I woke up the next morning with my head pounding like someone decided to host a rock concert inside my skull. At first, I thought it was just a bad dream… until the memories hit.
And I don't mean a little "oh yeah, I remember that." No.
I mean every single thing that happened to the original Danny Phantom up until he died fighting Dark Dan.
Images slammed into my brain like a fast-forward marathon — the first ghost fights, meeting Skulker, the whole thing with Desiree, the freaking Ghost King, Dan's betrayal… and then the final moments. Danny, standing against Dan, fighting with everything he had… and losing.
I shot upright so fast I almost fell out of bed.
"Okay… this is new," I muttered. "Now I've got his trauma on top of my own. Fun."
That's when I noticed it — a folded piece of paper sitting neatly on my desk, glowing faintly like it had no business existing in the real world.
I got up, opened it, and read:
Thought I'd spice things up. You've now got the powers of Shazam. The ones you asked For Great for you. Oh, and I added some new villains to keep things interesting. Don't thank Me yet.
– God.
I stared at it for a long second. "Great. Now I'm a half-ghost wizard superhero in a cartoon crossover with boosted enemies. Totally not terrifying at all."
"Danny! Let's go! I'm driving you today!" Jazz's voice rang from the hallway.
I shoved the note into my desk drawer and grabbed my bag. Jazz was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, keys in hand, wearing that "responsible older sister" face.
"Wow, chauffeur service? What's the catch?" I asked.
"No catch," she said. "I just don't feel like you should be walking to school while Mom and Dad are testing that… thing."
We both glanced toward the lab, where our parents were hunched over something that looked like the love child of a bazooka and a hairdryer — glowing green, humming loudly, and occasionally shooting sparks.
"Yeah… good call," I said.
We got in the car and pulled out. For a few minutes, there was only the hum of the road before Jazz glanced at me.
"You've been… different since yesterday. Calmer. More…" She trailed off.
"Mature? Handsome? Devastatingly charming?" I offered.
She smirked. "Less annoying."
I chuckled. "Guess I'm just appreciating things more."
Her expression softened. "Well… I appreciate you too, little brother."
The calm ended about five minutes after we got to school. Dash Baxter — professional jock and part-time caveman — decided to slam his shoulder into mine in the hallway.
"Watch it, Fenton!" he barked.
Normally, I'd just mutter something and walk off, but my reflexes kicked in before my brain did. I caught his wrist mid-swing — not hard, but enough to make him wince.
"What's the matter, Dash? All that gym time and still no grip strength?" I said with a smirk.
That, of course, set him off. Within seconds, we were shoving each other, a crowd gathering, students chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"MR. FENTON! MR. BAXTER!" Lancer's voice cut through the noise like a whip. We froze. "Principal's office. Now."
Ten minutes later, Dash sulked in the chair next to me while the principal droned about "mutual respect" and "no violence on school property." I nodded, promised to behave, and walked out. Dash muttered something about "weird freak strength." I ignored him.
At my locker, Sam and Tucker were waiting.
"Guess who we saw yesterday," Tucker said, grinning.
"Santa?" I guessed.
"Kim Possible," Sam said. "As in the Kim Possible. She's in our world now."
"Yeah, I ran into her yesterday," I said casually.
Sam crossed her arms. "You ran into her? Physically?"
"It was an accident. I wasn't paying attention."
Tucker leaned in. "So… is she as hot in person as she is on TV?"
I gave him a look. "You're asking the wrong guy for a ranking. Besides, she's probably more dangerous than any ghost we've fought."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're intimidated."
"I'm cautious," I corrected. "Big difference."
By lunch, the mystery solved itself. Kim Possible walked right into the cafeteria, tray in hand, scanning the room until her eyes found me.
"Hey, Danny," she said, walking over.
Tucker nearly choked on his fries. "You two are on a first-name basis already?"
Kim smiled politely. "We met yesterday. Thought I'd say hi."
Sam's voice was calm, but her eyes narrowed just a fraction. "So, what brings a world-famous hero to Casper High?"
"Family moved here. My dad's job. Classified reasons," Kim said with a shrug.
Tucker leaned in. "Classified like 'spy agency' classified?"
Kim just smiled — which somehow confirmed it without saying a word.
Gym class was a disaster waiting to happen. Dodgeball. In Amity Park, that meant "how many balls can we throw at Fenton's head before the bell rings."
Dash launched one straight at me. I instinctively blurred out of the way — ghost-speed kicking in.
Unfortunately, to everyone else, it looked like I teleported.
"Whoa," someone muttered.
I pretended to trip, brushing it off, but when I glanced up, Kim was watching me with sharp eyes.
After school, I was halfway home when the temperature dropped. My breath fogged in the air. The streetlamps flickered.
"Oh, great," I muttered.
A vertical tear of green light hissed open in an alley ahead. Something stepped through — seven feet tall, armored in jagged black plates that pulsed with molten cracks. Its eyes burned gold.
"Fenton!" it roared.
"That's me," I said. "You here to chat or—"
It swung a massive fist. I transformed mid-dodge, blue rings sliding over my body. "Let's dance."
I fired an ectoblast, then — just to test it — channeled a bolt of golden lightning into my hands and slammed it forward. The explosion blasted it into a wall, but instead of staying down, it reformed — stronger.
"You guys ever consider knocking first?"
It didn't answer. One second it was ten feet away, the next it was swinging again. I went intangible, the punch ripping through a dumpster and sending it crashing down the alley.
It tracked me even while ghosted. "You are… altered. Not the same. But you will break the same."
I solidified mid-air, firing twin ectoblasts into its chest. Armor cracked — only to swirl back into place like liquid metal.
"Okay… you're one of those."
It raised a hand. My chest locked. Air and energy ripped out of me as an invisible grip closed around my throat. My vision blurred.
"Your strength is borrowed," it said. "It will not save you."
"Yeah?" I hissed through clenched teeth. "We'll see about that."
Golden lightning crawled over my arms. With a sharp crack, it burst outward, shattering the hold. I shot forward, slamming my shoulder into its chest hard enough to crater the wall.
It didn't stumble. Instead, its arm melted into the bricks, re-forming as a massive spiked blade. The first swing missed. The second clipped me, sending me crashing into a parked car.
"Okay…" I groaned. "You hit like a truck."
It advanced, slow and deliberate. "I was sent to measure you. You will not survive the full war."
"Let's change the ending," I growled, phasing behind it and driving my hand into its side. I dumped a surge of ecto-electric energy into it.
The armor on its left shattered, revealing twisted, skeletal ghost-flesh glowing faint green. I went for the finisher.
"SHAZAM!"
A golden lightning bolt roared down, hitting me first, then blasting through my body into the ghost. The shockwave lit the alley, molten shards spraying into the walls.
When the smoke cleared, it was still standing — smaller now, but faster. It blurred forward, fists hammering. I blocked one, ducked another, but the third caught my jaw and sent me spinning.
I caught myself mid-air, grabbed both its wrists, and channeled lightning into my hands. "We're going up."
I rocketed skyward, dragging it with me. At the peak, I twisted and slammed it straight down into the street. Asphalt cracked, windows rattled.
The ghost twitched, armor falling away. It hissed — almost amused — before stepping backward into a fresh portal.
"Next time," it promised. The tear sealed shut.
I hovered over the crater, heart pounding. "Yeah," I muttered. "God definitely juiced these guys."
I headed straight for Sam's house. She and Tucker were already in her room.
"Late patrol?" Sam guessed.
"Yeah," I said, collapsing into a chair. "Ran into a ghost I've never seen before. Stronger than normal."
Tucker's eyes lit up. "Stronger how?"
"Like 'oh look, my attack just made it angry' stronger."
Sam crossed her arms. "We should start patrolling together. If they're getting upgrades, we need to be ready."
I nodded. "Tonight."
Night fell. I soared above Amity Park. From up here, it looked peaceful. Too peaceful.
Then I saw it — a figure in a red ninja hood leaping rooftops like he owned the night.
In the clouds above, something massive and dragon-shaped coiled, eyes glowing.
And in the streetlights below… a ghost was watching me, smiling.