A/N: They're here! The Spies officially join the main cast today. As you can tell by our new cover image on FFN (Wonderfully drawn by ScarletGhostX) then you'll see we'll be spending a lot more time with one of them than the others. Beyond that, unfortunately because I got sick with Covid following my vacation, I'm now behind on writing this story. I have one chapter in reserve, but I'm worried I won't finish the next one before that one goes out. I like having at least two chapters as back-ups in case something happens, but since the something happened suddenly my backlog is gone. Would you guys accept non plot progressing shorter chapters as filler posts while I get a backlog up and running again? I was thinking maybe we could actually see Danny take the girls on a date, possibly with some villainous or ghostly interruptions. They wouldn't be as long of as impactful as the episode chapters, but they would certainly give us more time to see Danny's relationships with the girls. Let me know if you want that, and if you'd prefer the chapters in here, or in a separate side story. Anyway, on with the show! Remember to comment/review!
The cool autumn air flooded in behind Sam, Alex, and Clover as they entered Casper High for the first time. WOOHP had handled all of the necessary details for their transfer, and they'd had the weekend to make the small adjustments that came with moving from Beverly Hills to Middleton. The girls were making progress on that front. They hadn't exactly been in Beverly Hills for long, they had moved there at the beginning of August, and had only stayed until the end of October.
Finding the office was easy enough, and Sam spoke up to the receptionist behind the desk. "Excuse me, we're the three new transfer students from Beverly Hills high? Samantha Simpson, Alexandra Casoy, and Clover Ewing?"
"Ah! Our transfers. Hello girls, I am Principal Ishiyama. I do hope you'll enjoy your time here." The asian administrator said, stepping out of her office that was adjacent to the reception area. "I'm surprised to have three transfers from the same school in the middle of a big city like Los Angeles transfer here to Amity Park."
"I guess that is kind of odd. Our parents all got offers from a company here to come work, and I guess they just couldn't pass it up!" Alex said, keeping with their cover story. WOOHP partnered with a number of different businesses, usually started by WOOHP agents or their families across a variety of fields. These businesses brought in the income that WOOHP used to fuel their world saving endeavors. Alex, Sam, and Clover's parents had been relocated to positions in Silver County, which facilitated their transfer here.
"I'm sure that must be wonderful for you to have others who share your circumstances as this new chapter of your life begins. While I would love to personally give you a tour of the school and its facilities, I'm due for a meeting with the board of education today. I've enlisted the help of one of our students to guide you through the school. He's a freshman like you, so I imagine you'll see a lot of each other! Mr. Baxter, could you come in here please?" Ishiyama said, as Dash made his way from down the hall past her office.
"Hello there, I'm Dash Baxter. Nice to meet you." Dash said, putting a charming smile on his face. "How about you give me your schedule and locker numbers, and I'll show you where you'll be heading?"
Clover looked on with hearts in her eyes at the handsome boy, with Sam and Alex trying to hold in their laughter at their friend's immediate infatuation. "Sure, here you go. So, you're a freshman too huh? How'd you already get your letterman?" Clover asked, turning up a bit of flirtation in her voice.
"Star Quarterback, alongside being the best athlete in the school. Our middle school football team went undefeated and took home the state championship. When we got here to high school, the rest of the football team wasn't anywhere near as good, so we took over." Dash said, flashing his smile. "We're not undefeated this season, but we've got time to improve. Next season I'm sure we'll be bringing home the State championship."
Dash guided them through the school, explaining the basic layout, and how they'd find their specific classes. "Right here is Lancer's room, he's your homeroom, Biology, and English teacher." Dash said, still trying to win over Clover.
"Wait, he teaches Biology and English?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Among other things, I know a few people who have him for algebra." Dash said, not really caring.
"Weird." Alex called out. "So, where are our lockers?"
"Let's see… oh, you're all between 700 and 900, that's by the Home Ec room." Dash said, leading them to their lockers.
As they arrived, and checked out their lockers and checked their combinations, Dash looked over and saw Danny getting into his locker.
"Hey Fenturd! Get out of here! Don't want the new girls to catch the loser from you." Dash called out, causing Sam, Alex, and Clover to look to where he was shouting. Sure enough, standing there opening his locker, was Danny.
"Don't have time for this today Dash. Just leave me alone." Danny said, struggling to open his locker.
"Danny!" Clover called out, rushing over to give Danny an obvious hug. Sam and Alex went with her.
"Wait, you girls know Fenton the loser?" Dash asked, somewhat dumbfounded.
"Yeah, Danny's our friend. He's one of the reasons we transferred here." Clover said, obviously hugging him. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "This guy bully you often?"
Danny responded back "Yeah, he's kind of a pain."
Clover fumed a bit internally at this. Dash was certainly physically attractive in her eyes, but she would not stand a bully. Much less someone who bullied one of her friends.
"Why do the hot Beverly Hills girls know the loser?" Dash wondered aloud, confused by the proceedings.
"Because Danny's an actual nice guy who is worth our time. Not some random bully." Alex said, sticking her tongue out at Dash. "Can't believe you were flirting with this guy Clover."
"Now I wish I hadn't been." Clover said, looking somewhat put out by the notion now.
"So Danny, what's your schedule like? You're a freshman too, do we have any of the same classes?" Sam asked, pulling the group's attention away from Dash. She did smile a bit at the thought of him fuming over the three pretty new girls giving Danny all of their attention over him.
"Here, it's written in here on my locker. Looks like we've got Lancer's classes together. That's great! Kim's in those too, so I'm sure you guys'll be happy to see her." Danny said, referencing their schedules. "I'll introduce you to everyone else at lunch. That'll be fun."
"Definitely!" Alex said, as she and Clover each grabbed one of Danny's arms as he led them to their first class of the day.
Dash just stood in the hallway, trying to piece together what happened. Danny Fenton, school loser… now officially had five of the hottest girls in school who actively preferred him over Dash. He screamed, for his tiny mind could not comprehend this affront to the school social pecking order.
At lunch, Sam, Alex, and Clover took their seats with Danny, as they waited for the rest of his friends to arrive. Once everyone was sat down, Danny began introductions. "So, I guess I'll introduce you to everyone. You've already met Kim, but here's Star, my other girlfriend." Danny said, gesturing to the two girls.
"Really nice to meet you three! I love your outfits! You'll need to give me some tips." Star said, happily shaking each of their hands.
"There's Sam and Tucker, they've been my best friends since we were in elementary school." Danny said, gesturing over to the goth and the technogeek.
Tucker gave a friendly wave, and was about to speak up when a glare from Valerie had him bite his tongue. Sam gave a wave, and was trying to be friendly.
"There's Ron, he's been Kim's best friend since Elementary school." Danny said, gesturing to the blond boy. "He's got a pet naked mole rat named Rufus who he keeps in his pocket."
Rufus popped out of the pocket waving hello to the three new girls. Ron also gave them a friendly greeting.
"Then there's Valerie. She's Star's best friend, and Tucker's girlfriend." Danny said as Valerie waved hello.
"Well, question numero uno, how are we gonna deal with the two Sams?" Ron asked, gesturing between the red-head and the goth girl. "Gonna get mad confusing."
"You guys can call me Sammy if you like. Alex and Clover do sometimes, so it's not a big change for me." Sammy said, smiling.
"Please, I hate being called that… or Samantha, ugh." Sam said, making a faux gagging noise.
"Well, I guess Sam and Sammy it is then." Clover said, smiling. "So, who do I have to talk to about the shopping here?"
"That'd be us girlfriend." Valerie said, gesturing between herself and Star. "Kim's in on that too, but she buys almost exclusively from one store."
"Hey! Club Banana is a great store." Kim said, trying to defend herself.
"It is Kim, but you have to branch out more. Have you even been to the Abyss?" Valerie asked.
"No, I haven't." Kim said, dropping her shoulders a bit.
"Sounds like we're due for a shopping trip then! You two can show us all around your mall, and we can give you some Beverly Hills fashion tips!" Clover said, excitement in her voice. "You coming along too Sam? Or are you not big on fashion?"
"Not like you are. So… how do you know Kim and Danny? I've never even heard of you all before." Sam said, somewhat suspicious of the new girls.
"You guys didn't tell them anything?" Alex asked, looking over to Danny and Kim.
"Didn't know what we could say." Danny said, Kim confirming.
"Ah, well. You remember that Mind Hacker game from last month?" Sammy asked, looking to the group.
"Yeah, these guys were out of commission. Only Danny, Kim, Star, and I didn't get sucked in." Valerie said.
"We met when we worked together to stop it. We're secret agents for an organization. We've been sort of drafted into starting a super team with Kim and Danny here, so we got relocated here to try and be of more help." Sammy said, gesturing to the two of them. "We can't tell you much more because of organizational mandates, we were originally told we couldn't tell anyone or we'd get shipped out to Siberia."
"Why can you tell us now then?" Star asked.
"Danny and Kim here convinced our boss that letting you guys know at least the basics would make this whole team thing a lot easier." Clover added. "For now, just know we're here to help, supervillains, ghosts, or fashion emergencies."
Danny smiled at that, hoping that Sammy, Alex, and Clover would manage to get along with everyone else. He knew that Kim and Ron wouldn't have any issues. Ron could be anyone's friend, and Kim would appreciate having some other girls around who know about the hero life. He hoped Tucker wouldn't revert to his pseudo-womanizing ways now that there were new girls around. Valerie had reigned him in significantly, and Danny knew they were happy together and good for each other, he didn't want that to falter. Star would be really happy to have more proper female friends around. She'd never mentioned it to him, but Danny could tell Star did really miss some aspects of being friends with Paulina. Star loved flipping through fashion magazines and trying on clothes. Ever since leaving Paulina's group, she hadn't really had anyone to do that with. Valerie wasn't into it like Star was, Kim was significantly more function over form when it came to clothes, and Sam… had one aesthetic and stuck to it. Despite having been friends for over a month now, Danny really didn't know how to tell where Valerie stood on anything. They never hung out separately, and Danny never felt like they had ever had a conversation about anything that wasn't ghost hunting.
Sam though… well Sam worried him. Jazz had pointed out to Danny while they were in Wisconsin that Sam was a large part of the reason that he and Tucker had never had any other friends. The loser tag followed them certainly, but Sam was apparently a specific beacon that warned others, especially other girls, from getting too close to them. She was the most reserved of their original trio by a wide margin. Tucker could and would talk to anyone, even if it often meant getting bullied or insulted. Danny wasn't quite as outgoing, but people openly described Danny as friendly generally, someone that people would have felt comfortable to talk to if Sam hadn't scared everyone else away. Three new girls, coming in having already developed some friendship with Danny outside of her control? That was something that was probably going to drive her mental.
The chill that ran down Danny's spine pulled him from his thoughts though, as a burst of blue mist escaped his lips. Danny's adrenaline, pumped as he began to look around.
"Ghost?" Kim asked, looking to Danny as her eyes started scanning the surroundings too.
"Oh, first day and we already get to see a ghost fight?" Clover asked excitedly.
"They're a mostly everyday occurrence, you'll get tired of it fast." Valerie said.
Danny's eyes scanned the area, eventually finding their target. Around the edge of the building was what seemed to be a ghostly police officer… was that one of Walker's? "Cover for me, I don't think this'll take long." Danny said, as he ducked under the table and transformed, flying away to deal with the policeman poltergeist.
Sammy, Alex, and Clover watched on as Phantom flew away, before turning to look at the others. "So, what do you guys do in these situations then?" Sammy asked.
"Depends, cover for him if people ask where he is, sometimes we might provide fire or thermos support if he needs it." Tucker said.
"Thermos?" Alex asked. "Does he need a snack when he fights or something?"
"No, it's like a capturing device for ghosts. We don't know why it's a thermos either, but it's effective so we don't question it." Star adds, looking over to where she can see Danny fighting the policeman. "He's really toying with this guy, not taking him seriously."
"Probably showing off for Sammy, Alex, and Clover. They've never seen him fight a ghost." Kim said, watching the fight closely. "No, he seems extra concerned with that baton that guy has. He's staying well out of range of it."
"Oh, Danny mentioned those from when Walker locked him up. They're apparently like, extra painful for ghosts. He's probably hoping to knock it away from him."
The fight went on for only a few minutes, before Danny managed to suck the ghost into the thermos with little actual hassle. Danny invisibly returned to his seat, before reappearing when no one else was looking.
"Took you long enough." Kim said, poking fun at her boyfriend.
"Was trying to bait him for some information. I think he's one of Walker's goons, but they've never come through the portal before." Danny said, looking at the thermos in his hand. "Wonder what on earth is going on there."
"What do you do with that thing now that there's a ghost in there?" Sammy asked, looking quizzically at the device.
"We empty it into the portal. You guys can follow me home if you like and I'll show you." Danny said, shooting them a smile. He wanted to try and show them that they were already a part of the team, so that maybe everyone else would see that it was okay for them to be around.
"Sounds awesome!" Alex said, pumping her fist in the air.
"So you insert the thermos here, twist for a good seal, and then hit this button." Danny said, demonstrating the release mechanism for the thermos. "You sometimes see the ghost get sucked in through the portal, not all the time though. We're not 100% sure why, but the end results are the same."
"So where do they end up?" Sammy asked, looking at the swirling portal.
"So the ghost zone is kind of a semi-empty void with a bunch of doors and floating rocks and things. One of the doors near our portal is like… a kind of ghost zone junk room? They usually end up there." Danny said, pulling up their most recent map of the ghost zone and pointing to the door.
"Usually?" Sammy asked.
"Well, not everything in the zone… stays put. Things generally move the same relative to each other, i.e. since Klemper's realm here is close to Fright Knight's castle here, they seem like they'll always be NEAR each other, and generally in that orientation, but they could be closer or farther apart." Danny said. "Time might also work differently in different sections of the zone? I was in Walker's prison for what to me felt like about 8 hours, and for Sam and Tucker here in the lab was only about 3 or so. That wasn't localized to my experience though, they gave us two meals during that time so I'm not certain what's going on there."
"Freaky." Alex said, as she looked over some of the other notes about ghosts.
"So, how are we supposed to help with ghost fighting? Do normal punches and kicks work?" Clover asked, looking to Danny.
"Not without special equipment. Kim and Star each have a set of Ghost Gauntlets, that lets them physically touch ghosts without worrying about them going intangible. We'll have to see what weapon you guys like the most, and have you keep one on you." Danny said, walking over to the armory locker and punching in a passcode before utilizing the fingerprint lock and a retinal scanner. Reaching in, he pulled out a few basic weapons, setting them on a table by the shooting range. "Here's our basic line up. This is a standard ecto-pistol, we can't have these near the school so we don't usually use them, that's a mom and dad only weapon. The wrist ray here is Sam's favorite. Then we have the laser lipstick. Comes in 3 colors, and shoots ectoplasm infused lasers. Not as much punch as the pistol, but easier to conceal. It also actually functions as lipstick."
"Oh, cool! We have a laser lipstick too, so this'll be easy to add to the kit." Sammy said, picking it up, and looking it over.
"Weird, Wade made me a laser lipstick too when he first started developing my gadgets." Kim said, looking at her fellow red-head. "Wonder why it's so common?"
"Branding! Duh!" Tucker said. "Rolls off the tongue great! Plus it's an item you can carry with you easily without anyone looking at it weird."
The four superhero girls looked at each other before shrugging, accepting it as a valid enough reason.
Walker slammed open the door to his interrogation room, staring down at his most recent captive. "Well well, if it isn't 'The Box Ghost'... Gonna tell me to 'beware' punk? You've got more rules violations than most anyone in this little neighborhood of the ghost zone. How many real world items have you brought in? A hundred? A thousand? Tell me… boy." Walker said, his southern tone menacing.
The Box Ghost shivered in his seat, the ropes he were bound with cut into his form's approximation of skin, and he squirmed. "I do not know, but I am The Box Ghost, I must have more boxes." He said.
"I can appreciate a man who knows what he wants. I find a certain kinship with him." Walker said, his tone seeming more friendly, though still terrifying. "I might be willing to overlook a few things, in the name of catching a bigger fish if you catch my meaning." Walker snapped his fingers, as Bullet and two guards came in, the two guards unrolling a wanted poster with Phantom's face on it. "You've got more contact with this miscreant than any other ghost in the zone. You've certainly got more information than we do. Tell us what we wanna know, and you get to fly out of here a free ghost. If you refuse…" Walker trailed off, taking a look at Bullet. Bullet smiled, pulling out one of the ghostly truncheons. It let off a sinister glow. "Let's just say I wouldn't if I were in your situation."
"Phantom is my arch-enemy! My greatest adversary, what do you wish to know?" The Box Ghost said, his sense of self preservation coming through. Boxy had no actual ill-will toward Phantom, their encounters were formulaic, a product of circumstance with no malice. The Box Ghost wanted boxes, Phantom wouldn't let him steal them. They were at odds and they fought. Such was simply the way of things.
"Good. Now, how about you tell us about the folks he's with the most." Walker said, his green eyes narrowing as he studied The Box Ghost.
"Phantom has two assistants who help him all the time. One is a girl who wears all black, one a boy with a hat and glasses. Occasionally he is also seen with two other girls, one with red hair and one with blonde, they seem to be dating." Boxy said, fear filling his form.
"Any other associates?" Walker asked, looking over The Box Ghost.
"None that I have seen often. He tends to fight me alone in recent times. He does not view me as the threat that I am!" Boxy says, amping himself up at the end.
"Understood. Bullet, tell me, do you think he knows anything else?" Walker asked, looking to his second in command.
The eyepatch wearing purple ghost looked down at the Box Ghost, at the fear in his eyes. He could tell that he had mentioned everything he thought was important. "I think he's squealed everything, boss. What's his verdict?"
"Let it never be said I'm an unfair lawman. Undo his bonds, he's free to go." Walker said, as the two guards untied the Box Ghost. The second he was freed, Boxy flew with great haste out of the prison, returning to his warehouse.
"You don't want him serving time?" Bullet asked, watching as the ghost fled.
"He'll slip up again, we both know it. He'll earn himself another nice long stay here, so I'm not worried about him leaving for now. Besides, he's not the one who started the riot." Walker said, walking back over to glare at the wanted poster. "One hundred human years Bullet. That's how long I have been the warden of this prison. I've held some of the ghost zone's worst scum, but none have ever defied my authority like this Phantom upstart. Word on the vine is the boy hasn't even been a ghost a year, yet he's making too many waves."
"What do you intend to do about it sir? Do you think the prison would hold him now?" Bullet asked, looking to his boss.
"I don't rightly know, but I believe I have a better idea. Why bring him to the prison, when I can bring the prison to him?" Walker said, turning to his subordinate and smiling. "We'll make his life outside of the zone miserable. Take away everything from him. A hell on earth for the stain on my boot that he is. Bring in Wulf."
Bullet nodded to the two guards who he came in with, who left and returned with another ghost. This one was animalistic, yet still bipedal. A feral werewolf-like creature, wearing tattered green clothes and a metallic collar.
"Hello Wulf. You were quite the difficult one to track down. You could sniff out my boys a mile away couldn't you?" Walker said, walking in confident steps around the werewolf ghost, keeping him low in his eyes.
"Kompreneble, mi ne estus ĉasisto se mi ne povus flari porkon de mejlo for." Wulf snarled, his gaze locked onto Walker's.
"Quite right. You're going to do a job for me, do it well enough, and I might just take that collar off." Walker said, looming over Wulf. "That Phantom boy, you're gonna find him. You're gonna fight him. You're gonna make sure EVERYONE can see. Do as much damage to property as you can, make him look bad."
Wulf looked up at Walker, malice in his eyes. He knew he couldn't say no though. Walker usually pretended to give options, but it was clear in this moment there was no denying him. "Bone, mi faros ĝin, kontraŭ via promeso ke mi estos liberigita." Wulf spoke.
"Do a good enough job, and I assure you you will be." Walker said, looking to the two guards who held Wulf's hands behind his back. "Release the restraints, but keep the collar on. Wulf here's got a mission."
As the guards let go of Wulf, he unsheathed his claws and slashed in the air, creating a hole in the fabric of reality, on the other side of which Amity Park was seen. Wulf lunged though, the portal closing behind him. Walker looked on with a malicious smile.
Amity Park Mall was not as exciting as Beverly Hills Mall, Clover, Alex, and Sammy discovered. It was smaller, with fewer stores, and fewer high-end boutiques. Alex and Sammy didn't mind too much, the selection was still varied, Clover however was distraught.
"No Prada, no Gucci, not even some Versace." Clover moaned, leaning over the table at the food court.
"How much do you guys get paid that that stuff is on your radar?" Danny asked, drinking his milkshake. He'd requested kiwi and fudge, but they had refused, so this was just a chocolate one.
"Not that much." Sammy said, sipping on a standard fruit smoothie. "Clover's parents are kind of loaded, her Dad being a really high-influence executive, and her mom being a fashion consultant."
"Man, that's wild." Danny said, looking over at her. "If you really want that stuff, couldn't you just order it online?"
"Well, yeah, but half the fun is just seeing it in the store, pairing it with an outfit to buy all at once." Clover complained.
"I mean, I get it." Star said, looking to her fellow blonde. "Sorry it's not up to your standards."
"Not your fault, I guess Beverly Hills just spoiled me." Clover said, her face falling. "So, can you girls at least give me the lowdown on some cute boys who aren't total jerks?"
Star and Kim gave each other some sidelong glances, taking a sip of their cherry-limeade smoothies. "Well…" Start started, not really making eye contact.
"Not really. Ron's the best one that's available right now, unless you're going to try and get Danny to like you." Kim said, ripping the metaphorical band-aid off.
"Really? No one else?" Alex asked, somewhat shocked.
"Casper High's male demographic is divided in three ways. You've got the bullies, the losers, and the ones who just… kind of don't exist." Star said, holding up three fingers. "The bullies are like, the top 10% of what would generally be considered the attractive ones. The losers, which isn't a term I like, but it gets the point across, are the band geeks and chess club, that kind of thing."
"What do you mean by don't exist?" Alex asked, looking over.
"I'm sure at your old school you saw a bunch of people who you'd see over and over again in the halls but you had no idea what their name or anything was." Kim said. "That's most of Casper High. They don't involve themselves with anything, and stick completely to themselves. It's like they're background extras in a TV show."
"Ugh! Great. Transfer to a new school without a Mandy to steal whatever boyfriend I'd want and there aren't even any good options!" Clover lamented.
"Cheer up Clover, at least we have people who get the other parts of our lives." Sammy said, patting her friend on the back.
"Says you, who already has her sights on someone." Clover teased, mischief evident in her voice.
Sammy went beet red, stuttering out something. Danny was about to laugh a bit, but was interrupted by a blue mist coming from his mouth. Kim caught it. "Ghost time?"
"Ghost time. If it starts getting bad you girls try to get people away, I don't want another Dead Baron incident." Danny said, ducking under their table to transform flying off invisibly to hover over the fountain.
"Dead Baron?" Alex asked.
"Last ghost he fought here at the mall. Ended up doing a lot of property damage and could have REALLY hurt someone if Danny hadn't pulled him away from the mall. Ever since then he's been even more cautious of collateral damage." Kim said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a Fenton Thermos.
Danny scanned the mall, trying to see where this ghost was. He cursed that his ghost sense didn't really tell him WHERE a ghost was, just that one was nearby. He was caught by surprise as he found himself grabbed from the air and slammed into the ceramic tiled flooring, cracks spidering around the small crater he made. Danny shifted his form to turn around and see his attacker, a seven foot tall werewolf in tattered clothes and a metal collar.
"Alright New Moon, I don't know what your deal is, but I don't take kindly to ghosts showing up and slamming me into the floor!" Danny said, gathering his strength and throwing the werewolf off of him.
"Miaj pardonpetoj, sed por mia libereco, ni devas batali." Wulf said, maintaining his glare at Danny. He lunged forward again, shoulder tackling Danny into one of the large glass windows in front of one of the shops, sending Danny flying through several racks and displays.
Danny phased himself out of the pile of clothes he landed in, shooting forward with his fists outstretched. "You asked for it, Howl's Moving Hassle!" Wulf however stood his ground, slicing open a portal at the last second, sending Danny flying face first into the floor again.
Wulf howled, flying up into the air and delivering a diving slash to Danny's chest, leaving four deep gashes on his chest that oozed bright green ectoplasm.
Danny roared in pain, looking down at the slashes. They were deep, deeper than any other ghost had ever managed to cut him. Danny's eyes glowed green with anger as he shot up, flying towards Wulf again.
Wulf attempted the portal trick once more, but Danny was ready, sidewinding around it to deliver a roundhouse kick to Wulf, slamming him into the fountain that was the centerpiece of the mall.
Wulf got up, opening a portal and jumping through it. Danny tried to follow, but it closed before he could make it through. Danny sighed in frustration, before looking around at the damage the fight did. No one but him got hurt thankfully, but that was probably a couple thousand in damages. Danny turned invisible and flew off, returning to the table where Kim, Star, Sammy, Alex, and Clover were sitting.
"You okay Danny? That cut looked nasty." Star asked, taking a moment to look under Danny's shirt. Signs that he had been slashed were present even in his human form, although thankfully they looked more like cat scratches at the moment.
"It was. Here's hoping it doesn't start bleeding, I don't know how I'll explain that one away." Danny said, before slamming his hand on the table in frustration. "Didn't even manage to catch him."
"So, do you fight the Esperanto werewolf often?" Sammy asked, looking to the trio of more experienced ghost hunters.
"Esperanto?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The language he was speaking, it's Esperanto. Synthetic language from the late 1800s. A guy wanted to make a universal second language, it wasn't meant to replace any language, but to be an easy to pick up and easy to translate into second language for any communication across languages. I picked it up a couple years ago as a school project, and kept with it because I thought it was neat." Sammy said, going off on a tangent before refocusing in. "I didn't catch everything he said, but he started off with an apology, and I think he said something about freedom? It was hard to make out from here."
"Well, I don't know anything about that… but I guess I'll have to keep an ear out." Danny said, cracking his neck a bit.
"I'll keep my ears open if he shows up again. Maybe I can try and talk to him." Sammy suggested, thrilled to be able to help out.
Danny sighed as he walked through the halls of Casper High. That werewolf ghost had been a non-stop bother for the past week. Danny couldn't go out in public for fear of the ghost popping up. The damage was racking up, not on Danny, who thankfully had managed to avoid any more nasty scratches, but on the city. The fountain at the mall was apparently a costly fix, and the next day Danny had been slammed through a statue in the park. The day after that Danny had been thrown into every single street lamp on Ventress street, breaking them all.
"I'm mad at that cute ghost boy. That fight at the mall yesterday closed down Terminally 20. You know how much I love that store!" Danny overheard Paulina complain to Bonnie. That was true, the Werewolf ghost had tossed him through that store yesterday after Clover and Star had gone on another shopping trip, and Danny had gone to carry their bags.
"Still got your glasses taped up Mikey?" Nathan asked, catching Danny's attention again.
"Yeah, I tripped while I was running away from that fight Phantom had in the park. We've got a new set ordered, but it'll be a week before they get here. Guess I'll just have to cut back on the reading." Mikey said defeatedly. Danny could feel the guilt building up more and more. He should just be able to catch this ghost, send him packing to the ghost zone, but he can't. He's just too slippery, and people's lives are being affected.
Danny excused himself from his friends at lunch, going to try and clear his head with some flying around town.
"Okay Danny, hurry back okay babe?" Star said, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he took off.
"So… is the brooding a normal thing for ghost boy?" Clover asked, watching the black streak move across the sky.
"Danny can get a bit broody, but I haven't seen him like this since a literal happiness stealing ghost was in town." Sam said, worry evident on her face.
"I managed to stop him from getting this bad when he felt responsible for what happened with Valerie's house." Kim said, concern in her voice as well.
"I guess he got some closure in that since he at least caught the Dead Baron after he did all that damage." Valerie acknowledged.
"So catching the werewolf ghost will help?" Sammy asked.
"Certainly wouldn't hurt. I hope it does, I don't like seeing my man like this." Star said.
"Me either." Sammy said without thinking.
Clover glanced over with a smirk at her redheaded friend. She was making this way too easy.
Pandemonium erupted the next day. Wulf opened a portal in the middle of the town square, and a score of Walker's prison ghosts poured out in a squad led by Bullet, Walker's second in command.
Danny curses internally as he flies to inspect the scene. He can't take that many of Walker's goons at once. He doesn't have any experience fighting large groups, and all it takes is one hit from one of those batons to trip him up enough for another to get another hit in, which would effectively keep him locked down for good.
So Danny did what he could, he started to try and take down the guards one by one. Danny slammed his fist into one of the guards who were terrorizing a mother pushing her child in a stroller. Danny nodded at the woman as he tried to pull the guard away, but was caught off guard by Wulf, who knocked Danny away from the guard.
"So fuzzball, you're working for Walker?" Danny said, his hands glowing as he filled them with ectoplasmic energy.
"Ne laŭ mia elekto, ĉi tiu kolumo tenas min ligita, mi ne povas malobei." Wulf responded, readying his claws.
"Mi ne komprenas Esperanto." Danny retorted, having picked up a couple words from Sammy, Tucker, and Wade who all seemed to know the language.
"Mi scias." Wulf said, as the pair locked into battle again.
Kim, Ron, Star, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Sammy, Alex, and Clover looked on from down the street as Danny fought against Wulf, the entire square filled with ghosts.
"We've gotta help! Come on Ron, grab your thermos." Kim said, as she slipped on her gloves and made her way towards the square. Ron followed behind, pulling out his Fenton Thermos.
"Tucker! We're not letting them do this on their own!" Sam called out, as she and Tucker pulled out their own thermoses and wrist blasters.
"You're damn right you're not." Valerie called out as she ran inside a nearby bathroom to put on her Red Huntress gear.
"I better call the Fentons, they've got heavier firepower." Star said, as she pulled out her phone and headed for a side street.
Sammy, Alex, and Clover nodded, making their way to an alley to open Clover's compact. "Jerry, we need our suits and some gadgets, big ghost outbreak we need to help with." Clover said, looking at her aged boss.
"Quite. Make your way to the mailbox at the end of the street, it'll pull you into one of our quick deployment rooms. On the center table is a face mask for you to wear, it should provide a holographic mask for your identity, You should probably begin carrying those as standard now." Jerry said. "I'll have them provided for you, it looks like Amity Park is going to make us reevaluate how we deploy you girls."
"Thanks Jer." Sammy said, as she rushed down the street to the mailbox. One the three girls were there, they were sucked in, and popped out later in their full spy gear.
Bullet watched on as this attack started to fall apart. They had expected some resistance, Phantom was a big one, and they knew he had four allies, but this pushed farther than expected. He dodged out of the way of a laser blast that came from Valerie as he glanced around. "Men, retreat for now. Wulf, get us a portal out of here, that's an order!" Bullet said, pulling the remote from his cape.
Wulf flinched and pulled at his collar, but managed to pull away from Phantom towards the center of town, where he slashed his two claws together for a bigger portal.
The guard ghosts began to rush to file through the portal, dodging shots from ghost fighting equipment along the way.
Sammy saw the fear in Wulf's eyes as the remote was brought out, and recognized the design as similar to the collar he was wearing. "Phantom! Snap the collar off the Werewolf!"
Danny looked at her oddly, but figured she had a plan. Danny rushed towards Wulf, gripping the collar between his hands. With great effort, he managed to snap it, the pieces falling to either side.
The guard ghosts had all gone through the portal, and Bullet had been the first through, and as the portal closed, the werewolf ghost stood, staring in shock at the remains of the collar on the ground.
"La kolumo, ĝi malaperis. Mi liberas." Wulf said, his gaze still fixed on the shattered sections of the collar.
"Jes, vi liberas." Sammy said, closing the distance. "You're free."
"Koran dankon al Fantomo kaj amikoj." Wulf said, looking to them.
"He said thanks to all of us." Sammy said, translating for Danny.
"You're welcome. Do you understand English?" Danny asked.
"Jes, estas nur malfacile por mi paroli." Wulf said.
"Yes, it's just hard for him to speak it." Sammy translated.
"Then, what were you doing with Walker?" Danny asked.
Wulf explained that he was one of the other prisoners who broke out alongside Danny. He'd been caught not too long ago, and they were using his ability to make portals to harass Danny, and make his life hard. The collar would shock him if he misbehaved, and the pain was too great to simply ignore. He apologized profusely.
"You're fine, as long as you're not gonna cause any trouble anymore you're good in my book." Danny said, trying to dust himself off. "So, what's Walker's plan now?"
"Mi ne scias. Li volas aspektigi vin malbona, sed la amplekso aŭ fina celo estas al mi neklaraj." Wulf said, his ear drooping in apology.
"He doesn't know. Walker wants you to look bad, but he has no idea why or to what end." Sammy relayed, thinking a bit.
"Mi devas provi kaj foriri. Mi bedaŭras, ke mi ne povas helpi vin." Wulf said.
"He's sorry he can't help, but he needs to get away from where Walker can find him." Sammy translates.
"You're good. Thanks for the heads-up." Danny said, as Wulf sliced open another portal and vanished.
Back at Fenton Works, Danny gathered everyone who made up the team. "So, Walker's trying to ruin my image for some reason. The property damage has been a part of it, but what else do you think he might try? What do you think his end goal would be?" Danny asked, looking to his family and friends for possible answers.
"Well… if I was a ghost who wanted to ruin you, I'd overshadow people and say nasty things where other people could hear them. You know how one bad rumor can ruin someone's whole image." Valerie said, remembering how Paulina would spread rumors about people she didn't like. "Admittedly if something is completely untrue it usually works itself out, but a half truth can stay for a while."
"Like how I cause too much property damage, because even if I'm minimizing it, there's still some, and not everyone sees every fight." Danny recognized.
"How would they get that information out though? It's not like they can just overshadow a news presenter, they don't just get to say whatever on the air." Star asked, as Tucker's phone vibrated in his pocket.
"Ugh… Danny? Can you turn on the TV to Channel 3 news?" Tucker asked.
Danny used the remote on the table near the couch to turn on the television, which was conveniently already on the correct channel.
"And now, Mayor Montez will deliver a speech to the concerned citizens of Amity Park." The news reporter said,as the cameras swapped to a stationary shot in front of the podium Mayor Montez was standing at.
"People of Amity Park. Over the last few months we have seen a significant uptick in property damages, and these damages have been exasperated in the past week. Ghost attacks have caused thousands in property damage, and have forced several businesses to temporarily shutter their windows in attempts to repair the damages done by these attacks. While there are many ghosts who appear in Amity Park, there is one who appears more often than any other, and we must assume that he is the beacon that brings them all here. As such, in my power as mayor of Amity Park, I declare the ghost known as Phantom to be a public menace!" Mayor Montez said, as a great cheer emerged from the crowd. "I will be contacting various ghost hunting agencies to advise what we can do about this menace to our society. Amity Park will know peace once more!" Montez raised his hands, two fingers extended on each as a peace sign, or of victory.
Danny's face dropped as he heard the news, his entire posture slumping in on itself. "Oh, so.. He's done it then."
"He's only done it if you say he has Danny." Star said, getting up and pulling him into a hug. "You're a hero. A great hero. Don't let what Montez said make you think any differently."
"Yeah Danny, in case you've forgotten, you've been appointed to a major superhero team. They trust you to help save the world, do you really want to trust one small town mayor over a global peace organization?" Kim said, joining Star in hugging Danny.
"I'm… gonna go lie down. Thanks for coming over guys. I'll see you tomorrow maybe." Danny said, stepping out of the hugs and making his way upstairs.
Kim and Star looked up the stairs as he walked away.
"Kids… he hides a lot of the worst parts of his ghost hunting from us I know, but… is it normal for him to get like this?" Maddie asked, looking as though she was forcing herself to stay in her seat. Her maternal instincts screamed for her to run and comfort her baby.
"He's had a couple hiccups. One caused by a ghost that actively drained happiness, and one from when he couldn't stop a ghost from destroying Valerie's house." Sam said.
"I managed to talk him through the Spectra incident, that's the first one Sam mentioned." Jazz said.
"I got him through Valerie's stuff." Kim said. "He wasn't this bad then though, this Walker guy's really done him in. Sam, Tucker, you guys have known Danny as a person the longest, how does he cope with stuff like this?"
"I don't know, Danny's never really let us in when stuff is like this." Tucker said. "He's always been our rock, he never let anyone be it for him. Honestly I'm surprised he let you two do it before."
"I didn't give him a choice." Kim and Jazz both said.
"I guess that'd be why." Tucker said. "I'd never want to be pushy, because I know I wouldn't like someone to be pushy with me about it. Whenever I had troubles, Danny was just there, he'd ask if I'd want to talk about it, and even if I didn't, he'd just sit with me and take my mind off of it."
"Danny would always take me to the park every time I had a big fight with my parents. He'd just lay down and point out constellations." Sam added. "He'd push into my space, but never make me talk about anything."
"Jazz, do you think that'd work on Danny?" Kim asked.
"If you let him sulk a bit first. I imagine it might take both of you to pull him out though." Jazz said.
"Alright, we'll let him sulk tonight, and tomorrow we'll…" Kim started, trying to think.
"Ooh! We could take him stargazing! There's that one park outside of town they say has the best views at night for it." Star said, excitement bubbling up.
"Perfect. We'll drag him there if we have to." Kim said, jokingly pounding her fist into her hand.
"That's the spirit!" Star said with a giggle.
With some semblance of a plan for pulling Danny out of his funk in place, the gathered friends and family split up to their respective homes. Night however, brought new dangers. Walker sprung the next part of his plan into action, and guards entered the homes of the associates the Box Ghost had mentioned. Kim, Star, Sam, and Tucker were overshadowed, their eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments, before evil grins filled their faces.
Danny walked into school the next day, he was still upset by the events that were occurring, but the time spent alone working through it had helped him manage it a bit. Enough that he felt like he needed to apologize to everyone for just leaving them yesterday when they came to help. First on his list was Star, since she was the first one he saw every morning. Walking up to his blonde girlfriend, Danny spoke up "Hey Star, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. Everything's been kind of getting to me, and I know you've been trying your best to help. Sorry for kind of being a broody mess."
Star turned toward him, a malice in her eyes Danny have never seen before. "Apology not accepted. If this is what being with you is like, I want no part of it. Consider us done." Star said, gesturing between the pair of them at the last statement.
Danny could feel his heart break. Star… was done with him? After everything? He was stunned, destroyed, but held it in. "If… that's what you want Star. I guess I'll see you in class later." Danny walked on, barely picking his feet off the floor as he tried to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. Kim… he needed to talk to Kim.
Ron stood by Kim at her locker while she grabbed her books for the day. Danny stepped up, trying to momentarily pull himself together to talk with Kim, he'd need her emotional support to deal with Star, but he needed to lead with the apology. "Hey Kim. I'm sorry for getting so broody yesterday. Everything's been getting to me and I'm just really struggling to figure out how to deal with it all. I wanted to thank you for sticking through it with me."
Kim turned as well, and Danny noticed the look on her face. It was disgust, almost utter contempt, like he was a fly in her soup. "You can take your apology and shove it. We're done. I don't want to see you anymore. Now go on and get out of here." Kim snarled, the sneer on her face exaggerated. Danny hadn't ever heard her get that mad at literal supervillains.
"Oh… okay." Danny didn't have it in him to fight anymore. His heart was shattered into infinitesimally small pieces. The kind of damage he wasn't sure he could ever fix. Danny couldn't even muster a goodbye to Kim or Ron, and just walked off, paying no attention to where he was going.
Ron stared at Kim with wide eyes, and Wade did so as well from the screen he appeared on in the locker. "KP, what was that about?" Ron asked, his tone completely bewildered. "You love Danny! You were talking about how to pull him out of this last night, and you just drop him like that this morning?"
"You just don't get it. He's not worth my time anymore. I'm getting to class Ron." Kim said, as she grabbed the remainder of her books and closed the door to her locker, walking away from Ron.
Danny stood near Tucker and Sam as he lifelessly entered his locker combination, grabbing his books for the day. Looking over at his friends, he tried to confide in them. "Guys… Star and Kim just… dumped me." Danny said, barely holding back the tears in his eyes. They hadn't been dating for very long in the grand scheme of things, but they'd been through a lot together… that had to count for something.
"Well no duh, you're a menace. No one wants to be around you, myself included." Tucker said, disgust radiating from the technogeek.
"Tucker's right. No one wants to be around you. Just get out of my face you loser." Sam said, and Danny realized that his heart could break even further.
Sam and Tucker walked away, but Danny barely even noticed. He collapsed to the floor, sitting on his knees. His best friends, the two women he was in love with… had just dropped him like he was nothing. Worse, they had actively hated him, viewing him like a piece of gum they had stepped on.
Danny was too broken to even cry, he was lifeless, a husk that barely existed as his world crashed around him. Danny didn't go to class, he just walked out of the school, sitting where he always did, at that table by the tree.
Danny didn't know how long he was sitting there. He didn't know who else had seen him there, but eventually someone else made their presence known.
"Danny, we need to talk." Ron said, sitting across from him.
"Didn't get the chance to tell me to leave you alone when Kim was doing it?" Danny asked, hardening himself for what came next. He could take some solace in knowing that it COULDN'T hurt any more than the other events of today.
"Wrongamundo dude. Something's going on. That wasn't like Kim at all. She and Star were actively trying to figure out how to cheer you up last night! Wade and I tried to call her out on it after you walked off but she blew us off too." Ron said, a seriousness in his voice Danny didn't hear often.
"Ron's right." Sammy said, as she, Alex, and Clover stepped up to the table and took their seats. "They wanted to take you stargazing outside of town today… hearing what went on with them and Sam and Tucker. I'll admit I haven't known them that long, but it seems really weird for them to turn on you so quickly after everything else you all have been through together."
"Yeah, I think they might be overshadowed… that's what you call it right?" Ron asked, tapping his finger to his chin.
"Yeah, that's the only thing that would make sense here." Sammy said, thinking a bit. "Is there any way to separate a ghost from someone they are overshadowing?"
"I can do it, but Phantom can't just start attacking people, that'll make things worse." Danny said. "I guess there's also the Fenton Ghostcatcher, but it's got the same problem, only it's even bigger and more obvious."
"Ghostcatcher?" Alex asked.
"It's designed like a dream catcher, there's a web of ectoplasmic energy strands that a person can go through just fine, but a ghost can't. It managed to separate Phantom from me, so it should be more than capable of separating a ghost from someone they are overshadowing." Danny explained. "It's also about 12 ft tall and bright purple. Not exactly a subtle way to undo an overshadow."
"Well, can't you see if your parents could make a smaller version?" Ron asked. "I can get Wade to try and lend a hand too, he's just as worried as we are."
"I guess I could ask." Danny said, before pulling out his phone. "Technus, you there?"
Technus's digital avatar appeared on the screen of the Fentonphone. "I am present, Danny. What is it you require?"
"Mom and Dad have the Ghostcatcher, can you see if they can work on a way to make it smaller? Something you could pull a ghost out from someone they are overshadowing." Danny asked.
Technus touched his index finger and his thumb to his chin, thinking a bit. "I have gone over the schematics for the Ghostcatcher… I suppose such a thing would be possible."
"Great, can you see if you can make a working version ASAP? We think Kim, Star, Sam, and Tucker have been overshadowed, maybe more people too." Ron asked the ghost.
"This is quite a bad situation. I will inform them of the situation, and I imagine we will start construction right away." Technus said, as he vanished from the phone, transmitting himself to Fenton Works at lightspeed.
The spies readied their mission gear in the basement lab of Fenton Works. The Fentons and Technus had managed to refine the Ghostcatcher, creating a lower powered portable one they elected to call the Fenton Bolo. Where the ghost catcher was a mesh of ectoplasmic wires, the bolo was a single one that was attached to two orbs. When the bolo was thrown, it could wrap around a ghost and temporarily trap them, leaving the overshadowed person unharmed. Danny and Technus had unfortunately been subject to a number of trappings with the bolo to ensure they worked, and all of the humans had demonstrated that the bolo merely passed through them without issue. With a collection of them attached to their belts, Sammy, Alex, and Clover were ready to take on the mission.
"Alright Danny, I think we're going to get Kim first. She can probably help us take down the other ghosts a bit easier. We'll get everyone sorted out. Don't worry." Sammy said, shooting a smile to Danny.
"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Danny asked.
"Yes, Phantom can't be seen entering people's houses. While we fight supervillains primarily, don't forget that we're spies officially. Espionage is our specialty." Sammy said with another smile.
Danny felt some of the weight in his chest leave with her confidence. "Alright. You guys have a thermos and your laser lipstick too?"
"All set!" Alex called out, revealing the thermos she had hooked to her belt.
"Alright then. If they're overshadowed by the prison guards I don't think you'll need to worry too much. The truncheons will certainly hurt if you get hit by them, but they won't shock you to your core like they would a ghost." Danny said, trying to ease his worries by giving them as much information as he could.
"We'll be fine Danny. We fought these goons before, and this time we even have surprise on our side." Sammy said, as the trio waved goodbye and made their way out of Fenton Works and hopping onto their scooters for their first destination, the Possible residence.
As they skulked around the outside, trying to find Kim's window, Clover spoke up. "So, Sammy… you feeling good about getting to do something for Danny?" She asked with a mischievous smirk.
"Of course, I wouldn't want anything like this to happen to a friend." Sammy said, purposefully avoiding Clover's tease.
"Come on Sammy, we all know you like Danny. Once this is over why don't you just ask him out? You've been daydreaming about him since we met him." Alex added.
"He's got two girlfriends already." Sammy retorted.
"Who have said they are open to having another one if they really like Danny. You've already got an in girl!" Clover said. "You didn't even deny you liked him just then."
Sammy flushed red, before sighing. "Fine. Maybe. Once we're done with all this Walker nonsense… and after I make sure Kim and Star are okay with it. I'd hate for my friendships with them to turn sour over a basic crush."
Clover shot a thumbs up before opening a window, inside, sleeping on her bed was Kim Possible. As the three spies entered the room, Clover pulled the pair of spheres from her side, hitting the button that enabled the bolos. With an expert throw, the bolos wrapped around Kim's body, but kept moving, pulling a security guard ghost out of her.
Kim's eyes shot open as the ghost slammed into the wall, and anger immediately rushed to the surface. Her time under the possession was dreamlike to her, but she was well aware of what happened.
"No stupid ghost is gonna get away with making me say those things to him!" Kim roared, reaching under her bed to pull on her ghost gauntlets. Sammy, Alex, and Clover could only watch as Kim demolished the ghost that had possessed her, and only after she had gotten the large portion of it out of her system Alex opened the Thermos pointing it toward the ghost and pulling him in. Clover retrieved her bolo.
"Nicely done Kimmy!" Clover said, shooting a thumbs up. "Really clobbered him."
"Thanks, it was personal." Kim said, as she took a seat at the edge of her bed. "I still can't believe it made me say those things to Danny."
"Don't beat yourself up too much about it, it wasn't you saying those things. I know what it's like being under mind control… not fun." Sammy said.
"Yeah, it happens to her and Clover all the time!" Alex said with a big smile, as Sammy and Clover have her annoyed looks.
"Still… I need to make it up to Danny somehow." Kim said, determined.
"Well, I've got two ideas." Clover said, pulling her off the bed. "You can come with us to fix Star, Tucker, and the other Sam. Then you could maybe do me a personal favor and consider letting Sammy here date Danny too."
"Clover!" Sammy fumed, red in the face from both embarrassment and anger.
"I mean, I figured that was coming anyway." Kim said, as she made her way to her closet to grab her mission outfit. "Didn't know if it'd be Sammy or Clover, but I figured one of you would try."
"Huh, Why?" Alex asked.
"Well, the first thing Clover did when she met Danny WAS hit on him. He might have said he was taken, but when we said that he wasn't forbidden from maybe finding someone else I figured she'd try again. Outside of that, I've seen the looks Sammy's been giving him since you guys got here. Pretty obvious." Kim said as she changed out of her pajamas. "I've got no problem with you giving it a shot, although you need Star's permission too. Then you have to get Danny on board."
"Easy peasy for our Sammy here!" Clover said, patting Sammy on the back.
"Let's free everyone from the ghosts first and then we'll talk about it." Sammy said.
The quartet of heroines made quick work of freeing the others. Star feeling equally as distraught as Kim had, and promised she'd cook up a forgiveness date for them to take Danny on. Sam and Tucker both immediately texted Danny to apologize for what they said while being overshadowed, and said they'd find their own ways to make up for it. The four heroines shared a high five, that mission was successful.
Mayor Montez held another meeting that Friday, crowds gathered in front of town hall where Montez had his podium set up again. News crews filled the area. "Citizens of Amity Park." Montez began, his slightly accented voice filling the area. "Earlier this week, I spoke of the menace that was Phantom. At that time, I declared him a public menace, but made no direct statement about what we as Amity Park will do about it. Today I reveal that plan." Montez snapped his fingers, and two large banners unfurled, revealing images of Phantom with a crosshair painted over his head, and text that read 'Public Enemy Number One' "The police department will be armed with anti-ghost weaponry, and will have a shoot on sight order for Phantom, so that he will not be a bother to this town anymore!"
The crowd was divided in their response. While a large number have a cheer at the noise, several were more quiet. A few select voices were loud though.
"Why do you think Phantom is a menace? He protects us from the other ghosts that come around!" Came the voice of Dash Baxter of all people. "He saved me when I got turned into a 30 ft. Monster!"
"He's stopped a ton of ghosts at Casper High!" Came Paulina's voice.
Montez's eyes glowed red for a moment, anger seeping through as he spoke again. "I assure you citizens Phantom is a menace!"
"Would you say it to my face?" Danny asked, as he flew into the area.
"Phantom! Quickly! Officers! Shoot him!" Montez ordered.
"No need, if you truly think I'm a menace, I'll surrender peacefully into custody, but there is one thing I would like to check first. Ms. Possible, if you'd please?" Danny said, looking into the crowd.
"Gladly!" Kim said as she whipped the bolo around and sent it through the mayor. Mayor Montez was unharmed, but Walker was forced out of him.
"That's what I thought, Walker." Danny said, relieved that at least a large portion of this was the result of one of his enemies, and not simply the public hating him. "People of Amity Park! The ghost you just saw come out of Mayor Montez is a ghost zone prison warden, who is corrupt and beholden to no jurisdiction, he enforces the law only he creates, and has no authority. Several other people have been found to be overshadowed in the past few days. I am not saying the fights I have trying to protect you don't cause property damage, but I am saying I do everything in my power to minimize the damage done! Now, I've got to go trap Walker!" Danny flew in, slamming into Walker and pushing him further away from the mayor.
Realizing the gig was up, Bullet and the rest of the prison guards emerged from the people they were overshadowing, and began to terrorize the populace. The back-up plan being to make them hate all ghosts, and therefore shun Phantom for simply being one.
"Guards, start the crowd control!" Bullet called out.
"I don't think so." Kim said as she ran up and slammed her fist into Bullet's jaw.
"Insolent girl." Bullet said, flying in to deliver a punch to her stomach. Unfortunately for him though, an ectoplasmic energy blast caught him in the side, as Ron held up a fenton wrist blaster.
"Booyah!" Ron said, excited that he managed to get a hit in.
"Good shot Ron! I'll keep his attention, keep hitting him, then get him with the Thermos." Kim said, as she readied to square up with the purple ghost again.
"On it KP!" Ron said as he fired another wrist blast. Rufus held up a laser lipstick like a shoulder cannon, and fired at Bullet as well.
Elsewhere in the crowd: Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Jazz, Jack, Maddie, Sammy, Alex, and Clover all start dealing with the various guard ghosts, sucking them into thermoses.
Inside town hall, Danny and Walker stared down at each other, anger in their eyes. "I'll admit boy, I didn't think you'd have it in you to keep going after I tore everything down. Tell me, how bad did it hurt to have those girlies of yours hate you?"
"A pain you'll never feel, because I'm not convinced you'll ever find anyone who even likes you, let alone loves you." Danny said.
"I'd call you wrong, but I don't care enough. You're outmatched boy. You couldn't stand up to me a month ago without the help of Skulker and 13. Your backup outside is too busy dealing with my boys. You've got no chance." Walker said, a sneer on his face.
"Even if I don't, I'm no hero if I don't try." Danny said, as he flew up to slam his fist into Walker's face.
Walker dodged out of the way, grabbing Danny's foot and slamming him brutally in the ground. "I was rattling around that Mayor's noggin for a while, that floor's expensive boy. Even more taxpayer money you're using up."
Danny shot an ecto blast into Walker's eyes, forcing him to release him to cover them as the sting got to him. "Lucky shot, but it doesn't matter. I'll tear you down in front of the entire town, prove to them that even if you aren't a menace, you're not enough of a protector. You can't stand up to me."
Danny stood up, his fists shaking. He wasn't going to sit here and let Walker talk down to him like this. Amity Park was HIS city to protect. He'd take on all comers, Skulker, Desiree, Spectra, Fright Knight, anyone who would try and hurt people, he'd deal with them all. "You're wrong!" Danny moved, faster than he ever had before and slammed his fist into Walker's chest, a shockwave bursting out from the force of the impact.
Walker winced, had he really needed to breathe, the breath would have been knocked out of him from that. His mind raced… Phantom wasn't this strong a month ago, where did this come from?
Danny landed another hook to Walker's jaw, sending him flying. Danny appeared where Walker was sent to and grabbing him by the face and slammed him into the ground.
Walker landed in a daze, his head spinning at the sheer force of Phantom's blows. "How, how are you this strong? You weren't this strong a month ago!"
"I'll be as strong as I need to be to keep my town safe. Remember this Walker, as long as I'm here, no ghost is going to harm Amity Park." Danny pulled out his thermos and sucked Walker in, before putting the cap on it.
Walking out of city hall, Danny saw that the crowd had completely cleared out, with just his friends and family standing there, smiles on their faces and thermoses in hand. Danny transformed back into his human form, walking up to them. "So we got them all?"
"Twenty four, plus the second in command, think he called himself Bullet." Jack said.
"Add one warden to the mix then." Danny said, shaking the thermos he held. "Let's go empty them into the zone."
"Then we'll order pizza!" Jack said, and a cheer went up at that. Everyone loves pizza.
"Meat lovers for me!" Tucker called out.
"Vegetarian!" Clover and Sam said at the same time.
"We'll get it sorted out kiddos." Maddie said, as they all walked back to Fenton Works.
After night had fallen, Kim, Star, and Sammy had taken Danny to the park on the outskirts of town, where the night sky was at its clearest. The four of them laid down on the ground, marveling at the majesty of the universe.
Danny spoke up. "Not to be mean, but… why is Sammy here? I figured this was like.. A mini date."
"It is." Kim said, snuggling into his side more.
"Gotta get you used to having her around as a girlfriend." Star added.
"What?" Danny questioned.
"She likes you dummy. Up to you if you want to reciprocate, but Kim and I have no problems." Star said, moving to the side to let Sammy take her place.
"I'd… like the chance if you'd let me." Sammy said, looking up at Danny with hope in her green eyes.
"Man… that's really hard to say no to." Danny said, meeting her gaze.
"Then don't, we know she's your type." Kim said, nudging him in the side.
"I have a type?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, girls who kick butt." Star said.
Danny laughed. "I guess you aren't wrong… but Sammy, are you sure? I'm sure you could find a guy who wasn't sharing you with two other girls, and you've only really known me for like a week."
"Maybe, but I've been nothing but impressed by what I've seen. You're compassionate, protective, and you understand better than anyone the kind of stuff we go through. Relationships while dealing with my… spy work is hard because of all the secrecy, but I don't need to keep that from you. I might not be able to tell you everything about my missions, but I get to tell you more than I can tell almost anyone else. And I know, that once you feel the same way for me that I do for you, you'll wrap me up in your arms and hold me tight, making me feel like I'm the only girl in the world, even if the other two are there watching." Sam said, smiling at him. "So yes, Danny. I'm sure."
Danny looked at her, seeing the vulnerability and affection in her eyes. "Okay… I've got three girlfriends now. Two I know I'm fully in love with, and one I've got to learn to be in love with… I hope that's okay."
"Danny… you're ready to say it now?" Kim asked.
"Yes Kim. Kim, Star. I love you both, so so much. And Sammy… I don't feel that way yet, but I think we'll get there. Is that good enough?" Danny said, looking at each of the girls in turn.
"Totally." Sammy said, leaning up to kiss him.
Danny returned her kiss, before laying down next to her, Kim snuggling into her side and taking her turn to kiss him. Star, not wanting to be left out, climbed onto his chest and did the same.
"God, I'm living most guys' fantasies." Danny said, almost not believing it himself.
"And it's not yours?" Kim asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"It's my reality apparently." Danny said.
"You're right, it is." Star said, kissing him again.