Chapter 16: The Princess and the Phantom
Danny Phantom was fighting Skulker in the middle of Amity Park with reporter Lance Thunder's crew filming everything. "I'll have your pelt on my wall, whelp." Skulker said.
"You probably already said that more often than Draco Malfoy ever threatened to have his father hear about stuff that happened to him." Danny commented.
"Who?" Skulker asked.
"Never mind." Danny said, accepting that not everyone was a fan of Harry Potter.
Lance Thunder then noticed the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle arriving. Jack Fenton came out of it and, upon seeing Skulker, defeated him as easily as he did back at Lake Eerie.
"Thank you, Jack… Fenton." Danny said, remembering he no longer could use his ghostly alter ego to call his father by his first name without Jack knowing.
"You're welcome, Danny Phantom." Jack replied, shocking Lance.
"Mr. Fenton, I thought you and your wife considered all ghosts to be evil." Lance Thunder said. "Any comments?"
"Recent developments made us realize Danny Phantom is really a hero, Mr. Thunder." Jack replied.
"Aaaaaaugh!" Danny shouted as a laser beam hit him from behind. "The ghost must be somehow controlling Mr. Fenton's mind." Operative O stated as he kept harming Danny with the laser.
With much effort, Danny broke free from the laser but it drove him to such a point he changed back into Danny Fenton. "Turn the camera away." Maddie ordered the cameraman.
"Too late, Mrs. Fenton." Lance Thunder replied with no hint of regret. "It's a live transmission and, even without the audience, the Guys in White already witnessed the transformation."
"Witnessed what?" Danny asked and then realized he changed back into Danny Fenton. "Uh, nobody saw that, right?" He asked.
"Your prepubescent act might have fooled us in the past but the jig's up, Daniel Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom, you're under arrest under the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Act, Article 1, Section 1, Sub-section A." Operative K declared.
"I want my lawyer!" Danny protested.
"Ghosts have no rights." Operative O said.
"Our son's no ghost." Maddie said. "He's got powers from a lab accident."
"Did you know the truth all along?" Operative K asked.
"We only found out recently, Agents." Maddie answered.
Moments later, in Zoravia, Illinois, Mrs. O'Brien was watching TV when the broadcast was interrupted by breaking news. "Natasha!" She called. "Your boyfriend's on TV!"
"What?" Natasha, Greg and K.C. asked at the same time as they went to the living room. As they were watching, Natasha heard her cell phone ringing. "Mrs. Fenton? Is this about Danny being arrested?"
"How do you know about that, Natasha?" Maddie asked in shock.
"News already made it to Zoravia, Illinois, Mrs. Fenton." Natasha explained. "How can I help you?"
"Couldn't you use your royal power to set my son free?" Maddie desperately asked.
"Mrs. Fenton, since Danny's not arrested under Zoravian law and isn't even a citizen of Zoravia, even Dad cannot simply go to the Guys in White and order them to release him." Natasha answered. "At best he could send an ambassador to make sure Danny will be humanely treated as dictated by international conventions and, if necessary, help choosing or paying a lawyer and I'm not sure how he'd react with a request for either of those."
"Would you please try, Your Highness?" Maddie asked.
"Yes, Mrs. Fenton." Natasha replied. "I'm calling Dad right away. Bye."
"Natasha, you shouldn't lie to Mrs. Fenton like that." Mrs. O'Brien scolded Natasha. "Pretending to be the Princess."
"She looks more like the girl on Greg's posters than the girl he danced with at that charity event, Mom." K.C. commented. "Maybe she's really the Princess of Zoravia."
"And maybe pigs fly." Greg teased his little brother.
Natasha then went to her room and called her Dad. King Carl's face soon appeared on her boofer phone. "Natasha, you look worried." He commented. "What happened?"
"It's terrible, Dad." Natasha answered. "Danny's been exposed as Danny Phantom and arrested by the Guys in White and they say ghost have no right to lawyers."
"But he's not an actual ghost." King Carl argued. "He's a human who got ghost powers. And he's underage."
"Dad, will you help him?" Natasha asked and explained the conversation she had with Maddie.
"I will send an ambassador but I want to talk to Danny Fenton's parents before doing the other idea, Natasha." King Carl stated. "But you need to know, if I ever help, you'll be fully exposed as the Princess of Zoravia and your days in America as an exchange student will be over."
"I understand, father." Natasha sadly replied.
Back in Amity Park, the Guys in White spent a few hours performing painful experiments on Danny. "Guys," he stammered. "now that I've been exposed, I have no reason not to tell that Vlad Masters is also a half-ghost and I only kept his secret so far because he knew mine."
"Nice try, Phantom, but we cannot take your word for that, ghost or not." Operative O replied.
"Come on, have I ever lied to you guys before?" Danny pleaded.
"Yes, when you implied Dash Baxter was the ghost boy." Operative K answered.
"Not to mention that time you tricked us into raiding Masters' mansion back in Wisconsin." Operative O added. "We're still repaying him for that."
"I'm glad to hear it." Vlad Masters said as he entered the room escorted by Agent Alpha and two other Guys in White.
"What're you doing here, Vlad?" Danny asked with a frown.
"Daniel, when I heard the shocking news of you being part-ghost, I had to come here and show the Guys in White a new anti-ghost weapon I've developed. It's meant to short-circuit a ghost's powers but, if used on a human with ghost powers, it might make them fully human again." Vlad answered, horrifying Danny.
"I'm a minor!" Danny shouted. "Do my parents know you're here?"
"We're the Government, Phantom." Operative K. "We don't need their permission to do anything to you."
"I differ." Natasha replied as she revealed herself and three men who were escorting her.
"Princess Natasha, Mister Ambassador, what can we do for you?" Agent Alpha fearfully asked.
"Ambassador?" Danny asked in confusion.
"My father, King Carl of Zoravia, has sent him here to check if you're being humanely treated, Danny." Natasha formally explained.
"I don't see why it'd be any of his business." Operative O commented, earning a glare from Agent Alpha.
"Aside from how news of how imprisoned minors are treated by your Government might affect relations between our countries, Princess Natasha has already been courted by this young man." The Ambassador explained.
"Without the ectoplasm that contaminates him, he's just a prepubescent boy." Operative K replied. "Not good enough for a Princess."
"Regardless of that, I don't think tourists from the Kingdom of Zoravia will want to visit a nation where the Government can imprison a minor like that without due procedure." The Ambassador stated. "You're even talking about using an experimental machine on said minor without parental consent."
"Mister Ambassador, Vlad Masters is an old friend of this minor's father." Agent Alpha said, valuing how much the money spent by tourists in America helped the economy. "I'm sure Mr. Fenton will consent." The other agents took the cue and brought Jack and Maddie Fenton, who were already demanding to see Danny.
"Son, are you okay?" Jack asked.
"Yes, Dad." Danny answered and looked around. "Mom, Dad, where's Jazz?"
"Your sister wasn't allowed in so she's annoying some Guys in White by asking questions about ghost envy." Jack answered.
"Poor guys." Danny replied.
Maddie then noticed Vlad. "What're you doing here, Vlad?" Maddie asked with a glare.
"Now I understand why you were counting on parental consent from Mr. Fenton, Agent Alpha." Natasha jokingly commented.
"Consent to do what, Agent Alpha?" Jack Fenton asked.
"To have your son purified of all ectoplasm with one of your old friend's inventions, Mr. Fenton." Agent Alpha answered.
"Forget it!" Jack replied. "Vlad Masters is no longer my friend and I won't trust an experimental invention of his. He'd have to use it on himself before I trust it."
"Vlad Masters is not a half ghost, Mr. Fenton." Agent Alpha said. "He was scanned like the rest of you were before being allowed in."
"He must have already used the invention on himself." Jack commented. "Given how my son gained his ghost powers, Vlad Masters must also have had them at some point."
"Would you like to know how he used his powers to illegally build his fortune?" Danny asked.
"Call me when you're cured of your delusions, Daniel." Vlad replied and turned his attention to Agent Alpha. "Would you like to buy the invention?"
"Not until you show me it works, Masters." Agent Alpha answered and approached Vlad. "I'd test it on the ghost boy but the Ambassador is watching."
"Speaking of me, will the boy be allowed a lawyer?" The Ambassador asked.
"Of course." Agent Alpha said.
"Stupid meddling Ambassador." Operative O muttered.
"What was that?" The Ambassador asked.
"Nothing, Your Excellency." Operative O fearfully answered.
After that meeting, Natasha, the Ambassador, and the non-imprisoned Fentons were reunited at Fentonworks to discuss the case. Thanks to having been clearance by Natasha, Jack and Maddie, Tucker and Sam were given clearance to join. "And shouldn't you have stayed back to prepare Danny's case, Mister Ambassador?"
"Tucker, he's not a lawyer." Sam replied. "At least not under American law. I don't know if he has a Zoravian law degree but it wouldn't help in this case since Danny's not being tried under Zoravian law."
"You're correct, young lady." The Ambassador stated.
One court session later, Danny Fenton was released. "Fortunately, then Mayor Ernesto Montez' inability to remember what happened back when your son supposedly attacked him worked on his favor, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." Danny's lawyer commented. "Not to mention he's already been cleared from the jewel theft on grounds of coercion."
As the Fentons and their lawyer walked out of courtroom, they were approached by several reporters. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, do you still believe your son to be an evil ghost?" One of them asked.
"No!" Jack shouted.
"How much of the fees were paid by the Zoravian Royal Family?" Another reporter asked.
"No comments." The lawyer answered. They evaded more questions and went home. "Welcome back, Danny." Tucker said.
"Thanks but, where are Natasha and Sam?" Danny asked.
"Sam's parents wouldn't let her come, Danny." Tucker explained.
"What about Natasha?" Danny asked, becoming even more worried.
After some hesitation, Jack answered his son's question. "Danny, with all the attention this case brought, King Carl and Queen Lena decided to order her back home."
"I see." Danny sadly replied, assuming they ordered her to leave him in exchange for their help in regaining his freedom.
"But don't worry, little brother." Jazz replied. "They invited us to her birthday." She then showed a fancy-looking invitation.
"Cool!" Tucker exclaimed. "When do we leave?"
"By us, I meant us Fentons, Tucker." Jazz replied.
"Okay." Tucker said.
End chapter.
Author's Note: Each chapter is a reference to a Princess Natasha episode. As of now, I've used up all episodes I found at YouTube. A later episode features an Ambassador but I never watched it so it explains all differences to those who watched it.
Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Já pensei em algo assim. Se isso acontecer, que bandeira você acha que estará no uniforme do Danny? A Americana ou a Zoraviana?