Happy Friday, everyone!
Welcome back to Fire with Fire. I am your host, Mr. Desperately Seeking Employment. Amidst the anxiety of a post-graduation/post-COVID-19 job hunt in an archaically elitist profession, I have been using writing as an outlet for my stress. I have spent the last month crafting this chapter with the help of my beta readers to perfectly set up the rest of this fic. We do have a few time jumps in these earlier chapters since the action will not center around the Homecoming plotline but instead parallel it as it sets up what comes after the takedown of the Vulture.
Timeline Notes
- RETCON FROM CHAPTER 1: Tony's meeting with the Fentons wouldn't happen for at least a couple weeks after the Civil War fiasco due to all of the logistics the Avengers would be dealing with after the events of the movie. So, his meeting with the Fentons has moved from June 17 to July 1.
- Danny Phantom: This takes place after seasons 1 and 2 which, I am assuming, cover Danny's freshman year. We pick up before any of the action in season 3 unless otherwise noted.
- MCU: It begins immediately following the Clash of the Avengers at the airport in Berlin, putting this story in 2016 in the MCU timeline
General Notes
"This is dialogue."
"This is alternative dialogue, meaning whispered or spoken from a distance such as on the phone."
'This is thought.'
This and THIS and *this* are emphasis. The *this* emphasis is more along the lines of the snarky or sarcastic.
[This is digital text, such as notifications on a computer or smartphone.]
I do not own Danny Phantom nor Spider-Man/the Avengers.
Ch. 02 originally published: Friday, June 26, 2020
FIRE WITH FIRE
02 - Gulliver's Travels
Amity Park — Friday, July 1, 15:35
"Thank you for meeting with me, Dr. Fenton," Tony said.
"Oh, please, Mr. Stark, call me 'Maddie,' " the woman replied, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of refreshments in hand and a hand towel draped over her arm.
"Only if you call me Tony."
"Alright, Tony," Maddie said with a smile. She set the tray down, gave Tony the towel and sat in the chair adjacent to the sofa. "Now, you said the Avengers have been dealing with a ghost?"
"Ghost tech," he clarified and dabbed at the soda stains on his blazer. Tony sensed something and turned to his right where Tucker sat with an eager ear-to-ear grin on his face. Danny was mimicking Tucker's expression just beyond the closer boy's shoulder. Tony cleared his throat and attempted to return his attention to Maddie. "I'd hesitate to jump straight to an actual ghost; though we have fought aliens from outer space, so who's to say?"
Just then, the door opened, and Jack strode inside. "Tony Stark, as I live and breathe!" the man exclaimed and rushed to shake the billionaire's hand. "I haven't seen you since you kicked us out of the Stark Expo!"
"Well, we thought you were crazy back then."
Jack dismissively waved a hand. "Water under the bridge. Who cares, if we can help the Avengers!"
"Super. Anyway," Tony awkwardly diverted while Jack poured himself a glass of lemonade, "We had a recent break-in by somebody we think might be using ghost tech. We're talking full-on phase shifting and invisibility…real Casper stuff. "
"How can you be sure it isn't a ghost?" asked Maddie.
"That's classified. I can tell you we have suspicions of who the perp may have been, and they are very not dead."
"So how can we help?"
"I'm bringing you on as consulting engineers to Stark Industries to develop technology that can block and counter whatever was used to infiltrate our facilities."
"You came to the right place!" Jack exclaimed. "Nobody knows ghost tech better than us Fentons. Except those Guys in White guys, but-"
"They're off the table," Tony interrupted. "Those bureaucratic goons don't have any proprietary gear. They get everything from General Electric's military division, but now Axion is trying to take over their market share, and the Stark Industries board wants in… Of course, you would get a percentage of the profits from whatever we develop—
"Well…look, that's all boring business-y stuff. Point is, you guys have the know-how and a much higher success rate in the field than the GIW could ever dream of."
Jack beamed with pride.
"Well, thank you, Tony," Maddie said. "That's kind of you to say."
"Especially with your local hero helping out," Tony continued. "How long have you been supplying your tech to Danny Phantom?"
"What?!" Maddie exclaimed. "As if we'd EVER give anything to a ghost!"
"That punk is our nemesis!" Jack added.
Tony appeared puzzled. "Soooo…this isn't a Fenton thermos?" he asked and opened a holographic still from a recent news article.
"Amity Park's *hero* is rather light-fingered when it comes to our inventions," Maddie complained.
"You won't have to worry about that with us," Tony assured her. "We have top-of-the-line security and defense at all of our facilities."
"Apparently not," Danny muttered under his breath.
Tucker couldn't suppress a snort.
With a sidelong glance at the sheepish boys, Tony continued, "Well…that's where Fenton Works comes in, isn't it? I'll have my lawyers draw up the paperwork. We'll figure out housing for you; New York real estate is just…the worst."
"Wait," Danny interrupted. "Real estate? Housing? What-?"
"What, did you expect your parents to commute from *Ohio* every day?" Tony sassed.
"But…life…?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "It's a 12-month contract with our labs in Avengers Tower. But, don't fret, little one," he teased with a sarcastic pat on Danny's cheek. "You and your sister get to continue high school in the City after you move."
"That's not- What about the ghosts here? And the portal?"
Tony squinted at the boy.
"We'd be shutting down the portal while we're gone," Maddie affirmed.
"And unless your sister is masquerading around town as a *secret ghost hunter,*" Jack added with a laugh, "the Red Huntress will still be here to keep the ghosts and especially Phantom in check."
Danny whimpered quietly.
Tucker glanced between the adults and Danny. " 'Oh, and what about my bestest friends in the whole wide world?' " Tucker mocked in a high-pitched voice, then continued normally, "Don't worry, Danny. There's always Skype, and you'll make new friends." He ended with a put-upon glare at his friend, which Danny returned.
"Well, I'd better be off," Tony said and stood up. "Think it over and then call my office when you've talked Gulliver into traveling," he concluded with a jab of his thumb in Danny's direction.
"Thank you, Tony," Maddie said. "We'll be in touch."
When Tony was safely in his waiting Audi R8 convertible, he sighed and said, "So, that's Danny Fenton, huh?"
[Yes, boss,] Friday confirmed.
"Does it not strike you as odd that the son of the inventors of this ghost technology has a reputation for disappearing without a trace for hours at a time?" Tony started the engine then pulled away from the curb. "We'd better put them somewhere we can keep an easy eye on Danny."
[Apartment 7A just went on the market yesterday.]
"And it's big enough for them?"
[Three beds, two bath.]
"Make it happen."
Amity Park — Friday, July 8, 17:15
Jack thumbed through the paperwork and brochures which had arrived via FedEx. "I think it's a great opportunity, Mads," he said.
"Wash the zucchini," Maddie replied, and Jack stood from his post at the replaced kitchen table to retrieve the vegetables. "I know it is, Jack, but our whole life is here. Our lab, our friends, our…kids' friends…"
"Eh, they can suck it up and make new ones," Jack said. "A contract with S.I. will be fantastic for Fenton Works."
"It would give us access to better resources for our research and lend legitimacy to our entire lives' work," Maddie agreed and stirred a pot of soup. "Besides, how many times does a chance to move to New York, all expenses paid, present itself?"
"That sweet paycheck from Stark Industries definitely isn't discouraging," Jack said with a chuckle.
"Ha, don't I know it. It's probably TRIPLE our current research grants and would more than recuperate any lost sales on our gear. But what about Jazz, and especially Danny?"
"They'd probably love to get out of this town," Jack said. He took a quick glance to make sure neither of their teenagers was hovering close by. "It could be a chance to get Danny away from whatever trouble he keeps getting into. Hopefully, a year at that fancy high school will make that boy sit still for ten minutes and actually pay attention to a lesson for once."
Maddie smiled at the thought of their son 'returning' to them after a year of mysteries and bad behavior.
"So it's decided?" Jack asked.
"I think so!" Maddie said. "It's time for the rest of the world to meet the Fentons."
"So we ARE moving?"
"BWAH!" Maddie exclaimed and jumped around to find Danny standing right in the doorway. "Danny! You move so quietly sometimes, I'd almost swear you're a ghost!"
"What about Sam and Tuck?!" he responded with a fierce glare. "My only two friends in the world! You guys know how hard it is for me to find friends as the son of the town quacks! I'm just supposed to do that all over again?"
"We take offense to that!" Jack whined.
"People in New York are a lot weirder than you'd expect, believe me," Maddie chided. "You'll fit right in."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll accept my fate," he said and took his phone out of his pocket.
Jazz walked in behind him. "So we're moving?"
"We're moving," Danny confirmed as he opened the messaging app on his phone.
"And once again, my life is completely bowled over in favor of your ghost obsession," Jazz grumbled. "Did you even consider the fact that all of my college applications are going out this fall? Or that I've built up a stellar reputation and rapport with the staff who would be writing letters of recommendation?!"
"You'll do just fine, Jazz!" Maddie encouraged her. "You'll see; this move will benefit our entire family."
Jasmine harrumphed.
Amity Park — Friday, July 8, 17:25
Sam hopped the last steps of the grand staircase with a loud huff.
"What have I told you about stomping around, young lady?" Pamela Manson reprimanded from the living room sofa. "You'll scuff the marble."
Sam purposefully stomped harder as she entered the living room doors and stopped with her fists clenched. "Danny's moving."
Pamela twisted in her spot on the sofa with a teacup halfway to her mouth. "What?"
"Danny's family is moving to New York!" Sam said.
Pamela's jaw dropped. After a moment, she jumped up and let the teacup clatter to the floor in her wake. "JEREMY!"
Mr. Manson calmly walked in from the kitchen. "What is it, Pamela?"
"Jeremy, it's happening!" she said, bursting with glee.
"For sure?!"
Both Mansons turned to their daughter.
Sam glared. "Yes," she spat.
Pamela and Jeremy jumped up and down, giggling with glee, and ran into each other's arms.
"It's really happening!" Jeremy said. "Is it permanent?"
"It's for a year," Sam replied and sank into an end chair.
"We'll take it!"
"How can you two be so insensitive?!" Sam demanded. "My best friend is moving away!"
"It's no news that we don't approve of that boy's influence on you," Jeremy retorted.
"Plus, those fools do nothing but terrorize this whole town with their nonsensical antics," Pamela said in a holier-than-thou tone.
"Who's gonna protect us from the ghosts?" Sam asked.
"We never had ghost attacks till they opened that portal of theirs," Mr. Manson said. "They'll probably shut it down when they leave!"
"And there's that nice Huntress girl!" Pamela suggested.
"Well, I'm glad everything's working out SO well for you two," Sam snapped as she stood and left for the kitchen.
Ida was arranging flowers in a bouquet when Sam entered. "What's the matter, Bubahla?" the old woman asked.
Sam plopped down gracelessly into the chair adjacent to Ida and rested her chin on her crossed forearms. "Danny's moving for a year."
"Aw, sweetums," Ida cooed and rested a loving hand on her granddaughter's nearest shoulder. "It hurts, doesn't it?"
"Why should it? He's just a friend. It's not like we can't text and FaceTime with each other."
"It's not the same when you're in love."
"Wha?!" Sam sputtered. "He- but I- I'm not-"
"Oh, was I mistaken? Sorry, Sammie," Ida said contritely, though her failure to suppress a smile revealed a lack of earnestness behind it.
Sam's cheeks burned. "He's just a friend," she murmured again and glared at the abandoned floral arrangement.
"Well, buck up, camper, it's only for a year! He'll be back. Maybe you can convince your parents to visit those snooty New Yorker weirdo friends of your mom's again. I'm sure they'd let you drop in on a friend."
"We just went last week. Besides, they'd never agree if they know it's Danny."
"But they might have to agree if you ask innocently enough in front of those friends and say you want to go into the city for a day. Don't they have a whole fleet of chauffeurs to take guests anywhere they'd like, no questions asked?" Ida hinted with a twinkle in her eye.
Sam smirked. "Careful, Grandma; your wild side is showing."
Amity Park — Saturday, July 9, 11:40
"I mean, leaving you guys for a year?" Danny mused.
"It's not the end of the world, Danny," Sam replied. "It's only a year, and it's a great opportunity for your parents. And you. You'll be only a couple degrees of separation away from the CEO of Stark Industries, who also happens to be Iron Man himself. How much more connected to tech and space stuff do you wanna be?"
"But I'll have to try to make new friends, and god knows it was hard enough getting to know you two," Danny parried. "And what about you guys anyway?"
"Is this REALLY the best time to talk about this?!" Tucker interrupted.
Danny dodged another attack from the Box Ghost and let the box crumple against the wall behind him. "Oh, come on, it's not like this is even that difficult."
"Heeeyyy, I take offense to that!" the Box Ghost whined.
"You should!" Danny Phantom replied. "You're not even CLOSE to being my arch-nemesis! You just waste my time every couple weeks!"
"That's another side benefit of going," Sam said. "You said your parents are shutting down the ghost portal while you're gone, right? So, no more ghosts worming their way back to terrorize Amity."
"Let's hope the town doesn't connect the dots when the ghost attacks end with the Fentons' departure," Phantom quipped.
A beam of white-hot aquamarine energy shot out from the side, catching both Phantom and the Box Ghost by surprise. It then pulled the pair inside the Fenton Thermos in Tucker's hands and blipped away with a dying mechanical whine.
"Ugh, Tucker!" Sam groaned and punched Tucker in the arm. "What did we agree about using the Thermos when Danny himself is in its path?!"
Tucker grimaced. "…Not to?"
Danny's glare was unwavering.
"Look, I said I was sorry, okay?" Tucker blurted with a flail of his arms. "I was distracted, Boxy was distracted…"
"That thing is less comfortable than the stretching table in The Princess Bride," Danny said and slumped lower in his side of their Nasty Burger booth. "Why do you think I always leave the ghosts in there overnight? As punishment for ruining my day."
"You're sounding a bit like Walker, there, Danny," Sam said.
"Oh, whatever."
"Order number 66?" a worker called out from the counter.
"Ours. I'll get it," Danny huffed and went to the service counter across the buzzing burger joint where Valerie Gray stood waiting. "Thanks, Val."
"No problem, Danny," Valerie said. "Is it true what they're saying about you guys moving?"
"What?! How did you hear about that already?"
"Dad saw it in the PTA email blast," she replied. "The one the Mansons send out?"
Danny rolled his eyes.
"So…it's true, then?" Valerie asked.
"Yeah," Danny sighed. "We're moving next month."
"Oh," Valerie said, a little crestfallen. "For how long?"
"A year. At least, that's how long the contract's for."
"I see. Well," Valerie said with a strained smile, "I h-hope you enjoy it. Tiffanie? I'm taking my 10."
"Okay," replied the girl at the register.
And with that, Valerie disappeared into the back after tossing her apron aside.
"Huh," Danny said, mystified. He took the tray of food and returned to the table.
"What took so long?" Sam asked when he set down the tray.
"Valerie was asking if I'm really moving. *Apparently,* your parents put an announcement in the PTA newsletter, so the whole town knows already!"
"Oh, great."
"So what are we gonna do for our last month together?" Tucker asked between bites of his burger. "We've only got a few weeks left."
"We can start by packing my room?" Danny suggested and took a sip of his milkshake.
"Yay," Sam deadpanned.
A beat of depressed silence overtook the trio while they ate.
Finally, Tucker caved and said, "Hey, I'm kinda jealous of you, Danny."
Danny swallowed. "Why?"
"Come on, dude! Broadway, Times Square, Central Park, the World Trade Center, Avengers Tower…it'll be awesome!"
"Tuck, those are all in Manhattan," Danny said. "We're moving to Queens."
"Queens?! But there's, like, nothing special there!"
"You're tellin' me!"
"Hey, there's plenty of stuff to do in Queens," Sam interjected. "The Stark Expo grounds, for one. Plus the Museum of the Moving Image, and—and LaGuardia-"
"A park, a museum and an airport. Yeah, sounds like a real hoot," Danny said.
"Plus that's where the Spider-Guy's supposed to live," Tucker added.
"Who?"
"Spider-Man," Sam corrected. "Some new superhero. His whole gimmick is based around spiders."
"Psh, lame," Danny dismissed. "Superheroes with gimmicks are so stupid."
"As if you don't have one!" Tucker said.
"Me?!" Danny whisper-cried. "I don't have a *gimmick!*"
"Danny Phantom, the dude with ghost powers?"
"But I actually *am* one!"
"Well maybe he's *actually* a spider!" Tucker mocked.
"Whatever. Queens alone is bigger than all of Amity so it's not like I have a big chance of seeing him."
Queens — Wednesday, August 10, 18:45
It was a quiet evening in Queens. The midsummer heat had motivated most criminals to just stay home. Everything was so peaceful in the borough that Spider-Man decided to sit and watch the sunset with his mask off from one of the Long Island City towers' rooftops. Peter took a deep, slow breath, basking in the last orange rays of daylight and listening to the noises of city life.
Vacuum.
The world was suddenly devoid of noise. Peter felt a subconscious feeling of dread overtake him. At first, there was merely a whisper, a tickle of a warning curling around the hairs on the back of Peter's neck which sent him shivering into a cold sweat.
Tunnel vision overpowered the boy. He found himself taken back to that traumatizing moment months ago, something he tried to forget every day. It was fruitless to struggle against the single-minded focus making him relive it over and over and over again. Peter's heart rate began to spike, and his anxiety was the highest it had been since the night—the night his—
Ben.
The whisper of a warning changed, almost as an echo in reverse in the way it compounded intensity. All at once, Peter whipped out of the memory and back to the moment at hand.
His eyes widened at the sight of a black shape blocking his view of Manhattan. The floating figure's head was perfectly still, not even bobbing naturally as it hovered. A billowing cloak hooded its form, the long, bony arms not quite extending from under the shroud. The black cloth flowed in the air until it disappeared in trailing black smoke beneath the figure.
Both spirit and boy screamed in unison.
The black figure's screech resembled that of a trapped animal distorted by the screams of the damned. It warped the air around the tower and created a pocket of torment.
Peter's scream cracked in pitch repeatedly as he pinwheeled backwards and snatched his mask on instinct. He covered his head and leaped off the edge of the tower, swinging back towards Sunnyside with the hooded figure hot on his trail.
Spider-Man had never rushed so carelessly through Queens. He leaped onto the 7 train heading east and sprinted along its roof. The hero heard only the screeches from the rails and his own ragged breaths; any city noise around him was virtually mute. Peter felt trapped in a bubble of oppression. When he reached the front of the train, Spider-Man jumped as far forwards as he could.
For a fleeting moment, Peter's chest unseized; ambient noise and summer heat returned. It was only a brief second later before the hero lost the added forwards momentum and found himself trapped back in that overpowering aura.
Spider-Man hooked around and underneath the elevated train tracks running down Queens Blvd. and hid. He tucked himself away in a rafter and tried to silence his laborious breathing. He watched the hood of the cloak ooze across the roadway beneath him, leaving its ink-black trail of smoke in its wake. As silently as possible, Peter removed his phone from a pocket and, with a quick prayer, unlocked it.
The digital click of the phone immediately grabbed the figure's attention, and its hollow face whipped up to gape at Peter. The boy planted a boot in the thing's vacant eyes and swung away, dialing the first contact he could think of as he did so.
When the call connected, he heard a beleaguered, "What."
"Mr. Happy! I-I mean, Hogan! Mr. Hogan!" Spider-Man yelled.
"What do you want, kid?" Happy groaned. "I'm really busy."
"There's a dementor in Queens!"
"A what?"
"Have you never seen Harry Potter?! The- the- the Kazakhstan guard thingies!"
"Peter, I swear to god, I put up with a lot of useless texts and calls from you and-"
"I'm not making this up!" Spider-Man croaked.
"Well, what does it look like?"
Spider-Man dodged into an alley and dropped to the ground, pressing himself flat against a dumpster. He sensed the figure entering the alley and whispered, "Cnt…tlk…"
"Huh?"
"I. can't. talk," Spider-Man hissed into the microphone.
"Oh. Good. Neither can I. Talk to you later." Happy disconnected.
Spider-Man let out a silent scream of frustration and prayed.
The cloaked figure's trail of black smoke swirled from beneath the dumpster and wrapped oppressively around Spider-Man. The frightened teen balled his fist and pulled it back, ready to attempt to fight his way out.
A door slammed down the alley, and a man emerged with a garbage bag in hand.
The sudden return of city noise assaulted Spider-Man's ears. The smoke evaporated, and the looming feelings of dread and fear were gone. The boy realized he hadn't been breathing and sucked in a loud breath, catching the attention of the man down the alley.
"Hey, Spider-Boy, you alright?" the man called.
"S-spider-Man, and yeah, I'm-I'm-I'm fine," he corrected. Heart rate subsiding, the hero shakily stood and looked everywhere for any sign of the figure. "Please tell me you saw that thing?"
"What thing?"
"The, uh, the…black…dementor…thing?"
"You're crazy, kid," the guy replied with a shake of his head and went back inside.
Spider-Man whimpered.
Peter was a mess by the time he got back to his apartment. Every single little flicker of light or blip of noise set his superhuman senses ablaze. The boy expected another mysterious cloaked figure to pop up at any moment.
The key scratched against the lock as Peter inserted it and turned the deadbolt. Peter shut the door, locked it and then took a moment to lean back against the wood and take a breath. He hurried into the kitchen and got a glass bottle of root beer from the fridge.
"Surprise!"
Peter screamed and smashed the bottle against the edge of the counter, brandishing it by its neck as a makeshift weapon.
The only threat was that of a lecture from his bewildered aunt.
"MAY!" Peter exclaimed. He looked down at the root beer dripping down the cabinet face and tossed the rest of the bottle into the sink.
"What the hell, Peter?!" May reprimanded. "Are you alright? Was it that punk Steve again?"
"N-no! I just…um, today got me a little on edge, is all," Peter said. "Sorry about the mess. I'll clean it up."
"No, Pete, don't worry about it. I'll do it. It is your birthday, after all."
"My birthday…" He took another deep breath and dragged a hand down his face.
"Oh, hun." May took her nephew by the shoulders and led him to the bench seat at the table. "You just sit down and rest. Ned'll be here in a bit to celebrate with us."
"Oh, you invited Ned?"
"Well, I figured you'd probably forget, and I knew the more the merrier since this is the first without-" May cut herself off and hesitated momentarily.
Ben.
May refocused on the cleanup. Peter's thoughts drifted, taking him back to that haunting night seven months before.
Amity Park — Wednesday, August 10, 20:00
"Okay, so the first thing you gotta know about living in New York is that you hate New Jersey," Tucker explained.
"Why?" Danny asked.
"I dunno," Tucker said with a shrug. "I don't think *anybody* really knows. It's just the rules of fitting in."
"Okay, genius, what else does he need to know?" Sam asked.
"You're going to not be the only superhero around anymore. I mean, come on, your parents are working for mother-freaking Iron Man."
"Oh man, it would be so cool to meet the rest of the Avengers!" Danny said. "Who's your guys' favorite?"
"Definitely Scarlet Witch," Sam said.
"Her? Really?" Tucker asked, bewildered. "The one who just blew up a bunch of Wakandan aid workers?"
"Favorite Avenger, hands down," Sam answered with finality. "She's still learning. Yeah, there was that whole Lagos thing last month, but she totally kicked ass in Sokovia. Hey, it's not as if Danny's track record is all that perfect either."
"Hey!" Danny protested as he shoved another book into his box. "Just last week I stopped Technus from terrorizing the town with our possessed house!"
"Just last winter, you caused the destruction of Christmas for all of Amity Park just because you pissed off the Ghost Writer."
"Sam has a point, Danny," Tucker said. "You may always save the day in the end, but what happens in the interim is…questionable."
Danny threw a comic book at Tucker's head. The other boy caught it, though, and refolded it for the suitcase.
"Anyway, it's Falcon for me, all the way," Tucker said. "Smart, techy and Captain America's right-hand man."
"Don't you mean *wingman?*" Sam drawled.
Tucker threw his fists in the air. "Augh! How did I MISS that?!"
"He's also a political fugitive."
"Hey, nobody's perfect," Tucker defended. "What about you, Danny?"
"Probably Thor."
"Really, Thor?!" Sam asked with a giggle. "The pretty boy?"
"The god from outer space, yeah."
"I think you pretty much have to say Iron Man thanks to this move, don't you, Danny?"
"I guess. I don't think he likes me, though."
"How can you not trust Iron Man?!" Tucker demanded.
"You saw how he was when he was talking to my parents! I just got a really weird vibe."
"He's the leader of the Avengers now, Danny," Sam said. "You can't blame him for being a little overcautious."
"I can blame him for making my family move. This just reeks!" Danny slammed a NASA book into the box for emphasis. "And what sucks is there's nothing legitimate to be angry about! My parents are working with freaking Iron Man, I get to live in New York City, I don't have to worry about any ghost attacks because there'll be no portal, I'm going to some fancy-shmancy school for free, I can improve my grades for a hopeful future career at NASA without any of the superhero-y distractions…"
"But you're moving away from everything you know and your two best buds in the whole world," Tucker said.
"More like only two buds," Sam teased. When she saw Danny's crestfallen face, she elbowed him and said, "Hey, come on, you can make new friends, and we can always text and FaceTime and stuff. Plus, my parents have those snooty friends on Long Island we just saw last month, so maybe we'll fly out there again. Grandma said I can probably convince them to let me visit if we go."
"As if they'd ever let you visit me. The Mansons have had a vendetta against the Fentons since you first moved to town in elementary school," Danny griped, but he smiled anyway.
The Imperial March from Star Wars interrupted their conversation.
"Ugh, speak of the devil," Sam muttered. She answered her phone's incoming call and greeted, "Hi, Mom…. Yeah, no I'm-... Well, fine, can you just give me two min-?" Sam abruptly cut off speaking and glared at her darkened phone screen. "Love you too, *Mom,*" she mocked and slipped the phone into her backpack.
"Darth Vader calling in her generals?" Tucker teased.
"That would imply I have any sort of power in her eyes," Sam complained. "I gotta get home. See you guys at the pool tomorrow."
"See ya," Danny and Tucker chorused.
Once Sam had gone, Danny turned to Tucker and said with a chuckle, "I wonder how Mrs. Manson would react to having Darth Vader's theme as her personalized ringtone."
Queens — Thursday, August 11, 03:25
Spider-Man!
Spider-Man!
Peter!
"Peter!"
Peter gasped awake and punched his attacker in a panic. He leapt up to the underside of his top bunk, ready to fight his way out.
But then, the adrenaline subsided. The street bled into his room. The crowds disappeared into action figures. And the aggressor became his aunt moaning on the floor.
"Ow, Peter! What the hell?" May complained, rolling slightly in the pool of light coming from the hallway.
Jaw agape, Peter hoped beyond hope the darkness of the room had kept May from seeing him sticking to the underside of the bunk. He bounced off the mattress and dropped to her side.
"Oh my god! May, I'm so sorry!" Peter exclaimed. "Please—please forgive me! I didn't mean to!"
May didn't respond for a second, instead investing her energy into sitting up while Peter kneeled beside her. She touched a hand to her nose and frowned at her nephew. "When did you learn to fight like that?!" May asked.
"Um, heh heh, we had a martial arts unit in P.E.?" he offered. "I'm so sorry, May."
"No! No," she said, a little softer in tone. "You were having a nightmare."
Downcast, Peter nodded.
"Was it Uncle Ben again?"
Peter nodded again, tears welling.
"Oh, baby, come here," May said and pulled the boy to her chest. She gently rocked back and forth. "I miss him too, Pete. I miss him, too."
Amity Park — Tuesday, August 30, 19:45
"Urk...urk! Come on, you stupid box! Danny!"
Danny chuckled to himself and backtracked to Jazz's open bedroom door. A closed box sat askew in the middle of Jazz's floor.
"What's up, Jazz?" Danny asked.
"I overloaded the box with psychology books and now I can't move it," Jazz explained with a huff.
"Do you really need it all?"
"It's my senior year!" Jazz defended. "I need all the resources I can get for my application essays and senior project."
"I guess it's safe to assume they don't have psychology books in New York," Danny deadpanned and crossed his arms.
"I know these books inside and out. It'll be so much easier to use them as a basis. And I have to bring something to make Queens feel like home. What about you? What are you bringing?"
"NASA stuff. Comic books. The usual."
"What, no ghost stuff?"
"Look, being Danny Phantom is great and all, but to be honest, I'm looking forward to having a break."
"So you're going to go a year without saving people?"
A light frown adorned Danny's face. "I—I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
"Being a hero is a big part of your life now. All of ours. I can't imagine it's going to be an easy adjustment to just be normal again."
"Ha, *normal,*" Danny repeated with a bark of a laugh. "Kind of a punchline when it comes to our family."
"Well, as normal as possible," Jazz conceded. "Have you ever tried going any length of time without going ghost or using your powers at all?"
Danny thought for a moment. "I think there was a free afternoon last winter…"
Jazz chuckled.
"It'll be weird, that's for sure," Danny continued. "But...New York has so many heroes already. And just because there won't be ghosts doesn't mean I can't transform and go for a quick flight or something."
"Maybe the spider kid could use your help fighting local crime," Jazz suggested.
"Psh, as if. No, for once I just want to blend into the background. Anyway, did you need my help with something?"
"Oh, yeah. Can you carry the box downstairs to the RV, please?"
"What's in it for me?"
Jazz glared.
"Huh. Nothing, I guess," Danny wondered and turned to leave. "See ya later."
"Oh, come on! Where's that stupid hero complex when I need it?!" Jazz sassed.
Danny quirked up an eyebrow.
Jazz rolled her eyes. Doing her best impression of a Disney princess, she clasped her hands, tilted her head, fluttered her eyelids and went up into a tendu à la seconde. "My sweet, strong little brother, will you help this fair lass move her belongings to the assault vehicle downstairs?"
"Gag." Danny picked up the box anyway. He balanced it on his left index finger and teased, "I don't know what you're complaining about, anyway. It's light as a feather!"
"Superpowered jerk," Jazz grumbled and dropped her pose.
"Melodramatic wimp," Danny replied. "Hey, that's right! I can still use my powers to annoy you!" Danny spied his sister's phone on the bedspread, swiped it and shoved the device intangibly into her wall. "Thanks for the reminder. I'm feeling a lot better now."
Jazz's jaw dropped. "Danny! What the heck?!" The phone pinged with an alert, and Jazz clawed helplessly at the wallpaper.
"Sorry, can't hear you! I'm too busy helping you carry your stuff downstairs!" Danny called from the stairwell.
Amity Park — Tuesday, August 30, 22:10
"YO, VAL!" Phantom shouted.
The Red Huntress pulled up on her hoverboard and saw her nemesis hovering over the park. She growled and immediately jetted towards him with a feral snarl on her face.
Phantom realized she wasn't slowing down and panicked. He balled all his limbs, squinted his eyes shut and let gravity take over, dropping out of the way just in time.
Huntress recovered immediately and banked for another pass. Much to her surprise, though, she felt a couple of arms hugged around her torso. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed Phantom's glaring face.
"Will you cool it for just, like, two seconds?!" Phantom snapped.
"Gah!" Huntress exclaimed and peeled off his arms. She did pause her flight, however, and had a gun at her side ready to go in case of anything. "What's your deal, ghost?"
"How do you always manage to make that sound like a swear word?" Phantom muttered with a shake of his head. "Look, I just want to pass on some information so you don't go crazy."
"And why would I go crazy?"
"Because you don't like not knowing things," he retorted and crossed his arms, "and my sudden disappearance is sure to raise some questions."
"You're going away?" Huntress asked, halfway between incredulity and joy. "Why?"
"Business takes me elsewhere," he answered vaguely. "Word on the street is that ghosts aren't going to be as much of a problem here anymore."
"So you're going to go terrorize some other poor, defenseless city?"
Phantom grit his teeth, curled his fingers and grunted. "How can you still. not. believe me?! What do I have to do to prove I'm not an enemy?"
"It's impossible for a ghost to not be an enemy."
"FINE!" Phantom absolutely screamed. "FINE. I give up. Screw you, Val. Have a nice life. Best wishes." He began to drift away.
"Warmest regards." Huntress withdrew the gun and aimed, but Phantom was already gone.
Amity Park — Friday, September 2, 21:45
Danny was just putting his last notebook into his backpack when there was a soft knock at his open bedroom door.
"Sweetie?" his mother began. "Will you—will you come downstairs with me?"
"Oh. Uh, yeah, Mom, what's up?" he asked and moved the backpack to the floor leaning against his desk.
"It's time," Maddie said with a small nod.
"It's time?" Danny parroted.
Without another word, Maddie dropped the eye contact and withdrew from the doorway. Danny followed her downstairs and through the kitchen until they were descending into the basement. Jack and Jazz were already waiting at the control panel for the Fenton Portal.
"Glad you could join us, Danno!" Jack greeted.
Jazz settled for a bemused look at her brother before leaning back against a counter.
Maddie joined her husband and turned to face their kids. After a nostalgic appraisal of the vacant lab, she said, "We would not have the opportunity we do now if it weren't for this portal. It legitimized our lives' work, it provided answers to so many questions, and it caught the attention of the world's protectors. The Fentons have the chance to protect Earth from a threat it doesn't fully understand yet."
"This old girl has done a lot for our family," Jack added with a fond rub of its frame.
Danny and Jazz exchanged an extremely loaded look.
"But now, for the first time since activating it, we are shutting the portal down," their father finished. He moved aside and said, "Mads, if you would do the honors?"
Maddie stepped forward and raised her hand to the control panel. She typed in an administrator code and pressed a large, red, pulsating button before embracing Jack in a side hug. All four Fentons turned to the mouth of the portal.
There was a double-beep from the panel before the mouth of the portal warped. It began to shrink inwards in a slow spiral, gradually exposing the tubes and mechanisms swimming with ectoplasm. The inter-dimensional doorway became a vertically rotating mass of green before receding into the supply nozzle at the back of the portal chamber. The omnipresent mechanical whisper, after a year of providing non-stop white noise, which had echoed continuously in the lab, faded with the dimming of the ectoplasmic control tubes webbing throughout the portal's machinery.
Each Fenton had a small tear at the corners of their eyes for their own reasons. The lab felt lifeless, hollow, empty without the perpetual echo of the portal. After a few more moments of silence, the parents tore themselves away to pack the last things in the lab which they would need in New York.
Danny found himself hovering at the mouth of the portal chamber. He looked at the opening towering over him. With a furtive glance over his shoulder—and a mental note of Jazz disconnecting the power source—he meandered inside and looked at the technology surrounding him.
Danny suddenly found himself adjacent to the original power button. He paused and lifted a shaky hand to run his thumb along the subtle burn marks marring its housing. The portal had done a lot for him indeed.
"Danny!" Maddie snapped.
Danny pulled his hand away as if it had been burned and looked out into the lab.
His mother stood frowning with her hands on her hips. "Get out of there, young man! That could seriously hurt you!"
"S-sorry!" he stuttered and sheepishly exited the portal.
"Honestly, sometimes it's like you and Jazz don't listen to our safety briefings," Maddie chastised.
"Alright, kiddos, put your last things in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle and then go get some sleep," Jack ordered. With a theatrical flair, he added, "We leave at dawn!"
This week's Easter Eggs and references:
- The Imperial March: could not possible have been more explicit as a cultural reference than it already is. Also it's in the running for being my favorite leitmotif in cinematic history.
- Who caught the other subtle Star Wars reference? :D
- Dementors: the guardians at Azkaban prison in the Harry Potter series. I'm sure you know Peter meant Azkaban and NOT Kazakhstan, the Central Asian, former Soviet republic lol
- Shout-out to Thor/Chris Hemsworth for being 100% #goals.
- Technus possessing the Fentons' house and ruining Christmas for all of Amity Park: referencing the "Identity Crisis" and "The Fright Before Christmas" episodes for season 2 of DP.
- Tendu à la seconde is a ballet pose where the body leans over onto one leg while the foot of the other goes up on pointe. (Describing that as best as I can since I have never done or had any exposure to the ballet, apart from one doomed date with [1] a girl who had ADHD and [2] an open Frappuccino sample bar at the event...)
- "Best Wishes." / "Warmest regards.": one of the most beautifully sarcastic exchanges from Schitt's Creek. T.
Next up are the first days in Queens as the Fentons adjust to their new surroundings and the Parkers welcome some new neighbors. As always, feedback, reactions and positive criticism are welcome!