Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Paramount global.
Court
Chapter 8: The Case Against Danny Phantom
Danny had just returned from taking Cujo back to the Ghost Zone.
"Okay, Cujo's on his way back home or wherever he calls home. So, we should be good for a while..." Danny said.
"Or at least until his next date with Fifi..." Star said with a giggle, getting looks from the two girls who weren't official members of Team Phantom.
"Fifi?..." Misty questioned, wondering who that was.
"You mean your mom's fancy pet poodle?..."Val asked.
"Yeah, long story short, she and Cujo are in love. It's so cute..." Star said in a gushy kind of way.
"And somewhat freaky..."Sam muttered under her breath, since one of the dogs is technically a ghost dog.
Misty seemed confused.
"Another long story, for another time..."Tucker said, as Danny and Star were ready to continue with their story.
"Okay, where were we?..." Danny asked.
"We had just reached the part where me, Sam, Tucker and my dad showed up to the court room to save the day by making my dad represent you..." Star explained.
"Oh, right...Okay...well, like we were saying...Walker was acting smug since he thought he had everything figured out...but he didn't count on my own lawyer showing up almost out of nowhere..." Danny said, as he continued with the story.
Story
"And you are?..."Walker asked, glaring at the human who walked into HIS court room.
"Johnathan Strong, attorney at law. Here's my card..."Johanthan said, as he even showed his business card.
"Despite the very INSANE circumstances and lack of formal summons...apparently, I'll be serving as Danny Phantom's attorney today..."Mr. Strong answered, which shocked everyone, even Danny.
"Huh?..." Danny let out, wondering how this happened.
Honestly, Mr. Strong also wondered how things turned out like this.
The blonde man sighed, knowing things would never be the same after this, regardless of the verdict. He thought about this insane situation, and still had trouble believing it.
"I never thought that I'd be in a situation like this. This is gonna be weirder than my latest clients. And I once defended Jack and Maddie when they crashed on Chief Boyle's car for the fifth time..."He mused, as he recalled how he was talked into this.
Just a while ago, while locked up in that cell, his daughter pretty much begged him to do this. He can still recall how that conversation went.
FLASHBACK
Earlier
"Dad! We need your help!..." Star pleaded again after Ember had left.
Her father was at a loss for words.
"Star..."Her dad tried.
"Look, I know that this whole thing is crazy, and you probably have, like, a million questions...and I promise that I'll answer them later but right now, I need you to help Danny..." Star begged.
"Help? How can I possibly help here?..."Her father asked, since he still couldn't even find a way out of this cell.
"You need to represent Danny and win the trial!..." Star declared.
"What?!..."Her father exclaimed.
"What?!..."Sam and Tucker both asked, sounding shocked to hear this too.
"Dad, Walker obviously has something nasty planned for the trial, but Danny is innocent! He's a good guy and he needs someone to help prove that. Your job is all about proving people's innocence, so please...help! You gotta do something!..." Star pleaded again.
The blonde man was speechless for a moment. He was feeling a lot of things right now, confusion, anger, shock, and bewilderment. However, he also felt concern and worry too, and not just for his own child here.
"Star...I..."Johnathan stammered, but his daughter sent him a desperate look.
"Please, Dad. We need you. Danny needs you. I need you. Please..." Star pleaded again to her father, even using puppy eyes to get him to agree.
And he couldn't resist.
The blonde man sighed, before he relented, since he knew that he also needed to find a way out of here...and he can't just ignore his daughter when she clearly needs his help to rescue her boyfriend and get them out of this mess.
"Okay. I'll help. But after this, I want an explanation for everything..."Johanthan said, while his daughter nodded.
"Okay..." Star said, knowing she'd have no choice.
"One thing, first...how are we going to get out of here? I'd doubt Walker would just leave a key with us..."Sam pointed out.
Star was about to say something, but Tucker spoke up after spotting something.
"Uh...I think I found a way..."Tucker said as he pointed ahead to where a pair of keys were, which was surprisingly nearby.
"You're kidding me, right?!..."Sam asked flatly, while Star's father's jaw dropped.
The young heroes then began to plan their escape, knowing that they had to act.
And really quick too.
End of Flashback
Present Time
That is how it happened and how he is here now.
In the middle of a ghostly courtroom, about to defend his daughter's boyfriend, who also happened to be a half ghost. He still had so many questions that he needed answers to, but right now, he needed to be a lawyer and defend a client.
Walker and the other ghosts seemed shocked, while the Observants seemed neutral to all of this. Johnathan had just stated that he would be Danny Phantom's attorney, something that Walker did not expect.
"Now wait just one second, this is my court room and-..."Walker was cut off when the head observant spoke up.
"Granted..."He said, shocking Walker.
"What?!..."Walker exclaimed.
"The ghost child has a right to an attorney. It's in the rules. You know that Walker..."Another observant said.
"Yeah, and aren't you suppose to be Mr. Rules?..." Star couldn't help but add, which the ghost begrudgingly complied with.
Walker growled.
"Very well..."He said, through gritted teeth.
Danny was still stunned but turned to see Star who was now sitting with Tucker and Sam with the audience. They ignored the dirty looks from the ghosts and were ready in case things went bad again.
"I'm not sure how she managed to do it, but I hope this works..."The ghost boy thought, as the court's judge the head observant used his gavel.
"Order! Order!..."The head observant declared.
Walker wanted to move things alone, already having his own plans to win this trial, lawyer or no lawyer. However, Danny's lawyer suddenly stood up and immediately got into what he would call "Lawyer Mode".
"Before we continue. I do request a book on the Ghost Zone law for a moment, seeing as I am not exactly familiar with this world's laws and protocol..."Johanthan requested.
"What? I-..."Walker wanted to refuse but the observants stopped him.
"Granted..."The head observant said as one of his subordinates then summoned a copy of the rule book and handed it to Johanthan.
Johanthan began to read it, flipping through the pages and quickly reading the contents in it. The ghost warden saw this and frowned, believing this will take a long time and not being very patient to wait.
After a few minutes, the evil warden began to voice his complaints and use this as an excuse to make sure Danny couldn't use his guy as his lawyer.
"You do realize that this court is starting right now and even if we do give you an early recess to go over the rules, I-..."Walker was cut off when Star's father spoke up again.
"Done..."Johanthan said as he handed him the rule book and all the ghosts were shocked.
"WHAT?! That's impossible!..."Walker yelled in shock, as the blonde lawyer sent him a frown.
"I would have been done reading sooner if you didn't keep trying to interrupt me..."Johanthan said but tried to sound professional.
"There is no possible way that you could have every single rule of the Ghost Zone memorized so fast!..."Walker accused, but Johanthan remained nonplused.
"My dad happens to be a speed reader, and he has a REALLY good memory. It's how he was able to graduate from law school on a scholarship..." Star said, like she was bragging.
"I demand proof that this guy is actually fully informed of our laws and thus, is capable of properly representing this punk...I mean...Danny Phantom in court..."Walker said, wanting any excuse NOT to let this guy represent Danny in court.
"Say any page and section in the rule number and page and I will recite it by memory if it convinces you that I have the book memorized..."Johanthan challenged.
"Okay...fine...page A133...rule number 12,345..."Walker challenged, assuming that this guy had no chance of having that memorized.
"Rule number 12,345...All ghosts are forbidden to drink eggnog during anytime outside winter..."Johanthan said, before making a face at that. "Seriously? What a bizarre rule..."He mentally added, while the ghosts refused to give up yet.
The bailiff checked the page, and his jaw dropped when he saw he was right.
"He's right..."Bullet said, shocked.
"Lucky guess...again..."Walker said as he checked a random page and tried again.
"Okay, page C240...rule number 29431..."The warden challenged again.
"All ghosts must leave humans undisturbed during Christmas and not fight with anyone, be it ghosts or humans..."Johanthan challenged, shocking everyone that he was right again.
"He is correct..."One observant said, and Walker looked flabbergasted.
Still, he refused to give up.
"Again, page B357, rule number 15,431!..."Walker challenged the blonde man again.
"Rule number 15,431...All ghosts are forbidden to square dance in Rhode Island after midnight during a leap year without having the right gear and following the necessary protocol?..."Johanthan said, but raised a brow as these so-called rules became more and more bizarre.
"Correct..."Bullet announced, much to Walker's shock.
"Page T999, rule number 1,203,953!..."Walker ordered, looking nervous now.
"All ghosts must respect the natural flow of time or at least have the means to reset any harm they cause to it. The only exceptions can be someone called Clockwork, the Observants or ghosts who properly request it and are approved by the observant council..."Johanthan said, his expression never changing.
Walker was speechless and the observants nodded in approval.
"He is correct. I do believe this means he is well informed of our laws and thus can properly represent the ghost boy..."The head observant said, while Walker was flabbergasted, and his jaw was dropping very low now.
Everyone ghost and Team Phantom were also speechless, but Star just looked at her father with pride.
"That's my Dad!..." Star said, sounding proud.
The ghostly jury was also at a loss for words at what they had just witnessed. Some were stunned, while others were amazed.
"Wow...he's good..."Box Ghost said, actually impressed.
Spectra sent an infatuated smile to the human lawyer.
"Good looking, rich and smart. My oh my, be still my no longer beating heart..." She said with an infatuated sigh, while the other ghosts sent her annoyed looks.
"Should we be worried?..."Bertrand asked.
"No need. We got this in the bag..."Skulker said, being overconfident.
Danny, all the while, was speechless.
"Wow, I know that he's the best lawyer in town, but this is on the whole over level...wow...and I thought Jazz was a brainiac..." He said, stunned by what he just watched.
"I didn't see that coming..."Sam said, looked stunned.
"I'm just glad that he's on our side..."Tucker said, as the court room finally settled down.
Star, all the while, looked proud at her dad, who maintained a professional expression on his face as this continued.
"Now, I do believe that I have proven my qualifications..."Johanthan said, while Walker snapped out of his shock.
Once he did, he glared at him.
"Oh, whatever. It doesn't matter. I still have everything all set here. Regardless, I'll get the Observants to decide to drop that punk into the darkest hole they can find and throw away the key..."Walker thought, still having confidence in his evil plan.
The evil warden then straightens his suit and regained his composure in the court room. He refused to let this little setback interfere with his master plan at getting revenge on that punk. He remained quiet as the head observant banged the gavel on the podium as he got the attention of everyone inside the court room.
"Court is now in session. Judge Oversight, head of the observant council, presiding..."Was heard.
"That's his name?..."Danny thought with a blink, having not realized the observants had names.
"Yes. Ordinarily, I serve as judge...executioner...jury...executioner...and if necessary, the executioner...but I'm just the prosecutor this time..."Walker said, sad for not having his usual roles this time.
"He said executioner three times..." Johnathan said to Danny, who had nodded. "Should we be concerned?..."He asked.
"He really likes that part...so yeah, be concerned..." Danny answered, still worried in spite of having Mr. Strong as his lawyer.
Johnathan said nothing but nodded as he sent a glare at the prosecutor, as well as the ghostly jury and judge.
"It's in the bag..."Walker thought, looking smug as he still believed that everything is still in his favor.
"It's crazy, but I have to remain on defense to see how the prosecutor handles this case. Then think of a counter strike later. This is so not how I thought today was going to be..."Johanthan thought, taking a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself for what would no doubt be the most insane court case of his career.
Present Time
Danny and Star had been telling the story, while Val and Misty were speechless.
"Wow...I don't know what's more insane, that your dad was representing Danny in ghost court...or the fact that he apparently is a human computer..."Val commented.
She knew that he is a smart guy and the most successful lawyer in town, but this was still incredible to hear.
"Lucky. I would love to be a speed reader and have an amazing memory like that..." Misty muttered, since that would make it way easier to study.
"I know, I told my dad the same thing, but he just told me that if I worked hard enough then I wouldn't need to be a speed reader to be successful in life..." Star said, recalling that conversation she had with her dad when she was much younger.
Misty and Val said nothing, while the ghost boy of the group continued with the story.
"Anyway, Star's dad managed to convince the observants he was good enough to represent me in Walker's obviously rigged trial. And it was exactly as insane as it sounds..." Danny said.
"If you guys want to hear about insanity, you should have seen what our moms were up to while training for the tournament?..." Star said, as she continued with the other tale.
Back to the story
Unaware of what was happening in the Ghost Zone, Maddie and Stella were still training for the tennis tournament. Albeit they were doing it for their own reasons, aside from wanting to do it for charity and to help the community.
The two women focused on their training, which was fueled with both altruistic desires to help, as well as the desire to not lose to their rivals in the tournament. And both women continued to train hard for this tournament for charity and...other reasons that they were doing this.
"I can't let her win!..."Stella thought, refusing to let her hated rival win like that.
"That Manson woman must pay!..."Maddie thought, still angry at what Pamela said about her son.
The two women continued to practice their tennis swings and focusing on the ball, while the servants tried to remain far away to avoid any hits. Especially after witnessing one of the women hitting the tennis ball with her tennis racket so hard that it flew through the metallic fence like it was made out of paper.
"Haha! Take that! You stupid tennis ball! I'll deal with you just like how I deal with ghosts!..."Maddie said in a determined shout as she kept practicing, while the employees were shaking in nervousness now.
"Way to go, Maddie! We're totally going to win this!..."Stella said, looking just as competitive as she was.
The two women continued to train and go too far with it, which other peoples noticed. And were getting nervous about getting caught in the crossfire.
"Um...Madam Bevier...um...your lemonade?..."One of them said nervously, having brought them another pitcher of lemonade with ice.
"Oh, thank you, Stanley. You can just leave the pitcher at the table; we'll grab our drinks in a couple minutes..."Stella said politely yet dismissively, as the two women continued to train.
Eleanor saw all of this from a nearby balcony and sighed.
"Charles..."The country club president called.
"Yes, Madame..."Her assistant said.
"Remind me to bill Stella and Maddie for the damages. Friends or not, I'm running a business here and they are going too far with their training..."The dark-haired woman said, though she had expected something like this to happen.
She also noticed some of her employees were still dealing with them and sighed.
"And remind me to give a bonus to Stanley, Wallace, Liza and Jerry for dealing with them..."She added, since she figured they were dealing with a lot right now whenever those two trained.
Her assistant went to do as she said, and then added the damages to a potted plant being broken a moment later as the two women continued their training.
Present Time
Danny and the others were still talking and noticed that some of their audience being surprised and that they knew by what detail.
"Let me guess...Eleanor told you all about that?..."Val guessed.
"Yup..." Danny said.
"Most embarrassing complaint ever..." Star said with a sigh, as she recalled what Eleanor told them and how her mom was charged with damages for the area during training.
Danny felt even more embarrassed, since his mom did even more unintentionally damage than Stella during her angry adrenaline rush.
"Mom really doesn't hold herself back when she gets carried away like that..." He muttered, while his goth friend sighed.
"Sorry again about for my mom's role in that madness, since she basically added fuel to the fire..."Sam said, still embarrassed about that incident.
"No problem. Mine was the same..." Star said.
"And I guess that we're all mostly aware of how my mom gets whenever she's gets her temper tested..." Danny said, while everyone else, except Val and Misty, nodded their heads in agreement.
Anyway, the heroes were about to continue with the story but were suddenly interrupted when Jack Fenton was walking by while carrying a few boxes of fudge within his arms. Lots of fudge that the adult in the big orange jumpsuit planned to hide from his wife and stash away to eat later. But he spotted his son and his friends and went to greet them.
"Hey kids..."Jack greeted.
"Dad? What are you doing here?..." Danny asked, surprised to see him here.
"Oh, just doing my weekly fudge restocking...don't tell your mother..."Jack answered, whispering the last part to his son since he already ate more than what his wife would allow him to this week, but he felt that she didn't need to know about this.
Danny's friends and girlfriend saw him and greeted him as well.
"Hi, Mr. F..."Tucker said, waving.
"Hello, Mr. Fenton..." Star, Misty and Val all said to be polite.
"Hey kids. Don't mind me, I'm taking all these boxes of fudge home and then take down the lab to hide and store for later...Don't tell my wife..."Jack responded.
All the teens just stared blankly at, until Jack had an idea.
"Uh...so...anyway, I got to go but anyone wants some fudge?..."Jack asked, hoping nobody would accept.
"I want one, Mr. Fenton..."Tucker eagerly replied.
"Darn. I mean, sure, Tucker..."Jack grumbled but he didn't want to be mean, before tossing each of them got a pack of fudge.
Danny's father looked somewhat disappointed before he left. Danny wanted to say something, but Tucker opened the box he got, as the others did the same thing.
"Sweet..."Tucker said, as he took one.
Danny was about to speak up, but Star looked excited.
"Ooh...chocolate caramel...my favorite..."She said, as she took one.
"Want some?..."Tucker offered to Valerie.
"Sure..."Val said, as he gave her some.
"No thanks, I don't eat anything that uses dairy products..."Sam said.
"I'll try some..."Misty said as she took some too.
Danny saw this and sighed, as this story suddenly paused for a sudden "fudge break".
"I guess we're going to be putting this story on hold for a quick snack break for now..." Danny quietly told the other teens, as they enjoyed their little snack break.
--To be continued-
Next time on Court
The Lawful Battlefield
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to 61394, Jay The Average Fanboy and Luiz4200 for all their help. You guys rock :)
A/N(3): A small edit has been made to the first rule mentioned in the chapter. Sorry for the confusion.
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Invader Johnny: I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
RonaldM40196867:
1) She is mostly over her grudge, but still has issues.
2) He is still attending Casper High.
3) I just didn't think about using that power in Growing Pains.
4) I see.
Luiz4200: Well, it was Klemper.
Scooter2: I will see what I can do.
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) Maybe Football.
2) I think Georgia is content with her life at the moment, but she possibly might like to get married someday in the future.
3) I'm not sure.
4) I think Sam or Jazz would like to join the journalism club.
Guest99 and Jboy44: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
Rock1030: How is this so far?
Guest: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)