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Danny didn’t want to leave Amity Park, even for only a week, but his parents gave him no choice. A natural portal had appeared in Manhattan and, unlike most portals, had stayed open for over a week now. Jack and Maddie Fenton, the country’s leading experts on ghosts, were asked to travel to New York to investigate why it won’t close and help wrangle the ghosts that escaped into the city.
So now Danny was going to New York for an impromptu vacation. He supposed he should be happy to get a week off of school, but he was worried about Amity Park. Sure, his parents would close the Fenton Portal when they left, but Amity was a hotspot for natural portals. Sam and Tucker assured Danny that they could keep Amity safe while he was gone. He was still going to worry, but he trusted his friends. After all, they had been fighting ghosts for three years. They knew what they were doing.
Danny’s parents left to study the portal almost immediately after they arrived at the hotel. They asked Jazz to keep an eye on Danny. He was 17 and thought he was old enough to wander on his own, but apparently his parents felt differently.
“Jazz, you know I can handle myself. Why are we here?” Danny asked as he trudged through the halls of the Museum of Modern Art.
“I know you can. But this is good for you. Isn’t it fascinating, seeing so much famous art in one place?”
“No,” Danny deadpanned. “Who cares that this guy painted a bunch of soup?”
Jazz said, “This guy is Andy Warhol, and this is probably his most famous work. When he first painted–”
“Well, it’s making me hungry,” Danny interrupted. “Can we get something to eat?”
Jazz sighed. “Okay, fine. But after we eat, I want to see Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí."
“Is that the melty clock guy?”
“You are learning something! Yes, it’s the ‘melty clock’ painting.” Jazz glowed as she explained. “It’s one of the most iconic pieces of surrealist art…” Danny tuned her out while they climbed the stairs to the sixth floor.
They approached a café. “Ooh, they have outdoor seating! The view must be amazing from up here ,” said Jazz.
They sat at a table on the balcony. “It does look pretty from here,” Danny admitted. “The city must look even better at night, though. I should go flying once it gets dark.”
“Just be careful, and don’t get lost,” Jazz said while she perused the menu.
“I won’t. I have lots of experiencing navigating from the sky.”
“Yeah, in Amity Park,” Jazz retorted. “This is New York City. It’s huge.”
“I’ll be fine,” Danny insisted. Of course, that’s when his ghost sense went off. “Ghosts, here, really?”
“Well, Mom and Dad are here to study that natural portal. Stands to reason there’d be ghosts,” Jazz said.
Danny sighed. “I’m supposed to be on vacation,” he grumbled. “I’ll be back.” Jazz nodded and he walked off towards the bathrooms to find a place to transform.
A couple minutes later, Danny was back in the café, invisibly following his ghost sense. He didn’t have to look for long before she appeared.
Lunch Lady approached a diner who was eating a salad.”Hello, dearie,” she said sweetly. “Why is there no meat on your plate?”
“Umm, I’m a vegetarian,” the stranger answered, clearly confused.
“Vegetarian?!” Lunch Lady became suddenly angry. “Meat is an important part of a balanced diet!”
Danny groaned as meat started flying off people’s plates towards the hostile ghost. “Hey Lunch Lady!” he shouted as he became visible. “Don’t you know too much meat will clog your arteries?” To himself he muttered, “Although I guess that doesn’t matter if you’re dead…”
Lunch Lady grew into a giant meat monster, stomping around the café. “No! Meat is good for you!”
Danny flew in and punched her in the face, sending meat flying everywhere. People started screaming and attempted to flee.
Lunch Lady threw a punch with her giant meaty arm and took out the wall with the door leading back into the museum. Danny flew over to the wreckage to make sure nobody was injured, but while his back was turned, Lunch Lady attacked him from behind. Danny went flying and smacked into a wall before he could even think of going intangible. Stars danced in his vision when his head hit the bricks.
Danny flew back towards Lunch Lady, a little disoriented. He shot an ectoblast at her, dislodging more meat from her form. He was barely making a dent, though, and there were still civilians in the room. He was debating whether to keep fighting or focus on the civilians when a blurry red and blue shape swung onto the terrace from outside.
He barely had time to wonder how someone got to them on the sixth floor before he was shoved backwards and stuck to a wall. He looked down and saw that he had been hit by what appeared to be spider webs, which were adhering him to the wall.
The blur focused into the shape of a person wearing a full-body spider-themed costume, complete with mask. A vigilante? Why would they attack him and not the giant meat monster?
The vigilante shot webs at Lunch Lady but she went intangible and they soared right through her. The eyeholes in his mask narrowed. (How did that work, Danny wondered?)
Danny phased through the webbing and flew towards the hero, who seemed who be puzzling over how to defeat the ghost.
The vigilante turned towards him. “Didn’t I web you to a wall?”
Danny ignored the question. “Get the people to safety. I’ll handle Lunch Lady.”
The spider-themed hero nodded, apparently realizing this was not a good time to argue, and swung to the other side of the café. Danny focused on the ghost in front of him. He threw more ectoblasts, chipping away at her meat suit. He expertly dodged her punches, only taking a couple hits before he exposed her ghostly form. She started to summon more meat, but before it reached her, Danny unclipped the Fenton Thermos from his belt and captured her.
Danny looked around and saw that the café had been cleared of civilians – mostly. The hero was arguing with Jazz. It seemed she didn’t want to leave without Danny.
He flew over to the two and gestured with the Thermos. “Got her. Is everybody safe?”
The vigilante turned towards Danny. “She’s refusing to leave, but yeah, nobody was seriously injured.”
“That’s good.” Danny looked at Jazz. “Give me a minute with him?”
Jazz gave him a scrutinizing look. “Okay, but don’t ditch me. I’ll be waiting.”
So Jazz wouldn’t let even a ghost attack interrupt their educational field trip. Of course. She took a seat at one of the surviving tables to give them some privacy.
“Who are you?” the masked hero asked. “I haven’t seen you around.”
“Danny Phantom. I’m not from around here. Just visiting. And you are?”
“Spider-Man.” He held out a gloved hand and Danny shook it. “Thanks for taking care of that monster. Nothing I threw at it was working.”
“She’s a ghost, so most physical attacks won’t touch her, unless you catch her by surprise.”
“A ghost? I can’t say I’ve seen many ghosts before. Do you have a lot of experience with them?” Spider-Man asked.
“I’d hope so, considering I am one,” Danny said with a chuckle.
“Oh. Yeah, that’ll do it. Where did she go, anyway?”
Danny held up the Thermos. “I captured her. I’ll go deposit her in the Ghost Zone when I get home. A week in the Thermos should teach her a lesson. I hope.”
Spider-Man was silent for a moment. “I have so many questions. Do you like pizza?”
That was not a question Danny expected. “Uh, yeah?”
“What do you say we grab a bite to eat? ...Do ghosts need to eat?”
“Uh, not usually, but I do, and my lunch was interrupted. We didn’t even get a chance to order,” Danny complained. “Give me a minute.” Danny went over to where Jazz was clearly trying (and likely failing) to eavesdrop. “He wants to get pizza. Can I meet you back at the hotel? I don’t really get to socialize with many superheroes…”
Jazz rolled her eyes. “I know you just want to get out of my art history lesson. Sure, go ahead. Don’t stay out too late. If you’re not back before Mom and Dad, they’ll have questions.”
“Thanks, bye!” Danny rushed back over to Spider-Man. “We’re good. Let’s go.”
“Great! Follow me.” Spider-Man jumped off the balcony and clung to the outside wall of the museum. There was a backpack webbed to the wall. He removed the webbing and put the backpack on, then shot a web at a nearby building and swung away. Danny followed him.
“Joe’s Pizza has the best slice in Manhattan,” Spider-Man shouted as he swung. “It’s only a few blocks away.”
“Alright, cool,” Danny shouted back. They flew through the city in silence, and a few minutes later, they arrived at the pizzeria.
If the staff was surprised to see two costumed heroes in the restaurant, they didn’t show it. Danny and Spider-Man waited in line and ordered their slices.
“What do you say we eat on the roof? Less crowded up there,” Spider-Man asked.
Danny shrugged and nodded. They got their food and sat next to each other on the roof, feet dangling off the edge.
Spider-Man pulled the bottom of his mask up to reveal his mouth and took a bite. Danny didn’t usually eat in ghost form, but he wasn’t about to transform back, so he started to eat his pizza as well.
“So. Ghosts?” Spider-Man asked.
“Yep,” Danny said. “My par– the Doctors Fenton are investigating a portal to the Ghost Zone (that’s where ghosts come from) that opened up near here. Looks like ghosts have been escaping and wreaking havoc. They live in Amity Park, Illinois, where the barrier between the human world and the Ghost Zone is thinnest, and they’ve been studying ghosts for decades, so they have a lot of experience with this.”
“I see. And that’s what brought you here as well?”
“More or less.” Best to keep his answer vague. He didn’t want to reveal his identity to a stranger, after all.
“Well, I’m intrigued by this thermos you have that traps ghosts.”
“It’s pretty useful. The Fentons are scientists-slash-engineers. They design and build technology intended to study – or more commonly hunt – ghosts,” Danny explained.
Spider-Man said,” You know, I’m something of a scientist myself. I’d love to get my hands on some of that tech. I actually design my own gadgets. Took me a while to perfect my web shooters, but they’re the most useful tool in my arsenal.”
“Huh, that’s pretty cool,” Danny said through a mouthful of pizza. He swallowed. “The Fentons are pretty protective of their patents. Their blueprints have been stolen more than once. But I have a couple extra Fenton Thermoses; I could trade you one. Just don’t be trying to sell it or anything. You don’t want to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit.”
“Understood. I can give you a couple web bombs. They aren’t dangerous but they can disarm and trap human opponents. Not sure how they’d work on ghosts, but it’s worth a shot.”
“Sounds good to me. Hold on.” Danny put his pizza down. He waved his hand and the air rippled around it, before tearing a hole in space. Danny reached his hand through the portal and pulled out a Thermos, then closed it with another wave.
“What was that?” Spider-Man asked, surprise in his voice.
“I keep some extra supplies in my lair in the Ghost Zone. I can open portals to any place I’m very familiar with, but my lair is easiest.” Danny handed over the Thermos.
“Huh, okay.” Spider-Man reached into his backpack and grabbed a couple web bombs, giving them to Danny. “Be careful with these. One time use.”
“Got it.” Danny took them, put them aside, and went back to his pizza. “This is pretty good. I’ve never had New York pizza before.”
“It’s the best. No other state has pizza that’s quite the same,” Spider-Man boasted.
“Well, I’m from Illinois, so I generally prefer Chicago style...” Danny trailed off.
Spider-Man gasped. “Blasphemy!” he said, dramatically. “To say that on the roof of a New York pizzeria… Chicago style pizza is too thick and has too much sauce and I’m willing to die on this hill.”
“There’s not that much sauce!” Danny protested. “There’s cheese in there too, it’s just under the sauce.”
“I know. I still don’t like it. New York is my home and its pizza will always be my favorite.”
Danny shrugged. “Alright, if you insist. I mean, this isn’t bad.”
“Not bad?! This is the best slice you can get anywhere in the city! The flavor of the sauce is perfect, not too overpowering, and it complements the cheese so well…”
Danny smiled and let Spider-Man continue his rant about pizza. It was nice to meet another superhero. He’d have to get Tucker to look at those web bombs when he got home. Danny had a feeling the next week would be very interesting.