I know it's been a long wait for this one, but there's a perfectly good reason for it, I swear! XD That reason being, this chapter was originally nearly 10,000 words long. I've since elected to separate it into two, and to make sure alerts don't get messed up, I'll wait a short while before posting the other half.

Enjoy!

Lance Thunder had called for a warm front on Wednesday, and boy was he right. A bout of almost freezing rain had rapidly given way to cloudless skies and a cheery sun. Students traded in hoodies and beanies for t-shirts and baseball caps, savoring the welcome weather for however long it would last. It was shockingly warm for an early March day; one could say it was almost too warm.

Or, at least, that was what Danny figured. Inclement weather didn't bother him quite like it used to.

He and Tucker sat at the outdoor bleachers after class, watching Wes as he and his team practiced. It wasn't a game, or anything of that sort. Tetslaff merely had her students stretching, running laps, practicing maneuvers, and the like. Nothing particularly interesting, but Danny had made a point to attend. Tucker tagged along for the ride (and to help himself to refreshments), but Sam wasn't interested.

"It's too hot outside to watch a bunch of boys throw themselves at each other," she'd said.

Well, Danny thought, it's her loss.

Wes, in typical Wes fashion, was just as showy as if he were actually competing. He just couldn't half-do anything. Every stretch, he reached as far as he could, and every lap he took was at full speed. He even drank water with excessive gusto.

Danny watched, perplexed, amused, and enamored all at once as Wes spilled more fluid than he drank, and then kept running. He didn't need a ball or a court to run stupid fast, almost nothing but a red blur as he overtook two of his teammates. He skidded to a stop as he completed his circuit, taking barely a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead, which did nothing for the sheen that still covered his neck and throat—

Okay, it was time to cut that thought short before things got too crazy.

Tucker, of course, didn't miss the way Danny quite literally shook himself out of his thoughts. "Hey, you okay dude?"

"What, who, me?" Danny asked a little too quickly. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm not the one who's all red in the face," Tucker pointed out. He took a massive sip of the Gatorade he'd nabbed from the stand set up next to the circuit track. "Looks like somebody isn't hydrating enough. You thirsty?"

"No," Danny huffed. "I'm just... I dunno, it's hot outside, I guess."

Tucker wasn't stupid. He knew just as well as Danny did that nowadays it took more than a little sunlight to make him sweat. But all he said was, "Alright, man."

Danny sighed. If this was how things were going to be, he hoped the heat wave would end soon.

({O})

It did.

Two days later and the cold had returned, and then some. It had gone from eighty to less than thirty seemingly overnight, and what should have been rain had morphed into face-stinging snow. Most students had had the wherewithal to wear at least a hoodie, but a few poor saps had nothing but a thin sweater to keep them warm.

Wes was one of those saps.

"How was I supposed to know it would get this cold?!" he protested, rubbing his arms at a pace that would have surely turned them raw if it weren't for the fabric that impeded him.

"Someone didn't check the forecast," Sam tutted from within the fluffy black synthetic fibers of her vividly purple parka.

"I didn't know you watched the news," said Tucker, most of his face hidden by a thick yellow turtleneck that didn't seem to be doing as good a job keeping the cold out as it should.

Same shrugged. "I like knowing if I'm gonna roast or not the next day."

"I think you mean simmer."

Sam lifted his turtleneck collar all the way up.

"Maybe you should watch the news, too," Danny joked to Wes. Tucker was too busy readjusting his collar to make the quip himself. "You don't wanna be surprised by the weather if you're gonna get cold so easy."

Wasn't that rich, coming from him. The jerk wasn't even wearing long sleeves.

"Shut up," Wes groused. "Just do me a favor and shut up."

({O})

The cold weather didn't last.

When Sunday rolled around, the blistering weather had returned, and showed no signs of stopping by Monday. Most of the snow had melted, leaving everything in its wake a damp, muddy mess.

When Danny's gang reached the school, the first thing to greet them upon opening the doors was the musty, toe-curling scent of soggy carpet wafting from the open classrooms. Wes's nose wrinkled at the offending odor, while his friends were mostly confused.

"What happened here?" Tucker was the one to ask.

"Building's leaking," a passing custodian replied gruffly. He was using a wide mop to curb the worst of the moisture, though he only succeeded in pushing it around. "Too much snowmelt, got in the walls. Flooded some classrooms."

"Does that mean school's getting cancelled today?" Danny asked hopefully.

The janitor snorted. "You made it inside, didn't you?"

The group groaned.

"You would think having a rich mayor would prevent stuff like this," Sam groused. Even as she spoke, a ceiling tile bowed and then collapsed underneath the weight of the water that had pooled above it, sending it all cascading to the floor below. A second janitor almost immediately brought a bucket over in a futile attempt to contain the leak.

"I get the feeling today's gonna stink," said Tucker.

"It already does," Wes moaned, hand over his nose.

Things only got worse from there. Water continued to infiltrate the building, a mere drip in some places, and in others deep puddles with visible currents had formed. Much of the custodial staff had taken to trying to vacuum the water to get it all out.

Why school was in session when even the teachers were clearly miserable, Danny didn't know.

But his mind was hardly on the lesson. He was far too busy trying to keep his sneakers from squelching in the miniature lake that had formed under his desk, no thanks to the leak from the shoddy heater above the neighboring desk (poor Mikey). Danny had to prop his feet up on the support bars of his desk legs to keep his soles dry.

It was because he was so focused on this endeavor that he noticed something odd. The water below him had begun to ripple. The drip from the heater was steady but slow; it shouldn't have caused more than a small, localized splash. The puddle wasn't nearly big enough to form an undertow, and straining his ears revealed nobody in the hallway who could be stomping hard enough to cause the little waves.

But he did catch something else unusual. The sound vaguely reminded Danny of a conch. And considering those reputably sounded like the ocean, that didn't seem like a good thing.

Especially not coming from below him.

His hand shot up. "Bathroom!"

Lancer looked up, mouth open as he was caught mid-sentence. But he didn't look as annoyed as usual. Rather, he seemed sympathetic, eyes quickly taking in the water all around the room.

"Go on, get it out of your system," he sighed.

Danny wasted no time. He rushed out of the classroom, taking just enough time to confirm the coast was clear before transforming and flying through the floor. "It isn't a ghost, right? So I'm just gonna take a peek, make sure it's nothing serious, then I'll go back to— whoa!"

The basement was flooded. The murky water was nearly waist-deep, and no thanks to the powerful spray of two burst pipes on the wall, it was steadily rising. And in the center of it all was the janitor from before, splashing like a madman. He'd clearly fallen over in the wake of all the rushing water, and now he couldn't get his limbs steady under him.

He saw Phantom, and reached. "Help! Current's too strong!"

"Hold on, I'm coming to get you!" Danny said firmly. He hovered above the rising water, drifting so that he was behind the janitor. From there, he scooped him up, lifting him by his midsection. Once the custodian was free, Danny made them both intangible and flew outside, where he safely deposited his charge.

"You gotta get them all out," the janitor said once he'd found his footing. "Whole basement's gonna flood, could weaken the building, or cause a short. We aren't equipped for this."

Danny nodded. "On it."

He bypassed the lower floors completely, instead flying up to the top floor. He made a beeline for the principal's office, ignoring the startled protests of Ishiyama. "Phantom, what are you—"

"No time ma'am, it's an emergency," Danny cut her off. He quickly found what he was looking for, grasping the microphone and pushing the button that would broadcast his message to the entire school. "This is Phantom! The school is flooding, everyone get out!"

Naturally, the students readily took the opportunity to flee the school, leaving the teachers scrambling and squawking to keep them in line and accounted for. Within minutes, the entire school had been evacuated, with city personnel arriving not long after to assess the damage.

Sam and Tucker got out together, and waited patiently for Danny to find them. After several minutes, he and Wes jogged out from behind the school, the last dregs of light escaping them as they respectively took on their human forms.

"I got everyone out," Danny reported, "and Wes cut the power to make sure no one got a nasty surprise."

"And this doofus froze the pipes to stop the leak," Wes added, jerking his thumb at the doofus in question.

Tucker blinked. "...Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not when it's this warm out," Wes snorted. "All he did was make even more leaks."

"Well how was I supposed to know it would make them crack?" Danny huffed, arms crossed.

"It doesn't matter now," said Sam. "What matters is that everyone's safe, and the people who can handle this stuff are gonna take care of the rest."

"And we've got at least the next two days off," Tucker added helpfully.

The group nodded. There was that.

({O})

As it turned out, the school wasn't the only building to suffer. At least half of the residential area was similarly flooded, with snowmelt infiltrating all but the sturdiest of buildings. Hardly a structure existed that didn't have at least a dripping ceiling; though Amity Park homes were well-equipped for rain, thick snow was a different story. Even a few intersections had nearly a foot of water within them, the sewers unable to accommodate the sheer amount of fluid.

All that was bad enough. But by the following day, it came to a head, with an old office building collapsing without warning. Luckily, there were no casualties, thanks to Phantom and his recent sidekick Wraith. According to inspectors after the fact, the water had seeped into the concrete foundation, causing it to crack and weaken the building from the ground up. This, combined with the floodwater being soaked up by support beams that were rotting with age to begin with, was enough to bring the structure down.

The building was decades old, barely passing inspections even before the flooding. But citizens were scared regardless, especially with many of the town's other buildings showing signs of warping in the fluctuating weather.

In the end, Vlad Masters held an emergency press conference, hoping to calm the masses.

"I assure you," he said, "there is nothing to be concerned about. I have the best in the business working on repairs and reinforcement for every home and business in Amity Park."

"But what about what's already been lost?!" someone in the crowd demanded. "I've lost my place of work!"

"Yeah, and what about my precious heirlooms?!" added a middle-aged woman. "I lost things that have been in my family for generations!"

"Not to worry, you will continue to make your current wage up until repairs are complete," Vlad replied smoothly. "And, of course, all lost and destroyed belongings will be reimbursed, once accounted for."

"Bah, that won't bring back my heirlooms!" the woman crowed. "You can't put a price on sentimental value!"

Vlad deadpanned. "Well, I'm not sure what you want me to do about that."

"Don't you care about the people?!" another citizen shouted.

"How do you intend to stop the destruction now?!" bellowed another. "Do you have a deadline?! Preventative measures?!"

"Uh..."

"Where's all the water gonna go, huh?!" bellowed an elderly man. "All the repairs in the world won't matter if it's all still gonna be sitting there!"

Vlad tugged at his collar, trying to get a word in edgewise. "Well, you see—"

Wes, invisible, chimed in, his voice that of an irate older woman. "What about that weather doohickey he showed off before?! Can't he make the weird weather go away?!"

Nearby Amity Parkers nodded along, riled by the reminder of the strange barometer the mayor had been so fond of flaunting months before. "Yeah, he could stop this at any time! So why hasn't he?!"

"You don't think this is my doing?" Vlad spluttered. His hand flew to his chest in his indignation. "I have no control over the weather. That invention was ruined months ago—"

"And you didn't think to fix it?!" yet another citizen cried. "No wonder the weather's been out of control! It must be on the fritz!"

"Maybe he should be using some of his so-called resources on that!"

Vlad held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Now hold on, let's not be so rash. I have a plan in motion to cease these damages once and for all."

But it was no use. The crowd had already been whipped up into a frenzy, easily drowning out his feeble pleas. There was nothing he could do but ride out their ire.

With his mission to drown the mayor in complaints complete, Wes broke free from the masses, letting himself become visible once more. Not long after him came Danny, who hadn't bothered making himself invisible at all. He was holding his midsection and cackling.

"Okay, that was pretty funny," he wheezed. "I was wondering if anyone was gonna bring that up."

"I just figured he deserved to be yelled at," Wes replied with a shrug. He thought Vlad deserved more than that, in all honesty, but that was beside the point. "What, you don't think he actually could fix that thing, do you?"

Danny shook his head. "Even if he did, it wouldn't matter. He could never control the weather."

Wes blinked, perplexed. "Really? Then what did it do?"

Danny looked skywards, a concerned frown settling onto his face. "It controlled something way, way worse."

({O})

Wes was beginning to wonder what could be worse than freak weather.

It rained sheets that evening, adding to the already horribly wet condition the city was in. The following morning, it was cold enough to freeze everything solid. Everything, from showers to transit to the freaking internet, was rendered out of commission. With the thick layer of ice that coated everything, many couldn't even leave their homes.

And then, that afternoon, it was once again blistering hot, enough so that one could fry an egg on the sidewalk, if it were dry enough for such a task.

But even then, the rain returned with a vengeance. The streets swelled with floodwater, the heat ensuring that whatever was frozen before thawed and added to what was starting to look like the aftermath of a localized tsunami. Chunks of ice were shoved into cars and buildings, destroying everything in their wake. It was a miracle anything was still standing.

Team Phantom certainly had their work cut out for them. Danny, Wes, Valerie, and even Sam, Tucker, and Jazz took different corners of the city, assisting the struggling townsfolk in whatever ways they could. They relocated citizens to higher ground, searched for lost pets, freed those trapped by shifting rubble, and did their best to keep their charges calm. Not to mention the fact that it was suddenly very helpful that everyone on the team knew CPR. Even with the assistance of the Fentons (or in Danny and Wes's case, the hindrance), the entire team was being run ragged.

"This... This is insane!" Wes panted into his earpiece. Danny had been lucky enough to procure an extra set of Fenton Phones, which were probably the only communication device with a power source he wouldn't passively drain. "I've never seen this kind of flooding!"

"And I've never seen this many people ignore an evacuation order," added Jazz.

"These people have lived here a long time," Sam pointed out, "and they've got almost two years of ghost drills under their belts. Why would they be scared of a rainstorm?"

"A rainstorm half a story high," Danny grunted. The distinct sound of a chunk of debris being blasted to smithereens could be heard through the headset. "These people have no sense of self-preservation, let me tell you."

"The number of times I've watched someone stand there and scream instead of running from a nasty ghost? Doesn't surprise me," Valerie agreed.

"Why do ghosts always have to be nasty with you?" Tucker chimed in.

"Not the time, Foley, you know what I meant!"

"Save it, lovebirds," Sam interrupted. "You two can fight over your word choice after we make sure everyone's safe."

"We aren't lovebirds!" Valerie and Tucker said together.

This time it was Danny who cut them off. "Uh, guys? I think we have even bigger things to worry about."

Even as spread thin as they were, everyone could see what had Danny suddenly so grim. The clouds had congregated over the city, blanketing Amity Park in dim, dreary light. From the center of it all came a swirling, pointed swath of clouds, growing longer and longer until it made contact with the ground. In a matter of seconds, the massive twister began tearing through the streets, taking cars and billboards with it.

"Oh! Well that isn't great!" Wes laughed maniacally.

"Forget the water!" Valerie cried. "We gotta stop that thing before it destroys the town!"

"Look at the size of it!" Tucker wailed. "How are we supposed to get rid of that?!"

"All of you, make sure to get everyone out of here," Danny ordered. "I'm gonna try to get it spinning the other way."

"Doesn't that only work in the comics?!" Wes cried, ever the voice of reason.

"We won't know until we try it," Danny replied.

"Like I would let you pull a stunt like that without backup," Valerie guffawed. "I'm coming too. I'm the only one of us who can keep up with you, so if anyone is gonna make that tornado go away, it's gonna be us."

"Both of you, be careful," Jazz ordered. "The rain already did a lot of damage. That tornado is gonna be full of debris, more than enough to take you out of commission. If either of you get hurt, regroup and get out of there."

"We've got this," Danny reassured her, already flying headlong into danger.

"That wasn't a yes," Sam sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on that dummy," Valerie said, tailing after him.

Even Wes, with all of his stubborn pride, knew better than to think he could be any sort of help in that situation. Even as far away from the cyclone as he was, violent winds buffeted at his hair and threw shrapnel and stinging rain at his skin. It was all he could do to keep his feet under him, scouring the still-standing buildings for stragglers.

Naturally, things never could quite go how they should. A piercing scream rang through the air, and Wes rushed to the scene as fast as he was able. When he arrived at a section of the town more elevated than the rest, he found someone not quite in his teens, a streetlamp having toppled and pinned him by the ankle.

The kid didn't care that Wes was an unknown ghost. He saw someone who could help, and he reached out. "Help me! My ankle got stuck, and I can't get out!"

"I've got you," Wes assured him, taking the outstretched hand in both of his. He turned them both intangible and pulled, the streetlight offering no resistance.

But that posed a brand new problem. The tornado was getting closer, and without the streetlight to keep the kid in place, he began to get sucked into the vortex, pulling Wes with him.

It seemed odd to Wes that being incorporeal didn't offer any safety from the raging gusts around them, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He couldn't outrun the tornado, especially not with a passenger, and that meant he would have to stand his ground.

He tugged the child to his chest, and then stomped as hard as he could. It took a few tries, but in the end, he managed to lodge his foot within the street, rooting him firmly in place. The asphalt chewed painfully on his ankle as the two of them were jostled, but he elected not to worry about it right then, more concerned with sheltering the kid from any projectiles that flew their way.

Luckily, they didn't have to persevere for very long. Before they knew it, the winds began to slowly die down, taming until it could do little more than ruffle their hair. Before their eyes, the tornado unraveled, and the winds ebbed away completely.

Wes dared to stand up, pulling the preteen upright with him. He lifted his foot from its makeshift crater, wincing as the tender and bloody appendage made contact with the air. That was absolutely going to smart later.

But that was a problem for Future Wes. For the time being, he focused on his charge. "Got any family nearby?"

The kid shook his head. "Mom's already out. The police made her leave. The cops were gonna come back for me, but when the tornado showed up, they ran, too."

Wes fought the glimmer of red that threatened to mar his features. That was another problem for later. For now, getting the kid to safety was more important. Evacuation had only started about twenty minutes before, and the tornado was there for less than five. The kid's mom couldn't have been far, most likely at the nearest checkpoint to where they were.

It didn't take long to find, and the kid's mom was front and center, already racing up to collect her son. She enveloped him in a powerful embrace, showering the top of his head in a flurry of kisses. When Wes tried to turn back to find more citizens, she tugged him over to plant even more frantic kisses on his forehead.

Wes politely extracted himself, blushing up a storm at the gratitude. "I-I really appreciate it, ma'am, but I have to go back before the storm gets worse. There might still be others back there."

He definitely wasn't lying about the weather. The rain was pouring even harder now, the atmosphere more water than air. At the rate it was going, even the high points of Amity Park would be submerged in a matter of minutes. In the distance, he could hear rolls of thunder promising a nasty storm. Things were dangerous, and it was only going to get worse.

He'd never seen anything like this, and he knew he was powerless to stop it. But he had to do something while he still could.

"Any idea how many more people are down there?" he asked into his headset.

"Pretty sure I'm clear here," Jazz replied.

"Me too," added Sam. "The water's getting too high for me to double-check, but I haven't found anyone in a while. I think that's everyone on my end."

"I just ran a traffic census check on every exit point in the city," Tucker said. "That should be everybody."

"Good," Valerie sighed. She sounded exhausted.

"We're not out of the woods yet," panted Danny. "We may have gotten everyone out, but that storm is only going to get worse. It isn't going to stay in Amity Park. I have to stop it now, before it spreads."

"Stop a storm?" Jazz gawked. "Reversing a tornado is one thing. But how do you expect to completely stop a force of nature?"

"That's the thing," Danny answered grimly. "This isn't natural."

There was a moment of silence, and then someone groaned. "You don't think it's him, do you?" asked Tucker.

"With this kind of freak weather? There's no one else it could be."

"Don't tell me you're going to try to fight him alone," Sam chided. "I know you're stronger now, but you had access to his powers back then, and you were using Tucker's tech."

"I'm not going to fight him alone," Danny replied. "Maybe I can't fight weather with weather anymore, but we've got someone else on the team who I think can." There was static on the line, like he was hissing through his teeth. "...I can't believe I'm asking this, but Wes, I could really use your help with this one."

Wes could not stress enough how terrible of an idea that sounded. Control the weather? Him? He was Wattson Wraith, not Wattson Windmaker. He couldn't cause sleet or snow or drought with a mere thought. There was nothing he could do that Danny couldn't do better. Especially not against such a fearsome ghost; Wes knew that who they were dealing with was none other than the ghost who shadowed the planet with massive superstorms less than a year prior. Wes was nowhere near prepared to handle a ghost like that.

But he sure as heck wasn't about to let Danny down. He'd asked for help, and scary godlike ghost or not, Wes wasn't about to let Danny handle him by himself.

"Really not sure what you're expecting me to do, but I'll do my best."

"I'm coming too," Valerie chimed in. "These guns are really good for taking out ghosts. What's so different about this one?"

"Uh, besides the fact he can control the freaking weather?" Tucker suggested.

"Yeah, no offense Val, but you'll get creamed up there," Danny agreed. "Unlike us, you're still fully human. One direct hit, and you're done for."

"Suit or no suit," added Sam.

Valerie growled. "You can't tell me I can't—"

"Make sure nobody got left behind," Danny cut her off. "You've got your hoverboard, so you can stay above the water. Tucker's tech is good, but it might not account for everybody."

"You doubt me and my technical prowess?" Tucker sniffed. Nobody bothered to answer him.

"At least tell me you've got a plan to stop this guy," Sam groaned.

"...Sort of," Danny answered. At the very least, he had the foundations for a plan. But he most certainly wouldn't have asked Wes to join him if he didn't think he could keep him safe.

"Once you're up there," said Jazz, "we might not be able to communicate anymore. So whatever happens, promise me you'll be careful, little brother."

"You know I can't promise that," Danny replied jovially. "...But I'll try."

Finally, he looked over to Wes and held out a hand, a confident smirk on his face. "You ready?"

Wes gulped, not at all ready. He had no idea how he would be expected to help in a fight like this. But if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he trusted Danny, with all his heart.

Steeling his resolve, he nodded, firmly clasping their hands together. "Whenever you are."

Danny's smirk fell, expression now resolute. "Then we'd better hurry."

I'm pretty sure all of you know where this is going lmao

The next chapter is already typed up, and just needs a final proofread. But I'm gonna wait two or three weeks to post it, partially to make sure nobody's alerts get clogged, and partially to give me more time to write the following chapter. I'd like to at least TRY to get some semblance of a writing schedule together dkjfbnkjlfds

Anyway, see you in a little while!