Chapter 9: Wisconsin Wheezer – Part 1

"Look at this race car, son!" Jack told Danny. The both of them were in Zoravia, Illinois. To be more specific, they were in a garage where Vlad kept his race car.

"To those who like a cheese theme." Danny replied and then noticed the name written on the car. "The Wisconsin Wheezer?" He asked in disbelief.

"I happen to be found of alliterations, little badger." Vlad replied. "Not to mention a certain Marvel superhero."

"Don't worry, V-Man!" Jack told his friend. "I won't let you down!"

"I'm glad to hear it, Jack." Vlad replied. "See you at the race day."

"Shouldn't I practice a little with the car to get a feel?" Jack suggested.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you'll be great!" Vlad answered.

"Okay, buddy." Jack happily replied.

After that conversation, Jack and Maddie left the garage. "Danny, let's go back to the hotel, shall we?" Jack asked.

"Actually, Dad, I have a date with Natasha." Danny replied. "At the McYak Shack."

"Okay, son." Jack said and he and Danny parted ways.

By the time Danny arrived at McYak Shack, Natasha was already waiting for him. "Sorry I'm late, Natasha." Danny said.

"It's okay, Danny." Natasha replied. "I understand you'd be worried about your father. Especially after what my Dad's spies found out about Vlad."

"What?" Now Danny was really worried. "What's the fruitloop up to?"

"Using a front company, Vlad Masters is also sponsoring Baron Von X." Natasha explained and then noticed a confused expression at Danny's face. "You never heard of him before. Right?"

"Right." Danny answered, still wondering why Natasha was worried about that Baron.

"Baron Von X is the racer who drove Lubek's car at last year's race, Danny." Natasha told her boyfriend and showed a picture of his at her boofer phone.

"Wow, that's a tough-looking guy." Danny commented.

"And it's not just for looks, Danny." Natasha said. "He survived his car exploding at last year's race."

"Ok, now I'm worried." Danny replied and anyone looking at his face could tell it was a real worry. "How long did he stay in the hospital?"

"The next day, he was already walking again." Natasha answered.

"Is he a Zoravian?" Danny asked.

"Yes, Danny." Natasha answered. "Born and raised."

"I'm ordering more yak burgers to see if they make me this tough against the bullies." Danny said.

"Afraid it'd be too much of an unfair advantage to use your ghost powers on them?" Natasha teasingly asked.

"You don't know the half of it." Danny replied.

"Boo!" A kid with a monster mask screamed as he revealed himself.

"K. C., didn't your Mom tell you not to scare Danny?" Natasha asked her former crush's little brother.

"Technically, she told me not to scare guests." K. C. answered. "Since we're not at home, nobody here is an O'Brien guest."

'Another aspiring lawyer.' Danny thought.

"K. C., don't bother Natasha and her boyfriend during their date." Mrs. O'Brien scolded her youngest son.

"Danny, you're not thinking she's Princess Natasha, are you?" Greg asked Danny.

"What if she is?" Danny asked.

"No way!" Greg replied and then showed a Princess Natasha poster. "Do you even think they look alike?"

"Yes." Danny answered.

"I see some people can't be talked out of their delusions." Greg commented as he and the other O'Briens left McYak Shack.

"That's something I agree with him." Danny said as he and Natasha giggled. He then became serious again. "What do I do about my Dad?" He asked Natasha.

"Well, since Baron Von X is involved, I'd better tell you about how Lubek tried to sabotage Ingo Pinto at last year's race." Natasha said and explained it all.

"A giant magnifying glass?" Danny asked in disbelief. "What was Pinto's car made of? Recycled paper?"

"No comments, Danny." Natasha answered.

The next day, the drivers were ready to start the race. Danny and Natasha were watching it from seats next to the starting line. "At least the Wisconsin Wheezer is big enough for your father to fit in." Natasha commented. "Ingo Pinto wasn't so lucky last year."

"Then how did…" In the middle of asking, Danny decided he didn't want to know how Ingo Pinto won that race. "No matter." The race then started. "Excuse me, I need the bathroom." He told Natasha but it was just in case someone was overhearing him. Once he was out of sight, he went ghost and flew after his Dad.

Meanwhile, Jack Fenton and Baron Von X were fighting neck to neck for first place. Unbeknownst to either of them, one of Vlad's ghost vultures, or Ecto-Americans as they'd rather be called, was using his intangibility to make Jack lose his brake fluid. When the two drivers approached a curve that Jack deemed it necessary to use his brakes for, they didn't work and the Wisconsin Wheezer rolled through the forest until it exploded. Fortunately, a green foam came out from Jack's jumpsuit and stopped the fire. "Oh, no!" Jack exclaimed in horror. "What'll I tell V-Man?"

"You won't live long enough for it to be a trouble, oaf." He heard someone say and turned around to figure out who it was. "Wisconsin Ghost?"

"The name is 'Vlad Plasmius' but, yes, you big oaf." Plasmius answered and his ghost vultures showed up. "I had one of my ghost vultures…"

"Ecto-Americans!" One of the ghost vultures tried to correct Plasmius but he glared at them, making them stop.

"As I said, I had one of my ghost vultures phase your brake fluid off your car but you survived the crash so we'll have to kill you the old-fashioned way." Plasmius said.

"Over my dead body!" Jack screamed and then realized something. "Wait, that doesn't sound right."

"One of the things that make me wonder why Maddie chose you over me." Vlad muttered.

"What?" Jack asked, angrier than ever. He put on his ghost gauntlets and started beating up the fruitloop. By the time Danny caught up to him, Jack was sucking Vlad into a Fenton Thermos and the ghost vultures were flying away. "Well, I'm already out of the race so I might as well try to catch those ghosts." Jack commented.

In order to escape, each ghost vulture took a different path and Jack decided to hunt the one who kept flying forward. "Of course, he had to pick me." The vulture muttered and decided to fly so high Jack Fenton decided to give up. He didn't want his son to worry anyway.

Deciding he also needed to return, Danny rejoined his girlfriend. He made it back on time so he could see Baron Von X winning the race. "I'm sorry your Dad didn't win, Danny." Natasha commented. "What happened to him?"

Before Danny could speak anything, they heard someone announce Jack's whereabouts. "Good news, ladies and gentlemen! Jack Fenton survived the accident and doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear!"

Danny and Jack eventually returned to Amity Park. "Dad, how about we let the Wisconsin Ghost inside the Fenton Thermos?" Danny suggested. "He's enough of a threat you once felt necessary to negotiate a truce with Danny Phantom, isn't he?"

"Don't worry, Danny." Jack tried to reassure his son. "Once I put this putrid ghost in this chamber, there's no escape. Feel safe to watch it. You'll get a preview of what your mother and I will do to Phantom once we catch him."

"Sure, Dad." Danny uneasily replied and then felt his ghost sense.

"I'll hang your pelt on my wall. Whelp." Skulker said.

"Over my dead body." Jack angrily replied as he chased Skulker, who flew away. Out of concern for his father, Danny ran after them with both Fenton males forgetting about the thermos with Vlad in it. Which was the plan all along as the ghost vultures took advantage of that distraction to free their boss from it.

"About time the three of you did something right without my supervision." Plasmius ungratefully said and flew away.

After Skulker lost Jack and Danny, the latter two returned to the lab and learned about Vlad's escape. "That armored ghost must've been a distraction." Jack deduced.

The next day, Danny was telling his friends about what happened. "So, was Baron Von X just a distraction?" Tucker asked.

"Yes, Tucker." Danny answered.

"I guess Natasha was worried for nothing." Sam commented.

"Sam, with that seriously crazed up fruitloop around, there's always a reason to worry." Danny pointed out.

Two weeks later, the Fentons were watching an announcement on TV. Mayor Vlad Masters was announcing a race to raise funds to reopen North Mercy Hospital. "Count on me, V-Man!" Jack exclaimed. "I'll win this time around!"

'Oh, no. Not again.' Danny thought. "Dad, you're not letting Vlad sponsor you again, are you?"

"No, son." Jack answered. "Since he's now sponsoring the race itself, he cannot sponsor any drivers without being accused of favoritism. I'll build my own race car and call it the "Fenton Lightning"! I'd give it an alliterative name but I can't think of anything better than "Fenton Faster"!"

"Ewwww." Danny, Maddie and Jazz said.

"My sentiments exactly." Jack sadly replied.

"That comment coming from someone who saw no problem with a yellow car named "Wisconsin Wheezer"." Jazz whispered to her brother and her mother.

"I heard that!" Jack shouted.

"Dad, what if a ghost tries to sabotage your new car?" Danny asked out of concern, and some hope he'll give up on the new race.

"Don't worry, son." Jack proudly replied. "I'm putting a ghost shield on the Fenton Lightning to protect it from ghosts."

"Okay, Dad." Danny sighed. He'd rather talk his Dad out of the race but was unable to explain why without revealing his secret.

Later on, during a Doomed session, Danny was discussing it with Tucker and Sam. "I don't know what he'll try to do to Dad." Danny commented.

"Maybe he's just using your Dad to make you worried." Tucker suggested. "He's that petty, isn't he?"

"Yes, but I can't afford to take that chance, Tucker." Danny answered.

"Maybe Vlad wants to keep you too busy protecting your Dad to notice some other scheme he's up to." Sam theorized.

"That sounds like something the fruitloop would do." Danny agreed.

"How about we ask Valerie's help?" Tucker suggested.

"Tucker, Danny Fenton can't ask for her help without explaining how he knows her secret and Danny Phantom can't ask without explaining why he'd care about someone whose life is devoted to hunting and dissecting him." Sam pointed out.

"Telling her doesn't sound like a bad idea." Danny commented.

"Are you crazy?" Sam asked with a frown. Danny and Tucker couldn't see her face but could feel the frown.

"Don't worry, Sam." Danny reassured his goth friend. "At school, we could voice our comments regarding Plasmius and the race and, even if Valerie won't directly overhear it from us, somebody will likely spread the tale to the point it'll reach her."

"That I can agree with." Sam commented.

Days later, Vlad was at his mansion rereading paperwork regarding the race when the Red Huntress showed up. "Ms. Gray, what can I do for you?" The Mayor asked with fake politeness.

"Mr. Mayor, I overheard Danny expressing worry that Plasmius might go after his Dad in the upcoming race like he did at the Zoravian one." The Red Huntress said. "I'd like to join the race's protection detail."

"Don't worry, Ms. Gray." Vlad replied. "I have already called the Guys in White. And besides, are you really available with your father knowing about you?"

"Let me worry about that, Mr. Mayor." The Red Huntress replied, doing her best not to reveal that she already knew the Mayor was Vlad Plasmius.

End chapter.

Answer to Guest: What "was more for the kiss bet and various peoples reactions"?

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Foi mal.