A/N: Welcome back for another chapter! This is the final bonus chapter before we go to regular schedule (which does mean a chapter next week, but no chapter the week after.) Hope you all enjoy. I expect this chapter to be a little divisive, since it covers one of my least favorite episodes, Splitting Images. I'll let you guys get to the chapter though. Remember to review! I read them all, and respond to questions if they don't contain spoilers!
Danny, Sam, Tucker, Ron, and Kim were carrying some boxes down the hallways of Casper High.
"So, Sam… what exactly are we carrying?" Kim asked, taking a look at the label on the box she had helped Sam unload. It read: Synthetic Frog Cadaver.
"Pretty much what it says on the box. Synthetic frogs for dissection. It's barbaric to use real ones when there are equally valid synthetic alternatives. These contain replicas of all the same organs, while being significantly cleaner and more humane. These specific ones are even compostable!" Sam said, her tone relatively chipper for her usual dour demeanor.
"Okay, WHY do we have synthetic frogs?" Kim asked.
"Dissecting a frog is on the curriculum for Biology this year, and I am trying to show the school board that we can learn the necessary lessons we need from a dissection without perpetrating the unnecessary deaths of innocent frogs." Sam said, standing on her metaphorical soap box. "We're taking these to the auditorium. I've convinced Principal Ishiyama, the County Superintendent, and the Biology teachers from every middle and high school in the county to come hear my presentation."
"Well, I can get behind not doing a REAL dissection. I'm way too… we'll say squeamish for that." Danny said. While before he got his powers doing a real dissection wouldn't have bothered him too much, the fears of being dissected himself had soured his opinion on that quickly. "Animal rights issues aside of course. I'll support you on this, but I think all I can do is what I'm doing now. Carrying a box."
"And that's enough. I've got the speech all prepared, these are just some demonstration models. I imagine as long as the material won't be compromised, and these aren't significantly more expensive than traditional frogs, it shouldn't be too hard of a sell." Sam said, as she rolled her eyes. Her animal rights complaints wouldn't mean much to the school board if these were significantly more costly than standard frogs.
Danny laughed a bit at that before a chill ran down his spine, and a puff of blue mist shot forth from his mouth. Oh man.
"Beware! For I am the Box Ghost! I will be relieving you of your cardboard receptacles while you feel my corrugated wrath!" The Box Ghost said, wiggling his fingers in an attempt of being menacing.
"This guy? Really?" Tucker said, annoyed.
"You've dealt with him before?" Kim asked, curious.
"Came out of the portal a while ago while we were in there. Stole some boxes before flying off." Danny said, spinning a hopefully convincing lie. "I think I've got something in my locker to take care of him. Be back as soon as I can!" Danny then ran off, before reappearing as Phantom.
"Phantom? That was fast." Kim said, her eyebrow quirked at his… speedy arrival.
"I sensed a ghost, so I came. Now you all should hurry on while I deal with Boxy here." Phantom said, getting into a fighting stance. Sam, Tucker, and Ron hurried off, and Kim followed, before slowing down and hiding behind a wall. Trying to watch the action.
"Phantom! You shall face my vengeance for your defeat of me! My powers have grown much since our last encounter! Behold!" The Box Ghost said, as scalpels from within the box Danny had been holding flew out, and would have skewered Phantom if he hadn't gone intangible.
"Alright Boxy, you've gone from annoyance to threat. If I hadn't been a ghost you would have killed me!" Phantom said, grabbing the ghost by the collar of his shirt.
"You are a ghost though." The Box Ghost said, before a fist connected with his face.
"And you're going back in the thermos." Phantom said, before pointing the device at the Box Ghost and firing. The specter disappeared into the device, and Danny closed the lid on it. "Whew. That's dealt with." Danny said, before flying off.
Kim watched on. Phantom's timing always seemed really good… too good. The incident with the Lunch Lady, both Dragon encounters, and now this random attack at the school? Something had to be up. Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator.
"Hey Kim, what do you need?" Wade asked, looking at her through the screen.
"I'm wanting to recruit Phantom to the team, but I need to make sure he's totally on the up and up first. He's been reacting really fast to ghost threats, maybe too fast. Any ideas?" Kim said. She didn't like being suspicious of someone who had only been helpful to her, but there was no way he just happened to be around all the time. If it were only instances at the school, she could just accept he was close by, but that incident at the mall? That meant he got around.
"I could make a tracker you could tag him with. Are you worried he's following you?" Wade said.
"No, I'm not worried about that, he's shown up to ghost threats when I'm not present from what some of the other students have said. Honestly, I'm not sure what's worrying me, but something isn't adding up here." Kim said.
"Alright, I'll get that tracker made. I'll send it to the 3D printer in your locker and it should be ready by the end of school today. Just keep it on you until you see him again, and then you can tag him." Wade said.
"Spankin' thanks Wade." Kim said, shutting off the Kimmunicator. As she did so, Danny rounded the corner, picking up his box.
"Let's hurry to the auditorium before they wonder where I am." Danny said to himself, before making his way past.
Kim hid from his sight, as she followed him with her eyes. 'As soon as Phantom is gone, Danny's back… notably without the ghost fighting equipment he said he was going for. Danny couldn't be…' Kim thought.
"I think that went really well." Sam said, metaphorically patting herself on the back. She'd given her speech to the school board, and they seemed receptive to her words. Whether or not that turned into action was up in the air.
"I'm sure they'll listen to you Sam." Danny said, shooting his goth friend a smile.
"We can only hope." She said.
"Hey Fentoni!" Came a voice Danny really didn't want to hear.
"Ugh, what do you want Dash?" Danny asked, turning to look at the taller boy.
"Just letting you know that it looks like you left something in your locker." Dash said, a smarmy grin on his face.
"Ugh, what did you put in there?" Danny asked, going to open it. Whatever was coming was going to happen anyway, he might as well get it over with. After putting in the combination, Danny opened the locker… and found nothing unusual inside.
"Yeah, you left your shirt in there." Dash said.
"What are you talking about?' Danny said, before Dash picked him up and shoved him in.
"And the dork who is wearing it too!" Dash said, as he laughed and walked on down the hallway. Sam sighed and entered Danny's combination, opening the locker to let him out.
"Seriously, why do you keep letting him get away with that?" Kim asked, angrily glaring at Dash's back as he walked away.
"Fighting back is more trouble than it's worth. If I did anything to the school's precious quarterback I'd hear no end of it. At the moment Dash is pretty much the only one who really bullies me, I'd have to deal with Dale and the others if I fought back." Danny said, shrugging. "I know I can take him if I had to, that's enough."
"Why won't you go to Barkin about it? You know he'd put a stop to it." Kim said.
"Snitches get stitches." Danny said. "Plus it'd be my word against Dash's and the other teachers would side with Dash. All it would do is paint a bigger target on my back."
"Grr… That makes me so mad." Kim said, before a series of beeps came from her pocket. "Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"
"Bit of an odd one this time. Billionaire Monty Fisk is asking you to help him obtain some artifacts. He understands that it is outside of the standard scope of your work, but is willing to pay a good deal for the help." Wade said, reading out some details of the mission.
"I thought you said you don't get paid for your hero work." Sam said judgmentally.
"I don't, Wade, he knows we don't accept pay right?" Kim asked her friend on the screen.
"He insists since this isn't an endeavor that falls under traditional hero work. Says he thinks your skills would be exceptionally useful." Wade said. "You want me to turn him down?"
"KP, I think we should do it." Ron said.
"Ron, you know we don't do paid work. It's not right." Kim said. "I didn't start doing this to get rich."
"Maybe you can just ask him to give your payment to a charity?" Danny suggested. "He's willing to pay, so it's not like he's out anymore than he would be otherwise, and I'm sure there's some charity you'd be happy to see get a donation."
Kim thought about it for a moment."Well… I guess that Women in Science group my mom spoke to a while back could use some extra funding."
"Oh yeah! Jazz helps them all the time. That'd be a good one." Danny said. "Up to you obviously, but I don't see anything wrong with using your abilities for good other than stopping supervillains."
"Yeah KP, he came to us anyway." Ron said.
"Alright, Wade let him know that while I don't accept payment, whatever he planned on paying me should be sent to the Silver County Women in Science Foundation." Kim said.
"Alright. I'll let you know if anything comes up. I'd think about expecting a pick-up once the school day ends. I'll compile what information I can about the artifacts he's looking for. A set of ancient monkey idols from central Africa." Wade said.
"Please and thank you." Kim said, closing the connection.
"Did it have to be monkeys?" Ron asked, obviously annoyed.
"Chin up Ron, it could have been a trip back to Camp Wannaweep." Kim said.
"Not after what happened with Gill! Nuh-Uh! No more!" Ron said, ducking down in fear.
"Ugh, do I want to know?" Danny asked.
"Cheerleading trip last weekend, spent the weekend 'bonding' at Camp Wannaweep. Ron had been there for a summer as a child, had a bunkmate called Gil. Apparently there was some issue with the lake that transformed him into a kind of fish monster, and he blamed Ron for it since Ron traded Gil all of his swimming time for more arts and crafts time. Gil should be nice and cozy in a supervillain prison now while they figure out how to reverse his transformation." Kim said.
"A kid named Gil… turned into a fish monster." Danny said. "Does everyone you know have a weird set of puns to their name?"
"No? What makes you think that?" Kim asks.
"Well, you're Kim Possible, who does the impossible. Your friend is Ron Stoppable who is unstoppable. Your mothers maiden name was Ann Nomaly, like anomaly. Seems… I dunno. Strange." Danny said.
"Huh… never thought about it. Guess you're right." Kim said. "Either way, I don't think there are any others, but I'll be sure to let you know if that changes."
"Heh, Danny called me unstoppable. Booyah!" Ron said, pumping his fist in the air.
"Don't let it go to your head dude. I've seen recordings of your missions with Kim. You're pretty stoppable." Tucker said.
"Hey, wait… how have you seen recordings?" Ron asked.
"Wade showed me some. He's been teaching me some of the more advanced stuff about how your missions go, and how to help. I think he might want me to act as a stand-in sometime or something." Tucker said.
"Well, I guess that's not a terrible idea. Danny did pretty well on the Bebe mission, so we could look into expanding Team Possible some more." Kim said.
"Don't know if I can convince my parents to let me do your world-traveling missions like you do, but I'm happy to help for anything local." Danny said.
"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks Danny." Kim said, smiling.
"I'm pretty sure I'd rather be dealing with supervillains than Dash anyway. At least a supervillain I can punch and not feel too bad about it. Dash has been killing me recently with all of this bullying." Danny said, bringing the conversation full circle.
"Why do you think that is?" Sam asked.
"Well… Star and I have been kind of seeing each other since the dance. Nothing too big, but we'll do homework together or hang out when you two are busy with your other stuff. I think he's trying to scare me off." Danny said.
"Is it working?" Sam asked.
'She's jealous.' Kim thought, and from what she could gather, Tucker was having the same one. 'If she had wanted to go out with him she should have asked.'
"Not really. I like Star well enough. Not sure if we're going to be actually dating, we're not there yet, but I'm not opposed." Danny said.
Kim could tell Sam was fuming, and a small part of her felt a little sad about that. 'Do I like Danny like that?' She thought to herself. 'I mean… it would be pretty easy to. He's a good guy.'
"Speaking of Star, how is it going with you and Valerie, Tucker?" Danny asked.
"Uh, well. I guess maybe the same boat as you and Star? If she wanted to go steady I'm ready to say yes, don't know if she is though." Tucker said, and Kim noticed that Sam's anger decreased when the conversation changed.
'So, not interested in Tucker, yes interested in Danny. Makes sense.' Kim said.
"So you got attacked by a ghost again today?" Jack asked, as the Fenton Family were gathered around for dinner.
"Yeah, he calls himself the Box Ghost, he isn't friendly like the one I told you about the other day." Danny said. After Technus had left, Danny had told his parents about him. They had initially been upset that they couldn't capture him, and Danny said that they shouldn't be trying to capture ghosts that aren't doing anything bad. Technus had helped save some people from an actual bad guy, so they were more receptive to the idea.
"I really do wish we could meet this Technus." Maddie said. "He could maybe confirm or deny some of our theories, or work with us on some of our tech."
"If you promise not to try and dissect him, I'll ask him when he comes back." Danny said.
"I wonder why ghosts seem to only show up around you though? Your father and I have been trying to study them for years and never manage to see any." Maddie said, pondering the situation.
"Maybe they just know your first thought would be to dissect them or something?" Danny suggested. He was aware that it wasn't really their first thought, but he is trying to steer those thoughts out of their head.
"But how else would we learn about their biology?" Jack asked. "Is it biology if they aren't alive?"
"There's also the question of treating them like they aren't living things. Technus seemed like a person in every way but his specific ghost abilities. A weird person, but a person nonetheless." Danny said. "That being said, there are some ghosts that aren't nice. Would it be possible for you guys to maybe give me something I can fight them with? Something small I can carry around or something? The thermos captures them sure, but it seems to only work if a ghost is worn out."
"You've caught a ghost in it?" Jazz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Phantom has, I was around for a couple of them to see him in action." Danny lied by omission.
"Well, I suppose you could take a set of our new invention." Jack said, getting up and grabbing something from the living room. "These are the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets. They produce ectoplasmic energy that both increases your striking power, and allow you to hit and manipulate intangible enemies." Jack shadowboxed with an invisible enemy as he demonstrated them.
"Well, that works. Think you could make a set for Kim as well? She's got more fighting experience than I do, so getting her a set would be helpful." Danny said. He knew Kim had been frustrated at being unable to help in the ghost fights. This would at least give her something.
"Yeah Danny! We can do that. It'll make a good gift for your girlfriend." Jack said, smiling at his son.
"What?" Danny asked, shocked. "Kim and I aren't… what?"
"Oh, you and Kim aren't? I just figured, we met her parents, you two seemed close." Jack said, now somewhat embarrassed.
"I think Kim might be… a little out of my league." Danny said, a blush on his face. He wouldn't be particularly opposed to being with Kim like that. She was certainly one of, if not the most attractive girl he knew, and was a good friend on top of that.
"Your mother was out of mine, but look at us now. Happily married, two kids, living our dream!" Jack said, pulling his wife in for a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. "Fentons like strong women! Just look at your mother! Your grandmother was a strong woman too. We even make strong women like Jazzy!"
"I think Jazz might get that from my side dear." Maddie said, smiling up at her husband.
"Both sides?" Jack asked, and Maddie seemed content.
Danny thought for a moment after their conversation ended. 'Could Kim and I be that? I mean, she's probably the hottest, most kick-butt girl I know. She and Josh Mankey didn't work out, she had said that she needed someone who was better able to handle her hero lifestyle… I could do that, I have the powers and all.'
That night, Danny dreamt.
"Hey Danny!" Star said, taking her seat next to him at the lunch table at Casper High. Her blonde hair seemed to glow in a light that wasn't present, her blue-eyes sparkling. "Thanks for showing up to our game last night. I know you don't really like football, but seeing you in the crowd really made me smile."
"Hey, anything for my girls." Dream Danny said, making the real Danny who was watching these events question what he meant by girls.
"You know it." Kim's voice came, sitting on his other side, kissing his cheek as she sat down. "Seeing you beat that Skulker guy while he was there was also really heroic."
"Just doing my job." Dream Danny said. "I wouldn't say no to a reward for my efforts though." He said, a small smirk on his face.
"Oh? Well I suppose I can oblige. You'll help me won't you Star?" Kim asked.
"Of course Kim, he's my boyfriend too." Star said, as Kim grabbed Danny's head and pulled him in for a deep kiss.
A whirlwind of emotions swam through Danny at this moment. Shock, amazement, excitement, and confusion all coalesced together into a weird cocktail that was enhanced by his teenage hormones. Danny knew inherently this was a dream now. Too many things didn't make sense, after all, there was no way that Star and Kim would both be really interested in dating him, even less likely that they would be willing to SHARE.
Danny just accepted the kiss, leaning into the dream. It would be his own private fantasy for now, he could have those. He and Kim separated, as she gave him a knowing smile. Danny turned his head and captured Star's lips with his own.
Knowing this was a dream removed some of the excitement from the situation unfortunately. He could begin to tell the border between fiction and reality, and how he was obviously working with incomplete information. He had only ever kissed one girl before, and it hadn't been with any affection like this. His kiss with Sam was staged, fake. He didn't know what a kiss with real love felt like, so his mind was making its best guess. Danny would be satisfied with that for now.
He and Star separated, as he turned to see them both. They had moved in front of him, the cafeteria they were in replaced by Danny's own bedroom. They laid on his bed and reached their arms out to him.
"Come on Danny, we want you with us." Star said.
"Yeah Danny. Come on." Kim agreed.
Danny laid down in the bed as the two girls rose up to be on top of him, leaning in to kiss him when-
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Ah NO!" Danny said, being pulled from his dream. The weight of Kim and Star disappearing from his chest. It was a dream, he knew that, but it didn't make the lack of them now hurt any less. His heart ached, just a tad.
"Great, I'm heartbroken about two girls who aren't even technically real." Danny said to himself as he got out of bed. "How am I going to face them today?"
The pleasantness of Danny's dream was immediately replaced by one of the worst days he had in some time. His moping about his dream being over had caused him to be later than normal, so he was rushing to his locker to not be late to class. To his surprise, there was a note on his locker, or rather, on the locker next to his.
The note read "Mr. Fenton, the staff has noticed that your locker has been vandalized. Given how this was done, we believe that you are not the culprit, and have reassigned you a new locker. Please report to the front office to receive the number and combination for your new locker."
Danny's current locker was totally destroyed. The door, what little there remained of it, seemed to have been attacked by a can opener, and the inside didn't fare much better. Someone had clearly done some real damage to it. Danny realized who would have done so pretty quickly.
"Dash is really out for me huh… maybe I need to talk to Star about this." Danny said, as he walked to the office to get his new locker.
Sam and Tucker joined him as he walked to his new locker. Thankfully, it was still in the same hallway as Sam and Tucker's lockers, just further down. "Here is is, locker 724, looks like it's seen better days though." Danny said, as he looked at the locker. Its door was rusted in a few places, and was in need of a new coat of paint.
"724! You got the haunted locker?" Tucker said, seemingly afraid.
"I mean, I'm half ghost, isn't any locker I get technically haunted? But what do you mean?" Danny asked, as he opened the locker with the combination he'd been given. The aged padlock opened, though it obviously hadn't been used in a LONG time.
"724 was the locker of Sidney Poindexter, the most bullied kid in school history! They say he was shoved in his locker so much that his spirit still haunts it." Tucker explained.
"Tucker, what do we do after school?" Danny asked.
"Go to Nasty Burger, do homework, hang out?" Tucker said, confused where this is going.
"What else, something that started after the school year did." Danny added.
"Uh… hunt ghosts?" Tucker asked.
"Bingo. Now… Why are you concerned about a possible ghost in this locker? Even if it's true, which what we know about other ghosts implies it's not, then it's just another ghost for us to deal with." Danny said, as he pulled the door open. It gave a sickening metal screech. "Guess I'll need to ask Ron for some WD40." Danny took notice of the inside of the locker. It was empty, barring an old dusty mirror. Danny put his things inside before closing the locker. "See. Nothing to worry about. Now come on, we're gonna be late."
The aged locker didn't close fully however as Danny, Tucker and Sam walked off, leaving a small crack. Across from locker 724, Dash was shoving Mikey into his locker.
"Bullies…." came a long drawn out nasally voice, as the mirror in locker 724 glowed.
At the end of the school day, Danny was getting a few things out of his locker when Star came up to him. "Hey Danny!" She said, greeting him with a friendly smile.
Danny's heart skipped a beat for a moment, remembering his dream from the previous night. 'Calm down Fenton, it was just a dream. Don't make it weird.' Danny thought, trying to pull himself together. "Hey Star, what's up?" Danny asked.
"Not much, just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out this weekend." Star said, looking at him with pleading eyes. "We haven't had anything resembling a real date since the homecoming dance."
"A date?" Danny asked, a little shocked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, I thought we were seeing if we wanted to be a couple? Did I read that wrong?" Star asked, looking at him.
"Uh… I mean. I don't think. I'm just kind of surprised. Didn't think you would be interested like that." Danny said, the words stumbling out of his mouth.
"Why wouldn't I be? You're cute. You're nice. You made sure I had a nice time at the dance, and I like hanging out with you when we study and stuff. I'm not saying I'm ready to be your official girlfriend yet, but I'm open to spending more time with you to see if we might take that step." Star said.
Danny guffawed a bit at that. He really hadn't any idea that Star was even somewhat interested in him like that. He had been invisible to the opposite sex for so long he couldn't imagine any girl really liking him.
"Uh… yeah. We can do something. You mentioned you liked Ice skating, would you want to do that? I can't skate, so you'd have to teach me." Danny said.
"Oh! That sounds like great fun. Surprised you remembered that." Star said. "Alright, we'll set up a time later okay? I've got to get to cheer practice. See you tomorrow Danny!"
Danny watched on as the blonde girl walked off, still shocked by the revelation. Star was actually interested in him? That was a shock.
"Hey Nathan! You left something in your locker!" Dash said, standing next to the ginger nerd's locker.
"Huh? What'd I leave? I hope it's not the bouquet I bought for Valerie, I don't want those to wilt!" The poor boy said as he opened his locker. "Huh? No, everything in here should be here. What'd I leave?"
"Yourself!" Dash said as he shoved the boy into the locker. Dash dusted his hands and said. "Man, nothing like some quality bullying to kick off another successful day."
Danny glared at Dash, before a chill ran down his spine and a puff of blue mist emerged from his mouth. A ghost? Now?
Dash suddenly went rigid, before slamming his face into Nathan's locker, forcing it to open. Nathan dashed off, trying to avoid any more embarrassment as Dash shook his head. "What was that?" He asked. "Man, stress this season must be getting to me. I need to go relax." Dash then walked off confused.
As he left, Danny heard some nasally laughter coming from the spot near where Dash was standing, before a figure became visible. Floating a foot or so above the ground was a short teenager, with an unfortunate haircut, buck teeth, and thick glasses. He was entirely monochromatic, and his voice seemed nasally. Danny looked around and saw no one else present, so he transformed and confronted the ghost.
"Hey! While Dash deserves what he got, you can't just use your powers to mess with people. It makes you no better than he is." Danny said, glaring at the ghost. "Who are you anyway?"
"I am Sidney Poindexter, protector of all nerds who cry out against bullies. Not like you'd know anything about being bullied." Poindexter said, before pointing at Danny. "You think you're some kind of tough! Well I got news for you buster brown, this is my school, and I won't tolerate any more! I had enough of being called a drip and a square, so back off before I deal with you, turkey." Sidney said. Danny had very little idea what he meant, obviously this was some slang from when Poindexter was alive, but Danny couldn't translate it.
"I think I know more about being bullied than you think. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Take your pick." Danny said, readying his fists.
"Bring it on Daddy-O!" Poindexter said, flying into Danny and sending him through the floor.
The pair landed in the boiler room, where Poindexter raised his hands, causing various cleaning supplies to start throwing themselves at Danny. "You greasers pick on the little guy way too much! Now it's time for a taste of your own medicine!"
"I don't know where you get that I'm a bully from, but I can promise you I'm not!" Danny said, dodging the incoming projectiles. "I get beat up enough by that guy you slammed in the locker without ghosts like you adding on to it!"
"Yeah right. He's a big guy for a human, but you're a ghost. He can't lay a finger on you." Poindexter said.
"Yeah, but I'm not a ghost. I'm a kid with ghost powers." Danny said, dodging more of the projectiles.
"Yeah right. You're no halfa." Poindexter said, glaring at Danny. "You'd do well not to lie to me buster!"
"Halfa? What's that?" Danny asked, confused.
"Half-alive, halfa-ghost. You'd know that if you really were a halfa." Poindexter said, as he flew at Danny.
Thinking fast, Danny did the only thing he could think of. He transformed back into his human self. "See! Regular kid, just with ghost powers."
Poindexter stopped in the air, looking him over. "You.. you really are a halfa?"
"I guess? Never heard that word before, although I admittedly don't know much about ghosts. Most just try to beat me up instead of talking." Danny said.
"Wait, if you're a halfa, why do you let that bully beat you up then?" Poindexter asked.
"Because it would be wrong of me to use my powers like that. I use my powers to protect others, usually from ghosts. Could I use them to get back at Dash? Absolutely, but I try not to, if I did it would make me no better than him." Danny said, looking down a bit in shame. He HAD abused his powers against Dash when he had first learned about overshadowing, although he had endeavored to not do so again. Danny's phone rang in his pocket. "Uh, excuse me Poindexter, I need to take this." Danny said, as he looked at the caller ID. It was Kim.
"Take what? What is that?" Poindexter asked, looking at the device in Danny's hand.
"It's a cellphone. You can use it to talk to people. Pretty sure you guys had phones in the 50s." Danny said, before answering. "Hello?"
"Hey Danny." Came Kim's voice through the other end of the line. "You know how you said you were willing to help us with local missions? I could use your help today."
"Uh, yeah. What's up?" Danny asked.
"I've got to be at a family dinner tonight, my cousin is in from out of town, and I promised my parents I'd be there. Ron has to head over to Monty Fisk's manor tonight to get some information about these idols he was having Ron and I get. We had one stolen from us by some ninjas, so we wanted to ask him who else might be after them. There shouldn't be any big villain stuff, so no need to worry. Ron just doesn't want to go in alone." Kim said.
"Uh, yeah. I'll meet Ron out in front of the school then." Danny said. "Guess I need to look into getting some official mission clothes after all. Does Team Possible have a uniform?" Danny asked, with a bit of a joking tone.
"Haha, very funny. In all seriousness there is no uniform, but getting mission clothes is a good idea. Ron and I use the thermals and cargo pants because they're practical. I get mine from Club Banana, he gets his from Smarty Mart, but as long as they're durable and good for stealth they'll be fine." Kim said. "No need to worry about that today though, just go in your current clothes."
"Gotcha Kim. Have a good dinner." Danny said, as the pair hung up. "Sorry about that, looks like I'm needed."
"What are these missions you were talking about? You some kind of secret spy like James Bond?" Poindexter asked.
"No, Kim acts as a kind of superhero all over the world. I offered to help sometimes, although I can't use my powers during those missions. Trying to keep them a secret." Danny said. "If you want to come with to see that I'm not a bad guy, you can. I'd rather not have more enemies."
"I'm bound to the school. I can't leave without my mirror." Poindexter said.
"I'll put the mirror in my backpack then. Just stay invisible while we're doing this." Danny said.
"Alright, I'll give you this chance." Poindexter said, as he and Danny headed upstairs to his locker.
"So why'd you need my help? Kim said you were pretty good at handling the non-fighting parts of missions, and this is just getting some information." Danny asked, as he and Ron walked up to Fisk manor.
"This Fisk guy gives me the creeps, so I don't want to be alone with him. You also never know what's going to happen, so I'd rather have someone with me." Ron said. "Hopefully this won't take too long. Rufus and I have a date with Bueno Nacho."
Danny rolled his eyes at his friend's love for the restaurant. Danny wouldn't eat there anymore and since Kim had been given other options, she's been avoiding the place as well. Ron was not happy, but was dealing well enough.
"Well, no time like the present." Danny said, as they walked up and knocked on the door. They waited for a few seconds and there was no answer. They knocked again.
"Hmm… he's supposed to be home right now." Ron said, looking at the driveway.
"Think maybe those ninjas might have got him?" Danny asked.
"Worth checking. Is the door unlocked?" Ron asked, now nervous. Danny checked the door and it was unlocked, so the pair walked inside.
"We'll apologize for entering without permission if we see him." Danny whispered to Ron, as they crept through the hallways of the manor.
Arriving in a large room, the pair saw Monty Fisk setting up some idols in corners. "Yes my monkey ninjas! Soon I will have unlimited monkey power!" Fisk said, seemingly talking to the selection of monkeys in ninja garb.
"Fisk? What are you doing? What's with the ninjas? Didn't they steal the idol from you?" Ron asked, raising his voice. The ninjas all turned to Ron and Danny.
"Intruders? How? No matter. Monkeys! Seize them!" Fisk said, as the ninjas quickly came and kicked Danny and Ron in the back of the legs, forcing them to their knees and grabbing their arms.
"I don't know how you managed to figure out that I was performing the ritual for the monkey power. But it is no matter. I will have you two bear witness to my glorious transformation, and then you will be the first to taste the wrath of my Mystical Monkey Kung Fu!" Fisk said, laughing.
"Wait, is that what these ninjas do? Monkey Kung Fu?" Danny asked, looking at the simian shinobi.
"Yes, the way of the Monkey Fist, my personal spin on the style." Monty Fisk said. "It will be my new name once my transformation is complete! I spent millions gathering these artifacts, and on the biological augmentations to give myself monkey hands and feet!" Fisk kicked off his shoes and pulled his hands from his sleeves. He did in fact have monkey hands and feet.
"For starters, weird and gross. Second, Kung Fu is a Chinese martial art, Ninjas are Japanese, and these are African monkeys. What gives?" Danny asked.
"Shut up! You will not ruin my moment of glorious ascension! Once I have the monkey power, I shall take over the world." Monkey Fist said, following the statement with a maniacal laugh.
"Man, take over the world with raw force? Sounds like you're just a big bully." Danny said, formulating a plan.
"I am no mere bully child. I will be the most powerful person in the world! No one will be able to stop me." Monkey Fist said.
"Using power over people to make them do what you want. Sounds like a bully to me. There's an old tale about something that happens to bullies near Amity Park." Danny said, a smirk on his face.
"Oh, enlighten me then." Monkey Fist said, glaring down at Danny. "What happens to these so called 'bullies'?"
"They get visited by the angry spirit of Sidney Poindexter." Danny said. "The ghost of Casper High."
"Ha! Such superstitions. There are no such things as ghosts child." Monkey Fist said.
"You want bet your life on that Buster Brown?" Poindexter asked, appearing behind him. "You're right Danny, this chump is a bully. I think I should show him what I do to bullies." Sidney charged into Monkey Fist, knocking him off of his feet and down the hall.
"Danny! Why was there a ghost with us?" Ron asked, frightened.
"Not the time, I'll get the monkeys, you get the idols." Danny said, as he did a sweep kick to get out of the monkey's grip. Reaching into his backpack, Danny pulled out the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets and put them on. "You monkeys might not be ghosts, but these are still metal boxing gloves. Bring it!"
Danny started laying into the monkey ninjas, starting with the ones that were holding Ron down. After slamming into them, Danny noticed he knocked them a solid 10 feet away. These Ghost Gauntlets really packed a punch!
"Alright! Running!" Ron said, as he dashed towards the platform where the idols were placed. As he made his way to the center though, beams of yellow light shot forth from the idols, striking Ron.
"Ron!" Danny yelled out, worried for his friend. He couldn't keep his eye on him for more than a second though, as more monkeys came to fight him. "I'll be there once these monkeys are unconscious."
Ron felt something in his body, a tingling sensation before something rushed into his mind. As he closed his eyes he saw countless lives flash before his eyes, with one constant between them. "Woah! I know Kung Fu!" Ron yelled, as he landed on the ground from the beams.
"What?! No! My Monkey Power! You stole it!' Monkey Fist said, after he threw Poindexter to the side. Danny noticed this and was confused. How had Monkey Fist managed to grab him? Surely Poindexter knew to go intangible.
Monkey First dashed on all fours towards Ron, before leaping at him, a look of murder in his eyes.
"Ron!" Danny called out, rushing his way over to help. Ron wasn't a fighter, he couldn't handle a master of Kung Fu.
"Booyah!" Ron said, as he delivered a swift kick to Monkey Fist's jaw. Ron glowed a bright yellow as he floated into the air, before delivering a series of rapid punches to Monkey Fist's stomach.
Danny was impressed. Ron's form was impeccable, and while Danny didn't know much about Kung Fu specifically, his martial arts training let him recognize that Ron was carrying himself well. Were those idols the real deal? Was Ron now some kind of master of a magic monkey martial art?
With one more kick, Ron knocked Monkey Fist unconscious, as Danny finished up with the monkeys. The pair turned to each other.
"What was THAT?" Danny asked. "I thought you couldn't fight?"
"I couldn't… I can't! I don't know what happened, when I was in that light I just… knew what to do." Ron said, looking at himself amazed. "Well, I guess let's get these guys tied up and call the police maybe? They did attack us after all."
"Uh, yeah. Good plan." Danny said, grabbing some ectofilament from his bag and starting to tie up some of the monkeys. Danny glanced over at Ron occasionally during his work. Was that power gone now? Would it come back?
"That was a hoot!" Poindexter said, flying down next to Danny. "That nerd really gave that bully what for!"
"How do you know Ron is a nerd?" Danny asked.
"You can tell when someone is a kindred spirit." Poindexter said. "I believe you now that you're not a bully. If you do stuff like this you can't be too bad."
"Admitedly, this is only my second mission like this, but I do fight ghosts in town when they start messing with people. Skulker, the Box Ghost, the Lunch Lady." Danny said, listing off some of his villains.
"Pieces of work the lot of them, especially that Skulker guy." Poindexter said, an angry look on his face. "I'll leave the bullies at Casper alone then. Guess it's just back to the Ghost Zone to get picked on for me." Poindexter said.
"Why would you get picked on? After all you just stood up for yourself against a legitimate supervillain. You didn't even flinch, just saw a bully and stood up for what was right. You shouldn't use your powers against someone weaker than you, but you can stand up for yourself and others." Danny said. "If you're getting bullied, tell them to stop it. If they won't stop, don't throw the first punch, but there's nothing wrong with defending yourself."
"I guess. I'll think about it. For now, I'd like you to do me a favor." Poindexter said. "I need you to smash the mirror. As long as it's intact, I can't leave Casper High in either world unless someone brings me out. With it smashed I should be free."
"Alright, fly back through and I'll free you." Danny said, pulling the mirror from his backpack. Poindexter flew in and gave a thumbs up, and Danny smashed the mirror on the ground.
"So, Ron told me about your mission yesterday." Kim said, sitting down next to Danny at lunch. "You did a good job, although did Ron really beat Monkey Fist?"
"Yeah, he had this weird glowing power, totally wiped the floor with him. Never seen anything like it in my life." Danny said. It was quite a weird experience.
"I would have been toast though if Danny hadn't come through with that ghost backup. Why didn't you tell me you were bringing it?" Ron asked.
"I was just trying to show him that I wasn't a bully. He seemed to think I was for some reason." Danny said, shrugging a bit. Not a total lie, but a half-truth at best.
"Why would Technus think you were a bully?" Kim asked.
"It wasn't Technus. Turns out the stories about a ghost in locker 724 were true." Danny said. "I dealt with it though, he won't be bothering anyone else."
"As a side note, the school board approved my synthetic frogs! So no more innocent frog dissections!" Sam said, changing the subject.
"I'm sure the frogs thank you Sam." Danny said, thankful she was pulling the subject away from the ghost conversation. He wasn't sure how long he could talk about the incident with Sidney before he made a slip-up about his identity as a 'halfa'.
'That really is a stupid name.' Danny thought. 'Why not just call me a half-ghost, or a demi, or something?'
That moment though, Danny felt a chill run down his spine, and a blue mist emerged from his mouth. "Beware! I am the Box Ghost, here to demonstrate my new powers! No longer am I bound by the limits of cardboard, I can now control any box!" The Box Ghost said, as he telekinetically picked up some lockers, before throwing them into the cafeteria.
"This guy again? Danny! Go get Phantom!' Kim said, recognizing her opportunity. This was her chance to test her theory. She slipped the tracker onto Danny's shirt.
"I'll go to my locker, see if I've got something!" Danny said, rushing out. Kim hid under one of the tables and pulled out her Kimmunicator, watching the red dot that was Danny travel down the hallway of Casper High.
And a moment later, the dot turned around and came into the cafeteria, but the figure that came through the door was not Danny Fenton, it was Phantom.
'So Danny is Phantom… I wonder why he hasn't told me.' Kim thought, looking as the white haired hero dealt with the Box Ghost. 'I'll keep his secret obviously, he's been a good friend.'
'And you'd like him to be more than just your friend.' A small inner voice told her, noticing as her heart raced as she watched Danny handle the ghost. She knew better than to deny it, she'd accepted her crush on Danny after he helped her with the Bebes, and watching him now. She could definitely see herself enjoying being with him.
'Kim Possible and Phantom, the Super Hero power couple.' Kim thought, feeling her heart in her chest, and a smile on her face.