Middleton was a town of manicured lawns and high-tech suburbia. Amity Park was a town of gothic architecture and neon-green "gas leaks." They were separated by six hundred miles of Midwestern geography—until Tuesday morning, when they became the same street.
"Sheila," I said, my voice barely a whisper as I looked out my bedroom window. "Tell me I'm looking at a very high-definition hologram."
["I'm afraid the visual data is 100% organic, Danny,"] Sheila replied, her voice tinged with a digital equivalent of dread. ["The 'Anchor' Pericles activated in Crystal Cove has successfully tethered the two locations. We are currently experiencing a Level 7 Spatial Overlap. At the end of our driveway, the pavement transitions from Middleton asphalt to Amity Park cobblestone. The local Starbucks is now half-fused with a shop called 'The Nasty Burger.'"]
"The convergence isn't just starting," I muttered, pulling on my jacket. "It's localized. He's stitching the world together like a Frankenstein monster."
I tapped my watch. The 'Possible Protocol' hub was a wall of red text.
[D. Phantom]: Guys, I just walked out of my front door and I'm standing in front of Middleton High. My house is still in Amity Park, but my mailbox is in your zip code. Also, there's a ghost dog chasing a robotic cheerleader. Help?
[K. Possible]: Wade is losing it. Half of his satellites are tracking a city that shouldn't be here. Danny (Phantom), are you seeing this? The sky is... striped.
I looked up. She was right. The sky was a literal patchwork of Middleton blue and Amity Park's eerie, twilight purple.
"Team, listen up," I said, stepping out onto the porch. My house—the Possible residence—was currently hovering six inches above the ground because the 'Amity' half of the street had a different elevation. "This is the 'Anchor' in action. Pericles and Plasmius have successfully merged the two most active 'anomaly' hubs in the country. They want chaos. They want the heroes distracted by the logistical nightmare so they can move to Phase 2."
"And what's Phase 2?" Ben's voice chimed in. He sounded like he was running. "Because I'm currently in Bellwood, but the local park just turned into a swamp with a 'Welcome to Florida' sign."
"Phase 2 is permanent stabilization," I said. "If we don't sever the Anchor, the merger will become irreversible. The physical laws of the two cities are clashing. If a ghost from Amity enters a high-tech lab in Middleton, the resulting energy spike could level three blocks."
"I'm on it," Kim said, her voice sounding unusually grim. "Danny (Phantom), meet me at the 'Nasty-Naco' fusion on 5th and Main. We need to set up a perimeter before the panic starts. Ben, Jake—get here now. We need everyone."
I watched from my driveway as Kim sped past on her scooter, her face set in a mask of professional determination. She didn't look at me, but I knew she was thinking about the 'aurora' photos I'd shown her in the Rockies. The dots were connecting, and I was running out of ink to hide them.
"Sheila," I said, heading for my secret elevator in the garage. "If the cities are merged, my Sub-Level 23 lab is currently sitting right on top of the Fenton Works basement."
["Correct, Danny. In fact, the localized pressure is currently causing our 'Quantum Super Computer' to share a power outlet with Jack Fenton's 'Ecto-De-Fibrillator.' The interference is... substantial."]
"Great. I'm sharing a circuit with a man who thinks ghosts are made of marshmallow." I descended into the lab, the blue lights flickering with green static. "We need to find the Anchor's physical manifestation in this merged city. It'll be at the point of highest tension—the exact center of the overlap."
I pulled up the map. The center wasn't a landmark. It wasn't a government building.
"It's the Middleton High Football Field," I whispered. "Of course. Where else would a teenage crossover climax?"
"Sheila, alert the team. The Anchor is under the 50-yard line. And tell them to hurry. I'm detecting a massive energy spike. Someone is coming through the 'merger' who wasn't invited."
["Is it Pericles, Danny?"]
"No," I said, staring at a silhouette appearing on the monitor—a massive, hulking figure with a flaming head and a very familiar suit of armor. "It's Vilgax. And he's brought a friend from the Ghost Zone."