Danny Phantom - The Next Chapter

Echoes of Thunder

After everything that had happened over the past few weeks, it was strange waking up to an alarm and getting ready for school. Of course, Danny didn’t want to; he would much rather focus on trying to get the Guys in White and their experiments stopped before someone got killed. But despite this very valid point, his parents insisted, claiming that he had missed enough schooling already and that they were already working with the government to deal with the ongoing problem of the Guys in White.

So with an aggravated grumble, Danny gulped down his breakfast and hurried outside with Jazz and Dani to meet their friends.

‘Hey, cheer up, Danny,’ Sam cajoled him gently, ‘I would have thought you’d be relieved to not have the imminent destruction of the world looming over your head for once.’

‘It still might be,’ he replied heavily, ‘We just can’t see it.’

‘Well aren’t you a bundle of sunshine this morning,’ Valerie commented drily.

‘Yeah, aren’t you like, king of all ghosts now?’ Tucker added, ‘Where’s your posse of ghostly attendants? Your entourage? Knights in shining armour?’

Danny glanced at Jazz and Dani, both of whom could see the pained look in his eyes.

‘Hopefully somewhere in the Ghost Zone where I never have to see them again,’ Danny replied, absently rubbing at his temple.

Truth be told, once he’d recovered from his fight with Pariah Dark, he had been inexorably drawn to the Crown and Ring that were secure in the lab. It had taken a great deal of willpower to prevent himself from claiming them again, despite the knowledge that if he did, he’d probably melt or implode or something similarly horrifying. But it was like a siren call, luring him back even though every logical part of him was screaming that he should try to destroy them. It had only been when his parents had secured them in two separate Fenton Thermoses that they then locked away in ghost-proof safes inside the vault that were locked against Danny did the call finally cease. Now, whenever he thought of that incredible power he had wielded, he tempered it with the memory of the pain that had accompanied it as his ghostly side had almost overwhelmed and destroyed his human half.

‘Enough moping about it!’ Dani exclaimed, floating in the air in front of them. ‘I got my Ghostly Wail! That’s way cooler!’

‘Yeah it is!’ Valerie replied and the two shared a high five. ‘Keep working at that and you’ll be unstoppable!’

As they chatted, Jazz caught Sam and Tucker’s eyes as they glanced at Danny, concerned. She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head at the questions teeming in their eyes. Understanding that the subject of Pariah Dark and the vestments was unwanted at the moment, Sam instead asked, ‘So what are your parents doing about the whole Guys in White situation?’

She knew it might not be the best idea to draw Danny back to the current problem, but she could see how his face cleared now that he had something else to mull over that he might be able to fix.

‘Mom said she and dad have been invited to join a top secret video call with the heads of some government agencies,’ Danny replied with a small smirk, ‘You should have seen Dad’s face.’

‘He was practically bouncing off the walls,’ Dani added with a laugh.

‘Well I’m proud of you for not trying to sneak your way into it,’ Jazz added, ‘Even if it would be useful information to know.’

‘Yeah... about that,’ Danny said and Jazz frowned.

‘You didn’t,’ she extorted, both ashamed and impressed at her brother’s persistence. Even if it often dipped into the realm of obsession.