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 9: The Lawful Battlefield
Danny, Star and their friends had been enjoying their little snack break.
"I gotta say, this fudge is pretty good..."Val admitted.
"Yeah, this rocks..."Star said as she ate some more.
"Dad might be a goof, but he has good taste when it comes to this stuff..."Danny said, having some himself.
"Yeah, Dad does know his fudge. Too bad that he doesn't know when to stop..."Jazz said, reminding everyone that she was still here.
She had enjoyed some of the fudge her dad, a real fudge fanatic, had given her, since he knew it was her favorite and to make her promise not to tell mom. Anyway, everyone had enjoyed the surprised snack break. Once done, the teens decided to continue with the story.
"Anyway, where were we?..."Star asked out loud after finishing her fudge.
"You mentioned that your dad managed to prove to everyone that he's good enough to be Danny's lawyer and managed to make Walker look stupid while doing so..."Val said, smirking as she said this.
"Oh, right. Anyway, like you just said, my dad managed to make Walker look stupid and got the observants to let him serve as Danny's lawyer..."Star said as she continued with the tale.
Story
Johnathan had just been granted permission by the observants to represent Danny as his lawyer. And now the court case has officially started.
"All rise..."Was heard, and everyone followed accordingly.
Tucker took off his hat, but Sam elbowed him lightly when he did that.
"That's for funerals..."She whispered to him, looking annoyed.
"We're in the ghost zone..." Tucker pointed out, and the goth girl was about to say something but considered what he just said.
"Fair point..." Sam admitted, as the trial continued.
Judge Oversight used the gavel to get everyone's attention before everyone was allowed to be seated.
"You may all sit..."He said, and the ghosts did so.
Soon, he continued with the trial.
"Assembled ghosts. We are all here for the case between Danny Phantom versus the Ghost Zone. Prosecutor Walker, you may proceed with your case against Danny Phantom. Please give your opening statement ..."The judge ordered.
"Yes, your honor..."Walker said with a smug smirk on his face before he began with his opening statement.
He then sent a serious, narrowed glare to the jury, some of which nodded before he began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are all gathered here to show the trial of the half ghost punk, also known as Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom. And try that dangerous criminal for all of his crimes against the ghost zone and lock him away in prison forever..."The evil warden began, having memorized everything he planned to say today.
Danny glared at the evil warden, who continued to look smug as he continued with his speech.
"As we all know, Danny Phantom had been placed on the list which it is granted only to certain beings in the ghost zone, making him immune to my prison until now and it essentially allows him to roam free in both the Ghost Zone and the Human world. But before that, he recklessly broke the rules with no regard and even worse, this punk seems to think that he is above the laws of the Ghost Zone right now..."Walker said, trying to sound like a convincing prosecutor
"However, I have evidence to prove that this punk has not only broken many of the ghost zones rules but also having antagonized and provoked the citizens of the zone into attacking Amity Park and him so that he can masquerade to the people of his town as a superhero and use them as some form of stress relief..."Walker said.
"What?!..."Danny thought in anger, as his enemy continued to try and discredit him in front of the entire courtroom.
"Not only does he cause trouble for his hometown, but he also causes trouble for the residents of the ghost zone too by attacking them and provoking them, as well as invading many realms with the Ghost Zone without a permit and picking fights with them. He is also the sole reason why so many ghosts have been able to travel through the dimensions between the Ghost Zone and the Human World in the first place, making him directly responsible for their attacks, as well as making him directly responsible for placing the lives of humanity and the ghost zone in jeopardy. That proves that he not only deserves to be removed from the list but also be locked up in a jail cell for all his crimes against the ghost zone and earth..."Walker said as he pointed an accusing finger in Danny's direction.
The ghost boy glared at him, unable to believe how shameless his lies are right now.
"Objection! I had nothing to do with all of you maniacs attacking Amity Park and causing trouble whenever they use the Ghost Portal to escape!..."Danny shouted. "I didn't even create that stupid thing, despite it having my last name on it!..."He yelled.
"You didn't destroy it either...crime of inaction..."Walker accused.
"Liar. It's not my fault. You all attacked me and my town first, I was just defending myself and others! That's not a crime!..."Danny said, but was held back due to his restraints.
"Order! No objections during the opening statements. The accused will remain silent for the time being..."The head observant said as he banged his gavel against the podium. "Proceed, Walker..."He said.
Walker nodded, thinking things will go his way.
"As I was saying, Danny Phantom is a threat. He's nothing but a young delinquent that has broken many rules within the Ghost Zone and must be held accountable for his actions..."Walker said, while Danny glared at him.
"And we have proof..."Walker said as one Observant brought something to the courtroom.
"What is that?..."Danny asked, as one of the observants was wheeling in a big round sphere that vaguely resembled an eyeball.
"This is called the Orb of Omniversal viewing. It can show any and all forms of evidence from both parties will be shown, where it will display any and all actions that have happened in the past for all to see..."One of the observants said.
Johnathan blinked when he heard this, finding it interesting.
"Huh...that's convenient. Something like this would make things easier during court back home..."He commented, while the prosecutor didn't seem troubled by this at all.
"Don't matter. The idiots I got for the jury will side with me regardless of what's shown on that orb and sentence the punk..."Walker thought confidently, already knowing how to sway the jury in his favor and play the case.
Walker then turned to Johnathan and sent him a challenging look.
"Go ahead, defend him if you can. Not like it will make any difference..."The evil warden thought.
Johnathan couldn't read his mind, but he had a fair idea what the ghostly man in white must be thinking. Johnathan just had a professional look on his face as he got up to defend his client.
"Time to get the ball rolling..." Johnathan thought, before walking to the center of the courtroom in front of everyone.
"Proceed, Councilor Strong..."The judge Observant said, giving him permission to continue.
Johnathan nodded before he turned to face the ghostly jury with a professional yet determined expression. He called the first witness, deciding to start with the first one he laid eyes on.
The Lunch Lady
He called her to the stand and began to ask her questions about what happened when she first met Danny Phantom.
"Your honor. May I permitted to use the Orb to observe to see all of the events and interactions that transpired between my client and the witness, the Lunch Lady ghost, during their first few encounters..."Johanthan said, since he still needed some information here.
"Granted..."Judge Oversight said, as the Orb of Omniversal Viewing glowed.
Soon, a screen like projection appeared and Johnathan saw the events that happened that day, from Sam changing the menu to this ghost's rampage by using meat of all things and nearly destroying the entire school.
Once done, Johnathan had an appalled look on his face that soon became one of horror and concern.
"Oh my gosh, this all happened when I took that court case in the capital to defend that politician?! How was I not aware of this?!..."He thought, since he had seen that Star had been among the crowd during that meat monster attack.
Even so, he knew he can't let his emotions get the better of him and tried to remain professional, firm and keep his reactions neutral.
"Okay miss...uh...Lunch Lady?..."Johnathan said, unsure.
"My real name is Edith..."The female ghost said, surprising Team Phantom.
"Edith?..."Danny and the others asked, surprised since they never knew about her first name.
"Edith...what a pretty name..."Box Ghost said in a lovesick way, while his fellow ghosts sent him grossed out looks.
"Yuck!..."Youngblood gagged.
"You said it..."His assistant said, and the rest of the jury agreed.
"Edith? That's your name? Why didn't you ever say that?..." Danny asked.
"No one asked..." She shrugged, like it was no big deal.
"Then... why didn't you say anything like "My name is Edith" before the "You changed the menu" spiel?..." Sam questioned.
"I had no interest in chatting with a bunch of brats who don't know the true value about meat..."The lunch lady said in a hostile tone again, crossing her arms.
Johnathan ignored that as he continued.
"Alright. Ms. Edith. I suppose that you believe that Danny Phantom drove you to attack Amity Park and terrorize its citizens. And that he drove you to attack and nearly destroy an entire school full of children with your...meat monster powers?..."Mr. Strong began, unable to believe he actually said that last part out loud.
"I had no choice! He and his no-good friends should have let me change the menu back to what it was! They deserve to pay for getting in my way!..."She said, switching to her vicious mode.
Johnathan however, remained nonplused to her scary face and just continued to speak in a calm voice.
"Now, you claim that the menu was changed, and you didn't like that? Is that it?..."He asked, and the ghostly lady calmed down for a moment.
"Yes, that's right!..."Lunch lady said.
"Why, exactly did it bother you that the menu was changed? It was just a high school lunch menu and I'm sure lots of schools have had their lunch menu changes before? Why exactly did the change of that menu at that school bother you so much?..."Johanthan asked, wanting to get more information.
"Back when I was alive, I worked at Casper High as a lunch lady. I worked there for over 42 years before I became a ghost and I created most of the things on that menu..."The lunch lady said, speaking in a normal tone of voice first, before her mood darkened again.
"And it had remained unchanged for 50 YEARS! I COULDN'T LET SOMEONE RUIN THAT!..."She shouted, getting hostile at the last minute again.
"I see. So, I take it you were proud of the work you did during your time at Casper High?..."Johanthan asked.
The ghostly lunch lady went from angry to calm again, as she continued to tell her life story.
"Of course I did. I lived a simple, modest life when I was a human and I did my best to give my students the food they needed to grow big and strong. I worked so hard, and no one ever appreciated my efforts..."The Lunch Lady said as she even pulled out a handkerchief to act innocent and teary eyed to continue her act.
"Is she serious?..."Star asked out loud.
"Who does she think she's fooling?..."Danny asked under his breath, as the ghostly lunch lady continued her act.
Though she switched from trying to gather sympathy with crocodile tears, to showing her true emotions.
Anger.
"And then one day some brat decided to replace it in a sorry attempt to get attention. And to add insult to injury, it was replaced with GARBAGE! LUNCH IS SACRED AND HAS RULES! SACRED RULES! AND SHE HAD THE NERVE TO REPLACE ALL OF MY HARD WORK WITH LITERAL PILES OF DIRT ON A SINGLE SLICE OF BREAD! THE NERVE! CHILDREN TODAY HAVE NO RESPECT IT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T EAT ENOUGH MEAT!..."Lunch lady shouted, becoming hostile again.
"It wasn't garbage!..."Sam yelled but was silenced by the ghosts who served as security for the trial.
Johanthan tried to continue with his questions, trying to figure something out here.
"Do you realize that if you really had issues with the menu change, you could have easily written a letter of complaint to the school or filed a petition to change the menu back?..."Johanthan said, and some of the ghosts were surprised he barely even reacted to her outburst.
"Yeah, that's what half our school did after everyone was sick of eating all that garbage Sam tried to make us eat..."Tucker said out loud.
"I said that it wasn't garbage! It was ultra recyclo organic food! It was an experimental alteration from the old school cafeteria menu that is safe, healthy and delicious for human consumption!..."Sam yelled, still angry.
"It was garbage..."Tucker and even Danny and Star all repeated.
Unfortunately, one of their enemies saw this as an opportunity.
"AHA! See, even Phantom hated that so-called food too and yet he still chose to get in my way and stop me from giving those poor children the right kind of food that they needed to grow big, strong and happy!..."The Lunch lady said, trying to look sympathetic as she said so.
"I can't believe you guys actually agreed with her!..."Sam yelled at Danny.
"We're not on her side, but she did have a point that most of that stuff wasn't edible. I almost had to eat a LITERAL mud pie one time..."Danny confessed as Johnathan sighed and made a mental note to speak with the school board about this in the future.
"Alright, while I can understand that you and many others had taken issue with the menu changing too...mud pies made with real mud and sandwiches with grass on it..."Johnathan cringed, yet tried to focus.
"However, a violent rampage was not the way to go and from what was witnessed, Danny Phantom had just been trying to defend his friends and the school and to prevent someone from getting hurt by your rampage...including the current employees working at the time, who were simply doing their jobs..."Johnathan said while frowning.
"I UNDERSTAND THAT NOW AND IT SHOULD HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED ALL THAT MUCH SOONER BACK THEN! I WAS TRYING TO FIX THINGS AND WAS UNJUSTLY ATTACKED FOR IT!..."She said furiously.
"What you did was attack others and abduct one of the students to threaten them. What Danny Phantom did was self-defense and fight in the defense of others. And you do know that if you truly had a problem with the menu, you could have made your case to the administration instead of kidnapping Sam Manson here and placing hundreds more at risk with your actions..."Johnathan said, and the lunch lady snapped.
"Quiet! I never would speak to those meat traitors!..."She yelled, before she went to her sweet mode again. "Would you like some cupcakes? I just made them this morning..."She said in a sugary sweet voice.
Johnathan frowned.
"I do hope this isn't some attempt at bribery. I don't take bribes, especially during the middle of a cross examination ..."He rejected, and the lunch lady ghost snapped.
"OF COURSE NOT! IT'S NOT A BRIBE! WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, THE GLOOMY GIRL IN BLACK WHO HATES GOOD FOOD! SHE HATES MEAT! THE SACRED FOOD GROUP! SHE DESERVES TO FEAST UPON THREE SQUARE MEALS OF DOOM!..."She yelled but was restrained by some of the ghosts.
"Order! Order!..."The head observant yelled, before hammering the gavel to regain balanced harmony within the courtroom.
Walker saw this and growled.
"I'd like that last statement stricken from the record, please..."The lunch lady said weakly, but was met with rejection.
"Denied..."The head observant said, ignoring the glare she sent him.
"That idiot. Whatever, I still got over a dozen other lackies here. Together, we'll get that punk behind bars..."Walker thought, did his best to remain calm and collected.
He was still determined to win no matter what.
"BEWARE!..."Box Ghost said, while the others groaned, before he turned his attention to the Lunch Lady Ghost.
"I think you were wonderful, my beloved. Truly wonderful..."Box Ghost said, while the others rolled his eyes and ignore him sweet talking the lunch lady ghost
"I'm surrounded by disgraces to evil..."Spectra thought in annoyance before she sent goo-goo eyes to Johnathan, who didn't seem to notice it. "At least there's some eye candy here..."She thought as she kept admiring Johnathan from the jury.
"I do believe that I have made my point. Whether or not the food that was served during that incident was edible or not, it does not excuse Ms. Edith's violent outbursts..."The lawyer continued, apparently ignoring the deadly glare the lunch lady sent him from the jury.
Spectra didn't care about that. The wicked ghoul watched him and smiled with interest.
"What a man, I almost can't wait to be called to the stand by him..." She said with a sigh, while Bertrand saw this and frowned.
"Oh brother, not again. She does this every time she finds a man that is remotely impressive in her eyes..."He grumbled under his breath, tired of all of her crushes.
Thankfully for him Spectra was too preoccupied with her own personal thoughts to even notice Bertrand complaining about her. Johnathan sat down, his head aching from what he just experienced and suppressing the urge to rub his temples.
"This is crazy...and I once had to defend a lion tamer suing her husband for cheating on her with the daughter of the circus owner and after that, that lawsuit against a dairy farm owner and his employees. This is a nightmare..."He said, while his daughter rolled her eyes, since she's heard her father talk about that case dozens of times by now and how it ended rather unpleasantly.
"That's beside the point, Dad. Just do what our last name is and stay Strong and keep doing what you're doing so that the execution happy warden won't stand a chance..." Star encouraged.
"Yeah. Please Mr. Strong. Just keep it going until we can think of a better idea..." Danny begged, since they don't have many options right now.
"And try not to let any of these ghosts scare you. Besides they all act more like comic book bad guys than actual ghosts anyway..."Sam added not so helpfully to the lawyer.
"I've read a lot of comic books back in high school, Sam. The bad guys there can be pretty terrifying too..."Johnathan said, Tucker nodded in agreement.
"He's got a point..."He admitted.
"Well, just do your best, please. And once this whole mess is over, I'll gladly answer any questions you might still be holding on to..."Danny said, still needing him to delay these guys from deeming him unfairly guilty until they can find a way out of here.
Johnathan said nothing to him, but he only responded with a confirmed nod of his head with a neutral expression to Danny. One which Star noticed and began to worry a little.
Her father noticed and tried to reassure her.
"You're a smart bunch of kids, I'm hoping you come up with a plan..."He said, wondering how long they can keep this up.
"We're working on it..."Tucker said, and Sam nodded, while the lawyer went back to his work.
Danny really hoped that they could help, otherwise everything will hinder on Johnathan's defense.
"We need a plan..."The ghost boy thought, really needing to do something and fast.
Present Time
"Wow...your dad must have nerves of steel or something..."Valerie said, as she had seen for herself the lunch lady's outbursts before.
"Believe me, when you have been a lawyer as long as he has, he has seen even scarier looking outburst from rival lawyers and people he put away to jail..."Star said, knowing how tough her dad is.
"Even so, that trial was super crazy..."Jazz muttered.
At the same time, Misty and Val were curious about something.
"How did you know about that? Danny didn't mention you were captured by Walker..." Misty said.
"I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I didn't end up making an appearance there in his psycho court later. I'll let the two of them explain how, why and when I show up..." Jazz said as she decided to continue the story.
Back to the story
The court case continued, and Johnathan then called his next witness.
Johnny 13.
Johny was called to the witness stand, and Mr. Strong began to ask questions.
"Your Honor, I request permission to use the Orb of Omniversal Viewing to see what transpired when my client and the witness, Johnny 13, crossed paths with one another..."Johanthan requested.
"Granted..."Judge Oversight said, as the Orb of Omniversal Viewing once again glowed.
Soon, a screen like projection appeared and Johnathan saw the events that happened that day, with Johnny 13 targeting Jasmine, to use her to become Kitty's new host to save his real girlfriend.
Along with the week Kitty overshadowed Paulina to date to make her boyfriend jealous, which Johnathan's daughter saw and caused her to glared at Kitty while resisting the urge to punch the green haired ghost girl as Star clench her fists in anger. Not only at the sight of her boyfriend dating "Paulina" but also how Kitty basically blackmailed him into going along with it until he managed to get rid of her.
"You lousy little witch..."The blonde girl thought, while they all continued to watch those past events.
Once done, Johnathan felt immediately shocked by the fact that Jazz came out of that ordeal relatively unharmed. He shook his head in disbelief.
"Oh my gosh. Why have Maddie and Jack not tell me about this before? Unless they never learned that the greasy haired punk that Danny decked was a ghost...you know saying that out loud that makes sense..."He thought but tried to be professional here and reminded himself to ask questions about that later... as well not strangle the greasy haired punk right now for what he tried to do.
Right now, all of his attention was focused on this court case.
"And I suppose that Danny Phantom DROVE YOU to threatening several people and attempting to steal a young woman's body to control as drastic measures for your girlfriend's sake?..."Mr. Strong began, leveling into the witness and choosing his wording carefully.
"He did. It was all that little man's fault!..."Johnny 13 said, angry.
Johnathan just frowned but decided to get to the point.
"And yet from what the Observants had just showed us, you had stalked and attempted to kidnap and brainwash Danny's own sister and then got violent when Jasmine rejected you..."The lawyer pointed out.
"And before that, you had planned to kidnap Jasmine for your girlfriend to use as a host, leaving her mind to wander aimlessly in the ghost zone? Did I summarize all that just right?..."He asked, but Johnny got defensive.
"Me and Kitty didn't have a choice. Phantom's fat idiot of a dad fried Kitty's body with his stupid portal when it closed, and she was falling apart. We needed to find her a new body and she needed one fast to anchor her to one side before she faded away!..."Johnny tried to argue.
"That's right! Johnny only did it to save me!..."Kitty added.
"And again, his dad was the one who fried her and got us in that mess to begin with, so it made sense that his daughter would be the host for some added revenge on him would've been a bonus. Plus she was the hottest girl I could find on short notice..."Johnny said, not aware how bad he was making things for himself.
He noticed the glare from Kitty and flinched.
"Not as hot as you though, Babe..."He quickly added and Kitty smiled, sparing him of her wrath for the time being.
"It's not my fault the brat over there had to get in our way and made things more difficult..."Johnny said dismissively.
"I should've let my parents hit you with the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick!..."Danny yelled at him.
Johnny glared at him.
"You wanna take this outside, punk?! I'm still mad about you ruining my and Kitty's last date in Amity Park!..."The biker ghost snapped, cracking his knuckles.
"And by that you mean, stopping you guys from joyriding and almost causing a massive car accident!..."Danny yelled, but the guards restrained the both of them.
"Order...order...there will be order. One more outburst from anyone in this court room and he or she will be restrained with chains..."The judge said.
Danny and Johnny both reluctantly calmed down, but glared daggers at each other. Johnathan frowned at the bad luck ghost's behavior and attitude.
"I am glad that my little Star never dated anyone as bad as this..."The lawyer thought, while the judge spoke up.
"Councilor, is there a point to this line of questions ?..."The judge said, wondering where he was going with his questions.
"Yes your honor. I'm getting there..."Johnathan told the judge whole biker ghost still refused to see himself in the wrong.
"Mr. 13, was all that your official statement? That you had no choice?..."He asked.
"Uh-Huh. We had no choice. That brat and his stupid family forced us to do it. Not only did he ruin our plan and acted like a total third wheel with me and Jazz. Kitty suffered for it. I didn't have a choice but to take drastic meassures..."Johnny said.
"You claim that you needed Jasmine to save your girlfriend's life because her injuries were severe, and she wouldn't survive otherwise?..."Johnathan asked.
"That's right..."Johnny said with a nod.
"Pardon me, your girlfriend is that young lady with green hair, Kitty was it?..."Mr. Strong asked.
"That's right, Kitty's my girl and she's the hottest girl in the zone and looking as fine as ever..."Johnny said, while the ghoul sent him a loving look.
"Oh, Johnny!~..."She said in a loving way, while Johnny smirked.
Team Phantom rolled their eyes at this display, while the biker continued to spout nonsense as his defense.
"Anyway, my girl needed a human body because of Danny Phantom's stupid family's invention, so I found her one..."Johnny said, while Star's father frowned and scowled at him.
"I see. Yet Kitty here seems to physically be fine and well. And she doesn't seem to be in medical distress or suffering from any injuries..."Johnathan said, before he called Kitty to the stand.
Once she was there, he began to interrogate her.
"Is what Johny 13 said true, that your injuries had been severe and that you "needed" a human body, no matter the cost?..."Johnathan asked.
"That's right. It was serious. I nearly was completely destabilized. I was nearly split in two because of that machine..." Kitty said, trying to look pitiful to the court and gain sympathy.
However, the lawyer noticed something and smiled slightly as he noticed something off in what she just said.
"And yet...you seem fine right now? And am I correct in that you did not find a human body...and yet you seem perfectly fine now? Why is that?..."Johnathan asked.
"When the portal machine thingy closed its gates on me, all the energy from inside it swirled up and shot me out of it then back into the Ghost Zone like a bullet and even made me feel like I was crushed into a few floating boulders. I had to regenerate everything. It took my body weeks of rest before I was back to normal after that..." Kitty said, while Walker glared at her but even Kitty knew she couldn't lie since she knew that the observants would probably figure it out.
And she didn't want to face their wrath if they discovered she lied about anything.
"So, in other words...you were in a life-threatening accident, however it's one you completely recovered from without threatening an innocent girl. So, that means that you never NEEDED a human host body to save your life...or afterlife..."Johnathan said.
"Hey, we needed to do something, and the clock was ticking. We didn't even know if Kitty was gonna be alright when she was struck at the time!..."Johnny yelled.
"You could have left the Fentons alone, gone back to the Ghost Zone and take your girlfriend to some medical facility. I am sure a dimension as big as this Ghost Zone has to have SOME sort of hospital for its residents, right?..."Johnathan asked.
"Are you nuts? That would have taken forever, and we wanted to leave this lousy place! See the sights and travel the world. Besides, a lot of the hospitals in the Ghost Zone have lousy parking too..."Johnny 13 said in anger, only to realize what he let slip out.
"In other words, you and your girlfriend HAD other options and could have recovered and easily solved the problem without involving Jasmine yet chose to do so due to impatience and wanting revenge?..."Johnathan said, while Johnny was sweating at the stand.
"Hey, we were making due with what we found! Not our fault that Fenton girl was the best we could find on such short notice!..." Kitty yelled, only to realized what she slip and looked sheepish.
"Um...I mean...I mean that we were desperate to find a way for me to recover quickly. Plus, there's never been a case of what happened to a ghost when they get stuck halfway through a man-made ghost portal before, so we really didn't know what was going to happen. I was so scared, and Johnny just wanted to save me. It was out of love..." Kitty said quickly, mostly to save face as she and Johnny still refused to see what they did as wrong.
"And the events about overshadowing Paulina Sanchez and blackmailing Danny into dating you to get back at your boyfriend here?..."Johnathan asked in a deadpan way.
"It was also out of love. I just wanted to make Johnny appreciate me more..."Kitty said, refusing to see what she did as wrong.
"You do realize blackmail itself is a crime, right and taking away Miss Sanchez's free will was wrong as well..."Johanthan said.
"Oh, shut up! It's all ancient history..."Johnny said dismissively, while Johnathan frowned.
"Even if you seem to believe that, we now have record of two known attempts of overshadowing, and because of both your lack of knowledge of these man-made ghost portals and your relationship issues, you both took risks and nearly made someone else pay for your mistake. And you saw no problem with that? Doesn't the idea of using an innocent human as a human meat puppet and condemning her mind to spending all eternity in the Ghost Zone and stealing her life was...you know? Wrong?..."Johnathan said, while the biker glared at him.
"Just let me explain, I-..." Kitty said but her boyfriend cut her off since he felt this lawyer had gotten on his last nerves.
"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S OUT OF ORDER HERE, POPS!..."Kitty's boyfriend snapped, and his shadow appeared and tried to intimidate Johnathan by growling at him and trying to look terrifying.
"Hey! Leave my dad alone! He's just doing his job!..."Star yelled but was restrained by a ghost guard when she tried to help her dad.
"Order! Order! Both of you be quiet or I will hold you both accountable for contempt in court!..."The judge said as he tried to get the room in control again after Johnny's outburst.
Johnathan saw the shadow ghost and kept a neutral expression, mostly to hide the fact that he was actually intimidate by it.
"Keep calm. Remember to always keep your cool during a case. No matter how insane it is..."The lawyer thought as he tried to retain his composure.
"I merely tried to point out that had Johnny been more responsible, he and Kitty would not have had any trouble coming to Earth, much less attract Danny Phantom's ire..."Johnathan said, surprising even Danny with how calm he seemingly was right now.
"Wow. Talk about nerves of steel..."Danny though, actually impressed while the ghostly jury had their own opinion.
"Huh. Either Shadow is losing his edge or Blondie's dad's way less of a wimp than I thought..."Ember thought.
"Hmm... brave of him..."Desiree complimented while Johnny continued to make a fool of himself during the trial.
"This is totally bogus, man! A real hatchet job. Besides, aren't you supposed to be Blondie's dad? Why are you even bothering defending Phantom? Isn't it a rule that all dad's hate whoever their daughter's date? If Kitty's dad was my lawyer, he'd do everything he could to lock me up behind bars..."Johnny 13 said, still not understanding what was going on.
"After seeing what you tried to do to Jasmine, as a father, I wouldn't blame that man...and as a lawyer, I defend all my clients to the best of my ability and do what I can to uncover the truth and prove him/her is truly innocent and whom is truly guilty..."Johnathan said, while Johnny glared at him.
"Geez, Jazz's dad probably would have hit me with that baseball bat with his name on it, if he tried to defend me as a lawyer..."The biker muttered, unintentionally giving the ghost boy an idea when he heard that.
Danny now knew how to counter against them and tried to use his idea before anything else happened.
"I'd like to call a witness to the stand. My own sister, Jazz Fenton..." Danny said suddenly, knowing Jazz would be able to discredit these two some more.
"I'm sorry, but she isn't here and-..."Walker tried, but was cut off by the observants.
"Granted..."The head observant said.
Suddenly a portal appeared and out came the redheaded Fenton girl falling from it. Jazz was now in the court room.
"What?! How?! Who?! What am I doing here?!..." Jazz asked, shocked.
Jazz was in the middle of walking into the library in one moment and in the next moment she suddenly fell into the floor and is now surrounded by so many ghosts in one room.
"Do you promise to say the truth and nothing but the truth?..."One of Walker's guards said, while Jazz wondered what was going on.
"W-What are you talking about? What is this?..."Jazz asked, freaking out.
"Calm down, Jasmine. I understand this is upsetting but we need you to testify and to take an oath not to lie in this court room. You're testifying in court..."Johnathan said, getting her attention.
Jazz saw Mr. Strong and panicked.
"M-Mr. Strong...I...I know you probably have a lot of questions of this CRAZY situation and...uh...well..."
"Jazz, enough, I know about Danny being the ghost kid..."The lawyer revealed, shocking the girl.
"Really?..."She asked.
Her brother nodded.
"Long story, we'll explain later. First we need your help and have you testify, cause at this moment we have so much more stuff to be concerned with right now..." Danny told her.
"What we need to know now is what you experienced and personally went through during the time you had met Johnny 13 and how you almost became the host body for Kitty. What we need is your statement..."Johanthan said, understanding her confusing but also hoping that Jazz can answer any other questions he might ask.
The red haired nodded her head as she tried to do her best to help, even if she was still confused by what was happening right now.
A few moments later
After Jazz had been informed, the red haired girl was worried for her brother but tried to do her part to help.
"Now, you and your brother CLAIM that Johnny and Kitty had tried to abduct you and CLAIM that you almost had your body stolen by them? And that you were brainwashed? Even though that all sound rather nuts, is any of what was said even true? You sure you aren't just a spiteful ex girlfriend of Johnny's making up lies to help your delinquent brother..."Walker demanded, mostly to use as ammo against Danny.
Thankfully, Jazz was smart and stated the facts as they were.
"One, my brother is not a delinquent, and I was NEVER Johnny's girlfriend since I rejected him once I saw what a creep he is. As for the rest...Well, I wasn't very coherent at the time...mostly due to Kitty's stuff messed with my mind and made me do what Johnny wanted but it's true that they tried to abduct me to take control of my body and make me switch places with Kitty...and mind controlled me into actually listening to that weirdo creep..."Jazz said, glaring at her "ex-boyfriend".
"Hey, it wasn't mind control! You were totally into me!..." Johnny protested.
In his mind, he didn't need mind control to get a girl to go out with him and he tried to convince the court room that he wasn't the royal creep that Jazz was making him out to him.
"Sure, it was more yours and Kitty's personalities mixing together, but they don't need to know that..."He mentally added, but didn't say out loud.
The ghostly warden, meanwhile, continued to throw fuel to the fire and kept trying to discredit Jazz's claims as much as he could.
"Do you have any proof that Kitty's items actually affected your mind and made you date him?..."Walker asked, and Jazz sent him a flat look.
"Isn't the fact that I actually agreed to go on a date with that greasy haired loser that smells like motor oil enough proof that my mind was messed with to an insane degree?..."Jazz asked as she pointed at Johnny.
The biker ghost and Kitty looked offended at that.
"Hey!..."Johnny shouted in offense.
"She's not wrong..."Ember said with a smirk, while Johnny glared at her before he actually sniffed his jacket and cringed once he saw that Jazz wasn't too off the mark.
"Hey, no one talks about my man that way!..."Kitty said in anger.
"Well, I just did. Not my fault that you clearly just have bad taste in men and brainwashed me into having it as well..."Jazz said unapologetically, while Kitty growled and looked ready to smack her but was detained by some of the guards.
"Moving on..."Walker said impatiently, while the observants took Jazz's statement as evidence of partial mind control.
"As for nearly having my body swapped with her...that part gets a little fuzzy. I don't really remember what happened after that but I do know that Johnny tried to attack my little brother after he saved me...and then got his butt kicked like he deserved. Serves that jerk right..."Jazz continued, further discrediting Johnny and Kitty.
"The Orb of Omniversal Viewing will shed some light on that particular piece of information. A lie may fool the mind, but not the OOV..."The head observant said, as he bang his gavel against the podium.
Jazz smirked, while Johnny and Kitty sent her dirty glares, as did Walker as the observants revealed the events and proved that Jazz's claims were accurate.
The red haired girl ignored the glares she received and knew she needed to talk to her brother and friends.
"Umm...your honor...sir, may I be briefly excused to talk with my little brother for a moment, please..." Jazz asked the ghostly judge.
"Witness is excused..."The head observant said.
Jazz soon ran to the direction where her brother was, worried for him.
"Danny..." She said.
"It's all going to be alright Jazz. Don't worry, I've got the best lawyer in the state on my side..." Danny said reassuringly, while Star gave two thumbs up behind him.
"Yeah, and we're working on a plan to get us out of here for when Dad wins, and Walker tries to pull something..."Star said, totally trusting her father.
Jazz was currently looking hopeful, still a bit confused but also hopeful.
"This has not been how I thought today was going to go. This might actually top my Circus case..."Johanthan thought, as he knew things were only going to get crazier and he was going to see and hear even CRAZIER things and discover what her daughter and her friends have been up to.
Elsewhere
While this insane court case was going on, Maddie and Stella were still training for the tennis tournament, unaware of what had been happening.
And they weren't the only ones.
At a fancy estate on the other side of town, Virginia had been practicing on her home's own private tennis court, with her partner Pamela. However, training wasn't going as well as expected. If anything, the training itself hasn't even officially started just yet.
For Virginia it, was going rather well as she was keeping herself in quite good shape to beat Stella and that nice woman Maddie.
"Stella no doubt found a ringer to replace Eleanor. I'm sure of it. Meaning I'll have to up my game and make my tennis partner does the same no matter what. Also, I hope Eleanor likes the get-well card I sent..."Virginia thought, determined to win.
She also despises losing in general and won't tolerate anyone bringing her down. Sure, she accepted Pamela as her partner as she both pestered and bribed her, but that's doesn't change this fact.
Speaking of Pamela, every team was only as strong as its weakest link. And...well, Pamela was certainly the weakest link here.
"Oh, who knew exercise could be so exhausting..."Pamela said as she complained tiredly, wishing this was over already.
Virginia saw this and rolled her eyes.
The woman had no athletic ability whatsoever, her designer tennis outfit was drenched with sweat and was starting look like she'd been caught in a downpour surrounded by tennis balls she hadn't hit. The rich woman frowned, shaking her head in disappointed before she started to criticize her so-called partner.
"Honestly, Pamela, you act like you never played tennis in your whole life." Virginia commented.
"I'm just a little rusty..." Pamela argued.
"And Donovan Loadman is just a little unhinged..." Virginia replied. "I should have hired a professional to play with me..."She added.
"I heard that..." Pamela said.
"I know..." Virginia replied, not caring that Pamela heard her.
"Need I remind you that I promised to let you use my jet..."Pamela added.
"Need I remind you that we're supposed to WIN!..."Virginia said, and Pamela flinched, being intimidated for a moment before she spoke up again.
"Look, we will win no problem. Maddie is just some weirdo ghost hunter and Stella only favors her because their kids are dating but I'll show them. I'll show them all that they had no right to overlook me like that!..."Pamela said as she tried to hit another tennis ball with her racket, only to accidentally break a flowerpot in a distance.
She flinched and sent a sheepish look to Virginia.
"Um...sorry..."She said weakly, while the other woman sighed and mentally planned to send her the bill.
"This was going to be a long day..."Virginia muttered, suddenly regretting accepting being bribed by her.
Back to the trial
The trial continued and Johnathan called another witness.
This time it was Technus.
The observants showed what happened when Danny first dealt with him, and the lawyer only had this to say.
"Huh, this one actually act the most like a comic book supervillain..." Johnathan thought to himself.
"Oh, this one is gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel..."Sam said, confident that they can keep discrediting Walker's claim at this rate.
"So Mr. Technus...let me see if I understand this correctly...you claim that my client is your accomplice and gave you ideas to better help you conquer the world?..."Johnathan asked.
The tech obsessed ghost frowned, before giving his statement.
"I, Technus, master of all things electronic and beeping, was minding my own business when the Fentons' portal opened, and I introduced myself as usual for a master of all things electronic like me. After all, first impressions are always the most memorable. The Phantom brat got hostile but he was full of plenty of excellent ideas. Heck, I decided to take over the world because that brat gave me the idea. So, blame him for tempting me with that great opportunity..."Technus said, while Walker looked smug.
Danny glared at that, before he slumped his head in shame.
"Danny Phantom, please inform the court your side of the events..."The judge asked Danny.
"Okay, it was like this. Technus appeared in my parents' lab and after a fight between us, took control of all my parents' stuff after it was sold in a garage sale and used it to create some giant mecha suit to take over the world. All I did was guess what he was about to next since he went to that much effort into building himself a gigantic robot body. He then responded like he hadn't thought through his actions at all. I did not on purpose give him any ideas...It was an accident..." Danny said.
"AHA! It was YOUR family's stuff that Technus used and he even claims you gave him the idea to antagonize your hometown. Causing property damage and putting civilians in harms way ..."Walker said as he pointed at him, while the ghost boy glared at him before he continued.
"In my defense, I'd been doing the superhero thing for like a couple of weeks at the time and every ghost that I fought up until then either wanted to destroy the town or take over the world. Like I said before, I just guessed whatever his motivation was at the time and he went along with it..." Danny pointed out, while his enemy tried to add more fuel to the fire.
Johnathan nodded, before he continued but Technus spoke up.
"He really did come up with some brilliant ideas. Seriously, this kid should be thinking about being teacher for villainy..." Technus said, half as mockery and half as being genuinely honest about his suggestions of Danny's backup career in the future.
"While we can both agree that Danny is very smart for his age, you were already planning to conquer the world by your own many, many, many admissions. I think that it's fair to say that you were caught up in the moment building your own giant robot suit, due to your own obsession with technology as a technician..."Johnathan said, and the tech obsessed ghost couldn't resist going into a rant right now.
"Yes, for I Technus, am the captain of all computer systems, emperor of electronics and the world will soon be mine whether or not the young punk who is easily swayed by his emotions gets in my way again. Or offers any more helpful advice on occasions, which would be very appreciated..."Technus exclaimed.
"So, either way, you were the one who CHOSE to use technology to attack and terrorize innocent people? And you chose to try and STEAL his family's items and any other tech you could find to try and take over the world? And that Phantom only fought you to STOP you from doing such things?..."Johanthan pointed out.
"Yes, that is right. For I Am Technus, Master of his own Fate. Puppeteer of his own chooses and I will rule the world...wait a minute...What did you ask me again?..."Technus said.
He then blinked once he realized what he said, due to the way that Walker was glaring at him and Johnathan had heard enough.
"The defense rests your honor..."Johnathan said, as the observants told Technus to go back to the jury.
Danny sighed as this insane trial continued and Walker kept calling for "witnesses". However, things got worse as someone suddenly appeared to the court room.
"Oh, hello. Sorry I'm late..."A smug sounding voice was heard.
Danny, Star and their friends all heard this familiar voice and flinched.
"No..." Danny whispered, as he turned around to see who crashed this trial.
It was Vlad, who suddenly appeared in the court room with the smuggest expression on his face.
"Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen. Please proceed with the trial. I'm sure there is more evidence against Phantom than you realize..."The evil halfa said, looking as smug as ever as he was ready to help make things worse for our heroes.
-To be continued-
Next time on Court
Cross Examination
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, Luiz4200 and NeoMark for all their help. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
Luiz4200: Sorry, no spoilers. I guess that we will have to wait and see what happens.
CMR Rosa and Luffy is king: Thank you for the suggestions, I will see what I can do.
Invader Johnny: Mr. Strong does have an impressive memory.
RonaldM40196867:
1) I think so.
2) Possibly.
3) Star doesn't want Jean-Puke to get custody and even Johnathan is aware that Stella is a better parent than Jean-Puke.
4) Right.
5) Ida would likely suggest it.
6) Thanks for the suggestion, I will see what I can do.
7) Star has tried to talk to her mom about Jean-Puke but Stella is still in deep denial and insists that everything is fine.
8) Most likely.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Scooter2: I honestly believe that Spectra is beyond redemption as she actually enjoys being evil and causing suffering to others.
Guestl03: Thanks for the suggestion, I will see what I can do.
Rock1030: Thank you :)
JDF Legacier Morphicon: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I think that Misty would like soccer.
2) I do like the idea of Cujo becoming Danny's pet or the mascot for Team Phantom.
3) I'm not sure.
4) I honestly think that Walker would have still become enemies with Danny and caused trouble for Team Phantom.
5) My favorite ghosts are Danny, Ember, Clockwork, Frostbite and Wulf.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)