The Return of the Phantom

Take Me Out At The Ball Game

City parks were so great, it made Danny miss Amity Park. A little. In Laurel Copse, parks would be closed and dark, and the fields weren't always well cared for. Soccer fields would be full of weeds and clumps of dirt that were tripping hazards. Baseball diamonds would be full of weeds and clumps of dirt that were tripping hazards. Field hockey fields would be full of- okay, you get the picture. There was a lot of stumbling. Usually Laurel Copse natives would be pretty used to it, but it was a comedic sight watching visiting teams trip and their coaches bite back curses at the far from pristine quality of the fields.

Okay, Danny stood corrected: not all city parks were that great. But at least the one in Newport News was. It even had giant lights that shone to light the fields at night, similar to the ones in a football stadium. Right now the sun was still decently high in the sky, but it the game ran long, they were covered. And best of all, there was nothing to trip on!

When Danny explained to Coach Drey what happened to the van, he acted annoyed that he'd be short of one of his "valuable parent coaches," because Danny had to be settling things with the auto-repair company during most of the game. But Danny didn't let it faze him. There were more important things afoot. After giving Jackson a reassuring hug and telling him he'd be close by, in the parking lot, he let him run off alongside Nathan to warm up.

Once out of sight of the main public, the first thing Danny did was call Tucker. He didn't answer, probably still working, but left a message, basically explaining everything about the ghost attack, and his current plan. He was sure Tucker would have plenty to say about the flaws in the plan later, but he had to move quick. There was no telling when the ghost would strike again.

The parking lot was pleasingly deserted. Everyone had arrived by now to watch the game, not to mention it was a nice day to be in park to take a jog or walk. Between two cars he found pretty good cover, and he ducked into the gap. Then his phone rang. Tucker.

"Hello?"

"Are you insane? Or just really stupid?" Came Tucker's indignant tone. Not the best tone to hear. "Why didn't you go straight home?" He groaned. "Missing a soccer skirmish is not the end of the world, you know!"

Danny sighed and crouched down, leaning against a cobalt blue sports car with tinted windows. "Okay, sorry. I didn't want some ghost attack to rob him of missing a game he's been looking forward to for weeks now." He added, "Or make him afraid to ride in cars ever again."

"Alright alright, I get it. But let's think this through. I'm sending you a thermos now; I got your location, but we need to learn more about this ghost before we can go any further." It had been twelve years, but Tucker was already flowing back into tech guy mode as if it had only been yesterday: that they were doing this for a living as young adults. "What can this ghost do? Did you see it at all?" He asked in rapid succession.

"Well, he obviously has some control over cars, well vehicles, really. The tractor trailer was being controlled to run us over, the car radio turned on, it messed with the oil and blew the tires on the van..."

The car alarm in cobalt blue sports car he was currently leaning against went off, and Danny leapt off of it like a startled cat. He whirled around, searching for any approaching angry humans who'd be upset that he was leaning against -and potentially smudging - their expensive car. It is a nice car...he admitted after turning back to look at the car again. No one was in sight.

"What's going on?" Danny barely had time to register Tucker's question as his ghost-sense went off.

"Going ghost!" he yelled right into the speaker, hoping this was a good enough explanation. Then he hung up. Not out of spite (though maybe, in retrospect, a little), but just so he didn't damage the phone in the upcoming fight. The Fenton earphones unfortunately were somewhere in storage, so he didn't want to lose his only mode of communication.