In the state of Kentucky, a group of men were working in the mines.
"Take her slow there, Rick." A man named Ed recommended. "Could be gas behind that wall."
Just then, the mine started to cave in as Ed panicked.
"Cave in!" He shouted to the others.
Ed's son, Sam, who was also working in the mines, was about to leave with the others when he saw a support beam fall on his father.
"Pa!" He screamed as he raced over to his old man. Sam, along with another worker known as Mr. Ireland, tried to pull the beam off of Ed.
"Get my boy out of here." Ed demanded
"I ain't leaving you, Pa!" Sam screamed as he tried to remove the beam.
"The gas, Sam!" Ed warned him. "When it hits that wiring, the whole tunnel will go up! You got to blast yourself out of here!"
Sam and Mr. Ireland successfully managed to lift the beam off of Ed as they saw the gas hit the wiring as the mine went up in flames.
The young man grabbed the two adults and glowed with energy. "Hang on!"
He shot out of the mines like a cannonball, carrying his father and Mr. Ireland before the flames could touch them.
The other workers were in awe as they saw the three come out, completely unharmed.
"Did you see that?" One worker said in awe.
"Way to go, Sam!" Another cheered.
Once they were safe, Ed turned to his son. "You're a darn fool, Sam Guthrie. And you don't mind your pa! But you're one heck of a good son." The two hugged each other, glad that the other was safe.
Back at Sam's home, his little sister Paige was telling the story to them. "And then there was this huge explosion, and Pa and Mr. Ireland and Sam came shooting right out of the middle of it."
"Paige, you weren't even there." Sam said exasperated.
"Sarah's brother told her, and she told me." Paige replied. "He said you were so close to the flames, your boots melted."
"Come on, Paige." Sam said. "You know nothing can touch me when I'm blasting!"
"Well, you may be Superman when you're flying, but you're just like the rest of us when you're not." His mother, Ellen, said. "Oh, I just can't take the both of you working in those mines. You got to start thinking about the future, Sam."
"Oh, Ma!" Sam had heard this a million times.
"Your mama is right, Sam." Ed agreed. "You got better things ahead of you than working your life away in a hole in the ground."
There was a knock at the door.
"Now who could that be?" Ed opened the door and was greeted by two men who were dressed in white suits and black sunglasses.
"Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie?" One of the men asked. "I am Agent O, and this is Agent K; we work for the government. May we speak to your son?"
Ed let them in as Agent K shook Sam's hand. "Hello, Sam. I hear you're the town hero."
"No, just a lot of fuss about nothing." Sam said humbly.
"That's not what we heard." Agent O said. "Listen, Sam, we would like to offer you an opportunity. You'd have your pick of colleges and be doing a great service to your country."
"You'd like the job." Agent K added. "It's like a mutant peace corps."
Sam looked hesitant before he gave his answer. "I just don't feel like I'm ready yet, sir. It's a mighty big step, leaving home and all."
"Nobody's ever ready to leave home, Sam." Agent O told him. "But everybody has to make their own way in the world. That's what being a man is all about."
"I know, sir." Sam replied. "It's just, uh, can I have a little more time to think about it?"
The two agents looked at each other before looking back at Sam. "Sure, Sam." Agent K said as he gave him their phone number. "We'll drop by in a week or so, and we'll talk, alright?"
Agent O turned to Ed and Ellen. "Sir, ma'am, thank you for your time."
"Likewise." Ed said as he led them to the door. "And don't you worry; we'll bring Sam around yet."
"The kid's not cooperating." Agent O said to Agent K as they walked back to their car. "He's going to need more convincing."
"It's time for a less subtle approach." Agent K said.
At the institute, Rogue and Gambit were playing a game of pool in the rec room.
"Shoot!" Rogue demanded.
Gambit was about to make a shot. When he got suspicious. Throughout the game, it felt like the balls were moving on their own. And when they did, it often benefited Rogue more than him.
The Cajun took his cue stick and jabbed it to the side, where he heard a voice.
"Ow." Danny said as he turned visible, revealing that he had been helping Rogue.
Gambit smirked. "Nice try, Danny." He then gave an even bigger smirk at Rogue. "Sorry, Rogue, but he can't help you now. Look like Gambit gonna win the match! What Gambit get if he win? Maybe Gambit would like to take your car out to pick up some dames."
"Gambit gonna get a fat lip if he don't watch out!" Rogue shot back. "Just shoot, swamp boy!"
"Alright, we negotiate later." Gambit aimed his cue stick at the ball. "Eight ball in the side." As he was about to shoot, Beast burst in, ruining his shot.
"Mail call!" Beast announced.
Danny snickered at Gambit's misfortune. "Good timing, Beast."
"So, what's in the mailbag, Hank?" Rogue asked.
Beast looked through the mail. "Well, in addition to the superfluous catalog enticements, there's a news report which piqued my interest. A Samuel Guthrie, age sixteen, of Cumberland, Kentucky, appears to have used his mutant abilities to avert a mining disaster despite the ongoing animosity of a suspicious town."
"Sounds like my life story, except in Kentucky." Danny said as he took the magazine. "Must be tough being the only mutant in town. You know, maybe I should go down there and say hi. I'm sure he would appreciate someone being there to listen to his problems."
"That sounds like a great idea, Danny." Rogue supported. "We could use a vacation."
"Wait a minute." Gambit said, seeing his victory was about to be delayed.
"An excellent idea, Danny and Rogue." Beast complimented before leaving with the magazine. "Aha! There's my Philologist's Quarterly!"
"Why you think this kid need our help?" Gambit asked the two.
"Because he's in a small town, that means everyone knows each other's business." Danny pointed out.
"And folks can get nasty over a kid being different." Rogue added.
Gambit narrowed his eyes at them. "How Gambit know you ain't doing this just to get out of our game?"
Danny snapped his fingers as all the balls went into one hole. "Oh, look, it appears Rogue won. Game's over." He turned to Rogue. "Come on, honey, let's go."
Rogue giggled as she and her boyfriend left as Gambit glared at them.
"Hey!" He yelled. "It don't work like that!"
In a nearby store in Kentucky, a farmer was complaining to a shopkeeper about the loss of his cattle.
"Darndest thing." He said. "Lost two mares to it already, and three more are ailing. Doctor's never seen anything like it."
Their conversation was being heard by Agent K, who was dressed in civilian clothing. "Any mutants around your farm?" He asked them. "Anybody with weird powers?"
"Just the Guthrie boy, but he lives a good two miles down the road." The farmer replied. "Why'd you ask?"
"Fellow over at Pardee lost twenty cows in a week." K explained. "Come to find out his help was a mutant. County agent said he was giving off some kind of radiation."
"Radiation! Shoot!" The farmer cried. "I don't care what kind of big-shot hero he's supposed to be; I never did like them Guthries."
"You can't be too careful when radiation's concerned." K said. "Well, good luck."
He walked out of the store as he heard the farmer rage.
"Them blasted mutants!"
K smirked. If they couldn't get Guthrie, then they would make the boy come to them.
At Dan's diner, Kenny Ireland was chilling with his friends when a boy came up to him.
"Hey, you Kenny Jenkins?" He asked.
"Who's asking?" Kenny replied.
"I'm Chad Prince, Sarah's cousin, from over in Pardee?" Chad introduced.
Kenny shook his hand. "How you doing?"
"Listen, you still going with Shelly?" Chad asked.
"She's private stock, man." Kenny shot back heatedly.
"I know!" Chad held his hands up peacefully. "That's why it tripped me out to see her with Sam Guthrie!"
"What are you talking about?" Kenny demanded.
"She was with that flying freak over in Slemp last Wednesday night." Chad explained. "Looked pretty serious."
"She told me she went to visit her aunt!" Kenny said, hurt by this news.
Chad placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's cold, man, two-timing you with that mutie geek."
Kenny slammed his fist on the table in rage. "Thanks, man. I owe ya."
After Kenny stormed off, Chad went outside, where he met with O, who gave him a large sum of money.
"Good work, kid." O praised.
The doorbell rang at the Guthrie house.
"I'll get it." Paige opened the door. "Can I help you? Wow!" She could tell that the two people at the door were from out of town.
"Who is it, Paige?" Sam came up to her side. "Is somebody from..." He stopped as he noticed a man and a woman smiling at him. They were both dressed normally, with the man sporting raven black hair and the woman having auburn hair with a stripe of white in it.
The man offered his hand to Sam. "You must be Sam. I'm Danny Fenton, but you can just call me Danny."
"And I'm..." Rogue paused, as she didn't want to say her real name. "Mrs. Fenton." She saw Danny's look of bewilderment. "What? You know I'm gonna be that soon enough."
Danny rolled his eyes with a smile before turning back to the boy they came here for. "Anyway, Sam. We work at a school with special kids like you. And we heard about your recent heroics."
Sam let them into the house and gestured for them to take a seat on the couch. "Nothing really heroic." Sam sat down in an armchair. "I just saved my dad from a collapsing mine."
"Hey, you saved a life, Sam." Danny told him with a smile. "That's hero material right there."
The Guthrie boy blushed. "Thanks. This school for special kids. You mean mutants, right?"
"Yes, Professor Xavier runs an institute for mutants to help them control their powers." Danny clarified for him.
"Are you two mutants?" Sam asked.
"Well, my girlfriend is, but as for me, it's a little complicated." Danny said. "But enough about me. What's your power, Sam?"
"It's just that I fly, and when I do, nothing can hurt me." Sam revealed. "It comes in real handy, but it sure scares folks, like when I was working in the mines."
"Do you like working in the mines?" Rogue asked kindly.
Sam considered it. "You know, I never really thought about it. Most everybody around her works in the mine. Always have."
"I reckon your folks just want something better for you." Rogue assumed. "And maybe they worry about you being different."
"How do your parents feel about your powers?" Danny asked.
"They're alright with it, but they get worried sometimes about me." Sam admitted.
"Of course they do." Danny told him. "You're their son; they're always going to worry about you. And that's good because it means they love you."
Both Danny and Rogue were happy that Sam had the support of his parents, something neither of them had growing up.
"Yeah, well, other people get real upset about it." Sam said bitterly, thinking about some of the racism he experienced, though it was small. He then thought about the job offer his powers had gotten him. "I did get a job opportunity because of my powers."
"A job opportunity? That's swell." Rogue said. "What kind of job were you offered?"
"A job with the government." Sam explained. "These two men offered me to join something that they said would protect our country. They said it's like some sort of peace corps for mutants."
"Really? Sounds interesting." Rogue said, happy that this nice boy was given good opportunities.
"Yeah." Danny said suspiciously, feeling something was up about that offer. "What do you think about that job?"
"I like helping people, and I reckon God gave me these powers." Sam then thought about leaving home, which was what had him worried. "Only..."
"Only what, Sam?" Rogue asked.
Sam sighed. "I don't know. This here's my home, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton."
"Please, call me Danny." Danny requested.
Rogue smirked. "But feel free to still call me Mrs. Fenton." She turned to Danny. "Because I can get used to that really quick."
Sam chuckled at their antics. These two seemed like fun people to be around. "It's just that this is my home. This is where I belong. I don't really want to go anywhere else."
"And that's perfectly understandable." Danny said. "Trust me, you don't have to come with us. We'd love to have you, but the choice is yours, and whatever it is, we'll respect it."
Sam smiled. "Thank you, but I think I'll stay here."
"No problem." Danny said as he and Rogue got up. "We should get going. It was nice seeing you, Sam." He shook his hand. "Take care."
"You too." Sam said as they left.
"Well, he was a nice boy." Rogue said as they were heading back to her car. She noticed Danny's anxious look. "You okay, sugar? You seem worried about something."
"It's just what he said about the mutant peace corps." Danny replied. "It just screams suspicious and too good to be true."
Rogue considered Danny's point. "Now that I think about it, you might be right."
Danny got into the passenger seat. "Come on, we have to tell the others about this."
The two took off, not noticing Agent O behind a tree photographing them.
The couple drove to a nearby diner, where Danny was speaking to Beast over the phone.
"He's a good kid, Hank, but he just wants to stay in Kentucky." Danny told him. "The strange thing is that he was offered a government scholarship. He said it was something like a mutant peace corps."
"Odd." Beast said. "I have never heard of anything remotely like that."
Danny sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. I think Rogue and I will have to extend our vacation to keep an eye on him. Just to make sure he's safe."
Agent O approached Agent K with a photo. "We found out that the boy was in contact with a man claiming to be Daniel Fenton." He showed K the photo of Sam with Danny and Rogue. "Facial geometry scans confirm it's him."
K lifted off his sunglasses as he examined the photo further. "What's he doing here? Has he left the area yet?"
"Surveillance says no." O replied.
"Strange that he was the only one of his family to not perish in the attack." K said, as a theory came to him.
"We also identified the woman that he was with." O said. "No name, only a code name known as Rogue. She's been at several flashpoint situations. She turned up in the wide-awake data as part of the mutant team called the X-Men."
"X-Men?" K recognized that name. "The same team that Danny Phantom has been seen with?"
"Yes." O responded.
"Quite a coincidence that both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are affiliated with these mutants." Agent K said suspiciously.
"You believe there to be a connection?" Agent O asked.
"Possibly." Agent K answered. "We know Phantom was seen in the area with another ghost during the Fentons' deaths. Yet the youngest was spared. Maybe Fenton had something to do with it. Maybe he helped Phantom get rid of them. Either way, we'll find out what Fenton is up to, and he will lead us to Phantom."
"Blast! Another dead end!" Beast bemoaned as he was at his computer.
Xavier and Gambit entered the room.
"Gambit has filled me in on this supposed mutant peace corps." Xavier said. "Have you found anything?"
"The phone number Sam was given has led me through several relay stations until I wound up with an office building in Richmond." Beast said in frustration. "Except that no one owns the building. And there are no records that it has been occupied this decade. Yet the power usage for that grid sector is three times the local average."
"It has the trappings of a renegade operation." Xavier observed. "Perhaps a more direct investigation is in order."
"Sounds like your area, Gambit." Beast said.
Gambit smirked.
As the moon shone, Gambit stood on a building as he looked at the place he was supposed to investigate. He looked through a pair of binoculars and saw a woman watching TV, distracted.
Gambit jumped over and climbed onto another building's roof. "Where is the challenge to this still proud master thief?" Gambit took out his bo staff and launched himself to the roof of the place Beast found.
He saw a security camera above the door that led downstairs. Picking up a rock and charging it, he threw it at the camera, destroying it.
Inside, he used his powers to pry open a vent. "Pop goes the weasel." He climbed in and navigated the place. He stopped as he dropped into the office room. "This way too easy. Either Gambit in the wrong place." He turned around to see several GIW soldiers aiming their guns at him. "Or Gambit been set up."
Gambit was struggling against his bonds as he was constrained in a metal chair in some prison room.
He heard the door open as Agent O walked in. "Who's there? If Gambit being arrested, don't he get one phone call?"
"You have jeopardized a very sensitive operation." O told him. "And I know you won't tell us how you learned of it. What will we do with you?"
"Maybe you let me go with a warning." Gambit suggested.
O laughed. "No. I think our best option is to make you part of the team."
"I'm not really the joining type." Gambit said.
"How fortunate." O replied. "Then you will provide a serious test of our new technique." He pressed a switch, opening a window, showing a mutant in a test tube as scientists experimented on him. "This mutant is not much of a physical specimen. However, cybernetic implants in his central nervous system have placed his powers entirely under our control."
Sam and Paige were getting some ice cream when a truck nearly ran them over.
"Hey, watch it!" Sam scolded.
The driver of the truck, who was Kenny, got out along with his friends.
"You watch it, Guthrie!" Kenny demanded. "I heard you was making time with Shelly!"
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, thinking that this was ridiculous. He never spoke a word to Shelly.
"What makes you think a piece of freak trash like you can even look at my girlfriend?" Kenny insulted Sam as he pushed him to the ground. "You're making a mistake."
"Kenny, lay off!" Sam's friend, Toby, told him. "That's Sam! He saved your daddy in the mine!"
"Get lost, Toby!" Kenny shouted. "This between me and the freak boy here!" He kicked dirt at Sam. "You heard me! You're nothing but trash, a stinking mutie!"
"They ought to stick your kind in a zoo before you poison the rest of us!" One of Kenny's friends said.
"Honestly, I think you're the one who belongs in the zoo with how primitive you're acting." Danny said as he and Rogue came out to confront the bullies.
Danny took a closer look at the one who made the zoo comment. "Maybe you might pass off as a gorilla. Perhaps the purple-backed kind. I hear that they're endangered." He then glared at the boys. "Beat it, all of you."
Sam gasped as he saw that Danny had white hair and was wearing a black jumpsuit. He went up to Rogue. "Mrs. Fenton? Is that Danny?"
"Yep." Rogue nodded. "That's my boyfriend."
The boys were intimidated by the newcomer and backed down. They got into Kenny's truck, but Kenny threw in one more insult at Sam.
"Just stay away from Shelly, freak! You and your whole freak family! I hate your kind!"
Sam was filled with rage at the threat to his family. He shot out as he followed the truck.
"Sam, no!" Danny cried as he chased the boy, with Rogue following him.
"Did you see the look on that freak's face?" One of Kenny's friends jeered before the truck stopped as they turned around to see that Sam was holding the truck from the back, preventing it from moving.
"Fool mutie!" Kenny tried to floor it, but it did nothing.
"Kenny, do something!" One of his friends pleaded.
"I can't do nothing!" Kenny said, feeling terrified. "Cut it out, Guthrie; I'm sorry!" Sam wouldn't let go, which prompted everyone to leave and go their separate directions.
Kenny was running home when Sam appeared in his path.
The bully held his hands up in surrender. "You hear me, Sam? I'm sorry!"
"Sam! That's enough." Danny appeared behind him with Rogue and placed a hand on his shoulder, making Sam calm down. Danny then glared at Kenny. "You. Get out of here. You've caused enough trouble already."
No more words were needed, as Kenny booked it out of there.
"What was that, Sam?" Rogue said. "You shouldn't do that; you're only going to make things worse for yourself."
"I'm sorry." Sam apologized. "It's just that I'm tired of everyone hating me. I saved his father in the mines, and he called me a freak."
The supernatural X-Man gave Sam a look of sympathy. "I understand your anger, Sam. Like you, I grew up in a small town. I used my powers to help people, and yet they hated me."
"They did?" Sam said, feeling like he could relate to Danny.
"A good chunk of them did." Danny said bitterly. "Even my own parents."
"Your parents hated you?" Sam asked, feeling thankful that his parents had accepted him.
"When I was in this form." Danny pointed out. "I kept this one and the other as separate identities. I was afraid my parents wouldn't accept me."
Sam looked down. "What am I supposed to do? This town is my home, but now it feels like everyone's turning on me."
"I know the feeling, but you've got to keep a cool head." Danny advised. "You can't let that temper of yours get the best of you; it only leads to trouble. Believe me."
"We'll be staying here for some time, Sam." Rogue said. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you or your family."
"Thanks; I appreciate it." Sam thanked.
Gambit was strapped to a surgical table as a nurse came with a cutting tool.
"Just a little off the top, Chere." Gambit quipped as she cut off a bit of his hair, making a bald spot. He then saw a surgeon picking up some kind of chip with pliers. "Gambit getting an upgrade?"
Before they could do anything else, the surgeon and the nurse collapsed to the ground as Beast and Xavier came in.
"Beast, professor? Who sang the lullaby?" Gambit asked as Beast released him.
"I used my psychic abilities to suppress activity, thus creating a cataleptic response." Xavier answered.
Gambit didn't understand a thing he said. "You want to explain that one more time?"
"He put them to sleep better than an economics lecture." Beast said.
"Normally, I find such invasions of the mind distasteful." Xavier told Gambit. "But in your case, I made an exception."
"Gambit happy about that." Gambit said before he showed them where he saw the mutant being experimented on.
They got him out as Beast checked his pulse.
"He's alive." He said in relief. "I'll get my kit."
Agent K, disguised as an official, inspected the damage to the mines as the other workers watched.
"We've seen this before, boys." K told them. "The supports were weakened at the molecular level. Do you have any mutants working around here?"
"What'd I tell you?" One worker said hatefully. "It's that Guthrie boy!"
Sam had arrived home as he thought about his future. He didn't want to leave home, but if he didn't, he would be stuck with these jerks for the rest of his life. He saved one of them, and they still hate him. Maybe it's time he went somewhere where he'd be more appreciated.
He picked up the phone and dialed the number Agent K gave him.
"Sam!" Paige came in and noticed her brother's sour mood. "What the heck's going on?" Sam wouldn't respond to her. "Sam!"
"Yes." Agent K said as he answered the phone and heard Sam tell him that he wanted to take him up on his offer.
"You made the right choice, Sam." K smirked at his plan's success. "We'll be right over." He turned to Agent O. "We got him. Warm up the chopper."
Rogue was told over her communicator that the rest of the X-Men had arrived and she went to meet up with them while Danny stayed to watch Sam.
"What did you find out?" Rogue asked as she landed.
"The people who offered Sam that scholarship want him for some sort of living weapons program to control his mind and use his powers." Xavier said.
"We looked at the files on their computer." Beast said as he pulled out his portable computer. "The organization is the GIW, also known as the Guys in White."
"Guys in White?" Rogue thought the name sounded familiar. "Aren't they..."
Xavier interrupted her. "A government agency tasked with the extermination of all ghosts." He said in disgust, not wanting his student, Danny, or any other ghost to be at their mercy. He remembered meeting them back at the Asteroid M incident.
"But what would they want to do with mutants?" Rogue asked.
"They want to use them as the next weapon in their war on the dead." Beast revealed. "Where's Sam?"
"He's back home with Danny." Rogue said.
"Then let's move." Cyclops ordered.
Sam was sitting on his bed when he heard a knock on his window. He saw that it was Danny and went over to open it.
"Sam, are you okay?" Danny asked.
"I thought about my future, Danny." Sam told him. "I took the scholarship. They'll be here to pick me up."
"What?" Danny said before he was blasted in the back, making him fall off the roof.
"Danny!" Sam raced down and out of the house, where he saw Agent K standing over Danny with an ecto-gun in his hand.
"Good work, Sam." Agent K praised him. "You helped bring in our most wanted."
"What?" Sam exclaimed. How could Danny be wanted by these guys? "What do you mean?"
"Come with us, and we'll explain." Agent K requested.
Sam refused. "No, I'm not going anywhere with you."
He then felt something put around his neck as he turned around to see Agent O.
"You had to make things difficult, kid." Agent O said. "Don't bother trying to escape. That collar blocks mutant powers."
Their attention was then drawn to Danny, who transformed back into his human form.
"K, what does this mean?" O asked his partner.
Agent O picked up Danny and placed him over his shoulder. "Phantom has been running around in Fenton's corpse this whole time. That's the only possible explanation."
"What?" Sam couldn't believe that. It sounded like the plot of a bad horror movie.
"Let's go!" Agent O pushed him along as the two agents loaded Sam and the unconscious Danny on the chopper before taking off.
"Sam, what you're here for is the protection of our country from the greatest threat of them all." Agent K told him.
"And we're not talking about mutants." Agent O clarified. "They're mere poultry compared to the true enemy."
"What's the true enemy?" Sam asked worriedly.
"Ghosts." Agent K snarled.
"Ghosts, that's ridiculous." Sam said in disbelief.
"I assure you, Sam, they are real." Agent K said. "Like this one." He pointed to Danny. "And this one." He pulled out a small, clear canister and held it out to Sam.
Sam saw that the canister was filled with some green vapor, but for a second, he thought he could see a man in a white suit with a fedora glaring at him.
"We found this one back at the Kentucky State Penitentiary." Agent O revealed. "One of the most haunted prisons in the world."
"But Mr. Fenton, here." Agent K gestured to Danny. "Or should I say, Danny Phantom? He is the greatest threat of all. He killed Danny Fenton and has been using his corpse to impersonate him."
"But he was nice to me." Sam insisted.
"All ghosts are evil, kid." Agent O said bluntly. "Whatever kindness they display is merely a trick. And now, Sam, you will join our army of mutant soldiers created to destroy these things."
"No, you can't make me!" Sam cried, now wishing he hadn't called these guys.
"Actually, we can; we just have to put you through processing first." Agent K said threateningly.
Agent O pulled out his communicator. "I'm going to inform High Command that we have Phantom and inform them about his connection to Fenton."
They then heard a blast as the chopper started to shake.
"What's going on?" K demanded.
O went into the cockpit and saw the pilot had a gaping hole in his chest. "The pilot's dead! We're gonna crash!"
As the chopper twisted around, Sam was slammed into the wall, which broke his collar. Feeling his power return, he grabbed Danny and shot them out of the vehicle while Agents O and K parachuted out as the chopper crashed and exploded.
Agents O and K went up to the wreckage as they wondered who could have done this. Their pondering was cut short as they were lifted off their feet by an invisible force.
As they cried out indignantly, the entity holding them up turned visible, revealing it to be the infamous Dan Phantom.
"Agent O and Agent K, you have been compromised." Dan said. "We'll have to make sure the information you have doesn't fall into the hands of the enemy, but I'll help with that."
Dan then walked into the fire with the two screaming agents in his hands as they tried to break out of his grip, but it was too strong.
The evil phantom smirked as he stood in the fire that didn't hurt him. He couldn't say the same for the two humans he held in his grip as they burned to death.
Danny blinked his eyes as he saw that he and Sam were in a forest.
"Sam, are you all right?" Danny asked him.
"Yeah, I'm all right." Sam answered.
Danny was wondering how they got to a forest. The last thing he could remember was being attacked by the Guys in White. He saw that he woke up in his human form, did that mean the GIW knew what he was? "What happened?"
"I don't know." Sam said. "Those two men brought us on that chopper, and it started to crash, and I got us out of there. I don't know what happened to them."
Sam then remembered something else. "Danny, they said you were a ghost and that you killed someone and were using their corpse."
Danny gave Sam an incredulous look. "No, that's disgusting. I am a ghost, but only half of one." He turned into his ghost form. "Half ghost." He turned back to his human form. "Half human. But why did they want you? You're a mutant; they don't care about that; they only care about capturing ghosts."
"I remember they said they wanted me to be part of their mutant army that they were making to stop ghosts."
"They'd really stoop that low." Danny said in disgust. "Well, I'm glad you're safe, Sam."
"Wait, look!" Sam pointed to the wreckage in the distance.
"What?" Danny asked.
"I saw some green light leave that place." Sam said.
Danny turned ghost and took Sam to the site of the wreckage.
Once they got there, Danny saw the sight of the dead pilot along with the corpses of O and K.
Although Danny didn't want them dead, he was glad that they couldn't tell anyone else that there was a connection between Fenton and Phantom.
"The canister." Sam pointed to the destroyed canister. "It had another ghost in it."
"And now it's loose." Danny said. "Great. I'll deal with it later; right now I've got to get you home."
An angry mob stood outside the Guthrie house as the crowd shouted insults.
"Mutie!"
"Get out of here!"
"Come on out, Guthrie!"
"Where's the boy?"
"He's gone!" Ed said as he came out of the house. "Scared off by folks he thought was his friends." He glared at the people he thought were his friends. "Look at you. We've known each other since we was young. I worked beside you in the mines and shopped in your stores. Y'all known Sam since the day he was born."
"I'm sorry, Ed." One man said. "It ain't you or Ellen. But that boy's brought nothing but trouble. We don't want him in our town."
"He killed my mares!" The farmer shouted.
"You want to see the cause of your troubles?" Ed shouted. "You want to see a mutant? There's your mutants! He pointed behind the mob, where the X-Men were.
The crowd advanced on the X-Men.
"Get out of town!"
"We don't want you in our town!"
"Looks like we're too late, professor." Rogue said.
"Let's teach these muties a lesson!" One man yelled as the crowd got closer, only for Danny and Sam to land in between them and the X-Men.
"The only one who needs to learn a lesson is you idiots and your stupid mob mentality." Danny scolded them. "You've been played. Sam didn't do anything to you; it was some government agents that manipulated you dumb assholes into turning on him and pushing them into their grasp so they could turn him into one of their slaves."
One man refused to believe this. "You best have proof before you start..." He was hit in the head by a small computer that Danny salvaged from the wreckage.
"Those are their personal files." Danny said. "Is that proof good enough for you? You should all be ashamed of yourselves. You nearly caused Sam to be an agency's guinea pig." He then pointed at Ed. "And you, Mr. Guthrie. You fucking had a mob after your son, and you tried to sic them on my friends who only wanted to help. You're lucky I don't go over there and bitch slap you in front of your wife and kids."
Ed looked down in shame as Danny turned his attention back to the mob.
"And you idiots just take the cake." Danny insulted. "Sam saved one of you in the mines, and you repay him with hatred. You're the true menace. You're the ones that need to be locked up."
"Agreed." A familiar voice said as Danny's ghost sense went off.
Danny groaned as Walker appeared in front of the frightened crowd. "Shit, I have to deal with you too."
Walker looked over his shoulder at Danny. "It's about time I put you back in my prison along with these folks." He turned to the crowd. "Rioting and an attempt to commit a hate crime. I may not like mutants either, but that's against the rules."
"Fuck, now I have to save a bunch of racists from Walker." Danny bemoaned. "This job sucks sometimes."
"Keep him away from civilians." Xavier ordered the X-Men.
The X-Men attacked Walker, but their attacks only went through him.
"About time I get some payback, bub!" Wolverine tried to tackle Walker, but only fell through him.
Scott fired ecto-blasts at Walker, but the warden smacked him aside.
Walker then turned to the scared crowd to arrest them when Danny got in front of them.
"No way, Walker." Danny challenged. "They may be assholes, but no one deserves your prison."
"Obstructing an office in the line of duty." Walker said. "That's against the rules. Your sentence went up another two thousand years."
"You, an officer in the line of duty?" Danny scoffed. "Yeah, right. And I'm Doctor Doom."
The two ghosts fought, with Walker actually putting up a good fight against Danny.
Danny was a bit impressed with Walker's moves. "Didn't see you as much of a fighter."
"Being mauled to death by prisoners is a good motivator to take some self-defense classes." Walker confided. He then used this distraction to grab Danny by the throat. "You're coming with me, punk."
"Get away!" Sam used his powers to charge at Walker, knocking the evil ghost into a tree.
"Nice work, Sam!" Danny praised as he aimed his thermos at Walker. "Your parole has been revoked, Walker."
"Note to self." Walker muttered to himself as he was sucked in. "Never visit home again."
"I'm sorry you all have to pack up and move." Rogue said to the family in the morning. "It ain't fair, is it?"
After the fight, the crowd ran off, and although they were regretful about what they'd done, Ed and Ellen decided it was best to start over somewhere else.
"You don't have to go. Sam, I can talk to them others." Toby said to him. "It'll get better, I swear!"
"Thanks, Toby." Sam replied. "But I'm afraid this town will never be the same. Shame, too. My family's lived here in Cumberland for six generations."
"Sam, I would like you to know that you will always have a home at our school." Xavier told him.
"I appreciate that, sir, especially after the trouble I put you all through." Sam thanked.
"Hey, you didn't put us through any trouble, kiddo." Danny assured him. "And I know someone who can help you find a new home."
"Thank you, Danny." Sam shook his hand. "For everything." He then shook Rogue's gloved hand. "You too, Mrs. Fenton."
Rogue blushed as the rest of the X-Men looked at her. "You're welcome, Sam. You take care now."
As the X-Men were heading back to the Blackbird, Gambit decided to have fun with this.
"So, Mrs. Fenton, why weren't we invited to the wedding?" He asked playfully.
Rogue glared at him. "Not one word, swamp rat!"
Though this did give Rogue an idea.
"I can't believe you rented out the entire planetarium for just us." Danny said as he was bouncing in excitement.
Rogue held her giggle at seeing her man act like a kid in a candy store. "I'm glad you're happy." She got Vlad to help her out with this one, as she had a big surprise planned for her boyfriend.
The two sat down in their seats as the projection showed various galaxies and stars, and Danny happily pointed them out to his girlfriend.
'Honestly, if this whole X-Men thing doesn't work out, he could have an exciting career as an astronomy teacher.' Rogue thought at seeing her boyfriend be so knowledgeable. Hell, she knew a lot more about space since she met him.
'Now, let's just wait until it comes.' She thought as she waited patiently for her planned surprise.
Danny smirked as he decided to treat his girlfriend to something nice as a thank you for this. "You know you deserve something real nice." Danny then unbuckled her belt and unzipped her pants.
"Huh?" Rogue said before she felt Danny pull down her pants and underwear and slide his tongue into her folds.
"Danny, wait..." She stopped as she moaned at how good Danny's tongue was working her over. "Oh, sugar. You know just the way I like it."
The southern belle melted into her seat as her man continued to make her gasp in delight as her eyes rolled back into her head in lust.
"Hey, Chere. I found the ring you wanted to propose with." Gambit's voice came over her communicator, making Danny stop licking.
He looked at Rogue in shock, who pointed at the projection.
Danny turned around, and instead of seeing another galaxy, it showed a constellation that formed words. His eyes widened as he read them.
Will you marry me?
Rogue was smiling as she saw her boyfriend's flabbergasted reaction. "So, what's the answer, Spooky?"
Her answer was a deep kiss before Danny whispered into her ear.
"Yes. A thousand times yes."
"Hello." Gambit's voice asked. "Is anyone there?"
Rogue turned off her communicator as she pushed her fiancé to the ground and got on top of him as they celebrated their engagement.