Danny Phantom - The Next Chapter

Found

A tinny voice woke him up and he blinked in the half-light produced by the single, meagre bulb. He did a quick assessment of his injuries and found they had healed just enough for him to sit up without much more than a gasp of pain.

A group of kids were sitting against one of the walls watching something on a phone. One of them, he recognised her as Sarah, looked up at him as he rose to his feet with a wince and staggered over.

'What's going on?' he asked.

'Looks like you're pretty popular,' Sarah commented, turning the phone to face him. On the screen were images of the two different groups of the Guys in White trading fire while he saw himself bolting away from the firefight. Along the bottom of the screen, the headline read: 'Danny Phantom still missing as government agencies converge in Chicago'.

'Is that still going on?' he asked.

'On and off,' one of the guys replied, 'Most of the fighting has stopped but there's apparently a lot of them still throughout the city looking for you.'

Danny heaved a sigh. 'Of course they are. Where's Adrian?'

'He left to go to the food bank with some of the others,' Sarah replied, 'But it looks like there's a lot of cops on the street so it might take him a while.'

Danny frowned, glancing down at his still healing injuries, then back to the phone.

'I should go,' he said quietly.

'What?' Sarah asked, putting the phone down and rising to her feet.

'The longer I stay here, the more I'm putting you all in danger.'

The kids glanced at each other and he could see they wanted to protest. But at the same time he saw the quick glance two of the girls shared that told him they agreed with him. Their lives were already hard enough without him bringing the authorities down on what little comfort they had managed to create for themselves.

'At least take this,' Sarah said, pulling off her jacket and offering it to him.

'Absolutely not!' Danny replied, stepping back, 'I really appreciate it but no. I'll be alright.

'You're not going anywhere until you've had some proper food.'

He spun around then relaxed when he saw it was Adrian climbing back into the shelter with three other guys, all carrying plastic bags of food and necessities.

'I figured you'd try to be the hero and leave before you were ready,' he continued as the kids gathered around excitedly, distributing the food amongst themselves.

'It's for your own safety,' Danny protested as Adrian shoved a can of mixed fruit into his hands.

'Uh huh,' Adrian replied, paying him no attention has a can opener made the rounds with some spoons. 'Here, Alison. I got your favourite.'

A girl around fifteen and looking heavily into punk rock caught the box of Lucky Charms he tossed her way. 'Yes! You're the best, Adrian!'

'I know.'

Danny stood there awkwardly watching all the kids settling in to eat, chatting and joking amongst themselves before his stomach grumbled and he sighed, sitting back down to accept the can opener and a spoon.

'You really made an impact on the city,' Adrian commented drily, pouring some Frosted Flakes into a battered bowl.

'Which is why I need to leave,' Danny replied, but made no move to rise as he scarfed down the fruit.

Adrian smirked. 'Look. I know you're a bigshot hero who saved the world and stuff but you're like, sixteen? Just take a minute and rest a bit.'

'I don't have much time,' Danny said heavily, 'Just being here puts you all in danger.'