How it Happened…
At the Nasty Burger, Danny and Star, enjoying their now Colette-free days, were having lunch.
"French fry, my dear?" Danny offered.
"Yes, please..." Star said with a giggle as Danny fed her one.
The young couple continued to playfully feed each other. Meanwhile, Valerie spotted them and decided to spend her break talking to them.
"I see you two are still like peanut butter and jelly..." Valerie joked.
"I'd prefer peanut butter and chocolate, to be honest…" Danny said with a shrug
"Me too. Another sign that we are totally meant for each other." Star nodded.
Valerie was about to say something, namely how cheesy that was, but her boss, Irving "Third Degrees" Burns, started shouting.
"Gray! Go help clean up the tables! We got a lot of work to do!" He ordered.
"Excuse me? I'm on break right now and this is supposed to be my last shift for the night..." Valerie complained.
"Change of plans. I just got word that a food critic will be showing up today. So this place has to be spotless, shining, and clean enough that he could eat off even the floor!" Third Degree Burns said.
"First off, that's gross and a good way to get a bad review. Second, I didn't hear anything about a food critic. I got plans with my dad, plans I told you months in advance and you said that it was okay to leave as soon as this shift ended. Any chance you ever recalled that I got to be going?" Valerie sassed with fists at her hips
"Too bad, this is important! You'll have to make it up to him later, because right now, all Nasty Burger employees are needed here, on the double! Either change your plans and get back to work or you're fired!" Burns argued.
"Like I have a choice..." Valerie grumbled as she found herself ending her break early and went to clean the tables like her boss had ordered.
Danny and Star shook their heads in unison.
"Poor Val..." Star said.
"Too bad shooting ghosts don't pay bills..." Danny said in a low voice as to avoid being heard by the rest of the customers.
"Who the heck is this food critic supposed to be anyway?" Valerie asked upon being handed some cleaning supplies to clean the tables with.
"No idea. The guy is supposed to be anonymous. So we gotta keep an eye out and make sure that we get a good review." Burns said.
The door then swung open and in came someone.
"Uh… hi?" Misty said as she suddenly saw the manager and employees looking at her.
Misty only rarely got fast food but with her grandmother's sauce still selling, they had some extra money and she decided to get something to eat now that she had free time.
Irving rushed to her.
"Hello?! Are you the food critic?!" He asks with a terrified expression on his face.
"...huh?" Misty asked in a confused tone.
"...I'll take that as a no." Irving stepped aside. "The register is this way…"
"…Uh...okay…?" Misty said in a confused tone.
She made her way to the counter to make her order as Danny and Star shared a look.
"She's here, should we wait for Sam and Tucker?" Danny asks.
"They said they'd take a while, plus she's the one we need to fill in the most, so let's start without them." Star said with a shrug.
Misty made her way to the two.
"So… this is the Nasty Burger, huh?" She asks, taking in the area. "Very… retro."
"You've never eaten here?" Danny asks.
"Strict mother who used to dictate every part of my life, remember?" Misty said with a flat look. "So, what's this about a food critic?"
"No clue. But apparently, Val's boss is going nuts wanting to impress whoever it is." Star said.
It was then that someone who stepped into the restaurant overheard this and smirked before he spoke up.
"Hello. Time to meet my standards..." A familiar voice announced.
Star raised her head and saw who was now at the door.
"YOU?!" She exclaimed when she saw who it was.
It was none other than Donovan Loadman, who looked as cocky as ever right now.
"Estelle? Didn't think I'd see you here." He said as he sent her a smug, flirty look.
Before Star could yell at him, Burns took notice of him.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Irving asked.
"Donovan Loadman, the one and only..." Donovan said smugly.
"Thank goodness for that..." Danny snarked, Star nodded in response.
"I heard about you. Didn't McDowell fire you?" Burns asked, having heard about his bad reputation from another Nasty Burger manager who works nearby.
"Yeah… but I got a new side hustle while I wait for my first pay at my new job." Loadman said with a snotty look on his face.
"Well, whatever it is, we don't have time to deal with the Worst Nasty Nat in the industry. Now either order something or get out!" Burns demanded.
"Is that any way to talk to…" Loadman approached and faux-whispered to him. "GOURMETKING1956?"
Burns' face turned pale.
"...th-that's the food critic who got in touch with us today…" He gulped as audibly as possible. "Y-You mean you're the critic?"
To prove it, Loadman held out his laptop and opened it, revealing his email and username to prove it.
"Now… give me one of everything, and I do mean everything." Loadman smugly ordered.
"He really wants one of everything?" Valerie asked in surprise since that would be far more food than one person could eat.
"Yeah, and we're gonna have to give him a feast. The future of the Nasty Burger is at stake and I need everyone here to buckle down!" Burns said.
One of Val's coworkers, Paige, rolled her eyes.
"Future? I'm only here until graduation until I can go to Amity Park University and become an anthropologist..." Paige said.
Her coworkers nodded since, to them, this was just a part-time job. However, this was Burns' livelihood and he didn't want to risk it.
"Mitch. What are you waiting around for? Start flipping burgers on the double!" Burns yelled at the fry cook, who went and did what he was told. "Paige, go to the market to get more vegetables!" Burns ordered, before turning to Valerie. "Valerie! What are you standing around for? Go take his order as he's too important to get up from his seat!"
All of the part-timers frowned, but since this was their job, they did what they were told.
"The things I do for minimum wage..." Valerie grumbled as she and the others went to do their jobs, which was to serve Donovan of all people.
"Hey, hurry up with that mighty meaty melt supreme with extra ketchup, extra mustard, no mayo, no pickles and make sure the tomatoes are cut thin, that the onions are grilled with peanut oil, and that you use iceberg lettuce! Oh, and my burger has to be cooked medium rare. And I mean medium! I see one hint of well done and your restaurant'll be well done too!" Donovan said in a pretentious way.
"Of course…" She said with a fake smile plastered on her face, trying to suppress her anger at his sassiness but took his order and handed it to Mitch the fry cook.
Mitch took a deep breath to try and calm himself out.
"Just a few dozen more workdays of this until graduation until I'm at college, studying to become an orthodontist...and then I never have to deal with a high-maintenance customer like this ever again..." Mitch muttered as he tried to remain calm and went back to fry cooking while Donovan kept making demands and Burns kept insisting they had to follow them.
Star and Danny saw this and shared the same incredulous look.
"Seriously? Since when is he a food critic? I thought he considered places like this beneath him. He always said stupid, snobby stuff like this whenever he annoyed me..." Star said.
"I just feel bad for Val..." Danny said.
"So...just who is that guy and why is he acting like he's some sort of king?" Misty asked, already not liking this food critic who started barking orders like he was some celebrity.
"He's Donovan Loadman and next to Psycholette, Beatrice The Terrible, and the Fruitloop, he's one of the biggest pains we have dealt with..." Danny explained.
"Wow...he must be a piece of work if he's almost as bad as Psycholette." Misty comments, since she hadn't met the other two yet and she hoped she won't
"It makes me miss the ninjas…" Danny suddenly muttered before taking a sip of his soda.
"I s- wait…" Misty raised her head. "Ninjas? I don't recall you mentioning ninjas…"
"Right… that's why we called you here. It regards… the incident at the museum." Star added with a whisper since she didn't want anyone not in the know overhearing them.
"Oh… right…" Misty recalled, yet was unaware of all the details. "So…what exactly happened back then?"
"Right… it actually began like a week before. I had just dropped Star at home after a date, via Air Phantom, and I was on my way home..." Danny said as he began the story.
"Air Phantom?" Misty asks incredulously.
"...just listen…" Danny responded with an unamused look on his face.
A week before the incident
Danny had just left his girlfriend at her house and took to the skies. He was currently flying, on his way home.
Okay, hopefully this time I can make it before curfew… Danny thought as he glanced at his watch and kept flying.
However, his ghost sense went off, causing him to roll his eyes.
"Typical. Okay, whoever it is...just show yourself and let's end this quickly. I have a curfew!" Danny called out.
He soon heard a loud roar and hissing sound and turned around to a large, ghostly snake, one with two heads.
It snarled at him before lunging, causing him to fly backwards to avoid it.
"Okay...not sentient...whatever. Hopefully this will make it easier..." Danny said as he went to fight the two headed snake.
One head lunged at him, Danny prepared to fire, but the other head lunged, causing him to avoid it quickly.
He had one moment to attack before the first head lunged.
Flying around to dodge, Danny prepared to attack before seeing the other head noticed him, attempting to bite him before he barely managed to dodge iy.
"No good… I attack one head… the other attacks me at the same time." He said under his breath.
His attempt to plan was cut in half when the snake's left head tried to sink its fangs into him, causing him to split in half.
Upon seeing that he was now two beings instead of one, a plan formed.
"This gives me an idea..." The two Phantoms said in unison.
Both Phantoms flew fast, going after the two heads from opposite directions. Each head reacts to the other Phantom's presence.
One Phantom sent an ecto blast, causing the snake head to pull away. The other snake head turned its head to see the attack, only to dart back to the Phantom it was facing, allowing it to be struck in the back.
Seeing this happen, the two Phantoms nodded towards each other before flying in, raising both fists at the snake heads. The two heads remain frozen, as if unable to process what was going on, before they were hit.
The two heads fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Yeah... I still don't get it..." Star said.
"Don't get what?" Danny asks.
"How'd that idea of yours worked?" Star asks.
"I get it!" Misty raised a hand, getting their attention.
"You do?" Star asks.
"Yeah... for while you might think that a creature with two heads has the ultimate advantage because it has no apparent way to get snuck up on... it only has one body to house the two brains." Misty clarified.
"And if you attack both heads at once..." Danny gestured for her to continue.
"...the two brains have their attention split, confusing the body..." Misty added.
"...so it doesn't know which brain to listen to first." Danny and Misty said in unison, much to Star's mild displeasure.
"...not sure I like you guys being in sync like that..." She grumbled. "So... continue?"
It took Danny a moment before he grabbed his thermos.
"And don't come back..." Danny said upon capturing it.
He clasped the thermos shut and sighed.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone else spends their weekends like this… He grumbled in his thoughts n frustration.
However he panicked as he suddenly recalled where he needed to be.
"Nuts, I only got 10 minutes. I better hurry!" Danny said as he flew as fast as he could to get home before he missed curfew again.
Unknown to him, a certain group had been watching him from a distance and saw the whole fight.
It was a trio of people, all had witnessed the entire ghost battle from the shadows.
"So this is him, eh? He is far scrawnier than I expected, yet his defeat of the creature we unleashed shows he is powerful…" The presumed leader of the group said, clearly seeing the ghost boy as a threat.
The sole female of the group disagreed, shaking her head.
"You are acting paranoid again, Kaito. Just because you are the best of the three of us in battle doesn't mean you know better. Plus, I think that Phantom boy might have potential, we just need to plan smartly and not charge into battle, perhaps he can be an ally to us..." She said.
"Must you always be so eager to prove you're a better thinker than fighter, Kasumi? Do not forget that I am the oldest..." Kaito said with an impatient tone.
"Are you two done yet? I was hoping to meet some nice women in this town..." A lazy voice said, sounding bored out of his mind.
It was the third male and, instead of spying, he was dozing off while observing passersby in case of a pretty face he wanted to see.
"Act seriously for once, Kazuto..." Kaito barked, sounding annoyed.
"Yes… big brother…" Kazuto sat up, his tone sarcastic and disinterested.
"Now… we strike!" Kaito ordered and he and his associated made their move
"Please excuse my bad attempts at sounding like them..." Danny said with a smile.
Misty looked unconvinced.
"How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?" She asks.
"...more of an estimated guess based on what I learn about who they are later…" Danny shrugged.
Danny kept flying and soon saw his neighborhood.
He looked relieved.
"Finally and about ten minutes to spare..." Danny said in relief, only it was cut short when something was thrown at him and he barely dodged it. "Spoke too soon..." He grumbled.
Getting closer, he saw what was now pierced into the building's side.
A metal object with 5 curved blades, one of those blades dug halfway into the building.
"A shuriken? But how-..." He was cut off when he turned his head, seeing another coming towards him, but he created an energy shield to deflect it. "Okay, whoever it is, you got my attention! Show yourself!"
"I wasn't sure who it was at first, but the fact that my ghost sense didn't go off made me realize it definitely wasn't the Box Ghost or Ember trying to annoy me again." Danny said.
"Plus, they don't throw those metal stars." Star pointed out.
"Shurikens." Danny corrected her.
"Wait, how did you know that thing they threw at you was a shuriken?" Misty asked.
"I've seen plenty of ninja movies and anime that I remember what they look like..." Danny explained like it was no big deal.
After about several seconds, nothing happened.
Before Danny knew it, he saw something fly past him, he moved away in time before it reached him.
He saw another shuriken embedded into the wall, very much akin to the one he dodged earlier.
After studying it for a moment, Danny directed his attention to where it came from.
Danny believed whoever threw this weapon was there, flying towards where he assumed the attempted assailant was hiding. However, upon landing, he found an empty rooftop.
"Okay... now wh-" He heard the sound of paper being tossed in the wind. Turning his head, he saw a note atop the walls of the roof access.
Approaching, he tentatively reached for it, reading the note.
YOU WILL MEET US PROPERLY SOON...
It ended with the odd drawing of some downward blade.
"...this is bizarre... even for my life..." Danny muttered.
Little did he know that he would be running into the person who wrote this note sooner than he thought.
As he flew off, the three who followed him appeared in a puff of smoke, watching him leave.
"Why didn't we just rush him now?" Kazuto complained.
"Because I want to know how he fairs against each of us." Kaito explained.
"If he dodged that, a surprise attack, then surely he will not be an easy opponent. We should prepare..." Kasumi pointed out.
"Yes... let's..." Kaito's eyes narrowed in the direction Danny went.
"Do not forget the first reason we've arrived." Kasumi chided Kaito for his impulsiveness.
"Yes, little sister..." Kaito muttered. "The armor..."
Special thank you to Flower Princess11.
Present day events are set after the most recent story she's done, but the past is set before Bewitched.