Danny Phantom - The Next Chapter

Revelations

Danny slammed his fists angrily against the keyboard as his latest search result yielded nothing, yet again. Across the room, Sam glanced up at him with a small frown of concern.

'Maybe we should take a break?' she suggested gently, glancing pointedly at Tucker.

'Yeah, dude. I could go for some Nasty Burger right now.'

Danny sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'I can't afford to waste any time. Who knows when those mutant halfas might show up again? And when they do, what's their next plan gonna be? I need to know exactly who is doing this and what their endgame is.'

'We're not disagreeing with you,' Sam reassured him placatingly, 'But we're not going to get anywhere with this if we're all too tired and hungry to see straight.'

'Besides, I've got bots searching through every social media and database we could think of. I've even got them scanning through the dark web. If anyone knows anything, so will we.'

'So we can take a little break,' Sam concluded.

Danny glared at his computer screen as if to force it to give him answers but it remained resolutely blank.

'You guys go ahead,' he finally replied, 'I'm gonna head into the Ghost Zone and see if anyone has heard anything.'

He missed Sam's concerned look to Tucker as he transformed and dived into the swirling green portal. Immediately, the ghostly landscape surrounded him and he felt his energy levels start to rise again as he took in the ghostly energy swirling all around him. He took a deep breath as he felt his head start to clear again. Despite it being dangerous in the Ghost Zone thanks to his countless enemies, he did enjoy the power boost it offered him in his ghost form.

He silently glided past the various floating doors that hovered near the Fenton Portal, occasionally opening a few to make sure there was no sign of damage. So far, everything seemed normal, practically peaceful, as much as the Ghost Zone could be anyway. He paused as a few nondescript ghosts floated past, attempting to give him a wide berth.

'Hey, have you guys seen anything weird around here lately?' he called, trying for the friendly approach.

'Weird how?' one of them replied, their whispery voice evidence they were a lesser ghost and not much threat.

'I dunno. Any half-ghosts like me? But not quite like me, if that makes sense?'

The ghosts glanced at each other and shrugged.

'Okay, let me try again. Have you seen any humans that look like they've been mutated with ghostly energy? But they're not as stable as me?'

Again, the ghosts shrugged and Danny sighed in exasperation.

'Alright, thanks anyway.'

They drifted away and Danny was left to his own thoughts again. If anyone would know about any 'unauthorised' incursions into the Ghost Zone, it would be Walker, but Danny didn't really think he'd be welcome in his prison. Aside from him, Skulker would probably be the next best ghost to ask but that option wasn't particularly desirable either.

He sighed. At least maybe Walker would be able to be manipulated if he thought his rules were being broken.

Danny turned in the direction of Walker's Prison, keeping an eye out for his ghostly guards that had a tendency to ambush unsuspecting ghosts and imprison them on ridiculous charges. It only took about five minutes before his prediction was proven correct. A group of five of the guards attempted to catch him off guard amongst a large cluster of floating rocks. With his Ghost Sense inoperative in the Ghost Zone, he normally might not have noticed them. But their tell-tale glow reflected off their metal armour was a dead giveaway.