Greetings, readers!

It's been a little while since I last uploaded, but I have been busy writing in my [albeit limited] free time to destress. (And I'm doing graduate design school, so cut me a break if I don't upload or update on a regular basis.) This is one of a couple oneshots I've had in development for a little while. It is sort of unbeta'd, but RosyThorn has at least taken a glance at it, and I've been rereading it for two months and doing all the tricks to peer edit your own writing. If you do find something that doesn't make sense or a typographical error that slipped past my inner Grammar Nazi, don't hesitate to PM me and I'll fix it ASAP.

The usual disclaimer: I'm sure I do own this show...in another timeline in the multiverse, if that existed, but alas, I do not own Danny Phantom in this universe.

This takes place after the canon timeline, so Phantom Planet did happen.

Happy reading!

Originally posted: Friday, January 26, 2018

LEVEL THREE

"ALL CITIZENS, PLEASE REMAIN INDOORS OR PROCEED TO THE NEAREST DESIGNATED SAFE ZONE. I REPEAT: ALL CITIZENS, PLEASE REMAIN INDOORS OR PROCEED TO THE NEAREST DESIGNATED SAFE ZONE. PREPARE FOR THREAT LEVEL THREE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

Danny stood nervously at the window. He pulled the curtain back just an inch so he could observe the passing police cruiser without drawing attention from the insanity outside. Helicopters whirred overhead, police sirens echoed hauntingly throughout the neighborhoods of Amity Park, storefronts were barricaded, citizens took shelter inside their homes or workplaces, and a crowd of reporters fought for valuable sidewalk space in front of and across from the Fenton household. Concrete dividers lined the streets, guarded heavily by Amity Park PD. The small Ohioan city was ready for the late-spring Saturday to begin.

"Is all of this entirely necessary?" Danny shouted through the house to his sister.

"You know how Amity is; they like to be prepared after all the disasters they've faced," Jazz replied from the kitchen. "Especially with Dad's reputation. Now quit shouting; Mom's on the phone!"

An anti-riot squadron roared by in a massive black van, followed by a SWAT team and a handful of FBI vehicles. Danny dropped the curtain and retreated further back into the living room. "It just feels…excessive," he commented, his eyes never leaving the window as if he could use X-ray vision to still see outside.

"You're the freaking savior of the world, Danny. They're going to play it safe for you, and they're gonna take even more precaution because of Dad."

"He's not even the one going with me, though!" Danny heard movement behind him and turned around.

"Actually, he is," Maddie said morosely, coming in from the kitchen with Jazz at her side. She wore impenetrably dark sunglasses with a baggie of ice strapped to her head with her unused goggles. A travel mug of coffee occupied one hand while her smartphone graced the other. "I woke up with a migraine, so it's down to your father to go with you. I've made the appropriate calls."

"What?! Why can't we just reschedule?" Danny demanded.

"You can't reschedule this kind of thing! Everyone has been orchestrated and prepared!" Jazz snapped.

"Ugh, fine! But don't blame me if it all goes to shi-"

"Language," Maddie growled as she turned to slowly ascend the stairs.

"Sorry, Mom," the boy hero replied defeatedly.

"By the way, the president sends his regards," his mother added from the top of the stairs.

"Of course he does," Danny quipped with a frazzled laugh. "And how many other average American teenagers does he send his regards to?"

"Get real, Danny. We're Fentons; we weren't ever going to be average even without the Phantom thing."

Disenchanted, Danny fell back onto the couch with his legs dangling over the arm. "This is going to be a disaster."

To be honest, Danny had no reason not to think so. It had been four months since he had revealed his dual identity to the world, and he was unable to find a moment's peace outside his home with all the press attention. The eyes of the world were on him. Plus, villainous activity had steadily been on the rise because the members of the underground, both human and ghost, felt determined to be the one who beat the *savior of the world.* Danny really just needed a break from it all, so this day's upcoming struggle seemed even more daunting than it would otherwise.

"Hey, buck up, camper!" Jazz said. "At least Sam is coming to help! She has some experience with this."

"What about Tucker?"

"Mayor of the city, remember? He's a bit…preoccupied."

"Can't he get the police to tone it down a bit?"

Jazz hesitated. Her facial muscles were fighting a visible battle to express either guilt or mirth, and both sides were apparently losing. "Danny…he's the one that called in the SWAT teams."

"Maximum embarrassment, huh? If that's how you want to play, *Mayor* Foley, so be it," he muttered darkly. Possible revenge schemes began racing through his mind, a slightly evil grin crawling onto his face.

At that moment, the front door briskly opened and shut as Sam rushed in and pressed her back flat against the wood. She stood there panting laboriously as she ripped off her oversized designer sunglasses, one of the few expensive fashion items she'd been willing to buy thanks to the need for anonymity after the 'Disasteroid' incident. Danny did a double-take when he saw what she was wearing over her torso.

"Hey, Sam. Is that-?"

"A Kevlar vest? Yes." She propelled herself off the door and shifted uncomfortably in the protective gear. After gaining no further comfort, Sam dropped down heavily on the couch with crossed legs. "My parents insisted. They do know who we're dealing with, after all. I had to stop by City Hall to get one."

"To be honest, I don't blame them," Jazz remarked as she sat next to Sam. She shuffled through the many science- and ghost-related journals on the coffee table until she found one of her mother's few homemaking magazines. Sam took out her phone and started browsing one of her 'ironically'-created social media accounts.

"So, what's it like out there?" Danny asked with a grimace.

"The city is completely shut down, all traffic has been stopped or diverted, APPD is everywhere, almost every reporter in the eastern United States is in front of your house, and nobody from Amity is risking going outside. All in all, I'd say it's pretty predictable. Oh, Tuck says 'hi' and he hopes it goes well."

"Did he really?" The girls present could almost hear the rolled eyes in his voice.

"Well, I think his exact words were either 'I have the Red Cross on alert' or 'I'm going to be rich when I win this bet, Sam,' but it was kinda loud with all the people in there so I can't be sure."

"Ha ha."

The three fell into a tense silence for a few moments and listened to the muted hustle and bustle on the other side of the door. The landline rang a couple times, heralding the end of their short respite.

"Danny!" Jack boomed as he burst through the lab door. "It's go time!" With a deep sigh, the teens got up off the couch.

"The sinking of the Titanic had nothing on the catastrophe that's about to level Amity Park," Danny commented cynically. He pulled a NASA baseball cap low over his eyes and put on a dark pair of Wayfarer sunglasses. Sam put back on her large designer shades. Jack merely wore his day-glow orange jumpsuit. Danny assumed a falsely confident pose facing the door with Sam and Jack flanking him from behind almost like bodyguards. All four stood still as statues for a brief moment.

"Ready?" Jazz asked with one hand on the doorknob.

Danny looked over his left shoulder and got a curt nod from Sam, then he did the same over his right shoulder and saw his father grinning proudly and determinedly. With one final exaggerated breath and a fleeting slump in his posture, he straightened confidently once again.

"Ready."

Jazz turned the handle and swiftly opened the door for the three. A cacophony of noise bombarded them as soon as Danny's Conversed foot hit the front step. The two teens speedily trudged down the steps and across the pavement towards the waiting Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle while the reporters battled for their attention. Sam and Danny kept their heads down and tried their best to shield their faces from the incessant camera flashes. The girl opened the passenger door and leapt inside while the hero had to circle around to the other side of the RV.

"Mr. Phantom!"

"Daniel Fenton, can I get a statement?"

"Phantom, do you feel adequately prepared for this?"

"Will Amity Park still be standing at the end of the day?"

"What does this mean for your future?"

"Danny Phantom, why don't you just fly?"

"How do you feel about your father joining you?"

"Why is Mrs. Fenton not participating? Are there troubles at home?"

"Do you have a message for the people of America?"

"What are your thoughts on collateral damage?"

"Do you have a message for the people of the WORLD?"

"Dan-ny! Danny, over here!" a feminine voice called from the edge of the crowd. It sounded familiar, so Danny paused to look with one foot on the step of the RV. The media fell silent, apart from the continual camera shutter clicks and a few scattered murmurs as reporters narrated the scene. Danny finally picked out the source of the voice.

"Harry!" Danny greeted with his first true smile of the day. "Good to see you!"

"Harriet Chin, New York Times," she stated for the sake of professionalism and returned his smile. "I finally got another position after the Disasteroid proved I wasn't lying about Wisconsin!"

"Glad we could help," Danny quipped drily. "Anyway, did you have a question?"

"Would you say this is the gravest challenge you've faced since revealing your identity to the citizens of the world?"

Danny's gaze danced between Harriet, the cab of the vehicle, and the surrounding crowds before settling on the ground. He stared at it with an intensity that almost willed the asphalt to provide momentary solace.

"Yes."

The reporters began to shout again as Danny finished mounting the RV and slammed the door shut, sealing the cabin of the vehicle from most of the noise. "Let's get this over with," he moaned.

"Come on, Danny! It's not the end of the world…again," Sam encouraged from the backseat.

Jack buckled his seatbelt for once, showing just how serious the situation was. "Ten and two, seven and four."

Danny nodded. "Alright, here we go," he breathed mostly to himself. He tentatively reached out and pressed the starter button. When the engine rattled the whole RV as it revved, Danny pulled his hand back like the dash was going to bite him. The nearest reporters outside mimicked his reaction.

"All teams report," came a voice over a walkie talkie in Jack's hand.

"America Team standing by."

"Gamma Team standing by."

"Iron Team standing by."

"Black Team standing by."

"Thunder Team standing by."

"Avian Team standing by."

"Ground teams mobilize," the first voice ordered. "Birdseye teams enter stealth mode. Air teams proceed to formation 'theta.' Paramedics remain on standby. Remember, people, this is a Level Three threat. Operation Phantom's First Flight is go."

There was a sudden downforce on the RV. Danny leaned forward to look out the top of the windshield. An Apache airship hovered fifty feet above the car, while a second appeared a mile away directly down the street. The police cars parked blocking the intersections had their lights flashing.

It could have been Danny's imagination, but the flashing seemed to fall into a rhythm which pulsed chasing colors down the path, almost like an aircraft carrier landing deck had replaced his street.

"This is so stupid!" Danny complained to nobody in particular.

"The government thinks they owe it to you to provide such protection after the service you've done for humankind!" Jack answered with pride. "They want to make sure you're safe for this, and they want to make sure nothing goes wrong and gets somebody hurt."

"But Dad, it's just a driving lesson!"

"No!" Jack answered with his most confident, patriotic smirk. "It's a Fenton driving lesson."

END

Well, here we are at the end of another short oneshot. I hope you enjoyed the twist at the end! I got the idea for this when I started thinking about how life would change for Phantom and friends after the cat's out of the bag. And then I started thinking about how even the most typical part of a teen's life could be drastically blown out of proportion because of his celebrity status. To him, it's the mundane. To the world, it's the most interesting thing happening all year.

I hope you all caught the Avengers reference I threw in there! I love putting Easter Eggs and subtle nods in all my stories, though this is one of the more blatantly obvious ones, I should think/hope.

My multi-chapter fics are making good progress, and I have at least one more oneshot fully written and ready for beta-ing and finessing, and a part two/chapter 2/sequel/epilogue to Charade is in development as well and will be posted as a chapter/update of the original story, so stay tuned!

Constructive reviews/critiques and PMs are always welcomed!