!" Damon yelled back, not thinking about his words.
Valerie froze in shock before she rested her head in her hand. "I can't believe you. I simply cannot believe you'd say that about Danny."
"Honey, he's a ghost."
"He's not just a ghost!" Valerie screamed. "And even if he was, that's no excuse!"
Damon stared. "I thought you hated ghosts, Valerie."
Valerie sighed and sat down on one of the chairs. "I did. I did with every fiber of my being, until I found out the truth about who Danny Phantom was. I found out he was the hero and Vlad was the villain. I found out ghosts have emotions and dreams and wishes even if they don't have a pulse. Hell dad-" She finally looked up to lock eyes with him. "I went and met Father Time himself, the literal controller of time's movement."
Damon didn't have much to say to that and only continued to stare at his daughter.
"This whole thing is wrong, so wrong. Tucker saved my life in the hospital and Danny's saved my life before. I've never been happier to have friends than I have with them," Valerie expressed, hardly noticing the tears coming to her eyes. "I can't let Danny go, not without a fight, not without trying. We could end up making a huge mistake by being so bigoted against beings with the power to freeze time, dad."
Damon finally closed his mouth and became very still. "Let them worry about it. If the others want to let their kids run off to die, then well-"
Valerie paused. "How do you think the Fentons feel, to have their son and baby girl most likely taken from them?"
Damon frowned. "They should've thought of that before they opened that damned portal. Maybe everything would've been better if they'd left it alone."
Valerie shook her head. Even if the Fentons had never accidentally given Vlad his powers, the world would've been doomed by Malus getting through somehow. "Maybe, but that's in the past. We need to fight for the future."
Damon frowned. "Well what about that time spirit of yours? Why doesn't he fix this if it isn't for the better!?"
Valerie shook her head. "It doesn't work like that dad. Besides, if he isn't stopping it, then that means it's got to be good for something. If we don't help though, it might end badly. He exists in all points in time. Do you want to end up in the time where he abandons us to a simple wrong turn? Personally, I want to be part of the story with the happy ending."
Damon relaxed his clenched fists and looked at his daughter hopelessly. "Do you honestly think I can listen to all this talk about time and space and take you seriously. Your suit or whatever it is, isn't even working at the moment. What can you hope to do?"
Valerie looked at him. "Attacking people wasn't what I was aiming for anyways. I just want to be there, to try and help my friends and to back Danny up no matter what happens."
They both paused when the heard the sounds of helicopters pass overhead. That wasn't exactly a common occurrence, so Valerie seemed to know what it meant. She gave her father a desperate look.
Damon walked forward and hugged her tightly. "Why can't you stay here, where you're safe? I don't want to lose you too."
Ah so that was it. That explained a lot in Valerie's mind. She glanced up at her father. "Because mom didn't stay safe when she could've and she fought for what she believed in. I do the same thing dad. Whether it's in a marine's uniform or a ghost hunting suit, there's no difference."
Damon closed his eyes and accepted the idea that he was both lucky and unlucky to have had two very strong women in his life. "Alright, baby girl."
Valerie turned and bolted out of the door.
zzz
Kappel Residence. 8:21 AM.
"You are not allowed out of this house, do you understand me, Ashton!?"
Ash stood near the door, glaring at his parents. He did truly understand that they were trying to protect him as well as somewhat interrogate him about Danielle and Danny, but he also knew they were in the wrong. He had to go and see what was happening.
"No! I have to go. You don't understand, guys!"
"They are dangerous creatures, Ash." His father reasoned.
Ash frowned, knowing he'd be in huge trouble after this was all over. "Mom, you once told me that different was okay. It helped me not feel as bad about my white hair even if it wasn't much. Dani, well she helped me even more. She's different too and that's good, right? Unless there are exceptions to what you said."
His mom gave him a sad look before he turned and exited the door, sprinting away as fast as he could before they could reply to him. He heard someone match his pace and heard a familiar voice.
"How'd that go?"
Ash looked over to see Jace smiling sadly at him.
"About as good as could be expected."
"Yeah, I kind of skipped that part with the arguing and had my siblings help sneak me out."
Ash blinked. "Wah?"
"They owed me big time for something and I used up my credit."
"We are talking about a seven and three-year-old, right?"
"And ten, don't forget Grayson, though Stewart does seem to be acting like his IQ may be larger than any of us brothers."
"The seven-year-old?"
"No John is the seven-year-old. Stewart's three."
Ash went to open his mouth again, but then snapped it closed. "Never mind."
The two friends focused on running in the direction the helicopters had gone before.
zzz
FentonWorks. 8:10 AM.
"So, you want two eggs or three, Danny?" Maddie asked calmly.
The Fenton family was sitting around the kitchen table, acting oddly calm and somewhat numb. Dani hardly wanted to touch her food though she did eat a few bites here and there. Jazz sipped on coffee while Jack ate much slower than was normal.
"I think two is all…" Danny replied as his mom walked over to put the food on his plate.
They heard the helicopters while they were eating together and they heard the door come down several minutes later.
Danny looked up into the eyes of a small squad of GiW agents in bio-hazard suits, with their weapons pointed at him and his family. Moments later, a few agents wearing black walked in and one started snapping angrily at the GiW agents.
"We understand this is your line of work, gentlemen, but we do have laws and regulations! Breaking down a door is not he first option!"
Another man wearing black walked forward as the Fentons stood slowly.
Danny and Dani looked at each other before placing their hands behind the heads. The man frowned and quietly ordered the rest of the Fenton clan to the do same. Officers came and cuffed the humans, while a GiW agent provided the restraints for the Phantoms, being a bit cruel by pinching their wrists with them. The men in black clothing showed much less emotion and acted mostly indifferent.
Danny and his family were led out, leaving food still on the table. The sentient hotdogs poked their heads out the of fridge and whined.
zzz
Amity Park. Outside FentonWorks. 8:25 AM.
It was literarily a blur of activity when they were lead out of the house. Pictures were being taken, voices were raised, and both Phantoms' sensitive senses were painfully forced into overdrive.
There were people shouting rude things and holding crude signs while just as many were holding signs in support of the Phantoms. Danny spotted countless reporters, including Lance Thunder and others.
Eventually, his eyes lingered on a spot in the crowd, when he saw his friends and schoolmates. Even several teachers were in the crowd with random students, holding signs in his support. His eyes locked with Sam's and he wished he could use his telepathy while in the cuffs.
Danny felt a little panic well up in him when his parents and Jazz were walked off towards normal police cars and he was forced to see the armored helicopter that he and Dani were going to be taken to. Standing beside it was Agent Alpha, the leader of the GiW.
"Hello there, Phantom. So nice you could finally join us," Agent Alpha muttered.
Danny stopped temporarily, surprising the two-armed men that were leading him. They were unable to move him either, reminding them of his strength. "What do you mean?"
Most of the people in the crowd tried to grow quiet to hear what was happening.
"I mean, you and your… copy here, whatever she actually is, is coming with us."
Danny grit his teeth and was about to say something when yet another man wearing black glared at Agent Alpha. "No, they will not."
"What!? We discussed this! They are spectral entities and under Article one, Section one, Subsection A, they are to be captured for study or destroyed."
An uproar came from the crowd and the man in black shouted over the noise. "This is true, but there is some doubt as to whether they are in fact human or not."
"Irrelevant-"
"Not irrelevant." The man addressed the crowd. "The President will be announcing what is to be done tomorrow at exactly six AM via a National Address. As of right now, the Government of the United States must come together to re-evaluate our laws on spectral entities and re-examine what the Constitution decrees is human life." He cleared his throat. "Until then, Daniel James Fenton and Danielle Barnhill Fenton will be kept under government surveillance."
The man then walked forward and looked into Danny's eyes. "Please, this way, Mister Fenton. By the oath of the President as well as Congress, you will not be harmed. At this point in time the innocent must be proven guilty."
Danny swallowed and bowed his head. "Okay. I'll take your word for it, sir." He relaxed his muscles in his legs and let the two men walk him forward. Danielle obediently copied her brother and let her slightly more embarrassed escorts guide her.
Danny and Dani were soon loaded into the copter and it started to fly away.
Lance turned to his cameraman. "And there you have it folks! The President will be addressing the country later on what is to be done about the fate of these half-human-half-ghosts beings, there seems to be a political power struggle occurring between the CIA and the GiW about what the young Fentons really are under law, the human Fentons are being more thoroughly questioned about what they know, and the USA herself will have to think about what ghosts really are to us. This all leaves this reporter wondering, are soap operas really dead?"
zzz
Crowd. 8:25 AM.
"Danny…" Sam whispered as the group watched their friend look at them and then have his talk with Agent Alpha and a man from the CIA.
"At least they're giving us a chance…" Star murmured. "I guess the moral precedence this takes was enough to not have them simply taken away. David said they wouldn't be so hasty since everything was caught on camera and people would wonder what happened to Danny if he just disappeared."
"So now what?" Tucker asked panting beside Sam, who flinched.
"Tuck?" Sam questioned in surprise. "Where have you been?"
"Getting yelled at my Mr. Gray and carting Technus around."
"I am not a piece of luggage, thank you!" Technus grumbled.
"Dude, why do you have a ghost in the thermos?" Dash asked in a low whisper.
"He saved my life."
Everyone looked over to see Valerie jog up in time to catch Danny being placed in the copter. After sharing a smile with Tucker, she spoke, "So do we have a chance?"
"We've got to!" Ash shouted as he and Jace ran up.
"Okay, who are you two?" Tyson asked.
Ash grinned. "We're Danielle's back-up!"
"We just forgot the matching t-shirts." Jace added sarcastically.
"Okay, okay, so they aren't destroying them outright," Norman started.
"Yet…" Mikey added nervously.
"You aren't helping, pal," Norman sighed.
"What about your brother, Star? That's what you were emailing us about," Kwan asked.
Star nodded. "He's getting himself ready to act as their defense attorney and argue for the rights of both of them and maybe all ghosts. He's still missing something important though, that I haven't been able to help him with," Star explained.
"What's that?" Paulina questioned.
Sam frowned grimly, catching on. "Witness testimony and evidence, otherwise it will go into a he said she said type of scenario."
Tucker glanced down at his thermos. "Well we have Technus…"
"Do not discuss me as though I'm not here…" Technus grumbled. "I suppose I could help, but it will not be much by my word alone. You need more back-up."
Sam flinched when she saw a long snout peak out from a nearby alleyway. "Wulf?"
The werewolf panted happily, showing off his claws. The group of kids looked around and slipped away to talk to the ghost.
"La horloĝo viro venis al mi kaj min sanigis. Li scias la zono kaj la homa mondo sorto estas en ludo. Mi alportos al vi vian helpon kiam bezonas. Li parolis kun du aliaj. Metu min en malgranda ujo." (The clock man came to me and healed me. He knows the zone and the human world's fate are at stake. I will bring you your help when it is needed. He talked to two others. Put me in small can.) Wulf pointed at the thermos on Tucker's hip.
Tucker and Sam grinned happily and looked at the others. "Looks like Time is on our side."
zzz
Clockwork's Lair. 11:12 AM.
Clockwork watched silently as his tiny bit of meddling started to warp the outcome of the future. Wulf had been truly the perfect vessel for his aid; healing his claws by speeding up time around them was no problem and telling a couple friends of Daniel's fate was also easy. Convincing the Observants that this was the best way to make peace with humanity and that it would spare the Ghost Zone and Human Realm from destruction was the hard part. They would be coming to pound on his door in three hours, ten minutes and forty-one seconds.
With a shake of his head, he glanced at another portal which showed the third Halfa sitting on an island in deep thought. This was good; that man needed time to think. If people jumped on him too soon then he would start to place the blame on others all over again. He had to come to the truth on his own by working it through.
Finally, Clockwork floated over to a certain room and opened the door slowly. Dan was laying on his side, in his true form, staring at the wall. After Clockwork had told Dan he was fading away, the evil copy had gone to his room and hadn't come out, not even to train as he had said he would before.
"Dan."
"What?" Dan asked lifelessly.
"This is not how to solve the problem."
"Tch."
"You'll only succeed at fading away if you continued to wallow."
Dan hissed and whipped his head to look over at the time keeper. "I'm not wallowing. I'm just not wasting my time or energy on something that's pointless. It's illogical to try."
Clockwork frowned. "So, you are simply waiting to disappear and be sent to oblivion?"
Dan frowned. "It's not like I want that, you moron."
Clockwork sighed. "You need to evolve your obsession again Dan."
Dan slammed a fist on top of the side table and it broke in half, sending splitters everywhere. "You make it sound like it's easy! I went through an extreme crisis in order to cause my obsession to change! I have no reason to remain, Clockwork! I have no reason to exist in this time!"
Clockwork stared at him evenly. "I see. Perhaps that is the problem. You just don't see the potential like I do."
Dan growled, now sitting on his bed. "My potential is to destroy."
"Destruction is a neutral force, unlike most would like to admit. Both the good and the evil can be destroyed or be destroyers, Dan."
Dan's hair flickered about wildly. "You're starting to piss me off! Can't you just leave me to fade away already, you crazy, lonely, foolish, meddling, heartless old shadow!"
Clockwork watched quietly as Dan's red irises grew a bit thinner and his sclera started to blacken. Clockwork wordlessly turned and left the room, shutting the door with a quiet click.
Dan's eyes didn't revert to normal and cracks snaked down the sides of his head. Still enraged, he started to punch holes in the walls and break all the furniture in the room. By the time he was done, everything was unrecognizable. Dan sat in the center of the ruins of the once semi-pleasant room, taking deep breathes that weren't needed for lungs. It calmed him to see the brokenness of everything around him and his eyes and hair turned back to their general form.
zzz
Unknown Location. 12:13 PM.
The place they were taken to was dark, which, ironically, was actually better than seeing a bunch of white in Danny's honest opinion. He had had too many nightmares to have been taken to a place like that and stayed calm. Outside of the compound, the GiW's head and his agents had been forced to stay behind, regardless of whatever arguments they were getting into with the CIA agents. In a place like this, he was half expecting to see a flying saucer or something.
He looked over his shoulder to look at Danielle and give her a reassuring smile, which she hesitantly returned.
Finally, the small entourage stopped at a fork in the hallways. A scientist, that unfortunately was wearing white, spoke to them. "While we hold you both here, we're going to have a few tests done. We've brought in two different groups for the defense and prosecution." He looked at Dani. "You're supposedly a clone of Daniel here, correct?"
Dani glanced nervously at her brother and he gave her a calm nod. She nodded to the scientist. "Yea-yes, sir." She mumbled in nervousness.
"It's okay, Dani," Danny spoke up. She whimpered a bit but nodded.
The scientist frowned, trying to deal with his own emotions. "I can promise you that like Mr. Stalward said, we will not be harming you. We made the Anti-Ecto act, thinking ghosts were non-sentient creatures-"
"That's not true!" Dani yelped out, only for Danny to shush her.
"Easy, Dani."
The scientist nodded. "Thank you. I was merely saying that we've been watching you for a while and we know that Phantom doesn't hunt all the ghosts he interacts with. Obviously if you are as sentient as a normal human and indeed are not guilty of any crime, then we may need to re-evaluate our current laws, regardless of what the GiW may wish. This is what the President has asked of us. We will be putting you through a slightly advanced type of physical. Things like blood work, brain-waves, x-rays..."
Danny finally swallowed. "No… opening us up, right?"
The scientist shook his head. "That would be illegal to dissect something that may be alive. Even basic animals are given more fair treatment than that. The GiW are a bit too boisterous in my opinion. I can't promise you it won't happen, because I have no say in what the courts will ultimately decide about your rights, but nothing so terrible will happen to you here. That I can promise."
Danny and Dani exchanged a glance. Finally, they were lead down the separate hallways. Danny glanced over at the scientist, who'd followed him and his escorts. "The same does apply to Dani too, right? It wasn't her choice to be born or to be made. She can't be held responsible for her actions, she's only a few years old."
The scientist seemed intrigued by that tidbit but quickly answered the question. "I'm not well versed in law, as you can see; however, I'm fairly certain that they can't enact any sort of punishment for her even in the worst situation. At the very worst, I can only think that they'd humanely euthanize her."
Danny didn't exactly like the sound of that but considering what they could end up doing to him, should they rule him as a test subject above a sentient being with rights, it put him at peace in the slightest bit.
"I understand. She just doesn't deserve any of this…" Danny replied.
"What about you?" One of the guards suddenly asked, surprising Danny. He paused for a moment before replying.
"I don't think I do either… but it seems the majority never take my word for it. If Dani can be spared from my fate, then my heart can at least be at peace with that." Danny paused before he looked at the scientist. "Can you promise me one last thing?"
"Depends what it is, Mister Fenton."
"If they do rule that I'm more suited-" He swallowed. "As a test subject… I need you to make sure they take care of my ghost when I die. If they end up torturing me, no matter what you believe a ghost can or can't feel… My core might become unbalanced and…" Danny took in a breath. "No matter what the world thinks of me, it doesn't deserve of a fate under the wrath of a powerful and broken soul."
The scientist looked at the boy for a long time as they neared the containment cell that Danny would be staying in until the trial. "Why would you condemn yourself by telling us of your power and the possibility of your vengeance?"
They locked him in the cell and he turned and looked them in the eyes with a slightly distant look. "It's my obsession to protect others."
The scientist and the guards walked off after that without a word. Danny glanced around his practical prison cell, which was very high-tech and clean and saw a cot and a toilet. He let out a sigh and looked out of the thick glass that faced the hallways to see a world clock with both the date and the time on it.
Danny idly noticed it was April first. He glared at the date in slight irritation. "Just my luck huh? If only this was all a big joke…" He actually started to laugh a bit at that. "That would beat all."
He then frowned again when the small surge of happiness faded and he made his way back towards the cot to rest. They would all just have to take this one step at a time and hope for the best. Besides Clockwork was his guardian. Things would turn out for the best, right?
So, I hope you liked it. I know it wasn't too exciting, but it had to be written :)
Thank you all for your reviews, support, follows, etc! Your kind reviews were amazing guys! Thanks so much :)
I hope to keep you all entertained!
~NoSignal