Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello, and welcome to my newest fic: Heart of a Hero. I'll try and let the work speak for itself, but I'll let you know about the current plans. This should update every other Friday, alternating with my other story: Harry Potter and the Sphinx Club. You'll get chapter 2 next week while I get that schedule going. Currently Chapters 1-3 are finished, and the hope is by the time you see Chapter 2, I'll have 4-5 finished as well. As it stands, on with the fic!

"Now Danny, you're in high school now, so you can help your folks with hunting ghosts! You're ready for the responsibility." Jack Fenton said, clapping his massive gloved hand over his teenage son's back. Danny Fenton, alongside his friends Tucker Foley and Sam Manson, were listening to his father's speech about ghost hunting for what felt like the hundredth time. They might have been able to muster up some fake interest if they hadn't, in fact, already seen several ghosts. More if you included Danny, at least whenever he happened to feel like it. They'd have laughed about having more experience fighting ghosts than Jack and Maddie had if the irony hadn't already lost its appeal.

"Dad, there are no such things as ghosts! You've never found any proof of them!" Danny's older sister Jazz said, walking down the stairs. "Stop trying to corrupt Danny anymore than you already have. He deserves to have a normal high school experience, and doesn't need to be ostracized because you and Mom have this obsession."

Danny nods before taking an obvious look at his watch. "I'd really love to hear more, Dad, but we're gonna be late for school if we don't get a move on." Danny said, grabbing his backpack from the floor next to him.

"Alright. Take this with you just in case. I call it the Fenton Thermos! It should trap ghosts if you see one, just point and shoot, it'll do the rest." Jack said, excited at the new invention. The cylindrical tube he handed Danny did just seem mostly like any other Thermos, barring its high tech look, alongside its silver and green color scheme that every Fenton gadget had.

"Does it work as a normal Thermos? Also, how are you getting around the trademark on the name Thermos?" Danny asked. While he was skeptical about the device's ability to catch ghosts, a regular thermos would be a cakewalk for his supergenius parents.

"Ugh… I don't know… about either of those actually. Don't pour anything into it until I do some tests! Otherwise, since we're not selling them yet, there shouldn't be any trademark issues… I'll need to call your Uncle Richie again, see if he knows if that would be a problem." Jack said, preparing to call his brother. Uncle Richie was a lawyer who specialized in contract law, and was decidedly normal when compared to the other side of the Fenton family. There had been a few times that Danny had wished he had been Richie's child instead, but they had never lasted long. Being the child of ghost hunters Jack and Maddie Fenton was odd and occasionally dangerous, but it was never boring.

Such was the case on the walk to school, as normal kids would talk about the weather, or sports teams they might try out for during their freshman year of High School, Danny, Tucker, and Sam got to talk about how one of them had a horrible lab accident that may or may not have technically killed him.

"I feel like I should probably tell my folks what happened in the lab last month. They were really worried when you guys grabbed them and they saw the burns. They're still not sure what happened. I think Mom's been doting more than usual hoping I'll talk about it." Danny said, rubbing his arms in nervousness. The decision to not tell his parents had initially come about for fear of getting in trouble, since the severity of the accident hadn't set in yet. It wasn't until he had been in the hospital for a day that he realized how close he had been to dying, then it had really hit him. Unfortunately, it had been immediately followed by his arm disappearing, and Danny wanted to make sure he wasn't going to fully die before he told them. A month on, and some understanding that he had ghost powers, and some minor experience using them had alleviated his immediate death concerns.

"Are you sure man? We'll support you with whatever, but let's be real and think about what the consequences of that might be. They'll definitely want to study you, and there's a non-zero chance they might also think you're a ghost who is possessing yourself and try to rip you out." Tucker said, his usual brash tone coming out.

Danny sighed. Tucker wasn't gentle, but he was right. Danny was fairly certain his parents would support him, there was no question that they both loved him and his sister immensely, Ghost Hunting, though, had been their love since before they came into the picture, there was the chance, however small, that it might take priority. Danny wasn't sure if he was willing to roll those dice.

"There's also the worry that the government might find out and experiment on you. Like they supposedly did to those kids from Go City when we were little." Sam said, concern in her voice.

That had been something he hadn't even thought about. There were other people with superpowers in the world, some of whom operated publicly, some of whom had secret identities. Danny would be far from the first of them, but he didn't think any of them shared his circumstances quite as well. Team GO had claimed their powers came from a meteorite from space, and that all of its energy had escaped into their bodies. That incident had been one of the reasons Danny wanted to become an astronaut, to see if maybe he could find another similar meteor and gain powers. That had been his reason as a child, but it had later morphed into a general desire to see the stars and the cosmos. He couldn't do that if he were rotting in a government laboratory somewhere.

"You're right, but how long can I keep this from them? It takes one time that I am half-asleep and phase through the table or something that they notice and rip me apart before I can tell them I'm not possessed. At least if I tell them I have the chance to explain before they start blasting." Danny said. He was about to continue when a chill ran down his spine, and he watched as his breath condensed into a blue mist in front of him. This had happened a few times since his accident, and he had come to recognize the sign. Ghosts.

Two semi-transparent green octopi were flying through the air, likely on their way to cause some kind of mayhem. Danny had encountered a few similar ghosts before, and any attempt to reason with them had been met with violence, so he had stopped trying. Maybe someday a ghost would talk to him, but Danny didn't expect today to be it.

Running into an alleyway, Danny screamed "I'm Going Ghost!" as two bars of light engulfed his form. His jet black hair giving way to platinum white, and his blue eyes turning a bright fluorescent green. His clothes, typical streetwear, became overwritten by a black jumpsuit with white gloves and boots, and thankfully, no symbol of Jack Fenton's face as had been originally present.

Danny flew up and grabbed the two ghost octopi by their tentacles, before quipping "Hey, Calamari! Seafood's not on the menu today!" before flinging them onto a nearby roof. They landed with a satisfying thud, as Danny descended on them. The two ectopusses, as Danny just decided to name them, began to wrap their tentacles around Danny's limbs, trying to constrict him. Had this been pre-accident Danny, they probably would have been strong enough to contain him, but the accident had done more than simply give Danny the ability to fly and turn invisible and intangible. His strength had been drastically increased, even without transforming, and with this newfound strength, Danny slammed the two creatures heads together, using their own limbs as additional leverage. The two ghosts lost consciousness as they laid on the roof, and Danny dropped down to the ground below before transforming back, white hair giving way to black.

"Shouldn't you try and catch them in that Thermos thing your dad gave you? Normally we just shove them back in the portal, but with your dad down there today we can't do that." Tucker said, glancing up at the roof.

"I'm not convinced it'll work, Tuck. Mom and Dad's inventions are pretty hit or miss. I think the Portal might just be a fluke." Danny said. "I'll hope they learned their lesson, if not they're just octopi, they can't do too much damage right?"

"Let's hope." Tucker said, still wary. "To get off of this topic, you guys heard that we got combined with Middleton High right, that school from one suburb over?"

"Yeah, apparently there was some massive explosion in the science wing. The school was wrecked." Sam said. "No injuries, they had evacuated once they realized something was wrong, but the school board is undecided if they'll even attempt to repair the damages."

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?" Danny asked, a little shocked. This seems like something he would have been told about beforehand.

"The day after your accident was the day the explosion happened. You were preoccupied with staying alive at the time. I found out while sitting in your room while you napped. Hospital TV is never any good." Tucker said.

"Well, do we know anything about any of the newcomers?" Danny asked.

"Not really, we've been tainted by that 'loser squad' reputation since elementary school, no one from any school was exactly rushing to be friends with us." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit. "It'll be the same as it always is, the A-List, the nerds, the preps, the nobodies. Just like every high school, the names are different but the faces are all the same."

"You're just not thinking with the right mindset Sam, there's a whole new class of ladies for the TF to get to know. That's Tucker Foley, TF for Too Fine." Tucker said, shooting finger guns at the imaginary girl he was introducing himself to.

"Tuck, you're my best friend, and I mean this in the nicest way possible. That pick-up line is never going to work." Danny said, putting his hand on his best male friend's shoulder.

"You just don't trust the process. It's a confidence game Danny." Tucker said, changing his walk to exude more "swagger" as he would put it.

"Well, we can't say you lack for that." Danny said, deciding to ignore his friend's bravado. He'll get rejected a few times and then tone it down, at least for a while.

At school, they had been given the first period to get acquainted with the space, as well as find their lockers and home rooms. Danny, Tucker, and Sam were relieved to find that while they weren't exactly locker neighbors, they were within easy eyeshot of the other two, with Danny and Tucker being directly across from each other in the hallway, and Sam being in the next grouping of lockers past the door to the Home Economics room. Tucker mentioned that would frustrate him to no end during this year, being able to smell whatever Home Ec had cooked, but likely not being able to taste any of it.

Danny had put in his locker combination to make sure it worked properly, and it had, when a familiar, though not friendly face showed up.

"Hey their Fenturd. See you got your new locker. Ready to see if you fit in it as well as you did your last one?" Dash Baxter said, his large meaty hand already grabbing Danny by the back of his shirt. Dash was Captain of the Football team, an anomaly given his status as a freshman, but apparently he was proving to be some kind of prodigy. This likely came from the fact that Casper High's prior football team had been so terribly bad, that the new crop of students from the undefeated Casper Middle Jaguars had completely overtaken them. Of the 50 players in this year's team, 35 of them were incoming Freshman, including 3/4s of the starters.

"Dash, this is your chance to turn over a new leaf and leave this stuff in middle school. You aren't going to take that chance?" Danny asked. He knew the answer inherently, Dash had been doing some variation of this since he had hit the initial growth spurt that had allowed him to play Pee-Wee Football in Elementary School. While Dash had matured physically, his bullying habits had not left him.

"Yeah, I thought long and hard about it, and I decided to give you better quality bullying this year! Now let's get cramming." Dash said, getting ready to shove Danny into his locker.

"Leave him alone." A voice came from behind Dash, causing him to turn around. Standing there was a girl with red hair that went down to her mid back, and green eyes that were glaring at Dash with some pretty serious anger.

"What's it to you? He's just a loser." Dash said, still holding Danny by his shirt. Danny considered just phasing himself through Dash's grip, but figured that might be a little obvious, even if Dash and the other girl's attention were away from him at this moment.

"I don't care who he is, that's not acceptable behavior. Now put him down." The girl said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Fine. Fenturd's not worth my time anyway." Dash said, letting go of Danny and walking off.

"You alright?" The girl asked, walking over to Danny, who was readjusting his shirt.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's far from the first time Dash has tried to shove me in a locker, probably won't be the last either. Thanks for the assist though, I appreciate it." Danny said, before holding out his hand. "Danny Fenton, Dash's favorite punching bag."

"Kim Possible, pleased to meet you." Kim said, shaking Danny's hand, a bit of a smile at his statement.

"Wait, you're the Kim Possible? Like the superhero?" Tucker asked, shocked.

"So not the drama, but yeah, that's me. I just do what I can." Kim said, trying to wave it off.

"I dunno, that's pretty cool. What's that like?" Danny asked, but before she could answer, the bell rang for them to get to class.

"If you want to know more we can talk later, don't want to be late for my first class!" Kim said, as she walked off briskly towards her class.

At lunch, Danny had invited Kim and her friend Ron over to join them for lunch, they had accepted and the group had sat down at the table.

"So… does anyone have any idea what this is?" Danny asked, poking a glob of meat on his tray with a fork. It jiggled in a way he didn't find particularly appetizing.

"The menu said mystery meat, so I guess it's a mystery." Tucker said, digging into the questionable food on his plate. "It's not bad."

"It's horrible is what it is! Not only is it meat, which is murder, it's also completely disgusting beyond regular meat!" Sam said, angrily staring at the meat on her tray.

"So you don't want yours?" Ron asked, happily eating his beside Tucker. Danny rolled his eyes, it looks like Tucker might make a new friend after all.

"Oh God, there's two of them," Sam muttered as she pushed the tray towards him and he happily combined the two masses of 'meat' together.

A few moments later, another girl came over to their table. She was an incredibly beautiful girl, with nearly perfect skin only blemished by a single mole just below her eye, that actually only added to her beauty. Her long black hair was silky and shiny, and contrasted her mocha colored skin nicely. Danny knew this girl well, having had some kind of a crush on her for many years, this was Paulina.

"Hello Kim, I was just letting you know that you don't have to sit with these losers here. You can come join the rest of us at the A-List table. You're a cheerleader like Star, Bonnie, and I after all. You shouldn't be associating with these losers." Paulina said, smug superiority obviously present in her voice.

Sam was outraged and was about to speak up, when Kim beat her to it. "No thanks Paulina. Bonnie and I aren't exactly friends, and I'd like to try and make some new ones. I'll see you and Star at cheer practice anyway."

Danny's eyes widened a bit in surprise at her statement. Turning down the A-List for them wasn't something anyone did. They'd lost a couple friends over the years because of their 'loser' status bestowed on them by the A-List, so having someone stick up for them, and want to be friends even when a better option presented itself was noteworthy.

"Fine, enjoy your losers then." Paulina said, anger creasing her forehead a bit, as she walked back over to the A-List table.

"You sure you want to just turn her down like that? Most people dream about getting to be an A-Lister." Danny said, worried a bit for Kim. Cheerleader or not, hanging out with Danny and company didn't exactly improve your social standing in school.

"Yeah, if she's anything like Bonnie, and she seems exactly the type, then I really don't want anything to do with her. I've dealt with Bonnie for years, I don't need a second. Even beyond that, there's no chance they'd let Ron come with me, and he's my best friend. I wouldn't abandon him to hang out with some snooty rich girl." Kim said, before taking a drink of the water she had.

"Hey, what makes you think I can't be popular?" Ron said, and Kim just gave him a look. "Alright fine, I get it."

"Ron, you're great. You're not the A-List type, and trust me, that's a good thing." Kim said, patting her friend on the back.

"Sure sure. Rufus, you want some of this buddy?" Ron asked, and a small hairless rodent popped out of his pocket, stretching his arms as though he had been taking a nap. Making his way up Ron's sleeves, and onto the table, Rufus used a spoon to section off some of the mystery meat and began eating it.

"First off, it's probably inhumane for you to be feeding your pet food like that. Secondly, why on earth do you have a naked mole rat at school?" Sam said, her gaze focused on the animal.

"Oh cool! No one's ever gotten what Rufus was without me telling them. As for everything else, Rufus is capable of making his own decisions about what he eats, so if he's digging in he's enjoying it. Rufus is also an emotional support animal. Doc said I had extreme anxiety, and recommended I find something to help me cope. He recommended an emotional support animal, but my dad's allergic to pretty much everything. Rufus here is allergen free though, and fits in my pocket easily." Ron said, and Rufus took a bow. The bell rang after that, signaling the end of lunch.

The school day ended, with Danny, Tucker, Sam, Kim, and Ron walking out of Casper High, emotionally exhausted from their first day. Danny stretched, happy to finally no longer be confined to the dreary building that was their high school.

"Well, that's our first day as high schoolers done and dusted. Feel like heading to Nasty Burger to celebrate?" Danny asked. "That includes you and Ron, as well, Kim."

"It can't be Bueno Nacho?" Ron asked, seemingly saddened.

"Bueno Nacho doesn't have any vegan options, and also destroys Tucker's stomach. It's not pretty, so we've avoided it." Sam said, rolling her eyes. The last time they ate there, Tucker had needed to have his stomach pumped.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." Kim said, before a series of beeps interrupted her. "One second. Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Hey Kim, hope your first day wasn't too bad. You've got a job, a tech company operating out of the Amazon. I'll send you the details, but you'll need to head out pretty quick. Already got a ride ready." The boy on the device, apparently named Wade said.

"Alright, Ron and I will be there ASAP." Kim said, before ending the call and turning to the others. "Sorry, duty calls. Rain check?"

"No biggie, go save the world Super Hero." Danny said, laughing a bit.

"So not the drama, probably just some thief looking to make some money. Come on Ron, we're heading to the Amazon." Kim said, before checking her Kimmunicator again and grabbing Ron, having them run towards some location.

"You're not upset that she just blew us off?" Sam asked, seemingly a little annoyed herself.

"It'd be pretty hypocritical of me to be upset for someone running off to try and do some hero work. Honestly, she doesn't even have powers and puts me to shame. I might need to step up my game." Danny said.

"Well, you're pretty much the only person who can handle ghosts, since I'm sure she'd just punch right through them without doing anything. Maybe your focus is where it should be. Besides, isn't it kinda cool she's trying to be friends with us?" Tucker said, excitement pretty evident in his eyes. "I wonder if she can put me in contact with that Wade guy. It'd be sweet to have someone to talk tech with, maybe I can get some tips to be your man in the chair."

"I think she's got some agenda or something. Why would she blow off the A-List to hang out with us? She's a superhero, a cheerleader, and from what I know about her parents pretty well off. She's got every reason to be an A-List, but isn't. There's some angle." Sam said, crossing her arms.

"I say we give her a chance. You saw Ron, he's not exactly 'popular guy' material. Maybe being friends with him for so long made her disinterested in that kind of thing." Danny said, shrugging a bit.

"Then why is she still a cheerleader? That's pretty much reserved just for popular girls." Sam said.

"She likes the sport? Neither Casper High or Middleton Middle have a gymnastics team, so if she wanted some of that kind of thing, she'd effectively be forced into cheerleading." Danny said.

"How do you know that?" Tucker asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Jazz wanted to do gymnastics, so we looked for places that had it. Even though she attended Casper Middle like we did, if Middleton had a gymnastics squad we could probably ask the school board for her to be allowed in it. Didn't happen though, so Jazz just took some lessons at the local center before deciding that it wasn't really what she was into." Danny said. "She and I just ended up doing martial arts with Mom instead."

"Fair enough, Nasty Burger then?" Tucker asked.

"Nasty Burger." The pair replied.

The next day at lunch, the meal was the opposite of yesterday in terms of composition, but roughly equal in how appetizing it looked. Gone was the gelatinous mound of unknown meat substance, and in was what appeared to be a slice of white bread with grass growing on it.

"While I can appreciate some good vegetarian food as much as the next girl… What is this?" Kim asked, eyeing the dish with uncertainty.

"This is the Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian option that I petitioned the School Board to include, since they didn't have any options available for them. No more unethical mystery meat." Sam said smugly, proud of her accomplishment as she took a bite of the open-faced grass sandwich.

"Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian?" Kim asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Sam thinks the word Vegan is too mainstream, so she calls herself that instead. I think it may also mean she allows herself honey since it can be ethically harvested." Danny said.

"Only if it's certified! And it has to be from wildflowers." Sam said.

"Right, and you expect us to eat this? It looks more like it's suitable for cows than humans." Kim asked, somewhat concerned by how… lawn-like her bread looked.

"It's crabgrass on whole wheat bread. Completely consumable and bioavailable for humans, it's even high in many of the daily nutrients you need." Sam said.

"Crabgrass…. Like the thing my dad tries to remove from our lawn?" Kim said, even more concerned.

"Local crabgrass is technically a different species than the traditionally harvested edible variety, but yes." Sam replied, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.

"Sam, I understand what you've done here, and I can say I would support the addition of a vegetarian or vegan, yes I will use the word, don't look at me like that, option to the standard school menu, but… no other option at all? Come on, you can't seriously want to take away everyone's choice?" Danny said, pleading with his friend.

"Yeah, I need meat! I'm a growing boy!" Came from the mouths of both Tucker and Ron simultaneously.

"Jinx, you owe me a soda." Ron said, smirking at Tucker. "And Sam I get your desire for extra menu options, I have to eat Kosher, and it took my family a while to petition the school district to offer Kosher options." Ron said.

"Wait, you're Jewish too?" Sam asked, somewhat shocked. "You said yesterday you love eating at Bueno Nacho, how do you do it?"

"Bueno Nacho certifies that all chicken and beef products served are kosher, as brought on by their founder José Garcia Hernández in 1962, Who went on to later sit on the board of the Organization of Latin American Jews in 1970." Ron said, as though he was stating a fact on a history test.

"He knows all that but can't remember who Christopher Columbus is." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah I do! He's the guy who directed the first Harry Potter movie." Ron said, sticking his tongue out. That got a laugh from the table. "Regardless, Rufus, you wanna try this bread thing buddy?"

Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and nibbled at the bread. When asked how it was, he shrugged and replied "Fine." before continuing to eat.

Dash angrily stomped over a few moments later, grabbing Danny by the shirt collar and lifting him up. "Hey Fenturd. Your girlfriend replaced the lunch menu with this garbage, so I'm going to make you eat all of it." Dash threatened, shoving Danny to the floor and holding a slice of the crabgrass bread in the air.

"He's/She's not my Boy/Girlfriend!" Came the simultaneous reply from Sam and Danny.

"Don't care, the loser's getting fed." Dash said, before being interrupted by a slam coming from the door to the kitchen.

"WHO CHANGED THE MENU?" Came the angry shill voice of an older woman, dressed in a frock and apron, with a hair net on. Danny wouldn't pretend to recognise everyone who worked at Casper High, but he'd never seen her before, and he was pretty sure he'd remember if he had. She had some kind of… presence he couldn't quite figure out. Before he could wonder about that, Dash did the cowardly thing.

"She did!" Dash said, pointing at Sam.

The Lunch Lady screamed, before launching herself at Sam, who thankfully managed to dodge out of the way. This unfortunately meant the large woman slammed bodily into the table they were sitting at, sending it flying.

"Woah Ma'am. Are you crazy?" Kim asked, dropping low as the table flew by.

"I dunno, but I'm not sticking around to find out!" Dash said, as he ran away.

Seeing that she missed her target, the Lunch Lady's eyes began to glow an ominous red, and she began to rise into the air cackling maniacally.

"She's a ghost!" Came from Danny, Sam, and Tucker, who now noticed her skin was significantly green tinted, which they had initially assumed was from the poor lighting of the school.

"There's no such thing as ghosts guys." Kim said, dropping into a battle stance, muscles tight and ready to pounce like a wildcat.

"Do you have another explanation Kim?" Danny asked, managing to get up from his place on the floor.

"I'll let you know when I think of one!" Kim said, before launching herself up off the ground and sending a flying kick to the Lunch Lady. This would have connected, had the Lunch Lady not simply grabbed her ankle, and threw her away.

"Kim!" Danny said, before running, and in quick hops flying towards where she would land, catching her in midair.

"Alright, say I believe she's a ghost. What do we do about it?" Kim asked, watching as the Lunch Lady held her arms out, and began summoning meat from within the kitchen and all throughout the school towards her.

"Honestly, that part I'm not too sure about. I'll go try and call my parents, they're ghost hunters, maybe they'll know what to do." Danny said, trying to give him a cover story to run away and transform.

"Best hope we got! You go do that and I'll see if I can keep her busy." Kim said, patting him on the shoulder as she quickly ran towards the meat monster that the Lunch Lady had become.

Danny ran outside quickly, hiding in a small corner behind a nearby dumpster and transformed, two disks of light appearing and altering his body into his ghostly form. Flying back in, Danny noticed that Kim and the Lunch Lady had moved their fight out the other doors to near where the parking lot was. Kim was attempting to damage the monster, using well executed punches and kicks, but wasn't making any headway due to the less than cohesive form the meat monster had taken. Tucker and Ron had elected to try and help by eating the monster, which while Danny appreciated the help, seemed both gross and unlikely to provide results.

"Hey! Big and Meaty! Don't you know you're not supposed to play with your food?" Danny quipped, before flying as fast as he could into the creature, landing a solid punch to the creature that sent him straight through it. Briefly going intangible to get the small chunks of meat off of him that had stuck to him during his flight, Danny turned to see his handiwork, a gaping hole in the chest of the monster that he felt very proud of making… until it closed up, more meat filling the hole he had made. "Oh come on!"

Danny threw more punches at the creature, knocking off more and more chunks, but it seemed to just be able to pull itself back together no matter how much physical damage he did. "I swear, can't I just put you in a lunch box and forget about you?" Danny quipped in frustration, trying to calm his nerves with humor. This fight wasn't getting anywhere, and she was way stronger than any of the ghosts he had fought so far. That's when it hit him. Lunch box. The Fenton Thermos! He had no idea if it would work, but it was worth a try. Danny flew back into the school and grabbed it from his backpack, no one else thankfully around to see him do so. Emerging back from the cafeteria, he aimed it towards the giant creature. "Go!" Danny commanded, trying to get the Thermos to… do whatever it was supposed to do. Danny shook it for a moment. "Come on! Work!" Danny thought, subconsciously pouring his energy into the device. With a mechanical whine, it powered on, and Danny pointed it towards the towering meat monster, who turned to begin throwing a massive meaty haymaker towards him. From deep within the thermos, a blue light shone, before turning into a massive blue vortex that began to suck up the meat monster. Soon, the spectral form of the Lunch Lady was pulled into the Thermos, which Danny quickly put the cap on. The massive mound of meat, now lacking animation, began to slump into the ground, motionless. Danny landed near the others.

"Everyone okay?" He asked, looking to the four gathered individuals. Ron and Tucker had their hands over their stomachs, obviously overstuffed from attempting to eat the meat monster, and Kim was breathing heavily and sweating, her hands and shoes covered in meat.

"Beyond the fact that I smell like the bathroom at a Bueno Nacho? I'm good." Kim said, as Danny reached out and briefly turned her intangible, letting the meat slide off of her body. "Thanks. Who are you?"

"Oh, ugh, I'm…" Danny started to say, but was quickly interrupted.

"Kim Possible! Give me back my tick micro drone!" Came a voice from atop a floating platform. Riding atop it was a man with blue skin, black hair, a scar underneath one of his eyes, and a blue lab coat. Next to him was an admittedly rather fetching woman with Black hair, green tinted skin, and a black and green two-toned jumpsuit, Danny recognized her immediately. She had been one of his heroes growing up.

"Friends of yours?" Danny asked, eyeing Kim.

"Mad scientist named Dr. Drakken. Trying to take over the world. His assistant is Shego. Super-powered martial artist." Kim said, dropping back down into a battle stance.

"Alright, Let's get up there and mess with them. Hang on!" Danny said, grabbing Kim's arm and flying her up to the platform. Danny quickly began trying to knock Drakken out, but he was surprisingly agile, and able to dodge his attacks pretty well.

"Oh no you don't fly boy!" Came the voice of Shego, who had lunged at his head with her hand covered in some kind of green energy. Danny didn't need to be told that it was probably a bad idea to let her touch him with it. Kim however, had his back, and tripped Shego with a low leg sweep, forcing her to reposition lest she fall off the platform.

The two continue swatting at their respective enemies, as Kim's superior martial arts manages to keep Shego from making any real connecting blows with her enhanced fists. Danny had managed to land a few hits on Drakken, but he was forced to hold back more than he was used to to make sure he didn't kill the man. Ghosts he fought were pretty durable, regular flesh people not so much. The few hits he had managed to connect on Drakken, were glancing blows that largely bounced off of the reinforced lab coat he realized Drakken was wearing. Danny turned, looking to Kim. "Switch Dance partners? I can probably take a hit from her better than you can, and you can probably hit this guy without breaking his jaw."

"Alright! Switch!" Kim said, running and landing a jump kick on Drakken while Danny flew over and landed a solid blow to Shego's stomach.

"Ugh! You're making me mad, Flyboy!" Shego said, starting to throw a barrage of punches his way, that Danny thankfully was able to use his less than solid physiology to dodge.

"You're one to talk! I used to look up to you! You were Shego of Team GO weren't you?" Danny said, "You were the first girl I ever had a crush on! I wanted to fight bad guys like you and your brothers."

"Ugh! Don't talk to me about those idiots!" Shego said, her attacks starting to come faster and harder. She was MAD.

"Fine, maybe they'll be nice and visit you when we lock you up in jail then." Danny said, sending another punch to her stomach. Shego was a metahuman, she should be able to take these hits better than a normal person, but Danny was still holding back. He really didn't want to see what a full power attack of his would do to a human.

Drakken's eyes widened as he noticed something crawl along Kim Possible's face. "Shego! Leave the boy alone and throw Kim Possible off the edge!"

"On it Dr. D!" Shego said, landing a solid punch to Danny's stomach while he was distracted by the call out. Shego then ran behind Kim and launched her off the edge of the platform with a solid kick.

"Kim!" Danny said, as he took off of the platform and flew to catch her, thankfully doing so before she hit the ground. "Ugh, what's that on your nose?"

Kim pulled out her compact and took a look. "It's the tick they're after! He's rigged them to explode!"

"That's right Kim Possible, and in 30 seconds the one on your face will turn you into a bloody mess on the ground! Boo hoo for little miss wonder teen." Dr. Drakken said, gloating in his victory. "There's no way for you to detach it either! It's covered in a slick coating that prevents anything short of a laser from removing them!"

Danny thought for a second, before turning Kim intangible, and sure enough, the tick fell straight through her body and into his awaiting hand. "Well, you did say you wanted this back, Drakken. Here you go!" Danny said, as he flew up and phased the tick into the bottom of the floating platform. With speed, Danny flew himself and Kim away from the oncoming explosion, and had been looking away when a loud BOOM was heard behind him.

The platform, badly damaged, began to slowly fly away, with Drakken and Shego holding on to the railings, having barely caught themselves from falling off. "You might think you are all that Kim Possible and weird Super Powered Flying Boy, but you're not! You're not!"

Danny set Kim down on the ground, flushing a bit at how long he had held her. "So, should I go catch them?" He asked.

"No, they'll get their comeuppance. Now, you were saying earlier, but I'll ask again. Who are you?" Kim asked, looking at her savior.

"I'm… huh… guess I hadn't thought of a name yet…. Phantom. You can call me Phantom." Danny said. "I'll be around if something like this happens again. I believe your tagline is 'call me, beep me, if you want to reach me?' I don't exactly have a phone line, ghost and all, but I'll be here, to deal with whatever ghost problems are necessary." Danny gave a small salute before flying off down the street. Invisibly, he circled back around, phasing into the building and coming out of the cafeteria doors.

"I saw that weird guy come and trap that Lunch Lady, is everyone okay?" Danny said, trying to play dumb.

"Yeah, we're fine. I guess Phantom saved us." Kim said, looking off in the direction he had flown. "Guess I'm not the only superhero in town."

"You never were Kim! The Ron was here too!" Ron said, pointing back at himself with his thumbs.

"You're right Ron. Sorry." Kim apologized.

"No biggie, I know I'm the sidekick. It's a good role." Ron said, ever proud of his status as sidekick. "Think he'd want to join the team? It'd be cool having someone with superpowers around. No offense Kim."

"None taken, it would be handy. We'll have to ask him next time we see him, assuming he's even able to." Kim said.

Danny would have to think of a reason why he couldn't join regularly. Kim was able to Hero publicly, even if that was by accident. Danny didn't have that luxury at this moment, so wouldn't be able to get off school or talk to his parents about going on missions like she did. Honestly, she wondered how her parents let her get away with it.

Later, at Fenton Works, Danny was recounting the incident today to his parents. "Ha! I knew ghosts would show up sooner or later. Although I wonder why that Phantom ghost was fighting the other one." Jack said excitedly, before thinking a moment on the second part.

"Maybe he just wants to stop other ghosts from hurting people? Surely if there are good and bad people, there are good and bad ghosts?" Danny said, trying to steer them away from thinking that Phantom, and unknowingly by extension Danny, were bad guys.

"I suppose it's possible. If our obsession theory is true, then maybe whoever this Phantom was when he was alive was obsessed with being a hero? We'd need to review some of our theories." Maddie said, idly picking at her salad. "Why didn't you call us though Danny?"

"By the time I found a phone I could use, that Phantom guy had shown up and seemed to be handling it. I know you would have appreciated the chance to catch them both, but since Phantom was helping us I hadn't really wanted you guys to trap him for doing a good deed." Danny said.

"I suppose that's fair, although he did steal one of our Thermoses." Jack pointed out.

"I probably dropped mine in the panic after the Lunch Lady attacked, so he probably just grabbed it thinking it would help. I'm certainly not going to be mad at him for saving my life." Danny said, trying to lead his parents down a path of thinking. He wanted to tell them, he really did, but he needed to reinforce the idea that there could be good ghosts first. Just so that way they would give him a chance before just assuming he was being possessed or something.

That did separately make Danny think, was that a power he had? Ghosts in movies and stuff were able to do that.

Chapter Text

A/N: Welcome to our first update! Glad to see people excited about the first chapter. As of when this goes up, there are rough drafts for every episode up through episode 5 (That's Splitting Images by the way). Something I feel I should clarify. While there will be some Kim Possibleisms in the story, and you can expect some of her rogues to show up, this story is primarily about Danny's adventures. Just assume Kim has a lot of her adventures in the background, since most of the time they wouldn't change since Danny can't exactly tag along to the Amazon or whatever. Also, if there are any other cartoons from this era you would like to see added to this universe, please do let me know. This world definitely contains Danny and Kim, and Kim's world does contain Lilo and Stitch and Jake Long from their crossovers (also more, but the others probably won't show up) I'd love to think about including something like Totally Spies, My Life as a Teenage Robot, or Ben 10 (specifically Alien Force) but I'd want to know if that's something you all as readers would be interested in seeing. The core of this story is Danny's relationship with Kim, Star, and Ember (plus any other girls I may add) so let me know!

About a month had passed since Danny's incident with the Lunch Lady ghost, and he had been settling decently well into his new life as both a high schooler, and Amity Park's resident ghost fighting superhero. While the only ghosts that had come through the portal recently were animal type ghosts, like the less than threatening Ectopusses, Danny was not of the opinion such a thing would last very long. The Lunch Lady had proved that more powerful ghosts did exist, and were more than capable of traveling through the portal, which meant Danny had to be ready.

His superheroics however, were not on his mind right now. He, like all other students at Casper High, had their attention turned towards the upcoming Homecoming celebrations, and in particular, the homecoming dance that would accompany it.

"I really need to find a date for the homecoming dance. KP, do you know any of the cheerleaders who would go with me?" Ron asked his best friend, as the group idly chatted at the lunch table. Ron and Tucker had been moaning about finding dates for the last week largely, and hadn't had any success finding any.

"Why do you guys even care about the dance? It's going to be lame, and just an excuse for the A-List to dress up and lord their superiority over everyone." Sam said, her distaste for the event showing.

"Well, it IS nice to be able to dress up nice for an event like this. Plus it's something we don't get to do often. It's not like any of us get invited to parties or anything, so the chance to go to a social event would be kinda nice don't you think?" Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. While he wasn't as desperate for a date as Ron and Tucker were, being totally fine with just attending alone or with a friend, he would like the chance to have a proper date.

"Well, Kim gets invited to parties. Probably. Actually, do you? Or have we tainted you from that?" Tucker asked Kim. Kim was certainly the only one of them who would receive such invitations, but they'd never heard her talk about any of them.

"Occasionally? It's pretty rare actually. Seems like the people who throw those parties here are Paulina and Bonnie, neither of which have particularly high opinions of me. I don't think I've ever gone to one really, usually a mission comes up. I also out of habit turn down any invitations that tell me I couldn't bring Ron. Even if he wouldn't want to go, anyone who wouldn't let me bring my best friend isn't someone I'd want to spend too much time with." Kim said, taking a sip of her water.

"Aw, thanks KP." Ron said, giving his friend a quick hug. "Back to the homecoming dance though, do you have a date KP? Or Danny? You haven't spoken up."

"I've been wanting to ask Josh Mankey to go, I know it's usually not a thing for the girl to ask, but that's never stopped me before." Kim said, her usually go-getter attitude shining through.

"Oh, that guy in the year above us? Really? Didn't strike me as your type." Danny said, a little amused by it. Danny figured Kim would need someone who is as much of a go-getter as she was, and Mankey was certainly not that.

"I don't have a type. I think. I dunno, he's cute, and isn't a total jerk like half the guys in the school are." Kim said. "I swear it seems like outside of you guys pretty much every guy is like Dash."

"Kwan's not too bad if you get him alone." Danny defended. Kwan had actually been a good friend of the 'loser trio' back in the day, before he decided to play football. His impressive skills as a lineman had earned him a spot on the A-List, and their rules had meant that he couldn't hang out with Danny and Co. anymore. They didn't blame him really, regardless of his football prowess, declining the A-List typically meant you got bullied pretty bad by them. Kwan however had avoided bullying others as best he could, and whenever he did, had managed to secretly slip apology notes afterwards. It wasn't perfect, but it was probably the best he could do.

"Maybe so, but he's still not in my good books." Kim said. "Ron did ask about you Danny, you plan on asking anyone?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, I guess I'd like to ask Paulina, but so does every guy in school. I don't really stand a chance." Danny said with a bit of a shrug.

"Why her? You don't really know her, and from what I do, she's awful. She's probably worse than Bonnie, and I'm sure the only reason I'm not positive of it is Bonnie's specific hatred of me." Kim said, taking a moment to glance towards the A-List table, and her enemy Bonnie Rockwaller. She and Kim had been rivals for years as Danny had found out, largely because of Bonnie's jealousy of Kim. Kim had been head cheerleader in middle school, Kim had gotten better grades, and Kim had deeper friendships. Kim also had enjoyed much better relations with the rest of the cheer squad than Bonnie had, who from what Danny had been told had only managed to have any kind of friendship with Tara, a blonde girl who was friends with pretty much anyone.

"He's thinking with his dick and not his head." Sam said, rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"Hey! And I'm not, really. I mean yeah, she's gorgeous, but mostly I was hoping that if I was dating an A-List girl Dash might leave me alone. Is that shallow? It feels kinda shallow." Danny said, acknowledging the weird selfishness of his desires.

"I mean, a bit, but you're owning up to it, which makes sense. It's also not like there's not a chance for something like that to happen. The question is why don't you stand up to Dash? I know you've trained with both of your parents. You Mom has three black belts and your Dad was a State Boxing Champion in High School. Dash is all muscles and no brains, you could handle him easily." Kim said, having met both of his parents last week. Apparently their mothers had been college roommates, and Anne Possible had been ecstatic to reconnect with her old friend. The entire night had been full of fun stories from their parents days in college, and promises to keep in touch after the fact. Danny was happy his parents had new, or as was the case technically old, friends.

"It's all for self-defense, and Dash isn't worth the suspension it would get me. Plus I'm not a big fan of hurting anyone." Danny said, waving her off. Even before his powers, Danny knew he probably had a better than neutral chance of taking on Dash in a fight, with the strength boost his powers gave him, it'd be more effort not to break his jaw then it would be to win.

"Why do you want to be popular anyway besides that? It's not all it's cracked up to be." Sam said, idly picking at her salad.

"Well, having more friends would be nice. I enjoy hanging out with you guys and all, but the last time I suggested we go play a game of basketball for fun you gagged and Tucker laughed in my face." Danny said.

"I suppose I forget that you don't have only the same interests as I do." Sam said. "Still being popular wouldn't solve that."

"I'll agree with Sam that popularity isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've dealt with Bonnie long enough to know that." Kim said.

"Yeah KP, but you've never been bullied like the rest of us." Ron said. "I still have nightmares of the swirlies I got before you managed to scare off Big Johnny."

"Big Johnny?" Danny asked.

"Bully from Middleton Middle. Particularly hated Ron. Spending the remainder of his teenage years in Juvie for threatening a teacher with a knife." Kim said. "Anyway Danny, if you really want to just do that, instead of Paulina, maybe try Star or Valerie. They're MUCH nicer than Paulina is. I think you might actually hit it off pretty well with Star now that I think about it."

"Hmm, well if you think so I'll give it a shot. I'll see about asking her. If that doesn't work out though, would you or Sam be willing to go as friends? Assuming you two don't find proper dates of your own." Danny asked the two girls he was closest to.

"I'd be happy to Danny, but like I said, I'm going to ask Josh Mankey first." Kim said, smiling at him.

"You know I'm not going to find a date Danny, I'm pretty much only agreeing to go to spend some time with you and Tucker." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Don't appreciate being a second choice though!"

"You're not a second choice, sorry if you thought so. I just figured this would be a good excuse to try an actual date, as opposed to just another time we do something together as friends. Besides, you know I'll probably still dance with you night of." Danny said, shooting a smile towards Sam.

"Fine. Just make sure that if you do go with Star or someone that you don't just ditch Tucker and I during the night." Sam said.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, knowing my luck with girls? I'll get turned down immediately." Danny said, laughing at his own bad luck.

"Don't be like that Danny. There's a lot there for a girl to like you." Kim said. "You could stand to dress a little better, but you're a pretty good looking guy."

"What's wrong with how I dress?" Danny said, looking at his standard T-shirt and jeans get-up.

"Loose jeans like that went out of style in the 90s, and that T-shirt doesn't exactly flatter you." Kim said.

"Why has no one ever told me?" Danny asked, looking to Tucker and Sam.

"I only know about goth fashion, I tried to get you to dress like it once, but you hated it." Sam said. "And Tucker still thinks that beret looks good, so his fashion advice is awful."

"Hey!" Tucker exclaimed, offended.

Arriving home, Danny went down to the lab to see if his parents were home. Sure enough, he found his dad sitting in a fold-out camping chair, with a bizarre fishing rod inside the Ghost Zone portal, and a soda-drinking hat on his head.

"Ah! Danny! Check out my latest creation! The Fenton Fisher! This bad boy can reel in ghosts from the Ghost Zone. It's even got a near-unbreakable line for the really feisty ones." Jack said, waving his hand over his new invention.

"Pretty neat Dad. Any bites?" Danny asked. More than enough animal ghosts came through the portal, it's not impossible for his dad to actually catch something, maybe even an actual ghost fish!

"Nothing yet, can you hold the line for me though? I've gone through two of these cups of soda and I'm gonna burst." Jack said, handing Danny the line before rushing upstairs before Danny had a chance to respond.

Danny rolled his eyes at his dad's antics. That was pretty standard all things considered. Danny tugged at the ghost line a bit. It did seem pretty strong. He grabbed a section between both hands and pulled as hard as he could. Yep, that was certainly pretty tough, might actually be better at restraining ghosts than catching them like a fish though.

Danny didn't get to think on that too long when he felt movement at the other end of the line. He'd been on enough fishing trips with his dad to know what that meant, there was a big one on the other side. Danny planted his feet firmly on the ground and began reeling the ghost in. The pull from the line was incredible, needing Danny's enhanced strength to be necessary to pull it in. Danny finally managed to get the ghost through the portal, and was completely taken aback by what he saw.

"A DRAGON?" Danny guffawed, awed by the cerulean scaled creature he'd just pulled in. "Going Ghost!" Danny yelled, as he tried to pull the hook away from the dragon. It let out a roar and spat a small plume of flame that thankfully didn't damage anything. Danny used his ability to maneuver in the small space to get to an angle that the hook could be dislodged from the dragon's mouth. The hook freed itself from the mouth of the dragon, who thrashed about. The hook caught the necklace the dragon was wearing as Danny began to pull it in, and tore it from the neck of the behemoth. Throwing the rod to the side, and unknowingly opening a hole in his backpack in the process as the sharp hook dug through the worn canvas, Danny flew at the dragon, Shoving it by the nose back into the portal, and slamming the emergency close button immediately after. Danny landed before transforming back into his normal self, before walking back over to the fishing rod, and the necklace he had pulled off the dragon.

The necklace was a pretty thing. Gold in color, though Danny would have no idea of the material, with a green gem in the center of the pendant that hung from the center of the necklace. "Huh, well. Guess I get my first ghost trophy." Danny said, as he put it in his backpack. Danny sat back down in the fold out chair, waiting for his dad to come back down the stairs.

"Ah, that was good, and I got more drinks. Got what for you too Danno. Catch anything while I was gone?" Jack asked as he came back down into the lab.

"Actually I did. It flew back into the portal though." Danny said.

"That's my boy! So, what was it like? Make any observations?" Jack said, pulling a rolling deck chair and sitting beside his son.

"Well, it was dragon-like, as in, looked just like a dragon from a story book, it even breathed fire, you can see the scorch marks there." Danny said, pointing at the scorch marks on the floor. "That's why I had to close the portal after it flew back in, I didn't want it making a second go at it."

"That's my boy! Catches his first ghost and it's a big dragon! So, how'd the Fisher do?" Jack asked, clapping his son on the back. Danny was ecstatic at seeing the proud look on his father's face.

"Better than I thought to be honest, the line never even looked like it was going to break. You might have some luck making a ghost net or rope out of the stuff." Danny said, showing the line.

"Really, I hadn't been able to break it myself, but I thought a ghost might have been able to. We'll look into that Danny. Feel like helping your old man out with it?" Jack said. Danny nodded. He hadn't really got to spend too much time with his father, and since he had sort of joined the ghost hunting business, even if his parents didn't really know about it, it wouldn't hurt to learn what he could about it.

"Alright! Now, to make the ectofilament we…" Jack started, as the father and son got to work on refining the ghost fighting equipment.

"... so I reel it in and this dragon comes out right? And it breathes fire so I have to dodge out of the way and reel the line in. It catches this weird amulet off the dragon's neck and I use the emergency close on the portal, making it head back through." Danny said, explaining last night's ghost encounter to his friends at the lunch table. Danny hadn't told Ron and Kim about his powers yet, so he was recontextualizing the story like he had told his dad, with no fighting the dragon. He was also showing them the amulet he had pulled from the dragon, its jewel glittering in the fluorescent cafeteria lights.

"It's still weird that there is a ghost dimension. If we hadn't seen that Lunch Lady or that Phantom guy I wouldn't believe you." Kim said, shaking her head a bit. "I wonder what makes someone or something a ghost?"

"Well, my parents have a theory that it's an obsession based thing. If you obsess over something in your life, or during your death, it can bind you to the Earth, and the Ghost Zone before you move on. I'm not convinced by that though, since you know, how would a dragon exist then?" Danny said, he also thought about the various animal ghosts he had fought, it's not like they could have obsessions. Maybe some things just became ghosts?

"I guess they ARE the experts. Maybe their research will turn up something." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit. She didn't want to openly say the fact that she, Tucker, and Danny had seen and captured more ghosts than his parents had, but she could heavily imply it to the other two.

Later Danny was opening his locker when he watched Star walk by. Figuring this was a good shot, Danny walked up to her. "Hey, Star!" He called out, trying to get her attention.

Star turned around, and Danny got a pretty good look at her face close up for the first time. They'd never really interacted before, so Danny hadn't really ever had the chance to talk to her or anything. At first, he was kind of taken aback by just how pretty she was. Her long blonde hair complimented her blue eyes very well, and her lips were nice and full, accented by a touch of lipstick.

"Yeah Fenton?" Star asked, she gave him a questioning look, and though she said his last name, it wasn't in the dismissive way that Paulina or Dash did.

"Yeah, I was wondering, uh, if you'd want to go to the homecoming dance with me? I know we don't exactly know each other or anything, but I figure it might be a good chance to try?" Danny said, stumbling over his words for a second. He hadn't planned this out at all. He just braced himself for the rejection he knew was coming.

"Huh. Gotta admit. Didn't see that coming. Mind if I think about it? Like you said, we don't really know each other." Star said, her face a little flushed. She seemed flattered that he asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Think about it. Half figured you'd just say no and call me a loser." Danny said, rubbing the back of his head. That slipped out before his brain could tell him that that probably made him seem like more of a loser.

"No, I'm interested. You're pretty cute, and I think you might clean up nice. Like I said. Let me think about it." She said. "Gotta get to class. I'll let you know soon, 'kay?" She finished as she walked off.

Danny was a bit struck after that. Star was generally accepted as the second hottest girl in school, and she hadn't said no immediately? AND she thought he was cute? That was a win in his book if nothing else. He's glad he took Kim up on the suggestion to ask her instead of Paulina. Now that Danny had seen her up close, he thought that she might be prettier than her, or at the very least, equally so. That had put her pretty much in contention for the number one spot in the school with three other girls. Paulina obviously, while Sam had always said she was ugly in personality, there was no denying that Paulina was beautiful. Danny also thought that Kim and Sam were contenders for most beautiful girls at school. Kim was obvious, and people would usually put her or Bonnie at number 3 by preference, but Danny knew she was every bit as attractive as Paulina was. Sam usually didn't put too much pride in her appearance, but Danny knew if she ever did she would be a total knockout. He'd seen it enough times to be completely swept away by it.

Danny's thoughts were immediately shaken from him by Dash's meaty hands slamming him inside of his locker. "Caught you slipping Fentoni!" Dash's voice said, laughing alongside another member of the football team. If Danny's ears didn't deceive him, that was Dale, one of the few non-freshman on the football team. Danny fumed from inside the locker, before turning invisible and phasing out.

Danny looked at Dash's back, and remembered something from an old horror movie he had watched. Ghosts when they walked through people gave them a big chill down their spines. Danny could probably do that. He stepped forward, trying to walk straight through Dash, when as soon as he stepped inside of him, he noticed that Dash's leg moved forward alongside him. Danny raised his arm, noticing that Dash's arm did what he commanded. He… was possessing Dash? THAT was a cool new power. Danny had Dash trip and fall to the ground, where he then quickly hopped out of his body, and waited to make his next move.

Dash gave a scream of shock, which Danny noticed was higher pitched than Dash would want it to be, before getting up and looking around, fists raised ready to punch whoever tripped him. He didn't see anyone though, and began walking again. Danny however, had while he was looking around, tied his shoelaces together, causing Dash to take another tumble.

While everyone was pointing and laughing at Dash, giving Danny a small measure of vindication for the years of torment that the blond boy had put him through, Danny entered his combination into his locker, before phasing through it, and making it look as though he had opened it from the inside. Danny had gotten good at opening lockers from inside them, but the advent of his powers had made that skill largely useless. Danny was glad he'd never need to worry about that again, but still wished he didn't get shoved in lockers at all.

Danny sighed and just grabbed his bag from his locker, not noticing the necklace fall from the hole that had been made by the Fenton Fisher's hook the previous day.

Danny walked off to his next class, dreading another lecture on English from Mr. Lancer, but held his tongue. He didn't need to make Lancer like him any less than he already did, for some reason.

Paulina had been walking in the same direction roughly twenty feet behind, also on her way to Lancer's class when she saw the golden necklace on the ground. The way it sparkled in the light caught her attention, and she decided to keep it. The green jewel in the center would go perfectly with her dress for homecoming.

The next day, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Ron, and Kim were at the mall, trying to find some clothes for the upcoming dance. Kim flicked idly through some dresses on the rack of the store they were in. Trying to find one in her size. While she did have the dress she had worn to her Middle School prom a few months ago, she had grown slightly, adding almost an inch to her hips, and two inches to her bust. That had made the dress too tight for comfort when she had tried it on the previous night, so she had elected to find a new one. Danny, Tucker, and Ron however had no suits at all. Danny and Tucker had never had a formal dance, since the closest things they had had to proms in Middle School were semi-formals, in which the expected attire was simply a button-up dress shirt and slacks, and Ron had missed Middle School Prom due to a vacation he and his family had taken during that time to Bahia Bay to see a distant cousin and her family.

In another store, the nearby Club Banana, Paulina browsed through some of the displays. One one of them, she found a blue shirt that she thought was simply divine. Looking through the stack of them, she was unable to find one in her size. "Excuse me miss?" Paulina asked to the store worker who came over.

"Yes, can I help you?" Came the store worker's reply. She had dark skin and hair much like Paulina, although hers was much curlier. Her Club Banana nametag read: 'Monique'.

"Do you have any of these in size small?" Paulina asked, holding up the tee.

"Sorry, those have actually been selling pretty well, so there aren't any more." Monique said, apologetically.

"Will any more be coming in?" Paulina asked.

"Afraid not. They were a limited edition run, and stores were only given a select number." Monique said. "Although if you really do want it girl, you could try buying a size up and shrinking it in the wash, or just wait a year and it'll probably come back."

"A whole year? But I want it now." Paulina said, her eyes starting to glow red.

"Sorry girl, them's the breaks." Monique said dismissively, before walking off.

"I. WANT. THE. TEE." Came Paulina's voice through gritted teeth, as her nearly flawless skin became blue and scaly, and her eyes began to elongate. More and more draconic features began to emerge from her teenage body, as she got down on all fours and a massive dragon appeared in her place, roaring inside the Club Banana, where a swing of her mighty tail destroyed many of the displays.

Hearing the roar, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Kim, and Ron peek their heads out of the formal clothing store and see the dragon rampaging.

"Is that the dragon ghost from yesterday Danny?" Sam asked, her eyes wide at the destruction the creature was causing.

"Sure looks like it!" Danny said.

"I've got to go help! Danny! Call your parents or something!" Kim said, as she began to run towards the Dragon, trying to land a flying kick on it. Danny registered that she made contact, but failed to do any real damage before he ran back into the store.

With a nod to Sam and Tucker, who distracted Ron long enough for Danny to jump inside a clothing rack, Danny transformed into Phantom, and flew towards the dragon.

"Hey! Big, Blue, and Scaly! I thought we handled this!" Danny said, flying and delivering a solid punch to the dragon's jaw.

The dragon roared in pain turning her gaze onto Danny, before belting out "Want. Tee." and thrashing some more.

"Well that's good, because I don't think anyone can afford the coffee here. How about some punch instead?" Danny quipped, flying under the dragon's chin and delivering a solid uppercut. This lifted the dragon from the ground, where Danny quickly rotated his body to land a solid roundhouse to the torso of the dragon, sending it flying into the nearby Club Banana store.

Danny flew down to where Kim was, having seen her hide behind some cover when Phantom had engaged the dragon. "You okay Kim?" Danny asked, checking over her. While perhaps her clothes had been ruffled pretty considerably, she otherwise seemed fine.

"Not the drama. I'm fine. Think scaly's coming back for round 2?" Kim asked, locking her eyes in the largely wrecked Club Banana store. "Did he have to destroy my favorite store?"

"Probably not, but I can't say I'm an expert on dragon psychology. He's pretty hard to miss though, and I don't see him anywhere. Must have turned invisible and scampered off. Which is annoying, since that's just another mess for me to clean up later." Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, sorry I'm not being too much help. You'd think with as long as I'd been doing this hero stuff, I'd be able to handle these things." Kim said, frustration clearly evident in her voice.

"Hey, we can't do everything. I certainly can't do the saving the world stuff like you do. I appreciate the help, but you can let me handle the ghost fighting." Danny said, shooting her a smile to ease her worries. Danny knew Kim was the kind of person who hated that she couldn't do everything, so he could imagine the frustration she felt at this. "If you're desperate to help when these things do happen, I could always use help getting people away from the fighting. Makes it a whole lot easier if I can punch a bad guy without worrying about throwing him into a pedestrian."

"I'll see what I can do. I've got to get back to my friends. How would I get in touch with you if something like this happens again?" Kim asked, looking at him.

"I believe I told you last time that I'll be around. Until then, see ya!" Danny said, flying off through the skylight and into a random direction. For him to immediately turn invisible and circle back into the store the others had been in previously.

"Is it over guys?" Danny asked, playing dumb again as he approached Sam, Tucker, and Ron.

"Yeah, looks like that Phantom guy handled it. Kim's on her way back now. Hey KP! You good?" Ron asked, closing the final few steps between him and his best friend while giving her a quick once over.

"I'm fine Ron. Better than I could say for Club Banana over there though. They're probably going to be closed for a month." Kim said, a bit sad.

"Look on the bright side, with so much of the merchandise probably being destroyed, they'll have totally new stock in. It'll be like a brand new store." Danny said, trying to cheer her up.

"I guess you're right on that front. Not like I'm dying for a new look anyway, ready to keep shopping? I still need a dress, and you three are going to be hopeless picking out suits without me here." Kim said, pointing at Danny, Tucker, and Ron.

"I take offense to that. Sam can help me pick out a nice black suit just fine." Danny said, aware of his less than stellar fashion sense. He can't help it, neither of his parents were great at it.

"Yeah, and you guys WILL be getting black suits. I know you want blue Ron, and it's not happening. However, some color in your shirt, vest, or tie would be good, and I'm not convinced Sam wouldn't make you look like you're going to a funeral. No offense." Kim said, looking apologetically towards Sam at the end.

"None taken, I know what I like." Sam said, rifling through a rack. "Tucker I got a message from your mom saying you're going monochrome though, she doesn't want to see that green suit she saw you looking at online."

"Ah, come on." Tucker said, frustrated a bit. "Can't even get like a green tie?"

"We'll have you try one on and see what she says. Especially if you end up getting a date, you don't want to clash with her dress. Although I think you've exhausted pretty much every girl there is, myself and Kim excluded." Sam said.

"... so anyway, Bonnie totally said yes! Score, I'm going to the dance with the second biggest hottie in the school!" Came the voice of Kwan as he and Dash talked loudly when they walked down the corridor of the mall.

"Nice! Weren't you going with Valerie though?" Dash asked.

"I was, but not anymore!" Kwan said, "Now she's dateless!"

The pair laughed, and the group in the formal wear store, rolled their eyes. Valerie wasn't exactly one of their friends, but that's a pretty low move for anyone.

"Huh, maybe I've got a shot. She's probably here in the mall. Sam, you're going to make half of these decisions without me anyway right?" Tucker asked.

"Largely." Sam said, shuffling through and pulling out another suit jacket. Before sneering and putting it back.

"I'll go find Valerie and ask if she wants to go to the dance. If Kwan is just gonna ditch her, I can at least try and make it a fun night." Tucker said, puffing his chest out.

"Fine. Go ask. If by some miracle she says yes, ask her what color her dress is so we can maybe see if you can wear that green tie you want." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit, although a small smile creeped on her face.

"Alright! Back in a flash." Tucker said running off.

"You really think he's got a shot?" Danny asked Sam, who pulled another suit off the rack and looked at it.

"Honestly, maybe. Valerie's not the worst of the A-List, and with her getting dropped at the last minute like this? She might just be desperate enough to say yes." Sam said.

"And the smile?" Danny asked.

"Because if Tuck makes good on his promise, she might decide to stick around. I've heard some talk in the locker room that she has more 'loser' in her than she lets on." Sam said with a smirk. "I'm not about to keep you two boys to myself forever. Tucker's got to find him a girlfriend so I don't have to do this," she gestures to picking out clothes, "all the time for you boys."

"You sure that's it?" Danny asked with a smile.

"All I'm willing to say." Sam replied.

With Tucker, after a quick run, he found Valerie, sitting alone at a table in the food court, looking noticeably sorry for herself.

"Hey Valerie." Tucker said, sliding himself into the seat opposite of her.

"What do you want Foley?" Valerie said, snapping a little, although it was evident as soon as she finished that she regretted being that mean about it.

"Well, I overheard what happened with Kwan. Figured you'd want someone to vent to about it." Tucker said, trying to pick his words carefully. While he was aware he was here for the rebound, he really didn't want to hurt her in the process. The Foley Method required girls to WANT to be in your presence after all.

"Why would I vent to you about it?" Valerie asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Aside from the fact that anything I say could never affect your social standing? I happen to have tons of experience with rejection." Tucker said, laying on the self-deprecation, ladies love self-deprecation.

"Rejected? More like replaced. Kwan and I have been planning to go together for weeks, but drops me the second Bonnie fluttered her eyelashes at him. UGH he's made me so mad." Valerie said, crumpling a napkin. "I just… I already bought my dress, I was really looking forward to this, and it's all ruined."

"Well, it doesn't have to be all bad. I know I'm not exactly your first choice of date, but I'm not as bad as Nathan, and I'm sure we can have a good time. So, how about you forget Kwan, tell me what color your dress is, and we can go together?" Tucker said, holding his hand out to the girl.

"You know what. Sure. We'll go together. You get weird on me though I'm blacking your eye though, got it?" Valerie said, taking his hand.

"Got it. Danny, Ron, and I are getting our suits over at that store over there. Want to come make sure you at least like what I'm wearing?" Tucker said with a gesture.

"Might as well, make sure you don't embarrass me by showing up in some dumb all green suit or something."

"Yeah, I totally wouldn't do that." Tucker said nervously.

Back at the clothing store, Tucker and Valerie arrived with Sam waving Tucker over. "I found a jacket I want you to try on. Your mother agreed to a colored tie OR shirt, provided it could pass both my and Kim's approvals."

"It'll have to get mine too then, since it'll have to go with my dress, I'm wearing gold, so let's start there." Valerie said, as she and Sam started flicking through shirts, Tucker going along with whatever they said.

"Gotta admit, I'm a bit surprised she said yes." Kim said, moving over to sidebar with Danny.

"Eh, I figured it was about 50/50. You haven't really gotten the chance to see it yet, but Tucker's pretty good at working people. He's got to be genuine about it though, the bravado he throws up a lot of the time doesn't work out for him." Danny said, before noticing Star walk by. "Speaking of dates, I should see if I'll have one or not. Back in a sec."

Danny stepped out of the store, quickly jogging to where Star was walking. "Hey, Star!" Danny called, trying to get her attention.

Star turned around, and saw Danny closing the gap between them. "Oh, hey Danny. What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to see if you had an answer for me. We're over here grabbing my suit, so it's pretty much your last chance to tell me if you want it to match at all." Danny said, giving a slightly awkward chuckle. He figured if she hadn't actually told him, she probably didn't have any plans on going with him. He however, was willing to let her tell him herself.

"Oh, well." Star looks around for a second, before quickly pulling him to the side. "Look, Danny, I DO really want to go with you. You're cute, and I think we'd have a nice time. I'm just… really worried about what Paulina or Valerie will say. Paulina's always so picky about the people the 'A-List' can associate with. I don't agree with it, but I don't really have any friends other than her and Valerie so I can't do anything about it."

"Really? That's… awful I'm sorry to hear that. Valerie's going with Tucker, so I wonder what's going on there." Danny said, now more than a little confused.

"I thought Valerie was going with Kwan?" Star asked, now confused herself.

"She was, but he ditched her to go with Bonnie. She's in there with Tucker and Sam now helping him get a suit to match her dress." Danny said, pointing them out through the window.

"Huh… well. If Valerie is willing to do it. I can too. I've been really tired of having to listen to Paulina's rules all the time anyway. I wanted to be friends with Kim when she joined the cheer squad, but Paulina had said that Kim was a no-go because Bonnie said so. So Danny, I will go to the dance with you. Just make sure I have a good time, okay?" Star said, grabbing his hand.

"I'll do my best. Since you're already here, want to make sure I match whatever dress you're wearing?" Danny said, gesturing into the store.

"Sure, got to make sure we look good for pictures after all." Star said, walking into the store with him.

Later at Fenton Works, Danny sat down on his bed, while Tucker and Sam plopped into a pair of nearby bean bag chairs. "Well, preparations for the dance are done. So that's a load off my shoulders. I wonder what was with that dragon though, I know I took the necklace off of it, so I wonder how it had another one?" Danny said, grabbing his backpack.

"Maybe it had a spare?" Tucker suggested.

Danny rifled through this backpack, eventually noticing a hole that one of his fingers slipped through. "The amulet isn't in here. I had it at school yesterday, you guys saw it. I wonder what happened to it." Danny said, thinking.

"Just did a quick search on it, take a look at this." Tucker said, handing Danny his PDA. On the screen was an article about lost artifacts of the middle ages, and Tucker had highlighted a specific section. "It looks like it's called the Amulet of Aragon, it can turn someone into a dragon if they experience extreme negative emotions. It disappeared after the death of Princess Dorathea and her brother Prince Aragon."

"Well, that explains some things, Dorathea must have brought it with her to the ghost zone when she died. My ghost sense never went off at school though, so I wouldn't think she came and grabbed it." Danny said, thinking harder on it.

"Wait… Tucker, didn't we see Paulina wearing a really similar necklace?" Sam said, looking towards her techy friend.

"Yeah, we had joked that Danny gave it to her to try and get her to go to the dance with him." Tucker said, realizing it. "I'd just thought it looked similar, the design isn't exactly totally unique or anything."

"Now that I think about it, the dragon did say it wanted 'tea' when we fought, and disappeared when I threw it into the Club Banana. Maybe it wanted a t-shirt and found it? That's why it calmed down?" Danny suggested.

"Paulina would get mad enough at not being able to find a shirt she liked to trigger the amulet if the article is true. That might mean you fought her." Sam said.

"If she does have it, we'll need to get it away from her. Angry girls are bad enough when they don't become two stories tall and breathe fire." Danny said.

Sam glared at him for a bit, before shrugging. "Fair, you're right to be scared."

"Well, the three of us are just going to have to try and get the necklace away from Paulina while we're at the dance. Surely between the three of us we can manage that." Danny said.

"Alright. What are we going to do if she gets mad though? As temperamental as Paulina can be, all it takes is one clumsy guy spilling some punch to turn the night into a Dragonlance novel." Sam said, some concern prevalent in her voice.

Danny thought about it for a bit. "Well, I've proven I can at least go toe to toe with the dragon… I'll keep some ectofilament that my Dad and I made on me, the dragon wasn't capable of breaking it before, so it probably won't again. That'll probably buy me enough time to get the necklace off. No necklace, no dragon."

"As good of a plan as we'll get I guess. We'll be there to support you if things go south." Sam said, taking a seat next to Danny on the bed and wrapping her arm around him.

"Thanks Sam. I'll make sure you get a dance tomorrow if you still want one." Danny said.

"You better! I like Ron well enough, but you're not leaving me alone with him all night." Sam replied. Since Ron hadn't managed to find a date at all, Sam agreed to be his date so that way his parents could get pictures. While Danny had taken to Kim really well as a friend, and Ron and Tucker had quickly found a new best friend in each other, Sam hadn't really connected with either of them. To Sam, they were more Danny and Tucker's friends than they were hers, which didn't bother her really.

The next night, Danny, Star, Tucker, Valerie, Sam, and Ron arrived in a limousine that Sam's parents had rented. On mentioning to her parents that she had a date, and that it wasn't Danny, but a jewish boy from Middleton, they had gone all out. They'd chartered a limo, and hadn't even complained about Sam's black dress (although her mother had heavily suggested that she accessorize with some jewelry that had some color. They had agreed on a nice amethyst necklace and set of matching earrings.). It seemed that Sam's parents really wanted to give Ron every chance in the world to woo their daughter. It was a shame it was never going to happen. Sam wasn't Ron's type to begin with, and while Ron was partially Sam's type, she had no interest in him.

"You didn't tell me that we were coming in a Limo Danny." Star said, a little shocked as they stepped towards the gymnasium that their dance was being held in.

"None of us did until my parents decided they wanted my date to stick around." Sam said, rolling her eyes. "No offense Ron, but I don't want what they do."

"None taken. Happy to be here as friends. Honestly, I'm just glad to have someone as my date. My mom was so happy to get pictures with someone other than Kim in them." Ron said, happily walking alongside her.

"Does your mom not like Kim?" Tucker asked, somewhat confused by the thought. Pretty much the only two people who didn't like Kim were Paulina and Bonnie, and her supervillains he supposed.

"Oh no, Mom loves Kim. She just wishes I had more friends than JUST Kim. I hadn't really told them that I'd met you guys before now." Ron said.

"Speaking of Kim, do you know if Mankey said yes to her?" Danny asked Ron. She hadn't told the rest of them, but if anyone would know it would be Ron.

"He did, they're on their way as of about 10 minutes ago. Misses Doctor Possible wanted pictures, and she can't take just a few." Ron said. Danny had heard all about how Kim's parents were both incredible geniuses with multiple doctorates. Ron's tendency to refer to them as "Mr. Dr. Possible" and "Mrs. Dr. Possible" was something that constantly made him chuckle. He'd thought about if his parents would want that, but considering that despite the fact that both did hold doctorates, neither ever had anyone refer to them as doctor probably implied not.

"Well, we're here. How about we each spend a bit of time alone with our dates, before we reconvene? I know you two could use the chance to get to know each other, and Ron and I have never had a conversation without Danny or Kim present." Sam said, looking at her best guy friends. "Each of you two owe me a dance tonight, I'll let the other girls decide if we're going to rotate partners during that or if they'll just sit out."

"You got it Sam." Danny said, shooting her a grin.

"You know it." Tucker agreed.

"Good. Now, go have fun, and remember what we talked about." Sam said, before leading Ron off to the side.

Danny and Star took a few steps in the other direction, where Star hoped they wouldn't be seen by Paulina, at least yet.

"Sam talked to you about something for tonight?" Star asked, as she and Danny began to dance to the beat of the slower song that was playing.

"Basic date stuff, trying to make sure we showed you and Valerie a good time tonight. She claims she's not going to hold onto us forever, and we'll need to find girlfriends eventually." Danny said, chuckling a bit. "I think she's happy we found dates, in her own way at least."

"There's never been anything between either of you and her? I don't know you all too well, but I know no one has really seen you apart for too long since third grade." Star said, shifting her weight on her heels.

"No, I know Sam and Tucker would make a pretty terrible couple. They fight like siblings, it's fun. Nothing's ever happened between Sam and I either, barring one kiss we did because a guy kept stalking her." Danny said, he could feel his grip tighten a bit as he thought about it, but relaxed his hands immediately.

"Care to tell me about it?" Star asked, now curious.

"Not much to say, it was just before school let out last year. Some guy from Elmerton apparently had some goth girl fetish and decided that Sam was going to be his. Sam wasn't interested, so had asked either me or Tucker to walk with her everywhere for a month so maybe he'd get the hint she was taken, even if that wasn't the case. He never did, and one time when Sam and I had gone to the arcade together, he approached her and tried to hit on her. She wasn't interested, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. I came over and tried to talk him out of it, when he asked who I was, Sam chimed in that I was her boyfriend, so I played along. Put my arm around her, that kind of thing. He still wasn't getting the memo, so I kissed her, he got mad and walked off. Pretty much the end of that, never saw him again." Danny said.

"Huh, well, what do you think about her then?" Star asked.

"Sam's been my best friend forever. We're really close, and I hope we'll be friends for the rest of our lives." Danny said. "Why the interest in Sam? I figured we'd be trying to get to know each other better."

"Well, I didn't want to think that I was getting in the way if there was something between the two of you, she did demand a dance after all." Star said, her eyes scanning the crowd.

"Well, she didn't want to say it, but I could tell she really wanted to come to this, but had wanted to come with either me or Tucker. Since we both found dates though, she probably was about to sit it out if Ron hadn't suggested they go together, since he'd also not had a date." Danny said.

"Why didn't you go with her?" Star asked. "I appreciate you asking me, but if it was just about getting a date surely Sam would be the better pick."

"Well, I… I'm not going to lie, my reasons were pretty shallow, but you deserve that I be up front about it. I had hoped to go with a popular girl like you, Paulina, or Valerie in hopes that maybe Dash would stop bullying me. Maybe if one of you took a liking to me, he'd realize he'd be in deep water with one or all of you if he tried something. Kim had suggested that we might get along, so I figured you'd be a good choice. Sorry if it's not what you're expecting." Danny said.

Star looked at him for a second, before bringing her hand to her mouth and chuckling. "Well you certainly aimed high didn't you? What made you think one of us would take a liking to you?"

Danny deflated. HIs fears about this were being realized, but it's what he deserved for being so dumb in the first place. "Misplaced hopes I suppose." Danny removed his hands from her waist and started walking away. Cursing himself for being so stupid that this would ever work out. He'd just slip invisibly and grab the necklace from Paulina and chuck it back into the ghost zone. Then hopefully he'd never have to think about this night again.

"Who said they were misplaced?" Star said from behind him, as she grabbed his hand.

"Huh?" Danny said, barely comprehending as he turned to look at Star again. She had a pretty mischievous grin on her face.

"Who said they were misplaced? Like you said before, we don't really know each other yet, so you could have said 'I asked you because you were pretty' and it'd be a decent enough answer for us to try and get to know each other. You were honest with me, and I really appreciate that. I don't like Dash's bullying either, but there's not much I can do about it really. If I told him to stop, he wouldn't listen to me, pretty much the only person who could make him is Paulina, and she's not in any hurry to do so." Star said, pulling Danny back and putting his hands on her waist.

"I see. Maybe Sam and Kim were right about being popular." Danny said, trying to regain his mental footing.

"While I won't say it's worse than getting bullied all the time, Paulina doesn't exactly make it easy." Star said, rolling her eyes a bit. "It's all keeping up with fashion trends, being forced to maintain a specific size at all costs, arriving at just the right time to events. Going to parties whenever possible. While some of it is fun, it is also exhausting sometimes."

"Probably nice to be invited to the parties though." Danny said.

"It would be if you were allowed to enjoy yourself, but you're forced to just interact with the same people, and listen to only specific kinds of music. I have to keep a separate hidden playlist of the classic rock stuff I listen to with my dad, because according to Paulina the only thing we can listen to is the top 40." Star said, rolling her eyes.

"Yikes." Danny said, feeling sorry for the girl. "Why bother putting up with her like that?"

"Aside from the social suicide it would be to go against her? She wasn't always like that. Concerned about her looks and wanting to be popular? Sure, that's always been Paulina. But before it was just make-up, cute clothes, and keeping up with trends. Minor stuff that was honestly pretty fun. Something over the last year changed her though. I keep hoping that maybe she'll realize what's happening with her, but I'm losing hope." Star said, down a bit. "Let's leave that topic alone for the night. I'd rather get to learn a bit about you really."

"We can do that, although I will tell you I'll probably need to do something about Paulina tonight. A necklace of mine that I had brought to show my friends fell out of my backpack, and it looks like she found it, so I need to get it back from her." Danny said, giving her an apologetic look.

"That's fine, I'm sure we'll get a chance. Now, do your parents really hunt ghosts?" Star asked.

"Well, they try." Danny said, as the two began trying to get to know each other a little better. Conversation between them flowed pretty well, Danny learning that they actually had a number of interests in common. Star was also interested in astronomy, although notably it was from her love of painting, she loved how galaxies in the sky on clear nights had these unusual abstract shapes to them, and had been painting star scapes in her off-time for years. She also loved ice-skating, and had dreams of maybe someday competing in the Olympics.

Their good time however, was cut short when Paulina came over to the pair. "Hey, loser. Get away from Star, she's way out of your league." The hispanic girl said, her hands on her hips. "Come on Star, let's get you back to your date. Where is he?"

"Danny is my date actually." Star said, moving back over to Danny. "We're actually having a nice time."

"Ha! That's a good one Star. Now seriously? Where is your date? You are way too good for this loser." Paulina said, grabbing Star's wrist.

"I'm not joking. Danny is my date, and I'd appreciate it if you'd let us get back to it. He was just telling me about what he was hoping to do after high school." Star said, grabbing on to Danny's arm in a somewhat protective manner. Danny could tell she was nervous about speaking to Paulina like this, the nails digging into his arms gave it away. Thankfully, Danny had sprung for a nice jacket that was more than sturdy enough to handle Star's nails, which Danny noticed she had painted a nice blue color that matched her dress. Cute.

"What does it matter what a loser like him is doing after high school?" Paulina said. "You shouldn't be seen with him, he's a loser!"

"Why is he a loser? It's not because he's not handsome, he's pretty cute! If it's his normal clothes, he obviously cleans up nicely as you can see. So why shouldn't I have a nice time with him?" Star asked, obviously frustrated. Danny could see the metaphorical claws coming out. He wondered if he should step in. He would have to eventually, Paulina couldn't get too mad.

"He's a loser because of his weird freaky parents! He's a loser because he hangs out with the other losers! He's a loser because he's always BEEN a loser!" Paulina yelled, obviously getting worked up. Danny noticed the red in her eyes, and was beginning to panic. He needed to do something, fast.

"Look, let's just take a second and…" Danny started trying to curb the emotions running between the two girls.

"He's not a loser! We've seen that there ARE ghosts with that weird Lunch Lady last month! Plus the weird animals that Phantom guy has been cleaning up around town, so his parents were right! I got to talk a bit with Sam and Tucker and Ron, and they seem nice! Sam looks beautiful today! Tucker cleaned up nice too, and he and Valerie look like they're having a great time! Every time I've seen Ron with Kim they look like they're having a blast! It seems like they'd be way more fun to hang around with than Dash and Dale and everyone." Star spat back, angrily herself.

"LEAVE THE LOSER!" Paulina screamed, as the dragon took over. Danny and Star watched as the petite latina girl began to grow large and fell on all fours, her neck extending and scales sprouting from her body. Her long black hair gave way to green spikes, and her nose and mouth extended to become a large snout.

"What is that?" Star asked, while Danny quickly scooped her up.

"Ghost dragon, explain later, run now." Danny said, rushing her away from Paulina's draconian form. Star is aghast at not only how quickly and relatively calmly Danny reacted to this situation, but also how easily he seemed to pick her up and run away with her. Star had always hoped a guy would sweep her off her feet, but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

Setting Star down beside a table he kicked over to act as a barrier, he saw Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Kim, Ron, and Josh Mankey coming to hide behind it as well.

"Got a plan Danny? We knew this would happen." Sam asked, looking over at him.

"Thinking of one. Give me a second." Danny said his mind was rolling through options. He needed to slip away to become Phantom, but he wasn't sure where he could go.

"What? You thought this would happen?" Kim asked, looking over. "This the same dragon from the mall?"

"Probably, it's actually Paulina. That necklace I showed you the other day from the dragon in the ghost zone? Turns out it's from an ancient princess who would turn into a dragon when she was angry. Didn't know that at the time. Tucker found out yesterday." Danny said, catching Kim up to speed.

"Perfect, I can't even try and fight it in this dress." Kim said, looking angrily at the garment she was wearing. It was a black dress that Sam had seen and picked out for her, while Kim had initially not wanted to try it on, Sam had convinced her, and Kim was impressed. It came down to a few inches above her knees, and hugged her figure in a way that had Danny definitely take notice. It unfortunately did not provide her the range of motion she needed to fight.

"Why are you all so calm about this?" Star asked, looking at Danny, Tucker, Ron, Sam, Kim, and Ron.

"What use is there to freak out? Besides, we were already at ground zero for the Lunch Lady incident, and around when this dragon attacked the mall. After that, Dad ran Sam, Tuck and I through ghost fighting drills. Kim and Ron do super hero stuff all the time, so it's not like they're completely out of their element here." Danny said, trying to shoot her a calming smile.

"I wouldn't say that. I would say we should be running!" Ron said, obviously frightened, but notably still holding his ground.

"Yeah! This is WAY out of my league, I'm outta here!" Josh Mankey said, making a break for it and leaving out of one of the side doors.

"Real brave of that one." Valerie said, eyes rolling. "I gotta admit though, what are the rest of us doing here? Kim and Ron might be superheroes for hire, but the rest of us don't have any experience in this!"

"Wait, Danny. If this is a ghost dragon, shouldn't your parents have something to take it down? Why not call them?" Star asked, her nerves still shot. The others around her though were staying much calmer, and it was easing her worries a bit, they seemed to at least have some idea of what they should be doing.

"You're right, but I have to get somewhere I can do it." Danny said, before noticing the doors that Mankey had run out of. "There. I'll get some help. It shouldn't take too long. Who knows, maybe Phantom's already on his way." Danny nodded at them, before rushing out the door. He immediately made a turn and ducked behind a set of bushes. People didn't have their attention on him, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. The now familiar rings of light surrounded Danny, as he transformed into his alter-ego: Phantom.

Flying back in through the roof, Phantom got the dragon's attention. "Hey! Scaly! I know that there's meant to be a homecoming queen, but she doesn't need to be kidnapped by a dragon!" He quipped, before pulling a long strand of ectofilament from his pocket. Danny and his father had made a large batch earlier in the week, and Danny had hoped that its strength would hold against the massive ghost that he was fighting.

"NO LOSERS" Came the reply from Dragon Paulina's mouth, obviously not really caring about anything he said. It seems that hadn't changed at all during the transformation.

"Only loser I see around here is you!" Phantom quipped, before performing a quick loop around the dragon's mouth, managing to wrap it in the ectofilament. With the teeth, and more importantly the flames, dealt with Phantom got on the dragon's back and pulled with all his might. Paulina thrashed in her draconic form, trying to fight back against the ghost boy's grip on her snout, but her inexperience with the form left her without the strength to counter Phantom's pull. With her head pulled back, Phantom saw what he was after: the necklace. Maintaining a tight grip with one hand Phantom quickly flew and grabbed the amulet, ripping it off of the dragon's body. With the magic of the necklace gone, Paulina began to return back to normal, while Phantom saluted those nearby and flew off.

Danny ran back into the gymnasium a few moments later, faking as though he was exhausted from running a long distance. "I.. just saw Phantom fly off with the necklace… I guess everything's good?" Danny said, knowingly having just dropped the necklace off on the roof. He'd return and get it tonight before he went to bed, but without a wearer, there was no rush.

"Yeah, looks like Phantom saved our hides again." Tucker said, noticeably glad the encounter was over.

"Looks like the dance might be over though." Valerie noticed. While the fight between Phantom and the Dragon hadn't caused much damage, beyond a table that Paulina had stepped on, and a few banners knocked off by the weight of her steps, it seems like most of the others in the gymnasium had left, including the DJ.

"Well, maybe it doesn't have to be. Tucker, you have your PDA on you right?" Danny asked.

"Of course, what nerd wouldn't?" Tucker said, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Think you can jack into the sound system, play us a couple more songs before we leave for the night?" Danny asked.

"Piece of cake, any requests?" Tucker asked.

"Some classic rock maybe, something nice and slow." Danny said, winking at Star, who blushed.

"You got it Danny. Think I know something perfect." Tucker said, as he made his way over to the speaker system and plugged his PDA in. A few seconds later, the sound of Aerosmith's Don't Want to Miss a Thing came through the speakers.

"Care for this dance Star?" Danny asked, holding his hand out to the blonde girl.

"I'd love to." Star said, taking his hand and moving onto the dance floor, where she quickly put it on her hip and stepped close to him.

Tucker and Valerie also got together for their dance, seemingly having a good time, and Sam and Ron decided to have a dance as well.

Kim watched her friends and their dance partners, before taking a moment to look out of the doors that Mankey had run through. Her friends had stood their ground when the ghost dragon attacked. Even Ron, who she knew was scared out of his mind, had held on, hoping they'd figure out a plan so he could help. Kim knew that events like these were going to keep happening, Kim Possible had been ground zero for weird events since she got her first hero gig on her babysitting website. She'd need a partner that was able to keep up with her… at least a little bit. It looked like Josh Mankey wasn't that partner. Kim looked back at the dance floor, and saw Danny laughing at something Star had said. Kim had seen him pick up Star and rush her away from the dragon, and how he had been planning on how to fight back that entire time. Even him rushing to call his parents seemed… calculated. Like he fully expected to need to do that. Kim let it go now though, leaving herself with only the thought that she'd quite like her next boyfriend to be like Danny.

Chapter Text

A/N: What? Another chapter so soon? We had one last week! Surprise! I've been so excited about writing recently, that I decided for the last three Fridays in March, both Heart of a Hero and Harry Potter and the Sphinx Club will be updated. So by the end of the month, Heart of a Hero will have chapter 5 posted, and Sphinx Club will have chapter 54 Posted. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing this story. I love reading your reviews and suggestions. I've just wrapped up writing on chapter 6, and I hope by the end of the month I'll have up to Chapter 10 written, although I have no idea if that's even really feasible. I think I'm going to go ahead and include Lilo and Stitch, as well as American Dragon: Jake Long in this story. I'm very much considering adding Totally Spies (and if I do, Sam from that series will likely be another love interest of Danny's, sorry to the reviewer who wanted Alex, and Double Sorry to the reviewer who wanted all three) but I'm still brainstorming how I could include them. Ben 10 is proving to be a bit trickier, since he is so much stronger than Danny, and deals with threats that are much bigger deals than the ghosts of Amity Park. Maybe they can be guest stars for a chapter or two. Anyway, enough rambling. Chapter time!

"I am the Box Ghost! Master of all things cardboard and square! Beware!" Came the voice of the Box Ghost, before Danny delivered a solid right hook to his jaw, sending him flying into a stack of crates.

"Name a structure unique to plant cells!" Sam said, looking at a flash card as Danny flew to the ghost, grabbing him by the foot.

"Chloroplasts, also Cell Walls." Danny said, using his leverage on the Box Ghost's leg to slam him into the ground. "Tucker! Thermos!"

"Got it!" Tucker said, as he pointed the Fenton Thermos at the ghost. The blue energy swept forward in a wide cone, which Danny quickly tossed the blue-skinned ghost into.

"Beware!" Came the ghost's final reply, as he was sucked into the container and Tucker put the lid on it, carefully slinging it back over his shoulder.

"Got those two right by the way Danny, there's a third answer of 'intracellular vacuoles' as well." Sam said, as she looked on the back of the flash card. "Think you can identify them by sight?"

"Not in an actual cell, but could pick it out of the diagram we'll probably have." Danny said, taking a moment to rest on a nearby crate. "This ghost fighting stuff is hard work when I'm not studying at the same time. I think I could use a break from both."

"Unsurprising, we're exhausted, and we mostly just follow you." Tucker said, himself taking a seat on a chair.

"I'm fairing a bit better, but I've got more active hobbies than Tuck does." Sam said, taking a breather herself. "If nothing else, this has been great exercise since we started doing regular patrols. I'm down 5 pounds since we started a couple weeks ago."

"Happy for you Sam." Danny said, flopping back to laying onto the crate.

"How have your grades been since we started doing this? I know you've had less study time than normal." Sam said, looking back at the flashcards. "I'd hoped that these would be able to help, since there is occasionally some down-time."

"While it's too early to tell, I think they will help. I certainly appreciate the effort. The grades… well they have fallen a bit. Not a full letter by this point, but those 97s I would normally get have been 93s recently." Danny said. "It's not just the lack of study time, it's the lack of good sleep, because I'm still wired when we get back from ghost hunting, even if my body is exhausted. The anxiety over ghost attacks IN school is also there. The Lunch Lady and the Dragon showed us that the big guys are more than happy to show up there, even if it seems like the little ghosts don't like it."

"Wonder why that is?" Sam asked.

"Maybe the rumors about Casper High being haunted are actually true? And they just avoid the ghost who lives there?" Tucker said, casually drinking a bottle of water he had brought with him.

"I'd think my ghost sense would go off more in school if there was one, but who knows? I'm still getting a grasp on these powers. Like, this Box Ghost guy has some kind of telekinesis, do I have that?" Danny asked, waving his hand forward like a jedi.

"Well, you've only had these powers for a couple months now, and only really been using them consistently for a month. We haven't really gone through the effort of experimenting. You just found out about that overshadowing thing last week, so we can just let it come as it may." Sam said. "Tuck, feel like doing some research on other powers ghosts might have?"

"You know I'd be happy to. Although it has been difficult to separate fact from fiction. We found out that the Amulet of Aragon was real, but there were a few other artifacts on that page that seem like total nonsense. Like that Frog statue that grants wishes." Tucker said laughing.

"Speaking of research, if you're worried about your grade, Lancer always has some extra credit assignments available. There's one for a report on the Purple-Back Gorilla in the zoo, said it's one of two left in the world, both male. I've been wanting to go check it out anyway, maybe this way you can get some bonus points out of it." Sam said.

"Interesting. I'll think about it. At the moment, I think I'm ready to head home for some sleep. It's like, 9 o'clock, and we've got to be up for school by 7." Danny said, demorphing and hopping off of his crate.

On the opposite rooftop, a solitary figure watched the trio, his eyes gazing through a set of binoculars at them. "Half-ghost, eh? One a kind… utterly unique. He'll make a fine new wall mount." The figure said, his metallic body glinting in the moonlight.

The following morning, the Fenton family gathered around the breakfast table. Jack was closely examining some circuit diagrams while wielding a soldering iron in his other hand. While Maddie set a large stack of waffles in the center of the table.

"So guys, I have some news. Jazz wrote to Genius Magazine a while back suggesting they do a story on me, and they elected to do so. While I'm not thrilled that she did so without asking first, I am pretty excited about the opportunity. The interviewer will be here this evening, so I would like everyone to be on their best behavior." Maddie said, looking over at Jack. "Sweetie, I don't suppose I could ask you to make sure that projects stay in the lab? While you know I don't mind you working on them up here, it would look a bit more professional to have everything downstairs, at least for today."

"Not a problem Maddie, I just wanted to finish this before breakfast… I think I just got it! Behold! The Ghost Gabber! It translates ghost sound to human speech!" Jack said, holding it triumphantly.

"Mom! Shouldn't you maybe try to play up some of your other achievements instead of the ghost hunting ones? I mean, you have three separate engineering doctorates, and you managed to make those super-charged button batteries! Surely that's something you'd rather talk about." Jazz suggested, looking to her mother.

"While yes, I do intend to talk about those, my passion IS ghost hunting Jazz. Besides, even if this interview is about me, everything your father and I do is a team effort. The button batteries would never have happened without his input, you know he's much better with the hands on stuff than I am." Maddie said, giving her daughter a kiss on her head. "While the phrase behind every strong woman is a strong man is a bit outdated, it applies to your father and I well. Besides, it's not like I'm the only genius in the family. Your psychology studies have been going swimmingly according to the school. They think you might be the first dual-enrollment student Amity University has had to have their bachelor's before they finish high school."

"Yeah, and Danny's a chip off the old block as well. His grades may not be as good as yours are, but he's been helping me repair some of our gadgets downstairs. He probably understands some of them better than I do nowadays." Jack said, clapping his son on the shoulder. "Speaking of grades, don't you have a biology test today son? Hope you do well on it!"

"Surprised you remembered Dad." Danny said. Jack Fenton was a smart man despite what many people thought, but a head-injury in high school had messed with his mental faculties a tad. He had a really bad problem with dates, and had to keep a very set schedule during the week to not lose himself in what day it was.

"I remembered you talking about it with Sam and Tucker last night while you were in the lab. Made sure to remind myself to wish you luck in the morning." Jack said, showing the note he had written on the inside of his hand. "I know I'm not great with that stuff, but I'm trying as best I can."

"Thanks dad, I really appreciate it." Danny said, before taking a look at the Ghost Gabber his father had in his hands. "Although, what's the point of the Ghost Gabber? That Lunch Lady Ghost and Phantom were both able to speak English just fine, do you think it serves any real function?"

Jack pondered that for a second. "Huh… I guess you're right. I guess I was still working off of the old theories about ghosts being more disconnected from our world. I was so excited that the math worked out on it. I didn't even stop to think it might not be necessary. Glad you told me that before I got all excited to show it to the Genius magazine interviewer." Jack said laughing.

"Huh, I guess I didn't think of that either. Good catch Danny." Maddie said, giving her son a kiss on the top of the head. "Now, you two get on to school. I'll see you when you get home!"

"Alright Mom, Sam, Tucker, and I might head to the Zoo this afternoon to see that Purple-back gorilla. There's an extra credit assignment on it that if I'm not super confident about this test I might do." Danny said, waving goodbye.

"Come home first even if you go please!" Maddie said as he walked out the door.

At school, Danny was walking back to Lancer's classroom to check on the results of his biology test. Lancer occasionally left many things lacking as a teacher, but he was a very efficient grader, and usually had tests entirely scored within the day. Danny often wondered how he managed, but Danny also wondered how he was simultaneously the English, Social Studies, and Biology teacher. He had elected to simply not understand how Lancer functioned.

"Ah, Mr. Fenton, I take it you are here about your biology test?" Lancer said as Danny walked in the door. His desk was frustratingly tidy, everything organized to extreme degrees.

"Uh, yeah Mr. Lancer, did I do well?" Danny asked, reaching out for the paper that Lancer moved to hand to him.

"For another student? I'd say yes. For you, I'm a bit disappointed." Lancer said, motioning to his score on the test: 89 B. "You seemed to understand this well enough in class. Have you not been studying as much recently?"

"I've had some other priorities come up, I'd hoped they weren't affecting my grades too much with the decreased study time." Danny said, sulking a little. The grade wasn't bad, but what it represented bothered him a bit more. He knew he probably could have done better on this test if he wasn't splitting his attention so much.

"Well, I will say I'm not overly concerned. While I would be sad to lose an A student, it isn't as though your grades are in danger of falling to the level of some of my more problematic students. Ms. Manson mentioned you might be taking up the offer on the Purple-back gorilla paper. It's still open if you desire it. I grade it equally to one of these tests, given its relative importance, so any extra work you perform on it will likely move this grade back up to your normal range. If you believe that these new priorities are going to have your grades slip, perhaps you could find the time to work more of my assignments in. I take no joy in failing students after all, and these assignments are primarily for those who wish to improve their grades even if they don't do as well as they hope on the primary coursework." Lancer said, handing Danny a small print-out on the Purple-back gorilla. "Your paper must describe the questions laid out on that printout Mr. Fenton, as well as your own thoughts and observations. I'm aware you will likely be doing this assignment alongside Mr. Foley and Ms. Manson, please ensure that your papers are written sufficiently differently from each other. I recommend you write your notes together, but your papers separately."

After a brief stop by Fenton Works, where Maddie Fenton told them to have a good time at the zoo, the trio arrived at the enclosure where Sampson, one of two remaining Purple-back gorillas in the world, was kept.

"Alright! Look at him! He's pretty impressive isn't he? Purple is a really rare color in animals, especially in mammals!" Sam said, looking over at the animal.

"He's pretty unique looking, that's for sure. Danny, you got the handout from Lancer right? What kinds of things do we need to know about?" Tucker said, pulling out a laptop he had brought to assist with the research.

"Basic stuff mostly, diet, original habitat, why it has the coloring, why it became endangered. We also have a specific question of why Amity Park was chosen to host him." Danny said, looking over the page Lancer had given him.

"Oh, well that's pretty easy then. I expected we'd need something like his daily schedule." Tucker said, pulling up the Amity Park Zoo's website.

"It does want us to mention activities the species broadly enjoys, as well as each of us to interpret some of his behaviors. Lancer has a note that he's looking for our thoughts, and doesn't expect correct answers, but wants us to back up what we think. Pretty standard extra credit assignment really." Danny said, setting the page on the table between the trio.

"Alright, let's get going. Danny and I will dig through the web and see what we can find on Sampson here. Sam, how about you keep an eye out and let us know if he does anything worth noting down." Tucker said.

"You got it." Sam said, leaning against the railing.

After a couple of hours, the group had largely had their notes compiled, the Purple-back gorilla's diet was fairly unremarkable among gorilla species, and their habitat had been a specific jungle region in Equatorial Guinea. The unique coloring is something that has only been broadly speculated on, but it is believed it may be a combination of the higher than average consumption of the native Geno Geno plant, which has a purple coloration, and a unique bacteria in their digestive tract. Said unique coloring, alongside their limited regional distribution has made them a prime target for high value poachers, which is the reason for their endangered status, although it is believed that their numbers were never high in the first place.

What had really shocked Danny was why Amity Park in particular had been chosen as its display location. Apparently the largest donator to the nature reserve that had previously held Sampson had been an Amity Park resident as a child, and he was also the primary donator to the Amity Park Zoo's conservation programs. He had requested that Sampson be brought here since he believed the care they could provide him here was top notch.

Sam had likewise noted behaviors down that she had observed in Sampson, and had rotated with Danny and Tucker on a few occasions to spread the work around. Sampson seemed extremely social, looking up at and attempting basic interactions with his observers when possible. He had shown interest in Sam as compared to Danny or Tucker, following her with his gaze as she walked around his enclosure. Otherwise, Sampson appeared to be extremely laid back and docile for a gorilla, never making any aggressive motions towards any of them, and making occasional grunting sounds whenever he heard them speak to him.

As they were beginning to pack up, Sam noticed that Sampson seemed distressed in some manner, glancing over she saw a section of his enclosure was gated off. She pressed a nearby switch that opened the gate, and Sampson emerged cautiously from it for a moment, before immediately screeching and running towards Sam.

Sam saw her life flash before her eyes as the 500 pound mass of meat came flying towards her. Sampson, however, did not attack Sam, instead his target was the almost equally sized metallic ghost behind her.

Sampson swung a powerful fist at the ghost, sending him flying into a nearby post, as Danny and Tucker ran out to see what was going on.

"Sam?! You let Sampson out of his enclosure?" Danny asked, shocked. "I know he seems friendly, but he's still a wild animal, and one twice your size at that! You could have been killed!"

"I know, but Sampson saved from from something else, what's that?" Sam asked, pointing at the chromed figure who was getting up from his recent shoulder tackle.

"Name's Skulker. Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. And it seems I've stumbled on some new prey. Half-Ghost and a purple gorilla. You'll make fine trophies." Skulker said, his gravelly voice crawling up Danny's spine.

"Not on your afterlife Dundee." Danny said, before transforming. The zoo was empty at this time on a Wednesday night, so there wasn't any worry about being discovered. Danny flew at Skulker, landing a solid hit on his jaw. Sending him flying away once more. "I've got Skulker here, you two see if you can coax Sampson back into his pen." Danny said, before flying after the figure.

Despite how difficult you would imagine working with a massive gorilla might be, Sampson was amenable to getting back into his pen since Skulker was no longer out, although he still appeared on edge. Danny arrived back a minute later, scorched, but otherwise uninjured.

"You catch him?" Tucker asked.

"No, I knocked him around a few times and he fired up this jetpack thing and flew away. Faster than I could keep up with." Danny said. "The way he spoke to me though, he's not really after Sampson here, just me. Says me being half-ghost makes me a one-of-a-kind target."

"So, what's the plan?" Sam asked.

"Keep dealing with it as it comes. I've got no way of tracking that guy, and even if I did, he can get away from me faster than I can chase him." Danny said, dusting himself off. "Let's head back to my place. We can compile our notes there."

Back at Fenton Works, Danny and company entered as Maddie's interview was still happening.

"So, Mrs. Fenton, you've got quite the resume lined up. One doctorate is impressive enough, but you've managed to wrangle three. From the information I gathered, you also managed to earn those three in record time for your college taking only seven years including undergrad. How did you manage?" The reporter asked.

Maddie flushed a bit at the praise, but spoke, "Well, I certainly wasn't alone. My roommate Ann Nomally, now Possible, was studying for her doctorate in Neurosurgery, so she was a great help. I also thankfully had my dear husband Jack who I met during my engineering courses. Date night was study night for us a lot of the time, so the good company made it easy. There were also our two other friends, James Possible who married Ann, and Vlad Masters, who unfortunately had an accident that prevented him from graduating with us." Maddie said.

"Mixing business and pleasure does tend to make things easier to swallow." The interviewer joked, having both women laugh. "But now that you have your doctorates, in mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as computer science, what have you been working on?"

Jazz sat on the nearby couch, and her face began to pale at that. She knew her mother was going to mention ghost hunting, and she desperately wanted her to talk about something else. "Oh! Mom, why don't you mention your button batteries." Jazz said, trying to be sly about it.

"Button batteries?" The interviewer questioned.

Maddie nodded before reaching into a pocket and pulling one out. "She's referring to these, they take the form factor of the standard watch battery you might find, but they're millions of times more powerful. I discovered the theory behind them being able to extract the energy from the core of atoms, not unlike nuclear fission, but was able to keep the reaction from overloading. These produce about the same level of radiation as found in a banana, so very safe, but are capable of powering an electric car for an entire day of driving. My husband over there managed to put the actual device together, he's the hands on man of the operation. With these we've managed to make some very impressive gadgets, though we're still testing to see if they will work in consumer goods." Maddie said.

"What worries do you have for consumer goods? These seem revolutionary!" The interviewer asked, examining the button battery for herself.

"Well, we do worry a bit about stress testing them. We keep a very close eye on our equipment that uses them, and can manage to discern if they start overheating very quickly, but the average consumer might not be able to do so. There is also the output, it's very high so many consumer devices are simply unfit for purpose. Putting one of these in a television remote would probably cause the thing to catch fire, because it's not certified to handle the voltage we'd send through it. We've had some tests done recently with using one to power a vehicle, and it seems promising, but we don't have any conclusions yet. Their best application however has been in the ghost hunting devices we make." Maddie said.

"Ghost hunting?" The interviewer asked, now skeptical.

"Yes, Amity Park is a hotbed of ghost activity, and we've developed certain tools to hunt down and capture ghosts, and these batteries power everything. These devices consume a lot of energy to make hard light constructs, so they necessitated the creation of such a small footprint but high output power solution." Maddie said.

"I see. How has your family taken this ghost hunting business?" The interviewer asked.

"Well, it is the family business, as it's what Jack and I set out to do once we had our degrees. Our youngest, Danny, has really taken to it. He's been working with his father in the lab on the mechanical side, he's rather gifted in that regard. He wants to be an astronaut, so I think the hands-on working with mechanics has been good for him, even if the devices we make aren't exactly something I expect he'd need in space. Our oldest, Jasmine, isn't as interested in the family business though. She wants to study psychology. I'm very proud of her though, she's on her way to having her bachelor's before she finishes high school." Maddie said, smiling at her daughter.

"Seems genius really runs in the family! Is there a reason I haven't seen Mr. Fenton around though?" The interviewer asked.

Maddie nodded, "Jack is lovely, he's working down in the basement now. He gets overly excited though, and Jazz worried that he might overwhelm the interview if he were answering questions with me."

The interviewer noticed as Danny and his friends came through the door. "This is Danny then? I take it these are his friends?"

"Yep, that's my baby boy. Danny, you look tired, what happened at the zoo?" Maddie asked, getting up to look over her son.

"Nothing much, just watching the gorilla and research. I'll be upstairs if you need me." Danny said, with a friendly wave to the interviewer. Sam and Tucker also waved before following him.

In Danny's room, he takes a seat on his bed, as Tucker and Sam take a load off onto some beanbags. "Tucker, what's our next appointment?" Danny asked, obviously exhausted.

"Well, we were supposed to head to the library for research, but I'm going to say we probably got enough today without needing to go." Tucker said, checking his PDA. "We need to write the paper, but it's not due until Monday, so you can actually write it this weekend, if you don't find time tomorrow or Friday."

"You decided you were master of the schedule, when do I have the most availability?" Danny asked.

"Well, assuming we're not going to reschedule movie night at my place? Tomorrow from 4 to 7. 3 to 7 if you decide to get food afterward." Tucker said.

"Well, I could probably eat while I write. The research is done, so putting it into words shouldn't be too hard. What do we have at 7 then?" Danny asked.

"Normally a patrol, although since we have to wait for this hunter guy to find us, we can probably skip that. If this event correlates like the last two major ghosts did, there won't be any small fries to take down. I'm replacing it with a trip to the zoo again for some more observations. That Skulker guy knows we're supposed to be going there apparently, so maybe he'll show up." Tucker said, fiddling with his PDA. "Maybe we should ask your parents if they can make us some basic ghost weapons? Sam and I can probably help more than just carrying a spare thermos and quizzing you for tests."

"It's a thought. I know Mom has been thinking about a portable laser, it would at least give you something to fend off the small fries. I'd really rather you guys not endanger yourselves, but I know you'll yell at me if I say you can't come." Danny said.

"Well, Sam would yell. I'd just be quietly disappointed." Tucker said.

"You're damn right I'll yell. I'm not some damsel in distress Danny, I can help too!" Sam said, crossing her arms.

"I know, I know. I just… I'm the one with the powers, so I feel like I should be protecting you guys with them. I really do appreciate the help, honestly." Danny said.

"Ah, how touching. At least the last words you said to your friends were nice ones." A gravelly voice said, and Danny found himself trapped in a net as Skulker appeared in his room.

"Danny!" came the simultaneous cry from Sam and Tucker, as Skulker laughed and turned him, Danny, and the net holding Danny intangible and flew down towards the basement.

In the basement, Skulker resumed his solid form before turning to Danny. "You know, I thought you would put up more of a fight. Your fighting skills were pretty good yesterday." Skulker said, as he prepared to move Danny into the Ghost Zone.

"Then far be it from me to disappoint!" Danny said, phasing through the net before sending Skulker flying with a roundhouse kick, knocking him hard into the wall.

"Not bad ghost boy. Let's see how you handle this then." Skulker said, as blades shot out from his gauntlets.

Danny was immediately on the offensive. His martial arts classes with his mother had given him some idea of how to handle fighting someone with a knife when he was unarmed, but his lack of experience with the concept was clearly showing. Danny wasn't getting hit, as he was much more agile than Skulker, but he did know he was tiring out. Skulker's attacks were deliberate, each delivered with solid force, and lacking in extraneous movement. He didn't overextend, he didn't do anything flashy, just solid punches with his blades.

"Danny!" came Sam's voice from the stairwell, where she and Tucker had entered.

"Stay back!" Danny said, barely dodging another one of Skulker's slashes. That one had been a much wider attack, likely attempting to capitalize on the distraction Sam had provided.

A distraction! That's what he needed. Danny hoped that Sam would get his message. "Sam! Tucker! Get out of here, you're Distracting me, surely you don't want to be another Damsel in Distress." Danny said, having taken a moment to get some distance between himself and Skulker. It was a risky move, as Danny had no ranged abilities, but he hoped that his friends would get the message.

"I'm not a Damsel in Distress!" Sam angrily yelled, before realization clicked in. She WASN'T a damsel in distress. She was needed right now. Reaching over Sam grabbed the nearest heavy object she could find, a fire extinguisher, and threw it at the back of Skulker's head.

The extinguisher clanked against Skulker's cranium with a solid metal on metal sound, causing him to turn away from Danny for a moment with anger in his eyes. "You'll pay for that runt. You might not be a unique prize, but I'm sure you'll make good bait for something better." Skulker said as he began to approach Sam.

"Not happening Clayton!" Danny said, as he dashed forward with all of his speed and clotheslined Skulker, knocking him to the ground. Danny quickly mounted Skulker, and began pummeling him into the ground.

Skulker, annoyed by the hits, pushed Danny away with a powerful shove, which sent him tumbling into Sam and Tucker, knocking the three of them onto the ground.

"It's over ghost boy. You lose." Skulker said, before looking on the ground. Tucker's PDA had fallen from his hands, and had slid itself besides Skulker's boot. "Nice peace of tech. It'll integrate into my systems nicely." Skulker said, attaching the PDA into his gauntlet. Small wires appeared from within the gauntlet, melding the PDA into it. "Now then. Time to die."

Beep beep beep came a sound from the gauntlet, as Skulker's jetpack roared to life behind him. "What? What's happening?" He asked, as he turned intangible and shot through the roof.

Danny looked on in shock, "Not that I like to agree with him… but what did just happen?" He asked, looking to his friends.

"That was my alarm sound on the PDA." Tucker said, looking to the clock. "Now is when it should have told me to go to the library. I hadn't canceled the event, since I could just dismiss it. Maybe since he integrated my PDA into his tech, he's stuck following my schedule?"

"Best theory we got right now. You remember what was on your schedule Tuck?" Danny asked.

"Next event was us heading back to the Zoo tomorrow for another round of observations with Sampson." Tucker said, remembering his most recent schedule change.

"Good, we can spring a trap then." Danny said, a smug grin on his face.

Skulker was admittedly somewhat annoyed that this new tech he had acquired was forcing him to follow a schedule he hadn't set. He had been initially tempted to remove it, but the extra processing power it gave his gadgets wasn't something he could ignore. While the schedule changing functions were password protected, Skulker had no way of bypassing it, viewing the schedule had no such issues, and there were no appointments after this week that would interfere with his business. He could handle the three remaining appointments once he had skinned the ghost boy. He arrived at the enclosure of the Purple-back gorilla known as Sampson at seven o'clock, and viewed the creature from atop a nearby building.

"Once I am done with this ghost boy, you're next on my list. I normally don't hunt living animals, but you'll be a fine exception." Skulker said, looking through his binoculars.

Danny, knowing Skulker would be nearby, stepped out of the gift shop, ready to spring his trap. Skulker, taking the bait, jumped down.

"End of the line ghost boy." Skulker said, a self-satisfied grin on his face.

"You're right, it is, just the end of yours!" Danny said, transforming and throwing a punch. Skulker blocked his attacks, on the defensive, but certainly not in a disadvantageous position. Danny could feel his fists begin to ache as he punched into the metal armor that he now realized covered Skulker's entire body. While he had recognized Skulker appeared metallic, he had assumed it was just a bizarre visual difference, but the pain in his knuckles revealed that it was no illusion, his flesh was tough as steel.

Danny managed to land a grab on Skulker though, and managed to phase the pair of them into Sampson's enclosure. Danny tossed him, slamming him against the tree that was the centerpiece of Sampson's pen.

"You're doing better than I thought ghost boy. You're making this VERY fun for me." Skulker said. "I'm through playing around though. Time to die."

"Tucker! Now!" Danny said, as Tucker send the command. Tucker had a back-up PDA, an older model, but one that would serve his current function just fine. Adding an event to the calendar, a short tone played on Skulker's wrist.

"Punch yourself in the face?" Skulker read, before his fist acted on its own and did just that, send itself into Skulker's face at alarming speed.

Danny capitalized on the distraction, sending several more punches across various areas of Skulker's body, dealing more and more damage as time went on. "Sampson! Feel like beating up the bad guy again?" Danny asked, as Skulker was forced back into the awaiting arms of the Purple-back gorilla.

Sampson's destruction of Skulker was brutal. The massive ape easily ripping off one of Skulker's arms, which Danny realized was connected with wires and servos, not ectoplasm. While Danny's ghost sense confirmed that Skulker WAS a ghost, he was at least partially mechanical. This made Sampson completely tearing him apart far less graphic than it could have otherwise been. The body of Skulker laid in pieces on the ground, wires sparking as his limbs and head had been removed from his torso.

From within the torso of Skulker, a small, shrill voice could be heard. "You may have beaten me this time ghost boy! But I'll be back, you will be my new rug!"

Danny looked inside the torso of the suit, and saw a small green blob looking at him angrily. Danny chuckled. "You talk a big game for such a little guy. You don't even need to shrink to fit inside the Thermos!" Danny said, before sucking him into the Thermos, and putting the cap on. "One ghost zone hunter, hunted."

"Alright! Thank you for your help Sampson!" Sam said, looking over at the gorilla.

Danny turned to the gorilla as well. "Yeah, you did great. You're a good boy…. Oh my god." Danny said, as he noticed something after being so close to Sampson. "Well if this doesn't get us an A on that assignment nothing will."

"What do you mean? It's not like we can say that Sampson beat up a ghost." Sam asked.

"Take a look at Sampson's undercarriage. What do you, or rather, DON'T you see?" Danny said.

Sam took a look, before putting her hand to her mouth. "Oh my goodness."

"Yep, looks like our Sampson has been a Delilah this whole time." Danny said, petting her on the head. "Which means that we may have just made a discovery that saves the Purple-back gorilla from extinction."

The week following the event, Danny was flipping through the copy of Genius magazine they had been sent, since the Fenton family in its entirety had made the front cover. While Danny had unfortunately taken the main story of the article from his mother, when Danny had informed the interviewer about the discovery he made about Delilah, she decided that it was much better material for a main story than the piece on Maddie. Maddie had agreed, being incredibly proud of her son's discovery. The cover, which was a dynamic shot of all four members of the Fenton family proudly read "Amity Park's Resident Genius Family, and their son's massive discovery in animal conservation." Lancer had given Danny high marks on his paper on the subject, stating that he imagined he'd have enough points to turn every B he got on a test this semester into an A, although he recommended he not test that theory.

Kim approached Danny at lunch. "Hey, good job with that gorilla thing. Ron and I had our own gorilla encounter while you were doing that."

"Oh really? Care to tell me some more about it?" Danny asked, inviting her to sit next to him.

"Yeah, so it turns out there's this new… well, I wouldn't call her a supervillain. She's got the skills, but not the malice. Supermenace maybe. She's obsessed with those Cuddle Buddy toys from when we were kids, and used her knowledge of genetic engineering to make her own real life hybrids. Turns out she had combined Gorillas with Polar Bears, and effectively made a small tribe of Yetis that were terrorizing a ski town in Montana." Kim said.

"Wow, that's wild." Danny said.

"You don't know the half of it, but ever since that incident with Drakken, it seems more and more supervillains are popping up." Kim said, shaking her head. "I can't help but wonder if they're only showing up because someone is around to stop them."

"Don't think like that, it's not like you're the first superhero. There's Team GO in Go City, they've been active since we were kids, plus those weird guys who popped up around the country a few years ago." Danny said, remembering some of the other heroes who have popped up.

"I guess you're right. Still doesn't make me feel much better though." Kim said. A pair of trays hitting the table angrily caught their attention.

Looking up, Danny and Kim saw Star and Valerie with their lunch trays as they took seats opposite the pair.

"Not that you're not welcome, but… what are you doing here?" Danny asked, looking to the two popular girls. They sat with the A-List, not them.

"We got kicked out." Valerie said, an angry look on her face.

"Paulina and Bonnie said that if we were going to hang out with losers, we had to sit with them too." Star said, looking up apologetically. "Her words, not mine."

"I don't doubt it, but really? Kicking you two out after one date?" Danny asked.

"Well, I may have mentioned how nice our date was, and how I was hoping for another." Star said, flushing a bit. "You really impressed me."

Danny pulled his collar a bit, flushing at the praise. "Uh, thanks. What about Valerie though?"

"Tucker was a good date. Made sure I had a good time, hit all the right buttons. I defended you and him when Paulina started badmouthing you two. So, we got kicked out." Valerie said.

"Ouch. Sorry to hear that." Danny said.

"Don't be. Paulina's been a total nightmare since Bonnie came around. She's worried about losing her Queen Bee status since Bonnie had pretty much every advantage the same except her parents are just well off instead of stupidly rich." Valerie said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, Paulina was turning bad before all this, but after meeting Bonnie? She's just awful." Star said. "So, I guess we need to ask if we can join your little group?"

"That depends, do you plan on leaving if Paulina or Bonnie says you're back in?" Kim asked.

"Only so far as trying to get my friend back. I wouldn't abandon you guys unless we just naturally found out we weren't good friends. They'd have to take both of us back at the same time too. Valerie's my best friend, and as far as I know I'm hers." Star said, looking to Valerie who nodded.

"I wouldn't head back to that snake pit without Star. After Bonnie joined Star was the only reason I stayed, that and I thought Kwan was cute. His incident at Homecoming killed his chances with me though." Valerie said, angrily stabbing at her lunch.

"Well, you'll need to convince Sam probably, but I don't have any problems with it. Tucker will be easy to please. Kim? What about you? And what do you think Ron would think?" Danny asked.

"Well, I always said you two were the nice ones. Tara too, but she never made your A-List proper." Kim said. "Ron won't care, as long as you are nice to Rufus."

"Rufus?" Star asked.

"His pet Naked Mole Rat. He's… weirdly intelligent." Danny said.

"How so? Does he do tricks?" Star asked.

"No… he… talks?" Danny said, confused at how to explain Rufus.

"You're joking." Valerie said.

"I don't get it either, and I fight supervillains." Kim said.

"Wait that's real? Bonnie always used air quotes when she said that's what you did." Star said.

"Oh, no. I do do that. Bonnie doesn't know how to use air quotes." Kim said. "Ron and I fight supervillains. Danny occasionally deals with ghosts, Tucker and Wade are tech geniuses and Sam champions causes like crazy. Welcome to our bizarre little group."

"Do we need strange hobbies?" Star asked.

"Wouldn't hurt." Danny said, as the four of them laughed.

Chapter Text

A/N: Another post! Exciting isn't it? Not much to say about this, other than a big thank you to ScarabKnight, Hazama, Ozone, Ronimus, and Maku from the Danny Phantom Discord for their help with this chapter, as well as other chapters in the future. This story would be significantly less without their assistance and kind words. We've got one more chapter this month, so get excited! Anyway, on with "Attack of the Killer Bebes!"

Danny and Jack were working in the lab beneath Fenton Works, putting the finishing touches on a device. "So Dad, you never actually mentioned what this thing is?" Danny said, raising his tone at the end to indicate the question.

"I wanted to show you! This is the Fenton Weasel!" Jack said, showing the gadget he had just put the cover on. "It's a super powerful ghost vacuum! It'll contain any ghost!"

Danny looked at the device. It was more or less a regular vacuum. "How is that different from the Thermos? And why is it called a Weasel?"

"It! Ugh… you know… I'm not sure how it's much different from the Thermos. It has stronger suction I guess? But less storage capacity. It looks like a weasel though! That's how it got its name." Jack said, realizing the limited use of the device.

"If you say so, Dad. Well, I guess let's power it on and see if it boots up?" Danny said, making sure to stand behind his father. Danny had helped put it together, and knew enough about circuit diagrams to realize that this SHOULDN'T explode, but he believed he couldn't be too careful.

"Banzai!" Jack shouted, flicking the switch to the on position. The Weasel roared to life as a powerful vacuum motor spun at high speeds, stirring up a notable wind in the lab.

The sound of the machine filled the room, and Danny could feel the suction. "Wow Dad! It sure moves a lot of air!" Danny yelled over the roaring device.

"That it does! By my calculations it can move 14,000 Cubic feet of air per minute!" Jack said, keeping the nozzle pointed low to the ground.

"That's like, 100 times as powerful as a high end vacuum! You sure that's safe, Dad?" Danny asked, now wary of the device.

"Of course it's safe! Probably." Jack said, as he leaned back a bit. Unfortunately, this small lean had moved the nozzle of the Fenton Weasel high enough that it locked onto the nearby counter. With the new direction of force, Jack's grip lessened, causing the Weasel to fly out of his hands. The now loose hose began to wildly fling itself back and forth, sucking up papers and small items from across the lab that began to disappear into its storage compartment.

"Shut it off!"

"Trying! The controls are on the head and it's moving too much for me to grab it!" Jack said, trying to grab the elusive nozzle. A Fenton Thermos shot forth from the nearby counter, and found itself jammed in the end of the nozzle. Jack grabbed the head, just in time to watch the Thermos begin to disappear into the attached hose, which bulged as the larger object filled it. Jack managed to turn the device off, as its suction had died down due to the clog in the hose.

"Whew. Guess we'll need to replace the hose…. And add a power control." Danny said, looking at the device. "Or honestly just retire this one."

"Well, while you might be right about the last two, I'll go get the Fenton Unclogger to get the Thermos out of the hose here. Be back in a jiffy!" Jack said, setting the Weasel down as he ran upstairs.

Danny sighed as he took a look at the Weasel. He was honestly surprised it had managed to suck up the Thermos without damaging the casing for the handle, the Thermos was about half an inch larger in diameter than the nozzle was at its widest point. Danny didn't bother thinking about it too much, instead worrying about if the Thermos was damaged. They had back-up Thermoses, especially since Danny had requested that he, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker each had one handy. Jazz didn't carry hers often, or ever, but he, Sam, and Tucker had one as part of their standard school supply kit. Thankfully, his parents hadn't asked too many questions when he mentioned that he just wanted to be ready in case of a ghost attack. Danny hated that he was lying to his parents, and he knew he was subtly manipulating them by spending more of his free time working with their gadgets than he used to. If all went as planned, they'd be more lenient with him. He hated this feeling of dishonesty, but he knew it was necessary, at least for the moment. Danny knew his parents wouldn't hurt him, but he couldn't be sure if they would let him continue with his heroics. That bothered Danny.

Maybe it was all the comic books he had grown up with, but he knew that since he HAD these abilities, he needed to use them to help people. It's what Spider-Man did, it's what Superman did, and it's what his favorite Nightwing did, even if the latter didn't have powers per say. He was capable of great things, so he had the responsibility to use those abilities to do whatever he could. Amity Park didn't have supervillains, at least not like Kim tended to fight, but it did have a ghost problem, and worse, that ghost problem is partially his parent's fault. Danny felt obligated to give back and deal with the ghost problem, even if it did get in the way of his life.

Shaking his head, he returned to present thoughts. A Thermos was stuck in the Fenton Weasel. When Danny was looking over the circuit diagrams, he had seen a section for a reverse function. Was that a holdover from an earlier design?

Danny examined the handle, and sure enough, the reverse function was still present. "Dad must have just forgotten about it… or was just REALLY looking for a use for the Fenton Unclogger." Danny said to no one before flipping the switch backwards, preparing himself for the upcoming gust of wind.

The Weasel roared to life again, its motors whirring and delivering powerful gusts of air to the inside of the hose. Danny could feel the pressure building up, and a moment later a loud THOOMP saw the Fenton Thermos shoot out of the nozzle like a rocket.

Danny turned the Weasel off and turned intangible to not be hit by the rapidly ricocheting projectile, only for it to slam into the panel beside the Ghost Zone portal, causing it to open.

From within the green depths of the Ghost Zone, a humanoid ghost emerged, looking like a mad scientist from a cartoon. "It is I! Technus! Master of Technology!" The ghost said, in a loud boisterous voice that was kind of nasally.

"Um. Hi, Technus. What are you doing here?" Danny asked, looking to the ghost. He hadn't met any friendly ghosts so far, but he WAS holding out hope there had to be some. He was one… he hoped.

"I!... Don't really know. I desire to see technology!" Technus exclaimed.

"And what do you want to do with this technology?" Danny asked. He wasn't going to give him any ideas of world domination, that would be a silly thing to do.

"Study it! Reproduce it! Experiment with it!" Technus said, becoming more confident in his answers as he said them. "Yes! I shall find human technology and find ways to improve it!"

"Well, I suppose that's okay, provided you don't, you know, try to hurt anyone." Danny said, eyeing the ghost warily. "Because if you did that, I'd have to stop you. Then you couldn't see any more tech."

"Hmm… this is correct! If I have to deal with someone trying to stop me, I WOULD have less time for study. I shall refrain from causing harm in my investigations!" Technus said, giving a large laugh.

"Uh… Good. Glad we're on the same page. For your sake, I recommend not being seen by anyone. They tend to freak out." Danny said, still wary of the ghost. He was loud, boisterous, and possibly crazy… but not hostile.

"Yes! Invisibility! A power I possess! I shall use it to examine technology! Where might I find technology?" Technus asked Danny.

"Uh… there's a computer store about 3 blocks north of here. Take a right down the street. There's also a few universities with, like, robotics departments nearby. They might have something you can look at, provided you don't try and steal anything." Danny said.

"Then I shall go to these places and learn! It will be just like my time as a professor all over again!" Technus said, laughing as he turned invisible and phased through the ceiling of the underground lab.

Danny thought for a moment. That was a bizarre encounter, but Technus didn't seem to want to hurt anyone, just examine technology. If he was willing to stay out of trouble, Danny was willing to let him look around. He hadn't been in the Ghost Zone after all, but he didn't imagine it was very exciting there. Maybe some ghosts were just bored. The Box Ghost seemed to just want boxes, so maybe not EVERY ghost was out to hurt people. Danny pondered on if he should have just offered the Box Ghost some boxes… if that would have satisfied him. Questions for another time Danny thought.

Later at Nasty Burger, Danny, Ron, Sam, Kim, and Tucker were having a meal while Danny explained his encounter earlier. "So, Tucker, would you be willing to like… talk to him? I know that it seems weird that there might be ghosts that don't want to hurt people, but Technus seemed… docile is not the right word, but non-malevolent?"

"I mean, I'm willing to give it a shot. If Phantom can be a good ghost I don't see why there couldn't be another." Tucker said, giving a knowing look to Danny.

"Thanks Tuck. Knew you'd be willing." Danny said, giving Tucker his fries as thanks. This made Tucker very happy.

"I'd be willing to as well Danny. Meeting a literal ghost in the machine sounds kinda cool." Wade said from his position on Kim's Kimmunicator. Danny was still getting a bit used to the fact that Kim had a friend who would only show up as a guy on a computer screen, but Wade was friendly, and he and Tucker got on like a house on fire.

"Still weirded out by this whole ghost thing ,Danny!" Ron said, bitterly eating some fries. He had wanted to go to Bueno Nacho, but had been completely outvoted. Tucker didn't want his stomach to explode again; Sam, despite respecting its kosher products, didn't have anything she could eat there besides a salad. Danny just straight up didn't like the place, having had a bad reaction to its food the last time his family ate there, and Kim who was willing to put up with the place for Ron's sake was simply tired of eating there. Ron relented, since he didn't DISLIKE Nasty Burger, but it just wasn't the glory of Bueno Nacho in his mind. "Did Lancer talk to any of you guys about extracurriculars?"

"Didn't mention it to me. Why?" Tucker asked.

"He said I needed something to put on a college application. Says that the missions I do with Kim don't count, and that I need something other than my grades to get into some of the more exclusive colleges." Ron said, sulking.

"That would do it." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit.

"What do you all do after school then that he didn't bring it up to you?" Ron asked.

"Well, he did ask me what I did, but I've been working with my parents on their tech. Must have thought that counted." Danny said. He also had his ghost hunting, which got in the way of most other extracurriculars. "We were also in the same bowling league last year. Maybe he thinks I'll be joining again."

"You bowl in a league Danny?" Kim asked, looking over at him.

"I did in middle school. I hadn't gone since I started High School, but I still technically haven't resigned I suppose. I'm decent I guess." Danny said.

"Don't let Mr. Modest here fool you, he's the youngest member of the Amity Park 300 club." Sam said, pointing her fork at him.

"300 Club?" Ron asked.

"Perfect bowling score. 12 strikes in a row. Danny's the youngest person at Spirit Lanes to ever hit it. He did it a couple years ago. How many perfect games has it been since then, Danny?" Sam asked, trying to get Danny to brag a bit.

"Eight." Danny said, putting his head down to hide his embarrassment. He didn't like talking about his bowling skill.

"Pretty impressive, Danny." Kim said, before turning to look at Ron. "You know I do cheerleading, so nothing new there."

"I'm heavily involved in a lot of charity groups, as well as a chair on the recycling board." Sam said, answering Ron's question.

"I'm technically the head of the school's AV club, and was the head of the middle school robotics team before we were banned from competition." Tucker said, looking a bit pained at the latter part of that statement.

"Wait, what got you banned?" Kim asked, having not heard this story.

"Our idea for a robot was this giant spinning hemisphere that we used as an energy sink. We could store energy to power our wheels in the spinning of the dome itself, which meant we could use less batteries on board. Turns out that when you spin about 30 pounds of steel at 500 rpm, you do some pretty serious damage to other robots… and the ring… and the building it was in. Nothing we did was against the rules, and we won pretty handily, but they rewrote the rules to disallow anything like that in the future, and we were banned from the league for two years for 'unnecessary carnage'." Tucker said, shrinking into his chair.

"You guys built WhirlyDeath? That's incredible!" Wade said from his device.

"Still doesn't help me with my extracurricular problem." Ron said with a sigh. "Think I could do cheerleading Kim?"

"Not a good idea for a number of reasons, one of them being that try-outs were over the summer. If you're set on something like that though, you could try and be the mascot. Dash and his cronies scared off the last one." Kim said, her scowl letting everyone know how she felt about that incident.

Kim personally hated bullies, which wasn't a good start for her and Dash to begin with. When she discovered her new friend Danny was Dash's favorite punching bag? That had soured her opinion even more.

"What makes you think they won't try and do the same to me?" Ron asked, seemingly a little frightened at the thought.

"For starters, everyone knows not to get on Kim's bad side with you." Sam said, rolling her eyes a bit. "People seem weirdly chill about having the Superheroine around, but even Dash knows she can kick his ass if she wants to."

"Not the phrasing I would use, but she does have a point." Kim said. "Not to mention Ron, you haven't been a target for bullies overly since Kindergarten, aside from Big Johnny. Anything they do to you just slides off your back like water." Kim said.

"Getting shoved in a locker wouldn't." Ron said somberly.

"If I'm not mistaken, Barkin is over the cheer squad, not Lancer. Barkin seems to not tolerate bullying like Lancer does, so even if he isn't your biggest fan Ron, he'd step in if Dash was getting too bad." Danny said. Mr. Barkin was in many ways the anti-Lancer. Where Lancer turned a blind eye to bullying, Barkin seemed actively offended by the practice, though never seemed to be around when it was happening. Lancer offered extra credit to students, Barkin refused, saying the tests should be all the credit people need. Wildly different teaching strategies, but both were effective.

"You're right about that I guess. I guess I'll see if they want me to be the new Casper High Raven." Ron said. "I wonder if I could improve the costume though. The current one looks really bad."

"I'm sure you couldn't make it any worse!" Danny said, having everyone laugh.

A series of beeps came from the Kimmunicator, and Wade spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt everyone, but we've got a hit on the site Kim. Looks like a scientist from the Middleton Observatory recently lost his research partner, and wants you to investigate."

"Got it Wade. Come on Ron, looks like we're needed." Kim said, grabbing her backpack from her chair.

"Hey Kim, mind if I tag along on this one? I've been interested to see how your missions go, and this one's just in town. I probably know more about the Middleton Observatory than anyone who doesn't work there as it is." Danny said. He'd spent who knows how many hours at the building, learning everything he could about it.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in it. Just let me handle the supervillains if there are any. I've got the experience." Kim said, shooting him a smirk.

"Then let me handle the ghosts." Danny said, holding up a Thermos.

Arriving at the Middleton Observatory, Danny, Ron, and Kim hop out of the van that Wade had called for them. "Thanks Mr. Roberts!" Kim said to the driver.

"After you managed to save my daughter from that rockslide? It's the least I could do." Mr. Roberts said gratefully.

"Hey, it was no more difficult than running a track meet." Kim said, nonchalantly, causing Mr. Roberts to laugh before he ran off.

Danny took a moment to appreciate Kim's mission gear, since he had never really seen it before. While her normal clothes were that lime green tank top and baggy blue jean pants, her mission gear was a cropped long sleeve black thermal, with cargo pants that clung to her legs tighter. He imagined they were better suited for the rough environments she occasionally visited. Ron's gear was notably similar, although his thermal covered his stomach. Ron had leant Danny a spare one of the shirts, since he and Ron were roughly the same size. Danny thought it was a bit tight on his shoulders, but could manage it for the time being. If for some reason this became a regular thing, Danny would need to buy one of his own.

"So, did Wade send you any more information on the way over?" Danny asked, dropping low and stretching a bit as they took a look outside of the observatory.

"Not much. Dr. Ramesh came into the lab yesterday and noticed that his partner, Dr. Bob Chen's car was still in the parking lot. Chen isn't known for being an early riser, but when Ramesh searched the lab he was unable to find him anywhere, but did notice that many of Dr. Chen's personal effects were still present, implying he may have been kidnapped." Kim said, reading the description Wade had sent her.

"Well, I guess we better go see if Dr. Ramesh knows anything." Danny said.

"Hey! I'm the one who says the sidekick things." Ron said, feigning annoyance. He and Danny looked at each other before laughing a bit.

"Come one guys, be serious." Kim said.

"I am serious, Dr. Chen is an idol of mine, I just also know that laughing at a joke won't affect what we're doing here." Danny said, nodding resolutely. "Superheroines first, Sidekicks second."

"You guys aren't sidekicks." Kim said.

"I dunno, I'm feeling pretty sidekicky." Danny said.

"Definite sidekick vibes." Ron agreed.

"Regardless, let's head inside…. Wait, do you hear that whirring?" Kim asked, looking around.

"Yeah… you shouldn't be able to hear the telescope moving though, those mechanisms are through like 3 layers of concrete from here though." Danny said, catching it. "Those are servos, and WAY too small for the size of something like the telescope, and the cadence is wrong for a drone."

"What's that?" Ron said, pointing towards a side door.

Dr. Ramesh was currently being handled by three robotic women, each with blonde hair and metal skin.

"That's Dr. Ramesh! Think those robo-chicks had something to do with Dr. Chen disappearing too?" Danny asked.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go!" Kim said, dashing towards the robots at high speed. Danny and Ron followed closely behind.

"Interloper detected. Subject: Kim Possible. Threat Level: High. Suggested action: Distraction and disengage. Bebe-3 initiate interference." Came the artificial female voice from one of the robots, as another one bolted towards Kim and attempted to grab her.

Kim ducked under the grab and went for a sweeping leg kick, only to make contact with the metal shin of the robot and fail to do any damage. "Ow! They're made of some tough stuff."

"Ron, clothesline, go high!" Danny said, grabbing Ron's arm. Ron nodded and locked his wrist with Danny, the pair of them managing to knock the robot to the ground over Kim's leg.

"Bebe down. Begin righting protocol." The downed robot said, as it began to contort its limbs in bizarre ways to get back up.

Danny slammed his foot into the robot, forcing its limbs to overextend backwards. "I've got this one, save the doctor!"

Kim tried to land a flying kick at another one of the robots, but it dodged out of the way quickly.

"Target acquired Bebes. Escape protocol." The robot that seemed to be calling the shots said, holding the Doctor over its head and dashing off down the street. The free robot followed, clotheslining Danny letting the other one get up, which also chased after them.

Kim and Ron chased after them for a couple blocks, but the gap between them and the robots widened too quickly, and they tired out. Danny caught up a moment later.

"They got away with the Doctor." Kim said, looking depressed. "Everything we tried and they just totally trounced us."

"Look Kim, it's not the end of the world. They obviously want the Doctors for something, otherwise they would have just wasted them at the lab. That probably means that they're being taken somewhere. Robots like that should be pretty easy to spot. Think Wade could check traffic cams to see if he spots where they are going?" Danny said, trying to be practical about the situation.

"Good idea. Wade, think you can follow the traffic cameras from Starline street? Three robots abducted Dr. Ramesh before we could get in contact, and they're probably also responsible for Dr. Chen's disappearance." Kim said into the Kimmunicator.

Wade nodded. "On it, I'll see what I can do."

"That's a cool device." Came a somewhat nasally voice from behind Kim's shoulder, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Ahh!" Kim screamed, dropping into a fighting stance.

"Technus?" Danny asked, looking at the technoghost.

"Yes, it is I, Technus! I was researching the computers at this observatory when I saw the doctor being carried away!" Technus said in his usual boisterous tone. "I would have stepped in, but I was told to keep a low profile."

"Suppose I can't blame you for that." Danny said… before realizing. "Technus, do you think you could track down those girl robots?"

"I can! I am fascinated by their abilities. Such mechanical marvels were not present when I walked the Earth!" Technus said, going gaga over the tech.

"If you track them down for us, and help us find where they took the Doctor, I can see about maybe letting you take one back with you to the Ghost Zone." Danny said.

"Ooh! You have yourself a deal!" Technus said, flying off in the direction the Bebe's went.

"Think you can trust him with that?" Kim asked, looking down the street that Technus flew down.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm giving him a chance though, hoping he'll give me more ammunition for my 'some ghosts can be good' theory." Danny said. "Besides, if he DOES mess up, I know how to handle a ghost."

Technus got back to them the next day, appearing on Kim's Kimmunicator. He had found where the Bebes, which is what the robots called themselves, were holding up, as well as where they had captured the three scientists.

"Three? Only two had been captured." Kim asked.

"They brought in another one today. I shall patch the video feed through." Technus said, as his image disappeared from the screen, replacing itself with security camera footage. Inside the cage were three individuals:Dr. Chen, Dr. Ramesh, and most disturbingly Dr. James Possible, Kim's father.

Ron pointed at a figure on the screen. "That's your dad, KP!".

"I know!" Kim said. "Technus, where even are you?"

"According to this GPS I found, I am on the corner of Upperton St. and 4th Ave." Technus said.

"You didn't steal that, did you Technus?" Danny asked.

"Is it stealing if it is from a discard pile beside a computer shop?" Technus asked.

"Well, if it was a discard pile, I'll let it slide." Danny said. "We're on our way. Let us know if the situation changes." Danny said.

"Danny, are you sure you want to tag along? This isn't just an investigation you could get hurt." Kim said, concerned.

"So could you. As it stands, we know there are at least three robots, so without me you two are outnumbered. I can at least try to even the odds. It's not like I'm a pushover either." Danny said.

"Alright, just be careful." Kim said, grabbing her backpack. "Ron, mission gear."

"You got it KP!" Ron said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a shirt for Danny to wear.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Tucker asked, gesturing between himself and Sam.

"I'll have Wade get in contact if things go South. You guys might need to be our backup." Kim said. "Let's rock."

Arriving at the warehouse Technus mentioned, the trio began to sneak around, making their way inside undetected. Hiding behind a series of crates, they peaked over to see Dr. Drakken monologuing to the cage full of captured scientists.

"You all laughed at me! Saying my Bebes were lame. Saying I was inferior to you all. Well look now! My Bebes are perfect! Nigh unstoppable machines that follow my every command!" Drakken said, punctuating his statement with an evil laugh.

"I do say Drew, these are quite a step-up from the model you showed us in the past." Dr. Chen said.

"Yes! You doubted my genius! Said I would never amount to anything!" Drakken said.

"We didn't say that. We were just upset that you promised to get us dates and showed up with a knockoff version of the maid from the Jetsons." Dr. Ramesh said.

"You laughed at me!" Drakken spat.

"We did, and I realized after you left that it was wrong to do so." Dr. Possible said. "I'm sorry that we did that to you."

"Yes you're sorry now that I have beaten you! Now my perfect Bebes will assist me in taking over the world!" Drakken said.

"Query: If Bebe is perfect, why should Bebe take orders from imperfect human?" One of the Bebes said.

"Say what now?" Drakken asked, confused.

"Answer: Drakken unfit to lead Bebes. To be eliminated." The Bebes said in unison, turning on their creator.

"Drew! You didn't forget to program a failsafe for if they got too smart did you?" Dr. Possible asked.

"I.. um… ugh… maybe?" Drakken said, dodging as a Bebe took a swipe at him.

At that moment, Kim jumped out and landed a solid kick on one of the Bebes, distracting it from Drakken. "You know Drakken, I SHOULD just let you deal with the consequences of your actions, but unfortunately hero work doesn't let you be picky with who you save."

"Target Recognized. Kim Possible, Danger Level, highest priority. Begin attack." The Bebe said, making her way towards Kim.

"Ron, get the scientists out. Danny, think you can spar with a Bebe for a bit?" Kim commanded.

"Only one way to find out!" Danny said, as he charged in and tackled a Bebe. Thankfully, since the Bebes were fully robotic, Danny didn't have to worry about holding back his strength, and his super human nature got to shine through for a moment.

"Kimmie-cub! Ronald! Daniel! What are you doing here?" Dr. Possible asked.

"At the moment, saving you Mr. Dr. P." Ron said, fiddling around for the lock to the cage. "Drakken! How do I undo the lock?"

"Why should I tell you?" Drakken asked, as the unoccupied Bebe took a swing at him.

"Because if you don't I'm telling Kim to leave you with the Bebes." Ron said.

"Fine. The combination is 2002" Drakken said, sidestepping another one of the Bebe's attacks.

"I knew we should have guessed the year he would have graduated college." Dr. Ramesh said.

"Quiet! I am still very angry at you!" Drakken said.

While this exchange was happening, Danny and Kim were trying to fight off their Bebes. Danny was feeling the hits he was taking pretty hard. He wasn't as durable in his human form as he was in his ghost form, and the Bebes were much faster than him in this form. He also simply didn't have the raw technique to keep up with them. Every hit they landed was like a punch from his father during a boxing spar, but they came with the speed and precision of his mother's martial arts attacks.

Kim wasn't faring much better, while she was able to dodge the Bebe's attacks easily enough, she was tiring out. They were simply too fast.

"Ugh, Science guys! Any idea how to shut these things down?" Danny called out, managing to land a solid push against the Bebe. He couldn't take anymore hits, so it was keepaway while they worked on a backup plan.

"We're astronomers, not roboticists!" Came the voices of Dr. Chen and Dr. Ramesh.

"Short of a high frequency sound wave, I've got nothing!" Dr. Possible said. "You'd need something capable of shutting their connection to their central intelligence. Take the ghost out of their machine."

"Ghost in the machine? Technus! Think you can shut these three down?" Danny questioned, before calling out to the ghost that was monitoring the situation.

"Yes! Nothing is beyond the abilities of I! Technus! When it comes to machines!" Technus said, as he flew into the body of the Bebe that was fighting Drakken. It shook violently for a second before collapsing to the floor. The other two Bebes followed shortly thereafter.

"Is it over?" Drakken asked, looking at the collapsed Bebe in front of him.

"For the Bebes? Yes. For you? No." Kim said, cracking her knuckles.

"Now Kim, you know I don't appreciate violence." Dr. Possible said, looking over at Dr. Drakken.

"I've got to restrain him for the police dad." Kim said, turning to look over at Drakken. "And I'm certain he's not going to surrender himself quietly."

"I'll go quietly. Don't hurt me." Drakken said, obviously panicked as he dropped to the floor.

"Good move Dr. D." Ron said, as he pulled out a set of zip ties and made a quick set of impromptu handcuffs.

"You just had those ready Ron?" Kim asked, looking towards her friend.

"Well yeah, Wade gives you all the cool gadgets. I had to bring something useful. I've got Zip ties, duct tape, a snack…. Wait, where's the snack?" Ron said as he rifled through his bag.

Rufus popped out of one of the side pockets, his belly distended, giving a satisfied sigh. Kim rolled her eyes at the duo's antics, but laughed it off.

"As for you Danny, you did pretty good! That Bebe looked like it got some good hits on you though, you feeling okay?" Kim asked, looking over to her other friend.

"Sore, but otherwise fine. Maybe a bruise or two, but I'm pretty sure nothing's broken. I've taken worse hits from Dad in a boxing match." Danny said, waving her off.

"Still, shouldn't you go see a doctor?" Kim asked, coming closer.

"I'll be fine Kim. I'll put some ice on it if it starts discoloring. I promise. These Bebes might be stronger than Dash, but I didn't let them hit me that much." Danny said, trying to calm her down. He did appreciate her concern though.

"What about the rest of you, any damage?" Kim asked.

"Nope, beyond the fact that I could use some dinner. The Bebes took care to make sure we weren't injured." Dr. Ramesh said. "Could you enlighten me as to… what this green individual is?"

"Oh, sorry. Forget that not everyone has seen one before. Technus here is a ghost." Danny said, gesturing to Technus. "One of the only non-hostile ones I've met."

"Greetings. I am Technus! Ghost master of technology!" Technus bellowed, his lack of inside voice shocking the doctors.

"Ghosts are real?" Dr. Ramesh asked, looking at Technus more closely, recognizing that he was translucent.

"I'm surprised more people haven't heard about the incident with the Lunch Lady… you'd think a 30 foot tall meat monster would be bigger news." Danny said, looking over at Kim and Ron.

"It was over in about 10 minutes or so, and only us three, Sam, Tucker, Dash, and Phantom really got a good look at her." Kim said. "And you and Dash didn't get a good look at Phantom."

"I guess the dragon incident at the mall and the school was over quickly as well." Danny said.

"Yes, although outside of our little group, I think everyone just thinks that was an out of control animatronic or something." Kim said.

"Yeah, this ghost thing is pretty weird. No offense Technus." Ron said.

"None of this offense is taken! When I was a living person, I too believed ghosts were nonsense." Technus said, his tone high.

"You were a living person?" Dr. Ramesh asked.

"Yes! I was Dr. Nikolai Techmann. I was a Professor at Leipzig University before I died." Technus said. "But now I am Technus! Master of all things electronic and mechanical!"

"Ectoplasmic educators aside. It is getting late, and it is a school night. Kim, Ronald, Daniel, you need to get home and get rest. I'll call us a ride." Dr. Possible said. "Ramesh, Chen, do you want a ride back to the observatory to get your cars?"

"That would be appreciated, James." Ramesh said, as he popped his back.

Later, Danny and Technus were standing in the lab, the Ghost Zone portal open, and Technus was controlling the body of the Bebe robot like it was a puppet. "I thank you again, Ghost Boy, for allowing me to examine this wonderful creation! It far exceeds what I was capable of building in life." Technus said, moving the limbs of the robot.

"Thanks for the assist in taking them down. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't there. If you intend to come back out to look for technology, provided you follow the rules we set out, I'll make sure that the local ghost hunters don't stop you." Danny said. He and Technus had hammered out some of the fine details of the deal between them. Technus wasn't to attack or purposefully scare anyone while in the human realm, and wasn't to steal anything. He however, was welcome to take any discarded electronics he found, and had two new tech buddies to talk with in Wade and Tucker.

"Our terms are most agreeable! I shall endeavor to make good on my promises. Farewell Ghost Boy! I have research to do on this machine!" Technus said, as he, in the body of the Bebe flew into the Ghost Zone portal.

Chapter Text

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.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back for another chapter. This is being posted on April 5th 2024, which means just 2 days ago, on April 3rd, Danny Phantom had it's 20 year anniversary! I'm happy to have been a Phan since the beginning, and really glad I get to celebrate this event with the community. Beyond that, please remember to review! I'd love to hear about any thoughts you have on the story, or suggestions for where things can go!

A cool September breeze blew through the air as Danny, Tucker, Sam, Kim, Ron, Star, and Valerie explored the Amity Park swap meet. It was the final one of the year, and vendors were desperate to move some final items before packing everything away for the next summer.

"So you guys come here often?" Star asked, looking around at some of the various stalls.

"Yeah, there's all kinds of neat stuff here." Danny said. "Some people try and sell some of their crafts here. Sam's super into that."

"Yeah. My favorite quilt came from a lovely old lady who used to come here." Sam said, as she eyed a few knick-knacks on a nearby table.

"My favorite is the food. Nothing is better than Swap Meet funnel cake." Tucker said, eating away at the funnel cake he had bought earlier.

"So what do you usually come for Danny?" Star asked, as she flipped through a few shirts on racks at someone's stands.

"I like to look around, I don't have anything in particular I look for really. Maybe some bulk lots of legos that I build model ships with." Danny said, as he picked up and looked at a set of skateboard wheels. He wasn't sure why he did, Danny didn't know how to skateboard.

"Oh look! A fortune teller. That's new." Sam said, catching everyone's attention. The group walked over to the booth where an older woman with graying hair sat. In front of her were a selection of objects, a few crystals of various colors, a set of dice marked with strange symbols, and an ornate, if bizarrely shaped vase.

"Greetings young ones. I am Madame Babazita. Welcome to my stall." The older woman said. Her accent seemed odd, vaguely Russian by Danny's estimation, but mixed with others. If this was the woman's natural accent, she must have traveled a lot and picked up vocal tics from all over. Or she was putting on a show to drive up business. Danny couldn't tell which.

"What is all of this?" Sam asked, taking a look at her wares.

"The crystals are in tune with various natural energies, blessed with promises of good fortune. The dice are a prediction tool, allowing one who knows how to read them to foresee events before they happen. The vase is a container, that seals away the ghost of a harem girl." Babazita said, gesturing to the items in turn.

"Oh, tell me about this ghost then." Sam asked. She had enough experiences with seemingly haunted objects to recognize that it wasn't IMPOSSIBLE for this to be an actual container for a ghost. Sidney had been trapped in his mirror after all. She however didn't believe it to be likely.

"Yes, this harem girl was promised a kingdom by the Sultan she served. However, due to her beauty the wife of the sultan grew jealous, and had her exiled. She later died of a broken heart due to her failure to be with the man she had loved, as well as the rigors of old age. As a ghost, she is now forced to grant the wishes of others, giving them their greatest desires, though twisting them out of bitterness, since she can never have her own desires fulfilled." Babazita said.

"Well, that's a cool story if nothing else. Your sign says you are a fortune teller. What kind of fortunes do you do?" Danny asked.

"I do palm and tarot readings." Babazita said.

"Ooh! How much for a palm reading?" Star asked.

"I charge ten dollars. I would also do a tarot reading for an additional five." Babazita said, her eyes brightening. Danny didn't imagine she got much in the way of sales.

"I'll just get a palm reading then." Star said, pulling out a ten dollar bill and handing it to Madame Babazita.

"Very well child. Please give me your palms, and I shall attempt to divine your future." Babazita said, taking the blonde's hands into her own. "This is your heart line, yours is deep and clear. You have a strong capacity for love and affection. Very admirable. Should you find love, it will be deep and true. You will know it when it happens." Tracing along the line in Star's hand, she comes to a point that it forks. "A fork in your heart line suggests an unexpected turn in your love. There will be love in your life, though it might not be how you would expect it." Tracing the line again she comes to a small island. "This represents a significant experience in your life. Your love when you find it will change something about you very deeply." Moving her fingers again, Babazita comes to the heel of Star's hand. "This is the Mound of Venus. Yours is full and prominent representing your boundless love. You have much to give, and when you encounter your love, you will give and receive a lot of it."

Star listened intently to the older woman's words. Absorbing them deep into herself. "Thank you for the reading Madame Babazita. You have certainly given me something to look forward to!" Star said with a smile, as she and the others stepped away from the table. Star notably with an extra spring in her step.

"A bit vague don't you think?" Valerie said, obviously skeptical about the ability of the woman to divine anything from something like the lines of your palms.

"Oh, absolutely, but even if it isn't true at all, it is kind of fun to think about isn't it?" Star said. "Like, think about what those bizarre circumstances might be? Maybe it already happened. After all, I was attacked by my former friend who turned into a dragon. That happened while I was on a date with Danny. Maybe he's meant to be my love." Star said, fluttering her eyelashes at Danny.

Danny coughed a bit at that, causing Tucker and Ron to laugh at the surprised look on his face. "I don't know about that yet. Bit soon for something like that don't you think?" Danny said, trying to regain his composure.

"Oh, I know. We aren't even actually dating or anything. It is just fun to think about." Star said, humming slightly to herself as her good mood continued.

Kim thought about this for a second. She had technically set up Danny and Star, but now she was feeling a bit odd about the situation. She hadn't had feelings for Danny when that had started, still having her crush on Josh Mankey. Now though? She was unsure. She knew she liked Danny, and wanted a boyfriend that shared many of his characteristics. She wanted someone brave like him, who was capable of keeping up with her and didn't feel intimidated by her missions. The only boys that were like that that she had met were Danny, Ron, Tucker, and Wade. Wade was a no go, he was only ten, and was much more like a third brother to her than anything even resembling a romantic interest. Tucker was similarly out. Kim simply had no interest in him, although he was a good friend. Ron was strange. He had always been her best friend, and everything between them had always been platonic. She had given a few thoughts as to what it might be like to date Ron in the past, and while she didn't think it would be awful, she thought Ron was better as her best friend than as her boyfriend.

Danny though had caused all kinds of feelings in her. She had always recognized he was handsome. While he wasn't a musclebound jock like Dash or Kwan, he wasn't scrawny. Built more like a swimmer than a linebacker, Danny had muscles in all the right places. His blue-eyes were bright and happy, something that she often found herself staring at and wondering how they would look staring back at her. His bravery in the face of danger had also impressed her. Stepping up to fight against the Bebes was impressive, and his takedown of Monkey Fist alongside Ron had certainly made her consider offering him a permanent spot on Team Possible. Learning he was also Phantom? The superhero who had saved her from certain death during their first meeting, and kept her safe against the dragon Paulina? That had opened up a whole new can of worms.

Kim was pulled from her thoughts as someone bumped into her. "Sorry!" She said instinctively, knowing she wasn't paying too much attention to where she was going.

"It's okay pretty lady." The little girl who bumped into her said, giving her a big smile that was missing a few teeth. "I really like your hair!" She said, as she and her mother walked off. Kim smiled at the little girl who was holding hands with her mother.

As the little girl and her mother continued walking through the swap meet, a sweet smell caught the little girl's nose, she looked around and spotted her prize. "Ooh! Mommy! They have cotton candy! Can we get some? Please?"

"No sweetie, you've already had some funnel cake. You don't want to have too much sugar!" Her mother said, trying to placate her child.

"Ah but mom! It looks so tasty! Can't I have a little?" The little girl asked again.

"Sorry sweetie but no. You've had enough sugar." The mother said, taking a firm tone with her daughter.

"Ah, I wish I had some cotton candy." The little girl said, unknowing of the consequences of her words.

"So you wish it, so it shall be." A sultry voice resonated from deep within the vase at Madame Babazita's stall, as the cotton candy machine shook violently before spewing out a massive torrent of cotton candy. The wave of cotton candy expanded and expanded all the way to Madame Babazita's stall, where it eventually knocked over the vase containing the ghost, who emerged in a puff of green smoke.

The ghost was a very attractive woman, with long dark hair and an outfit that accentuated her large bust, small waist and flaring hips. What differentiated her from any other woman however was both her skin, which was a deep green, and her legs, or lack thereof as she had a ghostly tail that extended long past where her legs should have gone.

Danny looked up and saw the ghost, before tapping Sam and Tucker on the shoulder and nodding to them.

"A ghost? Oh no! Quick! Valerie, Star, let's head over here and try and get people away. Phantom will show up soon." Kim said, moving the two other girls with her. Ron followed behind.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker looked over. "That was… convenient." Tucker said.

"Not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Going Ghost!" Danny said, as he ducked into an empty tent and emerged as the ghost hero Phantom, flying over to the airborne ghost.

"Ah! A fellow specter. I am Desiree, child, what is your wish?" Desiree asked, her melodic voice resonating through the air.

"Not something I'm inclined to tell you." Danny said, keeping an eye on his opponent. Babazita hadn't been lying about the harem girl then, so he needed to be careful about his wishes, lest they turn on him. He imagined whoever wished for cotton candy didn't want that stall to go crazy.

"Come now, there must be something your heart desires. Let me peer into it and give you everything you want." Desiree said, reaching forward to Danny.

"Woah! Back up I Dream of Jeannie!" Danny said, holding his hands out in front of him. Ectoplasmic energy welled up in his hands, before shooting out as a laser, sending Desiree flying into the distance.

Danny stared dumbfounded at his hands. Had he discovered a new power of his? It's not like that was unexpected to happen. He was still figuring this out, so he didn't think he had perfect knowledge of what he was capable of yet. Seems that this is possible now.

Danny pointed his finger into the sky, and thought of gathering his energy into the tip. It glowed with a green ectoplasmic light as Danny released it, sending a beam of light into the sky. "Sweet!" Danny said, performing a quick loop-de-loop in the sky. He'd have to take some time to practice this, but access to a ranged attack would prove to be VERY useful. He didn't have to punch everything anymore!

Landing back by Tucker and Sam, Danny transformed back into his normal self, and walked back over to his friends.

"You guys see the cool new power?" Danny said, a great big smile on his face.

"I did man, that's pretty slamming." Tucker said.

"Slamming?" Danny asked, looking over at his friend.

"Hey, Kim says stuff is spankin' and Ron says booyah all the time. I thought I could try something." Tucker said defensively.

"Maybe try something else Tuck." Danny said, smiling at his best friend. The pair laughed as Kim, Ron, Star, and Valerie returned.

"Looks like Phantom saved the day again." Kim said, a smile on her face.

"Looks like it. Though he didn't trap her in the thermos, so she'll probably be back." Danny said. "Oh well. I doubt she'll come back here for a minute at least. Want to keep looking around?"

"You know it." Kim said, as she stepped next to Danny. Star looked between them for a moment, bizarre feelings in her chest.

The following night was a big game between the Casper High Ravens, and the Silver Central Bulls. Danny, Tucker, and Sam were sat in the bleachers, having little interest in the football game itself, but having come to support their friend Ron, in his first game since becoming the new Casper High Raven.

"This sport really is completely barbaric." Sam said, rolling her eyes as two massive boys slammed into each other at speed. "You know studies have shown that the damage these guys do to their heads leads to psychotic breaks when they are older."

"I'm aware Sam, Dad showed me that whole documentary on it. You know how he feels about this kind of thing since his accident." Danny said. Jack Fenton had forbidden Danny from even trying out for football when he was younger, for fear of the damage he might do to his head. Danny thankfully hadn't been interested in the sport to begin with, so it wasn't much of a loss.

"I'm just here for the cheerleaders!" Tucker said, gazing down at the sidelines where the Casper High cheerleading squad was performing a routine.

Danny couldn't REALLY blame him, as he was enjoying watching Star and Kim performing their routine, and laughed as Ron really gave it his all as the mascot. "Just remember that you have a maybe girlfriend." Danny said, referring to Valerie. She and Tucker had gone on another actual date since the Dance, something that he and Star hadn't done. While Valerie and Tucker weren't official or anything, it was pretty obvious to those who knew the pair they were growing pretty fond of each other. Danny figured it would be one more date before they officially decided to be exclusive.

That made him think about his relationships. He and Star had had a really nice time at the homecoming dance, and her comments the other day implied that she was interested in maybe continuing to see each other in that weird limbo between friends and romantic partners, but something had thrown a bit of a wrench in that plan. Or rather someone: Kim Possible.

Danny would have never thought that Kim would be interested in him at all, but he wasn't totally oblivious. She had turned up the affection a bit recently, and had really started to mess with his head. She sat beside him whenever possible, and had made more time that they hung out separately from the others. It had been more innocent stuff at first, mentioning a new spaceship model she had seen at a hobby shop while with her brothers, or offering to play some basketball with him during an after school hangout session, which none of their other friends would be interested in. Then there was the touching. Grabbing his hand to show him something, leaning against him to look at something he was working on. A million little things that added up to only one thing in Danny's mind. Kim Possible had the hots for him, and Danny knew he reciprocated.

Unfortunately, Danny also knew he liked Star. While he and the blonde perhaps weren't as close and he and Kim were, they also hadn't really known each other that long. Kim had had an extra month to be his friend before Star came into the picture, and while Star had a small leg up in terms of having gone on an actual date, Kim wasn't exactly far behind. Danny briefly considered if he had any preference between the two, but realized that they kind of appealed to different aspects of his life. Kim was a hero like he was. Working towards helping and protecting others. While Danny was pretty sure she didn't know about his work as Phantom, he had helped her with the Bebes and Monkey Fist. They had that as a bonding point between them. Danny also knew that if he had any intention of getting serious with a girl, he would have to tell her before they made that leap. It wasn't fair to keep something like that a secret from a partner. Danny could imagine how telling Kim would go. She'd be thrilled, seeing it as an opportunity for them to kick supervillain butt together on a more regular basis. Danny had thought about telling her already, thinking that she's been in the super hero game long enough to give him some pointers, but Sam had always told him it was a bad idea. That more people knowing the secret was problematic. Tucker had rolled his eyes at that, but didn't comment further. Danny didn't know why.

Star appealed to the part of Danny that craved some manner of a normal life. Danny never really knew what normal was, since it certainly didn't involve his ghost hunting parents. Star was a perfectly normal girl, beautiful for certain, but not bizarre like Danny and his friends were. That anchor of normalcy had been something Danny had wanted, and it seemed like it could be within his grasp if he wanted to take it, but… did he? Was that speck of normalcy worth giving up a possible relationship with Kim? Was it worth taking the normalcy away from Star's life? Star wasn't a superhero, or a supergenius, or a rich activist. Star was an upper-middle class girl who was a cheerleader for the football team, an aspiring Olympic figure skater, and a painter in her spare time. Star was normal… Did Danny have the right to bring her into his world of fighting ghosts?

While Danny was lost in his thoughts on the two beautiful girls, a certain blond jock was huddling with his team during a time-out. "Ugh! These guys are creaming us! I wish I could just turn into a giant monster to tear apart their defense!" Dash said, frustrated at their offense's inability to push through the Bull's defensive line. While the Freshman Casper High Ravens were formidable, they were working with the disadvantage of being younger and less developed than the other teams. The three year gap between the freshman and the seniors was proving to be an obstacle they couldn't overcome.

"So you wish it, so it shall be." Came the voice of Desiree, who appeared over the field, waving her hands over Dash.

The boy's skin began to turn a fluorescent green color, as his ears extended to a point and his eyes glowed red. His body began to rapidly expand, until he now towered over the rest of the players, and even the goal post, standing thirty feet tall. Holding the ball in his hand, Dash plowed through the defense of the Bulls, scoring a touchdown, and sending everyone in the stands screaming and running from the field.

"Looks like duty calls!" Danny said, ducking under the bleachers and shooting out, making his way towards the towering athlete.

"Alright Dash! You always claimed you never took any steroids, but I'm starting to not believe you!" Danny quipped, trying to get the behemoth bully's attention. He turned and roared at Danny, charging at him. Danny took the opportunity to do a loop-de-loop lining the large bully up for an uppercut that sent him flying about twenty yards back, forcing the goal posts of the football field to buckle under his weight. "And it's good!" Danny said, raising his arms in the air. "Let's see if I can separate you out from the idiot."

Danny turned intangible and flew into the jock, locking himself in a battle of will against the other intruder in Dash's body. Danny easily forced the powerful, but dim-witted ghost from Dash's body, exerting his powerful will over the much larger ghost, as he exited and pointed the Fenton Thermos at him. The blue light from the Fenton Thermos engulfed the monster, sucking it into the device as Danny closed the lid. "And score one for Phantom."

"Huh? What happened?" Dash said, as he got up.

"You turned into more of a rage machine than usual. I'd recommend therapy and anger management." Phantom said, as he gave a two fingered salute and flew off.

From behind the bleachers, Kim watched with a smirk on her face, happy to see Danny score another victory against a ghost. Elsewhere, Star watched as Phantom flew off, getting her second really good look at him. "He's kind of familiar." She mused, watching the white haired boy fly away.

As Danny, Tucker, and Sam enter the lab to send the ghost that possessed Dash to the ghost zone, Danny unknowingly flew into a strange device in his parent's lab. It was roughly 10 ft. tall, with a 3 ft. diameter circle at the top. In the center of the circle were purple energy strings that crisscrossed the space. What surprised Danny the most about it though, was the effect it had on him as he went through it. Danny had passed through just fine, landing on the other side of the device with a thud on the ground as his ability to fly left him. Phantom had stayed on the other side. The two halves of the boy looked at each other, utterly confused, before they came together and reunited into a singular being.

"That was weird." Danny said to Sam and Tucker, as the pair watched slightly dumbfounded.

"What was weird, *cough cough*, Danny?" Came the sick voice of Jack Fenton, as he and Maddie Fenton emerged from a tent in the corner of the lab.

"Ugh seeing this new gadget and a tent in the lab." Danny quickly covered. It wasn't a lie, it WAS weird to see those things. "What is this?"

"The Fenton Ghostcatcher. It's like a dreamcatcher, but it catches ghosts instead of nightmares. Your mother and I were camping down here to make sure we saw it if we caught anything." Jack said, before blowing his nose into a tissue.

"What makes you think a ghost is going to fly through it? If they see it, and it's not exactly camouflaged they can just fly right around it. Also, you guys look terrible, are you sick?" Danny asked, looking over his parents.

"We were up all night last night putting the finishing touches on this, and I guess we hadn't realized how cold it had gotten down here. I think we've got colds dearie. Maybe you shouldn't get too close." Maddie said, as she quickly had a coughing fit. "You're right about the other thing though… might be time for us to go back to the drawing board on it."

"You two should go upstairs and get some rest in a warm bedroom for the night. I'll grab the humidifier and some cold medicine and bring it up once I finish up down here." Danny said.

"Alright Danno. We will. Glad we've got a son who is willing to take care of us." Jack said with a smile, before he sneezed into a tissue. The pair walked up the stairs slowly as Danny, Tucker, and Sam watched on.

Elsewhere, the cheer squad had finished a meeting involving the rescheduling of the game that just took place. Since both teams agreed that the presence of a 30 ft tall hulking monstrosity violated the spirit, if not the rules of the game, they would reschedule this match for the next open date for the both of them. That would also give Casper High time to replace its field goal, which had been destroyed in the fight. As everyone left, Kim took the moment to talk to one of her fellow cheerleaders.

"Hey, Star. Got a minute?" Kim asked, nervous about what conversation she was about to have.

"Sure Kim, what's up?" Star asked, a friendly smile on her face. Ever since Star had been removed from the A-List due to her date with Danny, she and Kim had gotten the chance to talk more. While they weren't besties, they were firmly on their way to being good friends.

"So, tell me. What do you think about Danny?" Kim asked, trying to get a feel for how this conversation would go.

"Well, I think I'm starting to like him a bit. He's cute and funny, and he was really brave during that dragon incident. He's kind of a hunk." Star said, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"And Danny as a person?" Kim prodded, feeling around for the answer.

"He's great, kind and helpful. A bit nerdy, but it's kind of endearing." Star said.

"I see. You want to try and date him then?" Kim asked.

"I'm not going to make him stop hanging out with you if that's what you're worried about. I'm a big girl who can handle a guy I like having friends who are girls." Star said.

"Not the question. Are you going to try and date him?" Kim asked, looking for a direct answer.

"I mean, yeah. I figured that was obvious. Why are you even… oh… that's why you're asking." Star said, realizing. "You like him too don't you."

"I do. I'm not gonna lie about it. I didn't realize how much I would when I set him up with you, but since then… well he's really blown me away. I thought I had that crush on Josh Mankey… but what I'm feeling for Danny? It's way stronger." Kim said. "I just… I don't know. I was kind of hoping you'd say you only felt like you and Danny would be friends so I wouldn't have to feel bad about trying to be with him."

"I know what you mean. I had a thing for Kwan not too long ago, but Danny… well he's growing on me way faster. I don't know what to do about your feelings though. It's not like I stand a chance against Kim Possible." Star said, looking downtrodden.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked.

"Look let's be real Kim, the only thing I have over you is that MAYBE I'm prettier, and that could be largely a matter of opinion. You're miss super hero, plus you've been his friend longer, but not so long that you would have moved out of contention for girlfriend material." Star said. "You and him click better than he and I do anyway. I've seen it. You seem to get him better than Sam does, and they've been friends for years. I've got no chance."

"Well… what if it wasn't a competition?" Kim said, letting out a deep breath.

"If you're planning on dropping out, don't. You have every right to try and date him as I do, and I wouldn't want to 'win' because the other person felt bad for me." Star said, shooting Kim an angry look.

"No, just… What if it wasn't a competition? What if we could… both have him?" Kim suggested. She knew it sounded crazy. She knew it was wild, but it also could be a good option for them.

"What, like having him two time us? I don't like getting cheated on." Star said.

"It's not cheating if we're all aware and okay with it. Look, it's not an ideal circumstance for me either, but… well I do dangerous things. I get hurt. There's always the possibility I don't make it back. I… I care for Danny, and if something ever happened to me, I'd want to make sure he had someone to help him get through it." Kim said.

"You're serious aren't you?" Star asked.

"Look, you've been a good friend, and I think you and Danny would be good for each other. But I also know that I want Danny, and that I don't want to hurt you in the process. Is this perfect? No. Ideally we could each have a Danny of our own. But surely having some of Danny is better than having none of him?" Kim said with a deep exhale. She had laid everything bare before Star. The ball was in her court now.

"You realize what this would mean for us right? Everyone would be calling us whores." Star said, looking at her.

"It's not like some people don't call me that anyway." Kim said with an eye roll. She liked showing off her midriff, but for some people that meant she was some kind of sexual deviant.

"You… really don't care?" Star asked, speechless.

"People are going to talk regardless of what happens. People talk about how I save the world as a method of getting attention. People talk about how I'm a disappointment because I'm not a supergenius like my parents or my brothers. I know what I do is right, and that's why I do it. I know that I do things that make me happy. Will everyone understand what I'm doing here? No. But that's their problem, not mine. I want to be happy with Danny. I also don't want you to be upset because you can't be. Maybe he doesn't want this, maybe he doesn't want me, or you, or anyone. I won't know until I ask. I asked you about this, because I know your relationship with him would be on his mind when I ask him. I know he has some feelings for you, they're just starting, but they are there." Kim said, pouring her heart out to the girl. The pair stood there for a moment, eyes on each other.

"I guess… I guess I'm not totally against the idea. This is an all three of us conversation, so we need to talk about it with him. Let's get him tomorrow after school." Star said, looking to Kim. "Are you going to be okay if he says no?"

"I'm not exactly the kind of girl to get completely torn up over a guy saying he doesn't like me if he doesn't want this? Or doesn't want me? It'll hurt a bit, sure, but I'm a big girl. I can handle my own feelings." Kim said.

"Alright. I feel the same, although I think I need to be more worried about him not liking me than him not liking you." Star said, holding her hand up as Kim was about to rebut. "These are my thoughts on it, you can't change them. Let's save any more discussion until we have Danny with us." The two girls nodded, before heading off, each trying to piece together tomorrow's conversation in their heads.

Kim and Star approached Danny after school, asking for a word with him privately. They sat over by the tree that the group normally did whenever they would have lunch outside.

"So girls, you're kinda freaking me out a bit with this. What's up? Haven't done something wrong have I?" Danny asked nervously as he scratched the back of his head and tried to have a smile on his face. He couldn't think of anything he might have done to make them angry at him.

"No Danny, you haven't done something wrong… this is just… awkward. Kim can you do this? You're braver than I am." Star said, looking at the redhead beside her.

"Yeah, I got this. Danny, how do you feel about Star and I?" Kim asked.

"Well," Danny started, trying to piece his thoughts together, "Kim you've become one of my really good friends, right behind Sam and Tucker, and that's only because I've known them for longer. You're pretty awesome. Star, I don't know you quite as well, but I enjoyed going to the dance with you, and I think we've started our friendship on the right foot."

"I guess it might be better to just say it. Danny, we're both interested in you, romantically." Kim said, a blush on her cheeks making her face match her hair.

"Yeah, I think Kim's a bit further along than I am, but I'm certainly interested." Star said.

"Well, I had kinda guessed Kim was feeling something. The touches weren't exactly super subtle. I didn't realize you were there yet though Star." Danny said, himself flushing and avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, and… well we don't want to try and compete against each other for you or anything. We don't know your feelings for us, whether they are just friendship, or if you're interested in us, or maybe interested in someone else, but… well. Would you maybe be interested in dating us both?" Kim asked, her usual bravery shining through the awkward moment.

"Uh… what?" Danny asked, a clueless expression on his face. There's no way they had just suggested what he thought they did, right?

"Look, I know I like you a lot. I thought I had had feelings for Josh Mankey when I took him to the dance but… they didn't pan out. Seeing you there though, and especially after with the Bebes? I… well I fell pretty hard. I… feel more for you than I have any other guy in my life, and… well I want to be with you. I just don't want to hurt Star in the process." Kim said, looking over at the blonde girl. "So, we could, maybe both date you? See if we can handle a three-way relationship? If one, both, or all of us decide that it isn't working we can just.. Call it off?"

"I… uh… are you real? Am I dreaming?" Danny asked, taking a second to pinch himself. "Felt that… not dreaming?"

"I can ensure you that you aren't dreaming Danny, although you saying that says that maybe this isn't the first time you've thought about this?" Star said, smirking at him at the end of that.

"Well, no point in lying about it. I kind of… have thought about you both like that. Never thought it was a real option, but… I mean, you can't exactly control a fantasy." Danny said, looking down as the heat from his face threatened to cook him alive.

"Good, at least we know at some level you want this. I'm flattered, really Danny." Kim said, smiling at him. "You only ever asked me to the dance as friends, so I didn't know if you felt that way about me."

"And I'm glad to know that our dates and little sessions together have had an impact as well." Star said, smiling.

"Yeah.. I just… Look I've never even really had a girlfriend before. Now I'm supposed to figure out two? I… I'm interested but I don't want to mess anything up." Danny said, looking up to them.

"I've never had a real boyfriend either Danny. It'll be new for me too." Kim said.

"I have, but… well it wasn't like this. We'll all learn together." Star said.

"Well… I guess there is just one thing before we decide if we're doing this or not." Danny said, sighing. "Regardless of how the rest of this conversation goes, I need to know that you are willing to keep the secret I'm about to tell you. If you aren't, deal is off." The look in Danny's eyes was dire.

"You can tell me anything Danny. If you don't want anyone to know, I'll take it with me to the grave." Kim said, smiling at him. She knew what he was about to talk about, and was glad he was making sure they were aware of this before anything got serious. It meant that he cared about them.

"Same here, I can keep a secret, even from Valerie." Star said, smiling at him.

Danny let out a deep breath, before turning up and looking to them. "You guys know the ghost boy? Phantom?" Danny asked.

"Of course, I heard about him stopping ghosts around town, plus I saw him at the dance and at the game last night." Star said.

"You know I do Danny, we worked together to fight ghosts." Kim said, now knowing exactly where this is going. "I think I already know. You're him aren't you."

Danny's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Uh.. yeah. I'm Phantom. That's how I've reacted to the ghosts so quickly…. How did you know?"

"Ron and I had talked about asking Phantom to join Team Possible, we thought having someone with powers would make our missions easier, and let us help more people. I had been keeping an eye on him when he was around, trying to work out if he had a secret identity. I noticed that whenever he appeared, you had just run off. You guys look similar, hair and eye color aside." Kim said. "So when you ran off when that box ghost attacked during lunch the other day? I tagged you with a tracker, just to see if I was right. Sure enough when Phantom came in, the tracker came with it. I destroyed it immediately afterwards. I haven't told anyone, not even Ron. Wade MIGHT know, because he has access to the tracker data, but I don't know for sure."

"So, you're a super hero?" Star asked, looking at him with wide-eyes. "That's so cool!"

"I guess it is pretty cool, but I'm not the only hero here. Kim is as well." Danny said, shifting the praise around.

"I guess the question is why the secrecy? And why didn't you use your powers against the Bebes or Monkey Fist?" Kim asked. "Not mad about it, just curious.

"So, I kind of did. My powers bleed over when I'm not transformed a bit. I don't need to transform to go invisible or intangible. I'm stronger when I transform, but some of that comes over when I'm not. Before the accident I could bench like 200 on a good day? After it when not transformed I can do 400. Transformed? I've picked up a car and it wasn't too difficult. Probably could go farther, but haven't had a reason to yet." Danny said. "The Bebes thankfully weren't strong enough that I needed to transform to deal with them, plus Technus dealt with them before I got too concerned. If things started looking worse I would have, but it wasn't necessary. Monkey Fist I had the ghost of Sidney Poindexter with me keeping him occupied, and I was already holding back in my human form against the monkeys to not do too much damage. I didn't NEED to transform there, so I hadn't to try and keep my identity secret. Not because I don't trust you guys, but just worries. My parents don't even know yet."

"How did you get your powers?" Star asked.

"Lab accident with my parent's ghost zone portal. I'll refrain from saying more. Ideally no one else will find out exactly how it happened so no one tries to recreate it." Danny said. "Not that I don't trust you, just would rather there never be another one of me if I can help it. My survival was a miracle, I'm sure if even one microscopic thing was different I'd be six feet under."

"So, who else knows?" Kim asked. "It'll be good for us to know who we can and can't discuss this with."

"Sam and Tucker. They were there when it happened. A couple ghosts know, so I imagine the whole Ghost Zone does, but they don't seem eager to share with humans. Maybe it's a sense of kinship. From what they've told me about my powers, I don't have ghost powers, I just AM half ghost." Danny said.

"So technically you're always scared half to death?" Star asked, a grin on her face.

"You know, you're the first person to make that joke, so congrats." Danny said, smiling back at her.

"So, what now? Are we…" Kim asked.

"I guess… I'm open to the idea. If you guys want to say we're dating, or we're together, or we're actively boyfriend and girlfriends, then we can say that. I guess I'll need to figure out how to tell Sam and Tucker." Danny said. "Just let me know what label you want, I don't want to assume anything."

"I'm ready to be Danny Fenton's girlfriend." Kim said. "I know we technically haven't had a date, but we beat up a couple ghosts and some robots together, so I'm sure that counts." Kim laughed at that.

"I… well I guess I can be girlfriend too, I was planning on another date first, but with this weird situation I guess that'll be fine." Star said.

"As long as you're okay with it." Danny said. "Not sure how Tucker and Sam will take this, what about Ron and Valerie?"

"Valerie will think I'm crazy, but hopefully trust my judgment on it. If she doesn't…. I guess I'd have to back out. I'd rather be both Valerie and Danny's friends then just Danny's girlfriend with no Valerie. Sorry Danny, but I already lost all my other friends." Star said apologetically.

"Look, that's no problem. If it's a deal breaker it's a deal breaker. I'm pretty sure this is only going to work if we're all in 100%.Even the smallest bit of doubt that isn't taken care of in this early stage is just going to tear everything apart later." Danny said. "We'll hold off on actually calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend until we've talked to our important people first. How will your parents react do you think?"

"Dad's no boys anyway, so having a boyfriend I'm not sharing is still a no go in his eyes. I know he likes you though, so he'll come around eventually I'm sure. Mom… well she had something similar with this a long time ago. She inadvertently gave me this idea I think." Kim said.

"Dad's not in the picture, Mom is… well as long as I'm happy she'll be fine with whatever." Star said, looking away awkwardly.

"Well… I honestly have no idea how my parents will react. I hope well." Danny said, trying to picture what his parents would say.

"Well… I guess let's go figure out what we're going to tell everyone. Think we should do it together? Or separately?" Star asked.

"Probably best if we tell our people individually. Might be easier for them to process if they hear about it first before seeing it. I'll go tell Tucker first, I feel like it'll be easier to tell Sam if I have his help." Danny said.

Star and Kim nodded. "Guess I'll go tell Ron. Hopefully he doesn't wig out too bad." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"And here's hoping Valerie doesn't think I'm crazy." Star said, bracing herself.

"I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow. If everything goes well, maybe we can try a date on Saturday? Feel out this whole thing?" Danny suggested.

"Sounds great Danny. I'll see you tomorrow." Kim said, shooting him a smile as she got up.

"Same here!" Star said, as she blew Danny a kiss. The pair of girls got up and walked off leaving Danny alone for a moment.

"Guess I better go find Tucker… he's probably at Nasty Burger." Danny said, getting up and walking away.

As he did so, Sam stepped out from behind the tree, she had heard that Star and Kim had wanted to talk to him, and was worried. Unfortunately, even in her worst nightmares she couldn't have imagined what just happened.

"Both of them? Maybe if it was just one I would have stood a chance. Stupid Manson, you waited too long." Sam said, her eyes following the path Danny had walked down. "I wish Danny was mine. I don't think I could share him at all."

"So you wish it, so it shall be." Came a voice from above. Sam looked up and saw Desiree wave her hands, as Danny was pulled towards her.

"What no!" Sam said, as she watched Danny fly through the air against his will. With a snap of her fingers, Desiree's magic transformed Danny from a teenager, to a small plush toy version of himself, which sat itself on the table.

"Enjoy your new boy toy. He is yours and yours alone." Desiree said, laughing as she flew off.

Sam looked at the plush version of Danny. This isn't what she wanted. This isn't what she wanted at all. "I… I didn't even mean to make a wish,that was just… it came out." Sam said, distraught. "I'm sorry Danny… I'll make this right. Somehow." Sam thought hard for a second. "I need Tucker… and I guess Kim and Star too." Sam grabbed the Danny plush toy, before carefully putting it in her backpack, its head sticking out the top. She didn't know how much of Danny was in it at the moment, so just in case he needed to breath, or not be terrified of being stuck in the dark confined of her backpack, she would manage.

A quick set of phone calls later, and Tucker, Star, and Kim were meeting Sam at the Nasty Burger, where Sam sat her backpack down on the seat beside of her.

"Okay Sam, we're here. What was the big important thing you needed to talk about? And why couldn't I bring Ron?" Kim asked. Sam had NEVER asked for them to hang out, and the panic in her voice during the phone call screamed emergency, so she had dropped her plans and came right over.

"Alright. I had… listened in to the conversation you two had with Danny. I had followed because… well because I had feelings for Danny, and if you two were going to confess to him and try and date him, I at least wanted my chance." Sam said, a sad expression on her face.

"You were spying on us?" Star asked, shocked and upset.

"I just. Look I've had a thing for Danny since boys stopped being gross okay? I was scared to act on it, so I was just handling being friends. You and Kim coming into the picture happened so fast.. I didn't know how to deal. I was jealous and it was wrong. I know that, but we have a bigger problem." Sam said, setting the Danny doll on the table.

"Yeah, apparently you've gone from best friend with a crush to really creepy stalker who had a custom doll made." Star said, looking at the doll with strange eyes.

"Not gonna lie Sam, this is pretty weird." Tucker said. "I knew you had a thing for him, but this is a bit overboard. Also what's this about you guys confessing to Danny?"

"He didn't tell you?" Kim asked, raising her eyebrow at Tucker.

"Haven't seen him since Lunch. We don't have any afternoon classes together." Tucker said.

"Long story short, he told us about… Phantom, and Star and I are both going to date him and try and figure out if we can manage that." Kim said. "I don't think that's what Sam brought us here for though… or why she brought the creepy doll."

"No, well yes. I mean. Maybe?" Sam stuttered, trying to get her thoughts together. "That ghost from the swap meet? The one that grants wishes, remember it?"

"Yeah, it turned Dash into a two story monster." Star said. "What, did you wish for a doll of Danny?"

"No, well. Kinda? I was jealous and didn't know she was listening. I just… wished Danny was mine, since I… I couldn't share like you guys are trying. She apparently interpreted that as making Danny literally an object I owned. This isn't a doll of Danny. This IS Danny, turned into a doll." Sam said. "It's all my fault… and I don't know how to turn him back."

"Well.. this isn't how I planned today going." Kim said, looking at the doll of her new boyfriend. "I guess we need to brainstorm how to fix him."

"Can't we just find the ghost and wish for him not to be a doll anymore? Then he could beat her up and trap her in that thermos thing right?" Star asked.

"I mean, she twists wishes. Makes them have bad outcomes for the people who made them. Dash did manage to tear through the defense of the opposing team, but they technically lost that game still." Tucker said. "Asking her to change him from being a doll might just make him into like a lamp or something."

"What about changing him back to normal?" Kim asked.

"How do we define normal? She could take away his powers." Sam said.

"Better than him being an inanimate object." Kim said.

"I know, but Danny loves his powers. I wouldn't want him to lose them." Sam said.

"Well, what if we try to be specific about it? Say like, turn him back to how he was before you turned him into a doll? Or ask to specifically undo your wish?" Tucker suggested.

"That might work, but how can we force her to grant it?" Kim asked.

"Well… we might be down one superhero, but we have another." Tucker said.

"I can't exactly fight ghosts." Kim said. "My punches and kicks go right through them."

"Danny had a gift for you he was going to give you the next time you guys encountered a ghost, I guess this'll be as good of a time as any to get it. It's at his house so we'll need to head there. Probably wouldn't hurt for the rest of us to grab some ghost fighting equipment either." Tucker said.

"You guys plan on fighting this thing?" Star asked.

"Sam and I have been helping Danny deal with ghosts since he got his powers. If you plan on sticking around, learning how to help out is probably going to be in your best interest." Tucker said. "We'll get you a ghost blaster and have you get some target practice soon. Have to talk Danny's parents into making another set."

"Once we get whatever this stuff is, how are we going to find her though? She could be anywhere." Sam said, wondering what to do.

"Well, she wants to grant wishes… how about a wishing fountain?" Star suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's move out." Kim said.

After a quick stop by Fenton Works, Kim armed herself with a new set of Ghost Gauntlets like Danny used when he needed to fight in his human form. Tucker and Sam had picked up some Fenton Wrist Blasters, and Star had elected to simply carry a thermos this time, she didn't feel comfortable using a weapon yet. The quartet, alongside the inanimate Danny doll arrived at the wishing fountain outside of the mall.

"Well, we're here. Anyone have any idea how to get her attention?" Kim asked, looking to the others.

"I've got one, anyone got a quarter?" Tucker asked, as Star pulled one from her pocket. Tucker faced his back to the fountain and flipped the quarter into it over his shoulder. "I wish a hot harem girl ghost would show up."

The three women with him glared at him when he did that. Unfortunately before they could scold him for it, his wish was granted, and Desiree appeared before them.

"Your wish is granted, what of the rest of you, any wishes for me? I can grant your heart's deepest desires." Desiree said, her seductive voice reverberating through the air.

"Yeah, I wish that Danny was back to the way he was two minutes before you turned him into a doll!" Kim called out, using the wording they had come up with during their trip over.

A scowl appeared on Desiree's face, as she was compelled to grant the wish. "So it shall be." Desiree says as the doll transforms back into Danny.

"Huh, where… Sam? Tucker? What are you guys doing here? I was.." Danny said, before looking up.

"Foolish teenagers! I will destroy you all for making me undo my wish!" Desiree said, as she morphed her hand into a large Hammer, swinging it down onto Danny.

"Danny!" Came the cry in unison between the three girls.

"Oh you're going down!" Sam said, as she aimed her wrist blaster at Desiree and fired.

"What she said!" Kim said, banging the Ghost Gauntlets together as she leaped towards Desiree.

Kim and Sam kept the pressure on Desiree, each swapping out attacks as they continued pummeling her. Sam's distance and Kim's superior maneuverability kept Desiree from being able to form some kind of counterattack.

"Star! Use the thermos!" Tucker said, as he fired a few blasts himself.

Star took the cap off the thermos and pointed it at the genie ghost, pushing the button that supposedly made it work. The blue light shown forth from the Thermos, encasing Desiree, but she managed to pull herself out of it.

"Fools! As I grant wishes I become more powerful! You alone have asked three of me, and I have been granting other wishes for several days! You cannot best me!" Desiree said, laughing. "Now I shall rid myself of you. Begone!"

"I wish you would get into this thermos!" Star called out firing the blast again.

"WHAT? No! I must obey!" Desiree said, as she was sucked into the thermos. Star quickly put the cap on, as the group took a second to catch their breath.

"You know… for being so smart, not a single one of us thought of doing that earlier." Tucker said panting.

"Danny!" Kim and Star said, as they rushed to the spot that Desiree had crushed him. He was lying in a crater made by the impact.

"Oh, come on Danny, wake up!" Kim said, as she took a listen to his chest. He was breathing, so that was a good sign. He was just unconscious.

"Come on loverboy, we just got together, I'm not losing you now." Star said, as she shook him a bit.

"Huh? What… where am I?" Danny asked as he came back to. "Kim? Star? What? Why am I in a crater?"

"Kim and I just took down our first ghost together, Tucker and Sam helped of course." Star said, smiling at him.

"So, no more Desiree?" Danny asked.

"For right now, no. However, there are some things we need to talk about." Kim said, helping Danny up.

"What's up?" Danny asked, limping over as the pair of girls sat him on the edge of the fountain.

"How much do you remember about this event?" Kim asked.

"We had just finished our conversation, and I had walked off to find Tucker. Then I woke up and got smashed by Desiree." Danny said.

"Looks like she really took the two minutes literally. No memories of his time as a doll at all." Star said.

"Probably for the best. Look Danny. Sam spied on us when we had our talk, and afterwards she wished that you were all hers. Desiree turned you into a doll, and we worked out a plan to turn you back. Everything has turned out fine now, but… well." Kim said, looking over at Sam.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I was just hurt and angry and jealous. I… Danny I've been in love with you for so long now, and hearing that you were going to be seeing them? It… well it broke my heart." Sam said.

"I can understand that I guess. I'm sure you didn't intend for Desiree to grant your wish, so I'm not mad about that. But why spy on us? It'd be different maybe if it was a villain or something, but Star and Kim have been our friends for a while now." Danny said.

"Because… I'm not blind. I know they were both interested in you. If they were going to confess… well I was going to do it then to make sure that you at least knew my feelings before it was too late. Their… offer to share you. Well it caught me off guard, and by the time I recovered to try and step in, you had revealed the big secret, and I was dealing with that. Everything that we had just… came crumbling down in an instant. Your being Phantom was our secret, between me, you and Tucker. Now someone else knew… and it wasn't just us anymore." Sam said.

"If you feel like that… why not just ask to join?" Danny asked, looking at Sam and Kim. "I won't claim to know everything about this or whatever, but I don't want to hurt anyone with this."

"I can't… I can't share. I always get so upset just seeing you with another girl, the thought of sharing you with another girl… it breaks my heart." Sam said.

"Well, what do you expect to have happen now?" Kim asked. "You expecting Danny to just drop us and go off with you because you finally said something?"

"Yes, I mean, not like that. I… I don't want you guys to lose your friendship with Danny. I know he likes having you around, and I can't be EVERYTHING for him. I know that. I just… I don't know." Sam said.

"Sam… I care about you. You're my best friend, and I love you deeply in that way. I never… I never even thought about us being more than that really. I guess I wouldn't have been opposed to it, but… well I have Star and Kim now. And what you did today? It hurts. You didn't trust me, which is a lot of what is important in a relationship. I refused to start a relationship without being fully honest with them about my powers, because I knew I wouldn't want something like that to cause any problems. We're still going to be friends, and maybe someday we could be more. But I need time to even try and forgive you for this." Danny said.

"Okay Danny… I understand. I.. I'm going to go. I'll see you at school on Monday." Sam said, as she walked off sadly.

Kim stepped up to Danny. "Are you sure about that? I understand if you want to try a relationship with her. I know you two are closer than we are."

"I know, and if she had said something before all this? I imagine we wouldn't be having this conversation. I just… she never trusts me to handle anything. Not just this, but so many other small things all the time. I know if I had ever even tried to spy on her for even something as mundane as finding a birthday present for her, she'd blow up in my face about it being an invasion of privacy." Danny said. "She's still my best friend though, I know I won't really be able to be mad at her for very long, and I hope that she'll come around eventually."

"Do you think we might need to think about her joining our… thing here?" Star asked.

"Somehow, I doubt it. Sam's always been jealous. I think she'd get over me having other friends that are girls… I don't think she would ever get over me having other girlfriends." Danny said.

"Speaking of which, Danny, how did you convince them to try this? That's every guy's dream!" Tucker asked, excited.

"I didn't. They asked me." Danny said.

"You should be worried about just my best friend. There's no chance in hell that Valerie would ever agree to something like this, especially in circumstances like how you two initially started." Star said, glaring without venom at Tucker.

"Alright, a man can dream though." Tucker said, sighing.

"Like that one dream you had about two copies of Star feeding you grapes?" Danny asked.

"Hey! You said you'd keep that a secret!" Tucker said, red with embarrassment.

"Honestly, I figured it'd be Paulina." Star said. "I'm flattered, but admittedly a little weirded out."

"Paulina's always been too mean for me. She's crazy hot though." Tucker said. "And no, there weren't any actual feelings or crush behind it. I had the same dream with Bonnie once she came to the school."

"Now I'm mad about that one." Kim said, as everyone else laughed.

Chapter Text

A/N:Le Gasp! A chapter! THE Chapter actually, it's time for… Bitter Reunions. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter! Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments and reviews! I read every one, and if you have a question, I will answer it (unless it's a spoiler!). So for now, let's take a nice trip to the land of dairy: Wisconsin.

Danny laid down another card on the table he and Kim were sharing. Due to a desire for some family bonding, Jack and Maddie had invited Danny and Jazz to accompany them to their 20 year College Reunion. Since Ann Possible had also attended the same college she and her husband decided to accompany them, and bring Kim along as well while Jim and Tim stayed with a babysitter.

"So, you guys were in college together, do you have any fun stories?" Kim asked, trying to fill the void of the trip. It was only about a four hours drive from Silver County where Amity Park and Middleton sat to the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin, which for midwesterners like everyone present were, wasn't a terribly long trip.

"Well, there was that one time that while I was studying for one of my anatomy exams, Maddie decided to help me by building a CT machine in our dorm. Then she had herself and Jack get in and get scanned, and had me see if I could recognize the parts of their brain." Ann said, reminiscing a bit. "I remember scoring well on that test, although our RA was really mad at us."

"Yeah, apparently it emitted 'harmful amounts of radiation' and was 'unsuitable to exist in such an enclosed space without proper lead shielding'. She was such a spoilsport." Maddie said, laughing a bit.

Danny shifted his gaze to Kim, apologizing with his eyes for his weird parents. Kim shrugged it off. "So, Vlad Masters went to school with you guys? Was he a billionaire then?" Kim asked. He had decided to host the reunion, which was taking place at his castle. How someone managed to own a castle near a major metropolitan area like Madison though was anyone's guess.

"Nope, Vladdie was a broke college student like the rest of us. His family was middle class, they made enough he could afford an apartment near campus so he didn't have to room with anyone, but not much more than that. He did work study like the rest of us for some extra spending money." Jack said, obviously happy to talk about his old friend.

"You guys knew him well?" Danny asked.

"Knew him well? Vladdie was my best friend! He used to help your mother and I with our ghost research. That was until he had an accident. We were showing off our ghost portal prototype when something went wrong. He got a big blast of it in his face and came down with a terrible case of ecto-acne. He spent months afterwards in the hospital as they tried to figure out how to handle it. Really messed up his social life, although from what I hear his grades never slipped. He said he'd never forgive me for the accident, but he sent us the invitation to this personally, so maybe he wants to be friends again. I wish he would, he would have been the best man at our wedding. Probably your and Jazz's godfather as well." Jack said, a smile on his face.

"Well, let's hope he's better than my old friend in college. He's a super villain now. Calls himself Dr. Dragon or something. Totally unearned, he didn't even finish his doctorate." James Possible said, looking back at Kim.

"It's Dr. Drakken, but yeah. He's my biggest enemy. Keeps coming back with crazy schemes." Kim said, rolling her eyes as she played another card.

"That's the guy Technus and I helped you save your dad from right?" Danny asked. He hadn't assisted with many of Kim's adventures as Danny or Phantom, but had helped out a bit. He's pretty sure he fought Drakken twice.

"Right on the money. Thanks for that again, you've been a big help." Kim said, smiling at her boyfriend. They would be doing something more befitting of a couple now, but Kim had not told her father about her relationship yet. She knew he wouldn't be happy that she had a boyfriend, even less so that she was sharing him with another girl.

Maddie turned back to look at Danny from her position in the passenger seat of the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle. "You helped on one of her missions? I didn't give you permission to do that."

"I know, sorry. I had initially just went with her to the observatory to talk to one of the astronomers there. You know how much I love that place so I just tagged along. After that I just had to help when her dad was kidnapped. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it was important." Danny said, standing up for himself a bit.

James Possible stepped in. "Your boy was a very serious help. While I as a parent understand your concern about what happened, I feel terrified every time Kim goes off to do something dangerous, I also know that my little girl has the ability to help people, and from what I saw your son does as well. I'm proud that my kid is using her abilities to do good in the world."

Jack spoke up as well. "Maddie, we did teach Danny how to take care of himself. I'm proud that he saw a way he can help and stepped in. Although I am disappointed he didn't bring it up until now." Jack looked at Danny in the rearview, who at least had the decency to look a little ashamed.

Maddie softened a bit at their words. She knew there was a part of them that was totally correct. Danny had the skills to help people, she'd been training him in martial arts for years, and while he wasn't ready for a black belt, he was certainly well on his way. She also knew that Jack said Danny was a boxer who would probably be top of his weight class, and given her husband's history with the sport, chose to believe him. "Fine, No punishment. I guess if you intend to keep helping her, I can learn to be okay with it. No leaving the country though! I'm not having you get lost in the Amazon where I can't find you."

"Hear that Danny? You can join Ron and I on missions now. I'll be selective about which ones I bring him on Mrs. Fenton. Ron and I can handle most things on our own, we've managed so far. Danny will only come with if we could really use the extra hands." Kim said, giving Danny an out. She knew he needed to be in Amity Park in case more ghosts attacked, so couldn't come with her on missions all the time.

"I appreciate it Kim, and call me Maddie, I'm sure some day you may even call me mom." Maddie said with a wink.

Danny sunk into his chair bright red with a cry of "MOOOOM!" Causing the adults outside of James Possible to laugh.

"No girl of mine will be dating until she is 30, and even then it's a maybe!" Mr. Possible said, his tone firm.

"Come now dear, you know that's unreasonable. We were already married by 22." Ann said, kissing her husband on the cheek.

"Come on James, provided she's got a good boy it's not so bad. Jazz has brought a couple boys home, although none of them have stayed around for very long." Jack said. "I trust my daughter to find a good one."

"Daad! I was just tutoring those boys. There's not a single good guy at Casper High. Danny's as close as it gets, and he's my brother!" Jazz said, flustered.

"You know, I don't know whether to be offended because I'm still not even considered a 'good guy' or glad that I'm as close as it gets." Danny said.

"I'd go with glad. I know you're actually one of the few good guys, and Jazz just can't say it BECAUSE you're her brother." Kim said, laughing at her boyfriend's misfortune.

"You don't know him like I do. Did you know he likes Kiwi and Fudge smoothies?" Jazz said.

"What's wrong with Kiwi and Fudge?" Came the simultaneous question from Jack and Danny.

"So many things!" Jazz said, as the entire car laughed.

As the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle pulled into the large driveway of the castle that was owned by one Vlad Masters. The group of visitors hopped out of the vehicle, ready to stretch their legs for a moment after the long drive. While for a vehicle the FAV was relatively roomy, allowing for you to stand up and walk within it, it was still a little cramped, especially with 7 people sharing space within it.

Jack made his way to the door, everyone else following, and rang the doorbell. A short jingle played, a classical piece Danny was familiar with, but couldn't name. Within a few moments, a man answered the door. He was average height, and a tad slim, but not overly so. His most defining feature was his hair, which was shock white and tied in the back as a low ponytail. His suit was well tailored, and everything about the man screamed 'money'.

"Ah! Maddie! Ann! Good to see you again after all of these years. This must be James Possible. I had heard you were married. And these must be your children. I take it the one in the green top is yours Ann? Her hair color is a bit closer to yours than Maddie."

"Um, Yes Vlad, you're correct. Her name is Kim." Ann said, noticing that Vlad wasn't acknowledging Jack at all. She supposed his bitterness hadn't quite faded as Jack had hoped.

"Yes Vladdie! These are Maddie and I's kids. Jazz here is our oldest, and Danny's our youngest. Glad for them to finally meet my best friend from college!" Jack said, seemingly oblivious to how Vlad had ignored him.

"A pleasure. I must ask, what are you all doing here? The reunion isn't until tomorrow night." Vlad said, still not directly addressing Jack.

"We know, but it is a bit of a drive, and since we wanted to bring the kids to meet some of our college friends, and maybe let them network a bit since they all have big dreams that could be helped by connections. We were hoping you would let us park our RV here? Or direct us somewhere nearby that we could hook it up for the night?" Maddie asked. Despite what many assumed, she was well aware of Vlad's feelings for her in college. She hoped maybe enough of that old flame was still there that he would let them hook everything up for the night.

Vlad smiled, before stating. "Nonsense, you all are more than welcome to simply stay here in the manor tonight. I have more than enough room, and this way the seven of you need not share such cramped space. I'm sure you'd much rather spend the night in an actual bed than in some cot in an RV."

"I don't know Vladdie, I'd hate to intrude." Jack said, trying to be nice to his friend. Jack could tell there was some tension between them, though he hoped by the end of this trip they could work everything out between them.

"Nonsense, I insist. If I recall the magazine I read a few weeks ago, you are still in the ghost hunting business. It is said that the Dairy King, the previous owner of this castle, still haunts the halls." Vlad said, in a tone that gave Danny pause. Was he… playing his father?

"I'll get our bags!" Jack yelled, running back to the FAV. Well, if Vlad WAS playing Jack, it worked.

"While Jack unloads, how about I give the rest of you a tour of the castle? I'm sure you'll find it very entertaining. It is after all, one of the most recent castles in the United States, and the only one in Wisconsin." Vlad said.

"Well, that could be nice." Ann said, looking interested.

"Let us be on with the tour then. I'll show you where your rooms will be as well." Vlad said, as he took them through.

In the large foyer where they entered, Vlad began. "This castle was completed in 1967, the final major expense of Sherb Noble, who along with the father and son duo of John and Alex McCullough founded the first Dairy King in a small town in Illinois. After his company made millions selling Soft-Serve Ice Cream which the McCulloughs invented, he elected to retire to the heart of America's Dairy industry here in Wisconsin. He embraced the title of cheese-head to the extreme, and when people began referring to him as THE Dairy King, he elected to have a crown and robe made to act as a pseudo-mascot. He would appear at public events in the get-up and enjoyed generally making people happy with his eccentricity." Vlad gestured to a portrait of the man, who true to Vlad's word, was wearing a crown with a cheese motif, with a royal cloak and scepter. "Following his death in 1991, ownership of this building was held by his estate. After some time, I managed to have them sell it to me 10 years ago, and I have been happily living inside ever since."

Vlad led them down a hallway, opening a door for them to step inside. "This room was once a museum dedicated to the history of the Dairy King brand. As part of my deal to purchase this building, those items were instead moved to their current headquarters in Minnesota. I elected to fill this space with a private museum to the thing I find the most enjoyment in, the Green Bay Packers." True to Vlad's word, the room was lined wall to wall with Packers memorabilia, with jerseys in several designs, to balls signed by the teams, to other eclectic merchandise. The centerpiece of the room was a statue of a quarterback, who was wearing an official Packers jersey, helmet, pants and cleats.

"Impressive, although if you have so much money, and love the Packers so much, why not just buy the team?" Jazz asked, looking around.

"The Packers are owned by the city of Green Bay, and they WON'T SELL THEM TO ME." Vlad said, his anger exploding at the end of the sentence, before he quickly regained his composure. "Apologies for the outburst. I simply care for the team quite a lot, and strongly wish the team would relinquish at least partial ownership to me."

"Couldn't you just run for mayor of Green Bay and technically have partial ownership that way?" Danny asked.

"I could, but that would mean leaving my beloved Madison. I left for college, because while the University of Wisconsin here in Madison is an excellent school, one I have provided significant funding for, I elected to attend the University of Upperton." Vlad said. "At the time, its engineering programs were more well respected than the University of Wisconsin's, and while I do carry a great deal of pride in where I am from, I would not allow myself to accept substandard education. I almost attended the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology where I am aware James graduated from, however Upperton's Biotechnology was viewed as superior,which was the field I intended to receive my degree in alongside my degree in mechanical engineering."

"Biotechnology and Mechanical Engineering? What were you hoping to do with that?" Kim asked, looking to Vlad.

"When I was a young boy, I was fascinated by the concept of cloning, I simply devoured every piece of science fiction that included it. I wanted nothing more than to further the study of cloning, such that perhaps someday we could cheat death forever, as should you ever find your body failing you, you could simply acquire a new younger one. Although, it seems life got in the way of that somewhat. Now I simply use my wealth to fund the future, in hopes that someone in the future can make the breakthrough I hoped for, and if I am even lucky, it will be done in the Vlad Master's Biomechanical Laboratory." Vlad said, a smile on his face.

"I remember you being really excited when we heard about Dolly being successfully cloned." Ann said, thinking back. "It must have been a big day for you."

"One of the happiest in my life. My dreams were a step closer to reality. We had definitive proof that mammals could be cloned. I was even lucky enough later in life to meet most of the team that was responsible. One of them was nice enough to gift me a strand of yarn from wool collected from Dolly. It is one of my prized possessions, one I don't even see fit to display here." Vlad said, a nostalgic smile on his face.

"I imagine you all must be rather bored of hearing me rant though, allow me to show you to your guest quarters. I hope they are to your liking. One of them is Packers themed, so if one of you is a sports fan, please let me know so I can put you in there." Vlad added.

Unfortunately, none of the party shared Vlad's particular love of football, so Danny was placed in that room. Kim and Jazz occupied the rooms either side of him, and their parents occupied the two rooms on the opposite side of the hall.

Jazz knocked on Danny's door, and he opened it for her, wearing his pajamas as he was getting ready for bed. "What's up Jazz?"

"Just want to talk for a second. You okay with that?" She asked, taking a look at the doors opposite them. Their parents had already gone to bed, tired from the long trip.

"Yeah, sure. As long as you aren't going to psychoanalyze me again." Danny said with a bit of a laugh, letting her into the room.

The room as a garish green and yellow monstrosity, filled with memorabilia and decorations dedicated to the football team from Green Bay. Jazz sat next to Danny on the bed. "So, when did you and Kim start dating?"

Danny paused for a second, internally freaking out? She could tell? Did she know about Star? Was she going to tell Mr. Possible? So many questions. Best to just deny it. "Kim and I are friends we're not-"

"No point lying to me Danny. I know. I'm not going to tell anyone if you aren't ready for it yet. I just want to be a supportive big sister here. You've never dated before, and you picked a hell of a first girlfriend." Jazz said.

"Fine, yeah, Kim and I are dating, but that's not the only thing." Danny said, sighing. Jazz was really too smart for her own good.

"You two haven't…. Y'know." Jazz said, as she made a motion where her index finger entered a circle made of her index and thumb on the other hand.

"No! No. I just. You know Star from school?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, used to be an A-List. You went to homecoming with her and she got kicked out of the A-List for it. Kinda figured if you were going to date anyone it'd be her. Or Sam." Jazz said, before noticing the scowl on Danny's face. "Ooh, something up with Sam?"

"Kinda. Look, I need you to be open minded about this okay?" Danny asked, looking to Jazz. His sister was sometimes overbearing, but she always listened to him.

"I'll do my best. You're not doing anything illegal are you?" Jazz asked, concerned.

"No… I'm… dating Star and Kim at the same time. No! I'm not cheating on them. They know, they actually approached me about it." Danny said, trying to cut off Jazz's response.

"Ah, and Sam's mad because she wasn't included? Did that cause a fight?" Jazz asked.

"Not really. What caused the fight was that she was spying on us when they asked me out. I didn't appreciate the invasion of privacy, especially since Star and Kim had asked for it to be done IN private." Danny said, before looking up at Jazz. "You're taking the whole two girlfriends thing surprisingly well."

"Polyamorous relationships are decently common, at least compared to how they used to be. Usually more common among people in LGBT groups. As long as everyone is aware and okay with the situation, I have no problems. Honestly, I'm more concerned about your fight with Sam. She's your best friend. I can't imagine she took the news well." Jazz stated matter of factly.

"Yeah… she said she had feelings for me. I never knew."

"Everyone else did. I hadn't said anything because I figured she'd blow up and tell you or get over it. She's seen everything that would have been a deal breaker with you and STILL had feelings, so I figured she was in for the long haul." Jazz said, speaking as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You really are clueless when it comes to girls' emotions, Danny."

"Tell me something I don't know." Danny said, which made Jazz laugh a bit.

"Everything will be fine Danny. I'll help you figure out how to tell Mom and Dad. Now, when do I get to meet them as your girlfriends?"

"Well, I guess we could go talk to Kim now. You can meet Star when we get home maybe." Danny suggested.

With a nod, the pair knocked on Kim's door, and the trio discussed how Kim, Star, and Danny's strange relationship came about. Jazz was considerate and understanding, and maintained an open mind. She brought up a few good points about things in their relationship they needed to consider, including one that gave Kim pause.

"What are your plans if Sam gets over herself and decides that she wants to join you? Or if some other girl miraculously finds Danny attractive?" Jazz asked, looking between the pair.

"Miraculously?" Danny asked, offended.

"I've seen you at your worst little brother, don't forget that." Jazz said, crossing her arms. "You've proven yourself open to sharing. That comes with its own risks, other girls might decide that they want a piece. Do you think you can be okay with that?"

Kim paused as she considered it. The arrangement with Star came out of a sense of necessity. Kim had created her own rival in Danny's affections, and was too nice to make her back out. Kim had allowed that relationship because she knew of the dangers that came with her job, and now of the danger's that came with Danny's work as well. Could she be okay with another girl wanting to enter that life? Thinking about it… she responded.

"I don't think I could let Sam in. I know she's Danny's best friend, but what she did, and how she's treated us… she'd need to make some serious changes in order for me to even think about it. Another girl though… maybe? We'd need to get along really well, and she'd have to REALLY like Danny."

"That's a good enough answer. I can't blame you for Sam. I've watched her and Danny for years. She's a lot of the reason Danny never had more friends, she didn't approve of them or was too bossy for them. I know there was another girl who was interested in Danny, she had asked me about him once but because of Sam she was too scared to even approach him. Sam had pretty much taken girlfriend exclusivity without actually being the girlfriend." Jazz said. She felt bad about it, but she had a number of problems with Sam. She was overbearing, bossy, and rude. Everything she got mad at her parents over. Jazz also knew that Sam cared for Danny deeply, as a friend and as more than that even if she had been too late to mention her feelings. Jazz would have been happy to put her feelings aside if Danny and Sam had gotten together, since she knew that Danny's influence would eventually make her see her flaws, but she was glad that she didn't have to deal with Sam as a potential sister-in-law at the moment.

Danny left the room following their conversation with both a newfound respect for Jazz at how well she handled their relationship, and an understanding of the trials that he, Star, and Kim may face in their relationship.

A chill ran down his spine though, as a blue mist emerged from his mouth. A ghost? Here? Was Vlad serious about the Dairy King? Danny watched as a trio of ghostly vultures began to fly down the hallway.

"Is this the whippersnapper we're supposed to deal with?" One of them asked, his voice seeming like a stereotypical old man.

"I'm not sure. He's got the black hair, but seems a bit scrawny." Another replied, his eyes narrowing at Danny.

"He's not the red-headed lady, I suppose that's good enough." The third replied, as it dove towards Danny.

Danny rolled out of the way, transforming and firing a beam at one of the vultures, knocking it down the hallway.

"Oh, you'll pay for that you rapscallion." One of the vultures said, as it flapped its wings and sent a barrage of feathers at Danny. Danny turned intangible, allowing the feathers to pass through him.

"Gotta admit, rapscallion is a new one!" Danny said, flying up and delivering a roundhouse kick to the second vulture knocking it to the ground.

Suddenly another ghost knocked Danny into the ground. Looking up, he saw a humanoid figure, wearing a white suit with a flowing cape. His skin was tinted blue, his eyes blood red, and his hair brought into two peaks.

"Cheap shot Count Von Dracula!" Danny said, firing a blast towards him. The Ghost conjured a shield in front of him, his pink energy absorbing the blast.

"I don't know what you are doing here child, but I will not have you ruin my plans." The ghost said, flying forward and slamming into Danny with an axe-kick that slammed him to the floor, knocking him unconscious. Danny returned to his normal form, surprising the ghost.

"Well… it seems Skulker was correct, there IS another half-ghost around. It seems Jack managed to turn his own son into one, although I doubt he knows. This could work out nicely." The ghost said, turning into Vlad Masters. "I shall return the little badger to his bed. We can discuss this tomorrow."

Danny awoke, startled about the dream he had. Looking around, he was in the Packers themed bedroom he had been assigned. Vlad opened the door, a look of concern on his face. "Are you alright Daniel? I happened to hear a scream as I walked by." Vlad said, his eyes scanning over Danny.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Must have been a dream or something. Sorry for the scare." Danny said, his mind racing. The fight with those vultures felt real enough, as did his encounter with that weird vampire ghost… was it really a dream?

"No worries Daniel, what is a bit of a scare between friends. I recommend you try and get some more sleep, the party tomorrow will be… killer? As the youth say?" Vlad said.

Danny hadn't heard anyone describe anything as killer in a long time, but just assumed Vlad was out of touch. "Not sure anyone uses that word, but you do you Mr. Masters."

"No need for such formalities Daniel. You may call me Vlad." Vlad said with a grin. "Sleep tight Daniel. I shall speak with you tomorrow."

The following day, guests began to arrive in droves for the reunion. The graduating class of the University of Upperton was roughly 8000 members in total, and while only a small fraction of them would be able to attend, there ended up being nearly 300 guests at Vlad's party. Danny glanced around, wearing the dress shirt and slacks he had packed for the party, he eventually found Kim, who walked over to him. Her hair was done in a ponytail, and she was wearing a nice dress that came down just passed her knees. Danny thought she looked lovely. "There you are Kim, I've been trying to find someone I recognized. You look great in that dress by the way."

"Flatterer. Be careful about letting my dad hear you though, you know he's not going to be happy about us dating. I don't know where anyone else is though. This room is kind of packed. How about we head out towards one of the other rooms, maybe they're trying to avoid the dance floor?" Kim said, grabbing his hand and leading him to another side room. This room was showing footage from an old Packers game onto a large movie screen. Danny and Kim saw Jazz sitting, chewing on some popcorn.

"Jazz? Are you not going to go to the actual party?" Danny asked. There wasn't really anyone else in the room besides them.

"Why? Watch a bunch of old people try and do the Electric Slide? I'm not a sports fan, but I find this at least more interesting then that. Did you know the Packers won the first Superbowl?" Jazz asked, eating another handful of popcorn.

"Can't say I blame her, but I'm not exactly keen on watching old footage, although that popcorn smells good. Can I have a bite Jazz?" Kim asked, and Jazz moved the bag for her to grab a handful. "Thank you."

"I guess we should go find our parents, maybe stop my Dad from screaming about ghosts." Danny said.

"Good luck with that." Jazz said, turning her attention to the screen, which showed James Lofton being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Moving on, Danny and Kim did eventually find their parents, who were talking with a woman they didn't recognize. She was of asian descent, with black hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a greenish business suit. She looked a little better put together than many of the other adults at the party, one of whom was already wearing a lampshade as a hat and was bouncing around the room like a madman.

"Danny! Kim! Come, meet one of our old college friends. This is Harriet Chin, she's a reporter now for the Milwaukee Journal, but to us she'll just be old Harry. Harry Chin! Ha, that still cracks me up." Jack said, laughing boisterously. Ann and Maddie seemed to flush and look away, obviously embarrassed by the joke.

"Jack, she asked you to stop calling her that years ago. Multiple times." Maddie said. "I'm sorry Harriet."

"You married him, you should be. Anyway, so this is THE Kim Possible? Could I get an interview before you leave tonight? I'm sure our readers would love to know all about the Great Lakes Region's very own superhero." Harriet said, ignoring jack and focusing her attention on the young redhead.

"Uh. Sure, I'd be happy to give one, but I'm not the only Superhero in the area." Kim said, trying to push off some of the credit. "There's also Phantom from Amity Park, and I'm sure there are other heroes who just aren't as public facing as I am."

"You believe in the ghost nonsense?" Harriet asked, looking confused.

"Look, I've seen it for myself. My first week of high school was interrupted by a 30 ft. meat monster made by a ghost. My homecoming dance was wrecked by a ghost dragon. Just last week there was a ghost that turned our high school quarterback into a 20 ft tall behemoth. I was skeptical too, but I've seen it. Besides, my supervillains have made animal hybrids, Killer AI robots, and one of them was a mutated fish monster currently sitting in a superpowered prison. There has been some variation on this comic book weirdness since the 60s at least when my Nana was palling around with the Quests." Kim said, explaining herself.

"Yeah, I was a bit skeptical about the ghost stuff too before I saw one myself. I've even spoken to a few. Mr. Possible here met one himself." Danny said, gesturing to Kim's dad.

"Ah yes, that Technus fellow. Ghost of a professor of engineering at Leipzig University. Said his name in life was Dr. Nikolai Techmann. Eccentric fellow, but they say every scientist is a little mad." James Possible said with a laugh. "Dr. Chen and Ramesh from the Middleton observatory can confirm our statements as well if you're looking for external sources. I suppose Dr. Drakken as he's calling himself now could as well, but I don't know how much worth a supervillain's word is."

"Danny! You let James here meet Technus before I could?" Jack asked with a bit of a whine.

"Technus helped save us from those robots. Probably right when Danny first met him from what I have been told." James said, straightening his tie a bit.

"Well, if this is all true I'll have quite the scoop then. I suppose I'll start with the interview with Kim Possible before I look into this ghost story." Harriet said, jotting down a couple notes.

"You can catch me before you leave, for now, you should probably go enjoy the party." Kim said. "Hey Danny, let's go get some punch… and hope someone hasn't spiked it."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Vlad was never much of a drinker, couldn't stand the stuff unless it was wine." Jack said, reminiscing a bit. "Remember when we swapped out his cola with a beer that one time? The look on his face when he took a big drink was hysterical." The group did manage to laugh at that, showing that perhaps despite some bad blood between Jack and Harriet, they WERE actually friends once.

Walking over to the punch bowl, Danny poured himself a cup and took a drink. "Tastes normal, if there IS anything in it, it's either not a lot or being covered really well."

"Good enough for me I guess. I'll let you know if I start feeling anything, since I'll probably start feeling it before you will." Kim said, ladling out her own cup and taking a sip. "Yeah, tastes like normal punch. Kinda weird that a guy with money like Vlad would just get a normal punch bowl."

"It's mostly for the memory, this is the same brand that was sold on campus, so every party had a bowl of it." Vlad said, spooking the pair with his sudden appearance. "I must admit, I do also have a personal soft spot for it, a nice bit of extreme sweetness in an often bitter world."

"Woah, didn't see you there Vlad." Danny said, managing to reel himself in from his scare.

"No worries son. I've gotten very good at blending into the background as it were. A useful skill when you're someone who has to deal with the paparazzi as I do." Vlad said, a look of distaste on his face at the mention of the press.

"I imagine a mega-millionaire like yourself has a lot of problems with them." Kim said, staking a sip of her punch.

"Indeed, it makes it difficult to have any kind of private life. In fact, I was worried about inviting Ms. Chin over there, despite our friendship in school I worry she may put her job before my privacy. Thankfully she has yet to ask for an interview, although I have no doubt she'll be leaving here tonight with some article for her website." Vlad acknowledged, pouring himself some of the punch. "Daniel, I actually have a gift for your father, would you be so kind as to run down the hall to my lab and grab it for me? From here it's merely three doors down to the left, you should see a staircase that leads down. I want to show him my forgiveness for his role in my accident."

"Uh, sure Vlad, although you didn't have to get Dad anything, he was excited you even invited him. He talked about how he missed being your friend." Danny said, as he quickly finished his punch.

"Oh, but I insist. I do feel so bad about shoving him away all these years." Vlad said, looking wistful. "Run along now, I'll keep Ms. Possible company while you do so."

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute." Danny said, walking out the door and throwing his cup in the trash. Heading to the designated door he stepped down the stairs, coming into a lab that looked a lot like the one his parents had.

"Wonder what Vlad needs a lab for? Maybe just a place for him to live his old dreams. Mom and Dad said he helped develop their ghost tech… maybe he's still working on it." Danny said to himself as he walked in. The lab was nearly spotless, unlike the chaotic mess his parents' lab tended to become during projects. Danny walked up to a table, where a framed picture was. In it was Vlad, Maddie, and Ann in their college days, but there seemed to be a rip in the picture. Based on the massive hand in the orange jumpsuit that was wrapped around Maddie's shoulder, Danny could guess who it was. "Man, Vlad must have really held a grudge. At least he's trying to forgive."

Suddenly, a chill ran down Danny's spine, and he instinctively transformed. Two tentacles wrapped around his arms and dragged him into the air, as two Ectopusses attempted to restrain him. With a tug, Danny slammed them together, before knocking them into the floor. Causing them to disappear. "Ectopusses? I haven't seen them in months."

"That's not all whelp." Came a gravelly voice Danny recognized. Turning around, Danny locked eyes with the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter.

"Skulker!? How did you get your suit back?" Danny asked, dropping into a fighting stance.

"You won't live long enough to find out." Skulker said, firing a net from his wrist, capturing Danny inside.

Danny tried to phase through it, but found no success. "I've had some upgrades, including intangibility resistant netting. Most of my prey are usually too dumb to phase out, but you've been a challenge. Don't think I don't appreciate it." Skulker smirked.

"Let's see how you appreciate this!" Danny said, ripping through the net and delivering a solid punch to Skulker's face.

"Ha! Knew that wouldn't hold you long. Good thing I brought this." Skulker said, throwing a cube at Danny. The cube began to expand in size, covering his lower body to where only Danny's head was sticking out.

Danny struggled, trying to phase out, or break free, but nothing was working. "I.. can't phase out? It's like my powers are…"

"Ectoplasmic Suppression cube. A new design I worked on specifically for you. It can do more than suppress your powers though." Skulker smirked, pressing a button on his gauntlet.

Agony shot through Danny's body as the cube shocked him. He knew he had been forced out of his ghost form, but tried to suppress his reactions. This hurt. This hurt almost as much as his accident had, this agonizing electricity that shot through his body made him want to die. He wouldn't give Skulker the satisfaction though. He could take it. Maybe.

"A good show you're giving me, now…" A blade shot from Skulker's wrist, and he lined it up with Danny's neck. "Time to die."

"Skulker, stand down. I didn't hire you to kill the boy." Vlad said, as he entered the room.

"Fine. I'll leave him alive for now." Skulker said as he retracted the blade. A beeping caught his attention. "I have to go check out a book on the purpleback gorilla…. AGAIN." Skulker said, as his suit forced him to turn intangible and fly away.

"Vlad? What… what are you doing?" Danny asked.

"Imagine my surprise Daniel. I'm strolling through my castle at night and notice Amity Park's ghostly superhero in my own home, fighting against my servants. I send so many ghosts to Amity to test your father's skills, and instead I come to discover that his foolishness created a second half-ghost." Vlad said, monologuing at Danny.

"A second?" Danny asked.

Two bars of light formed around Vlad, revealing the vampiric figure he fought last night. "Yes, the second. The incident with the portal in college did more than give me ecto-acne, it infused me fully with ectoplasmic energy. My blood became partially ectoplasm, I imagine in many ways similar to what happened to you. I must admit child, you're doing well. From my estimations you've only had your powers for a few months, but I didn't have ecto-rays anywhere near that powerful until I had mine for over a year." Vlad said, taking steps to Danny.

"Let me out of here." Danny said, struggling within the box.

"Why? So you can continue to agonize over trivial things like curfews and test scores? You could be so much more than that Daniel. I could train you, teach you things you've never thought possible. I've had 20 years to develop my powers, to learn everything about them. All that knowledge, all of my wealth could be yours. You could have everything you've ever dreamed of." Vlad said, his tone smooth and calculated.

"This is the party where you give me the catch." Danny said, knowing it was coming.

"All I ask is you renounce your idiot father. You could be my son, the heir to my fortune. I would make sure there was a place for all you hold dear here. You and your sister would want for nothing. Jasmine could attend any school she wants, open her own psychology practice with an investment from her dear father Vlad. You would have access to the best tutors, the best engineers. Say the word and I could have you meet Buzz Aldrin before the month is over, send you on a trip to low orbit in a private craft. Anything your heart desires." Vlad said.

"All of this just for my mom? Really?" Danny asked.

"My love for Maddie aside, you represent something I missed out on. I'll never be able to have a family properly, despite my powers, age is catching up to me. I could have a child tomorrow and be too old to properly teach him by the time he is fully ready to take over for me. I"m fourty-five now, I would be sixty by the time a child I conceived today would be your age, seventy by the time he would graduate college. Eighty by the earliest point he could win the presidency. My time is finite Daniel, all of ours is. I want a legacy, something that lives on after me." Vlad said. "Despite your father, you are everything I could want in a son. You inherited your mother's intelligence, and even the mechanical ingenuity of your father, something even I cannot fault him for. You also have my ghost powers, something no other human has, and trust me, I've looked. There have been others in history, the ghost zone keeps good records, but none alive at this moment but you and me. Join me Danny, and I can teach you to control your powers, to learn new ones. I bet you haven't discovered this one yet." Vlad said, as he splits himself into four duplicates. "Renounce your father, and it is all yours."

"No Vlad. I love my dad, I won't give him up, not for all the money or power in the world." Danny said defiantly.

The Vlads formed back together. "We'll see how you feel after tonight, when your father is imprisoned for going on a rampage at his college reunion."

"Dad would never." Danny said, before realizing what Vlad's plan was. "You are one crazed fruit loop if you think this will make my mother love you."

"This doesn't need to, it just needs to make her hate him." Vlad said darkly, as he turned intangible and floated through the ceiling.

Kim was standing with Danny's parents and Harriet, waiting for him and Vlad to come back. It had taken him a minute, and Vlad had walked off to talk with some other guests. James and Ann had stepped out of the main party room when Kim told them about the popcorn in the projection room. Kim noticed as Jack suddenly stood up very straight, his body almost shaking like a chill had ran up his spine. "Are you okay Mr. Fenton?" Kim asked, looking at him.

"Yeah honey, are you alright?" Maddie asked, looking into her husband's eyes. She noticed something odd about them, but couldn't place what it was.

"Oh, I've never been better… How about we liven up this party?" Jack said, his tone and cadence… off. Kim didn't know Mr. Fenton that well, but even she could tell this wasn't right. Jack picked up a nearby attendee, one wearing a lampshade on his head and threw him into a wall, shocking the three women near him.

"Jack! What has gotten into you?" Maddie asked, shocked at her husband. Jack hated hurting people, he knew he was monstrously strong, he would never do that.

"Ah, didn't you realize this would happen Maddie? Didn't you realize I was this close to going crazy?" Jack said, before shutting his eyes. For a brief moment, his tone and cadence changed to normal, although strained. "Maddie… ghost… controlling me. RUN!" Jack's body lifted itself into the air, laughing maniacally.

"He's possessed? Here? Now? We're not even close to Amity Park." Kim said, dropping into a fighting stance, but immediately finding it restricted by her dress. "Uh, I swear every time I wear a dress I end up needing to fight and I can't."

"I don't know, but come on let's make for the RV, I've got some ghost gear in there." Maddie said, grabbing Harriet by the arm and pulling her down the hallway.

Pulling Harriet into the RV, with Kim hopping in behind, Harret pulled out her phone with a microphone attachment. "So Maddie, how does it feel knowing that your husband is a monster, and attacking his better looking, more successful, and better dressed peers?"

"What are you talking about? Jack is possessed and not in control of his actions. Also that jumpsuit is incredibly stylish." Maddie said, driving the RV into the manor.

In the basement, Danny struggled inside the cube, hearing the commotion going on upstairs. "Ugh, what I'd kill for Kim or someone to be here now."

"Looks like you're in a spot of bother there eh sonny?' Came a voice with a thick midwestern accent. A figure emerged, a portly king with a mustache, a crown made of cheese, and a staff with an ice cream on the top, barring the green skin and red eyes, a dead ringer for the Dairy King.

"Wait, Vlad wasn't lying about the ghost of the Dairy King?" Danny asked, shocked. "What are you going to do to me?"

The Dairy King raised his ice cream staff before tapping it against the off button, deactivating the cube. "I'll be freeing you doncha know. That Vlad fella's a nasty piece of work for doing this."

"Thanks, I was a bit worried you were going to be like most ghosts and attack me." Danny said, stretching his sore limbs.

"Not all ghosts are evil, some of us just wanna be left alone, or follow what passions keep us tethered here." The Dairy King said, smiling a bit.

"I know, I've met two that are like that, just more that aren't." Danny said, looking to the Dairy King. "Would you help me fight Vlad?"

"I'm glad you've seen that we're not all bad, but sorry sonny, I'd be no help against Plasmius, that's what he calls his ghost form by the by, I'm no fighter. I'm a king, we send soldiers to do our fighting for us!" The Dairy King said, flying up. "Go get him sonny boy, and try some genuine Wisconsin cheese while you're here, it's the best!"

Danny watched as the Dairy King flew away, before changing into his ghost form, turning intangible and flying through the ceiling.

In the party the possessed Jack is terrorizing the guests, when Danny flies through him intangibly, pulling Plasmius out of him and slamming him into the wall, bringing them both to the library.

"I don't know how you escaped, but I will not let this stand. I was in my moment of triumph here, ruining the image of the man who ruined me!" Plasmius said, anger apparent in his voice and expression.

"You're insane Vlad! You have everything any person could want: money, power, fame. Your obsession with ruining my dad is crazy!" Danny said, readying a blast in his hands.

"Is it? Is it crazy to want revenge on the man who ruined my life and took away the one thing I ever loved?" Plasmius said, readying his own ectoplasmic blasts.

"It was an accident! Dad's regretted it all of these years. All he wants is to be your friend again, he doesn't care about Vlad Masters the billionaire, or Vlad Plasmius the ghost. He just wants his college buddy back in his life." Danny said, firing his blast. Vlad deflects it with a wave of his hand, before firing his own. Danny, learning from their encounter earlier, focuses his ectoplasmic energy. Vlad could make an energy shield, that meant he could too! The blast hit the shield Danny made, absorbing into it as the shield fell.

"You're a quick study Phantom, get it from your mother I'm sure. I won't let you get in my way! You'll join me soon enough!" Vlad said, flying to capture Danny by the neck.

At that moment, the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle burst through the doors to the library, and Maddie leaned out of the side, pointing a bazooka at the pair. "I don't know which of you ectoplasmic entities was possessing my husband, but you are both going down!" Maddie fired, causing Danny and Vlad to break apart as the bazooka shot a hole in the wall.

"Yes, this will do nicely." Vlad said, flying over and grabbing Maddie, flying off through the new hole in the wall. Danny gave chase, while Jack ran behind, Kim figuring out how to drive the Fenton RV to catch up.

As they were about to fly into the forest, Danny fired a blast that hit Vlad in the back, causing him to drop Maddie. Jack managed to dive under her catching her before she hit the ground. "I'll deal with Plasmius, you two head to your RV and see if you can find a way to restrain him! A thermos or ectofilament!" Danny called out. It was the first time his parents had seen Phantom, and the first time they had heard his voice. He hoped they would listen.

"Listen to him! That's Phantom, the ghost who has been helping around town!" Kim said, backing up Danny. He could kiss her right now if he wasn't busy… not that he needed an excuse to want to.

Danny flew off towards Plasmius, knocking him to the ground. Plasmius got up, and lunged towards Danny, who caught him mid-push. Their hands locked together in a test of strength, each pushed as hard as they could, trying to gain the upper hand.

"How are you this strong? I'm older than you, more physically developed, while your ectoplasmic strength might have a higher potential due to your age, your physical characteristics shouldn't be on this level yet." Vlad asked enraged.

"Have you seen how strong Dad is? Fenton genetics are hard coded for enhanced strength. I benched more than some of the football team before I got my powers." Danny said mockingly. He was half-lying. Danny was much stronger than other guys his size before he got his powers, capable of keeping up with Dash in weightlifting before the latter started focusing his diet on muscle development. "Just another reason my Dad is greater than you think."

Vlad growled, frustrated at the notion. He knew there was truth to Danny's words. Jack was incredibly strong, Vlad could tell when he was possessing him. Throwing that person in Jack's body had been as easy as a child throwing a baseball. If Danny had inherited even some of that strength, on top of his ghostly powers… he would outpace him in no time.

"You could still join me Daniel. The offer is open. We could be the perfect family. Maddie, Jasmine, yourself and I, we could be happy. I could teach you, help you flourish and become whatever you want to be." Vlad bargained.

"I'm not giving up my dad, and I'm not going to become another you! I know you've had to have used your powers to make your deals, people questioned how you could be so persuasive. You overshadowed people didn't you?" Danny said, gritting his teeth as he pushed back against Vlad. Despite his enhanced strength from his genetics, Vlad was still a man who had fully developed, and one who was athletic. Danny's comparatively lacking physical fitness was starting to show itself, his muscles were tiring. Vlad was pushing at him with the force of a bulldozer, and it was all Danny could do to hold him back.

"So what if I did? Does it matter? Everything on the surface is legitimate, despite what many think, I do not deal in illegal goods. I have standards, everything is above board. All the research, all the development costs, paid for through honest business that may have been given to me through dishonest means. I have ruined no one, all those who I convinced to sign their businesses over to me left with the means to retire in luxury for the rest of their lives. I do not kill. I do not steal. I simply use my powers to my benefit." Vlad said angrily.

"You were going to kill my Dad!" Danny said, gaining an extra burst of strength at that memory.

"My one. The only one I would do. Renounce him and join me and I'll even let him live. We can convince your mother to leave him, to come with me. I'm sure I could even find a woman for him to love provided I have my happiness, my Maddie and my family, I can tolerate him existing in this world." Vlad said.

"I'll say it again, you are one twisted fruit loop." Danny said, as the Fenton Family Assault vehicle pulled up, with Jack, Maddie, and Kim all armed with ghost blasters and thermoses. "Give up Plasmius, it's 4 on one."

"Let it never be said I don't know when to retreat. You'll join me some day of your own volition Daniel, when you realize that I can give you everything." Vlad said, his body disappearing in a cloud of ectoplasmic mist.

Danny turned invisible, flying back into the chaotic building and reverting to his human form, before walking out of the building.

"Dad! Mom! Kim! Is everything alright?" Danny yelled, catching their attention.

Recognizing the situation as over, Kim dropped her blaster. "We're okay, although your dad keeps screaming that no one makes a meat puppet out of Jack Fenton."

"And they don't! Now, where did that Plasmius ghost go, and that Phantom one? I'll give Phantom a chance to explain himself since he's been helping out." Jack said, angrily looking around.

"I think they're gone Dad." Danny said.

"Well, I think I've found my story. Ghosts are real! Who knew?" Harriet Chin said, stepping out of the RV, her thumbs rapidly tapping against her phone screen.

"Everyone from Amity Park and half the people from Middleton." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't think I forgot about our interview, so Kim, how about we do that once I finish these notes. To think! I wasn't going to come to this party!" Harriet said, her eyes sparkling. Kim relented, and followed her into the manor, heading off to a side room to do their interview.

Jazz came out and surveyed the damages, seeing multiple holes in the wall of the castle. "I guess we're not getting invited back are we?" She says, grimacing a bit.

"Probably for the best. Hey, can we get into the RV for a second, I think there is something I need to tell you guys." Danny said, looking over to where he fought Vlad. Vlad had become that because he didn't have anyone, because he pushed everyone away, he was alone. Danny didn't want to push people away. It was time.

"Sure Danny, we need to put up these weapons anyway." Jack said, shuffling everyone into the RV.

After the weapons were stored away, Danny sighed, looking to his family and said. "I'm Danny, but… I'm also Phantom. That accident I had in the lab a few months ago? It… made me into a half-ghost. I'm not the only one… Vlad is too. He's the other ghost I fought."

"Ha! That's a good one son. You as Phantom. Humans can't become ghosts until they die!" Jack said with a boisterous laugh, as Maddie and Jazz just looked at him.

Danny transformed, letting the light rings cover his body, revealing his form.

"Wait.. this isn't a joke?" Jack asked, his voice softer as he saw his son.

"No… I wanted to tell you sooner. When I first developed my powers I was going to tell you… but we were unsure if I was going to live long enough for it to matter, I kept having accidents, phasing through things, going invisible when I didn't want to. After things started to stabilize, I was going to tell you again, but you had talked about wanting to dissect ghosts… so I needed to make that thought less appealing. Right around that time ghosts started coming through the portal, and I was putting them back in so they didn't attack people. I'm sorry, but I've been slowly easing you guys into the idea that all ghosts aren't bad for a while, hoping to make this conversation not end with you strapping me to a table and cutting me open." Danny said, as Jazz crushed him into a hug.

"I'd never let them do that Danny." Jazz said, crying into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry you've been dealing with this on your own."

"I haven't been on my own… Sam and Tucker were with me when the accident happened, and they've helped me learn to control my powers. Kim found out a while ago after seeing me run off to 'get help' when ghosts attack, and Star knows now too." Danny said, sighing.

"Didn't want to keep that secret huh?" Jazz said knowingly.

Maddie leaned forward and hugged him as well. "I'm so sorry you were worried we would do that to you. This explains so much of what's been happening… I'm sorry I wasn't there for you before Danny. Mommy's here now though. We'll figure this out."

Jack sat in silence for a bit, before looking at Danny. "I did this? To you and Vlad? Even unknowingly?"

"I would argue it's my fault I ended up like this. I decided to poke around in the portal, I played a stupid game, and almost won my stupid prize." Danny said. "I don't know much about being half-ghost. I found out that there had been others the other week, and Vlad confirmed today that he and I are the only two who currently exist. He has powers I can't comprehend yet… but he uses them for the wrong reasons. I want to use my powers to help people. I've been fighting the bad ghosts that come through the portal. I have these powers, it's my responsibility to use them for good."

"I guess I did buy you too many comic books." Jack said with a smile, crushing his entire family into a hug. "I understand that you were scared, son; but know that I would never hurt you. It'll take me a bit to get used to it… but I will. I'm so damn proud of you."

"While you're here Danny, might as well tell them the other thing." Jazz said, smiling at him.

"I suppose I can rip another band-aid off. Kim and I are dating. As are Star and I. They know and agreed to it, brought it up to me actually." Danny said, flushing a bit.

"Ha! He's got Fenton in him after all!" Jack said, clapping his son on the back. "Just like you and Ann huh Maddie?"

"You're not wrong sweetie." Maddie said smiling.

"Wait, what?" Danny asked, bewildered.

"Before Ann met James, she, Maddie and I were in the same arrangement. James came along though and those two have been in love ever since. No resentment, I'm happy as a clam for them." Jack said with a smile. "Back in those days it wasn't as… acceptable as it is now. We had to keep it secret. Why do you think your mother, Ann and I had so many study dates?"

"I'm not sure this is information I needed to know about mine and my girlfriend's parents." Danny said with a flush.

"Don't worry about it Danno… just know that we love you, and support you 100%. From now on, we Fentons are ghost fighting together!" Jack said. "We'll just have to give Jazzy something to help her fight… Ooh! I have an idea." Jack jotted something down, before setting it aside. "We'll talk more about it when we get home. For now… I love you all."

Danny smiled… he sure loved being a Fenton.

Chapter Text

A/N: Special update because of a con I'm at! Hosted a fanfiction panel, so I wanted to post a chapter of both fics today, so you got one! Hope you enjoy it! Make sure to comment and review!

Danny was very glad he had told his family about his secret. Not needing to sneak around to deal with ghosts had taken quite a load off of his shoulders, since ghost fighting, provided he could prove that's what he was doing, no longer counted against his curfew. Jazz had stepped up and started helping him make sure he got enough studying in, reworking his study routines to keep his grades where they were before. The entire Fenton family had come together and were now one cohesive ghost-fighting unit.

Heading down into the basement lab, Danny found his parents working on their most recent project. A flying vehicle designed for Ghost Zone expeditions. They had taken to calling it the Specter Speeder, its design and function being partially based on the landspeeders from Star Wars, a movie franchise everyone in the house loved.

"Danny! We're just putting the finishing touches on the speeder here. Can you get in and turn her on while we run diagnostics?" Jack asks, looking at the computer he has plugged into the speeder. Maddie is sitting by the desktop at the lab, looking through some schematics.

"You got it, Dad," Danny says, hopping into the driver's seat. "Let me know when you're ready."

"Go ahead and run it." Jack said, staring intently at the screen.

Danny turned the key in the ignition, the engine whirring to life. It was quieter than he expected, a mild humming and not the standard sound of a car that his mind had just assumed it would be.

"Power's stable, repulsors working properly. Anything coming up on your end, honey?" Jack asked, looking to his wife.

"Power consumption is higher than anticipated, but only by about 15%," Maddie noted, looking through her calculations. "Ah, that's the issue, our estimations only accounted for the weight of the speeder, not including anyone or anything inside. With Danny and the equipment in there, the 15% more power draw makes sense."

"We'll need to make sure to remember to account for that when we do more testing. Danny, pull back on the control stick a bit, back her up a bit." Jack calls out to his son.

Danny does as instructed, pulling back on the stick a bit. The speeder slowly hovers backward.

"Good good, feeling anything weird inside?" Jack asks.

"Not really, it doesn't seem super definite I guess? Not something I could tell you with just this though." Danny said. The vehicle felt kind of floaty, but it WAS floating, so maybe it is meant to.

"Good point, I guess we'll need to take it someplace to really do some control testing. Danny, think you can get Sam, Tucker, and that Wade kid to come test it out? We designed this to control like a video game, so you kids probably have a better shot at mastering the controls." Jack said.

"I'm sure the second I tell them you guys made a flying vehicle they'll be begging to drive it. No worries," Danny said, chuckling.

"Don't blame them for a second. Go ahead and nudge her forward a bit. Don't push too far though, it's got a lot of power," Jack warned.

Danny pushed forward on the stick a bit, but it gave him some resistance. "I think there's something in the column, I can't push forward very much." Danny gave it an extra push, and overcame whatever was in its way, unfortunately, with the resistance gone, Danny pushed far too much forward, shooting him at high speed through the portal, and into the Ghost Zone.

Danny gasped in shock at his first glimpse of the zone. In some ways, it reminded him of how he always imagined deep space would be, a black void, with swirls of galaxies and space clouds everywhere. The Ghost Zone was like that, only everything seemed to be black and green, with purple rocks and doors everywhere. Danny glanced around, in awe at the spectral dimension he was in. He was quickly brought down, however, as he looked out the front glass, and saw that he was barreling straight towards a rock. Danny grabbed the stick, trying to steer out of the way, but he was too late, the Speeder couldn't make the tight turn and Danny slammed into the rock… or he would have if he and the speeder didn't phase straight through it.

"Huh?" Danny uttered, confused as to what happened. "I guess… in the Ghost Zone the humans are the ghosts? Weird."

Danny grabbed the stick again, trying to control the speeder. Danny adjusted to the controls of the speeder quickly. He had used many different flight sticks on spaceship flying games before, and after a few minutes, had recognized that the controls weren't as floaty as he initially thought they were. The ship wasn't amazing at flying in reverse, but if you knew what you were doing you could have it have a very tight turn, even rotate in place if you could arrest your momentum. Flying through a field of small asteroids, Danny closed his eyes for a moment in a brief show of excitement. This was so cool! Unfortunately, at that moment, something stopped the speeder in its tracks. Shoving Danny forward in his seat, only stopped by his seatbelt.

Looking up, Danny saw a massive figure, roughly 12 feet tall, wearing a stark white business suit and hat. His skin was a pale white as well, and his body screamed power. His green eyes glared at Danny, narrowing at him.

"Unauthorized human world objects are against the rules, punk, as is trespassing in an unauthorized vehicle." the figure said, his voice a thick southern accent. Danny was reminded of the judges and lawyers from old television shows he used to watch with his grandparents.

"I'm sorry sir, it was an accident." Danny said, trying to not start a fight here. He WAS in the Ghost Zone, he had no idea how the rules worked here.

"It better be, son. I'll let you off with a warning this time, just know… if I see you again… we're gonna have a problem." The ghost said. "The name's Walker, remember it. Fear it. Respect it." Walker raised his hand and tossed the speeder back several dozen feet, as Danny hit the return home button, causing the Speeder's autopilot to bring him back to the lab.

Danny stepped out, panting heavily as he regained his senses.

"Danny! Are you okay? What happened, why'd you suddenly take off?" Maddie asked, looking over her son for damage.

"I'm physically fine. When I was pushing forward on the stick something was sticking, once it got out of the way, the stick slammed forward. Once I was in the zone, I tried out moving around since I had some open space. Slammed into a rock, but it turns out that humans and human objects pass through things in the Ghost Zone like how ghosts can pass through things in our world. I came across this big ghost, called himself Walker, who said I was breaking the rules. Maybe he's some kind of ghost cop? There has to be some kind of law in the Ghost Zone," Danny sputtered.

"Calm down son, it'll be alright. We'll have to contact Technus and see what he knows. We'd never even thought to think about Ghost Zone politics, but I suppose we should have." Jack said. "I'll check out what was going on with the joystick on the speeder, but honestly it sounds like there was just a piece of debris in it that caught the stick at the worst possible moment."

"Sounds about right. The return home function worked great though." Danny said, finally having calmed down a bit.

"That's great. Good to know that that'll be useful. You head upstairs and grab some ice cream or something. Calm yourself down." Jack said, sending his son upstairs. "Just don't grab the fudgsicles! Those are mine!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Dad." Danny said with a laugh.

"Jack honey, now that Danny's safe, do you know what today is?" Maddie asked, looking at her husband.

Jack thought for a second, concentrating very hard. "October 3rd I think."

"Well, you're right about that. But what is October 3rd?" Maddie asked, leading him somewhere.

"I… have no idea." Jack said honestly. Something was rattling through his head about the date, but he couldn't place it.

"Figures, it's our anniversary honey, our 18th actually. Don't you remember?" Maddie said, frustrated.

"I'm sorry, honey, but not at all." Jack said, earnestly.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I'm going to head to my sister's for the weekend, she's celebrating her divorce again, and she wants me there. How about you stay here and think about something we can do to celebrate when I get back okay?" Maddie leaned up and kissed her husband.

"I'll do my best, honey. Love you." Jack said.

"I love you too dear, but we really need to figure out how we can improve your memory about dates like this." Maddie said, thinking hard.

"Have you considered making a calendar on his phone? Dad can handle a routine fine, so adding in checking his calendar shouldn't be too bad. Just mark down important dates. We could each have a calendar of stuff that we are doing and send it to him, so he can keep track of what's going on." Danny suggested.

"That's a great idea, Danny! We'll work on that when I get home. My plane leaves in a couple of hours, so I need to get to the airport. I'll see you soon dears!" Maddie said, giving her husband a hug and a kiss, and her son one as well before running upstairs to say goodbye to Jazz.

"I really blew it this time. She's not showing it, but I know she's disappointed I forgot." Jack said, sulking a bit.

"I'm sure she is, but Mom's not the type to get really mad about these kinds of things, plus we all know how many issues you have with your memory. This calendar thing should help with that, and I'm sure you can find something you can Mom and do when she gets back that'll knock her socks off. You should probably get her an anniversary present too." Danny said, patting his dad on the back.

Jack shot up at that idea. "You're right! I should go do that, I know just the thing too! Your mother has been wanting a new oven for months, I could get that installed, and then take her out to that fancy restaurant she's been wanting to go to!"

"There you go, Dad! Wouldn't say an oven is particularly romantic, but I know she'll be happy with it." Danny said, smiling. "Maybe get her some jewelry or something too, I know Mom hasn't had anything new in that department for a while."

"You're right. Jazz! I need you to come with me to the jewelry store!" Jack said, running up the stairs.

The next day at school, Danny was telling his friends about his brief trip to the Ghost Zone. "Everything was so weird in there, people just pass through stuff, but you can still walk on the ground. Around where my parent's portal is, there's this little rock island. I wonder if we just got lucky or if it got there BECAUSE the portal was there."

"You're lucky I've seen these ghosts too Danny, or I wouldn't believe you about this kind of stuff." Valerie said, casually eating her lunch. "Although this Specter Speeder thing sounds pretty cool, what was flying it like?"

"A bit like driving a car on ice, but without the losing control aspect. It moves under you in directions you don't think about, but you're never out of control with it. We might have to see if we can make a kind of simulator to get used to driving it or something." Danny said.

"If your parents can send me the info on its projected output and control mechanisms, I can probably make one for you, you'll just have to set up the physical controls and map them to the buttons I make." Wade said from his spot on the Kimmunicator. "I wonder if I could make it to where I could pilot it remotely, that way if you guys ever needed me to I could take over while you did something else."

"Sounds like you're trying to jump ship from Team Possible to Team Fenton." Danny joked.

"Team Possible doesn't have a cool flying car." Wade said.

"Then make one for us, Wade! You're the tech guy." Ron added. "The Speeder sounds so cool! The Ghost Zone not so much."

"It is pretty amazing that your parents managed to make a flying vehicle like that, Danny." Star said. "Think we could use it other times? A date up in the sky during sunset sounds really romantic."

Danny flushed a bit at that. "I suppose I could ask, that'll have to wait until my mom gets home though. She's off in Arkansas right now."

"What's she doing in Arkansas?" Tucker asked.

"Oh, have I never mentioned it? Mom's from there, a little town called Spittoon. We've visited a few times in the past. It's… really backwater. Mom says that her house didn't have a bathroom OR an outhouse. Our Aunt Alicia moved back there about 10 years ago after she divorced her husband. Apparently, she missed the really simple life she had there." Danny said, taking a quick drink of his water. "Mom infinitely prefers the city, but she loves her sister, so she's gone to celebrate Alicia's divorce, although I don't know why she celebrates a divorce like that."

"Bad husband?" Sam suggests, Danny shrugs.

"Can't remember Uncle Alvin being too bad. Seemed just a normal friendly guy, maybe a tad on the lazy side." Danny said. "Jazz might remember more, I was only four when they divorced after all."

"I'm sure there's a good reas-" Kim said before she suddenly fell through a hole in the floor.

"Kim!" Danny said, jumping down the hole after her before it closed up behind them.

The others at the table just stared at the spot on the floor.

"Did your boyfriend just…" Valerie started.

"Jump into a hole to who knows where to save his other girlfriend? Yeah." Star said, surprisingly nonchalant.

"Thing you'll learn as you spend more time with Danny, he's got a bit of a hero complex." Sam said, picking at her salad. "Good news is, he can handle himself fine, plus Kim is a superhero. They'll be fine."

"I wonder why they didn't take me though if they wanted Team Possible, I'm an important member!" Ron said as Rufus patted him on the back.

"We'll figure out where they are soon. Danny has his Fenton Phone on him, that's got almost as many gizmos as Kim's Kimmunicator." Tucker said.

Danny and Kim tumbled down the chute they had fallen into, before landing in some kind of secret command center. Large screens filled a back wall, showing surveillance footage of various locations. Standing in front of them was an adult woman, tall and shapely, wearing a tight bodysuit, and an eyepatch over one eye. Her hair was cut very short and styled very neatly.

"Ah, good. Kim Possible. The Ghost Boy Phantom. I had only thought I would grab Kim for this, but you both being here is good." the woman said, eyeing both of them up.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not Phantom." Danny said, getting up with an angry look on his face.

"Daniel Fenton, 14, son of Jack and Maddie Fenton, Ghost Hunters. Discoverer of the true sex of Delilah, then Samson, the last remaining female Purpleback Gorilla. Unveiled Ghost Powers to the public following a fight with a 30 ft. tall meat monster created by a ghost on August 27th of this year. Proceeded to fight against a ghost dragon, a ghost hunter calling itself Skulker, assisting Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable with the apprehension of Dr. Drakken and Monty Fisk. Defeated a ghost genie calling herself Desiree, and recently uncovered the identity of one Vlad Masters, also known as Vlad Plasmius. Tell me, am I missing anything?" The woman said, glaring at Danny with her eye.

"How.. how do you know all that?" Danny asked.

"We here at Global Justice make a note to track any and all persons of interest, especially those with abilities that typically make one 'super'. Kim Possible has been on our radar for several years. You came into the picture when you assisted in the defeat of Dr. Drakken and his Bebe bots. Scans of images from security cameras revealed you to be a 97% match in tone and body shape for the Ghost Hero Phantom. Given the fact that Phantom's appearances largely match locations you frequent? We extrapolated the data." The woman said. "I am Betty Director of Global Justice. We are an organization that exists to fight against supervillains. I have no intentions of revealing your identity to the world unless you become a villain yourself. I have a mission for Miss Possible, one that I do not think will require your assistance Mr. Fenton, but I am glad for this ability to make contact."

"Wait, Global Justice? The supposed secret organization that was founded by Dr. Benton Quest in the early 70s?" Kim asked.

The Director looked shocked, quickly quashing it. "I see that your grandmother still reminisces about her adventures. Yes, the very same. I will have to send people to let her know that information is still top secret."

"Hurt my Nana and I'll expose everything." Kim threatens.

"I have no intentions of hurting Mrs. Possible. I would simply send her old friend Johnny Quest to see her, I imagine they haven't seen each other in many years." Betty Director said. "Johnathan was my predecessor here, he took over this organization from his father in 1985, and I took it over in 2005."

"So you'll be retiring in a couple years as well?" Danny quipped.

"Unlikely, unlike both Dr. Quests, I do not mind taking a back seat and allowing others to step up. My skills are best utilized by putting pieces where they need to go. You two are cases I am quite interested in. I have thought of building a team that specializes in dealing with threats too big for only one or two of you. I have a list of candidates I am gathering intel on. I believe I may have you recruit them, assuming you desire to work with us." Betty said, taking her seat.

"What benefits do we get for working with you? Danny and I have been fine going solo." Kim asked.

"Access to our R&D department, I am aware of the good work that Mr. Load and the Fentons are doing, but they are only three people. Imagine what you could do with a larger team. Here, consider this a show of good faith." Betty said, handing Kim a backpack. "This is our newest model jetpack, capable of reaching speeds of 140 mph. Should you join us, we have many other technologies we can allow you to integrate into your work, as well as additional support. Our agents can arrive at any location on Earth within 3 hours maximum, and we have contact with various other organizations, whose names I will keep secret until such revelations are necessary. I believe we could do good things together. For now, Miss Possible, I would appreciate it if you would help us with this mission. A notable scientist we have worked with in the past, one Professor Green, has disappeared. He worked with our founder Dr. Quest in the 70s on a secret weapons project." Betty Director said.

"Oh yeah, the Sirenita Guided Missile Tracking system." Danny said, looking at the picture. "Guy made great advancements in rocket propulsion and navigation systems."

"How do you know that information? It is meant to be classified." Betty Director asked.

"Is it? It's all over the online forums for creating remotely controlled HALO rockets. His work on the navigation side is a bit outdated now, but his rocket work is still very useful." Danny said.

"Noteworthy, regardless, he retired to Florida a number of years ago. He was last seen two days ago, his car is still in his driveway, and none of his children have heard from him." Betty said. "His house shows signs of forced entry, likely explosive. We don't have any suspects at this moment. You would be working with agent William Du on this assignment. Agent Du, please come in." Betty said, tapping a button on her chair at the last sentence.

Another agent, roughly Kim and Danny's age came in, He was of Asian descent and had a very short well-gelled hairstyle. "William Du, S-Class Junior Agent."

"Kim Possible, nice to meet you."

"Danny Fenton, likewise."

"Madame Director, you informed me we would only be bringing in one outside asset on the mission." Du said, looking away from the pair.

"I am aware, and you will. Mr. Fenton was an unexpected arrival when we brought in Ms. Possible, but one we are happy to make contact with." The Director said.

"I do not need the assistance, Ma'am." Du said, "Especially not from an amateur."

"You should know Mr. Du that we are a team here, and as such you can expect to have team members. You have outshone many of your contemporaries here, but do not think that makes you better than others. I fully believe that Mr. Fenton here would have no problem dispatching you, and Miss Possible would likely have little difficulty either." Betty Director said.

"In all fairness Ma'am I doubt that." Du said, his eyes sizing up Danny and Kim.

"A demonstration then. Mr Fenton, would you please spar with Agent Du? I believe he could use some perspective." Betty asked.

"Sure, ma'am… I'll show him why Kim and I are FAR from amateurs." Danny said, cracking his knuckles.

Betty Director led the trio to a small room, where a padded floor was set up, perfect for a spar. "Normally this is where we allow agents to have practice spars to keep their skills sharp. I believe this will be perfect for you two then."

"Understood." Danny said, stepping out onto the mats, and stretching a bit. "Well, Du? Ready to get your butt whooped?"

"I won't even let an amateur like you touch me." Will said.

"Director, does he know?" Danny asked.

"Personally? No, but he has access to the file. You would not be revealing anything he couldn't already be aware of. Please make use of your abilities." Betty Director said.

Danny smirked, glowing rings forming around his body, transforming him into Phantom. "Bring it on, Dewdrop."

Will rushed forward, swinging a punch at Danny. Danny sidestepped and dodged easily. Du sent a backkick to catch Danny, but he caught it with ease, pushing Du away. Du dropped to the floor, rushing in with another attack, Danny simply phased through this one.

"Intangibility? I'll have to use another tactic then." Will said, reaching into his pocket and tapping a stopwatch. Danny looked at it for a moment as Du seemed convinced he had done something. "Global Justice stopwatch paralyzes foes temporarily."

"And ineffective on me!" Danny said, flying in and landing a solid kick to Will's chest, knocking him to the ground. "Don't get cocky, there's always someone out there better than you, learned that lesson the hard way." Danny reached down and helped him up. "Kim's an even better fighter than I am, I've just got the powers."

"Noted." Du said, his tone subdued.

"I'll help out, I'm sure between us we can figure out what happened to Professor Green. As for joining the organization full-time, that's up in the air. I do know I won't join on unless Ron is able to as well, he's an important part of the team, I couldn't do most of what I do without him." Kim said.

"I'm mostly in Kim's boat. I wouldn't want Sam or Tucker to join, since I'd rather keep them away from the supervillain stuff. I guess if situations come up where I'm actually needed I can lend a hand, but I mostly have to keep Amity Park safe, too many ghost attacks." Danny said.

"Understood. This isn't an offer I would want you to accept lightly. Do know that joining our organization would not take precedence over your regular duties, except in times when the world is at stake." Betty Director said. "Agent Du, you defer to Kim Possible on this mission, that is an order. Miss Possible, please find Professor Green. I will be returning you both to your school. Have a nice day." With a flip of a switch, Danny, Kim, and Will were sucked up into a tube, where they were shot out of the floor back at Casper High. Danny had the forethought to transform back into his normal self while they were being returned.

"There you guys are! Is everything okay?" Star asked, crouching low and pulling both of them into a hug. "And who's the new guy?"

"William Du, Global Justice agent." Will said, dusting off his clothes.

"They asked for my help with a missing person's case. Will here will be helping Ron and I find a Professor Green. Hey Wade, think you can pull up info on his house? As well as any online presence he has?" Kim asked, taking her Kimmunicator back into her hand where it had been sitting on the cafeteria table.

"On it Kim, I'll have you everything I find by the end of the school day." Wade said.

"Please and thank you!" Kim said, disconnecting the call. "We've still got class, so we should probably get to it. Du, you wait at Nasty Burger, it's just down the street. We'll meet you there once we get out at 3."

"Fine, I'll see if I can dig up anything while I am there." Du said, walking off.

After school, Tucker and Sam were walking home with Danny after he saw Kim off. Star had to stay for cheer practice, so she told Danny she'd call him later. Arriving at Fenton Works, Danny immediately took the pair downstairs to show them the Specter Speeder.

"Here she is, in all her glory." Danny said, showing off the vehicle.

"Pretty impressive Danny," Sam said, taking a look inside. "Of course, your dad put cupholders in. Bet they size up to a Big Gulp too."

"Yep, one of them even goes square to hold a popcorn bag." Danny said. It was a bit strange being truly friendly with Sam at the moment. He knew she was still his friend, she meant far too much to him to let that instance of distrust ruin that, but it was hard to treat her normally now.

"Half-surprised it doesn't have a fudge dispenser." Tucker said as he crawled inside.

"It does have a mini-fridge." Danny pointed out. "Huh, what's this?" Danny looked to a table beside the Speeder, on it was a gift box. Checking the card, it read 'To my dearest Maddie, I'm sorry for forgetting, hope this makes up for it. Thank you for the best 18 years of my life, Jack.'

"Ah, that's sweet." Sam said, hearing the letter read aloud.

"Gotta hand it to your dad, that's pretty good." Tucker said as he examined some of the features of the Speeder.

"BEWARE!" Came a familiar voice, as the Box Ghost emerged from the portal. "Phantom and friends, I, the Box Ghost, have come to take my revenge!"

"Get lost, boxy!" Danny said as he transformed.

"Never! Now face my wrath!" the Box Ghost said, using his telekinesis to lift up the gift box. He threw it at Danny, and Danny tried to grab it.

"Not this one, boxy! This one's special." Danny said, trying to pull it from the Box Ghost's telekinetic grip.

"Then my revenge shall be to take it from you!" The Box Ghost said, flinging the gift into the portal, before following after it.

"Oh no! I've got to go grab that, make sure no other ghosts come through while I'm gone!" Danny said, flying in after the Box Ghost.

In the Ghost Zone, Danny flew after the Box Ghost, who was maneuvering through the space with ease. Danny wasn't surprised, as often as he managed to make his way to the human world, he probably had a very solid grasp of the area around the Fenton portal. Danny had no such advantage, he was totally blind here, and couldn't use his top speed to catch up because he needed to keep track of his relative position to the portal. It wouldn't do for him to get lost in here, since he doubted his GPS would help him.

"Boxy! Look, if you want the box you can have it, just give me the thing inside!" Danny said, continuing his pursuit of the cardboard-craving creep.

"Never! You will learn to beware the Bos Gho-" The Box Ghost was cut short as a hand grabbed him out of the air, Walker appearing before the pair.

"Possession of human world items? That's a violation. Your second, Box Ghost. Time for you to serve your time." Walker said, his glare narrowing on the specter. "And you, this is your second trespassing attempt, I told you if we saw each other again boy there would be consequences."

Danny attempted to flee, but Walker grabbed him. "You boys are going to learn a long lesson about understanding the law."

Walker took them deep into the Ghost Zone, before throwing them into a cafeteria, inside were many ghost prisoners, all wearing the black and white striped uniforms he had been forced into. They turned to look at Danny, and he balked. Skulker, Desiree, and the Lunch Lady were all present.

"Well, runt. Looks like you finally ran afoul of Walker. Good, saves me the trouble of finding you to kill you!" Skulker said, rushing forward and slamming Danny into the ground.

"Careful, you want to get on Walker's bad side? Wouldn't fighting a fellow prisoner be 'against the rules?'" Danny asked. He could take Skulker, especially since that ecto-skeleton had likely been disarmed in the prison. There was some hope in his mind that he could talk to the other two here.

"He's right Skulker, you know Walker doesn't take kindly to that kinda thing." A new voice said, pulling Skulker off of Danny. A guy Danny could only describe as a scruffy beatnik appeared, wearing his prison overshirt tied around his waist like a belt, a plain white t-shirt on underneath. "We're all brothers and sisters in bonds now man. No point in fighting each other."

"Fine 13, but only because I'd rather get lunch." Skulker said as the new ghost helped Danny up.

"Uh, thanks… 13?" Danny asked, looking at the scruffy ghost.

"Johnny 13, been locked up in here longer than these guys. Speeding ticket if you can believe it." Johnny said, rolling his eyes. "You're that Phantom guy."

"Uh, yeah. Word spread that quickly?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, especially with people like Technus and the Box Ghost. Those guys can't shut up." Johnny said patting a seat next to him at a table. "Go ahead and take a load off. No point standing around."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Figured most ghosts in here would hate me." Danny said, taking the seat.

"Skulker talks a big game, but he's not exactly many people's favorite. Technus and Poindexter spoke to people about what you are about, so a lot of us are mostly pretty neutral. There are a few who wanna go out and wreak some havoc, but I figure the vast majority just wanna be left alone." Johnny said.

"So, how'd you hear about me?" Danny asked.

"Poindexter. Kitty goes to his realm occasionally to find some books in the library of that school of his. Regrets not finishing high school when she was alive, so she's doing what she can there. Ever since he had that little adventure with you, he's been more confident, and the specters in that school aren't haunting him like they used to. So, props there, man. Wouldn't exactly call Poindexter a friend, but that doesn't mean I think he should be tormented for eternity." Johnny said.

"Well, that's good at least. Nice to know I can at least help some ghosts." Danny said.

"Keep doing what you're doing Phantom. There are some real pieces of work out there, but the way I figure it, you're just doing right by you and yours. Wish I had tried that more when I was alive." Johnny said, patting Danny on the back.

"I know some ghosts are the ghosts of people who died, Poindexter, Dairy King, Desiree, and Technus are ones I knew before this. What about the rest of them?" Danny asked.

"Two ways to make a ghost. Die and become one because of unfinished business or trauma or something, I'm not sure about what causes it, but enough of us WERE human that it's something. Two, be formed out of the zone itself. Skulker's made from the zone, not from a human. Rule of thumb, if they look human, they probably were." Johnny said.

"How do you know that?" Danny asked.

"Guy called Ghost Writer has an entire library, part of it is dedicated to the Ghost Zone. Kitty wanted to learn all about being a ghost when we got here, so we found that place. There's probably some old-timer who knows even more, but the oldest ghost I've met here is Poindexter since he's from the 50s." Johnny said as the guards started filing them out. "Hang tight man, they'll assign you a room here in a second, we'll see who you're with."

The guards did eventually put Danny into a cell, and in with him came Skulker. "Great, now not only do I have to SEE the runt, I have to sleep in the same room as him!"

"Not exactly a pleasant idea for me either Skulker, but we've gotta deal until we can bust out of here." Danny said, taking a moment to examine his surroundings. Long hallway filled with cells on either side. Cell to his right had Johnny and a ghost he didn't recognize a big guy with muscles, muttonchops, and a mohawk. Cell to his left had the Box Ghost and another unfamiliar face, he looked like someone with dwarfism.

"Ha! Like a whelp like you could bust out of here. Don't you think the rest of us haven't tried? We don't have any weapons, and those batons the guards use incapacitate you quicker than you think. They're made of Ecto-Iron, and can shoot out nets that you can't phase through." Skulker said.

"You've maybe tried alone, but I bet you haven't tried together. Look, I know you don't like me, but I bet you like being in this prison even less. We can bust out of here and go back to being enemies, but in here, we can be allies for a moment." Danny said, holding out his hand. "Truce?"

"Enemy of my enemy… fine. Truce, until we break out of here." Skulker said, shaking his hand. "I can probably get the Lunch Lady and Desiree on board with a plan. Do you have anyone?"

"That depends. Johnny, you feel like seeing Kitty again?" Danny asked.

"You know it Phantom. Goliath's on board too." Johnny said, patting the giant man next to him.

"Box Ghost, you want out?" Danny asked.

"I will work with you if it means escaping this horrible prison!" The Box Ghost exclaimed.

"Count me in, I gotsa girlie I gotta get back ta, call me Green Kid." The smaller ghost said.

"Alright, mealtime is when we'll let everyone know, and then we'll strike." Danny said.

Sam and Tucker were waiting anxiously. Danny had been gone for nearly two hours now, and every minute he was gone their anxiety ratcheted up more and more. Jazz came down the stairs, looking at the two. "Hey guys, didn't know you were here. Where's Danny? I haven't seen him since this morning."

"He's in the Ghost Zone. The Box Ghost came and stole the box your mom's anniversary present was in and Danny chased after him. It's been two hours." Sam said, sitting and rocking a bit in her chair.

"That's not good… I guess we're gonna have to go in after him. Tucker, get behind the stick on this thing, you've probably got the most experience with a control set-up like this, I'll grab the tracker." Jazz said rummaging through a drawer.

"Tracker?" Sam asked as Jazz pulled out a strange object.

"Dad calls it the Booo-merang. He intends to use it to track ghosts, and it needs an ectoplasmic sample to function. It followed Danny around town during testing, so it should still be locked onto him." Jazz then pulled out her Fenton Phone and made a call. "Technus, need you at the lab. It's an emergency." Jazz said, before hanging up.

Technus arrived a few moments later. "What is the emergency, that requires I! Technus!?" Technus asked.

"Danny's possibly lost in the Ghost Zone. We're going to try and find him in the Specter Speeder, but we'd be going in blind. You know more about the Ghost Zone than anyone else on the team, so we'd appreciate your help." Jazz said, loading some blasters into the Speeder.

"Ah. That would pose a problem." Technus said. "Very well, I shall accompany you. Have you already procured the Boo-merang?"

"Right here, I've got a blaster each for myself, Sam, and Tucker. You don't need one I'm guessing?" Jazz asked.

"This would be a correct guess, for I! Technus! Am capable of producing my own ectoplasmic energy blasts!" He said, before taking a seat in the speeder, reaching over and grabbing a diet cola from the mini-fridge. "Let us depart! There are many dangers the ghost boy may encounter in the Ghost Zone."

With a nod, the trio of humans buckled into the speeder and set off into the inky blackness of the Ghost Zone.

At dinner, Danny gathered his new team around a table, Desiree and the Lunch Lady joining the others from their cell block. "Alright, I think I have a plan for how we can get out of here. Skulker, tell me everything you can about the batons the guards use." Danny said, turning to the metallic ghost.

"Made of Ecto-Iron, sucks the ectoplasmic energy right out of you if it makes contact. Taser and a net firing mechanism as well. Solid piece of work." Skulker said. "Where is this going, whelp?"

"If we can sneak attack one guard, we can probably use his baton to grab another, then another, eventually we'll all be armed, and can use our abilities to overwhelm them. I'm sure they haven't had to deal with a wish-granting genie, a 30 ft. tall meat monster, and the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter all at once." Danny said.

"Nice, might just work. How are we gonna sneak attack one of the guards though?" Johnny asked.

"Simple, Skulker gets to do just what he's wanted to do since we got here. Skulker, we're gonna fight. When the guards come to break us up, we turn and get him, you grab the first stick, hit a guard, and toss his stick to me, then we'll go until each of us has something. Desiree, I'm gonna need you to cause some real mayhem with your magic, throw tables, get the guard's attention. Lunch Lady, you need to pull every piece of food you can into one giant monster and bust down a wall. After that, you all can start running." Danny said, laying out his plan.

"Let's get started then whelp!" Skulker said as he grabbed Danny and threw him into the middle of the cafeteria, the two enemies traded blows, though each of them knew the other was holding back. At this moment, they were allies. A guard came and raised his baton to clock Skulker in the back of the head, when Danny wheeled around behind him and kicked him in the back of the head, knocking the baton out of his hand.

"Skulker, catch!" Danny said, throwing it at him. Skulker deftly caught it, before smiling.

"Alright runt, let's see if this works." Skulker said as he wheeled and caught two guards with a swing of the baton, knocking their weapons out of their hands. Johnny and Danny each caught one, and soon enough the three men were plowing through the guard ghosts, handing off batons to the other members of their escape party.

Desiree used her magic and lifted some tables, slamming them into guards and knocking them off of their feet, making a path for the Lunch Lady. The Lunch Lady stuck her arms out, floating in the air as meat, mashed potatoes, and other foodstuffs formed a shell around her, the prison food monster letting out a roar as it began to batter itself against one of the walls. She was breaking through, but it was slow going. Slower than Danny would like.

"THIS JAILBREAK IS AGAINST THE RULES!" The voice of Walker said, as his massive form jumped down from the upper balcony, landing in the center of the action. "I was lenient with you boy, a pesky thousand-year sentence for your transgressions… now you've done made a mockery of my institution. That means a new sentence, execution."

"Not on your afterlife, Magellan!" Danny said, delivering a solid kick to Walker's stomach. "Johnny! Skulker! Help me keep tall, white, and mean here busy!"

"Got it, Phantom!" Johnny said, as he ducked low and caught Walker's knee with a strike from his baton.

"Don't tell me what to do, Runt!" Skulker said, but obliged anyway with a solid kick to Walker's face.

The three continued working together, landing blow after blow to Walker. "ENOUGH!" Walker bellowed, throwing the three back. "You will NOT make a fool of me in my own prison! I am the LAW here in the Ghost Zone. Ever since Pariah Dark entered that coffin, I am ALL that keeps the Ghost Zone from falling into complete chaos. Now you will submit to my authority, or you will die."

"No thanks, Dredd!" Danny said as he and Johnny winded up to deliver a punch to Walker, knocking him out. "Lunch Lady! How much longer on that wall?" Danny asked, looking around at the hordes of unconscious guards.

With one final grunt, the monster knocked the wall down, fleeing out of it. Desiree, Green Man, Goliath, and the Box Ghost following after.

"Consider us even, runt, after this, it is back to hunting!" Skulker said as he dashed off as well.

Johnny whistled, a motorbike piloted by a shadow appearing a moment later. "It's been real, Phantom, I'm gonna have to check out the human world sometime." With a wave of his hand in a shaka sign, Johnny popped a wheelie and escaped. Danny flew through the halls to the warden's office once he saw everyone leave, and found the prisoner's belongings in storage. Inside, he found the box he was looking for. Grabbing it, Danny shot out of the prison, moving in the direction he thought was home.

Looking around though, he didn't recognize anything, and realization hit him. He was well and truly lost.

And then another thing hit him.

The booo-merang sailed into his head, landing in his hands, as the Specter Speeder appeared quickly behind it, Jazz, Tucker, Sam, and Technus inside. "Danny! We found you!" Sam said, ecstatic.

"Boy am I glad you did, after I got taken by Walker I had no idea where I was." Danny said, looking around.

"You were in Walker's prison? How did you escape?" Technus asked.

"Started a riot, Skulker, the Lunch Lady, the Box Ghost, and Desiree were all in there with me, plus some other guys I met." Danny said. "Can I tell you about it either at home or on our way? I'd rather not be anywhere near here when Walker wakes up."

"Alright, we can do that." Jazz said as she tapped the seat next to her.

When Maddie came home on Monday, she was ecstatic to see not only a clean house, but a new stove, and her husband waiting by the door, a tie over his jumpsuit, with a box in one hand and flowers in the other. "Welcome home, honey, happy, if somewhat belated, anniversary. I've got you some gifts, and we've got dinner reservations tonight at eight for Coûte Trop Cher." Jack said as he embraced his wife.

"Oh… Jack. I can't stay mad." Maddie said, hugging her husband and kissing him on the cheek. "We'll get that calendar worked on this week, and get it added to the routine, I know I shouldn't be mad at you for forgetting things."

"It's okay Maddie, I'm sorry I forgot too, you're the 3rd best thing that ever happened to me, the only things better are the two kids we made together. I know it's special, so come on, let's head inside, get ready for dinner, and maybe we can watch your favorite movie." Jack said.

"Ghostbusters?" Maddie asked.

"I know that's not actually your favorite, even if you say it is for my sake." Jack said with a smile.

"Ooh, you really mean it? We can watch Ghost?" Maddie asked a delighted look on her face.

"Yes, we can." Jack said before she leaned up and kissed him again.

Danny watched invisibly from the corner. Thinking for a moment if he thought he, Kim, and Star would ever be like this. He'd like that. He'd like that a lot.

Chapter Text

A/N: Welcome to another chapter of Heart of a Hero! Hope you enjoyed the three straight weeks of chapters! Progress on the writing side is slowing down a bit since my pre-writing has officially run out, so I have to buckle down and do some more hopefully you won't notice, as I do have a backlog built up! (Up through Chapter 11 is already written and just waiting for my beta readers to touch it up.) So even if I don't manage to write a single new chapter until then, you'd have Chapters for all three posts this month. Moving on, I'll let you guys get to the chapter. Please remember to comment and review! I love hearing your thoughts and suggestions for the story.

"Danny! Come on down, I think we've finished it!" Jack said, calling up the stairs to his son. Danny descended the stairs, seeing their work lying on the counter, his smartphone, a custom one designed and built by his parents, was lying on the soldering station, seemingly finished. "Behold, the upgraded Fenton Phone! The Ghost Digital Assistant! All the benefits and features of a standard smartphone, with everything a ghost hunter needs included! We've added a ghost tracker, a patrol route optimizer, and even a ghost emergency button that contacts us directly!"

"Neat stuff Dad." Danny said, picking up the phone and looking at it. The additional features had packed on some extra size, the device was now about as chunky as mid-2000s PDA, the same height and width of a regular smartphone, but now nearly an inch thick.

"Size is an issue, but it was necessary to add one additional feature. Technus, how about you hop in." Jack said, gesturing for the ghost.

Technus flew into the device, his avatar appearing on screen. "Hello Ghost Boy! While I am in here, I am capable of providing you with various forms of assistance, from technical support and increasing the processing power of the device during times of heavy stress. I can even do this!" Technus has the phone grow arms and legs, and walk around a bit. "Pretty cool eh? I can also interface with other technologies through here, including all of the Fentonworks devices."

"That is really cool, although as a question, how did you make it to where Technus won't set off my ghost sense?" Danny asked, looking to his parents.

"Uh… we didn't." Maddie said, before dropping her head onto her desk. "I knew we overlooked something, Jack."

"You're right Maddie, but that's a big one. Technus, do you have any ideas how that would work?" Jack asked, taking a seat back onto the soldering desk, clearing tools and starting on some new plans.

"I believe an ectoplasmic containment field I could turn on and off from the inside and with a switch on the outside would be sufficient, although I will admit that the boy's ghost sense is an ability I do not have, so I cannot be certain how it works." Technus said.

"We'll need to do some tests when you get home then Danny. We'll get a prototype set up and have Technus get inside it when you get home. For today, how about you just carry him with you and track ghosts the old fashioned way?" Jack suggested, handing Danny a belt clip that was custom sized to fit the phone.

"That'll probably be okay, ghosts usually come after me anyway." Danny said putting on the clip before waving goodbye. "Guess Technus and I are off to school!"

"It will be very enjoyable to be at school again, I haven't been in a high school classroom in over forty years!" Technus said happily from his seat on Danny's belt.

As Danny flew to school he decided to speak to Technus for a moment. "Not that I don't appreciate it Technus, but why are you deciding to work with me and my parents? I figure a lot of ghosts wouldn't be happy with you helping me put them back in the ghost zone."

"Assuming all ghosts get a similar chance at a deal like I received, I am assuming that they are acting in bad faith. Getting to work with your parents to develop new technologies is very exciting! We have several new projects in the works, a set of ghost filtering earphones, more compact wrist lasers, and your mother showed me that Star Wars movie that you all enjoy, and I was fascinated by the light sabers seen within. That movie came out a few years after my death, so I missed it, but I would have loved it. I see why you all do so much." Technus said. "In short, as long as you only attempt to trap ghosts that are actively harming people, and are lenient with the others, I do not mind assisting. Do not expect me to fight unless I am threatened though."

"No worries Technus, you're good to just let me and my folks do the ghost fighting, you can handle the tech stuff." Danny said with a smile.

His joy was cut short when a ghost suckerpunched him out of the sky, slamming him to the ground, Danny turned and looked up, seeing a blob with arms laughing. "You good if I clobber this guy then Technus?"

"I believe he has, as the youth say, sucked for it." Technus said. "Sending a message about this encounter now."

Danny flew up and punched the ghost, knocking it further into the air, causing it to cork screw around and attempt to deliver another punch. Danny caught the fist however, spinning the ghost around and around before throwing him, following it up with a blast. The blast hit the ghost straight on, sending it flying away. "Dang it, I need to stop doing that."

"Yes, it is far more effective to capture the ghosts than to send them away like that. I will take notes about this encounter and possible ways you may improve. Learning from your mistakes is very important child." Technus said.

"I appreciate it, Technus, although you don't have to rub my losses in my face." Danny said; he knew Technus didn't mean it like that, the man just didn't understand sarcasm.

Landing invisibly behind some bushes at school, Danny transformed back into his normal self and walked in, his disappointment must have been showing, because Star stopped him. "What's wrong babe?" She asked, her blue eyes looking at him with concern.

"Ghost got away this morning, I'm messing up encounters with this new ecto-ray power I got against Desiree. Against her I didn't know I could do it, so knocking her away then was something I could call not my fault. This time I did it KNOWING that was a possibility, and now that ghost is still out there." Danny said disappointedly. Star hadn't joined in on the ghost hunting fully yet, she was aware and was starting to practice with a blaster, but she hadn't been on a real mission outside of the encounter with Desiree.

"It's alright, you're doing your best aren't you? It's not like you're the only ghost hunter either. Your parents are around if anything happens while we're in school, and once we're out you have me, Kim, Sam, and Tucker to help out. If we tell him the secret, we could probably get Ron too." Star said, pulling him into a hug. "You're not alone Danny, we're here to help. I'm just learning about this ghost stuff, and it's going to be a bumpy road, but I know you can do it. Not because you're Phantom, but because you're Danny Fenton."

"Man, you're really good at this cheering me up stuff." Danny said, with a smile on his face as he returned her hug.

"Part and parcel with being a cheerleader. Now you can make it up to me by helping me set-up decorations for the Spirit Festival this week. The cheerleaders have to do it, and you know there is no way Paulina or Bonnie are going to help." Star said.

"Alright, but only because there'll be two pretty girls there." Danny said with a smirk.

"Oh, who would they be?" Star asked knowingly.

"Oh, you know, just Kim Possible and Star Lett, the two prettiest girls in the school." Danny teased. Star just chuckled, as the two walked hand in hand to their first class.

As Danny and Star took their seats, Danny glanced over and waved at Kim, who waved back. They had gone public with their relationship just after Danny came back from Wisconsin, since they had already told all of their friends and family. James Possible had been furious, but Ann had calmed him down, saying that Kim was well within her rights to choose a boyfriend, and she thought she couldn't do much better than Danny. Star's mom had simply accepted it, not thinking too much about it. The wider school had… various reactions to say the least. The 'nerds' that Danny was usually looped with due to his love of robotics and astronomy had begged Danny to tell them how to get girls, but Danny didn't have any advice for them. Others didn't take it well. Paulina and Bonnie had totally ostracized the girls, insinuating that the two of them were so incapable of finding boyfriends that they had to team up to get one of the biggest losers in the school. That made Danny's blood boil, not for the insult against him, but for how they treated Kim and Star. Dash had upped his bullying significantly, which was beginning to make Danny reevaluate his stance on fighting back. He wouldn't stoop that low though, and just bared it as best he could. The three of them had a support network, they could work through it.

Tucker had been ecstatic for the trio. He knew that Kim liked Danny, and that Danny was interested in both girls, so was happy that they worked out a solution that made all of them happy, even if he was sad that Sam couldn't be happy with the result as well.

Sam was less enthusiastic about the situation, with her feelings laid bare, and the rawness of that rejection, even if indirect, had caused her no small amount of emotional turmoil. She knew that it was her own fault though. She'd never pushed for Danny, never tried to make her feelings known, and she wasn't going to blame Kim and Star for being braver with their feelings than she had been. She was distancing herself for now, still Danny's best friend, but letting herself recover.

Ron was confused at first, he couldn't imagine a universe where Kim would ever share a boyfriend, but had gotten over it quickly. He and Danny were good friends, and Ron knew Danny would treat them both right, so he didn't mind too much. He only needed assurances that Kim was still his best friend, and that wouldn't change come hell or high water.

Valerie was a different beast altogether. She'd confronted Danny, demanding to know why he was cheating on Star. It had taken Star, Kim, and Sam to pull her away and tell her that Star and Kim had come to the agreement on their own, and that Danny had never even suggested the idea. He barely put together that Star wanted them to really be boyfriend and girlfriend by the time they asked him. Valerie relented, saying that as long as Star was happy she could deal, although she glared at Tucker not to get any ideas. That was when she and Tucker revealed that they were officially together, which was a much less controversially positive thing for the group.

Danny was pulled out of his thoughts though, when Mr. Lancer spoke up. "Good morning class, it is my pleasure to introduce a new student who will be joining us. Come on in Ms. Spectra."

An attractive red-headed girl entered the room, her hair went to roughly her middle back, and combed it to where she had no bangs. Her green eyes were accentuated by winged eye-liner that drew the attention to her face. Her outfit was a red overshirt worn unbuttoned over a white long-sleeved shirt, with a red skirt that made it to just above her knee. Some stylish red boots completed the ensemble. She was pretty, that was certain, although something about her felt off to Danny.

"Hi everyone! I'm Penelope Spectra, you can just call me Penny though! Oh, I'm sure we'll all be great friends!" She said, a perkiness in her voice that couldn't be ignored. She seemed exactly the kind of girl Sam would hate.

"Why don't you sit over next to Ms. Sanchez Penny. We'll begin class once you have your seat." Lancer said, turning his back while Penny stepped over to sit with Paulina. The boys eyes followed behind Penny as she took her seat, obviously enthralled by the new beauty. Danny supposed he couldn't blame them too much, if he wasn't with Star and Kim, he'd probably be looking too.

Class began and Danny overheard snippets of conversations between Paulina and Penny. The pair seemed to hit it off immediately, sharing interests in fashion, as well as that general sense of superiority that came from being attractive. Danny signed internally as he put the pieces of Penny Spectra's personality together. She was well and truly everything Sam hated about popular girls, vain, self-obsessed, and materialistic. He wondered if that's why she and Paulina were getting along so famously.

Danny felt his ghost sense go off, his anxiety jumping into overdrive out of habit, but calmed down. Technus was still present, attached to his belt inside of his phone. The ghost sense was constantly going off, it seemed every few minutes it was triggering. Danny simply ignored it for now, figuring any ghost that wanted to fight would let him know pretty quickly.

By lunch time, Spectra had already earned herself a spot at the A-List table, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Paulina and Bonnie, while Dash, Kwan and Dale sat opposite them. As Danny walked by the table getting his lunch, he couldn't help but notice how miserable they all looked, with the exception of Penny. "You know Bonnie, it really has to be infuriating how you had everything set-up for you to take over Middleton, you were set-up for success to be head cheerleader, and the most popular girl in school. One lab accident over the summer though sent those plans down the drain. Now you're Vice-Captain to Paulina, and number two to her in so many ways." Penny said casually. Danny cringed a bit at that. Kim had made it very clear that Bonnie was all about image, and that deep down she's actually not a horrible person, just obsessed with maintaining that image. To have someone new just tear it apart like that HAD to sting.

Danny sat at his table, taking his seat between Kim and Star. "You're looking down Danny, something up?" Kim asked, looking over at her boyfriend.

Danny sighed, pointing his fork over at the miserable A-List table. "Looks like new girl is looking to be Queen Bee of the school. Tore Bonnie down like she wasn't even there, and that's just what I heard. I've NEVER seen Dash look that miserable." Danny said. "They're not people I'd call friends by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not convinced anyone deserves that."

"Really? She seemed so friendly in class." Star mused, looking over. "Yeah, no Paulina's upset, her left eye is twitching like it always does when she's upset about something. Val, I know they're not our friends anymore, but can you help me come try and cheer them up a bit? I don't wanna see them like that."

"I'd say let 'em have it, but you were always too nice for your own good. I'll back you up girl." Valerie said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. "Tucker, don't eat my Salisbury steak or I'll bury you."

"You know I wouldn't do that Val, I like my meat, but I'm no thief, besides, I've got Sam's." Tucker said, happily chowing down.

"I'll come with too if you don't mind, Bonnie and I aren't on the best of terms, but I'm not going to stand by and let someone be worse to Bonnie than Bonnie is to me." Kim said, standing up. "Back in a minute Danny."

The three girls walked over to the A-List table, Star putting on a friendly smile. "Hey! Penny Spectra right? It's nice to meet you! I see you've found some friends already, that's great! I'm Star, I'm a cheerleader like Paulina and Bonnie. This is Kim Possible, she's a cheerleader too. This is Valerie, she's my best friend."

"Oh it's nice to meet you Star! So this is the girl you're sharing that boyfriend of yours with. It must be pretty bad when it's so hard for you to find a boyfriend you have to share a loser like him with another girl. Although I guess that's what you get when your friend finds someone better to replace you with." Penny said, casually hitting every insecurity Star had all at once. Star frowned, crossing her arms in front of her. She felt about two inches tall right now.

"Hey! You don't get to talk to Star like that!" Valerie said, anger clearly evident on her face.

"Oh! Valerie, this is the girl that Kwan ditched at homecoming to go with Bonnie. That's gotta sting, the boy you like dropping you for another girl. I heard you bought that expensive dress too. At least you got to use it, even if it meant going with a loser like Foley." Penny said, that same smile on her face like she had just commented on something mundane like the weather.

"He's not a loser!" Valerie said, but her tone sounded weaker than normal. Almost like the fight was taken straight out of her.

"Now look, all of that is uncalled for. Apologize now." Kim said, glaring daggers towards Penny.

"Ah, the Superheroine, I've heard all about your exploits. I bet your parents are disappointed that their oldest isn't even as smart as her two younger brothers. They're building their own rockets, while you're over here struggling with your trigonometry classes." Penny said, her tone the same as it has been, annoyingly casually.

"Maybe, but my skills are in places that aren't purely academic. Mom and Dad are still plenty proud of me, thank you very much. Come on girls, this one isn't worth our time." Kim said, red in the face with anger as she led the other two girls away.

Sitting back down at the table, Danny saw how deflated Star and Valerie were, and how angry Kim was. "Conversation not go well?"

"She's awful. Said horrible things to all three of us." Kim said.

"So she's a bitch like Paulina?" Sam asked.

"Not the word I'd use, but I won't say it's inaccurate." Kim said, calming down a bit. "Look, Star, Valerie, it's okay. You guys are better off now than you were with the A-List."

"I know, it's just… she hit me right where it hurt the most." Star said. "I love hanging out with you guys, and I'm really enjoying being Danny's girlfriend, even if I am sharing him, but it's still something I worry about."

"Let's move on from that then, don't even give her the time of day. That new horror movie 'Night of the Undead Cheerleaders' came out over the weekend, why don't we go see it? Tickets are 20% off if you come with a cheerleader, and we've got the two prettiest ones right here!" Danny said, moving the topic away. "Val, Tuck, Sam, Ron, you guys in?"

"You know I'm down for horror movies." Sam said, a grin on her face.

"Sounds fun, come on Val it'll be great!" Tucker said, grabbing his girlfriend's hand. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Alright, it does sound pretty fun." Valerie said.

"The Ron is ready for some undead cheerleaders!" Ron said, as Rufus gave a thumbs up from his pocket.

"We'll head there after we decorate for Spirit Week then." Danny said, giving Kim and Star's hands a squeeze.

In the gymnasium after school, Danny is on top of a ladder hanging up a banner. The decorations for Spirit Week, while perhaps a little tacky, were plentiful and did add a sense of fun to the generally boring gymnasium. The bland gray walls now found themselves adorned with color, the reds and whites of the Casper High Ravens emblazoned for all to see. Spirit Week was always held in commemoration of the final home game of the football season, where students were expected to go all out and cheer for their team. Danny would be in attendance at the game, barring any ghostly influence, but not out of any love for the sport.

He glanced over at his reasons for supporting the team at all, as Kim and Star were hastily blowing and tying up balloons with Tara and Valerie, the girls laughing and making jokes as they attached the balloons to the streamers. Danny wondered how he had gotten so lucky, that not only one of the most beautiful girls in school had decided they liked him, but two of them did, and they were even willing to share. Sure, trying to maintain that relationship was hard, but they were managing. It had only been a couple weeks, but it was something special.

"Careful Danny, don't want to fall would we? A broken neck isn't exactly useful for your future career prospects." The voice of Penny Spectra said, rousing Danny from his thoughts. She was standing next to Tucker at the base of the ladder, arms crossed and looking up at him.

"You're right, it wouldn't be." Danny said as politely as he could. He didn't need a mean girl on him right now, so it was best to just play it off.

She gave him a look, following where his eyes would have been looking. "Looking over at the girls huh? Thinking of adding Tara to your little harem? Or Valerie? Can't let your best friend have anything over you huh?" Penny said.

That had caught Danny off guard, he'd not even thought of dating another girl, barring the initial confrontation with Sam when all of this was getting sorted out. He, Kim, and Star had talked about it in passing, mostly because of how Jazz had brought it up while they were in Wisconsin. While academically the answer had been 'we're open if there are real feelings there' it seemed unlikely that such an event would occur. It was already a miracle two girls liked him and were willing to share. A third or a forth? Inconceivable.

"I'm plenty happy with Star and Kim, and our relationship is private between us. I'd also appreciate it if you didn't bad mouth Tucker, since he is standing right next to you." Danny said, looking at the boy holding the ladder. It was pretty obvious he was mad too, but he was biting his tongue.

"I'm sure you are, although surely you must be thinking how hard it is for them aren't you? That they get looked down on by the other girls for stooping so low as to willingly let their boyfriend cheat on them. They must feel so pathetic." Penny said, moving her hands to her hips in a sign of authority. "Even worse, you're blowing off your other friends because of it. How does Sam feel knowing you dropped her and replaced her with newer, prettier girls?"

Danny frowned at that. Sam had drawn away, but they had talked about it. Danny might not have reciprocated her romantic feelings, but they were still the best of friends. She needed time to adjust to the new situation, but everyone did. Her words got Danny thinking though… did he, even subconsciously do that? Did he replace Sam in his life for reasons as shallow as vanity? He knew he didn't, Kim had been his friend before, he could have friends outside of Sam and Tucker, and Star and Valerie had entered the group naturally. Something about how Penny said it though… pulled something from him. A lingering doubt, a fear that despite everything he stood for, he was just a weird petty little teenage boy.

"Danny, focus up!" Tucker said, trying to stabilize the ladder. Danny looked and noticed that he had been shaking, which could have led to a nasty fall. Danny knew he would be fine, a fall from this height was nothing to his superhuman physiology now, and he could fly to not even hit the ground, but there were witnesses. Tara, Valerie, and Penny didn't know about his secret, and none of the other cheerleaders and their friends did either. He couldn't risk showing off.

"Thanks man." Danny said as he calmed down, the happiness briefly sucked out of him. He recentered himself. "Sorry Penny, I've got to focus on hanging this up. Wouldn't want to fall off and break something, or someone."

"Okay Danny, I'll leave you alone. Goodbye for now." Penny said with a wicked grin as she walked off.

Waiting a few moments for her to be out of earshot, Tucker spoke up. "What do you think that was all about?"

"Mean girl making everyone feel worse about their lives in an attempt to make herself feel better? Jazz would tell me it's low personal self-esteem." Danny said. "Still though, she got to me a bit. Feel like switching? We both know I can catch you if you fall better than you could catch me."

"You got it bro, and don't let her get to you. You, Kim, and Star are great together, and I know you aren't trying to take Val away. Not that you could anyway, she's totally enraptured by the Foley charm." Tucker said, confidence in his voice.

"I heard that Tucker! Do you need another lesson in why that's a bad idea?" Valerie called over.

"No Ma'am!" Tucker said fearfully, as everyone else got a good laugh. Danny could ignore Penny for now, after all it was just words… right?

At the movies later, everyone had gotten their tickets and were waiting for showtime. Danny was holding onto the large popcorn he, Kim, and Star were going to share, when he received a notification on his phone. Handing the popcorn over to Kim, he checked it. Ghost sighted near the theater, a giant hornet.

Danny sighed, leaning into whisper to the two girls. "Ghost problem, I'll deal with it quick and be back in time for the movie, cover for me with Valerie okay?"

"Got it Danny, kick it's butt!" Star said, giving him a quick hug as he walked off into the bathroom, turning ghost before flying out of the building.

Danny finds the hornet pretty quickly, it's massive, the size of a school bus, which is more frightening than most of the other ghosts he's fought purely based on the fact it's a giant insect. "Alright Vespacito, I'm gonna squash you and get back to my date." Danny quipped, before flying in to land a solid punch to its mandible. The hornet shook its head stunned by the blow, before flying forward with its stinger poised to strike. Danny contorted his body around the oncoming stab, retaliating with a solid kick to the thorax. The hornet spat at him, causing Danny to shield his eyes, and the second he did so, the hornet turned invisible, flying away.

Danny looked around, disappointed in himself. He's never had issues dealing with animal ghosts like this, why have these last few been giving him so many problems? He flies back into the theater, coming out of the bathroom when Penny Spectra stopped him.

"Ah, what's wrong Danny boy? Nervous about your little date? This is the first one with all three of you isn't it? I bet you're worried how a failure like yourself is going to handle it. After all, you're not a genius like your sister or your parents, a star athlete like Kim or Star, or even particularly gifted in other areas like your other friends. You're just basic little Danny Fenton, you're nothing." Penny said, laying the hurt on thick.

Danny frowned, his self-esteem lowering by the second. She was right, outside of his powers, an accident he had no agency in, he wasn't special. He was nothing, Phantom was everything interesting about him. If Phantom wasn't in the picture, there'd be no Star, no Kim. Valerie wouldn't be his friend, it'd just be him, Sam and Tucker all by themselves again. Except now he'd be replaced. Tucker had Wade now, a tech geek he could talk shop with. Sam had Kim, who while they disagreed on many things, shared similar sentiments on feminism and animal rights, among many other causes they both championed. Danny had nothing. Nothing that would keep his friends.

Penny seemed to bask in her words for a bit, walking off. Danny's ghost sense went off again, but he ignored it. Technus was still on his belt, false positives… even his own powers were useless right now. He couldn't fight a ghost, tell when a ghost is nearby… all he could do is go invisible… be nothing for a moment.

Danny sighed as he tried to put on a brave face. He came here to make Star and Kim feel better, and he was going to damn well do his best at that. Heading into the theater he recognized he had only missed a few minutes, and he took his seat between Star and Kim, taking their hands in his.

"Take care of it?" Star asked, bright eyed. She was still amazed by the whole ghost fighting thing, and loved hearing his stories.

"No, he flew off, but I'll get him next time." Danny said, with faux bravado. Star squeezed his hand tighter.

"You will. You're the best Danny." She said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. That made him feel warm. Kim squeezed his other hand and smiled, leaning over to kiss his other cheek.

A scream on screen brought their attention back forward, the first cheerleader had risen from the dead, and was currently eating the face of another cheerleader. Danny leaned over to Kim. "She kind of looks like Bonnie doesn't she?"

"Now that you mention it, a little bit." Kim said, smiling as she took a bite of popcorn.

As Danny entered his home after the movie, he sighed as he released his pent up sadness. He'd done his best to put a brave face on in front of Kim and Star, and they had enjoyed the movie, so he'd at least done okay on that front. He was exhausted emotionally though, he just wanted to crawl into his bed and die.

"Alright lil bro. Spill, I haven't seen you this depressed since Paulina refused to go to your middle school prom with you, and you weren't this bad then." Jazz said, patting the seat next to her. "I promise, no psychoanalyzing, just big sistering."

Danny pulled his gaze from the floor to look at his sister, she looked sincere, and he knew she cared. "Promise?"

"Promise, now, you were going on a date with Star and Kim to that horror movie, something go wrong there?" Jazz asked, as Danny took his seat beside her. "I doubt you got in a fight, none of you are the type to do that in a public place, and it's a bit too early for you to start that."

"Jazz, no psychoanalyzing, you promised." Danny said, a glance of annoyance towards his sister.

"Sorry, but this was on the situation, not you. Why don't you just tell me what happened." Jazz said.

Danny sighed, before recounting his encounter with the blob ghost earlier in the day, and then the hornet ghost later. "I've never had a problem with these animal ghosts before. Skulker is technically a blob that gave me trouble, but he had a whole suit and weapons and things. I just don't know what's throwing me off my game."

"Well, a lot of people notice that it's harder to do their jobs when they are under emotional stress. I imagine when you were keeping your powers a secret from us that was causing you some stress. Who are you still keeping the secret from?" Jazz asked, rubbing his back a bit.

"Well everyone, Ron and Valerie are the only two in our group who don't know, although they seem to understand that I have something going on, if not exactly what it is. Wouldn't surprise me if Ron figures it out soon, since he's seen me fight as both Phantom and Danny." Danny said, trying to wrap his head around it. He wasn't sure if he could tell Ron, he was a good friend, but he couldn't imagine he'd ever held on to a secret like that, since Kim had always been public.

"Any other new stressors in your life? I know we've been trying to pull back on the stuff here at the house so you can focus on ghost fighting, which we're happy to do. You know how ecstatic mom and dad are that you're doing the family business." Jazz said. "I like making your study guides anyway, they're a nice little review for me, makes me feel less worried about where I'm going after high school."

"Well, I guess there's one. There's this new girl at school Penny Spectra, no I don't like her if that's what you're gonna say. She's… awful. She's been tearing everyone apart, picking apart their insecurities. The entire reason we went to the movies today was because she had made Valerie and Star miserable, so I was trying to cheer them up." Danny said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know how, but she hit every single insecurity I have, even some I didn't even know I had."

"Why don't you tell me what she said? I can help you work through it." Jazz said, looking sorry for her brother. "You know I won't judge you. You're my little brother, and I love you to pieces. You're big strong Phantom outside the house, in here you can be Danny."

"She… started with my relationship with Kim and Star, basically asking who I thought I was that was so special to have two of the most attractive girls in school as my girlfriends. Then assumed that I was looking to add more girls to the 'harem' as she called it. Said I was going to take Valerie from Tucker. Then said that I had just replaced Sam with 'prettier' models, getting rid of my best friend. I know that's not true, but it still hurts a lot. After that it was just comparing me to everyone else, how I'm not as smart as you or Tucker, as athletic as Star or Kim, how I'm just… average, nothing special." Danny said, his voice getting weak.

"Well that's stupid. Danny you're plenty special. Mom, Dad, and Tucker gush all the time about how great you are with the mechanical side of things, how you can just look at something and intuit how it works. Your grades are great, they slipped a bit when you first started ghost fighting sure, but they're recovered now that you've found better balance in your life. Maybe you aren't as naturally athletic as Star or Kim, but you're no slouch. Even before your powers Dad was convinced you could have been top dog in the boxing club if you had joined, and Mom was constantly impressed by how well you could pick up martial arts moves. Danny, you're amazing, I feel like you outshine me all the time! I'm so happy for you to do it though, because you inspire me to do better, to be more. I've devoted more time to martial arts and gadget training because I want to help you fight ghosts. Now, stop saying you don't think you're worth anything. That's my brother you're talking about, no one gets to talk bad about him." Jazz said, an earnest smile on her face.

"Not even me?" Danny asked, looking at her with a small smile.

"Especially not you." Jazz said, punching him in the arm before pulling him into a hug. "This Penny girl seems awful, stay away from her as much as you can, and when you can't just try and stick close to Kim, Star, Sam, Tucker, or me. I know none of us are gonna let someone talk to you that way."

"Alright, I will. Thanks sis." Danny said, returning the hug.

The next day at school, Danny saw that everyone seemed down… walking through the hallways like zombies. Making his way to his locker, he opens it grabbing his books when he sees Dash beside him, looking particularly glum. "Uh…. Dash, everything okay?" Danny asked. Normally he'd be ecstatic to see his bully feel bad about something, but this wasn't right.

"Not that you'd care Fentoni.. Just… am I really one bad tackle away from my entire life being over?" Dash looked up, seemingly in deep thought.

"That depends, are you defining your entire life by your football career?" Danny asked. He didn't want to provoke Dash, but having him feel SOMETHING other than this complete hopelessness would be an improvement.

"Yeah, my grades aren't good enough to get into any colleges without a football scholarship, and I don't have any other skills." Dash said dejectedly. Danny paused, feeling the real vulnerability that was rolling off of Dash.

"Then learn something, college isn't a one-size fits all solution. I've seen you eyeing cars in the parking lot at school, you're interested in them aren't you?" Danny said, trying to find something, anything to latch onto Dash with. Dash hadn't really been a person in Danny's eyes for a while. An obstacle, a bully, so trying to find any interest Dash had besides football or being popular was hard.

"Yeah, I love cars, especially old sports cars, but what does that have to do with anything?" Dash asked, looking up.

"There's a center in town that offers auto shop classes. You could maybe try learning how to work on cars? If nothing else, knowing how to change your own oil could save you some money, and what's manlier than fixing your own car?" Danny suggested, warily eyeing Dash. The blond boy seemed to mull it over in his head a bit.

"You know… that does sound kind of interesting. Guess I could give that a try. Thanks Fenton." Dash said, walking off.

"No problem… wait… did Dash just thank me? And not turn my last name into an insult? Wow." Danny said, as Kim, Sam, and Tucker walked up.

"Wow what?" Kim asked.

"Nothing, just.. Surprised about something. What's going on with everyone though? It seems like everyone just lost their brother or something." Danny asked.

"It's Penny, she's managed to bring everyone down. It's incredibly annoying." Sam said, glaring down the hallway. Penny wasn't there, but Danny knew the glare was for her.

"How are you guys so unaffected then?" Danny asked, looking to his friends and girlfriend.

"She's tried to get to me, but I know my flaws and can deal with them. I got frustrated with her yesterday, but she didn't tell me anything I don't already know." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "If I cared too much about what people thought of me, I couldn't save the world like I do, and I wouldn't have you as my boyfriend, since I think Star would have beat me to the punch of confessing."

"I've just avoided her. I have nothing to say to a bitch like that, and I have no qualms of being rude to do it. Anytime she has tried to talk to me I just walk off." Sam said.

"I'm perfect, she's got no dirt on me." Tucker said, a large confident smile on his face. "Tried to say my beret is lame? Nah, pinnacle of style. My interests are nerdy? You know it! Loud and proud."

The others shook their heads, but they admired his confidence. Tucker was who he was and he was proud of it.

"Ron's been having some issues too, but he's mostly just focused on trying to make everyone else feel better. Penny's said a few things to him, and they've got to him a bit, but not like everyone else. He's never cared about being popular, he's just Ron." Kim said, pointing to where Ron was now. He was talking with Mikey and Nathan, seemingly about a game they played, since Ron seemed to be miming swinging a sword around. "I swear, it's like Penny's literally sucking the happiness out of everyone."

"Shame she's not just a ghost we could trap in the thermos." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait… Sam say that again." Danny said, looking to her.

"It's a shame she's not a ghost?" Sam asked.

"Almost every time I'm around her, my ghost sense went off. I thought it was just where Technus has been with me, but… maybe it's not." Danny said, as he pulled out his phone. "Hey Technus, think you can head back home for the day? I'm going to see if my hunch is correct."

"Alright ghost boy! I will return to Fentonworks, we are finishing the prototype ecto-field anyway, I can be of use there." Technus said, as he popped out of the phone and flew off.

"So, what's the plan if she is a ghost? It's not like Phantom can be seen punching her lights out or anything." Tucker said, wracking his brain for ideas.

"We'll find out if she's a ghost first, then discuss." Danny said. "I'll talk to her at lunch, try and get her to poke at me some more, if she's literally using ghost powers to feed off of my misery or whatever, it should trigger my ghost sense."

"And after that?" Kim asked.

"If she's a ghost? We make a scene that forces her to reveal it, then Phantom can swoop in without any issues." Danny said smiling as a plan formed in his head.

At lunch Danny braced himself as he walked over to Penny, he was walking into a metaphorical lion's den, but he was ready. He hoped at least. "Hey Penny, how are you today?" Danny asked, trying to be casual.

"Oh, Danny Fenton is trying to be nice to me? I better watch out in case he wants to add me to his harem." Penny said, sending a verbal dagger straight at Danny. He felt a little bad about it, but let it slide. She'd have to say something worse to get to him right now.

"Nothing like that, I just realized that we started out on the wrong foot. I don't exactly get along with Paulina and Bonnie, but you don't have to be a part of that, we could be friends." Danny said, trying to position around her. As much as he didn't want to, he NEEDED her to hurt him, to make him miserable enough to show that she is a ghost.

"Get along with? More like aren't even worth their time. Danny Fenton's just the weird kid with freaky parents. Incapable of doing anything on his own without the help of his friends. You're nothing Fenton. I don't want to be associated with you." Penny said, and Danny felt his insides drop. That was a low blow, one he really hated. He felt miserable, and then a chill ran down his spine. A burst of mist popped out of Danny's mouth, and he knew. Penny… she was a ghost.

"Alright then, I'll see you in class I suppose." Danny said, trying to play off his anger now. He was still miserable, but now he knew he could do something about it.

Walking back over to the table he sat down, noticing that Ron, Star, and Valerie weren't present. "Penny is a ghost, where are the others?" Danny asked, lowering his voice to where only they could hear him.

"Ron's off trying to cheer people up. I think he's doing knock-knock jokes now. Star and Valerie went to the bathroom after Star started crying about some comment Penny made." Kim said, glaring at the girl. "So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to tail her for a bit outside of class. I'll need you guys to cover for me." Danny said.

"You got it, just make sure you capture her before all of this gets worse." Sam said, nodding.

Danny ducked under the table, transforming into Phantom as he turned invisible and intangible, following after Penny as she left the room. She walked to the old guidance counselor's office, temporarily vacant as the regular guidance counselor was out on maternity leave. Danny was surprised when inside was a short man, wearing a well tailored suit.

"So, how goes the misery feeding?" The man asked, looking at Penny.

"Oh, so well Bertrand. These students are just fountains of it, your idea of posing as a student and not the guidance counselor was SO good, now I can get the misery I create, and just the ambient misery from the classrooms! And that Fenton boy.. Oh his misery is just delectable. So many insecurities, just ripe for exploitation. I can't wait for the next phase of the plan." Penny said, her smile somewhat sickening.

"Ooh, do I finally get to know what it is? You've had me on distraction duty for Phantom to make sure you could get everything set-up." Bertrand said. "Why did you have me be the hornet anyway? You know I hate bugs."

"So does everyone, you caused plenty of misery when you flew over, it was delectable. But yes, you can know. I've rigged the fireworks spectacle at the assembly today to overload. It'll kill Ms. Fenton as she gives her speech. Once she's dead, killed in front of the entire school, I'll pull so much misery off of everyone that I'll be young forever!" Penny said.

Danny processed the conversation for a moment… Penny was going to kill Jazz? Jazz had been so excited about giving the Spirit Week speech, had prepared so much, and Penny was going to ruin it? Danny wouldn't let her. He knew what to do now, he just had to get everyone else on board. Flying silently back to the lunch room, he popped out from under the table, scaring those who were still seated.

"Ah! Danny, warning next time!" Sam said, scowling a bit.

"Sorry, I've just got BAD news." Danny said, centering himself for a bit. "Penny's rigged the fireworks that are supposed to go off after Jazz's speech today to explode. They plan on killing her. Apparently she uses the misery she pulls off people to stay young. She thinks by killing Jazz in front of everyone, she'll have enough misery energy to stay young forever."

"That's… awful. What are we going to do about it?" Kim asked, looking to Danny. "You're the ghost expert here."

"Alright, here's the plan." Danny said, as everyone listened in.

Jazz stepped up to the edge of the stage, where Lancer glanced over at the depressed student body. "Not a lot of school spirit this week it seems." He said, a frown on his face. "I wonder what we've done wrong, the team performed well this year, and we put more into the Spirit week than normal, yet everyone seems so down."

"I don't think it's anything the school has done Mr. Lancer, I believe there's something outside of this that's causing the issue." Jazz said, as she mentally readied herself. She trusted Danny, she knew he wouldn't let anything happen if he could help it, but she was still walking onto a stage she knew was set to kill her. She wondered if Danny and Kim felt this anxiety when they were off being heroes. That they were walking into a life-threatening situation, knowing that they were one bad hit away from not coming back.

"Nerves Ms. Fenton? That's unlike you." Mr. Lancer said, his voice filled with concern. Lancer was strict, but he was a caring teacher, especially towards those who put in the effort. Jazz certainly qualified as one who gave it her all.

"Just… wanting everything to go right. The speech I can give, but I worry the 'Spirit Sparklers' we have set-up might not be enough to woo the crowd." Jazz said, trying to give a plausible excuse for her anxiety.

"I'm sure it will be fine, although I am surprised the fire marshall allowed us to have such a display indoors." Mr. Lancer said thoughtfully. Jazz wondered if perhaps Penny or her little assistant had overshadowed the man to give the okay.

"We'll have to see. Once you knock over the dominoes Mr. Lancer, you should step back, get with the other students so you can see the fireworks too." Jazz said, with a forced smile on her face. Penny had planned for the explosion to not harm the students, just kill her. Lancer should be safe provided he was with the rest of them. If Jazz was going to die today, she was going to make sure no one else went with her.

"I suppose I shall then, I do love fireworks." Mr. Lancer said, before patting her on the back and giving her a thumbs up. "You'll do great Ms. Fenton."

"Let's hope." Jazz said as she stepped up onto the stage. Making her way to the microphone, she scanned the crowd. She saw Star and Kim, each of them holding a set of Fenton Ghost Gauntlets ready for their part in the plan. Sam and Tucker were with them, Sam with a thermos at the ready, and she knew Tucker had a wrist blaster in his bag. Off to the side, she saw her own bag, which contained a new invention her parents had made, specially designed to give her an additional edge when fighting ghosts, the Fenton Peeler. If everything went right, it would see its first real test today.

If things didn't go right….

Jazz decided not to think about that.

"As we gather here for the end of Spirit Week, we celebrate not only the achievements of the Casper High Ravens football team, but the achievements of all of the Casper High Ravens, past, present, and future. We celebrate the alumni who have changed the world, and those who have changed the world for the few who are lucky to know them. Spirit Week is more than the dress-up days, more than the pep-rallies and speeches. It represents the community that is fostered by this school. In a year as chaotic as this one, as we welcomed the former Middleton High Mad Dogs into our fold, we bestowed onto them a set of Raven's wings such that they could fly alongside us. This Spirit Week, like all before it, is special in its own way. For me, it is special as it is the first one I get to share alongside my brother, and the friends he has made. For you, it may be special in its own way. For our seniors, it is special as it is your last spirit week before you must leave the nest as a Casper High Raven, and soar to find your new home wherever it may be. For the Freshman, as well as the newcomers from Middleton, it is your first glimpse of your wing-feathers, that will carry you to heights you perhaps didn't even know you could reach. As such, we have prepared a spectacle, fireworks for our ravens to fly amongst, released in celebration of all the great things you have achieved, and will achieve in the future." Jazz spoke, closing her eyes as she heard Mr. Lancer knock over the first domino.

Time slowed for Jazz, she could look over and see each domino fall in turn, one action leading to the next, a pure expression of cause and effect. She pondered briefly how a similar situation had brought her here. She had put in so much work, tried so hard to be a model student. She was already set to be Valedictorian, and it was only the beginning of her Junior year. She'd graduate Casper High at the top of her class, and be the first person to obtain their Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Illinois while still in High School. That is, assuming she survived today. Five dominos remained in line before the trigger was ignited. The fireworks would go off, and without intervention, Jazz would be no more. She'd exist in only the memories of those present. In pictures on her parents' walls. There likely wouldn't even be enough left of her to bury. The final domino fell, and Jazz felt nothing.

The explosion rocked the gymnasium, the concrete walls vibrating with the force of the blast, it was controlled, no shrapnel made it to the students in the stands, no fire caught forth from the blast. All that remained of the stage was a scorch mark and hole where Jasmine Fenton once stood.

Breaths were held as everyone glanced around for any sign of Jazz. There was no time for her to run away, everything was over in a moment. One single instant had been all there was between knowing something had gone wrong, and the spot that Jazz had been standing being destroyed.

Jazz stepped forward from behind the bleachers, Phantom with her handing her her bag, a smile shared between them. She was safe, everything was going according to plan. A cheer went up as people saw that Jazz was alive, the depression of the week seemingly fading in an instant as one spontaneous moment of gratitude filled the stands. Only one person was anything other than ecstatic.

"NO!" Came the voice of Penny Spectra who made a massive leap out of the bleachers and into the middle of the floor. "You've ruined my plan Phantom! You won't get away with this."

"I know you're a bit of a mean girl Penny, but murder seems a bit too far." Phantom said, pushing Jazz behind him as he got into a guard stance.

"No matter, I'll get enough misery from these people once they see their hero and speaker torn asunder right in front of them!" Penny said, as her form shifted. Her hair shortened, turning into two upturned spikes, her figure and outfit changed, moving from teenage girl in fashionable attire to adult woman in smart business skirt. Then she changed more, her shape staying similar, but giving way to shadow. A black mass in the vague shape of a woman appeared, legs replaces with inky black tendrils that swarmed about angrily, her green eyes replaced with pure red. "Bertrand! To me, we'll tear these punks limb from limb!" A pause, but no other ghost appeared. "Bertrand!"

"Short and shifty's been captured, just like you're about to be!" Phantom said, flying in with a punch to Spectra's face. She quickly recovered though, grabbing him from the air.

"You fool! While I might not have all the misery I wanted, I've been collecting it from the entire school all week! I've got nearly 3000 students worth of misery collected! You can't touch me!" Spectra said as she slammed him into the floor.

Danny reached up, firing an ecto-blast into her face, forcing her to reel back as he charged and delivered another punch to her face, knocking her over. "NOW!" He called out. As Kim and Star grabbed their ghost gauntlets and slammed Spectra's 'hands' into the floor keeping her pinned.

"This is for making everyone miserable!" Jazz said, as she fired up the Fenton Peeler. The device covered her in a suit of body armor, and then fired a beam. The beam tunneled into Spectra's form, peeling back the layers of her disguise. The shadow form gave way to the adult woman, then to an older one, then an older one. She seemed to age by years, first five, then ten, then twenty. Before long, she was an old woman, shriveled and weak.

"Thermos coming up!" Sam called out, tossing the thermos to Phantom, with a flash of blue light, Spectra was pulled inside, the cap placed on after her.

The crowd cheered as the ghost was put away, and Phantom gave a salute as he flew off.

Later, at Fentonworks, the group of friends, with the exception of Valerie, as she was at a wrestling match with her father, were having pizza in celebration. "That really was a pretty good speech sis." Danny said, eating a slice.

"Glad you liked it, I was worried it was a bit too heavy-handed with the wing metaphor, but I wasn't sure how else to make it work." Jazz said, taking a sip of her cola.

"You guys helping Phantom take down that ghost was so cool! How did you know you needed to help though?" Ron asked, as the group paused.

They'd forgotten he didn't know. They couldn't hide that they had worked together to fight against Spectra, and Ron was close enough to them that he could start to get suspicious.

"Kim, can he keep a secret?" Danny asked after a moment, looking to her.

"He better." Kim said, looking over at Ron. "Ron, we're going to tell you something. This HAS to remain quiet. If it comes out, things are going to get really bad. So can we trust you to keep it?"

Ron looked taken aback for a second, before nodding. "If it's that serious KP, you know I'll keep it locked up tight."

Danny sighed, as two bars of light engulfed him, replacing his normal clothes with Phantom's jumpsuit, and his black hair and blue eyes with white hair and green eyes.

Ron's eyes widened. "WHAT THE WHAT NOW?"

Chapter Text

A/N: Welcome back for another chapter! This one is special, because the notes for this chapter were the last ones I had finished before I published the first chapter! It's also the half-way point of season 1 of this story. No other notable things to mention right now, so just remember to comment and review!

Danny and Star were sitting in the park, watching the sunset. It was their first date alone since their bizarre relationship started, and Kim had encouraged Danny to take Star out solo, since she had a mission to go do; something about a billionaire destroying a secret club he got kicked out of.

"It's nice to just chill for a bit, it seems any time we manage to get alone together, there's either homework or ghost attacks to worry about." Star said, leaning her head against Danny's shoulder while they sat on the bench.

"Probably best not to jinx it, you've seen how bad some of their timing is." Danny said his head quickly scanning for any ghost activity. Star patted his head.

"You put the box ghost in the portal this morning. Even he doesn't usually show up more than once in a day." She said, laughing a bit. "Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Technus are on call, if they run into something they can't handle they'll let you know, but that Fenton Peeler packs a serious punch, there's probably nothing to worry about."

"I know, but I can't help but worry. I'm the one with the powers, I hate that I even have to have you guys fight ghosts with me. You all should be enjoying your normal lives, not dealing with my stuff." Danny said, looking dejected.

Star stared at him for a moment, before laughing. "You think we'd rather be doing anything else? You don't make us fight ghosts Danny, we choose to do it. Hell, the only time you've ever even asked me to do any of the ghost fighting was asking me to hold down Spectra, and that was because Kim and I could get to her fast enough to hold her down. I'll admit I wasn't completely sure of everything when I started, but I know that Ghost fighting is important to you, and you're important to me. So therefore, ghost fighting is important to me. Besides, It's been great exercise! I'm not quite able to keep up with Kim yet, but I'm getting better all the time!"

Danny smiled a bit, reveling in her laughter. "I guess it's not all bad. I do like having you with me, and knowing you can take care of yourself during a ghost attack is nice."

"You bet! Maybe I should get a superhero name too, you're Phantom, maybe I could be like… Starshine!" Star said, twinkling her fingers as she said the word.

"Probably not necessary babe. Kim and Ron don't have superhero names afterall." Danny pointed out.

"I guess you're right… I'm surprised you told Ron about everything." Star said, leaning into him again.

"He… well he was bound to figure it out eventually. With me helping with their missions, and Kim dating me… it was just a matter of time before something happened that needed Phantom, and he would be there to see it. It's better to pull that band-aid off early I guess." Danny said, sighing.

"What about Valerie then?" Star asked. "She's my best friend, and I don't like that I have to lie to her. I know it's your secret, but… she's your friend too, and the only one who doesn't know already. Maybe we should tell her."

"I know, and I'm sorry you have to do that. It's just… I don't know Valerie as well as you do. Ron's been my friend since the beginning of the school year, and we've stopped bad guys together. Valerie and I have never had a conversation without you around, barring when she threatened me for cheating on you." Danny said.

"I know, and I'm not saying we have to do it immediately… just… soon? I know she can keep a secret, and she's getting increasingly used to the other superhero weirdness. She barely flinched when you jumped down that hole after Kim when Global Justice took you guys. I don't know if she'll be joining us on ghost fighting or anything, but she should know what the rest of us are doing." Star said.

"I will, you're right, she deserves to know, we just… have to find a way to break it to her easy. If we go about it wrong she might freak out or something. Ron freaked out a bit after all." Danny mentioned, thinking of Ron's reaction to the news.

"Ron freaks out about everything." Star pointed out, laughing at their blond friend.

"I guess he does." Danny chuckled.

The group found themselves at the Amity Park Mall the next day, Kim excitedly attending the grand reopening of Club Banana after it had been destroyed by Paulina during her dragon accident. Star and Valerie were both interested in finding some new clothes during the opening sale, and Danny, being a good boyfriend, offered to come carry their bags. Tucker had been dragged along as well, so he at least had company while the girls shopped.

"Dude, why'd you volunteer us for this? This place is packed!" Tucker complained, sitting on the edge of one of the mannequin platforms at the front of the store, Danny smiled, kneeling down next to him.

"Because volunteering us for it made them happier than if we came along begrudgingly. If we're nice, they might even let us see them model some of the clothes. If you're REALLY nice, you might even get to pick out something for Valerie." Danny said, a knowing smirk on his face. "You gotta take the good with the bad with a girlfriend Tuck. It's not all dates and make-out sessions. Sometimes it's waiting in a store that for some reason sprays banana scents every 20 minutes while your girlfriend picks out the same clothes she could buy at the store immediately next door for half the price." Danny said, taking a seat next to him.

"When did you become relationship savvy?" Tucker asked.

"Never did, I'm just doing my best here. Jazz is thankfully pulling some of the slack, and telling me how to handle dating." Danny said.

"But Jazz has never had a serious boyfriend." Tucker pointed out.

"She hasn't, but she is a teenage girl who knows what other teenage girls would like. Also, you've seen the guys who go to our school. Tell me a single one who you would even think would be a good date for her." Danny said, raising his eyebrow in challenge.

"That Spike guy she psychoanalyzes is decent. A little gloomy I guess." Tucker said.

"Spike's not bad, don't think Jazz is into him though. She's looking for someone… brighter, not in a smart sense, Spike's plenty smart, but in a personality sense. Jazz is decently doom and gloom on her own a lot of the time, she needs someone more upbeat." Danny said. "In a weird way, Ron would be perfect, but I don't want to think about Ron dating my sister."

Tucker shuddered at that. "Man, imagine the cold war between Jazz and Kim if they ever got into a fight."

"Casualties in the millions." Danny nodded, fearful of the situation. "As such, we never mention this to anyone ever again."

"Agreed." Tucker said, turning his attention back towards the store. "So how's the relationship with Kim and Star going?"

"Better than I could hope. We haven't managed to really do any dates on our own, besides Star and I on Saturday while Kim was on a mission, but that's a consequence of Kim and I balancing our time between Hero work and our regular lives. Kim's globetrotting just means there occasionally isn't time for us to do anything. We talk every night, there's a group chat with just the three of us in it that gets plenty of use. Once football season is over, and we don't have to spend every Friday night at a game things will calm down a bit probably, we can use that time to do something with just the three of us maybe." Danny said, smiling as he looked over at the girls who were chatting about something. He couldn't make it out over the bizarre tropical pop music that played through Club Banana, but their smiles at least indicated they were having fun.

A chill ran down Danny's spine, as a blue mist burst forth from his mouth. He turned to Tucker, who nodded. "I'll tell Kim and Star, we'll distract Valerie so she doesn't notice you're gone. Let us know if you need back-up."

Danny ducked into a clothing rack, before flying out invisibly as Phantom, taking to the skies above the mall as he glanced around for the ghost who he sensed. "Alright wiseguy, let's get this over quick, I've got a date to get back to!"

"Tally ho, then youngster, let's see if you can handle the aerial superiority of the Dead Baron then!" Came a voice Danny would swear was straight out of a 20s radio show, as he heard gatling guns spin up.

Danny took evasive maneuvers as he finally laid eyes on his target, a skeletal aviator driving a bi-plane riddled with bullet holes. The plane circled around, coming straight for Danny as the guns spun up again, ectoplasmic bullets flying through the air. Danny threw up an energy shield, catching the weaker shots as the plane flew towards him, before he was clotheslined with the wing.

"Get off of my plane you greasy dog!" The Dead Baron called out, spinning into an aileron roll to get Danny off of the wing, it worked, and Danny entered free fall for a moment before he caught himself. The plane circled again preparing for another run.

'Can't just let him keep shooting me, and I can't really dodge his bullets or someone else is gonna get caught by them. I'll have to lure him out of the center of town, somewhere more open.' Danny thought, as he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, you Howard Hughes wannabe, let's see if you're as superior in the air as you think you are! Try and keep up!" Danny shot off away from the town center, the Dead Baron on his tail.

"I won't be compared to that plucky upstart! I am the Dead Baron! Master of the skies!" The pilot said, pushing his plane onward.

Danny pulled him further and further from the city, and into the Polter Heights district, where there were far fewer people. Large lawns and golf-courses spread out, it wasn't perfect, but it was a damn sight better than the middle of a crowded city. Wheeling around to stand his ground, Danny threw up a shield, ready to catch the plane.

The Dead Baron's gatling guns fired up again, riddling the shield with round after round of ectoplasmic energy. Cracks began to form but Danny held tight to the shield, reinforcing it with his energy. He needed to get closer, to close the distance before this guy caused too much damage. Their little chase had taught Danny that despite his abilities, he still didn't have an amazing grasp of fighting in three dimensions. There were angles and avenues of attack he simply didn't consider, this guy though, knew exactly what he was doing.

As the distance closed, Danny dropped the shield, building up speed to try and clothesline the baron out of his plane. Danny hit the pilot without issue, but his skull simply popped off while the plane kept flying.

"Meh! This is an outrage! Put me down you rapscallion!" The Dead Baron's skull said as Danny held it in his hands.

"You know what? I don't think I will." Danny said, as he pulled out a thermos and sucked the skull into it. Danny then turned and started flying towards the plane, to suck the rest of the body into the thermos as well, when he recognized something.

Without the head to pilot it… the body couldn't control the plane… it was going down. Right onto someone's house!

Danny shot forward, with as much speed as he could muster, trying to beat the plane to the ground. He wasn't fast enough though, and the spectral biplane crashed through someone's house, leaving a massive hole in their living room, and destroying it. Danny set down, rushing to see if there was anyone inside the house. It was empty thankfully, and Danny sucked up the rest of the body into the Thermos, leaving just the ghostly biplane laying on the ground.

"I hope their insurance will cover this.. .whoever's house this is." Danny said, as he glanced around. A picture on the ground caught his attention, knocked over by the damage the bi-plane did to the house. Danny picked it up, before almost dropping it again. It was Valerie, as a little girl, standing alongside her father, and a woman who had to be her Mom. This wasn't just anyone's house the plane had crashed into. It was Valerie's.

The pit in Danny's stomach grew as he surveyed the damage. Two whole walls were knocked down, and the fireplace was completely destroyed, leaving the second story hanging on by barely a thread. Danny reached into his pocket and dialed Star, hoping she would pick up.

"Hey Danny, get lost on your way to get us those smoothies? You remembered Kim and I both wanted cherry-limeade right?" Star said, giving him a good idea of the cover story she had made. He could have guessed the flavors they would have wanted without it, both of them loved Cherry and Lime.

Danny sighed. "I'm not on speaker right?" Danny asked, which Star responded that only she could hear him.

"Just got finished with a ghost fight. I'm fine, but there's been some damage. Valerie's house got wrecked. I'm going to call from the house phone here to emergency services, but it's probably going to be better if I'm not here when they get here. I'll be on my way back soon." Danny said, before he hung up the phone. Sighing deeply, he made his way into the house and grabbed the landline that they still had, and once he heard the dial tone, called emergency services and explained the situation. Danny then flew off, making his way back to the mall.

Danny, Star, Kim, and Tucker went with Valerie to her home once the responders had called about the damage. Valerie surveyed the damage from a safe distance, but the anger, hurt, and confusion were all present on her face. Damon Gray hopped out of his car and ran over to Valerie. "Val! Honey are you alright? Were you here?" He asked, checking over her.

"I'm fine Dad, I wasn't home. I was with Tucker and Star at the Club Banana opening. I got the call from Emergency Services and ran straight over." Valerie said, looking at the house. "What are we going to do?"

"Insurance will cover the damage, we'll have to stay somewhere else while we get the rest of this fixed. It'll be okay darling." Damon said, hugging his daughter.

"The fireplace… mom was on the mantle." Valerie said, tears in her eyes.

Danny's heart sank even deeper. He knew Valerie had lost her mom a few years ago… and he had just destroyed one of the few remaining aspects of her in her life.

"I know sweetie… I know. We still have our memories, and we'll see if maybe we can save some of her." Damon said, petting her hair gently.

Danny just stood on the outside, feeling entirely unable to be of any support at all. This was his fault, he caused this. He took away Valerie's home, Valerie's mother's ashes… he was the reason they were all gone.

Star stepped up to Valerie, giving her a hug as well. "I'm here for you Val. I'll help you get through this. You and your dad can stay with me and Mom. I can call her right now."

"Thank you for the offer Star, but we'll probably have to go wherever the insurance offers to put us up. We couldn't impose on you and your mother like that anyway." Damon said, trying to regain control of the situation. "What matters is that we're safe. I'll get on the phone with the insurance right now and figure out what we're doing next. Valerie, why don't you go ahead and stay with Star for the night while I figure everything else out. I'll either get a hotel or stay with Gary. I'll call you tonight okay honeybun?"

"Okay Dad… come on Star, I don't really want to look at this anymore." Valerie said, turning her back to the wreckage. Star led her away, while Tucker took Valerie's hand and gently squeezed it, shooting her a reassuring smile.

"We've got Valerie. Danny and Kim, why don't you guys go and try and enjoy the rest of your evening? I don't think Val needs all of us smothering her for now." Star said, shooting Danny a knowing look. Val needed her support more than Danny did right now, but she knew Danny was going to beat himself up about this, so Kim had to make sure he didn't start into a depression spiral.

Danny and Kim said their goodbyes, letting Valerie know that they were only a phone call away if she needed them for anything. After they had walked off, and were sitting in one of the parks that the neighborhood had, Kim sat Danny on the bench and crouched down in front of him, staring him in the eyes.

"You're not blaming yourself for this." Kim said, her tone not intending to give him any room for argument.

"But it's my fault! If I hadn't knocked the guy out of his plane, he wouldn't have crashed into her house!" Danny said, dropping his face into his hands.

"No, instead a crazy ghost pilot would have been using his gatling guns in the middle of a populated area. You moved the fight to a less populated area to try and reduce collateral damage. You did everything you could to make sure as little damage was done as possible. Did you stop all of it? No, but there's no way you could have recognized what the specific consequences were going to be at that moment. We can learn to be better, but we can't dwell on mistakes. How much collateral damage do you think I make when I'm fighting supervillains? I can think of a couple million in property damage, but do you know who is liable for that? The villain, the bad guy I am stopping, not me for trying to stop him." Kim said. "I know it sucks, trust me, I was just like you the first time a bad guy did some serious damage that I might have been able to stop. It just taught me to pick my fight locations better. You started that, you recognized that the Mall was not a good starting place for a fight, you learned from the dragon incident the damage that can be done, so you moved it away. No one got hurt, and insurance is going to cover that damage. They'll be fine, that's what all of that is for. Now I need to make sure that Danny is fine."

"But… her mom's urn. That's not something insurance can replace." Danny said his voice empty.

"It's not, but Valerie's life wouldn't be replaced by insurance if you had kept the fight at the mall. You picked the best spot you could reasonably take him to given the circumstances. It's awful that this damage was done, but it's not the end of the world. Are you going to be okay Danny?" Kim asked, pulling Danny's eyes up to look at her.

"I hope so." Danny said, pulling her into a hug. "I just feel awful, trying to figure out other things I could have done."

"And you will, you'll always think about what else you can do, how you could be better. That's part of what being a hero is. The drive to constantly be better, to help more. It's just important to learn that you're more than just the hero. You might be Phantom, but you're also Danny Fenton. You can't let the hero work dictate your entire life, otherwise you'll forget why you're doing it." Kim said.

"You've thought about this a lot." Danny noticed, as Kim took her seat next to him.

"Ron did for me actually. You know how much he loves his comics and games and stuff. When we started being superheroes, he started noticing I was falling into the same traps fictional ones did. He forced me to sit down and watch Spider-Man 2, which shows what happens when you are a hero and give it up to focus on your personal life, you end up having so much guilt that you aren't doing anything that it tears you up, and then he had me watch a movie, Superman Red Son I think, where that version of Superman becomes so disconnected from the needs of his people that he starts viewing them as statistics. They didn't matter as individuals, just as metrics. It isn't the most applicable to someone like me, I can only do small scale saves, but the message came through pretty clear. We have the power to do great things, and because we can help people with them, it's our responsibility to. However, we are more than just the power. We save everyone we can, mourn the ones we can't, improve ourselves as much as we can, and remember why we save people." Kim said. "Come on, you're taking me out for ice cream."

"I don't get a say in it?" Danny asked.

"You get to decide what flavor you get." Kim said, pulling him along. Danny smiled, walking with her, hand in hand.

At school the next day, Valerie vented about what had happened. "The insurance agreed to pay for the damages, and are putting my dad and I up in a hotel on the other side of town while we get the house fixed. They don't think it'll take too long. They managed to find a lot of the pieces of mom's urn, so we're going to use the dust and debris from the fireplace as filler to put it together. Hopefully that'll mean enough of Mom is still in there for it to count. I'm just… so mad at that ghost! Why did it have to crash into my house? Why didn't Phantom stop it?"

"Well Valerie, that's good at least. I know what it's like when you're fighting bad guys. Sometimes things just happen, you're focusing on one thing while another thing is happening." Kim said, subtly squeezing Danny's hand under the table.

"Yeah, like, one time Dr. Drakken was trying to zap KP with a death ray, so I pushed it out of the way so she wouldn't get hurt, but it ended up blowing a hole in a load bearing wall that caused the entire place we were in to crumble. It sucks that that building got destroyed, but it was better than KP biting the dust." Ron said, trying to be supportive.

"I suppose you're right, I would rather it be just some stuff that got destroyed rather than someone getting hurt. I just… wish it hadn't been my mom's ashes." Valerie said, that tinge of anger still in her voice, but sadness overtaking it.

"I know that's not good. I remember when my grandma died, it seemed that that urn represented everything we had left of her. Dad helped Mom, Jazz, and I remember that while the urn was part of her, she still existed in the memories we had of her, she still existed in our hearts." Danny said. "I know that's not exactly the same, I'm sure losing a parent isn't like a grandparent, but the sentiment is the same. Those ashes weren't the only legacy of your mom. You are, and the memories you have of her. The photos that I'm sure you have plenty of. She's still there, Valerie. The urn was just one part."

"You're right. I guess I just wish I could do something about it." Valerie said, defeated. "I don't want anyone else to have to lose something because of a ghost like that again. I can't exactly just run out there and start fighting them though. I don't have any training, or powers like Phantom."

"Well, you could come to my parents lab. I could show you some of our ghost fighting equipment. I will say that you shouldn't start actively go hunting for ghosts, not all of them are bad, but if you wanted something to defend yourself in an attack, we could teach you." Danny suggested.

The others at the table took a furtive glance towards Danny as he suggested it. Was this a good idea?

"You know what, that actually sounds good. I don't want anyone else to deal with what I've had to deal with." Valerie said, determination shining through her previously saddened tone.

At Fenton Works, Danny set-up their targets in the basement, handing Valerie a basic blaster. "Thing you have to recognize about the blasters as compared to normal weapons, they shoot what are effectively lasers, so there's no recoil. This means that once you pull the trigger, you're firing something at relativistic speeds towards your target. There's no leading shots, because anything moving fast enough to dodge one of these is moving too fast for you to even aim." Danny said, taking a secondary blaster and firing a few shots in demonstration.

"How do you hit something moving so fast then?" Valerie asked.

"You don't, you hope Phantom shows up if something's moving that fast." Danny said. "Admittedly, while we have some theories that ghosts CAN move that fast, we've seen them dodge the blasts, it seems very rare for them to really move at those speeds. Reaction time is quick but movement speed is relatively slow. Admittedly, we've still clocked ghosts at over 100 miles an hour, and from what we've seen, that's a low end estimate of what they're capable of."

"How have you guys learned all of this?" Valerie asked, taking aim at a target and firing. She was off center by a foot or so.

"Technus, that tech ghost you've probably heard us talk about a few times, has been a big help. We work with Phantom when we can as well. Beyond that, we observe and take notes of fights that we have with ghosts, and ones Phantom has. We have the ghost zone portal here, and we're hoping to start doing some basic expeditions within to learn more." Danny said, dialing in her blaster a bit better.

"How do you know they aren't bad ghosts trying to just get on your good side?" Valerie asked.

"They've had plenty of opportunities to cause real havoc. Phantom showed up before we were anywhere near prepared to deal with him, but he's been stopping ghosts from messing up the town for a few months now. Technus actively asked to work with us, he thought the tech we were developing was really interesting. Mom and Dad have theories about how a ghost is defined by their obsession, how they are formed by a connection to it. There's a ghost we deal with often called the Box Ghost, he's obsessed with boxes, they think that's not a decision he made, he was created by his obsession. I disagree with that. My theory is that ghosts are formed, and then find a purpose, often connected to who they were before they died, if they were a person, and in pursuing that purpose find fulfillment and meaning, which increases their power." Danny said.

"Have any evidence to back that up?" Valerie asked, firing again. Three inches off target, not terrible in a real world scenario.

"Nothing concrete. Technus seems to have gotten stronger since he started helping us with tech, but that could be based on any number of factors, not the least of which being time and power use. Technus could be getting stronger because he's using his powers more, like using a muscle." Danny said, correcting Valerie's stance a bit.

"Wait, why haven't you told us any about this?" Ron asked to Danny.

"You've never asked about any of the ghost fighting stuff beyond the gadgets we make. I imagine Sam and Tucker have heard me babble through some theories, and Star and Kim surely got some of it when I was teaching them the basics of how to fight ghosts." Danny said.

"Star and Kim fight ghosts with you?" Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Kim's a hero, so I figured if she was around she'd be trying to help anyway, so I've been teaching her as much as I can. I know that the ghost weirdness tends to follow me, so I taught Star the basics so she wouldn't get hurt. Sam and Tucker have been here every step of the way, so they learned alongside me." Danny said, noticing as Valerie hit her first bulls-eye.

"Hey! I got it dead center." Valerie said, some pride in her voice.

"Good. Hit it a few more times then we'll start having the targets move. Ghosts aren't exactly going to sit still for you to zap them." Danny said, before firing up the testing rig. "Aim for the ones that light up. It's like a carnival game."

Valerie focused, taking her blaster and hitting the targets one by one as they lit up. A scoreboard game up, putting her in fifth place.

"Hey, you did better than Tucker." Danny said, pointing it out. "Go ahead and enter your name, then I'll start the moving ones."

"Why did you guys put a scoreboard in?" Kim asked, looking over at it.

"Competition made practice fun. It's our family's equivalent of a dartboard. If we're bored and not working on something, firing this up for some practice isn't too bad. Mom's still creaming us though." Danny said, pointing to Maddie's number one spot.

"So you're better than your dad?" Kim asked, checking the leaderboard.

"Not by a huge amount. I can point and shoot faster, our actual aim is more or less the same though." Danny said. "Jazz is catching up and improving. Sam hasn't given this a shot yet since we installed it, and Tucker hasn't had a ton of practice with it."

Valerie practiced for another hour while everyone else made small talk she still had a ways to go before she could consider herself a proper ghost hunter, but it was a solid day of progress.

As Valerie made it to the hotel she and her father were staying at, the front desk attendant said that a package had arrived for her. Valerie took the box to her room in the suite and opened it. Inside was a red bodysuit, alongside a hoverboard. A note was included, taped to the front of the instruction manual.

"I was recently made aware of the unfortunate incident you had involving the ghosts that seem to plague the city of Amity Park. Regardless of what the Fentons believe, all ghosts are malevolent, and merely biding their time before they can strike. I offer this gift, so that you may enact vengeance upon them in my stead. Study up young Valerie, the Red Huntress will be taking to the skies soon. Signed, A Benefactor."

Valerie flipped through the instruction manual, the suit was loaded with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos for ghost fighting, and the hoverboard contained even more. It was pretty phenomenal as a piece of tech, and must have cost more than her father made in a year. Who would give this up? Much less give it to some random teenager? Valerie knew in the grand scheme of things she wasn't too special. Her grades were good but not exceptional, she was decently athletic, but no superstar. Surely someone like Kim or Danny would be a much better fit for something like this.

In a moment of pure fantasy, Valerie slipped the suit on, admiring herself in the mirror. The face mask was opaque from the outside, but supposedly it would respond to her desires to make it transparent by thought alone. Sure enough, thinking it made it happen. Mental commands gave ways to all kinds of functions. Wrist lasers, light construct blades, even the hoverboard whirred on with just a thought, floating for her to step onto it.

Danny's words about not all ghosts being bad floated through her head. He was knowledgeable to be sure, she'd seen him interact with ghosts. She herself met Technus today… he was strange but seemed friendly. This note though, it said that he was just biding his time, waiting for his moment to strike. Who was right?

Valerie's head hurt as she thought about it. A ghost had destroyed her home, torn away one of the last things she had to remember her mother by. But from what had been seen, it had been a total accident, Phantom trying to lead a dangerous ghost away from a populated area. Polter Heights had big empty yards, a perfect place to minimize collateral damage in an area otherwise as densely packed as Silver County. She knew that academically.

She needed to talk to someone… and she knew just who to call. Picking up her phone, she scrolled through her contacts list, pressing a button. "Hey, Danny? I know I just left your place, is Star still there with you? Can you and her meet me in the park? The one that's not too far from Axiom? Thanks."

Danny and Star arrived at the park, the sun setting over the horizon. Something had to be going on for Valerie to call for them so soon after they had split up to go home. What they couldn't piece together though was why Danny was here. Star made sense, she was Valerie's best friend, they were close, so if Val had needed a friendly ear, Star would be an obvious first choice. Danny wasn't even number 3 on Valerie's friends list. Tucker was obviously second, he was her boyfriend after all, and Ron was everyone's friend. Danny might have been next, although it could just as easily be Kim.

Valerie walked up to them, a backpack slung over her shoulder as she waved. "Hey, sorry to call you guys so soon after we just separated, but when I got back to where we were staying, I got a weird package. I was hoping you two could help me make heads or tails of what's going on."

"Happy to help Val, although why'd you ask for Danny and me specifically?" Star asked.

"The package was ghost hunting equipment, and from the letter and manual, it's not Fenton tech." Valerie said, pulling out the suit and board. "Danny knows more about this than anyone but his parents, and you're my best friend Star. I want your opinion here too."

Danny examined the equipment, and flipped through the manual for a bit. "Impressive stuff, same underlying principles my parents' equipment uses, but without a lot of our signatures. We'd be routing these traces differently, and definitely wouldn't be using this powersource."

"What's it using?" Valerie asked.

"Our tech uses a specific Copper/Aluminum/Sulfur/Radium mixture that produces the green light energy that we charge with ectoplasm. This one seems to use a Lithium/Tungsten/Plutonium mixture. Same ectoplasmic charging, but the color of these beams would be pink or purple." Danny said. "This kinda research is… well it's weird that anyone but my parents would be doing it."

"So you have no idea who could have sent this to me?" Valerie asked.

"Not enough of a hunch to give you any concrete ideas. I'd really like to have Tucker, Wade, and Technus give this a thorough looking over, make sure everything's above board." Danny said.

"You'd let Technus handle something this dangerous?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah, he's had every opportunity to go rogue with some tech and never has. Even stuff technically more impressive than this. I trust Technus." Danny said.

"But how do you know that all ghosts aren't evil? What if he's just putting on an act?" Valerie asked.

Danny looked at Star who nodded at him, before sighing. "I'm going to tell you something Valerie. It's a big secret. You can't tell anyone. Okay?"

"What is it?" Valerie asked, looking at him strangely.

"I know all ghosts aren't evil, because I am one. Half of one anyway." Danny said.

"What do you mean you're a ghost? You're flesh and blood!" Valerie asked.

Danny transformed, the bars of light flashing over him, revealing his Phantom form. "Over the summer, there was an accident with my parent's ghost portal. Somehow, through some stroke of luck, it turned me into a Half-Ghost. I'm still alive and breathing, but I otherwise have all the abilities of a ghost. There have been other Half-ghosts in the past, but there are only two of us now."

"Who is the other one?" Valerie asked.

"Vlad Masters. That's a secret too." Danny said, a scowl on his face.

"The billionaire?" Valerie asked, in shock. "He owns Axiom, the company my dad works at."

"Didn't know that, but yeah. He's one too. His identity needs to stay secret as well, because the second it goes public, my life is ruined as well as his." Danny said.

"Why?" Valerie asked.

"All it takes is one sketchy group who wants to dissect us to create an army of half-ghost super soldiers." Danny said. "It's why I try to not tell anyone. It's one of the reasons I didn't even tell my parents at first. I thought THEY might try and dissect me. I met Vlad, and realized how messed up handling all of the issues of being a half-ghost alone made him. So I told my parents and Jazz. I told Kim and Star before we started dating, because I knew I couldn't keep it a secret from someone in a relationship. Ron found out because we slipped up, chatted a bit too openly about it when he was around. Sam and Tucker were there when I had the accident."

"Does anyone else know?" Valerie asked.

"Vlad, and Global Justice apparently, although they're supposedly keeping it on the down low. One of their top agents didn't know about it even though he had clearance. It seems it's exclusively on a need-to-know basis." Danny said, with a sigh. "It's more people than I would like, but it's unfortunately too late to do much about."

"Were you planning on telling me before all of this?" Valerie asked, a blank look on her face.

"Once Ron found out, we realized it was only fair for you to know too. Kim's best friend got to know, so Star's best friend would as well. It wasn't because it was you that you were kept in the dark, it was trying to keep as many people in the dark as possible." Danny said.

"I'm sorry I had to keep it from you Val, but it wasn't my secret to share." Star said, giving her friend a smile.

"No… this is big. I get it. Can you tell me what happened at my house then?" Val asked.

Danny sighed, recounting the story. "... I was doing everything I could think of to limit the damage, and when I realized his plane was going down, I flew as fast as I could, but it was just too far away. I was the one who called the emergency services. I tried to stop it… I really did. I'm so sorry Val."

"It's okay… I understand you were doing your best. You tried to limit casualties, you just couldn't stop it all. I won't tell anyone, I promise… I can't say I forgive you right now, it's fresh, it hurts. But I'm sure I will soon. I need time." Valerie said. "I'm going to use the suit, fight ghosts. I'll take your word if some are good and some are bad. Go ahead and have the nerd trio look over it."

"One of the nerd trio is your boyfriend." Danny pointed out.

"Just because he's my nerd doesn't make him not a nerd." Valerie said, and the three laughed.

Their friendship was strained, but there were no more secrets. Team Phantom-Possible had expanded by one member.

Chapter Text

A/N: It's time! She's here! Welcome back for another chapter, and one I'm very excited about. We're Fanning the Flames of love this time my friends, and it's going to be a wild ride. If you didn't see, I also posted a small little challenge fic on Wednesday, so if you want some more of my writing you can go check it out. It's unrelated to this story, so no need to worry about that part. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy! Please comment and review, I read them all!

"Won't you please be my friend?" Klemper asked as he breathed another cold blast in Danny's direction. Danny dodged low, forming a barrier overhead to stop the excess snow from the icy formation they were on from blowing onto him. His ghost physiology was doing pretty well at staving off the cold, and even before then Danny was the kind of guy who would wear shorts when it was snowing, but Klemper seemed to have breath that would make a Minnesotan shiver.

"Where I come from, friends don't usually try and freeze each other into popsicles!" Danny called out, firing a blast before moving to take cover behind a rock. Danny, Kim, Star, Sam, Tucker, and Ron were taking their first real expedition in mapping the ghost zone, and one of their stops was this icy outcropping, which seemed to have its own weather patterns separate from the rest of the zone.

That had been something they were documenting about the zone. Somehow the entire place had an atmosphere, there was air to breathe, and no harmful amounts of radiation. Geiger readings had actually detected the opposite, there was no radiation in the ghost zone, none from the sun, or from any traditionally decaying radioactive isotopes. There was also a very skewed sense of gravity, there was no unifying down, it seemed only thought was what kept you tethered to any mass. There was likely some attractive force, but it was negligible due to the small size of all the masses they had found in the ghost zone.

"Danny! Deal with the guy in the pajamas so we can go home! This ghost zone is spooky!" Ron's voice came over Danny's earpiece. Jack, Maddie, and Technus had developed the Fentonpods, a modified bluetooth earpiece that used ectoplasmic energy to send and receive signals. They also filtered out 'ghost noise' which Technus said was a sort of low frequency sound that the ghost zone, and to a much lesser extent ghosts, emitted. In the amounts one found in the ghost zone, it would supposedly drive a person mad with prolonged exposure. Ghosts were immune to it, but people seemed particularly affected.

"Trying Ron! The ghost zone isn't so bad though is it? I expected a lot worse!" Danny said, as he flipped Klemper and sent him flying. "Alright, I guess that's enough scouting today. Let's head back." Danny flew into the speeder, before transforming back into his normal self. That moment was when all the cold from Klemper's attacks hit him. "Jeez, my hands are like icicles. That Klemper guy has to have been breathing like… -40 or something." Danny said, rubbing his hands together.

"Give them here, we'll warm them up." Star said, taking one of Danny's hands between hers, while Kim took the other.

"Who'd have thought one of the benefits of having two girlfriends would be a hand warmer for each hand?" Danny said with a smirk as the three smiled at each other. Little moments like this had become more common as they eased into the relationship. They had been totally and completely open about it for a while now, and while not everyone approved (James Possible had nearly strapped Danny to a rocket, before his wife calmed him down) they had found comfort in each other.

Sam looked at the throuple with a sigh. She had accepted their relationship, knew they were good for each other, and saw not only how happy they made Danny, but how happy Danny made them. Kim and Star had even seemed to find their own bond in being with Danny, effectively treating it like gaining a sister. While before Kim didn't have much in the way of female friends, being Danny's girlfriend alongside Star had given her one, and the two were incredibly close. A horrible sound brought her out of her musings.

"EMBER! YOU WILL REMEMBER!" Tucker's voice sang off key, his baritone voice attempting to move into a register it just wasn't designed for, breaking every step of the way.

Danny, Kim, and Star took a moment to glare at the beret wearing boy, somewhat upset at him for ruining their moment. "What are you even singing?" Danny asked.

"You don't know? There's this cool new artist, she just dropped this on Spotify last night, it's great! Her name's Ember McClain, she's like KISS meets Avril Levigne meets Kelly Clarkson! She's got this tight early 2000s pop-punk vibe it's sweet!" Tucker said, as he continued jamming out to the music in his headphones.

"Since when is Tucker into pop-punk?" Star asked, looking over at him. "Always took him for an EDM guy."

"He is, but Tuck expands out occasionally. Guess this is one of those times." Danny said.

"Well, if she does sound like that, I guess I'll need to listen later. I do love me some KISS." Star said, smiling. "I guess Tucker found that the Fentonpods do still function as normal earbuds. That's useful, I think they're kinda cute as an accessory."

"You thought so too? I thought they were kinda cool and retro-tech. I love stuff like that, that's why Wade designed my Kimmunicator the way he did." Kim said. "Looks like Danny gave us a cute present without even meaning to. Thanks babe."

Danny flushed, before saying "They do look good on you, but everything does really so that's no surprise."

"YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME!" Tucker's voice sang again. Ruining the mood. Sam couldn't help but laugh.

At school the next day, Danny is getting his things out of his locker when he sees Paige, a girl from his algebra class walk by, Danny stops her for a moment. "Hey Paige, do you know if we need the workbook today?" Danny asked, before stopping and recognizing the name on the shirt she was wearing. "An Ember shirt? Didn't she just drop her album yesterday?"

"I don't know about the workbook, but you like the shirt? I heard her music and just HAD to rush out and buy her merch. It's amazing!" Paige said, before walking off and humming a song to herself.

Danny looked around and saw tons of people wearing Ember merch, from shirts with stylized logos of her name, to pictures of her, a few girls had even gone so far as to match her eye-makeup. "What's happening?"

"Good, I'm not the only one noticing what's up." Kim said as she came over. "We never hear of this girl and overnight she's bigger than Taylor Swift? Everyone in the school is wearing her merch."

"I gave her stuff a listen last night, it's pretty good but not worth going THIS crazy over." Star said, looking around.

"I swear, this feels way too supervillain plot to me." Kim said. "Drakken had a crazy idea for appearing on a singing competition show once to market a brainwashing shampoo, but ended up dropping it when he realized that no one watched those types of shows anymore."

"How do you know that?" Danny asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Shego talks about his failed plans all the time. She really likes making fun of him." Kim said, rolling her eyes a bit.

"She talks while you fight?" Danny asked. "And here I thought quipping with villains was my thing."

"I don't do it quite like you do, but I'm a bit quippy." Kim said with a smile.

"Alright, before you make jokes about tongue battles, I'm going to have to stop you so we can go to class." Star said, pulling the two of them from their little stupor.

In class, Mr. Lancer addressed everyone, "Students, it is my great displeasure to inform you of the upcoming mandatory SAT test. I know none of you are excited to take it, but it is important. Colleges are requiring all students to take this test, and while I know you are Freshman and College seems far off, understanding this test now will prepare you for success in the future. We will be using the results we get from these tests to place you into classes for the next year. Those who perform well will move into the advanced classes, those who perform poorly, remedial. As part of a grant we received from the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology, we are proud to offer you this new study tool they have developed, called the Cram-o-matic." Lancer said, as he revealed what could broadly be described as a VR headset attached to a salad strainer. "This device, developed by the enterprising minds of the MIST research department, will provide you with information and test questions as quickly as your mind can process, through a groundbreaking technique of beta-wave manipulation. Use of the Cram-o-matic is not mandatory, but it is an option that is available to you should you wish. Now, in front of you are practice books. I will be here to assist in any matters you may have trouble with."

Danny looked down at the book, opening the first page, where it gave a brief overview of what the SAT was, what it measured, and how it was proctored. He was beginning to read the first question when a noise came from outside.

"Ember, you will remember…" came from a tour bus that pulled in front of the school, several students jumping up to look out the window at it.

"Hey! That's Ember's tour bus! It's parked outside! Come on, let's go see!" Came the voice of Paulina, who dashed out of the classroom, followed by many other students. When the dust settled, only Danny, Star, Kim, Sam, and Ron remained.

"The Sun Also Rises! What on Earth has gotten into those students?!" Lancer said, using his PG friendly expletives. "You all stay put, I need to go wrangle those hooligans!"

"That's odd right?" Ron asked, and the others nodded at him.

"I've got a sneaking suspicion this is more than just teen mania… there's something going on here." Danny said. "Question is more, is it one of Kim's or one of mine?"

"Another question is why we're seemingly unaffected." Kim asked.

"At the risk of getting in trouble, why don't we go investigate?" Star asked. "I might not be a superhero like everyone else in the room, but I'm sure between the two and a half that are here we can manage."

"Why am I half a superhero?" Ron asked, faux-hurt in his voice.

"Sorry buddy, it's what happens to sidekicks." Danny said with a laugh, as they all got up. "Cover story is that we were pretty sure it was against school rules to be in a room without a teacher, so we went to where a teacher was."

"Seems almost like we're responsible." Star said, laughing a bit.

As the group made their way outside, Kim called Wade to have him look into this Ember person, but to avoid listening to her music if he could. Danny pulled out his phone and dialed for Technus.

"Fenton Works, Nikolai speaking." Technus said, using the practiced response they had for callers.

"Technus, it's Danny. Got any info on an Ember?" Danny asked. Technus had been cataloging ghosts he knew about in the zone in their system, so they could recognize threats as they popped up.

"Oh, that one! Ember is a ghost, former human like myself. Has sound-based abilities." Technus said, before continuing. "Her guitar is a special piece of tech I would love to examine, it seems to amplify her powers unlike anything I've ever seen."

"Know anything about her being able to control people? Or why certain people would be immune?" Danny asked.

"Not impossible given her powers, it's like a less powerful broadscale version of overshadowing. She can't control them completely but could control some thoughts. You being immune would likely be because of your innate resistance to ghost noise, she likely uses it as a basis. Are any of the other immune people wearing Fentonpods?" Technus asked.

"That accounts for three. Ron's immune as well it seems, no Fentonpods in." Danny said, noticing that Kim, Star, and Sam were all still wearing their Fentonpods.

"Curious. I have no explanation for his immunity." Technus said.

"Alright, thanks for the info Technus. It's gonna make the rest of this a lot easier." Danny said, as they finally made it outside.

"So what's the Plan Danny?" Kim asked, deferring to him on ghost matters.

"Figure out what she wants. If she just wants to be a rockstar, make sure she's not using her powers to do it." Danny said, looking over the crowd. On the top of her van, Ember was holding her guitar, a microphone clipped to the side of her head.

"Tell me who you love Amity Park!" Ember said, her voice booming over the loudspeakers on her bus.

"Ember McClain! Ember McClain!" The crowd chanted.

"Students! Calm yourselves at once! All of you come back inside this instant!" Mr. Lancer said, speaking into a megaphone he had acquired somewhere.

"Hey! Don't let the man keep you down! Get him!" Ember said, as the crowd turned towards Mr. Lancer, making their way to him.

"Nope! Can't let that happen." Danny said, as he quickly turned invisible and transformed, flying through the crowd to turn Mr. Lancer intangible and pulling him out of the violent mosh-pit. "Alright Mr. Lancer, this is ghost territory, so I'd like it if you'd leave it to the professionals. Don't blame the students for this, they literally can't control themselves." Danny said, putting on an authoritative voice. Kim had mentioned when saving people, they tended to want a certain tone to be spoken to in, one that made it seem like you had everything under control, even when you didn't.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Phantom? You're real?" Lancer asked, shocked.

"People still think I'm a myth? Really?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes. "Get out of here, I'll deal with this."

Danny flies back to where the crowd had gathered around Ember's tour bus, but it had driven off. Danny flew back over to where Kim, Star, Sam, and Ron were standing and transformed back.

"Great, she's gone." Danny said, looking over at the crowd who it seems had mostly come to their senses and were shuffling back inside.

"Could be worse, we could not know where she's going. She'll be at the music store in town afterschool. Seems like as good of a time as any for Phantom to go on the interception." Sam said. "Although until we finish this, I guess we're going to have to keep the Fentonpods in."

"Probably for the best, although I really wonder why Ron is immune." Danny said, looking over at him.

"Ron never really gave into peer pressure like that I guess, maybe she just can't get a good hold on him?" Kim suggested, giving her best friend a once-over.

"Which would make sense why Tuck would be affected then. He's all about peer pressure and trying to be popular, despite his hobbies." Danny said, watching as a girl did Tucker's make-up to have similar eye-markings to Ember.

"For now, let's head back inside and work out a plan. Kim, let Wade know he needs to be listening to our audio through Fentonpods. I sent him a set, so he should have them. See if he and Technus can work out a way to block or counteract her powers." Danny said, as Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and sent the message.

"I'll grab mine and Tucker's thermoses, Ron can carry Tucker's today." Sam said, looking over at the blond boy. "Welcome to Team Phantom for the day, Ron."

"At this point, shouldn't we be like, Team Phantom-Possible?" Star suggested. "It's not like the lines between them haven't blurred to the point of non-existence anyway."

"You're not wrong." Kim said, thinking about it. "Really all that's separate is that most of the team can't go on missions with Ron and I."

"Don't think this means you're putting me in your uniform." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Really? It's a black thermal, I figured that'd be up your alley." Kim said.

"The thermal I don't mind, I'm not huge on your pants, why do you think I always wear a skirt and leggings?" Sam said, gesturing to her legs.

"Fair enough." Kim said, while Danny laughed at their banter. He was glad they were mending bridges a bit.

Afterschool, the diminished Team Phantom-Possible made their way to the music store, where a crowd had already formed. Ember stood in front of a massive cardboard cut-out of herself, giving Danny his first really good look at her. Ember was definitely the ghost of a human, roughly 16 or so, her skin wasn't green like most ghosts, but a spectral gray. To someone who didn't know she was a ghost, it would be easy to assume it was simply stage make-up. She had markings around her eyes that accentuated them, drawing the gaze to her blue irises. Her hair was styled in a long flowing ponytail, that was the same blue as her eyes. Her outfit was obviously very 80s hair metal inspired, a black asymmetrical crop-top, tight leather pants, and massive platform boots with skull motifs. Honestly, it was a look Danny could easily imagine Sam trying.

"Gotta admit, she's got style." Sam said. Danny smirked at his correct assumption.

"Regardless, I'm going to go try and confront her. Hopefully she'll give up the mind control, but I'm not holding my breath on that. There's a fire-escape over there that takes you to the roof. Meet me up there." Danny said, transforming and flying off to meet Ember on the roof.

Landing behind her Danny saw her turn around, giving him a confident smile. "Amity Park's Ghost Boy. You've been making a name for yourself babypop. Take down Skulker, cause a mass break-out of Walker's Prison? You're making waves." Ember said, putting a hand on her hip as she looked him over. "Gotta admit, I expected you to be taller."

"I get that a lot. Now, I'll give you one chance to drop the mind control act. You want to be a rockstar that's on you, but you have to do it without the powers." Danny said, throwing on his authoritative voice.

"Ha, you're cute. What do you plan to do about it babypop? I know you're just jealous you can't do it. Bet you'd love a crowd of girls screaming your name." Ember said, giving him a challenging glance.

Danny fumed internally at that. He wouldn't do that, that's the kind of thing Vlad did. Danny wouldn't allow himself to do that. He owed it to everyone to not abuse his powers for his own benefit. "Not on your after-life McClain. I don't want to have to fight you, but I will."

"Bring it then dipstick!" Ember said, as she struck a power chord on her guitar, sending a blast wave at Danny, who held his ground and took it. He shot forward, closing the distance rapidly as he invisibly pulled Ember away from the eyes of the crowd and flipped her over his body to the center of the roof.

Ember narrowed her eyes, before firing another beam at him. Danny made a shield and caught the blast on it, as Kim, Star, and Sam made it up onto the roof. "Phantom!" Kim called out, taking care to use his hero name. It didn't do any good to hide it from the ghosts, they seemed to have a natural sense of his status as a half-ghost, and his identity was already out. There was still a crowd of people below though so secrecy mattered.

"Aw. You have a little cheer squad. I guess you're not as squeaky clean as you act Phantom." Ember said.

"Think again Primadonna." Kim said, slipping on her Ghost Gauntlets as she rushed towards Ember.

Ember batted the initial punch away with her guitar, bringing her platform boot up to catch Kim with a high kick before bringing the guitar around for a swing. Kim countered with a jab that caught Ember off guard, allowing Kim to slam the guitar into the ground to avoid the swing.

"Cheerleader's got moves, so tell me, which one of you girls is babypop's here?" Ember said in a confident manner, knocking Kim back with a shove.

"None of your business Ember!" Danny said, squaring back-up for the fight.

"Doesn't matter then, this should be plenty of trouble." Ember turned a dial on her guitar, the indicator pointing to a heart sticker. "Let me play you a love song babypop." With a powerful strum, a pink heart flew out of Ember's guitar, and slammed into Danny.

"Ha! Didn't even… hurt." Danny said, as his eyes glazed over for a second, before coming back to reality. "What was that?"

"Just what you needed, babypop." Ember said as she saunted over to him, giving him a kiss on his lips. To everyone's surprise, Danny didn't stop her. "Let's leave these losers alone and go have some fun, why don't we?"

"Yeah, let's go." Danny said, his tone somewhat confused.

Kim, Star, and Sam all gazed up as Ember and Danny flew away, as Ron finally made his way up onto the roof. "Woo, made it… where's Danny and the rocker chick?" Ron asked.

"They flew off." Sam said, her voice sadder than usual.

"Oh, so he's fighting her then?" Ron asked.

"No, they're probably making out." Kim spat, angrily. "He didn't even try and stop her!"

"I haven't even kissed him yet." Star said sadly, looking off in the direction they flew off in.

"Sam, fill me in please?" Ron asked, thinking that the fuming Kim or the depressed Star likely wouldn't be any help.

"Ember just walked up and kissed Danny after she hit him with some kind of attack. He didn't fight her off or anything, then she told him to come with her somewhere and he followed." Sam said, shaking off her own feelings on the matter.

"Well duh, he's just being mind controlled like everyone else is!" Ron said, gesturing to the still rampaging group of teens below. "Star, KP, do you really think Danny would just drop you two on a dime like that?"

"No. He wouldn't." Kim said, anger still in her voice, but recognizing Ron's point.

"Still doesn't make it hurt less." Star said holding her hand over her chest.

"We've just got to break him out of it, like the others." Ron said. "KP, see if Wade has made any headway."

Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and opened the feed with Wade, who had Technus beside him. "You two find anything? Situation just got way worse over here."

"Yes, we believe that sufficient shock should manage to undo her control." Technus said, looking over a tablet he had in his hand.

"Looks like the shock needs to be related to the cause though, otherwise a general loud noise would mess it up." Wade said.

"Any suggestions?" Star asked, hopeful.

"I believe that a sufficiently bad singer singing Ember's song would be capable of undoing the damage. It would attribute the positive emotion felt by the song to a sufficiently shocking negative one in hearing it sung badly." Technus suggested.

"If you can get the Kimmunicator hooked into her sound system at her show, Technus and I can broadcast our idea of a counter frequency." Wade said.

"Who are you going to find who can sing that bad?" Ron asked.

"Wade, could you pull the audio from the Specter Speeder yesterday? Tucker was singing her song then, it should be plenty bad." Sam suggested.

"Can do." Wade said. "You said the situation got worse though, what happened?"

"Danny's under her mind control now too, it's different from what she's got on everyone else though." Kim said, still angry thinking about it.

"How did she perform this controlling act?" Technus asked.

"Looked like a blast from her guitar. Not the song, almost like a normal attack." Star said.

Technus pondered for a moment, looking through some files on his tablet. "Well, a more powerful burst of ghost sound would provide similar effects to even a ghost, and Ember's guitar is a powerful amplifier of such effects. Generally though, the process for undoing the effects should be similar. In what way is she controlling him?"

"The goo-goo eyes makes me think she's made him fall in love with her." Kim said, anger crawling back in.

"She did say she was playing a love song… I suppose that fits." Star said.

Technus smiled, before shouting out. "Undoing it should be easy then, simply reinstate your feelings over him. Ember could not create feelings out of nothing, she likely just increased his feelings of physical attraction. You two have a deeper connection, use that and you should be able to overpower it."

"Well, I suppose that's as good of a plan as any." Kim said as the group prepared for their new mission.

Making their way to Ember's concert, the group showed their tickets to outside security. They were fakes, made by Wade and while normally Kim would have many things to say about Wade making fake tickets to concerts, considering this one was a front to take over the world, she'd let him off the hook. This time.

After making their way inside, Kim, Star, Sam and Ron ducked behind a concession building, and began to discuss the plan. "Alright, Ron, you're going to take the Kimmunicator and find the controls for the sound system. Wade and Technus will walk you through everything so it shouldn't be too difficult once you find it." Kim said, handing Ron the device. Outside of Kim, he had the most experience with it, and since Kim was needed to possibly fight the ghost, he was next on the block.

"You got it KP." Ron said, saluting as Rufus popped out of his pocket and mimicked him.

"Alright, the three of us are going to have to sneak backstage, we'll have to figure out some way to either snap Danny out of his trance or fight ember on our own. Star, do you have your ghost gauntlets?" Kim asked.

Star slipped them on and pounded them together. Since Danny no longer had anyone close to him he needed to hide his powers from, he no longer needed to keep these as a back-up for ghost fighting, Star had taken to them happily. "You know it."

"I've got a thermos and a wrist blaster too." Sam said, showing her items. Sneaking them past security had been easy, the Thermos was just a thermos, and once they realized it was empty had been a non-issue. The blaster looked like a piece of funky jewelry, so it had barely warranted a second glance.

"Alright, let's go deal with little miss rock and roll." Kim said, as the group split up.

Backstage, Ember was in her dressing room, preparing herself for her show. Danny sat on a chair in the corner, listening to her as she spoke. "And done. You know babypop, once everyone in the world is cheering my name, we'll have this whole world under our thumb." Ember said, glancing over at him with a look.

"Why would you want that though? Surely just having people like your music should be good enough." Danny said, his good nature fighting through the control.

"Not after what this world took from me, I'm going to make EVERYONE pay." Ember said, the flames of her hair shooting up.

"That doesn't seem like it would solve anything." Danny said.

"What would you know? You're still alive. You still have every chance in the world to be whatever you want to be." Ember said coldly.

"Maybe so, but even if I wasn't, being angry at the world for my misfortunes wouldn't solve my misfortunes. If I died in the accident that gave me my powers, it wouldn't solve the fact that I died for me to try and get revenge for the incident. I've seen what happens when you go down that path, it isn't pretty." Danny said, thinking about Vlad. Vlad had sought revenge for his accident, and all he had to show for it was that he was bitter and alone. Vlad's hatred had stopped him from ever finding any happiness.

"You don't get it babypop. They laughed at me. Ridiculed me for my music. The night before I died, the boy of my dreams stood me up on a date as a cheap joke, just to show me how pathetic I was. I'm not pathetic anymore though, I'm about to have the world in my hands. Everyone will remember the name of Ember McClain!" Ember said, shooting her fist into the air.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but does that goal need you to rule the world? Couldn't you just be a rockstar? Get your name recorded in the Rock and Roll hall of fame and you'll be remembered for a long time." Danny said, standing up and pulling her into a hug. "You don't need to rule the world to be remembered. You don't even need to be famous. If you change one person's life, your legacy will last."

"Man, you're not just some spellbound fanboy are you? Those hero instincts still kicking strong aren't they? I'm going to rock this world, have it eating out of the palm of my hand, and then I'll have everything I've ever wanted!" Ember said, her eyes determined.

"And what is that?" Danny asked.

"Love, adoration. The chance to show everyone they were wrong, that Amber McCain wasn't a nobody, she was the rock star they all wished they could be!" Ember said, spitting bitterly at the end of her speech.

"That was your name then? Amber? Makes sense. It's cute." Danny said, the love spell still holding strong over him.

Ember paused, she hadn't expected to tell him that. She hadn't expected to tell anyone who or what she was before she was Ember. All of that, all that was Amber had died in the fire. Ember was what emerged from the ashes. "Yeah. It was."

"But, you could have love and adoration without the mind control. I'm immune to your song, but I thought it was pretty good. I know my girlfriend Star also liked it, and she was immune too." Danny said, smiling as he thought about it. The mention of Star pulled him for a second.

Ember noticed her control waning for a second, so she pulled him into another kiss. Not that she was complaining about needing to. Danny was certainly interesting to her, and part of that included his status as a DAMN fine kisser. Ember had learned a lot about him recently, and while he was under her love spell, she'd learned even more. It was no secret Danny was powerful, strong enough that he could probably take over a good chunk of the zone. Standing up to Walker and breaking out of his prison, even with the help of Skulker, Johnny, and the others was no small feat. He had that power, yet common talk among the ghosts was a tendency to try and talk it out first. Sidney Poindexter had actively fought him and he talked him down. The Box Ghost had mentioned open dialogue. Technus had even actively chosen to work with him as opposed to fight him. The word from Technus throughout the zone had been 'as long as you aren't trying to do people harm, you wouldn't be fought'.

"She's not your girlfriend anymore babypop. I am. I'm all the woman you need." Ember said, reaffirming her hold on him. She paused for a second as she poured some of her power through the connection she made. Would he have fought her if she wasn't using her powers to control her audience? He had started their fight earlier by telling her to stop the mind control, not to stop entirely.

Could she be a rockstar without the powers? Of course, she thought, she was awesome. The greatest rocker in the Ghost Zone, and soon to be the greatest in the human world. She'd stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats, her name would be remembered alongside them, Angus Young, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Gene Simmons, and Ember McClain.

If she didn't need them though… Why was she using them?

"Ember, babe, you okay?" Danny asked, looking at her with concern.

Ember gazed into his blue eyes, darker mirrors of her own since he had transformed once they were in her dressing room. He was so vulnerable now, he wasn't as durable when he was human, if she wanted him totally removed, it'd be childsplay to simply get rid of him now.

Why couldn't she though?

Everything had been so simple just a few hours ago. Controlling the record label, the recording studio, even the crowds of fans were nothing. Here was Danny though, making her question everything. Why did she need to control people, why did she need to take over the world? Questions she once thought she knew the answers to were forcibly re-examined, and she didn't like the answers. Why couldn't she hit him? Why did the thought of disposing of him hurt her now? It wasn't his good looks, the two jocks who acted as her security, Dash and Kwan she vaguely remembered they were called, were technically more attractive. More muscles, better proportions, everything HE had been when she was alive. Everything she thought she wanted in a partner. Yet, they meant nothing to her, she could easily see herself throwing them away after tonight, it had been her plan after all, they were just more power to her. Danny though… she couldn't imagine that. It wasn't the power, after tonight she'd be stronger than him by a wide margin, if she wasn't already. It wasn't his looks, he was cute, but not THAT cute. What was it? Why was she hesitating?

Why couldn't she deal with him?

"Yeah, I'm… fine." Ember said, looking away. She'd deal with… whatever that ball of feelings in her stomach was after the show. Two hours, that was all that stood between her and having enough power to rule the world.

"If you're not feeling up to it, we can cancel the show, I'm sure everyone won't mind, you are controlling them after all." Danny said, the hero in his voice obviously showing distaste for that action, even if the spell she had him under meant he couldn't do anything about it.

Ember's heart sank at his distaste. She knew her control over him wasn't total, no matter how much power she had, she wouldn't be able to completely control his every thought, she could make him feel something, but that was it. Her powers extended to feelings, she could enhance and suppress them, but couldn't make any that weren't already there. In Danny, she had simply dialed up the amount he was attracted to her, and then once she kissed him, managed to spin a web that was a convincing approximation of love. Danny didn't love her, real love wasn't an emotion Ember could make him have in such a short time frame. Danny thought he was in love with her, and yet was still standing his ground, showing his morals. She had tried to suppress those, but she found that if she tried that, the 'love' she had made started to disappear too. Danny's principals were so important to him, that attempting to remove them was something that could break her hold on him. If she tried to break his principals, make him view them as less important than her, it was too far for him.

A buzzing sound went off, Ember looked over and noticed the time, her show started in five minutes, she needed to get in place. "We'll talk about this after the show babypop. Why don't you follow me out and watch your girl from the stageside huh?" Ember suggested, grabbing his hand and leading him out the door.

Where Ember expected to see her mind controlled security force, she instead found Kim, Star, and Sam, who had knocked the two football players out and now glared at Ember. "You! We're going to take you down!" Kim said, anger in her eyes as she rushed towards Ember.

"Babypop! Get her!" Ember yelled, as Danny moved to intercept Kim.

"Come on Kim, calm down. It's alright." Danny said, holding Kim's arms in his hand. Kim for the first time realized just how strong Danny was. She was giving it her all, trying to move her arm, and Danny wasn't budging at all.

"It's not alright Danny! She's got everyone mind controlled! She's trying to take over the world!" Kim said, stopping struggling. She wasn't getting anywhere trying to outmuscle Danny, so she'd need another tactic.

"I'm not thrilled about it either, but I'm hoping we can work through that." Danny said, looking over to Ember.

"She's got you under mind control too!" Kim said, staring into Danny's green eyes.

"I know. I'm trying to fight it off, but I can't." Danny said, to the shock of everyone present.

"Babypop, you know? You're fighting it?" Ember asked, looking over to him in shock. She'd never had someone fight her control before. What was this guy that he could try?

"Of course I know. I don't fall in love with a girl I just met who is doing something I would never condone. I wouldn't leave my girlfriends who I loved so much just because she said so. I know my mind is altered. It doesn't make any sense for me to do these things if it wasn't." Danny said. "You can't make me do things I wouldn't do. I know you want me to hurt them, but I can't. I would never hurt them."

"Danny, fight it then, we love you, so please, come back to us." Kim said looking into Danny's eyes.

"I know Kim, I'm trying." Danny said, his tone still neutral.

Ember was left confused for a moment, he was fighting it off. She couldn't fully control him, but he hadn't tried to leave, he hadn't told her to stop being a rockstar, just to stop mind controlling people. He'd been insistent about that, even if he couldn't do anything. Knowing he was resistant was one thing, knowing he was actively fighting against it was something else entirely.

Ember pulled out her guitar, turning the dial to a shockwave. "Back away from him girlies, he's mine now!" She said, before strumming, sending a wave of weaponized sound towards them.

Danny turned around and put up a barrier, stopping the blast. Ember looked on in shock. "Babypop! That was supposed to hit them! Why didn't you let it?"

"No Ember, you can't hurt them." Danny said, his voice struggling. His will fought against Ember's control, and she could feel it slipping. She needed to reaffirm it, she needed more power. If she could solidify it while he was actively fighting back against it, it might break him. Might make him stop.

Ember quickly made her way to the stage, calling out her catchphrase: "Amity Park, Tell me who you love!"

"Ember! Ember!" Came the reply from the crowd, their words filling her with power. She fed off of the energy of the crowd, metaphorically and literally as she felt their words wash over her. She glanced over at the cameras, the live feed was being cast all over the world. Anywhere with an internet connection could be tuning into her broadcast, millions upon millions were watching, chanting her name by the compulsion she sent out. Her power soared, manifesting in the massive growth of the flame that was her ponytail. It gave away her status as a ghost, but it didn't matter, once Danny was under her thumb, no one could stop her. She was too powerful, she headed backstage once more leaving her fans with a bass solo from her skeletal bassist as she turned the knob on her guitar to the love spell again. She'd make him love her, not a facsimile, real love. He'd need her, and she'd never be alone again.

"Alright Babypop, say goodbye to blondie! She'll never be your girlfriend again!" Ember said, slamming her hand down in a massive strum, the heart taking hold of Danny again. Ember had poured everything into it. Surely Danny's will couldn't overcome that. Not after all the power, all the chanting. She was the most powerful ghost in history now!

Right?

"Don't wanna… fight…" Danny said, obviously still fighting the control. "Ember… love… mind control bad…." Danny said falling to the ground as he gripped his head in his hands.

Star had enough she leaned down and lifted up Danny's chin, giving him a kiss on his lips. "I love you Danny, so don't you dare fall under this ghost girls spell you hear me?"

Danny paused… Star kissed him? She said she loved him? They… hadn't done that yet. Danny's mind became clearer.

"Star… I'm sorry it was under these circumstances we had our first kiss." Danny said, starting to stand up.

"Lock her in the thermos and we'll have a better second one." Star said, as Danny turned his gaze. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? Like someone broke my heart, but I know just who to take it out on." Danny said, before flying at Ember, she tried to retaliate by strumming another chord of her love song, but Danny closed the distance too fast. A solid hit knocked her out of the venue where she was performing and into a field nearby.

Ember got up, confused, hurt, and angry. How had they broken him out of her spell? She was so strong now, her control should be absolute. "Come on Babypop, don't you still have any of those feelings for me?" Ember said, trying to pull back some of her control. Danny was capable of fighting her spell, but he was still somewhat susceptible to it, maybe she could pull some strings and make him slip up.

"Ember, you had every shot if you really wanted me to be with you, that love spell was powerful, you almost had me really believe I was in love with you. But here's the thing about that, I wasn't just a love slave. I didn't like what you were doing, I was hoping I could convince you to see reason. You don't need the mind control to get everything you're looking for, you could do it on your own merit. Now, stop all of this before this gets any worse." Danny said, his voice cold.

"You're lying, but it doesn't matter. With all these people chanting my name? I'm unstoppable. You won't be able to keep up in just a couple minutes of them chanting, and I'm already stronger than you now. Give it up Babypop. You lost. If you join me though, I'll make sure you have everything you want. Fame, money, power. Me." Ember said, letting the energy build up inside her more. She wasn't lying, she was stronger than him now, and as the chanting continued, she'd keep getting stronger and stronger. The gap wasn't widening as fast as she thought it would though, he'd been holding back, and as she got stronger, he was letting loose more and more. She flew at Danny, hoping to catch him off guard and overpower him. She was growing stronger by the second, but she worried he'd somehow manage to catch up.

Kim glanced off in the direction of their fight, watching the blue fireball that was Ember begin pummelling Danny. She was upset that there was nothing she could do, Kim didn't do well with feeling powerless. She tapped her Fentonpod "Ron, Wade, Technus, any update on getting the sound system rigged up?"

"Just finished it up now it's not going to be much use if she can just turn it off and get everyone controlled again, she'll need to be distracted." Wade said over the earpiece, the clacking sound of his mechanical keyboard implying he's working on something.

"Star broke Danny out of his mind control, so he's keeping her busy away from the venue. Send it!" Kim said, and she heard Wade hit a key on his keyboard.

"Ember! You will remember!" Came Tucker's voice over the loudspeaker, pulling together isolated clips Wade had pulled from their call logs to form one coherent, and terrible song.

Kim watched as everyone in the crowd covered their ears, the horrendous noise pulling them from their trance. Looking over at the fight between Danny and Ember, Ember's blue flame began shrinking, she was losing power as people stopped cheering for her.

"What? No!" Ember said, watching as her ponytail shrunk. It was barely an ember now, a small spark.

"Looks like your 15 minutes are up, Ember. Maybe try again without the mind control, you'll go farther." Danny said, as he knocked her to the ground and pulled out a thermos, sucking her into it with little resistance. Danny capped the thermos, before flying back over to the stage, stepping into the back and transforming, pulling Kim and Star into a hug. "I'm so sorry guys."

"It's okay Danny, we know it wasn't you doing all of that, really." Star said, hugging him tighter. "Sucks that we didn't have a better first kiss though."

"Well, how about that one doesn't count and we do a better one?" Danny suggested, leaning forward and kissing Star, causing her to pop one leg up.

"That WAS a better one, how many girls have you kissed Danny? You're way too good at that." Star asked,

"Three, You, Sam, and Ember, although one of those was under mind control." Danny said, being honest.

"Make it four then." Kim said, coming over and giving him a kiss as well, they separated and let their foreheads touch while they both held their hug with Star.

"Four then." Danny said. "I'm glad you're here girls."

"We're glad to be here Danny. No ghostly side-chick is going to push us away." Star said, leaning up and kissing Danny on the cheek.

"I have to admit, I feel sorry for Ember though… While I was mind controlled, she told me a bit about who she was before she died. It was awful some of the things people did to her." Danny said, feeling sympathy for the ghost.

"For her to be that angry in death something would need to happen in life. What did she talk about with you while you were under her spell?" Kim asked.

"Mostly her plans for after she controlled the world, I kept trying to tell her she didn't need the mind control to have her dreams come true, I mean, I was immune to her regular song and I thought it was pretty good. She has real talent as a musician, she could probably pursue a career without the mind control." Danny said.

"She also turned you into a mindless puppet! You're just going to let her get away with that?" Sam asked, speaking up for the first time since Danny came back. She'd been giving the other girls some space, but she wasn't going to sit idly by while this happened.

"No, I'm not. That's why she's currently locked in this thermos. I do wonder… could we like, rehabilitate her? Nothing about her actual goals needed world domination, maybe she just needs to be shown a better way." Danny suggested.

"Danny does always try and see the best in people… I guess that's one of the reasons I fell in love with him." Star said, leaning into Danny's side.

"About that… you said the L word when I was being controlled." Danny said, looking at Star.

"I did, and I meant it. I love you Danny, and I'm glad I'm ready to say it." Star said, smiling.

Danny smiled back, pulling her into a hug. "Not sure if I'm quite ready for the big L word myself yet, but I'll certainly let you know I'm getting there, and it makes me so happy that you feel it."

"Good enough for me Danny." Star said, kissing him again.

"I'm not ready for it yet either, but I know I'm certainly close." Kim said, giving him a kiss.

"Same applies. I'd go through anything for you girls. I'm glad you pulled me back from her spell." Danny said, holding them both close.

Sam smiled as she looked on. She knew Danny really cared for them, and while it hurt her a bit inside that Danny didn't have the same feelings for her, it hurt less than it used to. She'd grown accustomed to their relationship, and it didn't hurt the way it did before. In time… she was sure she'd get over those feelings for Danny. He'd be her best friend, but… that's all he'd be.

As Ember was forced into the Ghost Zone, she looked around and found the room of lost items Spectra and Desiree had mentioned they ended up in when they were captured. She flew out, getting her bearings. She knew where she was, near that icy outcropping Klemper hung out at. Her plan had failed, she'd been stopped by Phantom and his entourage, yet… she couldn't be mad. She wanted nothing more than to be angry, furious, but she couldn't. The rage wasn't inside her. All she felt was… longing. She wanted to be a rockstar, wanted to rock the world. She wanted Phantom to be by her side, a powerful, attractive, heroic bodyguard to protect her from the world.

Why did she want that?

Why did she… feel something for him?

Why did the kiss she saw the blonde girl give him make her feel so… lost?

She should be angry about her foiled plans, be cursing Phantom's name and swearing her revenge, but all she wanted was to be talking to him back in her dressing room, feeling his lips on hers again, feeling his strong hand rubbing her back.

Ember flew towards her realm. She needed to plan, come up with something to deal with whatever emotions she had rolling around inside of her.

She'd find out why Babypop made her feel this way, and she'd do… something about it.

Make him hers probably.

Chapter Text

A/N: And today I officially get to add Totally Spies to the list of crossover series, on AO3 at least since FFN doesn't allow multiple crossovers to be tagged. This is also the first wholly original chapter, with no connection to the plot of the original episode in its place! As for why we aren't tackling Teacher of the Year, with Technus being an ally in this universe, he's not going to try and take over the world through a video game. This version of Danny also has a better grasp on his schoolwork so he didn't need Lancer's intervention. I did keep this one video game themed though, because everyone in this crossover has a video game episode! Danny has Teacher of the Year, Kim has Virtu-Ron, and the Spies have Game Girls. Anyway, the other news I have to mention is that Totally Spies recently got season 8 confirmed, so I guess maybe we can dedicate this chapter to that. (Although this story and the idea of adding the Spies in came before I knew that Season 7 was being released so...) On with the chapter!

Amity Park was doing it's best to hold onto the last vestiges of Summer, with an unseasonable heat wave driving it's way through Silver County, causing the mid-October weather to be doing a passable impersonation of August. As Danny, Star, and Kim entered the Amity Park mall though, the cool air conditioning felt like a godsend.

"Oh, that feels nice." Star said, fanning herself with her free hand. "Why does it have to be so hot? I'm ready for Fall weather! I want my fur boots and my pumpkin spice! Not this heatwave!"

"We'll just have to deal, you know how the weather gets. I'm sure next week we'll have a massive cold front from Canada and we'll be begging for it to warm up." Danny said, shooting a smile to his blonde girlfriend.

"Yeah Star, besides, the amount of sugar that goes into those pumpkin spice lattes is not good for you." Kim said.

"But they taste so good though!" Star whined as they continued their path through the mall. "It's not fair that they're bad for you."

"It's how the cookie crumbles unfortunately." Danny said, glancing around a bit. "We've got about twenty minutes before we have to go to the food court to meet the others. Did you want to check out any stores?"

"Yeah, could we stop by that game store? The Tweebs' birthday is coming up and I need to get them something." Kim said. They might annoy her to death, but they are her brothers, so she wanted to get them something.

"Oh, good shot. I should probably get them something too. Need to be good to my future brothers-in-law." Danny said with a grin. The trio laughed as they made their way to the game store, but were surprised when they saw the massive crowd.

"Looks like a rock concert in there, what's going on?" Kim wondered aloud.

Danny walked up and tapped one of the people in the crowd on the shoulder. "What's got everyone so excited?"

"Haven't you heard? This cool new game called Mindhacker just dropped and everyone's dying for a copy! Their download servers are completely swamped so everyone's trying to get physical copies!" The pimply-faced boy said, before turning his attention back as he tried to fight through the crowd.

Danny glanced in the window of the store, seeing a sign for the game in question. The sign made it seem like it was a retrowave styled open world game, with the tagline: "Control the Game, Control the Mind".

Stepping back, Danny said to Kim. "Looks like we won't be getting in there anytime soon."

"You're right, I'm not fighting those crowds." Kim said, warily eyeing the mob.

"Is this normal for game releases Danny? I'm not familiar with stuff like this." Star asked.

"Not like this. A bunch of people queuing up to buy a popular game on day 1 isn't unheard of, but this pushes that boundary WAY farther than normal." Danny said. "Guess we'll head to the food court. Kim and I can just buy her brothers something another day."

The trio made their way to the food court, where they saw their other friends sat at one of the tables. Tucker, Sam, and Ron were all staring at their phones, while Valerie sat drinking a smoothie.

"Hey guys! So what's the plan?" Danny asked as the three of them sat down. Tucker, Sam, and Ron put a hand up and waved, but continued staring at their phones.

"That's what I'd like to know, these three have been glued to their phones since we got here." Valerie asked, waving her hand in front of Tucker's face. "Tucker recommended these two download that new Mindhacker game and they've been out of commission ever since."

Danny got up and waved his hand in front of Sam's face, while Kim did the same to Ron. Neither of them gave any response.

"This is definitely not normal." Kim said, as she tried to pull Ron's phone from his grip. It wouldn't budge. "Rufus, you in there? Think you can try and wake Ron up?"

The naked mole rat popped out from Ron's pocket, making his way to Ron's shoulder. With a throat clearing, Rufus screamed into Ron's ear, but was ignored. "Nope. Sorry." The mole rat said, pulling on Ron's face to try and get his attention.

"Still weird that that thing can talk." Valerie said, and Star nodded.

"You'll get used to it. Although this definitely screams super villain plot though right?" Danny asked, looking to Kim.

"Definitely, though after the Ember fiasco I'm less sure if it's one of yours or mine now." Kim said.

"What do you mean the Ember fiasco? I was out of town during that." Valerie asked.

"Ember McClain became an overnight pop icon, and turned out to be a ghost and using her ghost powers to mind control people. Danny, Star, Sam, Ron, and I took her out." Kim said.

"Where was Tucker?" Valerie asked.

"Mind controlled." Star said. "Don't hold it against him, we were only immune because of Danny's powers and some Fenton tech."

"Well, Ron was immune for some other reason, but it doesn't look like it's helping him now." Danny said, trying to pull the phone from Sam's hands. "Kim, think you can call Wade and ask if he's got any info on this Mindhacker thing?"

"On it!" Kim said, pulling out her Kimmunicator. "Hey Wade, can you do me a solid?" She asked into the screen, but the boy on the other end seemed entranced by something on the other monitor. He wasn't responding at all. "Wade's out of commission with this too."

"Great, so half of our friends are being made mind slaves by some video game, and we can't do anything to stop it?" Valerie asked.

"Well… we could call in Global Justice, Kim. This might be something they're interested in. If a video game company is literally mind controlling people, I'd argue that's a pretty big red flag." Danny suggested.

"You're right on that front. I guess it's worth a call-in." Kim said.

"What do you want Star and I to do?" Valerie asked. "We're not exactly superheroes like you two are."

"Well if it's a ghost you two will be on ghost fighting. Star's got plenty of practice in, and that suit you got a while back came back clear of any interference. It's bio-coded to you, so only you can use it." Danny said. "If it's a regular super villain though, I guess it'll just be Kim and I. Star, I'd really rather you not get tangled up in the super villain stuff. Technus was telling me about how ghosts as a whole normally abide by a no killing policy for non-ghosts. They've experienced death and don't usually want others to feel it. Super villains don't really have that."

"I get it. Thanks for trying to keep me safe Danny." Star said, kissing him on the cheek. "While you guys work on whatever this is, Val and I will make sure someone's dealing with the ghosts. Maybe I'll beat the Box Ghost on my own this time!"

"Just stay safe and stick together. Take Jazz with you if you go on patrol, the three of you all need the experience." Danny said. "Well Kim, let's make that call."

[BEVERLY HILLS MALL 12:05 PM]

"Look, I'm telling you, Chad, the new football team captain? He's sooo into me." Clover said as she sipped on her non-fat soy latte. Clover, Alex, and Sam were sitting in their usual spot by the fountain at the Beverly Hills Mall, enjoying their weekend break from the rigors of schoolwork.

"That's the third football player this week Clover, surely not all of the boys from the team are making googly eyes at you." Sam said, tucking her long red hair behind her ear as she took a drink from her iced coffee.

"You don't even like football! Why were you at their practice anyway?" Alex asked.

"To watch the hotties obviously. Besides, what boy wouldn't want to make googly eyes at me? I'm gorgeous." Clover said, standing up and doing a modeling pose.

"Yeah right. They probably just can't stop staring at the weird beast that watches them practice." Came a nasally voice as Mandy walked past, chuckling behind her hand.

"I'll show you a beast!" Clover growled, as Sam and Alex grabbed her by her arms and held her back from attacking the black haired girl.

"Clover, she's not worth it! Just back off!" Alex said, struggling against Clover's strength. Alex considered herself the physically strongest of the three, something augmented by her athletic pursuits outside of their spy work, but Clover was pushing her to her limit, and that was WITH Sam helping her.

"Yeah, come on Clover, just drop it." Sam said, as the two managed to sit Clover back into her seat.

"Fine, but just because I don't want to ruin my nails on her stupid face." Clover said, checking over her freshly manicured nails.

"See? Not even worth it." Sam said, as the table they sat at began to shake.

"Earthquake?" Alex asked, shocked by the sudden movement.

"No, I think it's a WOOHPquake!" Sam said, as the top of the table opened up, revealing a tube that sucked the three girls in.

"Jerry really needs to get some better timing!" Clover said, as they made their way down the slide.

At the bottom, the girls landed on a circular mattress, coming out of the second O in a giant 'WOOHP' logo on the wall of the room they were in. In front of them was a taller older gentleman, with gray hair that had largely receded, and a pencil thin mustache. "Thank you for dropping in, ladies." He said, his British accent calm and collected.

"That joke's getting really old Jerry." Alex said, straightening herself up after the tumble through the tube.

"No appreciation for the classics I see." Jerry said, making his way behind the desk. "Take a look at this then girls." Jerry pulled out a remote and hit a button on it. The screen behind him shifted, revealing images of some kind of 3D video game, constructed of neon grid lines and bizarre pastel colors.

"Feeling nostalgic for 90s VR Jerry?" Sam asked, looking at it. It reminded her of a show her father had sat down and watched with her when she was little, VR Troopers.

"Not quite. What you see here is footage of a game called 'Mindhackers'. It was recently released to extreme fanfare. Despite no one seemingly able to confirm its developer or publisher, it's sold 3 million copies in the past 24 hours." Jerry said coolly.

"So? Big whoop, it's a popular video game." Clover said dismissively.

"That would be the end of it, but players have been experiencing some noteworthy side effects. Including a complete inability to put it down." Jerry said, the image cutting to a video of several people waving their hands in front of people's faces, trying to pull phones out of people's hands, and trying to remove controllers to no success.

"Freaky." Alex said, looking at it.

"Indeed, we've been contacted by an organization we would like to maintain good relations with to assist their team in understanding this crisis." Jerry said.

"Wait, we're helping someone else?" Sam asked.

"Yes, before I founded WOOHP I was a member of an organization called Global Justice. I separated as I believed that there was merit in an organization that focused more on espionage than Global Justice did, but have endeavored to maintain a positive relationship with the organization. Its current leader, Betty Director, was a former student of mine when I was teaching basic stealth. Under her leadership, Global Justice has begun a new initiative that I believe has immense promise." Jerry said. "You three are a large part of why I think that."

"What would that be Jer?" Clover asked.

"Betty has observed a number of individuals in your age group who have shown skills and abilities far beyond what we would have normally expected. You are aware I tend to place your skills as beyond many of our more veteran staff. She has two others actively working with her who are similarly accomplished, and has at least two others she believes in contacting soon. She wants to develop some kind of teenage super team to combat super villainy, when she approached me with the idea I had initially thought she was crazy, but as I've come to see how well you perform in spite of your age, I believe she has the right of it. I will not force you to join this team, but I will ask you to assist them on this mission and see if such an arrangement would be acceptable." Jerry said.

"Well Jerry, we can give it a shot if you think it'd be a good idea. You say they're our age?" Alex asked.

"From what I understand her two recruits at this time are a few months younger than you, although they are also high school freshmen. One of them has been performing missions not dissimilar to the ones you undertake for several years on her own, without the backing of an organization like WOOHP. The other has been active for less time, but deals with super-powered beings regularly. I'll allow them to introduce themselves once you arrive at Global Justice headquarters. For now, let us go over your gadgets for this mission, all old favorites I'm sure. We have: laser lipstick, combination drill heel and suction cup bottomed go-go boots, Wind Tunnel 3000 Tornado Blast Hair Dryer, telescopic sunglasses, and the jet pack backpacks." Jerry said, revealing the items one at a time. The girls happily watched, these gadgets being among their favorites that they use. "Have a safe trip." Jerry said, as backpacks fell from the ceiling into the girls' hands and the sofa they were sitting on descended into the floor, forming itself into a pod, which was then shot down a tunnel at high speeds.

The girls' pod slid into the docking station in Global Justice's receiving bay, and after it was scanned the girls stepped out already decked out in their catsuits.

"Would it kill Jerry to have us travel more glamorously? We have that jet from when we were posing as a band, why didn't we use that?" Clover asked aggravation in her voice.

"Because you're entering a secret government facility." A voice said, as a teenage boy stepped forward. "I am William Du, the Director has asked me to escort you to meet with your associates for this endeavor."

"Will Du? Ha! That's funny." Alex said, as Will gave her a glare.

"Just like Phantom. Charming." Will said, before leading them to the command center.

In the command center, the spies saw two teenagers speaking with a woman in her mid-40s who was wearing an eye-patch. They turned around as they entered.

"Ah, the agents from WOOHP. Welcome to Global Justice. I hope Jerry has given you the basic rundown about who we are and what we do." Betty Director said. "I am the Director of Global Justice, Dr. Betty Director. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Wait, Director is your last name too?" Danny asked, looking at her. "I thought everyone called you Dr. Director because it was your title."

"Indeed, regardless, allow me to introduce your associates for this mission. This is Kim Possible, and this is Phantom. You'll be working with them for the duration of this task." Dr. Director said, gesturing to the two in turn.

"Hi, I'm Sam." The red-haired girl said, reaching out for a handshake to Kim.

"I'm Alex!" The yellow-suit wearing tanned girl said, giving a friendly wave.

"And I'm Clover, but you can call me later." Clover said, sliding up to Danny and laying the flirting on thick.

"Flattered, but taken." Danny said, taking a step back. "Love life is weird enough as it is."

"If that isn't the truth." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "Pleasure to meet all three of you. I hope we'll work well together."

"Likewise, so what information do we have on this Mindhacker game?" Sam asked, looking to the Director.

"We're in the process of decompiling it now. Normally Ms. Possible's associate Wade Load would handle this, he's a tech genius without peer, unfortunately he has succumbed to the game as well, so we're having to do so through our methods, which unfortunately are not as advanced." Dr. Director said.

"Want me to see if Technus can lend a hand? He's probably better able to decompile it than a regular program." Danny said.

"We've considered it Phantom, but the risk of Technus falling under the control of Mindhacker is too great. If Technus were to ever go rogue, he would be a world-level threat I do not trust in our ability to handle." Dr. Director said, sighing. "It does frustrate me to no end that ever since you all arrived on the scene we've been forced to play catch-up."

"Care to elaborate for those who aren't clued in?" Clover asked.

"Mr. Load and Technus are minds unlike any we've ever seen before. Their abilities with technology outclass our top scientists by a wide margin. The others that Phantom and Possible associate with are equally as impressive. Our research and development department is several dozen times larger than their teams, yet they continuously outdo us." Dr. Director said.

"So, is Technus like a code name like Phantom? Why do they have code names?" Alex asked.

"No, Technus is his name. He's a ghost so they tend to give themselves new ones when they die." Danny said. "Phantom is technically a code name I use, although it's just to protect my identity when I'm fighting ghosts so that way not everyone knows I have powers."

"There's no such thing as ghosts." Clover said, waving her hand.

"Beg to differ, you've got a half-ghost standing right here." Danny said, waving his hand.

"Why don't you all head to the sparring room? You can demonstrate your abilities and get to know each other better there. We'll likely be some time decompiling the game." Dr. Director said. "I'm sure you remember the way."

"You got it, Director. Come on, follow me then." Danny said, leading the quintet of superheroes to the sparring room he and Will had used during their prior visit.

"I'll go ahead and properly introduce myself then. I'm Kim Possible. I started being a 'hero' as most people call it two years ago when I was in middle school. I had started a personal hire website intending for people to use it to contact me for babysitting or odd jobs. A huge millionaire accidentally got trapped by his new security system, and his assistant accidentally pulled up my website when looking for someone else. I managed to help him out, and then gained a reputation for making the impossible possible. More and more people started contacting me to help with things like landslides and missing persons cases. Super villains have been a recent addition, but it's mostly more of the same. My team helps a lot, there's Ron, he's my sidekick as he calls himself. Then there's Wade, he's my guy in the chair, you heard Dr. Director talk about him." Kim said.

"I'm Phantom, if we're going to be working together long term, I guess letting you know the basics of my identity isn't going to be too bad. This is a secret, but since you all are spies, you should be good at keeping those. My real name is Danny Fenton. I gained ghost powers when a lab accident turned me into a half-ghost. Generally I can walk through walls, turn invisible, fly, shoot ectoplasmic energy rays, create energy constructs, overshadow people, and sense the presence of ghosts. I'm also significantly stronger and more durable than a human, although we haven't really tested the limits of that yet. Other ghosts have other powers that I might possess and not know how to use yet, I've only had my powers for a couple months." Danny said, demonstrating the powers briefly as he explained them.

"Overshadow?" Sam asked, curious about the word.

"It's a nicer way of saying possess people. I can kind of go into someone's body and take control of it. Not something I like to do on the regular." Danny said.

"As if, there's no way you can take over people." Clover said, still not believing the ghost stuff.

"I can prove it. How about I overshadow you and make you fly up to that box over there? If you get there, I successfully overshadowed you." Danny said.

"Fine, let's see it then ghost boy." Clover said, putting her hands on her hips.

Danny turned intangible and flew into Clover, moving her arms around as he got used to her body. "So this is what overshadowing a girl is like. Hadn't done so before." Danny took a step forward and nearly fell over. "How do you walk in these heels? Surely these aren't good for missions."

"You get used to them, a small heel is actually better for your feet than purely flat shoes, these are a bit extreme, but we have gadgets inside." Sam said, amazed by Danny's abilities.

"Noted, anyway, let's get Clover here on that box before I spend too long in here." Danny said in Clover's voice, flying her up to the box and hopping out of her.

Clover blinked for a second as she came too, looking at Danny floating in front of her as she sat on top of the box he had pointed at. "Alright, so you can take over people's body. Way creepy."

"I agree, which is why I don't like to do it. Let me help you down." Danny said, grabbing Clover's arm and floating her off of the box. "So, what about you three? Give us the low-down on your story."

"Well, we were recruited into the WOOHP spy program at the same time. WOOHP had apparently been monitoring us for years before recruiting us. Apparently we have some sort of 'spy gene' that predisposes us for enhanced espionage abilities. WOOHP transferred all of us to Beverly Hills a few months ago, and from there gave us an initial exam and when we passed had us join as full-time spies. Since then we've taken down lots of bad guys, usually people with plans of world domination. If you remember Ricky Mathis from a few months ago? How people got obsessed with his music? His manager had used some kind of sound hypnosis to make people obsessed with his music, and was going to use it to take over the world. We stopped it though." Sam said, explaining their story.

"Huh, just last week I did the same thing with Ember McClain." Danny said.

"Ember? Clover was a big fan." Alex said, looking over at the blonde.

"Yeah! She released a huge single, and then only showed up for half of her concert. What was up with that?" Clover asked.

"Ember's a ghost, she used her ghost powers to manipulate her music to make people obsessed with her. I was immune because of my powers, since she needs a more concentrated burst to control a ghost. Kim and some of our other friends had some equipment my parents made that filters out ghost sounds, so they were immune as well." Danny said.

"Lot of good that immunity did when she hit you with that love song." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"Look! I can't help it! I snapped out of it didn't I?" Danny said exasperatedly.

"After Star and I kissed you." Kim said.

"And never say I don't appreciate it." Danny responded.

"Oh, are you two together?" Alex asked.

"No point in hiding it, yeah. Danny and I have been a thing for a bit now." Kim said, grabbing Danny's hand.

"Ooh… sorry for hitting on him in front of you then." Clover said, feeling a little sheepish.

"So not the drama, not like I'm not used to it." Kim said. "Danny's got another girlfriend, we agreed to date him together so I'm not really the jealous type right now."

"Tell that to Ember." Danny grinned.

"Mind control doesn't count." Kim said pointedly.

"How does that work out? Sam, Clover and I thought about trying that once, there was this guy we all really liked, but never went through with it." Alex asked.

"It's worked out well for us. It kind of started because I was worried about getting hurt or dying while I was saving the world. I wanted to date Danny, but I didn't want to leave him all alone if something happened to me. I had also introduced him to his other girlfriend before I knew I was into him, so I ended up making my own competition. I talked to Star about it, that's her name by the way, and we decided to try dating him together. He and Star go on dates while I'm on missions, and he and I get to do other hero stuff together. When we can, the three of us try to do trio dates. We were just getting back from one when we found out about this Mindhacker stuff." Kim said, sitting down on one of the chairs in the room.

"Always sucks when your personal life gets interrupted by missions." Alex said, taking a seat herself. "I had to cancel on a date with a cute boy from the track team because we had to go to Peru to stop some maniac from turning all the house cats in the world into pumas."

"How would you do that, and WHY would you do that? Are all super villains this weird? The ghosts usually just have basic personal gain in mind, their schemes aren't anywhere near as complicated." Danny asked looking at the others.

"I consider myself pretty smart, and I can't figure out how they manage to do these things." Sam said, sighing. "Always proves there's more to learn."

"Probably not the best idea to learn from the mad scientists." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "No matter how much DNAmy's notes helped on my biology test."

"So that's how you did so much better than me on that." Danny said. "I figured you just knew an expert who owed you a favor."

"I don't usually like to cash those in for basic stuff like that. I can study on my own." Kim said.

"WOOHP usually just hires tutors for us to make up for the lost study time." Alex said. "Not that Sam ever needs it. She's a brainiac!"

"She's constantly fighting with a kid named Arnold Jackson for best grades in our year. Probably would be beating him if we didn't have missions to do." Clover said, looking at her nails.

"Arnold? Red-hair, likes sweater vests?" Danny asked.

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?" Sam asked, blinking in Danny's direction.

"Small world, he's one of Tucker and Wade's video game buddies. We've played Doomed a couple of times together. He mentioned he was from Beverly Hills." Danny said.

At that moment, Dr. Director entered the room, scanning over the teenagers. "I hope introductions went well. We've finished decompilation of the Mindhacker game. The tools used to create the game are proprietary, and owned by the Nakasumi Toys and Games company. We have arranged a transport for you to their primary headquarters in Osaka. Please make any final preparations you need for this trip."

"Thanks for the warning, but how are we traveling, missile?" Alex asked, flinching at the thought.

"We have a jet being prepared as we speak, it is our hopes it will be fully ready in twenty minutes." Dr. Director said. "I am familiar with WOOHP's unconventional transportation methods. We tend to not use them here in Global Justice."

Sam, Alex and Clover blinked, before falling to their knees. "Oh thank goodness. If I get fired out of a missile silo again it'll be too soon." Clover said tears in her eyes.

Danny and Kim watched the display, concern at the reaction. "Noted. I guess I better call my parents and let them know where I'm going." Danny said.

"Me too." Kim said, pulling out her Kimmunicator.

"Your parents know about the hero stuff?" Sam asked, looking to the pair.

"Yeah, they didn't at first, they're ghost hunters so I was worried they might dissect me. I met another half-ghost though who showed me what it would be like if I didn't have people to support me, so I told them. They've technically forbidden me from leaving the country, but given that it's possibly the fate of the world at stake, they might relax that. Dr. Director, would you be willing to speak with them if they ask?" Danny asked, looking to the older woman.

"Of course. When I started developing the idea for this team, I knew I would need to spend time speaking with your parents about your missions." Dr. Director said.

As Sam, Alex, and Clover watched Danny and Kim make contact with their parents and tell them about the mission they were about to undertake, a strange pang ran through them. Outside of each other, they didn't have anyone in their personal lives who knew about their missions. Danny and Kim though seemed to have whole support networks who helped deal with these stresses. They wondered what it would be like if they could be more open with their identities, at least to certain people.

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. I appreciate your willingness to help in this endeavor, I assure you that your son will be given the best assistance we can offer him." Dr. Director said, as her conversation with Danny's parents ended. "With that out of the way, if you all will follow me to the hangar, we will send you off shortly."

In Osaka, Danny, Kim, and the spies step into the Nakasumi Toys corporate office. A receptionist sits at the desk, and Kim walks up to her. "Excuse me ma'am, is Mr. Nakasumi in? My name is Kim Possible, I'm a friend of his." Kim asks the receptionist.

"Miss Possible? Oh, of course. I'll see if he is available right away." The receptionist says, making a quick call upstairs.

"You know Mr. Nakasumi?" Danny asked, looking quizzically at his girlfriend.

"Oh yeah, it was one of my missions from before you and I started dating. Drakken had taken over his production line and used it to make a giant robot thing. Wade took it down without too much issue. Mr. Nakasumi is really nice, and he really likes Ron. Apparently Ron's a perfect focus group for toy testing." Kim said.

"Mr. Nakasumi is waiting for you in his office, it's on the 13th floor, thank you." The receptionist said, as the quintet made their way to the elevator.

Stepping into Mr. Nakasumi's office, the group saw a very basic sitting area, with a shelf full of various toys and devices, as well as many awards. "Kim Possible-san. It is a pleasure to see you again. I see you have many new acquaintances, please introduce me." Mr. Nakasumi said, glancing over at the group.

"Yes Mr. Nakasumi, these are my friends Danny, Sam, Alex, and Clover. While I wish this was a personal call, we're actually here on an investigation." Kim said, introducing everyone.

"Such as I feared. Is Stoppable-san not with you?" Mr. Nakasumi asked, seemingly looking for the blond boy.

"He's not, and that is part of the problem. Have you heard of a game called Mindhacker?" Kim asked, looking to the balding man.

"Hai, it released recently. No one seems to know who published or developed it, but it is outperforming many of our own games by a wide margin. This is strange as I did not see the game at any trade shows before this point. Independent projects are more popular in recent years, but for one to have such immediate traction is unusual." The Japanese man said, stroking his chin lightly. "Why do you ask?"

"Mindhacker has been seemingly controlling people's minds. People who start playing it can't put it down, not even to eat or drink. Ron, alongside several of our other friends are out of commission because of it. An organization we work with decompiled the game and found that many of the tools used to develop it are owned by your company, and are proprietary." Kim said.

"Truly? I must admit I do not keep as close of an eye on the video game side of our business as I do our toy side. The video game team is under the close eye of my good friend Toshiro Tohomiko. I shall call for him, perhaps he may have a better idea of what is going on." Mr. Nakasumi turned in his desk and pulled out his phone, calling someone in Japanese. After a brief conversation, he turned back. "I have been informed that Toshiro-san has been working from home recently. Such events are not uncommon for him. I shall provide you his address for you to speak with him directly. Allow me to write you a message as well so he knows to cooperate." Mr. Nakasumi jotted down some Japanese characters on a sheet of paper, before handing it and an address written in English to Kim. "I assure you, we here at Nakasumi Toys and Games have no desire to control the minds in any way beyond providing joy to our consumers. If someone is using our tools to do harm, please do what you can to stop them."

"You got it Mr. Nakasumi." Kim said, taking the papers. "Looks like we're heading to Toshiro's house then."

After a short trip by train, the five teens arrived at the address provided to them by Mr. Nakasumi. Finding the door labeled with Toshiro's name, Danny knocked. They waited a moment, but there was no response.

"Guy's working from home but not actually home?" Clover asked, suspicious of what is going on.

"Take a look at his mailbox though, looks like he hasn't checked it in a while." Sam said, gesturing to the small cubby beside his door that was overflowing with mail.

"I'm thinking this warrants a quick check inside. Can you girls pick a lock?" Kim asked, looking at them.

"On it!" Clover said, crouching down and pulling out a bobby pin, trying to pick the lock.

"Think I can make this easier." Danny said, reaching through the door and unlocking it from the inside.

"Show off." Clover pouted, opening the door.

The house looked to be a disaster area, various pieces of furniture were askew, and a half-eaten bowl of ramen sat on the counter, having gone moldy.

"Well, looks like Toshiro hasn't been here in a while, and left in a hurry.. But not out the front door." Sam said, looking around. "Definite signs of a struggle."

"I'll say, every time I see an apartment like this in an anime it's spotless, this one is trashed." Danny said, glancing around.

"See if you can find anything. If Toshiro's been kidnapped, we'll need to find out who did it." Kim said, as they spread out throughout the apartment.

"Bedroom looks untouched, no signs of a struggle in here." Alex said as she looked over the bedroom.

"Kitchen looks like what I would expect from someone who just made dinner. Nothing out of the ordinary." Sam said, examining the sink.

"Well, outside of the obvious fight scene, I can't see anything here in the living room." Kim said, crouched on the floor as she looked around. "No shoe prints, no debris. Nothing."

"Hey, is that a Z-Toy?" Danny asked, looking at the base of the entertainment center that filled a large portion of the living room. "Haven't seen one of those in ages."

"Z-Toy?" Kim asked, looking at the device Danny was talking about.

"It's an accessory for the Z-Station 2. It's effectively a webcam that got used for some games. Wasn't super popular." Danny explained taking a look at it. "Looks like this one was on though, I wonder." Danny turned on the TV, before grabbing the controller for the Z-Station. "Bingo! He had it set to record! Must have been playing around with some of the features, let's check what it saw."

Danny checked some of the recordings, the camera had been motion activated, so the first few recordings they found were of them in the room. Working backwards though, Danny managed to pull up a video that showed Toshiro using the device, the bowl of ramen he had made sitting on the counter. "Well, this is the last video from before he left, maybe there's something there." Danny said, as they watched the screen. Toshiro was clearing some space, probably getting ready to play some game, when someone came through the balcony door. The intruder was female, relatively shapely, with long black hair and green tinted skin.

"Shego! She kidnapped Toshiro! That means Drakken is behind this." Kim said, as they watched Shego attempt to grab Toshiro who jumped around the room dodging her. The small man didn't escape her for very long though as she grabbed him and dragged him through the balcony doors.

"Shego? Drakken?" Sam asked, looking at Kim. "You mentioned Drakken before, but who are they?"

"Pretty much my arch-enemies. Drakken is a mad scientist, does all kinds of bizarre schemes for world domination. Shego is his bodyguard, she's got some kind of superpowers, and can shoot plasma blasts from her hands." Kim said. "We'll have to see if Global Justice can find wherever his lab is right now."

"How do you normally find him?" Danny asked.

"Wade usually looks for places with large power signatures. Drakken's schemes aren't usually subtle." Kim said.

"Let's see if WOOHP can find him then." Sam said, pulling out her Compowder. "Hey Jerry, think you can locate a villain lair for us? Someplace with a massive power draw that seems out of place."

"I'll see what I can find girls." Jerry said, glancing over at another monitor. "Well, there is an island in the middle of the pacific that seems to be creating and consuming a large amount of power. I take it that's your next destination?"

"Seems like it Jerry, send for a pick-up please." Sam said.

"I'll send a jet right away." Jerry said, hanging up.

In the middle of the Pacific, the girls parachuted down to a tropical island, while Danny flew down beside them. They landed on the beach, their parachutes retracting into their bags.

"Gotta hand it to this Drakken guy, he can pick an island. This would be a rocking place to work on my tan." Clover said, enjoying the sunshine.

"Probably thank Shego for that, she enjoys it about as much as you do." Kim said, while they examined the large central structure. "Let's make our way in, and see if we can catch them off guard."

"You think they won't notice 4 people parachuting in?" Danny asked.

"I can hope." Kim said.

They noticed. The group had been ambushed as they attempted to enter the compound, and were brought to a large central chamber. The blue-skinned scientist looked over at the group, who were currently being held by his red-suited henchman. "Ah! Kim Possible. I must admit, I'm surprised you found me, I thought I had been extra thorough this time." Drakken said. "It seems you called in some help though. I recognize the flying boy, but who are the others? And where is the… blond one? Stevens or something?"

"Give it up Drakken. You won't get away with this!" Kim said, struggling against her captor's grip.

"I believe you'll find I already have. Millions of people around the world are now addicted to Mindhacker, and once I send forth the new commands in the updates, they will do my bidding! I will have an army larger than any nation!" Drakken gloated. "And you and your associates won't be able to stand in my way. Henchman! Throw them in the acid vat!"

"Yeah, no. Thanks for the confession though." Danny said, as he phased out of the grip of the henchman who was holding him, before knocking the ones holding onto the others away.

"Thanks Danny. Let's teach these goons a lesson." Kim said, as she and Danny dropped into fighting stances. The spies followed suit as waves of guards began to make their way to them.

Sam, Alex, and Clover simply watched in shock as Kim and Danny tore through henchman like they were nothing. They had thought they were decent combatants, but compared to those two they were amateurs. Despite Kim being smaller in stature than the spies, she was easily throwing around the red-suited goons like they were toys, and Danny seemed to actively be avoiding throwing punches as he used the men's own attacks to incapacitate each other.

This wasn't to say the Spies were pushovers though. Sam had taken down two guards on her own, delivering solid spin kicks to their faces that knocked them out. Clover had pulled out her tornado blast hair dryer, sending a handful of guards flying. Alex had turned on her jetpack, and was slamming herself bodily into the henchman at high speeds. Within a few moments, the henchman were in a battered pile on the floor.

"Shego! Get them!" Drakken said, frantically scrambling around for some device. The green-clad woman appeared from the shadows, squaring up against the teens.

"Ha, five on one against you hero types? Figured you'd be fairer than that." Shego taunted.

"You're right we are. Danny, how about you go deal with Drakken. Girls, you go find Toshiro. I've got Shego." Kim said, staring down her adversary.

"You got it!" The others said, as they dashed towards their goals. Shego moved to intercept them, but was caught off guard as Kim delivered a flying kick that forced her to block.

"Alright Kimmie, I'll deal with you and then your little entourage." Shego said, as her hands began to glow, and the two began to trade blows back and forth.

Sam, Alex, and Clover dashed through the facility, checking room after room while they looked for Toshiro. They eventually found him in a room, where three henchmen watched over him while he typed away at a console.

"Toshiro Tohomiko? We're here to rescue you." Alex said, while Sam and Clover delivered high flying jump kicks to the henchmen, sending them to the ground.

"Oh thank goodness. I was worried no one would ever come." Toshiro said, finally stopping his work on the console.

"Calvary is here. Phantom and Kim Possible are dealing with Drakken and Shego, we're here to make sure you get out." Sam said, glancing at the code on the screen.

"We need to destroy the central server. He won't be able to send out game updates without it, making the control program he made me write stop working." Toshiro said.

"Do you know where that is?" Clover asked.

"Yes, please follow me." The little man said, as he led them out of the room and towards a large air conditioned room, where several large server racks were stored. "You need to destroy them all."

"Hmm. We don't really have anything big enough to destroy this room all at once." Sam said, going over their gadget list in her head.

"Guess we better get shooting then." Alex said, pulling out the laser lipstick and beginning cutting through one of the server towers. Sam and Clover pulled out theirs and began cutting away at two others.

Danny flew up to where Drakken was, and floated next to him. "Give it up Blue Man Group. Kim'll take down Shego and you'll have lost like always." Danny said, glaring at Drakken.

"Not this time weird flying boy! Let's see how you handle this!" Drakken said, pulling a ray gun from his pocket and shooting it at Danny. Danny didn't react in time, the blast hitting him in his center of mass and stinging terribly.

"Owch, gotta admit. Surprised you've made something that can do some damage. Let's deal with that then." Danny shot forward, slapping the device out of Drakken's hand with a speed the scientist wasn't prepared for.

"Ah! No fair! I don't have super powers to fight you!" Drakken said, looking dejectedly at the ray gun that slid across the floor. Drakken ran towards it, but Danny beat him there, picking the weapon up.

"Neat toy you've got here. A Nakasumi design you ripped off?" Danny quipped, spinning the weapon like a movie cowboy.

"No! …. Maybe. Yes, but mine works and doesn't just make lights and sounds." Drakken said, trying to reach for the weapon. Danny pushed his arm out, holding Drakken back like a child.

"Real impressive Doc. Well, if you want it, you can go get it!" Danny said, before sliding the weapon across the floor, sending it through the railing at the edge of the platform they were on.

Drakken dashed for it, nearly catching up to it before it fell off the platform. He caught himself on the metal railing, just barely avoiding falling into his own acid pit. "No matter, I still have one more trick up my sleeve!" Drakken said, pulling a remote from his pocket. "With this remote, my game will update, ordering all of my new army to begin destabilizing governments around the world!"

Danny rolled his eyes, firing an ecto-ray from his fingertip towards the remote, melting it in short order. "Thanks for the heads up. Now I think I'll wrap this up." Danny grabbed the metal railing pulling it from the platform with his enhanced strength and wrapping Drakken in it. The doctor now stood, unable to move as the cold metal held him in place.

"Shego! Get me out of here!" Drakken called out, hoping his assistant would come to his rescue.

"She's out of commission Drakken. I think you're well and truly stuck." Kim said, dragging the unconscious body of Shego up to the platform. "Phantom, think you can restrain her too?"

"Not a problem." Danny said, grabbing another section of railing and restraining the green supervillainess.

"Girls, you find Toshiro?" Kim asked, pulling out her Kimmunicator. On the trip over, they had connected it and the Compowders so they could communicate.

"We found Toshiro, and we're about half-way through destroying the server room. We don't have anything big to do it all at once though." Sam said on the other end, where they could see the girls using their small lasers to destroy server centers.

"I'll be there in a second, I think I might be able to." Danny said, flying through the hallways and making it to the room. Using his enhanced strength, Danny pulled the servers from the floor, piling them into a corner, and with a focused energy blast, began melting the servers together.

"Show off." Clover grumbled goodnaturedly. "Well, if that's done, I guess we better call into Jerry and Dr. Director to let them know the mission is done."

"Already done girls." Jerry said, stepping into the room. "We'll be planting some charges here to make sure all of this is destroyed. For now, why don't all of you step outside whilst we handle the rest."

With Drakken and Shego in custody, and the island base destroyed, Danny, Kim, and the spies boarded the jet that WOOHP and Global Justice had sent for them, and were sitting with Jerry and Dr. Director.

"Well done. I hope there weren't too many complications with this mission." Dr. Director said, looking to the gathered group.

"Nothing we couldn't handle obviously." Danny said, smiling at the girls around him. "I thought we made a pretty good team."

"More like totally awesome!" Clover said, shooting her hands up. "We kicked all kinds of butt!"

"It's admittedly pretty nice to have people around who get what it's like to do this stuff." Sam said. "Keeping the spy stuff secret has made it pretty hard to have friends outside of each other."

"I suppose it must be." Jerry said looking at the girls. "Have there been many issues with the secrecy? It's not an aspect of your work you've told me about often."

"Nothing like a breach or anything, just difficulties maintaining relationships outside of the organization. Boys weren't fans of us constantly blowing off dates, and other girls found our friendship kind of impenetrable since we spend so much time together." Alex spoke up. "Sam and Clover are the best friends I could ever ask for, but I worry that I'll never be able to make any other long-term friends outside of them because of the WOOHP stuff."

"Ms. Possible, Mr. Phantom, how do you handle these issues?" Jerry asked, looking to them.

"Well, I don't have a secret identity. My hero work is out in the open. It has made keeping friends pretty difficult. Ron and Wade were pretty much the only deep friendships I've managed to keep since I started doing this, at least before I met Phantom." Kim said, looking to Danny.

"Dr. Director, I take it he's aware of my identity?" Danny asked, looking to her.

"I haven't informed him, that's up to you." Dr. Director said.

"Uh, Jerry. I understand you run a spy agency, so I'll trust your ability to keep secrets." Danny said looking to him.

"I assure you nothing you say to me leaves this room." Jerry said, looking to the ghost boy.

"Well, I do keep a secret identity, originally it was from everyone who wasn't there when I got my powers, but I've recently been expanding the circle. Having people who care about me who can help support the emotional burden of what we do is a big help. Obviously the difference between the work I do, and the espionage the girls do is decent, but I do think letting some people outside of group be aware of what they do, if not the specifics is worthwhile. I'd be a lot less effective as a hero if I didn't have Sam or Tucker there to help me work on balancing my life." Danny said. "Even something as simple as making an extra copy of their notes in class because I was busy fighting a ghost makes managing my hero life and my school life easier."

"They've been lots of help for me too." Kim said. "Notes for classwork, keeping an understanding of what's going on, and sometimes just being a bit of normalcy is great. I admittedly am not as close to them as Danny is, but they've taken up with helping me with work-life balance as well. From working on study guides for tests, to just being around for a relaxing trip to the mall where I know they won't talk about a mission, it's great. It lets me compartmentalize stuff a bit."

"Interesting." Jerry said, looking to Dr. Director. "It would seem that this team idea of yours has significant merit if this encounter is any indication."

"I'm more than pleased with the results." Dr. Director said. "I imagine you're going somewhere with this though."

"The girls here primarily travel the world for missions, which means that provided their starting location is sufficiently well connected where they are is largely irrelevant." Jerry said, before turning to the girls. "I understand you're still relatively recent in your move to Beverly Hills, but would you be open to relocating again?"

"You're wanting us to move to where Danny and Kim are I'm guessing?" Sam said. "I… well I think it's not a bad idea. Certainly having people around we don't need to hide who or what we are is good. It's also not like we have any friends outside of each other in Beverly Hills anyway."

"What about our parents though? Surely they'd have issues finding work." Alex mentioned.

"Your parents are technically WOOHP employees, working for companies controlled by us. It's not a coincidence they received job offers in the area after all." Jerry said. "If this would be a move you would be interested in, there would be similar offers given to them to encourage the relocation."

"What about WOOHP's headquarters? We couldn't handle a different handler, Jerry." Clover said.

"I would maintain my status as your handler as it were, I need not be present at WOOHP headquarters physically that often. Over the years we've decreased the organization's reliance on me specifically anyway. I would be willing to relocate in the interest of smoothing over this partnership with Global Justice." Jerry said, looking at Dr. Director.

"We'd be glad to have you, you could utilize Global Justice resources while you establish your presence in Middleton if you wish." Dr. Director said.

"I think we should do it guys. Having other people around who understand the mission stuff would be great." Sam said, looking to her two best friends.

"I think it's worth thinking about." Alex said.

"Ooh, I wonder if there are any cute boys in Middleton who are in need of some Clover in their life." Clover wondered aloud.

"I'll make preparations while you think over it. I believe this would be the start of a fruitful partnership." Jerry said looking over the gathered teens.

"Guess we're starting a teenage superteam." Danny said.

"Well, together we'll be unstoppable." Kim said, smiling at the new friends.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back for another chapter. Behold, my attempt to write a wrong of the original run of the show. If we're going to have an episode titled 'Thirteen' and then premier it as episode 14, when nothing in the original episode 13 is required for this episode, then I wonder why we did it. (The answer is likely since Fright Night, the actual episode 13, was a Halloween special that needed to be released on Halloween, and broadcast order became canon order.) I'm not bound by such things, so Episode 13 is titled Thirteen. Small update regarding posting for the next chapter. I'm on vacation in a place where I won't be able to post chapters starting Saturday the 6th. So next week this story will also receive it's update that would normally come on the 12th. So you get next chapter a week early, and then the one after that will be on normal schedule. On with the chapter.

The roar of a motorcycle tears the fragile silence of the ghost zone, and a female voice cries out in glee. Johnny 13, as well as his long-time girlfriend Kitty are cruising through the ghost zone, preparing for an experience they hadn't had in many years in their afterlives: a normal date in the human world.

"I'm so excited to go to the festival with you Johnny! It'll be so nice to just act like normal people again." Kitty said, gripping tighter to her beatnick boyfriend's waist.

"It'll be chill Kitty. We might even see that Phantom dude, I owe him a thanks for busting me out of Walker's prison." Johnny said, revving the motorcycle more, pushing the spectral engine to its limits as they tore through the green-tinted blackness of the ghost zone.

"I still don't know what to make of that guy. Sidney says he's okay, and he busts you out of prison, but Spectra and Ember hate him. It's so weird." Kitty mentions, thinking of her ghostly acquaintances' opinions on the ghost boy. Ember was her best friend, so she generally thought to trust her opinion the most, but she seemed so confused when it came to her thoughts on the half-ghost. Ember hated that he had thwarted her plans, but had confided in Kitty something she hadn't told anyone else. She had put the half-ghost under a love spell, one that would enrapture most men to blindly do her bidding… and Phantom had been affected, but wasn't just some blind love slave. He maintained his personality, refused orders from her, made her doubt everything. Kitty knew that had hit Ember hard, and it was messing with her thoughts.

Poindexter's thoughts were easier to decipher. She and Sidney weren't friends by any means, but they were friendly enough. Kitty appreciated the geek more than she imagined most in the ghost zone did, feeling a strange kinship with the boy, likely brought on by the fact that they had both died shortly before graduating high school. Theoretically they had had bright futures ahead of them, but something had ended that for them. Sidney had told her that he had thought Phantom was a bully, someone who picked on others because they were weaker. He told her that he was very wrong in that regard, Phantom was bullied himself in his human guise, and despite the powers his ghost half granted, nearly never used them on others. Sidney had said he caught him slip once, using his powers as payback, but had also seen how disappointed he was in himself that he had done so. A moment of weakness.

That, alongside the prison break had planted a strange picture of Phantom for the ghost girl. He obviously was inexperienced in the ways of the ghost world, but seemed to be climbing the power rankings quickly. Johnny had spoken at length about how he seemed to be stronger than both himself and Skulker, which was no small feat. The three of them together had taken down Walker, who Kitty knew was probably one of the strongest ghosts in their area of the Zone.

There was even word that Technus has joined with him, helping him with whatever his plans were. That was even more noteworthy. While many ghosts did have friends in the zone, allies were few and far between. It was a power struggle in the zone, and you usually didn't want to throw your hat in with someone else unless you truly believed in them. For Kitty and Johnny, they had been in love in life, and continued to be in death. They were ride or die for each other, so they worked together. This allowed the two of them to punch far above their individual weight classes in the zone. Technus was a POWERFUL ghost, perhaps not quite at the level of Walker, but certainly comparable to Skulker or Spectra. For someone like him to work with Phantom, Phantom either had to be crazy strong, or offer something Technus REALLY wanted.

"Focus up buttercup. We're almost to the portal." Johnny said, dragging Kitty out of her thoughts.

She glanced over his shoulder, seeing the rocky outcropping that they had been told now housed the artificial portal created by the Fenton family. She had learned about it a couple months ago, and had been interested in exploring the other side, but hadn't felt safe without Johnny around. Now that he was back from his stint in Walker's prison, they were finally free to see what was on the other side.

Danny was finishing up the final touches on shutting the lab down for the night. He'd taken an extra hour after his parents had finished to get some more practice in with his powers, the lab being a safe and private place to do so. As such, he was tasked with running the nightly shutdown ritual.

The process was simple enough, you double checked the ecto-filter on the portal to see how soon it needed replacing, and replaced it if it was time. This filter had just been changed last week, and they were generally good for 3-4 weeks, so there hadn't been any worries there. From there, you made sure any samples were properly bottled and set into whatever storage container they needed to be in. Danny had given an ectoplasm sample earlier that day, and it was placed neatly in the cryo-freezer to be preserved for more experiments the following day. You checked the computers to see if they were properly shut down. Danny saw a note on one that a calculation was running, and it was to be left on overnight, so he avoided that one as he shut down the others.

Then finally, came the shutoff of the main portal. Scanning his handprint, Danny popped open the reinforced box that contained the on-off switch for the portal, and flipped the switch to 'off'.

In the second he did that though, a motorbike shot through the portal, a beatnick riding atop it, and a scream was heard.

Danny looked at the now closed and deactivated portal, and turned to the newcomer in the room. "Johnny?" Danny asked, recognizing the man from their time together in Walker's prison.

"Kitty?! Kitty!?" Johnny frantically called out, after failing to see the girl behind him on the bike. "She didn't make it through! Turn the portal back on!" Johnny called out, obviously panicked.

Danny flipped the switch back, reigniting the portal. A faint shape was seen as the portal opened again, someone Danny didn't recognize, but Johnny obviously did.

"Kitty! You're good. Thought I lost you. Step on through, we'll see that Festival like you wanted." Johnny said, relief in his voice as he looked through the portal.

"I… I can't Johnny." Kitty said, as she seemed to walk in place, she reached her hand forward, but it didn't come through the portal.

"Come on, here, I'll give you a hand." Johnny said, reaching into the portal where her hand was. His hand passed straight through, seemingly bypassing her entirely.

"Johnny I'm scared." Kitty said, as Johnny stepped through the portal fully.

Johnny stepped out a second later, confused and concerned. "She's not on the other side! I can see her, but she's not there! Phantom, you know anything about this?"

"No, let me call my parents and Technus, they might know." Danny said, sending a message to Technus through the Fenton phone, and rushing upstairs.

10 minutes later, Jack, Maddie, and Technus were looking at diagnostic readings on the portal, trying to figure out what was going on. Johnny attempted to explain the events leading up to it. "We were driving along, we wanted to check out a festival that we heard the Box Ghost talk about seeing a sign for. We hadn't come back to the human world since we died, so we thought it'd be fun. The portal was there when I passed through, but it's closed when I came out the other side, and Kitty's trapped inside of it."

"I see. I believe I understand the problem." Technus called out, telekinetically moving a whiteboard over. "The ghost zone and the human world are two sides of the same coin, but the barrier between them is governed by the natural frequency of the world. The portal works by easing your frequency from the 250 hz signal of the human world, to the 200 hz signal of the Ghost Zone. I believe that in the process of passing through the closing portal, Miss Kitty here has unfortunately caught herself between the two frequencies."

"If that's the case, why was only she caught and not the back wheel of Johnny's bike? It was behind her, so it should have been caught with her." Maddie asked, looking over some of the calculations Technus had written down.

"I believe that when an object begins passing through the portal, it begins to change its frequency all at once. Johnny's bike was the first thing to enter the portal, so it all changed first. I imagine the cutoff point of the portal was partially through Johnny's own body, but since his hands were further forward gripping the handlebars, he was unaffected, or was at least attuned enough to this side to be forced out. I believe Miss Kitty is stuck perfectly at the midpoint, unable to move to one side or the other." Technus said.

"Is there any way to get her out?" Johnny asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes, I can imagine three. Firstly, she would likely eventually reattune herself to the ghost zone naturally. Ectoplasm reaches a steady state at 200 hz, and while it can function well at 250, at levels in between those two it will slowly begin to acclimatize itself. Unfortunately for Miss Kitty though, such a process would likely take a month, and after a week she would be unable to converse with anyone, as she would be too out of sync with either end of the portal to be seen through it." Technus said. "The second option would be for her to infuse her energies into associated objects, someone on this side could then hold on to one of those objects and she would attune to them, taking over their body. That does force her consciousness onto them though, so that method seems unfavorable. The final option would be for us to create a device that can alter her frequency from this side, to do so we would need an ectoplasmically infused frequency amplifier, and a sufficiently powerful frequency tuner."

"Could we make one of those in time Technus?" Jack asked, looking at some of the notes Technus produced.

"Not from scratch, although I do know where we could acquire the amplifier. Ember's guitar would be suitably powerful and with a suitably powerful tuner, we could easily bring Kitty to this side of the portal. Once she is through, she could step back to the other side without issue." Technus said.

"For some reason I doubt Ember would be in any hurry to help with anything I am a part of." Danny said. His encounter with the rockstar still fresh in his mind. He, Kim, and Star had worked through their issues with the mind control. None of them were happy, but agreed that they were glad it wasn't worse. Danny being completely obedient to someone's whims was dangerous, since he likely had the power to level a city before anyone could even attempt to stop him.

"It would be a moot point without the tuner. I do not know of any in the ghost zone that would have such a device, so we will need to find one in the human world." Technus said.

"I'll see if Kim can get in contact with Global Justice in the morning. They might know someone who has something similar." Danny said.

"Couldn't you do it now?" Johnny asked.

"Any lab that had the equipment we'd need wouldn't be open this late, short of it being on the other side of the planet. I doubt even if we could locate any equipment right now that we could get access to it before morning." Danny said, looking at his watch. It was 9PM Central, so even the West Coast labs would probably be out of their offices for over an hour.

"It's okay Johnny. He helped you in Walker's prison, and he helped Poindexter before. I think he's genuine." Kitty said, smiling at Johnny trying to calm his nerves. "When could you get in contact with them?"

"Eight in the morning, from there I imagine they'd have the information in an hour. Beyond that I don't know. If a device like we are looking for does exist, it could be all the way in California or something, that'd be three or so hours of travel by jet." Danny said, trying to piece the time together. "I promise I'll make it happen as fast as I can."

"I believe you." Kitty said. "Just do what you can."

"I'll develop the rest of the device we would need, I do not think it will take me too long. Jack, Madison, I believe you should get some rest. I will need your assistance in constructing the device in the morning." Technus said.

"Don't you need to sleep Technus?" Maddie asked.

"While we ghosts do still sleep, it is not a requirement like it is for humans. I can function for long periods without it with no loss of cognitive ability. Although, even when I was alive, all-nighters were nothing for Dr. Nikolai Techmann." Technus said, pulling out blueprint paper and turning on some of the computers.

"Alright then. I guess we better get some rest to help Technus in the morning, Maddie." Jack said.

"Alright. Mr… 13 I believe you said your name was? What do you intend to do?" Maddie asked, looking to the scruffy biker.

"I'd like to stay with Kitty if you don't mind. Can I camp out down here?" Johnny asked.

"That's not an issue, provided you don't break anything. Technus will be down here to keep an eye on you as it is. Would you be willing to donate some ectoplasm samples? We've been trying to collect them from as many different ghosts as possible to see differences in structure." Maddie asked.

"I'll give you as much as you want if you can get Kitty out of there." Johnny said.

"I'll donate too, once I'm free." Kitty said.

"Excellent. Danny, why don't you get an air mattress and a blanket for Mr. 13 here." Maddie said, and Danny floated through the ceiling and came back with the requested items.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Johnny said, taking the air mattress to a corner of the lab close to the portal, but out of Technus's way.

"So she's stuck in the portal?" Kim asked, as she, Ron, and Danny met at the park in Middleton.

"Yeah, so we need to find some kind of super powerful frequency tuner… and somehow convince Ember to help us." Danny said, a tinge of despair in his voice at the second part.

"You said she would fix herself eventually right? Why not just wait?" Ron asked.

"Technus estimates that the wait time for her to fix herself would be a month, and after a week she won't be in tune enough with either side of the portal to be seen, so she'd be stuck in the space between with no outside contact for about 3 weeks." Danny explained. "That's not something I'd wish on my worst enemy, Jazz told me all about what solitary confinement does to prisoners, and Kitty didn't even do anything wrong."

Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator, switching it on. "Hey Wade, think you can get in contact with Global Justice for us? Or find someone who has been working with a high powered tuning device?"

"I'll send the notice to GJ right now. Care to tell me what you need the tuner for?" Wade asked, typing away at his keyboard.

"Talk to Technus for details, see if maybe you can translate some of his techno-babble into something we can ask around for." Danny said.

"Got it. GJ just acknowledged the message, I'd expect to hear from them in a second or two." Wade said.

A nearby mailbox opened up, sucking Kim, Danny, and Ron into a tube that slid them down into a Global Justice office. "Oh, now I see why Jerry does that… it is very fun." Dr. Director said, looking at the gathered teens.

"I'd thank you for the quick response, but I'm not super thrilled about the method." Danny said, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Understandable, it was simply a test of the new system. We'll endeavor to use it for emergencies only, although given what we need you for, I imagine you'll encounter it often. As it stands, you requested our assistance?" Dr. Director asked.

"A ghost got stuck in my parents' portal, while I know it is outside of Global Justice's wheelhouse as it's not a world saving issue, I was hoping you could help me find what I'm looking for. Wade should be getting the specifics from Technus now, but I need to find a high powered frequency tuner." Danny said, looking to the Director.

"I see. Well, as this is not a threat of the world situation, I can't make it a high priority. That doesn't mean however I cannot provide some assistance. I'll have one of our research team speak with Mr. Load and Technus about the specifics of this device. I'm certain they'll be able to find someone who has such a device within our network." Dr. Director said, typing a message on her phone. "Agent Cranston is working with them now. He's one of our top minds, so I'm certain they can find something. For now, I do have updates on your associates from WOOHP."

"WOOHP? Like a whoopie cushion?" Ron asked.

"No, Ron. They're the World Organization Of Human Protection, which while not a great name, are very good. Three of their agents helped us save you and the others from that Mindhacker game the other day." Kim said.

"Quite right. Their agents have elected to transfer themselves to Middleton, so the three agents will be attending school with you. A request has been made that since you are aware of their identities, you assist in helping them maintain their cover when they are called away." Dr. Director said.

"So not the drama. I'd have helped even if they didn't ask. No different than helping with Danny." Kim said.

"It'll be harder keeping it from Sam, Tucker, Star, and Valerie though… especially if they ever have to help us with something." Danny mentioned.

"Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Star Lett, and Valerie Grey? You think there would be an issue with them finding out the identities of the agents?" Dr. Director asked.

"They already know about my identity, and Kim and Ron's aren't secret. If they start vanishing when we do for hero stuff, or during a ghost encounter show weird levels of proficiency dealing with them… well they'll get suspicious. Well, Sam will be suspicious." Danny said.

"Well, those four have been vetted as they are members of your teams as it were. I'll contact Jerry and let him know of the possibility of needing to have that information be disseminated early. This arrangement is causing a few information logistics problems, but I believe it is beneficial." Dr. Director said.

"You've mentioned other people you wanted to recruit before. Since we're already here, do you want to tell us about them at all?" Danny asked.

"I suppose there is no issue. This information is a tightly guarded secret, so none of you will repeat it, even to the others of your group until such time as I allow it." Dr. Director said sternly. "You are being granted this information because I expect attempting to recruit them will prove more fruitful if you two were the ones to do it."

"Understood. That means you too Ron." Kim said, elbowing him.

"Why wouldn't I be involved in recruiting?" Ron asked.

"While I imagine you may be, largely I expect Ms. Possible and Mr. Fenton here to be the primary members of this team. Your experience with supervillains and your continued success is notable Mr. Stoppable, your direct combat abilities are in need of improvement if you are to be placed on this team." Dr. Director said.

"Kim and I will run you through some martial arts practice Ron, you'll be super team ready in no time." Danny said, smiling at him, before turning to Dr. Director.

"We currently have two individuals who we believe may be assets, although we expect contact with one of them may prove difficult. The other we are in contact with a board regarding the ethics of their inclusion." Dr. Director said. "Before I begin, what are your thoughts on the presence of magic or alien life?"

"Well, I saw something I definitely couldn't explain with science when Ron fought against Monkey Fist, glowing yellow lights and sudden power that he hasn't had before or since. So I'm not as opposed to the concept of real magic as I was before. As for aliens… well the universe is a big place, it'd probably be weirder if we were totally alone out here." Danny said.

"Second on the thing with Monkey Fist, that was totally weird! And no duh there are aliens! They came to Earth at Roswell in the 40s." Ron said.

"That was a military balloon for detecting Soviet nuclear tests, Ron. I'm skeptical about the magic thing… and the alien thing." Kim said.

"Well, we can confirm the presence of both. Please observe this footage from New York City." Dr. Director said, pulling up a video on the large screen in the room they were in.

Footage of a red dragon with a yellow underbelly was seen, flying above a New York City apartment block. A different set of footage showed the same dragon standing on two legs, fighting against some shrouded figures in Central Park.

"A Dragon?" Kim asked.

"The American Dragon. From what we can gather, before we have recorded history the magical world went into hiding. Dragons, who have the ability to have a human or a dragon form served as the protectors of the magical world from human threats, and vice-versa. They seem to have originated from Asia, but have slowly migrated elsewhere. This Dragon seems to be the first to make it to the states. We've tracked his human identity to be Jake Long, a 14 year old boy living in Manhattan." Dr. Director stated. "While we have had no contact with him, or the magical world in general, his status as a protector implies that assisting with threats that face the entire world may fall under his jurisdiction. Mr. Fenton, we believe that as a ghost, you may technically qualify as a 'magical creature' and therefore be able to interact with that world without consequence."

"Alright, there's the magic, I guess the other one is an alien?" Danny asked.

"Partially correct. The one we believe may be an asset is a package duo, and while we do not believe one of them will assist in any combat, her approval would be necessary for our asset to join the team." Dr. Director said, flipping the slide. A family photo on a Hawaiian beach was seen, with two girls, a tall, ugly woman who appeared to have one eye, a large purple man who appeared to have four eyes, and a blue dog that also looked like a koala. "Pictured here is the semi-recently expanded Pelakai family. Residents of Kauai."

"Looks like 3 aliens there… or two aliens and one really weird dog." Danny called out.

"Correct on both accounts." Dr. Director said. "The little girl in the picture is Lilo Pelakai, she's 11 years old, lives with her 22 year old older sister Nani Pelakai. Nani took Lilo to the pound to adopt a dog, and while there she encountered, and later named, Stitch. Stitch is a synthetically produced extra-terrestrial made by Dr. Jumba Jukeeba, the larger man seen in the photo. He had escaped a highly secured prison, stolen a ship, and made his way to Earth."

"So the dog is an alien criminal… and you want him for the hero team?" Kim asked.

"Outside of his escape, the initial crime Stitch was accused of was simply existing, and from contacts with the United Galactic Federation, an ethics committee has questioned whether such an action was warranted, although Stitch has been pardoned of his crimes." Dr. Director said.

"Wait, you're in contact with the aliens?" Ron asked.

"Contact between the government and aliens was established in Roswell, New Mexico in 1973." Dr. Director said.

"Wait, there WERE aliens in Roswell, just like, 30 years later?" Ron said.

"Yes, it is an amusing coincidence, but just that, coincidence." Dr. Director said. "Regardless, Stitch represents a powerful asset to the team. According to information provided to us by the United Galactic Federation, Stitch contains some of the most terrifying traits from nearly two dozen apex predators across the universe. He's a genetically engineered killing machine without rival."

"Still not sounding like 'Hero' material here Director." Danny said.

"One would think not, but upon arriving on Earth and being inducted into the Pelakai family, Stitch became notably docile, and fiercely protective of his family. He is highly intelligent, speaking several intergalactic languages, and speaking English here on Earth, although reports say that he seems to struggle with our words, likely more out of biological issues than mental ones. The Pelakai family is monitored by the CIA and by the United Galactic Federation."

"The CIA is involved? They're covering up aliens?" Ron asked.

"For the time being. There was initial need for secrecy during the Cold War for fear that the Soviets would make contact with unsavory outside forces and use their enhanced weaponry to wage war. Since the end of the Cold War, the CIA has been attempting to find ways to introduce the concept of life beyond our planet in a way that would not cause mass panic. Kauai has been a testing ground for Alien-Human integration in large parts through efforts of the Pelakai family." Dr. Director said, as her phone beeped. "That is enough for now. Contact with Mr. Long and Ms. Pelekai will be a project for a later time. I believe over your summer vacation so as not to needlessly disrupt your school attendance. Agent Cranston has informed me of a Global Justice affiliated scientist who has something that meets the requirements Technus is requesting. Dr. Sheldon Akers of Elko, Nevada. I have his work address that I will send to you. I'll prepare one of our jets for you, since I imagine time is of the essence. Make your way to the hangar bay and it will be waiting for you."

Knocking at the door with the tag for a Dr. Akers, a tall, gangly man opened the door. "Yes, can I help you with something?"

"Hello, Dr. Akers. My name is Kim Possible, can we step into your office for a moment?" Kim asked.

"Of course, please come in." Dr. Akers, said, gesturing the trio of teenagers inside. "I'll admit this visit in unexpected, what is this about?"

"We were given your contact information from Global Justice. We are in need of a high powered frequency tuning device, and a Global Justice researcher seemed to believe you were in possession of one." Danny said.

"Oh, that kind of business. Yes, I believe I have a device similar to what you are looking for. I developed the Resonance Frequency Manipulator, it is a device that tightly calibrates itself and any piece of equipment it is tethered to to operate at a certain frequency, and can be adjusted as needs fit. I developed it for use in mining, Elko is surrounded by gold mines, you know, so most of my research is for that purpose. What do you need it for?" Dr. Akers asked.

"Dr. Akers, my family performs research on ghosts, and notably the ghost zone, which is an alternate dimension inhabited primarily by ghosts. From what we have gathered in our research, the ghost zone and the human world are separated by an underlying frequency of the matter that exists in that universe. We developed a portal that can travel between the two dimensions by easing your frequency between the two extremes, but in a freak accident a ghost was caught at the exact midpoint of the two frequencies and is stuck in a limbo between the dimensions. We're hoping that we can utilize your device to help attune our equipment to the necessary frequency to pull her through." Danny said.

"A nice prank, but there are no such things as ghosts." Dr. Akers said.

Danny sighed, transforming and grabbing Dr. Akers, turning them intangible and taking them up through the ceiling. As they stood on the roof, Danny said: "Walk through walls, disappear and fly. Three hallmarks of ghosts, and things I can do."

"I stand corrected, apparently there is at least one ghost." Dr. Akers stated, looking over Danny. "How did you die?"

"I didn't, I'm only a half-ghost. I won't say how that happened for fear of someone else trying it. For now, I could use your help saving another ghost from being stuck in between worlds for a few weeks." Danny said.

"If for no other reason than to study this phenomena, I'd be glad to help. Take us back to my office and I'll lead you to the store room where we keep my device. I'll need to travel with it and help you install it, so I can revert it back once we are finished." Dr. Akers said.

"That's fine." Danny said, grabbing him and phasing them back through the floor. "Lead the way."

Dr. Akers led the three teens into a storage bay, where a crate with "Resonance Frequency Modulator" written on it was kept. "It's a bit heavy, so we'll need some muscle to move it." Dr. Akers said. "It weighs about 120 pounds."

"Not a problem, I can lift a car." Danny said, making his way over to the crate.

As he did so though, a hole was blown in the wall near them, a short man in a red jumpsuit with a black helmet came through.

"Ah… Dr. Akers, I knew doing the kidnapping of you would be the easy, but I did not believe it would be this the easy." The man stated, snapping his fingers as his two henchman grabbed the Doctor.

"Not happening!" Kim said, jumping to land a flying kick on the henchman, but was stopped when she was shot by a beam that held her in mid-air.

"Ooh goodie, I had been hoping to use zis. Ze Zero Point Energy Arresting Motion gun, a marvel I am quite happy to have invented." The short man said.

"Then it looks like it's my turn then!" Danny said, running at the man, as he was about to transform though, he too was shot with the beam.

"Such foolish fooling fools." The man said, laughing. "I vill be doing the leaving with the Doctor and the Resonance Frequency Modulator. Aufiderzein strange teenagers."

Danny and Kim could only watch in frozen horror as the doctor was kidnapped, and the device was stolen. A few moments later, their restraints wore off, and they stretched as they comprehended what happened.

"Who was that guy, one of yours Kim?" Danny asked, trying to work out his stiff joints.

"Not one I've dealt with until now I guess." Kim said. "Ron, where are you?"

"Over here Kim!" Ron said, from behind some rubble. "Sorry I couldn't help you stop him, but I think I did something. Wade gave me these trackers that I was supposed to put on stuff like Drakken's flying platform thing. I put one on the short dude's helmet."

"Way to go Ron! We should probably tell Global Justice, considering one of their associates just got kidnapped." Danny said, stoked that Ron had managed to give them a lead on their guy.

As they hopped back on their jet, Dr. Director appeared on a screen in the cabin. "The man that kidnapped Dr. Akers is a supervillain named Professor Dementor. He's technically the number one supervillain in the world at the moment."

"If he's top dog why haven't I dealt with him yet?" Kim asked.

"Coincidence mostly. He uses a quality over quantity approach with his villainy, fewer schemes, but more potential damage per scheme. While you've been doing some variation of hero work for a couple of years Ms. Possible, you've only added supervillains to that list over the past few months. Professor Dementor simply hadn't performed any schemes this year. We've traced his flight path thanks to the tracker that Mr. Stoppable placed on Professor Dementor, we believe his current base of operations is in Alaska, near the Bering Strait." Dr. Director said. "This is now a Global Justice sanctioned mission, so do whatever you can to stop Dementor and rescue Dr. Akers, we will provide any support we can."

"Understood." Danny said, sighing. "Nothing's ever simple is it?"

"Nope, figured you'd have learned that by now." Kim said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"No idea how you do this on the regular. This travel stuff would kill me if I had to do it as often as you do." Danny said.

"It's not so bad. Gives me time to do homework or practice cheer routines. Plus you know, I'm saving people, so that's a big help." Kim said, trying to cheer him up.

"Plus all the pretty ladies we meet!" Ron added in.

"Don't need you telling my boyfriend about checking out other girls Ron." Kim said in a faux annoyed voice.

"Look, I've got two pretty girls I'm dating. My eyes don't need to wander. It's a miracle even one of you decided to date me, much less two." Danny said.

"I dunno Danny, you've had some decent female attention since I've known you. Tara thought you were cute, although she never did anything once she knew Star and I were interested. Not to mention that Ember fiasco." Kim said, rolling her eyes at the last section.

"I think she might have just been doing that because she thought I was a threat to her plans." Danny said.

"Maybe, but she didn't have to play tonsil hockey with you to do that." Kim said.

A few hours later, Danny flew Kim and Ron down from their jet onto the roof of the base that Professor Dementor was supposed to be in. "Kim, got a lock on his location from the tracker?" Danny asked.

"Yep, looks like he's about 20 ft. straight below us." Kim said, looking at the screen of her Kimmunicator.

"Alright, hold on tight and stay quiet, I'll fly us in invisibly and see if we can catch Helmet Hair off guard." Danny said, as he grabbed them and flew them through the floor.

They found themselves in a large central room, where Professor Dementor had Dr. Akers strapped to a chair. A massive device that looked like a giant hydraulic press was centered in the room.

"I must thank you Dr. Akers, your device is truly marvelous, perfect for use in my Quake machine." Dementor said, seemingly making some final adjustments.

"You won't get away with this Dementor! You can't use my device for your evil schemes, whatever they are." Dr. Akers said, struggling against his binds.

"Ah, I suppose I should enlighten you then." Professor Dementor said, as he hit a button on a remote. A projector and screen emerged from the ceiling, and started showing a powerpoint presentation. A map of the Alaskan and Russian coastlines could be seen. "You see Dr. Akers, with my magnificent Quake machine, I will create massive tsunamis that will batter the Russian coastline, leading to massive damage!" Dementor laughed, hitting a button that showed an animation of waves battering the Russian coast.

"Why would you do this?" Dr. Akers asked.

"This damage will of course be blamed on the U.S., it is after all coming from within their own borders. Tensions between the U.S. and Russia will rise and rise, possibly leading to a war between two world superpowers! I intend to give the President an out though, I will turn off my quake machine, in exchange for being granted the title 'Supreme Overlord of Alaska'!" Dementor said, laughing maniacally.

"Why do you want to be Supreme Overlord of Alaska?" Dr. Akers asked.

"Because, my dear Dr. Akers, of the moose." Dementor said.

"The moose?"

"Yes, I will use Alaska's massive moose population as a testing ground for an army of unstoppable genetically engineered super creatures! They are ripe for becoming an army of unstoppable killing machines!" Dementor said, continuing his evil laugh.

Danny whispered to Kim and Ron. "I'll keep him distracted. Kim, you try and disable his quake machine. Ron, you try and get the Doctor free. Got it?"

"Got it." They both responded.

Danny flew invisibly to the opposite side of the room, before turning visible and speaking up. "Compensating for something short stuff?"

"Oof! You flying boy! I do not know how you have entered my lair, but I will not have you ruin my plans. Taste plasma!" Dementor said, pulling a plasma pistol from his belt and firing at Danny.

Dodging the projectile Danny taunted: "The name's Phantom, consider me the ghost of every growth spurt you never had!"

Dementor fired more shots, chasing Danny around the lab as he kept dodging the blasts. "You will be doing the stopping now! The thwarting of my plans will be ceasing!"

"Ooh! Better idea, I'm the ghost of all the hair you don't have anymore because of that stupid helmet!" Danny taunted more, causing more blasts to come his way.

"I am not the bald under my helmet!" Dementor yelled angrily, continuing his rapid fire assault on Danny.

Kim and Ron snuck their way over to the large device in the center, Ron moving to start undoing the binds on Dr. Akers, while Kim began examining the Device.

"Wade, think you can guide me through disconnecting this?" Kim whispered into the Kimmunicator.

"Not a problem, start with that orange cable, that should be the primary connection." Wade whispered, as Kim carefully began removing components. With the device disconnected, Kim heaved it over her shoulder, and looked to Ron, who had freed the Doctor.

As they moved towards one of the exits, taking advantage of Danny's distraction, Dr. Akers tripped, landing on the ground with a thud.

Dementor glanced over to the sound. "No! The Doctor is doing the escaping! I will not have this!" Dementor aimed his pistol to the doctor and pulled the trigger.

Time froze for Danny as he watched, they were so close, and now the doctor was going to die. Danny could maybe take one of the plasma blasts, it'd be no different than one of the many ecto blasts he'd taken before. But there was no way he could make it in time.

That didn't mean he couldn't try.

Danny shot forward, pushing his speed faster than he'd ever thought before. There was no thought given to anything but getting between the doctor and the blast. The burning sensation hit him first, like a branding iron being taken to his side, it lingered for a second before almost wrapping around him like a water balloon and dissipating. Danny looked down and saw the singe marks on his costume. He'd made it. He'd intercepted the blast. Dr. Akers was safe.

"Phantom!" Kim called out in worry, before setting the device down and running over to Dementor, knocking his pistol away and catching him with a roundhouse kick to his helmet that rang his head like a dinner bell. An over the shoulder throw sent him to the floor, where she then called Ron to restrain him.

Ron came over and put his makeshift zip-tie cuffs on him, while Kim ran over to Phantom. "You okay? That blast looked bad."

"I've had plenty of worse hits. Just glad I made it to the Doctor in time. You good doc?" Danny asked, looking over at the elder man.

"I'm fine, perhaps embarrassed by tripping over my own feet." Dr. Akers said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I thank you immensely for saving both me and my work from this mad man."

"All in a day's work for Team Phantom-Possible." Danny said with a smirk.

"You're injured, so I'll let it slide that you just decided to have top billing." Kim said jokingly.

"Possible-Phantom just makes it seem like we MIGHT have a ghost with us." Danny said, as he patted his side a bit. "You should probably call GJ to have someone come and fully dismantle this contraption and take Dementor here into custody."

"They already have." A familiar British voice said, as a balding man stepped into the room.

"Jerry?" Danny asked, looking at him.

"Yes, WOOHP has a base not too far from here, so they suggested that we handle clean-up and capture. I happened to be nearby. Good work on taking out Dementor, he's quite a nuisance." Jerry said, looking over as the WOOHP guards placed real cuffs on him and took him away. "The girls send their regards, they're finishing up the final pieces necessary to relocate to Middleton. I believe they hope to attend one final halloween party in Beverly Hills before they leave, so I would perhaps expect them sometime in the beginning of November."

"That's good, it'll be cool to have them around." Danny said.

"Indeed. I was also informed in my conversation with Dr. Director that you believe there may be some people who could suss out their identities at your school?" Jerry asked, looking towards the trio.

"Yeah, Sam, Tucker, Star, and Valerie. They're our friends, part of our group. Help with the ghost hunting we do and are aware of my powers and things. Sam's the suspicious type anyway, so them suddenly showing up and possibly disappearing if we're ever needed for missions at the same time would probably trip her radar." Danny said, thinking about his longest standing female friend. "Wouldn't surprise me if she got Tuck involved to help her 'uncover' who they are, probably framing it as keeping a villain away from me or Kim."

"This is a predicament. Traditionally we've wiped the memories of anyone who learns of the identities of the spies. You two were exceptions due to our cooperative efforts for Dr. Directors team. Do you believe they would keep this secret?" Jerry asked.

"Without a doubt if I asked them to. They've kept my secret, and there are likely ways we could mitigate what they know. Not lie to them, but just not explain everything. They're agents we work with for superhero stuff. That'd be a good enough explanation for them." Danny said.

"Yeah, we probably don't even have to mention WOOHP, since they've met Global Justice agents, they might just think they're part of GJ." Kim said.

"I see. I'll discuss this with the girls when I get a chance. For now, I believe you have a mission of your own to get back to." Jerry said. "We will take Dementor to a holding facility. I take it you need Dr. Akers and his device for something?"

"Yeah, thanks Jerry." Danny said, as they waved goodbye and loaded themselves back into the Global Justice Jet, setting a course back for Amity Park.

Danny carried the Resonance Frequency Modulator down the stairs to the lab, Kim, Ron, and Dr. Akers following behind. "Got the device you needed Technus, and the doctor who made it, so he should be able to help you integrate it." Danny called out, as everyone looked over at him.

"Danny! Those burns on your side! What happened?" Maddie called out, running over to her son and examining the burn.

"Supervillain plasma ray. I'm fine, really. I take worse hits than this all the time. Normally I throw up shields to block most of the damage, but couldn't get one up fast enough. I'll be fine after a night's sleep. My healing got super-charged when I got my powers." Danny said, trying to calm down his mom.

"Ooh, I don't like this at all, but I know I can't stop you. Just be careful okay?" Maddie said.

"Always do, now, where can I set this down?" Danny asked, gesturing to the machine on his shoulder.

Technus and Dr. Akers discussed how to properly integrate the machine into Technus's designs, when Dr. Akers asked: "There is a… guitar in these plans? Why?"

"The guitar is a specific one, the most powerful ectoplasmic frequency generator I am aware of in the Ghost Zone. It is held by a ghost named Ember. We will need to get our hands on it." Technus said.

"Which means I've got to make a trip to Ember's lair." Danny said, looking into the portal.

"I'll head with you, if I'm there, Ember might listen that it's for Kitty." Johnny said, standing up. "I don't like leaving Kitty, but I can't just sit here and twiddle my thumbs."

"The back-up is appreciated, especially with her." Danny said.

"Don't hurt her please! I know you two have problems, but she's my friend, and we need her help!" Kitty called out from inside the portal.

"I'm going to try not to throw any punches, we'll see if she'll respond to that." Danny said. "Johnny, do you know where her lair is?"

"Yeah, I drop Kitty off there all the time. Getting there won't be the hard part, getting in might be. We're not exactly on the guest list." Johnny said.

"Cross that bridge when we get to it." Danny sighed.

"You sure you're good to handle Ember, Danny?" Kim asked.

"I'll put some Fentonpods in and hope that it'll work if she decides to hit me with that Love Spell again, otherwise I guess Johnny's gonna have to knock some sense into me." Danny said.

"I got you Phantom!" Johnny called out.

"Just remember you've got Star and I here waiting." Kim said, giving him a kiss.

"You got it boss. Let's roll Johnny." Danny called out, as the pair entered the portal.

Ember's lair turned out to not be too far from the portal, being closer than Walker's prison by a wide margin. The place was a large concert hall, with one notable entrance framed like a Hollywood red carpet.

"We're here Phantom. There's going to be a massive amount of skeleton groupies. Powerful ghosts tend to gather these kinds of armies around them, and Ember's probably the second or third most powerful ghost in our little neck of the woods." Johnny said, before pointing at the doors. "The bouncers let Kitty in without any problems, maybe they'll listen if we explain we're here on her behalf."

Danny and Johnny landed on the red carpet, and the greaser stepped forward to the skeletal bouncers, who were each about 12 ft. tall. "Hey fellas. Can you let us in to see Ember? We need to talk to her about Kitty." Johnny said, trying to reason with the guards. The skeletons didn't seem to listen though, and continued blocking the doors, looking down at the pair.

"Well, doesn't seem like they want to listen…. Can they?" Danny asked.

"They can, these jerks just won't. Guess it's time for plan B." Johnny said.

"And that is?" Danny asked.

"The B stands for Bash their skulls." Johnny said, pulling out a tire iron and slamming it into one of the bouncers, breaking the bones apart. The other skeleton made a grab for Johnny, and Danny kicked the arm away, separating it from its socket.

"Don't worry about holding back on these guys, they reform quick, a day and they'll be back together like nothing happened." Johnny said, slamming the pipe into the bouncer's skull sending it flying into the Zone.

"Well, we're inside… How do we find Ember?" Danny said as he opened the door for Johnny to walk through.

"Where you find any performer, on the stage or in their dressing room. Considering the lack of music playing, I'm guessing the latter. Come on." Johnny said, as he started rushing down the corridors of the concert hall. Droves of skeletal fans sat in chairs or milled around the space, apparently waiting for whenever Ember would bless them with a performance. They made no moves to stop them.

"Why aren't they stopping us?" Danny asked.

"Two-fold. One, they probably don't have orders to, and the skeletons aren't known for thinking for themselves too much. Two, we're way above their weight class, a rat isn't going to pick a fight with a bear." Johnny said, as he looked around at an intersection. "This way." He said, leading him down a hallway to a door with a large star on it that read 'Ember'. "She's in here."

"Guess we better knock then." Danny said, before stepping to the door and rapping on it with his knuckles.

The door opened and Ember looked out confusedly, before recognizing who knocked. With an angry look on her face, she strummed her guitar, sending an energy construct of a fist directly into Danny's torso. "I don't know what you're doing here or how you found me babypop, but NO ONE enters my lair without permission!" She said, before striking another chord, sending another blast at him. The walls of the realm began to shift around him, guitar strings emerging from the walls and pinning him to it.

"Ember, hold up! We need to talk to you!" Johnny called out.

"Phantom called in a favor for your breakout to find my place? That's low Johnny, even for you." Ember said. "Because Kitty loves you, I'll let you walk outta here while I deal with babypop here."

"Kitty's why we're here. She needs your help Ember." Danny said, struggling against the guitar strings.

"Yeah right. Kitty's plenty tough, she doesn't need my help for anything." Ember said.

"She does Ember, Phantom's been helping us. Kitty got stuck in their portal, accident that they were closing it as we were coming through. She's stuck half-way between our worlds. Without your help she's going to be stuck there all alone for a month." Johnny called out.

"What's Phantom got to do with this then?" Ember asked, glaring at him.

"He's been busting his ass to help her. Got a nasty burn to show for it getting some weird machine parts from a supervillain. You don't want to help Kitty, that's your problem, but I ain't gonna sit here and let you tear Phantom apart for trying to help her." Johnny said. "Let him go, Ember. Come on."

Ember glanced between the two, before recalling the guitar strings back into the walls. "You got one minute Phantom. What do you need?"

"The ghost zone and the human world operate on two different frequencies, that's how our worlds are separate. The portal works by rapidly changing the frequency of everything that goes through it to allow them to pass safely between the worlds. Since Kitty's stuck between them, we need a powerful ecto-energy filled frequency making device to work with a frequency modulator to attune her to one end of the spectrum." Danny said. "Your guitar is the strongest one Technus knows of."

"No duh, dipstick. My guitar's the strongest sound machine in the Zone." Ember said. "He pulling a fast one on me Johnny?"

"I don't know anything about the science stuff Ember, but I DO know that Kitty's trapped, and that's mostly the same explanation Technus gave. You know as well as I do that Technus knows everything about tech here in the zone." Johnny says.

"This is the only way to help Kitty?" Ember asked.

"The only one we're willing to take." Johnny said.

"The others?" Ember asked.

"Wait a month, 3 weeks of which Kitty would be completely cut off from anything and everything, or pass her essence into her clothes and take over someone else's body. Kitty's not too keen on that idea as anything but a last resort." Johnny said.

"Fine. I'll help. For Kitty." Ember said, sighing. "Lead us back to your portal babypop."

"Alright, thanks Ember." Danny said.

"Don't push your luck here." Ember said, as the trio made their way to the portal.

Once Ember arrived, Technus got to work hooking her guitar into the device, with him and Dr. Akers, running some final checks to make sure everything was alright. "Alright Technus, what do I need to do?" Ember asked, looking over the machinery she was tethered to.

"You need to hit a frequency of 225 Hz, then slowly increase the frequency to 250 Hz. The modulator will smooth over the edges of what you can and can't do with your guitar, but you are still the underlying source, so as closely as you can get would be beneficial." Technus called out.

"225…. Well A3 is 220… and B3 is 246/247, That close enough Technus?" Ember asked.

"Well within acceptable parameters. I am impressed you can translate that so easily." Technus praised.

"Just because I play rock music doesn't mean I don't appreciate my theory. Let's get it started, I'll tune and give you a slide that'll get me there, how slowly do I need to go?" Ember asked, tuning her guitar a bit.

"One second per every 5 hz step should be sufficient, so you'll need to space your slide over five seconds." Technus called out.

"It'll be hard to keep a pure tone for that long, but I'll get it done." Ember said, readying herself. "Give me a mark when we're ready."

"Go." Technus said, as he fired up the machine.

Ember's guitar pick glowed with ectoplasmic energy as she stuck the string on her guitar, the green energy of which funneled through the machine before surrounding Kitty. Ember began slowly sliding her finger down the neck of the guitar, making her way from one fret to the next. Within a few seconds, Kitty stood, fully solid, in the lab.

"Did it work?" Kitty asked, looking over herself. She felt like she was here.

Technus touched a hand to her. "She is corporeal here, or at least as much as we are normally. It appears to be a success!" Technus called out, and a joyous sigh filled the room.

Johnny wrapped Kitty in a hug, who reciprocated it. "I'm so glad you're here babe. Thanks Phantom, thanks Ember. Couldn't have done it without you."

"No problem Johnny. I'll take it as thanks if you two don't cause any trouble in the human world though." Danny said, looking between them.

"You have my word, we'll play ball." Johnny said.

"They get a free pass to be here?" Ember asked, her eyebrow raised.

"My policy has always been that as long as you aren't causing mayhem or doing something bad, you're free to come and go as you please. You being a rockstar would have been totally fine if you weren't mind controlling people to do it." Danny said.

"What about the others then? Box Ghost? Desiree?" Ember asked.

"The Box Ghost was terrorizing a warehouse, although I'll admit I started throwing punches first because I hadn't realized that not all ghosts were bad by that point. Outside of the kind of mindless animal ghosts the only ones I had dealt with at that point were the Lunch Lady, who attacked the school, and a ghost dragon with an amulet. They hadn't exactly given me a great first instance of dialogue with ghosts." Danny said.

"What changed then?" Ember asked.

"Technus, when I asked him what he came through the portal for, he just said he wanted to observe technology. He's the only one that tried talking first, so I reciprocated. We came to an agreement eventually that he could hang around and observe at any of the tech places around here, provided he didn't bother anyone. Then he just started salvaging electronics and stuff from junk piles, which as long as they were actively being thrown away was fine. He started hanging around here because he's fascinated by the stuff my parents make, plus he likes talking with Wade and Tucker. So he just helps with tech stuff around here now." Danny said.

"Interesting. Well, I'm not needed here anymore, and I've got no plans to stick around. I'm heading back to my lair." Ember said, walking back through the portal, but not before turning back and taking a look at Danny.

For a moment, she wondered… could she get a deal like that after she already messed up once? And looking over at Johnny and Kitty as the embraced, happy to be reunited… she wondered if she could ever have something like that. How much she enjoyed Phantom… no Danny's attention under her spell was… it was almost too much for her.

She needed time to think about all of this, so she left, flying back to her concert hall, where over a hundred fans waited for a concert.

Even though the person she secretly wanted to hear it the most wouldn't be there.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome for another chapter. As I said last week, this chapter is taking the place of the one that would have normally gone up next week. As such, you won't have another chapter of this until the 26th, so the wait will be a bit longer. I do hope you enjoy, and remember to comment and review!

Danny shifted nervously as he looked around the meeting room he, Ron, and Kim had been brought into. While working with Global Justice had largely been a positive experience, he had been working with them far too much for his own liking recently. He had started being a hero to simply stop the ghosts that came through his parents' portal, but now he had been dragged into the world stage of heroism. He knew he shouldn't complain, he had powers, he should be using them to help where he could, but dealing with actual supervillains had been causing him some significant stress. Global Justice with all their secrecy didn't help. They told Danny only what he absolutely needed to know, and nothing else. What concerned him even more was the surveillance they seemed to always be doing. Learning that they had discovered his identity before he had even told his own parents was alarming, couple that with the spying they had done on people like Jake Long and Lilo Pelakai, had concerned him more. Was there no one who was immune to their spying? Was anyone who possessed even the slightest amount of superhuman ability under their scrutiny?

Danny before all of this had considered himself a very private person, as any attempt to open himself up to others outside of his immediate friends had always backfired. Global Justice had taken a lot of that away from him, and while he knew in the grand scheme of things they were doing good for the world, Mindhacker would have been impossible for them to deal with without their assistance after all, it was still something Danny worried about immensely. Was security a good enough reason to give up privacy? Danny didn't have an answer for that, he was just a 14 year old with superpowers.

Kim seemed to notice his anxiety, which was a far cry from Ron, who found the entire thing awesome. She patted him on the back, rubbing it a little. "I'm sure everything's fine Danny. If it was some big bad guy they needed us to deal with they probably wouldn't keep us waiting like this. They're usually pretty quick on business like that." She said, her voice calming Danny a bit.

"You're probably right, I just don't like this. How are you managing to stay so on top of this world saving stuff? You were just a cheerleader looking for babysitting jobs when you started. How are you not freaking out at having world saving put on your shoulders?" Danny asked, looking to his red-haired girlfriend.

Kim smiled at him. "Because It's never just been on my shoulders. I've always had Ron, and Wade picked up a lot of the slack shortly after we started. I've also got my parents who help alleviate some of the emotional burden. Not to mention all of the other people who work to mitigate some of it. I handle the supervillains, other people handle the other stuff. I just look at what I need to do and do it. You'll get the hang of it, but it'll help if you stop thinking you're doing it alone. Anytime there's world saving stuff, you know I'm right there with you. Soon we'll have Sam, Alex, and Clover too. A five strong super team, six once we get Ron up to snuff."

Ron looked over with an indignant look on his face. "I'm totally up to snuff! The Ron's totally a capable team member!"

"You have to admit you're no good in a fight Ron. At least not right now." Kim said, looking over at her longest time friend.

"Fine, I'll admit The Ron could use some assistance in the kicking butt area of our job." Ron said, pouting a bit.

Danny took a moment to appreciate the levity. Kim and Ron were such good friends it made him feel more at ease just being near them, and seeing them bounce off of each other was a comedy in and of itself.

Dr. Director stole a good deal of that levity as she came in, though. Her authority filling the room with a seriousness that chafed Danny slightly. He'd get over it though, he knew they were only called for something important. "Ms. Possible, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Stoppable. Thank you for meeting with us. As I stated when I first recruited you, one of the benefits of working with Global Justice is access to our research and development department. While it may not be completely obvious, we are constantly working on new gadgets and equipment we hope you will eventually be able to make use of. What I have here is the first piece of equipment I believe you may find useful." Dr. Director pulled a small metallic bracelet from her pocket, setting it on the table in front of them. "This is what we call the Centurion Project. A team of independent scientists were working on it until recently, intending for it to be a suit of protective armor for soldiers in battle. While they were brilliant scientists, they lacked a proper understanding of the logistics of supplying soldiers, and failed to recognize that their armor idea was impractical for widespread military use. However, it is perfect for being deployed to small teams or individuals, so we acquired it, as well as brought those scientists into our fold. We've had some adjustments made from its original design to more properly integrate into its new role."

"Dr. Director, not that I don't trust you… but that's just a metal bracelet." Kim said, looking at the object on the table.

"Quite, this is its travel or inactive form, when you wear it and activate it, it will expand, covering your body in a high tech powered armor. I'm sure you are familiar with the superhero Iron Man? Similar concept." Dr. Director said, picking up the bracelet and handing it to Kim. "Please put it on, and I will provide further instructions."

Kim took the bracelet, examining it for a moment before pulling it over her wrist. "It's a bit big, is it meant to be an arm band?" Kim asked.

"No, simply keep it in contact with your skin and think of shrinking it to fit." Dr. Director said, and as Kim sent the thought, the bracelet contracted.

"Woah! Freaky!" Ron said, surprised by the action.

"Quite. The initial design when we acquired it had the suit activate based on stress levels, but we've found that quite a number of our agents tend to experience less stress in combat than in other aspects of their life, which made testing with that original design awkward. One of our safety inspectors was hiding an anniversary present from his wife, and had been lying about where he had been when purchasing it. The stress from the lie had caused the armor to activate prematurely, which had been an issue. It has been retooled to respond to your brain's beta-waves, so while it may react slower, it will have much fewer accidental activations, which we believe is a net benefit." Dr. Director said.

"So, I just think it and it'll armor me up?" Kim asked, looking at the bracelet on her wrist.

"Correct. We have conducted rigorous safety tests, and have encountered no issues with the armor itself being dangerous, so we believe it is safe enough for proper field trials. Given the frequency in which you fight supervillains, and your skill and ingenuity, we believe you are the best fit to conduct the initial field trials." Dr. Director said. "This is not something we intend for you to keep as part of your standard kit for quite some time, but a test run is something we think would be beneficial. We're calling this the Mark 1, and we hope that by Mark 3 it will be suitable for continuous use."

"What makes you think this one isn't suitable?" Kim asked, as she armored herself up with it. The armor wrapped around her body, effectively forming itself in three layers. The lowest layer was a bodysuit that appeared to be made of some kind of kevlar-like material. The second layer was a series of metal rings that encircled parts of her body that required movement, but didn't need a large range of motion. The final layer was a much harder solid metal layer that formed around areas that didn't move often, and seemed very sturdy. Kim stood there, looking more like an astronaut than a superhero.

"While we don't know of any major flaws with the design, we fully expect there to be some bugs that need to be ironed out that only field testing would provide. For example, while we've had people use all of its features together and separately, we won't ignore the possibility that some specific combat scenarios may overwork the system in ways we hadn't thought of. We've vetted it to the best of our abilities, and I would not put you in this suit if I believed it was unsafe. I do believe that there are improvements to be made, and we won't be able to discern what they are until we find the limits of the armor." Dr. Director said.

"Cool! When do I get a suit of armor?" Ron asked, his eyes sparkling at how cool he thought the armor looked.

"When we are satisfied with the results of whatever armor makes it to regular use, we intend to have a suit prepared for you as well Mr. Stoppable." Dr. Director said.

That seemed to satisfy Ron, who simply gawked at the armor with all the awe a child seeing his first fire truck does.

In the ghost zone, traveling through the inky blackness, was a familiar hover car. The blue-skinned pilot looked around the bizarre locale, his nerves bothering him. "Killigan, you're certain this… Soul Shredder is real?" Drakken asked, looking to the Scottsman who joined himself and Shego in the hovercar.

"As sure as I can be." Duff Killigan said, his exaggerated highland accent on full blast, as he thumbed through a book he brought with him. "I remember stories of the Fright Knight from when I was a wee lad, I had thought all this ghost nonsense was hooey, but after seeing what I have from those Global Justice hooligans, I believe."

"Still not sold on this whole 'ghost' thing Dr. D. Are we sure that that Phantom kid just doesn't have normal super powers?" Shego asked, filing her nails as she sat languidly in the passenger seat.

"While their status as the spirits of the deceased are perhaps still up for debate, the creatures the Fentons call ghosts are certainly very real. Aside from the threat that Phantom was to us with the tick fiasco, Professor Dementor also said that he caused him trouble, and Monkey Fist states that he fought with a separate ghost as well." Drakken said. "The Fenton's research on this portal technology is also nothing to sneeze at, this whole dimension is supposedly full of ghosts."

"And yet we haven't seen a single one. Also, are you really trusting Monkey Fist to be a reliable source of information?" Shego asked.

"He's tangled with Possible before, I'd argue that gives him some credibility as a supervillain." Killigan said.

"He was beaten by the sidekicks!" Shego exclaimed. "Why he even posted about it on LinkedEvil is beyond me."

"You know how important posting schemes, both successful and unsuccessful on LinkedEvil is for villain clout Shego. It makes it much easier to find partners to work with when you have a history to show them." Drakken said, as he piloted past a rock that was in their path.

"You posting your inventions I get, that's marketing your services for other villains. But his weird monkey thing? Really?" Shego asked.

"You post your inventions on LinkedEvil?" Duff Killigan asked.

"Of course I do… is that not why you came to me with those plans you stole for that portal from the University of Upperton?" Drakken asked, looking at the portable portal device he had made. Killigan had somehow stolen the archived plans for Jack and Maddie Fenton's original portal, and had given them to Drakken to refine to make a portal big enough for them to use.

"No, I don't use LinkedEvil. I play in a recreational disc golf league with another villain, calls himself Motor Ed. He recommended you." Killigan said.

Drakken facepalmed, dragging it down as he processed the information. "Of course you know my cousin… why wouldn't you… wait, disc golf? Why not just play more regular golf?" Drakken asked.

"I'm banned from all the courses in the world, so I needed an outlet. Disc golf is a similar game, and I like it well enough. What of it?" Killigan said, crossing his arms and looking at Drakken with annoyance.

"Nothing, nothing." Drakken said, as an uncomfortable silence fell over the hovercraft. A beeping on the console revealed that they had arrived at their destination. A large ominous castle, gothic in design with tall towers that came to incredibly sharp points.

"Aye, that's it. Just like from the storybooks. The Fright Knight's castle." Killigan said. "These self important types always keep their stuff at the highest central point, ignore the front door, let's head through that window."

"I'll ignore you giving me orders since I was thinking much the same." Drakken said with annoyance, as he pulled up close to the window. Looking through it, they could see a room filled with skeletons, much larger than a normal man's, and sitting next to a large sarcophagus, was a pumpkin with a green sword embedded in it. "Shego, if you'd please." Drakken directed, gesturing to the window.

Shego rolled her eyes, covering her fist with their green glow and swung a punch at the window. To her surprise, her hand went straight through, failing to make any real contact with the glass. "Uh… Dr. D. The window's not there?" Shego questioned, trying to touch it with her other hand, which phased through it.

Drakken experimentally reached out to the window and confirmed that it seemed to be completely intangible, and touching the wall revealed the same. "Interesting… is this castle some kind of illusion?" Drakken wondered. He carefully attempted to pull the hovercar through the wall, and found it went through without issue, the passengers phasing through the wall and into the castle with no issue.

Making their way down to the floor, they examined it closely. Shego held onto the side of the hovercar taking a tentative step onto the floor. It somehow, was solid. "Floor's fine… but the walls aren't? Weird."

"Maybe in this ghost dimension it's us humans who are the ghosts." Killigan suggested.

"Perhaps, but that thought is for another time. Tell us Killigan, you refused to elaborate much on this Soul Shredder sword, but what is it?" Drakken asked as they looked at the blade sheathed in the pumpkin.

"The Soul Shredder is supposedly a blade that, if it cuts you, sends you to a dimension where you live out your worst nightmares. With a weapon like that, surely that lassie Kim Possible wouldn't be able to stop us from ruling the world." Killigan said, looking at the blade.

"Very well then. Shego, grab the sword so we can leave." Drakken said. Shego rolled her eyes, but walked up to the pedestal and grabbed the sword, straining as she pulled it from the pumpkin.

As the blade left the gourd however, the skeletons in the room began to rattle, their bones reforming themselves into giants. Drakken and Killigan looked on with fear as they formed. "Shego! They're… bowing?" Drakken called out, surprise filling his voice as the towering skeletons began to bow to them. "Ah, they must recognize those who wield the sword as their new master. Perhaps we could make use of that."

"You would be half right, blue one." A deep voice said, as from behind Shego a new figure emerged.

He was massive, possibly 10 ft. tall, and covered in dark plate armor, with spikes on his shoulders and helmet that gave an air of menace. "Hand over my blade, so that I may use its power to take over the world!" The figure said, his deep voice rumbling with menace.

"That's our plan laddy! Who're you to try and steal what we've rightfully stolen?" Killigan asked.

"I am the Fright Knight! Spirit of Halloween. If you will not relinquish my blade, then I shall take it back by force!" The Fright Knight said, beginning to walk with purpose towards Shego.

"Not a chance buckethead!" Shego said, her fists aglow as she charged forward to hit the ghost with her enhanced strength. Her fist connected with his torso, and a loud clang rang out. The Fright Knight did not move, and simply looked down at the green woman.

"Dr. D! Tall, dark and metal here's made of tough stuff!" Shego said, as she backflipped away, creating some distance while she held onto the sword.

"I've got just the solution. Fore!" Killigan said, as he used his golf club to hit a golf-ball towards the Fright Knight, the ball exploding on impact, sending the figure stumbling a bit. "That was less effective than I thought it would be admittedly."

"Keep shooting them, I'll open a portal and get us out of here." Drakken said, fiddling with the portable portal device.

"Let's see how you handle the back nine you medieval specter!" Killigan said, shooting off more golf balls in quick succession. They succeeded in at least slowing the Fight Knight down. "I'm running out, Drakken, I didn't come with a full golf bag today!"

"Got it!" Drakken said, as the portal opened. He drove the hovercar through, Shego grabbing on along the way as they headed through the portal.

Once through to the other side, Killigan kept shooting golf balls through, trying to slow the Fright Knight down as he moved to follow them through the portal. "Shut her off Drakken!"

"I can't! It's got a minimum time to keep the portal open as a failsafe!" Drakken said, frantically trying to switch off the machine. "How many more golf balls do you have?"

"Three!" Killigan said, before knocking another one through the portal. "Two!"

Shego activated her glowing fist, smashing the portal device, which closed the portal as Killigan shot his final golf ball through. "There! It's off. We got the dumb sword."

"Yes, and with this Soul Shredder sword, we will finally defeat Kim Possible!" Drakken said, before laughing maniacally.

In the park, Star sat on a bench, happily sipping away at a pumpkin spice latte as she watched some of the workers from the Amity Park Public Works Department finish decorating the park for their annual Halloween bash. Something that made her very excited. Looking over, she saw her boyfriend, as well as her other friends making their way into the park, and she waved them over. "I'm here guys! Thanks for meeting up with me." Star said, an overwhelmingly excited smile on her face.

"No problem babe. Surprised to see you so excited, you never really struck me as the Halloween type." Danny said, leaning down to kiss her. "Gotta say though, you're rocking the Ulala costume."

Star stood up and gave a small twirl in her costume, a retro-futuristic crop-top and skirt combo worn by space-faring reporter Ulala from Space Channel 5, a video game Star was a fan of. "Thanks Danny. I'm glad you like it. So, what are all of you guys doing tonight? I know Danny's joining me here for the town's Halloween bash. What about the rest of you?" Star asked.

"KP and I are hitting the streets for some good ol' trick or treat action. Upperton, Middleton, Lowerton, all donating to the candy stash." Ron said, confidence in his voice. "Kim wouldn't agree to my costume idea in time, so I'm going as Batman from Batman Beyond. Something about him speaks to me."

"Aren't you a little old to be trick or treating Ron?" Valerie asked, looking over at the blond boy.

"Not according to the Silver County Commission! There was a proposed ordinance to limit trick or treating to ages 13 and younger, but it didn't pass! Official confirmation that I'm not too old for trick or treating. Booyah!" Ron said, as Rufus popped out of his pocket and did a victory hand shaking motion.

"Yeah, I was happy that the ordinance failed too, especially since Wade and I worked this out." Tucker said, pulling up a map on his PDA, with a path drawn that covered a significant portion of Amity Park, Middleton, and Upperton. "Wade and I worked out the most optimal route for maximum candy within the 4 hours we're allowed to trick or treat. By our estimates, I can hit a new house every 31.3 seconds."

"Let me see!" Ron said, taking the PDA from Tucker's hands, examining it closely he saw something. "You've got some red zones on here you go out of, what gives with those?"

"Granola bars." Tucker said, and Ron simply nodded.

"Understandable. KP we've gotta go with him! So much candy!" Ron said.

"About that Ron… I'm going to be spending Halloween with Danny and Star. You know, a date?" Kim said. "You and Tucker can go and I'm sure you'll get more candy than you can possibly imagine."

Ron seemed a little sadded by that, but Tucker patted him on the back. "Just means more candy for us dude. It'll be great."

"I guess." Ron said dejectedly, but sighed and looked up. "Alright, you enjoy yourselves then okay? If you don't go trick or treating but have a bad time at your party I don't want to hear any complaining!"

"You got it Ron." Kim said, before looking at Valerie. "You going with them?"

"Just because I'm dating the nerd with the candy optimization fetish doesn't mean I'm supporting it. I don't know what I'm doing, but it's definitely not going to be going with him." Valerie said. "Sorry Tuck, I'm not going to sit here and watch you rack up a dentist bill."

"Your loss." Tucker said, as he and Ron examined the map further.

"You going to stick around for the Halloween Bash then?" Star asked.

"Probably not, Paulina or Bonnie will probably just find me and start ribbing me for my boyfriend blowing me off for candy. I don't care what they say, but it doesn't mean I want to sit around and listen to it." Valerie said.

"You could come with me to the Skulk and Lurk Bookshop. They're having a 'Myths of Halloween' event, books about monsters and Halloween myths are half off, and there'll be people telling ghost stories and stuff on the open mic." Sam offered. "Maybe not entirely your cup of tea, but it's good fun. If nothing else, they've got good coffee and pumpkin pastries."

"I'll take you up on that. Seems like as good a way as any to spend the holiday." Valerie said.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Mom and Dad wanted me to remind everyone to keep some ghost-fighting stuff on them tonight, just in case." Danny said, looking over everyone.

"Got a wrist blaster on me anyway." Sam said.

"Ditto." Tucker said, holding his up.

"Laser Lipstick here." Star and Kim said, pulling it from their purses.

"I've got that suit in my bag since it folds up so small." Valerie said.

"You all keep the ghost fighting gear on you all the time?" Ron asked.

"You never know when a ghost is gonna show up." Danny said, and as if on cue, his ghost sense went off. Danny glanced around, seeing if he could find the source of it, and he was incredibly surprised to see Ember walking through the crowd. "Ember?"

Star and Kim's eyes widened as they looked around, eventually laying eyes on her. "What's she doing here?" Kim asked.

"I don't know… I'm gonna go find out. I'm going to hope she's not here for trouble, but I'm sure you all will recognize if I need help." Danny said, before walking off towards the ghost rocker.

Ember had her eyes on the street lights that surrounded the park, giggling a little to herself at the jack-o-lantern faces that had been put on them for the event. She saw Danny approaching, and she paused for a moment, unsure what to do.

"Ember? What are you doing here?" Danny asked, looking at the ghost girl.

"Kitty and Johnny wanted to go on a date to this party. Kitty said I should 'get out of my realm and try to enjoy the human world a bit'. It was either this or be forced to go to a halloween party with Spectra, and I'm not doing the latter." Ember said.

"You know Spectra?" Danny asked, somewhat surprised.

"All of us who you've dealt with more or less live in the same 'neighborhood' of the ghost zone. We know each other. Spectra tries to hang out with Kitty and I to try and understand youthful girls, since Kitty and I are both effectively permanently 18." Ember said, rolling her eyes.

"Really, permanently 18?" Danny asked.

"Yes and no. From what Kitty's learned, ghosts can age if they perceive themselves to, our forms are malleable, so what we look like is the mental picture we paint of ourselves. We can expend effort to temporarily change our appearance, like what Spectra does, but it's hard to keep up." Ember said casually.

Kitty and Johnny walked up to the pair, Kitty handing Ember a candied apple. "Hey Phantom! Hope it's no problem for us to be here enjoying the party." Kitty said, an upbeat smile on her face as she dug into her candied apple.

"As long as you're not terrorizing people or causing any harm you're fine. I'll even be a little lenient on some light-hearted spooking in the name of the season." Danny said jokingly. "Also, if I'm like this, it's Danny."

"Gotcha Danny." Kitty said. "How are you enjoying the ectostorm? Doesn't it feel great?"

"Ectostorm?" Danny asked, confused.

"Oh, I forget you haven't been a ghost very long. Ectostorms are when there is really high levels of ectoplasmic energy in the air, usually from the border between the human world and the ghost zone getting fuzzier. For us ghosts, it means that being in the human world makes us feel more energized than usual." Kitty said, before taking another bite of her apple.

"Huh, hope that doesn't mean any ghosts are going to come cause any trouble." Danny said, hoping he could have a quiet night to spend with Kim and Star.

"Probably shouldn't have any issues, Halloween is a ghost zone holiday too, so most people are probably too busy celebrating. I know Spectra was trying to get Ember and I to go to a party with her, but her friends are buzzkills." Kitty said. "Bunch of old fogeys and people obsessed with gaining more power. They won't even play any fun games."

"Why you're friends with that woman I'll never know." Johnny said, shaking his head.

"Better than being her enemy lughead." Ember said, with a sigh.

"I'm not certain that's the case." Danny said, chuckling. "If you're her enemy you get to punch her and not feel bad. It did wonders for me."

"Not surprised her little high schooler trick didn't work out for her. She make you miserable too?" Kitty asked.

"That and tried to kill my sister, so Spectra's pretty much #2 on ghosts I dislike the most." Danny said, before looking back at his friends. "I better head back to my group. You guys enjoy the party, just don't cause any trouble okay? I'd rather not have to catch you guys in a thermos and ruin both our evenings."

"I'll keep these two wildlings under control. I owe you big anyway, without you I'd still be stuck in limbo right now." Kitty said, shooting him a big smile.

Danny waved, before walking back to Kim, Star, and the rest of his friends.

"So, no fighting… what's she doing here?" Kim asked, glancing nervously over where Ember was.

"Enjoying the holiday with Johnny and Kitty. As long as she doesn't cause any trouble, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones here." Danny said. "Kitty said she'd keep her and Johnny out of trouble, so I'm hopeful it'll work out fine."

"You seem awfully trusting of a girl who mind controlled you and tried to take over the world." Star said, looking at Danny. "You sure you can trust that?"

"I know, and maybe a part of it is what I learned while I was under her control. She's… she's not bad, not really. I know it's hard for you to believe me, but I think she was just lashing out. I think that trying to just treat her like a person will maybe help her to not do something like that again." Danny said. "I'll be the first to stop her if she causes problems, but I'm willing to give her a chance to get better, to not just be a bad guy."

"You're too good for your own good Danny." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe, but someone has to be." Danny said with a smile. "For now, we can just enjoy the holiday. According to them, ghost activity should be lower because everyone is celebrating, Halloween is apparently a big holiday in the Zone, so with any luck we'll have the night to ourselves."

"You recognize you've probably just jinxed it dude." Tucker said, as he put on his costume, a set of Groucho Marx glasses with attached nose and mustache.

"Like it wasn't going to happen regardless?" Danny countered.

"Touche, well Ron, ready to hit the streets?" Tucker asked the blond boy, who nodded as the pair headed off.

"Guess we better head to the Skulk and Lurk if we want to get some coffee before the rush, Valerie." Sam said, checking her watch.

"Alright. You three have fun at the party!" Valerie said, as she and Sam walked off to the bookshop.

An hour later, and the party is in full swing. A playlist of popular dance music, as well as some occasional Halloween favorites pumps over the loudspeakers of the park. Danny can't help but smile as Star excitedly twirls around, enjoying the atmosphere.

"I swear, she's like a little kid!" Kim said good naturedly, watching her friend enjoy the festivities.

"Come on! You two just aren't getting in the spirit! You didn't even get costumes!" Star said, gesturing to their normal clothes.

"Sorry, I haven't done a costume since I was like 10. After Jazz stopped trick or treating, Mom and Dad left us at the house to give out candy while they 'cleaned the neighborhood of ectoplasmic activity'." Danny said. "No trick or treating eventually just meant no costumes."

"Ron's the trick or treat fiend, I don't mind dressing up but Ron's idea for this year was… well not something I was down for." Kim said, rolling her eyes a bit. "He wanted to do one of those two person horse costumes."

"Huh, figured Ron would try and put you in some kind of superhero outfit. You'd make a decent Batgirl." Star pointed out. "Oh! That'd be fun, we could have been Nightwing, Batgirl, and Supergirl! We even look the part!"

A voice from the sky catches their attention. "Kim Possible! You have thwarted my plans on a number of occasions! No more! Today I send you to a dimension formed from your worst nightmares! Shego! Get her!" Dr. Drakken said, as Shego hopped from the hovercraft, a green sword in her hands that seemed to glow, although its glow was different from the one that Shego normally had.

"Come on Kimmie, let's dance one last time." Shego called out menacingly, swinging the claymore in a massive overhead arc, which Kim managed to dodge out of the way of.

"Danny! Star! Get everyone else out of here. I'll handle Shego." Kim said, as she acrobatically kept dodging Shego's blows.

Danny and Star nodded at each other, Star running to try and keep people away from the action, while Danny made his way towards a secluded area to transform. Star's job had been easier than expected, a crazy woman swinging a glowing claymore had caused most normal people to run away from the scene, something which Star was glad about. She trusted Danny and Kim to handle this, so kept close by, but out of what she would imagine the primary threat area would be.

Danny found a portapotty and closed himself inside, transforming before flying out invisibly, landing a solid punch to Shego's side, as he planted himself next to Kim. "Seems like you could use some help Ms. Possible." Danny said, trying to seem slightly less familiar with Kim while in his Phantom persona. Kim was Danny's girlfriend after all, she was just Phantom's teammate.

"Glad for the assist Phantom, sorry you got called in for one of mine." Kim said, keeping up the facade.

"Yeah yeah, superhero team up. I'm gonna carve you both like turkeys!" Shego said, rushing forward with the sword again.

"You're a month early!" Danny said, phasing low through her legs while Kim dodged to the side.

Shego dug her boots into the ground and turned around, rage evident on her face as she began to slash more and more erratically.

Danny and Kim's teamwork at taking down Shego was impeccable. They took turns running distraction and damage, landing hits that continued to slow down the metahuman while they stayed in top shape. As Shego tried to bring down the sword onto Danny's head, he caught her hands in his own grip, the two superpowered beings fighting each other's strength.

"Ms. Possible, think you can knock that sword away?" Danny called out as he held Shego's arms fully in place.

"With pleasure!" Kim said, cartwheeling into a back handspring that had both of her feet connect with the flat of the blade, knocking it out of Shego's hands and into the ground.

As the sword plunged into the soft soil, Danny felt a massive burst of ectoplasmic energy come from the sword, which pulled his attention away from Shego. She capitalized on this, slamming her feet into his chest to break his grip on her hands, and dashed towards the sword. When she tried to pull it out though, she found herself unable.

"Ugh! What gives? Why won't this stupid thing budge?" Shego fumed, putting her whole body into pulling the sword from the ground.

Danny however had his attention pulled away from the sword as a bolt of ectoplasmic lightning fell from the sky, alerting him to the massive storm clouds that had formed overhead.

"Phantom, is that a ghost sword?" Kim asked, looking over to him.

"Seems like it. Hey, Shego! Where did you find that thing?" Phantom asked.

"Some dumb castle in the ghost zone, is it yours or something?" Shego asked, irritated as she gave up pulling the sword from the ground. "Well, it never said I had to hit you with the sword to make it work, maybe I'll just hit the sword with you!"

Kim dropped back into a combat stance, ready to square off with her adversary, when the whinny of a horse caught everyone's attention.

Entering the park on the back of a massive winged horse, the towering figure of the Fright Knight emerged. "You fools thought to take my blade from me, and now you shall pay for your insolence. I'll destroy you pathetic whelps, and then begin my conquest of this world!" The armored ghost said, hopping down from off of his horse and walking with purpose towards his blade.

"Not on my watch Dork Knight." Danny said, flying forward at full speed to land a punch into the Fright Knight's stomach. The impact with the armor hurt Danny's hand, but the Fright Knight took the blow easily.

"Insolent whelp. You're beneath my notice." The Fright Knight said, grabbing Danny by the arm and throwing him off the side and into one of the brick walls that surrounded the square they were in.

"Shego! Abandoning this plan. Get on board!" Drakken called out, flying over to where Shego was and picking her up, flying off into the distance.

"Figures that they'd turn tail and run if something bigger showed up." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "Guess it's time to try out this Centurion Project." With a thought, the armor enveloped Kim again, the bulky suit covering her body, as shoulder cannons appeared. "I don't know who you are, but taking over the world is strictly against the rules here."

"I am the Fright Knight, Spirit of Halloween. With my Soul Shredder, I will spread this storm across the globe, bathing it in fear! With all that fear at my fingertips, I'll be unstoppable." Fright Knight said, as he continued his step toward the Soul Shredder.

Danny sat up from his impact with the wall, disoriented, but recovering. Johnny knelt down next to him. "Phantom are you crazy? That's Fright Knight, he's out of your league."

"You know this guy?" Danny asked.

"You humans tell ghost stories about us… we tell Ghost stories about the Fright Knight. You know how it took me, you and Skulker to take down Walker? I'm not convinced three Walkers could take down Fright Knight." Johnny explained, looking over at Fright Knight with fear in his eyes. "You don't stand a chance against him."

"Doesn't matter, I've got to try and stop him." Danny said, getting up. "Clear on out… I'll figure out how to handle him." Danny then charged forward, interposing himself between the Fright Knight and the Soul Shredder.

Johnny watched as Danny and Kim kept throwing themselves at the Fright Knight. Kim fired blasts from her shoulder cannons while Danny kept physical pressure. The Fright Knight was stronger than them, Johnny knew that, but he also knew he wasn't invincible. Danny's blows seemed to hurt him, if only a little, and the blasts that Kim was shooting from her suit seemed to at least annoy him. Johnny watched as Kitty hid in an alleyway, fear on her face at the presence of the ghost. Phantom was over there busting his ass again trying to save everyone, and Johnny was just sitting here, cowering like a little baby. Johnny grit his teeth, Shadow manifesting behind him. Johnny pulled out his tire iron, and Shadow manifested one himself, the two unlucky ghosts charging at Fright Knight in a pincer manuever.

Johnny and Shadow slammed their tire irons into the back of the Fright Knight's knees, forcing him to stumble as Danny delivered a solid uppercut, knocking the towering figure back several feet. "I hope you've got a plan, Phantom; because without one we're signing our second death certificates."

"No plan right now, but I think I can get some back-up. Star! Get Valerie and the Fentons, we need firepower, and lots of it!" Danny called out, as Star gave a thumbs up and ran towards the Skulk and Lurk bookstore.

"Well, if it's firepower you need, how about adding some Embers." Ember said, flying up next to Danny and Johnny. "I ain't one to tangle with someone like the Fright Knight, but he ruined my night and I'm not letting him get away with it."

"Glad for the assist… Ember, how about you head with Kim and keep firing blasts at him. Johnny, Shadow, and I can keep him pinned down more or less. Hopefully we'll have some heavier hitting equipment here soon." Danny called out looking to the rocker.

"On it, we're going to rock this knightly knucklehead into the dirt." Ember said, taking her position near Kim, pulling out her guitar and strumming a power chord that manifested as an energy blast and slammed into the Fright Knight.

Johnny, Shadow, and Danny supplemented Ember and Kim's blasts with a physical assault, the trio of ghosts drastically slowing the Fright Knight's attempts to reach his blade.

The presence of Valerie, who flew in on her hoverboard and began blasting away at the Fright Knight also began to wear down at him, actual damage beginning to show from their combined assault.

Unfortunately, while they were slowing him down, they were not stopping him, and with one surge, the Fright Knight managed to grasp the hilt of the Soul Shredder, pulling it from the ground.

"Foolish whelps. Had you simply allowed me to claim my blade, I might have made your ends quick. Now though, you will suffer. Only one has ever managed to defeat me whilst I wield my blade, and none of you are even close to his level." The Fright Knight said, raising Soul Shredder up to the sky. "All will fear the name of the Fright Knight. All will feel the terror I inflict!"

"Did he just say Fright Knight?" Valerie asked, flying next to Danny.

"Yeah, it's his name apparently." Danny said. "Why?"

"One of the books Sam picked up at the Skulk and Lurk was about this guy… maybe it has a weakness in there?" Valerie asked.

"Worth a shot, see if you can have her find one in the book. Keep her safe, hopefully we can keep him slowed down enough." Danny said.

"You will, because the calvary just arrived!" Came the voice of Jack Fenton over the loud speaker of the Fenton Family Assault vehicle, as a massive blob of ectoplasmic foam shot over the Fright Knight, knocking him to the side.

Jack and Maddie hopped out of the RV, each wielding large Ecto-zookas, while Jazz sat on the turret seat, ready to blast the Fright Knight again. Star emerged as well, no longer wearing the Ulala costume, but covered head to toe in the Fenton Peeler armor.

"Alright! Everyone, we need to keep him pinned, Johnny, Shadow and I will try and wail on him, everyone else, blast whenever you see an opening!" Danny called out, as the trio of ghosts resumed their assault.

While everyone continued putting pressure on the Fright Knight, Technus appeared beside Kim. "That's a fancy suit you got there… you're running out of power though… would you like a boost?" He asked.

"If you've got one Technus." Kim said, wondering where this was going. Technus phased himself into the armor, the silver plates turning the telltale green of ectoplasm, and the darker sections becoming a much deeper black. In the gaps betweeen plates, red light flickered out.

"Technus Centurion integration complete. Power output increased by 50%, laser blasts now charged with ectoplasm. Expected increased efficiency on ghostly opponents: 200%." Technus said, his voice now inside of Kim's own mind. Firing the shoulder cannon again, the red laser had become an ectoplasmic green, and it definitely did more damage to Fright Knight than before.

The fight continued, blasts firing nearly non-stop for several minutes, Danny and Johnny were getting tired, their blows not landing as hard as they were at the beginning.

"Batteries running low on the Ecto-zookas!" Maddie called out.

"Fenton Peeler battery dead!" Star added.

"Armor's at 7%." Kim called out.

"Ecto-foamer's tank is empty." Jazz said.

"Running dry here too babypop." Ember said, her voice weak from exhaustion. Everyone had been pushing themselves to the absolute limit to try and keep the Fright Knight at bay, but nothing was working.

"Your efforts are impressive, none have ever held me at bay for so long, but now you will all feel true terror. Enjoy these last few moments, as they will be the last you aren't experiencing true, uncontrollable fear." The Fright Knight said, as he strutted over to Danny, who readied himself again.

Fright Knight brought the sword down in an overhead swing, and Danny managed to catch it, slamming his hands together on the flat of the blade, keeping it from cutting into him.

"An admirable effort boy, but it's far too late for you. You will succumb, and I'll force you to live out your worst nightmares for all of eternity. Everyone you know and love will die, and you'll watch it happen… over and over again. Every fear, every nightmare, I'll make them manifest and torture you with them until the end of days. You will know fear, and know the name of it. Fright Knight." He said, continuing to force the blade down.

"Phantom! I found it! His weakness!" The voice of Sam said, before continuing. "To stop the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheath in pumpkin near! You've got to say the poem and shove the sword in a pumpkin!"

With that, Sam threw a pumpkin towards Danny, with Star, Kim, Jack, Maddie, Johnny, Ember, and Valerie each sending one as well. Danny grit his teeth, summoning all his energy, all his might, into turning the blade.

"To stop the storm." Danny glowed a brilliant green, his energy manifesting in a new way.

"To end the fear." Fright Knight pushed harder, but found more resistance than before, he could feel his control over the direction of the sword waning.

"The sword must sheath." Danny twisted his body, using Fright Knights own power against him, forcing him to push the sword forward.

"In pumpkin near!" The tip of Soul Shredder embedded itself in a pumpkin, and a bright beam of light emerged, shooting up into the sky. The mass of stormclouds began to spin backwards.

A whinny fills the air as Nightmare, Fright Knight's horse is sucked into the vortex in the sky, and Fright Knight's eyes widened.

"No, impossible! You cannot defeat me!" He said, disbelief filling his voice.

"From where I'm standing, it seems very possible, now begone!" Danny said, as he delivered one last uppercut to the Fright Knight. With his feet no longer on the ground, Fright Knight was sucked into the portal, his form turning to dust as he came closer. With a final beam of light, the Soul Shredder and the pumpkin it was in disappeared, and the storm clouds vanished, leaving only the stars and the moon in the sky.

Danny reverted, his ghost form leaving him from exhaustion as he tried to stand again in human form. He stumbled, but he managed. With uneasy steps, he, along with everyone else, made their way to the center of the park.

"Thanks everyone for helping… couldn't have made it work without everyone." Danny said, gratitude in his weak voice.

"Is it always this bad son?" Jack asked, the large man taking a seat on the ground, huffing and puffing.

"This is about the worst it's ever been." Danny said.

"You don't get much badder than Fright Knight." Johnny added, as Kitty came up and helped him stand, Shadow returning to Johnny's form.

"Let's hope we don't have to do that again." Kim said, as the armor retracted into her bracelet, the batteries at a critically low level. Technus hopped out of the armor.

"Indeed, that was quite the battle. I am glad we were able to arrive in time." The booming voice of the technological ghost said, taking his own seat on the grass.

"Any ghost with any sense fled back into the ghost zone when Fright Knight got here, so I imagine you'll be free of any trouble for the rest of the night if you want to take it off." Ember said, leaning against the large oak tree in the center of the plaza.

"Implying you don't have any sense since you stayed to lend a hand?" Danny asked with a smirk.

"Not hearing a lot of gratitude for helping you, babypop." Ember retorted sarcastically.

"Oh there's plenty of gratitude I assure you." Danny said, laying down on the grass.

"Kitty and I gotta head back to the zone, even with the ectostorm brewing, I'm completely tapped, I gotta recharge." Johnny said, his motorcycle appearing next to him. "Don't expect me to jump in and save your butt against every ghost Phantom, keeping Kitty safe is always priority one."

"You got it Johnny, thanks for the assist. Sorry you two didn't get to really enjoy the party." Danny said, waving to the pair.

"Considering Johnny now gets to say he helped take down Fright Knight? I think people will start thinking even less about messing with us. Maybe we could finally stop hanging out with Spectra." Kitty said, before she and Johnny shot off down the street.

Jack and Maddie looked to Danny. "Isn't that the ghost that tried to kill Jazz? They hang out with her? Should you really be hanging out with that crowd?" Jack asked, concerned.

"Ghost Zone's a dog eat dog world, you do what you've gotta to make it. Any enemy you can avoid making is a good one." Ember said, rolling her eyes a bit. "Neither Kitty or I LIKE Spectra at all, but it's better to have her as an acquaintance than as an enemy, even if I'm probably stronger than her, she and her little assistant could really mess me up if they wanted."

"Well, I certainly owe you after tonight, so if she gives you any trouble, let me know, I'd be glad to throw more punches at her." Danny said, jokingly cracking his knuckles.

"I'm just glad we're all safe and sound… even if we are tired. How about we load up in the RV and just rest back at the Fentons… is that okay?" Star asked, looking to Danny's parents.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Everyone hop in, we'll be there in a jiffy." Jack said as everyone loaded into the RV.

Ember watched Danny, Kim, and Star on the way home, the way they held hands and how he kissed them, obviously thrilled that they were unharmed by the encounter. Despite his exhaustion, Danny pushed through to make sure Kim and Star knew how happy and thankful he was that they weren't injured. Ember felt a stirring in her chest, one she had been trying to quell and deny, but knew that she couldn't anymore. She wanted Danny, she might have already been in love with him. She wanted him to look at her the way he looked at Star and Kim, wanted him to hold her hand and give her a kiss that said "It's okay, we're here together."

Ember knew though, that as she was, Danny wouldn't accept her. She was still bitter, ready to lash out at the world that had taken her life from her those years ago. She'd controlled his mind, and nearly controlled the world, and while Danny was nice enough to look past that to be acquaintances, she knew that even his tolerance for her behavior was limited. If she wanted him, she needed to change, and more than that, she needed to SHOW him that she had changed. He obviously wasn't leaving Star or Kim anytime soon, but if he had space in his heart for two girls… who is to say there wasn't room for a third?

An idea formed in Ember's head, one she would act on soon. It would take time, planning, and more than anything a deep willingness to change, but she'd do it. She'd do it for him, to have the chance to leave the darkness inside her to live in his light.

Chapter Text

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.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for getting back to me on the smaller filler chapters. I'll probably write a date for each of the girls as a small interlude (those will canonically take place between This chapter and the next one, since this chapter is in Februrary, and the next chapter is in May.) That will hopefully give me some time to really get a backlog going. Currently I've only got one chapter after this one that's finished, and I don't even have notes for the rest of them. I'll make sure to get that handled though, so hopefully there won't be any need for interlude chapters between Episode 17 and 20 (which is the end of Season 1, and the place where I originally intended to include some non-DP based interlude chapters.) Beyond that, I just want to remind everyone to comment and review! I love reading your thoughts on the chapters themselves, and I respond to most questions I get, either through a reply to the comment or a PM. On with the chapter!

Ember sat at her vanity, applying a few final touches of her make-up. Despite what many in the Ghost Zone thought, the markings around her eyes were not a part of her natural form, just make-up she applied regularly. She imagined she could have them be a part of her, but the act of putting it on was almost soothing for her. A ritual that reminded her of being alive.

Looking into the mirror again, Ember checked everything over. The eye make-up was flawless, her face given the nice basic contouring she liked. She noticed that the small amount of blush she applied was a little uneven, but nothing terribly noticeable, trying to correct it would simply make it more obvious. By all accounts, she was ready for her concert. Ready to belt out another punk anthem to the crowd of skeletons that always filled her concert hall.

Why then, did she feel so unready to perform?

She knew the answer, she hated that she did, it was Danny.

Ember drew her power from her emotions, she knew that. The adoration of fans gave her more fuel for her fire, but it was the emotions that gave that flame direction. Danny however, had twisted her emotions all in knots ever since their first encounter. Initially, he was a distraction like any other. A cute ghost boy she made fall in love with her as a means to stop him from interfering with her. She had been attracted to him physically, his jumpsuit wasn't exactly baggy, and gave her a good look at the muscles he had under it. Deciding to mind control him wasn't exactly something she was opposed to. The first kiss they shared was just to tease the girls who were with him, since it was pretty obvious one of them was his girlfriend. That kiss, though, had fired something in her. It felt GOOD, better than any she had remembered from when she was alive, and even more than anything she had experienced as a ghost.

She took him to her dressing room, while her brainwashed fans readied a stage for her to broadcast her performance to the world. He had asked her about her plans, and she had told him. Initially it was just an attempt to gloat, but then he started questioning it. Ember had been forced to internalize why she was using mind control to become a rockstar, rather than just using her own talent. She had, without thinking, spilled the circumstances of her death, trying to find justification for why she did things how she did.

Ember let her mind wander to that again, it was an incident that always held real estate in her mind. David, the boy she had had a crush on for the entirety of her interest in boys, had asked her out to the movies. She had been ecstatic, putting on her best dress and waiting patiently for him at the movie theater. The showtime came and went, but she still waited, thinking that maybe they were going to see a later one. When that showtime passed, Amber McCain, the poor girl she used to be, realized she'd been stood up. David had done this to make a fool of her, and she didn't know how to take it. Dejected, she had walked home, holding in tears. She made her favorite spaghetti, trying to cheer herself up, but she couldn't remember being able to eat much of it. She'd simply gone upstairs to her bedroom and cried herself to sleep. Unfortunately, she had left the burner on the stove on, which had started a massive fire. Amber McCain didn't wake up, her body succumbing to the flames without anyone to notice her. What emerged from the ashes was Ember, the rocker that Amber had always wanted to be.

From beyond death, Ember had watched as her parents mourned the loss of their daughter. She noticed though that that was what they mourned, their daughter. They didn't mourn Amber the person, if anything, they seemed to blame her for her death. Amber's love of rock music was called out as the catalyst for her death, her own mother blaming the 'devil's music' for taking her daughter away.

Ember hated that, she hated that Amber was completely forgotten in favor of this theoretical daughter her parents wished they had. Ember recognized what the purpose of her afterlife was. Amber McCain had died, but that didn't mean her dream had to. Ember burst from those ashes and made a promise to carry on, her rebellious spirit continuing on.

Ember had told all of that to Danny, something she had only ever told Kitty before, back when they exchanged death stories. Danny sympathized, didn't judge her, and simply had her question why she had thought that dream needed her to take over the world. Ember didn't have an answer for that anymore, she supposed she had just gone mad with power, and once she reached an obstacle she couldn't overcome had made her reevaluate what her dream meant.

Danny's ability to fight her control had been something she hadn't accounted for, she knew that total control over him wasn't possible, not without overshadowing, but the amount of resistance he had was staggering. She couldn't MAKE him do anything, even with his 'love' focused on her. It had also taken only a kiss from Star to pull him out of it.

Ember thought about that kiss, and how it seemed so much… more than what she had gotten from Danny. Ember had kissed Danny many times during his tenure under her thrall. He was a damn fine kisser, capable of making her toes curl up in her boots, but what he did with Star? That was a whole other level. Ember saw the love, the care, the affection in that kiss. She had thought she had a convincing approximation to love in her control over Danny, but she realized she wasn't even close. What she could make him feel was like comparing an ant to a crab. Lots of overlap, parts in similar places, but obviously not the same.

A knock on her door pulled Ember out of her musings. She huffed in annoyance, who would dare to enter her realm unannounced and then just knock on her door? Reaching out, she got her answer, and her anger deflated. Kitty was the one person who was allowed to do that. Ember opened the door for Kitty, the green-haired ghost stepping through excitedly.

"Hey Ems! You doing okay today?" Kitty asked, shooting a smile towards her best friend. She stepped and collapsed onto one of the beanbags Ember had in her dressing room.

"Well enough I suppose. Did you need something Kitty?" Ember asked. Kitty was allowed to just drop by, Ember enjoyed her company, but Kitty usually didn't come by without a reason.

"I didn't need anything really. I knew you were just hanging out here alone, and Johnny was just working on his bike all day, so I thought we could have some girl time." Kitty said, a smile on her face.

"Tired of the dipstick caring more about his bike than you?" Ember asked, an eyebrow raised.

"He's doing a lot better. I'm not going to fault him for the bike this time since it actually got a little roughed up in a fight yesterday. It's part of him, so he can have some time with it." Kitty said.

"Someone tried to fight Johnny?" Ember asked, surprised. Johnny and Kitty weren't pushovers, most ghosts knew better than to try anything. You'd have to be someone on the level of Skulker to stand much of a chance.

"Some guy calling himself 'The Phantom Racer', he was trying to steal Johnny's bike to supe up his own bike. Johnny handled him pretty easily, but he managed to get some solid hits on the bike." Kitty said, waving the event off.

"Must be a new guy, haven't heard of him." Ember said, taking a seat back in her chair.

"I hadn't either, but that's besides the point. Something's got you off your game, what's going on?" Kitty asked, her eyes gazing into Ember's.

"What makes you think I'm off my game?" Ember asked, trying to deflect the question.

"You know I can just tell with you. You give off these… vibes. They're different right now. You're thinking about something and it's taking something out of you." Kitty said, squinting a bit as she looked at her. "Last time you were like this was… September. You were like this right before you started planning your big world takeover. Are you thinking about how you died again?"

"Fine, yeah, a bit." Ember said. She should know better than to try and hide something like this from Kitty. Ember swore Kitty had some kind of emotion sensing powers.

"What brought it on? It's not anywhere near the anniversary, and I don't think you've been to the human world for something there to trigger it." Kitty said, looking at her.

"I was actually in the human world last week. New record store in Amity, Last Will Records." Ember said, maybe trying to pull Kitty off the scent. It wasn't a lie, she was there.

"Pick up anything good?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, they had a copy of 'American Idiot' which babypop recommended to me." Ember said.

"Babypop? That nickname you had for Phantom? You're still using it?" Kitty asked, her gaze questioning.

"Yeah, what of it? He's at least gone beyond being a dipstick." Ember said, trying to brush it off. She had let it slip unintentionally.

"Well, I dunno it sounds kind of… flirty. Like you like him or something." Kitty said, gears turning in her head.

Ember scoffed, putting on a veneer of that thought being ridiculous. She knew that Kitty was right on the money though. Phantom, Danny, Babypop, they had a stranglehold over her heart at the moment. She wasn't even really sure how to process it.

"Ah! You do! You've got a thing for Phantom!" Kitty called out, recognizing the look on Ember's face. She'd seen it a thousand times on a thousand different women, the love struck look, and the fear of acting on it.

"What, no! I don't like him." Ember said, her face flushing a light green.

"Nah, you like him. Easy to see." Kitty said, smiling at her. "What's wrong with liking him? He's cute, he's powerful. If I didn't have Johnny I'd think about it."

Ember gave in, realizing she couldn't hide it from Kitty. "It's just… he's human. I'm a ghost. I don't think he'd even give me the time of day in regards to dating. Nevermind the mind control I did on him and everyone else."

"Well, I guess that is a stinker. I don't think you being a ghost is a huge problem. He's human primarily, but he's also half-ghost there's that connection with him. The mind control stuff might be." Kitty said.

"Even if he's as willing to look past it as he said he has been, I don't know if the other girlies will. I've got big competition, babypop's got two girlfriends!" Ember said, frustration in her voice.

"Three, there's a new one since November. Surprised you hadn't met her yet." Kitty said.

"Who, the goth chick?" Ember asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, she wasn't around when you first met him. Her name is Sam, like the goth chick, but they're totally different. She's smart, another red-head with green eyes. I'm wondering if he has a type." Kitty said, tapping her finger to her chin.

Ember tried to internalize that new information. He'd gotten another one? She hadn't noticed for months? She must have been more deep in her own head about this than she thought. Time was strange for ghosts at the best of times, the Ghost Zone didn't have day or night cycles except in a few specific places, and the ageless nature of ghosts meant that keeping track of time in the human world was difficult.

"Anyway, you should still try, Ember. You'll never know what could have been if you don't." Kitty said, trying to hype up her best friend. "Think of how cool it would be! We could double date!"

"Assuming I even could get with Babypop, do you think you could get him and Johnny to stop fighting long enough for an actual date?" Ember asked. Danny and Johnny got along decently well, but they always sparred. Johnny kept trying to get stronger in an attempt to keep Kitty safe, and Danny always relished the chance to practice his powers against someone who wasn't trying to kill him.

"That's half the fun Ems! They'll trade punches for an hour, give us some entertainment, and then they're too tired to resist doing whatever we want!" Kitty said, giggling a bit.

"Doesn't matter anyway, there's no shot I could get Babypop to go out with me. I'd kill to just get him to look at me for a second like he looks at Blondie or the Cheerleader." Ember said with a sigh.

Kitty looked as though she was mulling something over in her head for a second, before she reached into her purse and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Here, take a look at this."

Ember grabbed the paper, looking over it. Outlined in it was a plan Kitty had for the next time Johnny's eyes wandered too much. She would overshadow a girl and hit on some guys to make him jealous. "Your weird expectations of Johnny's eyes wandering aside, what does this have to do with me?"

"Duh! You can overshadow a girl and try and go on a date with Danny! Valentine's Day is coming up! It's perfect!" Kitty said, excitement evident in her voice.

"I don't know if that's actually a good idea, Kitty. Even assuming I find a girl I can overshadow and go on a date with him, where do I go from there? I'm not joyriding some random girl forever, that's something Babypop would hate me for." Ember said, her eyes furrowing.

"You go out on one date, take over a girl for like, 2 days tops. Then you tell him that you're actually Ember, you like him. Want his ghost babies, all that jazz." Kitty said, causing Ember to go completely green in embarrassment.

"Woah Kitty. Ease up girl." Ember said, trying to regain some composure. "I guess maybe trying a date wouldn't be too bad, but how would I find a girl to take over?"

"Let's go scout out! Danny's got tons of girls he sees on the daily, surely one of them will be good!" Kitty said, floating out of the beanbag she was in. "Come on! Let's go!"

At Casper High, the Cheerleading team was once more setting up another event for the school. Heart shaped balloons, red and pink streamers, and a selection of fake roses filled the gymnasium in decoration for Casper High's Valentine's Dance. Kitty and Ember floated by the windows, peaking inside.

"Alright! Looks like Danny's girls are all with him right now, plus a few others! You're spoiled for choice." Kitty said, looking down at them. "The redhead there with the blonde and the black haired girl is Sam, though they call her Sammy to avoid confusion with the goth chick."

"Damn, it'd be easier if she wasn't a knockout too. Babypop's got taste I'll give him that." Ember said, taking a moment to admire the girls Danny seemed to have snagged.

"All the more reason you've got a shot! You're smokin'!" Kitty giggled, before turning her attention back inside. "So, who are you thinking immediately?"

"Well, one of the girls he is already dating would make it way easier, I think so that would be the two red-heads or Blondie." Ember said, scoping out her targets.

"I don't think Kim would be easy." Kitty said, looking at the cheerleader who was currently hanging up a banner with Danny. "She's got tons of willpower, if she caught wind that she was being overshadowed, she could probably fight you off before you could stick your hold."

"Is that how overshadowing works? I've never really done it." Ember asked, her relative inexperience with her powers shining through. Despite being a ghost for a long time, Ember never really explored a lot of her powers. She focused so much on her music based abilities that she never really bothered with things like overshadowing, even though it was something she knew she could do.

"More or less. They can only really fight you off for a few seconds once you initially take over. It's harder to push someone out then keep them out." Kitty explained. "So, Star or Sammy."

"Well… I guess Sam might be harder for him to notice something being off about." Ember said, looking at the intelligent red-head. "They've not known each other as long."

"Good idea." Kitty said, looking over at where Sammy was talking with Alex and Clover. "I guess you'll just need to wait for her to be alone to overshadow her. Her friends there would probably notice if you did it in front of them.

Sammy walked away from Alex and Clover, making her way to the restroom. "Jackpot! There's your chance! Go get her girl!" Kitty called out, first pumping as Ember rolled her eyes, phasing through the building.

Sammy felt a chill run up her spine as Ember entered her body. Ember's control was near instant, the shock not giving Sammy any time to fight back. Ember smiled as her hold settled itself over Sammy, taking a moment to admire her temporary body. "She's pretty hot, but this dress is SO not me." Ember said, hearing Sammy's voice for the first time. "That'll take some getting used to." Ember, as Sammy, made her way back to the gymnasium, smiling as she took a look at Danny.

Danny floated a couple of millimeters off of the ladder. He really hated this one, it wasn't balanced well and wobbled a bit. He'd let Kim have the more functional ladder since he only really needed it for appearances. Danny tied the final knot he needed, and his end of the 'St. Valentine's Dance' banner was properly secured. He started to climb down the ladder, minding the wobble as he made his way to the floor.

"Hey B- Danny." Sammy said, capturing his attention.

"Oh, hey Sammy. You need something?" Danny asked his newest girlfriend, something he was still getting used to. Not just Sammy being his girlfriend, but having more than one. Turns out five months wasn't enough time for him to adjust to it not being weird.

"Yeah, you see, with the dance and all. I was wondering if I could be your date." Sammy asked, her face flushing red a bit. Ember flushed internally as well, why did Babypop make her so unsure of herself like this? She's supposed to be a rocker, not a shy schoolgirl.

"Of course you'd be my date. I'm taking you, Star, and Kim." Danny said, somewhat confused by the implication. He planned on bouncing between them all night, trying to make sure they had a good time.

"Well, I mean like… focus on me a bit? Dance with the others sure, but… let me pretend at least for a little bit you're all mine?" Sammy asked, as Ember fumbled with her own words at the event. Sammy's heart was beating fast, and Ember was unsure how to process it, having not felt hers at all in so long. It was an odd feeling, one that pulled her attention for a moment.

"What the?" Came a voice from within Ember's mind. She didn't pay it any attention, too focused on the feeling of Sammy's heart pounding in her chest.

"Uh… well I'm not sure about that. Not that I'm not willing to let you have that, but I have to be fair to the others as well you know? Need to make sure everyone feels appreciated and equal here. If they agree, I'd be happy to. Go talk to them about it." Danny said, shooting her a smile.

God that smile, Ember thought, focusing on it and the feelings it stirred within her. "Alright. I'll be back in a minute then." Sammy said, Ember walking her body over to where Kim and Star were going over their checklist for the decorations.

"Oh, hey, Sammy. What's the sitch?" Kim asked, looking to her fellow red-head.

"Well, I was wondering if you girls would be alright with me being Danny's main date for the dance? He'll dance with both of you still of course, but I'd like the chance for this to be a night I can really show him how I feel, you know?" Sammy asked, Ember hoping they'd buy the excuse. On Ember's side, it WAS true, that's why she wanted it. It was just difficult to know if this was something Sammy would do. Kitty didn't know anything about her personality, but she knew what it was like to be a teenage girl in love.

"Well, I had the homecoming dance alone with him, it was before we were together, but I got to have him all to myself for that dance." Star said. "I'm fine with letting her have a special night, not like we won't get chances ourselves."

"Yeah, I did get to go to that Doctor's Ball over Christmas break with Danny. Sure Sammy, take him for the night, we'll grab a dance towards the beginning and then you can have him until we go to leave. Mom wants pictures first though, so you'll have to share then." Kim said.

"Okay Kim. Thanks, both of you." Sammy said, Ember fist pumping internally as her plan worked. "Do either of you two have plans with him tonight?"

"Nah, I've got to babysit the tweebs." Kim said, looking at her watch. "Have to head out for that soon, actually. Star, you good to finish up without me?"

"Yeah, we're actually pretty much done. I've got to run the checklist one last time, but I'm sure there's nothing I need you for. I don't have any plans with Danny tonight though, no." Star said, looking over her clipboard.

"I think I'll take him out for coffee then. Get a little alone time before everything." Sammy said with a small smile on her face.

"Go for it, although Danny doesn't really like coffee." Star said. "Did you not know that?"

"Guess it never came up." Sammy said, Ember hoping it would cover her tracks a bit.

"Guess it wouldn't probably, I only know because I had him take me to Scarebucks for a pumpkin spice latte." Star said.

"Aren't those like… mostly sugar? Like super bad for your teeth?" Sammy asked. Kitty was an addict on those things, and that's what Johnny always told her. Ember wondered if as ghosts they needed to worry about dental health. Ember brushed her teeth everyday, but she wondered if she needed to for reasons other than freshening her breath, since it can and would smell.

"Not you too! Kim already gets on my case about them." Star said, somewhat overexaggerated despair in her voice.

"Don't come crying to us when you've got more cavity than tooth! I did my time with braces thank you very much." Kim said, before waving goodbye to her friends, sneaking a kiss from Danny before heading off.

"But yeah, go get him!" Star said, turning back to Sammy, giving her a thumbs up before going to finish the checklist of decorations.

Sammy stood still for a moment, watching Star walk off. Ember thought that Sammy was really lucky, sharing her guy with two girls who supported her romantic endeavors as opposed to stifling them to have more alone time with Danny.

"Yeah, I am." Sammy said, Ember reeling as she felt Sammy's consciousness enter her mind. "Now, tell me what on Earth you're doing in my body!"

"Sammy? You can interact with me?" Ember asked, dumbfounded by the experience. "I don't know a ton about overshadowing people, but I do know this shouldn't be possible."

"I get mind controlled a lot, I'm probably just resistant to it." Sammy said, Ember feeling the glare, even if it was in her mind. "What are you doing with my body?"

"Going on a date with Danny." Ember replied, recognizing there wasn't any reason to hide it.

"What?" Sammy asked, now more confused than angry.

"I've got feelings for Babypop over there. They started when I mind controlled him back in September, and I've been fighting them since. A friend of mine told me I should just bite the bullet and try it, see if maybe a date with him would either get it out of my system, or give me enough push to just tell him I really want him." Ember said.

"And taking over my body?" Sammy asked.

"I wasn't sure if he'd give me the time of day. On top of the fact that I'm a ghost and he's human, I DID mind control him once and try to take over the world. He says he's forgiven me for that, but.. What if that's just lip service?" Ember said, her anxieties about the situation coming through.

Sammy could feel the emotions coming from Ember. While they were in the same body, they were in some part her emotions as well. "Danny I don't think holds grudges like that. If you've really changed, I think he'd forgive you."

"I have… I really have. I still want to be a rockstar, but.. I don't need to take over the world. I just want people to like my music… and I want someone who likes me. Not Ember McClain the musician, but… Ember the ghost girl." Ember said, being vulnerable for a second. Having a body with actual teenage hormones was influencing her thoughts. Her mind was pulling itself back to how she was before she died. All the memories of Ember, but the heart, the feelings deep inside was little Amber McCain.

"Then are you sure lying to him is going to be the most effective way to handle that?" Sammy asked.

"I didn't plan on lying to him for long. I just wanted one date where he looked at me the way I'd seen him look at Blondie and the Cheerleader. Seeing him look at you while I talked to him earlier… it was everything I wanted it to be." Ember said. "After the date I'd ask if he had a good time, and then reveal myself, let him know that it was me who he did that with, and I dunno, kiss him silly or something."

Sammy laughed a bit at that. "Well, I guess that's almost like a plan. Look… I get it, Danny's a really easy guy to fall for, and you've known him for a bit longer than I have. I'm not thrilled about you taking my body for a joyride, but… I'll help you at least try and win Danny over. I can feel how you feel for him… if I didn't know any better I'd say you have it worse than I do." Sam chuckled again.

"Okay, we're going to go ask him out to coffee. You just help me make sure I act enough like you that he won't get suspicious." Ember said, as she willed Sammy's body forward.

"Okay, make sure we get a non-fat soy latte. That's my go-to. Danny won't know the difference, he's never been with me when I ordered it, but someone else who knows me might." Sammy said.

Ember stepped up to Danny, straightening her skirt a bit before speaking up. "Star and Kim are both fine with me taking the lead at tomorrow's dance. They're also fine with you taking me out for coffee right now."

"Oh? When were you going to tell me I was taking you out tonight?" Danny asked, his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his mouth. Ember and Sammy both internally swooned.

"I just did, now come on." Ember said, grabbing his hand and locking her fingers with his. The touch, while familiar and comforting to Sammy, was new and electric for Ember. She'd never bothered with a small gesture like holding his hand while she had him under her control, but now she wondered if she should have.

Danny and Sammy sat down in a corner booth at the coffee shop, away from everyone else. Sammy took a sip of the latte she bought, Ember getting to enjoy the flavor. She'd have to try this with her mouth at some point to see if it agreed with her taste the same as it did Sammy's.

"So Sammy, you've got me all to yourself for now, what do you want to talk about?" Danny asked, his eyes locking onto hers in a way that made the girl blush. Neither Ember or Sammy knew which one had that reaction, but both denied that it was them. They both had.

"Ask him about his encounters with ghosts. Start with you and then we'll cover our tracks by talking about some others. You're the first ghost he mentioned to me, so it would make some sense for you to come up first." Sammy coached in her mind.

"Why don't you tell me about some of the ghosts you've fought? I haven't been around for too many. I think you mentioned a rockstar ghost? What was that like?" Ember asked, trying to be somewhat coy.

"Yeah, her name was Ember McClain. You mentioned that Clover had gotten taken over by her music too. Yeah, she was trying to mind control people using her music to take over the world. Even managed to mind control me for a bit. That was an interesting experience." Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as he thought about the memory.

"Ooh, I've got experience with mind control, leverage that and ask him how he felt about it." Sam coached again, trying to provide Ember with some personal context to dig deeper into Danny's feelings about the experience.

"I know what that's like, mind control is no fun. What was it like for you?" Ember asked, legitimately interested in learning about his perspective on the experience.

"It was… weird. She hit me with this attack that I just decided to take to make sure she didn't hurt Kim, Star, or Sam who were behind me. But the second it hit, I just felt different. Ember went from being an attractive ghost I was fighting, to like, one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen. Then she pulled me in for a kiss and I just… all I could think about was her. She brought me to her dressing room and used me as a kissing dummy for a few hours. I managed to question her on why she was doing what she did. She told me some stuff, about how she died, who she was while she was alive. How all she wanted was to be a rockstar, to be remembered." Danny said, sort of looking off into the distance. "I tried to tell her she didn't need to mind control everyone to do those things, but I'm not sure if I got through to her."

Sammy's heart thudded as Ember's emotions overflowed. "You did Babypop. Not right then, but you certainly did." Ember said internally, Sammy placing a metaphorical supporting hand on her shoulder in the mindscape they shared.

"Do you hold a grudge over the mind control? I've heard from Star and Kim that she showed up again on Halloween, and a couple other times." Ember asked, Sammy confirming that she'd actually gotten that information.

"As long as she isn't going to try and take over the world with it, I'm willing to let it go. If she's actually changed, that's all that matters. I like to think she has, she stepped up against Fright Knight, when she didn't have to." Danny said, a small smile on her face.

"What do you think of her now?" Ember prodded. Sammy internally expressed that that might have been a bit direct, but Ember had to know.

"She seems… better. More free I think. Probably not ready to start being a superhero or whatever but. I don't think she'll be a threat to the world anymore. Outside of that, I guess I don't really know. She was quick to help Kitty when she was in trouble, Kitty mentioned she was her best friend. The glimpses I've seen of her behind the punk rocker persona are pretty limited, but I think there's a nice person under there." Danny said, smiling a bit.

Ember smiled, internally and externally at that. Covering her tracks a bit, she asked about some of the other ghosts Danny fought, expressing actual interest in hearing his sides of those stories, since she'd heard many of the complaints from the ghosts about their encounters. Conversation between the two was smooth and easy, a rapport between them that Ember simply adored. Sammy smiled in the mindscape, happy to see actual possibility in Danny accepting Ember's feelings. She supposed it would all come down to how tomorrow night's reveal would go.

Sammy held on to Danny's arm as they walked into the gymnasium for the dance. They'd already taken pictures at the large heart arch display by the entrance, Danny taking individual ones with each girl, and then one with all of them, and now were able to just hit the dance floor to their hearts content. "Danny, how about you go ahead and give Star and Kim their dances, so I can have you for the rest of the night?" Ember suggested, as Star and Kim smiled a bit.

"We did promise her, so I guess we better deliver. Kim, you can take the first one, I want to spy on Tucker and Valerie having their dance." Star said, scanning the crowd for her best friend.

"Alright, come on Danny." Kim said, pulling him away from Sammy. The pair made their way to one of the corners of the gymnasium, away from the speakers so they could actually hear each other while they danced.

Sammy smiled at the pair, and Ember realized she didn't feel as much jealousy as she thought she would at seeing Danny with some other girl. "Good thing that it doesn't bother you, jealousy isn't going to get you far in this relationship." Sammy said inside their mindscape.

"I can imagine." Ember replied.

As the first few songs ended, Danny made his way back over to Sammy, taking her hand. "Well, looks like you've got dibs the rest of the night. Here's hoping I can make it as good as you want it to be." Danny said, as he put his hands on her waist to dance with her.

Sammy wrapped her arms around Danny's shoulders, feeling a little self-conscious about the fact that with the heels on, she needed to look down at him. "I'm sure you'll do great." Ember said, mentally stopping herself before she called him Babypop.

Ember relished his touch on her, enjoying the gentle swaying to the music. She appreciated the song, a loving rock ballad that was unfamiliar to her, but reminded her of the styles she grew up with. It wasn't 'Beth' but it would do nicely.

"You having a good time so far?" Danny asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't messing it up. Sammy had proven to be a date he was having difficulty getting a read on, at least compared to Star and Kim. He wondered if it was because of her spy training, or just growing up in different places.

"You have no idea how much I'm enjoying this." Ember said, leaning her head on Danny's shoulder. It was a bit awkward given the height difference, but the connection she felt in that moment was worth it.

Said moment however, was ruined quickly. "I'm sick and tired of this Fenturd." Came the arrogant voice of Dash Baxter. Ember recognized him, one of the dumb jocks she mind controlled for security detail. Sammy in her mentally joked there wasn't much mind to control.

"What do you want, Dash? Can't you see I'm a little busy?" Danny asked, turning to look at Dash, taking his arms off of Sammy's waist in the process.

"I'm sick and tired of you somehow getting every hottie in the school to prefer you over me! First it's Star, then Possible, then Valerie, then the three Beverly Hills hotties show up and they like you better than me too! This is insane! I'm the star quarterback, hottest guy in school, yet I couldn't get a date to this dance while you've got three!" Dash yelled, seeing red. "I oughta pound you into dirt."

"Touch him and you're dead dipstick." Ember said, moving to stand in front of Danny. Ember and Sammy were both annoyed at how Dash treated Danny. "You think just because you can throw a ball well means that every girl in the world should fall over themselves for you. Truth is you're just an arrogant jerk with an ego the size of a truck and the brain the size of a pea. No girl wants to go out with you because the only thing you care about is your ego and football. Now take a hike before I show you how much damage one of these heels can do." Ember said, glaring at Dash.

Dash, utterly confounded by anyone standing up to him, just walked off in a huff, fuming at the girl who had the audacity to talk to him like that. HIM! Dash Baxter! Star Quarterback!

Sammy turned back to Danny, red in the face. Both from the anger she had directed towards Dash, and the embarrassment she felt in blowing up like that in front of Danny.

"Wow, Sammy. That was quite the show you put on." Danny said, taking a look at her.

"Sorry about that, he just got me so mad." Sammy said, avoiding eye contact with Danny.

"How about we step outside before your hair catches fire or something." Danny said, leading her outside.

"Okay Danny." Sammy said, trying to recompose herself.

The February air was quite chilly, something Ember took notice of in the strapless dress she was wearing. The emerald green of it looked good on Sammy, but it wasn't something Ember would wear on her body… unless it showed some more midriff.

"Ember, step out of Sammy. I know you're in there." Danny said, looking into her eyes.

"What?" Sammy asked, dumbfounded.

"Ember. Get out of her. Now." Danny said, his tone not angry, but not leaving any room for argument.

Ember stepped out of Sammy's body, the red-haired girl feeling dizzy for a moment before recovering. The ghost girl turned to look at Danny. "How did you know?"

"Well, the final straw was you calling Dash a dipstick. Sammy would never say that, Ember would say that first thing." Danny called out.

Ember flushed, that was a pretty big giveaway wasn't it. "I'm sorry. I was going to tell you I was doing it tonight. I just wanted to wait until the dance was over."

"Sammy, did you know you were overshadowed?" Danny asked, looking to the red-head who seemed remarkably unsurprised by the situation.

"Yeah, she took over sometime during the set-up for the dance yesterday. I was able to… talk with her in my mind? I guess maybe all the times I'd been mind controlled made me able to do that or something." Sammy said, flushing red. "She's being honest about going to tell you though. She just wanted yesterday and today."

"Why?" Danny asked, looking over to the rocker girl.

"I've… got these feelings for you. Stuff I haven't felt since I was alive, and even then I didn't feel it anywhere near as strongly." Ember said, holding her arm in a shy stance that seemed remarkably out of place on the usually confident punk rocker. "The way you talked to me when under my spell, and then everything I've seen you do since then. You've just… completely stolen my heart. When I first got back to the ghost zone after you stopped me at the concert I was pissed. Fuming, raging against the world like I always thought was the punk rock way. But… every time I thought about punching you in the face, I couldn't. The thought of hurting you, like REALLY hurting you… I couldn't do it anymore."

"So when Johnny and I entered your realm near the end of October? What was that?" Danny asked.

"Being in my realm is… personal. I've been friends with Johnny for years and that was the first time he had ever really been inside. Kitty's allowed in because she's my best friend. The skeletons can be in there because they aren't people, they're mindless. You broke in, I was still working out the difference between the anger I felt at you stopping me, and the love I wanted you to give me. That event, seeing you give everything to help Kitty, a total stranger? That… did something. Then you went and fought Fright Knight. FRIGHT KNIGHT! Probably one of the strongest ghosts in the entirety of the zone… and you beat him. You had help of course, I was there, but you stood up to him even without it. That was braver than anything I'd ever seen. After that I realized that… well that I loved you. That I needed to be with you. I started going to those record stores, even knowing I probably wasn't going to buy much of anything, just for the chance that you'd feel a ghost nearby and come check it out. That we could talk, without needing to worry about one of our friends being trapped in a portal, or about Fright Knight terrorizing everyone." Ember said, not being able to look at him in embarrassment. She smiled though as she looked off into the distance to continue. "It happened once, you found me at that record store and we had a little chat about music. You told me to buy American Idiot, thinking I'd like it. You were right about that, but it was more than just the music they played I liked. It was the insight it gave me on you. You said it was one of YOUR favorite bands, and getting to share that little bit with you… well if I had a heart it would have been beating out of my chest."

"I didn't realize that suggestion would have meant so much to you." Danny said, still trying to process everything.

"I didn't think you would. At the time I wouldn't have wanted you to." Ember said, turning her attention back to him. "I do now though. I want you to know my feelings. I want to openly tell you I'm in love with you Babypop. I know I'll just be one girlfriend in four, but if that's what it takes to have you, then it'll be well worth it." Ember finished, a determined look on her face.

Danny processed the confession, internalizing it deep in his mind. Ember was attractive, he thought that before she had him under mind control, and the mind control's amplification of her opinion on her looks hadn't fully gone away. He still had full memories of their time together, how nice she felt in his arms, even if at the time he was still fighting it from the inside. Could he look past who she had been though? Had she truly changed enough for him to let her in?

"You're not going to take over the world anymore?" Danny asked.

"Not with mind control. If they bow down to me because my music's just too rockin' that's their fault." Ember said, a confident smirk on her face. Danny could accept that answer, close enough to a yes for him to count it.

"No using your powers to hurt or scare anyone?" Danny asked.

"I won't, I promise. I know how much these people mean to you, how much you want to protect them." Ember said, pouring herself into the answer.

Danny sighed, looking to Sammy. "She overshadowed your body for this, how do you feel about it?"

"Not the most thrilled about being a puppet… but we had plenty of time to talk while she was in my head. She's in love with you, has feelings at least as deep as mine if not more." Sammy said, shooting him a smile before continuing. "I'm ready to forgive her and accept her as my weird ghost co-girlfriend."

"Who're you calling weird?" Ember rebutted, mock offense on her face.

"The chick in the skull boots." Sammy said, tapping the skull markings with the toe of her stilettos.

"You know what, fair." Ember accepted.

"I'll go get Kim and Star. They're opinion is important in this too." Danny said, turning to walk back inside and get them.

The moments he was away were torture for Ember. The uncertainty in everything making her want to simply let herself fade back into the ghost zone. But she stood here. She loved Danny, she'd tolerate this for the chance for him to accept her.

Danny returned, Star and Kim in tow. "I explained it to them, but this is an open discussion so they can ask their questions."

"You genuinely thought overshadowing Sammy was the ideal way to get Danny to love you?" Kim asked, some obvious annoyment in her voice.

"No, but it was the way I could think of doing it. I needed him to go on a date with me, have a good time before he realized I was Ember. I didn't think he'd be as receptive to me just openly asking." Ember said, somewhat embarrassed by it.

"So you were willing to lie to him about who you were?" Star asked, before following it up. "How do we know you aren't just going to lie about other things in this? Are you going to get jealous and take over one of us if you don't feel like you get enough time with him?"

"I didn't want to lie, and the intention was always to come clean. I didn't LIKE deceiving him. It made me feel gross and yucky, but I also knew that being a ghost, and being a former bad guy… it would be a tough sell. I wanted him to see that I've changed. That HE changed me, for the better I think. And I hope Sammy here can speak for me… I didn't get jealous at all when he took you away for your dances. It was kind of nice seeing him be so happy with someone, even when it wasn't me." Ember explained.

Kim and Star looked at Sammy, who nodded in approval.

"There'll be ground rules." Kim said, starting it off.

"Trial period, if you start using your powers for the wrong reasons you're out immediately." Star added.

"I'll take any rules you give me, as long as they're fair. Babypop can arbitrate them." Ember said. "I'll prove to you girls that I love him just as much or more than you."

"Danny, it's your call." Kim said, looking to him. "I'm willing to give her a shot, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't want her."

"You can't date Danny Fenton for a number of reasons… but I guess you can be Phantom's girlfriend publicly." Danny eventually said.

Ember lept at him, crushing him into a hug and peppering kisses on his face. "You won't regret this babypop. I'll be the best girlfriend ever."

"Steep competition." Danny said, gesturing to the three others that were present. "Now, I'll give you one dance, but I promised Sammy that she got the night to herself after all."

"He did promise." Sammy said, coming up and kissing Danny on the cheek.

"Fine, give me my dance, Babypop." Ember said, a flame wrapping around her body as her clothes morphed into a form fitting black dress, with a skull belt hanging around her waist.

Danny transformed, turning to Sammy. "I'll be back after this song." He said, as the pair briefly flew up to the roof, the sounds of a love ballad still audible, as the ghostly pair slowdanced in the cold winter air.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to the interlude chapters! These are meant to be shorter, less story driven chapters that flesh out the relationships between Danny and the girls, as well as do a bit of world building. This one got away from me and is pretty much full chapter size, expect the others to be smaller. There's also a continuity hiccup I realized when writing this chapter, but I'll leave it up for you all to find. It's minor in the grand scheme of things, so I won't be going out of my way to fix it, just accept the new canon. This chapter probably needs a content warning for mentions of pornography, but nothing is ever explicitly stated. MPAA says that mentioning pornography still falls in line with being PG rated, and this story is PG-13, so we're good. Enjoy, and please review and comment, I read them all!

Danny double checked his appearance in the mirror one last time. His hair was… well still messy, but in the way that Star always seemed to appreciate. His teeth were nice and white with no hint of any food stuck in them, and his clothes… well he'd done his best. Dark jeans and a white polo shirt would have to be sufficient, he didn't have the fashion knowledge to really do much more. He briefly wondered if he should let Clover into his closet to match some outfits for him. She'd appreciate the challenge probably, but might break his budget making him buy some expensive stuff to 'fill holes' in his outfit selection. Clover wasn't the one to… budget. He put on his deodorant and sprayed some of the cologne that the girls bought him for Christmas. A gift that was as much for them as it was for him. Danny would certainly not complain though, anything that made all four of his girls (because Ember had loved it as well, even if she hadn't been a part of the group who bought it) try to snuggle up closer to him was a welcome present in his book.

Hero work had taken over his life more than usual over the past little bit. Since the start of the new year it seemed Global Justice was constantly calling for him, Kim, and the Spies to deal with some crisis. Doomsday weapons and mass enslavement machines had become far too normalized to them all, to the point that he and Sammy had started riffing on the mechanics of each device as they deactivated them. Kim, Alex, and Clover hadn't gotten in on that, although they did find it amusing. This general thing created a problem. He had been spending a lot of time with Kim and Sammy, snuggling and kissing on flights to wherever they needed to go… and next to no time with Star outside of school.

Today was his attempt to mend that a bit. Kim, Sammy, and Ember were all free today, but Danny had told them that today was going to be all about Star. She had been his girlfriend the longest, since they retroactively considered the homecoming dance that the dragon had attacked to be the beginning of their relationship, but he hadn't been able to make time for her recently, something that made him upset. He didn't like playing favorites, it made the entirety of their relationship feel off, so he tried to equalize them as best he could, letting the only factors that made them 'inequal' being the depths of his feelings, something he couldn't actively control. He was, definitively and without a doubt, in love with Kim and Star. He knew that, and had no problems expressing it to them openly. They had been through a lot together, and he knew their bond would only solidify more and more. Had they been a few years older, Danny wouldn't be surprised if he would be considering engagement rings, but he certainly wasn't ready for that commitment at this moment.

Sammy was quickly falling into that category too. She hadn't been around as long, although their 6 month half-anniversary was fast approaching, and hadn't had quite the time for him to develop feelings. Kim and Star had been fast in that regard, not only because his focus could be entirely on them, but also because they didn't really… hang out with other friends as much. Kim and Star both had their own best friends in Ron and Valerie respectively… but they tended to always hang out as a group. Kim and Star were each other's second best friend, and since Valerie was dating Tucker, Danny's own best friend, group hangouts were just kind of the norm for them. Sammy though, had Alex and Clover, and their bond was so tight between them that they needed their own time. As such, they didn't join group hangouts as much as the others. Though they did always join them at their significantly expanded lunch table. Danny chuckled at that, at the start of Freshman year, it had been just him, Tucker and Sam just like it had been for years. Now their little trio had ballooned to ten people, Eleven if you counted Wade when he joined by video call.

Ember and his relationship had been… odd. He did believe she had changed, he had believed it as far back as Halloween when she helped with Fright Knight, and her appearance at the Valentines Dance hadn't dissuaded that notion, even if he wasn't happy with her taking over Sammy. Ember was loving, caring, and willing to repent for her actions, having offered to donate all the money she had made from her merch sales to a charity of his choice. Danny had told her to donate some of it, but considering he still saw people listening to her music without the mind control aspect, he did believe she had earned a good portion of it on her own merits. Unsurprisingly, she'd chosen a children's music program, and a mental health charity as her donation choices, and Danny couldn't be prouder.

He hadn't been spending much time with her either in the grand scheme of things. She was a constant companion whenever he was in the ghost zone, hopping in the passenger seat of the Specter Speeder whenever he was mapping out areas and providing her own expertise and experience to help him. Those trips however, had become more and more infrequent as their maps of the local area of the ghost zone filled out. One only needed to look at Klemper's icy outcropping a few times to get a solid sense of it. Ember had said repeatedly she wasn't worried too much about it. Seeing him once a week was enough for her, since time in the ghost zone worked oddly anyway. His once a week visits to her felt almost like every other day, and she was happy when he managed to show up more often.

Danny was still processing his feelings for her. She was certainly physically attractive, and though she had offered to change her form to fit his tastes more, he declined and wanted her to feel comfortable as herself and not someone else. To that end, she had willed herself to look a tad younger, to line her appearance age-wise with Kim, Star, and Sammy, which she said was something she was happy to do so he would view her as more of a peer. Danny could also feel an emotional connection forming between them… without context he would simply say they could be friends, but the look she had in her eyes when she saw him… definitely said that that wasn't enough. Danny accepted that his feelings for her were in the same ballpark as his feelings for Kim and Star had been when they first started dating. Ember was happy with that, since she had had much further to climb to get to that point. Ember loved him, probably as much as he loved Kim and Star, but Danny couldn't return that depth of emotion yet. Thankfully, she understood, and simply viewed it as a challenge, an incentive to make him fall as deeply in love with her as he had been when under her mind control.

Danny stepped out of the bathroom as he steadied himself. Despite everything, he still got nervous just before his dates. Why wouldn't he? Star, Kim, and Sammy would probably be among, if not the most popular girls in school if they hadn't taken up with him, and they were all amazing! He really didn't think he was all that special in the grand scheme of things.

Sam would yell at him for that thought, say his powers made him special.

Tucker would just pull up a video of Whirlydeath again, as well as the picture of them holding their 'banned from competition' letter.

Kim and Star would give him THAT look, then probably take him somewhere private to make out with him until he said he was worth it.

Danny briefly thought about saying it anyway just for the reaction. Then he realized, Star would probably do it anyway if he asked.

Each of the girls was different in their level of comfortability and amount of displays of affection. Kim was largely what he considered average for a couple their age. Private moments contained lots of makeout sessions, but in public it never went beyond a brief peck on the lips. Sammy was similar, although she preferred his arm around her waist when they walked as opposed to holding hands. Ember had said that she was open to anything and everything he wanted, largely due to her age and the lack of reason to wait as a ghost. Danny had to sometimes stop and remind himself that Ember was technically older than his parents, even if physically she currently looked his age (although well developed for his age) and mentally she was probably a high-school senior. She'd been a ghost for over 40 years before he met her, and had been older than him by a few years before she died. There had been some… worries about the age gap, but the common consensus in the ghost zone was that mental age always trumped chronological age, and Danny, who as far as the ghost zone was concerned was a ghost, was well within an accepted mental age range of Ember.

Star though… Star was a bit of an odd duck with affection. It wasn't that she didn't like it, no she loved it. Possibly too much. Star was very hands on, and after dating for only a couple months had attempted to… well she'd tried to take off his pants.

Any other guy would have happily let her, she was initiating an act of intimacy, so obviously she wanted it, and what teenage boy with all his hormones would deny her? Danny. Danny would.

He'd pulled away, removing her hands from his belt as he took in a breath, and was forced to stare at the confusion and hurt in Star's eyes at his supposed rejection. He'd moved up immediately after and held her, telling her that it's not that he wouldn't want that with her… just that he wasn't ready yet. He'd only recently start feeling comfortable enough to tell her he loved her… what she was after was on a totally different level.

They'd held that embrace for probably about 20 minutes, Danny just holding her and letting her feel loved, before she accepted that he wasn't ready, and said she'd be waiting for when he was.

That was thankfully a few months ago, and while Danny still didn't really think he was ready yet… he was certainly more ready now than he had been prior. Such thoughts were put aside though, he really didn't need to have them tonight.

After all, tonight he was supposed to meet her mother for the first time. Star had never really mentioned much about her parents. Danny knew her Dad wasn't in the picture at all, but whether he was dead or just left he had no idea. Star's mother though… he'd never even seen a picture of her, and Star wasn't one to volunteer much information. Apparently, Star had only ever really told her mother she had been dating him after the Ember incident, and after everything with Walker and Star getting overshadowed to break up with him, she was interested in seeing the boy who her daughter had fallen so head over heels for.

Danny made his way up the stairs to the rather nice townhouse the Lett women lived in. He wasn't really surprised, everyone who was in the A-List had money, Dash's parents owned every used car lot in the county, Kwan's father was a top surgeon at Amity Park hospital, and Paulina's Dad was in the state senate, with her uncle being Amity Park's Mayor. Star might not be an A-Lister anymore, but that didn't mean that the requirements she had met to be one had changed. He rang the doorbell, and after only a few seconds, his beautiful blonde girlfriend opened the door with a wide smile, pulling him in for a hug and a kiss.

As Danny pulled back and looked at her, he could see she hadn't dressed up quite as much as he did for this, although she still looked stunning. She wore some tight fitting but quite nice dark jeans, that contrasted nicely against the white blouse she wore as a top. Her normal hair clips were gone letting her blonde locks flow loose around her. "So… ready to meet my mom?" Star asked, seemingly as nervous about this as he was.

"I'm not sure, but I'm here anyway and it's too late to back out." Danny said with some humor, trying to lighten up their collective mood.

"I'm feeling much the same way… let's just get through dinner and hopefully we can put this behind us." Star said, leading him inside, sitting him down on the couch.

"You seem really nervous about this Star… when we first got together you didn't think your mom would care as long as you were happy… what's all this about?" Danny asked, taking his girlfriend's hand in his as he tried to lock eyes with her.

Star refused to meet his gaze. "I'm not worried about her opinion of you. You'll impress her, I know that. You're a good guy, good to me, and you make me happy, that's plenty for her. I'm worried that you'll think less of me after you meet her."

"Star… why would you think I'd think less of you? What is she… abusive or something?" Danny asked, trying to piece together what the problem might be.

"No! No.. nothing like that. Mom definitely loves me and hasn't done anything like that… she's perhaps a bit more distant than most parents but not neglectful or anything." Star said, coming to her mother's defense in that regard.

"Then what's wrong?" Danny asked, squeezing her hand.

"Danny, the reason my Dad isn't in the picture is because Mom doesn't even know who he is. She's… loose to say the least. Turned it into a career in… adult video." Star said, coming clean.

Danny froze for a second, processing that information. "Oh… I can see why you didn't want anyone to know." Danny said, trying to cope.

"See, that's what I didn't want to happen! You're going to hate me now." Star said, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke.

Danny wrapped his arms around her. "Star, I love you. Your mother could be a murderer and I wouldn't hold it against you. I'll admit, I'm a bit stunned by what you've told me, but I'm sure you can understand why. I just… well I hope I haven't seen anything with her in it."

"Danny… wait what?" Star said, feeling loved for a moment before confusion at his final words.

"I am a hormonal teenage boy with access to the internet and a friend who has taught me how to completely clear my browser history to where even he couldn't find it. I've seen things." Danny said, flushing at that.

"Hormonal enough to watch porn and not enough to do things with me I see how it is." Star grumbled, not mad but certainly frustrated.

"Star, please. I love you, but… that's a big step. That's not something we get to take back once we're done." Danny said, holding her close and looking into her eyes.

"I… I know. I know having Mom be… like she is has warped my view a bit on what a healthy relationship is like. I.. I don't want to be like her in that way when I grow up, but… I love you Danny, and I want to express it every way I can." Star said, leaning her head on his shoulder as he held her.

"And I love you Star… and if it really means that much to you… we can talk about it. I'd want Kim and Sammy and Ember to be involved in that conversation too. I want us all to be on the same page about what is and isn't acceptable behavior between us." Danny said, sighing.

"Well, at least I know Ember is on the same page as me." Star said, chuckling to herself.

"I'm grateful that the age of Phantom is in question to the public, because I think Ember might be arrested for the things she said to me if someone heard her." Danny said with a flush on his face.

"Not appropriate for minors?" Star asked, a small flush and a teasing smile on her face.

"Not at all." Danny confirmed.

"Maybe I should ask her for some tips then. If just thinking about them has you this riled up." Star said, her voice a little huskier than before.

"Please Star, not just before dinner with your mother." Danny pleaded.

That seemed to snap Star out of it, and she had the grace to at least look embarrassed. "You're right… and we need to… talk to the others before we do that. You refuse to play favorites, and we love you for it, so we need to make sure that they're all okay with us moving forward. Ember certainly is… if half the things I've heard her suggest are things she actually wants, she'll find some way to turn us from just four girls sharing a guy to a full blown harem." Star said, winking at him.

"I sure hope she isn't trying to get any tips on that from Desiree. I'd hate to imagine what kind of tricks an actual harem girl would know." Danny said, shivering as they heard the door open. They quickly put some distance between them as Star's mom re-entered the house.

Scarlett Lett looked very much like what he imagined an older Star would, barring the fiery red hair. The woman was shapely beyond belief, with large breasts and hips, and a slim waist. Danny could realize why her… adult films would be popular enough to allow herself and her daughter to live the relatively lavish lifestyle they did. "Star, I take it this is your dear Danny?" She asked, her voice low and unintentionally sultry.

"Yes. Mom, this is my boyfriend Danny Fenton, Danny, this is my mom, Scarlett Lett." Star said, introducing them, her posture perhaps a little straighter than it would otherwise be.

Danny stood up, walking over to offer her a handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Lett." He said, trying to be polite and charming.

Scarlett eyed his hand for a moment before accepting, giving it a light shake. "Well, he certainly seems polite. Rather handsome too in a scruffy kind of way. I can see why you like him." Scarlett said, her voice seeming bored and disinterested.

Danny wasn't quite sure how to take that. On the surface it was certainly a compliment, handsome and scruffy were words that Star called him in endearing ways, so that didn't bother him, but the tone she used… well it didn't fill him with the warmth such a compliment would actually bring. "Thanks Ms. Lett." Danny let out. "I can see where Star gets her looks from." He added, trying to be light-hearted with a compliment.

Scarlett let out a chuckle, taking her fingers and lifting Danny's chin to where his eyes met hers. "Cute… call me Scarlett. Ms. Lett makes me feel old." She said, before turning to Star. "Did you finish dinner?"

"Yes, mom." Star said with a smile. "How about we go eat?"

"Lets." Scarlett said as she walked into the kitchen, her hips swaying as she left.

Danny took a second to catch a breath… he thought Ember was a bit aggressive with her sexuality, but Scarlett wielded it like a weapon. "So… you cooked tonight?" Danny asked, trying to change the subject to anything but Scarlett.

"Yeah, I wanted to cook for you. I like doing it, and the idea of you enjoying it… well it makes me happy." Star said, sidling up to him and kissing his cheek. "Just focus on the nice meal your girlfriend made you and it'll take your mind off of my mom."

"I'm sorry." Danny said, looking at her.

"Danny, she wraps grown men around her finger on a regular basis. I'm not surprised at all you're struggling with teenage hormones. You're doing remarkably well. Your willpower is strong, and I know you love me and the others. There's no problem here." Star said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Besides, if you like how my mom looks… that's probably not too far off what I'll look like in 10 years." she added, winking at him.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Danny asked.

"A bit. You could stand to lose control a little once in a while. I know Ember and I won't complain." Star said as she led him into the kitchen. She moved to the oven to pull out the lasagna she made. Setting it on the stovetop, she grabbed a knife and sliced into it, placing three good-sized slices onto plates, and bringing them over to the table, setting them in front of Danny and Scarlett with a smile on her face.

As Star sat down and they both started eating, Danny took a bite of the lasagna. "Oh, wow Star, this is great." Danny said truthfully. It warmed his heart a bit that Star had wanted to cook for him… especially since he knew Kim, Sammy, and Ember were all terrible at it. Ember at least had the excuse that she didn't NEED to eat anymore.

"I'm glad you like it, darling." Star said, leaning on him a bit.

"Oh, you have pet names?" Scarlett asked, looking at the two.

"Uh, not really." Danny flushed, only Ember really used any kind of pet name with him.

"I hadn't used that one on him before." Star said with a smile. "But I think I might just keep doing it. It sounds… right that he's my darling."

"You've been watching that anime again haven't you?" Scarlett asked, causing Star to flush.

"I can't help it. I just see what they have and I want it in my own relationship." Star says, her tone embarrassed.

"What anime?" Danny asked, now interested.

"Well… it's two of them… Rosario Vampire and My Dress-Up Darling." Star said, looking down to hide her flush.

"That Vampire one is quite risque at times. Imagine my surprise when I came home and saw my daughter be so invested in a trio of girls trying to seduce a boy. I'd offered to give her some tips, I am an expert after all." Scarlett said in that husky tone she seemed to always speak in.

"Oh, yeah… I've seen that one." Danny said with his own flush.

"You two are cute. Now, Star tells me you have other girlfriends as well? How did you pull that off?" Scarlett asked, and Danny's blood froze in his veins. He wasn't exactly trying to keep it a secret, but her knowing was… still unnerving.

"I uh… well I didn't do anything." Danny said, a little unsure of how to even answer that question.

"Kim and I, and Sammy later, did pretty much all the actual work to get us together. Danny made us all fall in love with him on his own, but he was pretty miserable at… acting on that interest." Star said, managing to pull the conversation around.

"As all good men seem to be. It's the ones that can act without fear that you need to worry about." Scarlett said, in a tone that implied she knew everything about that.

"Anyway, after… well after a while Kim came to me and asked if I would be willing to share him. She's the reason he asked me to the dance that became our first date in the first place, so when she realized she had feelings for him too… I'd kind of already had my hooks in him. I couldn't have imagined him picking me over Kim Possible though if he'd had to choose, and… well I took the advice you always told me about guys. If you want something, take it. So I agreed with Kim that we could share him. After we asked him out together… we've been happy ever since." Star said with a goofy grin, directing his attention toward Danny.

"And this Sammy girl you mentioned?" Scarlett asked.

"Oh, yeah. She met Danny on a field trip and apparently had an instant crush on him. They texted for a little bit as friends and she just kept getting it worse and worse for him. When her parents got moved to Middleton for work and she started attending our high school with us? She had it BAD. Kim and I could tell, so we let her in. We like her a lot, Kim and I are smart, but SHE'S the real brains of the operation now." Star added, thinking back about the situation, and their cover story for how Danny and Sammy met.

"That was just after you and Danny had that awful spat. What was that about?" Scarlett asked, and Star and Danny froze. They'd never made a cover story for that.

"Umm… well we don't really like talking about it." Star said, trying to buy some time.

"It was some stuff with my… I guess it's like a job." Danny said, taking initiative, careful to craft a story with as few lies as possible.

"Oh? Do tell." Scarlett said.

"Well, my parents are ghost hunters, and I help them with that. I got hurt during one of our missions and… well Star didn't like that. We had a bit of a disagreement, because she wanted me to stop getting myself hurt when doing it, and I said I couldn't just let ghosts run rampant around Amity Park. The pain I was feeling, alongside some frustration at Star not getting why I was doing what I was doing kind of ended up with us blowing up at each other. We made up pretty quickly though. The whole thing with the mayor getting possessed gave Star the perspective of why I do what I do, and I started taking a slightly more back-seat approach with my parent's ghost hunting." Danny said. Technically, the only lie in there was that he and Star had an argument about that. He had been hurt on missions before, and Star did take it pretty badly when it happened. Her mind control rant had even kind of taken form of that, and while Danny might actively be fighting ghosts, he is very backseat with his parent's version of ghost hunting, all he does for them is help them build and test their gadgets, otherwise they do their own thing.

"I see." Scarlett said, examining Danny for a moment. "Your parents allow you to help them, even with the dangers?"

"I've been working with the equipment since I was 12, and have been learning martial arts from Mom and boxing from Dad since I was 6. I'm pretty well qualified. They usually don't actually want me near the dangerous parts though. I help maintain equipment and keep them charged." Danny said. More not lies, just phrased carefully.

"I've noticed Star having some of your family's devices. Do you intend to make my daughter fight ghosts?" Scarlett asked.

"I don't intend to make your daughter do anything. I've given her the gauntlets and the lipstick so she can keep herself safe if a ghost attacks, but I would infinitely prefer her to run if possible. Those are there if standing her ground is her only option." Danny said, squeezing Star's hand in his.

"Lipstick? How does lipstick fight ghosts?" Scarlett asked.

Star grabbed her purse from the living room, pulling it out. She twisted it and fired a blast out the window into the sky. "Functions as an actual lipstick, with added ghost fighting laser inside. Admittedly, they still haven't made a color I like." Star said with a touch of sadness.

"We've been trying, babe. It's just really hard to find pigments that don't absorb the laser." Danny said, smiling at her.

"How does that work, and why isn't it a laser pointer instead of lipstick?" Scarlett asked, now curious.

"Inside the base is a custom fenton ectoplasmic laser emitter, powered by one of our proprietary fusion cell batteries. The laser focuses through a lens beneath the lipstick, and then fires through it. The reason we went with this design over a laser pointer is that the actual lipstick functions as a sort of protective solution for the lens. It gets scratched very easily if exposed to air, but the lipstick keeps it from getting scratched. We did a few experiments with a laser pointer version, and we offer one, but the lipstick continuously outperforms it in sales. Most people prefer it because it's much easier to explain having lipstick on their person than a laser pointer." Danny said, giving the basic rundown.

"And why not a pen?" Scarlett asked.

"The thickness we need for this would look… odd on a pen. You probably notice that these are a bit thicker than a normal lipstick tube, but not terribly so. A pen of this thickness isn't very comfortable to hold." Danny added. "We had one briefly, we sold about 10 before people complained they were too thick, and we're space limited by the battery, which cannot get any smaller for physics reasons. Lots of top researchers are convinced we're already breaking physics by having it be as small as it is."

"Star never mentioned you were smart." Scarlett noticed, turning to look at her daughter with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm not. I'm dumber than a box of rocks. I've just been around this long enough to know about it." Danny said, waving off the compliment.

"Don't let him downplay it. He's not top of our class or anything, Sammy, Kim and I are beating him in that regard, but he's super great with mechanics. He and his friend Tucker built a robot for their middle school competitions that got them banned from competing again because it was too effective." Star said, bragging on Danny a bit.

"That was all Tucker's idea, I just put it together." Danny said, trying to dismiss it.

"And Tucker says he had the basic idea and did the code, while you completely figured out how to actually bring it to the real world. Tucker said 'let's make a big spinning bowl' and you made one so effective it destroyed everything!" Star said, lightly shaking her boyfriend in an attempt to get him to see how smart he was.

Scarlett chuckled a bit to herself at seeing them interact. The pair chattered off in their own little world as she observed them. Scarlett had never really had this, she'd never brought a boy home to meet her parents, and no boy had ever wanted anything from her that required her to meet his. She'd worried a bit that her… unique style of relationships would rub off on Star, would unfortunately turn her into another her. She had the body for it, at 15 she was already fairly developed, and assuming her genes came through, she'd only get even more so. That's the kind of thing some less than chivalrous boys would take advantage of, and Scarlett knew that she wasn't able to properly model how to fight off those boys' advances, because Star herself had been the result of one of them. She'd only been 16 when she was pregnant with Star, and to this day still didn't know who her father was. She'd long since given up on caring, it might have mattered when she was 16 or 17, but by the time she finished high school (and she DID finish, even had a little 1 year old Star in the audience sitting on her grandfather's lap) it didn't matter to her anymore. None of the boys it could have been ever bothered asking, and she had the love and support of her family to make it work.

Looking at Star now though… part of her could see that the only part of that life that she needed to worry about would be a teen pregnancy. Danny was a good boy, she could tell that, and he'd step up to be a good father. She also knew that Star was taking precautions against such a thing, she'd taken her to her appointment to get put on birth control shortly after their first date. That had been a fun conversation they had, at least for Scarlett. Star had been so embarrassed as Scarlett hounded her for questions about the boy, but Star had remained pretty close-lipped about the whole thing. She had no intentions of needing it particularly quickly, but wanted to go ahead and start it. Scarlett equal parts wished she had been so practical, and was glad she hadn't. Being a teen mom had been hard on her, but Star was well worth it. She'd be quite pleased if Star would at least wait until she graduated to have a child. Scarlett was in no hurry to be a grandmother.

"So, Danny. What are your plans after high school?" Scarlett asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Danny and Star stopped their conversation and sort of jerked back to a normal position, Star having been lightly shaking him the entire time. "I'm definitely intending to go to college, where I haven't decided yet, but I've got time to think about that. Two years before applications really need to start going out. As for what I would be studying… I had wanted to be an astronaut, so that had implied Astrophysics or something along those lines would be necessary." Danny said, thinking back to his childhood dreams… something he hadn't really thought about in a bit.

"Had wanted?" Scarlett asked.

"I guess I still might. Changes in my life have made me think more about something like mechanical engineering like my parents did, or maybe some other thing. Being an astronaut had been my dream for so long, but… I'm admittedly unsure if it's still my dream. The things that excited me about it before still do excite me, and I do still have all the effort I put into it before, years of Space Camp and my Junior Astronaut certification, but… I don't know if it's everything I want anymore." Danny said, sighing a bit as he answered.

"What changed?" Scarlett asked.

Danny and Star sent a brief look at each other. Phantom had changed. It seemed unlikely that Danny would ever be able to be an astronaut and leave the Earth undefended from ghosts for months at a time if he were to go to space. Kim and the Spies could only do so much, they were human, fully human with no powers. Some of the stronger ghosts would be too much for them, even Walker would run ramshod right through them, much less someone like the Fright Knight, or someone worse if they existed. His parents could do a bit more… but they couldn't be active in the fight forever. Jack was already showing signs of his age, the white hair on his temples a reminder of how time passes. Valerie may choose to take up the mantle after them, but that's a decision that's on her. Technus couldn't really fight other ghosts, and even if Ember had turned over a new leaf, assuming she would actively defend Earth from other ghosts was a stretch. Johnny and Kitty even more so. Danny and Vlad were the only two people with the real power to keep the world safe from ghosts, but Vlad would certainly not take up the mantle.

"It's… private stuff. Stuff I'm not really ready to talk about with anyone who isn't family or really close friends." Danny said, phrasing himself carefully.

"Does Star know?" Scarlett asked.

"I do, and I won't tell you. Danny's got a lot going on, and I'm happy to support him during it. Just… leave it at that, okay Mom?" Star requested, locking her hand with Danny's.

"I won't pry any further, I just wouldn't want him to be keeping a secret from you that might affect you." Scarlett said, her eyes darting between the two. There was a tension about whatever this secret was, not between them, but around them. To everyone else who didn't know it. It must be something big.

"I don't hide anything from Star. I've always endeavored to be completely honest with her through our relationship." Danny said, shooting a small smile to his girlfriend.

"I'm glad, I've never had a relationship like you two do, but I imagine secrets don't lend themselves well to that." Scarlett said, looking between them.

"You've never had a relationship like us?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"When I was in high school, once I realized how… enjoyable sex could be, I wasn't terribly picky about getting to be romantic with someone to have it. It was fun, it was casual. I can't say I regret it because it brought me Star. After she was born though… well I started my career, I imagine Star has told you what I do. Men who learn what I do aren't exactly interested in… long term commitments. I think only a handful have even met Star, and I don't think a single one ever came back after." Scarlett said, traveling back in her memories.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Danny said truthfully.

"Why would that be?" Scarlett mused.

"I'd want everyone to feel something like what I have with Star. She means the world to me, and I imagine she feels the same. It's something I think everyone wants, and something I know some people have craved." Danny said, images of Vlad's obsession flashing through his mind.

"And if I'm happy as I am now?" Scarlett asked, her tone with a bit of an edge.

"That's fine, but I would think that having something like what Star and I do would make you even happier. It's like a cake. Just the actual cake is delicious, but if you put some frosting on it, it's even better. I imagine we have opposite opinions on what the cake and what the frosting is in this scenario, but I imagine the whole thing is still preferable." Danny tried to explain, his naivety and inexperience showing, but there was something in his earnest words that gave Scarlett pause.

"You believe that I'm only eating frosting in this scenario?" Scarlett asked.

"In my version of it you would be. The cake is the fulfillment I get from my relationship with Star, the love, the companionship, the simple joy of being together. Sex in that would be like frosting, not needed to be satisfying, but it does improve the experience. Probably, I don't have any experience to know that for certain." Danny said, flushing a bit. "If sex for you is the cake, that's fine, but that doesn't mean you can't have your own version of the icing as well."

"It's interesting to meet someone who isn't judging me for what I do." Scarlett mused, looking at Danny.

"Why would I? Assuming you're taking legitimate jobs, the industry exists for a reason. People buy it, people watch it. I imagine most people have at least seen something once." Danny said, his practical mind coming through. "I'm not the best in my economics class, but even I know that if there is a demand there will eventually be supply."

"You're far too open minded for your own good I fear." Scarlett said.

Danny took a moment to think back to Technus, to Sidney, to Ember, Johnny and Kitty. If he hadn't been open to the idea that a ghost could be good, Technus would likely be doing whatever he could to use technology to take over the world. Sidney would have haunted the school forever and never managed to find his own closure. Ember would keep attempting to take over the world, and Johnny and Kitty would hate him for having the chance to save her and not taking it. "Keeping my mind open has led me down a lot of good paths. My relationship with Star, Sammy, and Kim chief among them." Danny said, a smile on his face.

"I suppose that leaves the question that I imagine all of their mothers have asked… why isn't my daughter enough for you?" Scarlett asked, the friendly if detached demeanor she had built up over the course of the conversation gone, a hard edge replacing it.

"She is. She would be. If it was just Star I would be happy. But the other girls wouldn't be. I didn't accept this situation out of some twisted belief that I was 'worthy' of their affections. That I deserved them because of anything. I accepted this situation because they looked to me, and told me that they thought the way they would be most happy is with me, even if the others were there, that I couldn't bear to see them sad. It hasn't been easy, I know Star effectively burned her final bridge with her former friends, and we get ridiculed constantly… but we're happy." Danny said, squeezing Star's hand.

"You made her choose between her friends and you?" Scarlett raised her eyebrow, a hint of anger in her voice.

"No, Danny didn't. THEY made me choose between him and them… and I don't regret leaving them for a second. They're egotistical, awful people, and I'm ashamed I was blind to it for so long. The only REAL friend I had before Danny and I got together was Valerie, and she made the same choice I did. We fell in love with the 'losers' as my old friends would have called them, and now we have friends that care about us for more than our appearance or the amount of money we have. Kim and Sammy are better friends to me than Paulina ever was." Star said, matching her mother's anger with her own. "Did I have to choose? Yes, but Danny didn't make me. He might be the reason it happened, but I'm glad it did."

Scarlett seemed taken aback by Star's feelings on the matter. "I see. Well… I suppose that satisfies my curiosity. You've got your hooks quite deep in my daughter Danny. Let's hope you don't abuse that."

"I'd rather die than abuse her trust." Danny said, a marked seriousness in his voice.

"I hope there is an action to back up those words, but I have no desire to see you actually die. I feel that would make my daughter very sad." Scarlett said, smirking at him a bit.

Star laughed a little bit. By some interpretations, she saw Danny 'die' almost every day, she'd made a joke about him being scared half-to-death when they'd first gotten together. The… question of Danny's mortality was something that was just… funny to her. She knew any actual danger or peril he would be in wouldn't be funny to her, knew that seeing him hurt or injured or bleeding made her heart hurt just imagining it. But the idea of Danny playing jump rope with his own mortal coil was still amusing to her.

"What are you laughing at?" Scarlett asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Danny's serious face." Star said, covering for herself, although she did find it funny. She took a second to mimic it, before laughing again. Danny was, generally, a pretty carefree and goofy guy. He'd get serious when people were in danger, but he was happy to quip at ghosts and goof off when he needed. Danny wasn't a serious guy, so seeing him be it in this instance? It was hilarious.

"Come on, why are you laughing at that?" Danny asked, his voice giving a bit of a whine. This only made Star laugh even harder.

"Because it's funny! You're very rarely REALLY serious, so seeing you use it now? Not when you're like fighting a ghost or helping Kim out? It's funny!" Star said between laughs.

"I thought you said you take a backseat with the ghosts?" Scarlett asked.

"Sometimes I can't, or if there's some less dangerous ones I can handle on my own. A couple have attacked the school and I've dealt with them on my own." Danny said, more not lies. "I don't take unnecessary risks, but something like a little blob ghost just needs to be caught in a thermos and not even fought."

"A Thermos?" Scarlett raised her eyebrow again.

"Don't ask. It's not worth it." Star said.

Conversation went smoothly for the rest of dinner, and Star couldn't help but be amazed at how… present her mother was during the conversation. Star knew her mother was generally focused… somewhere that wasn't here. She could focus when Star needed her to, but for basic mundanities she was content to have her mind be elsewhere. This was… odd. Maybe it was just a need to focus on her romance options, a desire for Star not to turn out like her mother.

With dinner finished, Scarlett told the two to go out and do something fun for their date. Star, wanting the awkwardness of the night to be over, readily agreed and pulled Danny out of the house, the pair of them making their way to a nearby park.

As they sat on one of the benches, looking over the nearby duck pond, Star spoke. "That went better than expected."

"What had you expected?" Danny questioned. He could barely remember what he thought, the anxiety of the thing so palpable still that all he could remember was a deep unending dread. He'd have rather fought the Fright Knight again, if he didn't think getting nicked by the Soul Shredder wouldn't put him back in that situation.

Actually thinking about it, Soul Shredder would make it worse. Mr. Possible and Mr. Simpson would be there too. And Ember's dad, somehow.

Star's squeeze of his hand pulled him out of that anxiety nightmare. "I… well I was worried you'd be wrapped around her finger too."

"Star…" Danny said, looking into her eyes. Those beautiful turquoise eyes he couldn't get enough of.

"She… controls men. I've seen her do it, pulled over for speeding? A bit of cleavage and she's off without even a warning. A flirty wink getting her a couple grand off of her car. And… I was terrified that despite how strong I know you are, how resistant you have been to literal mind control, that you'd fall for it too. That you'd just see how attractive she was and roll over for her." Star said, sulking.

"Well, I had one thing that helped." Danny said, squeezing her hand tightly. "Might have made it harder initially, but it certainly kept me cool in the end."

"And what would that be?" Star asked.

"You look just like her, barring that red dye job. She might be an older, more developed you, but anything she did that was attractive? I'm sure you could do it better. Because I know that I love you more. I don't play favorites, and despite what you and Ember keep telling me, I'm not a total sucker for red-heads with green eyes. You girls mean the world to me, and I don't need my eyes to wander. I've got four lovely girls already, when I'm not even sure I'm deserving of-" Danny was saying before being interrupted.

"Shut." Star said, grabbing his lips. "No bad talking my boyfriend. No one gets to do that. Not even him." She leaned in and kissed him, sliding her tongue across his lips to deepen it as she moved to straddle him.

Danny pulled back from the kiss after a few moments. "You're very eager today."

"Have to be. I'm competing against two superheroes and a rockstar." Star said, a little breathless from their kiss.

"Star, it's not a competition." Danny said, his voice soft.

"It's cute that you think it's not. Now I'm not done." Star said as she leaned in for more.

Danny didn't have any reasons to complain.

Chapter Text

A/N: Welcome back for another chapter. Today is Kim's interlude, which should hopefully be a bit of fun. As of me writing this, I'm a little stuck on Episode 18. It focuses on the flour baby assignment more than the Skulker stuff, so if you guys have any suggestions for things you think you'd like to see in that episode, let me know! Make sure to comment and review!

     Tapping his phone against the reader, Danny paid for their tickets into Amity Park’s new VRCade, Jim and Tim excitedly bounding in and rushing to check out some of the games they had on display. “Sorry you have to help me babysit the tweebs. I figure you would have wanted to have an actual date… not this.” Kim said as she watched her brothers bounce over to a connected motorcycle racing game, the two of them hopping on the motorcycle and pulling VR headsets on, whooping as they entered a race.

    “Hey, it’s no big. They’re your brothers, which means if we work out, they’ll be mine too.” Danny said with a smirk, wrapping his arm around Kim’s waist, which made her flush a bit.

    “What’s this about Mr. Forward? You never do this.” Kim said, placing her hand on top of the one that was on her waist. The subtle sign of ‘keep it there’.

     “Blame Star.” Danny chuckled as they moved to a nearby table to sit down.

     “You’re not trying to…” Kim asked with eyes wide.

     “No! No… not until we’re both ready for that… she just… wanted me to try pushing a little harder. Dial it back if it was too much but I figured you wouldn’t be too upset about my arm around your waist.” Danny said with a chuckle.

     “Well, I’m certainly not going to complain too much… you’ve always been a bit hesitant to do more than hold my hand in public.” Kim said, leaning into his shoulder.

     “Didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Star and Sam both explicitly said ‘arm around my waist’. You’ve never asked for anything like that.” Danny explained, his fingers gently tapping against the exposed skin of her midriff.

    “Keep forgetting you’re Mr. Caution with all of this. I wonder what happened with Star to make this happen.” Kim said as she snuggled close, turning her eyes to watch the tweebs go check out another machine. 

     “Star… she’s pushing for her, and probably Ember to be able to do more. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with it yet… but if it makes her happy I guess I’m willing to try a bit more.” Danny said with a sigh.

    “Most guys would be jumping at that opportunity.” Kim said, her grip tightening on his hand a bit.

    “Most guys can’t walk through walls. I’m not convinced that applies to me too much.” Danny chuckled.

    “So you never used your powers to peek inside the girls locker room?” Kim asked, in a teasing tone.

    “I got knocked into it once by a ghost at the school, but I promise I’ve never intentionally used my powers to look.” Danny said, smiling at her. “Maybe a me who didn’t have you and Star might have, I’m a teenage boy after all, but I never really had the urge.”

     “Not like Star wouldn’t probably show it if you asked.” Kim mentioned, which caused Danny to flush.

    “Not the time or place, Kim.” Danny said, trying to think other thoughts to clear his face.

    “Again, most guys would kill for a girlfriend who is happy to send underwear pics. Yet you never take advantage of it… why?” Kim asked, locking eyes with him.

     “Because if I was the kind of guy to take advantage of it, I wouldn’t be the guy you girls somehow fell in love with.” Danny said, smiling. “I know it drives Star up the wall that she can’t be more physical with me, but… well I’m not convinced I’m READY for it you know? Plus… what if you girls regret it? What if it’s the thing that makes you want to leave me? I’m STILL recovering from Walker, that was months ago and it wasn’t even YOU who said those things and it still gives me a near panic attack just thinking about it.” 

     “Danny…” Kim said, pulling him in for a hug and kissing him for a second. “I think I can speak for all four of us when I say we wouldn’t ‘regret’ it. I don’t think I’m ready for anything like that, but I can certainly tell you that I’ve thought about it a lot. If we did it tonight, I would probably look back on it fondly in the morning, and probably laugh at how scared I was of it. I know you would never hurt me. You’d never make me do something I wasn’t comfortable with, and I know that while you may push, you wouldn’t push hard. You’d nudge, make a suggestion, and back off if I didn’t want it. You took initiative and wrapped your arm around me, something I admittedly didn’t know if I was comfortable with in public… but I like it. You’ll be doing it a lot more from now on.” 

     “I live to please.” Danny chuckled, his eyes landing on Jim and Tim as they played some Star Wars branded VR game. Based on their motions they were probably dueling with Lightsabers.

     “Dad… isn’t as mad as he used to be about us.” Kim managed to say after a bit of a pause.

     “I’d say it’d be pretty difficult for him to be MORE made than he was. He did threaten to send me into a black hole.” Danny said, shivering a bit.

     “I know… but he’s getting over it. I’ve been trying to let him know how happy you make me. I think he’s getting it.” Kim said with a smile. “You taking care of the boys today is probably going to be another win in that regard. They like you a lot you know.”

     “Of course they do, I took them to an arcade.” Danny said chuckling as he watched them bounce over to another game. “Do you think they’ll actually listen to what I told them on the walk over about not trying to disassemble the machines?”

     “Yeah, they’re good about not messing with other people’s stuff, family excluded, and they know that if they act up we won’t bring them back.” Kim said with a bit of an evil smirk. “You’re doing fine, big brother.” 

     “Laugh it up.” Danny said, chuckling alongside Kim at the statement. “I’m just trying my best. You’re the only one of the girls with siblings, so I get to focus everything onto Jim and Tim.”

     “Call them the tweebs.” Kim said, rolling her eyes.

     “I dunno, that feels so… early 2000s.” Danny said, shrugging about it.

     “How would you know? We were born in ‘09.” Kim said, looking to him oddly.

     “Not sure, part of me feels like I was actually 14 in 2003, and that’s why Tucker uses a PDA instead of a smartphone, among other things.” Danny said, shivering as a sudden draft made it feel like one of the walls was missing.

    “I guess.” Kim said, letting that conversation line die off. Jim and Tim came over, big grins on their faces. “What’s up tweebs?”

    “Just hungry, can we get some food?” The pair asked, trading off half-way through.

    “No idea how you two do that, but yeah. I’ll go grab us a pizza. Everyone good with cheese?” Danny asks as he gets up, looking over the Possibles.

    “Sounds good.” Kim said, shooting him a smile.

     Danny stepped off to get the food, while the tweebs just gave Kim a grin. “So, how’s the cootie swapping?”

    “Ha ha. You know you’ll wish you had a girl to ‘swap cooties’ with when you’re mine and Danny’s age.” Kim said, giving her brothers a slightly frustrated glare.

    “Probably.” Jim said, shrugging.

    “There’s a girl I like anyway.” Tim added.

    “Oh? Since when did girls stop being gross?” Kim asked, now interested.

     “Last year sometime? There’s a girl in our grade who I think is nice.” Tim said, flushing a bit talking about her. “I dunno, Danny talked to me once about liking a girl and made it seem not so bad.”

    “Tim’s got it bad for her. I don’t see it.” Jim said, shaking his head. “Obviously cooties aren’t real, that’s just a tease, but I don’t see why he’s got a thing for this girl.”

    “Who is she? Have I met her?” Kim asked, trying to remember the girls in the twins’ grade. 

     “Not saying who, but I don’t think you’ve met her. Probably seen her a few times though.” Tim said, shrugging. “I… I don’t really know what to do about it. I asked Danny for advice but he didn’t have anything useful to say.”

    “Not surprising, I love that boy but he is very much NOT the reason we got together.” Kim said, sighing.

     “Kim, you had to make the first move, I know that’s odd for you, but are you REALLY going to hold that over me for our entire relationship?” Danny asked as he slid back into his seat, kissing Kim again as he sat down. The tweebs both made a gagging motion, but there was no heat behind it. 

     “Of course I will. Especially because you made it happen with Sammy too.” Kim said, teasing him some more.

     “In my defense, I knew you were interested but wasn’t sure where things were going with Star, and in Sammy’s case I already had two girls and had a lot on my plate the first week she moved in. Not exactly lots of time to notice.” Danny tried to defend himself.

     “Fine, I’ll give you Sammy. Star and I though you have no excuse. We both liked you and you weren’t doing a thing!” Kim said, poking him in the side.

     “Because I was feeling everything out. You forget that at that point I’d only known both of you for about a month and a half. We were well before the ‘friends for too long dating would be awkward’ stage.” Danny claimed.

     “That’s a thing?” Tim asked.

     “Yes and no. If you really have feelings for someone it’s not an excuse to not go for it, because an actual friendship can survive the awkwardness of a relationship even if it doesn’t work out. However it can make things more awkward. Take Kim and Ron for example, they’ve been friends for years, and if they ever dated, they might have some awkwardness as things they did all the time as friends suddenly takes on a new meaning. Like, I’m sure before high school Ron stayed at your house decently often?” Danny pointed out.

    “Yeah, Ron’s stayed over a few times.” The twins said.

     “Well if Kim and Ron had ever dated, that suddenly changes how that can be interpreted. A pair of friends staying at each other's houses is normal. A boyfriend and girlfriend doing that is seen as a bit more intimate.” Danny said.

    “Why are you talking like Ron and I would have ever dated?” Kim asked, raising an eyebrow at Danny.

     “I dunno, I figured he’d be someone the twins would know about, and part of me figures if I wasn’t in the picture it might have happened.” Danny said with a shrug.

    “Why’s that?” Kim asked.

     “I mean, Ron and I are a bit like different flavors of the same thing. Goofy, loyal, with a tendency to stumble into heroics.” Danny pointed out.

    “Yeah, but you’re also pretty different. I don’t think I would have fallen for Ron like I did for you.” Kim said, smiling at him.

    “Well, hopefully we’ll never find out, because I have no intentions of letting you go.” Danny said, leaning in and kissing her.

    The twins looked away not wanting to watch the exchange. The pizza arrived shortly thereafter and the quartet dug in, happily enjoying the greasy food that was a staple of any kid or teenager’s diet.

     Jim and Tim rocketed away after they finished, leaving Kim and Danny alone again, as Danny began cleaning their table. “I don’t know where they get all that energy from.” Kim wondered, watching as they practically vibrated as they hopped into some kind of spaceship simulator.

    “Considering you manage to hold down your hero work and cheerleading practice alongside being an A student? I think you can imagine.” Danny said, chuckling as he used a napkin to degrease his hands.

     “Very funny.” Kim said, rolling her eyes. She stopped for a second though before looking at him. “You realize you’re pretty amazing too right?”

     “I’m not you, but I think I do alright.” Danny said, smiling at her.

     “I think you do a bit better than alright.” Kim said, shooting him a smile. “You manage to fight ghosts, keep your grades up, and do something far more difficult than cheer practice.” 

    “What would that be?” Danny asked.

     “You keep all four of us very, very happy.” Kim said, kissing him on the cheek. “I love you, Danny.”

     “I love you too, Kim.” Danny said, smiling at her with love in his eyes. 

Chapter Text

A/N: It's Sammy's turn! I find Sammy the hardest of the girls to write for some reason, so let me know if you feel like she feels off somehow. Other than that, make sure you comment/review! I love reading what you guys have to say.

     Sammy certainly had strange ideas for dates. That was what ran through Danny’s mind as he led his red-headed spy girlfriend into the basement at Fentonworks. “You sure THIS is how you want to spend your ‘all about you’ day?” Danny asked, looking to her. Following his dates with Star and Kim, he figured he’d make sure each of the girls got a day that they were his only focus, even if it was unofficial. 

     “Of course! I’m really interested in what you and your parents have made, Danny. You and I make fun of doomsday weapons enough that I’d love to hear your thoughts on the equipment you guys use.” Sammy said, smiling at him.

     “Fine, fine. I just figured you’d rather… I don’t know, go to a museum or an art gallery or something.” Danny said guiding her to the assembly bench for all their equipment.

    “Maybe a good idea for a date later, but what I really want is time that’s just me and you, no one else, not even the public.” Sammy said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. “It seems like we never get one on one time. Even when I’m the only girlfriend in the room, Alex or Clover are there too.” 

     “They are your best friends.” Danny said, happily wrapping his arm around her waist as she moved to sit on one of the stools. “They might be worried about me taking advantage of you.”

    “Nope, I think they’re just jealous.” Sammy said with a teasing grin. “Clover’s the boy crazy one, she’s really not taking Casper’s lack of cute guys well.”

     “There’s a reason even our two most popular girls are single.” Danny said as he rolled his eyes. “Kwan wouldn’t be too bad if he could get out from under Dash’s thumb.”

    “You’ve mentioned him a few times. Were you guys friends at some point?” Sammy asked, looking at him.

     “Yeah. All of us grew up together, all of us in the same school. I was in the same class as Paulina, Star, Dash, Kwan, and Valerie all through elementary school. Dash was always kind of a jerk, but not as bad as what he became. Kwan though used to be really nice, kind of dorky and awkward, but a good guy under all of that. When they started the pee-wee football team though, he and Dash got close because they REALLY liked it. After that… he was still Kwan, but he was different. More distant from the rest of us. Then middle school came, and popularity mattered. Kwan stopped hanging out with us, no more game nights, no more shooting hoops at the park. He barely spoke to us.” Danny explained, obviously a little put out by it still. “Valerie and Star later explained that Paulina and Dash had gotten it in their heads from some of the older popular kids that popularity was all that mattered. You had to be a certain way, be around certain people, have certain hobbies.”

    “God, she sounds like Mandy.” Sammy said with an exaggerated eye roll.

     “Kim would say she sounds like Bonnie, who fit RIGHT in with that crowd when Casper and Middleton joined together.” Danny said with a chuckle. “Guess we should be glad Mandy didn’t somehow come with you guys, we’d have three Queen Bees fighting for dominance.”

     “I’d pay to see it if I didn’t think Mandy would win.” Sammy said as frustration filled her voice. “Paulina managed to beat Bonnie, but I feel like Mandy would have gotten the upper hand over both of them.”

     “What gives you that impression?” Danny wondered.

     “Mandy had more competition in Beverly Hills and STILL came out on top. She’s got money, influence, and as much as I hate to say it, good looks. Paulina has those as well, but NOT to the degree Mandy does.” Sammy said. “She’s got an annoying voice, but she’s somehow WEAPONIZED it. No one ever called her on it, and not a single boy ever complained about it. I had a guy complain about MY voice!” Sammy growled in frustration at that, but was calmed down when Danny kissed her cheek.

    “If it makes you feel any better, I think your voice is gorgeous.” Danny said, tightening his grip around her waist.

    “It does.” Sammy smiled, leaning into him more.

    “So, gorgeous. What do you want to learn about first?” Danny asked as he turned her to look at the wall of Fenton anti-ghost products.

    “What’s your favorite?” Sammy asked as she looked at them.

    “Well, I get the most use out of the thermos.” Danny said as he pulled down the display model, and tapped the desk, revealing that it had a screen built in. He made a few gestures as he made his way through some menus, revealing the design documents for the Fenton Thermos.

    “So, Mr. Expert, how does it work?” Sammy asked, smiling at her boyfriend.

     “So, something you might not know is exactly how malleable a ghost’s form is. Technically every ghost is capable of temporarily altering their form to nearly any shape, although a lot of it is in visualization. This stores ghosts by forcing them to resize inside of the container, and holds them in by an ectoplasmic containment field. Being inside feels like getting squished a bit. Uncomfortable, but not painful.” Danny explains giving the basic rundown.

    “I take it you know by experience?” Sammy asked.

     “Yeah. Technus said that I should experience being trapped in it so I know exactly what I subject the ghosts I trap to, so that way if it was a painful experience, I had context for what it was like. Getting sucked in is pretty frightening, even if you know you’ll come out of the other end fine, it still feels like you’re getting pulled into a woodchipper or something. Once you’re inside, it’s cramped and claustrophobic. Your body adapts to the size, but not quite enough. It’s like getting shoved in a locker. The walls are too tight, and it seems like no matter how much you thrash you can’t get out.” Danny said, tossing and catching the thermos a few times. “The sucking action is a release of ectoplasm-enhanced gravitons, which is how the ghost zone islands have gravity. This is somewhat like a mini-black hole, but obviously not nearly as dangerous.”

    “Don’t you guys have a ghost vacuum? Does it also work like that?” Sammy asked.

     Danny swiped through the screen again pulling up the schematics for the Fenton Ghost Weasel, which he also pulled from the display. “Nope, the ghost weasel, and no, I don’t think it looks like a weasel either, works like a normal vacuum with it’s suction. It uses VERY high intensity fan motors to create suction, it moves air like no one’s business, and has a ghost capture container inside like the thermos, that part is pretty similar between the pair.”

     “Why do you have two different versions then? Obviously the thermos is better if it’s the one you use all the time, and from the design documents, the Weasel was made AFTER the thermos already proved effective.” Sammy asked, gesturing to the dates on the Thermos and Weasel pages.

    “I have no idea. I think Mom might have just wanted a new vacuum and told Dad to make one that could suck up ghosts so she could take the ghost parts out and have a normal vacuum.” Danny said with a shrug. “As it is, the ghost Weasel is actually TOO strong to be a vacuum cleaner. So if Mom wants it to be a household vacuum she’ll need to make some significant changes. As of now, it’s an emergency button for if a ghost comes through the portal while someone is in the lab.” Danny said, shrugging.

     “Why not the Thermos in that case?” Sammy asked.

     “The ghost Weasel in an confined space like this is technically more effective.” Danny said. “It moves so much air that it starts pulling other stuff that can push the ghosts in, the Thermos ONLY sucks up ghosts.”

     “What happens if it sucks up something that isn’t a ghost?” Sammy asked, looking at the plans for the device.

     “Nothing good.” Danny said, remembering his first meeting with Technus that was caused by the ghost weasel being too overzealous in sucking up everything in the lab. “As a more serious answer, we have a bag for things a normal vacuum might pick up, and anything bigger…. Well it has a reverse function… and we have the Fenton Unclogger.”

    “Ooh, what’s that?” Sammy asked, her eyes sparkling as she tried to find it in the archives.

    “Classified.” Danny said.

    “What do you MEAN it’s classified?” Sammy asked incredulously.

    “It’s classified. You’re a spy, you should know what that means.” Danny said with a smirk.

    “I’m a spy! I’ll find out.” Sammy said with a smirk of her own.

     “Good luck. Technus doesn’t even know what the Fenton Unclogger is.” Danny chuckled, giving her a somewhat evil look.

    “WHY DOESN’T TECHNUS KNOW?” Sammy screamed, now more confused than ever.

     “Classified.” Danny smirked again. 

     Sammy put a pout on her face, and Danny simply found it adorable. He leaned in and kissed her, wrapping both arms around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” Sammy said as she pulled away from the kiss for a moment, leaning her forehead against his.

     “I’m glad you think so, I don’t know if my ego could handle it if you didn’t.” Danny said with a chuckle, enjoying the closeness and intimacy between them. The feeling of her skin under his hands was electric, something that reminded Danny just how lucky he was that he had someone who loved him this much, who wanted to be with him and wanted him to hold them like this. Then that feeling multiplied as he remembered that he had four such girls.

    “I’m sure Ember would be happy to stroke your ego for you.” Sammy said, her green-eyes locking onto Danny’s as she smiled at him.

    “If Ember had it her way it wouldn’t be my ego she was stroking.” Danny said with some rolled eyes.

     “She’s pushing for that again?” Sammy asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Nothing I would consider pushing. Lewd jokes and innuendo, that kind of thing.” Danny said with a sigh.

     “You could say yes, you know. I wouldn’t get mad.” Sammy said as she looked at him.

     “I don’t think I’m ready. You and Kim haven’t really said you are either, and if we take this step, I want to make sure we’re all on board for it.” Danny said, looking at her lovingly. “I don’t want anyone getting special treatment, that means that if I do something with one of you, I have to be capable of doing it with all of you, barring preferences.”

    “Preferences?” Sammy asked.

     “Let’s say that, I don’t know we’re out to dinner and you want to share a milkshake, but Kim would never want to do that. That would be a preference thing, since while sharing something like that is a kind of romantic thing, it isn’t something everyone wants.” Danny said, hoping his example was good enough. It was a weird thing, since Danny wasn’t huge on sharing drinks with people anyway. His mind stopped at that as he realized he swapped spit with his girls regularly, but wouldn’t want to drink after them. Kissing is weird now that he thought about it.

    Didn’t mean he’d stop though.

    “Makes sense I suppose. I’m sure later on some of the girls will be interested in trying things that I don’t care as much for.” Sammy said with a shrug as she leaned into him some more. 

     Danny tightened his grip on her as she leaned into him, enjoying the moment. “I’m still just making this up as I go along. Never had a girlfriend before Kim and Star sprung this on me, so I really have no idea what I’m doing.” He said, chuckling nervously at himself.

    Sammy swiveled, pulling him into her and pressing her lips against his, their mouths moving in concert as their tongues wrestled playfully. The kiss was deep, passionate, and an expression of the deep love they held for each other. Sammy pulled away with a somewhat dopey smile. “You’re doing a good job. I never really had a long-term boyfriend before you, but I can say you make me happier than any guy I’d ever had before you. Even if you aren’t my usual type.”

    Danny quirked his eyebrow. “What is your usual type then?” He wanted to know, but simultaneously he was very nervous. Could he handle if he wasn't what Sammy wanted? He loved her. He loved her a lot, and would be devastated if she didn't love him.

     “Before you… well I had a thing for bad boys. I don't know why, but they just did something for me.” She said, before locking eyes with Danny. “I prefer you though. You make me feel things no other guy ever has. I feel loved, and cherished, and respected. You don't feel intimidated by me being smarter than you, you don't look at other girls when you're with me, other girlfriends excluded, and even though I'm sharing you, I've never once felt like you've shown favoritism. You're a great boyfriend Danny. I love you.” 

    Danny could only smile, his anxieties still present, but eased somewhat by her words. “I love you too, Sammy.”

    She grinned at him. “How about we head up to your room and push some limits? I'm not ready for clothes to come off… but maybe something else?”

    “Far be it from me to disagree.” Danny said, as he scooped her into his arms and carried her bridal style up the stairs.

Chapter Text

A/N: Gasp! I'm late! Not that it matters. This is the final Interlude, since this is our last girl. Unfortunately, despite the fact these interludes were meant to give me time to get ahead of chapter writing, I haven't really managed to do so, due to life treating me like a chew toy. One chapter after this is complete, and the one following is somewhere between 70 and 90 percent. That's a bit of a backlog, but not what I had hoped. As such, while I'm decently sure I'll get up through episode 20 done on regular schedule, there will probably be a delay following that. It's really up in the air. Regardless, please review, let me know what you're excited to see in the story, and maybe anything you'd like to see in the gaps between Season 1 and 2, since that's where I can fit some of the interesting stuff.

     Danny dropped low as Johnny's tire iron sailed over his head, responding with a gut punch in turn. That earned him Shadow’s claw-like hand raking over his back, a small amount of green ectoplasm leaking from the wound.

    “Alright! First blood!” Johnny called out, coughing a bit as the pair (or perhaps trio?) separated. “You’re really making me work for these. How are you keeping up with me AND Shadow like that?” The ghostly beatnik asked.

     “Just… experience I guess? I had actual martial arts training before I had ghost powers. Add on me fighting ghosts and supervillains on a pretty regular basis for going on a year now? I’m getting pretty good at it.” Danny said as Ember brought a rag to wipe the ectoplasm from his back.

    “Yeah, you’re a good fighter, but you SUCK at fighting like a ghost.” Ember said with an eye-roll. “Not that I’m much better really.”

    “How so?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow as he checked his back. His ghostly healing factor had already closed the wounds from Shadow’s attack, leaving only the small amount of ectoplasm that had already oozed out of him behind.

    “Technically as ghosts, getting hit should be really difficult for us.” Kitty said from her place on a stool in Johnny’s garage, spinning on the wheeled seat for a moment. “Our forms are hyper-malleable, and we don’t need to worry about things like muscles determining where we can and can’t be. You don’t need to ‘duck’ to get under one of Johnny’s attacks, you could just BECOME shorter.” She explained, demonstrating as she manipulated her size to be like a pixie, before returning to normal. “Supposedly, that’s what REALLY high level ghost fighting looks like, but I don’t know of anyone who can really do that well, so don’t feel too beaten up about it.”

   Danny sighed as he took a seat on one of the recliners that filled Johnny’s garage, which had all the trappings of a mechanic’s workshop and a man-cave for someone who was forced to ‘sleep on the couch’ often. As such, next to the grease stains and heavy metal tools, there were mini-fridges, a basketball hoop, and a plethora of decently comfy chairs. Ember took her place in Danny’s lap.

    “Yeah, most ghosts in our area of the zone just focus on power over technique.” Ember said, as she wiggled onto Danny’s lap. “Making up for lackluster defense with overwhelming offense.”

    “That’s your philosophy too?” Danny asked, his eyebrow quirked.

     “Yeah, most of us tend to go so overboard on our exclusive abilities, we don’t train the stuff that every ghost can do. I told you before how I’d never overshadowed anyone before I did Spygal.” Ember said. “I only ever used my musical abilities, or the flame hair. Never bothered with anything else really. Flying, intangibility, and invisibility as well I guess.”

    “I guess it seems like you guys all have some unique abilities. Johnny has Shadow… do you have anything else I just haven’t seen?” Danny asked, looking to the beatnik as he returned his tire iron to its place on the wall. One would think given Johnny’s disheveled normal appearance that he would be a messy person. While Kitty says he’s not as clean around the house as she would like him to be, he keeps his garage well organized.

    “I have like… I guess you could call it targeted bad luck? Anyone my level or weaker I can give a kind of… misfortune to. More likely to step into a slick spot on the ground, or have your vision blocked by a leaf in the wind. A million tiny misfortunes that can give me the edge over someone in a fight.” Johnny said, shrugging a bit as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. He raised another one up to see if Kitty or Ember would want it, but they shook their heads.

    “That seems… interesting. I don’t remember anything like that happening when we fought, or when we fought Fright Knight.” Danny said, thinking about his and Johnny’s spars, or the fight with Fright Knight on halloween.

    “Like I said, my level or lower. You’re stronger than me now. We might have been the same level when we fought Walker together, but you seem like you’re at his level now. Walker’s stronger than me. Stronger than anyone else you’ve fought barring Fright Knight.” Johnny said as he took a sip of his beer. “I think Spectra might be close enough in power to me that I can give her bad luck. Depends on if she’s fed recently or whatever.”

    “Yeah, a lot of ghosts vary in strength based on certain emotional factors. Ember, Spectra, and Desiree all siphon power from others, so even if they would be weaker than Johnny normally, they could power up and be unaffected.” Kitty added, happy to inform Danny about some more ghost information. Kitty wanted to learn everything there was about being a ghost when she first died, and worked tirelessly to get as much information as she could. She’d been a godsend for Danny learning about how his powers worked, since she seemed to have knowledge of all kinds of ghosts in the zone. “Not that Ember is weaker than Johnny even without getting amped up by a crowd.”

   “Ouch babe.” Johnny said, looking wounded.

    “Sucks to suck Grease Trap.” Ember said, sticking her tongue out at him.

     “So are you guys saying your powers don’t vary with your emotions?” Danny asked the biker couple.

     “No, they do, just not as much as Ember, Spectra, and Desiree can. Johnny gets stronger the more ‘danger’ there is to me. It’s really sweet actually.” Kitty said, batting her eyelashes towards Johnny.

    “I also get power boosts on ‘unlucky’ days. Usually Friday the 13th, but I think it’s based on a culture thinking it’s unlucky. We met a Spanish ghost once who I had to fight, and got a power boost from him on a Tuesday the 13th because apparently that’s an unlucky day in his culture.” Johnny said with a shrug. “That’d probably also apply with other superstitions, black cats, broken mirrors, that kind of thing. I don’t know that for sure though. I do know that lucky superstitions don’t diminish my powers though. Four-leaf clovers and rabbits' feet don’t do anything to me.”

    “What about you Kitty? Do you have any special powers? I’ve never seen you ever fight or anything.” Danny asked, curious.

     “I don’t have much actually. I can blow a kiss to someone, and it banishes them somewhere. If I leave them there for 24 hours, they stay wherever it is. I can bring them back whenever I want before then though.” Kitty said, puffing her chest out a bit in pride.

    “That seems… like crazy powerful. How does anyone give you trouble in the zone then?” Danny asked.

     “Doesn’t work on anyone stronger than me, which is most people. Any of the named ghosts you’ve fought? Stronger than me, except for Skulker, but his armor stops my powers working.” Kitty said, deflating a bit. “Keeps the goons away from Johnny though, and he’s tough enough to make anyone weaker than Walker take a hike, usually.”

     “All ghosts seem to have something that can give them that extra oomph that can let them punch above their normal weight class, it’s just about finding what it is and learning to use it, if you can.” Johnny said. “I can’t really utilize Kitty being in danger to try and punch up, not that I would anyway. Ember can use the fans’ adoration, and that lets her think about managing to punch higher if she wants. Kitty doesn’t know what might power her up, but that’s probably just because we haven’t found it yet, not that it doesn’t exist.”

    “Poindexter seemed to get stronger when he thought I was a bully.” Danny said, thinking back to some of his fights.

     “Right on the money.” Kitty said, smiling as she thought about the nerdy boy who was kind of her friend. “Sidney gets stronger the more someone aligns with his idea of a ‘bully’. It’s one of the reasons that no one actually tries to attack his school, even though he’s one of the weaker ghosts relatively. By attacking his school? You BECOME a bully, and he can match you or higher while defending it. Attacking a ghost in their lair is foolish in general, Sidney just takes it to the extreme.”

    “I still really don’t get half of this BEING a ghost stuff.” Danny said as he shook his head.

    “Don’t worry too much about it Babypop, it took me a decade to get used to it, you’ve been a ghost for what… 10 months? Takes time.” Ember said, kissing him on the cheek. “For now, let’s just enjoy hanging out.”

    “I do wonder why we always do this at our place though.” Johnny said aloud, although the look on his face implied that it was mostly an internal thought.

    “My place isn’t great for a private get together. Rockstars don’t usually have privacy.” Ember said, rolling her eyes.

     “My place is likely to have you all be asked for ectoplasm samples.” Danny said, shrugging.

     “Fair enough.” Johnny said, turning his attention to something else. “Isn’t this supposed to be Ember’s date night?”

     “It is.” Ember said, raising an eyebrow at Johnny.

     “Why are you guys HERE then? Shouldn’t you be like, at a movie or something? Making out in a park?” Johnny wondered.

      “Babypop needs to learn more about the ghost side of himself. We’re the only ones that can teach him.” Ember responded, leaning back into Danny. “Besides, I’m cuddled up to him right now. Feels pretty good.”

     “I told Ember we needed to do more double dates.” Kitty said. “Now that she has a boyfriend, I don’t have to worry as much about her feeling like a third wheel, which means we can do more stuff together!” Kitty span in her chair excitedly, giving Johnny a loving look.

    “I suppose that’s a question, but like… does the ghost zone have like, places people hang out? I’d asked Technus once, but he said he wasn’t the person who knew where people hung out when he was alive so…” Danny asked, trailing off at the end.

     “There’s the Maul.” Kitty said, clapping her hands together once.

     “There’s a mall?” Danny parroted, confused.

     “Well, it’s spelled like mauling someone, because the ghost zone is macabre like that, but yeah. Like how Johnny’s a biker and Em’s a rockstar, there are ghosts who are baristas and shop owners and stuff. They all set up on neutral ground and made the Maul. That’s where you’d go if you needed anything here in the zone. I suppose it’s a bit more like a trading post or a bazaar than a mall, since there's no set stores or anything, but people set up with whatever. There’s a barista ghost who makes the best coffee I’ve ever had there.” Kitty said, smiling a bit.

     “Yeah, Maul’s where you go if you need something. Only rule there is no human-world items, since that’ll get you in trouble with Walker.” Johnny said.

    “That means that there’s stuff produced here in the ghost zone?” Danny wondered.

     Johnny reached out, materializing a tire iron in his hand. “Yeah, lots of ghosts can just make things from the ambient energy of the zone, give them form and shape. Those that can, can barter those items with other people in the zone for whatever they may need. Kitty and I earn our money because I can make mechanic’s tools and Kitty makes clothes. There’s enough demand for both of them that we do alright.”

     “There’s money in the ghost zone?” Danny wondered.

     “Yes and no. The Maul has an authority that handles slips for IOUs, but everything is on a barter system otherwise. There are some ghosts who exchange ghost items for human money and back for those who need it, but they’re relatively few and far between.” Johnny said, shrugging. “Ember’s probably the richest person in our area of the zone in terms of human money.”

      “The album and merch sold real well, even after donating the majority of it.” Ember said with a shrug. “I’m actually still getting royalty checks, since the ‘mind control’ part of the album isn’t public knowledge.”

    “It’s not still affecting people is it?” Danny asked in a worried tone.

    “Only in the way a good song does. No mind control on the recordings anymore. Anyone who is a superfan now? That’s just raw charisma baby.” Ember said, sticking her tongue out.

    “Or just simps.” Johnny said with an eye roll.

    “I can’t help it that my body’s rocking.” Ember said with a wink as she wiggled in Danny’s lap. “Babypop likes it.”

    “I can’t deny that I guess.” Danny said with a chuckle as Ember leaned down and kissed him.

    “Get a room, you two!” Johnny called out.

    “I don’t want to hear it Grease Trap! You and Kit-Kat shove your tongues down each others throats all the time. Let me have this!” Ember retorted, her flaming hair growing larger for a moment before she returned to Danny.

    Kitty could only chuckle as she watched the recliner Danny and Ember were in tip over as Ember assaulted her man.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hey, sorry for the late posting of this. My schedule is pretty messed up at the moment. For those who don't read "Harry Potter and the Sphinx Club" (which is my other story), I've been a bit burned out on writing recently. I've just lost a bit of my spark and need to take a break to rest and recharge my passion. As such, once chapters 17 (thats this one) and 18 (the next one) are posted, if I haven't gotten my mojo back, I'll probably be taking a bit of a break. I know that the interlude chapters were supposed to stop this very thing from happening, but they just managed to burn me out more, even though I did enjoy writing them. Notably, this DOESN'T mean these fics are canceled. I WILL come back to them, probably before the end of the year. I just need a break, both to get my mojo back, and, for this story, do the pre-writing for 19, 20, and whatever happens between the Season 1 finale and the Season 2 opener. For now, just enjoy and review like always. Catch you in 2 weeks for Episode 18!

Madeline Fenton checked the mailbox as she walked passed, unsure if her husband had had the chance yet, inside she found more of the usual. Her subscription to Genius magazine (although at this point all that was hers about it was her name on the front, Jazz had been scooping them up as soon as they came in. Maddie didn't mind in the slightest.), a few bills, and a postcard Jack's brother Richie sent them from Costa Rica. All things Maddie would expect to find in her mailbox on a day like today. Yet, inside was something else as well. Maddie grabbed the letter, her hands rubbing over the expensive paper it was printed on, filigree and embossing giving the envelope a texture that made Maddie feel out of place for a moment. Looking, she saw it was addressed to her. She brought the stack of mail inside, her eyes flitting over the ornate letter as she turned it over in her hands. Popping open the wax seal, she found a page of incredibly expensive looking paper stock, that took on the appearance of marble.

"Dear Mrs. Fenton," It started, in text that was meant to look handwritten, but was obviously typed. "You have been formally invited to speak at the first ever DALV Group Mothers of Innovation Summit. This conference is designed to be a celebration of women in the science and technology fields, with an extra emphasis on those who manage to find time for family life alongside their successes. Please see the attached contact information to confirm or deny your interest in speaking at our function. We thank you for your consideration."

"A Women in Science conference? An emphasis on motherhood in it? That sounds… kind of nice actually." Maddie said to herself, reading over more of the information. "I bet Jazz would love to go to this too. We could have a mother-daughter weekend!"

"What's this about a Mother-Daughter weekend?" Jazz asked, catching the end of her statement as she came down the stairs.

"Here, read this." Maddie said, handing her the invitation.

"Wow, this is incredible!" Jazz said, excitedly reading over it, when she saw the date though, she stopped. "Unfortunately, I can't go."

"Why not?" Maddie asked, looking a little disappointed.

"The State Psychology Bowl finals are that weekend too. I'm feeling really good about our chances so I can't just dip out… maybe we can have another weekend?" Jazz suggested. "I'm really sorry, Mom."

Maddie looked at the invitation, sighing a bit. "It's not your fault, and the last thing I'd want to do is make you miss your Psych Bowl, I know how hard you've been working on it. I might just tell them I'm not interested in speaking then." Maddie said.

"No! You should go speak! It's a great honor, did you see the list of presenters? Nora Wakeman is doing the keynote! She's a legend!" Jazz said, pointing out the names on the list. "Oh, Dr. Possible is on this list too, see, you'll even have one of your best friends there!"

Maddie took a look over the list, seeing Nora and Ann on it. "Huh, I thought Dr. Wakeman didn't have any kids. Getting to work with Ann for a weekend would be nice though, it'd be just like college!"

"You know Dr. Wakeman?" Jazz asked, looking quizzically at her mother.

"Of course, she taught robotics and circuit design at college. She oversaw my doctoral thesis." Maddie said. "I haven't gotten to talk with her in a few years, she wasn't thrilled about me 'wasting my talents on ghosts'."

"Is she judgmental?" Jazz asked, worried that her vision of one of her heroes might be shattered.

"Only in the way that any older woman is. She saw potential, but since her expertise is in robotics, anyone who WASN'T doing robotics was wasting their talents in her eyes, even if she was proud of us regardless. She was at your father and I's wedding, you know. Left early when your great uncle Cletus started hitting on her." Maddie said with a smile at the memory.

"The great uncle Cletus who was missing all of his teeth?" Jazz asked. Cletus had died not too long after the wedding, complications with throat cancer due to years of chewing tobacco,

"The very same. I never said I blamed her." Maddie said, laughing a bit.

"But you should go Mom! You could see Dr. Wakeman again, and spend some time with Ann, it'd be like a little reunion!" Jazz called out.

"Well… I guess I could take Danny with me. He and Kim could have a little date while I catch up with Ann and Nora." Maddie thought.

"Yeah! You know Danny won't complain about more time with Kim, he's head over heels for those girls." Jazz said, rolling her eyes a bit at her brother.

"Don't be too harsh on him, you'll want a boy to look at you like Danny looks at them someday. Besides, he chose three good girls, he'll do fine." Maddie said.

"Four. Ember's decided she's dating him too." Jazz pointed out.

"I said what I said. Ember still has to work to make me approve of her. I'm giving her a chance because Danny wants me to, and she helped with the Fright Knight. I still haven't forgotten how she tried to take over the world, and turned you into a crazed fan." Maddie said, a stern look on her face.

Jazz flushed a bit at the memory. She'd really fallen under Ember's control, and had spent all of her savings on Ember merch… the thousand dollar Fender Stratocaster with her logos on it had been most of it. "Yeah… I guess I can see why you'd be mad at that." Jazz didn't bother mentioning that she had asked Ember to sign all of them when Danny first brought her home after they got together. "But… she's trying at least. That's worth something, surely."

"It's worth quite a lot in my eyes, actually. She just has a lot to make up for." Maddie said. "I never thought Danny would have the complicated love life between the two of you though."

"What would make you think I would have one?" Jazz asked, curious.

"You're my daughter. I had boys tripping over me from the moment I… developed. You're turning into a beautiful young woman yourself." Maddie said, smiling at Jazz.

"I mean, I know about Dad and Vlad obviously… but there were others?" Jazz asked, now curious.

"Your father is the only one I really gave the time of day, I had my pick of boys, but your father was special. I won't say there was never a chance that Vlad could have been it, but your father really captured my attention. But there were others before him. Not many I actually bothered with mind you, but my mailbox was full of invites to my highschool prom when we had it. I think every boy in my grade and the one below me asked." Maddie said with a chuckle. "I ended up going alone. None of those boys really caught my interest."

"I think we might be more alike than you thought. Not exactly many boys I'm interested in at my school either." Jazz said, realizing how slim the actual good options at Casper High were, of the boys her age she could even fathom taking out… there was Spike and that's about it, and Spike wasn't her type.

"Then maybe you'll luck out like I did and meet your perfect guy in college. I love your father with all my heart, and even his faults make him all the better for me." Maddie said with a sweet smile.

"Even the forgetting your anniversary?" Jazz asked with a smirk.

"Honey, I'VE forgotten our anniversary a few times. We'll get excited about a project and realize we're a month late to celebrate. It's very useful to me that your father forgets sometimes." Maddie said, a sly grin on her face. "But him forgetting does other good things though. The genuine surprise when it's his birthday is lovely, he's like a kid and I love a man who still has that child-like sense of wonder."

"Not sure I need to hear that mom." Jazz said, her smile a little more forced now.

"You'll understand when you meet your man Jazz. He'll have his little quirks that even if you think they're supposed to itch you, they'll make you happy regardless." Maddie said with a smile. "I guess I better write back to this conference then. I'll call Ann and make sure she's going too, this might just be a proposed guest list."

Maddie filled out the form, before pulling out her phone and calling Ann Possible. "Hey Ann, are you busy?"

Ann Possible chuckled on the other end of the phone. "Just got out of surgery a few minutes ago, everything okay Mads?" She asked.

"Everything is great. I'll let you cool down, I just wanted to ask you something. Your name was on the guest list for this… DALV Mothers of Innovation Summit? Are you actually going?" Maddie asked, reading over the name of the event again.

"Oh, that thing. I had planned on it. I was free that weekend since James is taking the boys to their Uncle Slim's for some… Possible men bonding time. Why they're doing it on Mother's day I don't know." Ann said, rolling her eyes.

Maddie checked the calendar again. "That is Mother's day isn't it?. I guess that's fitting."

"Were you as surprised as I was to see Nora on the list of attendees? That woman is lovely, but I don't think she'll ever be a mother." Ann said, chuckling.

"She was kind of like a mother to us. I think that means something." Maddie said, a teasing tone in her voice.

"Fair enough. But yes, long story short I'm planning on going. Are you?" Ann asked.

"Yes, I think I will. We should take Danny and Kim with us. We can maybe get some bonding done, and they can have a little date while we're busy. I think that's a win-win." Maddie said.

"Good idea. I'll ask Kim, maybe telling her Danny is going might get her interested. I feel awful that she hasn't really figured out what she wants to do yet. I knew before I was out of elementary school." Ann said.

"I didn't figure it out until college, give her some time, she's still got 3 years of high school left, plus all of college to figure it out. It's not like she's lacking in brains or talent. What's that phrase your husband uses? Anything is possible for a Possible?" Maddie jokes.

"It's true, even if I have a sneaking suspicion she'll be a Fenton someday." Ann laughed.

"They're not there yet, Ann. They've got quite a lot of growing to do before they're ready." Maddie said.

"Your boy has it bad for my girl, Maddie. Thankfully, she's just as crazy about him. She's got a picture of him I keep finding lipstick stains on when I clean." Ann giggles.

"Danny keeps all of their pictures on his desk, taped to his monitor." Maddie said, leaving out the fact that Ember's picture was there too.

"How do you feel about your boy dating all those girls?" Ann asked, curious.

"I can't complain too much. It's not like you and I didn't do the same with Jack in college." Maddie said. "Besides, he's crazy about them, what kind of mother would I be if I was angry that he found his happiness?"

"A concerned one, but not a bad one. I get iffy thinking about Kim sometimes, because… well I wonder why Kimmy isn't enough for him." Ann said, a concern in her voice.

"You know it doesn't work like that." Maddie said, her voice neutral. "They're all… in it together. They chose it, and they're happy. I'm sure you've seen Kim's smiles when she comes home from one of their double or triple dates."

"Yeah… she talks about Star and Sam nearly as much as Danny, though not in the same way." Ann said, chuckling a bit. "I guess maybe I just need to sit down with her, let her know my concerns, and hear her tell me she's happy. I know she is, I can see it, but maybe hearing it from her will ease my worries a bit."

"They're good kids, we've given them a good deal of freedom and they haven't abused it. They kiss and they hug, but they haven't gone any farther, despite the hormones I know they have." Maddie said, smiling a bit.

"Only a matter of time though." Ann said, mumbling a bit disconcertedly.
"Then when it happens, we'll trust them to be safe and open about it. I know Danny has condoms, not because he expects to use them, but because he'd rather be safe about it. I'm sure Kim, Star, and Sam are all on birth control too." Maddie said.

"I made sure she started after they officially said they were dating. She was embarrassed but didn't fight me about it." Ann said.

"They were good in Wisconsin, I know James checked on her three times that night to make sure she was in her room." Maddie said, smirking at James Possible's overprotectiveness.

"Four actually. He got really mad when she wasn't in there once, but then she came out of the bathroom and he calmed down. He was about to throttle Danny I think." Ann said, laughing.

"How did he handle the talk when he found out Danny was dating more than just Kim?" Maddie asked, curious how that conversation went.

"Poorly. I found him in the garage that night turning some of the boy's rockets into missiles. We had a very long talk where I told him that if Kim was happy it wasn't our place to interfere. It's not like Danny was being abusive or anything." Ann said. "I don't think I believed half of what I told him about it being okay, but it made him not kill Danny, at the very least."

"I raised my boy better than that." Maddie said.

"You've raised a good boy. Honestly if the other girls weren't in the picture I couldn't be happier for Kim, with them though I'm just nerves." Ann said.

"Danny will treat them right. When we're a year in with no pregnancy scares I'll call that a success." Maddie said with a smirk.

"Only a year? Don't you want that at least through high school?" Ann asked.

"One year would prove that they're willing to take it slow and be safe. I don't think any of the girls are at risk of being teen moms anyway, they're driven young ladies. The only one I could see even considering being a mom before she's 20 is Star." Maddie said.

"You've spent more time around them, Danny's terrified to bring them by the house because of James so I haven't even met them yet. What are they like?" Ann asked.

"Well, the Sam girl is very similar to you actually Ann. Top of their class, athletic, a small chip on her shoulder." Maddie said, teasing Ann with the last one.

"I resent that." Ann said, glaring down the phone, but there was no heat.

"She's doing a lot better than she did when I first met her. I know she was… not quite looking down but judging Kim and Star a bit for being cheerleaders. Something about them being a disgrace to female empowerment by showing off their bodies like that?" Maddie said, with a bit of a laugh. She had thought much the same when she was in high school.

"This sounds an awful like that Sam Manson girl. I thought Kim said she wasn't dating Danny?" Ann asked, now somewhat confused.

"She's not, this one is Sam Simpson. It was… confusing for us too, but we call her Sammy when they're both around. Unlike Sam Manson, this one is fine being called Samantha." Maddie said.

"How did that other Sam take it? I know Kimmy said that she had a huge crush on Danny as soon as she met her." Ann asked. "Now he is dating a Sam, and it's not her."

"Tears. Sam's been like a third child to us for years, she doesn't get along well with her parents, so we've always tried to treat her like one of ours. There was a long time we were pretty sure she was going to be our daughter-in-law, since both of them liked each other and were both too teenaged to do anything about it. When Danny started dating Kim and Star? There were tears, but she had accepted it a bit. She'd seen Danny and Kim be friends and be good for each other, and Star had fit into that dynamic. Sammy however… well that was harder. They didn't have anywhere near the same history, and hearing Danny say her name in that lovey way he calls them. She couldn't handle it." Maddie said, a touch of concern for her semi-adoptive daughter.

"Didn't she think about… well joining in? If Danny liked her like you said he did." Ann asked.

"From what I can tell, they did offer, but Sam said she was an all or nothing girl. Danny was either just hers, or he wasn't hers at all." Maddie said.

"That must have been hard on her." Ann said, memories of her own experiences flooding through her.

"Devastating actually. She was gone from the house for two weeks… that's the longest I'd ever gone without seeing her since they were 6 years old." Maddie said. "I talked to her grandmother Ida about it, they're much closer than she is with her parents. She said she hadn't seen the girl that upset in her life."

"Poor thing." Ann said.

"She's a tough one though, after two weeks we started seeing her again. Things weren't… back to the way they were, but they were improving. I think she's over it now. Still in love with Danny, but pushing those feelings aside. I care for her like she's my own still, so I wish her the best. I keep hoping she finds some other boy and fall in love with him. That Ron boy, he's been Kim's friend for a long time, do you think he had feelings for her?" Maddie asked.

"Probably, Kim definitely had thought about it a few times, but neither ever really wanted to push the issue. They were happy being friends, maybe if something big ever pushed them together more would have happened, but I'm not convinced it would without a catalyst." Ann said. "You trying to play matchmaker with him and Sam?"

"Maybe? I don't know. They seem like they'd do well together, at least in my eyes." Maddie said.

"I'll take your word, I haven't gotten to interact with any of Kim's new friends except Danny. I'm happy she made some more though, Ron's a very supportive friend, and Wade has been reliable since he came into the picture, but having some other girls to be with is really something Kim needed." Ann said, before a beep could be heard. "Looks like I'm needed on a consult, I have to go. We'll talk again soon… we'll see if we can play matchmaker for our adopted kids." Ann teased before hanging up.

Maddie chuckled, Ann was always a character, and she enjoyed that she got to have these conversations with her friend again. She was ecstatic that they'd get to spend a weekend at this conference.

Making her way to Danny's room, she knocked on his door, and when he gave her permission she stepped inside. "Hey sweetie. I got an invitation for something I want you to read over it." Maddie said, handing him the page.

"Mothers of Innovation? I get they want you to speak, but why are you showing it to me?" Danny asked, reading over the paper with a bit of confusion.

"Well, since it's about combining our innovation with our family lives, I wanted you to come with me. I know this is more Jazz's thing, but she's busy that weekend. I want you to come with me, we haven't really been able to be as close as we used to when you were younger. You used to come to me with everything, like the first time you had a crush on a girl, to scraping your knee… I miss that. I miss when you were my little boy. Now you're… well you're growing up so fast. A year ago you were a normal preteen, crushing secretly on your best friend and more excited about building robots than almost anything else… and now you're a superhero gathering a gaggle of girls who love you. It's… well it's a bit hard seeing the distance between us now." Maddie said, her eyes tearing up towards the end of her speech.

"There's not as much distance as you think Mom." Danny said, looking up to her with a smile. "Honestly, it's because of you and dad that I can even do what I do. Not just in the literal sense, your portal did give me my powers, but because of what you taught me. You taught me that it was important to do what is right, and not what is easy. You gave me that guidance, and I put that into doing what I do. I'm only a superhero, because you gave me the moral compass to do so, without you… well I'd probably be spending more time sneaking into the girls locker room than fighting ghosts." Danny finished, blushing a bit.

"And there's those teenage hormones." Maddie said with a smile. "Thanks Danny. It means a lot. I just… it's not that long ago to me that I remember you crying if I left you alone too long. You're so much like Jack now that… well I miss you being mommy's boy."

"I still think I'm more like you than I am Dad, even if I do look more like him." Danny said, smiling at her.

"You're probably right… I guess Jazz took all of the looks you would have gotten from me. She's a splitting image of what I looked like at her age." Maddie said with a smile.

"I've seen the pictures, she's a bit taller, but I guess that's dad's influence." Danny said.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you two aren't even taller. My father was a taller man, and everyone in Jack's family has always been massive. The fact that you are average height now, makes me worry we're due for you to shoot up six inches over the summer or something." Maddie said, laughing at herself.

"Come on, I don't think it'd be that bad, right?" Danny asked.

"It'll be very amusing watching Kim, Star, and Sammy have to get on their tiptoes to kiss you… assuming even that's enough." Maddie smiled in mirth.

"Still not a fan of Ember I take it?" Danny asked, his face flushing red.

"Not yet… she has a lot to make up for. I trust your judgment, but forgiveness is earned. Beyond that… well she can just fly to make up the difference… and she's always wearing those platform boots." Maddie said, sighing. "I love you dearly sweetie, but your love life is weird."

"Says the woman who was in a poly relationship with her best friend and my dad?" Danny quirked an eyebrow.

"At least it was only three of us. You're working with five." Maddie teased back at him, no anger in her voice.

"We'll have a nice time at the conference mom. I'll go with you." Danny said, smiling at her.

"Thank you sweetie, it won't be all bad. Ann Possible is speaking too, and I told her to take Kim so you two could have a little date while we worked." Maddie said teasing him a bit.

"And you're okay with that on your Mother-Son trip?" Danny asked.

"Of course, she's probably going to be my daughter-in-law after all." Maddie poked. "Wonder if she'll take the Fenton name, or let one of the other girls do it so she can stay as a Possible."

"MOOOOOM!" Danny groaned in embarrassment, but hugged his mother anyway.

Maddie and Ann had to do some set-up for their talks, and told Danny and Kim to go and explore the tables set up in the main hall, where many attendees were showing off their projects. "I feel grossly underqualified to be here." Danny said, looking around at everyone in the hall. The equipment and research that these people were presenting was breathtaking, and he couldn't help but feel out of place.

"Same here. I know Mom has always wanted me to follow her lead in this kind of thing, the tweebs certainly look like they'll be following after Dad… I just don't think it's me though." Kim said, Danny seeing a bit of uncertainty in her eyes.

That was weird, Kim had never been anything but totally certain about everything. She internalized the motto 'anything is possible for a Possible' to the highest degree, and yet here she was… lost.

Boyfriend time.

"You'll find what your place is." Danny said, facing her head on and holding her hands in his. "You're an amazing hero, a girlfriend infinitely better than I deserve, and one of the best students in our class, only behind Sammy and Mikey. It's not like you have to have your future planned out already. We're high school freshmen, we've got time."

"Thanks Danny. I just… Mom's a super-genius. I'm smart, I know that, but I'm not crazy smart like she is." Kim said.

"I get it. Mom's like that too. But we aren't our parents. You mom didn't go on world saving adventures while keeping up with cheer practice. My mom wasn't fighting ghosts when she needed to study for exams. We're working with what we've got. I understand you probably feel worse about it because you have your brothers and Wade you're comparing yourself against, but you have to remember something Kim. You aren't them, you're Kim Possible. You're a martial artist without peer in our age group, part of a superhero team that has saved the world a few times, and you've saved the world yourself probably a good dozen or so times now. You're incredible, and I feel so privileged that I get to know you… and confused how an amazing girl like you settled for some dolt like I am." Danny said, trying to get Kim to believe her own hype.

Kim looked at him with affection, a smile on her lips as she looked in his eyes for signs of dishonesty. There weren't any. "I guess you're right about the mom thing. You're wrong about the dolt part. Need I remind you that your grades are almost as good as mine? Or that you know more about ghost tech than anyone but the people who actively designed it? That's nothing to be said for those robots you built in middle school. Wade showed me videos of you guys in competition, you crushed everything." Kim said, squeezing his hands.

"Tucker did all the hard work on that stuff…" Danny said, deflecting her praise as he flushed.

"I talked to Tucker. He said he did the coding and helped with the design. YOU are the one who put it together piece by piece. Do you realize how much my brothers look up to you? They used to tease me about my boyfriends all the time… they've never done that with you. You're a superhero in their eyes and they don't even know about your powers." Kim said, leaning in and kissing him. "You might not be a super-genius like your mom, or a tech wiz like Tucker and Wade. But you are a very smart guy. It also helps you're incredibly handsome." Kim added with a flush.

"Coming from someone as gorgeous as you? I'll take that as a very good compliment." Danny said, flushing himself. He leaned in and kissed her as well, wrapping his arms around her waist and simply holding her for a second. They pulled apart with wide smiles and red cheeks. "Probably save anymore PDA for the hotel later." Danny coughed.

"You don't mean…" Kim asked, a little worried.

"No! No, not that." Danny said, flushed. "Not ready for that. It'd be nice I'm sure… but not ready for that."

"Yeah… me neither." Kim said, letting the anxiety wash away. "What did you mean then?"

"Cuddle on the bed and watch a movie? Make-out session since your dad isn't here to kill me?" Danny suggested.

"Dad won't kill you… he might WANT to, but he won't. Aside from the thrashing I'd give him if he did that, Mom would be on my side. She likes you a lot Danny." Kim said, smiling at him.

"Probably not thrilled I'm dating three other girls along with you." Danny said with a sigh.

"Yeah, she's not thrilled about that, but I'm happy, and that's what matters. I love that I have Star and Sammy that I get to share you with, it means I have two girls I can go to and talk about the cute or dumb things you do and they get it." Kim said with a smirk.

"Can't help but notice you left Ember out of that." Danny said, his tone neutral and understanding.

"She broke my heart, Danny. Seeing you kiss her then… when we were still figuring everything out… it's hard to forgive that." Kim said, looking away for a moment. "I know she's… different. You changed her, for the better, but… it takes time."

"I know, and I know about getting your heart broken. Lest you forget, you got taken over by a ghost and told me you hated me." Danny said, chuckling a bit at the… admittedly traumatic memory.

"I'm still beyond sorry about that, and I'm doing everything I can to make up for it. It's been almost 6 months, but I'm still trying." Kim said, looking at him again with a determined look.

"And I keep telling you you don't have anything to make up for. That was the ghost. Not you." Danny said, looking at her.

"Don't care, still my mouth that said those things. The only thing it should tell you is that it loves you." Kim said, her eyes shifting to her teasing affectionate look.

"I love you too, Kim. But that statement could be taken some… specific ways." Danny said, his flush returning deeper. Kim mirrored that.

"You've got your head in the gutter." Kim said, playfully smacking him.

"I've got four gorgeous girlfriends, two of which seem to specifically choose outfits to show off their midriff all the time. One of the others keeps sending me pictures of her in her mission catsuit that shows off every curve she has, and the other one keeps threatening to send lingerie pics. I'm a teenager with hormones. Of COURSE my mind is in the gutter." Danny said, laughing.

"As long as it's just us in those thoughts I can deal… I wonder if I can get one of those catsuits if you like them so much." Kim wondered idly, teasing Danny.

Danny's phone goes off and he checks it. "Mom wants us by the main stage for the introductory presentation. Apparently the speaker is one of her college professors and she wants us to hear it."

"Best get going then." Kim said, kissing Danny on the cheek before leading him to the main stage.

Maddie, Ann, and several women Danny doesn't recognize are sitting in chairs on the main stage, awaiting the start of the presentation. Danny and Kim sit in the front row, getting small waves from their mothers as they are spotted. As the clock strikes 10 AM, a small woman with wild white hair and large circular glasses stands on a stool behind the podium, before speaking into the microphone. "Welcome everyone to the first ever DALV Group Mothers of Innovation conference. I am beyond honored to be speaking to you all for this event. For those of you who may not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Nora Wakeman. I am most well known for my robotics work, although I imagine many of you know me as the head of the robotics departments at several colleges throughout my career. University of Upperton, Tremorton University, Malibu University. All institutions I have been proud to call home in my tenure, and places I have seen many bright young people graduate from to begin their paths. While I have never been a mother, my body unable and my romantic interest limited, I feel as though I have had many children. Those who have graduated under me, whose lives I have helped shape and mold. They are my legacy, one I am happy to have. Many years ago, I toyed with the idea of building a robot daughter, someone who would fill that void that opened when I stopped teaching, and after finalizing my design… I wondered if it was really what I wanted. If bringing that creation to life was what the world needed, what I needed. I do not have the answer to that question yet, but it does tell me one thing. Sometimes we may lose sight of why we create. We create, we build, we improve, to provide a better world for those who come after us. You as inventors, as well as mothers, work to create better lives for your children, and the children of others than you yourselves had, and as a mother to many of you in my own mind, I am beyond proud of what you all have accomplished, and what you will continue to accomplish. I now leave you in the hands of the organizer and primary donor for today's event: Vlad Masters!" Nora said, gesturing off to the side as Vlad stepped out from behind the curtain, his suit clean pressed and himself as well presented as always.

Danny, Kim, and Maddie tensed up at his presence. It was the first they had seen of him since the incident in Wisconsin nearly 8 months ago, and while Kim and Maddie hadn't been entirely aware that Vlad and Plasmius were the same at the time, they knew now, and both were very, very angry at him. Kim's anger was pure, unbridled and solid in focus. She'd had no time to truly develop any positive feelings towards Vlad. At best she might have viewed him as her mother's eccentric college friend turned billionaire. Learning that not only had he abused his powers to earn his money, but that he had attacked Danny and tried to kill his dad. Kim viewed him as no better than the villains she fought.

Honestly, she probably thought he was worse. All of them at least did their dastardly schemes with their own ingenuity.

Maddie was much more… conflicted on Vlad. While she knew that Vlad had taken over her husband's body in Wisconsin, Danny had never told her of his actual plans to kill him. Only that his ultimate goal was to separate them and marry her, taking in Jazz and Danny as his own kids. She briefly thought back to college, how she had briefly thought of choosing him over Jack. There was a world it was possible certainly, although not one Maddie wished she was in. Vlad to her would have been perhaps a decent match, but not anywhere near as good as Jack. Learning of his megalomania? That certainly made sure that even if something ever happened to Jack, she'd never view him as an option.

"Esteemed innovators and guests, it is my pleasure to put on this event for you. I know that it likely isn't my place to stand up here and speak to you all, you have accomplishments in your fields far greater than anything I could possibly dream of, and for this to be a women's conference, I doubt you want to hear the opinion of some other stuffy white man. I instead will simply thank you all for coming, and hope you won't mind if I come by your booths and ask some questions about your work… the DALV group does provide research funding after all." Vlad said, and if Danny didn't know everything he did about the man, he would have almost said he was charming.

Vlad was making his way off of the stage when there was a great rumble, and a wall bust open to reveal an army of chimeric creatures, the largest of which being a combination rhinoceros-gorilla that was larger than an elephant, which had an overweight woman with freckles and glasses riding on its shoulders. "I must say I am quite peeved at you all for not inviting me to this gathering. All my work in the fields of genetic engineering, biosciences, and biotechnology and I'm left aside because my 'babies' aren't human? That's just SO MEAN." The woman said, as Danny noticed Kim glaring at her with familiarity.

"You know her?" Danny whispered to her as she was standing up.

"Amy Hall, also called DNAmy. Makes hybrid creatures to expand her 'Cuddle Buddy' collection." Kim explained, getting ready to pounce.

"The stuffed toys? Those stopped being cool before we were even born." Danny said, getting up to help.

"Hey, don't be mean. I love my pandaroo." Kim said, looking to him with faux anger.

"And I find that adorable. Anyway, less chatter, more butt-kicking. I'll go let your super powered boy toy you're cheating on me with know you need him." Danny said with a wink, running off to find a place to transform.

Kim runs in front of the horde of chimeras, glaring at DNAmy. "Amy, give it up! You need to stop with this hybridization, it's unethical!"

"Kim Possible! I should have known you would show up just to ruin my day. Oh well, what better way to show my babies off? Get her my Porcoyotes!" Amy said as a swarm of the smaller creatures began to crowd around Kim, as more started flooding into the convention hall causing a panic.

Kim started fighting off the Porcoyotes as Amy called them, which were coyotes with the quills of porcupines on their backs. Her kicks and punches were well placed to make sure the quills didn't catch her, but she was losing ground to the swarm unable to keep up against the sheer numbers they had.

"See! My babies are far better than human children. They're cuter, more effective, mature faster, and I made them all on my own! No man required." Amy said, smirking at her triumph.

"That's a weird way to compensate for being unable to find a boyfriend!" Danny quips as he flies in and pushes the Rhinorilla back, causing it and Amy to stumble.

"Just because I haven't found a man who appreciates my genius yet doesn't mean I can't find a boyfriend!" Amy called, red in the face with anger and embarrassment. She hopped down off of the Rhinorilla "Get him my baby!"

The Rhinorilla charged at Danny hitting him with the back of one of his large gorilla hands slamming him into a wall on the other side of the conference hall. Danny pulled himself up, wiping away the ectoplasm that bled from his nose. That hurt… more than it should have. Danny shook his head, flying back in to take on the beast.

Kim was getting more and more overwhelmed by the Porcoyotes. There were simply too many of them coming from too many angles. They weren't that tough, but numbers really mattered here. A buzzing sound caught her attention as she felt someone land next to her, two glowing blades in her hands as she glared at the creatures. "No one lays a hand on my future daughter-in-law!" Maddie called out as her Fenton Ecto-blades lashed out, the woman's skills as a martial artist coming through as she managed to take on as many of the creatures as Kim had.

"Counting your chickens before they hatch, aren't you Mrs. Fenton?" Kim asked, as she got her second wind, Maddie's appearance taking enough pressure off of her to help her push back against the beasts.

"Oh please, I see how you look at my boy. You've got it bad!" Maddie said, laughing as she pressed her advantage on more of the creatures.

"You're not wrong!" Kim said, as she pushed her advantage as well.

That worked out well… until the Porcoyotes revealed a new ability. They began firing their quills at them, Maddie having to use her ecto-blades as a constantly rotating shield to deflect them, clicking the two handles together to form a bo staff.

"You know, I almost thought these things were cute until they started shooting quills at us!" Kim said, doing what she could to deflect some of the quills, but without a weapon like Maddie had, she wasn't much help in that regard.

"Let me take care of that then Kimmie!" Ann Possible said, as she blasted a few porcupines with tennis balls. On her back was an exhibit Kim recognized as a high-speed air compressor, and it was attached to a tennis ball launcher that had been used to demonstrate a projectile tracking algorithm.

"Way to go Mom!" Kim said as she watched her mother continue to shoot the projectiles at the chimera creatures.

Danny however was having slightly less luck with his opponent. Danny was pushing his physical strength to the limit, and since he could pick up a car, it was considerable, but this Rhinorilla seemed able to keep up with him. Danny flew around, delivering an ax kick to the back of the creature's head, and while it still fell, it got back up as though Danny hadn't just hit it hard enough to shatter concrete. "Come on! What does it take to put this thing down?!" Danny called out in annoyance.

"You can't put down my baby! He's the pinnacle of modern genetic engineering! And he's also just the cutest! Yes he is, yes he is!" Amy said, flipping from mad scientist to freaky dog mother in an instant.

The Rhinorilla roared again, as Danny caught it's fists, trying to figure out why he wasn't strong enough to knock this thing out.

"How do you handle Kim doing this?" Maddie asked as she continued knocking out more of Amy's Porcoyotes, her double bladed ecto-saber a whirl of light around her as she delivered more and more punishment to the creatures. The ecto-sabers thankfully had a 'non-lethal' mode, which meant that Maddie wasn't cutting these creatures up, merely knocking them out.

"With lots of worry and anxiety!" Ann responded, firing more tennis balls into the crowd of porcoyotes. She wasn't able to knock them out, but she was disabling them, her tennis balls stopping the quills from being able to be used offensively. "Every time I'm in the ER I worry Kim's going to come rolling in, but I know my little girl can handle herself. Even if I'm worried about it, I know James and I taught her all the right lessons. I help people as a brain surgeon, she helps as a superhero. You don't need to worry about Danny, he's doing great as Phantom."

"What do you mean? Danny's not Phantom." Maddie called out, thankful that in the commotion there was noone to overhear.

"Don't play dumb, I figured it out months ago. Phantom shows up in Wisconsin when we're there, despite having never been seen outside of Amity before then? Phantom going on missions after Danny got permission? It's obvious. Even now, why wouldn't Danny have hopped in to fight these things with us? It's because he's too busy handling the bigger one." Ann said.

"What do you intend to do if you're right?" Kim asked, tossing another Porcoyote away.

"Congratulate you on your superpowered boyfriend, tell you I think you did good, and ask you to help me understand your relationship with him and the other two girls." Ann said, firing more tennis balls into the crowd.

"Three, Phantom has a ghost girlfriend too." Kim said as she didn't see the point in denying anything anymore.

"Well now I'm more concerned." Ann said as she shot a tennis ball at a porcoyote who was lunging at Kim from behind.

"I'm not thrilled about the ghost girl either, but Danny says she's changed from who she was, and I trust my boy to be a good judge of character." Maddie said, knocking more of the porcoyotes aside with her ecto-blades.

"Sammy believes her too, she spent some time in her head. That's a long story. I'm giving her a shot because even if I personally am not totally okay with her yet, there's no denying she loves Danny." Kim said as she delivered a kick to another porcoyote. "Do you guys find it weird we can talk so casually while dealing with these things?"

"Ghosts can fly at over 100 miles per hour. These things are moving like snails in comparison." Maddie called out, swiping more of them away with ease.

"Gotta be cool under pressure to be a brain surgeon, Kimmie. If I got nervous I'd have a great deal of blood on my hands, literally and metaphorically." Ann said as she continued firing, her air rifle pelting the creatures in rapid succession.

"We need a way to capture them… any ideas?" Kim asked, scanning the convention floor.

"Someone had a hologram display didn't they? I could focus that through the ecto-sabers to make a hard light cage that could hold these small-fries in." Maddie called out.

"You two make your way there then, I'll cover you." Ann said, as she flicked a switch on the tennis ball launcher, the speed increasing as she began knocking more and more of the creatures away.

Maddie got to work right away, partially dismantling the hologram emitter and attaching the ectoblade as a focus. Soon there was a large hard-light cage in the middle of the convention floor, and Kim began tossing the porcoyotes inside. Once the last one was in, she high-fived the two other red-haired women. Her mother and mother-in-l… Kim flushed as she thought that, briefly picturing herself in a white dress as Danny held her hands. Fantasy for later.

Danny was getting very tired of the Rhinorilla, who kept knocking him through the walls of the convention center. Danny was good at taking hits, but this was getting ridiculous. Seeing Kim put all the smaller ones in a cage gave Danny a good idea though, as he grabbed a guardrail from the nearby street, using it like a hyper-strong lasso to contain the gargantuan creature. "You know… should have thought of that twenty minutes ago." Danny said to himself, he landed in front of DNAmy, as Kim, Maddie, and Ann moved beside him. "Well, you can give up, or I can let one of them beat you up." Danny said, gesturing to the women beside him, Kim cracking her knuckles.

"I surrender!" DNAmy said.

After a brief phone call, the police came to take away DNAmy, with Kim reporting her in to Global Justice since she is technically a supervillian. As the other attendees packed up what was left of their displays, Danny, Kim, Maddie, and Ann sat in an otherwise empty conference room.

"Figures one of Vlad's events would end like this." Danny said rolling his eyes. Maddie and Kim nodded in agreement.

"What does Vlad have to do with this?" Ann asked, wondering why she seemed to be the only one not in agreement with that.

"Bad blood after the reunion… I wouldn't imagine you'd understand." Danny said, trying to catch himself. With his mother and Kim in the room, he'd half-forgotten Ann didn't know he was Phantom.

"She knows Danny, might as well come clean." Maddie said. Nevermind.

"You know the ghost that Phantom, I, fought in Wisconsin?" Danny asked, looking to Ann Possible.

"Yeah, the one that looked like Dracula and possessed Jack." Ann said, remembering the event. Seeing a man she at one point was in love with suddenly attack his college friends, in front of his wife and children no less, had certainly left an impression. Thankfully he had been possessed, or Ann wouldn't know what to think.

"We usually use the word 'overshadow' but yeah. That's Vlad. Vlad Plasmius in that form, Vlad Masters in his human form." Danny said, realizing how silly it was for Vlad to keep his first name between his forms. What if someone found out or started making a connection? That'd be like if he started calling himself Danny Phantom, ridiculous! "How did you know about me being Phantom though?"

"Anyone who knows both halves can make the connection pretty easily. I imagine me being present in Wisconsin made it much easier. The first time Phantom shows up outside of Amity Park and it happens to be when the boy my teenaged superhero daughter is dating is where he showed up? Not hard to put together." Ann said, causing Danny to cringe a bit.

"I guess I need to start being more careful with that." Danny said, thinking of ways to hide his identity better.

"Actually, that brings up a question, Danny… Why are you hiding it?" Kim asked, reaching out to take his hand. "Your family knows, your friends know, Global Justice knows, heck, even your bad guys know!"

"Because… well if it gets out that I'm Phantom… everything changes." Danny said, sighing a bit. "Suddenly the A-List is going to try and recruit me because Dash and Paulina worship the ground Phantom walks on. The government… they might start trying to replicate my powers if they have any idea where they came from. Global Justice is keeping everything under wraps, and Dr. Director told me that she's officially ordered research into my powers to not be done, but someone like the CIA might not have the same restraint. At best I'll be watched for the rest of my life, at worst I'll be strapped to a vivisection table."

"Don't you mean a dissection table?" Kim asked.

"No." He and Ann said at the same time. "Vivisection is much worse, dissection at least means they let him die or killed him first. Vivisection means he's still alive while they're doing it… and probably not being very gentle about the research." Ann added.

"So yeah… I'm glad my family and friends know, and even my bad guys wouldn't threaten to reveal me to the world." Danny said, grateful his rogues weren't willing to do that.

"Why wouldn't they do that?" Ann asked. "Like, if they hate you, why wouldn't they do everything they could to stop you from getting in their way?"

"Most of them don't hate me. Probably only… two of them do." Danny said nonchalantly.

"Which two? And why don't the others hate you?" Maddie asked, now curious.

"Spectra and Walker hate me, I guess Walker's minions too, but I'll just lump them under Walker. Skulker respects me, I'm a challenge for him. He won't fight dirty, he wants to beat me at my best, which I can at least respect. Vlad wants me to be his son, and if he ever revealed my secret, I'd reveal his. People would be a lot more interested in the billionaire with ghost powers than the kid from a nothing town in Illinois." Danny said.

"Your other bad guys?" Maddie asked.

"Lunch Lady doesn't really care anymore, I think she's just happy cooking in the ghost zone now. Box Ghost treats our encounters as a rivalry. Fright Knight is sealed in the pumpkin again. Desiree was more just circumstance as opposed to malice I think. Then Ember fell in love with me so…" Danny shrugged at the last bit. "Everyone else is a small fry or actively one of our friends. Ember, Johnny, Kitty, Technus, Sidney, and Box Ghost keep them mostly in line from the other side. Mostly by threatening to tell Skulker about them."

"I see." Ann said, sighing. "Well I can't say I understand all this ghost talk, but I can say this. Your secret is safe with me Danny. I won't even tell James or the boys. Although, if you told the boys that'd probably make them super happy. They look up to you, and they really like Phantom."

"Maybe when they're a bit older. I know Kim says they're still at that age they tell on themselves sometimes because they get too excited." Danny said with a smile. "I appreciate it, and I'm sorry you can't tell your husband."

"Maddie, do you have your ecto-blade handy?" Ann asked.

"Uh, yeah, why?" Maddie said, pulling it out.

"Would you give Danny a small cut please?" Ann asked her.

Maddie and Danny looked at each other strangely but Danny transformed and allowed his mother to give him a small cut on his arm. "Okay?" Danny asked confused.

Ann pulled out a bandage and put it over it. "Congrats, this is now under HIPPA. I'd be in violation if I informed my husband about a patient who I provided care for." Ann said with a wink.

Everyone chuckled at that as Danny turned back.

Elsewhere, as a police car was driving down the interstate, a pair of intangible hands lifted DNAmy out of the backseat, before dropping her into a limousine a few cars back. "Hello, Amy Hall… I'm glad my associate was able to free you from your binds… you see I have need of someone with your… brilliance." Vlad said, looking into DNAmy's eyes with an evil smirk.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone. Welcome back. Obviously those of you who just read Heart of a Hero haven't noticed any interruptions, but I've been on a bit of a break to recharge my batteries on writing. The good news is, I think I'm there, I just have to actually buckle down and do it again. The bad news is, Heart of a Hero chapters take me so long to write, I'll probably miss an upload or two while I get back into it. Consider this your payback for getting chapters while Sphinx Club didn't. Beyond that, this chapter deviates pretty hard from the source material of the episode, and is largely character focused rather than action. Hope you enjoy regardless! Beyond this, I would like to shout-out “Heart of a Hero: Downtown Magic” by Penumbral_Writer on AO3 which is a story that uses Heart of a Hero in its canon! It's not canon to this story, but I've been working with its author to keep things largely consistent. Beyond that, on with the chapter! Remember to review!

    “Alright, with the unfortunate case of Alligator Pox your Home Economics teacher Mrs. Gardner has come down with, I will be filling in as your instructor for the next few weeks.” Mr. Barkin said as his booming voice filled the Home Ec room. Danny watched Ron shake in his seat, which was a bit odd. Ron was far and away the best of anyone in Home Ec, it seemed he had all the right skills to go full househusband. “This week, we’re going to go practical.” Barkin opened a closet, pulling out what appear to be baby dolls.

    “Oh, are we going to be helping out at a day care or something?” One of the girls in the class asked.

    “No, congratulations. Today you become parents. For the next week, you are to treat these dolls as though they are actual infants. Each of these dolls is programmed with the needs of a real child. They need fed, they need changed, and they need to be burped and taken care of. They have sensors for various things that a regular child would be sensitive to, such as pressure, temperature, and noise. They also record how long a child is left unattended when needs are not taken care of.” Barkin said, looking over the class. “If I was in charge of this assignment fully, I would have each of you be single parents to understand the hardships, unfortunately due to budgetary restrictions we do not have enough dolls for everyone, so you will be paired parents. For this ONE instance, I will not be assigning partners, but it is a PAIR activity, no tripling. Pick wisely, a supportive partner is important in raising a child. Once you have your pair, come up here and let me know who you’ve partnered up with and allow me to activate your child. I’ll also be handing you the user manual for the baby. While these need fed, you are NOT to use actual food. They come with a special bottle that ‘feeds’ them. They only have one, so make sure you don’t lose it.”

    Sammy immediately grabbed Danny. “Well, looks like I get to have your first kid after all.” She said with a smirk as she held onto his arm.

    “Looks like you lucked out picking Home Ec with me.” Danny said, smiling at her. “Guess we’re parenting for a week.”

    “Good practice for when I’m Mrs. Fenton.” Sammy said, putting on a faux dreamy voice. “Me and you and our little Curie, all happy and together.

    “Curie?” Danny raised his eyebrow.

    “Like Marie Curie, the famous physicist.” Sammy said, shooting him a grin.

    “I’m aware, although I think if we would name our daughter after her, I’d want to go with Marie to not have her get picked on as much. Plus Marie is kinda close to Maddie, like my mom.” Danny said, smiling at her.

    “I can deal with that.” Sammy said. “Go let Barkin know we’re partnering up, and bring my little Marie to me.”

    Danny chuckled as he made his way to the front of the classroom, picking up one of the dolls that had red hair. “Well Marie, looks like you take after your mom, your aunt, and your grandma.” 

    Everyone made their way to Fentonworks after school, holding their ‘newborns’. “Can’t believe you get to have a kid with Danny this week. It’s so unfair.” Star said as she watched Sammy gently cradle the baby doll.

    “No, what’s unfair is that those four got to have their actual significant others as partners.” Sam said gesturing to Danny and Sammy, as well as Tucker and Valerie.

    “Could be worse, you’ve got Ron, who is like, the best with kids.” Kim said, looking over at her best friend who was happily bouncing the baby doll on his knee as it made noises that sounded happy. “We did babysitting jobs together for over a year before the superhero stuff came in. Ron was WAY better at it than I ever was.”

    “It’ll turn out okay I think.” Valerie said, holding their child. “We’re a bit young for kids, but… well it’ll only be a few years before we need to really consider it.”

    “No thanks. No kids until I’m 30 and even then it’s a maybe.” Sam said, rolling her eyes with a bit of discuss.

    “I’d want to graduate first I think… but I don’t think I’d mind too much after that.” Star said, looking at Marie with soft eyes. “Wish Danny would have picked a blonde baby though.”

    “Star, my mother is a red-head, my sister’s a red-head, and Kim and Sammy are both red-heads. I think the odds of me not having a red-headed kid are pretty low.” Danny chuckled. “Your mom is a red-head too.” 

     “Dye job, her actual hair is blonde like mine, but I see the point.” Star said, moving over to sit beside Sammy. “What would you name our kid, Danny?”

    “Not sure. Sammy wanted to call this one Curie after Marie Curie, I suggested Marie instead since it’s a more normal first name, and is kind of like Maddie after Mom.” Danny said, taking his turn to hold the baby. It started crying after a few moments. “Well, since I’m going to hope they didn’t program these things to have favorite parents, I’m guessing it’s either feeding or changing time. Sammy, in the manual does it say how changing works before I go trying to feel for wetness?”

    Sammy flipped through the manual. “Changing is handled by communication between the doll and the diaper. If the diaper needs changed, when you take it off there should be an indicator light. Green if clean, red if dirty. Simply pulling the diaper away from the doll will reset it.”

    Danny laid the doll down on the table undoing the diaper and checking the indicator light. “Green, so not a dirty diaper.” Danny said as he quickly redid the diaper. “Hungry maybe? Guess we’ll need to figure out a feeding schedule.” he grabbed the bottle and put it to the doll’s mouth as he lifted it up gently holding it as it fed.

    “Every three hours it looks like. So eight times a day.” Sammy called out. Tucker and Sam groaned at that.

    “What about my sleep? I need a solid eight hours to look this good.” Tucker said exasperatedly.

    “One of the things you lose when parenting a newborn.” Danny said, shrugging. “Admittedly, I don’t have any experience with this. No younger cousins or anything.”

     “Same here, nothing.” Sammy called out.

     “I’m an only child too, but it’s not like I haven’t been around babies before. Babysat one when Dad went on a date with its Mom.” Valerie called out as her doll started crying as well, she took to feeding it.

     “I didn’t know Damon started dating again.” Star said, looking to Valerie.

     “This was like a year ago. It was just the one date, I don’t think he was really as ready to get back out there as he thought he was.” Valerie said, shrugging.

    “How did you feel about it?” Tucker asked, looking to his girlfriend.

    “I want Dad to be happy, as long as whoever comes in doesn’t try to replace Mom, I’m happy. It’s not like I’m a little kid anymore. It’s also been a few years since Mom died… I don’t expect Dad to stay single forever.” Valerie explained, a determined look on her face. “I also know Dad always wanted another kid. Mom couldn’t have any more after me… so it wouldn’t surprise me if Dad either starts dating some woman with kids of her own to fulfill that desire for a bigger family, or decides to have another one of his own with someone. Maybe both. Dad’s only 35, he’s still got plenty of time left to have another kid and still be young enough that it’s not strange.”

    “God that is kind of weird that our parents are probably still young enough to have other kids.” Tucker said, shivering a bit.

    “Well, mine and Danny’s are at the tail end of that.” Kim said, looking over at the picture of Jack and Maddie on the wall. “Physically capable, but they’d be getting close to pushing 60 by the time any kid would be our age. They had us a bit later than your parents had you guys.” 

    “Wonder why, from what Danny has told us, Jack and Maddie were already ‘together’ by the time they were 20.” Tucker said, thinking for a second.

    “They were working on their doctorates, Mom wasn’t in a hurry to try to juggle a baby and a doctoral thesis. Jazz wasn’t even born until over a year after they graduated.” Danny said, grabbing a photo album and showing the dates from Jack and Maddie’s graduation to Jazz’s birth. “I imagine Kim’s parents were the same.”

    Kim nodded. “Mom waited a bit longer to get settled in at a hospital, that’s why I’m your age and not Jazz’s. Dad’s older than mom by a couple years, so he was already pretty well established by then himself.”

    “Yeah, Mom and Dad are both 45, If I remember right your Dad’s 48 isn’t he?” Danny asked.

     “49, his birthday was in March.” Kim corrected.

     “Right, right.” Danny said as he pulled the bottle from Marie’s mouth, putting her on his shoulder to ‘burp’ her. “Here’s hoping they didn’t put in an actual ‘burp’ function and just have it make a noise.”

    “Manual says it’s just a noise. We haven’t put any fluid in her anyway, so she wouldn’t have anything to push out.” Sammy said, leaning back into the couch.

    “Why are you calling it a her? It’s a doll.” Sam said as she watched Ron feed their doll.

    “Because, for the next week I get to pretend Danny and I have a baby and I’m feeding off all that means.” Sammy said, smiling at her boyfriend. “Star, Kim, and I get to see how good of a dad Danny’s going to be, and have our own fantasies about our actual kids. Speaking of that… can Ember have kids?” 

    Danny paused for a second, thinking. “I don’t know. Might be a question for Kitty, she probably knows.”

     “Why would Kitty know?” Valerie asked, an eyebrow raised.

     “Kitty’s the one who has done all the research on what being a ghost is for her, Johnny, and Ember. Despite her looks, she’s a bit of a bookworm.” Danny said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll text her and Ember, see if they’ll come. Johnny’ll probably tag along too.”

    “I guess that’s a question in and of itself though, if you did have kids, would they have your powers Danny?” Ron asked, curious.

    “Not sure. Currently my ability to have kids at all is a big question mark.” Danny said, looking between Star, Kim, and Sammy. 

    “Why’s that?” Star asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “From what the ghosts have said, I don’t have ghost powers, I AM half-ghost. Since I’m half one species and half another, it’s possible that I might be sterile, like a mule.” Danny explained. “Although Vlad seems to think it’s possible for me to have them, and he would be the expert.” 

    “Did he tell you that?” Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “Well, when he was like ‘join me as my son’ and all that, he claimed that his age was the primary concern for not having a kid of his own. Made no mention of an inability to have them.” Danny said, shrugging.

    “His age? He’s the same age as your parents, they’re still capable of having kids.” Tucker asked.

     “It was more about being able to enjoy the legacy. By the time his kid would be old enough to be an adult and take over his companies or whatever, Vlad would be pushing 70. He wasn’t thrilled about that. Not to mention, he wouldn’t ‘sully himself’ with anyone less than my mom.” Danny said, shivering at the last bit.

     “You think Vlad’s a 45 year old virgin?” Tucker asked.

     “Probably not a virgin, but definitely wouldn’t consider having kids with anyone else. He’s obsessed and crazy, but he’s also a billionaire.” Danny said, shrugging. “His craziness is also knowledge to us and not to many others.”

    “He’s handsome too.” Sammy said, before everyone glanced at her oddly. “What, I know he’s crazy, but it doesn’t discount it. Dash is handsome and I wouldn’t touch him with a 10 foot pole.” 

    Danny shrugged. “I wouldn’t really get it, I guess.” 

    “I AM into guys and I don’t really see it.” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “Him or Dash, blegh.” She added, making a gagging motion.

    “Well, you have years of build-up for hating Dash and rich people, might be coloring your opinions a bit.” Tucker said, shrugging as Valerie handed him their child. “What do you want me to do with this?”

    “Act like a parent. If you think I’m doing all the work you’ve got another thing coming.” Valerie said with a glare. “If you think I’m taking care of Harper all on my own.” She dragged her thumb across her neck.

   “Not you too, why’d you name it?” Sam asked, dumbfounded.

   “Just because Tucker and I aren’t as lovey dovey as Danny and the others are, doesn’t mean I don’t want to have my own little fantasies about a family.” Valerie said, rolling her eyes. “Tucker’s an idiot, but he’s MY idiot, and as of now front runner for Mr. Grey.” 

    “You’d make him take your name?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Either that or we’re hyphenating. I’m not giving up my last name.” Valerie said defiantly.

       Everyone else had gone home for the evening, Valerie forcing Tucker to take Harper for the first night, and Ron happily taking his and Sam’s doll, who he was calling Hannah, back to his place. Danny volunteered to take the first night with Marie, so he was currently holding the doll as he waited in the lab.

    “Not like you to tell me to come to the human world, babypop, what’s up?” Ember said as she stepped through the portal, taking a glance at the swaddled infant in Danny’s arms. “Blondie, Cheerleader, and Spygal weren’t pregnant, and as much as I think you’re a catch, you definitely don’t strike me as a casanova. What’s with the baby?” 

    “School assignment, it’s a doll that replicates an actual baby’s needs and functions. It did bring up some questions though that I figured would be good to get some answers for, thus why I needed you and Kitty. Did Johnny come?” Danny asked, laying the baby down on a pillow he was using as a makeshift bed. The instructions were unclear on if the pressure sensors would react poorly to the doll being on a hard surface, so they were erring on the side of caution.

    “Nope, just me and Ember. Johnny’s trying to clean up the garage.” Kitty said, looking over. “So did you name the baby?”

    “Sammy did, that’s Marie, after Marie Curie.” Danny said. “She’s my partner for the project.”

    “Blondie seems the more motherly one.” Ember said, looking over at the doll with a strange expression.

     “Probably, but she didn’t take Home Ec, said she didn’t need it really.” Danny said with a shrug.

    “Regardless, what did you need to know Babypop? I guess this is a ghost question if you needed Kitty here.” Ember said, plopping down into one of the office chairs that filled the lab.

    “Yeah, the other girls were wondering if ghosts had kids, and then the extra question of if it was possible for me to have them with you.” Danny explained as he took his own seat.

    “First question is a definite yes. Lots of ghost couples have had kids, and those kids are actually usually stronger than their parents. It’s really rare though, most ghosts are so caught up in their own obsessions that real romance can’t really bloom, among some other issues.” Kitty said, happily explaining.

    “Other issues?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Those of us who were human can’t have kids with ghosts who were never human. Johnny and I are both humans who became ghosts, so we’d be fine, but I couldn’t have one with Skulker, who has only ever been a ghost.” Kitty explained. “Not that I’d ever even think about it with Skulker, blegh.”

    “Sam had the same reaction to Dash earlier.” Danny said with a chuckle.

    “It’s also just… hard for ghosts to conceive. Johnny and I tried a few times over the years, we thought it might just be an us problem, but Ghost Writer said that it’s pretty difficult across the board.” Kitty said. “I don’t think Johnny and I are actually ready to be parents anyway, so it might be for the best it didn’t work out. We’ve got a lot of growing to do, and we’re only recently starting to realize it.”

    “Growing? I thought you guys don’t age.” Danny asked.

    “Physically we don’t have to, we’ll look and act how we perceive ourselves. For Johnny and Kitty, they’re still those 18 year olds who got hit by that truck, until they perceive themselves growing up, they’ll stay like that as they have for 20 odd years.” Ember said, gesturing to them. “That’s why I still saw myself as 18 for 40 years, I never had context to grow up, although with you around I think it’ll start happening.”

    “What do you mean by that?” Danny asked, now somewhat confused.

     “You’re giving us context to grow up. You’re aging, getting new experiences. We’ll probably mentally be about the same until you turn 18, but once you start getting older, and we spend time around you, we’ll subconsciously start matching you, our minds and forms will start putting us in the context around us. That’s why it was so easy for me to change my form to look more like a 15 year old to match Blondie, Cheerleader, and Spygal. I’m able to build my context for how old I should look around them. As they age, I’ll probably be constantly matching them.” Ember explained.

   “So, Spectra could just.. Have her youth if she could have the context for it?” Danny asked, now somewhat confused by the concept.

    “Yes, but she’ll never be able to. Spectra at her core knows she is an adult, and her form reflects that. Her self image is as a woman in her mid/late 50s, even if she wants to be a twenty-something again. Probably the only way she’d manage it would be for her to make an actual connection with someone who is in their 20s or whatever and let her mind mirror her. She won’t do that though, because Spectra’s a bitch and no one likes her.” Ember said, rolling her eyes a bit.

    “Yeah, pretty much only Walker likes Spectra.” Kitty confirmed. “They have like a… thing. It makes everyone uncomfortable.”

   “Great, the two ghosts I fight who actively hate me make goo-goo eyes at each other.” Danny said with a sigh. “How does that relationship WORK anyway?”

    “You know how a lot of girls are like ‘I can fix him’ when they find like a bad boy or something?” Kitty asked. “She sees Walker and is like ‘I can make him worse’. No one in the ghost zone really LIKES Walker, Spectra and his cronies excluded, but he’s not one to actively torture. Beat you if you step out of line, but not do it for his own enjoyment. Spectra wants him to.”

    “Here’s hoping they’ll never team up.” Danny said with a shudder.

    “If they ever do, I’ll make sure Johnny lends a hand. No one deserves that.” Kitty said, easing Danny’s worries a bit.

    “You’ll have me too, Babypop.” Ember said. “Gotta keep you around for my kids after all.” She added, taking a glance over to the doll on the desk.

     “You’d want kids, assuming we can have them? Still not sure how half-ghost works with that.” Danny said, looking at her with a small amount of shock.

    “Probably eventually. I know when I was alive I wanted kids, dying took that away from me, but I’ve had time. Probably once I’m mentally an adult, I’ll be more ready and interested, although I wouldn’t expect that for like… a decade assuming I’m matching you.” Ember said with a shrug.

    “Ooh! What would you name your kids? I wanna know! Maybe I should see if I can spend some time talking Johnny into it, our kids could be playmates!” Kitty said, clapping her hands together.

    “Gosh… I guess I’m not really sure. Amber… she had wanted Daniel and Michael, but those aren’t particularly good ghost names, since our kids would be ghosts, and I don’t think Babypop is looking for a Danny Jr.” Ember said with a chuckle. “Blaze and Rocket maybe?” 

    “Definitely no Danny Jrs.” Danny said, shaking his head and making an X with his hands. “I’m not totally against Blaze, although maybe say Blair is his actual name and Blaze is a nickname. Rocket… I’m not quite so sure about. Rocky would be a normal-ish name that could have that as a nickname, but I’m not thrilled on it as a name either.”

    “I’m not set on those anyway, assuming we manage at all, we’ve got plenty of time to think about it. Why would you care about them having normal names though? They’re ghosts.” Ember asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “Well, if ghosts grow from context, I’d want them to HAVE context, that would mean eventually going to school, and I’d like to maybe see if they could go to a human school like I do.” Danny said, shrugging. “A lot of parents wish their kids would stay small forever, but… I don’t think letting them be kids forever would be healthy for them, or us.”

    “Weirdly thoughtful of you Babypop. What’d you do with my boyfriend?” Ember said, grabbing his head and ‘rattling’ his skull.

    “Come on, quit it!” Danny said with a chuckle as he pulled out of Ember’s grip. “The assignment just got me thinking about what a future means if all of this multiple partners thing works out. I’ve got four girls who have all expressed interest in having kids, even if it’s pretty far out of our sight for now, it’s something everyone mentioned as a future goal. That means I’m likely to have four kids if each of you have one, not to mention the likelihood for Kim to have twins. What does that look like for us ten or twenty years down the line?”

    “It looks like whatever we want it to, Babypop.” Ember said with a smile. 

     The following day, Tucker and Valerie were sat down at the food court at the mall, the baby doll set up on the table between them. “Feeding is in about 15 minutes I think.” Tucker said, checking his PDA for the timing. “If only a real baby was this easy to schedule.”

    “Well, they can be, with some variance.” Valerie said with a shrug as she rifled through her purse for the bottle they had to use. “A feeding schedule like we’re doing can normally be pretty consistent, barring maybe supplementing it with a snack or something when they’re a little older. Routines are good for babies, I think it’s supposed to help them get an understanding of time or something.”

     “I wouldn’t know, I guess.” Tucker said with a shrug. “I did some research online, but… I dunno, kids seem really difficult. They take up so much time and effort and… is it worth it?”

     “Depends on the person I guess.” Valerie said setting the bottle on the table as she found it. “Dad always says no matter how much I get on his nerves sometimes, he’d never trade me for anything. I’m sure your parents have told you something similar.” 

    “Sometimes, other times they just wish they had a normal child. That usually happens after homeland security pops up.” Tucker said with a shrug.

    “That happened? That happened more than once?” Valerie asked, dumbfounded.

    “I hacked into the Pentagon to see if I could once. The answer was yes I could. Homeland Security didn’t like that I did it, but when I was able to show that I hadn’t DONE anything with the information, and let them know how to patch the hole I found, they let me off. After that I guess I’m just on a watch list.” Tucker said with a shrug.

     “I feel like I should be concerned.” Valerie said, eyeing Tucker. “Why’d you never bring this up before?”

     “Never came up.” Tucker responded, before taking a sip of his drink. “You just kind of tune out the tech stuff, so even if I had mentioned it you probably wouldn’t have really heard it.”

     “I guess you aren’t wrong about that.” Valerie said, her face falling a little bit at that. She wondered if it made her a bad girlfriend that she did just kind of zone out when Tucker talked about the stuff he was really passionate about. “Does… that bother you?”

     “Not really.” Tucker said, smiling at her. “I get that a lot of it goes over your head, not that you aren’t smart, just that you aren’t as deep in the weeds as I am about that stuff. I figure you’d do the same thing if Danny talked Ghost Equipment, or Star talked about competitive Ice Skating.”

     “Yeah, but… we’re together. Hell, right now we’re raising a kid together.” Valerie said, pointing at the doll she’d named Harper. “Even if it is fake… it’s us trying out being a family. I should be better than that. You don’t zone me out.”

     “Valerie, be real for a second. Do you ever think you would really be interested in tech stuff like I am? Not just the basics of phone gadgets or the equipment we use for ghost stuff. Do you think you would ever genuinely want to sit down and discuss the benefits of coding in Python vs. Ruby?” Tucker asked.

    “No… not really.” Valerie said, looking down.

     “I’ll never feel that way about the fashion stuff you do, or any number of hobbies you may have. That’s fine. It’s normal. We don’t have to be 100% on everything in each other’s lives to be happy together. I’m fine with you zoning out when I talk about tech stuff, because sometimes I’m not actually talking TO you about it, I’m saying it out loud to work through problems, and having something that stares back at me. We usually call it rubber duckying, but I think you’re nicer to look at.” Tucker said with a goofy grin. “I know I talk and ramble a lot. I’d be concerned if you actively listened to every single thing I say, because there’s just a lot of it.”

    “So do you ever zone me out?” Valerie asked. “I’ve never noticed you doing it.”

    “Yes and no. There’s a lot of times you’ll talk about like, fashion or something like that. I’ll listen to what you say, but I don’t really absorb any of it. I’ll just turn off my critical listening and just kind of exist.” Tucker said, shrugging. “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that there isn’t any input I can really give. Sometimes you just need to talk, that’s it.”

    “Do you think that’s a healthy way for us to be?” Valerie asked, hearing the baby start crying as feeding time approached, she cradled it and pressed the bottle to its lips, letting it eat.

    “Probably. I’ve been friends with Danny and Sam for years and we all do this. Sam will go on about vegetarianism or meat being murder and I’ll just let her go. Danny will go on about some astronomy concept and I’ll just let him rock. I’m sure they tune out the high level tech stuff like you do too, although Danny probably holds on as long as I’m talking about something involving a mechanical device, as opposed to just a piece of software.” Tucker said, shooting her a smile. “Even if it’s not, if it doesn’t bother me that you tune me out sometimes, and it doesn’t bother you that I do the same, then it’s fine. We’re happy, that’s what matters.”

    “Where is this weird sagely guy all the time?” Valerie asked with an eyebrow raised. “Normally all you talk about is tech, meat, and making out with me.”

    “Those are my primary interests, but I do actively care about making our relationship work. You’re not the only one finding enjoyment in pretending to be a parent for a little bit.” Tucker said with a smile. “Although I’ll fully admit I’ve got no clue what I’m doing in that regard.”

    “You set reminders for her feeding schedule, and you watch it like a hawk. That goes pretty far in my book.” Valerie said, taking Harper over her shoulder and letting her burp. “You’re tackling parenting in the way you know how, which is preparation and scheduling. That’s apparently how Dad was when my Mom was pregnant.”

     “So you’re comparing me to your dad?” Tucker asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Dad’s been awesome to me my entire life. I guess I just hoped that I’d find a guy who was like him in some ways, so that I’d feel safe and loved like he makes me feel, just you know, romantic as opposed to familial.” Valerie said wistfully.

    “How am I doing on that part then?” Tucker asked, jokingly.

    “Seven out of ten. You’re getting better though.” Valerie added, sticking her tongue out at him.

     At Bueno Nacho, Ron and Sam sat with The Doll as Sam dubbed it; although to Ron it was little Hannah. “Alright, feeding time is done, another one in three hours.” Ron said, checking off a box on a small notepad he had. “This isn’t as hard as I was worried it was going to be. I figured Barkin would give me one that like, shot lasers from its eyes at me.”

    “You think he hates you that much?” Sam asked with a quirked eyebrow. She was really doing everything she could to ignore the doll. She was doing her part for the assignment, not wanting to just coast on the grade for Ron’s hard work, but she REALLY didn’t like it.

    Ron shivered for a moment as Rufus played with the doll a bit, making it let out happy sounds. “Yeah, yeah I do. I don’t know WHY Barkin hates me, but he always has. As it is though, this assignment is pretty good. I’m glad we got partnered up for it.”

    “Why me? Don’t pretend like I’ve been any actual help here. You’re apparently super-dad, and I loathe this thing with a passion.” Sam said as she glared at the doll. “Not exactly on track to be mom of the year.”

    “Well, you’re my friend for one. If it had been Bonnie I got partnered up with I’d be doing all the work and dealing with her attitude the entire time. You’re putting a lot of the baby stuff on me, but you ARE helping, and I don’t mind the baby stuff. Besides, you’re the only one in the friend group who gets it.” Ron said, his voice fading off a bit. Rufus turned and looked at him with a supportive look, before turning back to Hannah.

    “Gets what?” Sam asked, her face a little confused.

    “Well, you and Danny were kind of like me and Kim, I guess just backwards.” Ron said as he started to take a bit of his Naco.

     “Childhood friends? Yeah, I get it, but like… so were Star and Valerie, or Me and Tucker, or Danny and Tucker. That’s not exclusively a me thing.” Sam said, struggling to find what would set her apart from the others in that regard.

    “You liked Danny though. Just like I liked… or like Kim.” Ron said, sighing as he set the food down. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell her that.”

    “You and Kim?” Sam asked, honestly a little shocked.

     “I’m not sure when it happened, really. I always knew Kim was a pretty girl, she always had been. Just at some point, she went from pretty girl who was my friend, to pretty girl I wanted to be my girlfriend. By the point I realized that though, there were supervillains and high school coming up, I figured I’d just wait, let the chips fall where they would. We hung out every Friday on the regular, so in my mind I could just pretend those were dates. I didn’t NEED to hold her hand or kiss her to be happy, and while I might have been happier with those things, they weren’t necessary. I was fine being just the friend for the time being. High school came and we met you guys, and then all of a sudden we had more buds, that was exciting! Maybe if I had to worry less about being one of Kim’s only friends, I could work on moving up!” Ron said, his tone a little melancholic.

    “Kim Possible had issues making friends?” Sam questioned. It seemed so improbable to her, Kim was a cheerleader, a star student, traditionally attractive with normal girl hobbies. Everything Sam didn’t consider herself, how had that caused her issues in the friend department?

    “Like you wouldn’t believe. I’m not really sure how it started, probably my fault, but she and Bonnie did NOT get along, never have. They’ve been at each other’s throats since first grade at least. That rivalry effectively would have split the girls in the class down the middle. You could be friends with Kim, or you could be friends with Bonnie, not both. The only person who ever made that kind of work was Tara, but she’s the exception because she literally gets along with everyone. Kim really internalized the ‘anything is possible for a Possible’ motto, and ended up being like, a super-student. Answering all the questions in class, getting good grades, showing everyone up in sports, not because she was trying to show off, but just because she was GOOD at them. Kim’s never thought she was better than anyone, but she ended up getting put on this pedestal by teachers and stuff. That isolated her away from everyone else.” Ron said as he sighed a bit. “I probably didn’t help much, I’m not exactly Mr. Cool Guy, but Kim would never abandon me or anything like that. That pretty much made it ‘hang with Bonnie and all the cool kids, or hang with Kim and the loser’. You can imagine what most people chose.”

     “You’re not a loser, Ron.” Sam said, her tone a bit more warm than it had been before.

     “I mean, I kind of am, but I’m okay with that.” Ron said, smiling. “I’ve got tons of good friends now, between you, Kim, Danny, Tucker, Star, Valerie, Sammy, Alex, Clover, Wade… plus just the other people I hang out with in home ec or whatever, I’ve even got Rufus!” The mole rat raised his fist in the air with a “Booyah!” at that. “I’ve got friends now, lots of them, I help save the world, I’m a literal superhero. Honestly, it’s almost everything I could have dreamed of when I was a kid.”

     Sam looked on at Ron, seeing him in a new light for the first time, and feeling upset at herself for how she had thought of him before. Ron has always seemed… goofy to say the least. He was the comic relief, the sidekick who existed only to cheer someone up when they were down, but in this moment Sam saw deeper than that. Sam saw the hero who was in totally over his head and still managed to get up and go on a mission whenever it was needed. Sam saw the friend who watched someone swoop in and steal a woman he might have been in love with and bear it with a smile. Sam saw someone who she had judged far too harshly. Sam saw, for the first time, her friend, Ron Stoppable.

     Turning in their children at the end of the week was an odd affair. While many individuals, Sam included, felt no compassion for the dolls at all, several had developed quite the attachment.

     “I don’t want to give up Marie!” Sammy called out as Danny attempted to take the doll back up to the front of the class. “I had one week to be Mrs. Fenton, it wasn’t ENOUGH.” 

     “Come on, Sammy. Surely you aren’t going to miss waking up in the middle of the night to change a diaper or do a feeding?” Danny said, trying to reason with her. He understood the reluctance actually, he too felt attachment to the doll, it was… nice to pretend.

    “Not really, but… I’ll miss the moments when I was just rocking her, getting lost in the moment and thinking that THIS was our baby. That we’d brought a little life into the world. That maybe we’d be raising the next little superhero together.” Sammy said, still holding Marie to her chest.

     “You think our kid would be a Hero?” Danny asked.

     “They’d probably have your ghost genetics, plus my Spy gene.” Sammy said, holding her. “They’d have genetic predispositions to be stronger, smarter, and have greater stamina, not to mention any powers they’d receive from you. Plus… well you talked a bit about how even before you got your powers you were super strong like your dad. Mr. Fenton is a behemoth of a man with strength that isn’t just explained by his size. You’re probably hero material on your own… without the powers.” 

     “Aw… well… it still doesn’t mean we can keep the doll Sammy.” Danny said, flustered as he tried to put those pieces together. He’d boasted to Vlad about the Fenton strength before, at the time it was largely a bluff, but it WAS true. Danny even before his accident was able to outlift a good deal of the football team without training, if he had trained… he’d probably be outperforming Dash and Kwan easily. If Danny was as big as his Dad with the same proportional strength? He probably wouldn’t NEED ghost powers to lift a car up, or at least get the back wheels a couple inches off the ground.

    “But… what if this is the only time we get to do this?” Sammy asked. “What if… you’re sterile or i’m infertile or any other number of things? I… I didn’t really KNOW it before now but… I want to be a mother someday. I want to have a little family. I want that with YOU, Danny.”

    “I want that too, but Sammy, that’s going to be years down the line. Leaving out the fact that we’re 15, we also have to think about our jobs. Do you think WOOHP will let you work while pregnant? Do you think you could go off and be a super spy and leave a child at home? We lucked out that you didn’t get a call this week, and I just fight ghosts here in town. What about when that doesn’t happen?” Danny posited. He didn’t want to discourage her dreams, honestly everything she said sounded so good to him too, but… he had to be realistic about it. Their hero work as it stood… there wouldn’t really be room for a child, not without some changes.

    “Then we have Star… or Sam, or Tucker, or Valerie, or your parents or mine. It’s not just US Danny… we have a team. We have a family, not just us, but those around us.” Sammy said, smiling at him. “Star isn’t a hero like we are, but do you think she’d complain about taking care of your kids while you go off to save the world?”

    “No… I guess she wouldn’t.” Danny said, as he took a moment to think about his future. Off in that distance, he saw Fenton Works 10 or so years in the future. Star sat in the living room, surrounded by a bunch of kids, most with red hair, but a few with blonde or black, and one that floated in the air as she read through a story book. Danny, Kim, and Sammy stepped through the door, the tiredness of a world saving mission clear in their faces, but coming in and seeing the swarm of children coming to meet their dad and moms put the extra pep in their step. Ember emerged from downstairs, holding a ghost infant of her own. It was… everything Danny could dream of. “We still have to give up the doll though, Sammy.”

     “Her name is Marie.” Sammy said.

     “No, Marie is the little red-headed girl we’ll meet in a few years… assuming we keep that name. This is a doll who let us hold Marie a little early. This isn’t goodbye, this is just an ‘until next time’.” Danny said, as he eased the doll out of Sammy’s arms.

    “Promise?” Sammy asked, her eyes watering as the doll left her arms.

    “Promise.” Danny affirmed, giving her a kiss before returning the doll to Barkin.

    As grades were handed out, none of them really cared. They’d done well, even if Sam only passed because of Househusbando Macho Ron, but they’d all learned far more than just childcare over this past week.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hey! I keep my promises! This definitely wouldn't have come out this month if not for the lovely words of PD_Nhite on Reddit, who posted about how much he loved Heart of a Hero and asked about other works like it in the Phandom. I promised him I'd get a chapter out this month, and I managed by the skin of my teeth! This is the first (and probably one of VERY few) chapters that's going to be based primarily on a Totally Spies episode, so the style is going to feel a LITTLE weird. I won't make any promises when the next chapter will come out. The burnout is mostly gone, but I'm still having some difficulties in getting the rust off, as well as just focusing on the writing. Ideally, you see Episode 20 in December, but I won't guarantee it happens. For Sphinx Club readers, that will probably start regular updates in December, since those chapters are much easier to write. Hope you all enjoy! Leave your reviews to share your good vibes and make sure I get the motivation to write!

Vlad thrust his hands forward, the pink ectoplasmic energy launching itself into the gargantuan creature. The four-armed red behemoth of a creature roared in agony, before reaching forward to grasp at Plasmius. Noticing the opportunity, Skulker fired his missiles into the distracted creature's back, forcing it to wheel around to face him. This placed his back to Vlad though, who capitalized on the situation, firing multiple more beams of energy into the back of the creature. It roared out blindly, overwhelmed by the pain and punishment the two ghosts were dealing to it. It swiped, catching one of Skulker's jetpack wings and sending him flying uncontrollably through the air. It roared in triumph at its successful attack, but Vlad put a quick stop to that, as three clones emerged and began firing beams one by one at the creature. The original Vlad made his way to Skulker, righting the suit while the duplicates kept the beast distracted.

"When you asked me to help you hunt one of the deadliest creatures in the Ghost Zone, the Behemoth guarding the Skeleton Key was not what I imagined you had in mind." Skulker grunted, retracting his jetpack into his ecto-skeleton. "I won't be flying anymore. You have any bright ideas for taking this thing down?"

"Patience, Skulker. This is one of the greater creatures in the Zone after all… it wouldn't do for it to be easy prey, would it?" Vlad said, his tone smarmy and superior. He scanned the situation, watching as his duplicates continues to pepper the creature with energy. "Take one of your energy blades and aim for its chest. I'll make sure it doesn't grab you." With that, Vlad shot forward as his duplicates got into position, working as a hivemind. They summoned ectoplasmic rope constructs, wrapping them around the wrist of the behemoth, before flying off in separate directions, the immense strength and durability of the creature the only thing preventing the great beast from being quartered.

"Mounting this beast will be quite the pleasure." Skulker grinned rushing forward and kicking off as energy blades burst forth from his gauntlets. He stabbed into the creature's chest, the weight of his ectoskeleton pulling the blades through the monster, tearing muscles and tendons as ectoplasm oozed from the wounds. The Plasmius duplicates fired ectoplasmic beams at the creature once more, as Skulker fired one final missile, which connected dead center with the now gaping wound in the behemoth's chest, ending its afterlife.

Vlad reformed into one being, flying to stand beside Skulker. "Your missile performed admirably. Remarkable the improvements you've made." Vlad said, as he surveyed the downed ghost.

"I'm not Technus, but I can design a weapon." Skulker said, an obvious amount of competition in his voice.

"Yes, yes. It is unfortunate Nicolai has defected, but it is of little consequence. There is little our minds together will be unable to accomplish." Vlad said, as he and Skulker turned to walk into the spectral mausoleum the behemoth had been guarding.

"What do you want the Skeleton Key for anyway?" Skulker asked, as they walked up to the ornate pedestal where a glowing green key with a skull for a grip sat. "There's no lock in the human world that should be beyond your abilities to bypass, and there's little in the Ghost Zone that is worth unlocking."

"Correct on both accounts." Vlad said, as he grabbed the key, transforming back into his human form to place it in his breast pocket, before returning to his ghost form. "It is still an artifact of great power and significance, and a piece on this chessboard I want on my side and no one else's." Vlad finished, before glancing at Skulker. "I suppose you need me to carry you back to your workshop, since your jetpack is damaged… I suppose this endeavor would have been more difficult without your assistance." Vlad grabbed onto Skulker's shoulder, and the pair flew off.

"Tonight on F.I.G.H.T! Olympic Decathlete Reggie Willis is going to take on the Gladiators to see if he has what it takes to take home the grand prize: The F.I.G.H.T. Belt and one million dollars in cold, hard, cash." The booming voice of announcer Vince King said over the TV, which filled the living room at Fentonworks. Danny, Star, Kim, Sammy, Alex, Clover, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie are all propped around on random couches, munching away on popcorn as they watch the new episode.

"Man, this show is awesome. Where'd you find this thing, Danny?" Valerie asked, as they watched Reggie working his way through the various obstacles and enemies that filled the diverse biomes of F.I.G.H.T. Island.

"Star found it actually. She was real excited about tonight's episode." Danny said, turning to look to his blonde girlfriend, who was happily rocking back and forth in her seat, watching the Olympian perform athletic feats that were impressive even to the superheroes in the room.

"Of course I'm excited! That's Reggie Willis! He's like, king of kings in Olympic Athletes! The decathlon is like, the hardest olympic event already, but he's like, world's better than the competition! His score was like, 2000 points higher than second place this year! The record ever scored at the Olympics was 9126, if Reggie performs in Paris like he did at the trials, he'll break that record by like, five hundred points! That's HUGE!" Star said, practically shaking with excitement. "He's like, a total inspiration! It's people like him that make me really want to be an Olympian!"

Alex chuckled a bit at her excitement. "I get it, he's really impressive. Almost makes me wish I didn't have to give up soccer to work for WOOHP. Saving the world takes priority though. I'll take taking down a supervillain to a gold medal any day. Besides, I get to do all the cool stuff Olympians do anyway."

"Who cares about his Olympic performance? He's SOOOO hunky!" Clover said, those around her could almost see the heart eyes she made at the TV as Reggie flexed following a takedown of one of the 'Gladiators' on the show.

"Down girl. Besides, his athletic performance is something to be proud of. A guy like him would probably get recruited by Global Justice or something if he wasn't already a well known figure." Kim said, leaning back into Danny's shoulder as she snuggled into him some more.

"You all really do know how to make a girl feel inadequate." Valerie said, rolling her eyes. "Four superheroines and a soon to be Olympic Level figure skater. Meanwhile I'm sitting here huffing and puffing after running a mile in gym class."

"Please, if you really wanted you could manage marksman competitions." Tucker, said waving off his girlfriend. "You're outscoring everyone on the target game in the basement, and considering you're up against Maddie Fenton? That's a BIG achievement."

"Ugh… you couples and your lovey-dovey nonsense." Sam griped, rolling her eyes as she turned her attention back to the show. Reggie was being chased by the gladiators before reaching a cliff that sat beside a large waterfall. The gladiators, massive behemoths of men in elaborate themed costumes, began to corner him. With a grunt, Reggie jumped from the cliff, diving into the waters below.

"That's all we have time for folks! Looks like Reggie here didn't have what it took to beat my gladiators. We'll see you all next time on FIGHT!" Vince King said, signing off the program.

"Ah, I really thought he was going to do it!" Star said, groaning as the credits on the show rolled.

"Looks like there's never been a winner." Tucker said, scrolling through some information on his phone. "Word online says Reggie got the closest anyone ever has."

"That's a bit weird. No winners ever? How long has the show been going?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Looks like… about a year. One episode a month, this was episode 11." Tucker said, before correcting himself. "12 technically, there was a pilot that was released, but not listed as a numbered episode."

"I guess it's not THAT weird then… but it seems odd." Danny said, shrugging.

"Oh well. Maybe someone will manage it next time. We going to turn this into a monthly thing?" Valerie asked.

"If you all are up for it. We'll see if Ron will make it next time so it'll be all of us." Kim said, standing up and moving to start cleaning up their snack bowls.

"Where's he at anyway?" Sam asked, as she too helped clean up.

"Bahia Bay in California. He's visiting his cousin Lori I think." Kim said, turning to look at Sam. "You two have been getting a bit chummy recently."

"Ha ha. We just don't like third wheeling, so we've been using each other as other hang out friends when you guys are out doing your couple stuff." Sam said, rolling her eyes. Kim let that drop, smirking a bit to herself as everyone began clearing up. The dishwasher was loaded, and everyone said their goodbyes, with Alex and Clover agreeing to meet Danny, Kim, and Sammy at the mall the following day, since Danny needed help picking out some new summer clothes.

At the mall, the group walked in front of a boutique sunglasses hut, when the floor opened beneath them, sending them careening down a slide, and onto a large circular cushion in the middle of the WOOHP office. Jerry stood there in front of his desk, hands in his pockets with an amused smile on his face. "Thank you for dropping in girls, Ms. Possible, Mr. Fenton."

"That joke doesn't get any funnier Jerry!" Clover groaned, sitting up on the cushion. "Grabbing us is pretty normal, but what's with Kim and Danny being here?"

"I've received permission from Global Justice to request these two to join you on this assignment. We suspect that this will require a bit more combat than we expect from your normal missions, so bringing in some heavier hitting support is worthwhile." Jerry said, before turning to Kim and Danny. "You two are, of course, not required to accept this mission, while the girls are obligated as WOOHP agents to perform their tasks to the best of their abilities, as you are not directly under my jurisdiction, I cannot force you to do anything."

"Well, as long as we're saving the world, I don't see the issue." Danny said, shrugging, with Kim nodding in agreement.

"Perhaps not a world saving mission, but one of some importance. I'll elaborate and allow you to decide. Take a look at this individual." Jerry said, pulling up the image of a large athletic african-american man.

"Oh, I recognize that hunk! That's Reggie Willis!" Clover said, bringing her hands together and pressing them against her cheek while tilting her head.

"Quite. Reginald Willis, Olympic Decathlete. How do you know him, if I may ask?" Jerry asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"We watched his run on F.I.G.H.T last night." Alex said, as she glanced at the screen. "What's going on?"

"That episode of F.I.G.H.T, which stands for Fear Intimidation Gladiator Habitat Television, was recorded nearly three weeks ago, and Mr. Willis has not been seen by anyone since. Following his disappearance, it was also discovered that other contestants had not been seen since their episodes were recorded. We have reason to believe that something suspicious is going on with F.I.G.H.T, and are requesting you five go on island and investigate." Jerry said, looking to them.

"Danny and I aren't exactly great at Espionage, barring Danny's ability to go invisible, what makes you think we'll be able to help specifically?" Kim asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Ms. Possible, your records show that you regularly engage in hand to hand combat with enhanced individuals, and fight several highly trained henchmen on many of your endeavors as a heroine. Your combat experience frankly blows my spies out of the water. Mr. Fentons supernatural abilities also make him a force to be reckoned with, I highly doubt there is any human on the planet who can handle him in a physical altercation without enhancements." Jerry said, looking to them. "It is my intention for you to join Samantha, Alex, and Clover as contestants on the show, where you will investigate these disappearances further."

"Not that we don't appreciate the support, Jerry, but what about this job makes you think we need the heavier hitters?" Sammy asked. "It's not like our normal missions don't end up with us punching some bad guys."

"This is true, but in terms of combat prowess, you three do fall behind Ms. Possible and Mr. Fenton. This blame lies on me, as I have not provided you with enough high level combat training, but your skills lie in espionage more than combat. While I have no doubts that you could take down largely any single opponent, your abilities to handle multiple strong opponents leave me somewhat concerned. I believe Ms. Possible and Mr. Fenton would be the difference makers in this regard, as their combat capabilities speak for themselves." Jerry said, leaning back on his desk.

"Yeah… we do get overwhelmed by bad guys a lot. It's a good thing we're great at escaping capture!" Alex said, chuckling a bit at her own misfortune.

"Can't help but notice that you said Kim would be going with them as a contestant, but you left me out of it. I doubt they'll let Phantom participate with his super powers and all, and Danny Fenton isn't exactly 'F.I.G.H.T material'." Danny said, looking to Jerry. "What am I expected to do?"

"I'd like you to invisibly tag along, tailing the weakest fighter to make sure she's not overwhelmed, and acting as an emergency trump card as necessary." Jerry said, nodding at Danny.

"Well, who would that be then?" Danny asked, looking over to the spies.

"Me." Clover said, dropping her head.

"Clover is a more than adequate combatant, but does rank lower in her combat scores than both Alex and Samantha." Jerry pointed out.

"Alex is the most athletic of the three of us, so she's got more muscle and body control. Sammy's a quicker thinker and best at disabling opponents with precision strikes." Clover said, groaning. "Ugh… knew I should have signed up for those Krav Maga classes, but the guy teaching the aerobics class was just WAY cuter."

"Quite. I have your gadgets for this mission. Ms. Possible, you'll receive these as well, the girls will give you instructions on how they work on the journey over. Mr. Fenton, we do not believe you will find them necessary." Jerry said, as a selection of gadgets rose from beneath the desk to be viewed. "This time you will have the Buzzsaw wristwatch, mini-ski aerobic sneaker, zipline bracelet, Turbo blast hairdryer this one being the laser variant, and the lip balm smoke bomb."

"You guys definitely get the more interesting toys." Kim said as she picked up her gadgets. "I've got a laser lipstick and a grapple gun, that's pretty much it."

"We're happy to discuss with Mr. Load about improvements to your arsenal Ms. Possible, although I'm certain that you rarely find yourself wanting." Jerry said, chuckling.

"Super powered boyfriend with supergenius engineer parents helps." Kim said, smirking. "I'm sure Wade would love to talk to your R department though."

"Quite, farewell ladies, and Mr. Fenton." Jerry said, nodding as the cushion beneath them opened up, sending them down another slide.

Arriving on the island by boat was pretty easy, and Danny made himself invisible from roughly a mile out, staying in his seat next to Clover. "I'm going to hope that we won't be spending too long on the island, I haven't really… trained on keeping myself invisible for long periods of time. I've never had to." Danny said, a few worry lines invisible on his face.

"Do you think you can hold it?" Kim asked, concerned as she reached out to where she knew he was. Despite being invisible, Danny was currently still tangible. She could feel him.

"It doesn't feel like it takes anything for me to do so, it's kind of just like turning it on or off, so probably? I won't make any guarantees. Intangibility takes doing, I have to think about being intangible and can get worn out if I hold that too long, but I can FEEL that taking effort, this doesn't do that. Not that I can tell at least." Danny said, briefly interlacing his fingers with Kim's. "I'll be sure to let you guys know if I think I'm losing it though. I'm sure I'll realize if I'm getting tired of it. Going silent, I'll be right next to Clover though, and I'll go intangible when needed."

With that, the girls got off the boat, standing awkwardly on the shore. "Did Jerry give you guys any instructions here that I didn't get? Kim asked, looking around as their boat abandoned them.

"No, but that's par for the course. Expect it to work out in like… three seconds." Alex said, as suddenly they all heard a vehicle's engine rev.

In only a few moments, a Jeep pulled up alongside the girls, with a large man with what can best be described as a mullet and horseshoe mustache pulled up beside them. "Well, I reckon you ladies must be our new contestants. Hop on in and I'll give you the tour before we get started." The man said, his vaguely australian accent shining through. The girls and Danny recognized him right off. "I'm Vince King, host of F.I.G.H.T and CEO of F.I.G.H.T. Enterprises."

Getting into the Jeep, various biomes passed by as the Jeep lapped the island. "As you can see, F.I.G.H.T island is host to each and every biome imaginable, from jungle to desert to tundra we've got it all. This island is the most amazing sporting arena ever conceived." Vince said, bragging as he drove on.

"We actually caught the episode with Reggie Willis just last night." Alex said, starting a conversation. "It was really impressive, what happened to Reggie after filming?"

"Not sure, he must be too scared to show himself after losing to my merciless Gladiators. They're the most effective combat athletes on the planet." Vince said, his bravado shining through.

"Merciless? That's an odd way to phrase it. That's actual combat we see on screen?" Sammy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Marketing, when you're a presenter you've got to learn how to sell the power." Vince said, taking a brief moment before continuing. "This is show business, while the Gladiators are doing there best to subdue the contestants, safety is a top priority. We do our best to make sure that there are no injuries beyond what are standard for a sporting event. We've had a broken bone or two, and plenty of bumps and bruises, but the same could be said for professional wrestling. That's where I got my start after all."

They pulled into a garage that seemed to be connected to some kind of studio. Vince got out of the Jeep and pointed off in a direction. "Head on through there and they'll get you your athletic kit for the show. I've got some last minute preparations to make. See you in an hour."

The girls followed the directions making their way to the listed dressing rooms. Sure enough, athletic suits in their sizes were present, but no support personnel were. "Getting a negative on surveillance in here. We're good to change. Danny, you can take a break if you need." Sammy said, as she grabbed aa green athletic suit from the rack.

Danny regained visibility, taking a seat on a nearby chair. "Uh… feels weird holding invisibility that long." He said, shaking his head and arms as though trying to work out some muscle.

"You think the time is going to be an issue? Kim asked, as she grabbed a black version of the outfit from the racks.

"No, it feels weird but I'm not drained or anything. Maybe I'm just psyching myself out by worrying about it." Danny said. "What's your guys' read on Vince?"

"Suspicious without a doubt." Clover said, as she slid into the red athletic suit in one of the stalls. "He can claim his gladiators are trained athletes with safety in mind all he wants, but you guys saw the show last night, and you saw the same island I did. There's stuff here that's WAY too dangerous for a show to just let it happen. Like Reggie's fall into the water yesterday, that's not something that you can get away with, surely."

"Yeah… something is definitely up. We'll have to figure out what exactly that is though." Sammy said, stepping out of the stall wearing the athletic gear, her hair tied up in a single braid.

"Then let's get to work." Danny said, as the other girls stepped out, ready to rumble.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have some new contestants who think that they have what it takes to take on F.I.G.H.T. Island and take home not only the coveted FIGHT Belt, but also the one million dollar cash prize!" Vince said, his voice booming through the arena as a crowd of fans cheered. A platform beneath the stage rose, bringing Kim, Sammy, Alex, and Clover to the stage. "These four girls think they have the grit, the drive, the determination to take on my international gladiators to take the prizes for themselves! Let's see if they have what it takes! Release the wolves!"

From off the side of the stage two cages containing wolves were opened, causing the canines to chase after the girls. "Safety really not feeling like a top priority here!" Alex said as they ran, leaving the stage and immediately being funneled into a rocky mesa area, where they were at the bottom of a box canyon

"Especially since those aren't dogs! Those are actual wolves!" Kim called out as she glanced over her shoulder at the pack hunters. "There's no way he has the right permits for that!"

"Permits shmermits! I'm more worried about how we're going to get away from them!" Clover called out as she looked around. The canyon walls were rough and rocky, the sandstone a deep red. They were quickly coming up on the end of this little trench they were in. "Up and out, it's the only way!"

"Let's hope these walls are sturdy then!" Sammy called out as she started scaling the wall, Alex, Clover, and Kim hot on her heels. They made it about half-way up the 30 ft rock face when the wolves reached the bottom, jumping and trying to nip at the girls' heels, but being unable to.

"I'd have caught you if they weren't, don't worry." Danny's voice called out to them.

"Man, I can't get used to you being here invisible. I keep forgetting you're here." Alex called out as she pulled herself over the top, having made better time than the others.

"It is weird." Clover said, pulling herself over the edge and lying down, catching her breath.

"Uh… guys? Looks like we've got company!" Kim said, as the FIGHT Gladiators began their approach. Five of them were immediately visible, each in their eclectic costumes. One appeared to be wearing the skull of a triceratops, another was dressed as a samurai, and the others followed similar themes.

"Ugh! I swear, these guys looks like they got their fashion tips from the Village People's Fight Club!" Clover said, as the Triceratops headed one charged, wielding a massive morningstar and trying to slam it into her head. Clover dodged expertly, delivering a punishing elbow to his spine. The samurai charged Sammy, who dropped low into a sweep kick knocking him off his feet. A woman dressed similarly to a viking grabbed Alex in a full nelson, but Kim landed a jump kick on her face, forcing the woman to release her.

"Split up! Sammy, you're with me, Clover, you go with Alex!" Kim said, the others nodding as they paired off to make distance from the gladiators.

Danny, Alex, and Clover were trudging through the desert section of FIGHT island, the air hot and heavy on their bodies. "God, I'd toss my entire shoe collection for some relief from this heat… how is it so hot here specifically? The mesa was like… warm but not HOT, how is he changing the climate so much here?"

"Is it hot? I… I can't tell." Danny said, a look of concern on his face… well probably. He was invisible, even he couldn't tell.

"What, does the ghost boy not get hot?" Alex asked, trying to keep her spirits up as they kept moving.

"Now that you mention it… as a ghost, no. I've gotten COLD before, but like… that was with a ghost who could instant freeze you. Must be something ghosts don't deal with really." Danny said. "Still get hot and cold normally as a human, barring the fact that I'm a 'shorts when it's snowing' guy."

"Ugh, meanwhile I'm still not adjusted to Amity Park's weather." Clover rolled her eyes. "Give me California's endless sunshine over a cold front from Lake Eerie anyday."

"Says the woman complaining about the heat." Alex points out.

"Too hot to be snarky right now." Clover responded, as the trio crested a sand dune. Opposite them was what could best be described as a mountainous winter wonderland.

"How did we go from Arizona to the Himalayas in what is at most 100 feet?" Danny asked, completely dumbfounded.

"I don't know, but I'm terrified to find out." Alex said.

The roar of engines caught their attention as three gladiators appeared from a small path around one of the mountains, riding on what could best be described as hot-rod snowmobiles.

"Great! More running!" Clover said, as she and Alex started dashing off trying to get away from the snowmobiles.

"Use the ski shoes! They'll be better!" Alex called out clicking her heels together and having ski runners appear from the soles of her feet. Small rockets on her heels propelled her, seemingly letting her make some distance from the snowmobiles. Clover clicked her heels together as well and started rocketing after her.

They shot through the snowy hills that surrounded the mountains, using their superior maneuverability to outperform the bulky snowmobiles while on the winding paths in the hills, but once they hit an open frozen lake, their advantages suddenly disappeared. One of the snowmobiles caught up to Clover, it's rider wearing some kind of alien based suit leaned over and tried to spear her, but Clover dodged back, grabbing the spear and tossing him off the snowmobile, before hopping on. "Nice ride! Mine now!" She called out, pushing the engine to it's limit as she approached Alex, Danny providing an extra boost to keep them ahead of the Gladiators.

"I'll slow them down!" Alex called out, before pulling out her laser hairdryer and pointing it towards the ice, melting it and sending the gladiators into the icy waters. Drifting to a stop, the trio saw that the gladiators were flailing around in the ice, unable to get purchase to get out of the frigid waters.

"Guess we have to do the right thing." Clover said, rolling her eyes as she hopped out of the snowmobile. She, Alex, and Danny each grabbed one of the gladiators, pulling them up onto the ice and out of the water.

"Ugh… these guys are HEAVY." Alex complained as she pulled out a Gladiator in what looked like Hun armor. As she pulled him out though, the collar on his neck came off, and Alex looked questioningly at it. "Wonder what this is?"

Clover walked over and took a look at it. "Well, one thing's for sure, it's definitely got something to do with what's going on here. That's one high-tech piece of jewelry."

Sammy and Kim meanwhile, escaped to what seemed to be some kind of ancient ruins on the island. "Ugh… this reminds me WAY too much of looking for those relics for Monkey Fist." Kim said as they climbed the stairs. The facade of these ruins being ancient fell away pretty quickly on close inspection. The corners were still broadly new and pristine, a far cry from the weathered edges you would find in actual ancient ruins.

"Tell me about it. Last time we were in ruins like this, some weird guy was trying to use 'ancient mayan technology' to carve his name on the moon." Sammy said, chuckling as she rolled her eyes.

"It's still pretty odd to me how… eclectic your villains are. I've got a relatively short list of villains, and while they have their own gimmicks, they usually want what I would consider 'normal villain things' like money or world domination." Kim said, as they walked along the edge of the faux-ancient ziggurat.

"Yeah… ours are a bit more prosaic, but they don't usually come back. They'll do one scheme and then they're done. Although there are some I'd definitely expect would start trouble again if they could." Sammy said, as she kept her eyes peeled for threats. "There's one I'd definitely personally feel the most obligated to take down if they started again."

"Oh? Do tell. First I'm hearing about one of you having an arch-enemy." Kim said, chuckling. "I've got Drakken and Shego, Danny's got Skulker and Vlad, who does our dear Sammy have?"

"His name is Tim Scam… before my time he was a WOOHP agent, brilliant guy working in the tech department. One of our… earlier escapades was when he pretended that Jerry retired and took over as our 'handler'. I… I was so enamored by him. He was handsome, intelligent, part of the life. I was almost head over heels for the guy, nevermind the fact that he's probably like, 10 years older than me. I just… was so blinded by him I didn't even notice that Jerry was acting weird when we'd try to call him, didn't notice all the other suspicious things, and it nearly ended the world! I just… I feel personally responsible for that, and now that I'm with Danny… I'm mad that I let myself be blinded by my attraction for him in the first place." Sammy said, gritting her teeth in anger in certain places.

"Touch a nerve? Yeah, I can see why that'd be upsetting. Can't say I've ever felt attracted to my villains before. There's one who is kind of like my age, and he's like… attractive I guess in the musclebound idiot kind of way. Definitely not my type though." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "Senor Senior Junior is his name, should be on the registries if you want to look for him later."

"Probably for the best I don't. That's exactly Clover's type, and I do NOT need her to start going gaga for a supervillain." Sammy said, rolling her eyes. "I happen to like my guys heroic and goofy. I'm sure you can relate."

"Oh yeah." Kim said, and the pair shared a brief high-five. Their camaraderie was cut short though, as the tell-tale sounds of heavy footsteps let them know that more of the Gladiators were approaching. "Great." Kim whispered, "What now?"

Sammy glanced around, before grabbing Kim's shoulder and turning her to look at something. On the ground was a manhole cover disguised to look like part of the ziggurat. "Don't know why there's seemingly modern sewers in an ancient ruin, but not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

Stealthily the pair entered the sewer, ever thankful that it seemed to be rainwater drainage and not bodily waste. "Wonder where these tunnels go?' Kim idly said, as they walked down winding corridors. The sounds of grunts and physical exertion caught their attention, and they moved closer, finding them coming from a barred window. Through the window, they could see a number of athletes performing various exercises, primarily cardio and weight training, using high end equipment.

"That seems fishy… these Gladiators obviously work out… but shouldn't they all be 'working' right now trying to find us? We've seen… what 15 or so unique gladiators so far? Between the episode we watched and those who have chased us? Then there's like 20 more people in there? He's growing a small army." Sammy said, her face scrunching a bit as she thought.

"Yeah… this is like, super villain henchmen levels of training. I'm not convinced Drakken keeps this many guys on staff unless it's a massive scheme." Kim said, as she held up the Kimmunicator to the window. "Wade, relay this video footage to WOOHP for me, would you? See if they can maybe get an ID on some of these guys."

"On it Kim." Wade said over the speaker.

"Please and thank you." Kim said, holding the device steady as Wade grabbed the footage. Splashes could be heard though, and around the corner, gladiators appeared.

"That'll have to be enough, let's go!" Sammy called out, as the pair of red-headed super heroines dashed through the sewers, chased by the eclectically dressed warriors. The pair made it to the end of the tunnel, which let out to a large waterfall that cascaded down into a river.

"Great, we end up jumping the same place Reggie did." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "And here I am without my grapple gun."

"You've got a grapple bracelet though!" Sammy said, pointing and aiming the bracelet to attach to an adjacent cliff face.

"Well now I feel dumb!" Kim said, following her lead as the pair swung off to evade their pursuers.

Everyone managed to meet up in the jungle, climbing up one of the large trees to survey the surrounding area. "You three manage to see anything worthwhile?" Sammy asked, glancing towards her teammates and her invisible boyfriend. She assumed he was in that direction anyway.

"Yeah, we pulled one of these off of one of the gladiators." Clover said, revealing the collar she pulled off. "You're the normal tech wiz, but Danny filled in. Looks like some kind of receiver, but who knows what it is. You two find anything?"

"In the ruins there were these guys in some kind of… prison gym. Bars on the windows, and they didn't look particularly happy to be there. Kim sent video to Wade." Sammy said, before turning to look at her fellow red-head. "He find anything?"

"I sure did." Wade said over the Kimmunicator as Kim turned the screen to face everyone. "Three of the faces in there were missing contestants, and a few of the others are known athletes. Two United Football League players who went missing immediately following the season, three heavyweight MMA fighters from a few circuits, a boxer from a professional league in Germany, and two pro weightlifters. I couldn't ID everyone, but what I did paints a pretty clear picture."

"King's grabbing combat athletes, or at least guys who would be good picks. Must be the draft for the Gladiators." Alex said, wide-eyed. "These guys all went missing though?"

"He's kidnapping them. Something tells me the Gladiators here aren't doing it of their own free will." Kim reasoned.

"Then that collar… it's a kind of receiver for instructions?" Danny idly said, causing the girls to jump. "Sorry." Danny apologised.

"The sooner this mission is over, the better. I swear if you use those ghost powers to peak on me in the shower I'll…" Clover said, letting the threat loom in the air.

"One, I wouldn't do that, you're my friend, and that's wrong. Two, if I WAS going to do something like that, I've got two girlfriends who are MORE than willing to oblige that particular request." Danny said, invisibly rolling his eyes.

"Focus up guys." Kim said, her face a little flushed. "We need to talk to those prisoners, they probably know more. Danny, you could phase us through the walls, right?"

"Yeah, short of them being ectoplasm infused, but nothing else here has been. King probably doesn't even know about ghosts." Danny said, nodding, but no one could see that.

"Actually… it might be better to get captured." Clover pointed out, gears turning in her head.

"Why would that be better?" Kim asked.

"You know how much villains love to monologue, we get captured he'll probably tell us his plans. Old dudes like him LOVE mansplaining." Clover said. "They're obviously taking people alive, and we've been kicking the gladiators butts. If this is how he's force recruiting them, he'll probably try to do the same to us. The difference is, even if he does put a collar on us, we've got Danny boy here to pull them off."

"Yeah, then we could get a confession straight from him. He'll tell us all about his evil plan, try to turn us into a set of Female Furies, and we'll stop him. Easy peasy." Kim said, causing the other girls to look at her with raised eyebrows.

"Female Furies?" Clover asked.

"Danny got me into comics. That's what Darkseid, the big bad of DC, calls his all-girl murder squadron." Kim said, flushed a bit at being called out.

"God, if I wasn't already in love with you I would be now." Danny said, placing a kiss on Kim's lips. The others got to see what a kiss looked like when one person was invisible, it was very strange.

"Furies aside, we just need to get captured… how do we do that?" Alex asked.

"Should be as simple as finding a big enough group of gladiators. Fight as hard as we can so they don't get suspicious and let them take us. Danny will follow and make sure that if stuff starts going awry that we're not tossed in a lava pit or something." Sammy said, as the girls all nodded.

"Right, let's do this then." Clover said as the four girls and Danny put their hands together and lifted it in a cheer.

Finding a sufficient group of Gladiators to get captured by wasn't very hard at all, and following a fight, the four girls were now held captive in front of Vince King in an office inside the ruins, surrounded by six gladiators. The girls recognized the gladiators that were in the room. The Atilla the Hun one Alex pulled from the ice, the Triceratops headed one, Valkyrie, and Samurai that had attacked them on top of the cliff, then two that they had only seen on the TV the night before, which were dressed like a medieval knight and a roman gladiator respectively. Behind the desk Vince King was sat at was a massive computer with displays that showed data on various points on the island.

"You girls put on quite the show. I've never seen anyone dismantle my gladiators quite like you all have." Vince said, a smarmy grin on his face. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I may not know who you three are, but it's not hard to recognize Kim Possible, a genuine superheroine."

"You'll forgive me if I'm not impressed." Kim said, rolling her eyes at the man.

"I will, because beyond your performance, you've also given me something better than you could possibly imagine." Vince said, stepping forward and standing to tower over Kim. "My collars are an exceptional design, they can control the mind of anyone who wears them, letting me give them commands that they'll follow to the best of their ability. I have someone very interested in my collars and my training program, but to get the best deal for it, I needed some… X factor, something that showed that my collars would allow this person to field an army capable of standing up to the superheroes of this world… and now I have it. Once Kim Possible is under my thumb… there's not a person in this world who can stop me."

"Like I'll ever let you collar me." Kim spat, glaring at the man.

"Your consent isn't a factor. Collar all four of them, I've got a meeting with Jack Hench… he'll be quite pleased that I'll be able to offer him Kim Possible as a part of my Gladiator army." Vince said, as he sat back down in his chair, which lowered through the floor.

The Triceratops Gladiator grabbed a collar from the desk, moving towards Kim, and Danny sprang into action, tackling him and knocking the collar to the ground. Simultaneously the Hun gladiator lept into action, tackling the gladiator that was holding onto Alex. The girls wrestled free of the grips of the gladiators, fighting with them as they knocked them out. As Kim was delivering the knockout blow to the Samurai though, the knight grabbed the collar from the ground and clamped it around her neck. Sammy quickly did a jump kick that knocked out the Samurai, but it was too late.

"Grr… you'll never defeat the Gladiators!" Kim called out, under the control of the collar as she stormed out the door.

"Kim no!" Danny yelled, about to rush the door.

"Phantom! Wait!" Sammy screamed, urging caution. "We need a second to regroup and plan, if you run in and get caught it's game over. King doesn't know you're here, but the second he does, you're going to be priority one. Kim's a better fighter than us, but we can probably hold our own well enough to get the collar off of her. If you get collared? Clover, Alex and I don't stand a chance."

"Fine." Danny said, relenting.

"Now, what's going on with you, Mr. Gladiator?" Clover asked, as the Hun took off the mask he was wearing, revealing himself to be Reggie Willis.

"When you took that collar off of me when pulling me from the ice, I suddenly wasn't brainwashed by Vince anymore. I played along trying to find a chance to pull the collars off of everyone else. Speaking of…" Reggie said, as he kneeled down pulling the collars off of the other unconscious gladiators in the room. "Sorry I couldn't stop them from getting your friend."

"We'll manage, we just need a plan to somehow stop these collars." Sammy said, as she tried examining one of them closer. "We know they're receivers, but where is the signal coming from?"

"I still have memories from my time under the collar's control, and I know that this is a secondary access terminal for the collars. It's probably got information we could use. Vince wasn't exactly hiding what he was doing from us, but wasn't just telling us everything about how they worked." Reggie said, as he hopped over the desk and accessed the computer. "Yeah… that makes sense." Reggie said, as he pulled up the map of the island, where seven points were lit up. "These points here are the various control relays, the collars have a somewhat finite range it looks like, so you need a control station relatively close by to feed the collars commands. The entire island is covered by these 7, but the outside ones are effectively just repeaters for the central big signal from the tower on the center of the island."

"Woah, that's impressive! How'd you figure all of that out?" Alex asked, wide-eyed at how quickly he managed to pull that together.

"Olympic training didn't always pay the bills, so I got my doctorate in telecommunications. These signal relays aren't TOO different from cellphone towers. Unfortunately, that means that if Vince can improve his designs…" Reggie started.

"Then he could expand these to cover any place in the world with cell service." Danny finished.

"Yeah… weird ghost voice. Care to explain that one to me?" Reggie said, looking to the three girls in the room.

"Oh, right." Danny said, becoming visible. "Phantom, superhero with ghost powers. We were sent to investigate your disappearance."

"I'd say that's the weirdest thing I've ever heard, but I was just mind controlled by the former World Heavyweight Champion, so my tolerance for insanity has gone up." Reggie said.

"Welcome to our world. Regardless, if the center tower there is the origin of the signals, and the towers just relay it… shouldn't that mean if we take it down, all the collars will stop working?" Sammy asked, trying to piece together a plan.

"Probably, at the very least it'd make a big area where there wasn't commands, which should make the collars effectively worthless. Problem is that that area is now totally swarming with Gladiators, since that's where Vince is demonstrating them to Jack Hench." Reggie said.

"Do you girls know who that is?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Jerry might." Clover said, pulling out her commpowder. "Hey Jerry, do you know anything about a Jack Hench?"

"Certainly. Jack Hench is the owner of HenchCo. The primary supplier of equipment and manpower for supervillains across the world." Jerry said. "I take it he's somehow involved here?"

"Vince is meeting with him to talk about his Gladiators and these mind control collars he's using." Clover said, holding up one of the collars to show Jerry.

"This isn't good. If HenchCo could have access to mind control technology, that would mean that any villain in the world could start forcing their enemies to work for them. I understand Ms. Possible has had multiple run-ins with Mr. Hench… why didn't she speak up about him?" Jerry asked, an eyebrow raised.

"One of the gladiators got a collar on her. She's mind controlled." Clover said sadly.

"That's very concerning. You'll need to put a stop to King's plans as soon as possible. I'll ready the extraction and containment teams. We'll wait for your signal. Take him out girls… and Phantom." Jerry said, before ending the transmission.

At the center of the island, atop a giant fist shaped mountain, and beneath a large relay tower sat Vince King and Jack Hench, looking at a computer console. "As you can see, Mr. Hench, my collars are highly effective at controlling these athletes, and my training camps are second to none. Each one of these Gladiators are each capable of taking on five regular men with incredible ease, and are skilled in many different forms of combat. Combining my training regimens with your manpower, and Hench Co Henchmen will be unstoppable." Vince said, as a camera panned over the various Gladiators, who were standing at attention.

"Hmm… these are rather impressive, and I see immense potential in your collars, but the figure you've requested is much higher than I'm willing to pay for just this though. You mentioned some… X-Factor, what would that be?" Jack Hench said, running his fingers through his slicked-back hair.

"Yes, you see, to show the effectiveness of my collars, I reveal to you the newest recruit… Kim Possible." Vince said, an evil gleam in his eyes. Kim acrobatically appeared atop the mountain, and Jack Hench's eyes widened.

"You actually managed to control THE Kim Possible… very impressive indeed." Jack said, as he examined Kim, stepping around her. "This is the real deal… I've met her a few times as you know. Did you manage to grab the sidekick as well?"

"The blonde boy was not seen on the island, but there were three other girls with her. I don't know who they were, but they were of comparable combat ability to Possible here. They'll make excellent additions." Vince said, smiling, pressing a button on the console.

"Looking for us?" Sammy asked, as she, Clover, Alex, and Reggie appeared over the edge of the cliff, crossing her arms.

"You're supposed to be collared! How did you escape?" Vince asked, glaring at the girls and the decathlete.

"We're just full of surprises. Give it up Vince, you're done for." Clover said, glaring at him.

"Why would I do that? Gladiators! Get them!" Vince called out, commanding his army to attack them.

Reggie charges at one of the other Gladiators, locking hands with him as the pair try to outmuscle each other, the Gladiator is certainly formidable, but falls to Reggie's superior strength, as Reggie pushes him to the ground and pulls the collar off. Reggie looks down at him, before speaking, "Try and take down some of the other Gladiators, get the collars off!" The gladiator nods as Reggie stands up, and the pair begin working their way through the other gladiators.

Alex and Clover perform much the same, using their superior maneuverability to send the gladiators crashing into each other, then pulling the collars off of them while they are dazed.

Sammy however, found herself facing a much more difficult opponent, as Kim squared off with her, the two red-heads locked in hand-to-hand combat. "Come on Kim! You're really going to let Vince control you like this? You're Kim Possible! A Superhero! One of my best friends!"

"I was that! Now I am a Gladiator! I will fight! I will win!" Kim said, using her superior fighting skills and pushing Sammy to the edge.

"Kim! What would Danny think if he saw you like this? If he saw you being mind controlled again?" Sammy asked, looking at her as she tried to figure out her options.

Kim paused for a second, wincing as her mind fought against the controls. "Mind controlled again? I.. I… I must fight!" Kim said, holding her head in her hands.

Danny snuck up to the tower, sighing as he looked at it. He was the only one who could do this… he had to do this, but looking at the massive pillar of metal in front of them, he couldn't help but doubt himself. Danny had picked up and thrown a bus before, and it certainly hadn't been the peak of his strength, but… he wasn't sure if he had it in him to lift this tower. His eyes scanned the field, hopeful that they were managing to free the gladiators without his help, and seeing Kim standing over Sammy, fighting with all she could against her mind control… Danny knew what he had to do. He wouldn't let them down. Danny became visible again, grabbing onto the massive steel base of the tower and digging his fingers in, the metal screeching as it buckled under his strength. A green glow surrounded his hands as he pushed his strength to it's limits, lifting the steel structure out of the ground. His vision blurred, his ghostly muscles ached in a way they never had before, but Danny did not falter. Danny lifted, the massive metal tower bending and contorting as its center of mass was moved, experiencing stress at points it was not designed to handle, as sections began to buckle and break. With a final massive grunt, Danny pushed the entire tower over, letting it crash into the ground with a massive thud, as all eyes turned to the glowing green ghost boy.

"Vince King… it's over. Surrender now." Danny said, his eyes full of venom. He glanced over to Kim, who was coming to her senses now that no signals were being transmitted to her collar.

With his Gladiators now all bearing down on him, Vince had little option but to surrender, while Jack Hench smugly sat back in his chair.

WOOHP arrived to take Vince away although negotiations with Jack Hench were not going as well. Danny was certain that if Jerry had any hair left, he would have pulled it out in frustration trying to arrest Jack Hench. Reggie came up to Danny and the girls.

"I really can't thank you all enough for saving us." He said, smiling at them with gratitude.

"It's part of the job." Danny said, waving it off. Clover looked on with hearts in her eyes at the handsome man, but Sammy's words in her ears that Reggie was twice her age seemed to settle her down a bit.

"Still, if there's anything I can do, you name it." Reggie said, and Danny thought for a moment.

"Actually…." Danny said, an idea forming in his head.

Star squealed as Danny handed her the signed photo of Reggie Willis with his Olympic Gold medal, complete with personalized message, and the personal phone numbers of a few top figure skaters.

"You're the best boyfriend ever!" Star said, still shaking with excitement as she peppered Danny with kiss after kiss.

Danny may not have won the million dollar prize on fight, but he certainly felt like a million bucks.

Chapter Text

A/N: Okay, this one really came down to the wire. I’m REALLY wanting to get one chapter done a month of this story while I reconfigure… well everything about my writing process following some life changes. The holidays obviously gave me a little less time to write than normal, and other personal issues gave me even less. Thankfully though, this managed to come together the day of my personal deadline. HOPEFULLY you’ll get another chapter by the end of January, but I can’t make any promises as of yet. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy this chapter as we have our Season 1 finale! There will probably be 2-3 interstitial Chapters before we start Season 2. You can guess what they are. Make sure to leave your comments and reviews! I read them all and want to hear your guys ideas for where to take the story, and what to do with certain parts of both Danny and Kim’s stories.

     A motorcycle engine roars as it travels down I-65, it’s two ghostly riders enjoying their vacation from the ghost zone. Pulling off on an exit for a brief respite from the road, Kitty hopped off the bike.

     “Well Johnny, we’re officially about a hundred miles from Amity Park… why did we have to travel so far anyway?” Kitty asked, taking a moment and stretching, working out the stiffness from riding… assuming ghosts needed to do that. Maybe it was just psychosomatic for her.

    “Just trying something new babe. Our ‘home’ in the human world is Amity Park after all… it’s probably good for us to try someplace else. We’ve got a whole world to explore, and this way there’s no chance of us running into someone we know. We can cut loose a bit.” Johnny said as he kicked down his kickstand, standing up himself. “No Danny to tell us I can’t lift us some drinks from the store over there.”

    Kitty turned and whacked him with her purse. “No Johnny! We said we weren’t going to do that stuff anymore. We got a whole new shot, I don’t want to ruin it.” She said, fuming a bit. “We DID the whole being thugs and stealing stuff when we were alive… and we did it for 20 years whenever we had a chance to jump into the human world… Danny’s given us a chance to be something else… to be better people. Don’t you want to take that chance?”

     Johnny sighed for a moment as he thought it over. Kitty was right, they’d done all this before, and… being someone good was something they’d never tried before. They’d never really seen the appeal. Good people got hurt. Good people got taken advantage of. But… that happened to bad people too. Johnny placed his hand to his chest, letting himself briefly remember his last moments. The truck horn, the sting of the rain on his face, and then the pressure that came from his handlebars skewering him. The memory of that haunted him, which was a phrase a ghost wouldn’t use lightly. He knew Kitty didn’t really remember it, since she had her face buried in his back when everything happened, using his body to block out the rain. She was lucky, she heard the horn and then it was just lights out, and that was a sacrifice Johnny would have made for her a million times over.

    That memory though… it didn’t hang over him like it used to. He and Danny had been friends for nearly a year now, and just… talking with someone who looked past the ghost part and saw you as a person… it was nice. Ghosts in the Zone were always obsessed with their own deaths, sharing HOW you died was something you only did with a CLOSE friend, but the specter of your death loomed over you. The ghosts who had died before were constantly hounded by the memories of their demise, while the ghosts who were born in the Zone simply didn’t have the context. They would never experience death, it’s something that doesn’t exist for them. If they were ‘killed’ they would simply cease being. The same would happen to Johnny and Kitty should it ever occur… just nothing. Danny though… Danny was willing to listen. He understood what dying was like… but he also understood what living was like too. 

    “Alright… no shoplifting.” Johnny caved. “Still, it’s a good idea to see more of the world. Take a look online and see if there’s anything cool to go see nearby.”

     Kitty shot him a smile as she pulled out her phone, looking through local events. “Oh, looks like there’s some kind of Gothic Circus in Columbus.” Kitty said idly reading through some of the reviews on it. “Dark, gloomy, a bit gross. Honestly, it sounds kind of up our alley.”

     Johnny dropped his head onto Kitty’s shoulder, taking a look at it on her phone. “Circus Gothica huh? Sounds interesting if nothing else. Let’s check it out.”

     “Come on! Close you stupid suitcase!” Danny grunted in frustration as the zipper to his luggage refused to close properly, Kim and Star chuckling at him as he fought with it.

     “Superhero Phantom defeated by YKK zipper, more at 11.” Star said, laughing as she watched him struggle with it. “How old is that thing anyway? Maybe you should just think about getting a new one.”

     “I would, if there was anything wrong with this one!” Danny said, pulling even more on the zipper, before stopping and checking if there was any cloth in its path, and then pulling again.

    “Maybe you packed too much in it?” Kim suggested, pulling Danny’s hands from the zipper. “We can take some stuff out and put it in a separate bag… not like we’re at risk of filling the Specter Speeder to the brim.” Kim said pulling the zipper open and seeing how much stuff was inside. “Yeah… you definitely overpacked. You’ve got like… 12 shirts in here. Why are you packing so much?”

    “Well, we’re heading to New York and Hawaii, I figured we’d be there a bit.” Danny said with a shrug, letting Kim take over his packing. “You girls picked out those shirts anyway, did you not think I’d pack them all?”

     “No, we picked out the 12 shirts for you to pick like… six.” Star said, sighing a bit as she moved to help Kim unpack Danny’s suitcase. “Why does this one have long sleeves? It’s July!”

     “In case I get cold?” Danny questioned.

     “It’s JULY, AND you have ghost powers. You don’t get cold.” Star said, rolling her eyes. “Have you never packed for a trip before?”

    “No, not really. Jazz always micromanaged luggage so much she packed everything for me.” Danny said with a shrug. “She’s done Mom and Dad’s luggage too since she turned 13 or so. Before then, Mom did all the luggage.”

     “Yeah… that tracks.” Kim said with a huff as she pulled out six of the shirts. She then took a look at the pants. “You packed 12 shirts but only 3 pants?”

    “I mean, you wear pants more than once.” Danny said.

    “Yeah, but not 4 times between washes…. You didn’t even pack any shorts!” Kim said incredulously.

     “I get it! I’m not good at packing. Just help me finish this up.” Danny said, as they finally managed to both properly balance out Danny’s luggage, and get the suitcase closed.

    “Good, now that’ll be ready for when we leave next week.” Kim said with a smile as she sat down on the bed.

    “I’m still surprised your Dad gave the okay for you and Danny to go on this trip… given his ‘No boys’ rule.” Star said, sitting next to her.

    “So… he technically doesn’t know Danny is going. He knows that I’m recruiting people for the team, and that Phantom will be with me when we DO the recruitment, but he doesn’t know Phantom is Danny, or that we are travelling together. Mom does though, she’s okay with everything.” Kim said, flushing a bit. 

    “Still can’t believe your Mom found out Danny was Phantom.” Star said, kicking her feet a bit. “I don’t think I could ever tell my mom about it.”

    “Ann kind of just was in the right places at the right time to get the information to put it together. Her being at Wisconsin AND the conference definitely made it easier on her. I suppose I’m surprised her dad hasn’t figured it out. He IS a genius after all.” Danny said, moving the suitcase to a corner of the room.

     “Dad’s super smart… but not the most observant. It’s a skillset thing. Mom’s a surgeon, but she did general practice for a bit too, sometimes that’s about noticing what’s wrong with a patient that they aren’t telling you. Dad only has to notice mistakes in calculations and chemistry, which is a different thing.” Kim said, shrugging. “I’m not sure how he’ll take it to be honest. We’ll definitely have to tell him SOME day, I just don’t know when.”

    “You’re right… it’s not like it’s something I can hide from him forever.” Danny said, sighing. “I worry he’ll get so mad that we ‘lied’ to him for so long he won’t let me see you anymore.”

     “Fat chance of that happening. Mom will line him out, and even if she wouldn’t, he wouldn’t step on my happiness like that. I love you, Danny, and he knows that. He’s just not HAPPY about it.” Kim said, chuckling.

     “Love you too Kim. Love you as well, Star.” Danny said, leaning in and giving them both a quick kiss. As he pulled away, his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Huh, Sam wants to call.” Danny answered the phone. “Hello?”

     “Hey, Danny! Listen, there’s a circus in town and we NEED to go see it.” Sam said over the line.

    “A circus? Also, Sam, you’re on speaker, Kim and Star are here.” Danny said, as he sat the phone down between them.

    “Oh, hey girls. But yeah, a circus, but not just ANY circus, this is Circus Gothica.” Sam said, her enthusiasm evident through the phone line.

     “I take it this is a gothy thing?” Star asked.

     “Yep! It’s supposedly a bunch of circus-adjacent acts, but with a big dark filter over the thing. You know how much that’s right up my alley. Tucker and Valerie already agreed to go with me. You three should come too!” Sam exclaimed.

    “Well… I guess it’s something. You ask the others too?” Danny asked.

    “Couldn’t get in contact with Sammy, Alex, or Clover, I guess they’re OM or something.” Sam said, using the shorthand they’d developed for when the Spies were away On Mission. “Ron’s still in Bahia Bay. He sent me a postcard.” 

    “Yeah, I just got mine yesterday.” Kim said, a bit surprised that Sam got one too. “You two must be getting pretty close.”

    “Look, we’ve just been hanging out when the rest of you are being lovey-dovey.” Sam said, Danny could HEAR the eyeroll in her voice. “You guys going to come or what?”

    “How pricey are tickets?” Danny asked, he had a good amount of allowance saved up, and he knew both Kim and Star did too, but he and Kim also had their trip coming up. Global Justice was paying for their food and expenses while they were gone, but weren’t going to pick up the tab for souvenirs.

    “$20 a person for the basic ticket. I think there’s like, a VIP ticket that comes with backstage and a t-shirt, but I didn’t spring for that.” Sam said. “Tuck and Valerie just got basic tickets.”

    “Well, that’s doable.” Danny said, and Kim and Star nodded. “We going tonight?”

    “Yep! I think the show starts at 9, so meet us at Nasty Burger at 7 so we can grab dinner beforehand?” Sam said, obvious excitement in her voice. Danny was happy, he really didn’t get to do much with Sam recently, hero work and his girlfriends had eaten into his time he used to spend with Tucker and Sam.

    “Sounds like a plan, see you then.” Danny said, before hanging up. “Well, looks like we’ve got plans tonight.”

    “And you didn’t invite me along, Babypop?” Ember asked as she floated up through the floor, stepping up behind Danny and wrapping her arms around him.

    “Didn’t think you’d be in the human world today.” Danny said, turning around and giving her a brief kiss. “You can come if you want, I’m sure Sam won’t care too much.”

    “I would… but… have you heard from Johnny or Kitty recently?” Ember asked, concern in her voice.

    “No… last time I did was game night last month.” Danny said, referencing the monthly game night he and Ember had with Johnny and Kitty. Kitty turned out to be a massive board game nut, and now that she had people other than just Johnny to play with her, she demanded they play. It was good fun, so Danny never felt bothered.

    “They said they were heading into the human world for a little vacation. I expected they’d be back in a week or something, or that Kitty would text me a picture of wherever they were… but I haven’t heard from them in two weeks.” Ember said, wringing her hands a bit. “I know there’s not MUCH on this side of the portal that can hurt them, but… well I’m worried.”

    Danny’s eyebrows shot up at that. It WAS really out of character for Kitty to not text Ember, and while it was possible they were just busy on their vacation, it was pretty out of character for them to just go off grid like that. Even Johnny was pretty good about responding to messages if he was sent one. “That’s definitely something… did they mention where they were going or anything?”

    “Nope, said they didn’t know where they were going. Just wanted it to be a total surprise for themselves, no plan, just road.” Ember said, frowning a bit. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t exactly go look for them since I don’t know where they would have gone, but I don’t feel like I can just sit here and do nothing.” 

    “It’s alright.” Danny said, holding her a bit. “Like you said, the list of people on THIS side of the portal who can take them on? Very small. I’ll let everyone know to keep an eye out, and maybe see if Wade or Tucker can trace one of their phones. I doubt Kitty would let that thing get too far from her.” 

    “Thanks Babypop. I think I’ll try and hit a few spots they might go to, just to make sure.” Ember leaned in and kissed him again. “You’re a good man, babypop, I’m glad you're MY man.”

    “You share Ember, don’t forget.” Star said, chuckling.

    “Technically I don’t. You three are Danny’s girlfriends, I’m dating Phantom.” Ember stuck her tongue out. “You guys have fun at your circus. Let me know if you see or hear from them. I’ll keep you updated on my end.” With that, Ember flew off through the ceiling.

     Circus Gothica was certainly a strange sight to see as they entered, the circus being set up near the railyard where their train was waiting. In many ways, it looked like someone had taken a regular circus and stole all of its color away, leaving only black and grey in its place.

    “Oh god! I’m just so excited.” Sam said, almost giddy as she looked around, the happiness she was expressing completely opposite the gloomy mood set by their surroundings. “A whole event devoted to the gothic and the macabre? It’s like paradise.”

    “If you say so Sam.” Danny said, chuckling a bit as he stepped around a spilled drink cup that smelled suspiciously like someone had spiked it.

    “Thanks for gearing up appropriately too, guys, it means a lot.” Sam said, gesturing to the black outfits everyone was wearing. They were mostly just black t-shirts and dark jeans, but for Star, who pretty much never wore dark colors, it was a departure from their normal looks. Tucker had even swapped his red beret for a black beanie with a Punisher logo, and wore a fake earring.

    “When in Rome, I guess.” Kim said, rolling her eyes playfully. Kim’s hair was probably the most colorful thing IN the group at the moment.

    “Oh hey! Here’s the list of acts under the big top.” Star said, directing their attention toward a nearby sign. “Ugh… some of these are kind of gross. Torture wheel? No thanks.”

    “Oh, a motorcycle daredevil, that’s pretty exciting.” Kim said, pointing out what they were billing as the big spectacle act.

    “See, there’s fun stuff for you guys too.” Sam said, still giddy with excitement over the atmosphere.

    “We’re already here and bought tickets, Sam. You don’t need to try and sell us anymore than you already have.” Danny chuckled, as they looked down the rest of the list. Sword swallowing, knife throwing, a chainsaw juggler. Normal carnie stuff, but just given that extra gothic edge. Really all that separated this from a normal carnival was the aesthetic… and the clientele.

    “I just hope there aren’t any clowns. Normal happy clowns give me the creeps, I’d hate to see what some doom and gloom goth one will do to me.” Tucker said, shivering a bit.

    Valerie wrapped her arm around him. “I’ll keep you safe from the scary clowns, big boy.” She teased, getting a laugh from everyone.

     Just after sunset, torches burn all through the circus grounds as they call for everyone to start filing into the big top for the main event. The group takes their seats, Star and Kim sitting either side of Danny, while Sam sits in the middle of their group. Sam is all but shaking in excitement, and Danny is certainly very happy that Sam is enjoying herself. The goth thing was something that did genuinely make Sam happy, and the dark and macabre atmosphere of Circus Gothica seemed to fill Sam with as much joy as a normal circus would fill a child.

     A chilling theme began to play over the loudspeakers, as lights suddenly went out, and Danny could immediately smell fog fluid, a single light turned on in the darkness as the engine of a motorcycle roared, the high-beam the only illumination in the room. The rider circled the ring, his headlight a spotlight on the crowd as the fog began to twirl into a vortex. The lights slowly ramped up, as the vortex took clearer and clearer form, and, from a platform that must have risen under the cover of darkness, a pale, bald man in a dark mockery of a ringmaster uniform stepped out wielding a staff with a large red crystal ball at the end that seemed to glow in the dim light.

     “Ladies… gentlemen… creatures of the night. Have you come to kick back? Relax? Have the cares of the world blown away by a fun and enjoyable night at the circus?” The ringmaster asked, his voice calm and controlled as it filled the big top through the loudspeakers.

     “NO!” Came the response from the audience, a deep threatening tone that rocked the very ground they were on. It was all Danny could do to not cover his ears at the noise. Star had let go of his hand to cover hers.

    “Then you’ve come to the right place! I am Freakshow, and THIS is Circus Gothica! Come on out my freaks, give the people a taste of what is to come tonight.” Freakshow said, gesturing forward with his staff, which seemed to glow slightly as he did so… a trick of the light? Some LEDs controlled in the handle? Danny didn’t know… but he felt, strange… compelled.

    Danny didn’t even notice himself standing up before Kim grabbed his hand, raising an eyebrow at him. “Where are you going? The show is just starting.” She asked.

    Danny shook his head, coming to his senses. “No idea… just… stood up.” He said, sitting back down. 

     “You feeling okay?” Kim asked, lightly rubbing his arm.

     “I’m pretty sure I am. No idea what that was all about.” Danny said, before waving it off. “Maybe I’m just on edge. This place is as dark and creepy as the ghost zone, and the ringmaster there is almost as pale as Walker. Maybe I’m just Pavloving myself to feeling anxious.”

  “If you say so, babe.” Kim said, giving him a quizzical look before turning back to the center.

    From a passage, carnies poured out in droves, gothic clowns, men with grey skin and piercings galore, a woman wheeling herself around on what could only be described as a torture device, and an acrobat who cartwheeled, flipped, and tumbled through the crowd before landing by the daredevil.

     Acts passed by one by one, Danny finding himself enraptured by the whole thing much more than he thought he would, and he found himself hanging on Freakshow’s every word. The time came for the big finale, and Freakshow looked VERY pleased with himself. “And now, my fellow freaks and malcontents, we have our final act. We shall watch as our very own Shadowman attempts to jump through this flaming ring, and catch our lovely Ms. Danger as she jumps from the trapeze!” Freakshow announced, as the rider and his bike roared once more into the ring. The rider was dressed in all black, an unsurprising get-up given the clientele, and covered in chrome spikes and studs. His helmet was full-faced, giving no hints to his identity at all, and was purely matte black. From the top of the trapeze, Ms. Danger struck a stunning figure. She was in what could best be described as a leather gimp suit that covered her entire body, with stark white mesh that existed over her eyes and mouth, that gave her a look not too dissimilar to Venom of Marvel Comics. Freakshow pulled a match from his pocket, striking it and tossing it onto the large ring in the center of the arena, igniting it in a brilliant orange glow, one of the few specks of color in their entire tent. 

    The engine of the bike roared as he circled the ring a few times, before revving one final time and driving straight towards the ramp. On the aproach, Ms. Danger began to swing from the trapeze, before letting go. At one moment, the two were in air, Shadowman passing through the ring of fire and extending his hand towards Ms. Danger. She grasped his hand and the pair slid her into place on the back of the motorcycle in the instant before landing, the creak of the suspension catching their weight as the bike turned and skidded, landing perpendicular to how it started. The pair raised their hands and waved as the crowd roared in excitement.

    “And there we have it! We thank you all for watching our show, please… do come again.” Freakshow said, his staff once more glowing an ominous red.

    “Come… again…” Danny said subconsciously, before Kim looked over to him.

    “What’d you say Danny?” She asked, not really able to hear him over the chattering crowd.

    “Uh…. we should come again. It was fun.” Danny said, trying to make sense of his thoughts. He HAD enjoyed the show, certainly… but even HE didn’t really think he’d need to see it again… why did he feel so compelled to?

    “Maybe you and Sam can, I think this scene is a bit too… grim for Star and I.” Kim said, gesturing over to Star who seemed like she was struggling a bit.

    “Yeah… sorry Danny… I can’t do this again. Too dark, too scary… and that torture wheel act gave me the heebie jeebies.” Star said, shivering a bit at the memory.

    The walk home from the circus was greeted by a warm wind, summer was well and truly underway in Amity Park, and this July was a scorcher in ways others hadn’t been. Even though it was nearly midnight, the air was still a pretty warm 65 Fahrenheit, and the air was humid from a rainstorm they’d had the previous day. All in all, it was a lovely night to walk home. Danny had no idea why he still felt so on edge though.

     “Those acts were so cool! Did you see how easily that one girl managed to get that torture wheel to move? Incredible!” Sam gushed, still brimming with excitement over the whole thing. She was a creature of the night, this was understandable, while the rest of them had their energy starting to blag a bit, hers was at the top of her game. 

     A shiver ran up Danny’s spine as the telltale blue mist exited his mouth, he froze for a moment as it did so, and Kim and Star turned to look at him. “Ghost?” They asked in unison.

     “Ghost.” Danny confirmed glancing around. His eyes locked on three figures in cloaks on the roof of a nearby jewelry store, and his eyes narrowed. “Looks like someone’s getting greedy. I’ll take care of this, you guys head on. I’ll see you tomorrow and let you know how this went.” 

     Everyone nodded, confident in Danny’s ability to handle this as they walked on, as Danny transformed and phased through the window of the store. “Alright Organization Thirteen, cloaks are way out of fashion… and something tells me you all aren’t here for some late night browsing.”

     The largest of the three figures rushed forward and slammed his shoulder into Danny, sending him into the wall. Danny glanced up as he pulled himself out of the small crater of drywall he was in and saw a very familiar face staring back at him. Red eyes showing no signs of the normal mischievous teasing he was used to seeing in them. “Johnny? What… I thought you didn’t do this anymore?” Danny asked, confused. While Danny had never seen Johnny steal anything, he and Kitty had talked about their escapades a few times in the past as they discussed their lives both before and after the accident. Danny knew Johnny was no saint… but he and Kitty had promised they gave up this life.

     Another one of the trio pulled down their hood, revealing a figure Danny hadn’t seen before. She was certainly someone Sam could have an interesting conversation with, her face covered in piercings, and her hair styled into several tall spikes with large gaps between. Everything a catholic mother would point at and scream. As the woman shrugged her cloak off, the comparisons continued. She wore a leather corset and bikini bottoms, with every inch of her ectoplasm green skin covered in tattoos in all shapes, all certainly gothic in theme. Bats, Skulls, spiders, and other nasty things adorned her skin, and she glared at him. With a raise of her hand, the tattoos began to peel themselves off of her body, before launching themselves towards Danny, animating as they did so. 

     Danny swatted at the tattoos, but they managed to avoid his clumsy blows. Fed up with the annoyance, Danny gathered his energy, willing his ectoplasmic powers towards the center of his body before releasing, sending a shockwave that knocked Johnny, Tattoo Lady, and the mystery third figure away from him. Danny watched as Johnny’s body slammed into one of the jewelry cases, and the alarm began to sound. The shockwave also knocked the hood off the third member, and Danny’s fears were realized as he found Kitty beneath the veil. Just as Johnny’s mischievousness was lost from his eyes, Kitty’s friendliness was gone from hers. The trio turned intangible and invisible, before flying away.

     Danny sighed as he glanced about the room, trying to put his head on straight… why would Kitty and Johnny DO this? They’d promised… and they seemed to genuinely love their new lives… why go back to who they were? Danny flew out of the jewelry store, making sure to send a text to his police handler at Global Justice. They had been instrumental in making sure that Phantom was seen as an official Superhero, and not just some kind of ghost menace. Something that had been very necessary following Walker’s attempted smear campaign.

    Landing in his room, he grabbed his cell phone again, gazing at the screen and trying to steady his breathing. He had so many questions and concerns… but there was one person who needed to know this even more than he did. Danny dialed Ember’s number.

    “Not like you to just call without texting first, Babypop. What’s up?” Ember asked from the other end of the line.

     “Good news and bad news.” Danny started, taking a breath before continuing. “I found Johnny and Kitty… they were robbing a jewelry store with some other ghost. Johnny attacked me directly, but never said anything. Didn’t even really look like he recognized me.”

    “That’s… you sure it was them Babypop?” Ember asked, and Danny could hear the anxiety in her voice.

     “As sure as I can be. Only ghost I know that could shapeshift like that would be Bertram… and he’s definitely more talkative, and definitely not likely to get out from under Spectra’s boot.” Danny said, sitting down on his bed as he shifted back to his human form.

    Silence came down the other end of the phone line for a bit. “I’ve heard about some stuff that could control ghosts… I’ll look into someone who may know more. Kitty promised they were giving this stuff up, and I KNOW she was happier for doing so. Ghosts don’t have friends like we do Danny, Kitty and I were exceptions, and now that we have you guys, it’ll be hard to give it up… I don’t believe they’d do this without SOMETHING else happening.” Ember replied… and Danny could tell that she was twirling a strand of her fire hair as she was thinking, it was something she always did, and Danny didn’t have to see her to know it was happening. “Thanks for letting me know, Babypop. Keep me updated if you see them again.”

     “Will do. Talk to you later, Ember.” Danny said, before ending the call. He sat his phone on the bed again, before leaning back. What was he going to do about this?

     Nightly ghost patrols were something that had been put in rotation long ago. While Danny was always on call for the heavy stuff, most of the ghost escapees from the ghost zone were well within the capabilities for Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Jack, Maddie, Jazz, and Star to handle without Danny’s intervention. As such, normally two people were assigned patrol routes to divvy up the load, making sure no one was completely swamped with ghost patrols. Teams were always made up of two members, a Heavy and a support. Jack, Maddie, Valerie, and Danny were the four heavies, and Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Star ran support. It was a good system that had worked well for them in the past, and had reduced the amount Danny specifically needed to be out in the field doing the work of chasing down every rogue ghost squirrel. Tonight though, the team was out in full, with Kim even stepping in, a rarity given her normal full schedule dealing with the normal supervillains of the world. Wade and Technus were running overwatch over the city, keeping an eye out for wherever the ghostly cloaked thieves may be.

    “Got activity.” Wade called out over their communication network. “Silent alarm tripped at the Amity Park Savings and Loan. Security cameras outside and in the lobby showed no sign of entry. Whoever did this came through a non-traditional way. Sounds ghostly.”

    “On it Wade. What teams are closest?” Danny called out, immediately shooting towards the Bank.

    “Kim, Star, Sam,Tucker, and Valerie are within two blocks. You guys meet up there too.” Wade called out, receiving affirmatives on the other end of the line.

     As Danny phased into the bank, he saw Johnny, Kitty, and the tattooed ghost emptying drawers full of cash into large duffle bags. Danny’s eyes narrowed. “Johnny! Kitty! Snap out of… whatever this is! You guys gave this up! You said you weren’t doing this anymore.” Danny called out, trying to reason with them. “I don’t WANT to fight you, but I will.”

     “Then we’ll fight.” Johnny’s voice came out, but it wasn’t the smug confidence Danny was used to, it was a low, rumbling sound nearly devoid of emotion. It was many things, but it wasn’t Johnny. Johnny rushed forward, shoulder checking Danny into the wall as the tattooed ghost raised her arms, two sleeves of tattoos shooting off of her and slamming into Danny over and over, a dozen baseball sized gothic images slamming into him as Johnny kept him pinned. Danny shot his fist forward, aiming for Johnny’s gut. He connected, a pained grown escaping the unlucky ghost, but Johnny only staggered back a bit. Danny was about to press the advantage when a large metal shelf suddenly fell over, slamming into the back of Danny’s head.

    “Gah!” Danny screamed as his vision blurred for a second. Right… Johnny’s unlucky… but Johnny said it didn’t work on people he was weaker than… did he get a power boost? It wasn’t Friday the 13th… Danny looked around… and noticed the broken mirror he had been slammed into. Typical.

    Kitty got in on the action and slammed her fists down onto the back of his head, knocking him to the floor. The tattooed ghost then summoned all of her tattoos and began to form long chains with them, binding the disoriented Danny. “Freakshow will have a good time with you… Phantom.” She spoke, before turning to the others. “Leave the money, we have our prize.” With that, the trio phased through the roof, dragging the disoriented Danny with them.

     Kim, Star, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie arrived just in time to watch them fly off with Danny. Valerie clicked her heels and summoned her hoverboard. “I’m heading after him! I can catch up!” She said, about to blast off, when she felt something grab her hand. A dark figure, amorphous with sharp teeth and green eyes appeared, making a growling noise. Valerie screeched for a second, before pointing her blaster at it. 

    “Wait!” Star called out, pushing the blaster away. “That’s Johnny’s shadow. Even if he’s acting weird, it doesn’t mean we can just blast Shadow.”

     Shadow nodded, letting go and raising his hands up in surrender.

    “Shadow, what’s going on? Why are Johnny and Kitty doing this?” Kim asked, confused.

    Shadow gestured a bit, unable to speak. The group looked at him oddly, and Shadow sighed. He made a motion for a phone. Tucker handed him his, and Shadow typed out a message. “Johnny and Kitty being controlled by Freakshow. Can’t control me directly, only Johnny can.”

    “So they ARE being mind controlled.” Kim said, as Shadow vigorously nodded. “If he’s controlling Johnny though, can’t he just have Johnny control you?”

     Shadow quickly typed another message. “Doesn’t know about me. Was in Johnny’s shadow, saw him do bad things again. Know he doesn’t WANT to do them. Needed to get help. They want to control Phantom.”

    “That’s why they kidnapped him then.” Sam said, running through it in her head. “I bet that’s why they came to Amity Park in the first place. Aside from this place being ghost central, the world’s most FAMOUS ghost is from here.” 

    “And that’s REALLY bad isn’t it guys? Leaving out the fact that Danny is our friend… can we even take him, Johnny, Kitty, and that other ghost lady on?” Tucker asked, and the reality set in. There was a REASON that Danny always had to be on call for ghost hunts… lots of ghosts were just too strong for the regular humans to take care of.  

    “Wade, tell everyone to regroup at Fentonworks… things just got much worse.” Kim said over her Kimmunicator.

    The Ops Center at Fentonworks had always been theoretically capable of acting as a war room. The large table and easy storage access to supplies were designed with that idea in mind after all, but even during construction, Jack and Maddie had never really thought they’d use it for that. It seems that was wrong though. Shadow and Technus floated near a whiteboard while everyone else sat down, Jazz nervously wringing her hands.

     “So.” Kim started, trying to gather her thoughts. “We have to work under the assumption that Danny is under mind control right now. This is BAD. If it was JUST Danny… I’m pretty sure we could take him on. Danny’s good, but he doesn’t have a ton of experience fighting multiple opponents at once. He has sparring experience with Johnny and Shadow, but that’s still only two attackers. We have multiple, and our win condition would just be getting him in a Thermos… Johnny, Kitty, and this other ghost change that.” 

     “I did some research through the ghosts I know. I believe this tattooed individual is known as Lydia. She’s a former living ghost, like myself, Johnny, and Kitty. Power estimates put her as stronger than Kitty, but weaker than Johnny, although without Shadow, she might be stronger than Johnny.” Technus said, pulling up an image of Lydia from his archives. “Not too much is known about her. She appears to have never revealed any personal information to other ghosts, and appears to spend most of her time outside the Zone.”

     “So we’re working with an unknown. We know how Danny and Johnny fight, obviously. How much do we know about how Kitty fights?” Maddie asked.

     “We have a list of Kitty’s abilities, including her Banishing Kiss, but Kitty very much is not a fighter. I’m reasonably confident in each of your abilities to disable her.” Technus said. “As a ghost, she is inherently faster than each of you, but she’s inexperienced in fighting, each of you have been fighting ghosts or supervillains for nearly a year now. Your capabilities are more than adequate to subdue her.”

    “Assuming Danny, Johnny, Lydia would let us single her out.” Tucker pointed out. “I would struggle to think that Johnny would let anyone hurt Kitty, even under mind control.” 

    “That’s true… aren’t they supposedly bound together?” Star asked. “It’s kind of romantic, but inconvenient right now.” 

    “This is a concern. Johnny without Shadow I believe is someone we can defeat though. Genuinely… I believe Danny is far and away the biggest threat. I’ve been observing his battles, trying to gain a sense of where his limits might be… and I haven’t found any.” Technus said, pulling up some video footage from a few weeks ago, when Danny lifted the massive radio tower on FIGHT island. “Prior to last month, I would have said that this feat of strength is beyond what Danny was capable of. Our testing put Danny’s strength in roughly the 10-15 ton range. While I do not know the specific composition of this radio tower, similar ones are in the 300 ton range. If it had perhaps been a tenth that weight, I would assume that I was merely underestimating Danny’s peak output… to be nearly an order of magnitude off means that I was working with flawed assumptions. Many ghosts find themselves growing stronger as they age, and as they work with their purpose, a version of the Fentons’ former ‘obsession’ theory. Just as my powers seem to increase as I work with technology, Danny’s powers seem to increase as he performs heroic acts. It seems he rises to the occasion. As such… if he maintains his power even when doing non-heroic acts… I believe he might be becoming too strong for merely us to handle.”

    “Wait, didn’t you just say you’ve gotten stronger working with tech? Couldn’t we just load you into that super suit Kim used at Halloween? Wouldn’t that put you somewhere near Danny’s power?” Tucker asked.

    “Perhaps, if we had the suit again it would be a boon… but if I were to fall under the control of this Freakshow as well, you would be even more in danger. I believe it to be best if I sit this one out entirely.” Technus said. “I will prepare your equipment and monitor from here… and inform Global Justice should the worst occur.”

    “I guess we should call that in anyway, if nothing else, I need to see if they’ll lend me the Centurion project again.” Kim said, plugging her Kimmunicator into the Ops Center communication console. “KP to GJ, access Tango-Three-Three-Niner-Possible.”

     “Ms. Possible, this is Dr. Director, status on members listening in?” Dr. Director said from the other end.

     “Trusted members, Sam Manson, Star Lett, Tucker Foley, Maddelyn Fenton, Jack Fenton, Jasmine Fenton, Valerie Grey, and Nicolai Technus. Associate Shadow 13.” Kim said, sighing. “Shadow 13 is Ghost Associate Johnny 13’s Shadow, a separate being.”

    “Understood, what seems to be the issue?” Dr. Director asked, as her face appeared on the big screen.

    “Danny’s been compromised. The ringmaster of Circus Gothica appears to be able to somehow mind control ghosts. Johnny 13 and Kitty, alongside another ghost we suspect is called Lydia are working for him. Johnny and Kitty from Danny’s original report are acting out of character. I’ve met them multiple times director, I consider them good friends… I don’t think they’d be doing this of their own free will.” Kim said, trying to explain the situation to Dr. Director.

    “I trust your judgement on this. Can you elaborate some more on the situation as a whole?” Dr. Director asked. Kim explained everything from the previous night’s encounter with the ghosts at the jewelry store, the previous encounter at the Savings and Loan, and what Shadow had informed them about Freakshow’s plans. “Phantom being compromised is a major concern. These thefts seem familiar. Agent LaSalle, run the path of the crime spree WOOHP is investigating against the travel path of Circus Gothica.” Dr. Director commanded, looking offscreen to someone.

    “87% match. Variations within 50 miles of locations, within expected parameters of ghost travel.” Agent LaSalle reported back.

     “Noted. I’ll have Jerry tell the Spies to report back to Amity Park ASAP. They have been investigating a crime spree that matches the description of your ghost thieves… you may need their help if it comes to blows against Phantom.” Dr. Director said, her head resting in her hands. “Assuming this gets resolved… we’re going to hasten the recruitment of the additional members of your team, I would certainly feel a lot better if I had more resources for if one of you went rogue.”

    “Understood Dr. Director.” Kim said, blowing a breath of air. Sammy, Alex, and Clover suddenly make this fight MUCH more winnable. The four of them could probably take down Danny. “Requesting the Centurion Project, I know it’s still in the testing phases, but it’d be VERY helpful if it came to blows against Danny.”

    “Impossible at this time. The suit is currently in total disassembly. A testing run on a new power supply system resulted in overheating that melted several components. We have no functioning unit available.” Dr. Director said. “It’s a very unfortunate time, but I believe you will not need it. WOOHP has given us immense data on various mind control methods individuals have used, you and Samantha should be capable of snapping him out of any mind control he is held under. Strong emotional reactions and actions you would never willingly take are things that are most likely to break mind control. Phantom’s psychological profile indicates that purposefully causing his friends harm is a strong revulsion. Even if the mind control IS strong enough to make him fight you, he certainly won’t be going all out.”

    “Lets hope you’re right, Director.” Kim said with a sigh. “Requesting end transmission.”

    “Approved. Good luck Ms. Possible. Expect the Spies within the hour.” Dr. Director said.

     “Having the Spies here is definitely going to make up for not having the Centurion Project.” Kim said, sighing. “I would have liked having them both, but I’m pretty confident in our ability to subdue Danny between the four of us. That’d leave the other two to the rest of you.”

    “I believe that’s within acceptable parameters if you maintain a level head.” Technus said, as he began preparing equipment. “We’ll go with weapons more designed to subdue than destroy. Even under mind control, these are still Johnny and Kitty. They are our friends.”

    “Speaking of… who is going to tell Ember?” Tucker asked, causing everyone’s heads to shoot up.

    “We need to tell her to stay away, definitely.” Star said, shaking her head. “She’s stronger than Johnny by a wide margin, enough to put up a REALLY good fight against Danny. If she gets turned… I don’t know if we stand a chance.”

     “My estimations put chances of victory against a corrupted Danny, Johnny, Kitty, and Lydia at roughly 60%, 70% with the Spies present… against them and Ember? I believe we drop to 20%.” Technus stated, a tone of melancholy in his voice. “If Ember can properly weaponize her music against you? 0%. I believe it will be good to inform her to stay away for the time being.”

     Star picked up her cellphone and called Ember. “Ember, it’s Star. We’ve got really bad news. The same thing that is controlling Johnny and Kitty has probably gotten Danny. We’re going to go try and get him, but you need to stay away. We can’t risk you getting mind controlled too.” Star said over the line. There was some response, before Star added. “We’ve got to go finish battle plans… we’ll tell you what happened after. See you soon.” With that, Star hung up. “I guess we wait for the Spies, fill them in, and gear up.”

     Sammy, Alex, and Clover arrived within the hour as anticipated, and wasted no time gearing up out of the Fenton arsenal. The looks on everyone’s faces were clear, you did NOT mess with their friends and get away with it.

     The trainyard was eerily quiet as the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle pulled up, everyone hopping out, armed to the teeth with ectoplasmic weaponry and ready for a fight. Sam stepped her way up to the nearest train car, climbing up the ladder with an ecto-rifle strapped on her back. Opening a hatch up top, she could see large collections of gems, cash, and other valuables. “Yeah… Freakshow definitely was using the Circus as a cover-up for these thefts… there’s no way they are making this much bank off of $20 a ticket.” Sam grumbled, before turning around and seeing Freakshow behind her.

    “While you would be correct that the tickets wouldn’t pay for all this, I do draw the line at saying my Circus was just a cover up.” Freakshow said, glaring down at her. “Circus Gothica is a family tradition, and is very successful. My relatives lacked vision though, we had real magic, a staff with the ability to control ghosts, and all they wanted to use it for was to entertain the masses.” Freakshow paused, raising his staff as Johnny, Kitty, Lydia, and Danny appeared by him. “They were so blind to the possibilities. An army of undead, who can be anywhere, can open any door, hide from any security, and possess anyone? That is power far beyond what should be used only to run a circus. Seize them.” Freakshow commanded, as Johnny, Kitty, Danny, and Lydia began to corral everyone into a circle, standing at each of the four corners. “I see you really brought in the calvary for this little adventure. Amity Park’s most famous ghost hunters? Kim Possible? The mysterious agents from FIGHT? Truly, I would be scared… if I hadn’t taken the time to do some… additional recruitment.”

    More ghosts poured from the train cars. One that was a little person, another that was a massive tower of muscle and a woman who seemed to be able to stretch and contort. Alongside those were several dozen ghost animals, bears, tigers, and even an elephant. Eventually the group found themselves completely surrounded, and totally outmatched. 

    “You won’t get away with this Freakshow! You’ll have two massive organizations over your head even if you manage to escape tonight. They’ll get you eventually.” Kim said, glaring at him while she attempted to work out some kind of escape plan. She glanced over at Sammy, hoping the intelligent spy would have some kind of idea of what to do.

    “Your face is going to be all over every news site in the world. Your information has already been sent everywhere, you’ll be on the run forever!” Sammy said, trying to intimidate him with the information.

    “Then I suppose I have nothing to lose then, I’ve always been a circus performer. On the run is how I live my life! And now to end yours. Minions, get them.” Freakshow said, as Lydia and the animals began to advance. Johnny, Kitty, and Danny though seemed to struggle. “Minions, I said to get them.”

    “No… won’t… hurt… them.” Danny manage to spit out through gritted teeth, his mind fighting against the mind control.

    “No. I OWN you. You will do what I say!” Freakshow said, shoving the staff forward.

    “Keep fighting it Babypop!” Came a familiar voice, as Ember appeared, creating a shockwave that knocked the animal ghosts back.

    “Ember! What are you doing here? We told you not to come!” Kim said, looking incredulously at the ghost rocker.

    “And let this maniac control my Babypop? Ain’t no way.” Ember said, before glaring up at Freakshow, flying up. “Drop the mind control act bub, or you’re going to find out just how hard I can rock your world, and NOT in a fun way.”

    “How about… no. I didn’t know Ember McClane was a ghost… but you’ll make an excellent addition to my show.” Freakshow said, pointing his staff toward Ember. “Come here newest minion, you’re almost as sweet a prize as Phantom.”

    Freakshow’s staff glowed as Ember floated up to him, everyone watching in fear. With Ember added to the mind controlled ghost, the situation had quickly gone from bleak to hopeless.

   Ember stood next to Freakshow, looking into his eyes… before kneeing him in the gut and pulling the staff from his hands. “Lesson one bub, there is NO ONE who can tell me what to do.” Ember said, before pointing the staff towards everyone else. “You aren’t controlled by the staff anymore.” She commanded, as Johnny, Kitty, and Danny shook their heads and came back to their senses.

    “What? But.. how? How are you not under my control?” Freakshow asked as he held his stomach.

     “Call that the Spirit of Rebellion baby. There’s only one man who can tell me what to do, and that’s only because I let him sometimes.” Ember said, blowing a kiss to Danny. “Well, you all are the ones he was mind controlling. I’ll let you get your licks in first.”

     Danny and Johnny needed no further prompting, flying up to where Freakshow was doubled over. Lydia flew up with them, putting her hands on their chests. “Let me have him first boys… I’ve been under his control longer than anyone else.”

    “Be my guest.” Johnny said, stepping back as Lydia moved up, grabbing Freakshow by the collar and lifting him up.

     Lydia smirked in his face, before turning him and herself invisible, and flying away.

    “What? That… Why would she do that?” Johnny asked looking around and trying to find them. “Phantom, your sense tell you where they are?”

    “Sorry Johnny, the sense only tells me if there’s a ghost nearby, and there are, but you’re one of them, that’s all the info I get.” Danny said, as he touched down nearby. “I guess maybe she was working for him willingly.”

    “Just great, he’s going to get away with all this.” Clover said, rolling her eyes.

    “Well… not totally.” Jazz pointed out. “We have his staff, so no more controlling ghosts, and his train here has all or most of his loot. He’s got Lydia… but that’s pretty much it. Plus Global Justice knows his name and face… they’ll find and arrest him eventually.”

    “I guess you’re right… but what are we going to do with this staff?” Danny asked, gesturing to the staff Ember was holding. “I definitely don’t want to just have this thing lying around the house, it’s too close to a ghost portal.”

    “Well… this IS a magical artifact… and we do know someone who specializes in dealing with the protection of magical creatures.” Kim said, glancing at the staff.

    “You think we should take this thing to the American Dragon?” Danny asked, looking over to it as well.

     “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Kim said, nodding.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone. I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I'll not go into what's been going on here, but I will post the link to my discord(discord (dot) gg /R4532jk5gq) for people to use. In there you can see early notes for Heart of a Hero and Sphinx Club, discuss what comes next, and see updates on our sister stories in Heart of a Hero: Downtown Magic, and Heart of a Hero Inspired Stories, made by two of pur community members. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to update this story before the end of March. I can't make any guarantees, but that's the goal. Anyway, on with the chapter. Please review and comment.

     When people thought about what might live in the sewers of New York city, a great number of things may come to mind. Rats were plentiful of course, scrounging through the refuse easily found within. Some people concocted stories of alligators living in New York’s sewers, and some would even swear there were massive humanoid turtles living within the various tunnels. What most people wouldn’t suspect they would find is a high tech secret base of a possibly paradoxical organization that hunts magical creatures. Admittedly, until recently, anyone who would find such a place would not have had a long life to tell anyone about it should they find one. 

    Such days were gone now, as only three individuals on Earth were still aware of the locations of any of these bases, and two of which could currently be found within one of said bases. 

     “I still can’t believe the Huntsclan is just… gone.” Number 89 whined, the lanky buck-toothed boy bouncing a huntsclan helmet on the edge of his foot like a soccer ball.

    “It’s all that American Dragon’s fault.” The squatter member of the duo, Number 88 growled. “Him and Rose. She betrays the Huntsclan for a dragon? Those guys are like, Huntsclan enemy number 1!”

    “Now THEY’RE out there living the high life. Rose got to never get taken in by the Huntsclan in the first place, and the American Dragon is some kind of hero! While we’re here with nothing!” Number 89 said, his foot catching the helmet wrong, getting his toe stuck in one of the eye-sockets and causing it to get stuck. “Woah-oh!” 89 said, losing his balance and falling over.

     “You see 89! This is why we were low level chumps! We didn’t get to know about all the cool secrets of the Huntsclan.” 88 said, glaring lightly at him. “Yeah sure, we got to help the big man with his hunt for the American Dragon, but that’s just because he was some old fogey who didn’t know what a video game was!”

    “Well, it’s not like he was much of a leader anyway. I mean, look at all this.” 89 said as he got up, gesturing at a long line of files on the Huntsclan master computer. “That’s 17 folders full of articles written on ‘proper spear maintenance’, ‘menacing chuckling’, and ‘proper accessorization of the Huntsclan uniform’.” 

    “They admittedly needed that after they changed the uniforms. I saw some of the old ones in a storage closet, they were significantly more menacing than our purple ones.” 88 said, as a file caught his eyes. “Huh… what’s this… Ghost Hunter?” 88 read the file name, before opening it up. What greeted his eyes was a dossier, with an image of what appeared to be a mechanical man with a green flame mullet. “Skulker, Huntsclan asset. Ghost responsible for capture of medium priority Huntsclan targets.”

    “Wait what? We were supposed to ERADICATE Magical creatures, and we had one on payroll?” 89 questioned, reading over the file as well. “Magical creature with the spirit of the Hunt flowing through him. Took the teachings like a Master and surpassed many. Status as a magical creature prohibits Huntsclan membership proper, but is to be classified as an asset. Debates on if to be excluded from the final purge of magical creatures from the world. Seems like this guy was the real deal.”

    “If he’s so good why didn’t he get sent after the American Dragon then?” 88 wondered aloud, searching through the file some more. “Skulker considers his primary target to be a half-ghost, occasionally called a halfa, within Amity Park. Skulker confirms he knows the identity of said half-ghost, but is withholding said knowledge from Huntsclan.”

    “How are you Half a ghost? Isn’t it like a pretty binary thing?” 89 asked, confusion evident on his face. It was a common look.

    “Apparently not.” 88 said, rolling his eyes. “Regardless… Maybe this guy is what we need. He wasn’t Huntsclan proper, so that wish shouldn’t have gotten rid of him. We could get in touch and see if he’ll deal with the American Dragon for us!” 

    “Yeah! With his help, we can take that dragon DOWN!” 89 whooped, as the pair began attempting to make contact with the ectoplasmic hunter.

    “Alright, you kids finally packed?” Jack asked as he watched Danny load what appeared to be the last bag into the Specter Speeder. 

    “Think so Mr. Fenton!” Kim said, as she glanced over the checklist for their trip. “Danny’s suitcase, my two bags, the mini-fridge is stocked, and the armory has the basic line-up of ghost weapons JUST in case there’s any ghost threat.”

    “That’s the spirit. You’ll be a Fenton yet!” Jack chuckled as he clapped Kim on the back, causing her to flush a bit.

    “Maybe in a few years. I’m perfectly happy being a Possible until I graduate at the very least.” Kim said, as she glanced around to their gathered friends. “Assuming I get to be the legally married one.”

     “Yeah, I guess you kiddos might have to have that conversation some day.” Jack said, glancing at where Star, Sammy, and Ember were chatting with their other friends. Everyone had come to see Danny and Kim off for their trip.

    “I still can’t believe you guys are going off on some recruitment mission.” Alex said, leaning over the back of a chair in the garage where the Specter Speeder was parked. “I wonder why we weren’t scouted for that?”

    “Dr. Director actually had Jake and Lilo scouted before we worked together for the first time.” Danny said, stepping out of the speeder. “I’m sure you were already on the persons of interest list for the team, but WOOHP probably meant your recruitment didn’t work the same way. Since you are WOOHP affiliated, that’s probably why you aren’t handling recruitment for the team as a whole.”

    “Yeah yeah.” Clover said, spinning on one of the various roller stools that littered the space. “So, you guys even know anything about this Jake Long guy? GJ give you a dossier or something?”

     “Is that something you can even discuss with us?” Tucker asked as he leaned back on one of the recliners in the garage. “Isn’t GJ like a super secret organization?”

     “You guys are officially listed as Team Phantom or Team Possible members.” Kim called out as she pulled out her files on Jake and Lilo. “While it is primarily Danny, the Spies, Ron and myself that are the members of the proper hero team, you guys are all listed as support staff or assets, so we’re allowed to tell you whatever we think you’re good to know.”

    “Which of course means, it doesn’t leave the room here, but considering you guys are already keeping our identities secret, we’re all pretty good on the whole ‘Top Secret’ thing.” Danny said, as he continued doing some final checks on the speeder. “Mom, when did we last check the battery on this?”

    Maddie took a glance at the schedule. “Battery replacement on the speeder was two weeks ago, Technus initialled the sheet.”

    “Mind if I swap in a new one? Just to make sure we’ve got the juice. I’m sure this one’s fine, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Danny said, already moving to separate the ecto-battery.

     “That’s fine dear.” Maddie said, as she pulled out a new battery from storage.

    “So, What do you guys even know about Jake Long?” Jazz re-asked, since the question had gotten lost in the chatter.

     “Well, according to the files… he’s been protecting the magical world, specifically New York, since he turned 13, and was the first Dragon born in America.” Kim read out, before continuing. “He’s an incoming high school freshman, so he’s only a year younger than us… meaning he’s been doing his Dragon business for a bit longer than Danny’s been fighting ghosts.”

    “Well, time doing it doesn’t necessarily translate to achievements here. Danny managed to take down a lot of big bads in his first few months as a ghost, then things died down once everyone heard about him taking down Fright Knight.” Tucker pointed out. “What’s his resume look like? Any major victories?”

    “Says here he dealt with two events sources in the magical community would call apocalyptic. One was the Huntsclan, an organization that hunts and destroys magical creatures, getting ahold of some magic skulls that would have granted a wish to destroy every magical creature… Global Justice is unsure if Danny, Ember, Kitty, and Johnny would be included in that.” Kim said as she read through, and the room went silent. THAT was a scary thought, that the four of them could have simply vanished one day without being able to do anything to stop it? They’re glad they didn’t have the answer to that question if they counted or not. “The second event was taking down something called ‘The Dark Dragon’, which seems to be an ancient evil Dragon who would have eradicated every creature on Earth except Dragons, and even then, only the ones who agreed to work with him would be spared.”

    “So… total bad news, and we should be glad Jake stopped him?” Clover asked.

    “Looks like.” Kim said, as she flipped through the dossier some more.

    “Another thing I remember from when I read through the file is that he’s not the only Dragon, apparently his grandfather and sister are dragons too, and they have plenty of experience between them. Which honestly, is something we could use more of. We’re totally blind against magic, Freakshow taught us that, and anything we CAN learn is good. Kim, the Spies, and I are also really total newbies when it comes to protecting the world. We’re quick studies, but it seems like the Dragons have been doing it, at least for their parts of the world, for a LONG time.” Danny said, reminding everyone of something they’d rather forget. Danny getting taken over by Freakshow was a terrifying event, and the thought of something like that happening again was even scarier. “We’ve got the realms of regular science and ghost stuff pretty well in hand, but magic is a whole new ball game. This alien stuff too, when we go talk to Lilo and Stitch, but that’s a conversation for AFTER Jake.” 

     “I guess that is something we tend to forget. Supervillains and ghost fighting is kind of old hat to us now, but we’ve really only been doing it for about a year. Year and a half for Kim.” Sammy said, as she thought a bit deeper about it. “WOOHP of course has had agents for a few decades, as has Global Justice, but we ended up at the top of the food chain somehow. I wonder how that happened?”

    “Heroes rise when they’re called kids. You all were called.” Jack said, no uncertainty in his voice at all. “There hadn’t really been any supervillains or major world threats since about the 60s, barring some costumed guys that started appearing a few years ago around that Team Go group. When villains started appearing, you all stepped up and started fighting them. You took that responsibility, and in turn, got good at it. You don’t start boxing being good at it, you throw your first punches, and then learn. Maybe you have a teacher to help, but when you don’t, you figure it out on your own. Kim and Danny didn’t have any teachers telling them how they needed to be heroes, but they figured it out. You girls had teachers to teach you how to be Spies, but taught yourself how to be heroes. You all are probably the actual experts on dealing with supervillains, I know Danny here knows more about actually fighting ghosts than his mother and I, but we still do what we can.” Jack clapped his son on the back, shooting him a massive grin. “All of you have stepped up. Sam, Tucker, Star, Valerie, you didn’t have to, but you decided to stand with Kim and Danny through the adversity they face, and that makes you heroes too.”

    “I mean, I’m pretty sure we’re sidekicks.” Tucker said, chuckling a bit. Sam slapped him on the back. “What, I’m not wrong. We help, but we still have to call in Danny for the big stuff.”

    Sam rolled her eyes and scooted back in her chair, annoyed at the idea. “Yeah, sure, but does that mean we’re sidekicks? I hear enough of that from Ron.”

    “I mean, being a sidekick is kind of nice.” Star said, shooting a smile at Danny. “I know I can’t keep up with the heavy stuff the others do. I’m athletic, sure, but I don’t have the kind of martial arts training Danny, Kim, the Spies, or even Valerie has. That means I’m limited in what I can do to help. I still help though, and I know I’m a crucial part of the team. I’m an extra hand to hold a blaster, or to coordinate ghost patrols, and that’s a good job, one that someone has to do.”

    “Sounds almost glamorous when you say it like that.” Valerie said, kicking her feet a bit. “Wonder if this Jake guy has anything like that.”

    “Dossier says he does. Aside from his grandfather, who it looks like seems to also be his teacher, there’s his sister and her dragon teacher, and a couple others that members of the magical community have reported seeing with him. Their names aren’t listed, though.” Kim said, flipping through. “Honestly, we don’t have THAT much information on Jake. A few reports he’s a bit hot-headed and headstrong, but dependable.”

    “Sounds like someone ELSE we know.” Sammy said, leaning over and kissing Danny on the cheek.

     “Is he cute?” Clover asked, hearts in her eyes.

     “Figures that’s what Lipgloss over here would ask about.” Ember said with an eyeroll.

     “Doesn’t answer the question!” Clover responded, sticking her tongue out at the rocker. “Tell me, show me a pic, something!”

     Kim chuckled, and handed the picture they had of Jake. “Ooh, not bad. A bit scrawnier than I imagined a superhero being, but Clover likes.” Clover said, hearts in her eyes. “Get me his number.”

    “We’ll have to see if he’s even interested in joining the team first, Clover.” Danny said with an exasperated smile on his face. “Here’s hoping when he hears what we have to say, he’ll realize we’re on the same team.”

    “All else fails, you’ve already fought one Dragon, what’s another?” Tucker said jokingly, causing Valerie to elbow him in the ribs. “Aw, come on! It’s true!”

     An hour later, and Danny and Kim were flying over the midwest, Kim glancing out the window to see the flat plains of northern Indiana. “So, how are you feeling about recruiting Jake? I know you seemed pretty fired up about it with everyone else, but I want to know what you’re feeling.” Kim said, smiling at him a bit.

    Danny looked to her for a moment, smiling before rolling his shoulders a second, engaging the auto pilot as he leaned back in his seat. “I meant what I said. I think he’s going to fill a big hole we have. He’s got magical experience, something I’m not keen on fighting again without more knowledge. I managed against that Monkey Fist Guy, but if Ember hadn’t been immune to Freakshow’s mind control? I’m terrified of what would have happened. Wade, Technus, Tucker, they’re near unbeatable when it comes to tech, not to mention what resources WOOHP and GJ have, and when it comes to knowledge about ghosts, between my parents and Kitty, we’re getting that more and more on lock by the day, Sam’s even been buying every piece of ghostly folklore she can get her hands on for research. We don’t know EVERYTHING obviously, but we’ve got tools to handle that kind of stuff. Jake hopefully has the tools to deal with the magic, and the willingness to help us.”

    “You’re really torn up about the mind control thing, aren’t you?” Kim asked. They hadn’t really talked about it since the incident. It had necessitated moving the timeline for their trip to New York up, they were honestly pretty lucky that Jake and his family were already home from their recent trip to Hong Kong.

    “I could have killed you. I could have killed Star. I could have killed Sammy. My friends, my family, I could have killed EVERYONE. Who would have been able to stop me? Ember? If she wasn’t immune to Freakshow’s mind control, she would have been right there with me. Global Justice? All it’d take is Technus going rogue and getting in their mainframe and they’re almost powerless. If Vlad is what a rogue me in control of his powers looks like… imagine the damage if I didn’t care about life? Vlad’s a fruit loop, but he doesn’t WANT to kill anyone, barring my dad. Freakshow… he wouldn’t care. They’d be means to an end. And he’d make ME do it.” Danny clenched his fists, feeling a deep chill inside of him. Then suddenly he was enveloped by a soft warmth, and turning his head, he saw a fountain of red hair pushing into him.

    “I know you’re scared, I am too. Thinking… thinking I might have had to kill you… that was so scary. You’re really strong, that’s something we knew, but having that strength turned against us… well it wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d have to deal with.” Kim said, before locking eyes with him. “But we made it through it. We will KEEP making it through it. I have faith that even if you were under control, that the second one of us was in any actual danger, you would break out of it, because that’s what you are. Your dad said it, but I’ll repeat it. You’re a hero, Danny, and more than that, you’re MY hero.”

    Danny flushed, but pulled Kim into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her hair. “You’re really way too good at this pep talk thing.”

    “Perks of being a cheerleader.” Kim said, as she leaned up and pecked him on the lips. “Now, come on, we’ve got about 3 more hours of flying, and I don’t want to spend it moping.”

    Three hours, and a brief pit stop for a New York style pizza slice later, Danny and Kim found themselves standing in front of Canal Street Electronics in Manhattan. “Wonder what the American Dragon is doing operating out of a… severely outdated electronics shop.” Danny asked as he glanced in the window. Stacks of CRT televisions and early model DVD players filled the display. “Tucker’s been dying for a new CRT for his retro consoles… but I’ve never heard of any of these brands. Like, what’s a Guzelian?” 

     “No idea. Probably should focus up though. We need to make a good impression.” Kim said, as she took a moment to straighten her clothes up. Danny did the same. “I’ll take the lead, I’m a bit better at the whole talking to people thing.”

    “No arguments here.” Danny said, as the pair stepped into the store. Despite it’s outdated stock and seemingly total lack of clientele, the place was clean and well maintained on the inside, even if it looked like it hadn’t seen any changes in 20 years.

    “Oh yes. Welcome to Canal Street Electronics, may I interest you in one of our fine VCR players? We have a lovely model from Goode in stock.” An elder Chinese man said from his place on a stool behind the counter. He was dressed in a set of blue robes with golden accents that seemed to make his entire lower body disappear into them.

    “Sorry sir, we’re not really in the market for a VCR right now.” Kim said, as Danny internally cringed. CRTs had some retro enthusiasts keeping a market alive… but he’s not convinced much of one existed for VCRs, especially ones with names he’d never even heard of. “We’re actually hoping to speak with Jake Long? I believe you might be his grandfather?”

    “I am… what are you looking for him for, and how do you know who I am?” Jake’s Grandfather asked, now suspicious.

    “So, I suppose it’s best to just come out and say this. My name is Kim Possible, this is Danny, we’ve been sent from an organization called Global Justice. We’re aware of Jake’s work as the American Dragon, and were wanting to talk with him about possibly working together, for the safety of both the normal world and the magical world.” Kim said, laying her cards on the table. 

    The old man sighed, his body deflating for a moment, before he pulled himself up, standing perhaps a bit taller than he had before. “And so it begins… let us hope these old bones can handle it.”

    “Sir, what begins?” Danny asked, now somewhat confused.

    “For millenia, the world of magic and the world of man have remained separate, connected in small places, with one side remaining ignorant of the other. Fu warned me in the nineties that information was beginning to travel too quickly for the world to remain hidden. I believed him then, but had hoped by the time it happened, I would be gone from this world. It seems to not be the case.” The man said, before turning to them. “I am Lao Shi Leong, once I was the Chinese Dragon, protecting China’s magical community. My grandson, Jake Long, is the first American Dragon.”

    “It’s nice to meet you, Lao Shi.” Danny said, reaching out to shake his hand. Lao Shi accepted the handshake, the elder man looking into Danny’s eyes.

    “So you are the half-ghost everyone seems to be speaking of. I suppose with you around it is little wonder Jake would be discovered.” Lao Shi said, as he glanced over his form. “It has been quite a long time since a Dragon and a Half-Ghost have met. Even longer that they would be allies, instead of enemies.”

    “Wait, how… how’d you know?” Danny asked, shocked by the prospect. He was in his human form, he hadn’t even transformed today.

    “Your spirit energy is rather strong, and leaves residue one experienced in dealing with spirits and ghosts on a magical side would notice easily.” Lao Shi said, hopping down from his stool. “Fu Dog has been following your exploits closely. You represented a very real threat of discovery to the magical world you know.”

     “Sorry, but I didn’t really know about this when it happened. My parents were ghost hunters, but I thought they were just chasing after shadows. Then they opened the portal, I got my powers, and the ghosts started coming through. I didn’t realize there was actual MAGIC until pretty recently.” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. Looking back on it, he probably should have thought of ghosts as magic as far back as his first encounter with Dora, but it wasn’t until Global Justice revealed the existence of an ACTUAL dragon that he really put any thought into it. Monkey Fist had given him a brief taste, which was then compounded by Desiree and then the Fright Knight… then Freakshow.

     “It was always a matter of when, not if. You need not concern yourself with matters outside of your control. As long as you make no moves to inform the world of the other magical creatures, I doubt anyone will find fault in what you do.” Lao Shi said, as a grey Shar Pei walked around the corner.

    “Hey old man, thought I heard my name, you need something?” The Shar Pei said as he rounded the corner, and his eyes locked with Danny and Kim. “Ugh… Woof?”

     “No need, Fu Dog. They know.” Lao Shi said, as he lightly ran his hand down his face. “You should however, check before you begin speaking.”

     “You know, I’d be more surprised about the talking dog if I hadn’t met Rufus first.” Danny said, and Kim nodded.

     “Yeah, talking animal shtick stops surprising you after your first one.” Fu says, as he stands up on his hind legs and leans over the counter. “So, Amity Park's Ghost Boy and Kim Possible are wanting Jakey for their super team? Sounds like our boy is about to hit the big time.”

    “Yeah, we've been considering expanding the team for a while. Jake and two others were at the top of our list for possible recruits. We were expecting to ask him this summer regardless, but we had our hand forced recently.” Danny said, a bit nervous. “We heard one of the things you guys deal with is containment of Magical artifacts, is that right?”

    “That is correct, although Uncle handles more of that nowadays. That is besides the point though. I take it you require such an artifact to be contained?” Lao Shi asked.

     “Yeah.” Danny said, pulling out the guitar case he had placed the staff inside of, setting it on the table and opening it, revealing the red staff inside.

    “Oh, yep. That's a doozy. Showenheimer's Ghost Control Staff. Been in the Showenheimer family for generations. They always used it for their circus act, harmless stuff really. Five big ones says you have it because one of them wised up on the potential this thing had.” Fu said as he examined the staff.

     “Right on the money.” Kim said, glancing at Danny who was subconsciously putting distance between himself and the staff. “Managed to control Danny and a couple of our ghost friends. He was robbing some banks and jewelry stores, we were lucky he was more focused on getting rich than doing any damage.”

     “Yeah, that'll do it.” Fu said. “Good news for you kid, the staff isn't great at making you do stuff that hurts those you care about. He might be able to make you steal something, but actively hurting one of your friends would pull you out of it.”

    “Thats a bit of a relief… we were worried about the kind of damage I could do under its control.” Danny said, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

     “We know all about that kinda thing kid. Jake had an issue with an evil copy of himself once. Bad news. Good news is that we have some other people that can step up to him. Gramps here’s still got Jake beat in terms of experience, and Haley’s getting better by the day.” Fu said. “I take it you didn’t have much of anything like that?”

     “We’ve got the team, but anyone who is actually strong enough to handle me one-on-one was also susceptible to the mind control. Imagine if there was something that could control all dragons, what would your plan for taking down Jake be if you ran the risk of Lao Shi and Haley also getting mind controlled in the process?” Danny asked, looking over. “That’s the kind of thing we were worried about.”

    “Ah, well, we actually have a bit of extra protection for that kinda thing, other Magical creatures are capable of standing against a dragon, and we know some folks who had specific training in taking them down. I see your point though, that would be a pretty scary thought.” Fu said, shivering a bit. “You’re in good hands kid. You go rogue, you’re a magical creature, and therefore under our jurisdiction too. We’ll make sure you don’t do too much damage.”

    Danny was unsure how to feel about that. A check on him was a good thing, let loose he probably would do way too much damage… but the idea of praying for his own downfall was still strange. “Thanks, I think.”

    “Eh, don’t worry about it. Well Gramps, Jake’s got the day off, but we should probably call him in, shouldn’t we?” Fu asked, looking over to Lao Shi.

    “It would be prudent. I would contact Rose as well, since I do not think she is with the others at this time.” Lao Shi said.

    “Rose?” Kim asked, an eyebrow raised.

    “Introductions in due time Ms. Possible.” Lao Shi stated, with the kind of smugness only an old man could pull off. “Patience is a virtue.”

     The bell to the store rang about half an hour later, as Jake, Spud, Trixie, and Rose stepped through the door. “Yo, what’s up Gramps? Thought I was off today? Something going on?” Jake asked, his tone questioning as he stepped in. 

    “Wait wait wait… is that KIM POSSIBLE? In your electronics shop?” Trixie shouted, eyes bugging out at the red-headed super teen.

    “Uh… hi?” Kim said awkwardly, raising a hand up and waving as Danny chuckled.

    “JAKEY, YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU KNEW KIM POSSIBLE!” Trixie bellowed as she shook Jake.

    “I DON’T!” Jake managed to get out as he was being shaken.

     “I don’t see what the big deal is, I’ve been hanging out online with her tech guy for years and you’ve never even asked about it.” Spud said, seemingly unphased by the whole thing.

    “Wait, you know Wade?” Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “Yeah, he and I play Everloft all the time. Your friend Tucker too.” Spud said, as he moved to the couch and plopped down.

     “Wait, you’re Spudman05?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Yep, you’re OrionsBolt, aren’t you?” Spud said, as Danny nodded.

    “Wow… small world.” Danny said, looking over to Kim. “Yeah, that’s definitely him.”

    “So our tech guys have been playing games together… didn’t you say that you’d played games with that other guy Sammy and them knew back in Beverly Hills too?” Kim asked.

     “Oh yeah, Arnold. Good kid, skipped a grade so he’s a Junior in High School now.” Spud said, as he brought his feet up. 

    “Regardless… ugh, not that it’s not cool that you’re here, but… what ARE you doing here?” Jake asked as he looked to Kim and Danny. “And who is he? I though you had a different sidekick.”

    “Right, well, this is a big kind of secret thing. We can’t talk about this unless you agree that everything is hush hush.” Kim said, looking over everyone. “We already talked to your Grandpa and your dog, so they can vouch for us.”

    “Yeah Kid, they’re already in the know about the Dragon stuff. This is on the up and up here.” Fu said as he moved to the couch beside Spud.

    “Well, if Gramps and Fu vouch, I’ll keep whatever secrets you need, as long as they aren’t going to hurt anyone.” Jake said, as he crossed his arms. “Spud, Trix, Rose, you good too?”

    “Yes.” Came the reply from the three of them.

    “Alright then. Kim and I are here on orders from an organization called Global Justice. They’re an international protection agency that deals with supervillains and world ending events. Recently, they started recruiting people like us. Exceptional teenagers with the skills to take the fight to the bad guys. There’s currently five of us, plus our support teams. We’d like to recruit you to be our sixth, with your team being around as well.” Danny said, trying to meet Jake at his level. “Your abilities, alongside your team’s expertise in magic, are something that would be incredibly beneficial, and in joining the team, you also get access to the support we can provide.”

     “That’s all well and good, yo. But you still haven’t told me who you are.” Jake said, looking at Danny. “And why you’re giving off a… weird magic vibe.”

    “Ah, yeah.” Danny said, as he transformed. “Phantom, Amity Park’s resident ghost fighting superhero. Half-ghost, half-human. Danny Fenton in the human form, but not in any rush to make that public knowledge.”

    “Wicked.” Jake said, as he glanced at Danny. “Heard a bit about you, Fu was keeping tabs. Says you’re good.”

     “I’ve fought my fair share of bad guys, but you’ve actually been doing it longer than I have.” Danny said, looking to him. “Not by too much, our research says you started in March of last year, I started in August.” 

     “February actually, but I guess you guys are just working with what info you got.” Jake said, leaning back on the counter. “What’s like… expected of me with this team thing? I’m the protector of the magical world, that’s my primary responsibility. I can’t just drop that.”

    “We understand, I more or less do the same thing for Amity Park. I fight ghosts primarily, but step up when the world needs me, which happens occasionally. Mostly, if there’s a big enough threat that we think the entire world is in danger, we’d call on you to help out. We’ll keep the magical world stuff secret, honestly I’ve fought a dragon ghost before, so a good enough cover would just be that you’re one of those.” Danny said, nodding to him.

     “You’ll have to tell us that story kid. Might be something the dragon council would want to know about.” Fu said, as Lao Shi nodded.

     “Indeed, but another time.” Lao Shi said. “What other responsibilities will be thrust upon Jake, should he accept?”

    “If one of us encounters magic, we’d appreciate it if you’d be willing to pick up the phone and answer questions, or be able to lend a hand. We can obviously do the same if you hit something in our areas of expertise. My group probably knows more about ghosts than anyone on the planet, and Kim’s got connections with tech geniuses in pretty much any speciality or discipline.” Danny said. “The other members of the team also have extensive knowledge on espionage, so they’re great at getting in and out without being seen. Mostly though, when there’s a huge threat to the world, bigger than what we could handle on our own? We’d appreciate the extra help. That could be alien invasions, robot uprisings, or maybe even something magical.”

     “Who else have you got on this team? I’m not exactly down with whatever the superhero community is doing. Been playing it low here.” Jake said, leaning against the counter.

    “Currently, it’s myself and Kim, plus three agents from an organization called WOOHP, they’re a spy organization who deals in dealing with supervillain plots. You’d be our sixth member, and we’re looking to recruit two other members, a girl and her alien dog from Hawaii.” Danny said, laying his cards on the table. He didn’t want there to be secrets in regards to what the team was like.

    “Lilo and Stitch?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “Uh… yeah actually. You know them?” Danny asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

     “Yeah, she’s my homegirl. Met her at a skate competition in Honolulu. Thought one of the aliens she deals with was a magical creature, and therefore under Am Drag protection.” Jake explained, chuckling. “Well, I guess it’s something worth thinking about. Look, you guys seem like you’re on the up and up. I get a good feeling, and Kim’s reputation is pretty good. I’ll admit I’m unsure if I’m like, in that kinda league though. As far as dragons go, I’m maybe middle of the pack, you might be better off recruiting one of the other dragons.” 

     “Hey, don’t be selling yourself short kid. You’ve made more progress in a single year than some dragons make in their lifetime.” Fu said, trying to hype Jake up.

     “Why don’t you try a sparring match?” Trixie suggested. “We can see how the Am Drag can take on the Ghost Boy.”

     “Ain’t a bad idea there. You keeping up with him would definitely mean you’re good enough to take this shot kid.” Fu said, supportively.

     “The Dragon Council already feels you are truly worthy to be the American Dragon, young one. You have much to learn, but this is an opportunity to gain knowledge even beyond what I can teach you.” Lao Shi said, smiling at his grandson. 

    “Alright, feel up for a little Dragon-Ghost smackdown? We’ll see how I stack up.” Jake said, accepting the challenge.

    “Sounds like a plan.” Danny said, reaching out his hand for a handshake. Jake took it and the pair shook.

    “I gotta call Ernie, it’s bettin’ time!” Fu said, getting out his cell phone.

     Central Park was miraculously empty, as Danny and Jake stood opposite each other, Kim, Rose, Fu Dog, Lao Shi, Trixie and Spud on the sidelines. Fu waved a giant foam finger with “Am Drag” written on it. “You got him Kid! Full faith in ya!” The shar pei called out.

     “Let’s get it started then! Dragon Up!” Jake said, as flames surrounded him and his dragon form came out. He was long and thin, like a Chinese serpentine dragon, but towards the top he appeared to beef up more, seemingly at a mid-point between a Chinese and European dragon.

    “Goin’ Ghost!” Danny called out himself, as the white bars of energy engulfed his body, transforming him from Danny Fenton, to the hero Phantom.

     “So, your boyfriend has a transformation catchphrase too?” Rose asked, giggling a bit as she watched Danny and Jake drop into their combat stances.

     “He’s a big dork, but he’s my dork, so it works out.” Kim said, as Rose nodded. The pair’s focus was planted firmly on the Half-Ghost and the American Dragon, seeing how this would pan out.

    Jake went on the offensive, launching himself off the ground and into the air at rapid speed towards Danny, claws extended and ready to strike. Danny went intangible to try and dodge, but Jake’s claws still caught him, slamming the ghost boy into the ground. “Welp, looks like I can’t phase through your attacks… that some dragon power?” Danny asked, a bit surprised that that hadn’t worked.

    “Dragon claws are always coated in chi energy, which is still fully capable of touching a ghost.” Jake said, shooting a toothy dragon grin. “Let’s turn up the heat!” He called out, opening his maw to unleash a blast of fire at Danny point blank.

    Danny phased through the ground though, dodging the blast, as Jake looked around for his opponent, Danny shot up, delivering an uppercut to Jake’s jaw. “Guess you’re not one of those dragons with tremorsense then.” Danny chuckled, before pointing his fingers towards Jake and firing some ecto-rays.

    After a couple hit him, Jake managed to see Danny’s firing pattern, taking off into the air and swooping around the beams as he gave chase to the ghost. “Let’s see if you can outrun me.” Jake said, flapping his wings harder to close the gap.

    “We’ll see!” Danny said as he shot forward, widening the gap again.

    “What, no more fight, just tag?” Trixie asked, almost incredulous.

     “This is actually pretty important.” Kim and Rose said almost in unison, the pair looked at each other, before Rose continued. “Speed’s almost certainly going to be one of the big gaps between them. Jake’s limited by how fast he can flap his wings and move through the air. A ghost like Phantom probably won’t have that problem.”

    “Didn’t even think of that… I just figured the raw speed difference would decide if this is a battle at range or not. Hand to hand they’re probably pretty even, from what I’ve gathered from watching Jake, Danny’s stronger, but Jake’s got better martial arts training, plus the advantage of three extra limbs to push and attack with.” Kim said, glancing over. “Does Jake have anything but his fire for range though? Danny’s definitely got the advantage there, his ghost rays go way farther than Jake’s fire breath.” 

    “Kid’s got lots of tricks. Great thing about there being generations of dragons before him, they’ve discovered all kinds of cool abilities.” Fu said, as his eyes locked on Jake.

    “Well, let’s see how you handle this then!” Jake said, as he dropped into a meditative pose for a moment, channeling his chi energy, as three clones of himself appeared. The four Jakes dropped into combat stances again, before shooting towards Danny.

    “Ah! Come on! I haven’t figured out that power yet!” Danny called out annoyed, before charging into the four dragons. He grabbed one of them by the tail, before swinging him around and around and tossing him into another one, the two of them forming together into a single dragon.

    “Good move, let’s see if you can keep it up!” Jake said as the three remaining dragons surrounded him, huffing and firing a gout of fire breath towards the ghost boy. 

    Danny summoned an ectoplasmic shield around him that absorbed the flame, as he channeled his own energy. Spreading it out in a massive shockwave, he knocked the three dragons out of the sky, before charging towards them. Catching the three dragons he slammed all three of them into the ground, and into each other, forming them back into a single dragon. “Huh…” Danny huffed, winded. “Good match?” He held out a hand to Jake.

    “Good match.” Jake wheezed, reaching out to grab Danny’s hand, as the ghost boy helped him up. “How’d I do then?”

     “Definitely good enough in my book. I’ve fought a couple guys with powers like yours, so I could adapt to your stuff a little better. I imagine there’s not exactly been too many ghosts like me on your radar.” Danny said, shooting the dragon a grin.

     “Some Civil War ghosts once, but they definitely didn’t have your skills.” Jake said, rolling his shoulders. “Glad to hear I stacked up good then.”

    “You both did great.” Kim said as she came up planting a kiss on Danny’s cheek and reaching out to shake Jake’s hand. “We’d really appreciate it if you’d join the team. I think we could do good work together.”

    “I… I think I’d have to talk to the Dragon Council, they’d be the ones who have to approve the activities. The fact that you all found out about the magical world is one thing, but if I’m suddenly going public with being a Dragon superhero? That’s gonna raise some flags.” Jake said, as Grandpa came over and nodded. 

    “Jake is right, but… with these new enhanced individuals running around, such as Team Go in Go City… I believe perhaps a convincing cover story could be spun.” Lao Shi stated.

    “Amity Park already got attacked by a ghost dragon once, we could just always say there’s another one.” Danny said, shooting Jake a smirk. “Give me your best ‘BEWARE!’”

    Everyone chuckled at that, but another voice joined in, a deep menacing voice with an almost metallic echo to it, and stepping out from the bushes, with a massive ghostly serpent attached by a gleaming metal chain, was Skulker. “When some old associates asked me to kill a dragon for them, I was excited, a new pelt for my wall… but now my greatest enemy is here as well? It is a GOOD day to be a hunter.”

     From the opposite side of the clearing, Numbers 88 and 89 also appeared, dressed in their standard purple huntsclan uniforms, they appeared to be piloting mech suits. “You’ll pay for what you did, American Dragon. Huntsclan’s going to be on top!” Number 88 called out, as 89 tried to put on a menacing pose.

    “Those guys some of yours? Skulker over there’s one of my baddies, his pet’s new.” Danny said, glancing towards the ghostly hunter.

     “Yep, 88 and 89. Former Huntsclan cronies. They’re idiots, but the huntsclan itself had good equipment. Strong weapons, bad wielders.” Jake called out.

    “We’ll see how much of idiots you think we are after we do this!” 89 called out, as he held out his wrists, and two nets shot forward from them encasing the pair.

    “Aw, great! Sphinx Hair. Bout the only thing I CAN’T rip through. Sucks up my powers.” Jake said as he struggled in his net.

    “Why does this burn so bad? Why can’t I phase through it?” Danny asked, as he tried and failed to go intangible, and his strength failed to rip through the netting as it burned him to the touch.

     “Never encountered Blood Blossom before, ghost child? Unsurprising, no ghost would use it against you, too dangerous for them too. Thankfully, my ectoskeleton makes it’s effects on me minimal.” Skulker said, as he stepped forward, placing his boot on Danny’s chest. “Say goodnight, Ghost child.”

     “HIIIIYAH!” Came a pair of female voices, as Kim and Rose launched themselves toward Skulker, catching his chest with their feet as they landed the simultaneous jumpkicks, kicking the hunter ghost back. “Alright, let’s get you two out of those.” Kim said, as she and Rose each pulled out a pocket knife, slicing the nets open. “How about you two take on Skulker and his pet, and Rose and I will take on the Huntsdorks?”

    “God I love you.” Danny and Jake called out to their girlfriends at the same time, as they got out of the nets. “We’re on it!” Danny called out, and Jake nodded, as the pair shot towards the hunter ghost.

    “Uh-uh! Ain’t no way you think me and 89 are gonna get taken out by a couple of girls!” 88 Said, slamming his fists together in his power loader.

    “One of these girls has been kicking your butts since you were cadets… not that you ever got any farther than that.” Rose said, as she narrowed her eyes towards 89. “Take your pick, Kim, you want bucktooth or shorty?”

    “Bucktooth did put my boyfriend in a net. Think I’ll take him.” Kim smirked, as she ran up and delivered another jump kick, this time to 89’s head, causing him to stumble back in the mech as Kim pressed the offensive. If the mech suit gave 89 enhanced strength, it did nothing to increase his reaction time, and Kim was used to fighting opponents leagues stronger than him. Compared to Shego? 89 was a joke.

    One could say that 88 fared better against Rose. That would TECHNICALLY be true, since he managed to at least block an attack or two, since he had fought Rose before, and had an idea of her fighting style. He still however, was getting completely destroyed by the former Huntsgirl.

    Danny and Jake had separated Skulker and his Serpent, Danny squaring off with the hunter, as Jake strafed the snake. “Always heard snakes were cold blooded, let’s turn up the heat then.” Jake quipped, as he used his fire breath in a strafing run on the serpent, which recoiled from the heat, hissing at the dragon.

    Skulker grimaced as he and Danny squared off, raising his wrist and firing a series of tiny missiles towards Danny. Doing a roll in mid-air as he flew towards the hunter, Danny dodged, them delivering a solid punch to the specter, knocking him into a metal lamp post with a resounding CLANG. “How’d you get involved with these guys anyway? Thought you were one of Vlad’s cronies if you worked for anyone.” Danny asked, as Skulker pulled himself off the damaged pole.

    “The Huntsclan would often hire my services, I was an expert in… magical creature acquisition.” Skulker said, a malevolent glint in his eye. “They wouldn’t trust me with something as important as a dragon because of my being a ‘magical creature’ in their eyes, but they were more than willing to pay me to hunt anything else. Given your parents, I’m sure you know developing my technology isn’t cheap, and Vlad wasn’t always funding my endeavors.” Skulker rushed forward as a machete appeared in his hand, the blade glowing a spectral green and emitting a hum. “Like this vibroblade, perfectly calibrated to rip apart ectoplasm.”

    Danny dodged, around the blade, contorting his body as Skulker slashed and stabbed. “And it didn’t bother you that they intended to wipe you out too? That you were on the list of magical creatures to be eliminated?”

    “Ha! Like they’d ever get that far. Hunting one species to extinction is doable. Maybe even two or three if you want to put your mind to it. As many as there are in the Magical world? They’d repopulate before you could even get half-way done.” Skulker said, almost gloating. “I’m not an idiot, whelp. I wouldn’t give them the tools to fully succeed, only enough to keep them happy and keep them paying me.”

    “Then why’d you let them get all the Crystal Skulls then?” Jake asked, as he flew by, getting chased by the serpent. “If I hadn’t stopped them, they were about 30 seconds from making a wish that would have made you, your snake pal, and every ghost you know a faded memory. Didn’t even hear your name mentioned as a possible exception at the time.”

     “They weren’t anywhere near that close. There’s no way they could have found them all!” Skulker said, as he fired an electric bolo towards Jake and Danny. The pair dodged, and the bolo wrapped itself around the serpent, shocking it and knocking it out. “Oops.”

    “They could, and they did, and you were almost wiped out.” Jake said, as he and Danny caught Skulker in a pincer. “How’s that for employee appreciation?”

    Skulker scanned Jake’s face, and found no signs of dishonesty. “Why those little! I only wish they weren’t all gone, so I could hunt them down MYSELF.” Skulker said with gritted teeth. “Fine, Dragon, Ghost Child, you win today. I have… business to attend to with these two Huntsclan imbeciles.” Skulker pulled a staff from his back, one Jake recognized as the same model that the Huntsmaster and Rose liked to use.

    “Sorry Skulker, not today.” Danny said, as he held out the Fenton Thermos, sucking the surprised Skulker, as well as his pet serpent into the device. “I’m usually pretty on board for letting my enemies fight each other, but I think Skulker might be planning on something more permanent than I can normally do to a ghost.”

    “No kidding.” Jake said, as he glanced at the Fenton Thermos. “That some kind of magical spirit trap? Thought you didn’t know anything about magic.”

   “Nope, this is all science. I don’t UNDERSTAND all of the science behind it, but it’s something about ionizing plasma to produce radiation at levels that interfere with ectoplasm? I don’t really get a lot of it.” Danny said, as he looked over to where Kim and Rose were fighting the Huntsboys. “You two need a hand?”

    “Nope! We got it!” Kim said, as she did a rolling throw on number 89, sending him crashing into 88, knocking the pair of them out. “Impressive moves Rose. You trained well.”

    “You too, haven’t seen anyone else move like that.” Rose said as she wiped sweat off of her brow. “Well, these idiots are dealt with… anyone up for pizza?”

    “Danny and I DID have some earlier…” Kim started, but Danny held up his hand.

     “Kim, we’re in New York. If I’m not SICK of New York style pizza before we leave, I’m going to be personally upset with myself.” Danny said, and everyone chuckled.

   Over the course of the couple days Danny and Kim spent in New York, alongside sightseeing, the pair managed to convince Jake and his family that joining the team was a good thing, and Jake said he would help as much as he could, and maybe be able to be more public about it with approval of the Dragon Council.

    Betty Director flipped through the files for her young hero project, titled Project New Guardians, and officially stamped Jake Long as recruited. She glanced at the next file on the list, seeing Lilo and Stitch and smiled. It was a matter of time before the team was complete. She glanced over the list of other potential recruits for a moment more, before closing out of the tab. Seven actual fighters would be sufficient for now. Perhaps more could be recruited later.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back! This was a bit of a doozy of a chapter, but once I had a concept for it it actually came together really quickly! I won't ramble on too much, but I'll go ahead an plug the discord again, and tell you all to comment and review! (discord (dot) gg /R4532jk5gq)

     On the edge of civilized space, amidst the physics defying roar of space-ship engines, sat what would best be described as a biker bar. Rusted, cobbled together smuggling ships parked in front of an establishment that was as neon covered and cigarette smelling as any sketchy truckstop on a highway on Earth would be. A diminutive creature, with large ears and tail twice the length of his body, dressed in a brown cloak hobbled to the bar inside the establishment, speaking up to the Yugopotamian bartender across the wooden countertop. “I am in need of an… asset retrieval specialist.” Came the voice from under the hood, a nasally high pitched sound at odds with the atmosphere of the bar.

     The Yugopotamian glanced at the creature before him, his tentacles dexterously cleaning a glass as his brain bubbled in the glass jar atop his head. “Seems like there’s something missing from this conversation.” Came the strangely accented voice of the octopus-like alien. Beneath his hood, the rodent like alien rolled his beady eyes, but produced a small stack of credits, sliding them over the table. “Head into the back. Pay him well enough and he might not turn you into a bathmat.” The Yugopotamian pointed behind himself, to a cordoned off backroom.

    “I thank you for your service.” The rodent squeaked, hopping off the stool and waddling to the back. The smell of smoke and alcohol filled the air as he stepped into the backroom, covering up another notable stench… metal and blood.

     Sitting cross legged and leaning back into the plush booth was a massive figure, green in skin, with burgundy tattoos crossing his body. Red eyes looked out to the rodent, as a smirk crossed his face. He shifted slightly as he looked at the rodent, his leather jacket, which the rodent recognized as being from an apex predator from Yolkus, was covered in spikes that gave the impression that the man was dangerous. The burgundy tattoos around his eyes made it look as though he was wearing a mask, and his broad chest and tree trunk arms spoke of power.

    “You come highly recommended.” The rodent said, making eye contact with the man. “Lorwardians are already known to be great warriors, and you have managed to make quite the namey-name for yourself.” He added, his bizarre speech pattern coming through for the first time. It was distinctive, relatively unique in the galaxy, and not common even among his species.

      “Not that many things alive that can stand up against the main man.” The Lorwardian spoke, his eyes bearing into the rodent’s soul. “What brings you to grovel at the boots of the main man Warhed?” He asked, said boot clonking onto the table in front of him.

     Beneath his hood, the rodent’s ears twitched. “I am in need of someone to retrieve a piece of property of mine. I have been told you specialize in retrieval of… high risk targets.” The rodent’s tail swished back and forth as he spoke, a small amount of nervousness creeping in. He wasn’t one to be intimidated usually, but the reputation of the Lorwardian was enough to give even him pause.

     Warhed glared at the rodent. “The main man doesn’t take jobs until he knows the client… or the target.” The implication was clear.

    The rodent pulled down his hood, his long ears standing up as his red eyes locked onto Warhed’s. The shifting of the cloak unveiled a large H that acted as a clasp, hidden before, but now proudly displayed. “I am Dr. Jacques von Hamsterviel, and I require you to capture Experiment 626.” 

     Danny and Kim were thankful for the robust autopiloting system on the Specter Speeder, since it meant that as long as they were cognizant of their surroundings, they didn’t really need to pay attention to the specifics of flying the craft. That left them free to do other things in the cockpit. Namely at this time, looking through the pictures they’d taken during their few days in New York as they sent them to the group chat. Danny wrapped his arm around Kim as they glanced over the image of them, Jake, Rose, and Haley, who was Jake’s little sister, standing in front of the harbor with the Statue of Liberty behind them. It was a mostly quintessential New York tourist picture, but sharing it with their new friends, people who understood the hero life, was pretty special. Laughter erupted as Clover responded to a picture of Jake and Rose with a heartbroken emoji. “Poor boy-crazy Clover. She’s really hoping to find a hero boyfriend of her own.” Kim said, chuckling as she put her Kimmunicator away.

     “I suppose I can’t blame her too much. When you do the stuff we do it’s nice to have someone who gets it. I know it’d certainly be a lot harder if I was still dating you all and you weren’t a part of the Hero life.” Danny said, leaning back in the seat as he kept his gaze out the front windscreen. They were using a path that didn’t overlap with most commercial airlines, and flying at an altitude that wasn’t common for them either, but a little extra care to avoid a possible collision never hurt. Danny’s ghost reflexes did also make him faster on the draw than any normal human pilot could ever be.

    “I guess you’re right. I’d hate to imagine having a boyfriend who’d get mad that I couldn’t make a movie night because I was busy fighting Drakken.” Kim said with an eyeroll. She laughed internally at herself. She’d mooned over Josh Mankey who was definitely someone who wouldn’t handle the Hero business very well. She’d lucked out with Danny. “Instead the first thing you ask when I get a call is if I want you to tag along.” She smiled at him.

     “Honestly, I do wish I could do more missions with you.” Danny said, kissing the top of her head. “I just always feel weird leaving Amity Park. I trust Mom and Dad and Valerie to handle pretty much anything up to the Box Ghost, and even he’s usually just pacified by giving him some boxes nowadays. I just always worry that like, Skulker or the Lunch Lady is going to pop out of the portal and be too much for them.”

     “You think they’d struggle with the Lunch Lady?” Kim asked with a raised eyebrow. Lunch Lady wasn’t a regular escapee, although she DID still come through from time to time. Danny always seemed to handle her pretty easily.

     “If she got enough food.” Danny clarified. “Everyone varies in how dangerous they are, Spectra’d be a nightmare after a national tragedy that filled everyone with misery, Walker’s already a problem, but he’d probably get stronger if there was some kind of ‘Rule breaking’ festival or something like that. I just worry that there’ll be some small thing I forget, or some new ghost I haven’t met before that happens to come by the second I leave and they just overpower everyone.” 

     “Well… if that DOES happen, it’s not like we don’t have Johnny and Ember. They’ve both said they’re willing to step in if things get TOO bad.” Kim pointed out.

      Danny sighed. “I know, but it’s not great for them to do so. For one, the human world is our concern, not theirs quite as much. For another actively fighting against a ghost makes more problems for them on the other side. They got a bit of a pass with Fright Knight, because him taking over is bad news for everyone on both sides. Maybe enough of them don’t like Walker that they could get away with him too. But if Johnny decides to step in while I’m fighting Skulker or something? That’s a grudge. Friend of my enemy doesn’t necessarily mean enemy in the ghost zone, but working against him, even once is sometimes enough to cause a lot of issues. It’s why Technus is adamant about never directly fighting anyone, even though he could probably take on most of the ghosts I fight on his own.”

    “I guess.” Kim said, leaning back in her chair with a contemplative look on her face. Politics in the ghost zone seemed strange, but she supposed politics when everyone is immortal looks weird. “Let’s move past that then. Excited for Hawaii?”

    “Yeah. Some time on the beach sounds nice, and I’ll admit I’m pretty stoked about the idea of seeing you in a swimsuit.” Danny said, shooting Kim a wink at that, although he couldn’t help the blush that came to his face with it.

     Kim flushed as well. “Come on! My dad would kill you if he heard you say that.” She said, although she wasn’t bothered by the statement at all. She’d had Star, Sammy, Alex, and Clover help her pick out one she wanted Danny to see her in after all. She’d helped Star and Sammy find their own equally enticing options, for when they next got the chance to show off. 

     “I know, but he’s not here, and Clover accidentally spilled the beans about your shopping trip.” Danny said with a chuckle. “She was trying to tell me about some shirt she saw she thought I’d like, but you know Clover, every shopping trip story goes through her entire time at the mall.” Kim nodded at that. Clover was a dear friend now, one Kim was beyond glad to have, but she was not known for her conciseness when it came to talking about shopping. “Regardless, I’m sure you’ll look great in it. Here’s hoping I don’t have to get a stick to beat the other guys away. I WILL if I have to, but I’d rather not.”

     Kim chuckled and gave him a playful shove. Danny came back after pretending like he was going to fall. “So, what are your thoughts on Lilo and Stitch? I know you dug into their files more than I did. I talked to Jake about it while you and Rose went on that shopping trip.” Danny asked. He and Jake had actually spent a good deal of time together while they were in New York. The pair had got on like a house on fire, and Danny had wished he lived closer. They probably could be about as close as he and Tucker are if he was.

      “Concerning thoughts about Stitch being a genetic experiment gone awry aside… Lilo’s 10.” Kim said, as she pulled out the dossier and looked over it again. “She’s the tweebs age, Haley’s age. I don’t like putting a kid in like this.” 

      Danny nodded. He didn’t have little siblings, but he knew how protective Kim was of her brothers, a sentiment Jake echoed during their conversations. Haley had developed her dragon powers only a couple months after Jake did, despite being several years younger, but Jake still didn’t feel comfortable letting her fully take over dragon duties even when he needed the time off. She’d been partnering with either her teacher or their grandfather whenever she needed to step up while he was busy with exams or a skate competition. Jake wasn’t comfortable letting Haley handle even the relatively tame world of magical creature protection, much less the wider world of supervillains they were dragging them into. “I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of it either, but don’t forget we’re still technically kids too.” Danny said, and Kim nodded. They were fifteen, at the cusp of adulthood but still with a ways to go, it was sometimes hard to remember that when they occasionally found themselves tossing supervillain henchmen around. “I think Global Justice is more interested in Stitch, and Lilo’s mostly around as a handler. Stitch reads like a Kaiju, but is the size of a koala. I think they’re more interested in that than the hawaiian girl who holds his leash.”

     “Isn’t that kind of a problem though? Being like hey, you should join our team, but only because we want your dog.” Kim asked.

     “Maybe? Circumstances being what they are, I think it might be understandable. The file does say that Lilo actually comes highly recommended for her ability to de-escalate situations. Apparently she’s managed to contain over 600 of these alien experiment things through a combination of her natural charisma and Stitch’s occasional muscle. We probably don’t want her on the front lines, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they would want her on speed dial for negotiations WITH aliens. She’s probably got more experience with that than anyone on the planet.” Danny said, pointing out a few passages in Lilo’s file.

     “It is wild to think that there are just aliens living on the planet though, right?” Kim asked, looking towards him.

     “Not that weird I don’t think, but my barometer is skewed because I fight ghosts on a daily basis. Ghosts are already real, magic is already real, what’s aliens at this point?” Danny said with a shrug. Kim supposed she couldn’t fault that logic. They’d met a family of dragons a few days ago, and she was dating a boy who was a ghost. 

    “Anyway, I’m definitely going to let Global Justice know that I am not letting Lilo in any combat zone if she joins.” Kim said, her tone totally resolute.

    “I’m with you there. I’m sure Sammy, Alex, Clover, Jake, and Ron will be too.” Danny said with a smile, leaning down and kissing her. “You’re hot when you care.”

     Kim flushed as red as her hair as she pushed him back, Danny laughing all the way.

    The Bird of Paradise hotel was pretty easy to spot, being the tallest building on the entire island, and Kim and Danny parked the Specter Speeder in one of the parking lots. Walking up to the front desk, Kim speaks up. “Hi, we have a reservation under Fenton?” Kim had a bit of a dopey smile on her face with that. It was almost like she had Danny’s last name and this was a honeymoon. They were here for ‘business of course, but she’d allow herself her fantasy for a little bit.

    “Daniel Fenton?” The receptionist asked and Danny nodded, pulling out his ID and credit card.

    “Yes ma’am.” Danny said, as the woman scanned the ID. It was ‘fake’ in so far as it said he was 18, but it was granted to him by Global Justice specifically for circumstances like this. Fifteen year old Danny Fenton couldn’t check into a hotel, but as an 18 year old he could. Danny thankfully had filled out and gotten a bit taller in his months of ghost fighting, so while he was maybe a tad short for an 18 year old, he’d pass.

    “You’re on the second floor, room 213.” The receptionist said, handing over a set of room keys. “Enjoy your stay at the Bird of Paradise.”

    “Thanks. While we’re here, we were hoping to see a friend of ours who works here, she actually recommended you all to us. Nani Pelekai? Is she on shift today?” Kim asked, telling a little half-lie. They WERE here at this hotel over any other on the island because Nani worked here, and hopefully by the end of this they would be friends. They just weren’t yet.

    “Oh yeah, she’s out at the surfboard rental hut, she’s the manager there.” The receptionist said, her smile widening a tiny bit. Seems she wasn’t as initially thrilled with another set of tourists, but if they were here to see a local? They weren’t QUITE as bad.

    “Thanks!” Kim said as she slipped the room keys into the pockets of the shorts she was wearing, before turning to look to Danny. “So, put our stuff in the room or go see Nani first?”

     “Room first, just to get it over with. We’ll be here for a few days regardless, not like Nani’s shift is going to end before we drop it off, it’s like… 2 PM.” Danny said, and Kim nodded. They were actually given a suite, which was quite nice, and Kim was very excited to spend a little vacation time here. For the sake of Kim’s father, who they were already lying to just a little bit by Danny being here, Kim elected to sleep in a separate room from Danny. She would have like the opportunity to cuddle up to him at night, and suspected that it would happen on the couch anyway when they’d try watching a movie and pass out, as happened regularly anyway, but this way they could at least say they had separate rooms. Danny snapped a picture of Kim tossing her suitcase on the bed, sending it to the group chat to let them know they arrived.

    “Warn me next time!” Kim said, tossing a pillow at Danny’s head. He let it phase through him and stuck out his tongue at her. “You’re lucky I love you.”

     “Love you too, Kim.” Danny said as he came up and hugged her for a second, planting a quick kiss on her lips. “Want to go see Nani? We’ll have the big meeting and then hopefully enough daylight to check out the beach.”

    “Yeah, let’s get this over with. I know if she’s anything like me, she’s not going to be thrilled about us asking for her sister to be put in harms way.” Kim said, as she readied herself for the upcoming conversation.

    The surf rental hut wasn’t hard to find, and the woman behind the counter was definitely Nani. Aside from the name tag that said her name was such, she looked exactly like the picture they had on file, and also looked exactly like an older Lilo. “Aloha! Welcome to the surf shack. Looking for a rental? Or to book some lessons or an excursion?” Nani asked, a customer service voice going in full force.

    “Hi, actually we’re looking for Nani Pelekai, is that you?” Kim asked, trying to be polite and non-threatening. Two strangers coming up and asking for you by name is concerning, but hopefully the fact that the two strangers are pretty obviously teenagers should hopefully make it less scary.

    “I am. I’m sorry, do I know you? I meet a lot of people here so I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten.” Nani said, keeping her customer service voice up. 

    “No, we actually wanted to talk to you about your sister Lilo.” Kim said, taking a moment to take a breath. “We’re from an organization who has some interest in her and Stitch. We’re aware of the whole… alien situation, and wanted to discuss some stuff related to it. Don’t want to get more into detail here out in the open.” 

    Nani looked like she was a deer in the headlights for a moment, before Danny stepped in. “It’s not bad, we promise, and you can tell us to leave and pound sand once we’ve talked about it. We’re from an organization called Global Justice, we just want to talk. You name the place, and any time over the next few days.” 

    That seemed to calm Nani down a bit, although not much. “Look, we… if I’m going to talk to any organization about this stuff, I have a family friend who needs to be present. How about you meet me at my house this evening, maybe about 7. I need to make a call.”

    “Whatever you need to feel comfortable.” Danny assured. “We’ll see you then. Do you mind if we leave you a contact number in case you need to change the time?” Danny said, Nani shook her head and handed him a pad and pen, and Danny wrote down his cell phone number. “Give us a call if something changes. We look forward to seeing you and Lilo tonight.”

     Nani nodded, still a bit too shaken up to speak as Danny and Kim waved and moved off to the hotel. As soon as they were out of earshot, Nani rushed to a phone and called the only family friend she had who could deal with this kind of thing.

      The Pelekai family home was a quaint little structure on the edge of the forest and the coast atop a hill. The green walls with white trim covered by red roofs was almost postcard worthy, although the strange flying-saucer like structure that sat atop the larger of the two sections. “Do you think that came before or after the aliens?” Danny asked as they walked up the drive. He’d flown the pair there from the hotel, since both were too young to drive, and they weren’t in any rush to try and fly the Specter Speeder, it tended to give off the wrong impression.

    “I’m guessing after, although I guess we’d have to ask them to be sure. You as nervous about this as I am?” Kim asked, as she glanced up at the house again. She was normally pretty gung-ho about anything, anything is possible for a Possible after all, but the thought of coming to a family, that by their records had already experienced great tragedy, and asking them to allow their youngest to fight supervillains? It was a tall ask.

    “Oh, probably more so, but it’ll be alright. We know we’re here for the right reasons, and we want what’s best for Lilo too. If they decide they aren’t cool with Lilo joining? That’s fine. We ask if they’re willing to just be on call to answer alien questions and leave it at that. It’ll work out.” Danny said, shooting Kim a reassuring smile. Kim might be the cheerleader, but Danny was good at lifting spirits too. Based on the smile she shot back, Danny figured he’d done a pretty good job.

    Knocking at the door, a large African-American man answered, dressed in a black suit with dark sunglasses that were almost impenetrably tinted. He had no hair, and looked every bit as intimidating as they imagined he was supposed to be in this instant. “You are the ones from Global Justice?” His deep voice asked, as they were certain he looked over them with intense suspicion.

    “We are. I take it you’re the family friend Nani was talking about?” Danny asked, putting on a friendly voice. Academically he knew that this man was probably just a normal human, and therefore not REALLY capable of hurting him if he didn’t let him. It didn’t stop him from being TERRIFYING though.

    “I am. How about you step inside and meet the whole family.” The man said, stepping back and holding the door. Danny and Kim stepped inside, where they saw the entirety of the recorded Pelekai family, plus one other sat on the couch. Lilo was sandwiched between Nani and the large alien man they knew to be Jumba Jookiba, with Stitch sitting in front of her, obviously on edge and ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice. Next to Jumba sat another alien, thin with a single eye, who they had records of being named Pleakley. Next to Nani sat a handsome hawaiian man they hadn’t seen in any family photos. Either he was a newcomer to the family, or just hadn’t been in any of the specific photos they had. The large man who let them in wasn’t in any of them either, so it’s possible he was a friend of some description Global Justice hadn’t tagged as important. Kim kind of wished they had.

    “Hello, everyone. It’s nice to get the chance to meet you all.” Danny said, trying to start out on the right foot. He considered himself to be FAR worse at this than Kim was, but Kim was having difficulties putting her own ‘protective older sister’ instincts in the cage to take the lead her. Danny didn’t blame her, but he did know that they weren’t planning on letting Lilo get hurt. It was just a matter of convincing the family of that. “I think I can open with some introductions, and then I’ll lay our cards on the table so to speak.” Danny smiled as reassuringly as he could. “My name is Danny Fenton, and this is Kim Possible. We’re a part of a superhero team created by Global Justice. We’ve come to ask if Lilo and Stitch would be interested in joining the team.”

     Everyone’s eyes widened a bit at that, well… Pleakley’s eye widened only having one. Lilo’s were the most surprised though, although she didn’t speak up, instead fumbling with a large headed so-ugly-its-cute doll that looked handmade.

    “We’ve heard a good deal about what you’ve done. Rehabilitating some alien experiments, stopping an alien invasion and galactic takeover, it’s real impressive stuff.” Danny added, buttering them up a bit, but being genuine about it. “We’re hoping you’d be willing to talk with us about your experiences with that, as well as have a conversation with us about joining the team and what that means. Would you all be so kind as to introduce yourselves? We have files with names, but I’d rather hear them from you all.”

    “Cobra Bubbles.” The large man said, taking his seat at the edge of the sofa, facing them and being physically closer to them than anyone else in the room.

    “Nani Pelekai, although you know that already.” Nani said, with some mixture of anxiety, fear, and maybe even a touch of annoyance in her voice.

    “Lilo Pelekai.” Lilo said, her voice perhaps a little smaller than was normal for her usual boisterous self.

    “Jumba Jookiba.” Jumba said, his tone flatter than those who knew him expected.

     “Wendy Pleakley” Pleakley said, his tone actually very bright and happy. He looked excited for some reason. Danny raised an eyebrow at the name Wendy, but made nothing of it. He was honestly glad the aliens in the room had names human mouths could say.

    “Uh… hi. I’m David, David Kawena.” David said, he looked lost. The way he held Nani’s hand made it seem like he was here for moral support. The ring on the hand she was holding made it pretty obvious why he was the support.

    “Pleasure to meet you all.” Danny said, nodding at all of them and flashing a bright smile. Kim did the same.

    Following a moment of pause, Cobra’s deep voice cut through the silence like a guillotine. “So, how pray tell, did you come across the information about Lilo and Stitch here?” He asked, looking at them over his glasses. His eyes were somehow more intimidating than the glasses.

    “Global Justice provides us with the records, although I’ll admit I don’t know where they get them. I’d assume some kind of information sharing between agencies, but I don’t know for sure. We’re mostly their team for when a supervillain is building a death ray and needs to be stopped.” Kim said, before adding. “Global Justice is a worldwide peacekeeping organization founded in the late ‘60s by a Dr. Benton Quest, after he’d traveled the world with his family pretty much doing what we do now.”

    Cobra leaned forward steepling his fingers. “I’m familiar with the organization. My father, Cobra Bubbles Sr. was among the early members, and I trained with them myself in the ‘90s. Special Projects division.”

    “Huh, wonder why Betty didn’t talk to us about that?” Danny wondered aloud.

    “Betty Director?” Cobra asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “Dr. Director now, but yeah. Still find it really weird that her last name is director.” Danny said, shaking his head.

    “We did at the time too. You’ve given me enough here to at least let you speak. I’ll confirm this through my own channels, but not just anyone would know about Betty.” Cobra said, before nodding to Nani. “If they’re not the real deal, I’ll know by tomorrow morning, but the odds they’d know what they do and not be are slim. You know I wouldn’t let you take a risk if I didn’t have a good feeling about it. Ms. Possible there has a public track record, and is exactly the kind of asset Betty would recruit. Everything I know says they’re on the up and up. I think we can listen, if nothing else.” 

    Nani nodded to Cobra, breathing out a sigh. “If Cobra says you’re worth listening to, I’ll believe him. So, what does your team do?”

    “Well, when we work as a team specifically, it’s usually for large-world scale threats that supervillains are putting on that maybe each one of us wouldn’t be able to handle on our own, or with our normal support crews.” Kim said, trying to piece out how to properly describe how they function. “Danny and I both have our own little support crews, if you’ve ever heard of me, you’ve probably heard of my friend Ron too, he calls himself my sidekick, I think of him more as a partner, but we work together on this stuff. I also have my tech guy Wade who designs and builds the equipment I use, and handles all the tech stuff. Danny has his own crew who does a lot of the same, but focused on his specific ghost stuff.”

    “Ghosts?” Lilo spoke up, confused. “Ghosts are real?”

    “Yep.” Danny said, transforming, floating and turning invisible for a second, then intangible and putting his hand through the wall and back out. “I got ghost powers a little under a year ago, and started using them to fight ghosts in my hometown because they kept attacking. My family and friends help out with that, either by developing equipment, keeping me on schedule so the Hero stuff doesn’t overshadow my normal life, or just emotional support. There’s also the occasional time they have to fight ghosts themselves, they’re keeping the city in one piece while I’m gone.”

    “Cool!” Lilo said, her eyes sparkling as Danny transformed.

    “Yeah, my ghost hero name is Phantom. That’s a secret, information about Phantom is that he is a separate person who my family just helps with equipment because they were already the pre-eminent ghost hunters. Since we’re asking you to be a part of the team though, we do want to make sure that you’re getting all the information we can give you about it before hand. There are a few things that are secret, but we do promise it’s nothing bad, and it’s something you’ll learn pretty much as soon as you join the team.” Danny said, as Kim nodded. “We can even tell you what the THING is, but just like, not the specific details. We have three team members, good friends of ours, that work for an organization called WOOHP. They’re espionage agents, but they help us fight supervillains, and they’re good friends of ours. We just can’t tell you their names unless you’re on the team, because that’s privileged information.”

    Cobra had been slightly on edge with the secrecy, but accepted the explanation well enough. He’d done enough ops like this to recognize that there were times that such information was privileged. He nodded to Nani.

    “Back to the topic of the team, being on it isn’t any obligation that would take you away from your normal duties. If you’re keeping the aliens in line here as your normal duties, that’s still what your main mission is, it’s just if we come up on something that we’d need help with, we’d ask that you’d pick up the phone when we call. That could be just for information, like if we meet an alien species and need help identifying it or whatever, since that’d be in your wheelhouse, or if there’s some super powered guy causing havoc that just Danny and Jake can’t handle on their own.” Kim said, nodding over to Danny as she mentioned him.

    “Jake?” Lilo asked, he head tilting.

    “Yep, we actually just recruited your friend Jake Long for the team.” Danny said, pulling out his phone and showing the picture of him and Kim with Jake, Rose, and Haley in front of the Statue of Liberty. “He mentioned you were his ‘homegirl’.” Danny said with a chuckle.

    “So you know about his stuff too?” Lilo asked, and Danny nodded.

    “Actually had to fight a couple of his bad guys while we were in New York recruiting him.” Danny said, as he put his phone away. “We worked pretty well together. I’m excited to see what we can do in the future.”

    “Before recruiting Jake, the first thing we did as a formal team together was stop a supervillain from taking over the world using a video game. Does the game ‘Mind Hackers’ ring any bells for you guys?” Kim asked.

    Nani nodded. “Yeah, Lilo and Stitch got so pulled into that game we couldn’t get them out. The Pleakley tried it and ended up the same way. Eventually we had one of the experiments mess with the game and they came out of it, but they were unresponsive for a few hours.”

    “Yeah, we’d had several friends do the same thing. We actually stopped it as our first mission together. Saved the developer the supervillain kidnapped, and destroyed the game server before he started sending out commands to take over the world.” Kim said, looking a little proud of herself for that. “While the circumstances weren’t great, that experience actually properly introduced us to some of our best friends now. We hope that by working with us, not only can we work together to save the world, but also provide people who understand the struggles of what this kind of Hero work can cause. I get to talk to one of the WOOHP agents about the difficulties of trying to get homework done on a helicopter in the Alps, there’s not that many other people who I get to talk about that with.”

     Nani glanced at the two teens, obviously weighing them out a bit more. “I can appreciate what you’ve done if that’s true… but Lilo is ten. She’s a little girl. You talk about how you know that she and Stitch did all that stuff before… but you don’t know what it was like here on the ground when it was happening. You didn’t know how terrifying it was coming home to an alien having kidnapped my little sister because of a dog we found at the pound.” Nani sighs, placing her head in her hands for a moment before looking up at them. “Look, I’m sure it’s obvious I’m too young to be Lilo’s mom. While that’s maybe biologically possible, it’s not the case. I’m her older sister, we lost our parents about five years ago and I suddenly had to drop what I was planning on doing with my life to raise her. Cobra here came into our lives because he was the CPS officer who was responsible for making sure I was capable of taking care of Lilo. I was a nineteen year old who had barely finished high school, and only really had prospects to be a professional surfer, but that wasn’t a life that could support Lilo. I gave it up for her, and I’d do it a thousand times over. Now you come here and ask me to let her… go fight supervillains?”

    Danny and Kim let that sink in for a second, before Kim spoke up. “I can’t fully understand what you went through, but I do know what it is to be an older sister. I have two brothers Lilo’s age who want nothing more than to be doing what I’m doing. They might even have the chops for it since they’re supergeniuses, but I haven’t let them get anywhere near this stuff. I want them to have normal lives too. I don’t want them to be fighting supervillains, I don’t want Lilo to be doing it either.”

     “Then what are you asking? Just for Stitch? Why was Lilo ever in the conversation?” Nani asked pointedly. “What are you afraid of that needs him?”

    Danny speaks up. “At the moment, there is nothing on the radar that we don’t think we can handle. Each of us on our own has done the whole saving the world thing a few times over, and as a team maybe even a half-dozen more. We also understand that we don’t know everything that can happen. A year ago there was no threat of a ghost invasion to the world, and in that year we’ve had no fewer than 120 ghosts attack my city, a handful of which being capable of taking over the entire world given the chance. Three years ago Supervillains had been thought of as a thing of the past, but then they started popping up again, with Kim, alongside some other more covert agents taking care of them. We could be on the peak of the danger of supervillains, or it could keep rising, and we just don’t know what it looks like. Ideally, we’ll never have to call. Ideally every bit of communication we have with you is just a check-in, or maybe a question because an alien ended up somewhere else and we need you to translate or pick him up. The basic boring stuff. But on the off chance that something DOES come up? That there’s a bad guy who is too dangerous for even Jake and I, the ones with superpowers to take on? We’d like to be able to call on Stitch to help with that. Lilo’s file also shows that she’s been exceptional as an alien diplomat. Maybe she’d need to remotely talk to someone. That’s all we’re thinking about asking. Having it our way, Lilo never has to leave a transport ship to do her job, and only needs to BE on the ship because she wants to be or a connection to here is hard to make for whatever reason.”

    Nani sighs, and David places his hand on her shoulder, pulling her in for a half-hug and letting her rest her head on his shoulder. “Look, you know I don’t know much about all of this. But I committed to helping you and Lilo. We’ll get through this, as an Ohana, okay?”

    The tender moment was interrupted by a sudden crack as the wooden door gave way beneath the metal soled boots of Warhed, his gaze scanning the room as Danny and Kim immediately shot into action, Danny shifting into Phantom in an instant. As Warhed’s gaze locked on Stitch though, he smirked, reaching onto his belt and grabbing a cube that he chucked at the blue alien. It engulfed him, trapping him in some kind of energy cage that floated back towards Warhed. Stitch raged and thrashed at the energy field that surrounded him, but was ineffective against the cage he found himself in. “Package secure. Nothing for the main man.” Warhed said into his wrist communicator.

     “We’ll see about that!” Danny said as he leapt forward to grab Stitch away. Warhead backhanded him, knocking him into a nearby wall where a picture frame fell and shattered against the floor.

    “You’ll pay for that!” Kim said as she tried to perform a flying kick towards the brute, but she was knocked out of the air just as easily.

    “Chumps and bastiches the lot of you.” Warhed said, as he stepped back through the door, slamming his boots together as rockets appeared, shooting him into the sky.

   “Stitch! No!” Lilo called out, rushing out the door.

    “Kim, tracker! Now!” Danny called out, as Kim pulled a tracking device from the Kimmunicator with practiced ease as Danny grabbed it, turning intangible and rocketing through the roof, he pushed his speed to the limits to try and catch up to the alien threat. Thankfully, Danny was faster than Warhed’s rockets by a substantial margin. Grasping the tracker between two knuckles, he slammed his fist into the alien’s back, attaching the tracker, and delivering a solid blow in the process.

    “Ah! Bastich!” Warhed said, turning around and locking eyes with Danny. “Not sure what you are, but I ain’t having no blasted interloper gettin’ between me and my payday.” With that Warhead reeled back and slammed his fist into Danny’s sternum, the electrical gauntlet on his hand sparking and delivering a shock throughout Danny’s whole body.

    In that instant, all Danny could feel was PAIN. It felt like the incident that gave him his powers all over again, a complete and total shock that filled every nerve in his body with a burning pain that almost knocked him out. Warhed flew away as Danny started falling to Earth, unable to focus on keeping himself in the air. A second later and Danny managed to catch himself from hitting the ground, although he’d lost visual on the alien attacker. 

    Danny floated down defeated to the Pelekai house. “Didn’t manage to stop him. Did get the tracker on though.” Danny said, struggling to regain his composure. “I don’t know what was up with those gauntlets, but they fried me.”

    “That was a Lorwardian.” Pleakley said, somewhat shaken. “One of the few known races the Galactic Federation refuses to deal with, since they just try to conquer everything they can get their hands on.”

    “His gloves were likely Lorwardian tech designed to deal with Ectarians. They are a species that have similar abilities to yours, perhaps evolving from the same ecological niche. Experiment 375 uses much of their DNA in his construction.” Jumba said, rubbing his chin lightly. “I believe that was Warhed. Bounty Hunter, outside the law. Thrown off Lorwardia for not bending the knee to their king.”

    “Great, so he’s got anti-ghost weapons, and is a known criminal. Well, won’t be the first we’ve dealt with.” Danny said, shaking himself. “Kim, tracker working?”

   “Yep, locked onto his signal. Looks like he’s heading to a ship in low orbit. Wade says his trackers will work as far as the Moon reliably, and he still gets pings from the one he sent to Jupiter, so if we can get a ship we can still give chase.” Kim said, looking down at the Kimmunicator. “Please tell me you all have a space ship that we can use to chase him?”

    “We do, but if that guy has those gauntlets to mess with Danny’s powers, and tossed you both aside so easily, you’re going to need some help. We’ll need to grab some cousins.” Lilo said, determined.

    “Cousins?” Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “It is name she has given for the experiments. Hawaiian tradition I believe.” Jumba said, looking at Lilo. “Which ones are you thinking of?”

    “Sparky and Reuben.” Lilo said definitively. “If those shock gauntlets are so dangerous for Danny, Sparky’s the best bet to deal with them, and Reuben’s got a ship fast enough to catch up, since we can’t really pull your ship up Jumba since you added that extra lab section.”

   “I did not expect to be needing to.” Jumba grumbled, but relented. “Choices are understandable.”

    “So… where do we find those guys?” Kim asked, eyes glancing over at Danny as he continued his recovery. She’d seen him take electrical attacks before, Skulker used a few, and Technus had them as a part of his bread and butter fighting style when the pair would spar, but she’d NEVER seen them do this much damage to Danny.

    “Sparky’s at the lighthouse, and Reuben’s in the forest. Come on, we’ll take the X-buggy.” Lilo said, gesturing for them to follow.

   “I think I might be faster.” Danny said, seemingly having recovered. “Grab on and tell me where to go.” Danny grabbed Lilo and Kim’s hands, before shooting off towards the lighthouse. Nani watched on in concern, but knew she couldn’t say anything right now. Nothing in the world would get between Lilo trying to save Stitch, and she knew better to try. Here’s hoping these two heroes were actually up to the task.

    Cobra put his hand on her shoulder. “They jumped into help without a second thought. I’ve seen people pulling cons… they aren’t. I’ll make sure to get in touch with the people they’re saying they work for… but I think we already know they’re the real deal.”

    Nani could only nod.

   Flying into the top of the Lighthouse, Sparky zapped himself out of the large bulb, tilting his head to Lilo as he looked over at her. “Stitch?” He rasped, his alien tongue still struggling with English.

   “A bad guy took him. He’s got these shock gloves that really hurt my friend here who is trying to help me save him. Would you help too?” Lilo asked, reaching her hand out to Sparky.

   The yellow-alien slammed his fists together, nodding and taking Lilo’s hand. “Save cousin.” It said. “How go?”

   “Reuben, hopefully.” Lilo said. “Fly alongside us, you know where to go right?” Sparky nodded and the quartet flew off into the woods. As they approach from the air, Danny can’t help but notice the large yellow and black ship that was presumably their ride into space.

    “So… why is there a random alien ship here?” Danny asked as they touched down nearby.

    “Well, it used to belong to a guy named Gantu. He was like a space police officer who was after Stitch, but then he got fired for endangering others trying to capture him. After that he worked for Dr. Hamsterviel, who was Jumba’s old partner, to capture all of the experiments that ended up here. Hamsterviel wanted to use them to take over the galaxy, but he failed. Gantu eventually helped us stop Hamsterviel after he forced Jumba to make him a super experiment that was even more dangerous than Stitch. After that, he got hired back on as a police officer and works for the Galactic Federation as a bodyguard. Reuben used to be his partner under Hamsterviel, although he didn’t really do anything. Now Reuben lives here and makes sandwiches.” Lilo explained as they came to a small shack with the name ‘Reuben’s’ emblazoned on it in bold letters. Stepping in caused a little bell to ring, and Danny and Kim took in the sight of the chaotic kitchen.

    A yellow-orange creature with similar features to Stitch stacked deli meats and other sandwich fillings on slices of bread, before quickly wrapping and packaging them, writing their contents on the foam containers as they stacked up with speed. Behind him, a strange lizard-like alien with what seemed to be an organic chef’s hat and spatula tail manned a grill and fryer. “Ah! Lilo! Welcome, need a snack? What you have Sparky here for? And these newcomers?” The yellow one asked. Danny narrowed his eyes lightly at the voice. He sounded like his Dad and Technus. Strange.

    “Stitch has been kidnapped.” Lilo said with urgency. “We have a tracker on the guy who got him, but we need to get to space, and we could use your help fighting him. He’s really strong.”

   Reuben paused for a second, processing that, before sighing. “Guess I’d be a bad cousin if I just let him get kidnapped. Frenchfry! You’re in charge while I’m gone!” The experiment said, hanging up his apron and leading everyone to the ship. “Climb on in, we’ll be taking off in thirty seconds.” Reuben said, before he grew two extra arms and began scurrying over the ship, presumably doing pre-flight checks.

    Loading into the ship, Danny, Kim, Sparky and Lilo sat down and buckled up, as Reuben came in, pressed a button to close the hatch, and turned the key that started the ship, a loud whirring pouring into the cabin as it quickly shot up and out of the atmosphere. 

    Danny was thrilled. He’d hoped he’d get the chance to be on an alien spaceship at some point in his life ever since he learned that friendly aliens existed, and now he was! Once Stitch was safe he was going to milk this for every bit of the experience he could. 

    “Alright, we’re out of atmosphere now, let me see the tracking signal so we can follow it.” Reuben said, as he grabbed the Kimmunicator from Kim and patched it into his console. “Ooh boy. Lorwardian ship then. Nasty business. Good news is, we’re faster, by a good bit. 3 minutes until we’re in boarding distance.”

    “Wait, the information we have on these experiments is that they were all build for pretty specific purposes. Sparky over there is some kind of living battery or electricity eater, which makes sense, but… don’t you make sandwiches? How are you the spaceship pilot?” Danny asked, a little confused.

    “Ha! I wish I was just a sandwich maker. Nah, I’m the prototype for Stitch. All the destructive power and durability, alongside the intellect, just… none of the destructive drive Stitch does.” Reuben said, laughing. “What’s our plan for boarding here? A lot of the weapons on this got decommissioned after we took it out of the fleet, so I don’t really have the ability to disable his engines.”

    Danny thought for a second. “Do you have space suits that would fit us?” He asked.

    Reuben nodded, reaching into a console and pulling out some suits. “Galactic Federation standard issue one-size-fits-all emergency space suits. Mandatory on any GF registered ship.” Everyone put them on, Danny noticing the black and red color scheme that he thought looked rather flattering on Kim, especially since it clung to her body like a second skin. It reminded him of the catsuits Sam, Alex, and Clover wore. He shook his head trying to clear the hormonal thoughts out. He had a friend to save first, he could drool over his girlfriend later.

    “I don’t know how these space ships work, are there like energy shields? Would it stop an Ectarian from phasing through?” Danny asked. If Ectarians had abilities like ghosts, he had to assume anything that was designed to deal with them would deal with him as well.

    “Energy shields yes, but they haven’t really figured out a way to make a shield to block Ectarians. Don’t know why you’re asking though, you didn’t bring any.” Reuben said as he adjusted bits of his own suit.

    “Because it seems like Ectarians and I have a lot of overlap in our biology.” Danny said as he transformed again. “Reuben, can you make the ship automatically keep pace with his?”

    “Yeah, it already is.” Reuben said. 

    “Then everybody grab on and I’ll take us over. Helmets on.” Danny said, as everyone clapped their helmets closed, and he grabbed onto everyone phasing them through the hull into space. They floated for a moment as Danny pushed them to the other ship, before phasing into the hull of the other ship and lightly landing inside.

     In the large central cockpit, which was decorated not unlike an Earth Man Cave, but with an alien filter, Warhed could be seen conversing with some diminutive white mouse alien. “Good, good.” Hamsterviel said, his nasally voice coming in very clearly through the ship’s speakers. Danny wondered if Tucker would find being in the spaceship, or the quality of the sound system more interesting, but threw that thought aside. “You have done well, Mr. Warhed. Perhaps there will be more work for you once I take over the galaxy.”

    “Always appreciate a happy customer.” Warhed grumbled, disinterested in the conversation, but still giving it some level of professional courtesy.

    Danny leaned down and whispered in Lilo’s ear. “Stab in the dark, but is that your Hamsterviel guy you were talking about before?” When Lilo nodded, he continued. “Why is he called that when he looks more like a rabbit?”

    “I always thought he was more like a gerbil.” Lilo said truthfully. “Stitch is over there.” She added, pointing towards the large energy cage that dominated the back corner of the room. The green energy fields flashing with electric arcs as Stitch beat himself against it without success.

   “You and Kim go try and get him out. Let me, Sparky and Reuben handle big, green and angry over there.” Danny said, with Lilo and Kim nodding as he did so.

    “Ah, do we have to?” Reuben complained. When Lilo gave him a slightly aggravated look he relented, growing his extra arms. “Alright, alright. Fighting time.”

    Danny shoots forward clocking Warhed in the back of the head with a surprise attack as Reuben and Sparky closed the distance as well, corralling the Lorwardian away from Stitch’s cage.

    “Ah, you Bastich!” Warhed screamed, as he wheeled around and looked at Danny, his pupil-less red eyes glaring with hatred. “I don’t know HOW you got here, but just know the main man don’t take kindly to intruders.” He readied his shock gauntlets again. “This seemed pretty effective last time, let’s see what happens when I turn up the juice.” A loud electrical whine emanated from the gauntlets as he powered them up even further, reeling back for a punch to Danny. “Say goodnight Bastich!”

    “Mine!” Sparky screamed as he flew himself into the gauntlets. The yellow alien disappeared into the electrical component entirely, before loud pops could be heard as capacitors overloaded. Sparky popped out, burped in the Lorwardian’s face, before smiling wide and saying “Tasty!”

    “You little Trog!” Warhed said, pulling a knife from his boot, and slashing at Sparky. The electric experiment zapped himself out of the way, and Danny caught the blade on an ecto-barrier he formed, holding Warhed in place for a moment while Reuben lunged, his immense strength knocking Warhed off his feet.

    Danny thought for a moment as he felt out his power around the barrier he formed. He’d not experimented with this power too much, and wondered. Shrinking the barrier to a line roughly an inch wide, he turned it into a circle and extended the length to be roughly 6 ft. long. Holding it in his hands, he had effectively created an ectoplasmic energy bo staff. With a dopey grin at his “new” power, he jumped into the fray, smacking Warhed with it as he and Reuben kept offensive pressure on the brute, Sparky stepping in to shock him every once in a while. Warhed was left with no means to press his own offense, but Danny had to give it to him, the man could take a beating.

    While Danny and the experiments kept Warhed distracted, Kim and Lilo rushed the control console for the energy cage, trying to disable it. Kim managed to turn it on, but was met by characters unlike anything she’d ever seen on Earth. “Great, of course it’s in an alien language, why wouldn’t it be?” She grumbled a bit to herself. “Don’t really want to poke around in here in case there’s an ‘execute prisoner’ function in there.” After Lilo’s eyes widened, Kim recognized she probably shouldn’t have said it like that. She was really far to used to disconnecting herself from the danger of the situations she found herself in, since worrying too much about it was actively a distraction more often than not. Danny and Sammy had found their disconnect in deconstructing bad guy superweapons, making fun of their designs or poor wiring in parts, flexing their engineering knowledge. Kim had gotten used to poking fun at her situations in ways that made Ron scream and ‘freak out’, because Ron’s freak outs WERE his release from the stress. Ron was in control of himself the entire time he was having one of his fits, able to turn it off when need be, but the ACT of freaking out was how he dealt with the stress. They balanced each other out that way. Lilo hadn’t had the opportunity to develop that.

    “Let me take a look. Stitch has been teaching me some of it.” Lilo said, looking at the control panel. It was a little too tall for her, and Kim had to lift her up to look at it. “No, this isn’t High Galactic. I can’t read it.” She said after a moment. “Those characters say ‘Chrisanthemum’, but that’s not a word outside of our planet.”

    “Great. Any other ideas?” Kim asked. She glanced around for a power cable, but didn’t see anything immediately obvious. Leave it to the space ruffian to care about cable management.

    “If Sparky wasn’t busy fighting he could maybe short out the system… but depending on if this is fail-safe or fail-deadly that could fry Stitch.” Lilo muttered to herself. Kim was impressed at her thought process, something like that was the kind of thinking that had taken her months of fighting supervillains to get into. From what they’d read, Lilo hadn’t had fights like theres, instead being more of an alien rehabilitator than a crime-fighter. “Grr… If I had brought my Z-Switch this would have been easy.”

    “What would a game console help?” Kim asked, trying to follow her process. “Stitch modify it to be a supercomputer or something?”

    “No, there’s a cousin who lives in it, his name is Glitch, he controls software and stuff. He likes playing the bad guys in our games to make the games more challenging.” Lilo mentioned as she racked her brain a bit.

    “Wait! That might be it! Phantom, did Technus come with us today?” Kim asked, calling over to Danny as she watched her boyfriend deliver a solid punch to the Lorwardian.

   Technus emerged from Danny’s pocket, having jumped out of his phone. “I did indeed Ms. Possible. How may I be of assistance?” Technus asked as he flew over, glancing over as Danny ducked under a wide swing from Warhed. As the fight got more desperate for Warhed, he was gaining ground. While Danny and Reuben for all purposes seemed to be stronger than him, they just didn’t have the fighting experience he did, nor the raw teamwork necessary to pull it off.

    “Think you can try and take over this alien tech? We can’t read it to disable it.” Kim said, showing Technus the console.

    “Ooh! This’ll be a challenge.” Technus said as he flew into the console, his face showing on the screen as he started going through it. “Oh, they use a quantum system, interesting. Shame there’s no encryption at all here though.” Technus said as he took complete control of the ship. “Massive security holes, must not have hackers where he is from. If Tucker or Wade could read this they’d have this torn open in a few seconds.”

    “He talks a lot, doesn’t he?” Lilo asked as she watched him.

    “He does, but he means well.” Kim said, smiling as she heard the low hum of the energy field powering down.

    “I may talk a lot, but I also get results!” Technus said, as his face appeared on the big monitor that Hamsterviel was on. “Total ship control. This baby isn’t going anywhere.”

    “And that means you have nowhere to run, Warhed.” Danny said with a smirk. “Stitch, you hoping to get some licks in? He DID kidnap you after all.”

   “MEEGA NALA KWEESTA!” Stitch roared as he lunged at the Lorwardian, all four arms out and slamming his fists into the face of the large green alien.

   Danny, Reuben, and Sparky stepped back as they watched Stitch at work. “He’s awful vicious for a little guy.” Danny noted, as Stitch ravaged the brute. “What was that he screamed out anyway?”

    “Something I’m not comfortable repeating in front of the kid. Fair to say if we had a mother she’d be trying to wash his mouth out with soap.” Reuben said, with Sparky nodding.

    “Stitch tried to explain what it meant once, but got somewhere around explaining the anatomy of some alien before Jumba stopped him.” Lilo said as she came to stand next to Danny, Kim beside her. She looked up to Hamsterviel on the screen. “And you Hamsterviel, I don’t know how you got out of prison, but I’ll be sure to let the Grand Councilwoman know that you busted out again. She might even send Gantu after you again, and you KNOW he’s not going to be lenient.”

    “Oh? Like I should be scared of that oversized blubber butt? He was an incompetent minion when he was one. I replaced him for a reason.” Hamsterviel said, a look of smug superiority on his face.

    “It’s a good thing he’ll have some help then. I wonder how many of Stitch’s cousins would sign up for a chance to bring you in again? You did kidnap all of them once, and Hammerhead DOES hold a grudge.” Lilo idly wondered, and that seemed to give Hamsterviel some pause.

    “You haven’t heard the last of me, little girl! I will have my experiments back, and I will rule the galaxy!” Hamsterviel said, as he ended the connection. 

    “Bit of a blowhard, isn’t he?” Danny asked, looking over to Lilo.

    She nodded, shaking her head. “Yeah, thankfully HE hasn’t ever really been dangerous, just the people who he could get to work for him. Hopefully if Gantu starts chasing him, it’ll mean less people are willing to work for him.” She said, before looking over to Stitch. “Stitch, just knock him out already, he’s had enough.”

    Stitch looked over, snarling, before his face softened. He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes before delivering a hammerblow onto the Lorwardian’s head, knocking him out. “Lilo no fun.” Stitch grumbled, before rolling off of the Lorwardian as he collapsed onto the floor, coming to hug Lilo. “Thanks.”

   “Make sure you thank Danny and Kim too. They really took charge on coming to save you.” Lilo said, and Stitch turned around, his ears perking up as he looked at them.

   “Thank you for saving me.” Stitch said, his throat seemingly having issues constructing the words.

   “No problem little man.” Danny said, sticking out his fist. Stitch gave him a fist bump. “Now, don’t suppose you know how we could contain this guy?”

    “The ship’s manifest mentioned restrainer cuffs located in the top drawer over there.” Technus said from his place inside the computer. “I also took the liberty of triangulating the location of this Dr. Hamsterviel. Matching it with some records on the ship, I have a list of planets the pair have interacted on. Perhaps this will be of use to your Galactic Federation?”

    “Way to go Technus.” Kim said, looking as Reuben grabbed the cuffs from the drawer and slapped them onto Warhed.

    “That’ll certainly give Gantu a heads up on hunting him down.” Lilo said with a broad smile to Technus. “Thanks!”

     “You are welcome, small child.” Technus said, a large grin plastering itself on the monitor.

    Back on Earth, Sparky returned to his lighthouse, and Reuben agreed to keep Warhed in a holding cell until the Galactic Federation came to pick him, and the location of Hamsterviel up. As Danny, Kim, Lilo, and Stitch made their way back into the Pelekai house, Nani crushed Lilo and Stitch into a fierce hug. “Oh, I’m so glad you two are alright. I know it’s pretty much impossible to separate you two for long, but I get so worried.” Nani said, half-sobbing into Lilo’s hair.

     “We’re alright Nani. We saved Stitch, and even found where Hamsterviel is hiding!” Lilo said, a broad smile on her face.

     “Wasn’t he in prison?” Nani asked, a little confused. She loved her sister dearly, but following all the alien stuff was still a bit odd for her. Even four years in it was still a process.

    “Apparently he got out. He wasn’t on the ship, but he did hire that Warhed guy.” Lilo said. “Danny’s friend found him. He’s like Glitch, but a ghost!”

     “Regardless, I’m sure Nani here is most concerned that you’re safe, Lilo.” Kim said, ruffling the little girl’s hair a bit. “We kept her away from the fighting. She and I were on getting Stitch out of his cage while Danny and the Cousins fought off Warhed. Kept her as safe as we could.”

    Nani pulled back, looking at Lilo’s face.The two sisters were known for their ability to communicate without words, and this was no exception. A few moments of silence passed as Nani and Lilo held their silent discussion, before Nani sighed. “There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

    “If we can help them, we should.” Lilo said. “They helped us, even when they didn’t have to. They didn’t even think twice about it. They said they’d only ask if it was end of the world, or alien stuff. If the world is ending, that’s our problem too, and if it’s alien stuff, Stitch needs to be involved anyway.”

    Nani sighed, standing up from her kneeling position. “She’s not allowed in fight zones, and should only be leaving Hawaii if there is completely no other way for her to be of assistance. If she comes back with even a scratch, I’ll… I don’t know, but I’ll do something!”

    Kim smiled, raising her hand up. “I get it, trust me. We’ll keep her out of the fighting parts. We’ll send over a communicator for her, we have a secure line we use for this stuff.” Kim kneeled down, looking between Lilo and Stitch. “Glad to have you two on the team.”

    Stitch’s ears went up, his eyes going wide. He scurried off into a bedroom, before coming out with a sheet tied around his neck, sticking his arms out and running like he was flying. “Stitch is a superhero!” He said, causing a chuckle to spread throughout the room. 

With that, the team, as it stood now, was complete. Danny smiled as he watched Kim and Nani talk over a few more specifics of what the team was like. He hoped there never came a day where he’d need to call on them, but it felt good to know that, should they ever need it, a three foot tall Kaiju was there.

Chapter Text

A/N: Down to the wire! I was working on this up to the last minute for posting, so I'll apologize in advance if the ending feels a bit off, I was struggling to figure it out. Beyond that I'm glad to get another chapter in the books, and start Season 2 off with a bang! As always, like, Comment and review! I'm thinking about doing specific review/comment responses in chapters from now on, so if you have questions and stuff, I'll answer them! You can also always catch me at the discord at (discord) (dot) (gg) (/R4532jk5gq). On with the chapter!

     Star leaned back and let out a light groan and she stretched her arms, before standing up out of the high backed office chair she was sitting in and crossing the floor of the Ops Center. As she did so, she took a moment to really appreciate how much it had changed over the past few months. When the Ops Center was initially created, it was a utilitarian environment. The walls were sleek metal, with visible support struts, and harsh fluorescent lighting. The floor had been mostly a solid slab of fiber-reinforced epoxy. It wasn’t a place you were expected to be in for very long, and was built with function completely superseding form. That had been fine for when it was meant to be a deep-focus no distractions workspace for when Jack or Maddie needed the extra space, but ever since it took on it’s new role as the communication center for their little hero team, There had been the need for serious changes. The lighting was the first thing replaced, all of the fluorescent bulbs had been changed out for more comfortable warm LED bulbs, a few extra rugs were thrown around to make the cool floors easier to walk on, and several pieces of furniture had been swapped out. Truthfully, it felt more like a home office than a command center, but that was for the best. This WAS still a room in the Fenton family home, and it meant that the place was comfortable to relax in following missions.

    Opening the fridge, she did the traditional requirement of checking the date on the emergency ham. It was not allowed to be in the fridge for longer than two weeks, lest it go bad and give Jack food poisoning… again. Thankfully, it was still a week out from being moved to the main fridge and being put in lunches, or Jack just coming up to the center and scarfing it all down. Star laughed a bit at the image as she grabbed a diet soda from the carton. Her phone dinged at her, and she pulled it from her back pocket, wondering who could be texting her. 

     “Hey Star! It’s Paulina! Look, I know we haven’t been like we used to be, but I figured we could change that! How about you come to my party this Friday? It’s my quinceanera, and we’re going to watch the meteor shower at the country club! You can even bring Valerie and Kim with you! Provided you ditch those loser bfs of yours of course. Can’t have them getting their unpopularness all over us! Maybe the Ghost Boy will show up, he’s so dreamy <3. Anyway, LMK OK? Kisses!” The text from Paulina read, and Star rolled her eyes. Leaving aside the lovely irony that in the same text Paulina had called her boyfriend both a loser and dreamy, Star wouldn’t have wanted to go anymore. She and Paulina had been friends once, but having real friends like she did now, Star knew that what she and Paulina had wasn’t friendship. At best it was a sort of semi-beneficial symbiosis. Reinforcing popularity in each other, each one of them doing what they could to make the other one as popular as possible, which would raise the rank of the other by association. It was that symbiosis that had made her think she was interested in Kwan. It was that symbiosis that had made her think that being popular was what would make her happy. 

     Looking over at the screens as she returned to her desk, she was glad that she’d been shaken out of the delusion. That Danny had swooped in and saved her from what would have been a life of being Paulina’s satellite, saved her from a constant string of being second best, and pretending to be something she wasn’t. He’d saved her from pretending that the only thing worth listening to was the Top 40. Saved her from ice skating only being interesting because it let her wear skimpy outfits in front of cute guys. Saved her from being the shallow, insecure girl that Paulina and Bonnie were. It also didn’t hurt that he’d also saved her from a rampaging dragon ghost, and how he continued to, albeit indirectly, save her from ghosts every night. Watching as Danny delivered a solid punch to Klemper, who was screaming on and on about wanting to be Danny’s friend while trying to turn him into an icicle. She really couldn’t help but sigh somewhat dreamily. Every girl harbored at least SOME fantasy of a superhero coming and sweeping them off their feet, and Star had managed the real deal. Sure, she shared him with three other girls, but she didn’t mind that in the slightest. Kim and Sammy were her closest friends outside of Valerie, and while she and Ember weren’t as close, she still considered her a close friend.

     Speaking of Kim, Star flipped her attention to the monitor that showed a high end golf course in Dubai. Kim was there squaring off against Duff Killigan, who seemed to be taking over the course for… well Star had largely given up on guessing what Kim’s villains wanted. Beyond a vague sense of ‘lots of money’ or ‘take over the world’ they seemed to have bizarre motivations.

    For every bit that Kim’s villains had bizarre motivations though, Sammy, Alex, and Clover had villains with bizarre plans. Looking over at the check in screen, Clover had sent an ‘everything is going great’ message about twenty minutes ago. WOOHP was pretty strict about it’s secrecy on missions, so the spies were never really allowed to mention what was going on until after everything was resolved. It was somewhat frustrating for those who worried about them, but it was something Star had gotten used to.

    She sighed as she relayed the current situation to everyone else on duty. She never got over how COOL it was that her friends were superheroes, and she was glad that she got to do her part as well. It just sucked that it really seemed the best thing she could do was just sit here at the screens and manage check-ins and patrol routes. She knew it was an important job, but it didn’t exactly feel like she was contributing in every way she could. A quick beep on her phone caught her attention, letting her know she needed to run to the lab and change out a filter on one of the experiments that were being conducted in there.

    “One to the lab.” Star said as she entered the elevator. It still felt cool to her to get to do stuff like that. Jack and Maddie had very much been inspired by sci-fi stories of the 80s and 90s, and everything that could function like something did in those shows without being inconvenient, did. The voice activation of the elevators just so happened to be one of Star’s favorites.

     As she entered the lab, she was a bit surprised to see Jazz there, looking through a microscope at some slide. “Oh, hey Jazz. I thought you were tutoring tonight?” Star asked. Jazz normally had tutoring on Sunday nights, helping some of the… less bright individuals who were in summer school and STILL needed extra help.

     “Nah, Dale rescheduled. I think he said it was his mom’s birthday and they were going out for dinner. I’ll be meeting with him Tuesday afternoon.” Jazz said, turning her attention to the blonde girl. “I had some biology homework to do, so I figured I’d use the extra time to get ahead on it.”

     “Ugh… I don’t know why you decided to give up your summer to take those college courses. You should enjoy your summer, you’re already on track to graduate early!” Star said, ribbing at Jazz a bit. Star was immensely grateful she got on well with Danny’s sister, in the future she might be her sister-in-law after all.

    “Well, I’m heading for my doctorate hopefully, so I won’t be graduating particularly ‘soon’ anyway.” Jazz said, swivelling around on her stool. “Doing some of these classes now will also mean that when I actually start attending college full-time though, will mean I can focus more on the courses related to Psychology, as opposed to the general ed courses.”

     “What made you choose Psych anyway? I know it’s all you’ve ever talked about since before I was in the picture, but I don’t think you’ve ever told me.” Star said, moving over to the experiment station to check the filter. A large tube of glowing green goo was being sifted back and forth through a membrane. Maddie had attempted to explain what exactly was going on in this experiment, but Star really hadn’t caught most of it. Jazz had explained afterward she was talking about some graduate student level topics, so Star had felt better about not being able to get it.

     “Well, initially it was because I was worried my parents were crazy.” Jazz said, chuckling a bit. “I mean, before August of last year… ghosts seemed like… just such a crazy thing. Yet my parents were CONVINCED they were real. Had devoted their lives to this study of something we hadn’t even really proved to exist before then. Plus there’s the whole Santa thing, and I was genuinely worried about the trauma that Danny and I were going through growing up. It turns out they were right, and I’m thankful that it at least SEEMS like they weren’t crazy, or at least, less crazy than I thought. I had a bit of a crisis of consciousness about it just a little bit after you and Danny got together actually. Had to do some serious soul searching on if Psych was what I really wanted to do, or if it was just what I thought I HAD to do. Danny and Vlad gave me my answer.”

    “What was that?” Star asked, a bit wowed. 

    “That I still wanted to study Psych, because of what I recognized in them. Danny and Vlad had more or less the same catalyst, but the way their minds worked sent them down wildly different paths. Vlad immediately became bitter and resentful because of his powers, and then used them to make himself rich and powerful, while still constantly craving more and more. Danny took those powers, the same ability to effectively have whatever he wanted, and used it to become a hero. Danny immediately realized he had powers, and took on the responsibility of saving Amity Park from the ghosts that would terrorize it. Then when Global Justice started calling to add world-ending threats to the mix? He stepped up and took that responsibility too.” Jazz said, a proud smile on her face. “He makes me really proud, that little brother of mine.”

    “Yeah, me too. Honestly, all of our friends are really cool. They’re all heroes and it’s amazing! I wish I could be a hero like them.” Star said, as she and Jazz continued chatting amicably.

     Unknown to the pair though, they had a certain someone eavesdropping on their conversation. As Desiree floated invisibly above the pair, she grinned maliciously, waving her hand and letting the magic flow through her. “So you wish it, so shall it be.” She said as she flew intangibly through the ceiling of the Fenton lab, readying herself for her plan.

     The blaring of her alarm clock shook Star out of bed the following morning. She briefly wondered, as she did every morning, why she even HAD a separate alarm clock and didn’t just use her phone. Memories of morning classes missed because her phone hadn’t been loud enough to awaken her flashed through her, and she remembered. With still present frustration at the grating sound of the black plastic contraption on her nightstand, she slammed her hand down on it, expecting to hear the normal click of the oversized and durable button. CRASH! Is what she heard instead. Shooting out of bed, she looked and saw the plastic fragmentation that had once been her alarm clock, she glanced at her hand only to notice a fluorescent blue glow that flowed around it, before receding. 

    She stared, wide-eyed at the hand, more than a little freaked out about what had occurred. She knew she was rough on her alarm clock, they’d gone through a few less durable options before settling on the sturdy one she’d had because of her tendency to slam her hand on them as opposed to just pressing the button, but she hadn’t broken one since she’d started high school. That glow… she hadn’t just imagined it, right? 

    Needing to test it, she moved to try and pick up her nightstand. She was normally able to pick it up, but it was still a decently heavy piece of furniture, solid real wood with a marble flat top. As she gripped the edge though and tried to lift it, it was as light as a feather, and the glow around her hand returned in full-force. It was a brilliant royal blue, somehow both emitting light without looking luminous. She didn’t really know what to think.

    “So… yeah. That was my morning.” Star said, looking awkwardly at her hands as she sat in the food court with her friends. Valerie rubbed at her back, trying to comfort her best friend while Danny, Kim, and Ron seemed to be looking on with confusion.

    “What’s with you guys? Something about this ringing a bell?” Valerie asked, as she looked over to them. “I know you all are used to this whole ‘hero’ stuff, but even Sammy, Alex, and Clover seem more weirded out by this. You look like you’ve seen it before.”

    “Mostly because I think we might have. Babe, do you think you could show me your weird glowy thing?” Danny asked, looking at his blonde girlfriend with curious eyes.

    Star looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to them. Satisfied no one was looking her way, she focused, letting the blue glow surround her hand. 

     Danny, Kim, and Ron’s eyes went wide, their mouths opening in unison as they each said a name. “Hego!” Danny said, as Kim and Ron called out “Shego!”.

     “Should I know who those people are?” Star asked with a raised eyebrow, dismissing the glow from her hand.

     “Shego is Drakken’s right hand henchwoman. The primary muscle for his stuff.” Kim said, explaining the details for Star. “She does the weird glowing hand thing too, although hers isn’t super strength, she just fires like, plasma blasts. Her’s are colored green though”

    “Hego was the leader of Team Go, they were a superhero team based out of Go City. They were all over the news like, five years ago or something.” Danny said, pulling out his phone and looking up some old articles. “Shego used to be a member before she went bad, but Hego had a blue glow just like yours, and his power WAS super strength.” Danny found an article, flashing up pictures of the entirety of Team Go capturing some supervillainess called Electronique.

    “So… probably not a coincidence then?” Star asked, a little shocked. Having powers was weird enough, but apparently having the same exact powers as someone else was even weirder.

    “I would struggle to imagine.” Danny said, his face scrunched in thought. “There’s that meteor shower Friday, and Team Go said they got their powers from a meteorite that landed in their backyard… you come into contact with anything like that?”

    “Nope.” Star said, shaking her head. “I was on monitor duty last night, then I went home and went more or less straight to bed. Only weird stuff I interacted with was your mom’s science project in the basement, and even then that was just checking the filter.”

   “And that was just an ectoplasm sample from the Box Ghost.” Danny said, scratching his chin. “If just ectoplasm contact could cause this… well all of you would be exhibiting powers by this point.”

    “Ugh… don’t remind me.” Sam said, rolling her eyes as she spoke up for the first time during this conversation. “It’s a good thing Jazz figured out rubbing alcohol gets ectoplasm out of hair or I would have killed you by now.”

    “Regardless… this seems like a, call the big guns kind of thing, isn’t it?” Tucker asked, looking over. “Global Justice has been working with heroes for a while hasn’t it? Surely they’d have some way of contacting Team Go. Maybe they know more about these powers since they had something that on the surface looks just like them.”

    “Tucker’s got a point. Doesn’t hurt to ask at the very least.” Valerie agreed, shooting a supportive smile to Star. “We’ll get this figured out girl. You’ll get the why of it in no time.”

    Star smiled, happy for the support of her friends in this time. “Yeah. Kim, think Wade can get in contact for me? I’d really appreciate it.”

    “Already on it!” Came Wade’s voice from the Kimmunicator. “Response coming through now… Dr. Director says for us to make our way to Go City immediately. She’ll set up a rendezvous point with a Team Go member and get back to us, but you all should go ahead and leave. Need me to call you a ride Kim?” 

    “Nah, I’ll take us in the Specter Speeder.” Danny said, standing up and dusting off his pants. “Come on, let’s go.”

    “Ooh! Let me come too! There's a Mucho Grande Bueno Nacho there I’ve always wanted to see!” Ron said, excitement filling his voice at the idea. Kim just shook her head at her best friend’s antics.

    “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in it, although I think I’ll be getting a Go City style pizza instead if we’re getting food while we’re there.” Danny said, with Star and Kim nodding at that.

     The whirring of the Specter Speeder was the only noise Star could hear as she watched the clouds pass her by through the window. Her fingers tapped anxiously against the armrest of her chair. She ran through the events of the previous night and this morning over and over again, trying to find an instant where she might have encountered something to give her powers, but nothing came up. The conversation with Jazz stuck out in her mind, her desire to be a hero like Danny and Kim. “I could be a hero.” Star said idly to herself, barely audible at all.

    “You are a hero, babe.” Danny said, looking over at her from his spot in the driver’s seat. “Even without powers, you’ve stepped up to fight ghosts in town. You didn’t have to do that, but you chose to anyway.” Danny reached over and took her hand after enabling the autopilot lever. 

     “But I could do more now! I can be even more useful!” Star exclaimed trying to sound more and more pumped up by it. The real excitement didn’t quite hit her voice though.

    “If that’s what you want, we can make it happen. Our first priority is making sure that these powers aren’t going to hurt you. When I first got my powers, I was CONVINCED I was going to die. I didn’t, thankfully, but it was a concern. Your situation seems pretty different from mine, but I’d still rather be safe than sorry. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” Danny said, squeezing her hand.

     Star smiled at him, feeling loved, but still uneasy about everything. Thankfully, Ron was there to diffuse the tension. “So our rendezvous is at the Muchos Grande Bueno Nacho? Score! I’m going to get a No Pequeño Mucho Grande Increíble Taco with a Mala Traducción Plate of Nachos!”

     Star just raised her eyebrow. “A No Small Much Big Taco and some Bad Translation Nachos?”

    “Exclusive items to Muchos Grande Bueno Nacho locations!” Ron said, high fiving Rufus with a “Booyah!”

     Parking behind the Bueno Nacho was thankfully not too much of a hassle. Danny’s ability to turn the ship invisible during their descent kept enough of the eyes from the highway off of them, and once they were parked behind the building, you’d have to be an employee to see it, which limited the number of people they needed to worry about blowing their cover pretty significantly. Entering the building, they stepped up to the counter, where a large burly man stood wearing a tie stylized to look like the mexican flag. “Buenas tardes mi amigos. Welcome to Go City’s Muchos Grande Bueno Nacho. If you are here to place an order, please direct yourself to one of the automated kiosks, or if you have any issues operating the kiosk I can assist you.” The pillar of muscle of a man said. 

    “Yeah, we’re looking for a Hector Gomez? We were told we were supposed to meet him here?” Kim asked, maintaining a friendly smile.

     The man nodded, gesturing to his name tag which read ‘¡Hola me llamo:Hector!’ in bold letters. “I am Hector Gomez, may I ask who sent you?” Hector said, his eyebrow raised.

    “Dr. Director.” Kim said, and Hector nodded.

    “Noted, you must be Kim Possible then. Let me let my crew here know that I need to step out.” Hector said, before turning around and calling into the back. “Alright team! You’ll have to handle the afternoon snack rush without me. I know you can do it!” Hector clocked out, before gesturing for them to follow him. “Come on out to my car. I’ll tell you where to meet me to discuss this in more detail.”

    While one would normally be correct in assuming that following a strange adult man out to his car would be dangerous for four teenagers, when three of said teenagers were superheroes, and the fourth had recently developed super strength sufficient to throw a car like a frisbee, worries about what one man could do became less worrisome. As such, when Hector made it to his car, he tapped the back, causing the license plate to change from the random string of characters it had been, to ‘GoTeamGo’ as the car itself elongated, taking on a sportier, and more ‘heroic’ look. Where before it had been a broadly unremarkable sedan, it now resembled a stylized 60s stradale, with an extremely low profile, and sleek black body with blue accent lines. On the hood, was a stylized royal blue “GO!”. “As I’m sure you have guessed, I am Hego. We’ll continue this talk at Go Tower, you can see it out on the bay.” Hego said, pointing to the massive sandstone “GO!” in the middle of the Go City bay. “There is a piece of testing for this that we have to do there. When you arrive, do so in front of the middle of the O. That is where I’ll have to explain more.”

    With that, Hego got into the driver’s seat of the Go Mobile, leaning back as the car covered him in his Team Go Blue and Black jumpsuit, before rocketing down the street.

    “So… did he just ditch us?” Ron asked, confused as he saw the man drive away.

    “Guess he assumes we got here somehow.” Danny said with a shrug.

Arriving at Go Tower was likely easier for Danny and Co. than it was for Hego, given the Specter Speeder could fly, where it appeared as though the Go Mobile could not. Hego did manage to beat them there though, and stood in front of a large metal door at the base of the O. “I’m pleased to see you made it. Now, Dr. Director only gave me a brief overview of what was happening with you. Supposedly you woke up this morning with a blue glow and super strength?” Hego asked, eyes darting over the four of them.

    Star nodded, summoning the glow forth. “Yeah, not sure how. Danny said that your powers were really similar, and that the rest of your family has them too?”

    “Correct. My sister, my three brothers, and myself all obtained our powers over a decade ago when a rainbow colored comet crashed into our treehouse.” Hego said, tapping his watch as it displayed a holographic representation of the event. “It imbued each of us with a power, and a glowing aura when using said power I took to calling the Go Team Glow. I received the blue power, super strength. My sister Sheila received the green power, plasma projection. Melvin received the purple power, shrinking, and Wesley and Webster received the red power, duplication.” Hego explained, the holographic images showing each of the Team Go members in turn. While the video showed what seemed to be modern footage of Hego, Mego, and the Wego twins, the footage for Shego seemed out of date. She seemed significantly younger, her form more slender and her face having a touch more baby fat.

    “You’re being pretty cavalier about the secret identity there.” Danny noticed, he’s been used to hiding his identity, although he was now pretty openly giving it to the hero community. With Jake it had been mostly out of solidarity. Jake had taken efforts to hide his identity that had been undermined by Global Justice, and Danny had elected to share his secret so as to not make it asymmetrical. Lilo and Stitch weren’t hiding what they were, not the Stitch really COULD, but Danny had felt obligated to share there, if only so Nani could see that they were trying to be open about who and what they were.

    “I haven’t been a superhero in over five years.” Hego said sadly, looking over at Go City. “After Shego turned to evil, the team fell apart. We still had our powers, but without Shego to keep us together, it was… harder. She could connect us in ways we struggle without her.”

    Kim couldn’t help but feel a little weird hearing that. She had her relationship with Shego, who was a woman who had tried to kill her on a number of occasions, and it was hard to reconcile that with the woman who Hego seemed to know, a sister who kept their family together. Something had obviously changed in her at some point, but Kim had no idea what could drive someone from being a capital H Hero to a villain like that. She hoped she never would.

    “Aside from that, you are fellow heroes, vetted by Dr. Director, who we worked with as Team Go for most of our superhero careers. You understand the life, so it is not as dangerous revealing such information to you. Now, there’s a certain reason why you are here. This building can only be opened by one bearing the Go Team Glow, it is the most surefire way to test to see if the powers your friend developed are connected, as I think they may be.” Hego said, gesturing to the hand scanner beside the large door.

    “How do I open it?” Star asked, looking at the scanner. She figured she’d need to put her hand on it, but was there something else?

    “Place your hand on the scanner, then activate the glow. If it is the Go Team Glow, then the door will recognize it, and open up.” Hego said as he watched carefully. Star focused for a moment, the blue glow surrounding her hand.

    “Recognized, Hego, G01.” The female voice of the Go Tower said, opening the door.

    “That settles it then, you’re the one who has my powers.” Hego said, his eyes narrowing a bit at her. “The question remains, how? Come on inside, we have much to discuss.”

     Danny was beside himself with excitement as they stepped into Go Tower. He grew up idolizing Team Go, and had often dreamed of fighting alongside them as heroes. In many ways, they were responsible for Danny becoming Phantom, as without them proving that you COULD be a superhero, he might not have thought it possible. He liked to think he still would have, he’d read enough comic books as a child to still think about it. He tempered his enthusiasm though. They were here for Star first and foremost. Once they figured that out, THEN Danny could fanboy. Not before.

    “So little lady, care to tell me how you managed to take my powers?” Hego asked.

    “I just woke up this morning and had them. I don’t really know.” Star said, looking down at her hands. “What do you mean take?”

    “I woke up this morning without my powers, it’s the first time I’ve woken up without super strength in nearly 12 years.” Hego said, as he attempted to pick up the large ‘GO’ table in the middle of the meeting room. Hego was naturally a big, strong guy, so he managed to lift up one edge of it, but it surely took everything in him to do so. Danny knew that before he could throw around cars like footballs, so even that feat was pitiful compared to what he could do before.

    “I’m sorry to hear that, I’d give them back if I could, but I don’t really know how I could do that.” Star said, looking at her hands and making them glow again.

    “I suppose that was a bit of a long shot, assuming you could give them back.” Hego said, his tone deeply saddened as he glanced at the glow of her hands. “I can’t be a hero without my powers, and… even with them I hadn’t been a hero in a long time. It seems it is time for the next generation to take center stage.”

     “You can be a hero without powers.” Danny said, trying to cheer Hego up. “I know five superheroes without powers, and even more people still doing hero work without the title who don’t have them.” 

    “It doesn’t matter. I’m just… not cut out for it anymore.” Hego sulked.

    “Recognized. Mego G03, Wego G04, Wego G05.” Came the voice of Go Tower again, as three more costumed individuals stepped into the room. The tallest of them was a slender, gangly man, average in height, which looked small compared to the massive goliath that was Hego. His skin was tinted a light purple, and his outfit matched. The other two were obviously twins, following the motif of their brothers, they looked as though they were dyed red.

    “Hey! We got the alert that Go Tower had been opened.” One of the Wegos said. 

    “So we came as fast as we could! Even picked up Mego on the way!” The other finished, causing a groan to come from the purple one.

    “Please say we’re getting the team back together!” The Wegos said in unison.

    “Please say we’re NOT getting the team back together.” Mego said as a counterpoint to the excitement of the Wegos.

    “I’m afraid not little brothers. It seems I’ve lost my powers, and they’ve been taken by some… teenage girl.” Hego said, his face long with sadness.

    The Wegos eyes shot wide, looking over at Kim. “That’s Kim Possible!” One of them shouted. “Kim Possible has superpowers now?” The other asked in astonishment.

    “Different teenage girl wonder twins.” Kim said, as Star brandished the Go Team Glow and lifted the giant table in the center of the room.

    “Wow! That’s amazing!” The Wegos said in unison, moving to crowd around Star. Kim couldn’t help but be a little amused. The Wego twins seemed to be just a bit older than her own brothers, maybe 12 or 13. She recognized that was barely younger than her and Danny, but they just felt younger. They probably shouldn’t, they’ve been doing this hero thing longer than she and Danny had after all. “What’s your hero name going to be?”

    That gave Star some pause. She’d been mulling the hero idea over, but hadn’t really thought about a name. Danny was really the only hero she knew who had one after all, barring her recent meeting of the Gos. Kim just used her name, and the Spies didn’t use names at all, being more in the vein of secret agents than traditional heroes, even if those duties tended to overlap. “I don’t know. I guess I should think of something? You guys worked your names into your theme, think you can think of anything with Star?”

    “Starlight!” One Wego said. “Since you glow when you use your powers!”

    “Ooh! Or Starstrike, since you can hit really hard now!” The other Wego suggested.

    “Any thoughts Danny?” Star asked as she looked to her boyfriend. “You’re the only one I know who made a hero name after all.”

     Danny paused for a second, looking over Star, trying to gauge her excitement. “I guess I think Starstrike is a cooler name.”

    “Well, I guess Starstrike it is!” Star said, pumping her fist up into the air.

     “I guess we’ll find some time to work on your powers. It took me a while to get used to mine. Super strength in particular was kind of rough to wrap my brain around. I was picking things up assuming they were going to be heavy, and then almost tossing them over my head because they were so light.” Danny said, he was about to continue his thoughts when an alarm sounded.

    “Robbery in progress, Rebecca’s Jewelry Store, 1104 Sugar St. Suspects considered armed and dangerous.” Said the monotone female voice of the Go Tower system.

   “Ugh, you left that alarm on? No one’s been here to hear it in years.” Mego said, rolling his eyes.

   “I had thought we would maybe find a way to come back together. I’m sorry.” Hego said, looking at the big screen that displayed a security camera feed of the robbery.

    “Well, we’re already in costume! Let’s go stop the bad guys again!” One of the Wegos said, as the other did some karate moves to hype himself up.

     “Hard pass. Not going to go get myself shot when the police can handle it like they have been.” Mego said, plopping down in a seat.

     “I don’t have my powers. Even if I could help, it would be obvious that I don’t have my strength, it might make people suspicious.” Hego said, dejected.

    “Well, I don’t normally handle this kind of stuff, but I’m certainly not just going to sit here and let it happen.” Danny said, as he transformed punching his fist into his hand.

    “Woah! So cool! Your costume looks kind of… bland though. You need a logo!” One of the Wegos said.

    “We can worry about that later. Come on, we should go try and stop that robbery.” Kim said, rushing out towards the Specter Speeder.

    “Ugh… KP! They’ve got guns! What are we going to do about that?” Ron asked, as he followed, concerned.

    “You’ll let me handle that.” Danny said, shooting Ron a grin. He turned his head to Star. “If you want to try to be a hero, this could be your first test run. I’ll deal with the guns first thing, so you won’t get shot.”

    Star looked at the screen, her fists glowing. “I need a costume, gotta protect my identity after all.”

    “Computer! Suit her up!” One of the Wegos called out, as a tube appeared around Star. As it retracted, she stood standing in the Blue and Black of Hego’s costume, but formed to fit her perfectly. Her eyes were covered in the black domino mask that all Team Go members wore, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. Danny couldn’t help but let out a whistle… she made that look GOOD.

    “Guess you like it, huh?” Star said, posing for a moment. “Let’s go stop some bad guys!”

     It was honestly kind of unfair for the would-be jewel thieves. Go City’s police force was considered middling in its effectiveness, having relied on Team go for over five years, and then suddenly losing them had caused a number of issues with training. While it wasn’t uncommon to see Hego or the Wego twins occasionally step in to stop a robbery, they weren’t anywhere near as common as it used to be. This band of thieves had expected an easy score, even if it would take them months of careful fencing to offload their ill gotten gains. They did not receive an easy score. They received a superhero team that would have been overkill for even a mastermind like Professor Dementor.

    The Wego twins led the charge, it was their city, and while Danny, Kim, and Ron had probably handled bigger threats than they had, the Wegos had literally been doing this since they were in pre-school. “Come on guys, no Team Go for a few years and the bad guys think they can get away with anything.” Wesley said, shooting a grin to his brother.

    “No matter, because wherever Wego.” Webster started, ecstatic to be able to use the line again.

     “Justice follows!” Wesley finished, as the pair duplicated, four total Wegos entering the fray and jump kicking some of the goons.

     “It’s the Wego brats! Light em’ up!” One of the thugs said, readying a submachine gun to fire. He squeezed the trigger, but the weapon failed to fire as it seemed to crumple in his hands. Danny appeared in front of the man, glaring at him while releasing the destroyed weapon. “Come on now, that’s dangerous.” Danny quipped. He never really got the chance to deal with stuff like this, so it was a fun new experience. He quickly got serious though, rushing down the thugs with guns and crushing them with his own superstrength. “That’s the guns down, grab a goon and knock em’ out.”

    “Roger!” Kim said, as she rushed one of the thugs who was in the process of pulling out a knife, she caught his hand in a tight grip, forcing him to release the knife before flipping him fully over her shoulder, as he slammed into the ground she did a standing somersault before landing down into an axe kick to his sternum, knocking the wind out of him.

    “Alright! I got this!” Star said, mostly to herself as her fists glowed. She through a punch into one of the larger thugs, and gasped in shock as he flew across the room, slamming into the concrete wall and landing face first. “Ah! I think I overdid it!”

    “He’ll live, you got the first rule of super strength right off the bat, you need to minimize the amount of the force is getting IN the body. Moving him across the room like that means that you’re putting less force IN him and more around him.” Danny said, demonstrating as he wheeled his own goon around to eventually land atop the other one. “Keep your surface area on your strikes big. If you’re worried about your fist, go with your palm, the super strength can do the rest.”

    Star nodded as she did a palm strike to another goon, who was still sent flying back, but not nearly as fast. He landed in a thud on the floor easily enough.

    Ron wasn’t looking nearly as confident in handling his thugs. Danny and Kim had been running him through some martial arts drills, and he was making very steady improvement, but he still wasn’t confident in his abilities. Where those failed though, he could make up for with some nifty gadgets. He pulled out a Fenton weapon he grabbed from the Specter Speeder as they dropped, in, a Jack-o-nine-tails, as he fired it at one of the thugs. The smiling face of Jack Fenton latched onto the thug, who received a nasty shock. The second thug though began to advance on Ron, recognizing that the weapon was really only effective on one opponent at a time. Rufus however, proved himself to be as useful as any gadget, and launched himself onto the thug’s face.

    “Ah! Get this stupid rat off of me!” He screamed as Rufus dug into his forehead with his massive incisors, and Ron capitlized, landing his own palm strike to the man’s solar plexus, before following it up with a kick straight to the groin. 

    “Booyah!” Ron called out, high fiving Rufus as he looked at his two downed thugs. 

    Police finally came in, apprehending the thugs and looking over the group. “Been a while since we had any help from supers. Thanks.” The officer said, as he dragged the handcuffed criminals away from the crime scene.

    “Well, time to go face the music.” Wesley said, as the Wegos merged back into the original two. Stepping outside, alongside the numerous police cars, were the bane of any public superhero… the media.

    “Wego! Wego! Wego! Is this the new Team Go? What are Kim Possible and Phantom doing in Go City? Who is the new girl in the Team Go uniform?” The reporters asked, their questions rapid-fire and seemingly endless.

    “Woah woah woah, slow the roll! We’ve only got four ears right now!” Webster said, getting a chuckle from the crowd.

     “This isn’t the new Team Go, we’re still disbanded. They were just here for a visit when we heard about the robbery. Can’t exactly keep idle hands as a hero.” Wesley said, chuckling a bit.

     “Kim and Phantom were here for a hero meet, they’ve been getting to know some of the other heroes around the country, just in case we ever need to do team-ups!” Webster said, answering the next question of the bunch.

    “And this new heroine is Starstrike! She was getting some tips from Hego about using her super strength like he has, so for her debut she wore one of our spare uniforms!” Wesley said, showing off Star to the press.

    This was the wrong move unfortunately, as the press descended on her in an instant. “How long have you had your powers? Who are you under the mask? What’s your connection to the other heroes?” They asked. Star froze, the flashes of the camera and the barrage of questions washing over her like waves on the beach. Time seemed to crawl as she tried to gather her thoughts, but all that ran through her head was anxiety. ‘What if?’ Was the question that ran through her mind. ‘What if I give the wrong answers?’ Was the first one, she had not only her own identity to keep secret, but the identity of Danny as well, her being discovered would almost certainly lead to him being discovered as well. ‘What if they realise I have Hego’s powers?’ Was the next one. Wego had played off like she was here to learn how to use super strength from him, but one wrong slip-up could reveal that Hego was powerless. Not only would that be even more demoralizing for him, but could really pose a problem for Go City. There WAS a real fear for criminals that Hego or Wego could show up to stop any crime, and Hego was definitely the scarier of the three to show up. With him out of the picture, criminals would definitely get more bold, and that wasn’t good for anyone. ‘What if I’m not good enough?’ Was the final one that ran through her head, and the one that was probably the most damning.

    Star had always struggled with that insecurity. She had always played second fiddle to Paulina because she hadn’t ever thought of herself as good enough to be number one. Paulina was prettier. Paulina was more popular. Paulina was what Star THOUGHT she wanted to be. Star had lived in her shadow due to her own thoughts of inadequacy. That’s why she’d hidden her figure skating dreams from almost everyone. She didn’t think she’d ever be good enough. Valerie had encouraged her when she could, and when Danny came into her life, she had so many more friends and loved ones to cheer for her, but that shadow still loomed over her. She didn’t think she was good enough. Not good enough to be a figure skater. Not good enough to be a hero… was she even good enough to be Danny’s girlfriend? He had three others, and they were either superheroes in their own right, or a ghost rockstar. What was she? Just a nobody. A nothing.

     Danny’s hand grabbed onto her shoulder, and she turned to look at him, as he grabbed onto Kim, who formed a chain with Ron and Wego as Danny turned them all invisible and flew them up and to where the Specter Speeder had been hidden.

    “Sorry about that.” Webster said as they took their seats. “Since the team disbanded, the press get REAL excited whenever supers show up. Although it was pretty common when we were active too.” 

    “Yeah… that was… a lot.” Star managed to squeak out. Danny put a hand on her shoulder again, though this time his face seemed much more concerned.

    “I guess we really don’t have much experience with that.” Kim said, as she glanced at Ron and Danny. “Danny does his hero work with ghosts, so it’s not super public. Valerie doesn’t even really talk in her disguise, and the Spies… well a successful mission from them is one no one even hears about.”

    “Yeah, and we usually just deal with the bad guys in their lairs. Not exactly a lot of paparazzi there.” Ron said, almost skulking a bit. “I mean, would it kill them to give a little recognition to the Ron man? I’m not asking for much, a parade, key to the city, an ice cream flavor, something!”

    Star chuckled, enjoying the brief levity that pulled her from her anxious thoughts. “What would you even want your ice cream flavor to be?”

    “Stoppable’s Unstoppable Spicy Crunch! It’s got chocolate, it’s got churros, and for some extra crunch factor, nacho chips! It’s like a sweet Naco!” Ron said, licking his lips. “Plus imagine the royalties! We don’t take pay for missions, but there’s nothing in that about some licensing deals! Imagine the kind of bling The Ron could get with that kind of cheddar!”

    Everyone laughed, but Star still couldn’t help thinking about how the press made her feel.

     As Danny flew them home, Star stared at the suit in her hands. The Wegos had told her she could keep it, they had plenty of spares, and if she was going to be doing Hero work, a suit was pretty much necessary. Not only for identity purposes, but also super suits were just durable, easy to move in, and identifiable. It let people know that you were a hero, and there to help. Rubbing her fingers on the stretchy synthetic material, she nearly jumped when Danny spoke up. “So, how did your first day as a superhero feel?” He asked, worry pretty present on his face.

    “I liked helping.” Star said earnestly. “The fighting wasn’t really here or there, hurting people didn’t feel good, but I didn’t feel bad for stopping them from robbing that store.” Star shivered a bit as she remembered what came after it. “Didn’t like the press. That was… a lot.”

     “Aren’t you used to that kind of thing? I mean, you’re a cheerleader, and before you and Danny started dating, were like, the second most popular girl at school.” Ron said, stepping into the conversation. Kim glared at him a bit, but Star shot her a look that said it was okay. She honestly appreciated Ron’s ability to be blunt about this kind of stuff sometimes. He had a way of making burdens seem easier to get off of your chest.

    “That’s kind of the thing. As a cheerleader, I’m one of MANY people. There’s anywhere from five to twelve of us on any given routine, even with the crowd watching, they’re watching all of us, not just me. Even in a solo bit, I’m just one of the cheerleaders. It’s still like being part of a bigger thing. Being popular was kind of the same. Sure, I was one of the more popular girls, but I wasn’t number one. That was Paulina, she ran the room, and I was just… her sidekick. I was good at that. I could make her shine more. I got a bit of that coming back at me, but… I was on the edge of her. Honestly that’s always been my life. Never in the spotlight, never out of it, just hovering on the edge. Honestly, I’d never felt like someone’s first choice for anything until you asked me to that dance.” Star said, chuckling a bit. “You saying later that you had asked me out because I was a popular girl was a bit of a blow… but you were so sweet about it, and I was having such a nice time. You really swept me off my feet.” Star leaned into him a bit. “I don’t regret anything that came after. I didn’t have any REAL friends besides Valerie before you came into my life Danny. People knew of me, but no one knew Star. And… I like this better. I like having my friends be the ones in the spotlight, and cheering them on from the sidelines. I like being your cheerleader.”

     “Whatever you want to be, cheerleader from the sidelines, support hero, or full on superhero, I support you wholeheartedly. If it’s your wish for Phantom and Starstrike to be the world’s premier superhero couple, consider it granted.” Danny said, leaning over and giving her a kiss.

    Star leaned into the kiss for a moment, before pulling back suddenly. “Wait… say that again.”

    “If you want to be a superhero we can do that?” Danny asked, confused on what she meant.

     “No, you said something about granting my wish. I realized something.” Star reached around into her bag, pulling out her phone and pulling up one of the security cameras for the Fenton Lab. “Yeah, so last night when I was on duty, I’d talked to Jazz about how I wanted to be a hero like you guys. But I’m pretty sure I used the words ‘I wish’... do you think Desiree might have heard me?” 

     Danny thought for a moment, before pulling out his Fentonphone. “Hey, Technus. Check the security feed for the portal last night. See if there’s any indication of any spike in ecto-energy during Jazz and Star’s conversation.” Danny said, as Technus appeared on the screen.

    “Hmm.. sensor readings are a bit finicky during that time, we were running some ectoplasm experiments at the time, so levels the room were already elevated.” Technus said, reviewing them. “There does appear to be a small spike.”

    “What was the last thing I said before that spike happened?” Star asked, looking at the techno-ghost.

     “I wish I could be a hero like them.” Technus said, looking through the screen at them. “I take it you suspect Desiree may be involved with your current superpower predicament?”

     “Seems the most likely, but I’m wondering why we haven’t noticed her doing anything? Surely she’d be causing havoc as soon as she could.” Danny pondered. He hadn’t seen anything of Desiree ever since they’d escaped from Walker’s prison. “I guess I don’t really know, she’s not a regular escapee like Skulker or Box Ghost.”

    “She said she got more powerful as she grants people’s wishes, right?” Kim asked, causing Danny and Star to nod.

     “The meteor shower tomorrow” Ron called out. “She’s probably waiting on that! People all over town are going to be making wishes!”

     “It makes sense, but Desiree’s still limited to granting wishes where she can hear them. She’d need to find somewhere with a lot of people.” Danny said, trying to think about where that might be.

    Star opened up her phone again, getting on social media and checking events she was invited to. She found what she was looking for instantly. “Paulina’s Quinceanera!” She said, holding the phone in Danny’s face. “Two hundred people have already said they are going to be there, plus three hundred ‘maybe’s’. AND it’s at the country club, which is right next to one of the nicer parks in town. That’s PRIME meteor shower real estate, you could fit a thousand people in listening distance easily.”

    Danny’s eyes widened as the magnitude of that washed over him. “God, that’s so many, she only managed to grant like, a dozen wishes last time and she was already crazy strong. Give her a hundred? A thousand? She’ll make Fright Knight look like a daydream!”

    Kim immediately went into action mode, her face scrunching as she started thinking. “We’ll have to trap her there, get people in as many positions as we can with thermoses so that way we can stop her before she gets too powerful. We’re going to need everyone on deck.”

    “I’ll text Sammy and let her know to tell Jerry they can’t get called away, hopefully he’ll be reasonable considering the threat we’re dealing with.” Danny said, already typing away.

    “I’m sure he will, this pretty well qualifies as an emergency.” Kim said, thinking. “Definitely no way to get Lilo and Stitch here in time, Speeder’s not ready for another Hawaii trip so soon.”

     “I don’t think we could even pick Jake up. It’s about four hours each way, we wouldn’t have enough time to get him, teach him to use the equipment, and be rested in time for the fight.” Danny said, sighing. “Our first world-threatening event since expanding the team, and none of the expanded roster is available.”

     “Well, there’ll be thirteen of us with thermoses.” Kim said, as she counted off the available crew. “Seventeen if we can convince Ember, Johnny, Kitty, and Technus.”

     “I’ll see if they can be on standby… I don’t like asking them to help because they have to live in the ghost zone. If they come across Desiree after actively fighting against her, that’s grounds for a death match, and Desiree is someone I’d be worried about their chances with.” Danny said. “Thirteen is going to have to be enough. Valerie and I can cover ground really fast, and speed is going to be the name of the game. We’ll need to put her in a thermos before she grants too many wishes.”

     Arriving at the park near the country club, Danny laid out the blanket, watching as the sun began to set over the horizon. Thankfully, it wasn't very difficult to disguise why everyone was making their way to the park. Meteor Shower fever had engulfed Amity Park, and families, couples, and individuals flooded the public spaces with good views of the sky.

    “It's really annoying that we have to deal with Desiree during this.” Sammy said, setting out a few snacks from their picnic basket. “This would be so romantic, just us cuddling with Danny under the meteor shower. Instead, crazy genie ghost ruining our night.”

    “It is what it is. We're superheroes, we fight the bad guys. Honestly, we should be glad we can at least do it together.” Kim said, nudging Danny on the shoulder.

    “I would hate to imagine how annoying it would be trying to hide this hero stuff from a girlfriend.” Danny said, chuckling. “I can't imagine Skulker would be willing to schedule trying to skin me around a nice dinner.”

     “Speaking of, why isn't Ember here? Surely she'd want some cuddle time of her own, since we got here early.” Star wondered, as she laid her head on Danny's lap.

     “Well, you have to remember she's technically Phantom's girfriend.” Danny said, shooting her a grin. “She couldn't really be seen cuddling up with Danny Fenton after all.”

     “I guess I do forget that to the rest of the world you are two different people.” Star said, looking up at him. “You're just my boyfriend Danny, who just happens to be a superhero.” Star’s eyes widened for a moment. “That reminds me. Kim and I had gotten invited to Paulina’s party. It was on the proviso that we broke up with you though. Then she talked about how great it would be for Phantom to come by. She called you ‘dreamy'.”

     “Am I dreamy?” Danny asked, looking to the other two girls.

     “I sure think so.” Sammy said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

     “Definitely a 10 on the dreamy scale.” Kim agreed, mirroring the kiss.

     “Regular dreamboat.” Star said, grabbing him by the back of the head and bringing it down to kiss her.

      Pulling up once she was finished, Danny couldn't help but flush a bit. He certainly would never complain about the affection, but Star in particular was always very forward with it. He just hoped that her new super strength didn't super-size her appetite for it. He wasn't sure his lips could survive. Looking around, he noticed that the sky was finally starting to darken, and he did a quick visual check in with the other groups darted about. Tucker and Valerie, as well as his parents had taken the reprieve before the action as a chance to have their own little mini-dates. While Alex and Clover and Sam and Ron had paired up as friends at other spots to try and spread themselves out. Ember had also told him that Johnny and Kitty would be in town, although there was no telling which park they were at. Danny hoped they were nearby, he didn't want them to step in to fight Desiree if they didn't have to, but it would be a comfort to know they were around.

     Night had fallen already, and eyes were on the skies as everyone awaited the first streaks of light crossing the sky. Meteorites, Danny they were, space rocks from general debris in the Solar System. This specific shower was a Perseids shower, normal for August. He'd missed the last one from his recovery from the portal accident, and he hoped he'd be done with Desiree before this one was over.

    “Okay everyone! The meteor shower should be starting in a few minutes! Everyone look to the sky and make your wishes! And thanks for making this the bestest birthday ever!” Paulina's voice came over the expensive sound system of the country club, loud enough for everyone in the nearby park to hear as well. Danny let a chuckle escape his lips. A year ago, he would have killed to be at that party, trying to schmooze with the popular kids, increase his standing in the ranks of the arbitrary social standings of high school. Trying to get a girl like Paulina to notice him. Now he was in a happy relationship with four incredibly gorgeous girls, alongside having some of the best friends be could ask for. 

     The first streaks of light shot across the sky, and Danny saw in the distance a giant monster appear. What kind of an idiot wishes for a Kaiju? Spotting Desiree from there wasn't hard, she seemed to be reveling in the power she gained from granting wishes her form growing in size as she granted more and more wishes. She floated above a crowd near them, waving her hand with an ectoplasmic green glow as she granted another wish, as a scraggly nerd guy suddenly gained proportions like Hego. Danny was going to feel a little bad about reversing that one, but it was still probably for the best.

    Taking advantage of Desiree's distraction, Danny charged up a massive exto-blast, launching it towards the genie, forcing her to crash into the hill that he had been sitting on with the girls. “Alright, I Dream of Jeannie, you had your fun, time to stop.”

     “You insolent fool! You think I'd dare allow a man to tell me what to do? I'm mode powerful than ever thanks to all these wishes! You're nothing to me!” Desiree retorted, as her hand grew to massive proportions and grabbed Danny, slamming him into the ground. “These fools are just going to keep wishing, and I will grow more and more powerful. Even now their greed for more overrides their fear of our fight, the prospect of their wishes coming true like those around them is just too tempting! I think I'll grant myself a wish, and rid the world of you!”

    Star couldn't stand by and listen anymore. She might not have wanted to be a superhero, but she definitely wasn't some sideline spectator. She was a sidekick, a supporter, and that meant she had to help, and Desiree had granted her the ability to do that right now. Star launched forward, her hands and feet glowing as superstrength poured through them, pushing her to be stronger and faster than she had ever been. She grabbed onto Desiree's tail, spinning the ghost around twice before slamming her into the ground. “HANDS OFF, YOU WITCH!” Star screamed, face growing red from frustration and effort.

     “Ah, if it isn't my little wishing star.” Desiree cooed, seemingly unhurt by the assault. “Isn't it everything you wanted? You can be a hero! Greater than Ms. Posible, greater than the spy. Greater than even the ghost boy.” Desiree smiled, a malicious glint into it. “Now step aside and I'll even take out your competition.”

  Star slammed her into the ground again. “I don't need to be better than them.” Another slam. “I don't need to be a hero like they are.” Another. “I just need to be me. I can help in my way, be a hero in my way. The only person who I need the approval of is me. As such, I wish all of the wishes you've granted since you left the portal were null and void!” Star spat.

     “What? No! I must obey!” Desiree screamed, as the magic in the air began to dissipate. The Kaiju attacking Amity Park vanished, the nerdy boy returned to his normal figure, and the blue glow surrounding Star's hands diminished.

    “Good, now, I wish you'd get in this thermos.” Star said as she held out the Fenton Thermos, activating it and sucking up the genie ghost. Star put the cap on it, before slipping it back into her bag. She ran over to where Danny was on the ground, watching him transform back. “You good babe?” She asked, concern in her voice.

    “I'll be alright. You do know you probably could have kept the powers if you wanted them though.” Danny said, hoisting himself up out if the crater he was in.

    “I know, and… maybe I'll be Starstrike sometimes, it's not like I can't just use some Fenton tech to make up the difference in skill between Kim and I, but… I think I like just being Star more. Cheering my boyfriend and my friends from the sidelines” Star said, as she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek.

     Everyone convened on them, checking that they were both okay. “So you're not going to be Starstrike anymore?” Clover asked, a bit of a sad expression on her face.

     “Probably not unless the situation is really bad.” Star said, somewhat confused as to why Clover was so upset by it. “Why?”

     “Well, I made you a costume. I hadn't liked Danny's hero outfit for a while, so I'd been throwing designs at the wall trying to think of a better one. When you had powers, I realized a costume that didnt work for Danny would have worked for you, so I put it together.” Clover said, pulling the suit from her bag. It was pretty similar to the Team Go suit Star had worn,keeping the same general Blue and Black theme, but putting a spin on it that made it more similar to Danny's suit. On the right breast was a stylized logo, two S's stylized with a negative space Star in the center.

    “How did you find the time?” Star asked, amazed by Clover's work.

    “Never underestimate a superhero fashionista.” Clover said, smirking. “I even managed to find one I liked for Danny, made him a logo and everything.” Clover pulled another suit from the bag. It was still stylized like the Fenton jumpsuit that Danny wore as Phantom, but there were a few changes. The white collar of his suit was made larger, extending it to the point it covered his shoulders and the top of his biceps. It came down on his torso to roughly mid sternum, where a new logo was situated. It was a P, stylized with wavy bits that made it look somewhat like a pac-man ghost. The gloves of the new suit seemed slightly thicker, with padding on the knuckles that would probably ease the strain on his knuckles from his punches. A white belt delineated the torso from the legs, with hooks and pockets for storing whatever he'd need. The pants seemed heavier duty as well, capable of taking the rough treatment he normally received in fights. They had white patches like greaves on the outsides of his thighs. The boots were more or less identical to the ones he was wearing, barring a few extra contrast lines.

    “You needed an upgrade. Your suit worked because it was what you had, now THIS one is what you need.” Clover said, tossing it to him. “Both of you put them on! I need to see if they work together, then I'll figure out new hero suits for Kim and Ron, then we'll be set!”

    Relenting, Danny and Star did try on their new suits. Danny had to admit his was an upgrade, and Star looked incredible in hers. Clover did good work.

    As the last meteor flew across the sky, Danny looked up and made a wish, not saying it out loud, but keeping it to himself. “I wish we can keep doing this. That I can have nice dates with my girlfriends, that we can keep the world safe, and that we can have more adventures.”

Chapter Text

    With the final days of August upon them, it was only a matter of time before Sophomore year reared its ugly head for Danny and company. The teenaged group of heroes and ghost fighters once more found themselves in the academic embrace of Casper High, which for the Middletonites was somewhat surprising. Progress on the repairs for Middleton High had been going steadily as far as anyone was made aware, and the damage from the explosion the previous summer had never been stated to be extreme, just concerning enough that they needed to evaluate the school, and happening so late in the summer simply meant that there had been no choice but to move the students to Casper High. The upcoming visit to the auditorium for the beginning of year assembly was hopefully set to shed some light on the situation.

    A buzzing auditorium awaited them as they entered, taking their seats near the front. No one enjoyed sitting in front during these events, it meant you couldn’t close your eyes and doze off as you listened to the Principal and Vice-Principal yap on about school spirit and the like for what could be an hour or more. One year had even seen these take multiple hours, something Jazz had expressed great horror at when she had relayed it to Danny. Danny could see she was sitting with several of the other seniors, chatting amiably as they waited for the announcements to start. 

     Principal Ishiyama took the stage, tapping the microphone before speaking. “Hello students. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. Now, I suppose I should get ahead of the big question in the room. I’m sure many of you, mainly those who reside in Middleton, are wondering why you are still attending school here at Casper, as opposed to Middleton High. For that, we do have answers. Reconstruction of Middleton High had reached 95% completion by July 7th, at which point it was considered acceptable for staff to re-enter the building and begin prepping for the new year, reacquainting themselves with the space and letting staff begin attempting to uncover how to handle student flow in the new, slightly altered hallways. Unfortunately, a teacher who will not be named, discovered a gas leak. Said gas leak was discovered when he lit his cigarette in his classroom and proceeded to undo all the progress made over the past year. Examiners believe that the gas leak had been a result of the previous year’s explosion that wasn’t caught due to the gas to the school being disconnected. As such, the school board will one more be reexamining if Middleton High will be remodeled, or if they will simply construct a new school. Either way, students who would normally be districted to Middleton High, will still continue their education here at Casper High.” The Asian woman said. Danny couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He’d actually been a bit worried about what a school year without the Middleton students would look like. He’d still have Star, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie with him, but Kim, Ron, Sammy, Alex, and Clover would have been transferred over to Middleton, and he’d be rather sad to not get to see them in class every day. While the circumstances could perhaps be better, he was happy he didn’t have to worry about it for another year.

    “I’ll now pass things over to Vice-Principal Lancer for your next announcements.” Principal Ishiyama said, as she stepped back from the podium, letting her bald-headed goateed second-in-command take the stage.

    Lancer cleared his throat before addressing the student body. “Hello students. In the effort of the Silver County Board of Education to expand the cultural knowledge of its students, we have entered a temporary student exchange program. For one week, two students, one each from what would be Middleton High, and one Casper High, will travel to the Nagano Prefecture in Japan, while two schools from the Nagano Prefecture will send their students here.” Mr. Lancer clapped, which pressured the student body to reciprocate. Eyes generally widened at the idea of the exchange program. The opportunity to see parts of the world they’d never seen before was certainly exciting, and just as many people were excited to meet the students who would be coming to spend a week with them.

    “Nagano, huh? That’s where Epson’s headquarters is. Swanky.” Tucker said, causing Sam to elbow him in the ribs.

    “C’mon Tuck, there’s more to Japan than just the tech sector.” Sam said, rolling her eyes at the tech obsessed boy.

    “I know there is, but come on, you can’t tell me it wouldn’t be cool to tour the factory.” Tucker said, shooting her a grin.

    “It wasn’t anything different than a tech factory here.” Sam said with a shrug, leaning back into her seat.

    “You went to Japan? And toured the Epson factory?” Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow, somewhat surprised to learn something new about her friend.

    “Went with Grandpa back when he was still alive, it might have been my last out of country trip with him actually.” Sam said, a small smile on her face. “He’d invested in Epson back in the seventies when they first started selling in America. He thought they’d hit it pretty big, and it paid off well for him. He put a lot of money in, I think he might have owned like… 16% of the American side once upon a time? Regardless, it meant he was pretty important to the main branch back home. I think he just wanted to take me on a trip, so decided to tour the factory. I remember he also took me to the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Yamanouchi. I think we have some pictures of me being wide-eyed at seeing them. I was pretty little then.”

    “You’ll have to show us next time we come over then, Sam.” Kim said, shooting her goth friend a smile.

     “I’ll ask Grandma if she knows where they are, she was always the sentimental one.” Sam said, before they all turned their attention back to the stage.

    “Now, I’d like to introduce the two students who will don the black wings of the Casper High Ravens for the week.” Mr. Barkin said, having taken over for Mr. Lancer at some point while they were talking. “From Yamanouchi Academy, please welcome Yamada Hirotaka.” the buff man stated, as a roaring engine could be heard. From the double doors of the auditorium, a motorcycle burst through, before screeching to a halt on the stage. A tall, fit boy stepped off of the bike, pulling off his helmet and flipping his hair.

    The reaction from many of the girls was immediate. Danny could see Paulina and Bonnie immediately squeal as they looked at him like they might eat him, and turning to Clover… well he was pretty sure if this was some kind of animated cartoon, she’d have hearts where her eyes normally are. Danny had to admit he was a decently handsome dude. Spiky black hair and a cool expression seemed to be enough. He was just glad that Kim, Star, and Sammy didn’t seem to be buying into his hype that much. Alex also looked markedly unphased, if perhaps appreciative.

     “And from Nagano Senior High School, I would like to introduce Nakamura Lily.” Barkin said, as the new girl made a much more tame entrance. She merely walked along the rows, taking a stance beside Hirotaka, before placing a hand on her hip and sticking it out, a generally safe and attractive pose. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and wore what Danny would assume to be an almost stereotypical japanese schoolgirl uniform. Standing next to the biker jacketed Hirotaka, Danny would almost think he was looking at an anime cast. Lily looked only a magic wand and talking cat away from calling herself a Pretty Guardian, and Hirotaka looked like he was likely to drift his bike perpendicular to the camera.

    Just as Hirotaka attracted female attention, it seemed Lily had caught the eye of the male crowd. Danny watched as Dash stuck his pinkies into his mouth and let out a loud wolf-whistle at the japanese girl, who rolled her eyes at the display. Dale seemed equally as taken, hooping and hollering and pounding his fist in the air like some kind of gorilla. Kwan simply looked lovesick, not dropping to the level of his compatriots, but still mooning over the girl. Danny really couldn’t help but laugh at that. He hoped Lily didn’t get swarmed by attention this week, or if she did, that she either wanted it, or dealt with it quickly and violently. Dash getting shot down by more women always made Danny happy. 

    Barkin shot a glare at the boys, causing Dash and Dale to stop what they were doing. Kwan continued, but he wasn’t disruptive, so Barkin continued. “We also will be announcing which of our two students have been selected to go to Japan. Their parents have already been contacted and approved, so these are the ones who will be going. Normally, one of them would have been sent to Nagano Senior High, while the other went to Yamanouchi Academy, but suitable housing arrangements were not found in Nagano, so both will be attending Yamanouchi for the week. From the Casper High section, Sam Manson has been selected.” Barkin said, before looking over at the goth.  

    “Lucky! You’ve already been to Japan! You better bring back souvenirs!” Tucker said, as he lightly jabbed Sam in the ribs, partially in payback for her doing the same to him.

    “And from what would otherwise be Middleton, Ron Stoppable has been chosen.” Barkin said, his tone pretty clear in displeasure. Danny had no idea what Ron had done to Barkin in his life to inspire such distaste, but it continued on in spite of everything. “Both of you will take great effort in representing yourselves well as ambassadors of our great nation, and if I hear of a single complaint, I’ll have you both doing push-ups until you’re drinking from a straw!” Barkin threatened, before Lancer and Tetslaff pulled him back.

    “Well hey! We’ll be in Yamanouchi! We can go see the monkey park while we’re there!” Sam said, her tone more chipper than one would expect from the traditionally dour goth girl. She must be pretty excited about going.

    “Oh no! Not the monkeys!” Ron said, starting to freak out a bit. Kim and Danny each grabbed one of his arms, trying to calm him down.

    “Come on Ron, it's not like all monkeys are bad.” Kim said, holding him tightly to stop him from flailing.

    “Remember Frederick? You talked to him last night on that video call!” Danny said, trying to calm him down more with the memory of his astronaut monkey friend. Danny had helped Ron and Kim fight Monkey Fist when he’d tried to kidnap the hyper-intelligent simian last year, and had gotten to watch Ron let go of his fear of monkeys for a little bit.

    That did seem to calm Ron down a bit, at least making him stop thrashing. “Yeah, you’re right. I can do this. For Freddy.” Ron said to himself. “Just don’t expect me to eat any raw fish! Gross!”

    “So… you’re telling me Yamanouchi gets that pair of losers, and we get a motorcycle hottie? Think we can make this permanent?” Bonnie asked, her typical tone of smug superiority coming through.

    “Oh yes, let's let little miss vampire queen and the king of the rodents stay away, and we’ll keep the hunky boy.” Paulina said, batting her eyelashes at Hirotaka.

    Alex growls a little under her teeth. “You know, I totally forgot how mad Bonnie and Paulina make me. God, they’re like Mandy from back in Beverly Hills!” Alex said, seemingly about to launch herself at the pair before Sammy grabbed her arm, hauling her back.

    “Woah there Alex. They’re not worth the battery charge.” Sammy said, sitting her back in the seat. “Let’s just focus on saying bye to our friends, alright? What do you say, Clover?” Sammy asked, looking over to the blonde finisher of their trio, but noticed her off in her own little world.

    “And we’ll name them Xavier and Amanda.” Clover finished, apparently mindlessly listing off her lifelong love plans for Hirotaka.

    “Of course you will.” Sammy said, face palming. Danny couldn’t help but laugh at his girlfriend’s frustration, and Star and Kim joined him after a moment of trying to hold it in.

    Middleton Airport was busy as ever as Danny, Kim, Tucker, and Valerie came to see Sam and Ron off. Sam held out a checklist. “Clothes, toiletries, phone, international SIM, power bank, US to Japan adapter plugs, translation app, pocket dictionary, snacks… alright I THINK I’ve got everything.” Sam said, working through her list as she tapped everything in turn. 

    “Worried you’ll forget something? Not like you could rush home if you did.” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing over her luggage.

    “Can I? No. But I do happen to have a best friend who we clocked doing Mach 2 yesterday. Easily fast enough to make it to my house, grab whatever I need, and make it back before my plane even takes off.” Sam said, sticking out her tongue at him for a moment.

    “Great, who would have thought one of the downsides of super speed is turning into a delivery service?” Danny said with an eye roll, but chuckled good naturedly. “If you DO really need something, let me know and I’ll run it out to you. Dad’s pretty sure the Specter Speeder can hit escape velocity now, so… it won’t be too long of a wait.”

    “Plus, the tweebs have been working on a targeted stink bomb ICBM, I could probably get them to retrofit that for a quick delivery.” Kim said with a chuckle.

    “You know, I still really don’t get your family Kim.” Sam said as she shook her head.

     “Anything’s possible for a Possible.” Kim responded, shrugging. “Just be grateful Jim’s got that crush on you. He’d do just about anything if he thought you’d like it.”

    Danny laughed at that. That had been a fun conversation he’d gotten to have with Kim’s younger brother. Danny had watched them for her while she was on a mission once, as part of his ongoing attempts to make Mr. Possible hate him less. The boys liked him, so it wasn’t an issue, and Danny was about as excited to build model rockets as they were, so it worked out. Jim had confessed to Danny that he found Sam really, really attractive, which Danny found funny, especially after the teasing he’d done to Tim about how Tim had liked a girl in their grade. Danny helped him work through it though, not discouraging it per say, but letting the younger boy know that it likely wouldn’t ever go anywhere. They were just at different points in their lives, and Jim would probably be a lot happier if he found a girl his own age. Jim accepted that, but he couldn’t help the torch he carried for the goth girl.

    “And that one I still don’t know if I should feel weird or flattered by.” Sam said, shaking her head again.

    “Go with flattered. Jim means well, he’s just starting to get to the age where he’s noticing girls, and you’re the most out there looks wise of the ones he sees on a regular basis.” Danny said, sticking up for Jim a bit.

    “Out there?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “Kim, Star, Sammy, Alex, Clover, and Valerie all have their own styles, but they’re still very much in the realm of what other girls your guys’ age wear. Sammy likes hers a bit more retro styled, and Alex a touch more athletic, but similar vibes all around, especially since Clover started helping you guys shop.” Danny said, with Kim and Valerie nodding. Clover had a hand in all of their wardrobes by this point, having forced her way into a shopping trip with each one of them as she helped them ‘find their style’. For Kim and Star, not much changed, and Valerie had added in some slightly dressier options. “You on the other hand, hard goth lean, and I guess it really made an impression on the little dude.”

    Sam flushed a bit at that, and turned away, looking over at Ron, who returned to the group with a large bag over his shoulder. “I thought you said you were getting something to eat before we got on the plane?”

    “I did.” Ron said, patting the bag. “14 Naco Supremes and a Muchos Grandes Meal. Should be enough to last me until I get to Bueno Nacho express in Tokyo Haneda.”

    Tucker looked ready to hurl, and Valerie gently patted his back. She’d heard the horror stories from the last time Tucker ate at Bueno Nacho, and was certainly not looking for a first hand experience. Sam glared at him. “For starters, that’s an insane amount of food for this flight, secondly, you can eat Bueno Nacho literally any day at home. Hell, you DO eat Bueno Nacho every day at home. Would it kill you to try some other food while you’re there? Experience other cultures?” Sam ranted, waving her arms exaggeratedly at the blonde boy.

    “Don’t get your hopes up Sam.” Kim said, shaking her head. “Ron’s been to Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Seoul with me on missions, and he still thinks Middleton has the best public bathrooms.” 

    “They tried to charge me a Real to go in Rio! I didn’t have any on me!” Ron said, flabbergasted at needing to pay.

     Star chuckled behind her hand at Ron’s reaction, and even more so at the look of sheer incredulity on Sam’s face about it.

    “I’m making you experience real culture if it kills me.” Sam said, grabbing the boy by his arm. “And I swear if you stink up the plane with all this Bueno Nacho I’m leaving you at the Monkey Park!” With that, she waved goodbye to all of her friends, dragging Ron towards their terminal, as they were to board in a few minutes.

     They all laughed at the exchange, before Danny leaned over to Kim. “Five bucks says Sam manages to convince Ron to try sushi.” He said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

    “You’re so on.” Kim said, returning the favor. “Did Sammy, Alex or Clover ever say why they didn’t come with us to see them off?”

     “Sammy said Clover has them… busy.” Danny said with a chuckle. He had a pretty good idea what was keeping Clover’s focus, since it seemed to be all she thought about.

    Middleton Airport was busy. Tokyo Haneda was overwhelmingly crowded. It seemed as though thousands upon thousands of people were crowding their way through, fighting for the various gates and terminals to make it to their next flight. Thankfully, Ron and Sam were not amateur travelers. Sam had been in many airports in her time, even through this very one at least twice, and was pretty capable of fighting her way through. Ron had even more experience in airports, having travelled out of the country at least once a month for the last few years at Kim’s side, even if they only rarely travelled by commercial airliner. The experienced duo managed to grab their bags, Ron’s noticeably lighter after having consumed all of his Bueno Nacho on the plane (a feat that left Sam amazed and disgusted in equal measure) and made their way towards the pick-up area at the airport.

     “Alright, a representative from Yamanouchi Academy is supposed to be here for us.” Sam said, as she glanced at the email that had been sent to her by the school board. “They said they’d have a sign written for us in English with our names, so hopefully not too hard to spot.”

   Ron squinted a bit, looking through a crowd of signs, several of which were in English, but they seemed to mostly be for taxi companies or other ride shares, a few of which even offering tours. Rufus also glanced from atop his head, eventually tapping Ron with his foot, and using his hair as a lever to point Ron’s face towards someone.

    In the crowd, holding a sign that said “Ron Stoppable and Sam Manson” was a young Japanese girl, seemingly the same age as the pair. She wore what looked like a pretty standard Japanese high school uniform, a pleated skirt and blue sailor top, complete with a light blue bow tied at the front. A scarlet headband sat in her dark hair, and as they noticed her, she seemed to notice them. She approached, looking over them. “Stoppable-san? Manson-san?” She asked, before smiling when they nodded. “Wonderful. I am Yori, a student representative from Yamanouchi Academy. If you would please come with me, it would be my honor to guide you to our transportation to Yamanouchi. I will warn you though, it will be a somewhat long ride. I believe about four hours or so.”

    “Beats the overnight from the UK back to Middleton. That’s killer.” Ron said, shaking his head. Rufus nodded in agreement.

    Yori held a hand to her mouth, laughing behind it. “That must be one of your American jokes, Stoppable-san. Very amusing.”

    “It is what it is. I guess we should probably get on the road. I can’t imagine Tokyo traffic is easy.” Sam said, glancing over at the rows of taxis parked by the airport.

    “It is not as bad as one immediately thinks, but it does have its moments.” Yori said, guiding them to a van that had ‘Yamanouchi Academy’ scrawled on the side in kanji. 

    Four hours, two hundred miles, and thankfully a stop for something to eat later, Ron, Sam, and Yori arrived at the base of a tall mountain, which had a walking path too small for their van to drive up. “Ah yes, welcome to the base of Mt. Yamanouchi, at the top is Yamanouchi Academy.” Yori said, looking at them and shooting them a smile. 

    “Cool cool, so we just waiting for like, a shuttle or something? Helicopter?” Ron asked, setting his bag down on the ground and taking a seat.

    “Another one of your American jokes, Stoppable-san. No, it will be our honor to hike up the mountain. There is no need to worry, it is only ten kilometers.” Yori said, chuckling behind her hand again.

    Ron’s face paled at that, and Sam felt genuinely tempted to snap a picture, but decided against it. She couldn’t really blame him, after all the travelling they already did today, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be ending it with a hike of ANY distance, much less ten whole kilometers.

     “Hope they’re not expecting us soon, I consider myself a bit of an outdoorsy person, but a 10k hike is still like, a good hour and a half at least, and that’s if the path is good. And I’m still stiff from the car ride.” Sam said, taking a moment to try and stretch a bit.

    “We have roughly three hours before nightfall, I believe this will be plenty of time.” Yori said, looking over the pair. “If you need to change your shoes for something more appropriate, I would do so now.”

    Sam was already wearing her normal combat boots, which were normally a fashion statement, but they were also literally designed to be able to handle terrain like this, so she felt pretty good. Ron, on the other hand, was wearing some pretty standard cloth sneakers. Not really designed for athletics. “Good thing I brought my mission gear as a ‘just in case’.” Ron grumbled, reaching into his bag and grabbing out his mission sneakers. They were hardier, chosen because they never knew what environment they could have a mission in, since he and Kim could find themselves in cities, deserts, or the jungle on any given adventure. So he had a tendency to be prepared for whatever may come his way.

     Sam had expected Ron would be the hold-up on their way up, and as she realized that was not the case, she immediately felt pretty bad about it. In her defense, Ron did not carry himself as an athletic person. He complained about heavy bags or even mild walks on the regular. Sam had never seen him exercise, even in their shared gym class, and with his diet, she imagined he was more cheese by weight than human. Ron however, displayed an incredible amount of endurance and speed. He kept pace with Yori the entire climb, which Sam was pretty sure was on the realm of about five miles an hour, which was definitely MUCH faster than she had ever hiked. There were a few instances where Ron and Yori would be discussing something, usually her laughing at his ‘American jokes’, which boiled Sam’s blood for some reason, and they’d end up a good few hundred yards from her, and have to stop for a moment to let her catch up. 

     After a bit over an hour, they coasted over the edge of a small plateau, and Ron and Sam got their first view of Yamanouchi Academy. Nestled on a flat section of the mountain, Yamanouchi emerged like a temple of myth. Karahafu roofs curved upwards in traditional japanese styling, looking like the various pictures of Hameji castle that Ron and Sam had seen many times. Lanterns provided lighting in preparation of the rapidly approaching night, and paper paneled doors and windows separated the inner halls from the outside courtyard. 

    In said courtyard, dozens of students in shinobi shozoku could be seen stepping through various stances, throwing punches and kicks, with a few pairs even sparring with bamboo bo staves. From the edge of the school, a wizened old man walked up to the trio. He was quite short, his white hair done in a traditional top-knot, he had a long mustache and beard combo that seemed to dip down all the way past his chest, and he was dressed in a very traditional set of red robes with yellow trim. “Ah, yes. Ron Stoppable and Samantha Manson. Welcome to Yamanouchi. I suppose now is an appropriate time to tell you. Yamanouchi Academy is not a traditional school. This is instead a secret training ground for students of the art of ninjutsu. I am Sensei, and it is a pleasure to meet you both.”

    “Secret ninja school? Why are we at a ninja school?” Ron asked, somewhat confused.

    “Why is there a secret ninja school in the first place? And what kind of secret school does an exchange program with a random high school in Illinois?” Sam asked, so shocked and caught off guard by everything around her she barely even processed that Sensei called her Samantha.

    Clover looked over with hearts in her eyes as Hirotaka took his seat at one of the booths at Nasty Burger, setting his bright red tray that contained the Nasty Combo meal on the diner table. His isolation at the table however, was not long for the world, as Bonnie and Paulina swooped in, sitting beside him without bothering to ask, and beginning to chat with him. To their credit, Hirotaka didn’t seem to mind, chatting amicably with the pair as he took a bite of his burger.

    Alex glanced at her friend, a look of confusion on her face as she chewed on a fry. “Okay, so pickings at Amity are… slim. It’s either muscle-bound jocks with more ego than brains, or scrawny nerd boys who seem more likely to have an asthma attack than a conversation if a girl talks to them, but… This is WAY too much, right?” Alex asked, hoping for a response from Clover, but willing to accept Sammy’s input, if only to make sure she wasn’t somehow the one who was going crazy.

     Clover could only sigh, her chin in her hands as she gazed on dreamily. “So taciturn and mysterious and handsome. God, he’s got cheekbones so sharp you could probably cut a tatami mat with them.” She said, a dopey expression on her face.

     “Leaving aside that that doesn’t sound like an attractive thing… don’t you think you’re going a bit overboard here?” Sammy asked, as Alex shot her a look that screamed ‘Thank you!’.

     “No, I’ve got this whole long distance dating thing sorted out when he goes home.” Clover said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a notebook. “Japan’s 14 hours ahead of us, that means that we could totally do calls right as I wake up in the morning and he’s getting ready to start winding down for the evening. Perfect time for romance. Language barrier’s not an issue either. His English is really good, and Jerry was totally willing to get me a Japanese tutor. Said he was glad I was wanting to expand my spy skillset!”

    “You didn’t tell him you were looking to learn because of an exchange student at the school, did you?” Alex asked, a look of mild frustration on her face.

    “No, but it’s multifaceted! It’s not like I couldn’t use it for both!” Clover said, a look of pride on her face at her brilliant idea. “Beyond that, with the amount of travel we do, the odds that we end up close enough to Japan that I could sneak and see him, real high. Think about how often we end up on that side of the world!”

    That part of Clover’s logic was a little harder to disprove. They did travel everywhere, hitting most continents at least once a month. Sammy was honestly having problems remembering the last time they’d gone even a week without a globe trotting adventure. There was one part that was pretty easy to call out though. “Even if that is true, Clover, you haven’t even said two words to the guy yet! For all you know, he’s just like Dash, and you KNOW how much you hate him.” Sammy called out.

     That DID give Clover pause for a moment. Not the not talking to him part, that was something she could rectify, but the possibility Hirotaka was like Dash? That was concerning. Even leaving out the fact that Dash was a bully, especially one who had bullied Danny, who Clover considered a VERY close friend, Dash had done a number of things to get on her bad side. Dash had become… obsessed for lack of a better word with Clover. He was of the opinion that because HE was the football captain and star athlete of Casper High, that he was entitled to the hottest girl on campus on his arm. While Clover could appreciate that he had considered her the hottest, she couldn’t stand his entitlement, misogynistic views, or his attitude about it. He’d tried to endear himself to her a few times since they’d transferred. He would invite her on dates or to parties, and manage to stick his foot in his mouth every single time. It would start as a normal invitation, and then immediately shift to be all about him. “You can come to my party, we’ve got a DJ set up who’s really good, and then we’ll head over to Fenton’s house and I’ll give him a wedgie.” had been an actual pitch he tried once. Leaving aside that Clover couldn’t stand a bully in the first place, you definitely wouldn’t get on her good side by humiliating her friend.

   “There’s no way he’s like Dash. Surely his school wouldn’t have sent him if they didn’t think he’d do a good job representing them.” Clover tried to reason. Sammy and Alex didn’t really look convinced. “I’m getting good vibes. He’s soft spoken, and look, he’s surrounded by girls and barely seems phased. Definitely not giving Dash vibes.”

    “I guess that last part seems true enough.” Alex said, as she looked over at where Hirotaka seemed to be having a relatively normal conversation with Bonnie and Paulina. The specifics of what they were discussing was unintelligible from the distance, but it was pretty clear Hirotaka wasn’t guiding that conversation. Paulina and Bonnie were quite happy to fill the air for him. Alex really didn’t think she’d seen him speak more than a dozen or so words since he sat down. Alex turned her attention to Sammy. “Boy, I’m glad you’re not this crazy with Danny. I couldn’t handle this all the time.”

    Sammy smiled. “I love my boy, but if I DID act like this, he definitely wouldn’t have said yes to going out with me. Hyperventilating every time he’s in the room doesn’t exactly a healthy relationship make.” Sammy added, looking over to where Clover seemed ready to explode.

    “You two just don’t get it. We’re going to be perfect together! I mean, just look at his jacket! It’s the same color as my catsuit! It’s like destiny!” Clover called out, convinced they were written in the stars.

     “She said the same thing about Jake, didn’t she?” Alex asked, as Sammy nodded. This was going to be a LONG week.

    Sensei guided Sam and Ron through the Yamanouchi school proper, letting them see the traditional paper panelled walls and observing the students performing their various martial arts katas. “Yamanouchi was founded by the great warrior Toshimiru, in what the Gregorian Calendar calls 338 A.D.” Sensei stated, his hand tracing over a painted mural of a figure in traditional samurai armor, complete with kabuto helmet, who was wielding a katana that was depicted as glowing brightly. “He cleaved a shelf into the mountain with the Lotus Blade, a sacred artifact we hold very dearly at this school.”

    “Pretty wild.” Ron said, glancing over the image of Toshimiru. His features weren’t very well defined, possibly lost to the ages. He was depicted as having a sort of square mustache that framed his lips with a small gap in the middle, but that seemed to be the only defined facial feature he had. His eyes were painted only as slits, giving an expression one could determine as either stern or determined.

    “I’ll say… so this Lotus Blade is some kind of… magic sword?” Sam asked, trying to piece things together. Fright Knight had certainly proven that there was precedent for a magic weapon of incredible power, and while Soul Shredder hadn’t seemed like it was inherently capable of cleaving the top off of a mountain, such a thing didn’t seem as out of the realms of possibility as Sam would have said it was before Danny got his powers and she was introduced to this world of heroics.

    “Indeed. The Lotus Blade is imbued with the Mystical Monkey Power of Toshimiru. While we have no idea if the blade was magical before Toshimiru wielded it, there is certainly no question of its abilities afterwards.” Sensei said, seemingly pleased by Sam’s interest.

    “Sensei! Why do you provide this information to these… outsiders?!” Came an enraged voice from down the hall. Turning to look, Sam and Ron saw a somewhat tall, thin Japanese boy, roughly their age with his hair in a top knot and a long pointed nose. “They do not deserve to know the secrets of Yamanouchi! They shouldn’t even be here!”

    Sam fumed, her face already beginning to go red at the words of this rude boy. Sensei spoke up. “Fukushima, you bring great dishonor to both yourself and Yamanouchi with your attitude.”

    “Master, they’re…” Fukushima started, but Sensei silenced him with a glare.

    “Honored guests.” Sensei finished for him. “Do not further shame yourself by speaking further, except in apology.”

    “Honored guests, I must beg your forgiveness.” Fukushima said with a slight bow, clear reluctance on his face.

    Sam was still about to rage, scream and throw fists at the amount of disrespect he’d shown her. Ron however, took the lead, wrapping an arm around Fukushima’s shoulder and pulling him up. “Water under the bridge my guy. It’s cool, it’s cool.” Ron said, a broad smile on his face. “End of the week? You and me are gonna be best buds! Believe it!” 

    The glare Fukushima gave him heavily implied that wouldn’t be the case, but the boy said nothing, merely bowing and walking off.

    As night truly fell on Yamanouchi, Yori escorted them to the dorm halls, pulling open one of the sliding doors to reveal a room that was as traditionally Japanese as everything else had been. Tatami flooring and paper walls filled the space, with seemingly the only modern convenience being a central electric light fixture in the room. Two futons laid spread out, one on either side of the room. Their bags sat in the corners, already brought there. “Here is where you two will be sleeping. I hope it is to your liking. Wake-up is at four, so please be ready.”

    “Um… did they forget to bring mattresses? Also, why’s Sam’s stuff in here if this is my room?” Ron asked, confusion on his face.

    Yori held her hand up to her face again, chuckling behind it. “You and your American jokes Stoppable-San.”

   Sam was well aware this wasn’t a joke. “All the times you’ve been to Japan and you’ve never slept on a futon?” She asked, surprised.

    “Kim and I don’t usually end up overnighting anywhere, it's do the thing, get something to eat if there's time, then head home. A futon is a couch bed hybrid thing, isn’t it? I’ve slept on one of those, had one in my treehouse.” Ron said, as he stepped into the room, looking over his bedding.

    “That’s the westernized version of a futon, yeah.” Sam said, shaking her head at Ron’s cluelessness of other cultures despite how well travelled he is. “Why are we sharing a room though?”

     “Yamanouchi has been co-ed since its founding. It has trained shinobi and kunoichi in equal measure since the beginning. There was never any separation between students. I myself have a male roommate, but he was chosen to be the exchange student who went to Middleton.” Yori said, before bowing. “I shall allow you both to get ready for bed. I shall see you in the morning for breakfast. Good night.”

     Yori walked away, and Sam closed the paper wall behind her, before sighing. “Well that was certainly a day.” She said, before making her way over to her suitcase, pulling out a set of sleeping clothes. “I trust that you’ve had to change in close quarters to Kim enough that you can keep your eyes to yourself?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

    Ron waved her off. “No worries. My peepers are shut.” Ron said with a chuckle as he pulled out his own sleeping clothes.

    “About Fukushima earlier…. Why’d you let him off the hook? He was talking so much crap to us, and you just totally let him go? I’d have throttled him!” Sam said as she did a quick change.

    “Not really any reason to. For one, he’s right, we are outsiders here, and whether or not that means we shouldn’t know what’s going on is something else, but we’re not the ‘in’ here. Some people aren’t going to like that. Fighting him just proves he’s right. Second… well I don’t even know why we were chosen in the first place. I’m not so dumb that I can’t figure out something special is going on that we got chosen to go to a super secret ninja school. If it was me and Kim being sent here? I’d guess it was something ‘save the world’ related. A trap by Drakken or Global Justice being sneaky. But it’s not Kim here with me, it’s you. While I know you do this hero stuff too, everyone else doesn’t. So I’m just riding the flow for a bit. Let everything work itself out until I’ve got to fight against the current.” Ron said, still not looking at her. “You can’t see it, but I’d be trying like a reassuring smile thing, but I’m still looking away, so….”

    “I’m changed, you can turn.” Sam said with an eyeroll. “I guess you’re right, there’s certainly a reason. Sensei mentioned a Mystical Monkey thing, didn’t Danny talk about that once upon a time?” 

    “Yeah.” Ron said as he turned over. “Danny went with me to question a guy called Monty Fisk about some stolen artifacts. Turned out he was using them for some kind of monkey magic ritual. I don’t know too much about the details, but he’s mad at me because I ‘stole the magic’ from him. Calls himself Monkey Fist now, and he’s pretty much gone full supervillain since then. You heard Danny talk about Frederick? That’s an astronaut monkey he tried to kidnap for some prophecy or something. He also turned Kim into a monkey once with a weird amulet, but we fixed that.”

    “So you just have a monkey themed supervillain who is mad about you stealing some monkey magic?” Sam asked, not even having the energy to be skeptical about that anymore. Ghosts, Magic, Aliens, all things that she just has to accept as totally real at this point.

   “Yeppers. Maybe this is related to that, could just be a coincidence. Like, Monkey Fist calls the stuff he does Mystical Monkey Kung-Fu, but he uses Japanese Ninjas that are African monkeys. Not exactly the peak of consistency regarding that kind of thing.” Ron said, before laying down on his futon. “You know, this is more comfortable than I thought it’d be.”

    “Yeah, they are.” Sam said as she laid down as well, trying to process what was happening. “If this is all a weird supervillain trap, what’s your plan?”

     “What part of me do you think ever has a plan?” Ron asked, with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll wing it when it happens. Send a message out to Kim if it looks bad, but we can probably handle it. For now, I gotta catch some Z’s. I’m beat. Apologies in advance for the snoring, can’t help it, got an adenoid problem.”

    Sam groaned, both at Ron’s apparent nonchalance about the situation, and the apparent snoring she was going to have to deal with. It was only for a week… maybe even less if there’s supervillain shenanigans afoot. She just had to hope that it was going to work out, take a page out of Ron’s book it seemed.

    Sam believed she was ready for a Four AM wake-up call. She was not. She was, however, more ready than Ron, who stumbled blindly out of bed at the gong that woke them up. The other students of Yamanouchi hustled through the halls, readying themselves for breakfast and the day’s training, leaving Sam and Ron in their dust. Fukushima walked by, knocking Ron to the ground, but continuing on. Sam rolled up her sleeves, about to chase after him and pound him into the dirt, but Ron grabbed her, holding her back and shaking his head.

     The rest of the day was filled with training. The start of the day was an obstacle course that Sensei dubbed the Dragon course. Ron and Sam watched as Yori tackled the course, scaling a wall with a run that seemed to defy gravity, before triangle jumping off of two walls that were parallel to each other. This led into her jumping onto a series of incredibly small platforms that for Yori seemed perfectly spaced for her stride to the other side, although it was pretty clear that that was pure training kicking in, with her simply knowing how to walk with such a thing.

     Sam gave the course a try next, and while she lacked Yori’s specific skills, she did manage to make her way through it. While she couldn’t run straight up the wall like Yori could, she did manage to leverage her grip strength to climb the wall, and then on the two parallel wall sections, she simply sidled along the top. Jumping from platform to platform on only one foot was incredibly difficult for Sam, but she had some gymnastics training, and her balance was pretty good, so she managed. It took her 10 minutes to accomplish what Yori had done in thirty seconds, but she had completed it.

    Ron had no such luck, although he got closer than Sam ever imagined he would. He hadn’t managed to climb the wall, but his running start had gotten him half-way up. On a second attempt he leveraged a nearby bo staff as a make-shift pole vault, and while it had broken in the process, he did manage to use the extra height to scamper his way to the top. Triangle jumping was impossible for Ron, but he leveraged some impressive core strength to wedge himself between the walls, “walking” with his hands on one side and his feet on the other to the end. The platforms in the water though, were an obstacle he couldn’t overcome. No matter how many attempts, he could perhaps only make it two footholds in before failing into the drink. Rufus had no such issue on any of the obstacles, climbing the wall with ease, running along the side walls without issue, and jumping flawlessly from platform to platform over the water. His time had only been 40 seconds, which considering Yori’s size advantage, was incredibly impressive.

    A ropes course followed afterward, Yori bypassing the swinging aspect by simply launching herself to the top, and running along the top ropes like the world’s most impressive slackliner. Sam’s attempts were more normal, making decent time just swinging through. Ron, unfortunately found himself tangled in the mess, Rufus eventually untying him and letting him out.

    The final session of the day was sparring practice. Yori and Sam paired up, bo staves in hand, and began their bout. “It is a great honor to face you, Manson-san.” Yori stated, shooting forward with a jab with the staff.

    Sam dodged gracefully, retaliating with a low sweep that Yori caught with her own staff. “We’ll see if you say that when I beat you!” Sam said, clearly just some good natured trash talk.

    Yori smiled, aware that such competitive nature was common among Americans, and took it into consideration. She shot forward with some more swings of her staff, attempting to press the offensive on Sam, using her presumably superior speed. What caught her off guard though, was just how fast Sam’s reflexes were. Yori was arguably the top student at the academy, only Fukushima and Hirotaka giving her any real competition, but Sam seemed capable of reacting with every bit of the speed they did. “You are remarkably quick, Manson-san.”

    “Fight ghosts a few times a week like I do, and your reflexes tend to keep up.” Sam said, trying to press the offensive. She wasn’t getting very far, as Yori matched her reflexes, but outperformed her in both skill and experience. “We clock at over hundred miles an hour on the regular. You start getting pretty good at reacting quick.”

    “Ghosts? There are supernatural issues at Middleton?” Yori asked, as she blocked more of Sam’s attacks.

     “More of an Amity Park thing, our local ghost hero keeps them contained, plus the help of my best friend and his family.” Sam said, making sure to imply that Danny and Phantom were different people. “I lend a hand, it’s a great workout.”

    “To fight against Yokai and prevail, it is no wonder your movements are so well trained.” Yori said, before pressing in a final attack, knocking Sam to the ground. “Some time with formal training and you will be a force to be reckoned with, Manson-san.” Yori said, before reaching down to help Sam up. 

    Sam accepted graciously. “Who knows? Maybe by the end of this week I’ll be kicking your butt.” Sam said, chuckling. Yori joined her in laughter.

    On the opposite side of the plaza, Ron and Fukushima started a similar spar, although it was very clear that Fukushima had nowhere near the respect for Ron as an opponent as Yori did for Sam. The ninja student constantly pressed the offensive, giving no opportunities for Ron to even attempt a counterattack, as Fukushima moved with a grace and experience that belied his years of ninja training.

    Ron struggled on the backfoot. A situation all too familiar to him. This was always the case, supervillains and their henchmen always started outmuscling him, pushing harder and harder as they expected his defense to crumble. Ron however, didn’t. ‘He’s about as hard on offense as Monkey Fist is, not too surprising, given the shared style.’ Ron thought. Despite his relative inexperience in a structured martial arts setting, Ron had something Fukushima almost certainly didn’t. Active experience fighting people who wanted to kill him. Fukushima might have hated him, but even he probably wasn’t looking to kill. That led to a dampening of blows. A willingness to back off. Something that gave Ron those extra milliseconds he wouldn’t get in a fight like he was normally in. ‘Come on man, you can do this.’ Ron hyped himself up, getting a feel for Fukushima’s rhythm. ‘Just like Danny and Kim taught you. If someone is pressing the offense and underestimating you, they’ll get sloppy, start doing things in a rhythm. Then it’s just a matter of breaking it.’ 

    Fukushima maintained his assault, growing increasingly frustrated that Ron wasn’t going down. No matter how hard he pushed, no matter how much pressure he put on. Ron didn’t even bend, much less break, and that infuriated him. He pressed harder, giving it even more than he had been. There would be no letting this outsider upstage him.

    ‘Come on then Ron! You fight shoulder to shoulder with literal superheroes on the daily!’ Ron thought to himself, trying to psyche himself up. ‘Kim, Danny, Sammy, Alex, Clover, they’re all amazing, and you stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Are you going to let some ninja wannabe take you down?’ Ron asked himself. ‘You were the Fearless Ferret. You beat Monkey Fist twice! You stared down an army of ghost cops and didn’t flinch! Well you flinched a little, but you kept fighting!’ That was all the power, Ron needed, as in a brief moment, a new world of clarity opened up. Feigning his first offensive maneuver, Ron shot a jab towards Fukushima’s face. The experienced martial artist parried it easily, but had fallen right into Ron’s plan. Catching the inside of Fukushima’s wrist with his staff, Ron twisted, pulling Fukushima over, and then sweeping him, causing the taller boy to hit the mat. “Booyah! Score one for the Ron man!” Ron did a quick fist pump, before reaching down to help Fukushima up. “Good match dude! You’re real good!”

    Fukushima just batted Ron’s hand away, standing up and walking off.

    “Well, someone’s a sore loser.” Sam said as she came up to Ron, handing him a towel to wipe the sweat off. “Sure you don’t need me to like, stomp a hole in him? I’ll do it. My boots are ready.”

    “Not worth the jail time, Sam.” Ron said, chuckling a bit. Rufus waved a fan at him, giving him a thumbs up. “He’ll get what’s coming to him, but like… in a karmic sense.”

    “Surprised you know what karma is, Mr. All my Culture is Bueno Nacho.” Sam said in a teasing tone.

     Alex had to admit, of all the situations in which she might need to hide in a bush, which as a spy, was many, this was not one of the ones she had imagined. She and Sammy were currently crouched, partially behind and partially inside, a row of hedges in one of Middleton’s many parks. Clover had told them to be here, although she hadn’t really explained why, even if Alex could probably guess.

      “Clover, what are we even doing here? If we’re on a spy mission you could have at least let me grab my catsuit! Or a gadget or something. All I’ve got on me is a stick of gum and a nail file.” Alex said, frustrated as she looked at her friend.

     Clover shushed her, before speaking. “Quiet! He’s on his way here, and I need you for moral support.”

    Sammy looked over at Clover. “While I’m here for you… why are you so caught up on Hirotaka? He’s cute, sure, but you haven’t gone THIS hard for a guy since we left Beverly Hills.”

     “Because… well because I’m tired of being alone.” Clover said, a hint of frustration in her voice. “I’m the only girl in our little friend group who actively wants a boyfriend and can’t find one. You, Kim, and Star all grabbed Mr. Perfect, Valerie’s got Tucker wrapped around her finger, and Sam doesn’t really want a boyfriend, but I’m convinced she and Ron are going to be together when they come home from this trip their on. That just leaves me and Alex, and Alex isn’t exactly looking.” Clover added, glancing over at Alex who just shrugged.

    “Not anyone who has really caught my interest.” Alex said, before looking back to her. “Still, this is a lot for just some random guy.”

    “Well, he’s not some random guy.” Clover started. “Yamanouchi was ringing some bells in my head, so I did some research on our little hottie here. You remember that one hunky agent who was teaching us kung-fu who I was crushing on until he showed us pictures of his wife and kids? He was from Yamanouchi. Turns out, its some kind of hidden ninja school. The kind of hush hush stuff we wouldn’t really get to know if we weren’t, you know, super spies.”

    “Wait, so you’re saying Sam and Ron went to a weird ninja school? And you didn’t tell us about it?” Sammy asked, shocked and confused.

     “Yeah, didn’t think it was too important in that regard. They’re not exactly pushovers, they can handle a little ninja action. My point is, I want a boyfriend who can handle this hero life, because I’m not giving up my spy stuff, and Sammy, you can attest how much easier it is to maintain a relationship when you don’t have to keep the hero stuff a secret.” Clover pointed out.

    “Yeah, I guess it is a lot easier with Danny to tell him that I have to cancel a date because a madman is trying to take over the world with cupcakes.” Sammy said, tapping her chin. “His first response is usually asking if I need a hand, his second response is asking me to bring him one of the cupcakes.”

     “Exactly. Hirotaka over there? Not necessarily a hero yet, but ninja training is one heck of a jumping off point. Some superheroine shmoozing and he’s rocking some tights and calling himself Ninjaman in no time!” Clover said, holding her hands over her heart. “Now shush! He’s coming this way. Just… support me from back here!”

     Clover casually walked out from behind the bushes after making sure her appearance was as flawless as it could be. “Hey Hirotaka! So funny running into you here. You know, I noticed how well built you are… do you do martial arts or something? You don’t really have like, a weightlifter build.”

     Hirotaka raised an eyebrow as he looked over her. “Indeed. I am quite well trained in Da Sheng Pi Gua.”

      “Ooh, monkey style kung-fu. Pretty wild. I figured being from Japan you’d use like, Goju-ryu or something.” Clover said as she batted her lashes at him.

    Hirotaka’s eyes widened slightly, was he impressed? Annoyed? It was really hard to tell, he didn’t emote much. “You are familiar with styles like that? A martial artist yourself?” He asked.

     “Well, I’m no black belt in anything, but I’ve done a good deal of training, focus on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga. You know, work to my advantages.” Clover said, lightly trailing her hands over her legs, as though trying to show them off.

    “Show me.” Hirotaka said.

    “Huh?” Clover asked, before Hirotaka shot a punch at her, which caused Clover’s instincts to kick in, pushing the blow to the side as she wheeled around for a snap kick. Hirotaka blocked that, stepping in and closing the distance with another punch, but Clover ducked around the blow, creating a bit of distance before bringing her leg up to axe kick him.

     Hirotaka caught the blow with a smile on his face. “Very impressive, you’re quite skilled.” He said, before releasing her leg. He lightly bowed to her, before continuing on, leaving a stunned Clover where she was.

    Alex and Sammy stepped out of the bushes. “What on Earth was that?” Alex asked, incredulously.

     “That, Alex, was a match made in heaven.” Clover said, heart beating fast in her chest as she gazed at his retreating back lovingly.

      “Bit more like a cage match to my eyes.” Alex snarked.

     Ron sighed as he sat at the edge of a koi pond. Rufus had already gone to bed, and he’d come out here to try and clear his head a bit. Yamanouchi… well it had kind of reinforced a lot of what was already going through his head, and it wasn’t pretty.

    “Stoppable-san, something bothers you.” Yori said, Ron wasn’t surprised he hadn’t heard her approach. She was a ninja after all.

    “That obvious, huh?” Ron asked, a slightly self-deprecating chuckle on his lips.

     “Only when one has been watching you as closely as I have.” Yori said as she took a seat beside him.

     “I’m just… struggling to get why I’m here, you know? This is some weird fancy ninja school, and I’m just… well a bit of a failure when it comes to stuff like this. I bumbled the obstacle courses, and only managed to even stand up to Fukushima because he didn’t even think of me as a threat. I fight supervillains on the regular, I should be doing better than that.” Ron said, frustration letting itself out in his tone. He was about to chuck one of the nearby stones into the pond, but the koi inside stopped him. They didn’t deserve to suffer because he was angry.

    “But you did defeat Fukushima, who is one of the top students in the school. Only myself and Hirotaka give him challenge normally. For having only a day of training, you performed very admirably. These… supervillains you fight have given you a good deal of trial by fire, as it were. Manson-san mentioned she fought ghosts, have you done the same?” Yori asked, interested in hearing more of the story.

     “Not as much as she has. That’s usually our friend Danny’s stuff because of his family.” Ron said, also doing his best to keep the secret, Danny trusted him with it, and Ron wouldn’t break that trust. “I’ve helped out a couple times when things were real bad. Town-wide takeover. Really wild stuff.” 

    Yori obviously had questions, but bit her tongue. Ron didn’t need someone to pester him about these things. He needed support. “You did remarkable, truly, and growth has to begin somewhere. Your growth may not be fast now, but I believe it will be. You will cross this hump that you are on, and come out the other side and find everything becomes so much easier. I will be quite glad to see it.” 

     Before Ron could offer any kind of rebuttal, Yori leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She got up and walked off, leaving Ron alone with his thoughts for a moment. He got up, somewhat dumbly, and walked back to his room, his finger brushing his cheek. When he got inside, he noticed Sam was already asleep, her back turned away from the door. He laid down onto his futon and slipped off to sleep for the night.

    Sam however, was not asleep. She’d gone to look for Ron, but had been a few seconds behind Yori. She’d watched from the sidelines as Yori comforted Ron, doing a much better job than she thought she could. That gave her a tight feeling in her chest, especially when Yori mentioned how close of attention she had paid to Ron. She hadn’t really known why it had done so, at least, until she had kissed him. That had cleared things up. Sam had no claim over Ron, she’d not asked him out, or even really acknowledged that she could have had any feelings for him. She’d thought she’d sworn off romance when Danny had, unintentionally, broken her heart. She’d gotten over that, was happy that Danny found his happiness, and looked forward to finding her own in the future, but… well she hadn’t expected to find someone anytime soon. Ron though… well it was easy, at least in her eyes to see WHY she had apparently fallen for him. He had a lot of the same traits she’d liked in Danny. That carefree attitude, that innate sense of heroism, and that touch of oddness that fought against the traditional boundaries of what was considered ‘normal’. Ron though… well Ron seemed to be even more like that to her. He was so… disconnected from normal he almost existed on a different wavelength than the rest of reality. He just… marched to the beat of his own drum, but managed to let it still keep time with everyone else. A way of just going with the flow of the world that was so opposite to how she tried to force the world to march to her beat… and somehow that made him that much more special in her eyes.

    ‘God, why do I have to get all this mushy stuff? Why couldn’t I just go through high school like a normal goth girl and hate everyone?’ Sam bemoaned in her own thoughts, but she knew why. For all the doom and gloom that was her attire, Sam loved dearly. She loved her friends, she loved nature, and while she wasn’t sure if she loved Ron romantically… well the first stirrings were certainly there. ‘God… I’m going to have to talk to CLOVER about this aren’t I?’ Sam groaned internally. A conversation with Clover about boys would normally be the kind of thing that would drive Sam mad, but she wasn’t sure who else she could turn to. Kim was too close, both to Ron, and to Danny. Valerie was out because she didn’t have any REAL dating experience outside of Tucker, who she mostly led around by the nose. Star and Sammy were nearly in the same boat as Kim, except she felt even less close to them than she did Kim, and Alex didn’t have any experience with dating. Clover… well Clover at least talked a big game. Maybe that was enough. She hadn’t realized it until now, but she was desperate, she needed help, because she’d never be able to do this on her own.

     A loud gong echoed through the halls of Yamanouchi, waking Ron and Sam up with a jolt. They shot out of bed and saw many students rushing. “Morning training already? There’s no way it’s already 4 A.M.!” Ron said, shock on his face.

    “You are correct, Stoppable-san. This is not the morning bell, this is an alarm.” Yori said, as she appeared next to the pair, looking on as various instructors began relaying information to other students. “Please, follow me. Sensei wishes to speak with both of you.” 

    Sam and Ron followed Yori through the halls, before appearing in Sensei’s office. His face was very visually troubled, something neither of them had seen before. He always seemed rather zen, if he showed any emotion at all it was peace. Even when he scolded Fukushima, it didn’t seem to change that expression.

     “So, what are we here for? What’s the alarm about?” Sam asked when no one immediately spoke up.

     “There has been a break-in. The Lotus Blade is missing.” Sensei said, pulling out the case and opening it, revealing the imprint of a katana, but no katana within.

     “What’s that got to do with us then? We were asleep, we didn’t take it.” Sam said, somewhat annoyed. There was no way they thought THEY stole the thing, right?

     “I am well aware that you did not take the sword. You are under no suspicion. It is who did that is why I brought you here. They are quite familiar to one of you.” Sensei said. He tapped a button under his desk, which revealed a television in the wall. “As traditional as Yamanouchi is, we have updated to modern times. The Lotus Blade has multiple security cameras watching it at all times, hidden within various locations. The knowledge of them is known only to myself and a very select group of individuals. This did not include our intruders, so they did not hide themselves well.” Security camera footage appeared on the screen, and everyone watched as a group of monkeys in ninja garb bounced into the room, before a vaguely monkey-like man walked in, opening the case and grabbing the Lotus Blade from it, cackling before walking away.

    “Monkey ninjas?” Sam asked incredulously. “There are literal monkey ninjas?”

    “Monkey Fist.” Ron said, looking over it. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he’d be after a Mystical Monkey Artifact. But why now?”

    “I have no answers for that, but there is one truth. There are only two people who have been blessed with the Mystical Monkey Power. Monkey Fist…” Sensei started.

    “And me. But what does this have to do with that? I lost those powers. Used them all up in my first fight with him. I got the mad monkey mojo for about 10 minutes and then it all vanished. Kim and Danny tried to whip me into shape with them again, but the muscle memory of all it is all gone.” Ron explained, thinking over the house of training they’d gone through trying to get Ron to remember the skills he’d shown that day.

    “Only those blessed with the Mystical Monkey Power can wield the Lotus Blade. Those powers have not left you, Stoppable-san. They merely lie dormant, waiting to be unleashed. You were not chosen for this exchange program by chance, Stoppable-san, we brought you here such that we could teach you how to harness your power, should it be needed again.” Sensei said, revealing what Ron had already put together.

    “If that’s the case, why am I here? Why not Danny, since he was at least there when Ron got his weird monkey powers.” Sam asked, confusion on her face.

    “That was mostly school bureaucracy. Due to the nature of your schools, they had requested that a student from each school within be selected for the program. We contacted Nagano Senior High to act as the second school, intending for whoever was selected from Casper High to be sent there. However, an issue finding a host family almost caused the entire program to be cancelled. Stoppable-san missing this chance was unacceptable, so we elected for the Casper High student to come here as well, despite the desire for secrecy. I believe you were chosen due to you already speaking Japanese.” Sensei said, his tone apologetic. “I am sorry that you were brought into this unwillingly, but I do hope that you have at least found some enjoyment in your time here.” Sensei’s face hardened again. “With the theft of the Lotus Blade though… someone must have provided this information to Monkey Fist. I shall meditate, attempt to divine the location of the Lotus Blade, and who this traitor may be. You three are above suspicion, so do not fret. Please, get some rest for the night, there may be work to be done in the morning.” With that, Yori guided Ron and Sam out of the office, returning them to their room.

Sleep didn’t come easy, as the implications ran through their head. For Ron, the knowledge that he would be responsible for retrieving the Lotus Blade filled him with a deep sense of dread. He knew that Monkey Fist was in many ways his responsibility, but even having defeated him multiple times before didn’t fill him with confidence. For Sam though, her concerns lie with Ron, and what she could do to ease his burden. She wasn’t a superhero like Danny or Kim, she was barely even a sidekick, mostly just an equipment carrier and extra set of hands when ghost hunting. But Ron needed her support now, and maybe that’s what she was really here for, to give Ron an extra push for him to truly show the world he was the hero all of their friends already knew he was.

     When Sam awoke the next morning, she was pretty surprised to see that Ron had beaten her up, and that the blond boy was already dressed, in a strange mashup of the ninja garb of Yamanouchi, which made up the top of his outfit, and his mission pants, which made up the bottom. Rufus sat next to him, a pretty obvious look of concern on the mole rat’s face.

   “You’re up early.” Sam noticed, as she also made an effort to change. She opted for the shinobi garb that had been her ‘uniform’ at Yamanouchi.

    “Wanted to get a head start. Monkey Fist is my problem.” Ron said somberly, a lot of the normal joy and lightness absent from his tone.

    “We’ll get him. It’s not like you haven’t dealt with him before.” Sam said, trying to reassure him. While the idea of a blade that could cleave a mountain in half being in the hands of a crazed supervillain didn’t make her feel easy, she knew Danny, Kim, Ron and the Spies dealt with similar, or even more dangerous things on the regular.

    “It’s different this time, but that’s behind us.” Ron said, as he finally stood up. “I’m going to go see if Sensei has anything for me. Wanted to wait until you woke up so I could at least say goodbye before I went off.”

    “I’m coming with you. It’s not like I’m not involved at this point.” Sam said, locking eyes with him. “Consider me your sidekick for today.”

    Ron seemed ready to say something, but bit his tongue, instead stepping out into the hall. As he turned to move towards Sensei’s office however, the short form of the old man appeared before him. “Stoppable-san. There has been a grave development.” The man spoke, an edge to his voice that made Sam uneasy. “Yori has gone missing, and there are signs of a struggle. I believe I’ve located the Lotus Blade, and it matches the direction that it appears Yori was taken.”

    “Then that’s where I’m heading. Where is it?” Ron asked, his tone short and determined.

    “Up the mountain, near the caldera of Mt. Yamanouchi.” Sensei said, sensing Ron’s resolve.

    “Mt. Yamanouchi’s a volcano?” Sam asked, a little surprised,

     “We are on the edge of the Ring of Fire, but feel its effects.” Sensei said. “Will you be going with him, Manson-San?”

    “Yeah. I’m not letting Ron do this alone.” Sam said, her attitude as determined as Ron’s.

    “And I will not allow outsiders to assist while I sit by idly.” Came Fukushima’s voice as he came down the hall, his tone serious and determined. “Distaste in outsiders aside, Yori is one of our own, and the Lotus Blade is a sacred artifact. Sensei seems determined to allow you to go, but I will be accompanying you.”

    Sam was about to spit fire at him, yell at him for still disrespecting them despite the situation, but Ron shot her a look that said that it wasn’t the time. Sam knew that, but it was still hard to keep that rage inside of her. She did have to admit though, Fukushima’s knowledge of the area would definitely be helpful. They didn’t know the trails and paths nearby, Fukushima probably did.

     Sensei glanced at Fukushima, seemingly attempting to read the boy. “Very well. I suppose I have no reason to stop you.” Sensei said, although Sam could tell he was looking for one. “The three of you will need to head to the caldera quickly. Please make haste.”

     And make haste they did, climbing the peaks of Mt. Yamanouchi and making their way to the caldera of the volcano. “We should split up.” Fukushima stated, looking over the two of them. “I can handle any intruder on my own, and can move more silently than you two can. You stand a better chance against these interlopers together than you would apart.” With that, Fukushima walked off, not even giving Sam or Ron a chance to respond.

     “Even when he’s trying to be helpful he’s still an asshole.” Sam grumbled, before looking to Ron. “Guess we’re on our own.”

    “For the best anyway, here, just in case.” Ron said, as he tossed her a Fenton Rod.

    “Why did you bring this? Expecting a ghost while we were in Japan? How’d you even get it on the plane?” Sam asked, very confused.

     “Global Justice Hero Card gives me permission to carry equipment on aircraft, even through TSA.” Ron said. “As for why I brought it, it still shocks people just as good as it does ghosts. It’s one of the gadgets I started carrying on missions. I used the same bag I normally keep mission gear in, and that had been inside. Was worried if I took it out I’d forget to put it back in and need it the next time we fought Drakken or something. Worked out for now.” Ron’s tone still lacked the joy, the lightheartedness she expected from him. He was all business, and Sam really couldn’t tell how she felt about it. It was a side to him that she hadn’t seen, and while it was new and exciting, she couldn’t help but miss the normal Ron. She hoped this would be over soon, that he would go back to being a goofball.

    “Right. Well, come on then. Let’s find Yori and the Lotus Blade.” Sam said, and the pair slinked into a nearby cavern.

    Through either monumental luck, or all the caverns in the caldera being connected, the path they walked through led to a large central chamber that had three levels. They found themselves on the second level, and looked down into the center. There, Monkey Fist stood, next to a large magma pool, the Lotus Blade in hand, as he gave a speech to the gathered monkey ninjas. “And at last, the Lotus Blade is finally in my grasp! With its power, I am the undisputed master of Monkey Kung Fu, and with that power, that knowledge, I shall take over the world, and rule it as the Great Monkey Ruler!” Monkey Fist cackled wildly to himself, and from the corner of their eyes, Sam and Ron spotted Yori, who was trapped in a cage.

    The pair made their way over to her, Ron immediately fiddling with the lock. “We’ll get you out of here Yori, we’ll regroup with Fukushima and we’ll work together to fight Monkey Fist. No way he can handle a four on one.” Ron said, having grabbed what seemed to be a set of lockpicks from his pocket and trying to work the padlock.

    “No… Fukushima is the one who gave Monkey Fist the location of the Lotus Blade. He’s the traitor of Yamanouchi.” Yori said, shock and despair on her face as she looked at the pair of them.

    “Then that means this was all….” Sam started, before she felt a furry hand on her shoulder.

     “A trap? Yes. One you’ve fallen straight into.” Monkey Fist said, as his monkey ninjas restrained Ron and Sam. “Trap them both in the cage with the girl. I shall enjoy the chance to lower them into the magma, and let their screams be the opening notes of the soundtrack to my world domination.” Monkey Fist laughed again, as Fukushima supervised the monkeys trapping them in the cage. “You did quite well to bring them to me. The dark haired girl isn’t the one I’d hoped was with him, but she will do nicely. I’ll kill the other one in time.”

    Hirotaka chuckled at something Paulina had said, while the pair of them and Bonnie sat at one of the many tables at Nasty Burger, and Clover’s heart sank deeper as her head bonked against the table. “All of it for nothing. He leaves tomorrow and I couldn’t even manage to go on a single date with him.” Clover said into the vinyl tabletop, tone jumping between frustration and despair with every word.

     Alex patted her on the back. “Don’t beat yourself up too bad about it. So one guy didn’t work out. Big whoop. Not like there won’t be other guys.” The tomboyish member of their trio said, rubbing small circles into Clover’s back.

    “Yeah, but… do you know how hard it’s going to be to find someone who is going to be okay with the stuff we do?” Clover said, managing to stick her head up, even as her chin still rested on the table. “Not every guy is Danny, who like gets that sometimes we’ll have to call off date night to go disarm a bomb or something.”

     “I know, Clover.” Sammy said, leaning over and giving her a hug. “I lucked out, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no chance for you to find it. We didn’t know there were other heroes until Global Justice introduced us to Danny and Kim. What if there are more we don’t know about?” The redhead posited, trying to give her some hope. “For all we know there’s someone out there who fights Bigfoot or something. A year ago I would have said that was crazy, but since then we’ve been to space and seen literal magic, so anything is possible. Our world keeps getting bigger, it’s just a matter of time before you find someone.”

    That seemed to make Clover feel better, as she pulled her head up. “You’re right.” Clover said, a smile returning to her face. “There’s every chance there’s some other hero-ready hottie out there waiting for his Lucky Clover. I just gotta wait until I come across him!” Clover’s mood seemed to do a total one eighty, which thankfully, was pretty normal for her. Clover didn’t do half-emotions, it was all or nothing.

    “And we’ll be with you the whole way!” Alex said, wrapping the blonde into a hug. “Maybe they’ll even have a brother for me!”

    Good natured chuckles filled the space. Clover may have had her heart broken, but her spirit still burned bright.

     The lava the cage was dangled over burned bright beneath them, the heat and fumes making it very hard to breath in the cage, as Ron fumbled rather helplessly against the bars. “You know Fukushima, this isn’t going to look too good on your ninja report card.” Ron said. The cold determination he’d had up the mountain had deserted him, leaving him to resort to his old stand-bys: quips and diversion, if only for his own sanity. “Pretty sure honor and loyalty are subjects you’ll get some pretty bad grades in for being a traitor to Yamanouchi and giving the Lotus Blade over.”

    That did seem to give Fukushima some pause as he turned the wheel that lowered them into the lava. “You are… not wrong. Even if this is the right path forward, I did betray my school.” Fukushima said, unsure of what to do.

    “But you maintained the truth of your teachings.” Monkey Fist said, not allowing Ron’s words to get to his new apprentice. “You knew that such a bumbling idiot could not be the true heir to the title of Monkey Master, and found a better candidate, and for that you will be most excellently rewarded. Your line will carry the Mystical Monkey power into the future when I make you my heir.” 

    That seemed to reinvigorate Fukushima, who continued the cage’s descent into the magma. “With Ron Stoppable gone, I shall be the only being alive who can wield the Lotus Blade, and I shall reign supreme.”

     “Nope.” Ron said, catching everyone’s attention. “Sorry bud, but you and I, we’re not the only ones with the monkey power.” 

    Monkey Fist raised a hand to Fukushima, telling him to slow the descent. He did so, and Monkey Fist walked to the edge of the magma pool, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Ron. “Who else? You destroyed the totems like an idiot after they had granted us the powers. There are tales of one born with the abilities, but they have not been found yet, and trust me, I would know if they were.”

    “You and I weren’t the only ones zapped that day.” Ron said, his gaze locked on Monkey Fist.

    “No, I would know if the black haired boy or his ghost accomplice had been touched by the beams, it was clearly obvious, and there was no one else present. You lie.” Monkey Fist said, his grip on the Lotus Blade loosening a touch, and that was all Ron was waiting for.

    “No other human, yeah… but there was a Naked Mole Rat!” Ron said, as Rufus struck, jumping from his concealed position on the floor and kicking Monkey Fist’s hand, causing him to release the Lotus Blade. Rufus caught it, the blade magically resizing for his stature, before it transformed again, making itself into a suit of armor as Rufus shoulder charged through a hoard of Monkey Ninjas like a linebacker. Making his way to where the chains that connected the winch to the cage were, Rufus pulled, causing the cage to swing into the side of the cavern wall and smash open, freeing Ron, Sam, and Yori. Ron rushed over to Rufus who handed over the Lotus Blade to Ron, who willed it to a shape more familiar to Ron, a Bo Staff.

     “He has the Lotus Blade! Get them, my monkey ninjas!” Monkey Fist shouted after he recovered, as the hoard of highly trained simian shinobi attacked the freed foursome.

    Rufus was a quite formidable opponent when compared to his seemingly higher order mammal attackers. He latched onto the head of the first Monkey Ninja that attacked him and began to pilot him around like it was Ratatouille, but the only thing Rufus was serving up was beatdowns.

    Sam took her moment to show that her week spent at Yamanouchi had taught her many things, including making her already decent fighting skills that much better. The Fenton Rod was a weapon Sam was quite familiar with, and with all the extra bo staff training she received over the course of the week, it had gone from an effective weapon in her hand, to a devastating one. Multiple monkeys found themselves swept aside as she made wide swings, and those who dodged found themselves getting tripped up by some of the rod’s other tricks, getting zapped by ecto blasts that shot out of the ends, or entangled in some of the ecto-filament threads that shot forth from the end, which made even attacks that missed sting with the force of a dozen tiny whips.

    Ron displayed confidence and skill that none of them had seen from him before, as though he and the Lotus Blade were two parts of the same whole. Weapons were often seen as extensions of the body, but it seemed it was extra true in Ron’s case. Every hit was deliberate, every action smooth and precise to an insane degree. Rufus had perhaps taken out three monkeys. Sam about seven, but Ron was working his way through fifteen and was showing no signs of stopping. That though, posed a problem. There weren’t just fifteen or twenty, or even thirty monkeys. There were a hundred, or perhaps more. It seemed for every one they defeated, two more could take its place, and no amount of skill can stand up to the sheer volume. They were quickly losing ground, being forced back against the magma pool their cage had been dangling over.

    Yori noticed their losing battle, and made her play to change the situation. With a large sweeping motion, she slashed her fan against the stone walls of the cavern, allowing a hidden pocket of magma to pour out. The sudden appearance of a new source of molten rock, as well as the shift in the pressure of the cavern, caused the monkeys to scatter, dodging out of the way of the slowly encroaching magma, as well as the failing stalactites from the ceiling, as the pressure in the cavern tried to stabilize. Grabbing Sam and Ron, Yori began dragging them towards one of the cavern exits, Rufus hopping into his owner’s pocket to avoid being left behind. 

    They shot down the mountain like a rocket, trying to put as much distance between the cavern and them as possible. Both to avoid the possible eruption they may have just caused, and also to avoid the monkey ninjas. Unfortunately, in their panic, they had chosen an incorrect path.

   Stopping just shy of the edge of a large ravine they turned to find an alternate path, only to find their exit blocked by Monkey Fist, Fukushima, and their hoard of Monkey Ninjas.

    “And now you are out of space to run.” Monkey Fist said, stepping in front of his gathered army. “Hand me the sword, and I might even have the decency to allow the girls to live.” 

    “Not going to happen, Monty.” Ron said, holding the blade in front of him, it had returned to it’s katana state, the single-edged blade glinting in the late-morning sun. “I’m not going to let you use it to take over the world!”

    “Very well then, I attempted an offer.” Monkey Fist stated, before dropping into a stance. “You’ve chosen death, and a painful one at that.”

    “Allow me, Master. I’ll handle this.” Fukushima said, as he shot forward, disarming Ron with a single well placed strike to the hand.

    “Ow!” Ron yelped, swatting the air haphazardly as the blade exited his hand, it skidded across the dewy surface of the grass, sliding down into the ravine.

     “The Lotus Blade!” Fukushima and Monkey Fist cried out in unison, rushing to the edge but finding themselves unable to grab it before it plummeted deep into the chasm.

     “Just calling that one out, not my fault.” Ron said, the goofball emerging back from him. It seemed that high intensity situations made it return.

     Monkey Fist rubbed his primate hand down his face, his expression going from frustrated to determined. “No matter, retrieving it from the bottom will be an issue for later. For now, I spy three corpses in the making, and a rat in desperate need of cooking. Monkeys, attack!”

    A loud horn caught the attention of everyone present, as Sensei crested a nearby hill, the trained warriors of Yamanouchi walking in formation behind him. “Yamanouchi, be swift, be deadly, show he who disgraces our way the true might of Yamanouchi.”

    A wave of shadow crept over the land, as the Yamanouchi students engaged the Monkey Ninjas in combat, the stealthy assassins easily overpowering the lower order mammals.

     Monkey Fist screamed in frustration, his gaze locking onto Ron. “I might have lost the battle this day, but there is still one victory I may grasp. Fukushima, here is your last chance to continue to serve under me, assist me in killing Ron Stoppable.” With that, Monkey Fist launched himself at Ron, attacking the blond boy with killer intent. There was no restraint, no mercy in his blows, as the master of Monkey Kung-Fu rained powerful blows onto Ron’s body.

    Fukushima jumped in as well, having already committed to his fate. There would be no returning to Yamanouchi, he would either succeed alongside Monkey Fist, or fail entirely. Fukushima’s technique was not quite as refined as the older genetically modified man, but his skill was still prevalent. He was tied for the top student of Yamanouchi for a reason and it showed.

     Ron could do little to stop the pair as they rained blows upon him, feeling the bruising and bleeding that was coming for him. He’d been in fights for his life before, he’d nearly died on at least a half dozen occasions, but this… this was different. There was no hope for him, was there? Ron felt the darkness creep in, his eyes scanning the battlefield one last time. Sam and Yori were holding off the Monkey Ninjas, they couldn’t make it to him in time, not that they would be able to truly defeat both Monkey Fist and Fukushima. The other students of Yamanouchi were also too far away, held back by the army of simian shinobi. Ron was alone. There was no Kim, no Danny, no one coming to save him.

And that’s when it snapped.

    A blue wave of energy shot out around him, knocking Monkey Fist and Fukushima away, as Ron’s posture shifted. His back arched slightly, his arms hanging low as though they were longer, his knees bent, and a spectral tail appeared behind him as a bright blue glow emanated from his every pore. He launched himself at Monkey Fist and Fukushima five limbs moving in perfect synchronization as he embraced the power for the second time. Ron felt no fear, no anger, there was a calculated zenness to his movements that at best implied this situation was an annoyance.

    Fukushima fell first, the weaker link of the pair by a wide margin. He had been slammed into a nearby rock by Ron’s spectral tail, knocked unconscious by the impact.

    To Monkey Fist’s credit, he displayed his own mastery of the style, but he was only human. Even his modifications did not make him a match for the unbridled power that Ron displayed. A two handed open palm strike to his chest knocked him forty feet back, and Monkey Fist was fairly certain it had also broken his ribs. Grabbing his chest, and looking on with a mix of awe and righteous anger, he cut his losses. He could train new Monkey Ninjas, find a new apprentice, but he could not rise from the dead, and it was clear that if he continued his attack today, that would be his result. With a final glance at the battle his ninjas were fighting, Monkey Fist fled, choosing to fight another day.

     Later, back at the school, Sam had finished packing all of her and Ron’s things, as Ron laid spread eagle on the ground. The fight with Monkey Fist, alongside whatever power he had unleashed, had seemingly destroyed his body. The onsite doctor for Yamanouchi had said that the damage wasn’t permanent, torn muscles not dissimilar to those naturally formed from high intensity workouts. He would be sore, have difficulties moving for a few days certainly, but he would recover and quite literally be stronger than before for the experience. 

    Yori sat next to Ron, rubbing a numbing ointment into his arms so he could use them with less pain, as Sensei spoke. “As you can see, Ronald. The power did not leave you that day. It resides, deep within you, as it was always destined to.” His tone conveyed a sense of gravitas, but it was also rather jovial, as though he was pleased by the outcome.

    “Sorry I lost the Lotus Blade though. Probably should have held onto it better.” Ron chuckled painfully. Laughing hurt. Breathing hurt. Honestly, his everything hurt.

     “The Lotus Blade is not lost. Simply will it to your hand, and it shall appear.” Sensei said. “I imagine you have watched superhero movies? Similar to the one called Thor.”

    “Master Sensei’s seen a Marvel movie?” Sam asked, somewhat shocked.

    “It is important to find joys in life. My grandchildren loved them dearly, and in my youth, I enjoyed manga. I was not immune to the joys of Astro Boy, and would not deny my children and their children similar pleasures.” Sensei said, reaching up and ruffling a blushing Yori’s hair.

    “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised Yori’s your granddaughter.” Sam said with a chuckle. “Guess the Monkey Kung-Fu doesn’t fall far from the tree.” 

     Ron lifted his hand, thinking about wanting the Lotus Blade to come to it. He felt… something on the edge of his consciousness, before the blade shot through the air, the hilt landing in his hand. Unfortunately, it had taken a decently direct path, leaving a line of holes through the walls of Yamanouchi. “Oops… my bad.” Ron chuckled. Sam looked worried for a moment, but Yori and Sensei seemed to be amused by the act. 

     “I shall retrieve the case, wield the Lotus Blade well, Stoppable-San.” Sensei said, bowing lightly.

     “Get the case, but… I won’t be taking it with me. It’s home is here, in Yamanouchi. I don’t need some crazy powerful sword. It’ll mean much more to you than it will mean to me.” Ron said, looking to Sensei and Yori.

    The pair shared a glance, before smiles graced both of their faces. “It is this, among many other reasons, that the Lotus Blade chose you as it’s destined wielder and not Monkey Fist. It is the sign of a great man that he possesses great power, and chooses not to wield it when not needed. The Lotus Blade shall be here, should you ever require it, but know that it is not the Blade that grants you the greatest strength. That resides within you.” Sensei spoke, smiling at Ron.

     “Glad to hear it Sensei… now can you get us a ride down the mountain and to the airport? None of that great strength is in my legs right now.” Ron said, causing a round of laughter to shoot through the gathered quartet.

     Middleton Airport was it’s usual vaguely chaotic mess of arrivals and departures, as Danny, Kim, Sammy, Alex, and Clover waited patiently in the section between baggage claim and international departures. Clover glanced over, eyes still moony, but disappointed, as Paulina and Bonnie continued their flirtations with Hirotaka, seemingly determined to get every second they could out of his presence.

    “Come on Clover, don’t let it get you down too bad.” Alex said, trying to cheer her friend up. “So it didn’t work out, big whoop. It probably wouldn’t have lasted when he went home anyway? As cuddly as you are, do you think you could handle a boyfriend you didn’t see at least once a week?”

    Clover groaned, but shook her head. “No, you’re probably right. Still doesn’t mean I can’t be a little disappointed. It really is a shame I could barely find a moment he wasn’t surrounded by Paulina and Bonnie, a REAL chance to shoot my shot would have been appreciated, even if it wasn’t going to work when he went home.”

    Danny chuckled as he heard Clover’s complaints. “Oh, that probably wasn’t going to work anyway, not just because of the distance, and I imagine Paulina and Bonnie over there are just about to learn why.” Danny said, pointing Clover’s attention.

      Hirotaka chuckled, saying something with a broad smile on his face that stopped Paulina and Bonnie in their tracks. Their expressions shifted, from the flirtatious grins to shock, and then to anger as their hands came up in unison and slapped his cheeks, leaving bright red handprints. They stormed off in a huff, leaving Hirotaka alone. Seeing the other group, he approached, rubbing his cheek awkwardly. “Danny, do you know what might have caused them to be so angry? I had only mentioned that if they were ever in Japan I’d love for them to meet my boyfriend Takamoto.” Hirotaka asked.

     “My guy, they were hitting on you all week. Did you think they did that for all the people who come here?” Danny asked, chuckling a bit.

     “I thought they were just very friendly.” Hirotaka said, letting his shoulders droop. “I suppose it is of no matter. I extend the same invitation to you as well. Please give Tucker my regards as well. Perhaps we can find some time to play Monster Hunter again?”

    “You got it bud. I’ll try and look you up if I’m ever in the land of the rising sun.” Danny said, giving Hirotaka a fist bump as the older boy walked off, waving goodbye to the group.

    Clover looked on, gobsmacked, before turning to Danny. “What? Since when are you and Hirotaka buddy-buddy? And why didn’t you tell me he had a boyfriend?” Clover asked, grabbing Danny by the collar and shaking him.

     “Woah!” Danny said, holding his hands up and getting Clover to drop him. “First day Hirotaka got here, Tucker and I ran into him at the arcade. We played Street Fighter for like three hours. Turns out he’s a gamer in his spare time. We hung out for a bit every day, but like, not all the time. He told us a bit about home, and a lot about his boyfriend. I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t know you were trying to hit on him! Anytime I saw him, he had Paulina and Bonnie hanging off of him, so I’d assumed you’d backed off from the competition!”

    Clover deflated, her week of manic attempts to impress a boy now so obviously wasted effort. She didn’t get to wallow in her own self-pity for long though, as Ron and Sam finally appeared from the baggage terminal, walking up to the group.

    “You’re back!” Danny said as he wrapped Sam in a hug, while Kim did the same to Ron, who winced a little bit at the pressure, still sore. “So how was Japan?”

    “It was great, really learned a lot.” Ron said, and Sam nodded.

    “And how was the ninja school part?” Clover asked, regaining a little bit of her composure.

    “How do you know about that? It was like, a huge secret?” Sam asked, a little worried about prying ears.

    “You can’t keep anything from a good spy.” Clover said with a wink.

     “Except a ninja boyfriend, apparently.” Alex responded, earning a laugh from everyone but Sam and Ron, who shared a confused glance.

Chapter Text

     The ending whistle of the race sounded over the Z-Boy Switch’s speakers and Alex shot her fist up. “Alright! I'm the greatest!” She whooped as Danny, Tucker, and Ron chuckled at her. The bus ride for their multi-day field trip was taking a while, and they’d been finding ways to keep themselves entertained. Checking out the window, Danny saw the signs for I-77 as they headed south.

     “So, you guys excited for this Mystic Cove trip?” Kim asked as she flipped through the brochure. “Kinda wild that they’re taking us so far for just a couple days.” Mystic Cove was a former pirate sanctuary in South Carolina, rumored to be where Blackbeard first set sail. Casper High, for some reason, had decided to take the students on a multi-day long field trip to the location, as part of a section in their history class on the golden age of piracy.

     “This trip can’t be cheap. Charter bus for a 16 hour drive, lodging for a hundred students, plus whatever is there? Where do you think the school is getting this kind of money from, and why are they spending it like this? Especially with that exchange program Sam and Ron just did.” Star pointed out.

     “Must have gotten some big donations from someone.” Kim mused as she flipped through the brochure. “Had to use it for something, and maybe it was specifically earmarked for ‘student enrichment’ instead of ‘school improvements’.”

    “Who do you think would be making those kinds of donations though? If it was one of the big shots in Amity or Middleton, surely they’d be taking credit for it.” Sam said, shaking her head. “I know it wasn’t my parents.”

     “Global Justice maybe?” Valerie put forward as she tapped away on her phone. “Six of their top guys go to our school, maybe they’re funding the school to keep you guys happy and educated.”

    “Anything is possible I guess.” Danny said with a shrug as he glanced out the window again. A loud motorcycle rev filled his ears as he saw Johnny and Kitty pull up beside them, Johnny locked eyes with him and gave him a salute before rocketing off down the road.

    “Why are they coming, again?” Clover asked as she saw the motorcycle pull away.

     “Wanted a change of pace, and figured that they’d pull us away during the night to do fun stuff. Ember’s probably already at the place since she’d just fly there at full speed, which is much faster than we’re getting on the highway.” Danny said with a shrug. “Kitty’s interested anyway. Says that places like Mystic Cove usually have their own ghost populations that live outside the zone, and she’d like more perspectives. She’s been wanting to write like an ‘Afterlife Basics’ for new ghosts, so she’s been trying to get as many perspectives as she can.”

     “That’s a good thing, surely. I imagine a lot of ghosts feel pretty lost when they first turn.” Sammy said from her place beside Danny, leaning against his arm.

     “I know I wish I had it, and I’m only half of one.” Danny said with a chuckle, as they continued their long drive.

     Shego normally didn’t mind most of Drakken’s modes of transportation. The man was very good at building his rides, and they were usually fairly comfortable, if not very visually interesting. Today was not one of those days. The submersible they were in was quite cramped, with a ceiling just high enough that she could stand, but attempting to go through a doorway required ducking. It was an annoyance of the highest caliber, but the bad doctor seemed to have something planned, so she’d bite her tongue on complaining… for now at least. “So, Dr. D, what are we even doing down here? Some weird supermaterial at the bottom of the ocean?”

    Drakken smirked as he turned to Shego, his blue skin made even bluer by the tinted lights of the submarine's cockpit. “Not quite Shego, you see, what we are looking for is the lost treasure of the infamous Captain Black-Eye Brown. Aside from great riches, it also is said to contain his cutlass, which could summon an army of skeleton pirates.” Drakken said, as he continued scanning the seabed.

    “You think there’s any truth to that? Sounds like something from an adventure movie more than anything real.” Shego asked, rolling her eyes a bit.

     “I’ll admit I too was skeptical, but Killigan was correct about the Soul Shredder being a powerful artifact last year. While we failed to properly utilize it last time, this may be different.” Drakken said, as he made a small noise of frustration as he scooped up another pile of sand, but found nothing within. “Should the sword be a mere legend, then the treasure we find will at least fund a doomsday weapon of some kind. Maybe a cloning machine.”

     “Hey! I said no cloning, it’s in my contract.” Shego said with a glare.

     “Fine, fine.” Drakken said, as he used the sieve arm on the seabed again. As he did so, a treasure chest was found inside. “Oh goodie. This is it Shego, the lost treasure of Black-Eye Brown.”

     After maneuvering the chest through a hatch, Drakken opened the box. Inside was a large amount of gold coins and jewels, and atop it all was an ornate cutlass. The handguard was styled after some kind of draconic sea serpent. Drakken wrapped his fingers around it, holding it up to inspect. “Ah yes, Shego. With this blade, I shall summon forth a skeleton army to take over the world, and neither Kim Possible, her sidekick, or the weird flying boy will be able to stop me! Ah ha ha ha harr.” Drakken laughed manically, before his posture shifted, he stood a tad taller, and his tone deepened. He spoke up once more, a green glow in his eye. “It be time for Black-Eye Brown to sail the seas once more.”

    In the ghost zone, a young ghost boy swung around a wooden sword, going through the motions of playing pirate as a skeletal parrot sat on his shoulder. The parrot let out a loud squawk as he felt something deep within him resonate. “Oh… it seems my old captain has returned.” The parrot spoke, his deep voice wholly unfitting for his appearance.

     “You mean Black-Eye Brown’s back? Oh! Oh! Oh! Can we go see him? He can teach me how to be a real pirate!” The little boy said, wide-eyed childish excitement present in his eyes.

     “I suppose the Captain will be in need of his first mate, and since this body isn’t fit for duty, I suppose you’ll do well Youngblood. Come along, the Captain will show you exactly what it means to be a pirate.” The parrot said, as the pair set off.

    As the buses unloaded the Casper High students at Mystic Cove, they were greeted by a man who looked suspiciously like Mr. Barkin. Their Mr. Barkin walked up to him, before giving him a hug. “Good to see you, Dad. Been a minute.” The normally taciturn man said as he hugged his nearly identical father.

    “Aye, ‘tis great to see you as well my son.” Barkin Sr. said, before separating and patting his son on the back. “And to you lot, I bid ye welcome to Mystic Cove. This town is a historical re-enactment site dedicated to preserving the memory of South Carolina’s heritage as one of the birthplaces of the Golden Age of Piracy. During your time here, you shall work traditional jobs to understand what life was life during the Early 1700s. We will also provide a brief specific history lesson, and then the local theater troupe has agreed to put on a play that is a re-enactment of the Siege of Mystic Cove by the Pirate Black-Eye Brown.” 

     Tucker raised his hand. “Don’t you mean Blackbeard? His name was on the brochure.”

     Barkin Sr. narrowed his eyes at the tech-savvy boy. “Aye, it is believed that Edward Teach, the man known as Blackbeard, did set sail from here initially, but it was not he who sieged the town. Black-Eye Brown was another captain, with a somewhat similar name.” It was clear he wasn’t a fan of the question, but at least understood it came from a place of wanting to learn. “Make your way to the noticeboard and pick out a job to do whilst you are here. You will get a brief glimpse into the life of those who lived here, and perhaps may learn to appreciate what it took for your modern life to exist.”

    The students crowded around the noticeboard as they glanced through the offered jobs. There were a surprising number of things they could learn to do. Dash and Kwan seemed to find something first. “Hey! Blacksmithing! I can just totally wail on something with a hammer. Good practice for when I find a nerd later. You hear that Fenturd?” Dash said, laughing at his own joke as he and Kawn walked off towards the smithy.

    “And he thinks I’m likely to date him while acting like that.” Clover huffed as she rolled her eyes. She glanced at the board as well. “Ooh, a seamstress position. That’s got Clover’s name written all over it!”

    “Like you’ll be able to make anything that looks anywhere near as good as what we make.” Paulina said, as she and Bonnie took the same position. Danny could almost see lightning shoot between her and Clover’s eyes, before the three of them rushed off towards the tailor’s.

    “I’ll be forever glad to not be in there.” Sam said as she looked over the board. “Oh, an apothecary. Working with plants seems good. Maybe I’ll learn a nice old-timey remedy or two.”

    “Oh, I’ll head with you there, seems more up my alley than some of this other stuff.” Sammy said, as the pair headed off.

    “I’m headed for the Butcher.” Tucker said, a wide grin on his face. “A nice evening surrounded by every cut of meat imaginable sounds like heaven.”

    Valerie shook her head as she watched her boyfriend go off. “Remind me that he’s going to have to shower before I let him kiss me.” She shook her head. “Looks like there’s a nurse position, guess that’s where I’ll be going.”

    “Oh, that sounds good then. I already volunteer at the hospital, so that’ll be something I’m already good at.” Kim said with a smile, leaning in to give Danny a quick kiss before she headed off.

    Ron scanned the board a bit more, seemingly unable to find anything. “Ah, come on! Where’s like, town guard or something like that?”

     “Probably not likely to find anything like that Ron. How about you head to the bakery? I know you’re like, master baker anyway, surely that’ll be good.” Danny suggested as he pointed out the bakery position.

    “Yum, bakery.” Rufus said from his place in Ron’s pocket, sticking his head out and licking his lips.

    “Yeah, guess a bakery’s not too bad. Could think of worse ways to spend my evening than covered in flour and full of pastries.” Ron said with a smile as he shot Danny a quick salute and walked off.

    That only left Danny, Star, and Alex staring at the board, trying to figure out what to do. “Well, I’ve been thinking about being a vet as my day job… maybe I could be a milkmaid for the day?” Alex pondered looking over it.

    “I was looking at that too, I’ve always wanted to milk a cow.” Star said, and she and Alex nodded, getting ready to head off. Star gave Danny her own kiss. “What are you going to do, handsome?”

     “Well, I guess I’ll go work as a dockhand, shouldn’t be too bad since I can cheat it with super strength.” Danny said, as he kissed her as well. “You two enjoy milking Ol’ Betsy.” He added with a chuckle.

     Danny was pretty thankful that he didn’t have any issues with sea-sickness, because even docked, the ship he was working on rocked hard in the water. “These waves be extra choppy today. Be careful to not fall overboard.” Captain Franklin Barkin said. Danny was unfortunate enough that he’d gone to the job that Barkin Sr. oversaw, and was paying the price. Thankfully, Barkin, either the father or the son, was strict but fair. He hadn’t put any work on Danny that he himself wasn’t doing, barring a scrubbing of the deck, which was only because it was more or less a one person job. Danny scrubbed with the coarse bristles of the large pushbrush, working the cleaning concoction into the wood. “What yer using is a mix of traditional and modern techniques.” Barkin Sr. said. “Were this a true ship of the era, you’d be using holystone and saltwater to clean the deck, which kept the wood open to receiving the oil you’ll be putting down. Traditionally, linseed oil was used, as it was readily available and functional. For better preservation though, we have taken to using a more modern synthetic oil that protects a tad better, although it does still use linseed as a base.”

     “Guess you’ve had to adapt some of the techniques since finding people to do specific service on this is harder? Stuff that in the past you could find someone who did them regularly that now is incredibly rare?” Danny asked, as he stopped to wipe his brow.

    “Indeed, in the era there’d be a half-dozen shipwrights in port who could repair or replace near anything on a ship. Now if there is any damage, if it’s not something we can repair ourselves, we have to find carpenters willing to do the work, which is often difficult.” Barkin Sr. said as he oiled some of the pulleys on the ship deck. “I suppose I should tell you a bit about sailing in the era. For one, seafarers were notably superstitious. Nearly everything was an omen, good or bad. If a rope snapped, a mast broke, something fell overboard, it was always blamed on some kind of superstition, as the sea is an unpredictable mistress on her best days. Passengers who were considered unlucky were called Jonahs, which is a reference to the store of Jonah and the Great Fish in the Bible.”

     “What kind of passengers were Jonahs?” Danny asked, wondering what specifically would be called out as unlucky.

     “Superstitions varied wildly. Some considered it unlucky for a holy man or priest to be at sea. Others found red-heads to be distasteful. One of the more common ones were women. There are certain reasons that ones may believe this to be the case. If superstitious sailors believed they were safe because the Lord wouldn’t kill one of his priests, then they may not pay as much attention to their duties and make a mistake. I’m sure a boy your age can wager a guess as to why groups of men who spent long times away from others might have difficulties performing their jobs with a woman on board.” Barkin Sr. said, being diplomatic with his words. “I’ve not yet heard any explanations for red-heads. That could simply be xenophobia because many red-heads would be Irish, or perhaps there was one red-head who was clumsy and spread a stereotype.”

    “I guess.” Danny said, chuckling a bit. “Any other superstitions? Anything funny?”

    “Bananas were considered cursed cargo, that’s one I always found amusing.” Barkin Sr. said with a somewhat good natured chuckle, as he and Danny continued the basic maintenance of the ship.

    As the sun set for the evening, the Casper High students gathered in the town square, as the local theater troupe readied the final preparations for the re-enactment play. Kim and Star took their places on either side of Danny, Sammy coming up behind him and snuggling into his back. “So, how were your jobs?” Danny asked, his gaze flipping between the girls.

     “Nursing was nursing. No different from volunteering at the hospital, just more splinters and saw cuts.” Kim said, leaning onto his shoulder. “So not the drama.”

     “Milking a cow was really fun! Although it was also kinda gross. You never really think about how dirty cows are until you’re right next to them.” Star said, shaking her head and sticking her tongue out. “Alex and I also gathered some chicken eggs, and got to watch as a sheep got sheared. They let us ride a horse for a little bit because we got finished early, so that was extra fun.”

    “Equestrian in the making.” Danny said with a chuckle.

     “I mean hey, if we find a ghost horse that’s nice, I could ride into battle to help you maybe!” Star said with a giggle. “Put on a cowboy hat and be Sheriff’s Star this time.”

    “What about you Sammy, how was the apothecary?” Danny asked, bringing his hand up to pat her on the head as she leaned over his shoulder.

    “It was pretty interesting. She told us a lot about traditional medicines, like how they would use bark from the nearby magnolia trees in teas that managed to ease fevers and stomach aches.” Sammy said, with a wide smile. “We made some of the tea, it tasted pretty good, but it smelled WAY better. I think I heard Sam talking about seeing if she could source some of the stuff locally to make her own tea.”

    “Seems like she’s certainly got something good out of this trip. I mostly just did physical labor.” Danny said, as he leaned back into Sammy a bit. “I was working with Barkin’s dad, who is exactly like his son. He mostly just told me about what life was like on ships, superstitions and common ailments. I could do without the descriptions of what scurvy did to people.” Danny shivered at that. Barkin Sr. was going to show him pictures, but Danny managed to convince him he got the picture and didn’t need to see it.

    The metaphorical curtain opened on the play just then, as Barkin Sr. spoke. “Avast ye who dare listen. This be the tale of how the great and terrible Captain Black-Eye Brown led a three week siege against the people of Mystic Cove.” The sound of cannons firing filled the air, and there was a loud thunk as one landed near the stage.

    “Wow, I didn’t think they’d have the budget for special effects like that.” Tucker said as he looked to the cannonball where it imbedded itself in the ground. “That’s deep too, wonder how they managed?”

    “They don’t have that kind of budget Mr. Foley.” Barkin said, as he stood up, concern on his face.

    “Pirates!” Barkin Sr. yelled, pointing into the ocean, where a large pirate ship loomed, It’s hull a rich mahogany, decorated with various filigree. “Make way! Head further inland!” He yelled, as the actors and workers from the town funneled their way back, rushing for the parking area nearby.

    Kim pulled out her kimmunicator as the other Casper High students rushed away. “Hey, Wade, can you tell me what the sitch is with a pirate ship appearing off the coast of Mystic Cove?” Kim asked, as another cannonball shot towards them. It was about to hit them before Johnny showed up smacking it to the ground.

    “You owe me one, Danny boy.” Johnny said with a teasing smirk as he touched down next to them, Kitty and Ember forming up with their group.

    “Just got a picture up… it’s Drakken and Shego? He’s in a pirate get-up and holding a weird glowing sword… and there’s a ghost kid flying around them? He’s got like a skeleton parrot.” Wade said, pretty confused. “There’s also a crew of skeletons with a green glow, definitely looks like some ghost stuff going on.”

     “Hey, Screencap, that little kid, he’s decked out in pirate gear isn’t he? Hat almost as big as he is?” Ember asked to the tech wiz on the other side of the connection.

     “Ugh… yeah, actually that’s pretty spot on.” Wade said, as everyone turned to look at her.

     “That’s Youngblood, he’s a ghost from our little area of the zone. He’s a kid, so he likes to pretend to be a pirate, I think because that parrot of his used to be one when he was alive.” Ember explained. “Met him a few times, he’s a brat, but he didn’t seem the villain type like Skulker or Spectra. Figured he’d never leave the zone.” 

     “Well he’s somehow ended up with Drakken, which isn’t good.” Kim said, examining the satellite feed that was getting patched through. “We’ll have to get over there and stop him. Think you guys can fly us over to take him down?” Kim asked, as the spies readied some gadgets, Sam and Tucker pulled on their wrist blasters, and Valerie readied her hoverboard, which morphed from her backpack in a nifty upgrade from Technus.

    “We could, but there’s a big problem. That’s not just some ship. That’s a ghost ship.” Kitty said, shivering.

    There was a pause after that as another cannonball fired, Ember knocking that one out of the way. “And… what does that mean. We’re still figuring out this ghost stuff, Kitty.” Tucker said as he ducked away from where the cannonball was going to land.

    “They’re like… mini-realms.” Kitty said. “Danny, you remember when you went in Ember’s realm when I was trapped between dimensions, right?”

     “Yeah, she was able to like, warp the walls and stuff to trap me.” Danny said, remembering how Ember’s concert hall seemed capable of bending to her whims completely.

     “A ghost has near total control over their realm, it’s limited to how powerful and how much their realm is tied to them specifically. Ember’s realm is totally under her control because she’s powerful enough to mold it and doesn’t share it with anyone else. Johnny and I together can control our realm, but each of us individually can only make smaller changes because technically the other one is fighting for control, even if we actually aren’t.” Kitty elaborated, looking over to Johnny.

    “That’s why I can’t get that bar installed that I want so bad.” Johnny said, somewhat sulkily.

    “That’s because you keep trying to put in a stripper pole! I keep telling you I’m not doing that!” Kitty yelled, her face flushing green as ectoplasm rose to her cheeks. “Anyway, a ghost ship has a lesser version of that. He probably can’t manifest anything that wouldn’t normally be on the ship, but it’s enough that he can turn the world to his advantage on it. The only real way to fight a ghost ship is WITH a ghost ship.”

     “Well, great. Not exactly like we’ve got one of those lying around.” Sam said with an eyeroll. “Could Danny make one?”

     “I’m not sure. All ghosts more or less have the ability to create ‘associated objects’, as in being able to put their essence into an item. One of the ways we thought about getting me out of the space between dimensions was me doing that to my clothes and using them to possess someone else. Certain ghosts like Johnny can extend that to vehicles, and those are effectively the precursor to ghost ships. Johnny’s bike is effectively like a mini ghost ship.” Kitty explained as she looked to Johnny.

     “Then could you take over that ship over there and turn it into a ghost ship?” Ron asked, pointing to the ship in the harbor. “Solves that problem, doesn’t it?”

     “I don’t have that kind of oomph.” Johnny said. “Ghost ships normally pull their power across their entire crew, which pool it into their captain. That usually requires at least a dozen ghosts working in concert. The four of us are higher weight classes than most ghosts, but I still don’t think we’re enough to do that. Maybe if it was Friday the 13th and Ember had some fans screaming her name we could manage, but otherwise it’s not happening.” 

     Danny thought for a second, before speaking up. “Superstitions about luck power you up, right?” 

     “Yeah, as long as there’s someone nearby who is aware of a superstition, it’ll give me a power-up, provided the circumstances for it exist, even if they don’t really believe it.” Johnny said, looking to him. “Gonna tell me you’ve got some black cats stored away or something?”

    “No… but I did learn some sailor superstitions today. Apparently sailors thought women, redheads, and holy men were considered bad luck at sea.” Danny said, before gesturing around them. “We’ve got a crew here of nine girls, with two of them being redheads. Plus us four guys gives us 13 crew members. Think that’s enough superstition to ramp you up?”

     “Guess there’s only one way to find out.” Johnny said with a sigh, as they all ran for the ship in the harbor. “Here goes nothing.” Johnny added, as they loaded onto the ship. He grabbed the wheel as his body surrounded itself in a green glow, which extended into his hands and began to fill the ship. A low hum echoed through the air, followed by a creak and a screech as the ship began to change beneath them. The light brown color of the teak wood shifted and darkened, taking on a dark charcoal grey that seemed to stretch itself like ink across the boards as if dripped from Johnny’s hands on the wheel. The trim of the ship, the railings, keel, and masts also recolored, taking on a gunmetal grey color that reflected the moonlight. The few lanterns that dotted the deck filled with an eerie green ectoplasmic glow, and at the top of the mast, a new flag flew. Gone was the red flag with the flag of Great Britain in the corner, and now a black flag took it’s place, a skull and crossbones design with a 13 emblazoned in green on the skull, where the bones would be though, one side held a tire iron, and the other a hairbrush. What really surprised everyone though, was Johnny. His attire had shifted, gone was the oversized army jacket and combat boots, and in it’s place was a long captain’s coat, with prim buckled boots. His jeans were replaced by breeches, and his white t-shirt gave way to a puffy linen shirt. His hair shifted as well, growing longer and pulling itself back into a colonial ponytail. A tricorn sat itself on his head, completing the ensemble. “Woah… that’s a rush.” Johnny said, momentarily winded by the amount of power he'd had to put out. It seemed though like the ship gave it back to him after a moment, as he stood taller than before.

     “Hubba hubba.” Kitty said, shooting her boyfriend a flirty wink. “Now I'm feeling out of place. Guess I should fix that.” Kitty shifted her own clothes, her jacket molding itself into a corset as her shirt and skirt merged into a single combined dress that gave her the appearance of a tavern wench. Her usual hair stayed though, as did her fishnets. “Oh Captain, my Captain, shall we set sail?”

    “Let's ride.” Johnny said as he turned the ship's wheel, and a ghostly wind filled the sails, driving them into the harbor.

    “So, Kitty. What do we need to know about fighting a ghost ship?” Danny asked as he readied himself.

     “It'll be two parts. The actual ships will have to fight each other. The constant damage and repair is what will stop the captain from being able to overwhelm us by forcing the rigging to trap us or whatever.” Kitty said as she glanced out towards the other ship in the water. “Then there's the boarding party. They'll get on and fight the Captain and his crew hand to hand, or sword to sword. Whatever.” 

    “Satellite showed Drakken, Shego, and that Youngblood kid. The rest are skeletons that are crewing the ship.” Kim said, readying herself. “I can handle Shego.”

     “That Drakken dude's captain, since I'm captain here, I'll have to fight him. I'm guessing that sword he's waving around is giving him some kind of ghost power.” Johnny said, as he steered the ship in.

     “Same possession technique I thought about doing with my clothes probably. I'd guess it's that Black-Eye Brown guy they were talking about at the town.” Kitty said.

     “I'll try and handle Youngblood then.” Danny said, sighing. “Ember and Kitty, I guess you two need to stay on the ship to give ghost support to the humans. Knock cannonballs away before they hit someone.”

    “Gotcha First-Mate Babypop.” Ember said, manifesting her own pirate hat on her head. “I'll keep the cannonballs from your friends here.”

    “Everyone else, man the cannons. Pair up, one loader, one gunner.” Johnny said, as though possessing the ship gave him enhanced knowledge of how to run it.

    “What cannons? This is a prop ship!” Alex said, gesturing wildly at the lack of cannons.

    “Kitty, Ember, Phantom, do me a favor and channel your energy into the ship. I'll get the rest.” Johnny said. The three ghosts nodded, placing their hands on parts of the ship and feeding their energy in. As if on cue, banks of cannons arose from the lower decks, stacks of ghostly cannonballs stacked neatly beside them. “There's your cannons. Ember and Kitty should be able to switch whatever side they're on as necessary, although I don't think you'll need to.” 

    “Then I guess it's time for us to board!” Danny said as he grabbed onto Kim's hand. Johnny nodded, and the trio flew into the air, making their way onto the other ship.

    “Yar! It be Kim Possible, and the weird flying boy… and a pirate? I'm not familiar with this one.” Drakken said, glaring at the trio.

    “Give it up Drakken! Call off your… crew here and surrender!” Kim said with determination.

     “The one ye be knowing as Dr. Drakken not be here anymore lass. I be the Captain Black-Eye Brown, and ye be thinking you're all that. But ye be wrong.” Black-Eye said, before shaking his head. “Why did I feel such a strange compulsion to say such a thing?”

    “Its just what Dr. D does, although it's usually after we lose. Not sure if that's a good or a bad omen.” Shego said, as she readied her fists, causing them to shine with the green plasma of her Go Team Glow.

    “Oh, its a bad one for sure. I would know.” Johnny said with a smirk. “Now, are we just gonna chit-chat? Or are we gonna to throw down?”

     “You know what Kimmie? I like this one.” Shego said as she launched herself at Kim, the two female martial artists continuing their rivalry.

    “I've got blue balls over there, Phantom, try and make sure Youngblood doesn't get in the way.” Johnny said, as he squared off with Black-Eye.

    Danny nodded, as Youngblood floated up to the top of the mast, forcing Danny to follow.

     “So, Shego, what's going on with Drakken that he thinks he's a ghost pirate?” Kim asked as she dodged and blocked Shego's punches, utilizing her superior mobility against the stronger woman.

     “That sword he's got I'm pretty sure possessed him.” Shego said, as she brought her arms up in an X to block a flying kick Kim had sent her way. “Really he's just a major pain. He called me wench. I'd kill Drakken for doing that.”

    “Why didn't you this time?” Kim asked, sweeping Shego to the ground, causing the green woman to roll away from the followup punch.

     “Worried he'd try taking over my body. I've got a strict no cloning clause in my contract, but since possession wasn't on the docket when I signed it, I don't have any defense against that.” Shego said as she got back up, slinging a hook towards her.

    “I'm surprised you have a contract at all.” Kim said as she ducked under it, delivering a jab to her stomach.

   “Oof. Well, hench jobs need em. Mad scientist types like Drakken get up to all kinds of crazy stuff, but breaking a hench contract is a great way to lose access to anyone willing to work for you.” Shego said, trying to send a plasma blast into Kim's chest, but the redhead dodged out of the way.

      Youngblood laughed wildly as he shot ecto-rays from the tip of his cutlass towards Danny, who dodged to the side, using his seemingly superior maneuverability over the younger ghost. “Avast ye landlubber, ye shall nay defeat Cap'n Black-Eye Brown and his First Mate Youngblood!” Youngblood spoke, before looking to the parrot on his shoulder. “Did I do it right?”

     “Yes, yes. Very good.” The parrot said from Youngblood's shoulder, his monotone voice actually portraying some warmth. “You're getting better at the pirate speech.”

      “Thanks! That Black-Eye guy has been making it really easy, although he keeps talking about stuff I don't get.” Youngblood said, seemingly forgetting about the fight for a moment. “Like… what does it mean to crack Jenny's teacup? Who is Jenny anyway?”

     “That's ugh… well you're a bit too young for that one.” The parrot said, before pointing Youngblood attention back to Danny. “How about you focus on fighting this scallywag?” 

     “Right!” Youngblood said, pointing his cutlass back at Danny and firing again.

     Danny continued skirting around the blasts, making sure to keep them pointed up so as to not hurt those below. “So Youngblood, what are you doing with Drakken? He's not exactly a good guy you know.” Danny asked, trying to get a sense of what Youngblood really wanted. It seemed a bit odd for Danny to think that a kid ghost would actually want to be a true blue rape and pillage type of pirate, which it certainly seemed like Black-Eye Brown was, especially since the parrot seemed to be trying to PG-ify the dialect for the boy. He seemed to want to play pretend more than anything else.

     “That's because he's been taken over by the ghost of Black-Eye Brown! The coolest pirate there ever was! Petey here used to be his first mate!” Youngblood said, gesturing to the parrot on his shoulder.

     “Indeed, though that was many lifetimes ago.” The parrot said.

     “Besides! Being a pirate is so cool! You get to go on adventures and sail the seas, and you're constantly surrounded by friends! Your crew is your family!” Youngblood added, pure childish enthusiasm on his face.

     Danny was starting to get the picture here. “What about all the bad stuff pirates do? All the people they hurt?” He asked, trying to get a better sense of where Youngblood sat on this issue.

     That seemed to pause him for a moment. “It's okay, it's just what you have to do to survive!” Youngblood said, and the specific wording gave Danny pause. “Black-Eye and I will form a whole new crew, and I'll never be alone again!”

      Danny got the picture now, and genuine sadness filled his heart. Youngblood was just a kid… and probably one that died alone. His afterlife was spent chasing the joy and sense of belonging he didn't have in his lifetime.

     If the fight between Kim and Shego was routine, and the one between Youngblood and Danny was barely a fight, then there were no words to describe the duel between the ghostly ship captains than brutal. The hard clangs of metal on metal could be heard as Johnny and the possessed Drakken clashed their weapons together. Drakken using the ghostly cutlass of Black-Eye Brown, and Johnny making do with a four-way lug wrench he wielded like a sword, his ghostly abilities granting him the leeway to extend one of the branches to at least be as long as a shortsword. 

      Black-Eye pressed his blade into the tool, an evil smirk on his face. “Ye be dreamin’ if Ye think Ye can take me!” He barked, cackling maniacally. “A blunted sword, a crew of wenches, and a first mate who can't even take a child! What hopes do Ye have against a terror of the seas such as meself?” 

     “Well, I can always hope you'll get unlucky.” Johnny said with a smirk, as the ship rocked, forcing Black-Eye to drop his balance for a moment and letting Johnny take the offensive. “You better be glad I'm the one fighting you blue balls.” Johnny said with a cocky smirk as he pressed his offense. “If it was Kitty? You'd be rotting in some strange alternate dimension for the rest of your afterlife. Ember wouldn't even let you fight, just blow your eardrums out until you're a pile of ectoplasm. Danny up there's even stronger than me, he's just too much of a nice guy to go all out.” Catching Black-Eye's blade in a bind, Johnny just reached back and slammed his fist in the pirate's face. “That's where me and the kid differ. I'm not nearly as nice.” Johnny twisted his lug wrench, fully disarming the pirate captain as the blade skidded across the deck.

    “My Blade!” Black-Eye screamed, as he attempted to cross the deck after it. The ship heaved in the water though, causing it to slip right out from under him as it slid past him and landed under Johnny's boot. 

    Within a few moments, the effects of separation from the blade began to take hold. A black mist erupted from Drakken, seeping back into the blade. Drakken stood up gripping his head. “Shego? What… where am I? What is Kim Possible doing here? Who are these other people?”

    “Alright, glad that's over. Later Kimmie!” Shego said as she sent a punch to the distracted Kim's gut, pressing a few buttons on her gloves as she grabbed Drakken and jumped over the edge of the ship, landing in a hovercar and driving off.

    “Well… that was something.” Kim said, after regaining her wind.

     “No! No! No!” Youngblood screamed as he landed on the deck, devastated, he shuffled towards the cutlass, trying to pull it out from under Johnny's boot. “Give him back! Give him back!” Youngblood wailed, tears appearing on his face. “I won't be alone again! I won't!”

    Danny touched down next to him, as he, Kim, and Johnny watched as the little boy broke down. “We've gotta do something… he's just a little kid.” Danny said, as he locked eyes with Johnny.

    “Go get Kitty.” Johnny said, and Danny nodded, flying over to the other ship to grab the girl. They returned after a moment, and Kitty knelt down next to Youngblood.

    “There there. It's okay. It's okay.” Kitty said, her tone soft as she conforted the boy, who cried into her shoulder. She looked up at Johnny, and the pair seemed to have a conversation with just their eyes.

    Johnny seemed reluctant for a moment, before sighing. “I guess you always wanted us to have a brat… I guess we've got one.” Johnny said, before kneeling beside the pair and wrapping them both in his arms. “You won't be alone, little man. You'll have us, okay?”

     Youngblood sniffled, but buried his head into Johnny's chest, as the older ghost stood up, holding him close. “Kitty, banish the sword, not going to do anyone any good if it just possesses the next bozo who comes and picks it up.” Kitty nodded, blowing a kiss to the sword and sending it elsewhere. The ship began to vanish under their feet, and Danny caught Kim before it could fully disappear. They flew off back to their ship, and touched down.  Everyone shot them confused looks as Johnny held the rapidly calming Youngblood, but no one said anything. Ember just turning the wheel and returning them to port.

     “Alright students. It is unfortunate that we'll have to call our little trip to Mystic Cove short, but the school's insurance won't allow us to stay another day after the attack. We'll be returning back to Amity Park immediately, so please get back on the bus.” Mr. Lancer said, sighing as he glanced over the students. They officially spent more time driving to the location than they spent there, and that was even counting the time they spent asleep at the hotel. 

     “It's a bit of a shame we couldn't stick around a bit longer. I would have loved another day at the apothecary.” Sam said as she put her luggage under the bus.

     “Yeah, but I can't blame them for wanting to send us home. Just because we're used to the supervillain and Ghost attacks, doesn't mean everyone is.” Danny said, as they got back on the bus and took their seats, Star taking hers next to him, having won the rock-paper-scissors game between her and Kim to decide who got to sit with him on the ride back.

      They were on the highway within the hour, and Danny glanced out the window, he saw a familiar motorcycle riding next to him, Johnny back to wearing his usual clothes, although he kept the hair from his transformation, since Kitty apparently liked it. She was sitting happily behind him, her eyes focused to the newest edition, a sidecar that had Youngblood, dressed like a biker, wearing a helmet and goggles, as he and his parrot, who had shifted to look like a dog, smiled happily at the open road.

Chapter Text

          On a rock floating in the Ghost Zone, sat a jagged, impossibly constructed castle. An insult to architects and engineers everywhere, masonry jutted out at impossible angles, walls curved in unnatural ways, and the entire thing was a hideous fluorescent ruby red that made it seem as though the walls themselves were made of radioactive blood. That would likely be off putting enough for some people to prevent them from poking about the place.

     But Vlad Masters was not one of those people.

     “It would have been good to have Skulker with me for this.” The billionaire said as he floated through the decrepit halls of the castle. Things didn’t really decay in the Ghost Zone, at least not unless it was by design that they did. A thousand years could pass and there would be no more dust in these halls than there would have been the moment they were created, barring someone taking an active effort to bring some here. “But, some people are easily frightened by legends and superstitions. It's one of the things that makes me superior. Where they see fear and danger, I see an opportunity for power.”

     Vlad floated into what was obviously some kind of throne room, where two pedestals sat. On one side, a slightly rotted jack-o-lantern contained the blade of a glowing green sword. “Ah… the Soul Shredder. I’d heard Daniel had fought the Fright Knight, so I had imagined it would be gone from here. It seems it has some method by which to return to its rightful place. Interesting indeed.” Vlad spoke to himself, letting his gloved fingers rub over the leather-wrapped hilt of the blade. “A useful tool this could be… perhaps later. I’m after a bigger prize.”

     Vlad turned his attention to the other pedestal, atop which sat a glass case. Inside said case was a plush, red velvet pillow upon which sat a glowing green ring. The metal was seemingly the same as what the Soul Shredder was formed out of, and looked like a noble’s signet ring,  although in place of a coat of arms or family crest, was a macabre image of a skull with ruby red gemstones for eyes. Unlikely to be actual rubies, Vlad noted, likely something older… more powerful. Crystalline blood of a great beast perhaps, likely not dissimilar to whatever material the castle itself was made of.

     “The Ring of Rage, in my grasp at last.” Vlad said, opening the case and sliding the ring onto his finger. He expected a surge of power, a glimpse of greatness, but all he could feel from it was… longing. “Oh, of course, how could I forget.” Vlad’s eyes darted towards the throne, or rather, where the throne should be. The actual throne had been moved long ago, Vlad imagined it was still within the castle, but exactly where was beyond his knowledge at this time. What stood in its place though, was not. Despite the European stylings of the castle they inhabited, although it was far too alien in construction to provide much more nuance, it certainly didn’t fit with the aesthetics of this creation. An egyptian-style sarcophagus, bearing an image of a nondescript dark humanoid. Arms were crossed over its chest, in a position the ancient Egyptians had associated with divine authority. Its hands were clasped into fists, and on its head it wore a traditional egyptian pharaoh headdress, with the notable addition of a burning crown atop that. Where its legs would be, instead various glowing green runes were present that seemed to glow and fade at a constant, measured pace, as though the sarcophagus itself were breathing. In the center of its chest laid a keyhole, one which Vlad knew exactly where one would find the key for it.

     “Locked away by the ancients for your power in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, the key sealed separately.” Vlad said, as he removed the key from his breast pocket. The Skeleton Key he’d had Skulker help him acquire  before the summer had started. “Now brought together, for the Ring of Rage is no use to me, without the Crown of Fire, sealed with its owner.” Vlad inserted the key into the hole, twisting and removing it, stashing it into his breast pocket before allowing the sarcophagus to open.

     The figure inside didn’t look too terribly similar to the outside of his sarcophagus. They were similarly large, although that was likely more of a practical necessity than anything else, and both were figures who wore black, while the figure on the sarcophagus was shapeless, the figure inside had a physique that spoke of power. The size and musculature that lesser men dreamed of having. His armor was black as obsidian, his pauldrons bearing clasps that were shaped like skulls. He wore a cape not dissimilar to Vlad’s own, but what was truly striking was his face. Normally when one speaks of someone’s features being chiseled out of stone, they mean them to be sharp or aesthetically pleasing. This man, Pariah Dark, seemed to take that more literally. His face looked as though it were carved out of stone, not by a master sculptor, but as though the rock itself developed a face, and was angry for doing so. It was ragged, scarred, missing an eye that seems as though it were taken by some weapon, and rough as sandpaper.

     “I’ll just be taking this.” Vlad said to himself as he reached up to grasp at the Crown of Fire on Pariah Dark’s head. This, unfortunately, was a very bad move, as Vlad then found his neck grasped firmly in the massive stony fist of Pariah Dark, the colossal ghost’s palm pressing painfully into his Adam's apple.

     “Who would be so daring to enter my keep, steal my ring, and attempt to take my crown?” Pariah asked, his voice booming and echoing in the chamber in such a way that made the massive room feel far too small. As though no place in space could ever possibly be far enough away from this man to be safe.

    “Plasmius, Vlad Plasmius. I’m a big fan of your work. Truly an inspiration to me.” Vlad said, a marked nervousness in his voice. Vlad knew he wasn’t the strongest ghost in the Zone, not yet at least, and that even the strongest ghosts of the past had been hesitant to attempt to stand against Pariah Dark. It had taken seven of the strongest to seal him, implying that more permanent solutions weren’t available. While that had been while he was in possession of both the ring and the crown, and he currently only had one, it didn’t seem to diminish the presence the man had.

     Pariah Dark narrowed his singular working eye at Vlad, before slamming him into the ground, releasing his grip and allowing the momentum to carry the half-ghost billionaire through the floor. Then the stone beneath it. Then into the aetherial space beyond their little rocky outcropping.

    With one hand, Pariah Dark gripped the Soul Shredder, pulling it from its pumpkin. Green smoke emanated from the blade, before the Fright Knight emerged. “I am free once more! The Fright Knight lives!”

     “To serve his master.” Pariah said, glaring down at him. “I can sense you emerged before, yet you did not awaken me… why?”

    “Lord Pariah! I… It was Halloween, and I had not been active for so long, I simply had to relive my experience as the spirit of Halloween.” Fright Knight said, his tone deferential.

    “So long as you remember your place now… I suppose I can forgive one slip-up in many thousands of years.” Pariah Dark said, as he gazed down into the hole he’d made with Plasmius. “I suppose I must show this newcomer, and the rest of this infernal Ghost Zone, who its ruler truly is.”

     Vlad looked around in a panic, attempting to regain his composure. “It seems as though I’ve miscalculated my chances of success here. No matter, I’ll simply escape and make another plan.” He said to himself,  before he felt a grip around his torso. 

     Pariah Dark held him up, having grown to nearly twice his former size. “Return my ring to me, and I will grant you a place in my army.” Pariah moved his fingers to force Vlad’s arm to be free, but found no ring on his finger. “A duplicate? You’ll regret this deception.”

    Back inside, Vlad spoke with the Fright Knight. “You know, we could work together, you know, simply remove his crown, and you can serve alongside me. A greater position than you’d had before.” Vlad bargained. “We can make a deal.”

    “A deal?” Fright Knight mused, as the castle shook.

     Pariah appeared again, as Vlad took this time to flee. Shooting out of the castle, flying as fast as he could away, Vlad reached speeds he hadn’t thought were possible. All the more shame that they weren’t enough, as an ecto-blast from Pariah Dark caught him from behind, sending him flying uncontrollably through the Zone.

     Maddie focused intently on her soldering work while Jack and Technus continued installing the plates on the legs of their newest project. As the last bits of wire connected to the appropriate terminals, Maddie smiled, pulling out her voltmeter and checking the conductivity. “Neural interface board complete. You have the mount ready for me, guys?” She asked, looking over to her husband and their ghost assistant.

    “Ready for installation, Mads!” Jack said, smiling at his wife. Maddie walked over and attached it to the mount, screwing it into the mounting hardware before sealing up the unit. Now, standing before them, was what appeared to be a set of incredibly high-tech armored pants, with a spinal column attachment. “This Ecto-Skeleton is coming along great! Soon we’ll be able to take the fight to the heavier hitting ghosts without needing Danny.” Jack said, a touch of pride in his eyes. “I hate that we’ve been so reliant on him. He’s just a kid, our kid. He shouldn’t be taking this kind of responsibility on himself.”

    “I know Jack.” Maddie said, patting his back. “Maybe this will give us a fighting chance.”

    “More than a chance, according to my calculations.” Technus said as he looked over some calculations on a Fenton Tablet. “From what I can gather, this provides a 100 times boost in strength and speed for any pilot, with more powerful operators giving better results. I imagine that should Jack attempt to pilot it, he could easily bench press the FAV.” Technus looked over some more. “Unfortunately, my modeling with the interface seems to imply that full power use would drain the wearer substantially. Full output for five sustained minutes gives only a 50% of survival for an average human, by my estimation. Lower power testing is certainly needed, as well as heartier test subjects.” An alarm blares a moment later, Technus flying over to a display console to see what is happening. “Object flying in the direction of the portal. Decelerating… curious, it’s not acting like a ghost. Not giving the readings of one of our usual guests either.”

    “In the computer then, hide out in case it’s an intruder.” Maddie said, as she grabbed an ecto-rifle and tossed one to Jack. The pair pointed the weapons at the portal as a figure came through, wearing a torn and tattered fancy Armani suit, coming to a sliding stop in the middle of the lab.

    There, for the first time in nearly a year, Jack saw his college buddy, someone he loved like a brother, Vlad Masters. And there, for the first time with open eyes, Jack saw the man who had tried to kill him. “Jack… help… me.” Vlad said, before passing out, his hand gripping the green ring that neither Jack nor Maddie had seen.

    “Vlad?” Maddie asked, shock, anger, and confusion on her face as she looked down at the man. He’d tried to kill her husband, tried to turn her son against his father, and had apparently been obsessed with her for a number of years. He was certainly not someone she would have ever wanted to be near, much less have in her house. 

    “Vladdy.” Jack said, whispering it to himself more than anything as he kneeled next to his former friend. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew what Vlad had done to him back at the reunion. Knew the hatred his old friend supposedly felt for him, but… he also knew that once upon a time Vlad was his best friend in the whole world. This would have been the best man at his wedding. This would have been Jazz and Danny’s godfather. Had Jack had the life he envisioned, his kids would have called him Uncle Vlad. Jack was a smart man, despite what many people said. He was an expert in applied mechanics, one of the world’s leading minds in ectoplasmic entities, and had an emotional intelligence that left even his family members stunned on occasion. Even with all of that, Jack couldn’t wrap his head around what he should feel for the man laying in his lab. He didn’t know if there should be anger or pity, but he did know one thing. Jack was a better man than Vlad, so he wouldn’t allow him to lay here in pain if he could do something about it. Vlad would take this opportunity to kill or injure him, but Jack wouldn’t. He turned to his wife, the love of his life and partner in all things. “Call Danny and let him know we have a guest… and for now, perhaps we should play dumb about knowing.”

    Maddie could only nod, as she pulled out her Fentonphone, calling Danny.

    Over the Atlantic, Danny, Kim, Ron, Sammy, Alex, and Clover sat in a Global Justice jet, on a return route from their most recent mission. An advanced A.I. constructed by a shady hacker group in Bulgaria had gone rogue, and it was deemed a high enough priority to send the more infiltration focused members of the team in for. Jake and Stitch were very much members for when things needed more direct intervention, when bad guys needed to be beat down instead of captured. Team Possible and the Spies were better suited to more subtle endeavors, breaking into compounds and dealing with henchmen, and Danny was effectively nature’s perfect infiltrator, plus had the muscle to deal with almost anything.

    “So like… is it just the end result that all AI turns evil? The last one we dealt with did that too.” Ron said, looking over at Kim and the Spies. “Those Bebes not only turned on Drakken, but were completely convinced they were superior to people.”

    “I don’t think it’s inherent that it’ll happen, you have to remember that the A.I we just fought, as well as those Bebes, were created by evil people, so it makes sense they’d make evil A.I.” Sammy said, shrugging. “W.O.O.H.P. has an A.I. that isn’t evil, although it’s still in development.”

    “Sure you can tell us that? It IS a secret organization you know.” Kim asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “Would it be a breach of confidentiality to say that a government is developing better weapons? It’s not like I even know any details beyond that it exists. I’m not even sure what it’s being designed for. For all I know it’s just going to make coffee.” Sammy said, shrugging.

    “Ooh, I hope that’s the case. I’d be much less annoyed getting sucked into Jerry’s office if there was a low-fat soy latte waiting for me when I got there.” Clover said, a dopey smile on her face.

    “That might explain why that WOOHP technician was so mad at me.” Danny said, with a sigh as he held his head in his hands. “I just tossed that entire server rack into the wall and broke it. They were probably hoping to salvage some of its data. I really need to get my temper under control.”

    Kim patted him on the back. “Hey, it’s alright. Trust me, I bet if we could have tossed the thing around like that, we would have too.”

    “Yeah! I’d totally have just chucked that thing as hard as I could!” Alex said, shooting a fist up into the air.

     “Besides, I’m not convinced I’d want WOOHP to have an evil AI like that, even if they could take out the evil parts.” Sammy said, wrapping her arms around Danny’s neck from the side, leaning into him. “You did good today, don’t worry.” She pecked him on the cheek before snuggling into his shoulder for a moment.

    At that time, Danny’s phone started ringing, the ringtone he’d had picked out for his mother. “Huh, wonder what Mom wants.” Danny mused, pulling out his phone and answering it. “Hey Mom, what’s up?”

    “Hey sweetie, just calling to let you know that we have a visitor at the house. One I think you’d want a heads up for.” Maddie said, her voice obviously somewhat cautious.

    “A visitor?” Danny asked, racking his brain for who his mom would call to warn him about. “Who is it? Aunt Alicia?” That’d be Danny’s best guess who his Mom would even bother to try warning him about. Alicia, in her man hating ways, would probably chase him with a shotgun for dating more than one girl. Maybe his Mom was hinting at him to not bring both Kim and Sammy home?

    “ Uncle Vlad.” Maddie said, the emphasis on uncle was not lost on him. “Showed up through the portal, beaten pretty bad. Not sure what’s going on, but we’ll see. For now, we’re making him tea, and Nicolai’s gone home for the day.”

     “Alright, thanks for the heads-up Mom. I’ll head straight home.” Danny said, giving a final goodbye before he hung up the phone.

     “Uncle Vlad? Isn’t that the guy who tried to kill your Dad?” Alex asked, looking at Danny with confusion.

     “It is. I’m guessing, by calling him ‘Uncle’ and letting me know that Technus has gone home, she’s trying to tell me that they’re playing dumb about knowing about him.” Danny said, trying to rack his brain. “What would he be doing coming through the portal though? I could think of any number of reasons why he might come to the house. His end goal is me as his heir and my mom as his wife, but… through the portal? That’s a risk he wouldn’t take with his identity. If he just needed to be there fast… the man has more money than some countries, a private jet flight to Middleton Airport is something he could do for lunch if he wanted.”

   “Who knows, we deal with a lot of insane billionaire geniuses in our line of work, and I haven’t managed to understand them yet.” Kim said, holding onto his hand. “We’ll help you out though. I’m sure Sammy will be happy to come with us to meet your ‘Uncle Vlad’.” She added, a sickly sweet smile forming with the name.

    “Of course.” Sammy said, pecking his cheek. “I’ll be there.”

     “We can come too actually.” Clover said, after she and Alex nodded at each other. “In case you need some extra backup.”

     “We could call Star too.” Kim said, thinking for a moment. “If his entire thing is how his feelings for your mom were never reciprocated, it might throw him a bit off balance to see you walk in with a bunch of girls on your arm.” 

    “Ooh, do I get to pretend to be Danny’s girlfriend for a day?” Clover asked, throwing herself into Danny’s lap, looking up at him. “I can do that.”

    “Down girl.” Sammy said, with a playful swat at her friend’s arm. “He’s taken four times over.”

    Danny was immensely glad he had such good friends, as when he mentioned that he’d like some backup dealing with Vlad, they’d come out in force. Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Star joined the superheroes as they started making their way into Fentonworks, Star holding onto Danny’s hand as they stepped through the door. 

     Even with warning, it was still quite surprising to see Vlad simply relaxing on his couch. The man’s suit was damaged, frayed at the edges, slightly singed. But the look on his face was particularly devil-may-care. As though he relished the fact that he was hiding his dark machinations beneath the unknowing haze of the Fenton Family.

    Danny imagined he’d be rather put out if he knew the truth. Vlad was the only person here who was in the dark about anything. Everyone knew about both of their ghost powers, and Vlad didn’t have a single ally in sight. If Danny wasn’t so angry that Vlad was even IN his home, he might have smirked at the situation, but he WAS angry, so he just glowered. “Well, hello Vlad. There a Lonely Billionaires club meeting in town?” Danny asked, allowing himself a verbal jab at his enemy.

    “So original Daniel, not like I imagine you’re doing any better in the romance department.” Vlad said, rolling his eyes at the boy.

     “You’d be surprised.” Danny said, allowing himself a smirk as Star, Kim, Sammy, Alex, and Clover all leaned into him. “I do pretty well for myself nowadays.”

    “Yeah he does.” Clover said with a smirk. She jumped a little as Sammy pinched her side. The ‘down girl’ left unspoken, but certainly heard by the blonde.

    “Even more like your idiot father than I imagined I see.” Vlad spat under his breath, trying to keep it low enough that only Danny could hear.

    “What can I say, I’m a real chip off the old block.” Danny said, as the girls gave him some extra room, Star continued to hold his hand and support him. The rest of his friends spread out across the entire living room and kitchen areas, Maddie handing out snacks as though she wasn’t furious at Vlad’s presence. She was also immensely glad that Danny’s friends were here. So many witnesses would keep Vlad in check if nothing else.

    As Danny and Vlad had their own little stare-down though, a loud, almost deafening alarm tore through the building. “What in the devil is that infernal racket?” Vlad screamed, the only way anyone could hear over the siren.

    “It’s the Ecto-Exodus Alarm!” Jack called out, rushing to the stairs. He looked panicked.

     “The Whatto-Whatty-What?” Ron asked, holding his hands over his ears.

     “The Ecto-Exodus Alarm, it only goes off if there’s a MASSIVE Ghost Zone incursion. I don’t know what could be triggering it, but it’s certainly not good! Maddie! Come on, baby! We gotta lock down the portal!” Jack called out to his wife, as they both shot down the stairs to the lab.

    Danny turned to the others. “Get up to the Ops Center, and try and see if the Specter Deflectors are charged. I feel like this is going to get worse before it gets better.” Danny said, receiving nods from everyone else as he shot down the stairs after his parents.

     As Kim led everyone else up to the Ops Center, Valerie slipped away, heading down one of the other halls towards the bathroom. As she reached for her backpack, she found that the straps were no longer connected to her back. Her eyes widening in shock.

     “Looking for this my dear?” Vlad asked, a smarmy grin on his face as he dangled her backpack by a finger. “Glad to see you’re putting the equipment to good use.”

    “How do you know about my equipment?” Valerie asked pointedly. She had her suspicions for sure. Danny had been very forthcoming about how Vlad was probably the only other person on Earth who COULD develop tech like they did.

    “Did you think it grew from a tree? What you hold is the pinnacle of DALV group ecto-engineering. Powerful, stable, and with higher production value than similar Fentontech devices.” Vlad said as he handed her her backpack. “You’ve been quite effective, if a bit on the naive side.”

    “You’ve been watching?” Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “But of course. Did you think I would merely drop such expensive equipment in your lap and not see how you handled it? No, I’ve been watching. When you chase ghosts, you’re remarkably effective. I dare say you’re better at wrangling stray ghosts than Phantom is.” Vlad said, attempting to butter her up. Unfortunately for him, Valerie knew what he was doing, and also knew that she wasn’t nearly as effective as Danny was. She’d never managed to put down one of the stronger ghosts single handedly. She could go toe to toe with anything weaker than Johnny, but those threats were drying up fast. Amity was too protected for them to even attempt to come through the portal now, unless they were stupid… or the Box Ghost. “Here, a gift.” Vlad said, as he placed a small green ring with a skull on it in her palm.

     “A ring? You’re way too old for me, and I’m kind of already taken.” Valerie said, internally gagging at the idea. Not only was he literally old enough to be her father, AND she was 15 so criminally underage, but it was VLAD, a slimy, no good fruit loop.

     “Not like that.” Vlad said, allowing Valerie a sigh of relief. “You remind me of a woman I admire greatly, but you’d need to be twice your age before I even considered it. No, that dear child is a memento. A ring passed from Ghost Hunter to Ghost Hunter for generations. My mentor gave it to me, and now I want to give it to you. Someday I would expect you to give it to your successor.”

    “I suppose I should say thanks, Mr. Masters.” Valerie said, doing her best to put on an appreciative tone. She wasn’t much of an actress, but she imagined Vlad didn’t think very much of her in general. To him, she was almost certainly just a pawn, mostly beneath his notice.

    “No thanks necessary. Just take it with one piece of advice.” Vlad said, looking at her with a serious expression. “No matter what the Fentons may tell you, all ghosts are evil. If you think they aren’t, they’re just biding their time until they can strike. Phantom doesn’t protect Amity Park out of a sense of justice. He’s a predator, staking claim over territory.”

     There it was, Valerie realized. That’s what he really wanted out of this conversation. To make her suspicious of Danny. Likely of Technus, Ember, and the rest of their ghostly allies as well. “I’ll keep it in mind, Mr. Masters.” Valerie said, putting on a determined face. THAT was thankfully much easier for her, since she knew what she was doing next. She rushed into the bathroom to change into her suit. She’d let Danny know that Vlad had told her he built it when she had the chance, and let him look over the ring he gave her. She wouldn’t trust Vlad as far as she could throw him, and she couldn’t throw him very far at all. Danny was the one with super strength.

     In the portal room, Danny, Jack, and Maddie all stood with blasters at the ready. Danny cursed himself that he couldn’t transform, he’d feel more ready. That would mean revealing the knowledge that his parents knew about him to Vlad though, and that was something he’d like to keep in his back pocket until he absolutely couldn’t afford to hide it anymore.

    Sweat dropped down the three of their foreheads as they prepped for whatever was on the other side, the portal shimmering as something attempted to come through it. The low hum of the readying ecto-blasters filled the air… as the head of the Box Ghost came through the portal.

    A sigh came from the trio of Fenton's lips. “Oh, lord you gave us a heart attack.” Maddie said, lowering her blaster as she looked towards their most common, and least threatening ghost enemy.

    “The way is clear! Let’s go!” The Box Ghost called through the portal, as a massive, unprecedented torrent of ghosts poured through the tear in reality. For what felt like hours, even if it was truly only a few minutes, hundreds, possibly even thousands of ghosts emerged from the portal, shooting through the roof towards the sky. Danny didn’t bother waiting, simply transforming into Phantom before shooting through the roof, floating above the Ops Center as the ghosts spread out across the world. Waiting for him up there though, were the familiar faces he imagined would be the most likely to help him. Kitty held a terrified Youngblood in her arms, cradling the small boy against her chest as Johnny held her close. Technus had his hand pressed to the antennae of the Ops Center, likely interfacing with the detection systems inside; and upon seeing Danny, Ember crashed herself into him, embracing him as her lip quivered, it seemed it was everything she had in her not to cry now.

    “Guys… What's going on? Why is everyone leaving the Ghost Zone like a bat out of hell?” Danny asked, hugging Ember since it seemed she needed the support. He’d never seen her this distraught.

    “It’s… Pariah Dark.” Johnny said, keeping his arms wrapped around Kitty, as though shielding her and Youngblood from whatever was going on.

     “Who?” Danny asked, an eyebrow raised.

     “He’s forgetting you’re not as clued in as someone who lives in the Zone… Pariah Dark was… IS… the king of the Ghost Zone. But he’s not a King in the sense that he governs it.” Kitty said, rocking Youngblood lightly. “He’s a monster. Probably the strongest ghost to have ever lived, and he ruled the Zone with an iron fist long before our time, and got put to sleep a long time ago.”

     “Now some idiot woke him up, and he’s tearing through the Ghost Zone… he destroyed my concert hall Babypop, the only thing that I managed to save was my guitar. All my albums, that Green Day vinyl you got me… it’s all gone.” Ember added, pure heartbreak in her voice as she buried her head in his chest.

    “Wrecked our place too. Managed to save my bike because it’s… part of me, but the garage is gone.” Johnny said, running his fingers through Kitty’s hair.

    “We’d just got Youngblood’s room set up. He and Johnny were building a pirate ship facade for the sidecar, and now it’s just gone.” Kitty said, sniffling a little as she held Youngblood. “Stuff can be replaced… but that was still our home. That’s where Johnny and I planned on starting our family. It’s more or less where we did.”

    “Reports seem to indicate your situations are not unique.” Technus said, a resolved sadness in his voice. His usual boisterous tone and bluster was completely absent. It was eerie to hear Technus talk with an inside voice. “Only three reports of ghosts who didn’t have their homes demolished, and even then they were still invaded. Myself, Sidney Poindexter, and Princess Dorathea.”

     “Any theories for why you might have been spared?” Danny asked as he looked at Technus.

     “Dorathea is an easy guess. Her brother, Prince Aragon, was a supporter of Pariah Dark initially. It wouldn’t surprise me if he bent the knee again in exchange for his realm being undisturbed. For Poindexter, his area of the Zone is… isolated. To move enough troops into his area of the Zone is a hard logistical task, and one largely not worth the effort, assuming Pariah Dark is even aware of the location at all. The Zone has changed much since he went to sleep, with new areas popping in and out of existence. As for myself… I will admit I have been working on cloaking technology for my realm. It was in early testing, and largely a precautionary measure against someone like Skulker attempting to steal my work to use against you.” Technus said, his tone apologetic. “I am beyond sorry I was not able to get it perfected in time to save your realms. Know that if it becomes safe to return to the Zone, you are welcome to share my realm until we can rebuild yours.”

     “That’s a big if, right now Technus.” Ember said, as she allowed Danny to hold her. “A big if.”

     “What isn’t an if right now though, is that you are welcome to stay with us while we get this sorted out.” Danny said, leaning down to press a quick kiss against Ember’s lips. “That goes for all of you. Vlad’s here, so you all will need to hide, since he can’t know that my parents are aware that Danny and Phantom are the same guy.” 

     “How do you intend to make that work, kid?” Johnny asked, looking at Danny with a raised eyebrow.

     “The Ops Center is completely separate from the rest of the house, only accessible by two elevators, that I’m sure Technus can make an alert for when they’re in use.” Danny said, looking at the technoghost who nodded. “You’d just need to hide when Vlad is up there. We can guide him away from it. There’s not much reason to go to the Ops Center most of the time, anyway. It’s got two bedrooms, so one for Johnny, Kitty, and Youngblood, and one for Ember. Technus, you’ve slept in the computer systems here dozens of times, I’m sure that’s no issue for you.”

    “It is not, although I may have to redownload that Sims game and create myself a house there. It is always more comfortable in a simulated environment.” Technus said, chuckling to himself, trying to make light of the situation.

    “I’ll give you some cheat codes so you can buy the high quality furniture.” Danny promised with a smile. “I’m not going to leave you guys out to dry. We’ll figure out a way to stop Pariah Dark, put him back to sleep or something.”

     “You promise?” Youngblood asked, his voice quivering in fear.

     “I can’t promise, because I don’t KNOW that I can keep it.” Danny said, locking eyes with the little guy. “But I promise I will do everything I can. That I’ll give everything I can, to try and help you guys. Because you’re my family. All of you.”

    Youngblood smiled, and Ember squeezed Danny tighter. “You’re all heart, Babypop.”

    “I try.” Danny said, kissing the top of her head, letting the flames of her hair harmlessly lick against his face.

     “Pandemonium in the streets! This is Lance Thunder, reminding everyone that he is a weatherman and not a reporter, but still also reporting from down on the scene.” The news anchor said, as Star glanced towards the feed while redrawing boundary lines. “Roughly twenty four hours ago, a massive ghost invasion took place in Amity Park, and since then things have gone from Bad to Worse.” The feed shifted to a security camera inside of a hunting supply store, where the owners were roughly thrown out by Skulker, as he set up a camping chair like a throne surrounded by stuffed heads of Elk and Deer. Another shift showed the Nasty Burger being completely taken over by the lunch lady, as a squad of meat soldiers patrolled the parking lot. Across the street, postal workers were seen fleeing from the Box Ghost as he threw boxes and their contents at them. “Ghosts have begun to take over local businesses and homes, forcing their living residents out, and settling in on their own. Displaced Amity Park residents have been asked to gather in the various shelters throughout town. Churches and Synagogues have opened their doors to displaced individuals, as well as Casper High, Amity Elementary, and Casper Middle. Nearby Middleton and Elmerton have also begun accepting overflow, although getting to those areas has proven difficult due to congestion caused by smashed cars. Amity’s ghost hunters have been working around the clock to curtail the situation, but have made little progress.”

     Danny phased through the ceiling, landing in a heap on the couch as he transformed back to his human form, his muscles immediately protesting that action, as all the fatigue set in at once. “Star… please tell me we have some ibuprofen up here.” Danny pleaded to his blonde girlfriend as he found himself unable to move.

    “We do. One second let me get it.” She said, rushing towards the medicine cabinet, returning to his side with the tablets and a glass of water. “How many have you taken so far?” She asked as she opened the bottle.

    “None in the last 10 hours. I think I took a couple before that? Hard to tell, I passed out for four hours and then went straight back to fighting.” Danny said, his body telling him he was about to do it again.

     “We’ll give you 800 for now, shouldn’t be too much for your liver yet.” Star said as she poured out 800mg worth of tablets before handing them to him, letting him pop them in his mouth and gently pouring some water in his mouth as he swallowed them.

     “How’s everyone else doing?” Danny asked, trying to glance at her monitors.

     “Well enough. We normal humans actually managed to get some rest, even if we had to force Kim and Valerie to.” Star said, starting to massage his shoulders to try and work some of the aches she knew he was feeling out. “They’ve been doing four hour rotations, and Jazz and I have been swapping every six.” Star grabbed the Fenton tablet from her desk, pulling up the map to show him. “Looks like the ghosts have more or less settled down into districts. The small fries have started serving some of the stronger ones, effectively just like lords taking territory.” Some areas were marked with boundary lines, with a ghost’s name written in certain ones. Familiar names in places that made sense. Skulker at the hunting store, Walker at a police station, Klemper at an ice rink. “Johnny’s actually been patrolling the streets for us, clearing up cars so people can evacuate.”

    “I thought he was trying not to get involved, so that way people wouldn’t target Kitty?” Danny asked, his eyes flicking over the streets that Johnny had cleared. Large sections of the road network were marked as though they were Johnny’s territory.

    “Well, aside from the fact that all he’s been doing is just clearing the roads and keeping the fighting off the streets, it’s not like Kitty’s unprotected. Ember and Technus are both here, even when you’re not, and Youngblood’s apparently not a pushover himself.” Star said, pulling up some data. “This is more or less how alliances have worked out so far. Lunch Lady and Box Ghost have combined their territory. Her meat monsters are apparently enough to keep anyone but the big dogs away, and Box Ghost seems to just have the ability to pop up anywhere. Walker and Spectra have taken over that police station, alongside all of Walker’s goons.  No ideas at this point if they plan on staying put or expanding, but they’re pretty boxed in by heavy hitters. Skulker to their east and us to the west. Not much to be gained by going north or south either.” 

    “Anything else worth mentioning?” Danny asked, mostly unable to move on the couch right now.

     “Your parents and Vlad are working on the Ecto-Skeleton in the lab. The ghosts themselves are actually doing a good enough job of keeping the small stuff contained, because none of the weaklings want to be caught out by the stronger ones, and the stronger ones want to settle their territory before expanding it seems.” Star said, sighing. “They’re hoping the Ecto-Skeleton might be a big enough show of force to keep everyone at bay. That’s also been helped by Johnny seeding rumors that if Phantom catches them, they’ll get tossed back into the Zone to deal with Pariah Dark. It’s keeping violence low, the ghosts are forcing people out, but they aren’t hurting anyone. No casualties reported as of yet. No missing persons. Minor injuries, most severe have been a few broken legs, but reports seem to indicate that was caused by running away, as opposed to an active attack.”

     “So, they’re nesting. That’s not going to work long term… but we could probably survive it for a week.” Danny said, sighing. “Maybe I can get some rest.”

     “You should… but I think you should call Global Justice for some back-up. Things are alright because you and Valerie’s suit have been a good show of force to keep them calm, but you won’t be able to keep up like you have been. We’ve managed to keep the suit out constantly because Kim, Sammy, Alex, Clover, and Valerie have been alternating shifts in it, and we can keep that up for a while, maybe even rope Sam into joining that rotation if we need to, but YOU can’t be out there all the time, and you’re the one they’re scared of.” Star said, rubbing his back. “Just an extra heavy hitter would mean a lot.”

    Danny nodded, realizing that it was times like this that the team was made for. They had lucked out that Kim and the Spies were already here to ease the burden. If they hadn’t? Danny shuddered thinking how bad this would have been to handle on his own. “I’ll call.” Danny pulled out his Fenton Phone, dialling the special emergency number Global Justice had given him.

     “Global Juicebox, delivering quality juices since 1968, this is Leonard, how can I help you?” The voice on the other end of the line said. A front in case someone ever randomly guessed the number.

     “Phantom, identity code Oh-four, Oh-three, Twenty Oh-four.” Danny said, letting himself smile at how cool he thought this code stuff was. It was exactly the kind of thing he thought spies and stuff did when he was a kid. 

    “Phantom recognized. Patching you through to the Director.” The voice on the other end of the line said, before there was a quick beep, and a more familiar one came through. “Phantom, I expected you to call.” Betty Director’s voice said, a professional concern in her voice.

    “Oh good, so you’re at least vaguely aware of what is happening here.” Danny said, sighing as he did so.

     “Indeed. We’ve been scrambling messages to keep the panic from spreading beyond the immediate area. It would be bad if people suddenly thought the world was being attacked by ghosts. Give me more details on what is happening, and what steps you are taking to deal with it.” Dr. Director said, and Danny could FEEL the stare she was giving him down the line.

     “Ghost Zone incursion, apparently an incredibly powerful ancient ghost was awoken from his slumber, and started some kind of scorched earth campaign on the Ghost Zone. I’ve got some legends about him that I’ve heard from Kitty and Ember, but nothing concrete from before yesterday. He’s destroyed most ghost’s realms, which are like their homes in the Zone, and that should be insanely difficult just because of how much control someone has in their realm. Reality bends to their will as they can imagine it, and he still managed to tear through them.” Danny said, sighing a bit. “Every ghost in Amity Park was fleeing from him. As of now they’re settling in, claiming territory and dividing the city amongst themselves. We’re guessing that once they get settled there might be skirmishes for territory, but nothing definitive on that. Word on the street seems to be that they’re particularly afraid of me forcing them back in the Zone so they would have to deal with Pariah Dark. How long that’ll keep them in line though is something I can only guess at.”

    The Director went silent for a moment, before asking: “What do you need from us right now?”

     “If you could get Jake over here, it would be a massive help. Someone who can be a heavy hitter alongside me can keep the actual damage low while we figure out a more concrete plan to deal with Pariah Dark. Ancient ghosts managed to seal him away once, so that’s at least one way to deal with him. If GJ you could get us some operatives with ghost fighting equipment to patrol the streets and provide basic disaster relief to the people who have been displaced, that’d be good too.” Danny said, trying to rack his brain. “Is the Centurion Project available?”

    “Not at this time.” The Director said, frustrated. “The power system has continued giving us issues, attempts to improve the battery capacity to allow for use for longer than an hour have constantly resulted in melted components and critical danger to the wearer. Project was placed on the backburner as it wasn’t producing enough results for the resources we were putting in. R&D shifted broad focus back to general use equipment, with only a few people still working primarily on the Centurion Project. Jake Long will be contacted, given his character, I doubt he will say no to coming to assist. I’d expect an ETA of four hours. Would you like Lilo and Stitch as well?” She asked.

     “Kim and I promised Nani we’d keep Lilo away from the fighting, and truthfully, I’m not sure what Stitch can do to ghosts ma’am. Jake has magic that helps him hit them while intangible. If you could contact them to see if perhaps Jumba has any equipment for fighting ectarians, that would be helpful, but I doubt he’d have much.” Danny said with a relieved sigh.

    “Acknowledged. I’ll contact Long and have him arrive at your home shortly. If the situation is as you say, I would advise pulling everyone back and using the time to recuperate. I’ll have regular agents on the ground in Amity within the hour.” Director said. “Rest well, and good luck. Director ending transmission.” The line went dead after that, and Danny hung up, rolling over onto his back.

    “Well, that sounds like good news. Should I call everyone back?” Star asked, shooting him a reassuring smile.

    “Yeah. Have everyone report in.” Danny fully collapsed on the couch, unable to hold himself up. “And I hate to ask, but can you get me something to eat that isn’t work to eat?”

    “I’ll make you some soup. Want me to spoon feed you?” Star said, giving him a teasing grin.

     “Unironically, yes.” Danny said in a defeated tone.

     “Man, you are tired.” Star said, leaning down and kissing his head. “I’ll go heat it up while I call everyone in. You rest.”

     Danny was awoken a few hours later, Star gently shaking his shoulder. “Jake just got here. Apparently Vlad’s run off somewhere, so we have no idea where he is, but he’s not here, so we’re good to talk openly.”

    Danny nodded, standing up, stretching, and rubbing his eyes. Looking around the room, he saw Clover making heart-eyes at Jake, who was being a good sport about it. “Yo, Phantom. These those WOOHP agents you told me about?” Jake asked, gesturing to the three spy girls.

     “Yeah. They’re the other members of our little team, barring Lilo and Stitch who you already met.” Danny said, standing up. “Your flight alright?”

     “Rushed, but comfortable. They got me a bed to rest on since they said I might be here for a minute. Gramps, Fu, and Hailey are taking over duties back home, so I’m here as long as you need me.” Jake said, clapping Danny on his shoulder. “What are we up against dawg? I got a rough explanation, but I wanna hear it from the centaur’s mouth if you catch my drift.”

     Danny explained the situation as he knew it, everyone nodding along and adding in some of the stuff they’d seen around the city while they were working. “So you guys have been on round the clock ghost watch for the past day? Yeesh.” Jake said. “Glad to help. Stitch coming in to assist too? Or am I all the backup you got?”

    “GJ is supposed to see if Stitch and his Ohana have any tools to help, but I doubt he himself would be any use in a fight against a ghost. Not like he could touch them, after all.” Danny said, looking at him. “Name Pariah Dark ringing any bells for you?”

    “Not a one, G.” Jake said, shaking his head. “Although I’ve only learned the history stuff as it’s been needed. I’m the American Dragon now, but that’s been more focused on gaining the SKILLS to do my job. Knowledge of the history is considered a ‘once you’ve been doing it for a while’ thing, and even then usually for our animal guides since they live longer. Fu’s been doing it for 600 years and he’s still considered on the younger end, so that should tell you how it works out.” 

    “Yeesh, talk about seniority.” Alex said, wide-eyed.

    “Yeah. It’s rough.” Jake said, before turning to look back at Danny. “So, what’s the plan?”

     “Not quite sure yet. For starters, knowing what woke Pariah Dark up would be helpful. How to put him back to sleep would be another thing. If we can put him back to sleep, or trap him somehow, that’d mean we could send the ghosts back to the Zone without risking them coming back en masse like this. Ember said that being stuck in the human world without being able to go back to the Zone is uncomfortable for them, so if it’s safe, even if they have to rebuild, they’d still prefer to be in the Zone.” Danny said. “Getting them to go back might be tricky, but if it’s safe, beating up a few of the tougher ones and forcing them back might be enough to show everyone that it’s better to go back of their own volition than to wait to be forced back in.”

    “Gotcha. Well, you got the Am Drag on lock. I’m here until you don’t need me anymore. What are buds for anyway?” Jake said, as he held up his fist. Danny gave him a fist bump. 

    “You got it.” Danny said, shooting him a smile.

     Star got an alert on her phone, pulling it out, her eyes widened. “High level ghost coming through the portal, alongside… dozens of smaller ones… Fright Knight’s signature.” She said, turning to look at Danny.

    “Great, just what we needed.” Danny shook his head. “Jake, you’re with me. Sam, Tucker, you guys and Star head back up to the Ops Center. I need you two to keep her and Jazz safe, in case this gets ugly. Kim, Ron, Sammy, Alex, Clover, Valerie, stay here for now, but be ready to move if things start getting out of hand. Jake and I can let loose a little more if we don’t have to worry about collateral. You’re not fireproof, I am.”

    “Got it.” They nodded. 

    Kim and Sammy came forward, each giving him a kiss. “We believe in you, alright?” Kim said, Sammy nodding in agreement.

    “I know. I love you. All of you. If things start looking too bad, call for Johnny or Ember. They’re trying to stay neutral, but they’re not going to let you all get hurt if they can stop it. Fright Knight’s not exactly someone they’ll be worried about holding new grudges anyway.” Danny said, before turning to Jake. “He’s going to have a sword. Take EXTRA care that you don’t get hit by it. Even more than the damage it does, it will send you to a dimension of your worst fears.”

    “Got it. Don’t get hit. Good fight advice.” Jake said with a cocky smile, holding out his fist again. “We got this?”

     “We got this.” Danny bumped his fist to his. “I’m going ghost!”

     “Dragon up!” Jake responded, as the pair's forms shifted. Two light beams travelled up and down Danny’s body, putting him into his Phantom suit that Clover designed. Simultaneously fire engulfed all of Jake’s body, as his skin hardened and transformed into red scales, he became taller and more muscular, his body lengthening. His fingers and toes became sharp black claws, his face elongated to be more reptilian, and two massive membranous wings formed on his back. The pair flew down the stairs, readying themselves in front of the portal. It had been 30 hours since Danny and his parents had been in this exact position for the Ecto-Exodus alarm, and this time there would be no relaxing upon seeing what came through, as there was no question on what it would be.

    Leather boots touched down on the linoleum flooring as Fright Knight emerged from the portal, two skeletons in soldier garb from different centuries appeared at his sides. One dressed like a viking, the other like a Vietnam-era marine. “Go, find the King’s Ring.” Fright Knight commanded, as the skeletons started to pour through the portal, flying up and out of the lab.

    “Hey, Dork Knight! Remember me?” Danny asked, kicking off one of the walls of the lab and roundhouse kicking the Fright Knight to the center of the room, where Jake awaited, belting out dragonfire towards the ghost.

    “The Phantom. I see you have a new pet. I’m sure you’ve heard many tales of what knights do to dragons.” Fright Knight said, slashing out with the Soul Shredder towards Jake. He dodged under the swing, quickly turning to knock Fright Knight off-balance with his tail.

    “Yeah, but you see, in the fairy tales, the knights are good and righteous, and the dragons are mean and nasty. The only thing nasty about me is how sick-nasty my dance moves are.” Jake taunted, flicking the Fright Knight with his tail and forcing him back. Danny capitalized on this with a solid punch to the Knight’s back.

    “You know that does imply that there might be something mean about you.” Danny quipped, working with Jake on this. One thing hero work taught you, was that when dealing with villains who had egos, the worst thing you could do to them is mess with said ego. So by simultaneously taunting AND ignoring him, Danny and Jake were probably doing more damage to the Fright Knight with their words than their fists. Although unlike Danny’s first go around with the Fright Knight, they seemed to be doing a good job with those as well.

    “Well, Spud always said that mean was another word for average, and there ain’t nothing average about the Am Drag.” Jake said cockily, as they continued knocking the Fright Knight back and forth between them.

    “ENOUGH!” The Fright Knight screamed, spreading his arms wide and flaring his ectoplasmic aura, which created enough air pressure to knock Danny and Jake back a bit. “I tire of this interruption. I am here to find the King’s ring, not deal with you mortals.” With that he flew off, giving Danny and Jake a moment to recover.

    “Where do you think he’s going?” Jake asked, glancing up at the ceiling as though he could see the Fright Knight through it.

    “No idea, but he won’t be hard to find. We’ve got his ecto-signature on file, and he’s far and away the strongest ghost we have recorded. He shouldn’t be able to exist in this hemisphere without us being able to detect him.” Danny tapped his fingers to the earpiece in his ear. “Star, you up in the Ops Center?”

    “Yeah, babe.” Star said through his earpiece. “What do you need?”

     “Keep an eye on Fright Knight’s location. Do you have any idea where he’s going?” Danny asked.

     “Hmmm.”  Star hummed, glancing at her monitors. “Heading towards the dead center of Amity Park looks like.”

    “The football stadium?” Danny asked with a confused look on his face. “What would be there?”

     “Not sure, but that’s what it looks like.” She said, “You’re going to go fight him aren’t you?”

    “Someone has to. Multiple someones, actually.” Danny said, sighing. “I’m grabbing the team and we’re heading there. Tell Johnny and Ember that I want all of them in the Ops Center with you guys. If Fright Knight, or worse, Pariah Dark attack the house, I want you guys to evacuate. The house and anything in it can be rebuilt. You all can’t.”

    “Okay babe. I’ll send the message out... I love you, okay?” Star said, a significant worry in her voice.

    “I love you too. We’ll make it through this.” Danny said, before closing the line. He turned to Jake. “Come on… we’ve got to go play against the Away team.” Danny said with a defeated sigh.

      The team assembled on the Casper High football field, surprised that they beat the Fright Knight here. The open space was appreciated, since it meant they could fight at full capacity, without worrying so much about hitting each other. Kim and Ron stood in their mission gear, the blonde boy quaking in fear, but still holding his ground. He had a wrist blaster on one of his arms, and a Fenton Rod attached to his belt. Kim had the Fenton Ghost Gauntlets on her hands, ready to throw hands as need be. Sammy, Alex, and Clover were present in their full catsuits, brandishing the WOOHPified versions of their preferred Fenton weapons. Sammy brandished an Ecto-foamer that was compacted to be more pistol sized than the over the shoulder models they normally used. Clover had a pair of Jack-O-Nine-Tails Danny knew she was more than familiar with, and Alex… Alex loved the Fenton Anti-creep stick more than any gadget. All three of them were wearing their face disruptors. Had Danny not known which one wore which color, he wouldn’t be able to tell who was who. Valerie was also with them, in her full Red Huntress gear. This was a ghost threat, after all, and she had more experience fighting ghosts specifically than anyone but Danny. 

     A figure descended from the sky, and Danny saw red, shooting forward to punch him in the face. Vlad dodged out of the way, Danny’s anger making him too predictable in that moment. “Come now, Phantom. I’m not here to fight you. There’s bigger fish to fry at this moment.”

    “You’d be correct, Plasmius.” The Fright Knight said, as he and his army encircled the football field. “You are surrounded. Surrender the ring now, and I may not have to make your deaths painful.” 

     “Surrender this buckethead!” Valerie said as she flew in, firing a bright pink beam from her ecto-zooka that connected straight into the Fright Knight’s chest, knocking him back in surprise.

    Vlad looked on with a smarmy grin. “She’s quite good at that, isn’t she?” He said, obviously pleased that his supposed pawn was performing well.

    “You do realize that she’ll be shooting you as well, right?” Danny asked, raising an eyebrow at Vlad. 

     “And not you? You’re as much a ghost as I am.” Vlad said, his eyes narrowed.

     “True, but I’ve been seen actively helping people. Even if she didn’t trust me… she’d trust me much more than you.” Danny said with his own cocky grin. He said louder. “Fright Knight’s the bigger priority now. It took more of us to take him down last time, but we’re better than we were, and he’s weaker since it’s not Halloween. We can take him down!” With that, Danny charged in, Jake following his lead. Plasmius growled, before moving in to assist.

     Danny was surprised at how small the gap between himself and the Fright Knight had gotten. He knew he was stronger, Walker was a good barometer for that, since the first time Danny had fought the warden ghost, Walker had been a terrifying, near unbeatable presence, and the second time had him simply be strong, but not strong enough he couldn’t keep up. Fright Knight during their first encounter HAD been truly unbeatable. Without the entire might of their ghost fighting group, including the extra power provided by the Centurion Project and the FAV, they couldn’t even really touch him, and had only won because of Fright Knight’s own curse. Now though? Danny was under no delusion he could fight Fright Knight on his own, but he and Jake were dismantling him pretty handily. Add in Vlad, Valerie, and the rest of the team? It was almost like bullying.

     Danny and Jake seemed to work on the same wavelength, communication between them didn’t need words, a look, a feeling, any opening Fright Knight gave seemed to show them exactly how they could work together to take him on. Danny had never had someone who could FULLY fight alongside him at his level, but Jake seemed every bit as capable. Everytime Danny pulled more power out of himself, Jake seemed to pull just as much. They fought like two halves of a whole, and Danny was infinitely glad he was there.

    Vlad, for his part, did more than just keep up. While he lacked the coordination and understanding that Jake and Danny had, he made up for it with complete mastery of his powers. Capable of summoning duplicates and barriers, he’d blocked Soul Shredder hits that would have taken Danny or Jake out of the fight. It seemed there was something to Vlad really recognizing there were bigger threats.

    The girls weren’t idle though. Valerie had taken to the skies, and was tearing through Fright Knight’s army as though they were ants and she was a kid with a magnifying glass. Her Ecto-lasers tore through dozens of Fright Knight’s skeletal minions, keeping the numbers down so that the grounded members of their squad weren’t overwhelmed.

    Those that made it past Valerie though, were in for quite the rude awakening. Sammy had combined her ecto-foamer with the Wind Tunnel 9000 Turbo Blast Hair Dryer that had been provided by WOOHP, which effectively gave her a hand-held ghost-destroying hurricane, taking out even more of the oncoming skeletal horde.

    Kim, Clover, and Alex kept the remaining Skeletons that came through from disturbing them. Alex delivered home run after home run as she used the Fenton Anti-Creep stick to send skulls flying, the Skeletons crumbling to dust under the blunt force trauma the bat caused.

   Clover wielded her pair of Jack-o-nine tails with precision unseen, wielding them like urumi, she shocked and slashed through the army that surrounded her.

   Kim kept it simple, her years of martial arts experience flowing through her as she delivered blow after blow to the minions, her martial display a sight to behold.

    Ron, despite his fears, gave it his all. He shakily pointed a blaster at the oncoming horde, which compensated for his lackluster aim in numbers. He was terrified, but stood his ground, not trying to retreat at all. Rufus, on the other hand, was wielding two laser lipsticks like shoulder mounted machine guns, having painted black lines under his face and screaming as he fired into the crowd.

    “Enough!” Fright Knight screamed, extending his aura out, knocking the trio of superpowered beings away. “I had simply intended to find the Ring and leave the human world alone, but I see this will not be the case.” With a massive grunt, Fright Knight stabbed Soul Shredder into the ground, and a massive green ectoplasmic beam shot forth from the pommel, blasting into the sky. “The sword is sunk, you die now cast. The sword removed shall signal fast. Return the ring that thou hast, or your next day shall be your last.” Fright Knight said, before vanishing in a flash of light, his skeleton army moving from the football field to spread throughout the city.

     Danny paused for just a moment, before rushing over to Vlad, his eyes glowing brighter green than they ever had before, whisps of green smoke appearing from his sockets. “What did you do?” Danny demanded as he held Vlad by his collar, his fists clenched tightly around the fabric as they glowed ever so slightly. Vlad looked down at him, fear seemingly in his eyes for but a moment, before fading into a swirl of pink mist. Danny screamed, punching the ground, and leaving a massive crater in his wake, before taking a deep breath. Kim and Sammy appeared at his sides, holding his hands. “We… we need to get back to the lab. Regroup and… think about what to do next.”

    “You got it… are you okay, babe?” Kim asked, looking Danny in the eyes, seeing the rage and anger in them, but also the love he had for her.

     “I’m not, but I will be in a minute.” Danny said with a deep sigh, wrapping his arms around Kim and Sammy and pulling them into his chest. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

    “Don’t be. I’d have put that crater in Vlad’s face.” Sammy said, as she kissed his cheek.

     The lab at Fentonworks was packed as the team recuperated. Jack and Maddie continued their work on the Ectoskeleton, while Jazz and Technus monitored the status of the various ghost shields they’d distributed around the city, which were keeping the populace safe from ghost attacks.

     “Initial scans showed that the dome out there is far beyond our current capabilities.” Jack said, looking over some readouts while Maddie did some of the more delicate soldering work on one of the control boards. “This suit is probably going to be the only thing we have with anywhere near enough juice to blast through the thing.”

    Ron glanced over at Danny, who hadn’t bothered to transform back, staying in his Phantom form. “Isn’t that suit supposed to just put them at your level? Couldn’t you punch through the dome then?”

     “They can focus their fire better, and maintain it more since it’s mechanical.” Danny said, tossing the idea in his head for a moment. “Like, you can exert exactly 13 pounds of force, that’s within your ability, but could you manage to do that on command, and hold exactly that level for a period of time? Probably not. I can get in the ballpark, and keep it within a pretty tight range, but that’s the extent of it. I also wouldn’t be able to output at full power for as long. The suit would be able to hit max output for as long as its batteries held out.”

    “So, technical mumbo jumbo?” Ron said, causing the more technically inclined members of the group around them to sigh.

    “Technical mumbo jumbo.” Danny said, defeated.

    The rhythmic tap of shoes that cost more than some people’s houses emerged from the stairs, as Vlad examined the situation from within the lab. His eyes landed on Danny, still in his Phantom form, widening, before his face molded into a smirk for a moment, then into feigned shock. “Oh Jack! Maddie! A ghost in your lab! Allow me to deal with it.” He said, in a stage voice that really would have only fooled adults in a children’s television show, as he pulled an Ectozooka from the wall, pointing it at Danny and attempting to pull the trigger.

    A sharp pain reached his had first though, causing him to recoil, as he noticed the size 7 sneaker of Kim Possible occupying the same space his fingers once had, knocking them, and the Ectozooka, off of their previous path. “We don’t have time for this.” She said simply, returning her foot to the ground, a glare locked on the billionaire.

    “She’s right Vlad. We don’t have time for this. Everyone here knows about me, and about you.” Danny said, his gaze leveled at the man with challenge.

    “I see, then I suppose I’ll just have to tell the world about Daniel Fenton then. I wonder how many agencies will be attempting to vivisect you?” Vlad said, pure unadulterated malice in his voice.

    “The same ones that’ll try it for you, alongside every other agency that’ll be very interested in one of the world’s richest men having powers that let him control people’s minds and force them into deals they wouldn’t otherwise make.” Danny said, his tone even, even as he fumed inside. “They’ll be a lot more interested in that than some random kid from Illinois. Especially since I’ve saved the planet… what girls, a dozen times by now?” 

    “Ha? You think someone like Skulker would be capable of doing any significant damage to the planet?” Vlad spat, calling Danny’s bluff… but it wasn’t a bluff.

    “Skulker? No. Others? Certainly.” Danny said, as Kim stood up.

    “Drakken’s robot army, the Mind Hackers game that caught pretty much anyone under 30…” Kim started.

     “Potential alien invasion, rogue A.I….” Clover added, her voice still somewhat muffled by the identity concealer.

     “Nevermind the crazed circus clown with control over ghosts.” Sam said, her tone spiteful. “I don’t even know half the ways he’s managed to save the world, and I’ve been here since day one.”

     Vlad paused, trying to gather himself for a moment, sticking his finger up as though he had some retort that would put him on top… but he didn’t. He had nothing. “Fine. I’ll concede for now.”

    “Good, now maybe you can tell us why Fright Knight is after this.” Valerie said, as she pulled the Ring of Rage from her pocket. “Awful suspicious that Fright Knight goes on and on about trying to find a ring immediately after you handed one to me with some lame story about it being a ghost hunting relic.”

    Maddie’s gaze shot to Vlad, pure unadulterated anger seething into her very being. “Vladimir Alexander Masters, you did NOT put a target on that young girl’s back just to cover your ass.” She screamed, venom from her very core seeping out. Danny had never heard his mother curse, and it gave him no small amount of joy to see her so furious at Vlad. He knew his mother would never have any romantic interest in Vlad, even if his father was no longer in the picture. Hearing her, at least in this moment, hate him so much? It was a soothing balm to Danny’s mind, just as much as it was hellfire to Vlad’s.

    “She’s capable of defending herself. She was on the frontlines just as I was.” Vlad said in a vague attempt to save face.

     To say that eased Maddie’s anger was a lie. In all truth, it might have made it worse, but she was so mad she could barely express it anymore. What more damage would a hundred gallons of water do when a tsunami hit the shore? “We can kick the crap out of Vlad later, for now, we need a plan to deal with Pariah Dark. It’s obvious that this isn’t going to end without him getting dealt with in some way. Vlad’s useful for now, if only because he knows exactly what’s going on, since he DID cause it.” Danny said, glaring at him.

     “Alright, fine. Yes, Fright Knight is looking for that ring. You can’t give it to him though. He’ll return it to Pariah Dark and we’ll have no chance at all to stop him.” Vlad said, taking his own seat in the lab. “The damage he’s doing now is already great, and that’s without the boost his regalia gives him. The Ring and the Crown only work when they are together, they’re trinkets when apart.”

     “How strong is he without them?” Danny asked, looking at Vlad. “I’m sure you fought him. You were messed up too bad when you came through the portal to not have.”

    “Very, but not unbeatable.” Vlad said, tossing the idea back and forth. “I’d thought that if Fright Knight and I worked together, we could take him down, even easier if I could have retrieved the Crown while I already had the Ring.”

    “Then if we teamed up like we did at the Football field?” Danny asked, an eyebrow raised.

    “Doable I would think, although if he has Fright Knight at his side it’s a moot point.” Vlad added. “Our advantage would be in our ability to overwhelm him. He’s stronger than any two of us, but one man, even as powerful as he, will struggle against multiple opponents. Valerie’s covering fire while Daniel, the Dragon, and I engage Pariah Dark should, theoretically be enough to keep him fully on the backfoot. Fright Knight however changes the math. We’d be splitting our attention, even if any two of us could fully take on Fright Knight the split focus would be our downfall. Divide and conquer has been a successful strategy for millenia for a reason.”

     “So, what would it take to take him down then?” Valerie asked. “We’ve got more fighters than just us four. You left out Kim, Ron, and the other three.” Valerie said, gesturing to them.

     “I did, but I would like you five to tell me, if Daniel or I hit you with all of our might, with no regard for your life… could you survive it?” Vlad asked, an eyebrow raised. “Daniel can throw busses around like they are made of styrofoam, and I’m similarly powerful, and the Fright Knight is stronger than both of us, with no qualms about killing you beyond how he’d prefer you to live in fear. Pariah Dark, stronger still, with fewer qualms about killing. Daniel, the Dragon, and I can take these hits without dying. Valerie’s suit has every layer of protection I could imagine to prevent her death from anything. Unless you reverse engineered my work, and somehow found a few billion dollars to replicate my production processes, I doubt any of you wear sufficient protection.”

    “What about the Ecto-Skeleton then?” Alex asked.

    “Is it even close enough to being functional?” Vlad asked, turning to look at Maddie and Jack.

    “Assuming you help, we can likely finish in a few hours.” Jack said, sighing. “The design work and bulk manufacturing is done. It’s the small circuit board traces and final assembly that’s left. Your soldering as good as it was in college?”

    “Better. It kept me sane when I was in and out of the hospital bed after the accident.” Vlad said, unable to hide a hint of bitterness in his voice regarding the accident.

    “Then you can help Maddie with that while Technus and I finish the rest.” Jack said. “We’re still running the risk of this killing whoever drives it.”

    “As much as I hate to say it Dad… Pariah Dark has a greater risk of killing everyone in Amity Park… or the world if we can’t stop him.” Danny said, looking at his father.

    “I know son. I know.” Jack said. “We’ll work on this. You kids rest up while you can.”

     “I’ll keep a hold on the Ring. I’m more mobile than anyone but Danny and Vlad, and more trustworthy than the latter.” Valerie added with a glare.

     “Probably for the best. I’m going to… go round up some help.” Danny said, as he stood up.

     “Who are you getting? Team Go? Stitch? You’re not going to be able to leave Amity Park with that dome up.” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “I won’t… but there are at least a dozen decently strong ghosts in town. Maybe they’re as willing to fight for their home as we are.” Danny said, taking to the air as his feet shifted into his ghostly tail.

    “I’ll go with you. Ghosts are technically magical creatures, and building bridges with them is the Am-Drag’s whole deal.” Jake said, reaching his hand up. “Let’s get going. We’ll see if they’re willing to help.”

     Thankfully, Danny knew just where to start looking for the various ghosts in Amity Park. Skulker hadn’t been subtle when he took over the hunting supply store by any stretch of the imagination, and while his skills as a hunter might be questionable, his skills as a tracker and knower of information were second to none. Truthfully, he likely would be far more successful as a Ghost Zone information broker than he ever had been as a big game hunter.

    “We’re really going to the guy who tried to turn me into a bathmat?” Jake asked, flapping his wings as he flew alongside Danny.

    “He’s the guy who knows the most people.” Danny said with a shrug. “He’s also strong enough that the other ghosts tend to listen when he talks. The why of that, I’m not sure, but it happens.” The pair landed in front of the glass doors, taking in the window displays. What would have previously shown typical outdoorsy scenes of mannequins fishing or sitting at a campfire, instead showed more war-torn images. The mannequins had their heads speared on hunting knives attached to fishing poles like bayonets, the fiberglass rods sagging slightly with the weight, but sending a clear message.

    “Love his interior decorating.” Jake said with a sarcastic eyeroll.

     “You should see his actual realm. Man lives in a literal jungle paradise and chooses to make his home a cave. Can’t even blame an inability to build, he could LITERALLY bend the world around it to make himself a nice house.” Danny said with an eyeroll. He’d been in Skulker’s realm once. The ghost had thought it’d be a good idea to handcuff him and Valerie together to hunt them both. He hadn’t expected them to team up and beat him into the dirt.

     Entering the store, Danny was entirely unsurprised to see a laser dot lining up with his head. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here whelp.” Skulker said, getting ready to squeeze his fist to fire, before Johnny slapped his hand.

    “Can it Skull-Bucket. We’re on truce right now. He’s part of it too.” Johnny said, glaring at him. “You know there’s more than enough people here who will kick your ass for trying it, and the others won’t get in the way because you’re not worth the fight.”

    “Greaser does have a point.” Spectra said, idly filing her nails. “I don’t like Phantom at all, but you’re not worth fighting the Greaser or Ember for.”

     “Fine. I’ll stop. What are you even doing here, whelp?” Skulker asked, pulling the arm cannon back into his wrist, and sitting down in his fold-up camping chair throne.

     “I’d actually like to ask what all of you are doing here.” Danny said, glancing around at the gathered ghosts. It seemed all of his ghostly friends and foes barring Vlad and Technus were here, and both of them were back at Fentonworks. “I know you guys all fled the Zone, but you all had taken up residence in a few different spots. Like Box Ghost at the Post Office.”

     “It’s a kind of… peace council.” Johnny said, tossing it back and forth in his head. “Kitty, you explain it. You’re better at this words stuff.”

     “What Johnny means to say is, if we’re going to be trapped in this dome, if we don’t make clear boundaries on whose turf is whose, it’s going to be street wars, which won’t end well for anyone, human or ghost.” Kitty said, gently holding Youngblood to her chest. “Realms used to take the guesswork out of this. Aside from the Ghost Zone having near infinite space, so you didn’t have to crowd out, your realm could literally only ever be as big as you were able to control. It couldn’t grow any bigger, short of other ghosts joining under you, and even then, it was now what you could collectively control.”

    “Well, I guess there’s a good question to start with. If the Zone was safe to go back to, would you all return of your own accord?” Danny asked, looking over them.

    “I’m fairly certain I can speak for all of us when I say yes.” Skulker said, although it was clear he wasn’t happy about it. “The Zone… provides for us in ways the human world can’t. Even beyond our ability to control our realms, the natural energy of the Zone is nourishing to us. We recover faster, feel stronger. Living in the human world isn’t ideal for us, it’s why the ghosts who never find the Zone go mad. It’d be almost like a human never getting sunlight. You could survive, but you wouldn’t thrive.” Murmurs of assent went through the crowd at that. Danny was thankful, it meant he wouldn’t have to round up everyone individually. 

    “Not that it’ll do you any good. Not like you can beat Pariah Dark.” Spectra said, bored as she filed her nails.

    “That’s another thing. How strong is he? I’ve got no real ideas here. He’s stronger than Fright Knight obviously, and Fright Knight apparently scared you all enough that Kitty more or less called him the ghost equivalent of the Boogeyman.” Danny asked, looking over the crowd.

    “Stronger than any of us for certain.” Skulker said, looking at the gathered ghosts. “Desiree, Ember. You two tasted the most power at one time of any of us. How do you think he’d compare?”

    “I had an entire world screaming my name, all that power flowing through me, and even THAT would have made me feel like a candle next to his bonfire.” Ember shook her head. “I had the homefield advantage, full control over my realm, and my own little skeleton army fanclub. He tore through them like tissue paper. I managed to grab my guitar and flee. He didn’t bother chasing me down.”

     “I’m admittedly more limited without someone making wishes of me. My power is rarely fully at my command.” Desiree said, although her glare told everyone else that she was still a good league above most of them. Danny had enough experience fighting her to know that even without a wish, she could wipe the floor with most anyone in the room. “He tossed me aside like a doll. Even at my strongest, when I was granting wishes at that meteor shower, I don’t think I could have done anything to him without a wish, and even WITH one… it’s possible he might be strong enough to resist it. It’s hard to know.”

    “So I couldn’t just wish for him to go away?” Danny asked, aware of how long of a shot it was.

    “Maybe if you had wished it during the meteor shower, after I’d granted a few dozen more than I got to that day.” Desiree said with a shrug. “A moot point regardless. My power has diminished since then, both from your intervention and the lack of wishes I’ve been able to grant.”

   “So, all that to say, he’s in a complete league of his own, power-wise?” Jake put forward. Nods of assent was his response.

    “And all that without the Ring…” Danny said, mostly to himself but still loud enough for all present to hear.

    “How do you know about the Ring?” Skulker asked, his mechanical eyebrow raised. “You seemed to know little about him, but you know that?”

   “Vlad’s the idiot who stole the ring.” Danny said, lightly growling. “He’s the reason we’re in this mess.”

    Skulker shot up, screamed loudly and slammed his mechanical fist into the large taxadermied bear that had been a decoration behind his throne, sending it flying into a nearby wall and breaking under the stress. “That imbecile! I should have known he’d use it for something so idiotic.” Skulker took a moment to huff and breathe, before sitting down with his head in his hands. 

    “You know something about this, Skulker?” Danny asked, more surprised than anything at Skulker’s reaction.

     “Yes. It’s no secret Plasmius hires me for jobs occasionally. Usually as a relic hunter, finding something in the Zone he doesn’t have the time to search for himself. Pay is good, and most of what he grabs is items of historical value, but not power. Think more coins and parchment than swords and axes.” Skulker started, his words edged with anger, although whether it was at Vlad, himself, or Danny, Danny had no idea. “Sometime in Spring, I can’t remember when exactly, he called me for a slightly bigger job. We fought this Behemoth, because it guarded a relic known as the Skeleton Key. It can open any lock. Old magic, certainly something someone could have use for. I didn’t know what he would want it for though. As a half-ghost, there’s no door he can’t walk through. Humans are intangible in the Zone, ghosts are intangible here. He mentioned it was more so no enemy could use it against him, which I accepted at the time. Mostly because I thought no one would be so arrogant or brainless as to use it to awaken Pariah Dark of all people.”

     “Yeah, but this is Vlad we are talking about. Arrogance is something he has more of than money, and he’s got a LOT of money.” Danny said, sighing. “Regardless, where does that put us? Pariah Dark obviously got defeated once before, how'd they do it?”

     “The Ancients locked him in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.” Kitty said, patting Youngblood’s head as he held onto her leg like the scared child he was. “Took seven of them, but they managed it. One of them built the thing.”

    “Well, are they around to help? Could I try and get in contact with them?” Danny asked.

    “Two of them still exist, the other five faded or reincarnated. They still carry the power they once did, but are not the same people. Ghosts do not ‘die’ like you do. Sometimes we just… reform.” Skulker said, trying to explain it, but either not caring to elaborate further or being unable to. “The two that still exist are… unwilling to help. Since then they have been given charges that are unfortunately more pressing than Pariah Dark.”

     “Something’s more pressing than someone who apparently managed to take over the entire Ghost Zone in a day?” Danny asked, wide-eyed.

    “One monitors time and causality, the other guards the literal source of all evil. Yes.” Skulker said, nodding gravely. “The other ancients were similarly important, but had charges that didn’t necessarily require them to remain constant. Time always exists forever, he will always be as he always was. Guarding the source of evil required someone who was incapable of wavering to it. The others are more fickle things, plant life, the weather, sleep, powerful forces, but they don’t NEED to stay the exact same for forever.”

     “Heavy stuff.” Jake noted, sighing as he glanced over everything. 

     “You’re not wrong, but I guess it at least proves he can be beaten.” Danny said, trying to rack his brain for how he could even do that.

    “Babypop… you’re not going to try and fight him, are you?” Ember asked, a tremble in her voice as she did so.

    “I’ve got to. We know that you all aren’t going to be able to live in the human world forever, and Fright Knight more or less said if we don’t give him the ring by tomorrow, he’ll kill everyone in Amity Park, and I don’t think he just means the ghosts. And honestly…” Danny paused for a moment, welling the words up inside them, regardless of how little he really wanted to say them. “I don't think he’ll stop with just Amity Park. He’ll conquer and destroy everything until either he gets bored or something stops him.”

     A silence washed over the crowd as they realized that he was right. It was going to be a bloodbath unless he was stopped.

    Johnny stood up, looking at Kitty, and shooting her a smile. “Well, I ain’t letting the kid go in alone. Owe him too much for that.” Johnny said, moving to stand beside Danny.

    “Babypop, if you even think I’m going to let you go at this alone, you’ve got another thing coming.” Ember said, standing with them.

    Kitty looked down at Youngblood, who nodded at her with determination, his cutlass appearing in his hand as his pirate hat manifested on his head. “We go with Johnny. I’m not as strong as you all, but Youngblood’s no pushover.”

    Sidney emerged from the crowd. “Pariah Dark’s a bully, maybe the biggest one of all. I’m not gonna stand for it, Buster Brown.” He stood with them, somehow only barely taller than the literal child.

    Danny looked out over the rest of the ghosts. “I’m not going to make you fight. I couldn’t if I wanted to, but I want you to think for a second. He’s already taken your homes, everything you owned, everything you dreamed of, and if you do nothing, you will be killed anyway. I’m fighting for my home and yours. Do you want to just roll over and die without at least trying to fight back?” There was a pregnant pause at that, no one really willing to say anything one way or the other. “Come on. I have one idea for something we might be able to do to fight him.” Danny said to the rest of his compatriots, before they left the hunting store.

    Skulker sat in his camping chair, his stolen throne, and looked around. Walker, Desiree, Spectra, and dozens of other ghosts remained around him. Some were truly too weak to fight back. The Ectopi would be demolished by one of the skeleton ghosts… but what excuse did the rest of them have?

     Danny led his small group to the football field, his gaze landing on Fright Knight’s sword, the Soul Shredder.

    “Got a plan here, kid? I agreed to fight Pariah Dark because I know we don’t have much choice, but I’d feel a hell of a lot better if you said you had some ideas.” Johnny asked as he touched down.

    “Not a plan, so much as an idea.” Danny said, walking up to the Soul Shredder. “Fright Knight’s sword can put anyone in a realm of their worst nightmares. Kitty and Desiree both mentioned that their powers don’t usually work on people that are much stronger than them, but… well Fright Knight’s a lot stronger on his own than any of us are, and it’s possible his sword is even stronger. If we can’t lock him in his Sarcophagus again… maybe this will be enough to tip the scales.” Danny’s hands gripped the crossguard of the Soul Shredder, attempting to pull it from the ground. It was stuck fast, but Danny was incredibly strong. With a grunt of effort, he managed to bring it up from the ground,  The energy beam from the pommel disappearing, although the dome over Amity Park remained.

    At first, nothing else happened, but a ghastly chill then ran through everyone, and part of the ground near where the sword had been began to glow. A moment later, the Fright Knight emerged from the ground, his hand pushing itself forward as the Soul Shredder pulled itself from Danny’s hands and into his own. “Present the Ring, mortals, as per the bargain.” Fright Knight spoke, his tone showing no great opinion on the matter.

     Danny was confused. “What bargain?” He asked, racking his brain. Something in the poem maybe? ‘Ring thou hast’ had been a line therein, but he’d been too terrified to properly grasp what had been said.

    “Didn’t even listen to my instructions then. By pulling the sword, you agreed to hand over the ring, or die as we scoured the city for it. Now, give me the ring.” Fright Knight said, his eyes narrowing beneath his helmet.

    “I don’t have the ring.” Danny said, hoping honesty would save him some time here. The good news is, he felt comfortable taking on Fright Knight. He, Ember, Johnny, and Jake he thought were more than capable of tackling the knight together. Kitty, Youngblood, and Poindexter made him feel even more confident.

    “The boy tells no lies.” Pariah Dark said, as he stepped out of a portal onto the football field. “I can sense it within the city, but not in his possession. Someone else has it… someone human.” He said, his eye closed as he seemed to feel the Ring’s presence in the air. “They come this way. Perhaps they listened when no one else did.” 

     Let it never be said that Danny didn’t have the bravest friends in the world, because despite two of the most powerful ghosts to ever walk the Earth appearing on the football field, they still rocked up ready to help. Sammy, Alex, Clover, Kim, and Ron all hopped off from Valerie’s board, brandishing their weapons against the Fright Knight and Pariah Dark.

    “Ah, yes. The ring is here now… You, the flying girl. Give it to me, and I shall spare you.” Pariah said, holding out his hand expecting her to give him the ring.

     Valerie’s face faltered for a moment. There was apparently no hiding the ring now. He knew where it was, could track it somehow. It’d never be safe hidden somewhere. He’d hunt it down, and kill anyone who stood in his way. She also couldn’t hand it over, because then he’d be unstoppable. So, Valerie chose another option. Pulling out the ring, she feigned like she was going to hand it over, before attaching it to a trio of explosive rockets and firing it into the dome. The ring was powerful… but those rockets were specifically designed to destroy ectoplasmic entities. Surely they’d be able to destroy it. With no ring, Pariah would be more vulnerable, they could win!

    With speed beyond what his size should allow, Pariah Dark appeared in the path of the rockets, grabbing them and crushing their tails in his massive fist. He pulled the ring from the tip, examining it for a moment before looking down at them. “A shame, truly. I would have spared you had you merely handed it over. Instead you sought to destroy it, and deny me my destiny. For such insubordination… you will die.” Pariah said, throwing the rockets back onto the ground.

    Those on the football field scattered as the ecto-rockets exploded, leaving a massive ten foot wide crater at the thirty yard line. Pariah Dark merely chuckled to himself as he slid the ring onto his finger, closing his fist, before his entire body glowed, and his chuckles devolved into full fledged maniacal cackling. 

    Pariah Dark waved his hand, causing the ground beneath the group to shake, as they steadied themselves, they looked up to find that the dome was gone, but what was in its place was far, far worse.

   Instead of the blue skies of the Midwestern US… they could only see a smoky black-green miasma, purple doors floating at various points. Where one would have expected to see Elmerton and Middleton on the horizon, instead there were floating outcroppings of rock. Amity Park was no longer on Earth… it was fully within the ghost zone, fully cut off from everything else.

    “I will honor the earlier terms of our agreement in spite of this slight. You have one day remaining. I recommend you pray to whatever gods you have, but know that they shall not save you from my wrath.” Pariah said, his voice echoing through the city. “Come Fright Knight. Give them their last day.” With that, the pair departed, leaving the combined Ghost/Human team to simply attempt to comprehend what was happening.

    “Oh god… he got it.” Kitty said, falling to her knees. Johnny and Youngblood went to her side, holding her as she started to cry. “It’s all over…”

    “It’s not over.” Danny said, standing tall. “It’s not over yet. He’s got the ring, but he was beaten with it once. It can happen again.” He said, looking at Kitty. “I know it looks bad, it really does. But what good will giving up do us? He said himself he’s going to come here tomorrow and kill us all anyway. All he’s done is give us no reason not to fight.” Danny looked at Johnny and Ember. “There’s no backing down now. No reason to. We do nothing? He kills us anyway. We stand up against him? Even if there’s only the smallest possible hope for victory, we have to take it. We have nothing to lose, and a future to gain.”

    “You’re right.” Jake said, coming up beside him. “The situation isn’t completely hopeless yet. Let’s regroup at the lab. See if maybe there’s some final preparations we can make.

    Danny nodded, walking over to Kitty and holding his hand out to her. “Stand up, Kitty. We’re not done yet, and I know that you’re not going to sit here and let some stone-faced maniac of a ghost take away that family you wanted so bad.”

    Kitty looked up at him, tears in her eyes, but blinked them away, standing up and brushing off her skirt. “You’re right. Johnny and I have started that family I always wanted… I’m not letting Pariah Dark take it away from me.”

    “That’s my girl.” Johnny said, wrapping her in a hug, before looking to Danny. “We’re with you to the end of the road pal. Come what happens, we’re not going down without at least giving Pariah Dark the blackest eye this world’s ever seen.”

    The mood in Fentonworks was not hopeful. The final touches were being put on the Ecto-Skeleton with Jack, Maddie, Vlad, and Technus each doing everything they could to get it online. Danny and the rest of the team sat by, catching their breath, and gathering their courage for what came next.

     “So, what’s the plan?” Ron asked, looking over the group. “I know you’re going to fight him… but how?”

     Danny looked over at the Ecto-Skeleton. “That’s our best hope. It’s designed to amplify strength a hundred times, and I’m going to have to hope it’ll let me fight on par with the Ghost King.” He said, shuddering a little bit as he thought about it. “It’s a long shot, but it’s more or less the only one we have.”

     “Kid’s got a point. He’s the strongest of us by a decent margin. Maybe if we could get the world to chant Ember’s name she could manage to outpower him, but that’s not exactly possible right now.” Johnny said, Ember nodded in assent.

     “I mean, you guys have a ghost shield, right? Couldn’t you just put that up? Surely he can’t bust through that?” Ron suggested, a panicked look in his eyes. He was scared, they all were, but Ron was never great at swallowing his fear. It came out of him, and while he would still be willing to fight, he couldn’t do it quietly. 

    “We could… but it’d doom all the ghosts. It’d force them out of the city. They wouldn’t survive.” Danny said, looking over Ember, Johnny, Kitty, Technus, Youngblood, and Sidney, who stayed with him. “I’m not willing to sacrifice them for a maybe.”

     Ember gripped Danny’s hand with that, squeezing it lightly in thanks.

     “So we’re heading into the Zone and taking the fight to Pariah Dark?” Kim asked, looking at Danny, trying to figure out his plan.

     “You’re not. Neither are the Spies, Valerie, Ron, Jake, or my parents.” Danny said, looking at them. “The Ghost Zone is harder on humans. Amity Park still has enough human world juice that the long-term effects of the Zone aren’t an issue yet, but once you leave here, without the safety of the Specter Speeder… it’s not going to be good. The ghosts and I can handle it because our… anatomy lets us. I also need you guys to be… the last line of defense.” He added, looking over them. “I’ll be doing everything I can to win. I’m not holding anything back, but I can’t guarantee it’ll work. I can’t guarantee I can do it. If I fail? It’ll be up to you guys. Maybe we’ll have done enough damage to him that you can finish him off.”

    The finality of that statement caught everyone off guard. Danny was usually the confident one. The one who believed that every fight was winnable. They’d never seen him even consider losing… and yet here he stood, giving his contingencies for if he did lose.

    “Danny, you don’t really mean…” Alex started to say. 

    “Unacceptable.” Star said, coming up to Danny and gripping him by the collar. “You’re coming back. Not an option otherwise.”

     “You’ve still got to tell my dad about you, after all.” Kim said, as she came up, wrapping her arms around him. “You’re not getting out of that.”

     “Marie’s not just going to pop into existence.” Sammy said, taking his other side. “So, yes, you’re coming back.”

     “I didn’t finally pull my head out of my ass about being popular just for the best thing that ever happened to me to just disappear. You’re coming back.” Star added finally, as the three girls simply held him. “Ember, get in here. You’re going with him, so you have to make sure you both come back.”

     Ember joined in the group hug, nuzzling herself into Danny’s back, leaving him surrounded on all four sides. “He’s gotta take me to concerts after all. He’ll be back.”

    Danny just smiled, enjoying the moment. “I love you all. I’ll be back. I promise.” He relented. It hurt him to make a promise he wasn’t certain he could keep, but it’d hurt them far more for him not to say it.

     Everyone else looked around, recognizing what was about to happen. This was going to be all or nothing, so there were things that weren’t better left unsaid. “I’m going to go see my parents.” Tucker said. “I’ll be back before it’s time. I just… want to tell them I love them.”

    “Same.” Sam said. “We fought just before… all this happened. I don’t want that to be the final word.”

     Valerie looked a little worried for a second. “I… can I even tell my Dad what I’ve been doing?”

     “You can. And you should.” Jack said, making his way over to Valerie. “Take it from a father. No matter how upset he’d get about you having kept it a secret, he’d care far more that you chose to tell him. I don’t know Damon that well, but I’m sure he’ll be very, very proud of you. You’re not my daughter, and I’m very proud. I’m proud of all of you kids.” Jack looked over the gathered group. “You saw what could very well be the end of the world, and your first thought was ‘How can I help?’.” A large smile crossed his face, as he pulled Jazz in for a hug. “Whatever happens, you can hold your heads high knowing you gave it your all.”

     Emotions ran high, and hugs were shared between everyone. Promises to come back. Lighthearted discussions about what was to happen after. Jack’s boisterous declaration of the biggest pizza party Amity Park had ever seen. Everyone was included. Everyone enjoying one last moment of peace, love, and camaraderie.

     Everyone, but Vlad Masters.

    He seethed a bit at first. These idiots didn’t even bother to thank him for his help in dealing with this situation. Without him, they wouldn’t have been able to even stand against Fright Knight! Or, so he told himself initially, before something inside him told him that while he had helped with Fright Knight, he certainly hadn’t been the deciding factor there. Danny and Jake had been far more effective as a team than he was, and his presence seemed to actively hinder their ability to work together. Nevermind the fact that it wasn’t like there weren’t others they could have called for help. His gaze flickered across the ghosts. Johnny 13, Kitty, Youngblood, Technus, and Ember. None were quite as powerful as he was, he was aware of that, but they seemed to share something that he didn’t. There was no question in their eyes. They knew they were going towards what could very well be their demise, but they still looked on and spoke as though tomorrow was a guarantee. That they believed without doubt they would win. What gave them such hope? What drove them to this?

    It was something else though, that made him uneasy. The girls Danny was surrounded with. Kim Possible, the Green-suited spy he couldn’t make out the face of, the blonde girl he’d heard them call Star, and the ghost rocker Ember McClain. All giving him these… looks. Looks he’d always dreamed of Maddie giving him. What had that boy done to deserve them? He was weak, weaker than he by far. He was inexperienced, horribly naive, and not even well groomed. Yet the adoration in their eyes told no lies. They loved him, truly deeply loved him, and that left Vlad looking inside. To his own heart, and he found he didn’t like the black void that stared back at him. His glance over to Maddie, where she held Jazz tight, giving that kind of rocking hug parents loved to give their children when they were too big to be carried, made him feel how…empty he was. He’d wanted that. He’d wanted to have Maddie in his arms. Wanted to one day have a child to make into his heir, to guide the future. He’d wanted a lot of things, things that didn’t come to fruition. He’d say he wondered why, but… it would be a lie. He knew why. Vlad excused himself from the festivities, walking his way upstairs. As he suspected, no one even noticed he was gone.

     They had taken advantage of their timeframe. Pariah Dark had little reason to lie about giving them the extra day, and the offense team had used that time to recuperate as much as they could. Danny had found himself pinned beneath his four girls as they forced him (and Ember) to nap in an attempt to gather their strength. Sam and Tucker had gone back to their parents at that time. They’d been keeping them updated that they were fine, but they were aware that seeing them in person helped solidify the fact that their kids were alive and well. Supposedly, they’d been held for several hours, and weren’t going to be released. It had been a struggle to say that they had been helping the Fentons with fighting the ghosts, and needed to get back. That had only been allowed when they came along as well, unwilling to allow their children to risk their lives without stepping in to help. It was a surprise to be sure, but Jeremy and Pamela Manson had gone up in Danny’s estimation that day.

     Kim, Ron, Star, and the Spies unfortunately had no way to get in contact with their families. Star’s mother had been out of town when this started, and with everyone else in Middleton, communication outside of Amity Park was non-existent. They knew they would be worried once they heard what was happening, and could only hope the situation would be resolved soon, so they could call them, and let them know they were safe.

   Damon had been immensely concerned for his daughter. He was known to be protective, perhaps even overly so, with her since her mom passed. Learning that she had been actively fighting ghosts during her off-hours had been a shock to him, and had sent him through an emotional rollercoaster. He’d been furious that she hadn’t told him, terrified that she’d been risking her life, but most importantly beyond proud of the woman his daughter was becoming. There was an agreement that he would sit down with the Fentons to discuss what steps they could take to try and limit the danger his daughter was in, but saw reason that it could wait until after this Pariah Dark situation was over. He’d also agreed to assist how he could with the technical aspects of their work. He was the head of research and development for Axiom Labs, after all, a premier scientific institution. He wasn’t an expert in ghost tech like the Fentons, but he was a quick study.

     Everyone gathered on the roof of Fentonworks, Jack, Maddie, Damon, and Technus giving the Ecto-Skeleton a once over to make sure it was going to function optimally. They turned to look at Danny, a somber look on their faces. “Son, are you sure you want to pilot this? I could do it, fight with you. It’ll stop the Zone from bothering me, and you’d have an extra set of hands.” Jack said, with the actual reason unspoken. It ran a real risk of killing him if he wore it. Everyone present knew that, but it still didn’t make the decision easier.

    “Dad… we know it won’t be enough for just anyone to wear it. Pretty much… the only ones it could be are me and Vlad, and aside from the fact he’s not here… we both know we can’t trust him with it.” Danny said, as he shared a final nod with his Dad.

    “I love you son. Never forget that.” Jack said, kneeling down and crushing Danny into a hug. “I’m so proud of you. Now… go kick that Ghost King’s butt, and show the entire Ghost Zone that you don’t mess with Amity Park and get away with it.”

    Danny smiled as he hugged his dad back, phasing into the cockpit of the Ecto-Skeleton and strapping himself in. The neural interface attached to his spine, a painful endeavor as he was effectively given 24 spinal taps at once, but the pain subsided after only a moment. With a mere thought, his robotic limbs moved, acting as though they were the ones he’d used all his life. “Neural interface seems like it’s functioning.” He said, letting everyone know that it had gone well.

    “Good. I’ll go on ahead. I need to acquire something from my realm. I will meet you at Pariah Dark’s castle.” Technus said, nodding to everyone as he flew off into the Zone.

     “He better not be ditching us.” Johnny said, watching him go.

     “You know Technus better than that. He won’t abandon us. Maybe he’s got something big stored away in his realm. He’s been hoarding every spare piece of tech he can get his hands on since he entered the human realm. He’s effectively put the e-waste disposal place out of business.” Danny said with a small chuckle, as he looked down at everyone else. He kneeled down, letting them get a good look at him in the cockpit. “We’ll be back, but if there’s anything you want to say… now’s the time.”

    “I love you.” Came the response from Kim, Star, and Sammy. 

     “You’re telling my Dad once this is over. Everyone else knows, it's time.” Kim said, shooting him a smirk.

     “Why is that scarier than the Ghost King?” Danny joked, causing Kim to laugh a bit. “We will. Although see if your mom might be willing to butter him up first.”

     “We’ll see.” Kim said, before passing it on to Star.

     “I’m so happy you asked me to that dance.” Star started, tears welling up in her eyes. “I had no way of knowing it’d lead me here… but I’m so happy it did. Expect me to be all over you when you get back, you’ve got a lot of nerve doing this to me.” She added, teasing him at the end, but the sheer love in her eyes took away a lot of its bite. She turned to Sammy, nodding at her.

    Sammy disabled the face disruptor for a moment. Everyone here was trustworthy, and close enough to know that the one other person who would be having this conversation was her. “You’re coming back, obviously. You’ve still got to give me Marie in… 7 years time? Gives us enough time to be out of college.” She said, looking at him with love.

     “That assignment did a number on you, didn’t it?” Danny teased, meeting her gaze.

     “It told me what I already knew, and gave me a name to go with it.” She said, kissing the glass dome. “Now go on hotshot.”

     “You make sure he comes back, Ember.” Kim shouted at their ghostly fifth. “Pariah Dark has nothing on what I’ll do to you if you don’t!”

      “Like I’ll let anything happen to Babypop? Keep dreaming, Cheerleader.” Ember said, sticking her tongue out. 

    “Then it’s time to head out. Johnny, Kitty, Youngblood, Poindexter, you ready to go?” Danny asked, looking at the gathered ghosts.

    “Like I said bud. With you to the end of the road.” Johnny said, as he summoned his motorcycle. Kitty got on behind him, and Youngblood hopped into the sidecar. Youngblood’s hands gripped onto a steering wheel in the sidecar, and from the front a cannon sprouted.

    “I’ll send these scurvy dogs to Davy Jones Locker.” Youngblood expounded, his parrot assistant congratulating him on a correct use. Kitty ruffled the top of his head, causing him to look up at her and smile.

    “We’ll go show that bully what for.” Sidney said, nodding. With that, the group shot off, one destination in mind.

     Luck had been on their side, as there was a rocky outcropping floating above Pariah Dark’s castle that normally wasn’t there. They’d set down on it, looking down at the red-orange castle, and especially at the area immediately in front of it, where legions of skeletal soldiers stood, rank and file under the gaze of the Fright Knight.

    “Any ideas for a plan, kid? We’ve been winging it so far, but something even vaguely like a battle plan would be good.” Johnny asked as he glanced down at the army.

    “We wait for Technus for one.” Danny said, scanning the scene. “I’m hoping he’ll have something capable of helping, otherwise he wouldn’t have run off to grab it. Other than that…” He glanced at the battery display on the console of his suit. It read 100% currently, as it had just been siphoning the power Danny usually made to fly. For low level use, Danny could probably run the suit as long as he normally ran, but low level use wasn’t what it was needed for. Danny needed to utilize everything the suit had… and that came with a time limit… and a risk. “Best estimates say this suit can go all out for about 5 minutes under its own power. Taking everything I can generate? I might get six, but… probably won’t survive the process. That means I’ve only got five minutes to actually fight Pariah Dark.”

    “I’d normally feel pretty confident about our ability to handle the skeleton legion there.” Ember said, looking down at them. “But not with Fright Knight in the picture. The skeletons are a nuisance, and can only really overwhelm us if they can fight us thirty on one. Fright Knight however, makes that math worse. The Skeletons just have to keep us distracted for him to pick us off.”

    “I believe I might have, at least part of a solution to our skeleton problem.” Technus’s voice said, as he undid his cloaking device, revealing a single masted sloop, crewed with an army of very familiar robots. 

     “You made more Bebes?” Danny asked, his eyes wide as he saw them. Technus had somehow constructed twenty of the gynoids, each colored a new bright silver, with green energy filling in between the joints.

    “I did indeed.” Technus said, looking over at his creations with a proud smile. “They are a combination of Drakken’s original Bebe tech, and Skulker’s armor that I managed to scrounge up after a fight. I had originally intended them to function as lab attendants and security for my realm… I’m uncertain how well they’ll function as an attack force, but they’ll certainly be better than nothing.”

    “I see you managed to build a battleship too… how’d you manage that?” Johnny asked, looking up at the ship.

    “When Danny here told me about how you’d managed to extend your abilities to a ship, I began salvaging parts from junkyards and merging them into a singular vessel for you to use. It was intended to be a gift for Youngblood.” Technus said, looking over to them. “It’s a smaller ship than you had used before, but that should hopefully make it easier for just you and Youngblood to take it over.”

    Johnny and his adopted son nodded at each other, flying aboard the ship. Kitty joined them, and the trio placed their hands onto the deck, the entire ship glowing as it morphed to them. Johnny’s appearance took back on the same pirate captain look it had when he took over the ship they used to fight Black-Eye, and Kitty’s attire changed to be not unlike her boyfriend’s, ditching the longcoat for a tight corset. Youngblood's look was unchanged, but he smiled widely as he examined the ship. “I believe it is only right that you get to name her.” Technus said, looking at the trio.

    Youngblood looked up to Johnny and Kitty, eyes widening as they nodded to him, letting him know he got to pick the name. “The Broken Mirror.” Youngblood said, smiling wide as he looked at his family. They smiled back at him.

     “The Broken Mirror it is then. Perhaps between it and the Bebes. We’ll be able to deal with the skeleton armies enough.” Technus said, looking over the rest of them.

     “It’ll have to be, the suit’ll kill me if I try to hold it at max power to fight through all the skeletons, Fright Knight, and Pariah Dark.” Danny said, looking down at the gathered army again.

     “That won’t do. The only thing that gets to kill you is me.” Skulker’s voice came from behind, causing everyone to look. With him were many of the other ghosts. Vlad, Desiree, Walker, Bullet, Spectra, the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady, and dozens more lesser ghosts that Danny didn’t know the name of. Skulker and Vlad descended, touching down on the rocky outcropping.

     “You came? You all came?” Danny asked, looking completely dumbfounded.

     “This is our home. I would not leave it to you to defend alone. I would be no hunter if I allowed something else to kill my prey.” Skulker said, a pair of binoculars forming from his wrist as he looked through them. “The skeletons won’t be much in the way of a threat. Walker, I expect you and your men will be more than happy to take the fight to them.” 

    “Something to that effect. Expecting us to handle them all, are you?” Walker said, his southern drawl echoing through the space.

    “Not all of them. You’ll just be leading that team. 13, can the weaker ghosts help you crew the ship? They won’t be much use against the army down there on their own, but adding to the ship’s firepower should be something.” Skulker asked, turning to the new Captain.

     “It’ll definitely be a help, but I ain’t taking orders from you Skullbucket.” Johnny said, giving skulker a sideways grin.

     “We’ll settle this once this is over. Nikolai, McClain, you’ll be with myself and Vlad taking on Fright Knight.” Skulker said, looking over at them. “I know you won’t take orders from me, but you know as well as I do that we’re going to be the ones most likely to take him down, since Walker will be too busy leading his officers.”

     “Then that just leaves me to fight Pariah Dark.” Danny said, looking over them. “Thanks, Skulker. I mean it.”

    “I know you do, but don’t think this means anything. I’m fighting for my home. Once this mess is over, I WILL have your head on my wall.” Skulker said, glaring. “It doesn’t mean I’m above working with you when needed though. You’re good prey. I can respect that.”

    Danny chuckled, standing up. “Then let’s go show the Ghost King that he can’t just waltz into our area of the Zone and expect us to just roll over and let him take it.”

    A battle cry went out, and the mass of ghosts charged the Skeleton army, Vlad, Technus, Skulker, and Ember gunning for Fright Knight to remove him from the equation.

    Unsurprisingly, Johnny and Youngblood sent off the first shots. Massive flaming spectral cannonballs began to rain down from The Broken Mirror, empowered by its spectral crew who fed the ship even more than the 13 family alone could. Massive holes began to appear in the skeletal ranks, each blast taking out a handful at a time. It wouldn’t take the army down on its own, but it was clearing numbers, showing no sign of slowing down.

     Walker showed exactly why HE was the law in this area of the Ghost Zone. He ran into the fray alongside his officers, taking out three skeletons for every one his officers managed. They were disciplined, efficient, and effective. Their batons shattered skeletons like they were made of glass and tore through their lines with ease.

    Sidney, the Box Ghost, and Klempr joined together, creating what other ghosts might less charitably call the loser squad. They showed however, that they weren’t weaklings. Klempr managed to freeze dozens of skeletons with his breath, which Box Ghost and Sidney smashed apart clearing through their section of the battlefield.

     Desiree and Spectra were a formidable tag team, Spectra using her shadowy form to grab skeletons and toss them to Desiree, who morphed her arms into a massive baseball bat, using the skeletons as projectiles to decimate their ranks.

    Waves upon waves of Skeletons fell, Danny looking on as he watched everyone fight for their home. The Bebe battalion were tearing through skeletons like paper, their metal skin unscratched by blades as they fired ecto-lasers that cut through the skeletal hoard. One of the Bebes had fallen, but it seemed as though it had taken a good hundred skeletons with it. He glanced over to where the quartet were fighting Fright Knight, and was pleased to see how well they were doing.

    Technus had jumped inside of Skulker’s suit, supercharging his systems, which made the combined pair a considerable force, easily able to keep up with Ember and Vlad. It seemed hardly a second went by that Skulker’s suit wasn’t firing a new weapon, or inconveniencing Fright Knight in some way. It had always been pretty clear that Skulker’s biggest bottleneck with his suit was processing power, but seeing Technus overclock it… it made Danny glad that Skulker didn’t have the ability to do that himself.

     Ember, of course, was a force of nature as she fought. She seamlessly transitioned from long range sonic blasts on the Fright Knight, to wielding her guitar like an axe and battering away at him with wild abandon. She would even occasionally flare her hair at him, forcing him to retreat lest the blue flames overwhelm him.

    Vlad, for his part, was taciturn. There was no gloating, no grand speeches. Merely action as he used his powers to great effect. Be it by creating clones or ecto-energy constructs, Vlad showed a mastery over his powers that Danny simply didn’t have, and it was certainly putting Fright Knight on the backfoot.

     Danny glanced back at the castle. Enough of a path had been cleared for him, so he flew inside, dodging past the skeletons that tried to halt his advance, even as they found themselves quickly dispatched by pot shots fired from The Broken Mirror.

    Danny landed in the throne room of Pariah Dark’s castle with a mighty thud, the Ghost King looking on at him from the throne with a smirk on his face. “So, child. You raise an army to come and fight me? Dressed in such an odd piece of regalia.” Pariah Dark said, giving him an appraising look. “Very well. I accept your challenge.”

    “I appreciate it, but your approval wasn’t really a factor.” Danny said as he charged forward, shooting an ecto-blast from his hand. Pariah caught it, his eye widening at the power before batting it away. He countered with a blast of his own, that Danny similarly knocked away. Danny closed the distance even more, readying a devastating punch. Pariah Dark countered with a swing of his wicked morningstar, catching the Ecto-Skeleton in its chest as the mechanical fist slammed itself into the king’s stony cheek. The pair were knocked away from each other landing on opposite sides of the grand throne room.

    Danny glanced down at his battery display. 90%. That small exchange had been one tenth of everything the suit could give, and he could already feel it wearing him down. Danny had been awake from his nap for only about an hour, and he already felt like he was ready for bed again. The battery display ticked back up to 91% as he felt HIS energy being drained. The suit was pulling more from him than he wanted it to. Had they had more time, maybe they could have calibrated it. It didn’t matter though. They didn’t have more time. Danny charged forward again, slamming his fist into Pariah Dark, sending the Ghost King into the ground. Danny slammed his fists into the king over and over again. Pounding the king into the ground with everything he had. Danny watched his energy tick down after each blow. 89% 87% 84%. Every second bleeding more and more energy as Danny threw everything he had into it.

    Pariah Dark kicked up with his legs, knocking Danny away as he pulled himself from the crater. “The power feels good, doesn’t it boy?” He asked, a far too confident grin on his face as he looked him over. “I like you boy. You raised an army. Seized power for yourself. You’ve got great potential. Join me. Take Fright Knight’s place as my right hand, you’re more than capable of it. I can grant you anything you want. Spare your family, your friends. Your own small land to rule. A harem of beauties, and riches beyond your wildest dreams.” Pariah Dark offered.

    “Tempting… but…” Danny trailed, summoning ecto-energy between the suit’s hands and firing a two handed blast at the Ghost King. The readout glowed yellow, 75%, 72%, 68%. “I already have everything I could want. You’re the one trying to take it all away from me!”

    Pariah forced his way through the blast, catching Danny’s hands in his own as the pair moved the contest to one of pure strength. Danny could hear the beeping of the console as the system was strained. 56% 52% 47%. “You’ll never defeat me boy! My power is too great as long as I have the ring and the crown!”

    Danny held his ground pushing back against the Ghost King as best he could. 42%. A light went off in his head. “Thanks for the tip.” Danny said with a smirk as he focused for a moment. Danny tried, pushing all his energy into one singular thought. He’d come so close so many times in practice, and now he had all the power he could ever want. He just needed…

    With a pop, a second Danny appeared. Then a third, then a fourth. Danny whooped, excited that he’d successfully replicated Vlad’s trick. He glanced down at his readout, 15%. This was the all or nothing gambit. If this didn’t work… This would work.

    The four Danny’s acted in unison, two of them grabbing Pariah Dark’s arms and holding him down while the original landed a solid punch to the Crown of Fire, sending it flying off to the other side of the room.

    “No!” Came the scream from Pariah Dark, his eye widening in fear.

    “Yes.” Came the response from the fourth Danny, who had opened the door to the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The trio of Danny’s lifted Pariah Dark from the ground, throwing him into the sarcophagus and closing the lid. 

    “You cannot hold me! You will tire long before I will! I will escape from this, and batter you until you are a greasy smear on my fist!” Came the indignant cry from within the sarcophagus. Danny held the door closed as best he could, the three duplicates merging back into him to conserve power.

5%

Danny could feel his vision fading, hear the fluid, be it blood or ectoplasm, rushing through his ears as his heart pumped, straining every fiber of his person to perform one singular task. Keep the lid closed.

4%

The darkness was setting in, the world losing its color as he struggled. Pariah Dark kept thrashing and it was everything Danny could do to hold the door closed.

3%

Danny hoped the ghosts outside had managed to clean up the army. If they all worked together, they could take Pariah down. He knew it. He believed in them. Danny had left him considerably weakened, and it’d be downright impossible to find the crown in the pile of rubble that used to be the throne room.

2%

Danny’s mind flashed back to various moments since he got his powers. Revealing himself to the world after the fight with the Lunch Lady. Taking Star to Homecoming. Agreeing to date her and Kim. Joining up with Sammy and the Spies for their first joint mission. Sammy joining the ‘harem’ as Star liked to call it, Ember following soon after. Recruiting Jake and Lilo and Stitch.

1%

He hoped they’d be okay. That they’d finish what he started. He was so so sorry he couldn’t do it. That he wasn’t strong enough. He could feel himself slipping away.

0%

His muscles gave out, the only thing holding the Sarcophagus closed being the metal of the suit itself. Darkness was taking over him, his body spent. It was over… he lost.

Kerchunk.

With the last of his strength, Danny looked up. There was a key in the lock on the center of the chest of the sarcophagus, being held in a gloved hand. Danny managed to look back, seeing Vlad, Skulker, Ember, Technus, the Fright Knight, and everyone standing at the end of the throne room.   “Vlad?” Danny managed to get out, his voice hoarse.

    “I knew you wouldn’t take the offer. I had offered the same with less cost and you still didn’t take it.” Vlad said, looking down at him. “You’re insufferably noble.”

    “Fright… Knight?” He managed to question, even as his vision began to fade.

    “Saw the light of what Pariah’s plans would bring. Had you failed, we would have finished the job. But you didn’t. Now rest Daniel.” Vlad said.

    Then Danny knew no more.

     Everything was too bright. That was the thought Danny had as he came too, opening his eyes to see the sun peaking through the curtains of his bedroom window. Then his second thought hit him. It was simple. Near universal, and something that took over his entire existence for a moment.

    Ow.

    His entire body was in pain, or at least, terribly sore. From his head to his toes his body ached and cried in displeasure at the very thought of moving. Not that he could though, as his body seemed unnaturally heavy. 

    Looking down, he was granted with quite a lovely sight. Two redheads, a blonde, and someone with bright blue flames were pinning down each of his limbs. Kim cuddled to his right arm, her head leaning on his shoulder. Star mirrored her on his left, although she had wrapped the appendage around her, letting his hand rest on her chest, where he could feel her heartbeat. Sammy and Ember used his stomach as a pillow, each one of them wrapping an arm around his leg, as though worried he might somehow run away. Not that he could move his limbs at all, but what man in his right mind would try and untangle himself from this?

    The door creaked as it opened, another head of red hair poking through. Maddie smiled as she looked at her son, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. “Look how cute.” She mused. “So, you’re finally awake?”

    “How long was I out?” Danny asked, looking worriedly. The fact that there was sunlight meant that they were no longer in the Ghost Zone, which meant they had won.

    “18 hours.” Maddie said, looking at him with concern. “Maybe more, Ember and Vlad weren’t clear how long you’d been out before you showed up here.”

    “Vlad brought me back?” Danny asked, surprised and confused more than anything. Ember bringing him back home wasn’t a surprise. Vlad was.

    “He did. It was… odd. He seemed different. He handed you to me without saying much, just that you needed to rest, then he just… flew off.” Maddie said, shaking her head. “I still don’t like him, but… he did help save us. Helped save you. I’ll cut him some slack this time.”

    “How is everyone else?” Danny asked, trying to sit up, but failing. His stirring did wake up the girls though, who moved to free his limbs a bit.

    “Jake went home. Said to call when we needed something, and that he’d be video chatting with you sometime after you woke up.” Maddie said with a smile.

     “He told me to call him ‘when his homeboy woke up.’ Looks like you got upgraded, Danny.” Kim said with a chuckle.

      “Sam, Tucker, Alex, Clover, Ron, and Valerie all also went home with their parents. Valerie’s dad wants to talk to us a bit about the ghost fighting stuff. Probably just to make sure we’ll keep Valerie safe, but he seems like he might want to be more involved.” Maddie added. “I’ve called these three’s parents as well, but said that you got hurt in the aftermath and they weren’t keen to leave your side. Mrs. Lett wants Star to stay here until she gets home.”

     “Dad threatened to kill you again.” Kim said, giggling a bit at her father’s protectiveness. “We really do need to tell him.”

     “I know… but can I recover from the previous near death experience first?” Danny asked, although there was a smile on his face

    “I think we can swing that.” Kim said, laughing a bit at Danny’s misfortune.

     “Technus, Johnny, Kitty, and Youngblood are back in their realms, trying to repair the damages. Your father and Damon are doing more or less the same on this side of the portal.” Maddie said, glancing out the window. “Human death count from this entire event was really low. No one got hurt by the ghosts, but unfortunately a couple older people couldn’t handle the stress. There’s a memorial for them this afternoon. I know you would have wanted to go, but you need to rest.”

    “Wade’s getting a camera set up at the event, we’ll watch it from here.” Kim said, patting him on the chest. “So you have no excuse not to rest up.”

    “Listen to her. She’s right.” Maddie said with a smile.

    “Yep Babypop. You’re resting, unlike these three chuckleheads, I don’t have anywhere else to be, so I’ll be making sure you get back to 100%.” Ember said, kissing him on the cheek.

     “I’m liking her more and more each day.” Maddie said with a quick chuckle behind her hand. “Get some more rest sweetie. We can deal with everything else once you’re recovered.”

    “Now, come back to bed, mister. It’s cuddle time.” Star said, pulling him back down onto the mattress, as Danny found himself entirely subsumed by his girlfriends.

     “Time Out.” A voice boomed through the Throne Room of Pariah Dark, as an old man snatched the Crown of Fire out of the air as Danny punched it across the room. The infant flew over to the ghost king, his adult hands gripping the ring of rage and sliding it off the king’s finger. 

    The hooded time ghost floated off to a back corner, becoming invisible as he pressed the tip of his staff again. “Time in.” His voice echoed, as the trio of Dannys flew the ghost king across the throne room, closing him up in the sarcophagus. Seeing Vlad enter the room, the infant smiled, stroking his long beard and flying off.

    The clockwork tower was an odd place to store items, but such was its purpose. It existed in no time, but in every time, always accessible but only by those who needed it. The old man flew in, settling in front of one of the many grandfather clocks that litter the space. His infant hands grasped the knob, opened the compartment in the clockface, and placed the Ring and Crown inside. His old and wrinkled hand traced over them as he pulled back. Shutting the case. He turned around, his youthful face looking at the Observant who came in. The cycloptic ghost gave him a stare that to a lesser being might be withering. “You don’t have the right to have those, Clockwork.” It spoke, its voice coming from no mouth.

    “You are correct. I do not. I am merely holding them for the one who does. He’s not quite ready yet, and he will need a guide.” Clockwork said, his form shifting from child, to adult, to old man and back again. 

    “It is unwise for an Ancient to play favorites.” The observant spoke.

    “Perhaps, but I have a feeling this one will work out. You can’t see the bigger picture, not the way I can at least.” Clockwork said, leaving the Observant to his thoughts, floating up to his viewing glass, where deep in a jungle, he saw a statue of a monkey.

Chapter Text

      “Deep, dark, vaguely depressing, underwater… it’s perfect!” Dr. Drakken said as he oversaw the unpacking and rearranging of items in his new villain lair. “To think the Villains Association had this place on lock-up for 50 years. Who knows what kind of evil plans or designs could be in these walls?”

     Drakken’s enthusiasm was not shared by his number 2 though, who rolled her eyes as she scrolled on her phone, taking notice of a particularly attractive top being advertised to her on her feed. “Yeah yeah, old villain stuff. Why would you want something that old though? Gotta be like… WAY outdated.” Shego said, her tone bored and nonchalant. She put up with a lot for Drakken. He paid well, and didn’t creep her out the way other villains she worked with did. That did not however, mean that she was above making fun of him on occasion. It actually meant she did so more.

     “Some plans likely will be, this one for example about using chlorofluorocarbons to put a hole in the ozone layer was impressive in its time, but perhaps redundant now.” Drakken said, looking at another one. “Sow dissent among the populace by publishing conspiracy theories. I suppose we’ve kind of done that to ourselves.” Drakken frowned a bit. “Whoever wrote these was brilliant, but it looks like time caught up to them. Never doubt mankind’s penchant for self-destruction Shego.”

     “Yeah yeah, tell it to someone who wasn’t a superhero once upon a time.” Shego said, waving him off. That had been something she had kept from Dr. Drakken for a long time, but Phantom had spilled that secret, and had forced her to come clean to the bad doctor about it. She hadn’t expected his reaction to it to be unbridled excitement, but she wasn’t going to complain. There was a reason Drakken had the lowest employee turnover rate of any villain at the moment. His henchmen tended to want to stick around. The dental plan was also to die for.

     “Hey, boss. We, uh… found something I think you’re gonna wanna take a look at.” One of said henchmen said, the large one that was Shego’s personal favorite. She didn’t know his name, but he made her coffee in the morning and for that she refrained from looking down on him the way she did the rest of the other nameless and faceless goons. She also knew Drakken was vaguely fond of him as well, which is why he still had his job despite personally failing on many occasions, including on his henchman fitness exam. 

    “New plans? Doomsday weapon?” Drakken’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store as he imagined what they could have found. The overweight henchman led the doctor through the lab, and Shego followed behind, a deadly combination of bored and curious.

    “Not exactly.” The henchman said, as he pulled it out of the container it was in. The object was a vaguely transparent glass box with bizarre metal framing, the glass frosted due to extreme temperatures. Shego had robbed enough laboratories to recognize a cryostasis device when she saw one.

    “Ooh, cryo chamber. A nice treat if nothing else. You’ve never had cocoa moo until you’ve turned it into ice cream with one of these babies.” Drakken said, pleased with the new find. “Refreezing matrix looks good. Did you find any documentation with it?” Drakken asked the henchman.

    “No boss, but… don’t it kinda look like a head in there? Like what they said they did to Walt Disney?” The Henchman asked. Shego did have to admit, now that he mentioned it, the vague shape that was only partially visible through the frost-covered glass could certainly be viewed as a head.

    “Ugh… I hope not. Body disposal is always gross.” Drakken said, shaking his head and sticking out his tongue. Shego happened to agree with him on that. It was one of the reasons she still didn’t try and kill anyone despite her villain status… that and those pesky morals. “Well, best to unthaw it and check. I guess one of the benefits of a new underwater base would be that if it IS a head we can just chuck it outside and let the fish eat it.” 

    Drakken activated the thawing mechanism, and the glass began to clear up. True to the henchman’s suspicions, there had been a head inside. Against Drakken’s though, it wasn’t one they would need to dispose of, since it began to speak immediately. “Ah, yes. I see that my minions have finally unfrozen me. How long was I frozen for? A year? Two?” The head asked, as it looked at those gathered around it. “You are not my minions. Who are you?”

    “Um… hello. I am Dr. Drakken. This is my new villain lair.” Drakken said, his gaze locked on the head in the jar. He seemed to recognize it, or at least think he did. “Would you happen to be Dr. Zin?”

    “I am. This is my subaquatic research station, not some measly villain lair. How did you acquire access to it? The Cabal was to hold access to it for at least fifty years.” Dr. Zin said, glaring at the blue-skinned supervillain.

    “Ah, the Cabal went bankrupt in 1983, and all of its assets were seized by the Villains Association. I purchased it from them last month. It is currently the year 2024. Does this line up with your fifty year agreement?” Drakken asked. Shego was surprised to see him so… deferential. Like this man was his better, in some capacity. Dr. Drakken was many things, but in his own mind there was no one better than him. Who would he show such respect to?

    “Care to fill me in on who chrome dome is here, Dr. D?” Shego asked as she examined the head in the jar. True to her words, he was bald, with lightly tanned and somewhat gold-tinted skin that implied at least some Asian heritage. His eyes were deeply set into his face and he had outrageously prominent cheekbones. 

    “This is Dr. Zin! He was one of the pioneers in supervillainy! Oh, I’m a big fan, I did a lot of research into your capers when I was first learning to be a supervillain. I very much enjoyed your scheme to fake an alien invasion to steal a molecular transport device.” Drakken said, tap dancing in glee in front of his idol.

    “If he’s such a big deal, why haven’t I heard about him?” Shego asked with a raised eyebrow, truly unable to believe that this head in a jar was once some big shot supervillain.

    “Public supervillains like us didn’t exist back in those days, it was only the rise of public superheroes that villains began to fully emerge from the shadows to become the menaces we are today. Did you not take Villainy 101?” Drakken asked, looking to her with what could be described as disappointment.

    “No. You tried to make me take it and I burned the sign-up sheet to a crisp in your hand, remember?” Shego reminded him, raising her hand and letting it be covered in her green glow again to drive the point home.

    “Ah. Yes. That would do it.” Drakken said.

     Dr. Zin focused his attention on Shego’s glow though, finding it fascinating. “Interesting my dear… is that a piece of technology that provides you with that ability?” Dr. Zin asked, his eyes locked on her hand.

    “Nope. Got my powers from a meteor that hit near my house when I was in college. Call me ‘your dear’ again, and I’ll perform Hamlet with your head while they’re glowing, and you won’t like that very much at all.” Shego threatened, Drakken looked ready to faint at the disrespect she was showing Dr. Zin.

    “Ooh, I would have very much enjoyed an assistant like you back in the day. Capable and deadly.” Dr. Zin chuckled, turning his attention back to Drakken. “Catch me up on what advances have been made in supervillainy since I’ve been in stasis. I have revenge I must enact, once I am done with that, I believe we can work together to take over this world.”

    Drakken’s eyes widened like saucers, the grin unable to leave his face. Shego knew that Drakken lacked a poker face, but this was completely ridiculous. “Well since you went under, we’ve had the rise of the ‘superhero’, that is someone who makes their explicit purpose to stop us, several of which have even developed superhuman abilities like those from the comic books…” Drakken started, weaving his explanation about world events and the rise of both the supervillain and the superhero.

    Shego didn’t think she would like where this was going, but it would certainly be an interesting ride. She motioned a cup of coffee to the henchman, and he nodded, going off to make her a cup. Good man.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Three teenage girls were tearing through Danny’s closet, looking for acceptable clothes for him to wear for his upcoming trip, and Danny, someone who valued his life, elected to not get in their way as he sat on his bed alongside Ember. “So, you excited for your trip, babypop?” The ghost rocker asked her boyfriend, who looked to be nearly on the edge of a panic attack.

     Casper High had been given an extra long weekend, and due to the convenient timing, the Possible family had decided that they would fly to Florida and see James’ mother, Nana Possible since she had just gotten settled into her new retirement community. Ann had suggested to Kim that she invite Danny, and with the approval from his own parents, the half-ghost boy was to head to Florida with the Possibles in what would be his first real trip with his ‘in-laws’. Kim had wanted him to get a chance to relax after the whole Pariah Dark incident, and this trip would kill two birds with one stone in that regard. It was a chance to relax, yes, but more than that, it was a chance for Danny to finally tell Kim’s dad that he was Phantom. 

    Somehow that seemed scarier than Pariah Dark had been.

    “Trying to be.” Danny said, nervously rocking on the bed a bit as he watched Kim, Star, and Sammy examine outfit after outfit for ‘highest presentability’. “The beach sounds nice but… well everything else is terrifying.”

    “It’s so not the drama, Danny.” Kim said, shooting him a reassuring smile as she held a shirt in front of him to see if it matched the vibe she was going for. “You’re overthinking it. You’ll get a bit to show off how good we are in a place he can see and control, and then we’ll tell him, and then we’ll go hit the beach and enjoy a bit of sunshine before fall fully hits us.” 

     “Easy for you to say.” Danny said, sighing a bit as he deflated. “You’re not the one who is probably going to get looked at as an abomination and or a massive liar.” Danny didn’t really think James would view him as some kind of subhuman monster really. He had a good sense of the man’s personality, and knew that pretty much all of his distaste for Danny was the ‘dating his daughter’ part, and not much of the rest of him. That being said, it was difficult to really grasp how he might feel about the revelation. It wasn’t hard to feel disgust at the fact that, for some definitions of the word, Danny wasn’t human anymore. There was also the lack of honesty, Danny had been hiding his being Phantom from him the entire time they’ve known each other. Would he view that as building a part of their relationship on a lie? Danny didn’t really know, and he couldn’t stop catastrophising over it.

    “Look.” Sammy said, coming over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look into her eyes. “We don’t know what’s going to happen when you tell him, but we do know a number of things that WON’T happen. Let’s list some of them off. Kim, you know best, let’s start with you.” 

    “I won’t stop loving you.” Kim said, coming over and pecking him on the lips. 

    “Ann’s not going to let him tell you that you can’t see her anymore.” Star said, nodding. Over the summer, Star, Sammy, and Ember had the chance to meet Ann Possible, getting to know the woman who had raised their ‘sister’ as it were.

     “Your secret isn’t getting out.” Sammy added, holding his focus.

     “The world’s not gonna end.” Ember said. The other three shot her a look. “What, I ain’t good at this sappy stuff like you all are. I just came off one apocalypse, I’d say avoiding another is great.”

     Danny chuckled, the mood lightening a bit. “Yeah… I guess you’re right. I’m still going to worry though, but it’s just because I care so much. I want to make a good impression on your family. I want that for all of you.” Danny said, looking over the quartet.

    “I’d say you made more of a good impression on Mom.” Star said, rolling her eyes a bit. Her mother had been very forward with Danny, mostly just to tease him, but Star couldn’t help but wonder how far that would go if Danny was older. She didn’t really want to think about that too much.

     “My parents think you’re alright.” Sammy said, reassuring him a bit.

     “You have parents? I thought you just popped out of a test tube.” Ember teased, although there was some amount of truth to it. Aside from Ember, whose parents were dead due to the time between when she died and now, everyone had interacted with Sammy’s parents the least.

     “They don’t know about the spy thing or any of the rest of it. They’re also really busy with work all the time, so while I do get to see them, necessity prevents me from letting them dig too deep into my life outside of school or being their daughter.” Sammy said with a shrug. “I honestly hadn’t really noticed only Danny’s met them until you just mentioned it.”

     “Regardless.” Kim says, pulling the focus back for a moment. “You’re going to be fine. Dad cares too much about keeping the family happy that anything bad would happen. Mom and the tweebs adore you, and you know how much I care about you.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     The rental car they’d gotten to ferry them from the airport to the Golden Riddle Retirement Community was remarkably quiet given the nature of its passengers. Jim and Tim seemed to be busying themselves with some game in the main backseat, but aside from the clacking of the controllers, made little noise themselves. James and Ann in the front just enjoyed the scenery as a classic rock station played on the radio. Looking over to Kim, Danny could tell she was focusing hard on something. She grinded her lower lip between her teeth as her eyes squinted lightly, obviously deep in thought. “You doing alright? I’ve seen you less nervous fighting supervillains.” Danny asked, reaching out and squeezing her hand a bit.

      She turned to him, her face shifting into a surprised one, as though she wasn’t aware that her turmoil had been so obvious. Knowing better than to lie to him, since he was good at calling her out on them, she responded. “I’m just… nervous. Nana’s old fashioned. She doesn’t approve of… well a lot of things about me. The missions, the clothes, most of the stuff that I consider ‘Kim’ as opposed to ‘Possible’. I love my Nana to be sure, but it’s hard having her look at me like I’m a disappointment.”

     Danny’s eyebrow shot up at that. For Kim to be insecure about anything was insane, she was literally Miss ‘I can do anything’. Danny was the self-deprecating and anxious one between them, which unfortunately meant he was completely unprepared to handle this situation. He was however, at his core, a loving boyfriend, so he’d give it the old college try. “I highly doubt you’re a disappointment in any capacity. You’re Kim Possible, you can do anything. It’s a bit weird though… didn’t you say she used to adventure with the Quests back in the 60s? Was that Ann’s mom?”

    “No, that was Nana. I’m not sure when the adventurous Nana Possible went, but now she’s just… a grandma. Straight laced, old fashioned, cares more about catching the Price is Right on TV than catching a supervillain like she used to.” Kim said, sighing a bit. “I can’t help but feel like she doesn’t like that I ended up following in her footsteps, even if it was by accident.”

    Further thoughts on that though were pushed aside as they pulled into the community, passing right by the large ornate rock sign that said “Golden Riddle Retirement Community.” Pulling into a driveway, an elderly woman with blue-grey hair in an old-fashioned style, wearing a cardigan that Danny would have thought would be very warm for the 90 odd degrees it was outside, stepped off of her porch, walking down the path to meet them. Jim and Tim slid out of the back first, rushing up to her and wrapping their arms around her in a big hug. “Nana!” They said in unison, obviously quite excited to see them.

    “My my! You boys are getting so big.” Nana Possible said, patting their heads before looking up to the rest of them. “I’m so happy to see you all again. It’s been far too long.” She said, managing to finally extricate the boys from her legs to move down the rest of the line. James got a big hug from his mother, Ann got a polite one from her mother-in-law, and Kim’s hug was warm. As Nana pulled back though, she let her gaze land on her granddaughter’s exposed midriff. “Come now Kimmy… shouldn’t you be covering up? You’re in Florida… not Vegas.”

    “It’s good to see you too Nana.” Kim said, doing her best to brush off the jab at her attire. Danny could tell that Kim did very much love her grandmother… but wasn’t a fan of the way her grandmother spoke to her.

    “Who is this then?” Nana Possible asked as her gaze finally settled on Danny, she examined him, the same look in her eyes that he saw when Kim was sizing up her opponent. He really didn’t like being on this side of that, and it being given to him by an old lady didn’t make it any less unnerving.

    “This is Danny, he’s my boyfriend.” Kim said, wrapping her arms around his and holding him close, an obvious effort to shore him up against her grandmother’s unspoken onslaught.

    “Oh? James, I thought Kimmy was too young to date.” Nana said, turning to look at her son with a quirked eyebrow.

    “I thought so too, but I was outvoted.” James said, gritting his teeth a bit. Danny deflated a bit. He’d really thought he was making SOME headway with James, but it seems as though his possible future father-in-law still disliked him greatly. The double-hit of dissatisfaction he got from the elder Possibles was a definitive knock against his mood.

     “Well, I suppose we should head inside and catch up. It’s been so long since you visited. Have Manny over there take your bags in while we catch up.” Nana Possible said, taking the twins' hands and guiding them inside.

    “It’s Danny, and Nana-” Kim started saying, before Danny squeezed her hand and interrupted her.

    “It’s alright, Kim. Go catch up with your grandma. I’ll get the bags. Not like they’re that heavy, after all.” Danny said, letting his superstrength remain unspoken. Picking up the minivan the Possibles had rented wouldn’t be much of an issue for him. Some luggage was fine. He turned to James. “Just let me know where I need to take them.”

    “I’ll show you. Kim, head on inside.” James said, with Kim nodding, squeezing Danny’s hand one last time and heading in.

     Danny grabbed two of the suitcase by the handles, James moved to grab one, but Danny just shook his head. “I’ll get them, just show me where they need to go.” He added, trying to put forward his best image as a good possible son-in-law. This trip already wasn’t off to a good start, but he’d have to make the most of it. He promised Kim, and he wouldn’t go back on it.

    “Alright, follow me then.” James said tersely. The man really wasn’t hiding his displeasure that Danny was even here, and since there was no one else around, he hadn’t even put up a front. Guiding Danny into the house, he pointed to three rooms. “Ann and I will be in that one. Kim is in this one, and you and the boys will be in here.” Danny nodded, placing the two bags he was holding, James and Ann’s, in the first room he’d pointed at. “I want to make something perfectly clear here. There will be NO funny business with Kim while we are here, understood? You so much as enter her room at night without Ann or myself present and I’ll launch you into orbit.” 

     Danny could only sigh and nod. “Understood sir, although it’s not like there had been any intent anyway. I love Kim, and I wouldn’t want to do anything that would get her in trouble with any of her family, including you.” Danny said earnestly. The tension between them was nearly unbearable for a few moments more, before James turned away and headed into the living room. Danny heard how his voice had gone from horribly threatening to happy family man in the space of a few seconds. He continued his trips back and forth from the car, bringing everyone’s luggage in and setting them by the beds they were using.

    With bags put away, Danny made his way to the living room, where Kim beamed at him and patted the space beside her for him to take a seat next to her. He did so, earning himself a not unnoticed stare of disapproval from James. Danny wasn’t blind to notice Nana Possible eying James’s reaction to his presence, undoubtedly letting it reinforce her already growing distaste for the boy. Danny, in a moment of vaguely petty weakness, wondered if it was just a ‘Possible’ thing to dislike him, and it was just the ‘Nomaly’ side of Kim and the boys that enjoyed his presence. He brushed it off though before he let it show on his face. He was here for Kim. He wouldn’t allow his drama and self-doubt get in between her enjoying this time with her grandmother.

    “Danny, check out what Nana gave us!” Tim called out, holding up a vinyl record of a 70s rock band Danny was vaguely familiar with. He knew they were one of Star’s favorites, but he couldn’t name one of their songs at this second.

    “Think we can digitize these without losing quality?” Jim asked, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

    Despite not having much experience before dating Kim, this was one element he has exceeded at. He was an EXCELLENT big brother. “Almost certainly. The question is if you’re going to do it the easy way, or the fun way?” Danny said, riling the boys up for just a moment. The easiest way to earn your place in Jim and Tim’s hearts was by encouraging their projects, and Danny could do that in spades.

    “What’s the fun way then?” Jim asked, his eyes narrowing as he imagined the challenge.

    “Build a record needle that won’t damage the surface, but can accurately measure your pits and valleys to get a true digital version of the grooves. Then you make a program that can read your pits and valley data to give you the sound. Get it to work once, then any record becomes fair game.” Danny said, putting the idea in their heads. It was undoubtedly extra and impractical as an actual storage medium for the music inside. But it was a challenge for the twins, one that combined their individual skills well. Jim was the hands on mechanics guy, like Danny. Gears, motors, belts and pulleys were his bread and butter. Tim was better at the software side, capable of writing high quality code in his sleep. They’d nearly worshipped him when he talked about building WhirlyDeath, but Danny was well aware that they were going to somehow make something even more powerful by the time they entered the middle level robotics competitions, assuming they hadn’t already.

     “Such bright young boys. Just like their father at their age.” Nana Possible cooed as she looked over her grandsons. 

     The conversation continued lightly for another hour or so. Pleasantries were exchanged as updates were given about everyone's lives. James and Ann gave updates on their work, and Nana Possible responded in kind with talks about what was going on in her retirement community. Jim and Tim went on and on about projects they were working on, and the friends they had at school. Kim made mention of her good grades, and the cheer competitions her team had won, she also spoke a bit about her missions and saving the world, even going so far as to mention how Danny had helped her save her dad from Dr. Drakken and his Bebe robots. That was unfortunately met with the worst possible response one could expect from someone you wanted reassurance or praise from: “That's nice dear.” 

     Before long though, the flight and subsequent quiet time at the house had wore on the twins, and they spoke up. “Can we go down to the beach? We built a new tunneling robot and want to see how it handles sand!” Tim asked for the pair, with wide eager eyes.

    “I see no problem with it, if your parents don't mind. No good for you to be locked up here in the house the whole time.” Nana Possible said, before looking over at her son and his wife.

    “Kim and Danny will have to watch you, but feel free boys.” James said after Ann nodded at him. 

    “Sweet!” The twins said, already bounding up to run to their room and grab their robot.

    “Alright you two. Grab some trunks and sunscreen while you're in there. I'll help you set up the robot, but there's no reason we can't play in the water once you get it going.” Danny called after them, with he and Kim following behind to help them get ready.

    After they left, Nana Possible turned to her son and daughter-in-law. “If you don’t approve of him, why did you even bring him?” She asked, a notable look of confusion on her face.

    “I do approve. He’s good to Kim. He really brought her out of her shell, she’s got more friends now, is even more confident in who she is, and she and the boys adore him. You saw how excited they were to show him what you got them, and how good he is with them.” Ann said, glaring at her husband.

     “Danny the boy is fine.” James said, still angry. “Danny the boy dating my daughter is not. ESPECIALLY since she’s not the only one.” 

     “Ah, one of those free love types. I remember those.” Nana Possible said, frowning deeply at that.

     “Not at all. Kim was the one who pushed for their arrangement, and she loves the other girls he’s with. I don’t think their relationship is for everyone, but they’re happy, and that’s what matters.” Ann glared even more at her husband. “Don’t you go off and make it out like he’s cheating on her. You know as well as I do that’s all above board.”

    “I still don’t like it.” James said, letting the tension between them sit for now.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Danny tapped the mound of sand in front of the twins’ drilling digger, making sure it was solid. “Alright boys, start her up. Let’s see how she goes.” He said, smiling over to them as they tapped the button on their tablet, causing the drill to spin up and the machine to slowly inch forward, the drill making contact with the sand, and beginning to bore through it. Thankfully not getting clogged up, or collapsing the tunnel as it was boring it.

    “Yes!” Jim said, as the pair ran and danced around it excitedly, giving it various instructions on drill depth and tunneling paths to see how it handled it. 

    Danny stepped away from them, moving to sit next to Kim on the beach towel she had brought down. They had packed a little light for this specific beach outing, just towels for if they decided to get in the water, and the one they were laying on, but that was it. There wasn’t even an umbrella, which Danny hoped wouldn’t be an issue. He had his shirt on, but he still burned easily.

    “I think I burned my first impression with your grandmother.” Danny said, sighing a bit as he leaned back on his hands. “I figure she hates me just about as bad as your dad does. Maybe even more, since I think your dad wouldn’t mind me if I wasn’t dating you.”

    “Danny, you’ve barely said a handful of words to her.” Kim said, trying to reassure him a bit. “She doesn’t hate you. Dad doesn’t hate you either.” 

     “Kim, I’ve had actual supervillains threaten to kill me less often than your father does.” Danny said as he looked her in the eye. 

     “Okay, there’s a point there, but how many supervillains do you see more often than my dad?” Kim tried to counter.

     “Box Ghost, Skulker, Klempr…” Danny began to list off.

     “Point taken… yeah he lays it on thick, but he doesn’t MEAN it! He’s just… trying to keep me safe. Like you do, only with more threats of violence and less bad guy punching.” Kim said, chuckling to herself a bit. “He’ll see how happy you make me. How much I love you, and he’ll get over himself. Besides, it’s not like I’m the only one. Mom adores you, as do the tweebs. Do you know how often they ask when you’re coming over again?” 

    “As often as they blow up my phone, you’d think they’d just ask me themselves.” Danny chuckled, smiling as he looked over messages they’d sent him. Most recently ones they’d taken at a photobooth at the mall when he babysat them for a day while Kim was on mission and the parents were at work.

    “Tweebs! Get over here for a minute!” Kim called out to her brothers. They stopped in front of them a moment later.

    “What’s up, sis?” Jim asked, his gaze curious.

     “What do you two think of Danny?” Kim asked, wanting to hear what they had to say regarding her boyfriend. She knew they liked him, but maybe hearing them say it themselves would ease Danny’s nerves a bit.

    “Danny’s the best big brother we never had.” Tim said, a wide smile on his face. “He knows all about robotics and stuff, helps us with our projects, and even manages to keep us out of trouble with Mom!”

    “It’s even really cool how he’s Phantom, although I could do without the kissing my sister bit.” Jim added nonchalantly.

    Danny and Kim’s eyes widened, taking a moment to look at each other in astonishment before they turned their attention back to the pair. “Uh… guys… how did you know that? That’s supposed to be a secret. I was going to tell you on this trip but…”

     “Oh, we figured it out after that whole Pariah Dark bit.” Tim said, an excited look on his face as the pair got to explain their ingenious deduction skills.

     “Kim talked a lot about what she and Phantom did during it when talking about it to Mom and Dad, but she didn’t mention you a lot.” Jim continued, swapping with his brother.

     “We knew you wouldn’t let her handle it alone though, so that got us wondering. We’d joked how it’d be cool if you guys were the same person, so we did some data analysis.” Tim picked up, the twins almost managing perfect sync with each other.

     “Grabbed all the footage we could of all of Phantom’s fights, and managed to build a 3d model of him true to scale. Thanks to sis, we knew exactly how tall you were, since we know how tall she is, and you guys have lots of pictures and video of being on the same plane.” Jim said.

    “Then we used the full body scan we made of you last time you were in our room, and lined them up.” Tim said, his face beaming with pride.

     “98% match, variations consistent with changed clothing type and scaling issues due to not knowing exactly what cameras were being used to capture the footage of you. After that we also did voice analysis. Remember when we called you last week and asked you to tell us about some of your ghost fighting equipment?” Jim questioned, leading him through their discovery prospect.

    “Is that why you got me mad in that call? To try and get my voice when I’m mad like I would be when I’m fighting?” Danny asked, the pieces falling into place.

    “Yep. Voice data was only a 96% match, but the variations could be explained away from data compression and the ghost noise you talked about with us.” Tim explained, absolutely brimming with excitement.

     “Plus it just makes sense! You and Kim being so close, being superheroes together, it was easy to figure out! Especially when Mom mentioned you were in Wisconsin with them that one time, and the news story about how you and Kim stopped that attack at that conference our moms went to.” Jim added. “If you weren’t Phantom, I think that’d be way too many coincidences to explain.” 

     Danny could just sit there a little dumbfounded that they’d seen through him so clearly, but he couldn’t say he was mad. They were just THAT good. He had to hope they never got superpowers someday… he and Kim might be out of a job. “Well, I hope you haven’t told anybody, that is a secret you know. I don’t want everyone knowing who I am.”

    “Duh, of course we wouldn’t tell anybody. You’re our big brother now. That gives brother privileges.” Tim said, as he and Jim wrapped their arms around him in a big hug. “We’re just glad you’re keeping our sister safe.”

     Kim smiled warmly at the sight. Her brothers annoyed her constantly, but she loved them dearly, and seeing them not only approve, but embrace Danny? That was priceless.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     A profound silence filled the kitchen as James and Ann busied themselves with cooking dinner. Ann had finished with the actual cooking part, everything set out on plates to be served out, while James washed the pots and pans that had been used to make everything. As his hands moved over the shiny metallic surface of the implement, his gaze was locked out the window and towards the horizon, towards the direction of the beach.

     “You do know you’re being horrible to that boy, right?” Ann asked, her attention turning to James as she finished putting everything on the table.

     “I don’t know what you mean.” James said, his grip tightening on the pan he was holding, scrubbing harder than was necessary.

    “A lie and you know it. You’re bad enough at home, but now that there’s no one around but us you’re worse than you’ve ever been.” Ann said, daggers shooting from her eyes as she bored into him. “You’re mother’s picked up on it too. She thinks he’s bad news because you can’t put aside your distaste for Kim dating. You LIKED Danny before he and Kim mentioned they were together.”

     “She doesn’t need the distraction.” James said, setting the pans down in the soapy water with a sploosh noise. “She should be focusing on school and her missions. Not boys.”

    “She’s a teenager. She should focus on what makes her happy. It’s not like her grades are slipping as it is. She probably gets more study time in because she gets to combine it with her time she gets to spend with him, or her other friends.” Ann countered, her words sharp and quick.

    “She could be getting more in if he wasn’t distracting her. He’s a danger on a mission because she could lose focus! She could-” James started.

     “Get hurt? Newsflash James, she fights supervillains, some of which have powers. It’s likely to happen anyway. We agreed when she started doing it that we’d support her to make those decisions for herself, because we knew there would be no stopping her. She’s a Possible, she can do anything.” Ann interrupted, spitting the family motto back at him.

    “He got her involved with all that ghost nonsense! She got sent to another dimension for crying out loud!” James shot back agitatedly. “She would have been back home in Middleton if it wasn’t for him! She would have been safe!”

    “We don’t know that for sure. She does go to school in Amity, and that happened before Danny came into the picture, so you don’t get to somehow blame that on him. She could have been hanging out with her other friends. She was on her way home from a mission when the ghosts attacked first anyway. Something that would have happened with or without Danny.” Ann said, pointing her finger into his chest. “Even if it wasn’t, it’s just like any other mission, all the same risks. Global Justice sent agents into Amity anyway, they probably would have sent her too, she said they called in the rest of their team from further away.”

    “That’s different, a mission’s dangers are something she’s prepared for, boys can-” James started, tripping over his words as emotions ran high.

     “Break her heart?” Ann finished for him. “It’s not like she’d be safe from that without him. It’d just be another boy, or a girl if she so chose. It’s part of growing up. I still remember the boy who broke my heart the first time, and I’m sure you remember the girl who did it to you.”

    “He’s seeing other girls, Ann! He won’t even commit to just her!” James said, although he was running out of steam. They’d tread over this argument a dozen or more times.

    “Because she told him not to. Because she was worried she’d get hurt on a mission and wanted someone to be there for him if she didn’t make it. You’ve heard how she talks about those other girls though. They’re her best friends other than Danny and Ron. You see how excited she gets when she talks about going shopping with Star or Sammy.” Ann said, throwing the happiness Kim felt at him.

    “What if he pressured her into it? What if he’s making her do things she doesn’t want because it makes HIM happy?” James asked, his resolve weakening.

    “He’s not, we know there’s no one alive who could MAKE Kim do anything. Why don’t you say what you’re really worried about? You’re scared that she might not need you anymore. That there’s someone in her life who can give her the reassurance you always used to.” Ann said, her gaze softening a bit as she looked at him.

    “She’s my little girl, Ann.” James said, defeated. “I’m supposed to just let her go?”

     “No. You just need to accept that she’s growing up. That there are things that you can’t fully protect her from, things that you shouldn’t. If Danny hurts her? It’s a lesson she’ll need to learn, but I don’t think the boy has it in him to do it.” Ann said, pulling her husband into a tight embrace. “He loves her just as much as you do, in the ways that you can’t. You just need to give him a chance. Take off the overprotective dad goggles and see the boy out there who loves your daughter more than anything.”

    The tender moment was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass, a loud shriek filling the air. “Mom!” James shouted, separating from Ann and rushing towards his mother’s bedroom. As he got there, a dull grey metallic arm had come through the window, grabbing onto Nana Possible and pulling her out of the room. Looking out, James could see a multi-story tall robotic spider, with many grasping arms that pulled Nana Possible to a large central body.

    “We need to call the police!” James said, rushing into the next room to grab his cellphone. Ann though, took out the backdoor, rushing away from the house. “Where are you going?!” James yelled after his wife in confusion.

    “The Beach! This is a superhero problem!” She intoned, and James followed after her after grabbing his phone.

    Thankfully for Ann, the beach, and therefore Danny and Kim, wasn’t very far from Nana Possible’s house, she stopped, huffing a bit to catch her breath.

    “Mom? What’s going on? Why the big rush?” Kim asked in concern as she tried to steady her mom and let her get deep breaths of air. James Possible managed to catch up just as Ann caught her breath.

    “A giant spider robot” Ann huffed, still winded. “Kidnapped your grandmother.” Ann managed to fully catch her breath after a moment, then looked at them. “Used a strange tentacle arm and just pulled her from her bedroom.”

    “What would it want with Nana? If this is one of my supervillains that somehow knew I was here, surely it would have tried to grab you two as well.” Kim said, deep in thought. “Ugh. I’m not exactly dressed to go fight a giant robot right now.”

    “Then you go and change, I’ll start to handle it.” Danny said, nodding at her.

    “What exactly do you think you can do young man?” James asked, confused. “You’re not exactly a superhero.”

    “Well… I was planning on doing this on this trip, just figured it’d be under better circumstances.” Danny looked over to the boys, giving them a brief smile for a second before sticking his arms up in the air. “I’m going ghost!” The two brilliant rings of light shined around Danny, changing his trunks and shirt into the Phantom suit, and trading out his blue eyes and black hair for green and white. “Which way did it take her? I figure I’ll be able to see it if I go the right way.”

    James just stood there dumbfounded for a moment, seemingly unable to form words at what he’d just bore witness to. Danny was Phantom? The boy he’d been so hard on and angry at for dating his daughter was the hero who had helped her save the world? The one who’d nearly died against Pariah Dark? Looking back it made sense, covered a lot of loose ends but… it was a deeply startling revelation. Kim’s frantic shaking of his shoulder brought him back down to earth, and he pointed. “That way, it was heading down Sunset.” He managed to get out, saying the street name.

    “Got it. I’ll get her back, Mr. Possible. I promise.” Danny said, and with that he shot into the air, a black and white blur as he rocketed in the direction of the robot.

    “I’ve got to change, he might not need my help, but I’m not just going to stand by while some jerk kidnaps my grandma.” Kim said, rushing back towards the house to get into her mission gear.

    “We got to watch him transform!” Jim shouted excitedly, scooping up their tunneling robot.

     “So cool! We gotta go watch him tear the robot apart!” Tim agreed, the pair following after Kim.

    James looked to Ann, who didn’t have anywhere near the amount of surprise he thought she should have. “You knew?” He asked, an uncontrollable mix of emotions in his voice.

    “Figured it out at the Mothers of Innovation conference. First time I really saw Phantom up close. He fought too well with Kim to not know her really well, and Danny just happened to disappear when he showed up.” Ann said simply.

    “You didn’t tell me?” James asked.

     “Wasn’t my secret to tell. I’ve been keeping an eye on him though. He’s good to Kim. She loves him and he loves her. Kim’s been wanting him to tell you, and he’s only been holding off because he wanted you to like him a bit more. He’s worried you might have gone off to the press… or worse.” Ann said to him, seemingly the only solid thing in his world at that moment.

   “Worse?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “He lived in fear that his own parents would dissect him for a couple months, and they love him. What would someone who hated his guts do to him?” Ann said, raising the hypothetical question. “Now come on, our kids are going to go fight a robot, and we need to do our job as parents and try to keep them safe.” Ann grabbed James, and the pair of them rushed towards the house to join their kids.

    Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t hard to find a three story tall mechanical spider inside an otherwise quiet Florida suburb. The mechanical menace was traipsing over the winding streets of housing developments, the elder woman banging ineffectually at the metallic hull of the contraption.

    Quick as a flash, Danny managed to pull himself eye-level with the central sphere that made up the artificial arachnid, and spoke: “Hey! Spider-bot! What’s with the kidnapping of little old ladies? Need tips on swallowing flies?”

    “Oh, quips. Yes, Dr. Drakken did mention you would be a talker, Phantom.” Spoke a voice through the loudspeakers attached to the robot. The large red eye in the center of the automaton turned it’s attention to Danny. The black cover that simulated the pupil pulling back and revealing a head in a jar that seemed to be controlling the creation. “That ‘little old lady’ as you so put it is one of my greatest nemeses, Jessie Bannon.”

     “It’s Jessie Possible now, Dr. Zin. I got married nearly 50 years ago!” Nana Possible said, struggling futilely against the grip of the metallic arm.

     “Of no consequence. You will still serve as great bait for the others. Your father, Dr. Quest, and your little friends Jonny and Hadji will have to save you, and once they do I will kill them all!” Dr. Zin said, voice truly laden with anger and disdain, as though her mere presence was an affront to his being.

    “You’re far too late for that, you madman in a mason jar.” Nana Possible spat at him. “Dad and Dr. Quest died in the 90s, and Hadji had a bad car crash in the early 2000s and didn’t make it. Jonny’s been retired for years. We got old, you maniac. It’s over.” 

    Dr. Zin paused for a moment at that, realizing that he hadn’t accounted for that in his blind rage. “Hmm. This does put a damper on my revenge plans. It is of little consequence though. I shall simply kill you, and then Mr. Quest, and then I shall conquer the world.”

    “And that’s the part where I stop you.” Danny said, flying in and phasing Nana Possible out of the robot’s metal grip. He flew down to the ground and set her down, before nodding at her. “Get as far away from here as you can. I’ll handle Doc over here.” 

    Nana Possible nodded, starting to run away, and Danny shot up eye level with the robot again before shooting forward trying to ram his fist into the area where the legs joined to the central sphere. As his fist made contact with the metal, pain shot through his entire body, as he was thoroughly shocked, thousands of amps flooding through his body. As his body convulsed under the electricity, two other arms made of the same black metal as the central body, grabbed him between their claws. “I see you’ve noticed my electrified hull. Dr. Drakken did mention your pesky abilities. You will find yourself quite unable to phase through the central chassis… or the claws that hold you now. Any attempts to physically assault the robot will be met with the unpleasant results you felt before. In that way, this robot is fully-phantom proof. Now, the scientist in me is very curious… What happens to a ghost when they perish? The only way to know is by experimentation, so let us begin.” With that, the claws began to shock him again, the high voltages setting all of his nerves alight with pain signals as he thrashed inside the iron grip of the claws.

     “Yes. Yes!” Dr. Zin said, his voice growing louder and more excited as he watched Phantom scream in agony. “Become the first victim in my crusade against these so called ‘superheroes’. Let the world know that I will fell even their mightiest defenders!” The evil doctor began to cackle maniacally, before a loud whooshing sound could be heard, and Danny watched as Kim’s jetpack slammed full force into the central body of the spider, rocking it and forcing the claws to release their hold on the half-ghost. “Ah! You insolent! Who would dare?” Dr. Zin spat, as his mechanical eye scanned the area. On the ground, a young girl with red hair and mission gear could be seen. To Zin, that could mean only one thing. “Ah, it seems the Bannon genes run hot in your blood then. I’ll have to examine what I can pull from the pavement!” He then moved to slam one of the mechanical legs of the spider bot onto the ground where she stood.

    Danny thankfully, recovered in enough time to fly down and grab Kim, moving her out of the way of the attack. He sat her down, watching as James, Ann, and the twins hopped out of the van they’d rented. “Guess we’re back to neutral on the saving each other bit.” Kim said, trying to make light of the situation for a moment. “Where’s Nana?”

    “Hiding somewhere I hope. She was unhurt when I sat her down and told her to move. This big bot is tough, can’t punch it without getting shocked, and I can’t phase through the black metal parts.” Danny said, narrowing his gaze on the giant spider robot. “I’m pretty stumped on ideas. I do know that you’re definitely not going to be able to touch the thing, the amount of juice he’s putting through me would kill just about anyone else. I’m going to see if I can just blast it, but if that doesn’t work, you guys need to come up with something. I’ll buy you time.” Danny nodded again, before rocketing up into the air again shooting an ecto-ray at the robot.

    The energy seemed to just dissipate all over the structure. “Thank you for your energy contributions, Phantom. Did you truly think I would account for your phasing abilities, but not for your energy beams? This vessel is designed to kill all of your world’s pesky heroes. I have countermeasures for all of your abilities.” Dr. Zin said, a smug confidence in his voice. Danny merely gritted his teeth, before rushing in as fast as he could and delivering a solid punch to the surface of the machine, earning an electrocution for his efforts.

    James watched on as Danny threw himself at the robot again and again, eliciting horribly painful screams from the boy each time he connected. True to his word, while Danny didn’t seem to be making any headway on actually defeating the mechanical titan, he was stopping it from doing anything else besides shocking him. The legs of the creature had been more or less locked in place, likely unable to be stable from the impacts of Danny’s fists without this specific wide stance. The electric shocks on Danny were stopping the hero from doing any meaningful damage, but Newton was still correct that every action had an equal and opposite reaction. The shocks could stop Danny’s ectoplasm infused muscles from imparting any force onto the spider, but the raw force of his rapid flight up until that point was still getting through. That however, was coming at a price. The screams of agony that emerged from Danny every time he made contact were devastating. James could see the tears in his daughter’s eyes as she examined the situation, trying to think of anything that could help. His boys held onto the legs of their mother, struggling to watch. He could tell they wanted to look away, but also that they felt they needed to put their brains to work to stop it from happening again, but he couldn’t miss the flinches every time Danny connected. Every time that scream erupted. The boy was putting himself through unimaginable torture… and for what? A woman who had hated him because she trusted her son’s opinion. James was a man of science, and science admitted that with new information, you often needed to rethink your theories.

    James’s theory that Danny was bad for his daughter? He was fairly certain now it was wrong. Anyone who would act that selflessly for someone who he had not only just met, but also had disliked him so greatly, he could hardly imagine they would ever purposefully hurt his daughter. Now he had a duty, a duty as a father for his daughter’s happiness, and that meant he had to use his best skills to try and save her boyfriend. James shot to the trunk of the rental van, pulling out the boy’s tunneling robot. “Sorry boys… the tunneler isn’t going to be making it home.” He said, as he opened up the cover and pulled out a tool kit from under the back seat. In a flurry of wires, soldering and engineering knowhow. James was constructing something.

     “Dad… that’s… that’s gonna blow!” Jim said, looking at what his father was doing, watching as the drill on the tunneler began to spin at speeds live never before.

    “Unfortunately son, that’s the point.” James said, before looking up at the sky. “Phantom! Over here!” 

     Fresh off another hit, the still smoking and huffing body of Phantom touched down nearby, looking at the rocket scientist. “Any ideas? I was hoping with 5 super-geniuses something would happen.” Danny asked, trying to sound more upbeat than he felt. His every nerve throbbed in painful agony, his brain nearly unable to cope with the signals his body was going through. Had this form not been mostly ectoplasm, it definitely wouldn’t be able to survive the experience.

    “Get the tip of this to drill in. It should be able to dig into the armor and detonate. That should disable the electrical defense if nothing else.” James said, handing him the tunneler. “Go quick. I don’t know how long that thing has before it overloads.”

    Danny nodded, grabbing the device and holding it out in front of him as he slammed into the robot one final time. Electricity surged through him, but he did everything he could to keep it from the tunneler in his hands. The drill head bit into the metal hull, starting to burrow its way deep inside as Danny gave his all into protecting it from the electrical interference. After it had fully made its way inside, Danny managed to fly back, in enough time to see an explosion rock the spider from within.

    With another quick wind-up, Danny slammed himself into the mechanical spider, the electrical field disabled and no longer able to keep him from wailing on it. With ease unlike they’d seen before, Danny dismantled the mechanical menace, pulling Dr. Zin from within, handing the now useless head in a jar watch as he dismantled the rest of his machine, such that it could never be used again.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Global Justice responded to the scene very quickly once called. The first agent arrived within mere minutes, and the Director herself made it within the hour. “Excellent work in apprehending Dr. Zin you two.” Dr. Director said, nodding to the two of them. “He’s still technically number one on our most wanted list, so having him captured, and fully immobilized like this, is a relief I don’t believe this organization will ever be able to truly convey. I’ll send word to Mr. Quest, since this concerns him personally, but I believe I can speak for him that this is truly a wonderful thing you’ve done, and that you should be proud of yourselves.” 

     “It was a team effort. Everyone contributed.” Danny said, smiling as he waved over the Possible family. “Has the medical team examined the elder Mrs. Possible?” 

     “She’s in good health. Aside from some light bruising from being grabbed, there are no other injuries, some ice and pain relievers and she should be fully healed within the week.” Dr. Director nodded. “We will be taking Zin into custody, and we will make sure the damages here are dealt with, including the damage to Mrs. Possible’s home. I’ll send you details for the hotel we have arranged for you for the remainder of your visit. I have been told it’s quite nice. Hopefully you will enjoy your vacation, and Mrs. Possible’s home should be fully repaired by the time it is over. I believe the contractor said it would be only a few hours to fully repair it.”

     “That is quite generous of you, Director.” Ann said, a little shocked.

     “You all assisted in the capturing of one of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. It is truly quite little in comparison to what you have done. I must go and make sure he is placed in a secure containment facility while he awaits trial. Thank you once again.” With that the Director headed off, leaving the family and their half-ghost tagalong alone.

     “Let’s head back to the house. We’ve got to get our bags and pack one for my mom if we’re going to that hotel.” James said, nodding at them. “Phantom, I imagine you need to get back to where you need to be.” 

    “Right.” Danny nodded, thankful James didn’t seem to be wanting to reveal his identity for now. “I shall see you on our next mission, Miss Possible.”

    “Maybe a bit sooner.” Kim said, with a smirk, which Danny returned. He flew off to meet them back at Nana Possible’s house.

     As he flew off, James turned to Kim. “I’m sorry for getting upset about him seeing you. I just… I was worried and insecure about you not needing me anymore. I couldn’t stand a world where I wasn’t the first person my little girl turned to for anything, and it blinded me.” He said, trying to hold himself together.

    “Dad, I’ll always need you. Danny isn’t a replacement for you, he just fulfills a different need.” Kim said, wrapping her Dad in a hug. “I’ll never stop loving you, he just gets a different kind of love. You need to apologize to him though. Properly.” She added, giving him a solid glare at the end.

    “I will. When I next get a moment alone with him I will. There’s a lot I need to say, and a lot I need to make up for. As well as things I want to ask that will make the rest of my nerves about this whole thing go away, hopefully.” James said, nodding at his daughter. “For now though… once we get back to the house, your mother and I will watch over the boys and get our bags ready. Why don’t you and Danny take some time to yourselves on the beach and meet us at the hotel before it gets too late?” He suggested, a small peace offering.

    “That sounds like a great plan, dad.” Kim said, smiling at him. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     The sky was a brilliant red as the sun set over over the horizon, disappearing over the Gulf of Mexico. Danny and Kim sat on a towel on the beach, letting the cool breeze flow around them as they enjoyed the moment of quiet after a stressful day.

    “You sure you’re doing okay? You had a pretty shocking experience, all things considered.” Kim asked, trying to make light of the situation since it had passed, but it had been pretty traumatic watching him scream in pain like that over and over again. She’d never seen him that badly hurt in a fight before.

    “I’m alright. It’s only the second worst electrical accident I’ve ever been involved in.” Danny said with a chuckle, holding his hand in hers. “I’m fine, really. My human body doesn’t feel like anything at all happened to it, and I imagine by the time I transform again, I won’t even notice it happened. I spar with Technus sometimes, and he uses electrical attacks too. I used to be pretty bad against them, but I’m getting better. I actually probably have to thank him, without that training, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do what I did today.” 

     “Then I’ll have to thank him too. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” Kim said, leaning over onto his shoulder.

     “I’ll do everything I can to make sure you never need to find out.” Danny said, moving his arm to wrap around her waist.

     “Thank you, by the way.” Kim said, closing her eyes as she just enjoyed his company.

     “What for?” He asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. 

     “You told my dad. Might not have been the way we wanted to, but you did it. You told him.” Kim said, a smile forming on her face.

     “I promised I would, and I don’t go back on those.” Danny said, smiling at her.

     Kim leaned over and pushed him down onto their beach towel, throwing her legs overtop of him as she straddled him. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. “I know you don’t. It’s one of the things I love about you.” She leaned in and kissed him again, the kiss growing deeper as they explored each other’s mouths.

     “I love you too, Kim.” Danny said after they separated for a moment, and Kim just laid her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. Secure that he was okay, and that he loved her just as much as she loved him.

Chapter Text

     Deep in the Australian Outback, in a subterranean facility, a bizarre team up was occurring. “So then, Mr. Scam, you believe this Brainilator of yours will work well with the Attitudinator I had Shego steal?” Dr. Drakken asked, examining the device Tim Scam had developed as it stood next to the HenchCo. Helmet.

     “Indeed, Dr. Drakken.” Tim Scam said, a smirk present on his slimy face, as he held up the device. It was an odd thing, looking somewhat like a cross between a ray-gun and a handheld vacuum, its handle positioned in such a way that when you held it, your knuckles were at the same level as the ‘barrel’ would be, were it a gun. It was a sleek metallic silver, barring a rubber-like accordion tube section just before the tip, which ended in a sphere atop a long and thin cone. “My Brainilator has the ability to absorb the intelligence of anyone who is hit by its beam. I had developed it to turn my enemies into bumbling brain-dead morons, such that they were no longer threats to my plans. However, when I heard about that prototype of HenchCo’s… well the idea that I could also take the intelligence to add to my own? That became rather tempting. I’d intended to steal it myself, but you beat me to the punch. I, however, see no reason we can’t both benefit here. There is room in the world for two evil geniuses. I desire revenge on WOOHP more than I desire world domination. Combining our strength, I can get my revenge, you can rule the world, and I’ll be satisfied ruling over a smaller domain as a… trusted lieutenant. And it all starts by combining our devices." Scam explained, gesturing with the device, although keeping it pointed away from the blue-skinned doctor. “My Brainilator takes their intelligence, and your Attitudinator allows us to add it to our own.”

    “Hmm… I have already promised Shego Iceland.” Drakken mused, tapping his chin as he thought about it. “Would you take Greenland?” He offered.

    “Yeah, no. Don’t want him as my neighbor. Move him somewhere else.” Shego dismissed casually, flippantly waving her hand.

     “I would prefer someplace more tropical, time on the beach sipping martinis does sound better than ice and snow, although that is nice from time to time. Perhaps Brazil? I’ve rather enjoyed my time there.” Scam said with a pleased look on his face that the discussion had gone this far. The team-up was ‘accepted’, it was just a matter of details. “Perhaps we can discuss it after we’ve taken over? I’m sure negotiations will go far better once the world’s leaders are licking at our boots.” Scam and Drakken began laughing at that image, unknowing what was going on just above them.

     “So, Drakken made a new friend? I don’t recognize this guy KP. Have we met him before?” Ron asked as he gazed through the grate of the airvent, he and Kim prone on either side of it.

     “I don’t think so, Ron. Wade, you got any info on this Tim Scam guy?” Kim asked, shuffling the Kimmunicator out of her pocket.

     “Not a lot to go on. Most everything’s redacted. WOOHP stuff, and enough of it is still paper files that I can’t exactly hack my way through it.” Wade said, a look of furrowed concentration on his face.

     “It’d be something I’d need to ask the girls then, but they’re on mission.” Kim said with an eyeroll. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll get down there and stop them like always.”

     “Booyah, KP!” Ron exclaimed happily, getting ready for the drop.

    On a lower part of the facility, three catsuited spies snuck around the side, gazing around the corner, they saw Scam standing alongside Drakken and Shego. “Hey! That’s Kim’s bad guy, the one who we had to fight when he was possessed by that pirate!” Alex said, looking on in surprise. “He’s working with Scam?”

     “So not surprising that they’re in the same lame-o supervillain club.” Clover said with an eyeroll. “So what’s the plan here? Grab the weird brain gun and kick his butt?”

     “If it was just Scam, sure. But look at all those guards he’s got. Plus Shego. Kim says she’s every bit the fighter she is, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust my chances against Kim one-on-one without gadgets.” Sammy said, analyzing the situation a bit.

     “There’s an air vent up there.” Alex pointed above where Drakken and Scam were. “We have that explosive lip gloss, we could probably get it up there and set it off. That’d be a distraction that we could use, then use the turbofan hair dryer to clean up the goons and get the weird doohickeys away?”

     “Good a plan as any, I’d say.” Clover said, and Sammy nodded. “Alright, let’s see if we can get up there… and hope that these ducts are clean, I do NOT want to be pulling dust bunnies out of my hair again.”

    The Spies' plan fell out the window though, as Kim and Ron jumped down from the vent, landing on the table and flipping it, sending the Attitudinator flying across the room. “Sorry to drop in like this, Drakken, but you’re not stealing anyone’s intelligence today!” Kim said, a smug smirk on her face as she stood proud.

    “Kim Possible! Shego! Get her!” Drakken commanded, causing Shego’s fists to glow their normal eerie green as the woman lunged for the red-headed superhero.

    “Ron, get the helmet!” Kim said as she blocked a hit from Shego, engaging her rival in combat for what felt like the millionth time.

    “On it KP!” Ron said, as he dashed towards where the helmet was, racing against Drakken who seemed to have the same idea.

     “Ugh! So our luck that Kim would pop in and ruin that plan.” Clover said, stepping out and rushing forward to deliver a flying kick to one of the goons rushing towards the Attitudinator helmet. “Sammy! You’re on Scam! Alex, help me with the mooks!”

    “On it!” Came the chorus from the other two spies, who rushed into action.

     Kim, Ron, and the Spies had the capacity to work very well together on missions. They’d been on more than enough together to manage that effectively, but that had always come with two caveats. One is that Danny was always with them, and despite on paper being the one least qualified for the position, he’d been their defacto leader, and kept everyone focused on the one goal, forming a singular way of working together, that was a midpoint between the spontaneity that Kim and Ron worked with, and the planned calculated actions the Spies took. The other was that there was an awareness that they would be working together. A need to think about the others when making moves. Without either of those things? The brawl on the floor was utter chaos.

     “Getting soft on us Kimmie? Felt the need to bring in more back-up than just the sidekick? Should I expect Flyboy too?” Shego taunted as she and Kim clashed, a dance that was all too familiar for the pair. 

    “Please, not like I need the help dealing with you, Shego.” Kim said, as she delivered a solid punch to the older woman’s solar plexus, following it up with a snap kick to her gut that knocked her back. “Looks like your new friend wasn’t as good at hiding from everyone else as he thought he was.”

    Ron dashed around the red-suited henchmen Drakken always had, making his way towards where the Attitudinator sat on the floor just as he reached out to grab it, Drakken also had his hands on it. “Release the Attitudinator, sidekick! I will not have you get in the way of my glorious world domination!”

     “Not happening Dr. D.” Ron said, determination in his voice as he tried to wrestle the helmet from the blue skinned man. “A Drakken controlled world is certainly no bueno. Probably doesn’t even have any Nacos!” Ron yanked and pulled at the device as Drakken tried to hold it close, the two more or less equally matched as they gave it their all.

     The stalemate was broken however, when Rufus ran down Ron’s arm, biting down hard on Drakken’s hand. “OW!” The mad scientist screamed as his grip was forcibly released from the helmet. Ron didn’t expect the sudden lack of resistance though, and fell onto his back as he pulled the helmet away. Drakken recovered, pouncing forward to try and grab the helmet. As he did though, the helmet was slammed into the ground, Ron’s loosened grip combining with the weight of Drakken pressing down on it forcing the helmet to break in half, causing a red glow to briefly surround Ron and Drakken.

      Sammy rushed up the staircase, dodging the clumsy grabs of Drakken’s henchmen as she stood face to face with Tim Scam again. “Oh, dear Sammy. Come all this way to see me again? Still infatuated with me?” Scam teased as he pointed the device at her, circling with her as he tried to provoke her. The beam for the Brainilator was not particularly fast, one of the reasons Scam had been on the lookout for improvements, and Sammy was certainly capable of dodging the slow ‘projectile’ it shot. He needed her to be distracted for it to work.

     “Puh-lease, like I was ever ‘infatuated’ with you. So gross.” Sammy said, spitting his teasing back at him. “I thought you were an authority figure, someone to look up to. I was certainly wrong in that department. Plus, I’m WAY too young for you. Kinda creepy that you bring it up.” 

    “Well my dear, I AM a villain after all, or at least that’s what those quacks at WOOHP have labelled me. They never could see my brilliant vision!” He said, getting slightly manic. His grip tightened on the device once more, subtly moving in closer. Sammy was fast, but not fast enough to dodge it at point blank.

    “Well the only vision you’ll be seeing is the kind behind bars!” Sammy said, kicking her leg up and activating the drill in her heel, extending the length of her boots by just enough to catch the device, forcing it out of Scam’s hands and up into the air. It clattered to the ground, misfiring with every bounce. Most of the beams harmlessly landed on inanimate objects, but one managed to land squarely on Sammy, as her eyes glazed over and she suddenly lost balance. “Huh? Wha?” She asked dumbly.

     “Sammy!” Kim called out in concern as she watched the beam hit the spy, distracting her just long enough for Shego to kick her away. 

     “Plan’s shot, I guess. Come on Dr. D!” Shego yelled, rushing and grabbing the villain by his collar as he held onto the two halves of the broken Attitudinator. 

     “Au revoir, spies. When next we meet, I’ll be ruling the world, and you’ll be grovelling at my feet.” Tim Scam said, scooping up the Brainilator as he rushed with Shego to escape, hitting the large red ‘Self-destruct’ button on the way out.

     “Base set to self-destruct in 1 minute.” Came the automated voice over the sound system. The Henchmen who were engaged in combat with the spies immediately broke rank, scrambling to get out of the building as fast as possible.

     “Sammy!” Kim, Alex, and Clover all called out, rushing to the green-clad spy.

     “Huh, what’s going on?” She asked, completely disoriented.

     “We’ve got to get out of here. Come on!” Alex called out, throwing Sammy’s arm over her shoulder and rushing the red-head out of the room, towards one of the exits.

    “This way!” Kim called out, having watched Ron run in that direction. It was… odd for him to be this far ahead of the pack, but Kim imagined he was just trying to find a clear path for them. He was the fastest afterall, he could probably lap them on an escape route.

     They managed to make their way out of the facility, getting about thirty meters away before the rumbling of an explosion could be felt beneath their feet. They put some more distance between them before looking at the large crater, glad they weren’t caught in it.

    “Ugh! I can’t believe Scam got away!” Clover screamed, before taking a deep breath and huffing. “Alright, that’s out of my system.” The blonde turned her attention to Kim and Ron. “Why didn’t you guys call us to let us know you were following Tim Scam? He’s one of our villains!”

    “We weren’t, we were following Drakken, who is pretty squarely one of mine.” Kim said, shrugging. “I didn’t even know you guys were here, I would have looped you in, we probably could have managed if we’d gone in together.” 

     “Yeah, you’re right.” Alex said, before putting her hand on her chin in a thinking pose. “I wonder if we could find a way to like, ping each other if we’re in the same building on a mission or something? Sammy, can you think of anything for that?”

    “Why would I be able to?” Sammy asked, her words a little slurred. Everyone turned to look at her with raised eyebrows. “What?” She asked.

    “You’re the supergenius here.” Clover said, taking a closer look at her face. “Are you feeling okay?” Clover gazed into her eyes, grabbing her phone and using the flashlight directly in her face. “Your eyes aren’t like… dilating weird. Did you hit your head in that fight? Maybe you have a concussion.” 

    “I didn’t hit my head, but what’s a concussion?” Sammy asked, causing everyone to look at her strangely. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” She asked again, her speech still slightly off. 

—-

    “So… you’re saying Sammy got her intelligence taken away from her?” Danny asked as they were all set up in the lab at Fentonworks, where said formerly brilliant spy was gazing in quiet wonder at an ectoplasm sample moving up and down like wax in a lava lamp.

    “As far as we can guess, yeah.” Clover said, looking sadly at her friend. “Scam mentioned his device would take away the intelligence of whoever he used it on, but he was intending to use Drakken’s Attitudinator to transfer it to him. Did you guys ever find out anything else about it, by the way?”

    “Yeah, apparently it can suck the good, or evil out of someone and store or transfer it.” Kim said, sending a file from her Kimmunicator to the large screen on the side wall of the lab. A display and marketing blurb for HenchCo’s Attitudinator came up, talking about its various benefits and uses, alongside its price tag of ‘only $1.7 Billion’.

    “How do you even take someone’s good or evil? It’s not like there’s a chemical component to morality.” Star asked, pretty confused by the entire concept.

    “I have no idea either, but we accepted we live in a world with ghosts and magic at this point, it seems like anything is possible. We fought a brain in a jar last month.” Kim said, waving off the issue. “Ron and Drakken broke the thing, so hopefully that’ll delay their plans a bit. Drakken didn’t make it, so he’ll have to figure out how it works before it can be repaired, even with Scam, that’ll probably take some time. Wade’s keeping an eye out on all our normal ways of tracking Drakken, so if he shows up, we’ll swoop in.” 

    “WOOHP’s doing the same for Scam. I’ve already told Jerry to keep Wade in the loop. If we find them, we’ll have to bring Sammy with us to get her fixed, but until then, someone’s going to have to watch over her while we’re out searching.” Clover said, looking on sadly at her best friend, who had found a newton’s cradle and was watching it click away happily.

    “I’ll keep a watch over her, and when you find them, I’ll come with you to take them down. It’ll be a full team mission anyway, since it’s both of your villains. No reason for me not to be there.” Danny said, earning nods from Kim and Clover.

    “I’ll help Danny take care of Sammy, if she’s too out of it, there might be some things she needs help with that Danny can’t handle.” Star chimed in. “Danny and I will get to play house for a bit while you all play hero. It’ll be fun.”

    “Yeah! I can stay with Danny!” Sammy said, grabbing onto his arm and planting a kiss on his cheek. “I love my Danny.”

    “I love you too, Sammy.” Danny said as he held her, gently rocking her a bit. “You guys focus on finding these guys so we can get our brainiac back to normal. I can handle taking care of her.”

—-

    Danny was unsure of his ability to take care of Sammy. He had put on a show of confidence for the others, since having them worry about whether or not he was going to be able to take care of their friend would distract them from the important work they were doing, but he wasn’t as confident about the situation himself. The morning with Sammy had been awkward to start with. She’d tried to make breakfast, and while Sammy was a terrible cook even with her intelligence, she was even worse without it. Her initial attempts at pancakes, something with her normal intelligence she could usually manage, even if she burned them, had gone awry when she attempted to use diet cola instead of water. That failure had led her to try something simpler, a bowl of cereal. Things were already bad enough when she poured the milk first, but she’d poured an entire gallon into a bowl that was at most only a few cups, letting most of it hit the floor. Then she’d emptied the entire brand new box of cereal into the already overflowing bowl, making an even bigger mess. Danny had eventually made her a normal bowl of cereal and cleaned the mess up. 

     After that were the incidents in the lab. Danny had been tasked with cleaning it, and had brought Sammy down with him, knowing leaving her alone and unsupervised wasn’t a great idea. Sammy had offered to help, and Danny had accepted, hoping that by letting her help he would help her feel better about her situation. Such was not the case, as she really only succeeded in making more messes. While trying to sweep, she managed to knock over all the trash cans. While trying to get everything back into the trashcans, she opened the ghost zone portal and caused an Ectopus to emerge. She freaked out and grabbed the Fenton Ghost Weasel, trying to suck it up, but managed to also suck Danny into it in the process. After Danny did get out, and put the Ectopus back in the Ghost Zone, the lab was in a messier state than it had been when they’d arrived, and Danny finally called Star over to watch Sammy while he cleaned up.

    That had led them to the afternoon, where Danny had finally managed to make them some lunch, while Sammy worked on a children’s crossword puzzle under Star’s supervision. “Hmmm.” Sammy hummed, tapping her chin with her pencil as she looked over the page. “A five letter word for planet…. Pluto!” She said happily filling it in.

     “Pluto isn’t a planet.” Danny said out of instinct. The junior astronaut in him remembering that fact. 

     “It’s not?” Sammy asked, a dumbfounded and sad expression on her face. “But it fits. It has to be!”

     “It’s a dwarf planet, that means that while it meets some of the definitions of being a true planet like Earth or Mars, it doesn’t meet all of them. Pluto mostly hasn’t cleaned up the other stuff in its orbit, so it doesn’t get the moniker of planet.” Danny explained. He knew this was something that Sammy knew already, so seeing her unable to recall it made Danny very upset. Danny already had a VERY low opinion of this Tim Scam guy. He was a villain for starters, that automatically put him on a ‘stop at all costs’ track, but not all villains were equal in that regard. Danny would always feel Skulker would need to be stopped less than Walker, because Skulker wasn’t the type to needlessly cause harm. He wanted to fight Danny, and would terrorize, but very rarely truly endanger the populace. Tim Scam though, went even deeper than that. He apparently had some kind of personal vendetta against Sammy, and from what Alex and Clover had told him before, had some kind of… incredibly creepy fascination with her. That had really pushed Danny’s hatred of the man from merely transactional as hero and villain, to a personal one. But now, seeing the results of his work taking away something that was so critical to a girl he loved dearly? He was glad he wouldn’t be facing the man alone, because Danny wasn’t sure he could hold himself back from displaying just how much damage he could do to someone without powers.

    “I… I knew that didn’t I? Before this.” Sammy asked, pulling Danny out of his thoughts. He looked at her again, seeing that dejected look on her face. “I don’t like this Danny. I don’t like… feeling like this. Like there’s a part of me I don’t have. I KNOW I was the smart one. That before this I wouldn’t even bother with a crossword like this because it’d be too easy.” She said, waving the kid’s crossword puzzle she was working on in the air. “It’s frustrating. I don’t like it.” She seemed even more frustrated that she didn’t even have the proper words to even articulate her feelings. Sammy could get verbose if she really wanted to, but this seemed to have taken that from her. “I’m glad you’re here with me. I feel wrong. But with you here, I at least feel safe. I know you won’t let anything happen to me.” She looked up at him, her green eyes wide and innocent and full of love.

    “You’re right. I won’t.” Danny said, sitting beside her and pulling her into a hug. “You’re a big girl who can handle herself, a big bad superspy who can kick bad guy butt all day long, but I’ll still always make sure you’re safe.” Danny leaned down, pulling her into a kiss, which she happily reciprocated.

    “I like your kisses. They make me feel fuzzy inside.” Sammy said, pecking his lips again. “When my brain works again, I’ll say it better. I promise.”

    “I know you will.” Danny said, pressing his forehead to hers. “I love you, brains or not. I just want you to be Sammy.”

     “I love you too.” Sammy said, snuggling into him.

—-

     Kim and Ron were in Kim’s garage, Ron rummaging through some of Jim and Tim’s old projects, fiddling with them in ways that Kim didn’t really get, but brushed off out of her other concerns. “So, have you found anything on Drakken yet?” She asked Wade as she looked at her Kimmunicator, the heavyset boy on the other end of the connection shaking his head.

     “He’s really gone to ground this time. No massive power fluctuations, no mysterious melted vault doors at banks, nothing. Either he hasn’t had a need for any of his usual stuff, or this Scam guy is really good at covering their tracks.” Wade said with a shrug. “I’ve got feelers out for any traffic or security cameras that see Drakken or Shego, but they’ve always been decent enough at avoiding those.”

     “Thanks for trying, Wade. It’s just frustrating that we can’t find him.” Kim said, kicking her feet from where she sat on one of the workbenches that filled the garage.

     “I’ll keep you posted if I find anything, or if I come up with any better search ideas. I’ve been working with GJ and WOOHP, so hopefully between the three of us we can find something.” Wade said, before closing the connection. Kim could only sigh, before looking over to where Ron was digging through the tweeb’s spare parts.

     “What are you even looking for, Ron? If they stole some parts from your scooter or something, you’d be better off asking them directly for them. Be easier to find.” Kim said, as she watched Ron pull out a box full of scrap and a separate toolbox, before beginning assembly on… something. “Come on, Ron. I know you’re probably bored, but the tweebs probably won’t be thrilled about you messing up their parts.”

    “Ron’s in our parts bin?” Jim asked, as he and Tim came from further in the house, the pair of them looking on at where Ron was working. 

    “That’s the orbiter parts bin, isn’t it?” Tim asked, looking to his brother for confirmation, who nodded.

    “And the brain scanner from when we tried to make AI constructs of each other.” Jim noted, seeing some of the other pieces Ron had.

    “Why were you guys making AI constructs of each other? You already share one brain.” Kim asked with an exaggerated eyeroll as she ruffled her brothers’ hair.

    “I mean yeah, but we wanted to see how similar they were!” Tim said, chuckling. “Then we figured we could make copies and put them in robot bodies to send to school and do chores while we played video games.”

     “You know, with the supergenius part, I sometimes forget you are just kids.” Kim said, smiling a bit at her brothers. Of all the weird ways Danny had affected her life, her relationship with her brothers had been a big one. She still got annoyed by them a lot of the time, but where she used to be a little jealous of just how smart they were, especially in comparison to her, she now was just proud of them all the time. Danny had really helped her overcome that small inferiority complex she had about her intelligence when compared to the rest of her family.

    “Wait Ron, is that…” Tim started, looking over what was Ron’s finished creation.

    “A brain scanning satellite, yes.” Ron said, as he set it out on the driveway and pressed a button, launching it into orbit. “It will scan the planet for Dr. Drakken’s brainwaves, and once it finds a match it will text their coordinates to my phone. I imagine we’ll find them in a matter of hours.” Ron’s tone was flat, none of the normal exuberance Kim would expect from him. 

     “Since when can you make a brain scanning satellite?” Kim asked with a raised eyebrow. The tweebs building one she could see happening. Wade and Tucker building one? Also pretty possible. She could even see Danny and Sammy, when they were working in full capacity being able to put one together, but Ron? That was way weird.

     “I believe you’ve just been underestimating me.” Ron said, his tone barely concealing a deep edge. “Everyone has, for far too long.”

—-

     It was only a matter of hours for Ron’s satellite to find Drakken and Scam’s new base, which was located on a small island off the coast of Madagascar. Kim, Ron, Danny, and the Spies all suited up, ready to take the fight to the villains who had stolen Sammy’s intelligence away, despite Sammy’s nervousness about it.

    Convincing her to come had been quite the endeavor, as she worried that her mere presence would cause enough issues that they wouldn’t be able to stop them, but they informed her that she was still an amazing spy, and even without her intelligence she would be an invaluable asset to the team. Clover and Alex would be with her the entire time, they’d manage.

     With the whole team present, subtlety wasn’t exactly on the docket. While each of them were normally highly competent infiltrators, capable of getting in and out undetected, Sammy’s diminished capacity, and Danny’s unyielding anger at the damage they had done to Sammy had required a more bombastic approach. As such, their arrival was announced by an entire section of wall of the compound Drakken and Scam were using being knocked in by an angry superpowered teen, his eyes glowing green with rage.

    The room they’d entered fit the visual aesthetics of every evil mad scientist lair. Rows and rows of machines and workstations filled the space, with a large platform in the center that looked to be attached to some kind of elevator guide rail system. The center of the platform had what could best be described as an anti-air gun, although where one would expect to load ammunition, instead had a groove that looked like it fit a smaller hand-held device. In Drakken’s hands was what appeared to be the missing piece, which was a combination of Scam’s Brainilator, and the HenchCo Attitudinator.

     “Oh, so you brought flyboy this time? Upset that you couldn’t beat us last time without his help?” Shego teased, as she rushed forward from the central platform, joining the advancing group of henchmen that stood between the team and the mad scientists in the center.

    “Says the one who found a whole new partner to work with because they couldn’t beat a couple of teenagers.” Kim said, as she rushed Shego, locking herself in combat with her. The longtime rivals traded blows back and forth like always, Kim’s superior martial arts training and athletic abilities more than enough to close the gap that Shego’s powers gave her. She had struggled fighting Shego for a long time, but ever since she and Danny got together, and especially since they began training together, Shego became less and less of a threat each time they fought. Shego wasn’t as strong as Danny, wasn’t as maneuverable, and infinitely more predictable. Kim had gotten good enough at fighting Danny that unless Danny flew or used his intangibility, she could usually beat him in their spars. Shego wasn’t Danny, and it showed. Where before Kim was normally on the backfoot in fights with Shego, trying to simply wear out an opponent who had a tendency to overcommit, Kim nowadays could simply beat her with pure skill. It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, and Shego was still improving as well, but it was easy to see that if Shego didn’t have her powers, Kim would be wiping the floor with her.

    Danny took it upon himself to clean up the henchmen, as he was undoubtedly the most well suited of the group for dealing with multiple opponents. Compared to the ghosts Danny usually fought, even the most experienced of henchmen were little more than nuisances to him, and he managed to clean up the two dozen or so red-suited goons in only a few minutes.

     The Spies had rushed for Tim Scam, determined to take him down quickly, but the genius inventor had prepared for the physical confrontation, hopping into a mech suit he’d created. The machine with its hydraulic arms, was obviously intended to be used primarily for moving heavy objects around, as it even had forks that could extend from the arms for picking up pallets, but the machine seemed fully capable of being used in a combat capacity as well. “So, dear Spies. How does it feel knowing that WOOHP has sent you here to die? I’ll do more than just drain your intelligence, like I did your little friend there, I’ll kill you. I won’t allow you to stand in my way any longer!” Scam slammed one of the robot’s fists into the ground, leaving a large crater where Alex had been standing a mere moment before.

     “That suit’s bad news.” Alex said nervously, as she watched it reset back to a neutral fighting position, as she, Clover, and Sammy circled the ex-WOOHP agent. “Don’t get hit! I don’t think you’re walking it off!”

     “Right!” Sammy said, as though it was good advice. Clover cringed a bit in sadness at seeing her friend so far removed from who she was, but doubled down on it. Without Sammy to be their brainpower, it was up to her.

     Clover reached into her backpack finding a can of hairspray within. “Alright, this should do it!” She said, before uncapping it and sliding under the mechanical mech suit, spraying the ankles with WOOHP’s 24 Hour Hyper Adhesive Pomade, making it solidly rooted in the ground.

     “Well done, shame you still won’t be able to do anything to me.” Scam said, as he continued trying to hit them with the mechanical muscles of his suit. “I’m still far too strong for you, you pathetic spies.”

     “We still need to turn off the hurty suit!” Sammy called out dodging out of the way of another wide swing of the hydraulic arm. “Take out his batteries!” She called out, treating the suit like it was a giant toy.

     Clover’s eyes widened, noticing the large power pack on Scam’s back. “Even when you don’t have your smarts you’re still a genius, Sammy!” Clover exclaimed, rushing behind Scam and pulling out another gadget from her bag, the Fenton Laser Lipstick, given a WOOHP upgrade, cut through the power pack with ease, disabling the mech suit, and trapping Scam inside.

    “Woo! One down!” Alex said, shifting her focus away from the trapped Scam.

    “Henchmen are dealt with too, that just leaves Shego and Drakken!” Danny said as he tossed the last henchperson aside, turning his attention to the central platform where the blue-skinned man seemed to be fiddling with the gizmo. Danny watched as Ron snuck up behind Drakken before stealing the device. “Alright! Bring it over here Ron. We’ll figure out how to reverse it and fix everyone.” Danny said, shooting the blond boy a confident smile, thankful the event was over now.

    “No… I don’t think I will.” Ron said, starting to chuckle maniacally as he pointed the device towards the group. “You see, you all were so worried about the little spy, you failed to realize what else occurred in our little scuffle in Australia.” Ron glowered over the group, his gaze moving to each one in turn. “While she lost her intelligence, I absorbed all of Drakken’s evil, and combining it with my innate abilities… I believe I’ll show the world just how Unstoppable Ron Stoppable can be.” An evil cackling filled the air, the echoing “Boo-yah-ha-ha” casting an icy chill down everyone’s spines.

    “Cut the act Ron, this is no time to be fooling around!” Kim said as her fight with Shego stopped as the pair of them had their focus on the sidekick, each of them trying to feel out what was going on with the boy.

    “Oh, I’m not fooling around. Drakken and Scam were truly onto something with this device, but they were woefully misguided on its proper use.” Ron said, running his finger along the barrel as he brandished it like a weapon. “They believed it would be best served stealing the intelligence of the leading scientists in the world, a useful secondary objective, but far from the ideal use of such a device.” Ron pointed it towards Danny. “No, it would be far better served incapacitating their greatest threats first. Let us see who could dare to stop me once this world’s greatest heroes are little more than bumbling idiots!” 

     “Sorry Ron, but you’ll thank me for this once you’re better.” Danny said as he shot forward rushing the boy to try and separate him from the weapon. Ron however, reacted far too quickly, backhanding Danny with a bright blue flash and the spectral scream of a howler monkey sending him flying into a wall, leaving a crater within. “That… that shouldn’t happen.” Danny said as he tried to pull himself up.

    Alex, Clover, and Sammy tried their luck as well, the trio bolting towards him to try and knock the weapon away, but with little interest he merely pulled some bolos from his pocket and tossed them at the Spies, subduing them. “I had the time to make those while at Kim’s house, the twins truly do have some interesting toys they’ve developed, I believe they’ll be my first stop once I leave here, since I’m sure they’ve got that Possible heroism in them, they’re too smart to be left unchecked.”

    “Ron, this isn’t you!” Kim called out, trying to reason with him. “You’re not a bad guy! You like Bueno Nacho and video games. Not world domination!” 

    “You don’t get to decide that anymore, Kim.” Ron said, his gaze focused solely on her. “I’m done being merely your sidekick. Being a laughing stock. Losing my pants, not being taken seriously. Our primary villain can’t even remember my name. The organization that created the Team viewed me as a secondary member. I’m done playing second fiddle. Done being the comic relief. The world will tremble in fear before the monster it created.”

    “You know what, I like this new guy. You looking for hired help? My rates are negotiable, I want Iceland when the world’s conquered, and 10% of all monetary gain.” Shego said, walking casually up to him.

    Ron seemed to toss the idea back and forth in his mind for a moment. “I suppose you’re effective enough. Make it 8%.” Ron countered.

    “Works for me.” Shego said, coming to stand beside him. 

    “Now I’ll start my conquest, by turning Kim Possible into a brainless vegetable!” Ron said, powering up the device and firing it towards Kim. 

    As the device wound up though, something went wrong, causing it to zap Ron and the nearby Shego. The pair screamed in pain for a moment before they were knocked unconscious by the blast. 

     A brief silence fell over the room as the gathered heroes attempted to process what had just occurred. “Was it a dud?” Alex managed to speak up, confused as she looked over at the unconscious Ron and Shego.

    “No… I’d simply rewired it.” Drakken said as he walked over and picked up the device, turning a few knobs. “Mr. Stoppable was correct, he did obtain all of my evil during our scuffle. What he perhaps didn’t recognize, was that I had the brains to understand what the consequences of that would be. I knew that my evil would put him toward this plan, and that you all would be so focused on fixing the obvious sign of the Spy’s diminished intelligence, you wouldn’t notice his insidious plans. So I hid as well, pretending to take the lead on the project here knowing that this would happen. That you all would arrive, and he would make a play for the device. I had admittedly thought he would attempt to steal mine and Scam’s intelligence, but the end result would be the same.”

    “Wait, so you’re not evil right now?” Danny asked, his eyebrows raised in shock.

    “Correct, Mr. Stoppable’s mind contains all of my malice. I’d imagine at this point you have more evil in your heart than I do, Phantom.” Drakken said, pointing the device at Sammy and firing it.

     The bright beam enveloped the green-clad bound spy, and after a moment, she looked around. “I’m… me again guys!” Sammy said, a broad smile on her face. “All of my intelligence is back!”

    “Yes, I managed to reverse all the effects of the device. One of you will need to take it and fire it at Mr. Stoppable, as leaving it in my hands once it is done is particularly unwise.” Drakken said, holding the device out for someone to take. “I apologize for what I’ve done to you all until now, and for what I will do from here on. I hope you will continue to stop me.”

    “Hey, we can probably find a way to keep you like this, Drakken.” Danny said as he pulled himself up, making his way over to the blue-skinned scientist.

    “No… I don’t think there is. Without me, I imagine there will be some kind of power vacuum. There are few thieves in the world as accomplished as Shego, and of the other villains on the market, she really only works with me because of the benefits. Should she team up with someone like Dementor, I worry for what might happen. No, we’ve proven that I am beatable, time and time again. Perhaps it is this part of me that continues to sabotage these plans.” Drakken looked to Danny as he handed the device over to him. “Free your spy friends, and use the bolos on myself and Shego. This is all I can do for you, I believe. Your friend is a much more dangerous villain than I am, and I hope to never see a world where he taps into his potential for evil.”

    Danny could only nod as he handed the device to Kim, going over to the spies and removing the bolos, tying up Drakken and Shego with them. “Well, Ms. Possible. You and your friends think you are all that, and I do believe you are. Now, let’s set the world right. Make sure to destroy that device once you’ve confirmed that Mr. Stoppable and I are back to how we are meant to be.”

    Kim nodded and fired the beam at Ron, from which a beam from him tethered to Drakken, Ron flashing blue for a moment as Drakken flashed red. Drakken’s eyes widened, before he scowled. “No, no, no!” He screamed, his intonation back to his normal pattern. “I will not be outdone by a mere sidekick! Scam! Surely you have some contingency in place for this?”

    “You were the contingency Drakken, and you ruined it!” Scam said from his place trapped inside his mech suit.

    “Grr! Kim Possible! You think you’re all that? But you’re not!” Drakken screamed as he wiggled inside of the bolos, unable to free himself.

—-

    WOOHP and Global Justice appeared shortly thereafter, taking Drakken, Shego, and Scam into custody, but not before the Brainilator was destroyed. Ron had come to his senses, and was resting on a table as a WOOHP doctor looked over him. “So… I was some kind of bad guy?” Ron asked, seemingly unaware of what had happened with him.

    “Yeah, you were kind of terrifying.” Danny said, keeping an eye on him. “If Drakken hadn’t come in clutch with sabotaging the thing, you might have turned all of us into vegetables.”

     “I guess I’m just glad I didn’t pick some dumb villain name like… Zorpox the Destroyer or something.” Ron said, causing a round of laughter to go through the gathered teens.

     “And I’m glad to be back to normal. Thanks for taking care of me while I was… incapacitated.” Sammy said, smiling at all of her friends. “Especially you, Danny.” Sammy said, leaning over and planting a kiss on his cheek.

Chapter Text

     Kim was glad that Danny had mentioned that his parents built a lightsaber styled machete for use in dense foliage. They’d brought one of the late-stage prototypes from the lab and it made quick work of the tall ferns and grasses that hindered their path deep in the Congo rainforest.

    “So, run me through what’s been going on? You said we needed to be here, and you needed the extra hand, but not much else.” Danny asked, already in full Phantom mode. 

    “Well, Wade said that there were three robberies that all occurred simultaneously.” Kim started, pulling out her Kimmunicator as she handed it to Danny. “Wade, fill him in a bit more, I’ve got to make us a path.”

    “Got it Kim.” Wade said as he appeared on the screen, before popping up some infographics. “Three museums were hit last week. One in Toronto, one in London, and one in Sydney. Each of them had a display about a piece of a larger statue that had been found at this ancient temple you guys are heading to. Australia had a lower third that looked like the tail and legs attached to the torso of a monkey. Toronto had the upper torso, which seemed to be holding two cymbals, and London had a head. All of them were cast in what seemed to be pure silver, although they never tarnished, and with weird inscriptions on them that researchers weren’t able to pick up on what they said though.”

    “Do we know anything about these pieces then?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow, firing an ecto-ray towards a spider that was attempting to land on Kim’s shoulder. She shot him a thankful glance at that and continued hacking away.

    “According to inscriptions that could be translated from the temple, they were three parts of an object called the Tempus Simia.” Wade said, showing a mock-up of the three parts being put together into a single silver monkey totem.

    “Time Monkey?” Danny asked, translating it from the small bits of latin he knew. Mostly from reading comics. “Why weren’t they stored together? Seems weird to break them up.”

     “According to what I’ve found, attempts to store them together never worked. They emitted some kind of opposing force that made keeping them in the same museum difficult. They’d fall off displays and damage other artifacts, so the British Museum just decided to send two pieces to different museums.” Wade said, flashing up some images of the three displays. “When we got the hits, the Toronto security guards remembered a girl with glowing hands. The London one remembered finding several broken golf clubs near an exploded hole in the wall, and the Sydney security cameras showed monkey ninjas disabling the cameras before the artifact was stolen.” Wade said, letting Danny put the pieces together himself.

    “So what, a Drakken, Killigan, Monkey Fist team-up? Drakken’s been making all kinds of new friends recently.” Danny said with a scoff. He personally hadn’t encountered Killigan, but he’d had enough experience with both Drakken and Monkey Fist to be worried about what a team-up between them could be.

    “The fact that we made the team might be causing it.” Kim speculated as she hacked through more brush. “We proved that the heroes could work together to stop bigger threats, maybe they’re thinking it’ll just take one team up to take us down, and then they can bicker among themselves later.”

    “And that’s why I’m here, because we set the rule that two villains together necessitated at least partial team involvement.” Danny put together. It had been a good rule they’d followed. Dealing with bad guys was always easier when more of them were there, last month’s issue with Tim Scam and Drakken notwithstanding, and it made sense for villain team ups to be met with hero team ups. Danny and Kim had bopped around to help the others a few times, usually Danny lending Jake a hand on the rare occasions he needed it, and Kim had done more than one mission with the spies as a fourth, or on one occasion fifth member of the team, to the point that WHOOP had even given her her own version of the cat suit, which was a rich purple color. Kim only ever wore that on WOOHP assignment though, barring one time when she’d shown Danny, and shut his brain off for a moment. It wasn’t helped when Alex had let Star borrow hers, and Ember had Kitty make her one. 

   With a few more minutes of slashing their way through the dense brush of the jungle, they came across a large, stepped ziggurat with an ornate monkey-looking statue on the top, and a large set of south-facing doors that were already open. They were massive and made of stone, so it had obviously taken some effort to do so. “Looks like we found the place.” Kim said, turning off the machete and storing it in her backpack. It was useful for chopping through foliage, but far too lethal to be used on people, even villains like Drakken.

      “Why is it always monkeys?” Ron bemoaned, as he looked at the monkey head at the top of the temple.

      “Sometimes it’s ghosts.” Danny said, with a teasing smirk. “Jake mentioned to me that he always wondered why everything in his life kept leading back to the Huntsclan. Sometimes you just find a thing it seems most stuff comes back to.” 

     “Besides Ron, it’s usually Drakken. Monkeys are like… the thing we deal with the second most.” Kim said, trying to ease his pain a bit. 

     “But this time it’s Drakken AND monkeys!” Ron complained, and all Danny and Kim could do was laugh. They knew Ron would be okay, his complaints like this were just his way of coping, he was getting his nerves out now so they wouldn’t bother him later.

     Thankfully, unlike their last encounter with Drakken, sneaking into the temple was an option, and so Danny, Kim and Ron stepped silently and invisibly through the ornate ziggurat, coming to a central chamber where they found Drakken, Duff Killigan, Monkey Fist, and Shego standing atop a large dais with a central pedestal. The legs and torso of the Tempus Simia were already placed together, and Monkey Fist held the head in his hands.

     “Well? Why aren’t you putting the head on?” Drakken asked, annoyance present in his voice. The blue man was not known for his patience, which was all the more ironic considering how often he called for it from his assistant.

     “The Tempus Simia can only be fully completed at mid-day. You’ll know it when the light from the sun just hits the pedestal. There’s a minute or so of leeway, but not much. If we do not do it correctly the first time, we will need to wait for tomorrow. Patience now will mean you do not have to wait later.” Monkey Fist said in his usual calm tone. There was probably some irony in the most collected individual among the villains being the literal ape man, but it wasn’t worth pointing out to them… at least not until a fight started. 

     “Safe to say that them getting what they want is generally bad, right?” Danny whispered, keeping his voice down so that only Kim and Ron could hear him. “Well, I’ll do an invisible flyover, yoink the head from him, then we can just pick up the other two pieces a little later and then just let Global Justice know where they are.”

    “Get it going then.” Kim said, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

     Danny released his hold on Kim and Ron, the pair of them turning visible again, before he lifted off from the ground, moving slowly and carefully to disturb the air the least amount he could, before he grabbed onto the head of the Tempus Simia in Monkey Fist’s hands. The contact turned the piece invisible, and then Danny briefly turned it intangible to pull it out of his hands without him noticing. He started to move back towards where Kim and Ron were. Unfortunately, that’s the moment that everything went wrong.

    The unfortunate thing about structures that were left in the jungle for thousands of years was that no matter how well they were built, without proper maintenance they would eventually fall into disrepair. Thousands of rain storms and other weather events made many tiny gaps in the stonework, which allowed all kinds of bugs and other small creatures to make themselves quite at home in the temple, and one of such creatures, a huntsman spider, scuttled along the floor in front of Ron, causing him to briefly jump back in surprise. This action made him lose his balance and hit the floor with an “ow”. The involuntary noise, both from his mouth and his body hitting the ground caught the attention of the gathered villains.

     “Kim Possible? How did they find us?” Drakken shouted incredulously.

     Monkey Fist then realized his hands were empty, and his eyes narrowed. “She brought the ghost with her. He’s got the idol!” He called out, before focusing for a moment and making a series of handsigns. He let out a deep screech, and Danny suddenly became visible, floating in the air.

   “What?” Danny exclaimed in confusion. No one had ever been able to just… cancel his invisibility before. That was very odd.

    “Ancient Monkey Ninja technique for revealing invisible opponents.” Monkey Fist said, a feral grin on his face as he looked up at the Phantom. “Now, return the idol to me and I will not show you the damage I can do with some of my other techniques.”

    “How about no. Kim, catch!” Danny said, tossing the idol to Kim before he shot down to engage Monkey Fist in a fight. With their plan to invisibly retake the idol piece by piece out of the picture, it was clear the next plan would be to simply play keepaway with the head until all four of the villains were defeated. Kim and Ron were good at what they did, but taking on all four would be too much for them on their own, so Danny couldn’t just escape with the head.

    Kim caught the idol out of the air, Shego rushing after her to take the idol from her hands. She and Kim started trading blows, before Duff Killigan ran by and hooked the head from her hands using the head of a sand wedge. Killigan held the head high, before Rufus scurried up his arm, bit his hand to force the golfer to let it go, before rushing off towards Ron. Drakken stepped on Rufus’s tail, reaching down and pulling the head from the naked mole rat’s hands, before Ron rushed in and pulled it from Drakken before he could get a solid grip.

    Ron’s impressive running ability allowed him to keep the idol away from the villains for a while, but in his panic, he failed to realize he was being cornered. Killigan and Drakken closed in on either side of him as his back was to the wall, but he saw an opening. “Phantom! Heads up!” Ron called out, throwing the head with incredible accuracy.

    Unfortunately, just before Danny was about to close his hands around it, Monkey Fist flung him into the wall, catching the monkey head with a wide grin, before swapping a glare between Ron and Phantom. “I usually despise the game of Monkey in the Middle… but I never claimed to perform poorly at it.” Monkey Fist noticed the sunlight coming through the gap in the wall, and realized their window of opportunity was quickly closing. Seeing Shego by the pedestal, he called out: “Shego! Time is up! Do it now!” With that, he threw the head towards the green-clad villainess, who caught the idol and kicked Kim away. Rushing to the pedestal, she slammed the head onto the totem, completing it. The arms of the monkey moved, clapping its two cymbals together before a loud, seemingly infinitely echoing monkey screech could be heard, and at that moment, the world went white.

—-

     Danny’s vision adjusted a moment later, and as he looked around he couldn’t recognize where he was. The room he was in had stone brick walls with a greenish tint, but more obvious than that was the sheer number of clocks that littered the place. Grandfather clocks, cuckoo clocks, and a large selection of wall clocks that formed a massive piece on the wall. Gears turned, meshing into each other in various locales, and at the very center of the room was a large fluorescent green metal bell. Kim stood up next to him, taking in the sights alongside him. “Where are we?” She managed to get out, her tone giving as much confusion as Danny felt.

    “You are in my lair, my realm outside of time.” Said a voice from above. Looking up, Danny and Kim watched as an old man with a long scraggly beard and blue skin descended from the ceiling. The blue skinned baby wore a purple hood and tunic, the chest having a design of a pendulum swinging in a grandfather clock. The adult man stood before them, his form shifting through the ages as though it was nothing to him.

    “And who are you, then?” Danny asked, interposing himself between Kim and this ghost, as it was no question that was what the being in front of them was.

    “I am Clockwork, one of the ancients, master of time.” Clockwork said, dipping into a small bow as he introduced himself. “You are Daniel Fenton, the half-ghost known as Phantom, and Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything.” The ghost added, looking to them in turn. “I mean you no harm. I have brought you here to save you, as you are both far too important in what must come next.” 

    “In what comes next? You’re being VERY vague here. Why did you bring us here? Where’s Ron?” Danny asked. Ghosts were actually usually pretty direct with their words. Walker liked to pontificate, but he didn’t usually talk in riddles, just liked the sound of his own voice.

    “I have brought you here, because without my intervention, the world will become this… or rather, has already become this, as time has changed.” Clockwork said, pointing his hourglass staff toward one of the large clockfaces on the wall. The face of it shimmered, before a vision of a dark future. Cyberpunk-styled skyscrapers rose through the sky, all emblazoned with authoritarian symbols of green flames. On billboards, images of an older Shego were seen, with phrases such as: “The Supreme Leader is watching you” and “Bow before The Supreme One” accompanying her. The image shifts to what appears to be some kind of penthouse apartment, where Shego stood, looking over the city with an evil grin and a glass of red wine in her hand. She turned, walking up to a tall man with pale blue-green skin and white hair that seemed to be on fire, before leaning up to give him a quick kiss. Clockwork disabled the window into the future turning back to them. “The one you know as Shego went back in time, stopping her greatest enemy from becoming a threat to her power. She gave herself knowledge of the future, and with that conquered the world… helped by her right hand, who you saw with her. A ghost of phenomenal power.”

    Danny and Kim could only look on in shock at what they saw. A future where Shego was the supreme overlord? Ruling alongside some kind of ghost? That was… awful, probably some of the worst things that could happen. “How did she manage? How did she travel through time?” Danny asked. He had his suspicions, but wanted Clockwork to confirm them.

    “The artifact she had just completed when I grabbed you is known as the Tempus Simia, or Time Monkey, to translate. You know this much.” Clockwork stated, receiving nods from the pair. “It uses what you know as Mystical Monkey Power to create portals through time, allowing its owner to traipse about the timestream more or less as they pleased. From the temple I pulled you from, Shego travelled back in time to your first mission, Miss Possible.”

     “When I helped Mr. Paisley get out of his laser grid.” Kim remembered. Clockwork showed the event to Danny on the clock face, as a slightly younger version of Kim proved herself as a world class gymnast, jumping through the gaps in the laser grid to grab the remote and disable it. “He’s half the reason I was even able to become a hero, he personally funded a lot of the early missions out of gratitude, and it was his word of mouth that got the site really going.”

    “Indeed. Unfortunately, Shego used this opportunity to get rid of you. A small nudge during your initial run-up found you… extinguished by the laser grid. You did not survive the endeavor, and neither did Mr. Paisley for that matter. Shego used his fortune to start her supervillain career, which led to everything that came after.” Clockwork said, his tone neutral.

    Kim wasn’t truly sure what to think of hearing about her own death. It was always something she was vaguely aware of, she did dangerous work, it was one of the reasons that she had initially thought about letting Danny date Star alongside her, fear that he would suffer if she died on a mission. To know how it happened to another version of her? That was… rough. “Well, if you are the master of time like you said, couldn’t you just take us back to before Shego completed the Tempus Simia? With one more person we could just tackle her out of the way and let the time limit run out.” Kim suggested, pushing her morbid thoughts away with practical ones. No Shego going back in time, no dead pre-teen Kim. Easy peasy.

    “Unfortunately, it is not within my power. Moving through the timestream is normally no issue for me, but the presence of the Tempus Simia renders my ability to react to this instance an impossibility. The Mystical Monkey Power is antithetical to ghosts. We cannot affect it, not properly. This applies to all simians, in some capacity.” Clockwork said sagely.

    “Wait, what? Ghost powers don’t work on any monkeys?” Danny asked, his eyes wide.

    “Correct, had you not noticed? You had many chances before now.” Clockwork said, gesturing to the screen. He showed a flashback of Danny and Delilah beating up Skulker, the purpleback gorilla easily dismantling the armored ghost. Then came Sidney Poindexter getting easily tossed by Monkey Fist. DNAmy’s Rhinorilla throwing Danny into a wall at the Mothers of Innovation conference, and most recently, Ron using the Mystical Monkey Power to toss him aside during his brief evil stint. “It was also why your friend was immune to Ember’s mind control during their first interaction. They have natural defenses against ghost abilities, and the mystical monkey power of the Tempus Simia specifically stops me from interfering with the time stream for roughly ten years on either side of its use.”

    “So, no stopping Shego from finishing the monkey in the temple, and no stopping her from killing Kim in the past, because that’s within a 10 year bubble around the moment she used the monkey.” Danny put together. He assumed there was more to the reason why it was ten years exactly, but that didn’t seem important at this moment. “So… what, you’re going to send us to ten years in the past and stop her from getting that far?” Danny asked.

     “No, for multiple reasons. For one, altering the past is always a last resort, the effects can be too unpredictable for your minds. I can see the twists and turns the path of time makes, but only because I am removed from it. Ten years in the past is before any specific event that would lead her to the path you are on. Instead, I intend to send you ten years into the future, to acquire the Tempus Simia. Once it is in your possession, I can use it, in conjunction with my own powers to set the timestream back on its course.” Clockwork explained.

    “Well… I guess then we should just grab Ron, Sammy, Alex, and Clover and we can head into the future, go kick Shego and her boytoy’s butts, and then get the monkey.” Kim said, pounding her fist into her hand. “Why didn’t you grab Ron when you grabbed us? The Spies I get, since they weren’t there, but Ron was in the room with us.”

     “Because, I cannot send anyone who is alive in the future with you.” Clockwork said, a solemn look on his face. “You two were chosen because you no longer exist in that future, as well as having the best chance at succeeding.”

    Kim already knew that she had died for this future to come to pass, but it was news to Danny that he died in the process. He looked at Clockwork with a raised eyebrow. “What happened to me then? Did Shego’s ghost guy kill me?” Danny asked, hoping he at least went down fighting.

    “Yes, although not in the way you would think.” Clockwork said, gesturing to the screen again as scenes from Danny’s life played, but they were slightly different than he remembered them. “Kim’s death caused some wrinkles through the timestream, I’m sure you’ve heard of the butterfly effect or chaos theory, both hold true. Kim dying leads to Middleton High not exploding, which means Middleton and Casper never merge. This means that you do not become friends with Ron, Star remains a popular girl who barely acknowledges you, and many other changes.” Danny recognized a lot of his adventures, but there were obvious changes. He went to the Homecoming Dance with Paulina, leading to her and Sam getting the amulet. He gave Technus the idea to take over the world, and he never became an ally. Many of the same events that happened to him, but changed due to the lack of Kim, the lack of Star, the lack of Ember. 

     “So, who is that ghost then? I don’t know anyone who looks like that.” Danny said, the image of the ghost in his mind. It seemed kind of familiar, but he couldn’t fully place it.

    “That would be the entity known as Dan Phantom. He is the evil version of your ghost half.” Clockwork explained shifting the image on the clockface again. “In the new timeline, a week after the point I pulled you from, you learn about the upcoming CATs, a test that you feel will define your future. This version of you had less support to help with academics, so you were behind in classes, and particularly anxious about doing well. During a fight, you accidentally steal the answer sheet for the test from Mr. Lancer, and decide to use it to cheat to do well on said test. Your cheating is noticed, and, as a consequence…” The image on the clockface showed Mr. Lancer calling Jack and Maddie Fenton to the Nasty Burger to discuss Danny’s cheating. When they arrive at the Nasty Burger, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker are there as well, hoping to speak in Danny’s defense. The Nasty Burger then explodes, killing them all in the blast. “You lose everyone you cared about. You were lost, dejected, and orphaned. Vlad took you in, and the pair of you grieved. You entered a deep, dark depression, and could find no improvement. You asked Vlad to remove your pain, your grief, alongside your ghost half, and Vlad managed to do so. Unfortunately, with all of that negative emotion locked up inside your ghost half… it rebelled.” The image on the screen showed Vlad pulling the Phantom from Danny’s body, and how it immediately went mad, stealing the gloves from Vlad and using it to rip Vlad’s ghost half from his body, then fusing with it. The new combined Phantom then turned to his former human host with a malicious grin, before the human Danny let out a terrifying scream and Clockwork disabled the image. “On that day, Dan Phantom was born, and Danny Fenton died. From there, Dan terrorized the ghost zone, developing his powers and adjusting his mental image to the form you saw with Shego. The details between are less important, but she has used his abilities, alongside her supervillain think tank to take over the world.”

    “That’s… heavy.” Danny said, as Kim came up and comforted him. “I guess we just need to make sure that never happens.” He steeled his resolve before looking up at Clockwork. “So, what’s the plan then? How do we do this?”

     “I will send you to the closest point to the present I can, to maximize your chances of success. You do not need to free this future, nor truly defeat Dan or Shego in combat, you only need to acquire the Tempus Simia, simply having it in your possession should be enough for me to safely evacuate you from that time period, and then undo all the damage Shego will cause to the timestream, and then place you back right as you left, with a fake Tempus Simia in the place of the real one.” Clockwork said, nodding at the pair of them. “I know it is possible for you to succeed. I can see the myriad futures from this point, and more than one results in your victory. Stay true to yourselves, and fight with all you have.”

    Danny and Kim nodded, threading their fingers together as they readied themselves for what came next. Clockwork waved his staff, and Danny and Kim found themselves transported again.

—-

     Despite the drastic change in architecture, it wasn’t hard to recognize Amity Park. Danny and Kim stepped out of an alleyway onto the corner of 3rd street and Maple, recognizing the park that they had first fought the Fright Knight in, although it had drastically changed. For starters, the statue in the center, once depicting an Illinois governor who had been born in Amity Park, now depicted an image of Dan and Shego with a plaque underneath the message that “Your Great Leaders are always watching.” People milled about on the streets, all of them clad in green and black jumpsuits that were styled after Shego’s.

    “Guess all the power went to her head if she’s dictating fashion choices like this.” Kim said, glancing around the place, getting her bearings on what’s going on. “Well, any ideas for what to do first?” She asked, focusing her attention on him.

    “Not much… since we’re in Amity, maybe head to Fentonworks? Or where it was at least. Maybe we’ll figure out more about what’s changed here on the way. Trying to figure out what happened with Shego, and why places like WOOHP or Global Justice weren’t able to stop her.” Danny suggested as he returned to his normal form, hoping to blend in a little better. For lack of any better ideas, Kim agreed and they slinked their way towards Fentonworks, trying to not draw any attention to themselves.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, Danny and Kim did not find Fentonworks. The brickwork building that once was called that still stood, but the Fentonworks sign, as well as the Ops Center, had long been removed. What was present however, was a new, and worrying sight. The front wall had been replaced with a large glass window, allowing those outside to see into what seemed like some kind of fitness studio, which wouldn’t be too bad, if the sign above it had been anything else. “Shego’s Femme Fatale Academy?” Danny read aloud, slightly dumbfounded at the idea.

     “Shego’s all female elite squad.” Kim said, showing a pamphlet she had picked up from a nearby stand. “I guess she knew how much of a threat I was, and wanted a whole squad of me, or at least people like me.” Kim frowned a bit at that, that she might have in some way inspired this group.

    “More than you’d think.” Danny said, as his voice cracked with emotion as he pointed inside. Kim could see why he got so worked up almost immediately. At the front of the class, leading through the motions, were Valerie, Sammy, Clover, Alex, and Rose, all ten years older than when they had last seen them, with angry sneers on their faces. They wear a sleeker, more augmented version of the Shego jumpsuit, and for a brief moment, Danny locked eyes with Sammy. The sadness that flooded through him at seeing a girl he loves so dearly working for one of his worst enemies is palpable, it tore him up inside just like it had when Kim and Star had been possessed by Walker’s goons. He was so lost in that sadness, that he failed to notice Sammy raising her collar to her mouth and speaking into it. He couldn't, however, miss the alarms blaring, as the window shot open, with Alex and Clover leaping out of the building, tackling Danny and Kim to the ground.

     “You are under arrest for violation of Shego Code F45410N, unauthorized clothing. Do not resist as we take you to a reconditioning center.” Clover said, her hands wrapped around Danny’s wrists as she kept him pinned. Danny struggled, not really liking the sound of a reconditioning center.

    “What, some kind of mind control?” Danny spat out. He hated seeing his friends like this, completely subservient to Shego’s whims. He hoped that they didn’t choose this life, that they had somehow been forced into it, and that deep down they were still the girls he knew and cared for so deeply, even if they were brainwashed.

    “Correct, mental reconditioning to follow the orders of The Supreme One.” Rose said as she stepped forward, helping Alex hold down Kim, who was struggling enough that she couldn’t hold her down.

    Valerie made her way over to where Clover held Danny pinned, kneeling down to look at him with some familiarity in her eyes, as though she knew him from somewhere and couldn’t quite place him. Danny’s eyes widened a moment in realization at this. Without Kim, the team never would have formed, so Danny would have never met Sammy, Alex, Clover, or Rose, but he had been going to school with Valerie for years before he met Kim, maybe she could help them. “Valerie! It’s me! Danny! Please, you don’t have to do this.” He said, trying to jog her memory, to pull some part of who she was out from what she has become.

    “Danny Fenton.” Valerie said, glaring down at him. “Danny Fenton has been dead for ten years. I don’t know who you are imposter, but I don’t take kindly to people claiming to be old friends, especially not to get out of their punishments.” Valerie said, pulling a cattle prod off of the belt on her waist. “The Supreme One won’t mind me giving some… extra incentive to your reeducation.” She said, before powering on the prod and thrusting it forward. 

    Before it made contact with Danny though, a white and blue blur slammed into the former ghost hunter, pushing her, and Clover, off of Danny. Simultaneously, a scaly pink blur knocked Alex and Rose off of Kim. “Resistance fighters!” Sammy shouted out, moving to charge at them. The pink one, now that she was still, Danny recognized as a Dragon, swiped at the redhead with her tail, tripping her up before she could continue. “Jenny, grab him and let’s go, we don't need HIM showing up.” The pink dragon said, presumably speaking to the blue blur, who Danny could see was a robot girl.

    “I believe you’re too late, Dragon.” A deep voice said from above, and Danny managed to stand up to see a tall, muscular ghost, with pale teal skin, red eyes, white burning hair, and pointed ears. He recognized him from the visions Clockwork had shown him. 

    “Dan.” Danny said, the name leaving his mouth before he could really process that it was going to. 

    “Indeed. I supposed it was about time Clockwork decided to meddle in things. I knew that he would eventually, Shego had told me all about her little time adventures, and that seemed like exactly the kind of thing he would want to stop. I’d ask you why he waited so long, but even if you knew, you won’t live long enough to tell me.” Dan said, as he reached down and grabbed Danny by the collar and hoisted him up. “Now… say goodbye.” Dan said, as he started to do a deep inhale.

    A large blast to his back caught his attention though, turning it from the boy in his grasp to a large brown haired man behind him who was wielding a large two-handed laser cannon. He fired another pink energy blast that caught Dan in the back, and kept firing. The onslaught caused Dan to drop Danny, who was quickly scooped up by Jenny. “Grab the girl and let’s go! Now’s our best chance.” The robot said, as she pulled out a small grenade-like device and set it on the ground. The pink Dragon grabbed Kim and the robot grabbed the brown haired man as well before they shot off. Dan recovered from the laser blasts and began to try and give chase, when the grenade went off at his feet, filling the air with a red mist. The ghost coughed and sputtered, seemingly affected deeply by the mist, and it gave them all enough time to escape onto some kind of flying vehicle, which did not even wait for them to be in seats before shooting off.

     Kim managed to shake off her shock first, before looking over the four people who were with them. There were two nearly identical brown haired men, one of them who had fired the laser and the other one who was piloting, the robot girl, and the pink dragon. “Thanks for the assist, but… who are you? Where are we going?” Kim asked, her eyes focusing on the dragon for a moment. “Haley? Is that you?” 

    The pink dragon raised an eyebrow before transforming, a young asian woman appearing in the place of her. “How do you know who I am?” She asked, bewildered. “To answer your questions first, we’re the Resistance, the only people left on the planet fighting against Shego and Dan. We’re taking you to our home base. We knew you’d be here, we just hadn’t expected you to have already gotten into a fight with Dan… you’re lucky the Femme Fatales were there, if he had just seen you, he would have just killed you and everything else on the street.” Haley said, a grave expression on her face at the last part.

     “We were good friends with Jake, where we come from at least. You were a little girl when I saw you last, you had just finished third grade.” Kim explained, and she couldn’t help but notice how Haley winced when she mentioned Jake. “He… didn’t make it in this timeline, did he?”

    “The first one of us to go.” Haley said with a solemn nod. “Jenny hadn’t been built yet, he, Grandpa, and Sun tried to take on Dan and Shego, but they couldn’t manage it. They were too strong.” Her expression was dour, but she shook her head, regaining focus. “We’ll explain more when we get back to base, it’ll be safer there. That Blood Blossom grenade should have given us enough time to escape.” 

     About an hour later, Danny recognized that they were flying over the Pacific Ocean, and about an hour after that, he recognized exactly where their base was, and it gave him a small smile. Their ride touched down on the beach of Kaua'i, and as they stepped off the ramp, a girl who looked exactly like Nani was there to greet them, although she was gripping a massive laser rifle. “Jim, Tim, that you?” She called out.

    “Yeah Lilo! It’s us, and we found them. Used up one of the Blood Blossom grenades though.” Tim said as he stepped off the ship, walking over to Lilo and bending down to press a kiss to her lips.

   “Wait, Jim and Tim… tweebs? Is that you?” Kim asked, looking at the two men. Now that she looked closely at them, she could see the resemblance. The bits of the features of their parents standing out more that she knew to look for them.

     “Surprised Big Sis? Or… I guess little sis now.” Jim said, clapping her on the shoulder.

     “You guys got… BIG. What happened to you?” Kim asked, a little dumbfounded. James and Ann Possible weren’t exactly large people, while Jim and Tim seemed at least six foot three.

     “When we joined up with the Resistance we found a stash of these ‘Bulky Bars’ made by some crazed body builder. They originally turned you into some kind of massive idiot berserker, but with some modifications, they made us into this. It helps a lot dealing with Shego’s Femme Fatales when they come sniffing around.” Jim said, as he started guiding them into a bunker. “Let’s head inside, we can talk more down there.”

    Jim, Tim, Haley, Jenny, and Lilo led them down into a bunker, where they surrounded a holographic table. Stitch smiled when he saw them all come back. “Mission good?” He asked, his voice still having that same quality, like it was difficult for his mouth to make the words.

    “Mission great, actually.” Tim said, gesturing to the pair of them. “The twins were right, as always.” 

    “Who?” Danny asked, with a raised eyebrow. He knew a couple sets of twins, but it seemed like Jim and Tim wouldn’t speak about themselves in the third person.

    “The Oracle Twins.” Haley said, as she pressed a button on a console. The light above said ‘general meeting’ and people began to file in. The first of which were a pair of young adult women, one bright and happy wearing a flowing sundress, and one more dour and wearing grungy punk like clothes. “If you met Jake, you probably heard about them. They were good friends… before.” Her expression was saddening as she continued, the memory of her brother and his sacrifice flowing through her.

    “Yeah, he did mention them to me.” Danny said, recognizing them from a picture Jake had shown him on their trip to New York. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised they’d be willing to help out. I guess… catch us up to speed? We know a bit, but not a lot. I guess to start with, who are you? You don’t exist in our time.” Danny asked, turning his attention to the gynoid.

    “I am XJ9, the robotic creation of Dr. Nora Wakeman, although I like to be called Jenny.” Jenny said, introducing herself. “Mom created me early on in Shego’s reign, she knew there’d need to be someone who could fight against Shego, and then Dan, so I was built with that in mind.”

    “Huh, I guess in this world she did make that robot daughter she talked about.” Kim said, musing as she remembered Nora’s speech from the Mothers of Innovation conference. “Well, glad to know we have some firepower then.”

     “What about the other heroes from our time?” Danny asked, wondering where they might be. “We’ve seen almost every member of our team so far, but what about Team Go? Or what happened to WOOHP and Global Justice?”

     Jim and Tim had frowns on their faces, before they glowed, Jim surrounded himself with a purple glow, before shrinking down and back up and Tim glowed a bright red before splitting himself in four and back again. “They didn’t last long. We managed to build a machine that let them pass their powers on, mostly because Mego wasn’t cut out for fighting… but only Mego and one of the Wegos managed to pass them on before Shego found us. They didn’t survive.” Jim said sadly.

    “Ron wasn’t the same after you died, Kim. It broke him. He lives on the Moon with his parents. With everyone who could leave really. Wade is up there working with Dad, Jumba and some other scientists on finding ways to make sure Dan and Shego can’t take over the Moon.” Tim added.

     “WOOHP and Global Justice weren’t prepared for a straight fight with Dan and Shego, they were more focused on espionage and infiltration, not open warfare. They folded within the first few months. There was even a big leak of people they were looking to as future agents.” Jenny said, adding her knowledge of the situation.

     “Which would explain how they learned about Sammy, Alex, Clover, and Rose.” Danny recognized. Global Justice hadn’t mentioned Rose to Danny and Kim when they were on the initial recruitment spree, because Jake was the priority between the pair, but Rose had been mentioned as a possible option before the connection between her and Jake was confirmed.

    “Brainwashed. Shego’s thinktank developed these mind control devices that stripped away most of their personality. There’s enough individuality in them to function independently and think for themselves, but they’ve just added a deeply ingrained loyalty to Shego.” Haley said, sighing. “You mentioned knowing Jake, so that explains how you knew Rose, but what about the other three of Shego’s Fearsome Five? How did you know them?”

    “In our time, they’re members of our hero team. Some of our best friends in the world. I’m even dating Sammy.” Danny said, upset by the whole thing. “I take it Valerie is the fifth one? She was a friend of mine too.” 

    “Correct.” Lilo said, nodding. “They’re some of Shego’s best. Pretty much only outclassed by the inner circle: Dan, Drakken, Killigan, and Monkey Fist.” 

     “Well… there’s still some hope. Clockwork sent us here because we need to grab the Tempus Simia, once we have that, he says he can fix the timeline, so Shego never kills Kim and her world takeover never happens.” Danny said, explaining why they were there. “Although… I’m not sure how we can do that. I imagine Shego’s got that under as much protection as she can manage, which probably means Dan is on standby near it. He’s got all my powers, but ten years extra experience using them. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to stand up to him.”

     “Because you have something he does not, dear boy.” A calm and reserved voice came from further inside. Vlad Masters stepped through a nearby doorframe, looking much older than the ten years time difference would suggest. “Daniel, my boy. It is good to see you.”

    “Vlad!” Danny exclaimed, transforming and interposing himself between his nemesis and Kim. “What are you doing here?” He asks, a sharp edge to his voice.

    “Making up for a lifetime of poor decisions.” The older man said somberly. “I see in your time I was a villain as well. I’m sad that the me of then can’t see the path he’s walking down.” Vlad stepped forward, holding his hands up. “As I’m sure Clockwork informed you, I have no powers. Dan stole my ghost half and used it to make himself whole. I’m just a frail old man now, my only strength being my mind.” Vlad’s gaze softened. “Whether or not you want to believe it, I changed. I had changed even before I lost my powers. When Maddie died and I took this world’s version of you in… I realized the errors of my ways. I’d been so corrupted by greed and the life I thought had been stolen from me, I had failed to realize I was always the thing that was in my own way of happiness. You and I lived together for only a few months before Dan… but while we were grieving, it was possibly the happiest I had ever been. I felt like I had a family, that you were my son, and we could find our peace in the world… such was not the case though, and now peace is known to no one.” 

     Danny was taken aback by this. Vlad wasn’t a good actor, he had survived in his world by playing off his inability to act by laying out his villainous schemes and expecting everyone else to think they were jokes. This though, this was serious, an earnestness in Vlad’s tone that was hard to ignore. “What do you mean by ‘I have something he doesn’t?’” Danny managed to ask. He didn’t have the bandwidth to process Vlad’s emotions right now, he could feel bad for that when he hopefully had the world saved.

    “A reason to fight.” Vlad said, recognizing what was important at this moment. “I’ve observed Dan more closely than anyone else, I know more about him than anyone. I know his limits, his powers, everything about him, because in essence he is still half me… and he’s not as strong as he should be.”

    “He seemed plenty strong though.” Danny said. He hadn’t exactly got to fight Dan for very long, but he certainly felt powerful. Maybe about as strong as Pariah Dark.

    “Certainly, but imagine Daniel, how strong you would be with ten more years of practice. How strong the me you know would be with another decade to learn. Does he compare? If my estimations are correct, you should have fought Pariah Dark before you were brought here, is that correct?” Vlad asked, and Danny nodded in response. “It likely took all you had, plus the power of the Ecto-Skeleton, but you did manage to defeat him. From there, you kept growing stronger and stronger. Tell me, you went from struggling to defeat the Box Ghost, to facing off against Fright Knight and Pariah Dark over the course of a year. Even assuming your growth wouldn’t be as rapid… Do you think you would only be this strong in 10 years? Even more with the 20 years of experience my half would have given you?” Vlad put forward.

    Danny had to admit… Dan didn’t seem THAT much stronger than him. Strong enough that it was certainly a problem. He couldn’t face him alone, but he did think that if he had Ember, Johnny, and Jake with him, they probably could handle him. That didn’t make much sense though if Dan had had the equivalent of thirty years of training with his powers, considering he had Vlad’s experience as well. “No… I feel like I’d be a lot farther ahead.”

    “I theorize that the strength of a ghost lies in their purpose, something deep down inside of them that drives them onward. They become more powerful by fulfilling that goal, by constantly striving for it. I reached my peak because I succeeded in my dreams of greed, the only things unavailable to me were the things money couldn’t buy. Maddie, a family, the Green Bay Packers, things I wanted but couldn’t purchase. If I could still strive for them, I would have gotten even stronger. You my boy, I believe your purpose was to help people. To be a hero and do good. Your ghost half has squandered his potential because he isn’t a hero, he doesn’t help anyone, he’s the thing they need help against. He has more time to work on his powers, and perhaps bits of my greed have empowered him slightly, but it’s not to the level it should be. He lacks a purpose, or is actively not seeking it. He’s stagnant, while you can grow and grow. I believe as you fight him, your inherent protective nature, your purpose to be the shield and sword for those who cannot fight for themselves, you’ll rapidly approach his strength. You won’t catch up ten years in a matter of seconds, but you can certainly close the gap.” Vlad said, full of confidence in the boy. “Especially for this instance. I can’t be sure you said the same in your world, but here when you fought Pariah Dark… you don’t have to win, you just have to make sure he loses.” 

     “You’ll have our support. The Oracle Twins said that you are our best chance to succeed, and they don’t steer us wrong. We don’t know if you will win, but we can hope, and hope is what has kept us going all this time.” Haley said, nodding at the pair of Danny and Kim. “We’ll work out a plan. One last hit to Shego and Dan. If it succeeds? This world never exists. If it fails? Then we keep fighting like we always have.”

     “If we could manage it… I would have liked to bring all the Cousins with us. I don’t think even Shego could handle over six hundred genetic experiments knocking at her door, but I don’t think that’s possible.” Lilo said, thinking a bit. “It’d also leave Kaua'i undefended. Having so many experiments here is the only reason Shego’s never managed to take it over. If we abandoned the island, we’d never be able to take it back while she is there.” 

     “I don’t think having all of them is necessary… or that it’d even really help. Our goal is just to get the Tempus Simia, for that a smaller infiltration team is best. Honestly, I wish the Spies hadn’t been brainwashed, they’d have been perfect for this.” Danny said, racking his brain for more of a plan.

    “Well, combatwise, our biggest concern is Dan, obviously.” Kim said, adding it in. “Keeping him out of Shego’s lair while we try and find the Tempus Simia should be priority one. That probably means that we should have Danny, Haley, and Jenny fight him, while I try and sneak in.”

    “You’ve got to worry about Drakken, Monkey Fist, and Killigan inside, alongside Shego. I’m sure you’re good, but you can’t take them alone. Stitch, Reuben, Jim and Tim should go with you.” Lilo said. “They’re the two heaviest hitting experiments that don’t run the risk of damaging the Tempus Simia, they’re also able to be subtle when they want to be.” Lilo gave Stitch a stern look before saying to him. “You’ll need to tone down the destruction until EVERYONE knows you’re there.”

    “Yeah, yeah.” Stitch said, as though he’d been given similar instructions a million times. Danny was glad to see that that hadn’t changed. He and Kim had kept in regular contact with the Lilo and Stitch of their world, keeping them up to date on missions, and working with them on developing plans for working together should it ever need to happen, so they’d gotten a good sense of how the pair interacted.

     “I’m worried about whether we'll be enough to keep him distracted on our own though.” Haley said, chewing her lip a bit. “Jenny and I have really only managed to hold him off for a couple minutes at a time while Jim, Tim, and Lilo handled other business. Even assuming we don’t need to keep his attention on us the ENTIRE time you’re in Shego’s base… it could still be upwards of half an hour you guys could be looking in there. Even if Danny here is half as strong as Dan is, keeping his attention that long without getting pounded into the dirt is going to be nearly impossible, especially since he can split himself into four. His duplicates aren’t as strong as the original, obviously, but they can still hold us off.” 

    Everyone’s faces downturned at that. It was a part they didn’t really seem to have much of an answer for. “You don’t have the Ecto-Skeleton or the Centurion Project lying around, do you?” Danny asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. 

     “Unfortunately not.” Vlad said, a sad look in his eye. “The Ecto-Skeleton was destroyed when Dan destroyed my castle after your death, and I’m afraid I’ve never even heard of this Centurion Project.”

    “I have, but it didn’t get off the ground before Shego started her reign of terror.” Jenny spoke up. “Mom used some of the breakthroughs made by that team in my design, but if the actual armor ever saw the light of day, it would have been destroyed alongside Global Justice.”

     “A shame that you never made any ghostly allies, Daniel.” Vlad said, shaking his head. “You managed to rally them against Pariah Dark in this timeline, but you only had their loyalty while fighting against him, never after that.”

    “Wait… this Danny didn’t ally with any of his ghosts?” Kim asked with a raised eyebrow. That was certainly a change. She’d been so used to having Ember, Technus, Johnny, Kitty, and now Youngblood in their lives that it was odd to think about them not being around and helping, especially in a situation this dire.

    “No, they were at best allied in certain circumstances. Skulker gave me a report about a breakout of Walker’s prison that they worked together during, and the aforementioned Pariah Dark incident, but that was it. Is that not the case in your timeline?” Vlad asked, seemingly surprised.

    “We’ve got multiple ghost friends… hell he’s dating Ember in our timeline.” Kim said, looking at Danny. “He and Johnny spar every other week, and Technus spends more time in the Fentonworks Lab than he does in his own realm.” 

     “Well, that’s all well and good, but what good does that do us here?” Vlad asked, a bit surprised by the notion, but skeptical of its use.

     “Well, assuming you all have a portal to the Ghost Zone I can use… I’ve gotten through to them once, I can do it again. Even assuming someone like Ember or Johnny is as strong as they were when I first met them? They should at least be enough to help slow him down.” Danny said, nodding to himself. “So, Vlad. Do you have a portal here?” 

     Vlad sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment. “I do… but I’m not sure this is a good idea. Who’s to say that they don’t just turn on you and kill you? They don’t have the history with you they do in your world, they have ten years of rage and resentment for everything Dan has done.”

    “Sure, maybe they do… but they might be the same people deep down. The same ones I know would stand by me through thick and thin.” Danny said resolutely. “Show me the portal, Vlad. I’ll get help. I know I can.” 

    Vlad looked on, as though he struggled to process the man he saw before him. Every bit the same and every bit different as the boy he’d taken in those years ago. The genetics, the powers, the heroic potential, all there, all present, but there was a change in him, something unlike what he had seen in his Danny. That one was immature, unrefined, a good hero, but not a great one, not yet. This Danny though… he was more realized. More like the man that Vlad believed he could have been, without the accident. Perhaps he could do it, perhaps he could undue this awful future. “Very well. I’ll take you to my portal. I am unsure if you can truly succeed, but I suppose the risk is worth taking.” 

    Kim walked over to Danny, pulling him in for a kiss before he walked off. “Just like recruiting over the summer. Only this time with fewer villain attacks maybe?” She snickered.

    “We can hope. I’ll be back, and once I am, we’ll take the fight to Shego.” Danny leaned down and placed one final kiss on her lips, before walking off with Vlad.

     “Wait, I thought you said he was dating Ember in your timeline?” Haley asked, her eyebrow raised. “Is he cheating on her with you?”

     “Nope, no cheating. He’s dating her, myself, Sammy, and Star, although I guess you guys wouldn’t know that last one.” Kim said, frowning a bit. She wondered what had happened to Star in this timeline, Danny hadn’t taken her to homecoming, they’d seen that in the brief vision Clockwork had shown them, but she hadn’t popped up anywhere else. It wasn’t much of a surprise that she hadn’t become one of the Femme Fatales, for all the progress Star had made since she started helping Danny with his ghost fighting, she just didn’t have the innate talent to be a hero in that way. She was their emotional support, a role that was just as important, if less active. “Let’s hope she’s on the moon… where it’s safe.” Kim said, letting herself believe that. If everything went well… it wouldn’t matter, she’d be safe in Danny’s arms, this world never having existed when they were done.

—-

     For all of the insanity the human world had gone through, the Ghost Zone remained the same as it had always been. The portal that Vlad had constructed on Kaua'i had shot him out in a different spot in the zone than the portal at Fentonworks always had, which was to be expected, but it did mean that he needed to reorient himself.

    “Alright… let’s see if I can find a landmark that means something.” Danny said, as he shot off into the zone. Thankfully, he had a good internal sense of direction, and was making note of the various rock formations he was passing using them as waystones should he need to find his way back. He was, however, quite surprised when he found the first location he could properly recognize: The Maul.

    The Maul was the Ghost Zone’s closest thing to a trading bazaar. Mostly neutral ground, it was where ghosts came to bargain with each other for the things they wanted or needed to live their lives comfortably. Johnny and Kitty were frequenters of this place, Johnny’s ability to summon tools and Kitty’s ability to summon clothes were usually in high demand, which allowed them to eke out a more than comfortable afterlife for themselves. They’d brought Danny a few times, usually under the guises of double dates with Ember, and had shown him how the average ghost lived their lives. It was almost indistinguishable from any other swap meet style location, a series of tents and pop-ups, with a few more permanent buildings for people who made things that required equipment, such as the Starbones Coffee that Kitty swore by.

     That was how it was in his timeline though, here… it was a disaster zone. Danny could make out the Starbones sign, although it was half destroyed and lying in the rubble of the building it had once occupied. The scattered remains of tents and benches were strewn about haphazardly, as though a tornado had swept through and reduced the entire location to the rubble it was now.

    “Dan did all this?” Danny asked aloud to no one. It seemed… so wrong to him that any version of himself would just… recklessly destroy stuff like this. He knew he had that kind of power, he’d seen what he was capable of breaking on accident, but he couldn’t imagine purposefully wreaking such devastation. Why would Dan even bother? What did he gain over removing one of the few neutral places in the Ghost Zone?

    “You sure did, punk.” A deep voice said from behind Danny. He turned in the air, coming face to face with a ghost he couldn’t recognize. The ghost was male, and quite tall, probably about as large as his father. He had a large square chin, and massive arms the size of tree trunks. His blue skin carried a tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it on one shoulder, and his face was adorned with a deep scowl and an eyepatch over one eye. A hook replaced one of his hands, and he wore overalls and a beanie. He was familiar, but Danny couldn’t place him.

    “I didn’t do this… I’m not him.” Danny said, trying to reason with the ghost before him, but it seemed pretty clear that whoever he was, he didn’t care about that.

    “No, I suppose you’re not. Doesn’t mean I won’t take it out on you though.” He lifted up his hand, and ectoplasmic constructs of cubes appeared, each one glowing with power. “Beware.”

    “Box Ghost?” Danny managed to get out, before the Box Ghost threw the cubes at him, the ectoplasmic explosion sending him flying back. He slammed into something hard and metal that he didn’t think was there before. Righting himself and turning around, he found a hulking mechanical ghost, with a burning skull head and a face on its stomach. “Technus? Skulker?”

    “That is SkulkTech 2.0 to you bub!” Technus said, his voice unchanged after all these years. “Skulker and I have combined our forces into one magnificent unit for the purposes of destroying you!”

    Box Ghost moved in closer, and other ghosts joined the fray. Danny recognized Ember first among them, still wielding her iconic guitar, but her body had changed drastically. The most notable change was of course her size. Ember had been a thin and athletically built woman in his time, but now she was quite large, the proverbial fat lady singing at the opera. Danny wasn’t sure how a ghost could let herself go like that, but had to imagine something had happened to her that had ruined her self-image, since that was what ghosts used to define themselves. The other two ghosts who joined them were Johnny and Kitty. Kitty’s change was nowhere near as drastic as the others were, she looked older, but no major changes beyond a new haircut. Johnny however, had changes beyond just his enhanced age, most notable of which was the wheelchair he now found himself bound to.

     “We’ve been waiting a long time to get our revenge on you, dipstick.” Ember said, a hoarseness to her voice that made it seem like the act of talking was painful for her. For a singer like Ember? That had to be torture.

    Johnny raised his hand as Shadow emerged from beneath the wheelchair. “You’re going to pay for ruining my legs, kid.” Johnny’s voice didn’t have any of the jovial nature it usually had, it was pure, uncontrolled malice.

     “This is what you get for destroying my voice with your ghostly wail!” Ember shouted, before charging in to smash him over the head with her guitar.

    It felt like time slowed to a crawl as he saw the raw hatred that flashed through Ember’s eyes upon seeing him. Even when she wasn’t a “good guy” she had never looked at him like that, and seeing that expression attached to the face of a woman he loved so much… well it hurt in ways Danny couldn’t really express. It felt like when Walker had overshadowed Kim and Star to ruin him, only this was worse, since this wasn’t manipulation, this wasn’t someone pretending to be Ember. This was Ember, hating him, or a version of him, of her own accord. Fighting all of them at once was foolish. Even if he could win, it would just put him in worse shape when he needed to be ready to fight Dan, he couldn’t afford this fight, and he needed to think of something, anything, to stop this fight.

    The thought came to him at the last possible moment, and he managed to say the words.

     “Amber McCain.” Danny managed to scream out. A single name that the Danny of this world would have never learned, a beacon of a different time, before all of this could have happened.

     Ember stopped her attack, looking at him oddly. “What? How did you…?” She asked, dumbfounded. The Ember of this world had told only one person about who she was before, and it certainly hadn’t been the dipstick.

    “You told me, in my timeline.” Danny said, pulling himself out of his flinching position. “I’m not Dan, the version of me you’ve been fighting. I’m from a timeline where… well where things played out very differently.” His gaze flicked across each of them, they were tense, angry, but they made no moves to continue their assault. Maybe they were willing to hear him out. “Ember, in my time, we fell in love with each other. During our first meeting, you used your powers to turn me into a love-sick puppy. You told me everything about who Amber was before Ember was born. I stopped you, but you turned over a new leaf. Didn’t try taking over the world again. We were- are, happy.” 

     “Yeah right, like you could-” Ember started, trying to discredit him, but Danny had an ace up his sleeve.

     “Your favorite food is spaghetti. At least in my time your ideal date was putting on a vinyl and playing board games in a double with Johnny and Kitty. You do your make-up like KISS, but your actual favorite band was AC/DC, and the first song you learned on guitar was Hotel California.” Danny rattled off a million tiny details that only someone who knew and loved her as much as he did would know. 

     Ember was dumbfounded, completely unable to believe that he knew so much about her. She knew he had to be from the past, his presence as the young Danny Phantom without the flaming hair proved that, but to know what he did, the only way he could was if she had told him. She’d thought he was cute back in the day, so hearing that a version of her acted on that wasn’t too strange, but… for them to be that close that she’d open her heart like that? “You… you’re not lying, are you dipstick?” She managed to croak out, her hoarse voice cracking with emotion.

    “Not at all, although I’m way more used to you calling me babypop.” Danny said, shooting her a smile, he turned around to Johnny and Kitty. “In my time, you two are some of my closest friends. Johnny, I know all about the truck, about what you never told Kitty about it. I know about how you two tried for years to have a kid, but couldn’t manage it. Kitty, I know you love board games and trashy romance novels more than anything, and how you used to secretly knit baby socks hoping to use them someday.” Danny would have never revealed that in any scenario before. Johnny had told him about the accident with the truck in confidence, never wanting Kitty to know about how he suffered for nearly an hour afterward when Kitty’s death had been instant. Kitty had also only told him about her knitting shortly after Youngblood joined their family, when they’d stumbled on a box while Danny was helping them make space for the child ghost.

     Johnny and Kitty joined Ember with their dumbfounded expressions. It was even harder for them to believe that they had such a close relationship with Danny than it was for Ember. Johnny had only ever viewed Danny as a nuisance, and Kitty had only ever seen him as a way to make Johnny jealous. To be that close was something difficult to comprehend, but it was clear Danny knew things that they had never told anyone.

     “What, whelp. You intend to tell me all about how we’re best buddies in your timeline?” Skulker scoffed, causing Danny to turn his attention to him. “I know who I am, I’d never stop until I mounted your head on my wall.”

    “You’re right. We’re not friends in my timeline. Your goals are pretty much the same. Technus though…” Danny started, moving his gaze to where the technoghost’s face was on the suit’s chest. “Nikolai Techmann, of Leipzig University? A pioneer of computer science before that was even a real discipline. In my timeline, you help my parents develop all kinds of cool gadgets, without you, the Ecto-Skeleton wouldn’t have been available to stop Pariah Dark.”

    Technus’s face furrowed in thought at what Danny had said. It lined up a lot with what he would have imagined he would have done if Danny hadn’t given him the idea to take over the world, which he had decided to do out of lack of any other goals. 

     “I don’t have anything I can say for you unfortunately, Box Ghost. We tend to just fight and I put you back in the zone. Nothing fancy on that front.” Danny didn’t see the point of lying to the Box Ghost about anything. Even if he could make up some story about them being good friends, he didn’t know enough about him to provide details to make it convincing.

    “Fine, assuming we believe you about all this, what do you expect us to do about it?” Johnny asked, his tone having softened, but still carrying an edge to it.

    “I was brought to this timeline to stop it from happening. This timeline exists because a woman called Shego used an artifact to travel back in time and kill someone very important to me. That sent ripples through the timeline that eventually resulted in the event that turned me into Dan, as well as everything else that happened. We’re going to try and get the artifact, and undo everything, making this timeline having never existed. Even if you don’t like me… surely you can recognize you deserve a better life than this.” Danny gestured at the fractured remains of the Maul, a microcosm of all the damage that Dan had done to the Ghost Zone, to the world as a whole. “We have three people who are strong enough to at least slow Dan down. What I’m asking for is your help. You want to fight Dan? I’m giving you the best possible chance I can of you beating him. Even if we can’t fully put him down, we just need to stall him for long enough for the other team to grab the artifact to undo everything.”

     Ember locked her gaze onto Danny’s for a moment, judging his conviction. “You think you can do it?” She asked.

    “I have no clue in all honesty. But I know I have something I care for way too much to let this world exist. I have a family, friends, and four girls who love me that don’t exist properly in this timeline, and that’s something I’ll fight for to my last breath, and then if I become a full ghost? Even longer.” Danny said with a resolute nod. A brief flash of inspiration came to him, as he pulled out his phone, pulling up pictures. “Here, proof I have a world worth fighting for.”

    Danny showed them group pictures of them happy and smiling. Danny and Ember at a record store. Danny and Johnny sparring while Kitty and Ember cheered from the sidelines. Danny and Technus working on some ghost hunting equipment. “I’ll be fighting Dan, with or without you. But we’re a lot more likely to win if we do it together.” Danny said, looking over the gathered ghosts.

    “I’ll do it, babypop.” Ember said, conviction in her hoarse voice. “If there’s a world where I’m as happy as I look in those pictures? I’ll fight for it.”

    “I shall as well.” Technus said, before looking up at Skulker. “You desire the head of Dan Phantom? We shall have it today.”

    Skulker paused for a moment, grumbling before saying “Fine, but only for the trophy. I don’t care for your silly friendship in an alternate timeline.”

    “Well, I suppose Dan’s getting an express delivery of a butt whooping.” Box Ghost said, nodding. 

     “I’d come with, but I’m no good in a fight anymore.” Johnny said, gesturing to his wheelchair. “You’d think flying would mean that a lack of usable legs isn’t a problem, but it slows you down a lot. I’m sorry, but I can’t help.” Kitty just nodded alongside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I wish you luck though, for what little bit I can. This world… it ain’t worth livin’ in. For what little life us ghosts have. Take him down, kid.”

    Danny shot the alternate version of his friend a smile, happy to know that there was still some of the Johnny he knew in there. “We’ll kick him to the curb. You’ll never even notice this timeline happened.” 

     With that, Danny, Skulktech, Ember, and the Box Ghost flew back towards the portal, readying themselves for the upcoming battle.

—-

    The rebellion loaded themselves into the transport, which Jim and Tim said is called the Kimminator Mark XII, named in memory of their sister, and began heading towards Middleton, where Shego’s primary base of operations was. Kim looked over everyone who is gathered, Lilo, Stitch, Reuben, Jim, Tim, Haley, Jenny, Ember, Box Ghost, and Skulktech, thankful that they have the backup, but she can’t help herself but to ask: “You all know that if we succeed… this timeline never happened right? You all have twelve years of lives you lived that are just going to be gone. How are you all so okay with erasing it?”

    “Because those twelve years weren’t worth living.” Lilo said, sighing. “I suppose the first few weren’t too bad for me. Shego’s reign of terror didn’t really start until around 2026.” She looked off into the distance for a moment before continuing. “At first it was just… far away. Didn’t seem like much changed day to day. We were busy keeping the peace with all the cousins, having talks with the Galactic Council, business as usual. Then the news said Iceland fell. Then Greenland. Before long all of Europe was under her boot. Then Dan showed up and it looked like they might take each other out, and then they teamed up. The rest of the world didn’t last long after that. Places with space ports managed to get a few million people to the moon, but not everywhere was able to. Shego tried attacking Kaua'i, but we managed to drive her off. Kaua'i’s small, so over six hundred weapons of mass destruction are pretty capable of defending it. We put out the word that if you could make it to Kaua'i, we’d keep you safe. That worked out well for a while, but then it became obvious it wasn’t sustainable. Kaua'i isn’t built to feed millions, even with Sprout supercharging all of the food supply. Shipments from the Moon helped a bit, but they’re having a similar problem. Then… someone got sick. We’re not sure exactly how, but we had a massive flu epidemic on the island. The hospital and clinics we had set up got completely overcrowded and… a lot of people died. Nani died. Entirely because we couldn’t get access to enough medicine to keep people well. I’m willing to let this timeline go, because it took my family from me. In your time, I still have Nani, and the odds that the world gets to such a point that Kaua'i can’t treat the flu are low. I might not have Tim in that timeline, but I’m sure you’ll introduce us.” Lilo smiled a bit at that, as she reached over to take Tim’s hand.

     “I’d give up Lilo if it meant that she got her sister back. Especially since it would mean I got mine back as well.” Tim said with a sad smile. “After you died… things were hard. Ron shut down, Mom and Dad were effectively zombies, it was just… tougher than we ever thought it could be. Jim and I lost a lot of our drive to build and tinker, because our first thought had always been what you would say when we showed it to you. When Shego started taking over the world… We helped Dad work on the logistics of getting people to the moon, and developed the early versions of the laser guns we use now. We were about to head off-world with them… but we realized we had the ability to fight back. That we needed to make use of it. So we did. Then we heard about what was going on in Kaua'i and made our way there with Dr. Wakeman. We fight for the possibility of a better future, we’ll fight for a better past too.” Tim finished, with Jim nodding in assent.

     “I lost my family too, Mom is still alive on Kaua'i, and Dad… is probably still alive in New York, although I don’t know that for sure, but Dan himself killed Jake and Grandpa and Fu and Sun. They bought me time to get away, and Mom and I ran while Dad stalled for us so we could find a safe place. We made it to Kaua'i, with Mom joining the local kitchens to make sure there was enough food getting made, but it was still a massive struggle. If I can help a world where Jake didn’t have to die? I’ll give up everything to make it happen.” Haley added, resolve on her face as she transformed her hand into a claw and gripped it tightly.

    “What about you, Jenny? You have the most to lose out of everyone, since you don’t exist in our time.” Kim asked, turning her attention to the robotic girl.

    Jenny let out a sigh, which Kim thought was odd, since as a robot she shouldn’t need lungs. “It is something I’ve worried about, but… I was built to protect the world and stop Shego and Dan at all costs. Even aside from my programming though, I’ve come to love Haley and Lilo and Jim and Tim as my brothers and sisters. I know how hard losing their families has been on them, and I know they would be happier with them around.” Jenny looked over them, letting a smile come across her face. “If they get their families back? If the world doesn’t become this? I’ll handle not existing. Besides, if you two go back… you can get my mom to make me again. Even if she’s not completely ME, she’ll be close. Some part of me will exist, and what I did will still matter.”

    Haley leapt at Jenny, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her face into the robot’s shoulder. Kim locked eyes with Danny, and they knew that they would have to make sure that Jenny, or some version of her, gets to exist in their world. It might take ten years, but they wouldn’t let someone who was willing to give so much not have some hope for a future.

—-

     Landing in Middleton, Kim and her team snuck themselves into the sewers to make their way towards Shego’s lair, while Danny, Haley, Jenny, Skulktech, Ember, and Box Ghost readied themselves for their upcoming fight with Dan.

    “So, do you guys have any ideas for getting his attention?” Danny asked, looking over at the gathered team. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his nerves flaring up in anticipation of the brawl that was about to occur. Danny had fought stronger foes than him on many occasions. Vlad was stronger than him when they first fought, as was Walker, Ember, Fright Knight, and Pariah Dark, among a few others. He knew how to handle fighting a superior opponent, and this time he even had backup, five others who had fought against Dan multiple times before. People who knew how he fought, and maybe had the capacity to get the upper hand, even in short bursts. While the end goal was just to stall him until Kim could get the Tempus Simia, beating him was certainly an option. It was just a matter of if they could do it.

    “Well, Boxy. This was always your specialty.” Ember managed to say, looking over to the buff ghost.

     “Beware.” He gritted out, the words echoing through the space as for a brief moment, Danny felt more claustrophobic than he ever had in his life. As though he was placed inside of a box that was constantly shrinking.

     “What was that?” Danny asked, his eyebrows raised in complete shock after he shook off the effects of whatever Box Ghost had done.

     “Replication of a power Dan has.” Box Ghost said, glancing around. “His does damage, but mine makes people feel trapped. It should be more than enough to get his attention.”

    “For that, my old enemy, you’d be right.” Dan said, floating down from on high and glaring at the gathered combatants. “Didn’t stay in Kaua'i long… and I see you brought backup.” His gaze flicked over everyone. “How are those vocal chords, Ember? Still broken?” 

    “Wouldn’t you like to know, dipstick?” Ember managed to say, her voice rough from the damage he had done before.

    “I see you still haven’t come up with any other nicknames.” Dan chuckled, before locking his eyes on Haley. “It’ll be rather nice to kill the last dragon in America. Maybe I’ll turn you into a throw rug, it would be a nice gift for Shego.” 

    “Not on your afterlife, creep!” Haley growled, her pink scales prickling as small wisps of smoke bellowed from her nostrils. 

    “Well, you obviously wanted my attention for something. Intending to kill me then? Let’s see if you even can.” Dan said, before splitting into four, each duplicate charging at a different member of the team. 

     Danny met his future counterpart’s duplicate head on, locking their hands together in a test of strength, not all too dissimilar than what he did with Vlad on their first meeting. Both sides pushed with all of their might, the ground beneath them beginning to crumble as they exerted their energy. Their bodies glowed with green ectoplasmic auras, the air itself beginning to taste like ozone as their very essence ionized it. “Face it Daniel, you can’t win this. I’ve got thirty years of experience on you. You’re nothing.” Dan said with a cocky grin, he leaned forward, using his height advantage over Danny to get some more leverage, pushing him deeper into the ground. 

     “Yeah, but I’ve got something to fight for, Dan. Something that matters more to me than anything else.” Danny said, as his energy exploded the green aura bursting out and contacting Dan, forcing him to loosen his grip. Danny capitalized on it, delivering a solid punch to his future self’s jaw.

    In that second of contact, an image shot through Danny’s mind. He saw himself on his knees, crying at a crater where the Nasty Burger once stood. As soon as it came though, the image vanished, leaving only a fragment of a memory in its place. “What on Earth?” Danny asked, surprised and confused. 

    “Hmm… I wondered if that would be the case.” Dan said, rolling his neck as he pulled himself from the rubble Danny had knocked him into. “We’re sharing memories. We’re two beings who shouldn't exist at the same time, if we get too close… we’ll bleed into each other.” Dan’s grin grew wider, his fangs glinting in the evening sun. “That’ll be fun… corrupting you a second time.” 

     Haley and Jenny were handling their duplicate decently well. The dragon/robot team had plenty of experience fighting alongside each other, and with Dan’s power split due to his duplication, they stood a much better chance than they normally did. Haley let loose a gout of flame that consumed the ghost, as Jenny shot up into the sky, morphing her arm into a plasma cannon and firing burst after burst of energy into their adversary. The Dan duplicate was certainly not a fan of the damage he was taking, although it seemed like it wasn’t slowing him down very much. He charged forward, grabbing Haley by the throat and dragging her through the street, leaving a long shallow trail where her toughened scales tore up the concrete. Just as Dan raised his other hand to summon forth an ecto-ray, Jenny swooped in and knocked him off of her, before firing her cannon point blank into his face.

—-

     Entering Shego’s lair wasn’t quite as difficult as Kim imagined it was going to be, but she imagined when you had an army at your disposal, and brainwashed citizens, you probably didn’t need to worry too much about home defense. Finding the Tempus Simia though, was going to be a challenge. Shego’s taste for luxury had not gone away with her takeover of the world, if anything it had gotten worse, and as such her home was a massive skyscraper, perfect for overlooking her domain, but annoying to search, as it was dozens of floors tall, each with dozens of rooms. “So, Kim. You probably know more about Shego than we do on like, a personal level.” Jim said, leading into a thought. “Where do you think she’d keep her Tempus Simia thing?”

    “Shego’s all ego. It’s literally over half of her name.” Kim said, lightly chuckling at her own pun. “She’d keep it somewhere she could gloat or fawn over it often. So… like a living room or a bedroom? Or whatever a supervillain equivalent of that would be.” 

     “And with an ego like that, that’s penthouse level.” Lilo said, slinging her laser rifle underneath her arm. “Let’s find an elevator. I don’t feel like climbing forty flights of stairs, and I bet Shego doesn’t either.” 

     Finding an elevator wasn’t hard, for all of Shego’s power, she seemed to have decided to keep to conventional building design, so there was more than sufficient signage to help them find an elevator. Shego however, didn’t seem to like the standard elevator music, so instead of that a section of an Aerosmith song played. Kim frowned a little at that, mostly because it made her think of Star since Aerosmith was her favorite band, and she was dealing with a world that didn’t have either of her best friends in it. It filled her with an even deeper determination to fight on though, and make this future just a bad nightmare.

     The elevator they found didn’t take them all the way to the penthouse. It stopped a floor below, opening to a scene Kim could at best describe as eerie. She’d heard Danny, Ember, and Technus describe the orange-red brick walls that Pariah’s castle had been made of, and while she believed them they existed, she hadn’t imagined how vibrant, and how unsettling they were until she saw them with her own eyes. Dan seemed to have taken his decorating style from the Ghost King, using the horrifying bricks as the primary material for the walls of his floor. 

    “Yeesh. Surprised Shego lets him get away with something this ugly.” Tim managed to say, as they took careful steps into the room. There was a small curved corridor from the elevator, before it opened up into the large circular room that made up Dan’s lair. Gothic furniture filled the space, dark leather couches and chairs, with ash grey tables and bookshelves. The place was spotless, unnervingly so, as though no one ever touched it for any purpose but to clean. The centerpiece of the room though, was rather shocking. A large obsidian black throne stood tall, with glowing green skull decorations at the end of the arm rests, set with bright red gemstones in the eyesockets. Kneeling next to it, although with her lower body as it was, more like coiled, was a familiar wishing ghost.

     “Desiree?” Kim managed to ask, surprised to see the woman here. 

     “Hmm… another of the Femme Fatales? Did the master take a liking to you? You’re awfully young.” Desiree asked, rising up from her place and floating over to her. “A redhead is new… I’m surprised he would take one, given his past.”

    “No, I’m not one of the Femme Fatales… what happened to you?” Kim asked, shocked. 

    “After the master, Dan, became an adult he started… having urges. He claimed that as the strongest ghost, it was his right to take whichever ghost he wished as his companion, and chose me, saying I was the most beautiful. I perhaps think it was because he could make me the most subservient. The Supreme One, Shego, doesn’t care too much that her lover has other dalliances, since she views herself as superior to everyone else so I am, at most, a distraction for when she doesn’t feel like allowing his advances.” Desiree said, her voice resigned.

    “You’re like, one of the most powerful ghosts he’s ever fought though.” Kim said, and that was very true. Desiree’s wish granting abilities put her at a level beyond what most ghosts could do, and with a proper wish being asked, it seemed likely she could cause as much damage as someone like the Fright Knight, or Pariah Dark if one was so inclined. “Can’t you just wish yourself free?”

    “I cannot.” Desiree said with a deep sigh. “He wished to have complete power over me. I can no longer grant a wish he does not allow, assuming I am able to grant wishes at all.” The beautiful ghost looked out upon the world below, her hand touching the glass of the large window that allowed Dan to see the world he’d conquered. “After all this time, I am simply back in a lamp. It’s bigger, but still crushingly small. A harem girl once more, at the whims of my master, no agency of my own.” 

    Kim’s heart stung with sympathy for the poor ghost girl. Desiree was an enemy in her time, a ghost who had messed with their lives on no less than two occasions, with no remorse for her actions… but she didn’t deserve this. “We’re going to fix this, Desiree. We’ll make sure this never happened.” Kim promises. 

    At that moment though, an alarm begins blaring through the building, and from the elevator, a familiar quintet appears. Sammy, Alex, Clover, Valerie, and Rose step out, getting into fighting stances. “By the power of The Supreme One, you are under arrest. Submit for re-education or die.” Rose calls out, her tone laced with a lethal edge.

     “The Femme Fatales!” Jim called out, readying his laser rifle. “T and I will handle this.” He said, taking aim at Rose.

     “You go find what we’re looking for!” Tim said, duplicating himself before charging into the fray. Kim had to wonder if this version of her brothers had managed to figure out telepathic communication between themselves, because they acted as one unit spread across multiple bodies. Taking advantage of their twin nature, and Tim’s duplication powers, they constantly shuffled their positions, leaving the Femme Fatales to lose track of whichever one could shrink. This led to him constantly getting the upper hand against them, landing solid uppercut after uppercut as he combined his Bulky Bar enhanced strength with his shrinking and growing abilities.

    Kim was thankful for her brothers, and she, Lilo, Stitch, and Reuben used the opportunity to rush towards the stairs that they thought would lead them up to Shego’s penthouse. At the top though, they came across a trio of villains Kim recognized.

    “Well well well, if it isn’t Kim Possible, I see you made some friends in this timeline.” Drakken said condescendingly. Drakken had changed a lot in this timeline. The formerly small-handed scientist was now a large towering behemoth of a man, possibly twelve feet tall with muscles on muscles. Kim noticed the HenchCo muscle ring on his finger, and imagined that had to be part of it. “Like my new look? Shego informed me that in your timeline I wasn’t the magnificent specimen I am here. It took a long time, but I managed to create the ultimate muscle formula. Bulky Bars, the HenchCo ring, and a bit of added zest.” Drakken grinned evilly. “It’s a shame that Shego requested she get to kill you herself for a second time. I would enjoy squeezing you until you pop.”

    “Indeed, it would be quite an enjoyable experience.” Monkey Fist said from his place beside the bulky scientist. “Shego informed me we have little in the way of a personal grudge in your timeline, that mine was more with your sidekick. Such is not the case in this timeline. Without you in the picture… nothing stopped me from obtaining the true power of the mystical monkey idols.” Monkey Fist pulled out some kind of katana, which morphed in his hands to become a kind of staff. If Ron were here, he would recognize the Lotus Blade in an instant, but sadly, he was not.

    “The wee Lass will get what’s coming to her, I’m sure.” Duff Killigan said, his Scottish brogue coming through slightly tinny as he spoke through a speaker. The golfer seemed to have replaced large parts of his body with robotic parts, leaving him more machine now than man. His robot body shared a lot of the design language with the Bebes, which made Kim think it was a Drakken creation, although it was notably masculine compared to the feminine nature of the Bebes. “She’s down for 18 holes of pain for all she did to us in the other timeline.” An evil grin spread across his face, as he reached behind him to grab something. The action-oriented Lilo though, didn’t give him the chance to do anything, as she blasted him in the face with her laser rifle.

    “It’s four on three, Drakken’s big, but Stitch can take him!” Lilo said, as she fired more and more laser blasts into the cyborg golfer.

    “How wrong the little girl is.” Monkey Fist said, before closing his eyes and focusing for a bit. He glowed a sickening red color, as he split into two, then four, then eight.

    “Wego’s power? You have it?” Kim asked, dumbfounded. 

    “Indeed. That little power siphon that the resistance made to transfer Team Go’s powers was rather impressive, but it was foolish of them to think that my brilliant mind couldn’t reverse engineer it to take the powers from our prisoners.” Drakken said, an evil grin as he glowed a brilliant blue, grabbing a nearby pillar and wielding it like a club.

    “Hego too?” Kim managed to squeak out, before Drakken brought the pillar down on her location with a loud thud. Her reaction time let her move out of the way, but it was a near thing. 

    Stitch launched himself at Drakken, the three foot tall kaiju growing his extra set of arms as the pair of enhanced beings tested their strength against each other. Kim had seen Stitch’s strength, had tested it alongside Global Justice when working with the team, so they would have a barometer of his abilities. Stitch could lift three thousand times his body weight, which came up to exactly one hundred and eighty tons. That was stronger than anyone else Kim knew, even Danny couldn’t match that strength… and Drakken seemed to be keeping pace. The massive slab of muscle that was once her dad’s college buddy was keeping up in a strength contest against the genetically engineered apex predator of the galaxy. 

    Kim didn’t have much time to process that though, as she started getting swarmed by the Monkey Fist duplicates. Fortunately for her, it seemed they could not duplicate the Lotus Blade with Wego’s powers, so she only had to worry about the barrage of punches and kicks that were sent her way by the perfectly synchronized masters of monkey kung-fu. Reuben, who had followed Stitch’s lead and brought out his extra arms, seemed to be holding his own well enough against the tide of villain copies, fighting off the primary one with the Lotus Blade, as well as the many duplicates who swarmed him, but it was clear he was beginning to tire. One could only swat at gnats for so long before their muscles gave out, and without the overwhelming offense that Stitch might have been able to provide to keep the pressure off of all of them… it seemed like they would simply be overwhelmed in time.

—-

    Their plan of overwhelming offense seemed to be working against Dan, Danny noticed. He and Jenny seemed decently capable of handling any Dan duplicate on their own, and Skulktech, Haley, Box Ghost, and Ember were more than capable of turning two on one battles to their favor. This had pushed Dan into a corner. The six of them were certainly beaten and battered, but Dan was in far worse shape than they were.

     “Give it up, Dan, you can’t win! We’ve got you dead to rights.” Danny called out, filling himself with more bravado than he felt. Realistically this still could go either way. He could only guess at how well any of the ghosts were doing, and comparing Haley to his estimations of Jake from what time they’d worked together. Jenny wasn’t winded, she likely couldn’t be given that she was a robot, and had mentioned on the ride over here that as long as there was sunlight, she probably couldn’t really run out of power. She was just too efficient at absorbing it, and could combine it with an in-built cold-fusion reactor that gave her an extra boost. He knew he was far from done… but had to imagine that Dan had a similar amount of stamina.

    “Dead to rights huh?” Dan mused, absorbing his duplicates into himself. The air around them turned chilly, as though the very thought of warmth itself was being eradicated. “There’s certainly something going to be dead, but I don’t think it’s what you want. Shego had wanted the honor of killing you herself, said that I already had the chance once, and she wanted a go. She’d also wanted the robot brought in, so she could reprogram it to be under her control, it was by far the largest thorn in our side. I think she’ll get over it though, if I just end this all now.” He planted his feet solidly in the ground, before taking a deep inhale.

    Time seemed to slow down, as Box Ghost and Ember moved in front of him. An ecto-energy construct of a large rectangular prism appeared in front of them, and Ember struck a large powerchord, sending a shockwave of purple ectoplasmic energy in Dan’s direction, but it wasn’t enough.

     “OOOOOOoooOOOOOO.” Came the unearthly sound from Dan’s mouth, a wail of incomprehensible volume and power, that rocked the very ground beneath their feet. It hit against Ember’s soundwave, overpowering it completely like it wasn’t even there. It slammed into Box Ghost’s barrier, which seemed to hold for a brief moment.

    “Get to the tower. You need to find that Monkey thing. Skulktech has one last ace up his sleeve, but it’s not going to stop him. Just slow him down.” Ember said, before shoving him, Jenny, and Haley away. “Save the world, babypop. Thanks for making a version of me happy.”

    Box Ghost and Ember were swallowed whole by the ectoplasmic onslaught, vanishing into nothingness. Danny didn’t even have the time to process that before Haley and Jenny grabbed him, pulling him away from the fight.

    Skulktech latched onto Dan, locking their limbs tightly around the ghost. “Aw… what is this? Giving me a big hug?” Dan asked, condescendingly, twisting his head around 180 degrees to look Skulker in the eyes of his suit.

    “Limbs locked, Ecto-Skeleton self-destruct sequence engaged.” Technus said, before the technoghost grabbed the small blob that was Skulker and escaped from the armor, dashing away as fast as they could.

     The world went silent for a moment, before a massive explosion tore through downtown Middleton. The very ground shook as a large, ectoplasm green mushroom cloud appeared in the spot that Dan had been grabbed. Danny didn’t know if his future self could survive that, but he couldn’t stick around to find out.

    Danny phased Haley and Jenny through the windows of Shego’s tower, landing in the middle of a large throne room. Danny could see the Tempus Simia, sitting delicately on a pedestal, the silver monkey glowing in the mood lighting that surrounded it.

     Unfortunately, they were not alone in the throne room, as Shego looked on with a wicked smile as she saw them. “Well, well, well… if it isn’t flyboy and the resistance. You got away from Dan, did you? I’ll have to let him know he isn’t getting any tonight for being a bad boy.” Shego said, saying the last part in the same tone one would use to talk to a baby.

    “Your tyranny ends today, Shego!” Jenny said, readying her arm cannon.

     “I don’t think so, actually.” Shego said, before Jenny let out an ear-splitting scream. Duff Killigan appeared from behind her, a tendril extending from his hand and into Jenny’s body.

    “Ooh, the robo-lass has firewalls on firewalls, but t’aint nothing ol’ Duff can’t handle.” Killigan said with a wicked grin on his face.

     “Jenny!” Haley called out, as she tried to leap to her robot friend’s aid, but she was restrained quickly by a cage that formed around her, courtesy of Monkey Fist’s Lotus Blade.

     “Not so fast, Dragon. I believe Shego made it very clear you weren’t succeeding today. After all, you wouldn’t want the rest of your resistance to crumble, would you?” Monkey Fist asked, as everyone’s attention was drawn towards the door. The goliath Drakken was guiding in the restrained members of the other party, all in binder cuffs that were apparently strong enough that even Stitch couldn’t break them. Danny and Kim locked eyes with each other, and Danny’s shoulders just slumped. There were simply too many enemies now, with everyone but him out of commission, it simply wasn’t possible for him to take them all on. The Femme Fatales walking in behind the prisoners was unfortunately just icing on the cake.

      “Goodie! Everyone is here.” Shego said, a pleased grin on her face. “I’ll just have to wait for Dan to get here and we can kill all of you! I did promise him he’d get to kill the Dragon and little Kimmie here. I already got to kill A Kim Possible after all, it’s only fair he get the chance.” 

    “You don’t have to wait long, dear.” The voice of Dan came as he phased through the glass wall. “Sorry for the delay, It seems Skulker and Technus managed to get one over on me… I’ll have to ensure they never have a second chance.”

    Shego walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him down for a kiss, the very sight causing Danny and Kim to cringe. For Danny, it was simply gross watching Shego kiss a version of him, and for Kim it was also heartbreaking. “Don’t worry too much about it, big guy. Now, come on! We’ve got all these captives we get to kill.” Shego grinned maniacally, looking at them. “Would you reconsider letting me turn the Dragon into a Fatale though? I know you wanted to kill the whole set, but she’d be so good for the job.”

    “She’s too dangerous to be kept alive, besides, you already have enough Fatales.” Dan said, as he walked up to Danny and grabbed him by the face. Closing his eyes for a second and simply breathing in. “Ah… all these memories flooding in of the other timeline… it’s quite a sight you know.” Dan’s smirk grew darker as he glanced over the Fatales. “Ooh, it seems your top Fatales are very familiar to him. I knew Valerie was someone important to Danny Fenton… but it seems the others are as well. The former Huntsclan girl was a friend… as were the black and blonde haired ones there. But the redhead? Oh… he loved her. Kim and Ember, and another girl from the past… Star. Seems I formed a harem in that timeline too.”

    “Seems you two aren’t as different as we thought you would be.” Shego said, an evil grin on her face as she looked over him. “I know you want to, but you aren’t killing my Fatales just to make him suffer. They’re useful.”

    “I didn’t plan on it dear… I certainly thought about it, but I know how much you enjoy your little side project.” Dan said, releasing his grip on Danny’s face. “I already killed one of his little girlfriends… Ember didn’t survive her encounter with my ghostly wail. Tell me dear… are you okay holding off on killing him until we acquire the other one? I’d like to make him watch as I kill every girl he loved, and THEN let you kill him. I believe that would be very satisfactory."

    “Fine, I suppose I can wait. Although you’ll need to kill Kimmie here first. I won’t let her just stick around because you want to play with your food.” Shego said, looking at her lover. “Start with her, I need to see the light leave her eyes so I can know my rule is absolute.”

    “Ooh, let us watch as well… Kim Possible was all of our enemy after all.” Drakken said, and Shego merely nodded in assent as he, Killigan, and Monkey Fist stepped around to watch Dan perform his work.

    “Now then Kimmie.” Dan said, as he placed his hand on her head. “I believe it’s time to face the music. Goodbye Kim Possible, and thank you, for the world your death allowed my dear lover to build.” Dan’s hand began to tighten its grip on Kim’s head, forcing her to let out a yowl of pain.

     Danny felt his blood, his ectoplasm, his very being come to a boil as he was forced to watch Kim be in such pain. The woman he loved more than almost anything. He’d failed to save Ember in this timeline. He failed to save Sammy. He couldn’t save Kim, and he wouldn’t be able to save Star. He had let everyone down, his world was going to end because he wasn’t good enough. Wasn’t strong enough to beat Dan. To beat himself.

He lost.

No.

NO.

“NOOOOOoooOOOOOO!" Shot forth from Danny’s mouth, an ectoplasmically infused wail that rocked the foundations of the skyscraper they were in. The glass walls of the room they were in shattered instantly, the floor starting to give way as the villains were hit head first with the result of Danny’s rage, of Danny’s pain.

     Killigan went first, his robotic body being blasted apart under the strain of the attack. He fell to pieces, and likely instantly perished from all of his life supporting systems failing all at once.

     Monkey Fist was next. He tried to use his duplicates to hold on to one of the standing support beams, creating more and more in a chain of monkeys to try and hold on, but as the beam itself gave way he was left without a grip. It was doubtful he would survive the fall.

    Drakken followed soon after. The HenchCo ring broke, overwhelmed with the energy in the air and reducing Drakken’s size substantially. He was thrown from the tower, meeting a similar fate to Monkey Fist.

    Shego followed soon behind, having been just out of the range of the initial wail, but got in it as Danny moved towards Dan, towards the woman he loved to get him away from her. Her body was unprepared for the trauma, and simply shut down.

    Dan was forced to release his grip immediately as the wail started, a look of surprise and confusion on his face as he watched his younger self perform the move he developed. “No… It’s not possible! I took ten years to develop that technique, there’s no way you could do it!” Dan fought against the attack for as long as he could, but it wore on him. His body began to destabilize as so much ectoplasmic energy began to overload his system.

    Danny was forced to catch his breath for a brief moment, looking at his future self. He glanced back to Kim, who was looking at him with wide, but thankful eyes, still alive, and reasonably well. His attention turned back to Dan. “You underestimate me Dan. I have something you don’t have, something that will mean I’m always stronger than you. A reason to fight. I don’t do this for fame, or glory, or power. I fight to keep those I love safe. You don’t love anything Dan, and that’s why you lose.” Danny inhaled once more, before letting loose his ghostly wail again.

    The power in this one seemed even greater than the one before, as it felt as though the very fabric of reality began to shake around them. The massive soundwave caused the air to shift and bend in odd ways, as Dan’s body began to pulse in time with the soundwaves that echoed through the air, and when Danny finally stopped his onslaught Dan was nowhere to be seen.

     Drained of his energy, Danny was forced out of his Phantom state, collapsing to his knees to catch his breath. Kim ran over, kneeling beside him. “Are you alright, Danny?” She asked, concern evident on her face.

    “I’ll be fine, just… drained.” Danny said, forcing himself up. “We need to grab the Tempus Simia.” He pointed over to the idol, trying to limp his way over to it. 

    The Femme Fatales formed a line between them, their expressions serious and full of anger. “You will pay for your murder of The Supreme One and her lover!” Valerie called out, a laser cannon emerging from her wrist as she pointed it towards the group. 

    Haley shot forward, the cage she was in having turned back into a katana without Monkey Fist to keep its shape, tackling the former ghost hunter to the ground. “Get the monkey, make it so none of this ever happened!” 

    Danny and Kim nodded, running to the idol and placing their hands on it. As they did, time stopped, and Clockwork appeared. “Well done you two. You have succeeded.” Clockwork said, floating over to them as he shifted from baby to old man to adult.

    “It wasn’t easy.” Danny said, collapsing to the ground. Kim held out the statue for Clockwork to take.

    “Nothing worth doing ever is.” Clockwork said, looking over the frozen moment in time. “I shall put the timeline back to its proper order… and destroy this accursed monkey so that it cannot change the course of events ever again.”

     “What will happen with this timeline, then?” Kim asked, stepping forward and looking over this world’s version of their friends. While she was upset at the reason it had to happen, she was proud to see Jim, Tim, Lilo, and Haley grow into this world’s next set of heroes. It made her wonder if she should consider starting her version of Jim and Tim down that path. 

     “It will cease to be. There are technically infinite timelines, including ones where similar starting events occurred, but they are natural. That timeline in particular was caused by Shego’s interference with the time stream. Had she not gone back into the past, that future simply would not occur, and therefore with her meddling undone, it exists no longer. Your current course of events will return to how it was before, with the infinite branching possibilities availing themselves to you.” Clockwork said, looking to them. “Let us reconvene in my tower. You will need to be rested for what comes next.”

    Kim looked on at the Resistance sadly as the world around them faded and shimmered, her gaze locked on Jenny. She could guide Haley, Lilo, Jim and Tim to become the next great heroes, in some ways Haley and Lilo were already on their way, while Jim and Tim had their potential just waiting to be tapped… but Jenny wouldn’t exist at all in their world. Even if they got Dr. Wakeman to rebuild her, she wouldn’t be this Jenny.

    “You are worried about the robot?” Clockwork asked, his baby-faced eyebrow raised.

    “I am.” Kim admitted with a sigh. “She won’t exist. Even if she gets built in our timeline, what are the chances she’s the same person?”

    Clockwork smiled, his aged eyes twinkling in the ectoplasmic light. “I suppose in a universe of infinite potential, it is possible she would be different… but it is not impossible for me to shape the little things.” A small drive appeared in Clockwork’s adult hands. “For the sanctity of the timeline, I cannot allow that one’s memories of that timeline to exist… but I see no reason that I cannot guide the personality construct decisions down a similar path. Although, you will need to act of your own accord to set the rest of the decisions in place.” 

    “Isn’t that disrupting the sanctity of the timeline though? If we make decisions we wouldn’t otherwise make without the knowledge from that other timeline?” Danny asked. While they knew Nora Wakeman had thought about a robot daughter from the Mothers of Innovation conference, it wasn’t like he or Kim had given it another thought after the speech.

    “Perhaps, or perhaps this timeline has always assumed you would have such an adventure?” Clockwork mused, his infant face brandishing a wide smile. “I am the only one who has any of those answers, and I see no reason to divulge them.” He tapped the side of his elder crooked nose, in an ‘our little secret’ kind of way. “Now, I believe we have one last order of business here.” He conjured a sledgehammer in his adult hands, before pointing the handle towards Kim. “Miss Possible, I believe you may like to do the honors?”

     Kim took the hammer with a grin, before Clockwork set the Tempus Simia down onto the ground. With a yell, she brought the hammer down onto the artifact, smashing it to bits. A bright red energy flowed out in all directions from it, the echoing sound of an injured howler monkey accompanying it, before all went silent.

    “Very good. I shall transport you back to where you were before she placed the head on the idol, and I will replace the idol with a fake. It’ll be up to you from there, but I believe you’ll find the task ahead much easier than what you’ve just accomplished.” Clockwork gave a brief toothless infant smile, before turning to Danny. “And, Mr. Fenton… regardless of how much anxiety you may feel about your upcoming exams, I would avoid cheating.”

    “Why would I need to cheat? The world we’re going to, the best student in our grade is my girlfriend, and the second best is my best friend.” Danny smiled, readying himself for their return to the proper timeline. Danny morphed back into Phantom, and the world around them shifted once more.

—-

     “Shego! Time is up! Do it now!” With that, Monkey Fist threw the head towards the green-clad villainess, who caught the idol and kicked Kim away. Rushing to the pedestal, Shego slammed the head onto the totem, completing it. A subconscious flinch came through Danny and Kim as the idol was completed, but no clapping of cymbals or screech followed, onto the clink of two metal pieces coming together.

   “Uh… Monkey Man, nothing happened.” Shego complained, glaring at the martial artist.

   “Must be a dud then!” Danny called out, using their confusion against them, he shoved Monkey Fist in Drakken’s direction, causing the two men to fall over. Kim capitalized on it as well, shoving Killigan into the pile. Shego saw the turning tides and tried to run, but Ron simply stuck out his foot and tripped her.

    “You know, that was easier than I thought it would be.” Ron mused, causing Danny and Kim to blanche for a moment, before they burst into laughter. “What? What’s so funny?”

    Global Justice arrived a little later, taking the quartet of villains into custody. Danny, Kim, and Ron were taking a rest outside of the temple, preparing themselves for the long return trip to Silver County. “So, what do you think was up with the Time Monkey thing?” Ron asked. “Like, why didn’t it work? Monkey Fist is usually pretty right with the whole Monkey Magic thing.”

    “Could just have been a fake, and if one of those DID exist, it got stolen or destroyed years ago.” Danny suggested. Hoping Ron would just take it as a good enough answer. He would be glad when this mission was over and he was back home, where he could hold Ember and Sammy and Star and know that they were okay. Not destroyed or brainwashed or on the Moon.

   “Probably best not to worry too much about it. Bad guys lost, good guys won, that’s all that really matters in the end, isn’t it?” Kim posited. She and Danny would need to really talk about what happened in that universe someday, maybe with a therapist who Global Justice trusted to handle superhero confidentiality.

    “I guess you’re right. Would have been cool to time travel though. Like imagine the future! What do you think things will be like ten years from now?” Ron asked, excited about the prospect.

     Danny and Kim shared a glance, but could only shake their heads and smile. “I don’t know Ron, but I think the future looks pretty bright.” Danny managed to say, letting go of the pain he felt about the world they’d just left for now. He’d deal with it someday, but today was a day of victory.

—-

     Nora Wakeman stepped out of her lab, covered in oil from her recent robotic tinkering. She hadn’t checked the mail for a few days, and realized she was probably going to get another angry letter from the post office if she didn’t clear out her mailbox. She expected it to be more bills and junk mail, perhaps an invitation to attend a seminar or robotics competition, but what she hadn’t expected was a handwritten letter. As she opened it and scanned over the contents, she suddenly found herself with a burst of inspiration, tossing the rest of her mail onto her kitchen counter as she rushed back to her lab, she jumped onto her computer and opened up a new design document, when asked to name the file, she simply typed in: XJ-1