Despite its precarious position perched on top of FentonWorks, the Emergency Ops Centre was designed to withstand more than mere earthquakes so it was only a matter of moments in getting its systems online and fully operational. Immediately after coming online, alarms began to blare, warning of a massive energy surge in the middle of downtown.
‘Looks like city hall,’ Maddie explained as she brought up a map.
‘It seems our enemies have started to make their move,’ Vlad muttered, glancing at Danny who was trying to focus enough to access his powers. ‘Well it seems like you all have everything in hand and as far as I can see, my work is done. I’ll just be on my way then.’
Jack’s arm whipped out before Vlad could move a few inches, grabbing him tightly by the shoulder.
‘I don’t think so,’ he snapped, ‘You helped get us all into this mess. Seems only fair that you can help get us out.’
‘Oh, come now old chum,’ Vlad wheedled, ‘I’ve done my part here. I thought you’d be more than happy to see me on my way?’
‘What do you think happens if the Guys in White win?’ Maddie demanded, rounding on him, ‘If this is some governmental take-over, what happens if they take control? Do you think you’ll be able to just fly under the radar for the rest of your life? Or maybe hide out in the Ghost Zone?’
‘That won’t last,’ Danny added grimly, ‘Last time they had access to the portal, they tried to destroy the Ghost Zone which would have ended our world too.’
‘Seems like you’re stuck with us, old chum,’ Jack finished grimly, ‘You need us as much as we’re going to need you.’
Danny smirked as Vlad’s face dropped. Now that he and his parents were on the same page with Vlad, it was so much more satisfying having his plans fall apart.
‘Very well,’ Vlad sighed, ‘What do we need to do?’
Maddie turned back to the map which showed the area around city hall was awash with green light.
‘Usually one of these green dots indicates a spike in ecto energy,’ she explained, ‘But to have a mass like this… there must be hundreds of ghosts.’
‘Or one really big source,’ Danny added.
‘With the ley lines meeting there, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume the Guys in White are using that energy for something,’ Vlad mused, ‘They have the technology.’
‘How did we not know they were right under our noses the whole time?’ Jack demanded, ‘How did none of our equipment pick up on this?’
‘Let’s face it, Jack,’ Vlad replied, ‘It doesn’t take much to fool you.’
No one stopped him as Danny raised his hand and fired a ghost ray right into Vlad’s side, throwing him across the room.
‘I might be wiped out right now but there’s a line now that you aren’t crossing,’ Danny snapped, straightening angrily.
‘Noted,’ Vlad groaned.
Maddie gave Danny a quick smile. ‘Now isn’t the time to be turning on each other. Vlad, behave yourself. Danny, you need to conserve your strength. As for this base, it’s likely they’ve been shielding their energy signatures from any outside detectors like ours. This has probably been going on for years now.’
A heavy thump on the roof broke off her musings and the trapdoor opened again to admit Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Valerie.
‘What’s the damage?’ Sam demanded immediately, hurrying to Danny’s side and taking in his somewhat haggard appearance.
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Danny Phantom - The Next Chapter
ActionSet immediately after the end of the series, Danny's life has become entirely more complicated now that he's revealed his secret identity to the entire world. His friends grow closer but his enemies grow bolder. Not to mention trying to balance his...
