Heart of a Hero Inspired Stories

by introductionleft4369

Collection of self contained stories inspired by “Heart of a Hero” by DasChillyOne. Technically non-canonical but written to fit within the HoaH universe. All credit to the origin of this crossover goes to DasChillyOne.

1. Heart of a Father

A/N: Welcome to the inaugural chapter of Heart of a Hero Inspired Stories. Big thanks to DasChillyOne for the inspiration and the assistance making sure this fit in his world. I own no intellectual properties and the original crossover belongs to DasChillyOne. Also, if it looks like a reference to something, it is. There is also one somewhat obscure Star Trek reference in here. Let's see if anyone finds it. I currently have one more chapter almost ready to publish. After that, it will be as I am able and the muse strikes me. I am leaning to taking KP episodes not already in use and making them fit somewhere in the HoaH timeline. Where each chapter fits will be indicated in "Time:" and the source material episode will be right below it. This particular one is completely home brew and seeks to answer the question, "What would it take for James Possible to accept Danny dating Kim?" This will be a bit heavier than other chapters I will likely write due to the nature of the answer I came up with. As for the titles, you will see two of them. The first is the actual chapter title, and the other is a more humerous but still related one like the original Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons did (dating myself a bit). If you have any other ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. Enjoy.

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Heart of a Hero inspired story: "Heart of a Father" OR "A Hunk, A Hunk Of Burning Love"

Time: some point after Ron returns from vacation and the Centurion armor is repaired (after chap 24 Control Freaks)

Source Episode: This is a completely homebrew story and not based on any episode

7 Hours Until The Concert

Danny was in a good mood today. Ghost activity had been down to almost nothing all week. Even better, both Kim's and Sammy's adversaries seem to be taking a vacation. If Danny was as professionally paranoid as the Director, he might have thought the cliche, "It's quiet, too quiet." But he wasn't. He was just a mostly normal teenage boy with an abnormal love life. He was just enjoying the extra time he was getting with his girlfriends. Kim, however, was in a funk. She was supposed to be enjoying what they were doing but her mind was preoccupied.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Danny asked.

Kim sighed and answered, "I caught my dad trying to bribe the tweebs to start pranking you…again."

"Seriously?" Danny answered. "He still doesn't approve of me yet?"

Kim shook her head. "He's stubborn," she answered.

"How much?" Danny asked nonchalantly.

"Huh"?" Kim responded.

"How much is the price to prank me up to now?" Danny asked again.

"A new video game they had been wanting and an extra hour before bedtime for two months," she replied.

Danny scoffed in faux offense, "What a cheapskate. I'm worth at least twice that," he said with a grin.

Kim laughed, pulled out of her mood. She took an arm and went further. "I'd say you are undervaluing yourself again. It's at least three times."

Star took the other arm and added, "It's hard to put a price on perfection, you know. Don't you agree Sammy?"

She came up behind Danny and hugged him. "Indeed. I don't think any amount is enough."

The big display of affection had mixed reactions among the group, which was pretty much the whole entourage of Danny and his girlfriends, Tucker and Valerie, Clover, Alex, Sam, Jazz, Ron, and one naked mole rat who had somehow gotten and expertly applied Ember style eyeliner.

As for what they were doing, they had VIP passes for a concert that day in Amity Park and the headliner was none other than Ember. As her music career was building steam, Danny suggested she go on tour. She liked the idea immensely. Her tour manager had done a good job setting it up, but had a hard time understanding her requirement that Amity Park be the first tour stop. He didn't argue though. They were through the security checkpoint and on their way to Ember's dressing room to meet her before the concert.

Ron looked around and said, "Hey, does anyone feel like there is too little security?"

Tucker asked with genuine curiosity, "What do you mean? How do you know how much security there should be?"

Ron replied "Well it was like that time Kim and I did a job to rescue the band Love Handle. They had been kidnapped by that ummm, Dr. What's-his-name to take over a couple of counties or something. He had stupid names for all his machines, and his primary nemesis was a duck, or was it a beaver. I don't remember which. All the agents were animals, and the guy that hired us…"

"Is this story going somewhere?" Sam interrupted a bit annoyed at Ron's tangent.

"Oh, right. Anyway, as thanks, the band gave us VIP passes for when their tour came through Upperton. It was enough for both our families, which was good because both our parents are big fans and..."

"Ron!" Sam interrupted again.

"Sorry," he said, before continuing. "The point was that we had to show our passes to about a dozen different bouncers on our way from the security gate to the green room where the band was relaxing. Besides the gate crew, I haven't seen one security guard."

Kim realized he had a point but said, "Ron, your dad won those passes in a contest. You must have dreamed that because I know I would remember a mission THAT…um, cartoonish."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Rufus said in agreement with Kim as he briefly popped out of Ron's pocket. No one seemed to notice the stylish fedora he was wearing before he disappeared again.

Kim continued, "Maybe Ember doesn't think she needs it or the tour manager is slipping. We can ask her about it when we see her."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, "I mean, she could definitely turn the tables on any psycho fans without even looking away from her mirror, but you really don't want a lot of weirdos running around backstage."

"Speaking of weirdos backstage, we're here," Danny said as he knocked on Ember's dressing room door.

However, instead of a solid knock, the whole door gave way and collapsed into the room.

"Dude! Been working out?" Ron asked.

"Not THAT much…woah," Danny replied before he finally saw the inside of the room. It was a disaster. Anything that wasn't destroyed had been scattered.

"What the heck happened here?" Valerie asked.

"Hey K.P.," Ron asked as he felt the hair on the back on his neck stand up, "No security, a trashed dressing room, and a missing person. Remind you of something?"

"Yeah," she said as she pulled out her Kimmunicator.

Ron's words caused Danny to realize something important. He was so distracted by the mess, he failed to notice something, or more accurately someone, who wasn't around to be noticed. Where was Ember? Dread started to creep into the young ghost boy.

"Hey Wade," Kim said, "can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" He replied.

"Can you pull up the security cameras at the concert venue? We think someone kidnapped Ember."

"Seriously?" He said, confused how that was even possible. "Give me a minute," he said as he started typing furiously. "Ok. I have a camera pointed down the hall with a clear view of her dressing room door. I see Ember going in a couple hours ago, security and stage hands coming and going down the hall, her tour manager in and out of her room an hour ago for five minutes, and…what the heck? The feed is scrambled for about…20 minutes. Then it comes back. 25 minutes later, you show up and literally knock down the door."

"Can you unscramble it Wade?" Kim asked.

"Already trying," he replied, then grimaced. "Is Technus with you?"

"I am Mr. Lode," Technus replied from Danny's Fenton Phone.

"Would you mind giving me a hand unscrambling some of this? It's going to be a challenge," Wade asked.

"Certainly." Technus moved from Danny's phone to Kim's to Wade's computer.

"Kim, this is going to take a minute. I'll call you back when I have something."

"Please and thank you," Kim answered. "While we wait, I think we should look around for clues."

As they started to spread out, Clover said, "We've got a mystery on our hands." Immediately everyone stopped and stared at her.

She shrunk from the scrutiny as Alex asked rhetorically with a cocked eyebrow, "Really?"

Clover apologized sheepishly, "Sorry. I've been watching a lot of Scooby-Doo recently." After some head shakes and eye rolls they resumed their search.

"Got some blood here, still fresh."

"Ectoplasm residue over here."

"More blood."

"Ember doesn't wear white, right?"

"No."

"Then I don't think this is part of her outfit."

"Busted sunglasses, too big for Ember, not that she wears them."

Things were starting to come together. More than one human wearing sunglasses and white clothes attacked Ember. She got in some good hits but lost and they took her away. Then they reset the door so no one would notice, at least right away. Who could do this? Why? How?

Doot-doot-do-do. "What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked.

Wade responded, "I can say with certainty that the video was intentionally jammed. The equipment needed to do so to this degree isn't the kind of thing your run-of-the-mill bad guy would have. Whoever they are, they are well funded and well equipped."

He smirked and continued, "But they don't have Technus, or me. We were able to get a few frames unscrambled." The screen changed to a picture of four armed goons in white suits and sunglasses stacked up on Ember's door with a fifth in front with his leg raised to kick it open.

Danny's eyes started to change shade from blue to green and then began to glow. He had felt anger before, but this was different. It was different from when Vlad overshadowed his dad to try to kill him. It was different from when he tried to kidnap his mom. It was even different from when Walker's goon overshadowed Kim and Star. This felt more…primal, like an angry wolf staring down another aggressive predator aiming for her pups.

Kim was first to notice when she saw a different shade in her boyfriend's eyes. "Danny, we'll get her back," she said as she tried to calm him. "I'll call the Director to see what she can tell us." He nodded.

She opened her Kimmunicator again to try and get hold of the Director. After the standard check-in, the familiar woman with an eyepatch appeared on the screen.

"Ms. Possible. What can I do for you? Getting bored from all the down time?" She asked with a smirk.

"Not exactly, ma'am," she replied. "We need some help identifying some people involved in a kidnapping."

"Image received," the Director said. As she scrutinized the picture, her eye went round with surprise. "How did you get this? The jammers they use should have prevented reconstruction."

Kim was shocked "You know these people!?"

Danny felt his calm evaporating. Star and Sammy sensed this and each grabbed one of his hands.

"I do," replied the Director, "but it can't be discussed over an open channel. You shouldn't even have this picture and I must ask you to delete it and all records of it."

Danny began shaking with anger.

"Ma'am, I'm not going to do that because these are the people who kidnapped Ember McClain from her dressing room." Kim paused before continuing, "If we can't talk about this over an open line, we will have to talk face to face. Where is the nearest access point?"

This was a serious accusation Kim had made, and it was an even bigger security breach. This had to be dealt with immediately. She looked off screen briefly and answered, "Backstage near curtain control. Be advised, you will be alone in the briefing room for about 15 minutes before I get there."

"Thanks. We'll be there soon." Kim said as she ended the call.

"Sammy, I'd like you to call Jerry and tell him what just happened and how cagey the Director was about it. Send him the picture too. Tell him if he doesn't hear from us in 30 minutes, to start asking questions to the Director and inform Danny too. Also, I'd like you, Alex, and Clover to come with me. She might be less inclined to try something if it is more than just me."

Sammy replied, "Sure. You really think the Director would try something?"

Kim said, "No. I'm just covering my bases. I've been double crossed before." Sammy nodded knowingly. Danny was confused and hurt he was being left out of this, but he wouldn't have to wait for an answer to why. Kim stood in front of Danny, held his face in her hands, and said in a soft voice, "Danny, I know you want to be a part of this conversation, but you are way too emotional right now. I promise, I won't let her hide anything from us. Please trust us on this one." Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were back to the blue hue Kim loved.

"Ok. Be careful, all of you."

Kim smiled and said, "Now, I want you to go home and wait to hear from us. Everyone else, go with him. Danny will need your support, and I suspect more soon."

Sammy gave Danny a hug before going with Kim to make her call to Jerry. Everyone else followed Danny back to Fenton Works. Jack and Maddie were working in the lab when the gang came downstairs. They could tell immediately something was wrong especially since they were four short from when they left. Jazz gave them a rundown of what happened. The Fenton's were shocked to say the least. Star just sat next to Danny comforting him as best she could while Danny sat in one of the lab chairs controlling his breathing. Tucker went over to the weapon locker, opened it up and began distributing its contents.

Danny saw this and asked, "Hey, what are you doing, Tucker?"

Tucker responded, "You heard Kim. You'll probably need our help when we figure out what is going on."

"No!" Danny reflexively shouted, "That's too dangerous!" He would accept them hunting ghosts as long as he was available for the dangerous ones, but this was different. These were humans.

"Don't start, man," Tucker retorted "You're family, and family takes care of each other. As long as Ember is your girlfriend, she is family enough too. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer either so don't even try."

Sam added, "Danny, you have the look of a man who is singularly focused on a desire to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and you just ran out of bubble gum. We are NOT sitting this one out."

As Danny looked around the room, everyone gave resolute nods as they readied their gear. With Star still holding his hand, Danny sighed and said, "Thanks."

The moment was short lived as Kitty shot through the portal screaming, "Close it! Close it! Close it!" before she crashed into the far wall.

Jazz was closest and smashed her fist on the button. The portal slammed shut a moment later. Danny ran over to Kitty who slowly got up after her crash landing. After the stun wore off, she grabbed him and shouted, "Please help us, Danny! Johnny has been captured!"

After a moment of stunned silence from everyone, Danny asked "What?!"

Kitty said, "Humans have been raiding the ghost zone all week capturing ghosts. They finally caught up with Johnny and I. He stayed behind to give me time to escape. He told me to come to you. That you would help us."

Confused, Danny peppered her with questions hoping the nagging suspicion he had was wrong. "Humans? Who did they take? What did they look like?"

Kitty answered, "They took everyone. Box Ghost, Desiree, Lunch Lady, Poindexter, even Walker and most of his guards, everyone. They were dressed kinda like you in your ghost form except all white and with masks and helmets. Their weapons could sap a ghosts strength, and then they trapped them in some kind of field. I don't know where they were taking them. Before they got him, Johnny told me to tell you they seemed to know way too much about the ghost zone. I don't know what he meant but he said you would."

Danny thought for a minute. "Someone must have been feeding them information. Someone who is familiar with the ghost zone. Kitty, how close were these guys to you when you jumped through our portal?"

Kitty answered "A few hundred yards. Why?"

Danny replied with a terrible resolve, "The answers we need are on the other side of the portal. I'm going to go get some." Danny put his hand on Kitty's shoulder and walked to the portal while transforming into Phantom. "Everyone, keep your weapons on the portal and blast anything that isn't me coming through. Jazz, open the portal."

Jazz stared at him in disbelief. Jack asked him, "Son, this isn't smart. You'll be outnumbered, outgunned, going in blind, and you aren't in the best headspace right now. Are you sure about this?"

He answered, "Yes dad. I'm sure. Jazz, please."

Jazz pursed her lips and said, "Remember, you are there to GET ANSWERS and BRING THEM BACK; NOT get revenge. Please don't do anything stupid, little brother." She then hit the button that opened the portal. Danny nodded, became invisible and went through.

After 10 nail-biting minutes, Danny came back through the portal with two differences. The first was that his eyes were not only glowing green, but they were radiating energy like they were on fire. No one had ever seen that before. The second was that he was not alone. Being drug behind him was one of the humans that had been pursuing Kitty and dressed just like the ones that took Ember. He was unconscious and very badly beaten.

"Dude! What happened?" Tucker exclaimed as he pointed to the new arrival.

Danny said nothing as he simply released his grip on the man who landed with an unceremonious thud.

Valerie pushed for answers again with a hint of accusation in her voice, "I count at least three, four broken fingers, a black eye, and severely bruised jaw, make that face."

Danny took a few more steps after that and stopped. Jack stepped in front of him, placed his hands on his shoulders, and with a gentle tone asked, "Son, what happened over there?"

After a few seconds, Danny's eyes stopped burning and he looked at his father. The tears that rolled down his cheeks seemed to extinguish the flames, and he said, "I got answers."

"Oh, son." Jack said as he pulled him into a hug.

No one said anything as he continued to stand still and cry for just under a minute. After that, he took a deep breath and calmed down. As much as everyone else wanted to help comfort Danny, Jack's sheer size made that difficult as his embrace nearly swallowed him whole.

"Dad, I know what I have to do," Danny said.

Jack released his son and looked at him with concern. Danny looked like steel that had been poured from a crucible, and his eyes began flickering with energy again.

"Star, can you call Kim? I don't think she will take my call right now," Danny asked. She nodded, pulling out her phone.

She had seen Danny fight ghosts, but this was different. Something about what he did over there tore him up. She truly understood just how much he would sacrifice for them. Not just his body, but also his mind, and his heart. Everything he had. When this was over, he would need their comfort and support; now more than ever.

The girls had made it to the spot that the Director indicated, and the floor promptly opened up to swallow all four of them. After a short tube ride, they arrived in a GJ briefing room. They were alone for about 15 minutes before the Director got to them. Her face was neutral. If she was irritated Kim wasn't alone or relieved Danny wasn't there, it didn't show. "Ladies, first, the organization you are asking about is way above your pay grade, so I must really insist you delete your records about it and forget they exist. Second, I understand your concern over Ms. McClain. The organization that took her is not in the habit of abducting innocent ghosts, and neither are we, so they must have had a reason to do so."

Kim was incensed by that remark and was glad she left Danny at home for this conversation.

The Director looked like she was about to continue when another voice from the entrance of the briefing room interrupted her. "The organization's name is Guys in White or just GIW. They are a secret anti-ghost organization within the government. Even knowledge of their existence is a closely guarded secret."

The Director's head snapped to the entrance of the room.

"Jer! What are you doing here?" Sammy asked.

"Ensuring a former student of mine doesn't do something foolish. I know how she can get when breaches in security protocol are involved," Jerry said as he turned his gaze at the Director.

Her's narrowed in response. Despite her irritation at the accusation, he was right. The abduction was bad and required her attention, but the security breach was still the priority. "Jerry, you know that's classified, and they are not cleared for it."

"I am aware, Betty," Jerry replied calmly, "In fact, I am aware of a great deal more about this situation than you are. For someone who prides herself on ensuring she knows more than everyone else in the room, I must say I am disappointed."

"Then enlighten me," she almost growled.

He obliged. "You already know the ghost Ember McClain is a friendly. What you don't know is that Phantom took her as his fourth girlfriend." The Director's eye went round.

"What?! How do you know that?" A little voice in her head said, you shouldn't be that shocked. They are not your agents, and your whole relationship was built around only sharing necessary information, and one's love life does not qualify. You. Never. Asked.

"Ms. Simpson was kind enough to inform me when discussing a related matter. The tour Ms. McClain is on right now was also Phantom's idea." The Director was reeling, but Jerry wasn't done yet. "Additionally, after being informed of the GIW action against Ms. McClain, I requested assets look into recent GIW activity. I recommend you give their liaison a call."

The Director was not accustomed to being the least informed person in the room, and she found it unpleasent. She finished what she was going to say before Jerry came in, which was exactly what Jerry suggested. "Let me make a call." She activated her earpiece, "Liaison 7-9-2-3 please." Normally, she would have had this call somewhere more secure and without the audience, but after what Jerry said, she would give the girls the courtesy of hearing it. They would only hear half of the conversation that came after that, but it would be enough.

"...Good morning Operative Y. I have some questions about recent GIW activity in Amity Park… Are you positive? I have a photo of them abducting the ghost Ember McClain…That's not important right now. Photo incoming. Tell me about the agents in it…150 agents go dark, and NOW is the first I am hearing about it?…You think now is the time to play that card?…Tell me about Project Looking Glass…Who has the authority to do that?…Are any of them missing?…Let me guess, his last operation was Project Looking Glass…Let me see if I have this right, your senior agent in charge of a large operation and 150 other operatives, all assigned to the same project, go offline two weeks ago but you not only don't give me a heads up but can't tell me anything about the project…Allow me to extend to you the courtesy you failed to extend to me. Given their unsanctioned actions against a non-hostile allied with one of our assets, this is now a GJ operation to find these presumed rogue elements and shut them down…I will. Goodbye Operative Y." The Director's face was grim. She had been deceived and left in the dark. She didn't like it, but knew what she had to do now.

Doot-doot-do-do. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and saw who was calling. "What's the sitch Star?"

"Things have gotten worse," she replied "It's not Danny," She preempted. She gave a brief look at Danny before continuing. "Well, actually it's kinda Danny, but I'll get to that. You remember Kitty from the ghost zone? She came through the portal. Her boyfriend, Johnny 13, got captured by the same guys that took Ember. Danny went through the portal to see if he could get any information from them. He succeeded and needed to tell you what he found out."

Kim was shocked, and concerned, and proud all at the same time. "Let's hear it," she said.

Danny came on the line, "Kim, is the Director there? I want her to hear this too."

"She is," Kim replied.

"Good. Everyone, whoever these guys are, they have been raiding the ghost zone for about a week capturing every ghost they can. They are taking them through a portal in their base so they can extract their essence for some kind of anti-ghost field. They are not alone either." The more Danny spoke, the tighter his grip on Star's hand reflexively became. Star could tell he was worried, and her grip tightened in response. "According to a friend, someone has been feeding them information on the ghost zone. Their movements are too clean. They have also been working with Axiom Labs to develop their equipment, and if Axiom is involved, Plasmius is involved. That is where I think their info is coming from. Also, with Plasmius involved, this might not be the end."

"Where did you get all this intel?" The Director asked.

Danny replied, "The agent I captured. I questioned him." The Director could hear the strain in his voice when he answered. She knew he had no training or experience with interrogation, and was concerned at what he had to do to get those answers. She would reserve judgment for now.

"One last thing Director," Danny continued with iron in his voice, "I AM going to rescue Ember. I AM going to fight these guys. You must decide whether or not you help us. What you decide will determine how unpleasant our conversation goes for you after I get back. Kim, we don't have much time. Please hurry."

"We will Danny. Thanks for the intel," Kim said as she hung up. She already knew the Director was going to help, but Danny didn't as he never gave her a chance to tell him.

"We have work to do, Ms. Possible," said the Director.

Sam was standing next to Ron after Star hung up with Kim. That was pretty ballsy, but also potentially dangerous, she thought. Fear began to snake its way into the goth girl's heart. "This has seriously hit the fan, hasn't it?" She murmured.

"Yep." Ron replied with equal volume.

"Walking into extreme danger?" Sam asked.

"Most Likely," he repllied again,

"Bring it on," Sam responded, finding her courage.

"Boo-ya," Ron said supportively.

Sam surreptitiously grabbed and squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

"Danny, you know we got your back. What's the plan?" Tucker asked. Danny began thinking and the brainstorming session began. They would have a plan by the time the girls were back at Fenton Works.

6 Hours Until The Concert

The girls arrived back at Fenton Works in a GJ hover speeder courtesy of the Director and immediately jumped out to give Danny a comforting hug. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to send much else. However, she did send a team to take the GIW agent Danny captured into custody.

Kim explained, "The Director gave us all the help she could but it wasn't much. This has become an official GJ operation. These guys did a thorough job hiding themselves, but she was able to locate an area outside of Upperton that had extremely unusual power consumption. The speeder she gave us is a modified prototype with an emphasis on stealth and a bunch of comm equipment so she can monitor the situation and send in the cavalry when we find them as well as the Centurion Mark II."

Danny replied, "I'm glad she is willing to help. We have the boo-merang locked and ready. We will send it once everyone is geared up and loaded in the speeder."

The girls headed down into the basement to grab some extra firepower while everyone else piled into the speeder. When everyone was on, Kim said, "Before we set off, we should probably have some kind of plan. Danny, I assume you already have something in mind?"

Danny replied with what the group came up with before they arrived, "I do. Sam, Tucker, and Ron will focus on freeing the ghosts starting with Ember, Johnny, and Poindexter if possible. If they have any strength left, they will help us. We don't know how many ghosts there are so they will bring all the thermoses they can carry. We don't want any hostile or unknown ghosts running loose. This is going to be dangerous enough as is. Everyone else, we take down every agent we can, destroy anything we find, and generally make a lot of noise, while giving Sam, Tucker, and Ron cover while they free the ghosts. Mom, dad, Jazz, Valerie, and Star will stay here on standby just in case Plasmius has something else up his sleeve. Once we infiltrate the base, Technus will jump into their computer system and take it over. He will shut down any outside comms, defensive systems, and anything else he can to make their life difficult."

"I'll have Wade link the speeder's surveillance equipment to Fenton Works so your parents can monitor and provide backup if needed." Kim added as she opened her Kimmunicator.

Danny nodded in agreement. "Any other thoughts?" Everyone shook their heads. "Alright, let's do this." Danny said as he chucked the boo-merang. With Alex behind the wheel of the speeder, the team followed a safe distance behind.

The boo-merang had been traveling for almost 40 minutes. Not much was said as everyone was focused on the battle to come. On the plus side, they were traveling in the direction of Upperton and their current course was actually taking them directly toward the location of the unusual power consumption. It was looking more and more likely to be the target. Kim and Sammy walked up to Danny who hadn't moved from the bow of the speeder the whole trip. Each took a hand and Kim said, "I told you, we'll get her back, Danny."

Danny looked at each of them with a pained smile and nodded. As they approached the suspected location, the boo-merang neared a nondescript building surrounded by cow pastures that didn't look much like a lab. It looked more like…a dairy? Guess that makes sense for the cheese-head, Danny thought. The boo-merang dove toward the building, struck the wall and stopped. Alex slowed the speeder. "Looks like this is the place. Technus, when we are through the wall, hop out and get to work on their security, but stay hidden. Hang on, I'm turning us intangible. Alex, take us in slowly please."

It was a little more difficult since she couldn't see the controls anymore, but Alex managed to maneuver smoothly through the wall. Once inside, the team was amazed at what they found. Instead of anything resembling a normal dairy they found a massive underground chamber that wouldn't lose to anything Drakken, Dementor, or any of Kim's other villains could come up with. Along one wall was row upon row of ectoplasm-suppression containment cells that held over 100 ghosts. It seems the GIW had been busy.

The rest of the area was filled with open cubicles, agents, random lab equipment, and several ominous looking items. Most of the enclosed rooms were on the periphery. Of the items that got Danny's attention, the first was some kind of containment chamber. There was a very thick cable running from it to another large device attached to an antenna array, the second piece of ominous equipment. What was even stranger was that there was another cable running from the chamber seemingly to…nowhere. It just ran into the floor, but there didn't seem to be any doors or stairs going down.

As strange as it was, that wasn't important right now. The last was a large cannon mounted on a test stand near the antenna array. They couldn't tell if the cannon was functional, but it was prudent to be wary regardless. One other piece of equipment that caught Danny's eye was a green swirling vortex contained within a silver ring. Their ghost portal. It looked very familiar, but Danny didn't have the time to think much about it.

The team was invisible, but they could still be heard so Danny whispered, "Alex, take us down near the cells, we will jump out and start the attack. Sam, Tucker, Ron, give us a couple seconds to make sure all the attention is on us and then get to work on the cells. Wade, tell the Director to send reinforcements. Questions?" Danny heard only silence.

The speeder slowly crept into position. "Alright, on my count, let's make a mess. Three, two, one, NOW!"

Danny released the invisibility at the same time as the hero team jumped out and began to take down the agents. The surprise and ferocity of the attack caught the GIW agents completely flat-footed. They were taken down one after another with an efficiency only found in GJ training videos.

About five seconds after Danny, Kim, and the spies jump out of the speeder, Sam, Tucker, and Ron also hopped out in a much less attention grabbing way. Fortunately for them, the three ghosts they wanted first were easily found close together with Ember being the closest. Each one went to a different cell. As Tucker approached her cell, he saw she was lying on the floor of the cell as if she was passed out. Tucker leveled his blaster at the door's control panel and fired. The energy field surrounding the cell disappeared as he grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. Ember got up and stretched as if she just had a nap.

As her hair regained its normal length, she said, "Thanks for the breakout Cool Hand Luke." She materialized her guitar and continued, "I appreciate the jailhouse rock, but I hope this isn't just a solo concert. Where's Babypop?"

Tucker chuckled and pointed his thumb toward the sounds of battle. "You're welcome. Follow the sound of chaos. He's keeping them off our back so we can bust you out."

"Music to my ears. I'll go join the jam session," Ember replied and flew off to join the fray.

Next up was Johnny. Like Ember, he was drained and lethargically slumped against the wall of his cell. He was barely able to look at Ron before his cell door was also broken open. As the field failed, he felt his strength return and stood up.

After his mind cleared, he rushed to Ron, grabbed his shoulders, and shouted. "Kitty! Where's Kitty?!"

"Chill dude," Ron replied, a little spooked. "She made it through the portal safe and sound with the Fentons. If it's any consolation, Danny went back through the portal after she came in and beat up one of the guys chasing her pretty badly. If you want to help, Kim could use some backup."

Johnny gave a sigh of relief and then a mischievous smile spread across his face. As a tire iron materialized in his hand, he shouted, "Shadow, let's go repay the favor." A happy growl was heard behind him as his bike appeared. After hopping on, the sounds of Johnny's gleeful howl and the bike's engine were all that could be heard.

Sam was the last to free the friendly ghosts. Like Ember and Johnny, Poindexter was also drained except he was sprawled out in a less dignified pose on the floor of his cell. His consciousness began to come back when the green hue of the suppression field disappeared and his cell door flew open. Poindexter could see the outcast in Sam and recognized the ally in his liberator. "Those bullies really did a number on me. Time to show them what for!"

"Glad you are up for a fight." Sam replied. "Danny and Kim already have backup, but there are a few girls who could use some help. They are in red, yellow, and green body suits over that way. You can't miss them."

"Thanks" Poindexter said as he flew off in the direction of battle.

After the three allied ghosts were freed, the sidekick team grouped back up and started opening the cells and sucking up the still weakened ghosts within, one at a time. This was tedious and time consuming given their numbers, but there was no other way. They couldn't afford to let any of the ghosts escape, and they needed to make sure they covered each other's back in case any of the GIW agents slipped by the others.

Back with the hero's, Danny was unusually quiet. No quips, no snark. Just the sounds of agents taking a beating. He was not in the mood for banter. Additionally, he was not holding back as much as he normally did either by intent or lack of focus. It didn't really matter which. The kicks were harder, the punches more ferocious, and more bones were broken in this fight than in any other he had been in. He had just performed a tornado kick that sent several agents flying when he heard the voice he wanted to hear.

"Babypopppppp!" Danny turned around just in time for Ember to fly into his arms and give him a big kiss.

"Ember!" Danny shouted excitedly, "I'm so happy to see you. Are you ok?"

"I'm TNT, Babypop. Let's show these dipsticks the power of love." She pulled Danny into another passionate kiss while she took her guitar in her free hand and swung it against a GIW agent slowly trying to get back up and level his weapon, knocking him out. The duet returned their focus to the enemies before them to play a symphony of destruction and pain.

Kim's athleticism was on full display as she ducked, twisted, and jumped around and through the GIW agents in their vain attempts to take her down. It was enhanced further by her experimental Centurion armor suit boosting her protection, abilities, and blaster's that aided in quick takedowns.

One agent was about to get the drop on her when she suddenly heard the roar of an engine, the clang of something hard hitting a human head, and a snarky voice saying "nighty, night." As she whirled around, she was greeted with the sight of Johnny 13 mounted on a motorcycle holding a tire iron and wearing a proud smile as an unconscious GIW agent lay at his feet.

"Need a hand, babe?" he asked.

"Please and thank you," she shouted.

Before she could turn around again to face the remaining agents, a fast black formless figure shot out from behind Johnny and past Kim. She heard the pained grunts and screams of still conscious agents being knocked out behind her as she turned back to the fight only to see her current opponents were all down for the count. She jumped on the back of his bike, and they sped on. Her maneuverability was good alone, but when Johnny's speed was added, she was unbeatable. He used his tire iron like a cavalry saber while Kim used the back of his bike like a pommel horse as they blasted through agent after agent like they were standing still.

The WOOHP agents were taking out their enemies in a fashion expected of veteran spies. However, they seemed a bit disappointed with the fight. "Is it just me or do these guys seem a little TOO weak?" Clover asked as a GIW agent took a palm strike to the face and collapsed.

"It's not just you," Alex replied, "Jer ran us through training sessions way harder than this when we were still green." Another agent was thrown into a wall.

"Maybe government hiring standards have dropped since we joined. HI-YAH!" Another agent went down before she continued. "Or these are just the new recruits. Don't complain," Sammy quipped as she chopped another agent into unconsciousness.

"I'm not complaining. I like easy. Easy is good. I know we just have to not get overconfident." Clover said right before she gave a short shriek. She had spoken too soon. A larger GIW agent had snuck up and grabbed her in an attempt to crush her in a powerful bear hug.

"UNHAND HER YOU BULLY!" came a nasally declaration before the agent suddenly went stiff, released Clover, ran full speed into a nearby wall, and crashed head first knocking himself out. As he fell, who was left standing was a proud looking semi-transparent nerd. "A Gentleman doesn't manhandle a lady like that, Buster Brown," he said, not that the now comatose agent could hear him, and he turned to the spies. "I was told you ladies could use some help with these bullies." Poindexter declared.

"We'll take all the help we can get," said Sammy.

Clover smiled, moved toward Poindexter, as she walked her fingers up his arm, and asked "Thanks for the save. I'm Clover, what's your name, cutie?"

"Poindexter," he stuttered.

"Looking forward to working with ya' Poindexter," she replied and smiled.

Poindexter stammered but didn't actually say anything. The others rolled their eyes before focusing back on the enemies before them. Poindexter wasn't exactly Clover's usual type by a wide margin, but he did save her from an enemy and such bravery makes a difference. His entrance was also quite impressive, and to her he was kinda cute, in a nerdy sort of way. She also enjoyed flustering the bespectacled specter inexperienced with the attention of the fairer sex, and Clover certainly qualified. In any case the quartet was back to clearing out agents.

In a large office near the corner of the facility, Agent Gamma was reviewing reports submitted by his subordinates. Project Looking Glass was going well. So well, he had accelerated the plan by several months. He had his mysterious benefactor to thank for that. Most of the designs, resources of Axiom Labs, and the knowledge about the ghost zone were invaluable. Aegis was ready now while Damocles and Panzer Geist were about a week away from being fully operational. Soon, those detestable ghosts would be completely eradicated from the world. Or so he thought. In reality, he had been dancing in the palm of a certain villain's hand to the exact opposite purpose.

They had sufficient numbers of ghosts to begin phase 3 and could start feeding their patterns into the calibration matrix immediately. I'll probably start with that obnoxious Siren that gave my men so much trouble today, he thought, referring to Ember. One thing that he needed to remedy first was his missing agent. They had all gone off grid so if any of them had a sudden change of heart or were caught, they would be a security risk.

The rest of his team had just reported back saying he had attacked them and disappeared. At first glance, it would appear he had a change of heart however, the report also said they were tracking a ghost that seemed to disappear and reappear on their scanners. He was probably overshadowed, and the ghost that did so took him somewhere to question or kill him. If it was a local ghost, he may already be dead. If it was Phantom, he would try to question him. This would be a potential worst case scenario as he was working with GJ. If he tipped them off, then GJ would start looking for them. However, IF it was Phantom, they had time to rescue their agent and capture Phantom at the same time. The agent he took was tough as nails and Phantom's psychological profile indicated he didn't have the cold-hearted brutality needed to break him. He didn't realize Danny didn't have to.

Soon the search party would soon depart to his last known location. As he pondered this, he began to hear a commotion going on at the other end of the facility. He got up from his desk to see what was going on, and what he saw left him speechless. A GJ speeder was hovering near the ghost cells, and his agents were getting flattened like paper dolls. How did they get in? Why hasn't the alarm sounded? Why haven't the auto defenses activated? No matter.

Gamma ran to the alarm button in his office and smashed it. Then…nothing. He hit it again…and again. The alarm didn't work. He could also set off the alarm on his computer too so that was his next move. "Computer, initiate intruder alert, authorization Gamma 3-3 Echo." Nothing happened. He repeated even louder, "Computer! Initiate intruder alert! Authorization Gamma 3-3 Echo!"

This time a green and red face with a wicked smile appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that," Technus said in his best deadpan voice before he began to laugh hysterically. He knew the agent's name wasn't David, but this was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

He had already infiltrated the main computer and taken complete control of the system. Alarms and defenses were deactivated and some agents were even locked in rooms by doors controlled by the central computer system. Isolated as they were, they would be easy enough to arrest later. Even better was that all of the communications with the outside were cut except one. This was a direct access line to Wade and GJ.

They had already begun to download the GIWs entire database and start overriding its command codes. Not only that, but GJ were recording the entire battle both from the speeders onboard cameras, and the entire surveillance camera network in the base. They still needed time to complete the process so Technus had to remain in the computer for a little longer.

"Just surrender now," Technus suggested after he had stopped laughing. "You will receive fewer broken bones."

"I'll show you broken bones, you ectoplasmic abomination," Gamma shouted. He darted from his office to one piece of functional tech that was not connected to the mainframe.

He slid down a ladder and over to a hanger that thankfully was not tied into the system. After opening it just enough for him to get in, he ran over to the hardware docked inside. This should be strong enough to turn the tide back in his favor. He jumped in and initiated the startup sequence. Technus knew what he was up to and was aware of the danger it posed.

He opened a comm line to Danny and Kim through the Fenton Phone and Kimmunicator. "Danny, Kim, the boss of this operation is preparing a weapon I do not have control over. I am unable to leave the mainframe yet so I can't stop him. You have about 10 seconds before he will reach you. Don't worry about Ms. Simpson's team; they are in a section of the base further away," Technus warned.

"What kind of weapon?" Danny shouted. Technus' answer was interrupted by the sound of rending metal and heavy thuds.

"Probably Black Sabbath's baby over there." Ember responded as a 10 foot tall metal behemoth tore through the bay it had been hangered in and charged with a speed that didn't match its size.

Danny, Kim, Ember, and Johnny dodged the initial charge and observed their new opponent with concern. All the GIW agents near them had been dealt with so at least there was only one enemy to contend with. This metal monstrosity had a humanoid shape but was more rotund in the body. Its limbs were also very stout and seemed to contain numerous weapons. Even worse, it appeared as if it had an ominous green glow around it. Danny didn't know what it was, but he did know it felt…sinister.

Having stopped its charge, the armored enemy turned around and glared at them. Or it would if a metal armor face could glare.

"Anyone bring a can opener?" Kim quipped.

"Let's find out," Johnny answered as he charged in on his bike. Tire iron raised high, he swung with all his might only to scream in pain when it connected. As he tried to retreat, the iron giant swung a powerful backhand catching Johnny fully. He was launched across the base and landed hard in a daze.

Finally, their enemy spoke. "You ectoplasmic trash dare to attack us?! Earth belongs to living humans, not the dead! You will begone, or you will be destroyed! Actually, after what you have done, just destroyed!"

Gamma raised his arms deploying anti-ghost cannons on its forearms and began to fire as the group dove for cover. As Kim and Danny were hiding, she asked, "Thoughts?"

Danny replied, "I think he has an ecto-shield surrounding him. That's why Johnny got shocked when he hit him. I doubt our ghost powers will have much effect. We will run out of power before the shield will. Our best bet is to get behind him and use brute force to smash the joints. Your suit doesn't use ectoplasm-energy so his shield shouldn't affect you. I'll go right, and get his attention. You go left and try to get on his back." Kim nodded and got ready.

Danny darted out from cover, still visible. Gamma swung his arm cannon to fire and Danny went invisible. He continued to track Danny and shouted before firing "Not gonna' work, spook!"

Danny went intangible through the floor to avoid the incoming fire and cursed before popping back up behind cover again. Of course he had the same sensors as the guys in the ghost zone, he thought.

"Hey dipstick! No one shoots at my man!" Ember declared before releasing a power chord from her guitar.

When it struck, his shields flared angrily but held steady. Gamma laughed and said "That won't work either, you little brat!"

As he raised his arm to fire at her, a smaller more nimble armored form leapt up behind him and began to break him apart. She started with his raised arm gun. A hard spinning ax kick at its connection point was enough to cause it to spark and fail. This was followed with a spinning heel kick to the armored head causing further short circuits to form at the neck. As she retreated to position for another attack, she was hit by the remaining functional cannon, but her armor held firm. She attempted to get back behind him for another attack. Unfortunately, Gamma was on to her now.

Danny knew she needed help and shouted, "Ember, keep him distracted! Shoot him in the face!"

Danny fired off a ghost ray striking the helmet dead center and the shields flared again. Ember also fired. They weren't doing any damage, but were causing him to focus on them, instead of Kim. With his other functional arm cannon, he leveled it at Danny with the intent to strafe it across him to Ember.

"USELESS! USELESS! You cannot harm me with such feeble attacks!" Gamma shouted.

Danny smirked and murmured, "Wasn't trying to," as Kim jumped in and smashed the second arm cannon from his blindside. She twisted and punched what seemed like a sensor array causing it to send out sparks and broken pieces.

Green blades popped out from the machine's forearms and swung as Kim tried to retreat. The strike connected with her midsection, but her armor protected her again. She was propelled away, but the veteran cheerleader flipped in midair and landed gracefully much to Danny's relief. Ember began shredding on her guitar in a manner that would cause any heavy metal guitarist to swoon, firing shots like a machine gun to keep his attention while Danny grabbed a hefty metal beam laying nearby.

His enhanced strength really came in handy. While Gamma was focused on Ember and closing on her, Danny took his new weapon and charged him from his side. He swung down with all his might on the elbow joint and the blade on that arm ceased glowing. The arm also seemed to stop working altogether.

"DAMN YOU!" he shouted as he brought his other forearm blade around to skewer Danny. Fortunately, Kim lept in and landed a flying double mule kick on the other arm's elbow. This both stopped the arms momentum preventing him from bringing the blade to bear and broke that arm also.

As if to shout "I'm not finished!" two smaller blaster batteries popped out of the machine's shoulders and targeted Kim and Danny. Both pulled back quickly to find cover and prepare for the next attack.

Johnny had recovered, but knew he couldn't do much in this fight. That didn't mean he didn't have a card to play though. "Let's give this jerk some bad luck." He muttered. He focused his ability toward Gamma and hoped it would be enough.

The shoulder blasters were less powerful but more nimble. Whatever targeting system it was using was also better. Both Kim and Danny took several hits as they moved to cover but nothing that stopped them. It would still be a bad idea to allow those attacks to continue to connect though. They would need to come up with a new plan, fast.

"Danny, we need to end this quickly. Busting this guy's armor is eating power way too fast, and Technus can't give me a boost like last time. I only have enough for one more big attack," Kim said.

Danny saw some large metal disks on a table and had an idea. "Hey Kim, ever played frisbee?" he said with a smirk.

She saw the table and smirked back. "All the time," she replied.

As they made a dash for the disks, Ember fired again. This distraction was just enough for the duo to arm themselves and start chucking their makeshift ammo. The first couple of throws missed as they were getting their eye in. Just before Gamma was able to refocus his attack on them, his foot stepped on a broken container of test ectoplasm and slipped. This threw his aim off just enough to miss as both Danny and Kim's next throws connected. The guns were cleaved and ceased to function, and he cursed his bad luck.

Gamma realized his suit was out of weapons. If only they had waited a week to attack. All he had left was to use the machine itself as a ram and the broken arms as flails. He charged Danny and Kim, but about half way, his vision was obscured by a system glitch. When it returned, his targets were no longer there. Before he could make sense of this, he was slammed from the side by a powerful strike.

Danny and Kim had circled during the charge. He held Kim's arms as he swung her around like an Olympic hammer toss. Once released, Kim used her extra kinetic energy to deliver another powerful flying double mule kick to the machine's helmet. As she flipped back from the attack, her Centurion suit powered down and returned to its dormant form. This knocked him to the ground and completely severed critical components. Alarms were ringing as systems were failing. The Machine was useless.

As the hatch opened, Gamma tumbled out and tried to limp away. The suit could absorb impacts, but this was beyond its design limit. He was slightly concussed, a shoulder was dislocated, and an ankle was broken. He had lost, but he wasn't beaten. Not yet. Danny, Kim, Johnny, and Ember started to close in on him to finish the fight.

"It's over. You lost. Surrender before we break more bones." Shouted Danny in a threatening tone.

Gamma silently glared at him. As he looked at the others, he realized where he had landed. He just had to move four paces back and he could fire the experimental cannon they had been developing. It worked, but it was not fully operational yet. It also had limited ammunition due to the difficult nature of refining it, but it would be enough. He began to slowly move back those four paces to try to keep space between himself and his enemies. The broken ankle slowed him considerably, but didn't stop him. The enemies before him continued to close. Just a little more, he thought.

Now the group was in front of the stricken machine which had landed on what used to be the backstop for the cannon's test firing. Agent Gamma took a deep breath and shouted, "Nothing is over, deadman!" as he slammed his fist on a large button he was now standing next to.

A brief whine was followed by three loud reports. The four hero's scattered to avoid the blasts. The ghosts easily dodged and Danny fired an ectoplasm ray at Gamma finally knocking him unconscious. The one human was not so fortunate. Although she was able to avoid a direct strike from these basketball sized flaming projectiles, she still caught part of one on her now unprotected side. The shot left some of itself behind on Kim as it flew by.

5 Hours Until The Concert

The next thing that went through Kim's mind was pain. Absolute, blinding, excruciating pain. The kind that blocked out almost every other thought. She could barely even hear her beloved's voice over her own scream. Danny was in a panic. His girlfriend had just been set on fire by a substance that didn't want to extinguish. He didn't know what else to do but call for help.

"Technus, I need help! What's going on?" Technus had recently completed his tasks in the computer, so he was able to come out and help.

Technus gave the flaming injury a quick glance then flew into the cannon that fired the shot. He had been able to read a little bit about the cannon while in the system, but not a great deal. He had been too busy with other tasks. Kim was still writhing in pain as fire covered her side from the middle of her rib cage to her hip bone. Technus returned to his side and said, "Danny, this was an ecto-based plasma cannon. The fire will burn until its fuel is exhausted, but by then the damage will be too great to be survivable."

Terror filled his eyes and Danny shouted, "Is there anything we can do?!"

Technus paused and then answered with a pained expression, "Only one. This plasma bonds with ectoplasmic entities. If you overshadow Kim and then exit her body on the side of the plasma fire, it will bond with your form only and stop burning her." Danny moved to dive into Kim, but Technus blocked his path and shouted, "WAIT! There is a good chance to survive this. You will need to remain in your ghost form no matter what. If you can avoid passing out from the pain, the plasma will eventually burn itself out. Your ghost regenerative abilities will keep you from being consumed immediately, but your human regenerative abilities will not. We will feed you energy to help you stay transformed." Technus beckoned Ember and Johnny with a hand motion and moved out of the way while he gave him a serious look. "Good luck, Daniel."

Danny nodded and dove into Kim. Her eyes shot open with red irises before Danny came out on her side. Just as he said, the plasma had bonded to him and left Kim. Danny's screams could be heard throughout the lab. Technus directed the other ghosts to start pushing power into Danny in a slow and controlled fashion while he dove into the Fenton Phone. There were some people who needed to get here, fast.

The other teams had just finished clearing out the agents and collecting the remaining ghosts. For the latter group, they had just enough room in the thermoses to handle all the ghosts. They breathed a collective sigh of relief when they double checked the cells and confirmed they were all empty. The others had done a good job keeping the agents off their backs, and they only had to deal with a handful the entire time. The sounds of extreme destruction had subsided, so they guessed the battle had pretty much finished. They were about to head back to the speeder when a piercing scream got their attention.

Ron recognized it immediately and broke into a sprint "K.P!" he screamed as he ran. Tucker and Sam followed as best they could, but Ron was an outstanding runner and they weren't. Soon her scream was replaced with another that they recognized.

"Oh no. Danny!" They still weren't fast, but they did somehow quicken their pace.

At the spies' location opposite the sidekick crew and Kim and Danny, they had cleared out the last of the agents they could find. Clover had been flirting with Poindexter the whole time to the annoyance of her friends. This wasn't a hard fight, but this was still a battlefield. They would have preferred a little more professionalism. As for the young ghost, if had blood, he would be the shade of a ripe tomato. He didn't dislike the attention, but it was new and unusual. Technus had told them to stay at their current location due to an enemy Kim and Danny were about to fight. Apparently, it was one that he didn't think they could beat. They trusted him and held their position. They felt both relief to not be near it, but concerned for their friends as something very large began making a great deal of noise. Eventually, those sounds ended in a loud crash and were replaced with silence.

Then three reports were followed by a scream. "Kim!" they collectively said and broke into a sprint. Less than a minute later another scream filled their ears.

"Danny!" Sammy was in full panic and pushed her body to the limit. What she saw filled her with horror. Her co-girlfriend was on the ground still in extreme pain while her boyfriend was…ON FIRE! Terror gripped her heart, but she did have the wherewithal to at least ask what she could do.

Technus, who had returned from the Fenton Phone and was feeding Danny energy, responded. "Keep him focused and conscious. If he passes out, he dies. Beware of the plasma burning him."

Simultaneously, Ember shouted "Poindexter, get your nerdy butt over here and start feeding power to Babypop!"

Both did as they were instructed. Sammy grabbed Danny's hand and felt a grip that almost broke the bones in her hand. He instinctively held himself back from crushing her hand like he did the agents, but only just barely.

"Danny, stay with us. You'll survive this. Just listen to my voice. Remember you still need to meet our daughter Marie. She will be cute with lovely red hair like her grandmother. She will be smart like her mother and brave like her father." As Sammy kept saying traits of their future offspring, and how much all the girls loved him, Ember decided she didn't want to be left out.

"She's right, Babypop. Spygal isn't the only one you need to make a mom. I want a daughter too. She'll be a cute musician like her mom, but have her dad's black hair."

Johnny chuckled at the exchange, but kept focus on the task of keeping Danny alive. Ron was next to make it, not even winded, with Sam and Tucker huffing and puffing a significant distance behind.

Ron rushed to Kim's side and grabbed her hand. "Hang on K.P. Help is coming." He knew the Director was sending reinforcements. He just didn't know how long it would take.

Back at GJ headquarters, the Director was monitoring the situation and the reinforcements heading their way. The sidekick crew was working efficiently, and she was pleased with the results. Each of the hero teams were doing quite well also. She could tell that Danny was at an elevated stress level given the injuries his opponents were suffering. This was still within acceptable parameters, and understandable given the circumstances.

As the battle progressed, Technus alerted the Director, "Madam Director, a new enemy is about to take to the field, and I can't stop it. It will be a challenging opponent for Danny and Kim. I have advised the WOOHP agents to keep their distance as they are under-armored and their weapons will be ineffective."

"Thank you Technus. Ops, ETA on reinforcements?" She asked commandingly.

"Four minutes ten seconds, Ma'am," he replied.

"Can they shorten that?" she asked.

"Negative, Ma'am. They are already above redline, but I have advised them of the current situation."

The Director grimaced. Stay alive, young ones, she thought.

She watched with concern and pride as her young protégés analyzed their armored foe, came up with a plan, and took him down with a skill that some of her other agents didn't even have. However, her worry crept back in as they closed in to finish the fight. He's a cornered animal now. This will be the most dangerous part, she thought. Her breath hitched as he slammed a button and fired a very large weapon. Then she saw Kim take a hit and begin to burn.

"Ops, ETA?!" she almost screamed.

"Forty five seconds, ma'am. Medics moving to the front of the stick." He replied almost an octave higher than before.

She watched as things got worse when Phantom overshadowed Kim and came out burning even more aggressively than Kim.

"Twenty seconds!" the ops tech shouted anticipating the request. "Ten seconds! Five seconds! Breaching!"

She watched the feed as GJ landing craft broke through the roof at a safe point away from the friendlies. Medics jumped out first and made a beeline for the injured heroes. Now we wait, she thought.

Back at Fenton Works, the Fentons, Valerie, Star, and Kitty were watching the battle unfold courtesy of Wade. As nervous as they were, they couldn't help but be proud of their son. He was brave, strong, and smart. A natural leader and a good man. A hero. Fear crept into their hearts as the armored opponent took the field. Then relief when he won followed by horror as Kim was hit with fire. Jack was first to act by running down to the Specter Speeder to make sure all the medical gear they had was thrown inside. He didn't see what came next. Everyone who was still watching had their hearts freeze when they saw Danny emerge from Kim on fire. They almost didn't hear when Technus opened a communication line. In fact, he had to shout their names twice.

"JACK! GET IN HERE! Technus, what's happening!?" Maddie screamed. Jack came running back and gasped at what he saw.

Technus wasted no time, "I'll explain on the way. Get to the Specter Speeder with all the ecto-medical equipment you have, anything that might extinguish an ectoplasm-based fire, and Kitty. I have uploaded the ghost zone coordinates of the GIW portal. This will get you there quickest."

The Fenton's put on a determined look and began to move. "All of you, stay here for now and stay alert. If there is another part of this plan, this is when it will be sprung." said Maddie as Jack had already bolted downstairs to prep the speeder. After getting nods from everyone, she turned to Star, put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Danny is strong. If anyone can make it, it's him. Fenton's are stubborn, even when it comes to dying."

The last part hurt her to say, but it was something she wanted to believe. Something she HAD to believe. She ran down the stairs, jumped in the Specter Speeder, and shut the hatch. Jack was already in the pilot seat with Kitty in a rear seat. "Punch it, Jack!" she shouted.

The Specter Speeder rocketed through the portal into the ghost zone and made a sharp turn toward their objective. Jack pushed the engines to their limits.

"Alright Technus. Explain." Maddie shouts into the phone that is on the loudspeaker. Technus was using Danny's Fenton Phone while feeding him energy. He told them what Kim and Danny had been struck with and how it happened. He was also telling them what the medics were trying without much success.

"One minute" Jack said as he pushed the already redlined engines even further.

Maddie told Technus to ask the medics if they had any knowledge of ectoplasmic burns. When they said no, she told them to avoid applying anything to Kim's injuries. Ectoplasmic based burns were tricky and could be made worse if the right treatment was not applied. This was knowledge her family learned through firsthand experience.

"Ten seconds! Clear the portal! We're coming in hot!" Jack shouted through the phone.

Technus looked over at the portal and thankfully, no one was near it. "Clear" he replied just in time for the speeder to burst through the green vortex.

Having already decided their tasks, everyone jumped out of the speeder and ran. Maddie took her ecto-burn kit and slid next to Kim. After a quick scan to confirm her suspicions, she applied liberal amounts of ecto-burn gel to Kim's side. This special salve not only provided immediate relief to the pain Kim was feeling, but also began neutralizing the toxins associated with ecto-based injuries. This would greatly accelerate her recovery. The relief allowed her to relax slightly, but exhaustion was close behind the pain. Maddie could see the worry in Kim's eyes as she turned her head to Danny. "It's alright, sweetie. Jack knows what he is doing. Danny will be ok. Just rest." As Kim drifted off to sleep, the worry finally showed her face. Her son was still in danger.

Kitty flew out of the speeder and directly to Johnny.

He was greeted with a powerful hug and kiss and said "Glad to see you too, babe. We need some extra hands to help Danny."

"Sure thing Johnny, and I'm glad you're ok." She said as she started to smoothly feed Danny energy.

Jack kneeled next to Danny with the same medical kit Maddie had, a green fire extinguisher, and some extra safety equipment including a modified welders mask and long fireproof gloves, He too scanned Danny to ensure he knew what he was dealing with.

Confirming his suspicions, he put down a tray and discharged some of the extinguisher into it. The medics next to him were confused but knew better than to say anything. The Director has already informed them that the Fentons were coming with more knowledge about ecto-based wounds than they had. Jack scooped up some of the foam from the tray and slowly began to apply it; starting low and working his way up. This was delicate work. The Fenton Extinguisher was not filled with typical fire retardant. This had ecto-suppressing foam. Spraying it on a ghost would cause them to become extremely weak and was similar to the cells the ghosts were in minutes ago. In this case, Jack was hoping this would put out the fire burning his son. Nothing else had worked.

He had to be careful though as Danny staying transformed was critical to his survival, and this foam, if improperly applied, could force him to change back. Jack was more focused now than he had ever been before. His expert hands applied the foam, and slowly the fire began to wane. He kept working and soon enough the fire was out.

From when he took on the flames to being extinguished, Danny burned for only eight short minutes, but in his mind it felt like hours. Putting out the flames was only half the battle though. Now he had to heal. After the foam and ecto-napalm residue was removed, what was left on his side was a mash of ectoplasmic goo instead of his normal jumpsuit. He needed to stay conscious and heal. In Danny's mind, the pain decreased. It was no longer the nuclear napalm that blotted out anything else except the faint sound of his girlfriend's voices. This was now just a white-hot branding iron.

It was still extremely painful, but he started to be able to think of something other than the pain. "Kim," he weakly breathed. "How's Kim?"

Jack replied, "Your mom is working on her now. Focus on healing, son. Don't think about anything else but healing."

Danny complied. After 20 minutes, the ectoplasmic mush had resolidified into his hazmat suit. As exhaustion was about to whisk Danny away, he had one more loose end to tie up.

"Dad, Technus. The chamber, check it out. Something's odd." He then passed out and changed back. His side was covered in angry red scar tissue, but he was alive. The GJ medics moved in and put both of them on stretchers to take them for further treatment.

"Maddie, go with Danny and Kim. I'll catch up." Maddie nodded and followed the stretchers.

Sammy's communicator went off and their handler's face appeared on the screen. "Jer, what's the word?" She asked.

"The reinforcements will take the situation from here. You are to gather everyone, and join Daniel and Kim in the GJ landing craft that will take them to the hospital. The Director asked me to debrief you ASAP. We will use one of the hospital's conference rooms."

Tucker was standing nearby and said "Before we do that, we need to get the Specter Speeder back, and the folks at Fenton Works will need a pick-up to Danny. Can you pick Sam, and I up from there with three more?"

Jerry looked off screen for a moment and replied, "Done. See you at the hospital, Mr. Foley."

Sam and Tucker took Ron's thermoses so he could go with Kim. As much as they wanted to go with Danny too, they knew they had a job to finish. Ember also joined the group heading to the hospital, but Kitty, Johnny, and Poindexter would head back home using the GIW portal.

Before Poindexter went through the portal, Clover went up to him. "Thanks again for all the help today. We really appreciated it." She then kissed him on the cheek to the surprise of all around but none more than the semi-transparent nerd. With a hand on his cheek, and a dopey grin on his face, he somehow floated a little more weightlessly through the portal.

Sam and Tucker followed behind through the portal and headed back to Fenton Works. Given how hard Jack had pushed the engines getting here, it would take them a little longer to get back. Once they did, they began emptying the thermoses back into the ghost zone while others waited in the GJ craft sent to pick them up and take them to hospital.

Jack and Technus headed over to the chamber near the middle of the lab. Jack began pulling off panels and looking at the wiring while Technus just phased into it. After a couple minutes, Technus came back out. "Jack, it seems like very little of the ghost's energy goes into the antenna array. Most of it goes through this cable that goes into the ground."

"I noticed that too." Jack replied. "Purpose aside, it seems…wasteful. Can you follow this cable and see where it leads?"

Technus nodded and disappeared through the floor. He was back almost immediately. "Jack, you need to see this." Technus put his hand on Jack's shoulder and they both went intangible through the floor.

Below the extraction chamber was another room with a similar looking chamber and a large number of cylinders around it all tied together with the cable that ran through the floor above. Technus jumped into this machine too and came out half a minute later.

While he waited, Jack noticed something extremely unsettling about the room. It wasn't a normal room. It was a tomb. It had no doors, windows, hatches or anything else a human could enter through and a "sarcophagus" in the middle. The only way in seemed to be by going intangible through the floor. Only a ghost could get in…or out. A chill ran down his spine, which for a ghost hunter was no mean feat.

Technus came back out and said, "The energy extracted from the ghosts above us is fed into this chamber to be absorbed by whoever is in it. I suspect that this was the real reason for the plan."

My son and his girlfriend are laying in hospital beds, for this? Jack sighed, "Oh Vladdie, why?" As he seethed with rage and pain, he shot the chamber and its control panel with the blaster he had on him, rendering the device inoperative. "Nicholai, if you please?" he asked.

Technus nodded again as he carried Jack back up. When they rematerialized, Agent Du approached Jack and said, "Sir, the Director has requested your presence at the hospital and for Mr. Technus' assistance in analyzing the equipment here." He turned to Technus and continued, "She would like a brief as soon as you are able, sir."

Technus nodded and said, "It would be my pleasure. Jack you are needed elsewhere, and we both know it."

Back at the GJ ops center, the Director watched as Danny and Kim were loaded up and said, "Prepare my helicopter, I'm going to the hospital. I need to handle notifying Dr. Possible personally."

One of her aides turned and questioned, "Ma'am, being somewhere that public is against standard protocol, as is you performing the notification process. Are you sure?"

What her aide said was accurate, but today seemed a day for exceptions to protocol. "Yes," she replied "Ms. Possible is not one of my agents and a minor. Besides the fact that this is the right thing to do, if we ever want her help again, I need to do this. This was partially a failure on us as well for not keeping a closer eye on the GIW."

The aide nodded and began the process. "The bird will be ready by the time we get to the hanger, ma'am. After that, ETA will be 10 minutes from wheels up."

4 Hours Until The Concert

Dr. Possible was part way through her shift. She had just finished a consult when her pager went off. "ICU nurse station, STAT." That can't be good, she thought. She hopped into the nearby elevator to the ICU floor and started jogging. As she rounded the corner, the sight of GJ uniforms waiting at the nurse's station caused heart to freeze. She broke into a sprint until she was close enough to ask the only question on her mind.

The Director preempted it and said, "She's alive, and expected to recover."

Relief washed over her, but only enough for her heart to start beating again, not clear the ice from her veins. "What happened?" she asked almost in a shout.

"Plasma burns, follow me. Your husband and sons will be picked up by GJ from your house soon. I suggest you call to give them a heads up once I tell you more." The Director replied. She knew this conversation was better had somewhere more private.

They entered Kim's room which was guarded by GJ security. Besides Kim, who was still unconscious, was Ron who had finished debriefing, another GJ doctor, and Maddie Fenton, who was examining blood samples. After greeting Ron and Maddie with hugs, she turned back to the Director and said, "Explain."

The Director told her about how they had uncovered an enemy plot, raced to stop it, succeeded, but were injured in the process. She couldn't believe what she was hearing when the story got to how Kim had been burned and how Danny had then set himself on fire to save her. Ann asked to see the video of the event. As painful as it was, she was a doctor and needed to know more. The Director obliged and then continued the story.

Along the way, Kim stirred and slowly opened her eyes. The Director paused her explanation as Ann turned her attention to her daughter. "How are you feeling Kimmie-cub?" Ann asks softly, doing her best to hold back tears.

"Like I took a nap on a hot stove. You should see the other guy." She replied with a weak smile.

Ann gave her daughter a gentle hug and said, "I'm glad you're ok. Your Dad and brothers are on their way."

A realization began to dawn on Kim. She was in the hospital. Not only are her boyfriend's parents here, but his mom is in the room with her. She knew Danny was still injured and unconscious. Her boyfriend wouldn't be able to visit even though he would certainly know what happened. In fact, this exact event was the whole reason for her suggestion for Danny to have two girlfriends in the first place. His absence was something her father would definitely notice. Kim said, "Mom, we are going to have to tell dad about Danny after this. We won't be able to hide it."

Ann came to the same realization her daughter did and started to think. "You know it's not our secret to tell, sweetie. Though I'm sure Danny wouldn't object under the circumstances," giving Maddie a brief look, "But I don't think this is the right time or place. I know your father, and right now all he will care about is that you are ok. Oh he'll notice Danny's absence for sure, but he won't say anything. At least not here. I think we should focus his attention on how Phantom saved you. As painful as it was, I had them show me the security video, so I could understand just what happened. I'll make sure the right questions get asked when the Director explains things to your father. He'll want to meet Phantom and thank him personally, but he won't find him until Danny is strong enough, and it's safe for him to transform again. That might be the best time. He will be in a better mood while dealing with his daughter's savior anyway. It is not going to be good for Danny Fenton though." Ann glanced back at Maddie again with a worried look. "His opinion of him will get worse before it gets better."

Kim weakly replied with a smirk "Well, dad DID try to make missiles to shoot at Danny and threatened to launch him into a black hole. I guess a few more days won't make too much difference."

"I'm sure you're right, Kimmie." Ann leaned over her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. She had a call to make.

Kim sighed, knowing the difficulty to come. She had one more thing to say before her family arrived. "Dr. Director, the suit's power supply needs tweaking…again. I don't think they anticipated me fist fighting giant power-armor suits."

She replied, "So it seems Ms. Possible. I'm glad to see you are awake and doing well under the circumstances."

Kim smiled and nodded.

While this was taking place, Maddie was looking over the test results with great concern. Kim was hit with an experimental ectoplasmic weapon that potentially entered her bloodstream. The next 72 hours would be critical in determining if there were any side effects beyond the injury. Even after, it was a tossup. Ecto-plasmic weapons like this were unpredictable.

Danny's room was on the opposite end of the ICU and also under guard. Everyone else in the debrief came here after they checked in on Kim. Even though he was still unconscious, his vitals were good. His scar tissue was still persisting much more than normal though. Jack attributed that to the interplay between the ecto-foam he had to apply, the severe damage his ghost body sustained, and how his human flesh experienced the sensation of burning from the inside, turning to mush, and reforming.

About 15 minutes after Ann got to Kim's room, James and the twins entered with a hurried rate. The family was embraced in a careful hug and then James asked the Director with the normal anger of a father, "What happened?"

She began, "Let me start with, I'm sorry. This was partially my fault. We should have been monitoring the agency responsible for this more closely. Because we weren't, a hostile villain was able to infiltrate and hijack them for his own goals. There are some things I can't reveal due to classification, but I will tell you what I can. Kim and Phantom were the first to notice the plot and bring it to my attention. They were also in the best position to stop it. We provided what support we could on short notice, but their teams did an excellent job on their own before we could arrive. Those responsible have been arrested, and the plot stopped. This operation was going well, until the apprehension of the ringleader. He was able to trigger one of their weapons just before being defeated. Ms. Possible was able to dodge a direct hit, but still took a glancing blow. Unfortunately, even that would have been a fatal hit but for Phantom's actions. The battle suit we provided would have protected her, but the fight exhausted its power supply and had already deactivated."

The Director gave James some time to process what he just heard when Ann chimed in, "How did Phantom save her?"

The Director responded "This was an ectoplasm-based weapon similar to napalm that sticks to whatever it hits as it burns. Because it was ectoplasm based, it had an affinity with ectoplasm-based entities. In other words, ghosts. Phantom was able to place himself in a position for the "ecto-napalm" to move off her and onto himself. His only chance to save her was to set himself on fire so that she could be extinguished."

James was stunned. He couldn't believe his ears. He set himself on fire to save my daughter? He was still holding Kim's hand, and she could feel it start to shake. Unfortunately for James, the revelations were not over yet, and things were about to get heavier.

"Did Phantom survive?" Ann asked.

"Barely. Some allied ghosts were able to keep him alive long enough for the Fenton's to arrive and begin treatment. Coincidentally, that is why Mrs. Fenton is here. She is treating your daughter while Mr. Fenton is still treating Phantom."

Ann pushed once more to drive the point home, "Did he know he would survive when he set himself on fire?"

The Director replied, "The reporting says initially he didn't. In fact he had to be stopped from just jumping in so he could be told survival was even a possibility and what he needed to do in order for that to happen."

James was barely able to stay on his feet. "Can we see him?" James asked meekly.

The Director shook her head, "Unfortunately, no. Due to the nature of his wounds, he is in a special isolation room, and still unconscious. We will let him know you wish to meet him when he wakes."

"How long will Kim stay here?" Ann asked.

The Director replied, "We will keep her here for observation for three days, and then she can be released. After that, it will be about two weeks before she is back to 100%. In case you were wondering, Phantom will likely be longer as his wounds are more severe. We are not sure exactly how long due to his unique constitution."

Maddie flinched a little at the last part. The Director put her finger to her ear in the tell-tale pose that someone was speaking to her through an earpiece then told the room, "It seems Phantom is awake and feels, quote, 'like Ghost Rider and the Human Torch rolled me up and kicked me around like a soccer ball'."

Kim giggled and then groaned. Maddie quietly breathed a sigh of relief. If her son could make jokes, he would be ok.

The Possibles remained by Kim's bed making small talk, crying, just being thankful she survived, and thankful to the ghost that saved her. Each had something different in the back of their mind. Kim felt both relief that they had won and lived to tell the tale and concern for Danny knowing they would have to tell her dad soon. Ann was eternally grateful to Danny, but worried because she knew what was going through her husband's mind right now, which was "Where's Danny?". The twins were angry that her battle suit was insufficient to last the whole fight. They knew they could make it better. James felt an eternal debt to Phantom and hoped to meet him soon and thank him as only a grateful father could.

One thing he couldn't help but notice though was the absence of a certain someone. Someone that was supposed to be the most important person in Kim's life. Someone whose mother called to this very hospital room to tend to his daughter's grave injury. There was no possible way he didn't know. Internally, James reinforced his rejection and disdain of Danny. One of the milder thoughts that went through his mind was, He's probably with his other girlfriends right now. Just as Ann predicted, he would not mention it at the hospital, but his venom against Danny would just continue to build over the next few days waiting for the target of his wrath to show himself.

3 and 1/2 Hours Until The Concert

Danny was awake but felt absolutely terrible. Given the day he just had, it was not surprising. His girlfriend had been kidnaped and nearly dropped in a giant Cuisinart, been psychologically tortured by the group trying to do so, nearly killed the guy torturing him, launched an attack against an enemy he had little information on and outnumbered his group almost 20 to 1, beat down a giant power armor, seen his other girlfriend get set on fire, set himself on fire to save her, and finally reformed part of his body from the human equivalent of cooked hamburger. This would definitely qualify as a "doozy of a day."

As he looked around his hospital room and the crowd of people surrounding his bed, his eyes stopped on Ember. "How do you feel?"

Ember smiled and quipped, "Better than you Babypop. At least I didn't go swimming in a bonfire."

Danny chuckled and then groaned. "How's Kim?" he asked worriedly.

The GJ doctor in the room responded, "She is awake and doing well. The burn gel applied by your mother has accelerated the healing and she should be back to 100% in less than two weeks."

Danny visibly relaxed at the news and then asked the next question on his mind. "Did anyone else get hurt?"

This time, Sammy chimed in with a V for victory gesture, "Nope. We all made it safe and sound. All the ghosts were freed and sent back to the ghost zone, all the bad guys' gear got smashed, and they were all arrested. It was a complete win for the good guys." With a sly grin, she continued, "And Clover made a new friend with Poindexter. I don't think that poor boy had ever been kissed before she did." Clover went beet red, and the whole gang erupted in laughter.

Danny glanced at the clock on the wall and realized Ember had somewhere to be. "Ember, you should probably go get ready for your concert," he said.

Ember gave him a pained look. "You nearly died today, my place is right here."

"No," he replied as firmly as he could, "We just went through hell. We didn't do that just for you to cancel the concert. Go rock their faces off." Danny said with a smile.

Star chimed in, "You know, you could always dedicate a song or the concert to Danny, Kim, and the others. I bet a musician like you could come up with a special song for them."

Ember thought for a moment as a grin spread across her face. "I like where your head's at Blondie. I'll make sure you can watch the concert from here. Let Cheerleader know too." Ember gave Danny a kiss and flew through the ceiling toward the concert venue.

Jack and the doctors continued to examine the injuries and everyone else engaged in small talk until the Director walked in and stood next to Danny's bed.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Lousy" was the weak reply.

The Director smiled, placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper so only Danny could hear what came next. In a grave tone, she said, "We examined the injuries of the agent you brought back. We also recovered the camera on his suit and reviewed the incident. I understand what he said that pushed you over the edge. This incident has been classified as having been the result of a local resident of the ghost zone during their unauthorized invasion and therefore, beyond our jurisdiction. However, this sort of behavior is absolutely unacceptable. You're better than this, and you know it."

Danny sunk into his bed. She was right. He let his anger get the better of him, and he did something horrible. It was one thing to fail trying to save someone or something, like what happened to Valerie's house. This was far, far worse. He felt disgusted and ashamed and began to wonder if the pain he suffered was enough penance for his sin. He wasn't so sure.

The Director wasn't finished. "Understand, in no uncertain terms, this will be the LAST time you receive such consideration. Be the hero we know you can be. You will not be punished, but you WILL be scheduled appointments with the GJ psychologist when you get out, and lean on your support network as you work through this. As someone who has been there too, trust me, you need this."

She patted his shoulder and stood back up. With a much lighter tone, she continued for the rest of the room to hear. "Now that that is out of the way, words can't express how grateful I am for your heroics today both in stopping Plasmius' and GIW's plot and for saving Ms. Possible's life. Thank you. Take your time to fully recover. You've earned yourself a break from heroics."

Then the Director's lips then curl into a smirk, "And you said some awfully bold things to me last time we spoke." Danny gave a sheepish grin as she continued, "While I admire that kind of bravery, I don't appreciate being threatened by a teenage boy a fraction my age. Even one with superpowers. Don't do it again."

Danny chuckled twice and then groaned from the pain.

Her tone softened and said "As long as our shared goal is to protect the innocent from those who would do them harm, we will always be on the same side. Please don't forget that."

Danny replied, "Duly noted, ma'am."

"One other thing," she said, "Mr. Possible wishes to meet Phantom. I told him you were unable to do so due to your injuries. However, Fenton's absence from his girlfriend's bedside has already been noticed. It seems your secret will be revealed to Mr. Possible soon after you are well enough to be released from the hospital."

Danny's face went paler than it already was. Danny instinctively tried to sit up and get out of bed, but a firm hand gently pushed him back down as the Director added, "Don't worry, it seems Ms. Possible and her mother are already aware and have a plan."

Rewinding time 3 hours and in a laboratory located in the basement of the only castle in Wisconsin.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! THOSE ABSOLUTE FOOLS! THEY'LL RUIN EVERYTHING!" Vlad was monitoring the movements of the GIW as he was the one who set this whole thing up from providing weapon designs and intel on the ghost zone, research and equipment (along with a hidden lab) for carrying out the plan. They thought they were going to save the world from ghosts when they were in fact going to deliver the power to rule it into the hands of one of the worst. Even assigning Agent Gamma was his doing.

He had masterfully accounted for every detail except the unpredictability of human nature, particularly of a fanatic. Vlad was aware of Danny's relationship with Ember and her nature as a ghost. When she went on tour, he did not tell the GIW, and in fact concealed information about her from the GIW. He neither expected them to figure out what she was (they were easily manipulatable idiots after all) nor did he anticipate Gamma making a snap decision to take her in addition to the other ghosts they were capturing.

Once he saw Ember being put in a containment cell, he knew Danny would be on the warpath, and it was only a matter of time before GJ realized the GIW deception. Once that happened, the game was up. The decision to abandon the plan was reinforced when later he saw that a GIW agent in the ghost zone had gone missing. Just one, and his last known location was not far from Fenton's portal. It did take a genius of his level to figure out what happened.

The device he built to strengthen himself after getting beaten by Danny took time both to extract the ghost's power and even more for that power to be absorbed into himself. Time he no longer had. He had no choice but to abandon the GIW lab.

As he fumed, a voice behind him spoke. "Hmpf, amateurs. I told you you should have let me do the hunting."

Vlad ground his teeth in frustration. As much as he wanted to backhand Skulker through the wall for that remark, he knew he was right, and it would only create a mess to have to clean up later.

He transformed into Plasmius, rose and floated through his desk, past several cloning tubes, and the far wall. Behind this wall was another room with no doors containing two chambers identical to the ones Danny and Jack were about to destroy. The words of one of his old college professors reverberated in his mind like a bludgeon beating him over the head for his failure.

"You don't grab power! You accumulate it quietly, without anyone noticing."

Vlad had tried to grab power. Someone noticed, and the plan fell apart. Now was time for patience. He had properly hidden his tracks and nothing could be tied back to him personally, not even the agent or Axiom Labs involvement.

Concert Time

Ember prepared for her concert as she always did, but spent most of her time working on a new song. She finished it with plenty of time to spare and took the stage right on time after the opener. The new song came easily to her especially given how much inspiration it had. It also helped that she had several tunes with sick guitar riffs that she was always working on. They just needed the right lyrics to crystallize into a song.

She made her entrance and started her concert with her signature line, "Hell-o Amity Park! Tell me who you love!" The chanting energized her but this time it was even more potent because she knew some very important people were live streaming it from hospital beds. After that, it was a textbook concert. She did exactly what Danny told her to do and rocked their faces off. Metaphorically of course, because, as a ghost, she did in fact have the ability to do so in a gruesomely literal way.

As she prepared for her final song, she paused and looked out at the crowd. Not too long ago, she brainwashed these exact same people to do her bidding, now they were there because they really loved her music. Danny was right. He had always been right. She loved that goofball, and soon, the whole world would know it too. With a deep breath, she said:

"Alright folks thanks for coming out tonight. You have been a wonderful audience, and I enjoyed rocking your faces off. This is my last song of the night. It's a new one I just wrote, and you will be the first to ever hear it. I want to dedicate it to some very special people. People that weren't able to make it here tonight, but went all out to make sure I could. To Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, and the rest of the crew I'm not allowed to name, you know who you are. Tonight, your heroics saved me and this concert. Thank you. And to Amity Parks own ghost boy, whose heroics also saved me more than once, Phantom, *pause* I LOVE YOU!"

During the speech, the crowd cheered at every part, especially when people, locals, that the crowd knew, were mentioned. When Phantom was mentioned, they cheered even louder, but when she shouted the three words that followed the pause, you could hear a pin drop as the crowd was stunned into silence. The first to recover from the shock of that declaration screamed at the top of their lungs and set off a chain reaction throughout the rest of the crowd.

After they calmed down, she began her song. Naturally, the song was about Danny. It never said his name, but the dedication just prior made it pretty clear who it was about. She sang about how she was in a dark pit, a hell of her own making; angry, and cruel. Then one day her soon-to-be love came into her life and showed her a better way. How he became a light she began crawling to out of her self-imposed prison, and how he took her hand as she reached out. It ended with how the fire in her heart stopped burning painfully with hatred and began burning comfortingly and warmly with love. Love for him. It was stirring and soulful; the quintessential power ballad. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, but there was a lot of ruined eyeliner. In Danny's room, everyone laughed and cheered while Danny turned a deep shade of crimson. In Kim's room, she smirked and shook her head.

After the Concert

Three days later, Kim was released from the hospital. Danny still needed a couple more days before he too would be released. The whole time, her dad continued to notice his absence, and his opinion continued to sour from simple disapproval to near hatred. Kim knew she had to tell him. There was no more time. The big reveal would be when Phantom came to visit later that week at her dad's invitation.

The scar had faded significantly thanks to Maddie, but it still marred her otherwise flawless midriff. Questions abounded from her classmates, but there was little she could truthfully say. She only told them she had been injured on her last mission. Danny's cover to the school was that he caught a nasty case of the flu. The gang continued to help both Kim and Danny through this tough time. Ember's declaration on stage actually helped this as her injury wasn't nearly as gossip worthy by comparison. Bonnie enjoyed making the usual snide remarks during cheer practice about Kim's new blemish though.

Six days after the concert, the meeting finally came. Kim was outside her house waiting for her boyfriend's alter ego to show up. Ann came out and asked, "How are you doing, Kimme-cub?" as she patted her daughter's back.

"Nervous," was the reply.

"It'll be alright. I'll be there the whole time. Your dad will be in for quite a shock though, as will your brothers," Ann replied with a smirk.

A faint glow appeared on the horizon and grew stronger and larger as it approached. He was here. "Hey Kim, Mrs. Possible. Ready to do this?" He said with a serious tone.

"Yeah," she said.

As they entered the house, the tweebs rushed him. The young fan boys were in awe and peppered him with questions that one would start and the other would finish. Danny gave the answers he could and did a few parlor tricks before James finally called them off. A big smile and a strong handshake was followed by being pulled into a hug. Through hitched breathing and tears came a cracked "thank you."

Danny patted his back and said, "No need to thank me, sir. I'd do anything for Kim."

After being released from the hug, James smiled, took a deep breath to calm himself, gave Danny an approving look over, and with a smile said, "Kim said you eat despite being a ghost. Come, dinner is ready."

As the night progressed, Danny and James made small talk, the tweebs continued to fawn over the hero, while Kim and Ann watched and waited for the right moment. They were glad to see that James liked him immensely. Then the opportunity presented itself as the conversation turned to the concert and Ember's grand declaration of love.

"It must have been a big shock when she shouted 'I love you' on stage for all the world to hear," James said.

"Not really," Danny replied. "She IS my girlfriend, and I did save her life so it's normal to say such things...aside from the venue."

"Already? That seems fast," James said.

"Again, not really, sir," Danny said. "We've actually been officially dating since Valentine's Day."

"Ah. I guess that makes more sense then," James said.

Kim jumped in, "She's not your only girlfriend, is she?"

Danny knew this was coming so he was ready. "No. I have four actually."

James was a bit taken aback by this. How common was this sort of thing? he thought.

"Really?" he asked, "Who are they, if you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind. The rest are all classmates. One is a cheerleader and aspiring figure skater, another is the current valedictorian," Danny paused, took a deep breath, and braced for what he had to say next. "The other is your daughter, Kim."

James dropped his fork and froze except for his eyes which became the size of dinner plates. If she didn't already know that it was medically impossible, Ann might have worried they would fall out. She had other concerns at the moment. "Breathe James," Ann said.

"It might make more sense just to show him," Kim said, holding Danny's hand.

Danny Phantom nodded and two rings of light appeared at his midsection before moving to opposite ends of his body. Danny Phantom was gone, replaced by Danny Fenton.

"Breathe James," Ann prompted again.

The tweebs jaws dropped to the floor and seemed to firmly attach there. Finally James spoke almost too quiet to hear, "This whole time?" Danny nodded, not realizing that the question was not for him.

James' mind was in chaos. All his thoughts about Danny Fenton the previous week came flooding back. How he never once visited his daughter, while Phantom was lying in a hospital bed nearby after nearly killing himself to save her. The anger, disapproval, and rejection directed at one with eternal gratitude directed at the other. Here sat the boy that nearly gave his life for her. The boy he owed everything to. The boy he despised. As it all was directed to the same person, the anger and disapproval mixed with the gratitude in an unstable emotional alchemy that produced a thick and heavy shame that threatened to smother James.

"Breathe James," Came an observant voice for a third time.

Kim nudged Danny to keep talking. "Sir, I love Kim with all my heart. That I also love three other girls does not diminish that in the slightest. Surely nearly sacrificing my life to save her is enough to prove that. I hope now I can have your approval to date her." Several beats of silence were punctuated by Danny's own heartbeat.

"Breathe James."

With a near empty look, James slowly got up from the dinner table. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle and a glass. He poured himself a healthy amount and swigged it down. "This is a lot to take in. Please give me a minute," he said. Silence ruled except for deep breaths from the kitchen After several tense minutes, the silence was finally broken.

James said, "I can't say the words yet, so I hope you can be patient with me." Kim and Ann smiled at each other. This was the best they could have hoped for. James walked over to Danny, looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Danny, thank you again for saving my daughter's life. I know you are doing your best to make her happy and keep her safe. Please continue to do so." James slowly extended his hand. Danny took it as James gave a slow but firm shake and then patted his shoulder.

James returned to the kitchen and poured himself another drink before slowly walking to the living room where the thud of him collapsing into a chair was heard. Ann smiled and said, "Well, I think that went pretty well." Kim and Danny nodded in agreement.

Whispers came from the table. "Hey, you realize what this means, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Hicka-bicka-boo."

"Hooo-sha."

Ann shot a glare at her sons, got up, and moved behind the boys grabbing each by an ear.

As they yelped in pain, Kim leveled the most serious glare she could muster. "Alright tweebs, here's the deal. I get how excited you both are, but Danny's identity is still a secret. You are not allowed in ANY way to talk about Danny being Phantom to ANYONE, EVER. This is for YOUR own protection as much as his. Revealing his identity to the world will put his life AND YOURS in extreme danger. DON'T DO IT! Understood?"

The twins each shrieked "YES!" and Ann released their ears.

"I'll make sure your father understands too." Ann said. "Danny, you should probably head back home since it is a school night."

"Yes, ma'am." Danny replied and transformed back into Phantom.

"I'll see him out." Kim said. Kim stopped him at the door and pulled him into a loving hug and kiss and whispered "Thank you, Danny. For everything."

Danny replied "Always, and forever." He went intangible through the door and flew home. He felt lighter than he had before. The boulder of James Possible's disapproval was gone. All it took was getting roasted alive to do it, he thought and chuckled to himself. "I'm just glad Sammy's dad wasn't so hard to please."

---

BONUS MATERIAL

Danny's excursion to the ghost zone to find answers

Danny flew into the ghost zone still invisible and started looking around. The crew chasing Kitty was still close by, and he saw them before they saw him. Perfect, he thought as he slowly closed in on them. There were seven of them, all wearing white uniforms with full face helmets and masks; just as Kitty said. His stealth was soon compromised as one of them holding some kind of tracking device alerted the rest to his presence.

Danny turned away as they all started shooting his direction as if they could see him. Of course they have equipment to track ghosts, he thought. That should have been obvious really. He looked back and saw the white crew following him with jet packs. Seriously?! he thought. As Danny flew around the various floating islands trying to lose them and had an idea. They can track ghosts, but can they track humans? Danny quickly rounded a corner and changed back into Fenton while hiding.

As they got closer, he heard them talking.

"I lost the signal."

"Where was it going?"

"This way."

He saw the seven enemies streak by. Danny nodded knowing he could use this to his advantage. He waited till they were a little further away, and then changed back into Phantom. After a second, he saw the formation wheel around and come back in his direction. He flew off to look for a good ambush point. It didn't take long to find one. After ducking behind an alcove, he changed back to Fenton and quickly backtracked to a better position.

The group flew by again, but this time, Danny was ready. As the last one flew by, he dropped down and quickly overshadowed him. The rest of his crew whirled around in surprise, but by then it was too late. He raised the agent's weapon and shot all six. He hoped it was set to stun, and breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed they were all still alive. He used the agent's jetpack to find a nice secluded spot for what came next.

Before he left the agent, he did his best to frisk him for any weapons, ensuring them, the jet pack, and anything else he could find went off the edge of the floating island they were on. When he was sure there was nothing else, he pulled off the agent's helmet and set it aside out of reach before he jumped out.

He was disoriented at first, and Danny made good use of the time, by knocking him to the ground and pinning him there. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE GHOSTS!?" he shouted.

The agent finally realized what was going on and his eyes went wide when he saw Danny in front of him. "You're Phantom!" he said.

"I asked you a question! What are you doing with the ghosts!?" Danny replied, trying to be menacing.

The agent's lips curled into an evil grin. He was a former Army infantryman who had seen extensive combat and all the horror that entailed before he was recruited to the GIW. He wasn't afraid of the boy in front of him as he had read Phantom's psych profile. He may be the prisoner, but he would still be the one in control. He just needed an opportunity.

"Afraid of what we are doing to your friends?" he asked mockingly.

"Answer the question!" Danny shouted.

"Ohhh. You are." the agent confirmed and chuckled.

"Answer the question!" Danny shouted before the agent continued.

"Which ones are your friends? The biker? The genie? The cop? The nerd? The rocker chick?" He carefully watched Danny's reactions when each ghost was mentioned. From the information he was given, he knew Johnny and Poindexter were his friends, but Walker and Desiree were not. Danny's youth and inexperience made him an open book to anyone who could read it, and this agent was trained to. His reaction told him that Ember was not just a friend, but so much more. That's my point of attack, he thought.

"Answer the question!" Danny shouted again but this time he slapped the agent across the face.

The agent was amused. This kid has no idea what he's doing. Lucky me, he thought.

What Danny didn't know was he missed two of the agent's weapons, and he was quietly getting one while Danny was focused on his face. It wasn't much, just a small stun stick, but in his hands, it would be enough. He was quick, but Danny was quicker. Danny's glance happened to pass the agent's hand and saw it was not empty. On instinct, he grabbed the weapon and the hand still holding and crushed both. Danny then bound the agent's hands with some ecto-filament he had and cursed not doing this sooner.

The agent shouted in pain as anger filled him. How dare this punk hurt me. I still have one more weapon he doesn't know about. Time to turn up the heat and make him give me another opportunity, he thought. In order to play the card he had, he needed Danny completely off balance and distracted. He made a guess about Ember's relationship with Danny and attacked.

"You want to know what we are going to do to your girlfriend?" he asked as he grinned evilly. He was getting to Danny. Kim was right, Danny was emotional and this agent was taking full advantage of that. Now he twisted the knife.

"We are going to take her and every other ghost and rip them apart one molecule at a time. Slowly, and painfully. Her screams will echo through our base beautifully. Once we're done, we'll feed what's left into our shield and you'll never set foot on Earth again." He chuckled before continuing, "You better start looking for a new girlfriend because you'll NEVER see her again. You'll never find our base or the portal we are using! Even if you do, you'll be too late! The boss has probably already shoved her in the tube and she is getting torn apart as we speak!" He began to laugh again as he saw the anguish play across Danny's face. Almost, he thought.

Each word was agony and drove Danny deeper into despair and anger, but the agent miscalculated. Instead of breaking the young ghost, he just snapped. When the agent started laughing, Danny completely lost control. He grabbed him by the collar and started punching him in the face mercilessly. By the third punch, the agent's body went limp, but it took till the fifth punch for Danny to notice. This snapped Danny out of his rage and into a panic thinking he just killed him and dropped him on reflex. He felt relief when he saw the agent's chest rise and fall as he breathed.

That relief was short lived as his anger and pain came rushing back. The target of that pain was no longer available, but he needed an outlet. He spun around and smashed his fist into the ground. Again, and again, and again. The craters from his blows deepened with each successive strike, and each strike was accompanied with a cry of anguish and sorrow, but not from physical pain. Eventually, he raised both fists and slammed them down simultaneously. When he struck, the wail that came from Danny was longer and louder than should have been possible. It was also accompanied by a powerful shockwave that demolished the half of the island in front of him.

Danny nearly passed out after his wail stopped, but the sorrow remained. He sobbed until the words of his girlfriend whispered in his mind like an angel placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Anything's possible for a Possible."

He wasn't a Possible, but he did the impossible with her, Ron, Sammy, Clover, and Alex routinely.

It wasn't over. He WAS going to save Ember. He WAS going to stop this plot. Fire and determination burned in his soul, hotter than it had ever burned before. His eyes glowed brighter and brighter till they too started to burn. He was only half done with the task his sister gave him, but there was one more enemy he would have to fight in this battle. The one she warned him about. The desire for revenge slowly and insidiously tried to snake its way into his heart, and Danny would do his best to keep it away. He grabbed the agent and his helmet to bring it back and froze. Inside he noticed a logo. Axiom Labs. Plasmius must be behind this. It all makes sense now. Kim needed to know what he knew.

Call between the Director and GIW spokesman (GJ designation: Liaison 7-9-2-3).

Ring*

GIW: Good morning Madam Director. Line is secure.

Director: Good morning Operative Y. I have some questions about recent GIW activity in Amity Park

GIW: Standby, let me pull up records for that area...We haven't had any operations in Amity Park. We are aware of the excess paranormal activity, including Phantom, but we have not been involved in anything going on there yet.

Director: Are you positive? I have a photo of them abducting the ghost Ember McClain.

GIW: I see no records of anything, wait, what do you mean you have a photo of them?!

Director: That's not important right now. Photo incoming. Tell me about the agents in it.

GIW: Photo received. Running recognition program. While it's running, I will give you a heads up now that Alpha will definitely want an explanation about this picture...Program finished. The ones who are visible are positively ID'd as ours. Searching recent activity. Huh. All agents were assigned to Project Looking Glass. Last communication, 10 days ago. It seems these agents are part of a group of about 150 agents that have gone off grid during the last two weeks. They were all assigned to the same project.

Director: 150 agents go dark, and NOW is the first I am hearing about it?

GIW: All due respect ma'am, this is an internal GIW matter and we don't officially report to you.

Director: You think now is the time to play that card?

GIW: You asked, ma'am.

Director: Tell me about Project Looking Glass.

GIW: Pulling data now…That's not right. The files have been deleted. I have no information to give you.

Director: Who has the authority to do that?

GIW: Agents Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

Director: Are any of them missing?

GIW: Yes, Agent Gamma.

Director: Let me guess, his last operation was Project Looking Glass.

GIW: Correct. The files were deleted, but his name is still attached as the lead agent.

Director: Let me see if I have this right, your senior agent in charge of a large operation and 150 other operatives, all assigned to the same project, go offline two weeks ago but you not only don't give me a heads up but can't tell me anything about the project.

GIW: Unfortunately ma'am, that's about the size of it.

Director: Allow me to extend to you the courtesy you failed to extend to me. Given their unsanctioned actions against a non-hostile allied with one of our assets, this is now a GJ operation to find these presumed-rogue elements and shut them down.

GIW: I can't say I agree, but I understand. I will inform Agent Alpha. Please anticipate a call from him, and I doubt he will be happy.

Director: I will. Goodbye Operative Y.

GIW: Goodbye Madam Director.

click

MEMORANDUM FOR DR. BETTY DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL JUSTICE HQ

FROM: NICHOLAI TECHNUS

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY

SUBJECT: Analysis on Experimental GIW/Axiom Labs Weapons and Systems

1. At the request of the Director of Global Justice, I Technus, master of all things electrical and mechanical, am compiling a brief analysis of the experimental major weapon systems found in the rogue GIW base raided by teams Possible, Phantom, and REDACTED. The first is the ecto-plasma cannon that struck Ms. Possible during the battle, designated "Damocles." The second is the anti-ghost field antenna array and extraction chamber collectively designated "Aegis." The third is the heavy power armor battle suit designated "Panzer Geist." These devices seem to be a joint effort between the GIW agents and parties unknown at Axiom labs. Their dangers notwithstanding, these were amazing and elegantly designed pieces of technology, and I thoroughly enjoyed examining them prior to their destruction. This report will explain their operations method and effects but will not explain how they were constructed to prevent anyone from attempting to replicate the design.

2. First, the "Damocles" ecto-plasma cannon. In my initial assessment, I erroneously classified it as a plasma weapon when in fact it is more closely related to a flame thrower. A standard plasma weapon uses dense highly ionized/heated gases as a medium of attack. When the plasma fire strikes a target, it "splashes" like a water balloon spreading the superheated material across the target, but it dissipates relatively quickly as it is still just gas. Daniel experienced this effect firsthand on his mission rescuing Dr. Sheldon Akers from Dr. Dementor. This weapon fires discrete shots like a plasma weapon instead of a continuous stream like a typical flame thrower. This and ectoplasm's natural ethereal qualities are what resulted in the initial incorrect classification in the heat of the moment; no pun intended.

Also like a typical flame thrower, the shots "stick" to a target and persist in burning long after they have been fired. I will continue to use the ecto-plasma cannon nomenclature in this report for the device to avoid confusion, and the term ecto-plasma will be used interchangeably with the term ectoplasmic fire and its derivatives. That said, it would be prudent in future reports to refer to it as ecto-napalm instead of ecto-plasma.

The ecto-plasma cannon is about the size of a mid 20th century M40 105mm recoilless rifle. The shots it fires are about 250mm in diameter and contain modified ectoplasm that burns vigorously at about 750 degrees Celsius with a velocity of about 76 m/s (approximately 250 ft/sec). Fenton ecto-suppression foam notwithstanding, this fire cannot be extinguished through any traditional means. In effect, it fires napalm-like globules that are exceptionally lethal to ghosts. When it strikes human tissue, it burns but not as intensely as humans do not have ectoplasm to continue to feed the fire.

That said, the ectoplasm fuel, which is different from normal ectoplasm, in the shot will still burn and will last about 30 minutes. This means that a human hit with this weapon will be covered in fire but not technically be "on fire" (until whatever the plasma is stuck to reaches its auto-ignition point, be that clothing or flesh) for about 30 minutes and unable to stop it. This is generally still fatal either from the fire/thermal damage itself to internal organs or from shock. A ghost on the other hand would never extinguish as they are made of ectoplasm and the fire will continue to feed off their bodies until they are completely consumed.

Or it would, if not for the fact that the weapons primary reagent was not properly calibrated for stability either through lack of time or lack of capability. The contents of the shot contain three substances in its matrix. The first is the aforementioned primary reagent that causes ectoplasmic fuel to ignite quite vigorously. The second is ectoplasmic fuel which is an altered form of the raw ectoplasm found in ghosts and is extremely combustible in the presence of the primary reagent. The third is the fuel catalyst which, in the presence of an enzyme in the primary reagent, draws the raw ectoplasm and ectoplasmic energy in ghosts to itself and then changes it into the more volatile ectoplasmic fuel. Despite its shortcomings, this is an impressive feat of chemistry. As mentioned, the reagent is unstable and begins to break down when exposed to ectoplasmic fuel with a half-life of about 18 minutes. Once the stoichiometric ratio of the reagent to catalyst drops below 10%, the ectoplasm fire reaction stops feeding itself and extinguishes itself. In the presence of raw ectoplasm (typical ghost bodies), the fire would consistently burn more intensely due to the effects of the catalyst, but still burn itself out after about an hour.

A normal ghost would be unable to regenerate fast enough and collapse in a pile of ectoplasmic ash long before then. I am included in that number. Only very strong and powerful ghosts could endure such pain AND regenerate fast enough to last the entire time. The only ghosts that come to mind who could possibly survive are the Fright Night, Pariah Dark, Undergrowth, and Vortex. There may be others, but my knowledge of ghost zone denizens is not all encompassing. In Daniel's case, his regeneration was enough to keep the fire from spreading quickly, but not enough to stop it entirely. The catch was that the ectoplasmic energy he needed to remain transformed, and regenerate was also being consumed by the catalyst to fuel the fire. He didn't have enough.

By my calculations, he had at most 4 minutes on his own before he would be unable to remain in ghost form due to ectoplasmic energy exhaustion. I would not have fared much better. I calculate that I would have lasted approximately 6 minutes before my ectoplasmic matrix suffered irreparable damage and collapsed rendering me a simple pile of ectoplasmic goo. This would have meant my second death while my remains continued to burn until the reagent lost its potency. The only reason for the extra time is because I did not exert myself in the way Daniel did in the preceding battle, so I would have a greater reserve of energy at the time. That is why the allied ghosts needed to transfer energy into him immediately, but only just enough to keep him ahead of the fire. Too much and the excess would cause the fire to increase in intensity and begin to outpace his regeneration to a greater degree and decrease his survival time.

It is important to remember that all of these times are based on the very small amount of ecto-plasma Ms. Possible was struck with. A direct hit would have been fatal in under a minute for both myself and Daniel, and there is no ghost I am aware of who could survive. Not even the ones previously mentioned. Ms. Possible would likely have succumbed after less than two minutes. One good bit of information about this weapon, if it can be called such, is the velocity of the shots this weapon fires. For ghosts, this would be relative to the speed of a college level softball pitch; something we are easily able to avoid. This weapon could only really be used in an ambush setting against unaware targets or against ghosts whose movements have been restricted by other means. For humans, its relative speed would be more like the top end of a major league fastball making it much harder to dodge. This would explain why only Ms. Possible was struck at the range we were at. It also limits its useful tactical range to about 50m. While its effective range is a function of elevation, its slow velocity means longer ranges require arcing the shots almost like a mortar. Its usefulness against ghosts being limited makes more sense when the origins of the design are considered.

3. The "Aegis" anti-ghost field antenna array and extraction chamber is a different beast entirely. It appears to be capable of creating a powerful ghost repelling shield but using a different mechanism than what the Fentons use. Additionally, it seems to have the potential for enveloping the entire planet while only requiring only about 1200 MW of power. In this case, about the entire output of a medium sized nuclear reactor; not unrealistic for a government operation. It does this by a harmonic resonance reaction to Earth's natural magnetic field. It is not entirely dissimilar to Nikola Tesla's theory of global wireless energy distribution. If used to its fullest, at activation, any ghosts on Earth would be propelled towards Earth's Northern magnetic pole and then ejected into space. Any attempt to re enter would be met with a great force that would sweep them away right back to the North pole and into space again. Ghost portals, natural and artificial, would be rendered useless as the forces generated against them would be like a river running perpendicular to them. Any ghost attempting to cross would be sucked out and launched into space or shredded at the event horizon.

Except for one small problem. The use of the alternate operations mechanism meant that only ghosts whose ectoplasmic patterns were added to the calibration matrix would be affected, but as they were already destroyed in the extraction chamber, the shield wouldn't really do anything. Again, given the source of this design and the second cable feeding most of the energy to the hidden absorption chamber, this makes more sense.

Despite this device's apparent shortcomings regarding effectiveness, I continued to examine its potential in case there was something I missed. Through computer simulations, I made two major discoveries. The first is that after the patterns of about 200 ghosts are fed into the weapons calibration matrix, it starts to have a broad effect across the ectoplasmic spectrum. In other words, it would begin to work "as advertised" so to speak. This rise in effectiveness begins to level off after an additional 50 ghosts are fed into the calibration matrix.

The second thing I discovered was the presence of two "notches" on the ecto-spectrum where its effectiveness is basically zero. Examining a hypothesis, I compared Plasmius's known ecto-pattern against these notches and found it was an exact match to one of them. In other words, no matter how strong the field or how good the calibration, Plasmius would remain unaffected. Like the cannon, this also makes sense given this design's origin. As for the other notch, I can only speculate as to whether it is an artifact of creating the first or put there deliberately. I am inclined to suspect the latter as it would be challenging, but not impossible for a ghost to have its matrix modified to this pattern and could serve as an effective method for creating loyal ghost servants for Plasmius to command.

Speaking of the extraction and absorption chamber, the former contained a similar ecto-suppression field to the ones found in the cells at the GIW base to keep the ghosts weak while inside. Once a ghost is placed inside, a modified high energy ecto-plasma (actual plasma, not like in the Damocles) is fed into the chamber and "blended" using a powerful magnetic field to spin it at high speed. This begins stripping away the ghost at the molecular level in an extremely brutal and painful manner. Even worse is this is not a fast process. It would take about 30 minutes for a humanoid ghost to be completely de-atomized, although their matrix would collapse in about half that time depending on their strength. The parts of the ghost that are stripped away are sent through a separator and converted into ecto-energy while the modified ecto-plasma is recharged and recycled back into the chamber.

The ghost's ecto-pattern, their DNA in essence, is encoded and that pattern fed into the calibration matrix in the Aegis. The rest of the power and energy is sent out to ground as waste. However, the design seems to have been secretly modified, and the ground wire instead fed a second secret chamber below the extraction chamber. All the "waste energy" created by this process was fed into a large bank of capacitors surrounding the absorption chamber. I calculate that the energy of approximately 150 ghosts could be stored in this bank before they would have to be discharged. This process would take much longer than the extraction as attempting to feed that much energy into any kind of ghost ecto-matrix too quickly would cause them to pop like a balloon in a very grotesque fashion.

As a frame of reference, I calculate it would take me about 15 hours to assimilate a full bank of power. Stronger ghosts would take less time. Daniel would take about 9. I have assessed that this chamber was the true purpose of this operation and all else was cover to hide it. It is important to note that this secret chamber had no windows, doors, or other access points that a human could use and only contained small vents for air circulation. In other words, only a ghost that could go intangible could enter or leave this room. I suspect that significant mental manipulation was used for this project as any competent engineer looking at the design and seeing how much "waste energy" was produced would find it extremely inefficient and unusual.

4. The "Panzer Geist," or "Ghost Armor" heavy power armor battle suit had great potential as a weapon system, but it was disappointingly held back by a significant design flaw which will be discussed further down. I would like to point out that although this would be more accurately translated as "armor ghost," a more reasonable translation would be "ghost armor", and I would agree with GIW that Panzer Geist rolls off the tongue better than Geist Panzer. Additionally, the GIW seemed to have stolen the key to the patent office for this one as the power source and many of the weapon systems have Fenton design elements in them. However, I do not believe the Fenton's were involved in any way with the design of this suit as I have been working with them for some time and have not seen anything like this. Neither have I seen them have the propensity to work with an organization like the GIW. I will state explicitly, I believe these designs were stolen.

The power supply utilizes the Fenton designed ecto-battery concept just scaled up immensely. This allows it to remain in heavy fighting for an extended period of time. I would estimate that this suit's combat period would be limited by pilot endurance before the power supply. The arm cannons were also Fenton inspired. These were just slightly scaled up ecto-zookas. The targeting system assisted in aiming as a human could not do so accurately from the cockpit otherwise. The gross aiming was done manually by the pilot by moving the arms while the computer then made fine adjustments on a locked target.

While the connection to the suits forearms was generally solid for normal operations, it was totally inadequate for close combat as demonstrated by Ms. Possible's effective strikes. The blades also in the forearms were ecto-infused making them very powerful cutting implements capable of cleaving several ghosts in half in one swipe. This appeared very similar to what Daniel described during a previous encounter with a ghost named a Skulker. It is entirely possible that the forearm blades were inspired directly by that weapon.

The back blasters were again Fenton inspired. Each was a battery of 4 pistol sized blasters designed to increase the overall rate of fire by firing each blaster in the battery in sequence. The targeting of these was completely done by computer as the pilot designated targets. Reviewing documents on this revealed that the intent was for these to be primarily anti-air and rear-guard type weapons auto-targeted by the computer. Fortunately, the sensors needed for this to operate as well as the software had not been installed yet. This rendered the blasters as merely back up weapons and not additional defenses. Had they been, this fight would have been significantly more difficult.

Speaking of weapons, there seemed to be extra room in the suit for additional cannons or other systems to be installed including suitable hard points for the Damocles. This combined with the missing sensors and software, leads me to assess that this machine, while functional, was at best incomplete.

The defensive field surrounding the suit was also based on Fenton designs but with a twist. This field has been altered so that instead of just blocking, it reflected ecto-plasmic based attacks. Johnny 13 experienced this firsthand when his attack was not only blocked, but a feedback pulse was sent back through his body proportional to the force he used in his attack. Just touching it would have sent a feedback pulse, only milder. For example, a light index finger tip touch would yield a shock about equal to a hand buzzer. A whole hand touch would be more like an electric fence. Johnny 13 experienced a shock similar to about a half dozen simultaneous TASER hits. This is also true for ranged attacks except that because the attacker is too far away, the reflected attack is simply dispersed in all directions. The shield itself is very resilient given the power supply supporting it. Daniel was correct in his assessment that he would run out of power before the shield would. By my calculations, even if all the allied ghosts were at full strength and attacked till exhaustion, it would still not breach the shield.

This brings me back to the design flaw mentioned earlier. In designs of this nature, moving joints have been notoriously difficult to properly armor and protect while still having sufficient maneuverability. This machine was no exception. While it was completely protected from ghost threats, it was not against attacks that were not based on ectoplasm. Ms. Possible's presence was a threat the suit was not protected against. Ghosts have been known to use real world items in attacks, so this seems like a significant oversight. Then again, perhaps it wasn't. The other items reviewed here each seemed to have some kind of fatal design flaw hidden in them that could be exploited by someone who knows about it. Given their likely origin, I am leaning toward this being intentional.